George Miller has been a lifelong public servant.   A Bay Area native and son of a state senator, he graduated from San Francisco State University and then received his JD from UC Davis.  In 1974, in the wake of Watergate, he ran for the United States House of Representatives on a platform of transparency.  He won  with 56% of the vote – the first of 19 such victories.

During his 40 years in Washington, Representative Miller gained a reputation as one of the most liberal members of the House of Representatives.  Miller was a champion of environmental issues as a member of the House Natural Resources Committee, serving as its chair from 1991 to 1994.  He was instrumental in the creation of Death Valley National Park and Joshua Tree National Park, and worked to protect wildlife in the California Delta.

As a member of the Committee on Education and Labor, Rep. Miller was an author of No Child Left Behind.  He fought against cuts to student aid as well as in favor of expanding federal student loans.  He introduced a bill to ban corporal punishment in schools, and advocated increased access to educational opportunities for children with disabilities.  He was also a leader on labor issues.  He was instrumental in the passage in 2007 of the most recent increase in the federal minimum wage, from $5.15 to $7.25, and has been a tireless advocate in the fight to protect collective bargaining rights.

Despite his liberal reputation, Miller is known for his amiable nature and his willingness to work across the aisle.  After Miller announced that he would be retiring in 2015, Republican Speaker of the House John Boehner said, “No one would confuse me and George Miller for ideological soul mates. But during our years serving together … we got things done on behalf of the American people thanks in no small part to his dedication and willingness to work for the greater good.”

Rep. Miller currently resides in Martinez.

by SJSU College of Social Sciences

Nov. 18, 2015
4:00-6:00pm
ARC – CCB 100

Title: “Factors that Shape Parental Engagement in Low-Income
Elementary Schools: Results from a Community-based Research
Project”
Amy Leisenring, PhD
Associate Professor of Sociology, Department of Sociology and
Interdisciplinary Social Sciences &
Saul Zepeda, Sociology Undergraduate Student

In the Spring of 2015, students enrolled in Dr. Amy Leisenring’s Sociology 105b course (Advanced Qualitative Research Methods), worked in collaboration with CommUniverCity to collect qualitative data on factors that shape parental involvement in low-income elementary schools in the San Jose Unified School District. Based on semistructured in-depth interviews conducted with 54 parents in these schools, we examined the following: (1) The ways in which parents define and conceptualize parental involvement and engagement; (2) The individual and/or structural factors that enable parents to be more involved in their children’s schools; and (3) The individual and/or structural factors that inhibit parents’ ability to be involved in their children’s schools. In this presentation we will share some of our central findings from the project and discuss their implications. We will also briefly discuss some of the challenges and opportunities that are presented through community-based research, based on the experiences of our class.

Title: Fall and Recover: The Ethics and Poetics of Making Modern
Dance with Refugees and Asylum-Seekers in Dublin, Ireland.
Matthew Spangler, PhD
Professor of Performance Studies
Department of Communication Studies
San Jose State University

In 2003, the Irish Modern Dance Theatre was invited by Dublin’s Centre for the Care of Survivors of Torture to hold dance workshops with the centre’s clients, nearly all of whom are refugees and asylum-seekers. The most notable performances to come out of these workshops are Fall and Recover (2004-2011) and The White Piece (2006-2013), which have been staged a number of times over the last decade in Dublin and beyond, most recently at the world-renowned La MaMa Experimental Theatre in New York. The members of the Irish Modern Dance Theatre, in relying on the abstract and non-narrative aesthetic of modern dance, as they do in productions such as Fall and Recover and The White Piece, seek a method of performance making outside the constraints of narrative-based theatre. Additionally, the company uses a highly collaborative, “devised” rehearsal process that affords the performers a significant voice in what exactly is represented on stage and how the representation is made. This presentation will situate the work of the Irish Modern Dance Theatre within the Western performance conventions and ethical considerations entailed when host-country artists work with refugees and asylum-seekers to produce performance art.

Questions? Contact Acting Associate Dean, Lynne Trulio at lynne.trulio@sjsu.edu

*Light refreshments will be served*

This event is open to the campus community.
If you need special accommodations, please call the College of Social Sciences at (408) 924-5300.

Elizabeth Weiss, Professor, Department of Anthropology

Elizabeth Weiss of the SJSU anthropology department has helped bring a Smithsonian Museum Traveling Exhibit (“Exploring Human Origins”) to the Milpitas and Los Altos public libraries.  She will be giving two talks at the Los Altos library (on Nov. 9 and Nov. 16 at 7 pm), and two at the Milpitas library (Dec. 5 at 2 pm; December 8 at 7 pm).  This is public anthropology at its finest!  For more information, visit the following websites:

The SJSU Geography Club presents a symposium:

Careers in Geography!
November 16th, 6-8pm
Clark 226

Employees in the geography industry will talk about their careers at:
Apple Maps
U.S. Geological Survey
City of San Jose planning department
…and more!

A free informational and food event celebrating Geography Awareness Week!

Department of African American Studies and Department of Justice Studies—Human Rights Program presents:

Community Conversations
CONFRONTING INEQUALITIES IN: CRIMINAL JUSTICE HOUSING EMPLOYMENT

Wednesday, November 18th
6:00 – 8:00 PM
Student Union Theater

Panelists will discuss ongoing issues in San Jose, Santa Clara County
and the United States and explore the societal implications of inequalities
in these areas.

Moderator: Dr. Bill Armaline, SJSU Chair of the Human Rights Program