Layla Nasseri

“Can we think without time?” On February 24, 2022, Denise Ferreira da Silva, professor and director of the Social Justice Institute at the University of British Columbia, posed this question in conversation with Chicano/a and Latin American Studies (CLAS) Chair Natalia Brizuela and Nejat Kedir, a PhD student in African American Studies. While this question may appear to be abstract, for Ferreira da Silva, who asked it just after a talk on “The Racial Event,” it is a way to theorize our understanding of racial histories.

As the twelfth Matsui lecturer, former Congresswoman Ileana Ros-Lehtinen was invited to discuss her dedication to bipartisanship and fostering engagement and dialogue in her political practice throughout her career as a Republican US Representative from Florida.

Dan-el Padilla Peralta (Princeton), and Joel Sati (PhD candidate, Jurisprudence & Social Policy) explore the world of rigidly inflicted borders, papers, and documentation during their conversation on “Citizenship, Illegalization, and Insularity” at the Center for Race and Gender. 

For some indigenous communities in the US, the question of artistic ownership has been a fraught one, especially when it comes to ancestral works. Artist Wendy Red Star engaged with the idea of archives, historical narratives, and creative expression of Native Americans in a postcolonial world during her talk at the Arts Research Center.

Discussing his newest book Cheerfulness: A Literary and Cultural History, Townsend Center Director Timothy Hampton suggests cheerfulness is connected to a sense of community which has been disrupted by social media and the Covid-19 pandemic.