Past Programs

|2008-2009| |2007-2008| |2006-2007| |2005-2006| |2004-2005| |2003-2004| |2002-2003| |2001-2002| |Back to FSMEP Main Page|

Note: Audio files available where indicated . Video files available where indicated .
RealPlayer required (choose "basic player" for free version).

2009

Speak Your Truth: A Poetry Slam/Open Mic Night Organized by the Interfaith Action Initiative
April 30

The "Speak your Truth" poetry slam/open mic night was an opportunity for participants to think and reflect about faith as a positive and unifying aspect of student life, as well as to stimulate participants' creativity. This event offered a safe space and forum where participants could share their opinions, thoughts, concerns, and insights without having to censor their ideas because of a fear of judgment or intolerance. Matters of faith have a huge impact on people's interactions with their diverse surroundings, and this event provided an opportunity for students and other participants to explore these issues in a creative, secure, accepting, and curious manner. The event was the culminating project for the Interfaith Leadership Project, a student group that strives to learn about various faith communities, as well as an opportunity to collaborate with other student groups on campus and increase awareness about interfaith activism.

Audio file and webcast coming soon.

American Cultures: From Concept to Classroom, 1989-2009 and Beyond
April 16

The American Cultures curriculum is unique in touching every single Berkeley student, assuming the position of a signature Berkeley experience. Adopted 20 years ago to deepen students' understanding of the diverse cultures of the United States through an integrative and comparative framework, the American Cultures program has created a complex, nuanced, interdisciplinary approach to multicultural education that has become a national model, offering students access to cutting-edge research as it relates to the most pressing questions of cultural and social diversity.

In conjunction with an on-going exhibit at Moffitt Library showcasing American Cultures' distinctive curricular approach, this celebratory evening featured Chancellor Robert Birgeneau, and a panel discussion with some of American Cultures' pioneering and award-winning faculty, led by Bill Simmons, the first director of the American Cultures Center.

Featured Speakers:
Tom Leonard, University Librarian
Robert J. Birgeneau, University Chancellor
Victoria Robinson, Academic Coordinator, American Cultures Center
Aya de Leon

Panelists:
Professor (Emeritus) Bill Simmons, first director of the American Cultures Center
Professor Mark Brilliant, Department of History & Program in American Studies
Professor Waldo Martin, Department of History
Professor Ingrid Seyer-Ochi, Graduate School of Education

Audio file and webcast coming soon.

Strait Talk: Strategies for Communication, Conflict Resolution, and Advocacy in Positive Peace Building
March 13

Led by a moderator from the Peace and Conflict Studies department, a group of student delegates discussed communication strategies for interpersonal and community conflict resolution and for developing peace projects in multiple and diverse stakeholder environments. This presentation wa part of a week of peace building dialogue and conflict resolution sessions at the Strait Talk symposium, a student-run, week-long conference at UC Berkeley that brought together 15 college students from Mainland China, Taiwan, and the United States. The student delegates discussed what they learned at the conference, and from each other, about various issues pertaining to political entities such as law and society, economics and trade, youth movements, and regional stability. For more information on the symposium, visit the Strait Talk site.

Featured speakers included student delegates from universities in Mainland China, Taiwan, and the United States. The program was moderated by Professor Julie Shackford-Bradley, a member of the faculty of Peace and Conflict Studies. She teaches in the areas of Conflict Resolution, Human Rights, and Service Learning.

Presentation and discussion via webcast.| Presentation and discussion via iTunes

Personal and Global: Feminism, Sexual Liberation, and Contemporary Struggles
February 5

What do the issues raised in the 1970s by the feminist movement mean for gender struggles today? The legacy of the late 1960s and early 1970s is often simplified and transmitted as a revolutionary, univocal narration, full of male leaders and workers. This panel highlights how sexual liberation and the feminist movement enriched ideas of freedom, starting to speak publicly not just of politics in an abstract sense, but of everyday life. The idea of gendered freedom and liberation of women needs to be discussed frankly, in its limits and co-opted forms.

Video clips from recent Italian films were shown to connect 1970s feminism in the U.S. and in Europe. This discussion brings together three generations of scholars and activists from different backgrounds and perspectives; from North America in the 1960s, anti-colonial Marxism in the 1970s, to transnational contemporary perspectives.

Featured Panelists:
Roxanne Dunbar Ortiz – writer, teacher, historian, and social activist – is Professor Emeritus of Ethnic Studies and Women’s Studies at California State University, East Bay.
Silvia Federici – scholar, teacher, and activist from the radical autonomist Marxist tradition – is professor emerita and Teaching Fellow at Hofstra University.
Paola Bacchetta – Associate Professor of Gender and Women’s Studies at University of California at Berkeley – is Director of Beatrice Bain Research Group (BBRG), the research center for gender, sexuality and race based on the UC Berkeley campus.
Laura Fantone – moderator and event organizer – is a visiting Scholar at BBRG, and teaches and researches gender and political participation at the University of Padua.

Presentation and discussion via webcast.| Presentation and discussion via iTunes

2008

Open Access Day @ Berkeley
October 14

Open Access is a growing international movement based on the principle that publicly funded research should be freely accessible online, immediately upon publication. In celebration of the first Open Access Day, and with sponsorship from the UC Berkeley Library and FSMEP, the Berkeley chapter of Students for Free Culture presented an evening of discussion of this important cultural, social and political movement. The evening included a live streaming webcast, audience Q&As, and a drawing for prizes and giveaways.

Featured Speakers:
Prof. Michael Eisen, co-founder of Public Library of Science (PLoS) and Professor of Molecular and Cell Biology at UCB, introduced the program and facilitated discussion with audience members. PLoS is a nonprofit organization of scientists and physicians committed to making the world’s scientific and medical literature a freely available resource.
Prof. Philip Bourne, founding editor of PLoS Computational Biology and Professor of Pharmacology at UCSD, conducted a live, interactive webcast.
Voices of Open Access, a video series featuring key members of the research community (including a teacher, a librarian, a researcher, a patient advocate, and a funder) speaking on why Open Access matters to them, played via webcast.

Presentation and discussion via iTunes | Recorded webcast via blip.tv* | Pre-recorded video series via YouTube*

*(under CC-BY license by SPARC)

Archives of Dissent
September 18

There are special problems facing those committed to documenting and preserving what has been called "history from below." Archives of Dissent brought together librarians, curators, oral historians, conservators, publishers, booksellers, and others working to prevent the loss and erasure of radical voices, events and movements of both the past and the present. Speakers and audience debated and discussed the documenting and archiving of dissent and radical expression across a wide range of media – books, posters, photographs, film, newspapers, zines, audio and video, and the expanding online world.

Featured Speakers:
Julie Herrada, Labadie Collection Librarian, University of Michigan, and curator of a "1968" special exhibit. The Labadie Collection is an internationally renowned archive of social protest materials.
Kalim Smith, UC Berkeley doctoral student in anthropology and folklore, researching the preservation of Native American languages threatened with extinction.
Lincoln Cushing, independent librarian and Docs Populi archivist. A slideshow of political poster art and images of dissent from the 1960s was assembled by Lincoln and displayed during the event.
Megan Shaw Prelinger & Rick Prelinger, co-founders of the Prelinger Library, an appropriation-friendly, image-rich, browsable research collection of 50,000 books, periodicals, printed ephemera and government documents, located south of Market St. in San Francisco.

Presentation and discussion via webcast. | Presentation and discussion via iTunes. | Presentation and discussion via YouTube.

Eyes on Activism: Celebrating Social Change in Israel Through the Visual Arts
May 9

Kesher Enoshi: Progressives for Activism in Israel—with sponsorship from the Center for Middle Eastern Studies, the New Israel Fund, Hillel, YJ Impact Fellowship Program, and the Free Speech Movement Cafe Educational Program Series—present this opportunity to engage with activism through a photography and art exhibition representing activists working for social change in Israel. Many different movement are represented, including LGTBQ rights activism in Jerusalem, environmental justice in Tel Aviv and many more. The gallery also includes original art inspired by social change movements in Israel and produced by the student activists of Kesher Enoshi.

Featured Speaker:
Nili Yosha, Israeli-American photographer, artist and activist who presents her photo-project called "My Tel Aviv," an activist's reflection on the human side of Tel Aviv unseen by the eye of the tourist.

Presentation and discussion via webcast. | Presentation and discussion via iTunes. | Presentation and discussion via YouTube.

2007

Oil, Gas, and Global Warming: Youth Confronting America's Petroleum Addiction
October 23

Three student activists, all of whom recently received the 2007 Brower Youth Award (which honors six young people in North America annually for their outstanding work in conservation, preservation, or restoration of the natural environment and communities), speak about oil and energy crisis, global warming, and destructive petroleum-related pollution.

Featured speakers:
Jon Warnow, from Burlington, VT, a developer and organizer of the Step It Up! and National Day of Climate Action campaigns.
Q'orianka Kilcher, from Santa Monica, CA, a filmmaker who has directed attention toward the invasive policies of the Occidental Petroleum Corporation in Peru and the company's effect on indigenous peoples there. Erica Fernandez, from Oxnard, CA, an activist who has organized protests and mobilizations against the plans of BHP Billiton to build a pipeline through low-income neighborhoods in Ventura County.
UC Berkeley student Rachel Barge, a BYA recipient, moderates the event.

Presentation and discussion via webcast

New Public Policy Perspectives and the Power of Engaged Citizens
October 15

Featured speakers:
Professor Robert B. Reich, author of Supercapitalism: The Transformation of Business, Democracy, and Everyday Life. Our economy has become more efficient than ever, with turbocharged, Web-based global capitalism morphing into supercapitalism. But as Robert Reich makes clear in this eye-opening book, democracy - charged with caring for all its citizens - is becoming less and less effective under supercapitalism's influence.
Professor David L. Kirp, The Sandbox Investment: The Preschool Movement and Kids-First Politics. Kids-First politics is smart economics: paying for preschool now can help save us from paying for unemployment, crime and emergency rooms later. As Kirp reports from the inside, activists and political leaders have turned this potent idea into campaigns and policies in red and blue states alike.
Professor Carol Chetkovich, From the Ground Up: Grassroots Organizations Making Social Change. Drawing on in-depth interviews with leaders and staff members from sixteen diverse social-change organizations, Carol Chetkovich provides a detailed analysis of these groups and their activities. On their own, these organizations make important contributions to justice in their communities; together they might form the base of a larger progressive movement for change.
Steve Silberstein, member, Goldman School of Public Policy Board of Advisors serves as Interlocutor.

Co-sponsored by UC Berkeley's Goldman School of Public Policy.

Presentation and discussion via webcast. | Presentation and discussion via iTunes.

Constitution Day Speakers Forum
September 18

Three distinguished experts addressed constitutional issues, particularly from the vantage point of their relevance to college students and other members of the academic community.

Featured panelists:
Daniel Farber, the Sho Sato Professor of Law and director of the Boalt Environmental Law Program, "Bong Hits 4 the Constitution: Free Speech Rights of Students Today"
-- What kind of speech is protected by the Constitution? Two recent Supreme Court cases addressed this key question. What did the justices say, and what's in store for the future?
Lowell Bergman, the Reva and David Logan Professor of Investigative Reporting, "Lots of Talk and No Action: Free Speech in the New Millenium"
-- Shouting on television, a tidal wave of information, a cacophony of bloggers. Is this what the Free Speech Movement had in mind?
Tom Goldstein, professor and former dean of the Graduate School of Journalism, "Is Everyone a Journalist Now?"
-- Anyone with access to a program like Movable Type can publish to a worldwide audience. What are the legal implications?

Presentation and discussion via webcast

A Crisis in Human Rights: Genocide in Darfur and Beyond
April 12th

Focusing on the crisis in Darfur, the speakers will offer a comprehensive view of how and why a conflict evolves into a full-fledged genocide. The Darfur genocide has involved not just the outright immediate killing of people, but also the creation of conditions that have made life impossible by chasing people out into the desert and destroying their homes, villages, food supplies and livelihoods. Speakers will present eyewitness accounts of events on the ground in Darfur as well as academic research into conflict and peace within and between nations.

Featured panelists:
Shane Bauer is a current undergraduate student in UCB's Peace and Conflict Studies Department. The first year away from his home in Minnesota, he witnessed war for the first time in Macedonia at the impressionable age of 19. Following this traumatic yet illuminating exposure to war, he traveled as a photojournalist, documenting conflict and genocide around the world. Last year, Shane traveled to Chad and Sudan.
Martha Saavedra is the Associate Director of the UC Berkeley Center for African Studies, an interdisciplinary research center supporting basic research on Africa. Her research includes agrarian politics and ethnic conflict in Sudan.
David Tuller is a doctoral student in the School of Public Health and has a special interest in looking at public health through a human rights lens. He investigated some of Darfur's mass atrocities as part of a team from Physicians for Human Rights in 2005.

Presentation and discussion via webcast

Feminism Transcends Borders
March 1st

Feminism comes in many different languages and from many divergent perspectives. This panel on transnational feminism, organized by Berkeley National Organization for Women, serves to explore these languages, to hear diverse perspectives, and to engage ourselves in an open dialogue that transcends all borders. March is Women's History Month, and March 1 is International Women's Day. While many in the United States are aware of the national women's movement, few know about international women's struggles and accomplishments. The purpose of this panel is to help put an end to the silence and stigma around transnational feminism by informing ourselves about different views and taking the first step toward greater understanding and empowerment.

Panelists:
Paola Bacchetta, an Associate Professor of Gender and Women’s Studies at UC Berkeley.
Purnima Madhivanan, PhD candidate in Epidemiology at the School of Public Health at UC Berkeley.
Beatríz Pesquera, an Associate Professor of Chicana/o Studies and Sociology at UC Davis and a visiting professor at UC Berkeley.

Cosponsored by Berkeley National Organization for Women, the Gender Equity Resource Center, ASUC, and ACLU.

Presentation and discussion

Extraordinary Rendition and International Law
January 30

"Extraordinary Rendition" is a procedure by which U.S. authorities transfer suspects to the custody of third-party states outside formal legal procedures. There have been disturbing reports that some of these detainees have been tortured by authorities after their transfer by the U.S. A short documentary film that tells the story of two such detainees will be shown: "Outlawed: Extraordinary Rendition, Torture and Disappearances in the 'War on Terror.'"

Professor Laurel Fletcher, Director of the International Human Rights Law Clinic at Boalt Hall, presented an overview of the international law and policy applicable to the practice of extraordinary rendition and discuss the legality of the U.S. government's use of this practice in its efforts to combat terrorism.

Presentation and discussion

2006

Reverberations of 9/11: On Campus and Beyond
November 8

9/11 profoundly changed the world and the lives of countless people. FBI interrogations, discrimination and hate crimes have violated freedoms that are the "inalienable rights" of American citizens.

In particular, post-9/11 policies have adversely affected students, especially those of Middle Eastern, South Asian, and Muslim decent. Students face eroded academic freedom, employment discrimination, and a host of legal issues.

The Reverberations of 9/11 Panel discussed government policies post 9/11 and addressed how these policies shaped the experiences of students on campus and across the nation.

Panelists:
Marcia Mitchell, Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) Senior Trial Attorney
Banafsheh Akhlaghi, Attorney and Founder of National Legal Sanctuary for Community Advancement (NLSCA)

Presentation and discussion

Oil and Global Warming Today: Voices from the Front Lines
October 12

Ben Namakin, an environmental educator from Micronesia, runs The Green Road, a mobile environmental awareness program focusing on upland watershed, mangroves, coral reefs, and waste and pollution. Using photography and film footage to talk about his experiences, Namakin addresses global warming, environmental racism, and the influence of oil companies on political decision-making, and how these factors affect the cultures and lifestyles of Pacific Islanders. Sponsored by Students Organizing for Justice in the Americas, and part of a US tour by Global Exchange.

Webcast of the event
Oakland Tribune coverage

National Security and Intellectual Freedom: a Panel Discussion
September 13

In fighting todays "war on terror," how do the new post-9/11 national security laws, executive orders and policies infringe on our traditional freedoms of inquiry? Are they an important weapon in keeping Americans more secure? Do they benefit society and do they help keep us a free people? UCB faculty discuss these issues in an evening that celebrates and honors the US Constitution of the 18th century.

The panelists are:
Michael Nacht, Dean of the Goldman School of Public Policy and national security scholar.
Tom Campbell, Dean of the Haas School of Business, formerly California State Senator and US Congressman.
Tom Goldstein, Professor, Graduate School of Journalism and Director of the Mass Communications Program.
Moderator: Tom Leonard, University Librarian and Professor, Graduate School of Journalism.

presentation and discussion

Sweatshop workers speak to Berkeley
February 13

Three sweatshop workers speak of their experiences in the global garment industry. Phannara Duangdej from Thailand, Branice Linugu Musavi from Kenya, and Siti Malika from Indonesia explain the problems associated with the industry and enforcement of University Codes of Conducts such as low wages, long working hours, harassment, and violations of freedom of association. Sponsored by United Students Against Sweatshops and Students Organizing for Justice in the Americas.

2005

The Shift to China: Sweatshops, Labor Rights, and Wal-Mart
November 30

Do Americans really benefit from Wal-Mart? What about a plethora of low-cost Chinese goods? Should American companies in China pressure the Chinese government to legalize unionizing in their factories? These and other questions were addressed by Brad DeLong (professor of Economics) and Dara O'Rourke (assistant professor of Environmental and Labor Policy.) The Frontline video Is Wal-Mart Good for America was also shown. Sponsored by Students Organizing for Justice in the Americas.

Black Against the Empire: The Rise and Fall of the Black Panther Party
November 18

UCB History Professor Waldo Martin and UCLA graduate student Joshua Bloom draw upon newly archived letters and papers of Black Panther Party activists to shed new light on the reasons behind the rapid rise and fall of the Black Panther Party. Sponsored by the Institute for the Study of Social Change.

Voices from Death Row
October 11

Program featuring speakers from a national tour calling for an end to the death penalty and putting a human face on the issue. Speakers included Darby Tillis, exonerated Illinois death row prisoner and Barbara Becnel, author and advocate for California death row prisoner Stanley Tookie Williams. Sponsored by the UC Berkeley chapter of the Campaign to End the Death Penalty.

A Constitutional Look at Marriage Equality
September 12

Presentation of the documentary video Freedom to Marry and panel discussion with Davina Kotulski, Ph.D., author of Why You Should Give a Damn About Gay Marriage, and Gabriel Rose, president of the Student Coalition for Marriage Equality (UCLA). Sponsored by the Cal Berkeley Democrats.

2004-2005

Students, Power, and the Desires of Society: An Evening with the DeCal Program

A talk by Nate Singer and Holly Wagenet, leaders of the DeCal Program, on the Program's history, the underlying ideas of DeCal, and the current work that is being done to create a stronger educational environment at UC Berkeley.

Global Warming: the Effects and Preventive Measures

Panel of experts debating the scientific, economic, and societal aspects of our changing global climate. Featuring:
Inez Fung, Professor, Earth and Planetary Science, ESPM and Director, Atmospheric Sciences Center, UCB.
Michael Hanemann, Professor, Department of Agricultural and Resource Economics, UCB.
Thomas Gale Moore, Senior Fellow, Hoover Institution, Stanford University and author of Climate of Fear: Why We Shouldn't Worry about Global Warming.
Sponsored by ECo (Environmental Coalition).

Invisible Children: The Effect of the Sudanese Civil War on Children

A screening of the documentary, Invisible Children produced by USC students on the situation in northern Uganda where thousands of children have been displaced, orphaned and often forced to serve as soldiers due to the ongoing civil war in Uganda and Sudan. UCB political science professor, Darren Zook provides background information on the political conflict in both countries. Sponsored by Bears for UNICEF.

From Hot-Boxing to the Slammer: The Blunt Truth About the Drug War and Racial Justice

Berkeley ACLU Drug Policy and Racial Justice division sponsors a panel discussion on the drug war and its effects on racial justice. Speakers address the issues of racial inequality, racial profiling and the drug war, punitive responses to a safety-oriented approach to teens and drugs, and other civil liberties violations imposed by the war on drugs.

Presenters:
Maya Harris, Director of Racial Justice Project, ACLU of Northern California.
Dr. Marsha Rosenbaum, Director of the Drug Policy Alliance's San Francisco Office.
Professor Jack Glaser, Goldman School of Public Policy, UCB.

2003-2004

Ecuador and the Price of Oil

Screening of two student-produced documentary films exploring the impact of the oil industry on Ecuador's indigenous people and environment. Followed by a panel discussion with UC Berkeley Teaching Fellow Sandy Tolan (Graduate School of Journalism), and Suzana Sawyer of UC Davis' Department of Anthropology.

When the Storm Came: Film Screening and Panel Discussion

Screening of the Sundance Award-winning film on the conflict in Kashmir and rape as a weapon of war by UC Berkeley graduate student Shilpi Gupta. Post-film discussion featuring international human rights attorney Syed Mujtaba Hussain and Kashmiri journalist Muzamil Jaleel.

USA PATRIOT Act: Californians Respond

Northern California ACLU Field Organizer Sanjeev Bery and veteran peace activists Rebecca Gordon and Jan Adams discuss the implications of the PATRIOT Act for the future of privacy and government accountability. Sponsored by Berkeley ACLU.

2002-2003

The Politics of Food:
Who Produces It, Who Processes It, Who Profits From It

Panel discussion featuring Michael Pollan, author of The Botany of Desire: A Plant's-eye View of the World, Dr. Raj Patel, policy analyst at Food First, and Rick Young, author of the city of Berkeley's 2002 ballot initiative, Measure "O", proposing to restrict the sale of brewed coffee to organic, fair-trade, or shade-grown.

introduction presentation and discussion

The Tragedy of Agent Orange

Panel discussion with Gerald Nicosia, author of Home to War: A History of the Vietnam Veterans Movement, and Fred Wilcox, associate professor at Ithaca College and author of Waiting for an Army to Die: The Tragedy of Agent Orange. Organized and moderated by Debra Kraus, 2003 Haas Scholar, artist, and Agent Orange widow.

presentation and discussion

2001-2002

Poetry Reading in honor of Sexual AssaultAwareness Week

Sponsored by Take Back the Night and SHAPE (Sexual Harassment Advocacy and Peer Education).

Justice not Vengeance: Stepping Outside of the U.S./Terrorist Dichotomy

Panel discussion with Professor Jerry Sanders, UC Berkeley Peace & Conflict Studies Department, and Professor John Childs of UC Santa Cruz. Sponsored by RISE to PEACE Student Association.

Public Art and Free Speech: Taking it to the Streets

Cultural workers from three Bay Area collectives describe their work challenging mainstream news and views.

Berkeley in the 60s

Public screening of the acclaimed documentary on the history of the anti-war movement in Berkeley, followed by an open-floor discussion moderated by Free Speech Movement veteran Margy Wilkinson.

Does the United States Have a Truly Free Press?

Panel discussion featuring faculty members Mark Danner and Adam Hochschild, and I.F. Stone Teaching Fellows Jonathan Mirsky and Peter Molnar, all of UC Berkeley's Graduate School of Journalism.

|back to top|

Search Sitemap Contact webmaster UC Berkeley home

Copyright © 2008
The Regents of the University of California. All rights reserved.
Last updated 5/4/09. Server manager: contact