Choi Auditorium

Jasmin Vargas (Food and Water Watch) and Dominique Hargreaves (LA Mayor's office, Deputy Sustainability Officer) will discuss environmental activism and organizing in the Los Angeles area, bringing together unique perspectives from a grassroots activist organization like Food and Water Watch and an institutional/political perspective from the LA Mayor's office. Topics will cover the different challenges commonly experienced within these different sectors, and how these different areas of environmental activism within LA interact with one another.

Alberto Saldamando will discuss a brief history of indigenous peoples at the UN, their accomplishments, and then highlight the environmental fora where indigenous people are currently engaged. The latter half of his talk will revolve around his personal involvement and experience in the realm of climate change and the challenges often faced by activists. The lecture portion of the talk will be followed by a moderated and audience-led Q&A session.

This panel presents a student-led discussion regarding campus sustainability efforts and how students can get more involved in student organizations to promote sustainable practices. Kevin Patel, an off-campus speaker from LMU and OneUpAction, will be discussing ways students can become more involved in a non-Oxy setting. Kaye Jenkins (Campus Dining Sustainability Intern) will speak about efforts on campus to reduce plastic waste as well as experiences with bringing ethical vendors to campus dining.

Dr. Steven Were Omamo, Representative and Country Director for the UN World Food Programme (WFP) in Ethiopia, will provide perspective and insights about the UN's work on Climate Change and Environmental Justice.

Dr. Kuo's work, which has been featured in multiple media outlets including CNN, NPR's Fresh Air, The Today Show, Washington Post, LA Times, UK's Daily Mail, Australia's Sydney Morning Herald among others, has convincingly linked healthy urban ecosystems to stronger, safer neighborhoods, lower crime, reduced AD/HD symptoms, reduced aggression, and an array of other mental health indicators. Her current work examines the effects of contact with nature on physical health — especially immune function — and academic achievement. In 2018, Dr. Kuo was awarded the Heinz award for the Environment.

It has been theorized for decades that a black hole will leave a “shadow” on a background of hot gas. Taking a picture of this black-hole shadow could help to address a number of important scientific questions, both on the nature of black holes and the validity of general relativity. Unfortunately, due to its small size, traditional imaging approaches require an Earth-sized radio telescope.

Join us for a screening of this comedic web series about three best friends born and raised in Oakland, CA who struggle to stay rooted as their neighborhood becomes a hostile environment. Nina, Marcus, and Benny fight, dream, and plot schemes to save the place they call home. Facing both gentrification and global warming, they combat evil landlords, deportation, crazy geoengineering plots, and ultimately each other.

Alfred Madain is the founding director of Bedouin X, the desert blues band, and an educator and ethnomusicologist in Los Angeles. He grew up in Jordan listening to an eclectic selection of music from the Arab world, America, and Europe.

Join the McKinnon Center for Global Affairs and the Young Initiative on the Global Political Economy for a Movie Screening at 11:45-1:00 pm of Umm Kalthoum: A Voice Like Egypt and stay for a discussion on Musical Politics in the Arab World at 01.55pm in Choi Auditorium