10th Annual Practical Activism Conference at UCSC

The Practical Activism Conference is a daylong, student led conference which features a keynote speaker, ten workshops, various on and off campus organizations, performances, and a variety of hands-on activism activities.

This year's conference will take place on Saturday, October 20, 2012 in the College Nine & College Ten Multipurpose Room.


Keynote Speaker:

ANGELA DAVIS
Renowned educator, activist, author, and Professor of History of Consciousness at UCSC.


Schedule of the day:

10:30-11:45
Registration, Refreshments, Tabling, Creative Activist Activities, & Music

11:45-12:50
Opening Session including Spoken Word and Keynote Speaker

1:00-2:15
First Concurrent Workshop Session (Choose one of five workshops)

2:25-3:40
Second Concurrent Workshop Session (Choose one of five workshops)

3:30-5:00
Refreshments, Tabling, Creative Activist Activities, & Spoken Word Performances


Workshop Topics:
UCSC Budget Cuts and Retention
Education Not Incarceration
Sustainable Agriculture: Think Global, Act Local
Frack Off: An Illustrated View on Resource Extraction
Transgender Healthcare
Somewhere Over the Rainbow: Exploring LGBT Legislation
Stop the Devastation: Anti-Immigrant Legislation
Social Media for Social Justice
Reproductive Rights
Beyond Stereotypes: Mental and Psychological Disabilities

Hands On Activities, Displays, & More!

Get Involved!
Visit the tables of local groups for opportunities to get involved both on and off campus.

Bullying Stops Here
Learn about the impact of bullying and what you can do to stop this dangerous trend in your school, community or workplace. Take a Pledge Against Bullying, Stand Strong Against Hate!

Practical Activism History
Check out the displays highlighting the past ten years of this powerful community.

Race and Education
What are the issues preventing students of color from achieving higher education? What is the history of Ethnic Studies at UCSC? How does immigration law impact education? Come learn about this and more - spin the wheel, take the quiz, win a prize!

Gaga for Gadgets
How do you know if you are using or abusing facebook? Is texting dangerous to your health? How has social media such as facebook, twitter and tumbler affected your friendships, academics, and overall outlook on life? This booth explores the impact of technology on individuals and communities.

Button-making
Come make a button to show your passion and practical activism! Design one to make a statement, highlight an election issue, honor an Artist-Activist, and more!

Fair Trade “Store”
Stop by the trading post and check out the merchandise brought to us by Trade As One. Fair Trade is essentially the exchange of goods based on principals of economic and social justice. The Fair Trade model seeks to challenge injustices in trading structures and practices that so often lead to the exploitation and marginalization of poor people.

Beehive Collective
Stop by to experience The Beehive Design Collective’s larger-than-life banner version of “The True Cost of Coal” graphic and talk with one of the bees. This elaborate narrative illustration interweaves anecdotes, statistics, and history to explore the complex story of mountaintop removal coal mining and the broader impacts of coal in Appalachia and beyond. The Beehive’s mission is to “cross-pollinate the grassroots” by creating images that educate the public and deconstruct complex geopolitical issues.

UCSC Farm Cart
Come purchase fresh, local, organic, seasonal produce and find out about how to get involved with the UCSC Farm.

Water Crisis & Recycling Info Table
Learn about water quality and lack of access to safe water in developing countries. Find out what you can do to help.

Election 2012
Drop by to learn more about some of the propositions and issues that will be on the ballot November 6th. If you are eligible to vote and haven’t yet registered, the deadline is Monday, Oct. 22nd – you can fill out a form at this table.


Workshops

Block 1 (1:00-2:15)

UC Budget Cuts and Retention
Learn how UC budget cuts disproportionately effect retention programs, though these programs exemplify the University’s mission. Take a closer look at the root of the problems, learn how cuts in retention programs impact the student experience, and gain tools to join a growing activist community striving to save retention programs.

Speaker:

Terisa Tinei Siagatonu is a spoken word artist, arts educator, and community organizer from the Bay Area. She has worked with Youth Speaks, One Love Oceania, the Samoan Community Development Center of San Francisco, Empowering Pacific Islander Communities of Los Angeles, and Engaging Education at UC Santa Cruz, where she was affiliated with College Ten.

Education Not Incarceration

The connections between educational inequity and incarceration are prevalent and growing. The workshop will present an overview of funding realities for both the educational and prison systems, along with an examination of the social factors that impact both of these systems and perpetuate the cycle of oppression evident in both.

Speakers:

Craig Haney is Professor of psychology at UCSC. His research concerns the application of social psychological principles and data to various legal and civil rights issues. He has specialized in the assessment of institutional environments, especially the psychological effects of incarceration, as well as study of the social histories of persons accused or convicted of serious violent crimes. Professor Haney's work is highly applied and policy oriented, and he tries to involve his students in examining issues that have real-world legal significance.

Dr. Craig Reinarman is a sociologist with over 20 years of experience in researching and writing about drugs, addiction, and the politics which surround both. His recent work has focused on the political, public policy, and sociological issues surrounding crack/cocaine in the United States, as well as the way crack cocaine has been presented in the media and political discourse. Dr. Reinarman is an editorial board member of both the International Journal on Drug Policy and Drug and Alcohol Dependence; is presently the Associate Journal Editor of Contemporary Drug Problems, and was the Book Series Editor of the New Social Studies on Alcohol and Drugs series (SUNY Press, 1988-1994). He has also served as consultant to the World Health Organization Program on Substance Abuse based in Geneva, Switzerland. He served as a member of the Board of Directors of the College on the Problems of Drug Dependence, an organization established in 1929 by the National Academy of Sciences. He received his Ph.D. in Sociology from the University of California, Santa Barbara (1983).


Sustainable Agriculture: Think Global, Act Local

Conversations in the United States and around the world are brewing regarding agriculture and sustainability. Examine the continuing importance of raising consciousness around sustainability and food systems and look at specific programs and opportunities where community members can play an important role in moving our food system forward towards a more sustainable framework.

Speakers:

Damian Parr joined the Center for Agroecology and Sustainable Food Systems at UC Santa Cruz in 2011. He began mixed vegetable organic truck farming in high school in 1989, was a UCSC Farm & Garden Apprentice in 1991, and an Environmental Studies/Agroecology undergrad at UC Santa Cruz in 2000. Damien completed a M.Sc. in International Agricultural Development, and a Ph.D. in Agricultural and Environmental Education at UC Davis. He was recently a Postdoctorol Fellow at UC Davis Agricultural Sustainability Institute and the Executive Director and co-founder of the Sustainable Agricultural Education Association.

Robin Somers is a Bay Area native and received her literature degree at the University of California, Santa Cruz. She worked several years as a freelance journalist and substitute teacher was active in several different community organizations. Later, she completed her MFA in creative writing at San Jose State University and has been teaching writing courses with a focus on food systems and politics for the last eight years.


Frack Off: An Illustrated View on Resource Extraction

Explore the complex environmental and social issues related to resource extraction and interact with the larger-than-life narrative illustrations of the Beehive Collective that interweave anecdotes, statistics, and history of mountaintop removal coal mining while addressing the broader impacts of resource dependence. Professor Jeff Bury will then tie this in to the controversial and increasingly common practice of fracking, a significant local and international concern.

Speaker:

Zeph Fishlyn, artist and activist with The Beehive Collective, will present on these issues inviting the audience to interact with the large-scale artwork the group is known for. The Beehive’s mission is to cross-pollinate the grassroots, by creating collaborative, anti-copyright images that can be used to educate the public and deconstruct complex geopolitical issues.

Jeff Bury is a professor of Environmental Studies at UC Santa Cruz. Bury’s current research is centrally concerned with the transformation of natural and social environments in Latin America by the forces of globalization, neoliberalism and geopolitical change. His research has recently focused on extractive industries, development and social movements in Latin America.


Transgender Healthcare

The medical field is driven by a cisgender view, classifying people based on the field’s two identified sexes and providing health care based on the assumption that an individual’s gender identity matches the societal expectation for their sex. Learn about the various limitations this poses, especially to medical access for transgender people and those who do not fall into the standard categories of the gender binary.

Speaker:

Dafna Wu has served since 1994 as staff nurse at the Castro-Mission Health Center, where she works with a substantial number of queer and transgender youth and was on the founding team of Dimensions Queer Youth Health Clinic. Her ongoing advocacy work is dedicated to providing a nurturing and safe space where LGBTQ youth can seek and receive quality primary care. A trilingual, Jewish, Chinese, Brazilian, lesbian mother, Dafna graduated from the University of California Santa Cruz in English Literature with a minor in Biology and completed her graduate studies in Nursing from San Francisco State University.



Block 2 (2:25-3:40)


Somewhere Over the Rainbow: Exploring LGBT Legislation

In this workshop, we will explore different perspectives and legislation around the globe that impact the rights of the LGBT community. We will focus on Iran, Russia, Uganda, Mexico, Argentina, Canada, and the United States.

Speakers:

Carter Wilson is a former UC Santa Cruz Community Studies professor and has been an ‘expert witness’ in about 40-50 different immigration cases spanning over the last 15 years. He has a background in gay rights and has devoted a significant amount of his time to researching US-Mexico relations regarding gay rights and the struggles that gay people face when they come to the United States without a visa. His research and experience have given him credibility to serve as an expert eyewitness in court hearings. These cases are hearings in which people have applied for asylum against return to Mexico on the basis that the LGBT community suffers from severe risk of persecution on return to their home country. Carter is also interested in issues surrounding government recognition of gay marriage in the United States as such would same sex couples to stay together regardless of visa status.


Stop the Devastation: Anti-Immigrant Legislation

This workshop will focus on current and proposed legislation that specifically targets and dehumanizes immigrants. We’ll explore how civil rights are being compromised in states like Arizona, Alabama, and Missouri and discuss Santa Cruz County’s involvement in the federal Secure Communities initiative, and find out how to engage in activism around this local issue.

Speakers:

Karina Cervantez is a doctoral student in the Psychology Department at UCSC and a local activist.


Social Media for Social Justice

Learn how new social media tools have allowed citizens to report news and expose cases of social injustice. We will discuss how the internet has made it possible to amplify suppressed voices by connecting areas that have been subject to censorship with other parts of the world. Topics will also include censorship, bias in the mainstream media, and the safety of citizen journalists in areas that lack press freedom.

Speakers:

Bradley Stuart Allen is a photographer, Indymedia volunteer and website developer living in Santa Cruz, California. Since 2001, Bradley has been contributing coverage to Indymedia websites. Most of that coverage has been of events that took place in the city of Santa Cruz or at UC Santa Cruz. Bradley has also published reports from many other locations such as Miami during demonstrations against a free trade agreement, Houston and New Orleans after Hurricane Katrina, and the barricaded streets of Oaxaca, Mexico. He completed his degree in environmental studies at UC Santa Cruz, co-founded the Student Environmental Center, and later returned to participate in the school’s new Social Documentation program and graduated with a Master’s Degree in 2008.

Leslie Lopez is a UCSC faculty member, currently teaching for the Latin American Latina/o Studies Department, The Writing Program, and the Education Department, where she directs the “Corre La Voz,” an after-school program. Lopez received her PhD in socio-cultural anthropology with an emphasis in alternative communication and education strategies in Latin America and the Southwest United States.

Maria Sutton is an International Outreach Coordinator for Electronic Frontier Education: Defending Your Rights in Digital World. Her role involves working along with EFF's International Team blogging, framing policy, and monitoring emerging trends and developments in international freedom of expression, privacy, digital consumer rights and innovation. Sutton earned her BA at UC-Santa Cruz in Politics and Global Information and Social Enterprise Studies. Also, during her time at UC-Santa Cruz Sutton was a Fellow and Coordinator for the Global Information Internship Program otherwise known as GIIP, a program dedicated to train undergraduate students to become enterprising IT-literate activists for social justice.


Reproductive Rights

This workshop seeks to create a safe environment in which to give workshop participants the knowledge, resources, and tools to become active in issues of reproductive rights. Learn about rallies, petitions, organizations, and more that you can be a part of in order to work towards reproductive justice. We will focus on the history of the reproductive justice movement as well as recent legislation limiting individual choice, and discuss the proposed bills on the November ballot.

Speakers:

Hillary Berk is a lawyer and Ph.D. Candidate in Jurisprudence and Social Policy at the University of California Berkeley. She studies the sociology of law and gender, with an emphasis on reproductive technology. Her research examines the role of law in managing emotions in the context of surrogacy agreements, and its larger impacts on social institutions like family and work. She came to Berkeley having created and taught seven courses for the Law and Society Program at UC Santa Barbara, including Gender and the Law; Jurisprudence; and Lawyers and the Legal Profession, and currently teaches Legal Rights, Science and Society for the Legal Studies department at UC Berkeley. She holds a J.D. and Natural Resources Law certification, in addition to her professional experience as a mediator, family law policy analyst, and attorney licensed with the California and Oregon State bars.


Beyond Stereotypes: Mental and Psychological Disabilities

This workshop will explore the experience of people living with mental illness and psychological/cognitive disabilities, address the stereotypes and stigmas faced by these individuals, and explore privilege and oppression. Join us to gain tools to be an advocate for these concerns and help to build a more just community.

Speaker:

Amy Mandell is a licensed marriage and family therapist. Prior to beginning work at UCSC Counseling & Psychological Services, she worked as a therapist and case manager at multiple community mental health settings including a foster and adoption care agency in Oakland, and a GLBTQ therapy center in San Francisco.