Guest Speaker Events

Guaraní and Spanish are languages that belong to different families, with dissimilar linguistic systems. Colonization placed these two languages together in a small country in Latin America: Paraguay. Furthermore, the rather isolated character of the location, and the social dynamics among colonizers and indigenous peoples made Guaraní (and not just Spanish) the language spoken by the majority of the population. This unique scenario makes Paraguay a prime setting to study language contact phenomena. In this presentation, Dr. Bittar will discuss characteristics of Guaraní-Spanish bilingualism in Paraguay, the challenges of documenting linguistic practices in the country, and the broader impact of language contact research for bilingual communities. Read more

Please join the Revitalize one-day virtual conference for a series of workshops and keynote speakers focused on wellness and collective healing, well-being, and revitalization. The final keynote speaker features the return of Laura Van Dernoot Lipsky, MSW, who presented to over 400 CSUN attendees in her last presentation! Come to some or all of the conference events! Read more

Do you find yourself struggling with increased conflicts in conversations around different perspectives? How can we practice compassion and cooperation in those conversations? Embodied mindfulness can bring compassion and cooperation more deeply into our efforts to work together.

Professor Rhonda Magee will offer practices and reflections that will support us in deepening our ability to work together across a range of diverse perspectives, and help alleviate the suffering we all face in the social and political worlds. 

Free and Open to All! Read more

This presentation will be a collaborative and experiential workshop with Pamela Villasenor who is the Executive Advisor to the Office of the Tribal President of the Fernandeño Tataviam Band of Mission Indians (FTBMI). We will be exploring Indigenous futurity, resistance, and resilience by learning about the history and current work of the FTBMI. We will also engage in a collective activity and discussion aiming to build our critical consciousness toward going beyond lack acknowledgements as a way to disrupt settler colonialism. Read more