The Free Rads East Coast Chapter originated as a small group of remote Free Radicals scattered across the Northeast, each desiring the support and nourishment of community. In the spring of 2018, we came together and established ways to encourage each individual’s local radical science and knowledge justice work, as well as to collaborate on projects together. We are educators, organizers, scientists, artists, writers, students, and more, currently based in New England, the New York metro area, Philadelphia, and New Jersey. Once a month we meet virtually as a group, and outside of that members work on projects in subcommittees.

Our Campaigns

Youth Radical Science Workshop

Inspired by youth and wanting to investigate community-led science, we are designing a 10-week radical science syllabus for high school students. Students will identify an issue in their community, partner with a local community organization, design a research project using our “alternative scientific method,” and create a tangible product to share with others. We are piloting the syllabus at TECH Freire Charter School in Philadelphia, and plan to make our syllabus and educators’ notes public for others to use.

The Joy and Speculation Committee

This group considers how creativity and play can be integrated into Free Rads meetings, events, gatherings, and workshops. We aim to stoke the fires of our community’s collective imagination by providing art, speculative writings and thinkings, world making stories, and more. Our hope is that co-imagining and co-creating beyond the styles of ‘work’ or ‘school’ that we often default to will expand our ideas of what’s possible, enliven the ways we approach our goals and visions, and prevent us from replicating structures that can be oppressive. Also that playing together will enrich our individual lives and interpersonal relationships!