Bedari Kindness Institute

This half-day symposium at UCLA will examine the intersection of sound and hate, highlighting how auditory experiences can propagate, resist, and reflect social animosities. Bringing together diverse perspectives from sound studies and related fields, the event will deepen understanding of how sound influences, challenges, and shapes the dynamics of hate in society. The keynote address, “Sectarian Reckonings: The Politics of Voice and Song in Post-Authoritarian Syria,” will be delivered by Shayna M. Silverstein, Associate Professor in the Department of Performance Studies and faculty member of the Middle Eastern and North African Studies program at Northwestern University. Her talk explores public reckonings with sectarian violence in Syria from the 2010s conflict to the precarious present, offering guided listening to sonic practices—from chant and song to rock and livestream audio culture—that respond to sectarianized hate, violence, and animosity. Additional speakers include UCLA School of Music Associate Professor Jenny Johnson, UCLA Initiative to Study Hate (ISH) Research Manager Dr. Amalia Mora, and the symposium’s curator Dr. Kathryn Huether (ISH and Leve Center for Jewish Studies Postdoctoral Fellow-Antisemitism Studies).

Professor john powell is a renowned scholar and advocate in the areas of civil rights, structural racism, housing, constitutional law, equality, democracy, and belonging. He is the director of the Othering & Belonging Institute at UC Berkeley, where he holds the Robert D. Haas Chancellor’s Chair in Equity and Inclusion and is a Professor of Law, Ethnic Studies, and African American Studies. Prof. powell has served as the National Legal Director of the ACLU and is well-known for the development of an “opportunity-based” model for thinking about affordable housing, racialized space, and the many ways that housing influences other opportunity domains including education, health, health care, and employment. Event time TBD. Registration link coming soon.

The Dialogue across Difference Initiative at UCLA is proud to offer an interactive opportunity for staff, administrators, and faculty to delve deeper into a core skill for having more constructive conversations across charged political differences. Based on the methodology of Resetting the Table, a nationally renowned organization dedicated to building honest and open communication, this workshop will allow participants to practice speaking about divisive political topics using effective skills. The session will be highly interactive, and we ask that participants be present for its entirety.

#FacultyStaff