International Conference of Hate Studies, April 20-22

The International Conference of Hate Studies is coming up April 20-22. There is still time to register to attend online or in person: International Conference on Hate Studies | Gonzaga University. As keynote speaker committee chair, I recruited most of the featured speakers: Featured Speakers | Gonzaga University.

I’m so excited about so many aspects of this conference. Rae Jereza’s panel on rethinking self-care for researchers in the field and how simplistic the prescriptions are for members of impacted groups (who are told to drink more water and go to therapy rather than receiving real solidarity and support) is one I’m particularly looking for forward to. Ben Lorber and Shane Burley are presenting a leftist take on activism against antisemitism in a workshop based on their forthcoming book. Local activist friends with Muslims for Community Action and Support (MCAS) and Bridges Not Walls are presenting on crucial local coalition-building and collaboration to support Afghan refugees in Spokane. There’s just so much happening!

 I’m chairing a Friday, April 21 morning panel at the conference on protecting civil liberties and centering impacted communities in work against hate, with speakers Arun Kundnani, Nicole Nguyen, Nimmi Gowrinathan, and Arjun Sethi. We’re going to dive right into necessary and sticky topics, like the harms of relying on the security state to combat hate. I’m also on two Friday afternoon panels looking at ethical issues related to use of former white nationalists (“formers”) in work against hate.