Gordon Parks Dialogues creates a platform for young people to explore social justice themes and the world around them through an artistic lens. The second annual Gordon Parks Dialogues presents work by past and current Gordon Parks Foundation Scholarship Recipients from six academic institutions including Fashion Institute of Technology/SUNY, Ghetto Film School, Harvard University, NYU Tisch, Pratt Institute, and Purchase College/SUNY. Participants explore their engagement with contemporary social issues in their artistic practice as inspired by Gordon Parks' use of his camera as "a weapon of choice" to contest racial injustice.

Gordon Parks Foundation Scholarship Recipients present their work in a symposium style setting moderated by a faculty lead from each participating school. Panels address how their creative work articulates conditions in today’s social environment and creates models for emerging artists and historians to combat social injustice and perpetuate social and political change.

Following the scholarship participants’ presentations, 2018 Gordon Parks Foundation Fellows Derrick Adams and Deana Lawson will discuss their engagement in the arts and social justice with Dr. Deborah Willis, University Professor and Chair of the Department of Photography & Imaging at NYU Tisch, and Director of the Institute of African American Affairs at NYU. In conclusion, Dr. Willis and Gordon Parks Foundation Director of Education Stephen Hilger, will lead a roundtable discussion with the participating faculty from each school.