Composting Grief: Food as Medicine
2023-05-31 16:00 - 18:00 (America/Los_Angeles)
Recipricol Ecologies, LANDING, and the Environmental Art and Social Practice MFA Program are proud to present composer, physician, and writer Dr. Rupa Marya.

Location: Institute of the Arts and Science | 100 Panetta St, Santa Cruz, CA

Dr. Rupa Marya Dr. Rupa Marya is a physician, activist, artist and writer who is an Associate Professor of Medicine at the University of California, San Francisco and the founder and executive director of the Deep Medicine Circle, a worker-directed nonprofit committed to healing the wounds of colonialism through food, medicine, story, learning and restoration. In 2021, she published her first book with political ecologist, food system activist and policy professor Raj Patel, Inflamed: Deep Medicine and the Anatomy of Injustice. This book advances a new level of diagnosis that incorporates history and lines of power into our understanding of the root causes of health disparities and the rise of inflammatory disease in industrialized places, offering compelling treatment options for what is ailing people and the planet.

Thank you to the Institute of the Arts and Sciences for hosting, and to the Center for Racial Justice, the Institute for Social Transformation, the Global Community Health Program, The Humanities Institute, Environmental Studies, Cultural Studies, Disability Studies, Sociology, the Center for Agroecology, College 9, John R. Lewis College, Crown College, and others for help with promoting this event.

A Foodways Benefit: Advancing the UCSC Road Map to Student Food Security
2023-06-02 17:00 - 20:30
The Center for Agroecology and the UC Santa Cruz Foundation Board of Trustees invite you to the Foodways Benefit Dinner on June 2, advancing the road map to student food security. This extraordinary evening features special guest chef Brandon Jew, executive chef of Mister Jiu’s in San Francisco and winner of two 2022 James Beard awards. The five-course meal will highlight seasonal, local produce from the UC Santa Cruz Center for Agroecology paired with local award-winning wines.

Proceeds from the event will advance UC Santa Cruz’s efforts to reduce student food insecurity on campus and achieve the UC system’s goal of reducing student food insecurity by half by 2025. The event will include tours of the UC Santa Cruz Farm where you can see firsthand how the Center for Agroecology and UCSC partners are working to feed and nourish students. A silent auction will provide further opportunity to increase support for students’ basic needs.

Tickets are available at $250 per person or $2,500 for a table of 10.

This event has limited capacity. Deadline to purchase tickets is Friday, May 26.

Purchase Tickets Here

We are grateful to the UC Santa Cruz Foundation Board of Trustees for providing seed funds for the campus’s food security plan and this event.

Brandon JewExecutive Chef of Mister Jiu’s in San Francisco Brandon Jew is the executive chef and owner of Mister Jiu’s, a contemporary Chinese American restaurant in the heart of San Francisco’s Chinatown. Mister Jiu’s combines the local, seasonal, and organic bounty of the Bay Area together with classic Chinese techniques and flavors. The restaurant celebrates its place in the historic neighborhood, working toevolve and define Chinese American cuisine in the Bay Area. Brandon’s training spans from Bologna, Italy, to Shanghai, China, and many restaurants within the Bay Area. He considers Judy Rodgers (Zuni Café); Michael Tusk (Quince); and his grandma, Ying Ying, to be his most influential mentors. Brandon has appeared in the New York Times, Wall Street Journal, Mind of a Chef, Ugly Delicious, Taste the Nation, and Vice Munchies. His honors at Mister Jiu’s include one Michelin star, #3 on Bon Appetit’s Best New Restaurants in America 2017 “The Hot 10” list, San Francisco Magazine Chef of the Year, and James Beard nomination for Best Chef West 2018, 2020, 2021, and winner for the honor in 2022. Brandon is the co-author of the book Mister Jiu’s in Chinatown, for which he also won the 2022 James Beard award for best restaurant cookbook.

Poetry and Music in the Garden
2023-06-03 12:00 - 14:00
Enjoy the beauty of early summer in the historic Alan Chadwick Garden at UC Santa Cruz with poetry and music from some of the region’s most talented artists. The event is free and open to the public (registration required). Featured poets this year are Farnaz Fatemi, Aideed Medina, Jennifer Ruby, Michael Hannon, and Lee Perron. World music by Paul and Emily Rangell.

Located at the Alan Chadwick Garden | Register Here

Sponsored by the Center for Agroecology and the UCSC Social Sciences Division

July Slugs & Steins: Quest for the Holy Grail: Organic No-Till Farming
2023-07-10 18:30 - 20:00
With Darryl Wong, Executive Director of the Center for Agroecology

Register here | This is a free and virtual event open to the public

As climate change continues to present major challenges for agriculture in the coming decades, there is more need than ever for novel agricultural solutions that address key social, environmental, and economic issues. No-till practices have been implemented on millions of hectares worldwide, addressing historic agricultural issues of topsoil erosion, water infiltration, and diversification. However, these systems still present considerable environmental challenges as they rely heavily on herbicides and chemical fertilizers that are prone to off-farm contamination and leaching. Organic tillage-based systems have been able to exclude these products while providing considerable co-benefits. However, the ‘holy-grail’ of organic no-till farming has been slow to develop, with both adoption and research lagging far behind conventional systems in the United States.

This talk will explore the agroecological challenges facing organic no-till agriculture, with a particular focus on the distinct challenges of California organic vegetable systems. We will review the results of a three-year field trial conducted at the UCSC Center for Agroecology with discussion about the role of formal research and extension in supporting agroecological innovations.

This event is sponsored by UC Santa Cruz Alumni.

Darryl WongExecutive Director at the Center for Agroecology Darryl Wong began his tenure in the newly created executive director role at the Center for Agroecology in the summer of 2022. Previously, he was the Research Lands Manager, a position he had held since 2013. Darryl has worked across the center’s production, education, and research programs, co-managing 10 acres of production fields, instructing beginning farmer and undergraduate agroecology courses, and collaborating on faculty field research. Darryl’s research focuses on soil health, regenerative agriculture and organic no-till systems in California. Darryl has farmed for over 15 years and spent 6 years owning and operating a diversified organic farm.

Challenging Segregation: "Just Action" book signing and talk with Author Leah Rothstein
2023-07-12 17:00 - 19:00
Located at the Hay Barn | Registration coming soon.

Save the date: At the intersection of land use, racial equity, and economic justice, the Center for Agroecology invites you to join us for a critical conversation about how people can be empowered to address the legacy of state-sanctioned segregation with author, Leah Rothstein.

Six years ago, Richard Rothstein’s important book, Color of Law, made a powerful case that direct and indirect government action and policies at the federal, state and local levels had caused segregation and the resulting social problems throughout the United States. The book was a best seller and significantly influenced discussions of the systemic impact of segregated communities on a range of outcomes in education, health and workforce participation. It stands as one of the most important recent books on residential segregation published in the past few decades.

What that book did NOT do was provide enough solutions for citizens to pursue to address the legacy of state-sanctioned segregation. In their new book, Just Action: How to Challenge Segregation Enacted Under the Color of Law, Rothstein and housing policy expert Leah Rothstein provide a blueprint on how to address segregation for concerned citizens and community leaders. The new book describes dozens of tangible strategies the Rothsteins say readers and supporters can undertake in their own communities to make their commitment real and create tangible change that might finally challenge residential segregation and help address the legacy of America’s profoundly unconstitutional past.

The Rothsteins provide a tool kit for activism and advocacy, with myriad real-life examples from communities, groups and individuals that have confronted segregation-related challenges from legal, real estate, banking, and commercial development standpoints. They also counter misconceptions about the consequences of integration and make their case for closing the wealth gap that has made homeownership unaffordable for many middle-class Americans, particularly African Americans.

Sponsored by the Center for Agroecology and the UCSC Social Sciences Division.

Strawberry Picker Film Screening and Panel Discussion
2023-10-10 18:00 - 20:00 | Stevenson Event Center, Stevenson Service Rd., Santa Cruz, California, 95064, United States
An event celebrating Latinx Heritage Month

Mark your calendars and join us for a film and a conversation with Juan R. Fuentes and filmmakers Mario Cano-Bonner and Eugenia Renteria, from Inspired Studios!!

UC Santa Cruz is hosting a film screening at the Stevenson Event Center on October 10, 2023 from 6pm-8pm. The short documentary, Strawberry Picker, depicting the life story of a little boy growing up in labor camps to become a world-class artist! A look at generations of struggle and resilience in the Chicano Art Community through the experiences of Juan R. Fuentes

Fill Out the Form to Register >>>

EVERYONE IS WELCOME! Light refreshments will be provided.

Event sponsored by: The UCSC Humanities Institute, The Hispanic Serving Institution, Institute for Social Transformation, Division of Student Affairs, Cowell College, El Centro Chicanx Latinx Resource Center, Arts Research Institute, Center for Labor and Community, Counsel of Provosts, Office for Diversity, Equity and Inclusion, and Stevenson College Programs and Activities.

Webinar: Community Engaged Research Basics
2023-10-11 12:00 - 13:30
A free webinar, sponsored by URBAN Research Action Network on October 11th, shares the ‘basics’ of community engaged research. Led by national scholars Michele Fine, Ben Kirschner, and John Diamond.

Michele Fine is a distinguished professor of Critical Psychology at the Graduate Center City University of New York City as well as a visiting Professor at the University of South Africa.

Ben Kirschner is the Professor of Learning Sciences and Human Development at the University of Colorado Boulder.

John Diamond is a Professor of Sociology and Education Policy at Brown University.

Register now for free >>>

The Institute for Social Transformation is a member of the Urban Research Action Network

2023 Imagining America National Gathering
2023-10-20 00:00 - 2023-10-22 23:59
Radical Reckoning: Invoking the Elements for Collective Change

Location: Providence, Rhode Island

In partnership with College Unbound, AS220, the City of Providence, and a diverse local Steering Committee, Imagining America (IA) invites participants to gather in Providence, Rhode Island for the in-person 2023 IA National Gathering. Invoking the cleansing work of fire, the changing form of water, the steadiness of the earth, and the ethereal nature of air, the 2023 IA National Gathering conjures the elements to guide the radical work of reckoning with the past to create a future of collective liberation.

REGISTRATION IS NOW OPEN

READ THE CALL FOR PARTICIPATION

About the Organizers

Imagining America (IA) is a national consortium that brings together scholars, artists, designers, humanists, and organizers to imagine, study, and enact a more just and liberatory ‘America’ and world. Efforts are currently underway to reckon with legacies of racial injustice in Rhode Island and enact a new cultural plan for the City of Providence. Through this unique collaboration with College Unbound, AS220, and the City of Providence, the IA National Gathering invites participants to reckon with past harms and draw upon the power of intergenerational arts and education for collective change. AS220 teaches us that art making is community building; the City of Providence models how to collectively imagine a process and practice of reparations and cultural transformation; and College Unbound, a school for adults who have been harmed by traditional educational systems, reimagines the radical potential of higher education. For more information visit: iagathering.org

Webinar: Community Engaged Research Ethics
2023-11-08 11:00 - 12:30
A free webinar, sponsored by URBAN Research Action Network on November 8th, shares the ‘ethics’ of community engaged research. Led by national scholars Ronald David Glass, Sheeva Sabati, Laneta Fitisemanu, and Doreen Abubakar.

Ronald David Glass is the Professor of Philosophy of Education Emeritus at the University of California Santa Cruz.

Sheeva Sabati is a professor at Sacramento State University teaching Anti-Racist Educational, Leadership and Policy Studies.

Laneta Fitisemanu is a Chair on the Neighborhood Partners Community Review Board at the University of Utah.

Doreen Abubakar is the Executive Director of Community Placemaking Engagement Network.

Register now for free >>>

The Institute for Social Transformation is a member of the Urban Research Action Network

It Needs to be Told: Native Californian Perspectives on the Missions
2023-11-12 15:30 - 20:00 | Santa Cruz Mission State Historic Park, 144 School St., Santa Cruz, California, 95060, United States
A collaborative film project elevating the voices of contemporary Indigenous community members to foster truth and healing in mission history-telling. The event will begin at 3:30pm with refreshments. Speakers will begin at 5pm, followed by the screening of the film on the patio. A Q&A will follow.

This project was co-founded by an IST Seed Grant with Tsim Schneider, Assistant Professor of Anthropology.

Additional collaborators include: Members of the Amah Mutsun Tribal Band, Indian Canyon Nation, and T’rowt’raahl Salinan, Rumsen & Ramaytush Ohlone communities UCSC Social Documentation MFA alumni Advisors from UCSC Departments of Anthropology and Film & Digital Media, California State Parks, and the Amah Mutsun Tribal Band.

UC Global Health Day 2024
2024-03-07 00:00 - 23:59
Making Change: Creating Health Equity Through Policy and Advocacy

Mark your calendars and join us for a transformative journey at UC Global Health Day 2024 in Los Angeles, CA.

The University of California Global Health Institute (UCGHI), spanning ten-UC campuses, is hosting our signature conference that showcases the outstanding global health research, training, education and advocacy taking place across the University of California system and beyond. Our network is made up of local and global multidisciplinary collaborators working with students, post-docs, staff, faculty, educators/scholars, health providers, lawyers, policymakers, community members, and others working on cutting edge issues.

Interdisciplinary by nature and collaborative in spirit, global health efforts encompass a range of academic topics – from psychology to engineering to sustainability and economics, scholars are committed to improving the health of humans, animals and ecosystems around the globe.

This is an amazing opportunity to gather and share our collective work in global health and join the conversation to advance health equity, locally and globally, through policy and advocacy.

Registration to UC Global Health Day 2024 Open Now

STAY TUNED FOR THE CALL FOR ABSTRACTS COMING THIS FALL! Please note, if your abstract is accepted to present, then you will be given complimentary registration. Stay tuned for more details and get ready to make change!

Event sponsored by: Consortium of Universities for Global Health (CUGH)

UC Global Health Day 2024 will be in conjunction with the Consortium of Universities for Global Health (CUGH) 15th Annual Conference from March 8-10, 2024, with pre-conference satellite sessions starting March 7. Be sure to stay in Los Angeles through the weekend for the CUGH Conference!
