The Equity & Justice Institute
Speaker Series
The Younes and Soraya Nazarian Equity & Justice Distinguished Lecture Series is a key feature of the Equity & Justice Institute.
The series helps stimulate dialogue among students, educators and community leaders committed to tackling the problems of racism, poverty, war, environmental degradation, educational inequities, religious persecution, genocide and other forms of injustice. Nationally and internationally recognized thought leaders are invited to campus each year to present a talk on a specific topic related to equity and justice, not only to the Crossroads community, but to the public at large. Speakers are sought from a variety of local and national organizations.
The 2021-22 series is centered on the theme of “A Functioning Democracy.” Each guest speaker will discuss what the term means conceptually and in practice—particularly as the recent past has reinforced and exacerbated the fragmentation of American society, bipartisanship and seemingly intractable inequities. Inviting speakers across the political spectrum to share their perspectives, the Equity & Justice Institute aims to explore the core tenets of a democratic process where all citizens are supported and encouraged to participate fully.-
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Younes and Soraya Nazarian
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Each presentation is not an isolated event, but a key component of other Institute programs and activities focused on helping to find solutions to the equity and justice problem addressed by the speaker.
Each year, as part of the lecture series, Crossroads invites a guest speaker or screens a film that specifically enhances our existing curriculum on the Holocaust and other forms of genocide and/or religious oppression.
The series is an initiative of the Younes & Soraya Nazarian Family Foundation, which supports educational causes in a broad spectrum of institutions and through a wide variety of avenues: academic, public policy, community-based, social and artistic programs in the United States and Israel.
These events are free and open to the public, thanks to the extraordinary generosity of the Nazarian family. If you are not a member of the Crossroads community and you would like to be notified of upcoming Speaker Series events, please click here.
A SPECIAL PRESENTATION FEATURING
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Jeff Flake
Please join us for this conversation between United States Ambassador to Turkey Jeff Flake and Associate Head of School Mariama Richards. A Republican known for his ability to work across the political aisle, Flake will discuss his many accomplishments, his views on democracy and the importance of civic engagement.Author of the New York Times bestseller “Conscience of a Conservative: A Rejection of Destructive Politics and a Return to Principle,” Jeff Flake has taken a lonely stand for principle and civility in an era of hyper-partisanship. After serving six terms in the U.S. House of Representatives, Flake was elected to the U.S. Senate, where he served for six years. Flake was the lead House Republican in the successful effort to prohibit spending earmarks, and the lead Senate Republican in the successful effort to restore diplomatic relations with Cuba. On Dec. 10, 2021, he was sworn in by Vice President Kamala Harris as ambassador to Turkey.This online event is free and open to the public.Thursday, Jan. 27, 2022Available 4-10 p.m. PST
The Younes and Soraya Nazarian Equity & Justice Distinguished Lecture Series
Past Events
2021-22
Oct. 25, 2021
Ana Navarro, Political Strategist and “The View” Co-Host
Ana Navarro, Political Strategist and “The View” Co-Host
Sept. 14, 2021
“Determined: The Story of Holocaust Survivor Avraham Perlmutter,”
award-winning documentary
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2020-21
April 26, 2021
Nikki Giovanni, Poet, Educatorand Best-Selling Author
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Jan. 26, 2021
Emiliana Guereca, Co-Executive Director
and Founder of Women’s March Foundation
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Dec. 7, 2020
Dolores Huerta, Civil Rights Activist
and Community Organizer
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Oct. 19, 2020
Joanna Mendelson, Associate Director of the
Anti-Defamation League’s Center on Extremism
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Sept. 8, 2020
Dr. Angela Davis, Activist and Scholar
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2019-20
March 4, 2020
Robin DiAngelo, New York Times-Bestselling Author
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Dec. 18, 2019
Zenon Neumark, Author and Holocaust Survivor
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Oct. 14, 2019
Winona LaDuke, Native American Rights Activist
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Sept. 9, 2019
Ibram X. Kendi, Author and Antiracism Activist
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2018-19
April 22, 2019Helen Gym, Philadelphia City Council Member“When They Go Low, We Go Local: How Municipal Politics Power Grassroots Justice Movements”Nov. 13, 2018Interfaith DialogueIn partnership with The Guibord Center -
2017-18
Recovered Voices Lecture SeriesIn the spring of 2018, four acclaimed speakers visited Crossroads for a series of talks presented in partnership with the Ziering-Conlon Initiative for Recovered Voices at the Colburn School. Recovered Voices encourages greater awareness and more frequent performances of music by composers whose careers and lives were disrupted—or worse—during the years of the Nazi regime in Europe.Feb 6, 2018Maestro James Conlon, Music Director of LA Opera*March 7, 2018Robert Elias, Director of the Ziering-Conlon Initiative for Recovered VoicesApril 10, 2018Stephanie Barron, Senior Curator of Modern art at LACMAApril 25, 2018Alex Ross, New Yorker Magazine Music Critic*Inaugural Younes and Soraya Nazarian Equity & Justice Distinguished Lecture Series event.
