Kicking off the new year with speakers on a variety of topics including higher education, immigration and authoritarianism, UCSB Arts & Lectures’ (A&L) Justice for All programming initiative looks to today’s great minds and creators and to the courageous leaders across the globe who are forging a new path forward.
First up, on January 22, Michael V. Drake, MD, president emeritus of the University of California, reflects on the past, present and future of higher education in with Dr. Susannah Scott, distinguished professor at UC Santa Barbara. A physician, educator and former UC President, Drake explores higher education’s past, present and future through the lenses of UC Santa Barbara, the state of California and the nation. Drawing on decades of leadership, Drake examines how universities can expand access, foster inclusion, and strengthen democracy. Following his remarks, he will continue the conversation with Scott, a UC Santa Barbara Academic Senate Chair (2020-2024) and vice-chair and chair-elect of the UC systemwide Academic Senate (2025-2027). This event is free, but registration is recommended. Click here for more information.
Pulitzer Prize–winning Journalist Caitlin Dickerson examines the human stories behind immigration policy and government accountability on March 5. Dickerson has spent more than a decade covering deportation and migration and received the Pulitzer Prize in 2023 for her reporting on the forcible separation of children from their families at the southwest border. Her work has also earned a Peabody, an Edward R. Murrow award and honors from the National Association of Black Journalists. A staff writer at The Atlantic and formerly with The New York Times and NPR, Dickerson will discuss how Immigration and Customs Enforcement carries out its mandate. This event is free for UCSB students and $20 for the public. Click here for more information.
Historian Ibram X. Kendi, one of the world’s leading scholars of racism and antiracism and a National Book Award Winner, will discuss his new book Chain of Ideas: The Origins of Our Authoritarian Age, on April 7. The book traces how “great replacement theory” spread from fringe panic to a defining force in global politics. Free copies of Kendi’s new book, Chain of Ideas, will be available while supplies last (pick up at event, one per household). This event is free for UCSB students and $30 for the public. Click here for more information.
Finally, on April 14, National Book Award Winner Masha Gessen will address Politics of the Past, Politics of the Future, which examines how autocratic tactics such as targeting LGBTQ+ communities and distorting historical memory can migrate across borders and take root in U.S. politics. Gessen is the author of 11 books, including the National Book Award–winning The Future Is History: How Totalitarianism Reclaimed Russia. Gessen examines how autocracies “other” vulnerable groups, tracing this tactic in Putin’s Russia and its personal consequences, which caused Gessen to flee to the U.S. a decade ago. Today, Gessen draws a clear throughline to similar currents here. This event is free for UCSB students and $20 for the public. Click here for more information.
All events take place at UCSB’s Campbell Hall. For more information, see artsandlectures.ucsb.edu/learn/justice-for-all.
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