After Area Studies | Transpacific Convergences: Race, Migration and Japanese American Film Culture before World War II

Friday, September 30

1:30 - 3:00 PM

RP 909

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Denise Khor, Associate Director of Asian American Studies, and Professor of Asian American Studies and Visual Studies, will be presenting her new book on the history of Japanese American film culture during this session. 

This series explores the work of centering Asia, its peoples, its diasporas, and its historical legacies and ongoing contributions. Speakers will situate their work in relation to key debates and explorations between Asian Studies, Asian American studies and emerging fields; to consider how scholarship intersects with activism and social justice work; and to think about the political, intellectual, and ethical needs of scholarship now and in the future. 

It Takes a Village to Make a Village: How Trust, Patience, and Data Are Giving a Thousand Semi-Nomadic Families Their Say

Monday, October 3

12:00 - 1:30 PM

310R RP

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This event is part of the Social Impact Lab's weeklong series From Boston to Beirut: Reimagining Social Change in the Middle East. 

The desertification of traditional grazing lands, victimization by predatory lenders, and urban encroachment have long threatened to displace semi-nomadic desert tribes in Albaydha, Saudi Arabia. Based on a model developed by Social Impact Lab Director Rebecca Riccio, social investor and human rights advocate Lynn Zovighian and her family's Beirut-based social investment firm The Zovighian Partnership are leveraging "patient philanthropy" to engage over a thousand families in designing and building a village to meet their housing needs. Faculty guests include Moira Zellner, Professor of Public Policy and Urban Affairs, Director of Participatory Modeling and Data Science and Co-Director of NULab for Texts, Maps and Networks; Liza Weinstein, Department Chair and Associate Professor of Sociology; and Laura Kuhl, Assistant Professor of Public Policy and Urban Affairs and International Affairs.

Embodied Ethics Workshop

Monday, October 3

6:00 - 8:00 PM

909 RP

In this one hour workshop (followed by food), Northeastern theatre professor Ilya Vidrin will show how important ethical concepts, such as trust and manipulation, can be explored not only in writing but also through movement and physical interaction. He will lead attendees in a series of thoughtfully facilitated, interactive movement exercises.

These will allow attendees to consider the ethical significance of touch, proximity, and gaze in social interaction. Guests will also discuss how changing forms of physical interaction and dance have historically shaped societies and can alter our collective future. 

All bodies and physical abilities are very welcome.

What Happens When You Ask NGOs What Their Communities Need? Lessons from a Funding Model Designed to Empower Women

Tuesday, October 4

12:00 - 1:30 PM

909 RP

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This event is part of the Social Impact Lab's weeklong series From Boston to Beirut: Reimagining Social Change in the Middle East. 

Speakers for this session are Moira Zellner, Professor of Public Policy and Urban Affairs, Director of Participatory Modeling and Data Science and Co-Director of NULab for Texts, Maps and Networks; Liza Weinstein, Department Chair and Associate Professor of Sociology; and Laura Kuhl, Assistant Professor of Public Policy and Urban Affairs and International Affairs.

Stories from Sinjar: Yazidi Survivors on Life after ISIS

Tuesday, October 4

7:00 - 8:30 PM

440 Egan

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This event is part of the Social Impact Lab's weeklong series From Boston to Beirut: Reimagining Social Change in the Middle East. 

The faculty guest for this session is Gordana Rabrenovic, Associate Professor of Sociology and Director of the Brudnick Center on Violence and Conflict. 

Lebanese human rights advocate and social investor Lynn Zovighian commissioned, funded, and co-produced the short documentary This Is Still Genocide to center Yazidi survivors’ voices in their own story eight years after the self-declared Islamic State (Daesh/ISIS/ISIL) initiated the ongoing genocide and mass displacement of their community with their community with a brutal assault on Sinjar Iraq in 2014. Following a screening of the film, Lynn will discuss her partnership with Yazda, an international Yazidi-led NGO committed to documenting the genocide, supporting survivors around the world, and seeking global recognition and justice for their community.

Lebanon in Freefall: Government Corruption, Economic Collapse, and the Growing Demands on Civil Society

Wednesday, October 5

12:00 - 1:30 PM

909 RP

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This event is part of the Social Impact Lab's weeklong series From Boston to Beirut: Reimagining Social Change in the Middle East. 

As Lebanon struggles with a corrupt and paralyzed government, economic collapse, and the aftermath of the Beirut explosion, civil society is under pressure to demonstrate leadership in the face of unprecedented demands. Social investor and thought leader Lynn Zovighian will share a unique perspective on the international donor community's response to Lebanon's spiraling crises: her family business, The Zovighian Partnership, is recognized as an independent monitor of humanitarian aid entering the country. Lynn will also make the case for building the data, governance, and operational capacities of community-based organizations to engage local communities in meeting their own critical needs and shaping Lebanon's future.

This session's faculty guest is

Maria Ivanova, Director, School of Public Policy and Urban Affairs. 

War in Ukraine: Making Sense of a Senseless Conflict

Wednesday, October 5

4:30 - 6:00 PM

909 RP

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Russia’s brutal February 2022 invasion of Ukraine has attracted widespread condemnation across the West. Government and media circles present the conflict as a simple dichotomy between an evil empire and an innocent victim. In this concise, accessible and highly informative primer, authors Medea Benjamin and Nicolas Davies insist the picture is more complicated. 

Medea Benjamin is a co-founder of CODEPINK and the fair trade advocacy group Global Exchange. She is the author of Drone Warfare, Kingdom of the Unjust: Behind the U.S.–Saudi Connection and Inside Iran.

Environmental Justice in Albaydha: The Story of a Rural Desert Community

Wednesday, October 5

6:00 - 7:30 PM

020 West Village F

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This event is part of the Social Impact Lab's weeklong series From Boston to Beirut: Reimagining Social Change in the Middle East. 

As climate crises displace people around the world, what can be learned from Albaydha, a semi-nomadic rural community in Saudi Arabia whose grazing lands were destroyed by desertification? Offered in collaboration with the Dukakis Center's Open Classroom, this session will examine how participatory processes informed by Social Impact Lab (SIL) principles and frameworks have engaged over a thousand families in the design and implementation of a community-led resettlement initiative. The program employs sustainable building technologies and ecosystem regeneration while honoring traditional family structures and cultural practices. Lebanese social investor and human rights advocate Lynn Zovighian and SIL Director Rebecca Riccio will explain how their commitment to centering community members’ voices has led to this project being designated a national housing pilot for vulnerable communities in Saudi Arabia.

The event moderator is Ted Landsmark, Distinguished Professor of Public Policy and Urban Affairs; Director, Kitty and Michael Dukakis Center for Urban and Regional Policy.

From Principles to Practice: Choosing a Career in Social Change

Thursday, October 6

12:00 - 1:30 PM

Northeastern Crossing, 1175 Tremont St.

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This event is part of the Social Impact Lab's weeklong series From Boston to Beirut: Reimagining Social Change in the Middle East. 

In this lunch conversation with students, entrepreneur and social investor Lynn Zovighian will discuss her commitment to serving women and communities in the Middles East and reflect on the ways her professional and personal journeys have been shaped by Social Impact Lab principals and frameworks. Lynn will also share intimate moments when her personal rulebook for rigorous ethical and decision-making has been put to the test by genocide and war, political and economic corruption, systemic patriarchy, and the COVID-19 pandemic. 

Global Leadership: How Do We Show Up in the World?: Engaging in Social Change across Diverse Identities

Thursday, October 6

7:00 - 8:30 PM

440 Egan

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Student Workshop Co-Sponsored by the Center for Intercultural Engagement and the Social Justice Resource Center

This event is part of the Social Impact Lab's weeklong series From Boston to Beirut: Reimagining Social Change in the Middle East. 

As co-founders of The Zovighian Partnership, Lynn Zovighian and her father align the strengths of their social investment firm and public office to design and implement large-scale social impact projects in the Middle East. Prioritizing trust over speed, they integrate systems thinking, ethical governance, and transparency with deep listening and authentic relationship-building with all stakeholders. The firm strategically leverages public funding, private capital, and philanthropy to advance collaboratively defined goals. In this interactive workshop Lynn will invite students to engage with several of her firm’s recent opportunities and challenges as case studies. Attendees will walk away with a new perspective on the importance of honoring all stakeholders’ voices and a toolkit for tapping multiple funding streams to advance social change in a challenging economy.

Ethics Institute Speaker, Deborah Hellman

Friday, October 7

12:00 - 1:30 PM

Curry Student Center, Senate Chambers, 3rd floor

This event's speaker is 

Deborah Hellman, the David Lurton Massee, Jr. Professor of Law and F. Palmer Weber Research Professor of Civil Liberties and Human Rights at the University of Virginia School of Law. 

There are two main strands to Hellman’s work. The first focus is on equal protection law and its philosophical justification. She is the author of When Is Discrimination Wrong? and co-editor of The Philosophical Foundations of Discrimination Law and several articles related to equal protection. The second strand focuses on the relationship between money and legal rights.

Who Are We? How Do We Show Up in the World?: Engaging in Social Change across Diverse Identities

Friday, October 7

12:00 - 1:30 PM

Center for Intercultural Engagement, Curry Student Center, First Floor

Register to attend in person or online

Student Workshop Co-Sponsored by the Center for Intercultural Engagement and the Social Justice Resource Center.

This event is part of the Social Impact Lab's weeklong series From Boston to Beirut: Reimagining Social Change in the Middle East. 

How does reckoning with our own complex identities and lived experiences prepare us to engage more empathetically and effectively with others in the work of social change? As a social investor, human rights advocate, systems disruptor, and changemaker, Lynn Zovighian problem solves from a worldview shaped by Lebanese, Armenian, Italian, and Palestinian ancestry and a multi-generational family history of displacement due to genocide and war. As a child, she was raised in several countries and exposed to many faith traditions that have shaped her spirituality. Drawing on her experience designing and implementing social change projects with collaborators throughout the Middle East, Lynn will illustrate how working across complex identities has presented challenges and unleashed opportunities. Her personal stories will be a starting point for students to reflect on the identities they bring to the social change table and how those identities may influence how they perceive others and show up in the world.

If/Then: Technology and Poetics—Chris Martens and Alexandra To on Gaming as Speculative World Building Practice

Friday, October 7

1:00 - 2:15 PM

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Chris Martens, Associate Professor in CAMD Art + Design Department and the Khoury College of Computer Science, and Alexandra To, Assistant Professor in the Art + Design department in the College of Art, Media, and Design and the Khoury College of Computer Science, will lead a discussion and brainstorming session (with a little bit of real-time gameplay) on their collaborative project that explores tabletop gaming as speculative world building practice. They plan to partner with community activists to find ways that games might help us imagine better worlds and solutions to difficult societal problems. This will be a brainstorming session, first and foremost, and a time to put theory into practice by playing world-building games with each other.