“A Space in Which to Speak” Cinema, Decolonial History & Community Healing

LUNCH PROVIDED

The title of the panel is taken from Edward Said’s Essay, .

He writes, “...the sheer impossibility of finding a space in which to speak for the Palestinians is enormous; indeed, every statement on behalf of Israel intensifies and concentrates pressure on the Palestinian to be silent, to accept repression.”

This idea is the jumping off point for our panel discussion, addressing what it would look like for the silenced and oppressed to speak for themselves, to write their own histories, and the healing that could offer.

Panelists

Dr. Maile Arvin (Associate Professor of History & Gender Studies) is a Kanaka Maoli (Native Hawaiian) feminist scholar. At the University of Utah, she is an associate professor of History and Gender Studies, as well as the founding director of the Center for Pasifika Indigenous Knowledges. Her first book, Possessing Polynesians: The Science of Settler Colonial Whiteness in Hawaiʻi and Oceania, was published with Duke University Press in 2019. She also directs the research project Nā Lei Poina ʻOle (Beloved Children Never Forgotten), a community-engaged history project about reformatories and industrial schools in Hawaiʻi. This project has been awarded an NEH chair’s grant and an ACLS Digital Justice Seed Grant.

Yvette Romero Coronado (Assistant Professor, College of Social Work) is the granddaughter and daughter of Mexican migrants, farmworkers, dreamers, home remedy makers, and people who talk to their plants. She draws on the wisdom of her ancestors to become a good ancestor and to be a loving and responsible guest on the enduring lands of the Eastern Shoshone, Goshute, Piute and Ute peoples. She loves tea, good chisme (talks), and time in nature. Yvette is a bilingual (Spanish/English) and multicultural Licensed Clinical Social Worker.

Dr. Chris Lippard (Assistant Professor, Film Theory) holds a Ph.D. in Film, Literature, and Culture from the University of Southern California. He is Professor, Director of Graduate Studies, and Associate Chair for Academic Affairs in the Film and Media Arts Department of the University of Utah. He is co-editor of Cinema of the Arab World: Contemporary Directions in Theory and Practice (2020) and of The Historical Dictionary of Middle Eastern Cinema (2020). Chris is a past chair of the Society for Cinema and Media Studies Middle East Caucus. He is co-editor of the scholarly book series Cinema and Media Cultures in the Middle East. Chris has also served as chair of the Middle East Caucus of the Society for Cinema and Media Studies and at the Utah Film and Video Center, a space for the presentation of noncommercial cinema. He is a member of the Advisory Board of the Salt Lake Film Society, responsible for curating international cinema series. His current research interests are in Middle Eastern cinema, hemispheric or inter-American cinemas, and migration films.

Monear Shaer (Director, Gaza is our Home)

Moderator: Ermiya Fanaeian is a political organizer and researcher with a long-standing commitment to a wide range of movements. Since 2015, she has been involved in organizations and efforts focused on trans liberation, environmental justice, working-class activism, anti-imperialism, feminist organizing, and more. Ermiya is a founding member of Armed Queers Salt Lake City, where she continues to contribute her time and energy. In addition to her organizing work, she has extensive research experience on gender oppression, environmental policy, and the effects of the justice system on students.

Host or Publisher Emily Mkrtichian