Smith/Carlos Legacy Event: “Social Action: It is in Our DNA”

October 16th, 1968 is the day that Tommie Smith and John Carlos raised their fists in Mexico City for racial justice, human rights, and the end to poverty.  On this 50th anniversary of their action, come hear from SJSU faculty, staff, and alumnae about Tommie and John’s historic action, as well as the long history of social justice at San Jose State University, which includes the creation of Chicano Commencement, the establishment (and re-establishment) of EOP, and the successful campaign to raise the minimum wage in San Jose.

Speakers include:

  • Rigo 23, California artist that designed and built the Tommie Smith and John Carlos Statues
  • Dr. Julia Curry, SJSU, Department of Mexican American Studies
  • Marina Corrales, SJSU class of 2010 (Master’s Degree, Applied Anthropology), and who worked to re-establish the EOP; currently SJSU EOP Academic Advisor
  • Diana Pondivilla Victa, SJSU ’10, former student leader of Students for EOP; currently Department Manager, SJSU Cesar Chavez Community Action Center
  • Leila McCabe, SJSU ’12, one of the founders of the SJ minimum wage campaign
  • Elisha St. Laurent, SJSU ’12, and former student leader that helped win the SJ minimum wage campaign

The event is sponsored by the Cesar Chavez Community Action Center, College of Social Science, Human Rights Collaborative, Institute for Study of Sport, Society and Social Change.  Please contact Dr. Scott Myers-Lipton at smlipton@sjsu.edu if you have any questions. Also, click here to see the booklet “Social Action: It is in Our DNA” about SJSU and its social action legacy: www.sjsu.edu/socialsciences/about/action/index.html

Yvonne Kwan in Academic Spotlight Newsletter

Assistant Professor Yvonne Kwan was featured in the September 2018 SJSU Academic Spotlight newsletter. Professor Kwan discussed her forthcoming book, Afterlives of Diaspora: Cambodian American Trauma and Memory. Professor Kwan is a second-year Assistant Professor of Asian American Studies in the Department of Sociology and Interdisciplinary Social Sciences.

June 2018 Sourisseau Academy photo album and video

Although a vast unbroken urban cityscape now sprawls across the South Bay, there was once a time when its towns and institutions celebrated the boundaries of their separate existence. In the June 2018 Sourisseau Academy photo album retired Anthropology Professor Tom Layton explores the gates, arches and banners that reassured our citizenry that there was actually “a there, there!”

In the June 2018 Sourisseau Academy news video San José historian Heather David (leader of the San José Signs Project) celebrates the art of signage, when glowing neon and flashing chaser lights promised an exciting shopping experience.

 

April 2018 Sourisseau Academy photo album and video

In the last few years San Jose residents were ripping out their lawns to prepare for drought. But over the past two centuries, we have suffered much more from floods. In the April 2018 Sourisseau Academy photo album Sourisseau Archives Assistant Michael Pearce explore Santa Clara Valley’s floods and the reservoirs built to prevent them.

In the April 2018 Sourisseau Academy news video Sourisseau Board Member and Anthropology Professor Charlotte Sunseri explores the history of New Almaden, a tightly operated company town which reportedly produced more wealth than any of the California’s gold mines.

Roberto González comments on Facebook privacy

Roberto González, chair of the Anthropology Department, was recently featured on Univisión KDTV-14, one of the Bay Area’s most popular local TV news programs. Professor González’s research on Facebook and Cambridge Analytica was recently featured in the online journal CounterPunch. Thank you for engaging the public on this very important topic, Professor González!