Past Programs
|2007-2008| |2006-2007| |2005-2006| |2004-2005| |2003-2004|
|2002-2003| |2001-2002|
Note: Audio files available
where indicated  . Video files available where indicated  .
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2008
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 - presents
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, 2007
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.
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