[CSU Advancing and Expanding Ethnic Studies Awards Symposium 2025]

Join us at SF State University for a one-day symposium, generously funded by the Mellon Foundation, to celebrate and showcase some of the incredible advancements by award recipients in Ethnic Studies pedagogy and research and intersections with Women's Studies, Sexuality Studies, and Trans Studies. 

 CSU Advancing and Expanding Ethnic Studies Awards Symposium

(Generously Sponsored by The Mellon Foundation)

Wednesday, October 29, 2025

9:00a.m. – 9:20a.m. – Welcome & Refreshments

9:30a.m. - 10:50a.m. Opening Session

Symposium Welcome & Land Acknowledgement

Robert Keith Collins, PhD, Mellon Project Manager, CSU Advancing and Expanding Ethnic Studies Awards (AEES) Program, Associate Professor, American Indian Studies, SFSU.

Welcome to SF State

Lynn Mahoney, PhD, President, San Francisco State University

Welcome from the CSU

Quajuana M. Chapman, Ed.D. Assistant Director, General Education and Intersegmental Partnerships

Welcome from the College of Ethnic Studies

Grace Yoo, PhD, Dean, College of Ethnic Studies, San Francisco State University

Welcome from the College of Liberal and Creative Arts 

Ifeoma Kiddoe Nwankwo, PhD, Dean, College of Liberal and Creative Arts

Welcome from the College of Health & Social Sciences

Andreana Clay, PhD, Dean, College of Health & Social Sciences   

AEES Awards Symposium Keynote

Amy Sueyoshi, PhD, Provost, San Francisco State University

11:00a.m. – 11:30a.m.

Reimagining Latinx Studies: A Curriculum Revision for 21st Century Skills in Gender, indigenous and Central American Perspectives. (Sonoma State University)

PI: Dr. Natalia Villanueva-Nieves, PhD, Assistant Professor, Chicano and Latino Studies, Sonoma State University.

Co-PI:  Silvia Soto, PhD, Assistant Professor, Chicano and Latino Studies, Sonoma State University.

11:40a.m. – 12:10p.m.

Advancing Queer and Trans Ethnic Studies (SF State University)

PI: Professor Leila Malikyar, Lecturer, Race & Resistance Studies, College of Ethnic Studies, SFSU.

Co-PI: Falu Bakrania, PhD, Chair, Race and Resistance Studies, College of Ethnic Studies, SFSU.

Co-PI: Ikaika Gleisberg, PhD, Associate Professor, Sociology & Sexuality Studies, College of Healthy and Social Sciences, SFSU.

Co-PI: Leslie Quintanilla, PhD, Assistant Professor, Department of Women and Gender Studies, College of Liberal and Creative Arts SFSU.

12:10p.m. - 1:10p.m. Lunch

1:15p.m. – 1:50p.m.

Placemaking: Expanding Black Queer and Feminist Perspectives in Africana Studies (The Placemaking Project) (Fresno State University )

PI: Nkenna Onwuzuruoha, PhD, Assistant Professor, Africana Studies Program, Fresno State University.

2:00p.m. – 2:35p.m.

American Indian Studies in Collaboration with Women’s, Gender, and Sexuality Studies and LGBTQ2+ Studies (Fresno State University)

PI: Leece Lee-Oliver, PhD, Associate Professor & Director, American Indian Studies, Fresno State University.

Co-PI: Sydney Beckmann, PhD, Assistant Professor, American Indian Studies, Fresno State University.  

Co-PI: Gloria Gegrete-Lopez, PhD, Assistant Professor, Women’s, Gender and Sexuality Studies, Fresno State University.

2:45p.m. – 3:20p.m.

Transformational Health General Education Pathways (Sacramento State University)

PI: Melina Juarez, Phd, Assistant Professor, Department of Ethnic Studies, College of Social Sciences & Interdisciplinary Studies.

Co-PI: Vanessa Guzman, PhD, Assistant Professor, Department of Ethnic Studies, College of Social Sciences & Interdisciplinary Studies.

Co-PI: Nicole Richards, PhD, Assistant Professor, Department of Ethnic Studies, College of Social Sciences & Interdisciplinary Studies.

Co-PI: Erika Salinas, PhD, Assistant Professor, Department of Ethnic Studies, Native American Studies Program, College of Social Sciences & Interdisciplinary Studies.

3:30p.m. – 4:00p.m.

(New Directions at SF State) Afro-Latinidad: Gender and Sexuality Studies (SFSU College of Ethnic Studies)

Dr. Bárbara Abadía Rexach

Dr. Michelle Gomez Parra

Dr. Eileene Cruz Tejada

4:10p.m. – 4:30p.m. - Closing Remarks & 2026 Awards Symposium Invitation!

Robert Keith Collins, PhD, Mellon Project Manager, CSU Advancing and Expanding Ethnic Studies Awards (AEES) Program, Associate Professor, American Indian Studies, SFSU.

Please let us know if you will attend in-person or online!