WWU’s Fairhaven College Announces Fall World Issues Forum Slate
Grounded in social and environmental justice and human rights, the Fall World Issues Forum lecture series, organized by Western Washington University’s Fairhaven College of Interdisciplinary Studies, will focus on topics such as anti-trafficking laws, human rights, and the treatment of children as refugees.
The forums, now in their 15th year, are free and open to the campus community and general public. The forums are held from noon to 1:20 p.m. every Wednesday in the Fairhaven Auditorium, unless otherwise noted below.
Wednesday, Sept. 28
“Climate and Cultural Memory in Tierra del Fuego”
Presenter: Alfredo Teko Prieto, professor of Cultural Anthropology and Archaeology at Universidad de Magallanes, Puntas Arenas, Chile
Topic: Prieto’s studies focus on the cultural ecology and histories of the people of Tierra del Fuego. The Selknam and Haush of Tierra del Fuego are the only terrestrial nomadic groups living on an island in the Americas for seemingly a millennium. How they thrived in a challenging environment, the impact of European colonialism and contemporary efforts to promote their cultural memory will be the focus of this talk.
Wednesday, Oct. 5
“LGBTQI Movements, Human Rights and Health”
Presenters: Amie Bishop and Anthony Adero, international LGBTQI and human rights advocates
Topic: Bishop, a global health and human rights advocate based in Seattle, and Adero, a Kenyan human rights, LGBTQI and HIV activist, will provide a brief overview of the status of human rights of LGBTQI people around the world, as well as examples of backlash and how local communities are responding. They will also explain how global institutions such as the UN are working towards the advancement of equality for LGBTQI people. Finally, they will discuss the impact of stigma and discrimination on peoples’ lives and describe how activists in every corner of the world are fighting for their rights, often in the face of pervasive hostility, to bring justice to their communities.
Wednesday, Oct.12
“Decolonial Ecuador”
Presenter: Christine Keating, professor of Political Science, University of Washington
Topic: TBA
Wednesday, Oct. 19
“Guatemalan Women Healing Toward Justice: The Case of Sepur Zarco”
Presenter: Maudí Tzay, Psychologist, Community Studies and Psychosocial Action Team
Topic: The Network in Solidarity with the People of Guatemala (NISGUA) bring Tzay, a psychologist with the Community Studies and Psychosocial Action Team (ECAP) in Guatemala to Western to discuss indigenous rights and sexual slavery in that country.
This past year, the Alliance for Breaking the Silence and Ending Impunity, which is a coalition of three social justice organizations, including ECAP, provided legal support and psychological accompaniment to 15 Maya Q’eqchi women from Sepur Zarco when, for the first time in Guatemala, they successfully tried sexual slavery as a crime against humanity. Maudí will share her experience in an effort to increase U.S. awareness of the consequences of militarization and to strengthen cross-border solidarity for gender justice.
Wednesday, Oct. 26
“Access to Information as a Human Right”
Presenter: Emily Willard, Research Fellow, University of Washington Center for Human Rights
Topic: Willard, a research fellow at the University of Washington Center for Human Rights and a doctoral student at the Jackson School of International Studies, will explain why access to information is a fundamental human right. In particular, she will describe how access to government records can begin to address and shed light on past human rights violations to help inform better policy for mass atrocity prevention with two case studies – Guatemala and Rwanda.
Wednesday, Nov 2
“Unleashing the Power of Prevention: Creating Video to Re-Imagine Our Approach to Disease”
Presenters: Bruce Lanphear, professor of Health Science, Simon Fraser University and Bob Lanphear, Principal and Creative Director, Lanphear Design
Topic: Brothers Bruce and Bob Lanphear have teamed up to create a series of videos to show how we can prevent disease by reducing environmental risk factors that impact entire communities. They will also describe how their produced these videos to encourage others to produce their own videos. In this talk they will show these videos and explain why disease prevention is crucial to our well-being and survival.
Wednesday, Nov. 9
“Indian Immigrant Women and Work: The American Experience”
Presenter: Ramya Vijaya, professor of Economics, Stockton College
Topic: Vijaya, will present perspectives from their book, “Indian Immigrant Women and Work: The American Experience” co-authored with WWU Political Science professor Bidisha Biswas. The book investigates the work trajectories and related assimilation experiences of independent Indian women who have chosen their own migratory pathways in the U.S. This book widens the often narrow narratives of women immigrants by focusing on a group of independent, high-skilled women while showing how their lives intersect with the gender constraints of labor markets in both India and the U.S., which provides a unique perspective to the immigrant assimilation narrative.
Wednesday, Nov. 16
“Environmental Organizing and Corporate Accountability”
Presenter: Jim Ace, Senior Campaigner, Stand Earth
Topic: Stand Earth, formerly Forest Ethics, is dedicated to protecting endangered forests and wildlife from the destructive and often clandestine practices of natural resource extraction industries. The organization looks to harness the power and influence of Fortune 500 companies for good, ushering the new culture of environmental stewardship that fosters sustainable management of forests, holds companies accountable for the sourcing of their products, while simultaneously supporting companies that and interested and willing to move toward better environmental practices. Jim Ace, a senior campaigner at Stand Earth, is coming to talk about environmental issues that need our attention, why environmentalists fight for these changes, how they do it, and how we can all take part in the action.
For more information on the World Issues Forum, contact Cloie Chapman, Western Washington University’s Fairhaven College of Interdisciplinary Studies coordinator, (360) 650-6680 or cloie.chapman@wwu.edu.