Dr. Kelly Lytle Hernandez, professor of African American Studies, Thomas E. Lifka Endowed Chair in History and Urban Planning, has been elected to the Pulitzer Prize Board. This prize named after Hungarian-American journalist and newspaper publisher, Joseph Pulitzer, is administered at Columbia University. Dr. Lytle Hernandez said, “I am thankful for this opportunity to work with fellow Board members in celebrating a diverse community of journalists, scholars and artists, and look forward to the work ahead.” LA Social Science would like to congratulate the Ralph J. Bunche Center for African American Studies Director.

To read the press release about Dr. Lytle Hernandez’s election to the Pulitzer Prize Board, click HERE.

Photo Credit: The Source

In his essay in The Source, Dr. Kyle T. Mays, UCLA Assistant Professor in the Department of African American Studies, American Indian Studies, and History, cites last month’s Native American Heritage Month as a time “to reflect on a history of genocide, and to consider what we collectively owe to the people upon whose land we all currently live.” Dr. Mays discusses the realities of Native Americans in the United States through the lens of Native American Hip Hop (NAHH) that he describes as “one of the best representations of Native sovereignty.”

To read the full essay, click HERE.

Dr. Carla Gardina Pestana, UCLA Professor and Joyce Appleby Endowed Chair of America in the World in the Department of History, discusses the #MeToo Moment on Plymouth Plantation in an essay for “The Conversation.” Dr. Pestana points out that gender dynamics often get short shrift when reflecting on the histories of Plymouth colony.

John Blanding/The Boston Globe via Getty Images

In the essay, Dr. Pestana describes one account from her new book, The World of Plymouth Plantation. It is the story of John Lyford, who was found guilty of rape in Ireland and driven out of his community. Mr. Lyford moved on to Plymouth Plantation after being driven out, and would have continued to harm others if his past had not caught up with him.

To read the full essay, click HERE.

 

 

UCLA’s Luskin Center for History and Policy (LCHP) has continued to be a leading voice in connecting past to present. The center’s “Then & Now” podcast has tackled some of the most challenge topics of the day by connecting them to the past. As a follow-up to their last pre-election episode, Dr. Lynn Vavreck and Zev Yaroslavsky return to “Then & Now,” joined by Dr. Lorrie Frasure, to analyze the 2020 election results. They discuss a range of key topics: President Trump’s refusal to concede, the persistence of divided electorates in U.S. history, the political behavior of white men, the performance and reliability of polling, and the question of whether American democracy is dying.

  • Lorrie Frasure is an Associate Professor of Political Science and African American Studies at UCLA, and Acting Director of the Ralph J. Bunche Center for African American Studies.
  • Lynn Vavreck is the Marvin Hoffenberg Professor of American Politics and Public Policy at UCLA, a contributing columnist to The Upshot at The New York Times, and the author or co-author of five books on electoral politics.
  • Zev Yaroslavsky is the Executive Director of the LA Initiative at the Luskin School of Public Affairs. He served as LA City Council Member from 1975 to 1994, and as LA County Supervisor from 1994 to 2014.

To hear this informative podcast, click HERE.

On November 15, the National Lawyers Guild of Los Angeles honored the UCLA Labor Center at its annual celebration. “For over 80 years, NLG has acted as a legal arm of social justice movements, working tirelessly to defend the rights of the most marginalized communities.” Labor Center Director Kent Wong, recently appointed by Los Angeles Mayor Garcetti to the Mayor’s Advisory Council on International Affairs, was the master of ceremonies. The virtual event included a powerful program that spotlighted this year’s incredible honorees who have spent decades fighting for justice.

LA Social Science would like to congratulate Director Wong on his new appointment to the Mayor’s Advisory Council on International Affairs, and to the UCLA Labor Center for the outstanding work it does to serve the Los Angeles community.

To learn more about the NLG annual awards celebration, click HERE.

Supporting scholarship that examines a broad range of identities, values, policies and behaviors is essential to recognizing and engaging with the diversity of the human experience. The Division of Social Sciences remains steadfast in its commitment to rigorously pursuing meaningful research, and appreciates the key role graduate students play as future thought leaders.

As the end of the calendar year approaches, the Division of Social Sciences announces the launch of a new effort to raise $50,000 before December 31, 2020 for the Dean’s Fund for the Study of Diversity and Racial Inequality to support diverse graduate student scholars. This newly established fund will ensure that the Division’s graduate students are offered the resources and support necessary to more broadly examine issues of racial justice in the community and beyond.

If you are able, please join in supporting the Division’s graduate students today.  To give now, click HERE.

 

Cheryl L. Keyes

Chair, UCLA Department of African American Studies

Professor of African American Studies, Ethnomusicology and Global Jazz Studies

invites you to attend

“Black Lives Matter – Past, Present, and Beyond” Lecture Series

featuring

Christopher Lebron,

Associate Professor of Philosophy, Johns Hopkins University

The Beautiful Ugly Struggle:

How Black Lives Mattered to Angela Davis and Amiri Baraka

Friday, November 20, 2020 at 9:00am PST

Live Streaming via Zoom

RSVP Here

Please submit your questions in advance of the webinar via email to:

hnadworny@support.ucla.edu by Thursday, November 19 at 5:00 p.m.

Instructions to join the webinar will be provided once your registration has been confirmed.

 

U Heard It Here: Understanding the 2020 Election Outcome

Michael Chwe,

Chair and Professor with the Department of Political Science,

invites you to attend a panel discussion featuring the following:

Lynn Vavreck

Marvin Hoffenberg Professor of American Politics

Efrén Pérez

Professor, UCLA Department of Political Science and Psychology,

Director of Race, Ethnicity, Politics and Society (REPS) Lab

Daniel Thompson

Assistant Professor, UCLA Department of Political Science

moderated by:

Erin Hartman

Assistant Professor, UCLA Department of Political Science and Statistics

Tuesday, November 17, 2020

5:30 p.m. PST

Live streaming via Zoom

RSVP for the event here: https://ucla.zoom.us/webinar/register/WN_eVjzJQIhTEiVV1Pro1t3lw

Please submit your questions in advance of the webinar via email to: hnadworny@support.ucla.edu

(by Monday, November 16 at 5:00 p.m.)

Instructions to join the webinar will be provided once your registration has been confirmed.

LA Social Science recently spoke with Dr. Tyrone Howard, Professor of Education, Pritzker Family Endowed Chair in Education to Strengthen Families, and Director of the Black Male Institute, about the state of education during the COVID-19 pandemic. Dr. Howard is seen as one of our country’s leader in multicultural education, social and political context of schools, urban education, social studies education, and educational experience of African American students.

Interview Chapters:

0:24 – Intro of Dr. Howard

1:10 – Is there any music or a book that has help you to get through this pandemic?

1:58 – Talk with us about the state of education?

8:00 – How are teachers dealing with this current moment?

10:23 – Talk with us about some of the projects you are working on which speak to moving the educational space toward a 25th century reality for all students?

14:15 – Any silver line to what we are currently experiencing?

 

Subscribe to LA Social Science and be the first to learn more insight and knowledge from UCLA’s Division of Social Science experts and other faculty about upcoming video/audio sessions and posts about current issues.

UCLA Professor Eric Avila, was one of the scholars and community activists that was featured in the PBS film, Driving While Black: Race, Space and Mobility in America. The film is defined as “a ground-breaking, two-hour documentary film by acclaimed historian Dr. Gretchen Sorin and Emmy-winning director Ric Burns, which examines the history of African Americans on the road from the early 1900s through the 1960s and beyond.”

Watch the film now for free until November 11th HERE. It will be available for purchase after that date.

To learn more about the film, check out the following links:

Trailer: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LHZjzJN0sVg

Website: http://www.dwbfilm.com/

Recent Reviews:

https://www.cnn.com/2020/10/13/entertainment/driving-while-black-review/index.html 

https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/review/driving-while-black-race-space-and-mobility-in-america-tv-review

https://www.npr.org/2020/10/13/923170416/pbs-documentary-driving-while-black-examines-long-road-of-racism