MultiEthnic Alliances

Friday, May 12, 2006 to Saturday, May 13, 2006
 

A Conversation for the 21st Century
Black Studies brings together ethnic studies scholars within and beyond UCSB for two-day discussion

The Center for Black Studies Research and the Department of Black Studies hosted a two-day symposium to discuss the future of ethnic studies on the 21st century university campus. The event was co-hosted by Asian American Studies, the Department of Chicana/o Studies, and the Center for Chicano Studies.
The MultiEthnic Alliances symposium brought together and enthusiastic group of professors and scholars from various ethnic studies programs to focus on new scholarly paradigms which acknowledge the inextricability of ethnicity from issues of (im)migration, class, health, education, and gender studies. The event was designed so participants would have the opportunity to present new research and experiences during a series of panel discussions, and then to encourage the exchange of ideas by creating ample opportunities for response and conversation.
Symposium speakers included, from UCSB, Dean Melvin Oliver, Gerardo Aldana, Edwina Barvosa-Carter, LeGrace Benson, Grace Chang, Reginald Daniel, Douglas H. Daniels, Anna Everett, Diane Fujino, Maria Herrera- Sobek, Guisela Latorre, James Lee, Nelson Lichtenstein, George Lipsitz, Claudine Michel, Mireille Miller-Young, John Park, Chela Sandoval, Kaia Stern, Roberto Strongman, Howard Winant, Clyde Woods, and Xiaojian Zhao. Speakers from outside UCSB included Lisa Cacho (U. Illinois Urbana-Champaign), Nadège Clitandre (UC Berkeley), Rosa Linda Fregoso (UC Santa Cruz), Nelson Maldonado- Torres (UC Berkeley), Elizabeth McAlister (Wesleyan University), Viet Nguyen (USC), Laura Perez (UC Berkeley), Tricia Rose (UC Santa Cruz), Lucia Suarez (University of Michigan), Ula Taylor (UC Berkeley), João H. Costa Vargas (U. Texas at Austin), and Raul Villa (Occidental College).
On Sunday, Professor George Lipsitz coordinated a graduate student panel during which emerging scholars of ethnic studies were able to present their research. Students included Felice Blake-Kleiven (UC Santa Cruz), Ricardo Guthrie (UC San Diego), Heidi Hoechst (UC San Diego), Paula Ioanide (UC Santa Cruz), Johari Jabir (UC Santa Barbara), Esther Lezra (UC Santa Cruz), Rashad Shabazz (UC Santa  Cruz), and Victor Viesca (CSU Los Angeles).
Toni Cade Bambara has written: “One’s got to see what the factory worker sees, what the prisoner sees, what the welfare children see, what the scholar sees, got to see what the ruling class mythmakers see as well, in order to tell the truth and not get trapped.” Our opportunity is to represent and document these multiple—frequently overlapping and conflicting—perspectives. As the communities we represent experience complex ethnic and cultural reshifting, growing struggles for recognition and social justice, and challenges to established identities, our role as scholars must reflect new responsibilities and levels of engagement. Ethnic studies scholars have made a commitment to serve as a bridge between these historically marginalized communities.
The event offered new opportunities for interdisciplinary, intercampus collaborations. All the panels and discussions during this free event were open to the public. The event was filmed for distribution to UCTV.