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.
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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>
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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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4. 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.
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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
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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, re-
connect 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!
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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:
UC Berkeley Labo
• • Learn how to create a communications strategy for their IRLE
organization or campaign. 2521 Chann
(near Telegra
Berkeley, C
• • Develop effective media messages and practice those
messages with other participants and on-camera. Co
• • Become familiar with the nuts and bolts of getting the Registration d
Thursday, February
message out to the media—from press lists and press releases
to pitch calls, opinion pieces, and letters to the editor. To register onl
http://laborcenter.berkeley.edu/wor
• • Gain an understanding of what is newsworthy, how to
create news, and how to hook on to existing news. For more info
contact Andrea
• • Hear from a panel of working journalists about how (510) 642
labor and community activists can improve their odds of andreabuffa@berk
generating positive coverage.
Co-sponsored by the UC Berkeley Center for Labor Research and Education
and the California Labor Federation
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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 2-
unit, 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.
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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 “post-
race,” 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.
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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
African-
American
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, Waterfront:
Association Local 1422 The Fight to Free the
On the Global Waterfront, which
President Charleston 5.
tells the story of how longshoremen
in South Carolina confronted Thursday, January 31, 2008
attempts to wipe out the state's most
6:30 PM
powerful black organization. When a UC Berkeley Labor Center, 2521 Channing Way
Danish shipping company began to (near Telegraph Ave.), Berkeley
shift their transportation to a non-
Sponsored by the UC Berkeley Labor Center, UC Berkeley
union firm in 1999, Local 1422 in Department of African American Studies, City College of San
Francisco Labor and Community Studies Department,
Charleston mobilized to protect their
Alameda
hard-won rights. What followed County Central Labor Council, and San Francisco Labor
Council
culminated in a protest in which 660
riot police arrayed against 50 Information: 510-642-6371
dockworkers, a group that grew to andreabuffa@berkeley.edu
http://laborcenter.berkeley.edu
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 on
trumped-up felony charges of
inciting a riot. Their ultimate victory
laid the foundation for successful
rebuffs in ports around the world.
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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/
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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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