Professor Matt Archer will be sleeping on the ground this week, and encourages his students to do likewise.

As a professor of anthropology at Sierra College, Archer said he feels it’s important to do his part in raising awareness about homelessness in the Sacramento area. Together with at least 30 Sierra students and a handful of other professors, Archer plans on raising awareness by giving up his warm bed and house for two nights.

The sleep-out is one of many events the community college is hosting this week for Social Justice Days, an annual event at the college.

“I would hope that the people involved will come to the realization that they really can have an impact on social justice issues, however big or small, and that something can be done and should be done,” Archer said.

This week’s events run on Wednesday Oct. 7 and Thursday, Oct. 8. The sleep out is one of several new platforms students have planned to highlight this year’s focus on domestic issues.

Health Re-Forum, a panel of several professors discussing Healthcare in the U.S., furthers this focus, along with Brave Sierra Voices, a collection of slam poetry, and a film event highlighting Michael Moore’s new film, “Capitalism: A Love Story.”

The event at is it now began a couple years ago as part of a social problems class taught by Megan Seely, professor of sociology and women’s studies at Sierra College. Social Justice Days grew as other professors and on-campus clubs collaborated to create an annual large-scale event Seely said shows students how they, individually, can make a difference.

“I believe that one person really can make a difference, and that our individual voices are valid and that collectively they are very powerful. I live that politic in my daily life,” Seely said. "(Social Justice Days) give students an opportunity to raise awareness in their community. It gets them beyond the walls of their classroom to be engaged with the material they are learning.”

The event planning committee has estimated that about 200 students are directly involved in putting on the week’s events, with at least 300 being indirectly involved through classes and clubs.

Archer sees the week as a way to promote the things he is passionate about while bringing real-life events to bear on classroom concepts. Seely, also, said her involvement in the week is both personal and professional, as it provides a venue for her own activism and enables her to show students the importance of raising their voices.

“There has been some recent news and issues concerning homelessness in the Sacramento community,” Archer said. “We’re making an attempt to connect with more regional issues and find a way to raise awareness in our own community.”