Book Talk: Empire’s Mistress: Gender, Sex, and Imperial Intimacies
Jan
16
4:00 PM16:00

Book Talk: Empire’s Mistress: Gender, Sex, and Imperial Intimacies

How does attention to the intimate help us understand the gendered and sexualized dynamics of empire, and the ways in which they continue to shape how we tell our stories in the present? Empire’s Mistress pieces together the life story of Isabel Rosario Cooper, a mixed-race vaudeville and early cinema star in Manila who became infamous for her liaison with General Douglas MacArthur during the height of American colonialism in the Philippines. It tracks the mobilities and relationships generated by the United States’ desire for the Philippine archipelago—and the ways in which colonized subjects—particularly women—turned those to their own advantage. The scattered and ephemeral archive of “women like her” whose cosmopolitan itineraries ranged from Manila, to Washington, D.C., and Hollywood, outline a life lived on the edges of power but always at the center of imperial desire. 

Vernadette Vicuña Gonzalez is Professor of Ethnic Studies and Asian American and Asian Diaspora Studies at the University of California, Berkeley. She is the author of Empire’s Mistress, Starring Isabel Rosario Cooper and Securing Paradise: Tourism and Militarism in Hawai‘i and the Philippines. She is co-editor of Detours: A Decolonial Guide to Hawai’i (and the Duke University Press decolonial guide series) and the forthcoming Bangtan Remixed: A Critical BTS Reader.

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Seminar: Toward a Theory of Hospitality
Jan
17
10:00 AM10:00

Seminar: Toward a Theory of Hospitality

How does attention to the intimate help us understand the gendered and sexualized dynamics of empire, and the ways in which they continue to shape how we tell our stories in the present? Empire’s Mistress pieces together the life story of Isabel Rosario Cooper, a mixed-race vaudeville and early cinema star in Manila who became infamous for her liaison with General Douglas MacArthur during the height of American colonialism in the Philippines. It tracks the mobilities and relationships generated by the United States’ desire for the Philippine archipelago—and the ways in which colonized subjects—particularly women—turned those to their own advantage. The scattered and ephemeral archive of “women like her” whose cosmopolitan itineraries ranged from Manila, to Washington, D.C., and Hollywood, outline a life lived on the edges of power but always at the center of imperial desire. 

Vernadette Vicuña Gonzalez is Professor of Ethnic Studies and Asian American and Asian Diaspora Studies at the University of California, Berkeley. She is the author of Empire’s Mistress, Starring Isabel Rosario Cooper and Securing Paradise: Tourism and Militarism in Hawai‘i and the Philippines. She is co-editor of Detours: A Decolonial Guide to Hawai’i (and the Duke University Press decolonial guide series) and the forthcoming Bangtan Remixed: A Critical BTS Reader.

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Martial Law Interrupted: Views from South Korea
Dec
8
4:00 PM16:00

Martial Law Interrupted: Views from South Korea

This conversation brings together labor organizers, opposition politicians, scholars, and peace activists from South Korea to discuss the extraordinary attempt by President Yoon Seok-yeol to impose martial law on South Korea, a key U.S. ally. What are the structural conditions that enabled Yoon to declare martial law? Why is martial law in South Korea not assuredly a thing of the past? Even as the political landscape has shifted since the Carter administration authorized the deployment of South Korean military forces against the people of Gwangju who rose up for democracy in 1980, what is the U.S. role in this unfurling saga? What lessons are to be drawn from the organized resistance of the South Korean people, and what lies ahead?

Please join us in a dynamic conversation, facilitated by Simone Chun, with Jeong-eun Hwang, Haeyoung Lee, Wol-san Liem, Daehan Song, and Sung-hee Choi.

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The Imperative to Refuse Psychic Intrusion in Palestine-Lebanon Solidarities
Nov
20
4:00 PM16:00

The Imperative to Refuse Psychic Intrusion in Palestine-Lebanon Solidarities

This talk will discuss the ways psychic intrusions are central features of settler colonial logics and how they are used with specific intent to disrupt solidarities. Palestine-Lebanon solidarities will be used as a "case study" to read the psycho-politico-affective forces that demobilize.

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PVUSD Candidate Forum
Sep
23
7:00 PM19:00

PVUSD Candidate Forum

Register Here: bit.ly/sept-freedomschool

Join us for an evening with the PVUSD Board Trustee candidates up for election this November.

A Question and Answer on:

  • Ethnic Studies

  • Student Empowerment

  • Measure M Funding Priorities

  • Accountability to Community

  • Democratic Process and Transparency in the Board

Featuring:

  • Carol Turley, Area 2

  • Gabriel Medina, Area 3

  • Jessica Carrasco, Area 6

  • Adam Scow, Area 6

  • Dr. Lourdes Barraza and Elias Gonzales, Panel Moderators

This Event is Sponsored By:

MILPA | UCSC Center for Racial Justice | Resource Center for Nonviolence | Pajaro Valley for Ethnic Studies and Justice

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Empire’s Mistress Book Talk and Seminar with Vernadette Gonzalez
May
23
4:00 PM16:00

Empire’s Mistress Book Talk and Seminar with Vernadette Gonzalez

Vernadette Vicuña Gonzalez is Professor of Ethnic Studies and Asian American and Asian Diaspora Studies at the University of California, Berkeley. She is the author of Empire’s Mistress, Starring Isabel Rosario Cooper and Securing Paradise: Tourism and Militarism in Hawai‘i and the Philippines. She is co-editor of Detours: A Decolonial Guide to Hawai’i (and the Duke University Press decolonial guide series) and the forthcoming Bangtan Remixed: A Critical BTS Reader

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SCB BLACK on Screen Film Series May Screening: The Taking of Harris Neck
May
21
6:00 PM18:00

SCB BLACK on Screen Film Series May Screening: The Taking of Harris Neck

This is a story of a land grab by the US Government in 1942. It is a story of racial injustice and resistance. 80 years later [the time of filming] the 2687 acres have still yet to be given back, as promised, to the descendants of the original owners, (deeded the land in 1865) Black people living in MacIntosh County, Harris Neck, GA 

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Ethnic Studies in PVUSD Community Town Hall
May
20
7:00 PM19:00

Ethnic Studies in PVUSD Community Town Hall

  • Landmark Elementary Multipurpose Room (map)
  • Google Calendar ICS

Register Here: http://bit.ly/pv4esj-townhall

Join us as we bring our Pajaro Valley Unified School District community together to educate and learn from one another on the current state of theEthnic Studies program, the Community Responsive Education contract, and to build a community rooted movement for justice and equity in PVUSD!

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Yosimar Reyes' One-Man Show "Prieto"
Apr
26
7:30 PM19:30

Yosimar Reyes' One-Man Show "Prieto"

Through the playful, lovably naive lens of an 8-year-old Reyes, Prieto tells the story of an overprotective grandmother who recycles bottles to support her family while her grandson wonders why they can't have money like his friends. It tells the story of chismosa vecinas (gossipy neighbors) who peek through their windows and watch as the neighborhood boys tease young Reyes for "acting like a girl." To escape from the taunting and the daily toil, Reyes creates an imaginary world for himself -- one made up of books and '90s R&B. Prieto saw its world premiere production at San Francisco's Brava Theater in October 2022. Now on tour with The Living Word Project, Prieto has seen productions at San Jose Theater, and Movimiento de Arte y Cultura Latino Americana (MACLA) in San Jose, CA. 

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Ethnic Studies as Political Education & Liberatory Practice
Apr
18
5:00 PM17:00

Ethnic Studies as Political Education & Liberatory Practice

In its emergence in the Cold War U.S. university, ethnic studies located itself in an international Third Worldist struggle for liberation from the shackles of imperialism. Grounded in revolutionary theory and committed to real-world action, it signaled a movement for education, in the proverbial belly of the beast, aimed at serving the broadest possible collective. Animated by the radical idea that education must serve communities, the Third World Liberation Front (TWLF) was part of a movement landscape that gave rise, under the rubric of community self-determination, to what might now be called mutual aid. What lessons can we draw from over half a century of ethnic studies struggle? 

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The First Amerasians Book Talk with Yuri Doolan
Feb
21
5:00 PM17:00

The First Amerasians Book Talk with Yuri Doolan

The First Amerasians tells the powerful, oftentimes heartbreaking story of how Americans created and used the concept of the Amerasian to remove thousands of mixed race children from their Korean mothers in US-occupied South Korea to adoptive American homes during the 1950s and 1960s. It explores the Cold War ideologies undergirding this so-called rescue and shows how the process of child removal and placement via US refugee and adoption laws profoundly shaped the lives of mixed race Koreans and their mothers.

Yuri W. Doolan is Assistant Professor of History and Women’s, Gender, and Sexuality Studies and inaugural Chair of Asian American and Pacific Islander Studies at Brandeis University. He is the author of The First Amerasians: Mixed Race Koreans from Camptowns to America (New York: Oxford University Press, 2024).

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Theorizing Ethnic Studies from Below and to the Left
Jan
18
5:00 PM17:00

Theorizing Ethnic Studies from Below and to the Left

During a time when ethnic studies is under highly coordinated, powerfully funded attack, this workshop focuses on the theoretical foundations of ethnic studies in order to clarify the stakes of the field as a socially transformative arena of thought and action. This workshop gives us an opportunity to collectively study theorizations of racism central to the field and to begin to consider the role of theory in the liberatory practices of ethnic studies. In small discussion groups, we will examine and analyze examples of ethnic studies theory from below and to the left.

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Revisiting the Third World Roots of Ethnic Studies
Dec
14
5:00 PM17:00

Revisiting the Third World Roots of Ethnic Studies

In a moment of broad statewide implementation of ethnic studies in response to AB 101, this workshop revisits the field's origins in the Third World Liberation Front (TWLF) struggles led by students at Bay Area universities. Among other questions, we will explore how returning to the roots of ethnic studies enables us to understand its relevance to anticolonial and anti-racist struggles today. We will ask: how was the internationalist concept of the "Third World" vital to the field's formation? Why did the state unleash war and police power against striking students? By delving into digital archives together, we will collectively examine select materials and discuss incorporating them into teaching, in both classrooms and community spaces.

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HSI Equity Talk: The Long Struggle for Critical Race and Ethnic Studies
Nov
30
1:30 PM13:30

HSI Equity Talk: The Long Struggle for Critical Race and Ethnic Studies

The HSI Equity Talks are a place for regular discussion on topics relevant to UCSC as a Hispanic-Serving Institution. We seek to engage speakers from across campus as we welcome the attendees to engage critically with the content presented at these talks. Together we will unpack complex topics centered on the praxis equity and servingness.

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Gender, Jeju Women, and the Reconstruction of post-4·3 Jeju
Nov
16
5:30 PM17:30

Gender, Jeju Women, and the Reconstruction of post-4·3 Jeju

In the wake of the Jeju 4.3 Uprising and the Korean War, the women of Jeju Island were molded into “Wise Mothers, Good Wives” in service to family and nation. Following the targeted decimation of men in Jeju through counterinsurgency massacres, women were enjoined to practice self-sacrifice, uphold Confucian morality, and assume economic roles as primary caretakers. How did this process of gender formation in the aftermath of war contribute to the broader process of South Korea national reconstruction? What aspects of post-war gender ideology did Jeju women resist? By interrogating these matters, this talk examines how Jeju women’s struggles shed light on the intertwined histories of militarization and gendered violence between Korea and the United States.

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Carmelina Figures and Virgil Kills: A Play Date, Match, and Conversation with Ronaldo V. Wilson
Nov
16
12:00 PM12:00

Carmelina Figures and Virgil Kills: A Play Date, Match, and Conversation with Ronaldo V. Wilson

  • UC Santa Cruz Merrill Cultural Center (map)
  • Google Calendar ICS

Ccccome to play across love, place, memory and form, with me and my Mom, Carmelina C. Wilson, who inspired my works Carmelina: Figures (Wendy's Subway, 2021) as she volleys much into Virgil Kills: Stories (Nightboat Books, 2022). Please bring a photograph of a younger you, your fave loved one, and/or a note, playing, or at play; and you're invited to add this to our "Live, Down the Line Collage of Beings," linking us ALL together through the space of the poetic line, sentence, paragraph, and picture. Get Ready to be where you are, and to play with us, all, together in our match of shared room/s, courts and fieldzzZ....!    –Ronaldo V. Wilson

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Community Defense Now: Fighting Academic Repression in Genocidal Times
Nov
16
9:00 AM09:00

Community Defense Now: Fighting Academic Repression in Genocidal Times

This urgent and timely event focuses on fighting the academic repression that is ramping up in concert with the Zionist genocide in Palestine. Join us this Thursday from 9am-11am PST on Zoom for a conversation between Isaac Kamola, Rana Jaleel, and Heather Steffen on countering fascistic criminalization of academic speech and strategizing around community defense and anti-repression. This event is sponsored by the UC Ethnic Studies Faculty Council, and co-sponsored by the National  Students for Justice in Palestine, UC Divest, the Institute for the Critical Study of Zionism, Decolonizing Humanism(?) at UCR's Center for Ideas and Society, Cops Off Campus at UCR, and the UCSC Center for Racial Justice.

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The Work of Rape Seminar with Rana Jaleel
Oct
20
10:00 AM10:00

The Work of Rape Seminar with Rana Jaleel

Rana M. Jaleel is an Associate Professor of Gender, Sexuality, and Women’s Studies and Asian American Studies at the University of California, Davis. There, she is a 2022-2025 Chancellor’s Fellow and a 2021-2024 College of Arts & Sciences Dean's Faculty Fellow. She is the Chair of the Cultural Studies Graduate Group, and Faculty Advisor for the Sexuality Studies Minor. Her book, The Work of Rape received a 2021 Duke University Press Scholars of Color First Book Award and was co-winner of the 2022 Gloria E. Anzaldúa Prize from the National Women's Studies Association. A long time member of the American Association of University Professors, she presently serves on the Committee on Academic Freedom and Tenure.

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The Work of Rape Book Talk with Rana Jaleel
Oct
19
4:00 PM16:00

The Work of Rape Book Talk with Rana Jaleel

Rana M. Jaleel is an Associate Professor of Gender, Sexuality, and Women’s Studies and Asian American Studies at the University of California, Davis. There, she is a 2022-2025 Chancellor’s Fellow and a 2021-2024 College of Arts & Sciences Dean's Faculty Fellow. She is the Chair of the Cultural Studies Graduate Group, and Faculty Advisor for the Sexuality Studies Minor. Her book, The Work of Rape received a 2021 Duke University Press Scholars of Color First Book Award and was co-winner of the 2022 Gloria E. Anzaldúa Prize from the National Women's Studies Association. A long time member of the American Association of University Professors, she presently serves on the Committee on Academic Freedom and Tenure.

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Institute for the Critical Studies of Zionism Presents: Battling the "IHRA Definition": Theory and Activism
Oct
13
8:00 AM08:00

Institute for the Critical Studies of Zionism Presents: Battling the "IHRA Definition": Theory and Activism

  • Resource Center for Non-Violence (map)
  • Google Calendar ICS

Join activists & academics to explore the political, historical, and cultural conditions that enable IHRA campaigns, and share insights and organizing tools to support resistance. This event focuses on North American academia, government, and institutions while also mapping the ways IHRA is making incursions internationally. It will highlight victories, successful strategies, and paths of ongoing organizing.

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Race, Kinship, and the Korean War: Online Book Discussion and Syllabus Preview from the Ending the Korean War Teaching Collective
Jun
12
5:00 PM17:00

Race, Kinship, and the Korean War: Online Book Discussion and Syllabus Preview from the Ending the Korean War Teaching Collective

Register Here: bit.ly/racekinshipkorea

Featuring Hosu Kim, Youngoh Jung, and Christine Hong in conversation with Joo Ok Kim.

Framings of the Korean War as a fratricidal war overlook the centrality of sexual and gendered violence to the war and the intimate manifestations of this violence in the present. How has the unending Korean War reconfigured the terms of kinship beyond “blood family”? How has its violence shattered and rescripted notions of belonging?

The online, open-access Ending the Korean War Teaching Collective syllabus is a political education platform serving as an anti-imperialist tool against permanent war.

Sponsored by the Korea Policy Institute, The Center for Racial Justice, and the Ending the Korean War Teaching Collective

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Change Makers–Resisting Erasure: Unearthing History for our Futures
May
24
7:00 PM19:00

Change Makers–Resisting Erasure: Unearthing History for our Futures

engaging education (e2) is a student initiated outreach and retention center at UCSC for student engagement and academic excellence. e2 provides a supportive and dynamic space for programming that addresses the low rates of recruitment, retention and graduation that historically underrepresented and under-resourced communities face within higher education.

Dr. Taylor is a nationally recognized author, scholar, activist and professor of African American studies. She writes and speaks on Black politics, social movements, and racial inequality in the United States.

This Event is Sponsored By:

Asian Pacific Islander Student Alliance | Bayanihan | Black Student Union | MEChA | Student Alliance of Native American & Indigenous Peoples | Education for Sustainable Living Program | Student Environmental Center | Student Media Council | TWANAS | Vietnamese Student Association | African American Resource & Cultural Center | Asian-American Pacific Islander Resource Center | Cantú Center | Center for Racial Justice | Cultural Arts and Diversity Resource Center | El Centro | Institute for Social Transformation | Legal Studies Program | Womxn’s Center | CoCurricular Programs Office | John R. Lewis & Kresge Colleges | Anthropology | Community Studies | Critical Race & Ethnic Studies | Education | Latin American & Latino Studies | Politics

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