Socialist Night School

Welcome to Socialist Night School! We can't wait to learn together. Please read this section carefully before signing up.

Classes meet every Tuesday March 18-April 29. Ticketing cost will go toward food, child care, and classroom supplies. Our objective is to give participants a well-rounded understanding of the topics, and to accomplish this participants are expected to attend all six classes. If you cannot attend all six classes, please contact the organizers at [email protected]. We may add your name to the list for the next Socialist Night School series.

March 18, 6:00-8:30 - Intro to Socialism & Capitalism

• Participants will learn about how politics and economics interact.

March 25, 6:00-8:30 - Intro to Marxism

• Participants will receive a crash course in Marxist theory to help them analyze current and historic social systems.

April 1, 6:00-8:30 - Socialist Revolutions

• Participants will practice applying Marxist theory to revolutions throughout history.

April 8, 6:00-8:30 - Socialism in Practice: Tenant Organizing to Socialized Housing

• Participants will learn about mass movements for tenant power and socialized housing.

April 15, 6:00-8:30 - Socialism in Practice: Ecosocialism & Food Sovereignty

• Participants will learn about the role of food sovereignty in struggles for economic justice, as well as the connections between capitalism and climate change.

April 22, 6:00-8:30 - Imagining Socialist Futures in Omaha

• Participants will use what they learned to envision new approaches to local issues during this facilitated discussion.

Dinner will be provided for each class, and caterers will be announced the week before classes start. Please fill out this form to let organizers know about any dietary restrictions or food allergies.

Free, off-site child care is available to attendees, courtesy of Acorn Community Child Care (5 minutes away from the venue). Please fill out this form by Tuesday, March 11 if you would like to register children 12 years old or under for free child care.

If you have any questions, please email [email protected].

Omaha’s Socialist Night School is adapted from the Philadelphia DSA Socialist Night School. This program will serve as a space for thinking about the past, present, and future of socialism in Omaha and beyond. Instructors will not be telling participants what to think, but will introduce them to foundational socialist concepts and popular arguments on the left, encouraging them to debate and engage critically with the ideas introduced in the class. We hope that participants will leave grounded in socialist history and theory, more attuned to their principles, and connected with the people in their cohort.

• Inclusive - Material is designed to be inclusive of the broadest range of participants possible, from folks who are new to socialism to those with extensive backgrounds in political theory. People from all ages and backgrounds are welcome to engage with the ideas introduced in the courses so long as they follow the community guidelines.
• Approachable & Accessible - You are not required to have any specific knowledge about socialism, Marxism, capitalism, etc. coming into these classes. Study materials will be short, usually no more than an hour of content between classes, freely available, and accessible in multiple formats whenever possible.
• Rigorous - Participants are encouraged to engage with ideas that are difficult, new, or even antithetical to their core assumptions. The courses are not intended to tell participants what to think, but to expose them to different arguments on the left so that they can better defend their own beliefs. Instructors and facilitators encourage an atmosphere of lively discussion and debate among participants.
• Active - Socialism is not a spectator sport. Socialist Night School is run by organizers who are actively engaged in some kind of socialist work in Omaha. We cannot affect change through study alone, so we must support each other to take organized action toward a socialist future. In our online forum and our in-person classes, participants network and learn about local opportunities to support socialist projects.

Event Venue & Nearby Stays

First United Methodist Church, 7020 Cass Street, Omaha, United States