Gen Eq's E-newsletter Alejandro's Gen Eq Update: Happy First Day of Classes! Also as a quick reminder today is the last day to register to vote. Also, our newsletter will
have a new component, Gen Eq Intern Spotlight, where we will be highlighting a different Gen Eq student intern.
To keep up to date with ongoing GenEq events, find us on Facebook by searching for “Gen Eq” or visit our website at geneq.berkeley.edu. Gen Eq Intern Spotlight: 1. Laury Thammavong, Women of Color Intern Upcoming GenEq Programs 2. EQUINOX 3. QUEER GRADS On Campus events & announcements 4.
2008 California Union Leadership School (CULS)
5. Spaces are immediately available in LGBT themed co-op 6. Soul Food for the Activist Retreat: Sustaining Ourselves for a Lifetime of Service 7. Upcoming Media Skills Workshop for Labor Unions and Community Groups 8. Craft of Facilitating on Wednesdays 3-5 thisSpring semester (2-units, P/NP) 9. "FIGHTING FOR OUR MULTICULTURAL CENTER!" Wed @ 6pm in Heller Lounge 10.
Barack Obama: Performing Blackness on the
U.S. Political Stage
11. Victory of the Charleston 5 Book Event, Thursday, Jan. 31,6:30 PM at the UC Berkeley Labor Center Off campus events and announcements 12. Gay Middle-Eastern Men's Support Group in San Francisco 13. Queer Utopias & Dystopias (UCD Grad Symposium)
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1. Laury Thammavong, Women of Color Intern I grew up surrounded by a big extended family in addition to a lovely family of four in the Central Valley city of Modesto. I am a senior majoring in Sociology and I participated in the Suitcase Clinic and the Asian American Association Community Service Committee during my years here at Cal. I plan, prepare, strategize, and meet with dynamic people on how to bring about events that promote the existence of a women of color community. I get to creatively utilize my passions for women’s rights and be apart of the collaborative efforts in assisting, building, and sustaining a much needed women of color community within the campus. ***********************************************************
2. EQUINOX
EQUINOX: A performance showcase to kick-off EWOCC featuring student group performers. Friday, March 7, 2008. 5:30-7pm. Sponsored by the Gender Equity Resource Center: http://geneq.berkeley.edu>
*********************************************************** 3. QUEER GRADS QUEER GRADS Queer Coffeehouse for Cal Grad Students Final Friday of the month, 1/25 4:00-6:00pm Gender Equity Center, Room 202 - Cesar Chavez Student Center Ease into the new semester with your fellow queer grad student community. Tea, coffee, cookies, and conversation provided. See you then!
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2008 California Union Leadership School (CULS)
2008 California Union Leadership School (CULS)
UC Berkeley Center for Labor Research and Education
Co-sponsored by the California Labor Federation
Now in its fifth year, CULS is a year-long program that includes a week-long intensive training in the spring and two follow-up sessions in the summer and fall. We are looking for qualified applicants who will join the pool of the 85 CULS alumni who are helping rebuild our labor movement. The spring session, held March 30 to April 4, 2008 at beautiful Asilomar on the Monterey Peninsula, will include:
• • • • •
presentations on the current state of labor in California and the U.S. discussions on the challenges and need for organizing the introduction of tools to assess and build your union’s strength, analyze issues and create actual strategic campaign plans discussions of the core competencies successful union leaders need and the creation of a year-long individual leadership development plan opportunities to learn about the labor movement from other labor leaders from the public and private sectors, and building and construction trades.
Throughout the week, guest presenters will talk about key current events such as the economy, the political climate, the 40th anniversary of Memphis sanitation workers strike and Dr. Martin Luther King’s assassination, immigrant worker rights, and new organizing models in California. The summer and fall follow-up sessions will focus on communication and legislative strategies for local unions, and will include time to re-evaluate and refine the campaign and leadership development plans developed at Asilomar.
How to Apply:
The California Union Leadership School is for elected officers and senior staff. Unions are encouraged to send teams of two to four leaders. Women, people of color and unions located in the Central Valley and Central Coast are encouraged to apply. Application deadline is February 22, 2008. The application and additional information on CULS, including a brochure, can be found at: http://laborcenter.berkeley.edu/leadershipschools/#culs. If you have any questions about the California Union Leadership School, want to apply or would like to suggest potential participants, please contact Cheryl Brown at 510-642-1851 or cherylbrown@berkeley.edu.
*********************************************************** 5. Spaces are immediately available in LGBT themed co-op
Spaces are immediately available in LGBT themed co-op, Oscar Wilde House. Wilde is home to 38 students from all walks of life, and is known for lavishing affection upon all open-minded residents and guests, regardless of sexual orientation. The house frequently hosts awareness events, queer mixers, and just plain old fun social events for members throughout the co-ops. Check it out at http://www.usca.org/coops/osc.php. Co-ops are shared houses democratically run by their members. In other words, it's like sharing a house with a bunch of new friends. It's students only, but you don't have to attend UC Berkeley to live in Oscar Wilde House. All co-ops are close to UCB campus (many within two blocks!) and public transportation. Utilities included! Food included! Kitchens fully stocked with lots of organic food that you can access 24/7 with no shopping effort required! Plus, most houses have dinners all week long. CHEAP on site laundry FAST ethernet Lots of common space Great and welcoming student communities... an experience of a lifetime! For more information, call, e-mail, or stop by the USCA office today. University Students' Cooperative Association 2424 Ridge Road Berkeley, CA 94709 Ph: (510) 848-1936 Fax: (510) 848-2114 Email: housing@usca.org www.usca.org for more information
*********************************************************** 6. Soul Food for the Activist Retreat: Sustaining Ourselves for a Lifetime of Service Soul Food for the Activist Retreat: Sustaining Ourselves for a Lifetime of Service Saturday, February 2nd 10:00-5:00 pm on the UC Berkeley Campus Are you, or do you want to become, an effective leader of social change? Do you often find yourself overwhelmed or burned out? While athletes have physical exercises and
singers have vocal exercises, today's leaders need their own strategies to sustain themselves. Our retreat is a space for you to explore in fun, creative ways how to sustain yourself and your colleagues for the long haul, while doing your work even better. This fourth annual retreat is designed to be an inspiring day that will help you re-energize, reconnect to hope and optimism, and learn strategies for running healthy organizations. Lunch from La Mediterranee will be served, as well as snacks throughout the day. **Registration is free for UC Berkeley students and you can register online at: https://students.berkeley.edu/osl/rsvp/rsvp.asp?todo=details&EventId=3564875 **Registration is $10 for all others who wish to attend (scholarships available if needed). Please e-mail kanayoshida@gmail.com with your name, e-mail, dietary restrictions and any special needs. Payment can be made on the day of the retreat. This event is hosted by the UC Berkeley Cal Corps Public Service Center (http://calcorps.berkeley.edu) and the Shinnyo-en Foundation's Six Billion Paths to Peace Initiative (http://sixbillionpaths.org) If you have any questions, please contact Kana Yoshida, the Cal Corps/Shinnyo-en Service and Peace Fellow Kana Yoshida, at: kanayoshida@gmail.com. Registration Closes on Monday, January 28 at noon. Please register early as there is limited space at this popular retreat!
*********************************************************** 7. Upcoming Media Skills Workshop for Labor Unions and Community Groups
Thursday & Friday, February 28 & 29, 2008 9:00 am to 5:00 pm
In this two-day media skills workshop, participants will:
• • • • Learn how to create a communications strategy for their organization or campaign. • Develop effective media messages and practice those messages with other participants and on-camera. • Become familiar with the nuts and bolts of getting the message out to the media—from press lists and press releases to pitch calls, opinion pieces, and letters to the editor. • Gain an understanding of what is newsworthy, how to create news, and how to hook on to existing news.
•
UC Berkeley Labo IRLE 2521 Chann (near Telegra Berkeley, C
Co
Registration d Thursday, February
To register onl http://laborcenter.berkeley.edu/wor
•
•
Hear from a panel of working journalists about how labor and community activists can improve their odds of generating positive coverage. Co-sponsored by the UC Berkeley Center for Labor Research and Education
For more info contact Andrea (510) 642 andreabuffa@berk
and the California Labor Federation
*********************************************************** 8. Craft of Facilitating on Wednesdays 3-5 thisSpring semester (2-units, P/NP) Craft of Facilitating on Wednesdays 3-5 this Spring semester
The Craft of Facilitating will be offered this Spring semester on Wednesdays, from 3-5 pm. It is a 2unit, P/NP course providing training to current and potential student facilitators. Students considering a career in education or teaching are also welcome to enroll. The course counts towards the Ed Minor Field Studies requirement, is open to all undergraduates, and has no prerequisites. -For more information about the course, please visit the UCFTR website at http://slc.berkeley.edu/ucftr/craft_of_fac.htm. -To enroll, contact George Alonzo in the UCFTR office at UCFTR@berkeley.edu.
*********************************************************** 9. "FIGHTING FOR OUR MULTICULTURAL CENTER!" Wed @ 6pm in Heller Lounge
fighting for our multicultural center!
Wednesday January 23rd 6pm-8pm The Temporary Multicultural Center in Heller Lounge Martin Luther King Jr. Student Union Join the Facebook Event featuring the documentary film On Strike! Ethnic Studies 1969-1999 followed by a panel discussion with student activists refreshments will be served!
hosted by the asuc office of the executive vice president | asuc-sponsored | wheelchair accessible please direct questions to Meghana Dhar at meghana@asuc.org a part of asuc spring welcome week 2008 - www.asuc.org/springwelcomeweek/ springwelcomeweek@gmail.com
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10.
Barack Obama: Performing Blackness on the
U.S. Political Stage
Barack Obama: Performing Blackness on the U.S.
Political Stage
Thursday, January 31, 5 PM Durham Studio Theater (the base of Dwinelle Hall)
Generally speaking, when we refer to politicians as actors we nearly always do so as criticism, to denote a lack of qualities that we label as “substance” or “character” on the part a candidate. What would it mean to be a “good actor” on the U.S. political stage? What are the ways politicians engage acting techniques in order to persuade the public to adapt and absorb their political platforms? What do such performances require of black politicians? Professor Steen examines how acting theory, from Denis Diderot to Konstantin Stanislavski to Erving Goffman, helps us understand Barack Obama’s political “act”— especially with respect to problems of forging the role of black political leader in “postrace,” post civil-rights America. She analyzes the qualities of the signifier “Obama,” the repertoire of roles this actor has taken on in his political life, and how the construction of his actions as “merely acting” might obscure an avenue of black political strategy. Shannon Steen is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Theater, Dance, and Performance Studies and the Program in American Studies at UC Berkeley.
*********************************************************** 11. Victory of the Charleston 5 Book Event, Thursday, Jan. 31,6:30 PM at the UC Berkeley Labor Center
The Victory of the Charleston 5:
How AfricanAmerican Trade Unionists Fought and Won Against the Global Shipping Industry
Featured Speakers
“It's a story that demonstrates how race still matters in parts of our country and how circumstances propel ordinary people to do extraordinary things.”
—U.S. Rep. JAMES E. CLYBURN (D-South Carolina)
Ken Riley
Suzan Erem
Longshoreman and Author of the new book International Longshoremen's On the Global
Join us for a talk about the new book, On the Global Waterfront, which tells the story of how longshoremen in South Carolina confronted
Waterfront: Association Local 1422 The Fight to Free the President Charleston 5.
attempts to wipe out the state's most
Thursday, January 31, 2008 6:30 PM
Sponsored by the UC Berkeley Labor Center, UC Berkeley Department of African American Studies, City College of San Francisco Labor and Community Studies Department, Alameda County Central Labor Council, and San Francisco Labor Council Information: 510-642-6371 andreabuffa@berkeley.edu http://laborcenter.berkeley.edu
powerful black organization. When a UC Berkeley Labor Center, 2521 Channing Way (near Telegraph Ave.), Berkeley Danish shipping company began to shift their transportation to a nonunion firm in 1999, Local 1422 in Charleston mobilized to protect their hard-won rights. What followed
culminated in a protest in which 660 riot police arrayed against 50
dockworkers, a group that grew to 150 before the night was over. Four black and one white longshoreman— subsequently known as the
Charleston 5—were held for 20 months under house arrest charges on of
trumped-up
felony
inciting a riot. Their ultimate victory laid the foundation for successful rebuffs in ports around the world.
*********************************************************** 12. Gay Middle-Eastern Men's Support Group in San Francisco
The Gay Middle-Eastern Men's Support Group is available to gay men of Middle-Eastern origin or culture to share experiences, gain deeper understanding of oneself and receive/give support to others. We’ve been meeting for a year and a half, and our members have developed close bonds and feel the group has been helpful to them. We are a mix of religions, ages and country origins, including American-born. Support group benefits: Confidentiality – discuss things you might not feel comfortable discussing in other settings Non-judgmental support – feel really heard where you are without having to justify Make friends – group meetings are structured, but there are no restrictions on interactions outside the group
Deeper understanding – members feel they have gained insight and tools to help make better decisions in life
The group meets 1st & 3rd Wednesday evenings in San Francisco To inquire, please e-mail Paul with a phone number at pasfour@sbcglobal.net. A phone conversation is required prior to joining.
Our website has been slightly revised. Please check it out. Comments or suggestions for website content are appreciated. http://www.geocities.com/gmemsf/
*********************************************************** 13. Queer Utopias & Dystopias (UCD Grad Symposium)
CFP: "Queer Utopias and Dystopias" 2008 Queer Studies Graduate Symposium University of California, Davis May 17, 2008 Neoliberal practices of risk management and nationalist projects of security and safety depend upon the construction of a dystopic future that must be prevented and the promise of a utopic future that might be reated. Images of utopia and dystopia proliferate explicitly and implicitly within mainstream discourses around immigration and citizenship, marriage and family values, and environmental degradation. Within this context, queer projects must work to diagnose the utopian longings and dystopic concerns connected to hetero- and homo-normative neoliberalisms and nationalisms. At the same time, however, queer scholarship has begun to ask what it might mean to risk engaging with the utopic as a theoretical, political, and aesthetic tool for social change. Recent debates around temporality in queer studies have grappled with the value of the future and the utopian: while some maintain that discourses of futurity remain inextricably linked to heteronormative generationality and that notions of utopia remain irredeemably tainted by colonialist and imperialist histories, others insist upon the potential for queer reworkings of futurity and utopia to disrupt dominant narratives. This symposium wishes to inspire further discussion concerning queer utopias in particular and queer temporalities in general as well as to invite conversations around the interconnections between the utopic and the dystopic within conservative and radical projects.
In what ways does the utopian function within academic, activist, and artistic projects, and how is the dystopian invoked within these different contexts? What are the limits and possibilities of "the utopic" or "the dystopic" as theoretical and political frameworks? How do discussions of queer utopias and dystopias engage with other fields of scholarship, such as postcolonial, feminist, environmental, disability, and/or critical race studies? What are the ethics of utopia? How are ideas about embodied difference deployed in utopic and dystopic narratives, either as something to be transformed, secured, or eliminated? Do queer reworkings and critiques of utopia/dystopia risk figuring "queer" as inherently resistant or revolutionary? In what ways do utopian longings and dystopian fears involve not only the invocation of imaginable futures but also the opening of the future to the not-yet-imaginable? How might queer utopias and dystopias involve not only temporal modalities but also spatial productions?
Possible topics include (but are not limited to): Relationships between utopia and dystopia Relationships between nostalgia and utopia Queer futures, pasts, presents Competing utopias Spatial and/or temporal utopias Utopias and the archive Suspension, pauses, gaps Bodies and embodiments Cultural productions, performances, and emerging public cultures The utopia of a pre-AIDS past and/or a post-AIDS future The risks and limits of utopia "No future" Loss, trauma, melancholia Digital and virtual spaces Literary and filmic representations Affective utopias/utopic affect Nationalist and/or imperialist utopias Sociality, community and/or kinship Sustainability
We invite scholarship from a broad range of disciplines, especially interdisciplinary work in queer theory and transgender theory. We especially encourage work that critically engages mutually constitutive articulations of race, class, sexuality, dis/ability, gender, citizenship, religion, and nationality. We also welcome papers that engage activism and community organizing.
Please send 250-500 word abstracts with a CV to queersymposium2008@gmail.com by MARCH 14, 2008 Along with this abstract, please indicate if your presentation requires any AV equipment. Acceptances will be sent out by MARCH 21, 2008 Symposium Website: www.queersymposium.org For more information, email Toby Beauchamp, Liz Montegary, and Cathy Hannabach at queersymposium2008@gmail.com.
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