Tuesday, Nov. 5th (12pm-5pm, 6:30-9:30pm)

FDC 118 (12pm-5pm)

Erin Hughes, PhD (Modern Assyrian Studies faculty in Political Science & History / Stanislaus State) ~ “How Deportation Affects Assyrian Refugees Living in the US and Why They Fear Being Returned to Iraq” ~ 12:00-12:40pm

Ashley Black, PhD (faculty in Latin American History / Stanislaus State) ~ “Historical Factors Driving Central American Migration”) ~ 12:40-1:20pm

Ana Ljubinkovic, PhD (faculty in Sociology / Stanislaus State) ~ “Human Rights and Social (In)Justice” ~ 1:20-2:00pm

Jennifer Biedendorf, PhD (faculty in Communication Studies / Stanislaus State) ~ “The U.S. Refusal to Sign the Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court and the Codification of Women’s Rights into International Law” ~ 2:00-2:30pm

Hannah Evans, MA (Population, Health & Environment Specialist / Population Connection) ~ “Interconnections Between Poverty, Marginalization, Women’s Rights, and Environmental Pressures Made Worse by Climate Change” ~ 2:30-3:00pm

Andrew Conteh, PhD (faculty in Political Science / Stanislaus State) ~ “Climate, Poverty and Forced Displacement: Can Human Rights Trump Human Insecurity?” ~ 3:00-3:45pm

Daniel Shepard (Senior Information Officer / United Nations Office of Global Communications) ~ “The Impact of Climate Change on Human Security: the UN’s Ongoing Efforts to Promote Aggressive Climate Action” ~ 3:45-4:15pm

Christopher Cambises (Program Officer—Refugee Resettlement & Forced Migration / U.S. Committee for Refugees & Immigrants) and Jonathan Partridge (International Rescue Committee—Turlock/Modesto) ~ “Challenges to Refugee Resettlement as a Response to the Terror of State Violence and Forced Migration” ~ 4:15-5:00pm

University Art Gallery (5:15pm-6:15pm): Installation Viewing

IZTALI “Reality is a Dream” ~ sculpture/creative media installation by Caleb Duarte (Bay Area Installation Artist & Professor of Sculpture, Fresno City College)

Snider Recital Hall -- Opening Keynote Program (6:30-9:30pm)

Tanya Golash-Boza, PhD (Professor of Sociology & Chair of Public Health / UC Merced) ~ “Incarceration & Deportation in the Central Valley: Collateral Consequences”) ~ 6:30-7:20pm

Christopher Cambises (Program Officer—Refugee Resettlement & Forced Migration / U.S. Committee for Refugees and Immigrants) ~ “Myriad Challenges to the Modern Resettlement System as a Durable Solution to Forced Migration: The Humanitarian System’s Struggle to Address Traditional Forms of Forced Displacement and Emerging Challenges Posed by Climate Change”) ~ 7:20-8:20pm

Daniel Shepard (Senior Information Officer / United Nations Office of Global Communications) ~ “Human Insecurity, Forced Migration and the Urgent Need for Climate Action in Response to Climate-Based Environmental Challenges” ~ 8:20-9:30pm


Wednesday, Nov. 6th (3:00-7:00pm)

University Art Gallery

IZTALI “Reality is a Dream” performance art 3:00-6:15pm/artist talk 6:30pm ~
Caleb Duarte, MFA (Installation Artist & Professor of Sculpture, Fresno City College)


Thursday, Nov. 7th (1:00-4:45pm, 6:00-9:15pm)

MSR 130 (1:00-4:45pm)

Ryan Logan, PhD (Medical Anthropology faculty / Stanislaus State) ~ “Collaborative Research with Community Health Workers in Indiana: Situating their Commitment to Advocacy, Social Justice & Community Empowerment”) ~ 1:00-2:00pm

Antonio Tovar-Aguilar, PhD (Medical Anthropologist and Executive Director, Farmworker Association of Florida) ~ “Community-Based Participatory Research: Tracking Environmental Health Exposures Facing Immigrant Farm Workers” ~ 2:00-3:00pm

Seth Holmes, PhD, MD (Associate Professor of Medical Anthropology, UC Berkeley) ~ “Collaborative Research into Health Issues Driven by Environmental Exposures Impacting Farmworkers and their Families in the Central Valley:” ~ 3:00-4:00pm

Follow-up Panel Discussion ~ Antonio Tovar-Aguilar, Seth Holmes & Madera Farmworkers ~ “Community Based Participatory Research and Farmworker Justice” ~ 4:00-4:45pm

University Art Gallery (5:00-5:45pm)

IZTALI “Reality is a Dream” ~ sculpture/creative media installation by Caleb Duarte, MFA (Installation Artist & Professor of Sculpture, Fresno City College)

Snider Recital Hall Keynote Program (6:00-9:15pm)

Keynote Focus: Environmental-based Health Injustices Facing Indigenous/Migrant Farmworkers: Examining Participatory/Collaborative Research Partnerships Designed to Empower Farmworker Communities in Florida and California’s Central Valley ~ 6:00-9:15pm

Janaki Jagannath (Farmworker Justice Advocate, California Farmer Justice Collaborative & past Coordinator, Community Alliance for Agroecology; JD candidate, UC Davis Law School)

Rebecca Alcantar, MPA (past Deputy Director for Latino Coalition for a Healthy California)

Antonio Tovar-Aguilar, PhD (Executive Director, Farmworker Association of Florida)

Seth Holmes, PhD, MD (Faculty in Medical Anthropology & Public Health, UC Berkeley)


Wednesday, Nov. 13th (3:00pm-8:30pm)

MSR 130 (3:00-8:30pm)

Geography Meets the Humanities: A Focus on Social Justice

Michael Contreras (Product Engineer, ESRI) and Kevin Butler, PhD (Analysis and Geoprocessing, ESRI) ~ “Using GIS in Real-World Scenarios / Quantifying Patterns of Particulate Matter (PM2.5)” ~ 3:00-4:00pm

Gene Barrera, MCRP (GIS Manager, Merced County) and Victoria Martinez (Colonize Media, Inc.) ~ “Serving Those with Access & Functional Needs / Geographical Analysis and Environmental (In)Justice ~ 4:00-5:00pm

Vanessa Lopez-Asaah, MSW, ACSW (Health Educator / Stanislaus Community Foundation) ~ “The Landscape of Maternal Mental Health” ~ 6:00-6:30pm

Analisa Zamora (Community Engagement Coordinator / Stanislaus County Health Services Agency) ~ “Creating Healthy Neighborhoods as a Community” ~ 6:30-7:00pm

Sophia Garcia, MA (GIS Analyst / Dolores Huerta Foundation) ~ “Participatory GIS: Census, Redistricting & Power” ~ 7:00-7:30pm

Documentary Screening: El Cacao with Michelle Aguilar (Producer/Director) ~ 7:30-8:30pm


Tuesday, Nov. 19th (11:00am-3:30pm & 6:00-9:30pm)

MSR 130 (11:00am-3:30pm)

Blake Wilson, PhD, JD (faculty in Criminal Justice / Stanislaus State) ~ “Decarceration in California: How a Plurality of Political Agents Are Changing Criminal Justice in the Golden State” ~ 11:00am-11:50pm

Sebastian Sclofsky, PhD (faculty in Criminal Justice / Stanislaus State) ~ “Social Justice Issues Highlighted by the Prison Abolition Movement” ~ 11:50-12:30pm

Central Valley Movement Building: “Attacking the School-to-Prison Pipeline” ~ 12:30-3:00pm

     Carrie Lorraine Ayala (Regional Connector, Central Valley Movement Building) ~ 12:30pm

     Ashley Rojas (Executive Director, Fresno Barrios Unidos) ~ 12:45pm

     Folorunso Ashaolu (Education Advocate, Fathers & Families of San Joaquin) ~ 1:30pm

     Cecelia Castro (Education Policy Director, Dolores Huerta Foundation) ~ 2:15pm

Kimlin Johnson, MS (Civil Rights Activist) ~ “Black Challenges” ~ 3:00-3:30pm

University Art Gallery

IZTALI “Reality is a Dream” ~ (artist performance in the University Art Gallery 4:00-5:45pm)

Snider Recital Hall -- Keynote Program (6:00-9:30pm)

Carrie Ayala (Regional Connector / Central Valley Movement Building) ~ “Exposing & Dismantling School-to-Prison Pipelines: A Critical Need for School Discipline Reform in Central Valley Communities” ~ 6:00-6:45pm

Melina Juárez Pérez, PhD (faculty in Political Science / Western Washington University) ~ “Criminalization of Immigration and its Impact on Latinx Communities”) ~ 6:45pm-7:30pm

Melina Abdullah, PhD (Professor of Pan-African Studies / CSULA; Co-founder, LA Chapter of Black Lives Matter) ~ “Free Speech and the Targeting of Black Protest” ~ 7:30pm-8:30pm

Kimlin Johnson, MS (Civil Rights Activist, 23 years as Project Engineer with the Los Angeles County Sanitation District & Author of Authenticity, Accountability and Ambitions) ~ “Let’s Start the Dialogue… Dialogue for Change” ~ 8:30pm-9:15pm


Thursday, Nov. 21st (1:00-4:00pm & 6:00-9:00pm)

MSR 130 (1:00pm-4:00pm)

Representatives of Non-Profit Organizations Working to Address Infrastructure and Environmental Injustices Facing Disadvantaged Communities in the Central Valley:

  • Golden Valley Health Centers (Yamilet Valladolid)
  • Environmental Justice Project (Jonathan Pruitt, Catholic Charities/Diocese of Stockton)
  • Community Initiatives for Collective Impact (Brandon Batzloff/Stergios Roussos)

Snider Recital Hall -- Keynote Program (6:00-9:00pm)

Lemir Teron, PhD (Faculty in Environmental Science, Public Policy & Urban Politics / State University of New York College of Environmental Science & Forestry) ~ “Energy Democracy Legacy Pollution and Inequities in Sustainable Development Strategies: The Challenge for Environmental Justice Communities” ~ 6:00-7:00pm

Marisol Aguilar, MA, JD (Staff Attorney & Program Director for Community Equity Initiative / California Rural Legal Assistance—Modesto Office) ~ “CRLA’s Community Equity Initiative: Community-Based Efforts to Address Environmental Justice Issues in Disadvantaged Unincorporated Areas of the Central Valley” ~ 7:00-8:00pm

Alex Schafran, PhD (Faculty in Urban Geography, University of Leeds) ~ “Exposing Resegregation in California Communities: Envisioning a New Social Contract Under Conditions of Growing Inequality, Housing Vulnerability and Climate Crisis” ~ 8:00-9:00pm

Updated: August 03, 2023