4th Annual Graduate Anti-Racism Symposium
March 7, 2024
Race and Speech
The American election cycle and violence in the Middle East have sparked urgent debate around race and speech in academic communities.
- Who gets to speak, and where?
- How do individual and collective identities shape the boundaries of what is said, and in what contexts?
- How do existing hierarchies and structures influence these conversations? And how does speech about race intersect with conditions of vulnerability within academic hierarchies and structures?
- What specific histories shape the overlap of race and speech in California, the United States and worldwide?
The 4th Annual Graduate Anti-Racism Symposium (GARS) will bring together UCD graduate students, postdocs, faculty and staff in conversation around "Race and Speech." In the morning, a virtual roundtable presentation, moderated by faculty and students, will speak to a shared set of questions. In the afternoon, participants will gather in a moderated discussion of how we can use speech about race and racism to support communities and prompt change.
This event is co-sponsored with the Office of Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion, and is part of the Graduate Studies Anti-Racism Initiative. The GARS committee includes:
- Elias Bunting, Ph.D. student in the Department of Plant Pathology
- Evelyn Gamez, Ph.D. candidate and Associate Instructor in the Department of Spanish and Portuguese
- Ellen Hartigan-O’Connor, Graduate Studies Associate Dean for Graduate Students and Postdoctoral Scholars
- Desirée Martín, Associate Professor in the Department of English
- José Juan Pérez Meléndez, Assistant Professor in the Department of History
- Josephine Moreno, Graduate Diversity Officer for Humanities, Arts, Social Sciences and Education
Resources
UC Davis Dialogues Across Difference presents “Academic Freedom & Free Speech in the Classroom”
- 9:00 - 10:30 a.m.: Open to all
- A virtual roundtable presentation, moderated by Dr. Desirée Martín (English) and Ph.D. candidate Evelyn Gámez (Spanish and Portuguese) that will speak to a shared set of questions. Participants in this year's roundtable are: Ruben Zecena, English faculty; Danny C. Martinez, education faculty; Mjriam Abu Samra, postdoc, Middle East/South Asia studies; Dominique Williams, ethnic studies coordinator at the California History-Social Science Project; Beshara Kehdi, Ph.D. candidate in cultural studies; Annaliese Franz, chemistry faculty.
To register for this event, click here. - 11:30 a.m. - 1:00 p.m.: Open only to grad students and postdocs
- An in-person moderated discussion hosted in-person in 1220 Walker Hall (Gibeling Room). Participants will gather for a conversation about how we can use speech about race and racism to support communities and prompt change. To RSVP, click here.