Past Events
Big Data in Education and Information Studies Symposium
Friday, March 3
Sponsored by the UCLA Center for Digital Humanities, UCLA Graduate Student Association, UCLA Department of Information Studies, UCLA Department of Education, GSEIS Office of Student Services, Graduate Student Association in Education, and the UCLA GSEIS Dean's Office
Bridging Activism and Scholarship
April 23, 2015
Sponsored by The Coalition Against Structural Inequality and the GSA Graduate Student Publications
In collaboration with the Coalition Against Structural Inequality and the UCLA Graduate Student Publications, InterActions organized the first UCLA multi-journal symposium. UCLA's student run journals-- bozalta, Chicana/o Latina/o Law Review, National Black Law Journal, Regeneración Tlacuilolli, and Ufahamu-- came together to discuss their respective critical scholarship and participation in supporting activist scholarship. We believe this to be the beginning of an ongoing relationship and as a means to further advance our journal’s mission and scope.
The Immigration and Documentation Symposium
Exploring the Impact of Information and Institutions on Communities, Families, and Individuals
May 9, 2014
Sponsored by InterActions: UCLA Journal of Education and Information Studies
Introduction
Issues of immigration and documentation permeate institutional policies, implicate academic spaces, structure the use of information, and sculpt the contours of individual, familial and communal experience. InterActions acknowledges both the historically oppressive policies affecting migrant communities and the current treatment of immigrants under the extant state of affairs; particularly, we call attention to the impacts of the recent global economic crisis on the flow of immigration and enactment of new policies. The topic of immigration and documentation is a complex and layered phenomena that necessitates scholarly discourse on the relationship between people, documentation, and institutions to advance liberatory and just research, policy, and practice.
InterActions presented the Immigration and Documentation Symposium on May 9, 2014 to facilitate dialogue, support diverse communities, and affirm the migrant identity. InterActions invites participants to present on a wide range of subjects, including but not limited to: 1) government and institutional systems, including policy; 2) community and familial narratives and experiences, and the impact of individual agents; and 3) documentation, including the use and management of information. InterActions brought together researchers, scholars, and organizations from diverse disciplines, providing a collective opportunity for feedback and engagement.
Thematic Priorities
InterActions hopes to enhance the visibility of immigration and documentation issues, drawing upon the expertise of scholars, and impacted community members. We strive to illuminate the current topics pertaining to immigration and documentation in the United States and throughout the world. Possible topics include:
Government and Institutional Policies and Systems
Visa types and subsequent policies within academia
Implications for documented-mixed families
Institutional barriers, varying by institutional type and geographical location
Disparate state policies, applications, and interpretations
Diverse definitions of AB 540 status within academic institutions
Histories of guest worker programs, including the H-2 and Bracero Programs
Ethnic policies such as the Chinese Exclusion Act and Executive Order 9066
Community and Familial Narratives and the Impact of Individual Agents
Diverse perspectives of undocumented childhood arrivals and recent immigrants
Administrative/governmental assumptions about the migrant identity
Immigrant organizations and their contributions/challenges
The role of leadership within the immigrant rights movement
Intersectionalities of identity and immigration status
Documentation and Information Use and Management
The ways in which libraries (both formal and informal) serve and respond to immigrant and undocumented communities through a range of services, programs and concerns.
Public libraries as conduits for government information and services.
Interventions into “Big Data,” analytics and immigration policy
The relationship between record keeping and human rights, reclamation or reparations
Cultural memory and heritage institutions and their roles and responsibility to immigrant and migrant populations
The role that documentation, including film, photography, and music play in building communities
Submission Guidelines
InterActions Symposium accepted submissions for individual papers, pre-constituted panels, posters, and alternative events from graduate students, undergraduates, professionals, faculty and activists. Participants proposing individual papers, posters, or events were asked to submit an abstract (250 words) and a brief bibliography (3-5 sources) for consideration. Papers presented at the Symposium were invited to submit to the InterActions special issue to be published in Winter 2015.
For panel proposals, a 250-word description of the broader panel topic was required, in addition to the materials that must be provided for individual paper submissions (i.e., a 250-word abstract for each presenter’s specific topic within the panel).
Special Issue:
In addition to hosting the Symposium, InterActions will publish an special issue on Immigration and Documentation in Winter 2015. We encourage symposium participants to submit their research and invite articles, literature reviews, book reviews, exhibition reviews, featured commentaries, and position pieces for publication. All submissions will be subject to double-blind peer-review.
