Center for the Study of Women

Book Talk: Hear Our Stories Campus Sexual Violence, Intersectionality, and How We Build a Better University
2025-01-22 16:00 - 17:30 (America/Los_Angeles) | Moore Hall 3340
When: Wednesday, January 22, 2025
4:00 pm – 5:30 pm
Where: Moore Hall 3340
Light refreshments will be served. A limited number of books will be available for event participants at no cost.
Join us for Dr. Jessica Harris in conversation with Dr. Shannon Speed about her recently published book, Hear Our Stories: Campus Sexual Violence, Intersectionality, and How to Build a Better University.
Jessica Harris is an Associate Professor in the UCLA Department of Education. In Hear Our Stories, Harris draws on interviews with 34 Women of Color student survivors, campus staff, and institutional documents from three universities to demonstrate how we can use intersectionality to inform more effective sexual violence prevention and response efforts.
RSVP Here.
Cosponsored by:
The Office of Justice, Equity, Diversity and Inclusion at UCLA’s School of Education and Information Studies
CSW|Streisand Center

Book Talk: Care without Pathology How Trans- Health Activists are Changing Medicine
2025-01-29 15:00 - 17:30 | CA
When: Wednesday, January 29, 2025
Book Talk: 3–4:30 pm
Reception: 4:30–5:30 pm
Where: Hershey Salon (Hershey Hall 158)
Seating is first come first served.
Care without Pathology examines the transnational emergence of trans health as an institutionalizing field and public good. It argues that the field of trans health can be characterized as a struggle between paternalistic and pathologizing modes of care, on the one hand, and the notion of “care without pathology” on the other. The book suggests that trans health movements—alongside reproductive justice, disability justice, and others—have mobilized care without pathology to transform health politics. Drawing on ethnographic and document-based data centered in New York City and Buenos Aires, Care without Pathology examines how activists and care providers across the Americas work to change the protocols, governing logics, and distributive arguments underpinning trans health as a field.
It follows activists and providers as they grapple with diagnoses, economic accessibility, population health, austerity politics, racialized politics of care and debt, colonial regimes of knowledge, and depathologizing demands. Care without Pathology argues that trans health is far from being an exceptional or unusual form of health care. Rather, its constitutive debates are at the heart of broader contemporary transformations related to biomedicine and health politics writ large.
About the author: Christoph Hanssmann is an Assistant Professor of Gender, Sexuality and Women’s Studies at the University of California, Davis.
Cosponsored by:
CSW|Streisand Center
UCLA LGBTQ Studies
UCLA Gender Studies
UCLA Latin American Institute
UCLA Williams Institute

The Silver Woman: How Black Women’s Labor Made the Panama Canal
2025-01-30 15:00 - 16:30 | Bunche 6275, UCLA Bunche Hall, Los Angeles, CA, 90095, United States
When: Thursday, January 30, 2025
3:00pm – 4:30pm
Where: Bunche 6275
Joan Flores-Villalobos is Assistant Professor in the Department of History at USC. She received her Ph.D. in African Diaspora History from New York University in 2018. Her work focuses on histories of gender, race, and diaspora in Latin America and the Caribbean.

Letters to Home: Art and Writing by LGBTQ+ Nikkei and Allies Book TalkThursday,
2025-02-13 17:00 - 18:30 | CA
When: Thursday, February 13, 2025, 5:00pm – 6:15pm
Where: Broad 2160E
Letters to Home is among the first anthologies to spotlight LGBTQ+ Nikkei experiences and allyship through an intergenerational lens.
Marsha Aizumi (she/her) is the founder of Okaeri, co-founder of PFLAG San Gabriel Valley API, and a mother of a transgender son who
inspired her to advocate for the Nikkei LGBTQ+ communities. Marsha and her son, Aiden, wrote “Two Spirits, One Heart.” They have traveled all over the U.S. to speak and encourage LGBTQ+ individuals and their families to embrace their true selves.
Cody Uyeda (he/him) is a fourth generation Japanese American from Southern California. He is currently Okaeri’s Program & Admin Coordinator, and previously came from a background in the education, research, and legal fields. He is passionate about supporting the Japanese American community, as well as exploring culture, arts, and the outdoors.
Rino Kodama (they/them) is a nonbinary shin- nisei artist based in Los Angeles, originally from the Bay Area. When they are not working as Okaeri’s Tech & Media Marketing Coordinator, you can find them in their backyard ceramic studio hand building sculptures and vases. They are passionate in helping shape a compassionate Japanese American community that is able to hold our queer and trans multiplicities and expansiveness.
Moderated by Grace Hong, professor of Gender Studies and Asian American Studies at UCLA.

Faculty Writing Retreat
2025-02-14 09:30 - 16:00 | CA
Date and Time:
Friday, February 14, 2025
10 AM – 4 PM PST
Location:
Hershey Hall Salon (Room 158)
801 Hilgard Avenue
Los Angeles, CA 90095
About the Retreat:
This quarterly Faculty Writing Retreat is designed to provide you with a peaceful and focused environment to work on your writing projects. Join like-minded colleagues for a day of uninterrupted productivity, complemented by a serene setting and nourishing meals.
What to Expect:

Breakfast and lunch provided
A quiet space to write
Optional lunchtime discussion on the writing process

What to Bring:

Your computer and any materials you need to work
An extension cord (power outlets are limited)
Extra layers of clothing (the space can be cool)

Virtual Attendance:
For those attending virtually, we encourage you to prepare a cozy setup with your favorite snacks and beverages.
Register Here:
RSVP on Eventbrite
If you register to attend in person and your plans change, please let us know right away so that we may offer your spot to the waitlist. No-shows will not be granted an in-person spot at future writing retreats.
If you are no longer able to attend in person, please e-mail csw@csw.ucla.edu to let us know.
Cosponsored by: CSW|Streisand Center, the UCLA Bixby Center, the UCLA Herb Alpert School of Music

Book Talk: Post/Revolutionary Conditions: Renewed Visions of the Iranian Freedom Struggle with author Alborz Ghandehari
2025-02-27 15:00 - 17:00 | Rolfe Hall 2125
Join the UCLA IRLE and CSW|Streisand Center’s Transnational Gender and Labor Working Group for a book talk on Post/Revolutionary Conditions: Renewed Visions of the Iranian Freedom Struggle with author Alborz Ghandehari on February 27, 2025 at 3 pm at 2125 Rolfe Hall.
The discussion will offer an intersectional analysis of how radical and progressive movement builders have re-envisioned liberation in the post-’79 era, despite new forms of oppression under the Islamic Republic and from US and other foreign imperial powers. Post/Revolutionary Conditions shows how potent reimaginings of a radically democratic future have been shaped by multiple generations of protest and kindred struggles globally.
About the author:
Alborz Ghandehari is an Assistant Professor of Ethnic Studies at the University of Utah. His research centers social movements in Iran and Southwest Asia/North Africa, as well as movements in the region’s diasporas.
To RSVP to attend the talk and book signing, click here

Transnational Gender and Labor Working Group Faculty Research Workshop
2025-02-28 12:30 - 14:00 | Rolfe Hall 2125
The Transnational Gender and Labor Working Group will host the following faculty workshop on Friday, February 28th, 2025 from 12-2pm:

“The Neoliberal Turn in Inglewood’s Politics: Sports, Stadiums, and the Assault on Second Sight” by Jasmine Hill, Assistant Professor, Public Policy and Sociology, UCLA
“Fighting Triple Oppression: Domestic Workers in the Vanguard of 1930s Antifascism” by Katherine Marino, Associate Professor, History, UCLA

The purpose of the workshop is to discuss and provide constructive feedback on works-in-progress by working group members. Participants who RSVP will receive workshop papers in advance. Workshop papers are not to be cited or distributed.

The workshop will be held at 2125 Rolfe Hall. Lunch will be available from 12-12:30pm and the formal workshop component will begin at 12:30pm.

RSVP here.

Gender and Los Angeles Residential Water: Use, Knowledge, and Justice in Water Conservation
2025-03-04 12:00 - 13:30 | IoES Conference Room
When: Tuesday, March 4th, 2025
Talk: 12 –1:30 pm
Where: IoES Conference Room
Join us for an insightful talk, “Gender and Los Angeles Residential Water: Use, Knowledge, and Justice in Water Conservation, hosted by Gregory Pierce, Director of the Human Right to Water Solutions Lab. Presenters Jessica Cattelino and Kelsey Kim will dive into the often-overlooked role of gender in water use, management, and conservation, exploring its intersection with migration, race, and class. Drawing on research from diverse Los Angeles households, this discussion will highlight critical social and environmental justice insights.
Lunch served!

Listening to the Dead: Methods of Studying Genocide
2025-03-04 12:00 - 13:30 | Kaufman Hall, Room 200, Janss Steps, Los Angeles, CA, 90095, United States
Although Genocide Studies is an academic discipline that researches genocide, Genocide Studies—in its institutionalization—is not necessarily a study of the dead. The crime was codified in 1948 by the United Nations Genocide Convention, however, Zoé Samudzi writes both that genocide’s designation as crime is “probably the least important thing about it” and that “genocide the process is not necessarily the same as genocide the crime.”

Against empirical and taxonomical capture of mass death by international law and its tools of assessment are the ethnopolitical philosophies that register humanity, personhood, life and death in stark contrast and contradiction.
Samudzi’s lecture engages her transnational grammar of wandering (after Sarah Jane Cervenak’s description of “the enactment of black female philosophical desire”) through which the image, language, ecology, and ancestral responsibility provide a state-illegible but community-oriented conception of intergenerational loss.

Zoé Samudzi
is the Charles E. Scheidt Visiting Assistant Professor in Genocide Studies and Genocide Prevention at the Strassler Center for Holocaust and Genocide Studies at Clark University. She is also a Global Blackness Research Fellow at the Johannesburg Institute for Advanced Studies at the University of Johannesburg and a fellow with African Museums and Heritage Restitution. She is also a writer and an associate editor with Parapraxis Magazine.

Resistance and Reimagining: Perspectives on Reproductive and Gender Justice
2025-03-06 16:00 - 17:00 | CA
Attend the Resistance and Reimagining: Perspectives on Reproductive and Gender Justice from the Academy, Advocacy, and Public Service!
Where: UCLA Law Room 1314, virtually
When: March 6th, 2025 from 4:00-5:00 pm PT.
The Center on Reproductive Health, Law, and Policy (CRHLP), in partnership with Yale Law School’s Program for the Study of Reproductive Justice and Temple University Beasley School of Law, invites you to Resistance and Reimagining: Perspectives on Reproductive and Gender Justice from the Academy, Advocacy, and Public Service.
This event will feature a panel moderated by CRHLP’s Legal and Policy Director, Diana Kasdan. The panel will include Professor Khiara M. Bridges from UC Berkeley School of Law, Leila Abolfazli, Senior Director of National Abortion Strategy at National Women’s Law Center, Mary Bonauto, Senior Director of Civil Rights and Legal Strategies at GLBTQ Legal Advocates and Defenders, and Karli Eisenberg, Supervising Deputy Attorney General, CA AG’s Office for Healthcare Rights and Access. This event is in person and will be streamed over Zoom, refreshments will be served.
Register here.

Thinking Gender 2025: “Gendered Labors & Transnational Solidarities”
2025-03-07 | James West Alumni Center, 325 Westwood Plaza, Los Angeles, CA, 90095, United States
Online registration is now closed. In-person walk-in registration will be available starting at 8:30 AM on Friday, March 7 at the event venue.
View conference program.

35th Annual Graduate Student Research Conference
“Gendered Labors & Transnational Solidarities”
When: Friday, March 7, 2025 (in-person)
8:30 AM – 6:00 PM PST
Where: James West Alumni Center, The Collins Conference Room, 325 Westwood Plaza, Los Angeles, CA 90095

This year’s Thinking Gender theme, “Gendered Labors and Transnational Solidarities,” highlights the rich repertoire of organizing strategies as well as contemporary and historical examples of campaigns led by precarious workers around the world. We are bringing together feminist, queer, and BIPOC scholars, artists, and organizers to reflect upon the meanings of labor solidarity and care to imagine a more livable society. Register today to attend!
Friendly Reminder: Seating is on a first come, first served basis. Due to the high percentage of no-shows, we do overbook our events. Therefore, a reservation does not guarantee a seat, so we suggest you arrive early. We appreciate your understanding and apologize for any inconvenience this may cause.
Learn more about our annual Thinking Gender Conference.
Cosponsors
School of the Arts and Architecture
School of Theater, Film, & Television
Center for Community Engagement
American Indian Studies Center
American Indian Studies Department
Anthropology Department
Asian American Studies Department
Asian American Studies Center
Bixby Center on Population and Reproductive Health
Chicana/o and Central American Studies Department
Chicano Studies Research Center
Disability Studies
Department of Education
English Department
Gender Studies Department
Graduate Division
Humanities Division
Information Studies Department
Institute for Research on Labor & Employment
Institute of American Cultures
Institute on Inequality and Democracy at UCLA Luskin
International Institute
LGBTQ Campus Resource Center
LGBTQ Studies Department
UCLA Luskin School of Public Affairs
Promise Institute
Ralph J. Bunche Center for African American Studies
Justice, Equity, Diversity and Inclusion, David Geffen School of Medicine
Social Welfare Department
Sociology Department
Williams Institute (Law)
UCLA Labor Center
UCLA Latin American Institute

CSW Cozy Book Swap
2025-03-11 | 1500 Public Affairs, 1500 Public Affairs Building, Los Angeles, CA, 90024, United States

LADINO In & Beyond the Home
2025-04-02 09:00 - 16:00 | CA
In its thirteenth consecutive year, the ucLADINO conference supports and celebrates the growing preservation of Ladino language and culture in the Judeo-Spanish diaspora. The theme for this year’s ucLADINO conference centers around Ladino in and beyond the home, exploring language and culture in domestic spaces and in migration. How has Ladino taken shape within domestic worlds and how has Ladino adapted in transit, carried from one home to the next?

RSVP Here

Jewish Critiques of Zionism and the Weaponization of Antisemitism
2025-04-02 18:30 - 20:00 | CA
When: Wednesday, April 2, 6:30 pm
Register for location:
https://tinyurl.com/critiquesofzionism

Join us for a panel discussion between progressive and left-wing Jews about their relationships to Palestine and Israel, critical perspectives on the recent arrest of Palestinian activist Mahmoud Khalil, and interpretations and responses to charges of antisemitism deployed in opposition to racial justice work by the Trump administration, the UCLA administration, and the political right.

Featuring: Izzy Cortes, Michal David, Benjamin Kersten, Beth Ribet, and Noah Zatz
Chaired by Hannah Appel

Beyond Barbie
2025-04-06 - 2025-06-08 | Billy Wilder Theater, 10899 Wilshire Blvd.,, Los Angeles, CA, 90024, United States
Presented by the UCLA Film & Television Archive
When: April 6 – June 8
Where: Billy Wilder Theater, Hammer Museum
Free | No advance reservations. Your seat will be assigned to you when you pick up your ticket at the box office. Seats are assigned on a first come, first served basis. The box office opens one hour before the event.
Writer Isabel Cristo describes the essence of girlhood as a “before time,” untouched by the weighty choices of adulthood — marriage, careers, caretaking. Though often disrupted by reality, girlhood remains a space of unfiltered potential, free from feminism’s historical burdens. Cinema has long confined it to familiar narratives, typically shaped by a girl’s longing for male validation. This series seeks to redefine coming-of-age narratives about girlhood by showcasing films made mostly by women filmmakers from across the globe whose work challenges conventions and is united in their shared focus on a girl’s desire to know and express herself. By foregrounding a protagonist’s self-discovery and agency, these narratives insist that a girl’s psyche — no matter how wounded or raw — is worth exploring. Infused with rare, aching empathy, they illuminate feminine characters whose multi-dimensional stories have too often been absent from cinema. Through them, girlhood emerges as complex, vibrant and inherently cinematic.
Learn more.

UCLA Center for Reproductive Science, Health and Education Distinguished Speaker Series
2025-04-07 17:00 - 18:00 | CA
Please join us for this timely event in which Elizabeth Dias, the New York Times national religion correspondent, will be discussing her bestselling book, “The Fall of Roe: The Riseof a New America,” co-authored with Lisa Lerer. Opening remarks will be provided by Dr.Tracy Johnson, dean of UCLA Division of Life Sciences.
Monday, April 7, 2025 5:00 p.m. PT
Book signing to follow
Location: California NanoSystems Institute (CNSI)UCLA Campus
Registration is required. Seating is first come, first served and is not guaranteed.
RSVP here.
About the event: Elizabeth Dias is the national religion correspondent for The New York Times andhas reported on religion and politics for 15 years. She covers the shifting expressions of belief andpower in American society, and the values, emotions and people that shape public life. She hasreported from more than 30 states and written about religion in four presidential elections. She joinedThe Times in 2018, and reported as part of the national and political reporting teams. Previously shecovered religion, politics and national news at Time magazine, where she traveled with Pope Francis,interviewed the Dalai Lama and explored conservative Christianity’s rise to power with the Trumpmovement. She is a graduate of Wheaton College and has a master of divinity degree from PrincetonTheological Seminary. She is from Arizona by way of Ohio, Germany and Canada, and now lives inWashington. She is the co-author of the national bestselling book “The Fall of Roe: The Rise of a NewAmerica,” with her New York Times colleague Lisa Lerer.

Criminal Justice Law Review 2025: On Carceral Feminism
2025-04-11 09:30 - 16:00 | CA
When: April 11 9:30-4pm
Where: Room 1420
RSVP: tinyurl.com/cjlrsymposium
Restorative Justice Panel & Individual Scholar Presentations

On the Relationship between American Feminism and the Criminal System at 9:45-10:20 Aya Gruber (USC Gould School of Law)
On Responses to Gender-Based Violence at 10:25-11:10
Leigh Goodmark (University of Maryland Carey School of Law)
On Immigration x Abolition Feminism at 11:15-12:00 Lee Ann Wang (UCLA)
On Participatory Defense Campaigns at 1:00-1:45 Colby Lenz (UCLA Center for the Study of Women), Alisa Bierria (UCLA)
On the Changing Landscape/Organizing Efforts to Resist at 1:45-2:20 Erica Miners (Northeastern Illinois University) Restorative Justice Panel at 2:25 – 3:50 Mimi Kim (California State University, Long Beach), Grace Carson (National Center on Restorative Justice, UCLA Law Alumni), Donna Coker (UMiami School

POSTPONED: Sahq, Dirt, Shaheed: Queer Poetics and Palestinian Resistance
2025-04-11 17:00 - 18:30 | UCLA Mathias Botanical Garden, 707 Tiverton Drive, Los Angeles, CA, 90095, United States
THIS EVENT HAS BEEN POSTPONED TO FALL 2025.

Date: April 11, 2025
Time: 5 – 6:30 pm
Location: UCLA Mathias Botanical Garden
This talk uses a combination of poetry, research, and prose to consider some of the discursive and material facets of Palestinian liberation theories and practices, with special attention to forms of affective and embodied resistance.
Mejdulene Bernard Shomali is a queer Palestinian poet and associate professor in Women’s, Gender, and Sexuality Studies at Williams College. She received an MA in Women’s Studies from the Ohio State University and a PhD in American Culture from the University of Michigan. Her research and creative writing occur at the intersection of transnational feminist thought, queer of color critique, and Arab and diasporic Arab cultural production.
Meidulene was a fellow in the Institute for Citizens and Scholars and the Cornell Society for the Humanities. She is the author of Between Banat: Queer Arab Critique and Transnational Arab Archives (Duke University Press 2023) which won the 2024 Association for Middle East Women’s Studies book award honorable mention. She is also the author of the poetry chapbook agriculture of grief: prayers for my father’s dementia (Finishing Line Press 2024). Her current research concerns affect and embodiment in Palestinian resistance.
Cosponsored by:
UCLA Gender Studies
UCLA American Indian Studies Center
UCLA Near Easthern Languages and Cultures
UCLA American Indian Studies
UCLA English
UCLA Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender & Queer Studies
UCLA Asian American Studies
UCLA Asian American Studies Center

Among Women Across Worlds: North Korea in Global Cold War
2025-04-22 16:00 - 17:00 | 10383 Bunche Hall, UCLA, Los Angeles, CA
Professor, Suzy Kim, Rutgers University
Tuesday, April 22, 2025
4:00 PM (Pacific Time)
Bunche Hall, Rm 10383
While social movements may appear to have receded in the 1950s with the rise of Cold War domesticity and McCarthyism (much like the upsurge of authoritarianisms today), the Korean War galvanized women to promote women’s rights in the context of the first global peace campaign during the Cold War. Recuperating the erasure of North Korean women from this movement, this talk excavates buried histories of Cold War sutures to show how leftist women tried to bridge the Cold War divide through maternalist strategies. Socialist feminism in the context of a global peace movement facilitated a productive
understanding of “difference” toward a transversal politics of solidarity. The talk weaves together the women’s press with photographs and archival film footage to contemplate their use in transnational movements of resistance and solidarity, both then and now.
Suzy Kim is a historian and teaches at Rutgers University in New Brunswick, New Jersey. She is author of Everyday Life in the North Korean Revolution, 1945-1950 published by Cornell University Press in 2013 and Among Women across Worlds: North Korea in the Global Cold War also published by Cornell in 2023. She is senior editor of positions: asia critique, and serves on the editorial boards of the Journal of Korean Studies and Yŏsŏng kwa yŏksa [Women and History], the Journal of the Korean Association of Women’s History. As a public scholar, she has been an advocate for social justice and peace in Korea as a founding member of Women Cross DMZ.
Learn more

UCLA Editor-in-Residence Public Events with Courtney Berger
2025-04-23 10:30 - 2025-04-24 17:30 | Hershey Salon
UCLA Editor-in-Residence Public Events with Courtney Berger, Executive Editor, Duke University Press
RSVP for one or both events.
Hershey Salon 158
Wednesday, April 23, 10:30 am-11:30 am: Talk
Talk: Writing Books People Will Want to Read: Advice for First-Time Authors
Thursday, April 24, 4:00-5:45 pm: Panel
Panel & Reception: Writing and Publishing as a Scholar-Activist

Talk: Writing Books People Will Want to Read: Advice for First-Time Authors
We will discuss some of the most common issues that first-time authors face during the writing and publishing process. Berger will offer guidance on how to conceptualize a scholarly book project, put together a book proposal, and make the most of the peer review process. She will also offer strategies for finding the right publisher and working with an acquisitions editor. This will be an informal workshop designed to help first-time authors navigate the publication process and think about the purpose and reach of their writing. There will be plenty of time for discussion, so please bring your questions!

Panel & Reception: Writing and Publishing as a Scholar-Activist
In this conversation, Courtney Berger (Executive Editor at Duke University Press) and members from the UCLA community—Colby Lenz, Juan Herrera, Kian Goh, Lee Ann Wang—will discuss the challenges and rewards of writing as both scholar and activist. We will address a range of questions that scholar-activists navigate in their work and in their writing. What does it mean to be a scholar-activist and how does it change the kind of writing you do? How do you negotiate the competing demands of activism and the university? How do you write in a way that will reach both scholarly and non-scholarly audiences? And how do you maintain ethical relations with the communities you work with while doing scholarly work?

About the Editor-in-Residence
Courtney Berger (she/they) is Executive Editor at Duke University Press. She joined the Press in 2003, after receiving her Ph.D. in English from Johns Hopkins University. Courtney acquires books across the humanities and social sciences, including American studies, Native American and Indigenous studies, Asian American studies, queer, trans, and gender studies, media and technology, and environmental humanities. Berger seeks out books that are theoretically and politically engaged and that speak to a wide, interdisciplinary audience. They have published books by many prominent scholars, but also enjoy collaborating with first-time authors who are in the process of establishing their critical voice.
Friendly Reminder: Seating is on a first come, first served basis. Due to the high percentage of no-shows, we do overbook our events. Therefore, a reservation does not guarantee a seat, so we suggest you arrive early. We appreciate your understanding and apologize for any inconvenience this may cause.
Cosponsored By:
CSW|Barbra Streisand Center
UCLA Social Sciences
UCLA Humanities
UCLA Herb Alpert School of Music
UCLA Bixby Center to Advance Sexual and Reproductive Health Equity

"Evelyn Nakano Glenn and the Feminist Work of Studying Women's Labor"
2025-04-25 12:00 - 13:30 | Center for the Study of Women, 1500 Public Affairs
UCLA Transnational Gender and Labor Working Group Presents:
“Evelyn Nakano Glenn and the Feminist Work of Studying Women’s Labor” By Laura Hyun-Yi Kang, Professor of Gender and Sexuality Studies at UC Irvine
Join us for a public lecture on scholar Evelyn Nakano Glenn’s abiding commitment to illuminating the historical and contemporary experiences of working women as part of her prolific writing on racialized and gendered labor, citizenship, family and care work.
When: April 25th @ 12-1:30 pm
Where: CSW|Streisand Center conference space (1500 Public Affairs)
Lunch provided with RSVP.
RSVP: forms.gle/j4г77v8rCiBRDmia9

Black Study Days by Whistle Space
2025-04-28 - 2025-04-30 | CA
Mark your calendars: Black Study Days is happening April 28–30 at Kaufman Hall, UCLA!
Join Whistle Space for a powerful three-day symposium centering Black arts, scholarship, embodiment, and resistance. Hosted in the Department of World Arts and Cultures/Dance and initiated by Associate Professor Will Rawls, Whistle Space is a platform for artistic and political research—part residency, part somatic nourishment.
Through conversations, workshops, and movement, we’ll explore the body as a site of knowledge, care, and power. This is a space for deep listening, radical imagination, and collective study.
When: April 28–30
Where: Kaufman Hall, UCLA
Free & open to UCLA graduate students

Faculty Writing Retreat: May 2025
2025-05-09 10:00 - 16:00 | Hershey Salon
Do you want to block out a day for writing and contemplation? The quarterly Faculty Writing Retreat is your solution. Join us for a day-long retreat where you can concentrate on your own work alongside like-minded colleagues-we will hold the world at bay for you.
Breakfast and lunch will be provided.
When: Friday, May 9, 2025, 10 am-4 pm
Where: Hershey Hall Salon Room 158
On-site space is limited. Virtual option available.
RSVP Here:
https://facultywritingretreat2025.eventbrite.com

"From Ground Zero" Screening
2025-05-09 14:00 - 17:00 | CA
Where: Kinsey Pavilion 1220B
When: Friday, May 9, 2 pm
Join us for a screening of From Ground Zero, an anthology project comprised of 22 short films created by filmmakers from Gaza. Launched by renowned Palestinian filmmaker Rashid Masharawi, the initiative was created during the current 2023/2024 conflict and aims to provide a platform for young Palestinian artists to express themselves through their craft.
Each film, ranging in length from three to six minutes, presents a unique perspective on the current reality in Gaza. The project captures the diverse experiences of life in the Palestinian enclave, including the challenges, tragedies, and moments of resilience faced by its people. Using a mix of genres including fiction, documentary, docu-fiction, animation, and experimental cinema, From Ground Zero presents a rich diversity of stories that reflect the sorrow, joy and hope inherent in Gazan life.

Symposium – Women and Goddesses in Jainism
2025-05-23 08:00 - 17:00 | Hershey Salon
Photo credit: Samyak Modi
When: Friday, May 23
Where: Hershey Hall Salon
Throughout the history of Jainism, one of the world’s oldest living religions, Jain women have played a crucial role. Jain renouncers, whose self-denying lifestyle is revered as the highest ideal, are predominantly female, while Jain laywomen tend to be significantly more religiously active than their male counterparts. In this symposium, speakers will provide a range of perspectives on human and divine womanhood in Jain life and thought. Talks will cover the definition of gender in Jain philosophical texts, Jain goddess-worship and changing gender roles in the contemporary Jain diaspora.
RSVP here for this in-person event.
Register here for a Zoom link.

SYMPOSIUM SCHEDULE:
2:00 – 2:05: Welcome and introduction, Anahita Hoose (UCLA), symposium organizer & moderator
2:05 – 2:45: Ana Bajželj (UC Riverside): Defining Gender in Śvetāmbara Texts
2:45 – 3:30: Venu Mehta (Claremont School of Theology): Reconceptualizing “Goddess” in Jainism: Devotional Practices for the Jain Goddess Padmāvatī among the Śvetāmbar Mūrtipūjak Jains in Gujarat
3:30 – 3:45: Break
3:45 – 4:30: Shivani Bothra (Cal State Long Beach): Spiritual Equality or Social Boundaries: Redefining Gender Roles in Diasporic Jainism
4:30 – 5:00: Concluding Discussion

SYMPOSIUM PRESENTERS AND DESCRIPTIONS OF THEIR PAPERS:
Ana Bajželj is Associate Professor and Shrimad Rajchandra Endowed Chair in Jain Studies in the Department for the Study of Religion at the University of California, Riverside. She was previously a research fellow at the University of Rajasthan and the Polonsky Academy (Van Leer Jerusalem Institute), and she taught at the University of Ljubljana and the Hebrew University of Jerusalem. Her research focuses on Jain philosophy, particularly metaphysics, ethics, and philosophy of mind. She is the author of The Nature of Change in Jaina Philosophy (Ljubljana University Press, 2016, in Slovenian) and the co-author of Insistent Life: Principles for Bioethics in the Jain Tradition (UC Press, 2021). She is currently working on a monograph study of the Tattvārthasūtra and its commentaries.
“Defining Gender in Śvetāmbara Texts”
This presentation analyzes Jain canonical definitions of the term “man” (puruṣa) from a set of standpoints listed in the Sthānāṅga (Ṭhāṇaṃga). These include (1) name (nāman), representation (sthāpanā), and potentiality (dravya); (2) knowledge (jñāna), view (darśana), and conduct (caritra); (3) sexual orientation (veda), mark (cihna), and (verbal) expression (abhilāpa); and (4) superiority (uttamapuruṣa), mediocrity (madhyamapuruṣa), and inferiority (jaghanyapuruṣa), each with three further subcategories. The presentation explores the semantic range of the term indicated by these standpoints by examining similar passages in other Śvetāmbara texts and considers its significance within the broader context of the Jain discussions on gender.
Dr. Venu Mehta is an Assistant Professor of Jainism and Comparative Spiritualities at the Claremont School of Theology. Her research primarily focuses on Jainism, with a specialization in Jain regional-vernacular devotional literature, narratives, and practices. Her doctoral dissertation examines the devotion to the Jain goddess Padmāvatī among Śvetāmbar Mūrtipūjak Jains in Gujarat, highlighting the interplay between regional devotional expressions and broader Jain theological frameworks.
Beyond her work on Jain goddess traditions, Dr. Mehta’s scholarship extends to the Jain concept of forgiveness and the intersections of aparigraha (non-possessiveness) with human dignity, sustainability, and Gandhian economic thought. Her recent research and publications also engage in Jain-Hindu comparative theologies and spiritualities, particularly in relation to goddess traditions.
In addition to her expertise in Jain studies, Dr. Mehta teaches courses on South Asian religious traditions, comparative spiritualities, and gender and women in spiritual practices. Her methodological approach integrates ethnographic research with textual analysis, emphasizing the lived experiences, devotional expressions, and ritual practices of Jain communities.
“Reconceptualizing “Goddess” in Jainism: Devotional Practices for the Jain Goddess Padmāvatī among the Śvetāmbar Mūrtipūjak Jains in Gujarat”
This presentation explores how Śvetāmbar Mūrtipūjak Jains in Gujarat reconceptualize the goddess Padmāvatī through their devotional practices, positioning her as a central female form of divinity within Jain religious tradition. Though Jainism primarily emphasizes the worship of the Tīrthaṅkars, Padmāvatī, a śāsanadevatā (guardian deity) and yakṣī of Pārśvanāth, has been accorded exceptional devotion. By examining vernacular literature, narratives, and regional practices from the late sixteenth century to contemporary times, I argue that Jains in Gujarat have actively shaped a distinct space for goddess worship, elevating Padmāvatī from an attendant deity to Śakti, the Great Goddess, and the Mother Goddess. This process of reimagining Padmāvatī involves a synthesis of universal Jain values with regional devotional expressions, contributing to the dynamics of democratization, universalization, and regionalization in Jain religious life. Lay Jains play a crucial role in this transformation, engaging with Padmāvatī’s legacy through non-esoteric devotional practices and literature, thus reaffirming her place within their religious framework. Ultimately, this presentation highlights how Padmāvatī’s evolving identity reflects broader patterns of Jain devotionalism, redefining the boundaries of feminine divinity within the Jain tradition in Gujarat.
Shivani Bothra is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Religious Studies at California State University, Long Beach. Before this, she worked as a postdoctoral researcher at Rice University in Houston, USA, and taught as a lecturer in Religious Studies at the University of California, Santa Barbara. She earned her doctorate from the Victoria University of Wellington in New Zealand. Her focus is South Asian traditions, Jainism, and Nonviolence. Shivani’s primary research areas are religious education and transnational Jainism, emphasizing Contemporary Jains.
“Spiritual Equality or Social Boundaries: Redefining Gender Roles in Diasporic Jainism”
This paper critically examines how gender roles in Jain diasporic communities are being redefined or reframed in ways distinct from traditional Indian contexts. How do education, modern professions, business ethics, and transnational networks influence the agency and status of Jain laywomen? In what ways do diasporic Jain women navigate their identities, negotiating between Indian religious traditions and evolving feminist discourses in their new sociocultural environments? Drawing on structured interviews with early Jain diaspora women, this research aims to shed light on the evolving spiritual and social roles of Jain women in a transnational context, assessing the extent to which diasporic Jainism fosters new models of gender participation and leadership.
This event is presented by the UCLA Center for the Study of Religion. It is co-sponsored by the UCLA Center for the Study of Women | Barbra Streisand Center.

Fighting Two Battles: Inside California’s Inmate Firefighting Program
2025-05-27 19:30 - 21:30 | UCLA Hammer Museum – Galleries, 10899 Wilshire Boulevard, Los Angeles, CA, 90024, United States
When: Tuesday May 27, 2025, 7:30 PM
Where: Hammer Museum
Learn more.
Admission is free. Your seat will be assigned to you when you pick up your ticket at the box office. Seats are assigned on a first come, first served basis. Box office opens one hour before the event.
Among those fighting the L.A. fires earlier this year were incarcerated individuals participating in California’s controversial inmate firefighting program. This forum examines the program from the perspectives of formerly incarcerated firefighters, including issues around compensation and potential program reforms.
Moderator Romarilyn Ralston, a black feminist abolitionist who served 23 years in prison and now leads the Justice Education Center for the Claremont Colleges, will guide a discussion with panelists Cody Ridley, Lead Captain of the Golden Eagles Hotshots at Sycuan Indian Reservation and a former inmate firefighter; Brooks Tims, combat veteran, EMT, and Lead Wildland Firefighter with the inmate firefighters program; and Amika Mota, Executive Director of Sister Warriors Freedom Coalition and former incarcerated firefighter who authored a moving op-ed in Teen Vogue on her experiences.

Photo caption: A line of inmates dressed in orange firefighting gear, digging a trench Inmate firefighters dig a containment line as they battle the Palisades Fire on January 11, 2025 in Los Angeles, California.

Cristina Pérez Díaz to present “From the Founding of the Country” on May 29
2025-05-29 17:00 - 19:00 | Dodd Room 248
The UCLA Departments of Classics, English, Spanish & Portuguese, Chicano/a & Central American Studies, as well as the Center for the Study of Women proudly present a reading of “From the Founding of the Country” by classicist, writer, and translator Cristina Pérez Díaz (University of Puerto Rico) followed by a conversation with UCLA Professor Patrícia Lino (Department of Spanish & Portuguese) on May 29 in Dodd 248 at 5pm.

Book Swap and Mini Library Launch
2025-06-02 10:30 - 2025-06-04 16:30 | Center for the Study of Women, 1500 Public Affairs
Join us for the CSW|Streisand Center Spring Book Swap! Bring a wrapped book or wrap one at our center; add a hint note, and swap with others. We will provide wrapping paper and gift tags for adding yours to the mix. Any genre is welcome.
We are also excited to announce the launch of our new mini library! Visitors are welcome to donate and check out books around social justice.
Come and enjoy a free book, refreshments, stickers, and good vibes!
When: Monday June 2-Wednesday, June 4
10:30 am-4:30 pm
Where: CSWIStreisand Center Office

Activists-in-Residence Closing Reception
2025-06-03 17:00 - 19:00 | James West Alumni Center, 325 Westwood Plaza, Los Angeles, CA, 90095, United States
Join us for the UCLA Activists-in-Residence closing reception.
When: Tuesday, June 3 · 5 – 7pm PDT
Where: James West Alumni Center 325 Westwood Plaza Los Angeles, CA 90095
RSVP here.
With a shared commitment to “turn the university inside out” and invite artists, community organizers, and movement leaders to undertake power-shifting scholarship and pedagogy focused on social change, the UCLA Luskin Institute on Inequality and Democracy, the UCLA Asian American Studies Center, cityLAB-UCLA, and the UCLA Center for the Study of Women|Barbra Streisand Center are pleased to celebrate the 2025 UCLA Activists-in-Residence: Lupita Limón Corrales, Kaya Dantzler, Kari Okubo, Romarilyn Ralston, and James Suazo.
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Parking information: The nearest parking lot is Parking Structure 8 (501 Westwood Plaza, Los Angeles, CA 90095). Pay-by-space parking is available on level 4 (rooftop) of Parking Structure 8. Structure 8 has a pedestrian bridge on the 3rd level.
Only cash and credit cards may be used at campus payment stations/kiosks. Pay stations accept Visa, Mastercard, Discover, and American Express for your convenience. Pay stations only accept $1, $5, and $10 bills and do not give change in the form of cash or credit. Park in an unmarked space and place the permit on your car dashboard so it is visible.

Live Performance: Miguel Gutierrez's "Super Nothing"
2025-06-13 - 2025-06-14 | CA
Super Nothing Dance Performance
CAP/UCLA presents
Super Nothing
Friday June 13 and Saturday June 14
Freud Playhouse
245 Charles E Young Dr E, Los Angeles, CA 90024
Information/Tickets
What can a dance do to confront the constant grief that we experience in our lives? Super Nothing presents four dancers whose actions and choreographic relationships are analogues for how people support each other to survive. Interdependence takes multiple forms, as the performers move through representations of the past to create a blueprint for a new future. This piece extends Gutierrez’s interest over the past few years in creating “choreography for the end of the world.”
Choreography/Direction Miguel Gutierrez
Performer/Collaborators: Jay Carlon, Evelyn Lilian Sanchez Narvaez, Justin Faircloth, Wendell Gray II
Lighting Designer: Carolina Ortiz (UCLA Alum!)
Composer: Rosana Cabán, with contributions from Miguel Gutierrez
Costume Designer: Jeremy Wood
Dramaturgical Assistance: Stephanie Acosta
Production Stage Manager: Cat Urquhart
Management: Michelle Fletcher
