Past Years
SPRING 2023
The American Communities Program at California State University, Los Angeles promotes humanities-based inquiry into the formation of individual and communal identities in American society.
All events are in-person unless otherwise noted. Covid protocols will be followed to ensure safety.
TIME AND TEMPORALITY
THURSDAY, FEBRUARY 2 & THURSDAY, MARCH 2
ACP READING GROUP: RINALDO WALCOTT’S THE LONG EMANCIPATION
12 PM ● Engineering and Technology Building, A631
Join us as we continue to discuss Rinaldo Walcott’s The Long Emancipation: Moving Toward Black Freedom (Duke University Press, 2021). We will have a limited number of copies of the book available free to reading group participants, on a first-come, first served basis. Contact Dr. Ezekiel Joubert for a copy of the book at [email protected].
TUESDAY, FEBRUARY 21
The Garden of Forking Paths: Los Angeles Landscapes Through Time
3 PM ● Rosser Hall, ASCB 132
Join us as Dr. Barry Hibbs, Dr. Mandy Hillstrom, Dr. Alexandra Wright, and Dr. Choi Chatterjee discuss the development and uses of the urban food garden at California State University, Los Angeles from the perspectives of water resources, nutrition, polyculture, and climate change.
TUESDAY, FEBRUARY 21
Time, Memory, and the Holocaust
6 PM ● Engineering and Technology Building, A631
Join us for a book discussion about Susan Neiman’s Learning from the Germans: Race and the Memory of Evil. A limited number of free books are available. Please contact Dr. Sarah Minslow at [email protected] to request a copy.
WEDNESDAY, FEBRUARY 22
Historical Timelines in Cuba and the US: José Martí’s Visions of America
5 PM ● Music Hall – Theater Arts Building 116
This event is in Spanish. Writer Néstor Díaz de Villegas will discuss his new book, José Martí: Estados Unidos en la Prosa de un Inmigrante, an examination of writings about America written in America by the Cuban iconic poet and revolutionary José Martí.
TUESDAY, MARCH 7
JEAN BURDEN POETRY READING: AN EVENING WITH CAROLYN FORCHÉ
6 PM ● Music Hall - Theater Arts Building 116
Join us as award-winning poet, professor, translator, and human rights activist Carolyn Forché reads from her work. Forché has been selected for a Guggenheim Fellow, a Los Angeles Times Book Award, and an Academy of American Poets award, among many other honors.
WEDNESDAY, MARCH 22
CONTESTABLE TIMES: A CONVERSATION WITH A PHYSICIST, A PHILOSOPHER AND A BUDDHIST TEACHER
2PM ● This event is virtual.
Registration link: https://calstatela.zoom.us/webinar/register/WN_z8LjWXrXTyulO-JPhzh0cQ
Join us for a conversation on the nature of time from a variety of perspectives. Scheduled to appear: Dr. Julian Barbour, physicist specializing in quantum gravity and the history of science; Dr. John McCumber, Distinguished Professor and Chair of the UCLA Department of Germanic Languages; and the Venerable Thubten Chodron, Buddhist teacher, founder of Sravasti Abbey, and coauthor with His Holiness the Dalai Lama on The Library of Wisdom and Compassion book series.
SATURDAY, MARCH 25
MÁS ATRÁS DEL BIEN Y DEL MAL
1 PM ● Los Angeles Public Library, Meeting Room A, 630 W. 5th Street, Los Angeles
This event will be in Spanish. Latin-American writers Pablo Baler (Argentina) and Néstor Díaz de Villegas (Cuba) meet to present their most recent works. El lejano desoriente (Rialta) by Baler and Poemas inmorales (Pretextos) by Díaz de Villegas.
WEDNESDAY, APRIL 12
PERU, CHILE, AND THE PACIFIC: TOWARD COLLABORATIVE AND PARALLEL HISTORIES
1:40 PM ● Library Community Room, Library North B131
Dr. Joshua Savala (History, Rollins College) will discuss his recent book, Beyond Patriotic Phobias. Connections, Cooperation, and Solidarity in the Peruvian-Chilean Pacific World (UC Press, 2022), which narrates the stories of the many encounters, exchanges, and solidarities that defined the lives of Chileans and Peruvians working and moving across transnational waters and spaces during the War of the Pacific. Savala’s work invites us to rethink traditional historical periodization and theorize dis/continuity in humanities-based research.
TUESDAY, APRIL 18
ACP FACULTY FELLOWS: NEW RESEARCH ON TIME AND TEMPORALITY
1:40 PM ● Library Community Room, Library North B131
Join us as the 2022-23 ACP fellows discuss their current research on time and temporality. Presenters: Dr. Katie Dingeman (Sociology), Dr. Sarah Minslow (English), Dr. Oona Fontanella-Nothom (Charter College of Education).
AMERICAN COMMUNITIES PROGRAM
Fall 2022
TIME AND TEMPORALITY
The American Communities Program at California State University, Los Angeles promotes humanities-based inquiry into the formation of individual and communal identities in American society.
Faculty are invited to bring their classes. All events are Pacific Standard Time. Covid protocols will be followed to ensure safety.
WEDNESDAY, SEPTEMBER 7
TIME AND TEMPORALITY - FACULTY FELLOWS SYMPOSIUM
3:15 PM ● Community Room (Library North, B131)
Join us as our 2022-23 Fellows theorize Time and Temporality from multiple perspectives and outline lines of inquiry for the year. Dr. Katie Dingeman (Sociology), Dr. Oona Fontanella-Nothom (Curriculum and Instruction), Dr. Sarah Minslow (English).
FRIDAY, SEPTEMBER 16
GET OUT THE VOTE STUDENT VIDEO CONTEST
Submission deadline: 6pm, September 16
Calling all Cal State LA Students! Create a short Get Out the Vote video to encourage voting and submit it to our contest—cash prizes awarded for top videos. Full submission information here: https://www.calstatela.edu/al/american-communities-program/get-vote-out-video-contest-0
THURSDAY, SEPTEMBER 22
ACP READING GROUP
12 PM ● Engineering and Technology Building, A631
Join us for a discussion of Rinaldo Walcott’s The Long Emancipation: Moving Toward Black Freedom (Duke University Press, 2021). We will have a limited number of copies of the book available free to reading group participants, on a first-come, first served basis. Contact Dr. Ezekiel Joubert for a copy of the book at [email protected].
THURSDAY, OCTOBER 6
DEDICATION OF PUBLIC MURAL: MIGRANTS AND MIGRANT RIGHTS
6 PM ● Community Room (Library North, B131)
Join us for the dedication of our new public mural, which focuses on migration/human rights/migrant diaspora and was created and donated by Peruvian artist Claudio Talavera Ballon. This event is presented in conjunction with the Latin American Studies Artist-in-Residence program.
MONDAY, OCTOBER 17
2022 MIDTERM ELECTIONS: WHAT DO WE NEED TO KNOW?
1:45 PM ● Community Room (Library North, B131)
Join us as LA Times reporter Julia Wick and Attorney/Political Scientist Dr. Donna Schuele analyze the Los Angeles mayoral race and the implications of the 2022 midterm elections for LA and beyond. Moderated by Professor Taylor Dark. Discussion to follow.
WEDNESDAY, OCTOBER 19
TIME AND NARRATIVE
3 pm ● Community Room (Library North, B131)
Prominent LA writers discuss the relationships between time and narrative and how our understanding and experience of time shape the stories we tell and our sense of the world. Scheduled to appear: Alex Espinoza and Diana Wagman.
MONDAY, OCTOBER 24
KURT VONNEGUT UNSTUCK IN TIME / A DAY WITH WADE
Los Angeles Room – University Student Union –
10:30 Screening of Robert Weide’s documentary
1:00pm Talk/Q&A with director Robert Weide
WEDNESDAY, NOVEMBER 9
ACP READING GROUP
12 PM ● Engineering and Technology Building, A631
Join us for the second ACP Reading Group of the semester. Text to be chosen by the group at the end of the first meeting in September.
WEDNESDAY, NOVEMBER 16
TIME AND TEMPORALITY IN HOLOCAUST STUDIES
6 PM ● Community Room (Library North, B131)
Jordanna Gessler (Vice President of Education and Exhibits at the Holocaust Museum LA) and Dr. Todd Presner (Chair of UCLA’s Department of European Languages and Transcultural Studies and former USC Shoah Foundation Fellow) will discuss their work on time, memory, and temporality as well as the ways we reconstruct the past and bring it into the present.
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Spring 2022
All events are Pacific Standard Time. Covid protocols will be followed to ensure safety.
RESISTANCE
WEDNESDAY, MARCH 9
SUMMERTIME (Q&A WITH FILMMAKERS TO FOLLOW)
6 PM ● Music 149 (Choral Room)
Join us for the screening of this acclaimed film followed by a conversation with the filmmakers. Over the course of a hot summer day in Los Angeles, the lives of 25 young Angelenos intersect. A skating guitarist, a tagger, two wannabe rappers, an exasperated fast-food worker, a limo driver—they all weave in and out of each other’s stories. Through poetry they express life, love, heartache, family, home, and fear. Directed by Carlos Lopez Estrada, 2021, 90 minutes. This film was a hit at Sundance!
WEDNESDAY, MARCH 16
RESISTANCE AND BIO-ART: THEORY AND PRACTICE
3PM Pacific Standard Time ● Virtual Event
Register in advance for this meeting:
https://calstatela.zoom.us/meeting/register/tZEuceqpqD0qGNEK7_ivdiDjrcpZC2_levhA
After registering, you will receive a confirmation email containing information about joining the meeting.
Join us for a conversation with five world-renowned Bio-artists as they discuss their work at the intersection of Art and Science. Scheduled to appear: Jennifer Willet, Ionat Zurr, Polona Tratnik, Dolores Steinman, and Nina Sellars. Moderated by Dr. Pablo Baler.
THURSDAY, APRIL 7
WOMEN’S EMPOWERMENT AND REENTRY
TIME TBA ● ROOM TBA
Join us for a conversation on empowerment and social justice with formerly incarcerated women who are participating in a leadership program with the Los Angeles Regional Reentry Program.
THURSDAY, APRIL 14
HUMOR, SATIRE, AND SUBVERSION IN THE RUSSIAN EMPIRE:
A TALK BY DR. BRUCE GRANT
6 PM ● LIBRARY CONFERENCE ROOM, B 131
Dr. Bruce Grant, an anthropologist at New York University, explores satire and democracy in 20th-century magazines produced throughout the Russian Empire.
WEDNESDAY, APRIL 20
AMERICAN COMMUNITIES PROGRAM
FACULTY FELLOWS SYMPOSIUM
6 PM ● LIBRARY CONFERENCE ROOM, B 131
Join us as John Kennedy (Music), Birte Pfleger (History), and Sara Pugach (History) share their recent research on the theme of Resistance.
THURSDAY, MAY 5
IN THE ARCHIVE: WORKING WITH THE PAPERS OF MERVYN M. DYMALLY
6pm ● Librry Innovation Hub
Join us for a conversation with students and archivists as we explore the ethics and logistics of archival work and their specific experiences working with the papers of influential California politician Mervyn M. Dymally, one of the first African Americans elected to statewide office since Reconstruction. Reception to follow.
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Please “like” the American Communities Program on Facebook for updates on events and additional, pop-up happenings.
Presented by the American Communities Program and co-sponsored by the College of Arts and Letters; English; History; JFK Library; Statement Magazine; TV and Film; Dr. Joseph A. Bailey, II, M.D.
For more information, or to request accommodations for a disability, please contact Dr. Maria Karafilis, American Communities Program, at [email protected], or find us online at www.calstatela.edu/academic/al/acp/.
Nominal parking fee for off-campus guests.
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“LIKE” THE AMERICAN COMMUNITIES PROGRAM ON FACEBOOK FOR THE LATEST INFORMATION ON OUR PROGRAMMING, POP-UP EVENTS, AND LA HAPPENINGS RELEVANT TO OUR MISSION.
Co-sponsors include the College of Arts and Letters; Pat Brown Institute; Center for the Study of Genders and Sexualities; the Department of Women's, Gender, and Sexuality Studies; and the Cal State LA John F. Kennedy Library.
Presented by the American Communities Program, and co-sponsored by Cross Cultural Centers; College of Arts & Letters; Dr. Joseph A. Bailey, II, M.D.; University-Student Union; and student fees.
For more information, or to request accommodations for a disability, please contact Maria Karafilis, Director, American Communities Program, at [email protected].
Fall 2021 Calendar
all events are virtual & open to the public
Faculty are invited to bring their classes to and all events.
Please let Maria Karafilis, ACP Director, know if you plan to do so to ensure space on the zoom links ([email protected])
Monday, September 13/12:15pm
American Communities Program Fellows Symposium
Zoom Meeting ID: 858 6921 0715
Please join us as the 2021-22 ACP fellows discuss humanities-based modes of inquiry and ways of theorizing our theme, RESISTANCE. The fellows are John Kennedy (Music), Birte Pfleger (History), and Sara Pugach (History).
Monday, September 27/2pm (we will focus on the Introduction and Ch. 2)
Wednesday, October 6/6pm (we will focus on Chapters 3 and 5)
ACP Reading Group—Dr. Sianne Ngai’s The Theory of the Gimmick
(free copies of the book available—see below)
Reading Group Zoom Meeting ID: 851 9717 4896
All are welcome to the ACP reading group. We will meet twice during Fall semester to discuss Sianne Ngai’s latest book, The Theory of the Gimmick. Dr. Ngai will be giving a virtual talk on campus on October 4th at 6pm, so let’s read her work together. Contact Dr. Juan Lamata ([email protected]) as there is a limited number of free copies of her book that we can distribute to attendees on a first ask, first served basis. Note that Zoom ID above is for reading group only and the October 4th talk requires webinar registration at link listed below.
Monday, October 4/4:30pm
Resistance, Immunity, and the Uses of the Humanities:
A Virtual Conversation with Essayist and Critic Eula Biss
Webinar Link: https://calstatela.zoom.us/j/83956288072
Zoom Meeting ID: 839 5628 8072
Please join us for an interactive discussion with essayist and critic Eula Biss, whose book On Immunity: An Inoculation (Graywolf 2014) is a wide-ranging investigation of the myths and metaphors surrounding vaccination that explores questions raised by parenting, privilege, feminism, environmentalism, science fiction, and political power. On Immunity was a New York Times bestseller and a finalist for the National Book Critics Circle Award in criticism. Her most recent book, Having and Being Had (Penguin 2020), explores the value system behind property ownership and the terms we use to understand, or misunderstand, our relationship to money and class.
Monday, October 4/6pm
The Gimmick as Aesthetic Judgment and Capitalist Form: A Virtual Talk
by Sianne Ngai
Webinar Registration Link: https://bit.ly/kubal2021
Dr. Ngai’s (University of Chicago) recent work analyzes the “gimmick” as a form that, both repulsive and yet strangely attractive, can be found virtually everywhere in capitalism. Above all, she argues, gimmicks provoke questions about value bound to labor and time—misgivings that indicate broader anxieties about the measurement of wealth in capitalism. The theory of the gimmick represents a crucial contribution to aesthetic theory from a thinker lauded by The Chronicle of Higher Education as the “most influential literary theorist of her generation.” Dr. Ngai’s talk is the 2021 David L. Kubal Memorial Lecture sponsored by the Cal State LA Department of English.
Wednesday, October 13/12:15pm
Afghanistan and Theatres of War
Webinar Link: https://calstatela.zoom.us/j/81684011585
Zoom Meeting ID: 816 8401 1585
Historically, theatre has played a crucial part in processing the trauma of war, which applies with immediate relevance to Afghanistan today. Five esteemed contributors to a landmark new book titled Theatres of War (Bloomsbury, 2021) provide contemporary perspectives on how theatre can help us understand the past and present situation in Afghanistan. These interdisciplinary experts will address topics including cultural diplomacy, the role of Islam, self-rule, women’s rights, soldiers and families, and how and why literature can play critically important social and political roles.
Tuesday, November 16/6pm
New Research on the History of Cal State LA:
A Virtual Exhibit Launch
LINK FORTHCOMING
What do you know about the history of your own university? Discover the controversies, visions, and transformations that have shaped today's Cal State LA. Join us for an interactive launch of an online exhibit featuring research by History Department students, in cooperation with the University Library's Archive and Special Collections.
Spring 2021 Calendar
all events are virtual & open to the public
Please contact Maria Karafilis, Director of the American Communities Program, at [email protected] for meeting details and zoom links.
Monday, March 8/1:40pm
2020 Election: What Now?
Join us for an interactive roundtable with journalists and scholars as we discuss the election, the run-offs, and the first few months of the Biden administration. Scheduled to appear: Seema Mehta (Political Writer, Los Angeles Times), Dr. Raphe Sonenshein (Director, Pat Brown Institute), and Dr. Aldo Yanez-Ruiz (Department of Political Science, Cal State LA).
Tuesday, March 9/12:15pm
Rememory: A Celebration of Toni Morrison
Join us for an interactive program as we watch and discuss clips of the documentary Toni Morrison: The Pieces I Am. We also invite participants to bring and share their favorite Morrison passages at the event.
The film in its entirety is available for the Cal State LA campus community at Cal State LA Movies on Demand (BROWSE HERE). For the site to upload, your Cal State LA VPN must be turned on.
The film may also be viewed on Amazon and Hulu.
Wednesday, March 17/12:15pm
The Racialization of Contagion
Join us for a dialogue with scholars Dr. Adia Benton (Professor of Anthropology at Northwestern University) and Dr. Nayan Shah (Professor of American Studies and Ethnicity at the University of Southern California) as we discuss current and historical patterns of racializing disease and infection.
Monday, April 12/1:40pm
2020-21 ACP Faculty Symposium
ACP Faculty Fellows Dr. Louis Esparza (Sociology), Dr. Ezekiel Joubert III (Charter College of Education), and Professor Sylke Rene Meyer (TV, Film, and Media) will discuss their current research on our theme of “Resistance.”
Thursday, April 22/3:15pm
ACP Reading Group
All are welcome to the ACP reading group. At our spring meeting we will discuss Tiffany Lethabo King’s The Black Shoals: Offshore Formations of Black and Native Studies.
Tuesday, May 4/5pm
Pandemic Diaries Launch
Join us as we talk with contributors to and curators of the Pandemic Diaries, an online archive of multimedia, first-hand stories about how the Covid-19 pandemic has affected people in our communities.
“Like” the American Communities Program on Facebook for the latest information on our programming, pop-up events, and LA happenings relevant to our mission.
Co-sponsors include the College of Arts and Letters; Pat Brown Institute; Center for the Study of Genders and Sexualities; the Department of Women's, Gender, and Sexuality Studies; and the Cal State LA John F. Kennedy Library.
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FALL 2020 CALENDAR OF EVENTS
THEME: RESISTANCE
All events to be held remotely. As online gathering platforms are being set-up please contact
Maria Karafilis, Director, American Communities Program, at [email protected] if you
have any inquiries about event details.
NOW THROUGH - September 10, 2020 | 6 pm
CALLING ALL CAL STATE LA STUDENTS—CREATE A VIDEO TO GET THE VOTE OUT
PRIZES*: FIRST PLACE--$250
SECOND PLACE--$150
THIRD PLACE--$100
VIDEOS MUST BE SUBMITTED BY 6 PM THURSDAY, SEPTEMBER 10, 2020
CLICK HERE TO READ THE SUBMISSION GUIDELINES AND DIRECTIONS.
Wednesday, September 9, 2020 | 6 pm
ACP 2019-20 Fellows Symposium
Join us as the 2019-2020 ACP Fellows (Pablo Baler/Modern Languages and Literatures, Gabriela Fried-Amilivia/Sociology, and Angela Vergara/History) discuss their current research on the theme of in/visibilities.
Thursday, September 17, 2020 | 6 pm
ACP 2020-21 Fellows Symposium
Join us as the current ACP Fellows discuss our theme, Resistance, and examine critical methodologies for examining and enacting resistance.
Tuesday, October 6, 2020 | 1:40 pm
The 2020 Election: What We Need to Know
Join us for an interactive roundtable as renowned scholars Rachel Bitecofer (Niskanen Institute), Efren Perez (UCLA) and Chris Endy (Cal State LA) discuss the latest developments and predictions for the 2020 Election.
Wednesday, October 7 | 12:15 pm
Film Screening: Suppressed
Join us for a watch party of Suppressed, an award-winning documentary about voter suppression in Georgia during the 2018 election.
Discussion to follow.
In/Visibilities
February 13
12:15pm/U-SU Theater, First floor U-SU
The California Primary: What’s at Stake?
Join us as scholars and journalists discuss the California primary and its significance for the 2020 election.
February 18
6:30pm (reception begins at 5:30)/Golden Eagle Ballroom
The Annual Jean Burden Poetry Reading: An Evening with Marilyn Chin
Join us for a reading and discussion with award-winning translator, educator, and writer Marilyn Chin, whose work is known for being formally and thematically daring as it explores issues of identity, immigration, and place. Co-sponsored with the Center for Contemporary Poetry and Poetics.
March 2
4:30pm/Los Angeles Room, U-SU Third Floor
Vaporized: The Dematerialization of the World
Join us for a talk by Robert Tercek, renowned futurist and digital media/interactive content expert, as he explores our theme of in/visibilities through the workings and implications of a mobile economy and the narratives and ethics surrounding it.
March 6-April 17
JFK Library, Cal State LA, First Floor
Words UnCaged Exhibit
Check out our interactive exhibit featuring work from formerly incarcerated Cal State LA students to learn more about mass incarceration and the human beings affected by it.
April 22
6-7:30pm/Golden Eagle Ballrooms
An Evening with Angela Davis
Join us for a talk by activist, scholar, and educator Angela Davis. Presented by the Vice President for Equity, Diversity and Inclusion; the Ann Garry & Sharon L. Bishop Feminist Philosophy Endowed Lecture Series; and the Program in Women's, Gender, and Sexuality Studies. Co-sponsored by the American Communities Program, et.al.
March 10
National Humanities Advocacy Day
Join us for a constellation of activities throughout the day celebrating and advancing the humanities in our communities.
Reading of Karen McDermott’s prize-winning screenplay, “Lullabies of La Jaula”
12:15pm/Cal State LA State Playhouse
Screening of documentary “Toni Morrison: The Pieces I Am”
6pm/U-SU Theater
April 15
12:15pm/Alhambra Room, U-SU
ACP Fellows Symposium
The ACP 2019-20 fellows (Pablo Baler, Gabriela Fried-Amilivia, and Angela Vergara) will discuss their current research.
April 15
6pm/Los Angeles Room, U-SU
Alternative Histories of Peace and Pluralism: A Talk by Dr. Bruce Grant, New York University
Since 9/11, and fueled by incidents of intolerance in certain Muslim majority countries, there has been a growing perception in the United States that Islam is a religion antithetical to reason, satire, and humor. Professor Bruce Grant offers us another vision of a pluralistic, tolerant, and vibrant public sphere in his study of Muslim satirical magazines and discussion of the implications of satire as an effective weapon of social change and public policy.
We also will have additional pop-up events during the semester, so like us on Facebook to get all of the latest updates!
Co-sponsors include the Cross-Cultural Centers, College of Arts and Letters, Department of History, Pat Brown Institute, Department of Theater Arts and Dance, Department of Political Science, Department of Philosophy, Center for the Study of Genders and Sexualities, and Center for Contemporary Poetry and Poetics.
Fall 2019 Calendar of Events
MONDAY, SEPTEMBER 9
AMERICAN COMMUNITIES PROGRAM: FELLOWS SYMPOSIUM
Please join us as the 2019-20 ACP fellows discuss humanities-based modes of inquiry and ways of theorizing our theme, in/visibilities. The fellows are Pablo Baler (Department of Modern Languages and Literatures), Gabriela Fried-Amilivia (Department of Sociology), and Angela Vergara (Department of History).
12:15 pm ● Alhambra Room
3rd Floor ● University-Student Union
MONDAY, SEPTEMBER 9
QUEER DISAPPEARANCE: A MULTIMEDIA DIALOGUE
Presented in collaboration with the Center for the Study of Genders and Sexualities.
6 PM ● U-SU Theatre
1st Floor ● University-Student Union
THURSDAY, SEPTEMBER 19
A BODY IN THE O by Tim Miller: A PERFORMANCE
Join us as we welcome internationally-acclaimed queer performer Tim Miller as Miller performs excerpts from A Body In The O, demonstrating how performance can change our lives and challenge the world to create a better future.
6 PM ● State Playhouse
WEDNESDAY, OCTOBER 16
RACE, GENDER, POWER ALONG THE U.S. - MEXICO BORDER
Join us as we discuss the politics of race, gender, and power along the U.S. - Mexico border.
6 PM ● U-SU Theatre
1st Floor ● University-Student Union
TUESDAY, NOVEMBER 5
CSGS/ACP: KEN GONZALES-DAY: BONE GRASS BOY
Renowned LA-based Chicano artist Ken Gonzales-Day will present on his multimedia artwork, titled Bone Grass Boy. Part creative fiction, part creative biography, and part photography, Gonzales-Day will speak to what it's like to look for your queer, chicano, and indigenous family history in the archive and to not find it - so you have nothing left to do but invent it on your own.
4:30 PM ● U-SU Theatre
1st floor ● University-Student Union
Presented by the American Communities Program, and co-sponsored by Cross Cultural Centers; Center for the Study of Genders and Sexualities; College of Arts and Letters; Dr. Joseph A. Bailey, II, M.D.; University-Student Union; and student fees.
For more information, or to request accommodations for a disability, please contact Dr. Maria Karafilis, American Communities Program, at [email protected].
Nominal parking fee for off-campus guests.
AMERICAN COMMUNITIES PROGRAM
Spring 2019
The American Communities Program at California State University, Los Angeles promotes humanities-based inquiry into the formation of individual and communal identities in American society.
THE HUMANITIES AND AMERICAN CULTURES
ACP & WORDS UNCAGED
Be on the lookout for pop-up events on and around campus addressing the issue of mass incarceration. Follow the American Communities Program Facebook page or @wordsuncaged on Instagram and Twitter to find out when and where these events will be happening!
MONDAY, FEBRUARY 11
EAST LA INTERCHANGE (Q&A with filmmaker Betsy Kalin)
6 PM ● U-SU Theatre
1st Floor ● University-Student Union
East LA Interchange explores the story of working-class Boyle Heights, the oldest neighborhood in East Los Angeles, and depicts the impact of freeways, gentrification and "gentefication," and environmental hazards on long-time residents. Directed by Betsy Kalin, 2016, 57 minutes.
TUESDAY, FEBRUARY 12
JEAN BURDEN POETRY READING: KWAME DAWES, CHANCELLOR OF THE ACADEMY OF AMERICAN POETS AND ROYAL SOCIETY FELLOW
6 PM – 8 PM ● Golden Eagle Ballroom
3rd Floor ● Golden Eagle Building
Join us for this annual poetry event presented by the Center for Contemporary Poetry and Poetics, College of Arts and Letters, Cross Cultural Centers, ACP, and the Department of English.
WEDNESDAY, FEBRUARY 27
PHOTOGRAPHY IN ARGENTINA: A NATIONAL PASSION
A TALK BY DR. DAVID WILLIAM FOSTER
3 PM ● LIBRARY CONFERENCE ROOM, B 131
In contemporary Argentina, photography profoundly intervenes in and informs politics and sociocultural phenomena. Foster’s presentation focuses on the photography of redemocratization (1983 – 2000) and the nexus of photography/politics in the 21st century.
WEDNESDAY, FEBRUARY 27
COLD WAR MEAT: THE POLITICS OF PROTEIN BEHIND THE IRON CURTAIN
A TALK BY DR. MARY NEUBURGER
6 PM ● LOS ANGELES ROOM BC
3rd Floor ● University-Student Union
Dr. Mary Neuburger, a historian at the University of Texas at Austin, explores the ways in which a newfound cult of meat, based on US forms of production, became central to postwar Eastern Europe’s alternative food system.
MONDAY, MARCH 4
2018 ELECTIONS: NOW WHAT?
4:30 PM ● Los Angeles Room C
3rd Floor ● University-Student Union
Join us for our third and final interactive roundtable on the 2018 election as we debrief and examine the implications of the election results.
WEDNESDAY, APRIL 10
AMERICAN COMMUNITIES PROGRAM
FACULTY FELLOWS SYMPOSIUM
1:40 PM ● LOS ANGELES ROOM A
3rd Floor ● University-Student Union
Join us as Drs. Shweta Adur, Libby Lewis, and Kimberly Robertson share their current research projects.
Presented by the American Communities Program, and co-sponsored by Cross Cultural Centers; College of Arts and Letters; Center for Contemporary Poetry and Poetics; English; History; Latin American Studies; TV and Film; Dr. Joseph A. Bailey, II, M.D.; University-Student Union; and student fees.
For more information, or to request accommodations for a disability, please contact Dr. Maria Karafilis, American Communities Program, at [email protected], or find us online at www.calstatela.edu/academic/al/acp/.
Nominal parking fee for off-campus guests.
AMERICAN COMMUNITIES PROGRAM
Fall 2018
AMERICAN COMMUNITIES PROGRAM
Fall 2017
The American Communities Program at California State University, Los Angeles promotes humanities-based inquiry into the formation of individual and communal identities in American society.
THE HUMANITIES AND AMERICAN CULTURES: CIVILITY
THURSDAY, SEPTEMBER 7
INTERROGATING CIVILITY: ITS USES AND LIMITS
12:15 pm • Golden Eagle Ballroom
Join us for an interactive roundtable that examines the histories, possibilities, and pitfalls of civility and its reconstructions. Roundtable features Dr. Akhila Ananth (Criminal Justice and Criminalistics), Dr. Rob DeChaine (Communication and Liberal Studies), Dr. Eileen Ford (History), and Dr. Cynthia Wang (Communication).
THURSDAY, SEPTEMBER 28
QUEERING LA: LGBT LITERATURE AND LITERACIES
7:15 PM • Alhambra Room
3rd floor • University Student Union
Join us for a roundtable of local fiction writers whose work focuses on LGBTQ communities and characters in Los Angeles and beyond. Presented by the Center for the Study of Genders and Sexualities and American Communities Program.
WEDNESDAY, OCTOBER 4
CIVILITY AND FREE SPEECH ON CAMPUS
7 pm • Los Angeles Room BC
3rd Floor • University-Student Union
Join us for a roundtable discussion of the issues surrounding free speech on university campuses and conflicts that ensue.
MONDAY, OCTOBER 9 – SATURDAY, OCTOBER 21
EXHIBIT: REVOLUTIONIZING THE WORLD -- THE RUSSIAN REVOLUTION AT ITS CENTENARY, 1917-2017
Fine Arts Gallery
The exhibition explores the visual history of the Russian Revolution of 1917 on its hundredth anniversary and evaluates the global impact of this historical event in the twentieth century. This year-long exhibition premieres at Cal State LA in August 2017, and then travels to Sonoma State University in October 2017, and California State University, Chico in January 2018.
TUESDAY, OCTOBER 17
PUBLIC VOICES, BLOGGING, PODCASTS, AND THE HUMANITIES
12:15 pm • Room to be confirmed
3rd Floor • University-Student Union
This hands-on workshop features writers, practitioners of new media, and scholars to examine how and to what effects public writing in the humanities can impact American cultures and civilities.
WEDNESDAY, OCTOBER 18
GENDERING DEPORTATION: SALVADORAN MEN’S UNDERSTANDING OF EXPULSION FROM THE U.S. – A TALK BY DR. KATIE DINGEMAN
3 pm • San Gabriel Room
3rd Floor • University-Student Union
Mass deportation from the U.S. is a racist, classist, and sexist program of state violence. Of the over 400,000 people removed from the U.S. annually, 93% are men. How do migrants understand their deportation and their gendered selves in relationship to it? Dr. Katie Dingeman, faculty, Sociology at Cal State LA and CSGS Faculty Fellow, will discuss the disparate ways men and women have been historically targeted by the deportation regime.
MONDAY, NOVEMBER 13
UNDOCUMENTED LIVES – ARCHIVES OF ERASURE AND EMERGENCE – PUBLIC DISCUSSION AND DIALOGUE
7:15 pm • JOHN F. KENNEDY, JR., LIBRARY
This installation features material objects that undocumented immigrants brought with them to the U.S. as well as flash autobiographical narratives. Tonight, students involved in the installation will engage with community members about their work. Exhibit runs through December 2017.
Presented by the American Communities Program, and co-sponsored by Cross Cultural Centers; Latin American Studies; Center for the Study of Genders and Sexualities; MFA Program in Creative Writing and Literary Arts; College of Arts and Letters; John F. Kennedy, Jr. Library, Dr. Joseph A. Bailey, II, M.D.; University-Student Union; and student fees.
For more information, or to request accommodations for a disability, please contact Dr. Maria Karafilis, American Communities Program, at [email protected], or find us online at www.calstatela.edu/academic/al/acp/.
Nominal parking fee for off-campus guests.
AMERICAN COMMUNITIES PROGRAM
Spring 2017
THE HUMANITIES AND AMERICAN CULTURES: STAKES AND SPECIFICITIES
THURSDAY, FEBRUARY 23
CENTER FOR CONTEMPORARY POETRY AND POETICS PRESENT:
THE 2017 JEAN BURDEN READING FEATURING JOY HARJO
5:30 pm ● Golden Eagle Ballroom
3rd Floor ● Golden Eagle Building
Poet, musician, and storyteller Joy Harjo reads from her work. Harjo, a member of the Mvskoke Nation, has written seven books of poetry focusing on Native American issues and themes.
FRIDAY, MARCH 3
ASIA AND THE WORLD: POLITICS OF “ANGER AND HATE” – A DISCUSSION WITH AISHWARY KUMAR AND JEFFREY WASSERSTROM
10 am – 12 noon ● U-SU Theatre
1st Floor ● University-Student Union
Aishwary Kumar, Assistant Professor of Intellectual History at Stanford University, will explore the return of populism in world’s two largest democracies, India and the US, and its impact on the idea of citizenship on global scale. Jeffrey Wasserstrom, Chancellor's Professor of History at UC, Irvine, will discuss the role of China in contemporary global affairs.
TUESDAY, APRIL 4
ACP: NEW RESEARCH ON THE HISTORY OF CAL STATE LA
3 pm ● San Gabriel Room
3rd floor • University-Student Union
What do you know about the history of your own university? Discover the controversies, visions, and transformations that have shaped today's Cal State LA. Join us for a hands-on, interactive workshop led by History Department students, in cooperation with the University Library's Archive and Special Collections.
MONDAY, APRIL 17
ACP FELLOWS SYMPOSIUM
THE HUMANITIES AND AMERICAN CULTURES: STAKES AND SPECIFICITIES
1:40 pm • Alhambra Room
3rd floor • University-Student Union
Join us as the 2016-17 ACP Fellows, Dr. Jose Anguiano (CHLS and the Honors College), Dr. Andrew Knighton (English), and Dr. Priscilla Leiva (CHLS and History), share their research on this year’s ACP theme.
WEDNESDAY, APRIL 19
AN EVENING WITH MONQUE W. MORRIS, AUTHOR OF PUSHOUT
6:15 – 8 pm • Los Angeles Room
3rd floor • University-Student Union
Monique W. Morris, Ed.D. is an author and social justice scholar with more than 20 years of professional and volunteer experience in the areas of education, civil rights, juvenile and social justice. Dr. Morris is the author of Black Stats: African Americans by the Numbers in the Twenty-First Century (The New Press, 2014), Too Beautiful for Words (MWM Books, 2012); and Pushout: The Criminalization of Black Girls in Schools (The New Press, 2016).
THURSDAY, APRIL 20
ELECTION 2016: WHAT NOW?
4:30 pm • Los Angeles Room BC
3rd floor • University-Student Union
Join campus and community scholars, journalists, and activists as we discuss the current political climate and the future of American democracy and its political institutions. Speakers include Madeleine Brand, journalist and host of KCRW’s Press Play; Dr. Mark Sawyer, Political Scientist, UCLA; and Dr. Raphe Sonenshein, Executive Director of the Pat Brown Institute.
FRIDAY, APRIL 21 & SATURDAY, APRIL 22
THE FOUNDATION OF HEAVEN: THE GREAT TEMPLE OF TENOCHTITLAN
April 21, 11 am - 5:30 pm, Bing Theater, LACMA
April 22, 10 am – 7 pm, Golden Eagle Ballroom, Cal State LA
Join us for the 2017 Mesoamerican symposium, hosted by Cal State LA and Los Angeles Contemporary Museum of Art, as we bring together the most renowned scholars of the Aztec world to discuss new research on Aztec culture, art, and architecture. For more information, please visit www.calstatela.edu/arthistorysociety.
TUESDAY, MAY 2
AMERICAN COMMUNITIES PROGRAM PRESENTS:
EXPLORING THE STAKES OF CRITICAL INQUIRY
6:15 PM ● San Gabriel Room
3rd floor • University-Student Union
This panel, the fruition of the inaugural ACP Working Group Fellowship, explores implications of critical inquiry at the interface between the humanities and the sciences. Explore the value of humanities-based critical inquiry in investigating four key themes that undergird epistemological authority: fact, number, objectivity, and the boundary between nature and the human.
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I am happy to share the American Communities Program’s Fall 2016 Calendar of events. Faculty are encouraged to bring classes to any or all programs. Please contact me if you would like to do so in order to ensure adequate space ([email protected]).
AMERICAN COMMUNITIES PROGRAM
Fall 2016
THE HUMANITIES AND AMERICAN CULTURES: STAKES AND SPECIFICITIES
TUESDAY, SEPTEMBER 13
THEORIZING THE HUMANITIES: STAKES AND SPECIFICITIES
12:15 pm • San Gabriel Room
3rd floor • University-Student Union
Join us as the 2016-2017 fellows, Dr. José Anguiano (CHLS and the Honors College), Dr. Andrew Knighton (English), and Dr. Priscilla Leiva (CHLS and History) examine the ACP theme, THE HUMANITIES AND AMERICAN CULTURES: STAKES AND SPECIFICITIES, and its implications for understanding American communities and cultures.
THURSDAY, SEPTEMBER 15
GET READY TO VOTE: ELECTION 2016
6:15 pm ● Golden Eagle Ballroom
3RD floor • Golden Eagle Building
Join scholars, journalists, and political strategists for an interactive roundtable to discuss the issues and implications of the 2016 election.
WEDNESDAY, OCTOBER 5
ENRIQUE’S JOURNEY: AN EVENING WITH SONIA NAZARIO
6:15 pm • Golden Eagle Ballroom
3rd Floor • Golden Eagle Building
We welcome Sonia Nazario, Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist and activist, whose work incisively explores some the most urgent problems in the U.S., including hunger, drug addiction, and immigration. Join us as she discusses contemporary immigration issues and her best-known piece, Enrique’s Journey, the powerful story of a Honduran boy’s struggle to find his mother in the U.S.
THURSDAY, OCTOBER 6
INDEPENDENT VISIONS: WHICH WAY HOME
6:15 pm • U-SU Theatre
1st Floor • University-Student Union
Which Way Home shows the personal side of immigration through the eyes of children who face harrowing dangers with enormous courage and resourcefulness as they endeavor to make it to the United States. Directed by Rebecca Cammisa, 2010, 83 minutes.
FRIDAY, NOVEMBER 11 – SUNDAY, NOVEMBER 13
ARCHIVES, LIBRARIES, PROPERTIES
PACIFIC ANCIENT AND MODERN LANGUAGE ASSOCIATION CONFERENCE
Westin Pasadena
Please come to hear scholars share their latest research at the 2016 PAMLA conference, co-hosted by the Department of English at Cal State LA. For more information, see www.pamla.org.
FRIDAY, NOVEMBER 11 – MONDAY, NOVEMBER 14
CHINESE/AMERICAN ASSOCIATION FOR POETRY AND POETICS
Cal State LA Downtown Campus and Sheraton Los Angeles Downtown LA
Chinese and U.S. poets and scholars share their latest work on poetry and poetics. Contact Dr. Maria Karafilis, director, American Communities Program at [email protected] or Dr. Lauri Ramey, director, Center for Contemporary Poetry and Poetics at [email protected], for more information.
Presented by the American Communities Program, and co-sponsored by Cross Cultural Centers, College of Arts and Letters; The Honors College; Center for the Study of Genders and Sexualities; Center for Contemporary Poetry and Poetics; English; History; Latin American Studies; Political Science; Dr. Joseph A. Bailey, II, M.D.; University-Student Union; and student fees.
For more information, or to request accommodations for a disability, please call Dr. Maria Karafilis, American Communities Program, at (323) 343-4140, or find us online at www.calstatela.edu/academic/al/acp/.
Nominal parking fee for off-campus guests.
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ACP Programs Schedule: The Biological Century
Fall 2014
Tuesday, OCTOBER 21 ACP FELLOWS COLLOQUIUM: EXPLORING "BIOPOLITICS" 1:30 pm • San Gabriel Room 3rd floor • University-Student UnionThe 2014-2015 ACP Fellows – Dr. Pablo Baler (Modern Languages and Literatures), Dr. Cheryl Koos (History), and Dr. Paola Marin (Modern Languages and Literatures) – discuss biopolitical themes. What happens when life itself is socially regulated, and even scientifically produced? How is our world shaped by the governmental oversight of health, mortality, sexuality, and mobility? The fellows will explore a range of emergent political, ethical, and aesthetic questions confronting us in what has been called the “biological century.”
Thursday, OCTOBER 30 INDEPENDENT VISIONS: HEAVEN + EARTH + JOE DAVIS 6:15 pm • U-SU Theatre 1st Floor • University-Student UnionWhy would someone want to encode poetry into the eyes of a fly, fish for paramecium, or send transgenic organisms into outer space? The projects of artist Joe Davis can seem fantastical, impossible, even ill-advised. But this documentary’s deeper look into his work reveals a hidden logic that is surprising and contagious - more philosophy than art. Discussion with director Peter Sasowsky follows. 2010, 90 minutes.
Friday, OCTOBER 31 THE ACP THEORY INCUBATOR PRESENTS: BIOPOLITICAL AFTERLIVES 9:30 am – 5 pm • Alhambra Room 3rd floor • University-Student UnionSince the 1970s, when Michel Foucault first engaged with the idea of biopolitics, generations of scholars have responded to his interest in how the biological lives of whole populations are governed by modern forms of political, corporeal, and statistical regulation. Join ACP and an array of distinguished scholars from around the nation as we frame our 2014-2015 theme, “The Biological Century,” with a day-long symposium evaluating the current state of biopolitical inquiry and experimenting with future theoretical directions.
ACP Programs Schedule: Being in Common
ACP Programs Schedule: Being in Common
Winter 2013
HAITIAN HISTORY – OUT OF THE SHADOWS
Monday, January 14 • 3:15-4:15 pm • King Hall C4065
Why was the Haitian Revolution forgotten for so long by Americans? Why has scholarship on the Revolution increased so dramatically since the 1990s? This talk by Dr. Alyssa Sepinwall (Department of History, CSU-San Marcos) will examine changing scholarly views of Haiti’s revolutionary history in recent years, focusing particularly on analyses of American-Haitian interactions since the eighteenth century. Presented in conjunction with the Cal State LA Department of History Lecture Series.
barrio spaces, Historic places:
preserving the heritage of east los angeles
Thursday, January 24 • 6 pm • Alhambra Room
3rd floor • University-Student Union
The City of Los Angeles is known for the vibrant cultural heritage of its many neighborhoods and districts. The Eastside Heritage Consortium (EHC) has come together to preserve and advocate for the historic and cultural resources of the Eastside of Los Angeles and to engage a diverse public in fostering a deeper understanding of our communities. This panel explores the emergence, work, achievements, and future of the Consortium, as it strives to preserve the vibrant cultural heritage of East LA.
POETRY, PRACTICE, POLITICS – A READING AND CONVERSATION
Saturday, February 9 • 7:30 pm • ACP Pop-up, at the Pop-Hop Bookstore, Highland Park • 5002 York Blvd., Los Angeles, 90042
Join Cal State LA’s Andrea Quaid (English) in welcoming an array of cutting-edge Los Angeleno poets, each confronting the challenge of responding poetically to the question of what it means to be in common with others. Their readings will be followed by discussion and a reception, and will unfold at the Pop-Hop Bookstore as part of the NELA Second Saturday Gallery Night in Highland Park. Call ACP Director Dr. Andrew Knighton (323-343-4164) for more program information.
GAGA FEMINISM: SEX, GENDER, AND THE END OF NORMAL – AN EVENING WITH J. JACK HALBERSTAM
Thursday, February 27 • 6:15 pm • Los Angeles Room, 3rd Floor • University-Student Union
Join us for a riveting keynote address and discussion with J. Jack Halberstam, author of Gaga Feminism: Sex, Gender, and the End of Normal. The book, a roadmap to sex and gender for the twenty-first century, uses Lady Gaga as a symbol for a new kind of feminism, exploring questions – why are so many women single, so many men resisting marriage, and so many gays and lesbians having babies? – that make sense of the tectonic cultural shifts that have transformed gender and sexual politics in the last few decades.
Independent Visions:
vocabulary of change: in conversation with angela davis and tim wise
Thursday, March 7 • 6:15 pm • U-SU Theatre
1st floor • University-Student Union
Angela Davis and Tim Wise, two leading racial and social justice scholar-activists, engage in a rare, unscripted, and free range conversation on the state of contemporary politics, our culture’s uncritical embrace of pervasive individualism, the myth of meritocracy, and entrenched institutional inequality. Directed by Victor Lee Lewis, 2012, 78 minutes.
ACP Calendar
Fall 2012
BEING IN COMMON
THINKING IN COMMON: ACP FELLOWS COLLOQUIUM
Wednesday, October 10, 4:20-6:00 pm, Alhambra Room, University-Student Union
The 2012-2013 ACP Fellows – Dr. Sara Pugach (History), Dr. Bidhan Roy (English), and Dr. Aaron Sonnenschein (English) – discuss how their work is informed by recent scholarly theories of “the commons,” including the ideas advanced by Michael Hardt and Antonio Negri in Commonwealth. Join the fellows as they explore how our increasingly global community requires that we come to understand life as fundamentally shared with others.
THE 2012 ELECTION AND THE STATE OF OUR DEMOCRACY
Monday, October 15, 6:15pm, U-SU Theater, University-Student Union
Join political strategists, journalists, and academics to discuss the prevailing themes and trends that define this season’s electoral battles, and how they reflect the changing dynamics of American democracy. Participants include strategists Darry Sragow and Allan Hoffenblum, USC’s Ange-Marie Hancock, and Cal State LA's Gar Culbert.
INDEPENDENT VISIONS: CATASTROIKA
Thursday, November 1, 6:15 pm, U-SU Theatre, University-Student Union
The critically lauded creators of Debtocracy return with the 2012 documentary Catastroika, an investigation into the shifting of state resources into private hands. Focusing on the effects of the current European debt crisis, the film includes commentary from Naomi Klein, Slavoj Zizek, and other experts on contemporary capitalism. Discussion with cultural theorist Dr. Brynnar Swenson (Butler University) to follow. Directed by Aris Chatzistefanou and Katerina Kitidi, 2012, 90 minutes.
SPRING 2011
Intersectionality: Origins and Possibilities
Tuesday, April 5 at 6:15 pm
Los Angeles Room, 3rd floor, University-Student Union
In anticipation of Professor Kimberlé Crenshaw’s lecture on Thursday, April 14, we will offer an accessible account of the origins of this metaphor in Black feminist thought, as well as its unrealized implications for social movements.
Thursday, April 14, 1:30pm
Alhambra Room, 3rd Floor, University Student Union
A lecture by Dr. Martin Schiesl, Professor Emeritus of History, Cal State LA. This lecture will explore the successful efforts of Gov. Pat Brown to prohibit racial discrimination in private employment, housing, and state government.
An Evening with Kimberlé Crenshaw
Racing to Post-Racialism: Critical Race Theory, Constitutional Law, and Sustaining Communities
Thursday, April 14 at 6:15 pm
Los Angeles Room, 3rd floor, University-Student Union
Join us for a distinguished lecture and discussion by Kimberlé Crenshaw, Professor of Law at UCLA and Columbia Law School. Crenshaw is a leading authority in the area of Civil Rights; Black feminist legal theory; and race, racism and the law. Her articles have appeared in the Harvard Law Review, National Black Law Journal, Stanford Law Review and Southern California Law Review. A specialist on race and gender equality, she has facilitated workshops for human rights activists in Brazil and in India, and for constitutional court judges in South Africa. Reception to follow.
Mediating Environments
Wednesday, April 27 at 3:30 pm
Los Angeles Room, 3rd floor, University-Student Union
Join us as scholars, artists, and journalists examine the role of media in contemporary environmental relations as they discuss such questions as: How and to what ends is environment represented in different media? How do such representations contribute to changes in built and wild environments? What are the uses of such representations in sustaining communities? How do they enable and/or hinder the spatial practices that may occur within them? Reception to follow.
Scheduled to Appear: Rebeca Mendez, Media and Design, UCLA
Rick Nahmais, Photographer
Steven Rousso-Schindler, Anthropology, CSU Long Beach
Sharon Sharp, Communication Studies, CSU Dominguez Hills
Kate Sullivan, Anthropology, Cal State LA
Change in the Middle East and US Responses: Promises, Pitfalls, and Possibilities
Tuesday, May 3, 1:30-3pm
Los Angeles Room, 3rd Floor, University-Student Union
Reception to Follow
Join us as scholars, activists, and journalists explore the unique political, social, religious, and economic forces prompting the recent uprisings; the roles of youth, women, and new media in the events; and the implications for US policy.
Scheduled to appear: Dr. Emily Acevedo, Political Science, Cal State LA
Dr. Atef Laouyene, English, Cal State LA and blogger
Mike Shuster, Broadcast Journalist, NPR
Najeeba Syeed-Miller, Claremont School of Theology.
Moderator: Jon Beaupre
American Communities Program Symposium
Sustainability and Sustaining Communities
Tuesday, May 10 at 1:30 pm
Los Angeles Room AB, 3rd floor, University-Student Union
Join us as the 2010-2011 ACP Fellows share their current research. Reception to follow.
Rob DeChaine, Liberal Studies, "Humanitarian Conscience and Corporate Power: Sustainability, Community Partnership, and the Rhetoric of Corporate Social Responsibility"
Kate Sullivan, Anthropology, “Reconfiguring Marine Environments: Narrative and Spatial Practices”
WINTER 2011
The Role and Practice of the Artist in Society
Saturday, January 22 at 6pm
U-SU Theater, 1st Floor
Join us for a lecture by Dr. Peter Lukehart, Center for Advanced Studies in the Visual Arts, National Gallery of Art (Washington, DC).
Sustaining Communities: Forging Collective Memories
Monday, January 31, 4:30 pm
Theater, 1st floor, University-Student Union
Join scholars, cultural theorists, and artists as they explore the ways and rituals through which specific communities are performed, remembered, memorialized, and narrativized. Speakers include:
- Elizabeth Chin, Anthropology & Critical Theory and Social Justice, Occidental College
- David Delgado Shorter, Anthropology, University of California Los Angeles
- Kianga Ford, Sound Artist, The Story of This Place, a site-specific project that explores relationships between physical and cultural proximity
- Ari Kletzky, Artist, CalArts, Islands of LA, an exploration of the use and availability of traffic islands as public space to foster discussion and create community
ACP Works-in-Progress Colloquium
“Forced Disappearance, State Terror, and Traumatic Memory”
Tuesday, February 15, 1:30 pm, King Hall D 4050
Join us as Cal State LA professors Dr. Gabriela Fried Amilivia, Department of Sociology, and Dr. Angela Vergara, Department of History, share their current research.
Jails Are Not Homes: Transforming Skid Row
Monday, February 28, 4:30 pm
U-SU Theatre, 1st floor, University-Student Union
Join us for a compelling multimedia presentation on the campaign to build a sustainable community in the downtown Los Angeles community of Center City East (Skid Row). Residents and activists associated with the Los Angeles Community Action Network (LA CAN) will present their stories, poems, and short films on the resilience of residents in the face of economic recession, homelessness, displacement policies, and negative media representations. This event is made possible by the generosity of Dr. Joseph A. Bailey II .
FALL 2010
LATINO BOOK AND FAMILY FESTIVAL
Saturday, October 9 and Sunday, October 10, Greenlee Plaza, Cal State LA
Join us for a two-day celebration of literacy, Latino/a authors, and family fun. Events include panel discussions, children's stage and story time, and readings by acclaimed and bestselling authors. For more information and specific event locations, see www.lbff.us.
WHAT IS SUSTAINABILITY?
Wednesday, October 20, 4:30pm, Los Angeles Room, U-SU
Join us for a conversation that explores how various scholars, environmentalists, and community activists define sustainability--its ethics and economics—as well as trace the effects of sustainability initiatives on particular communities. RECEPTION TO FOLLOW.
Scheduled to appear:
Moderator: Kate Sullivan, Anthropology, Cal State LA
Participants: Timothy Brick, Metropolitan Water District
Rob Dechaine, Liberal Studies, Cal State LA
Adriene Hill, Sustainability Desk, Marketplace, NPR
Denise Lawrence, Center for Regenerative Studies, Cal Poly Pomona
Stephanie Smith, Founder, Ecoshack
CALIFORNIA AND BEYOND: 2010 ELECTION ROUNDTABLE
Tuesday, October 26, 4:30pm, Los Angeles Room, U-SU
Join us for an engaging and informative discussion as scholars, journalists, and community activists share their perspectives on a variety of issues related to the November 2 elections, including the gubernatorial and senate races, President Obama’s agenda at the midterm, and the legalization of marijuana. RECEPTION TO FOLLOW.
Scheduled to appear:
Moderator: Chris Endy, History, Cal State LA
Participants: Madeleine Brand, NPR
Allan Hoffenblum, Publisher, California Target Book, and Republican
Political Strategist
Nadine Koch, Political Science, Cal State LA
Darry Sragow, Democratic Political Strategist, USC/LA Times Opinion Poll
COLORBLIND: THE RISE OF POST-RACIAL POLITICS
AN AFTERNOON WITH TIM WISE
Wednesday, November 10, 5pm, Los Angeles Room
Tim Wise, one of the most prominent and sought-after social commentators, explores the notion of a colorblind society, unpacks white privilege, and analyzes US politics in the age of Obama. His most recent book is Colorblind: The Rise of Post-Racial Politics and the Retreat from Racial Equity. RECEPTION TO FOLLOW. This event is made possible by the generosity of Dr. Joseph A. Bailey II .
OXFAM AMERICA HUNGER BANQUET (5pm)
SCREENING OF FOOD, INC. (6:15pm)
Thursday, November 18, Los Angeles Room
Join us for Cal State LA’s first-ever Hunger Banquet, an interactive simulation of global economics that brings to life the inequalities related to food, hunger, shelter, and personal income, and allows participants to experience how their decisions affect others in the world. The banquet will be followed immediately by a screening of the award-winning documentary, Food, Inc. (Directed by Robert Kenner and Eric Schlosser, 2008, 91 minutes).
SPRING 2010
THE END WAS NEAR: LOS ANGELES AND NATIONAL DECLINE BETWEEN WATTS AND WATERGATE
Saturday, April 24 at 10:30am
U-SU Theater
Dr. Eric Avila, Professor of Chicano Studies, History, and Urban Planning at UCLA, discusses the ways in which Los Angeles inspired a set of cultural adventures into the dark side of human experience and consciousness between 1965-1974.
LA NOIR/ORANGE COUNTY NOIR: A FICTIONAL EXPLORATION
Monday, May 3 at 6pm
Alhambra Room, U-SU
Join us for tales of crime, passion, and betrayal in Los Angeles and Orange County as authors Mary Castillo, Denise Hamilton, Gary Phillips, and Jervey Tervalon share their contributions to LA Noir and Orange County Noir anthologies.
STATE OF PUBLIC EDUCATION IN THE STATE: A ROUNDTABLE ON PRESERVING ACCESS AND QUALITY IN CALIFORNIA
Thursday, May 6, 4:30-7pm
San Gabriel Room, U-SU
Reception to Follow
Join us for a roundtable discussion of the challenges and possibilities facing public education in California. Seating is limited. Please arrive early. Scheduled to appear:
Steve Zimmer, LAUSD Board Member
Lillian Taiz, President, California Faculty Association, and Professor of History, Cal State LA
Henry Perez, Inner-City Struggle
Veronica Plascencia, Teresa Hughes Elementary/Magnet School, LAUSD
Moderators: Alejandra Marchevsky, Liberal Studies, and Jennifer McCormick, Charter College of Education, Cal State LA
BORDER KNOWLEDGES: A CONVERSATION WITH TRACY WILKINSON, L.A. TIMES MEXICO BUREAU CHIEF
Wednesday, May 12 at 6:30pm
Theater, First Floor
, U-SU
Reception to Follow
Dr. Enrique Ochoa (Professor of History and Latin American Studies, Cal State LA) will moderate a conversation with Ms. Wilkinson about drug, gun, and human trafficking and their reportage.
WINTER 2010
LEIMERT PARK
FILM SCREENING
Thursday, January 28 at 6:15 PM
U-SU Theatre
Join us to view this compelling documentary on the African-American arts/writing movement centered in this South Los Angeles neighborhood. This event is made possible by the generosity of Dr. Joseph A. Bailey II .
ACP WORKS-IN-PROGRESS COLLOQUIUM: "SCIENCE AND NARRATIVE IN SCIENCE FICTION"
Tuesday, February 9 at 3:30 PM
Engineering and Technology, Wing A, Room 631
Join us as Cal State LA professors share their current research. Patrick Sharp, Cal State LA Department of Liberal Studies, will speak on "Genre and Evolution in Early Science Fiction" and Kate Sullivan, Cal State LA Department of Anthropology, will speak on “The Science of Origins in the New Battlestar Galactica.”
MEMORIES OF SURVIVAL, THE HOLOCAUST, AND SCHINDLER’S LIST:
AN EVENING WITH LEON LEYSON
Wednesday, February 24 at 6 PM
Los Angeles Room, U-SU
Reception to Follow
Join us as Leon Leyson (Cal State LA ’58), the last surviving person rescued by Oskar Schindler, the German industrialist credited with saving more than 1,200 Jews during the Holocaust, recounts his experiences of persecution and survival. Mr. Leyson is a renowned Holocaust educator and will be speaking on the past as well as its impact on the present.
FALL 2009
Los Angeles Latino Book and Family Festival
October 10-11
Greenlee Plaza
Cal State LA
Join us for a two-day celebration of literacy, Latino authors, and family fun. Events include panel discussions, children's stage and storytime, and readings by dozens of acclaimed authors. For more information and specific event locations, see www.lbff.us or email Dr. Maria Karafilis at [email protected].
Paper Fortunes: American Literature's Investment in Liquidity
ACP Works-in-Progress Colloquium with Dr. Andrew Knighton
Wednesday, October 21, 3:30-4:30pm
Engineering and Technology Building, Wing A, Room 631
Join us as Dr. Knighton (Department of English) shares his current research on economic theory, literary studies, and aesthetics.
New Technologies, New Media, and Knowledge: A Roundtable Discussion
Wednesday, November 18, 6pm
Reception to Follow
Room TBA
Join us as award-winning journalists, bloggers, and scholars discuss how new media and technologies affect the ways that we generate and disseminate knowledge about ourselves as well as local and global communities. Scheduled to appear: Madeleine Brand (broadcast journalist, NPR); Megan Garvey (LA Times, co-founder of the Mapping LA project); Dr. Kavita Philip (Department of Anthropology, UC Irvine, and specialist on New Technologies Theory and Women's Studies); Raquel Hunter (blogger, Mama's Health); and Dr. Jon Beaupre (Professor of Communication Studies and radio host, KPPC).
SPRING 2009
Graffiti Report: Debating Public Art in Los Angeles
An ACP Works-in-Progress Colloquium with Professor Victor Viesca
Tuesday, April 14, 3:30-4:30 pm
Integrated Humanities Center, KH D4050
Victor Viesca, Department of Liberal Studies, share his latest research.
Barack Obama’s First 100 Days: A Roundtable Discussion
Wednesday, May 6, 3:30-5:30 pm
Los Angeles Room AB, 3rd floor, University-Student Union
Join journalists, scholars, and community members as we discuss the early days and possible futures of the Obama Administration. Panel includes commentary by Dr. Melina Abdullah (Pan African Studies), Erin Aubrey-Kaplan (L.A. Times), Madeleine Brand (broadcast journalist), and Dr. Philip Romero (Dean, Business and Economics). This event is made possible by the generosity of Dr. Joseph A. Bailey II .
Political Affect and Political Effect: Rhetoric, Representation, and Responsibility
The American Communities Program Spring Symposium
Thursday, May 14, 3:30-5:00 pm
Alhambra Room, 3rd floor, University-Student Union
Join us as the 2008-09 ACP Fellows share their research:
- Dr. Manuel Aguilar-Moreno (Art), “Walls of Passion: The Murals of Los Angeles”
- Dr. Beth Baker-Cristales (Anthropology), “Black and Brown in Black and White: the Los Angeles Sentinel on Latinos and Immigration”
- Dr. Andrew Knighton (English), “Speaking Volumes: The Syntax of American Utopianism in Public Library Architecture”
This event is made possible by the generosity of Dr. Joseph A. Bailey II .
Roundtable: Musical Theatre as Social Commentary
Opening Night: Urinetown
Friday, May 15
Roundtable: 6:00 p.m.
Performance: 8:00 pm
State Playhouse, 1st floor, Music Building
Reception to Follow
This roundtable features actors, writers, and directors of musical theater, along with activists and scholars, to discuss the genre's increasing engagement with social and political issues. The roundtable will be followed by the opening-night performance of Cal State LA's production of Urinetown, an award-winning musical satire that enjoyed a multiyear run on Broadway. Urinetown examines capitalism and corruption in a city short on water, and the setting of this production evokes contemporary Los Angeles. A limited number of reduced-price tickets for the performance will be available. For more information, contact Dr. Maria Karafilis at [email protected].
A Cure for Color-Blindness: Why Anti-Racism Matters Now
A Conversation with Dr. George Lipsitz
Thursday, May 21 at 6 pm
Reception to Follow
U-SU Theatre, 1st floor, University-Student Union
Dr. George Lipsitz, Department of Black Studies at UC Santa Barbara, discusses why “post-racial” is not synonymous with the end of racism in the United States. This event is made possible by the generosity of Dr. Joseph A. Bailey II .
WINTER 2009
MADE IN LA
THURSDAY, JANUARY 15, 6:15 PM, U-SU THEATER, ROOM 106
THROUGH THE VOICES OF THREE GARMENT WORKERS, THIS AWARD-WINNING DOCUMENTARY EXAMINES IMMIGRATION, LABOR, AND CONSUMER CHOICES IN THE LOS ANGELES GARMENT INDUSTRY. THE FILMMAKER, ALMUDENA CARRACEDO, WILL BE PRESENT TO DISCUSS THE FILM.
Walls of Passion: The Murals of Los Angeles
Opening Reception and Colloquium
Saturday, January 31, 6-10pm
Exhibit
Saturday, January 31-Saturday, February 28
Fine Arts Gallery, First Floor, Fine Arts Building
The colloquium, opening reception, and exhibit feature scholars and mural artists discussing the cultural and political meanings behind the formal and informal murals designed in Los Angeles.
The Multicultural History of Boyle Heights: A Lecture by Dr. George Sanchez
Thursday, February 12, 6pm, Los Angeles Room, 3rd floor, U-SU, Room 308A
Dr. George Sanchez, Professor of History and American Studies & Ethnicity at USC, explores the racial, ethnic, class, and religious diversity and history of the Boyle Heights neighborhood of Los Angeles. This event is made possible by the generosity of Dr. Joseph A. Bailey II .
Building Communities: Public Scholarship Across the Disciplines
Friday, February 13, 8:30am-12pm, Cal State LA University Club.
This colloquium on community-based learning explores the intersections of scholarship and civic service. RSVP required. Please contact Dr. Maria Karafilis, Acting Director of the ACP, for more information.
National Self Determination and Global Justice: An ACP Works-in-Progress Colloquium with Dr. Mohammed Abed
Wednesday, February 18, 3:30pm, Integrated Humanities Center, King Hall D4050
Dr. Abed, Department of Philosophy at Cal State LA, shares his current research. Please contact Dr. Maria Karafilis, Acting Director of the ACP, to obtain a copy of the work presented beforehand.
FALL 2008
Wednesday, October 8, 6 pm, Alhambra Room, 3rd floor, University-Student Union, Room 305
STATE OF MARRIAGE IN THE STATE: A ROUNDTABLE ON THE INITIATIVE TO BAN SAME-SEX MARRIAGE IN CALIFORNIA
Thursday, October 16, 3:30 pm, Los Angeles Room A, 3rd floor, University-Student Union, Room 308
BARACK OBAMA AND LINCOLN’S LEGACY
On the eve of Abraham Lincoln’s bicentennial, this roundtable examines his legacy and the ways in which it informs and is mobilized by the presidential candidacy of Barack Obama. This event is made possible by the generosity of Dr. Joseph A. Bailey II .
Wednesday, October 22, 2008 8:00 PM, State Playhouse, Cal State LA
SONGS OF PROTEST
Original musical compositions inspired by the current political climate. Music director: John M. Kennedy. Performances by Cal State LA Faculty Artists, the Cal State LA Concert Choir, the Cal State LA Chamber Singers, and student and alumni instrumentalists.
Wednesday, November 12, 3:30 pm, Integrated Humanities Center, 4th floor, King Hall D4050
MARKERS OF MASCULINITY IN AMERICAN CINEMA: AN AMERICAN COMMUNITIES PROGRAM WORKS-IN-PROGRESS COLLOQUIUM WITH DR. MEL DONALSON
Dr. Mel Donalson, Department of English at Cal State L.A., will share his current research on the markers of masculinity in American Cinema. This event is made possible by the generosity of Dr. Joseph A. Bailey II .
SPRING 2008
April 10, 6:15pm, Cross-Cultural Centers
Screening of Watermelon Woman followed by Q&A with the award-winning director, Cheryl Dunye. This event is made possible by the generosity of Dr. Joseph A. Bailey II .
April 17, 3:30pm, IHC
Works in Progress Colloquium
Dr. Richard Wearn, Department of Art, “RELATIONAL AESTHETICS AND THE TEACHING OF ART”
May 7, 1:30-4:30pm, Library Conference Room and Garden Patio
ACP Spring Symposium
Narrating Communities: Stories, Spaces, and Selves
Presenters: Dr. Marilyn Elkins (English), Dr. Alejandra Marchevsky (Liberal Studies), and Dr. Suzanne Regan (Communication Studies)
reception to follow
WINTER 2008
February 7, 1:30pm, IHC (KHD4050)
Works in Progress Colloquium
Dr. Andrew Knighton, Department of English, “HOLLYWOOD PANORAMATICS: NATHANAEL WEST'S BAROQUE MODERNITY”
March 5, 3:30pm, IHC
Works in Progress Colloquium
Dr. Talia Bettcher, Department of Philosophy, “TRANS IDENTITIES AND FIRST-PERSON AUTHORITY”