Conference Schedule 

**AW: Academic West; AH: Arntzen Hall**

SAFE SPACES: POC in AW 408

LGBTQ+ in AW 410

​

Friday, April 26th:

**************************************************

03:00 - 06:00pm: Check In and Registration (AW Ground Floor Lobby)

 
06:00 - 08:00pm: Welcoming Address and Keynote Speaker: Festus Kisa Ibanda (AH 100) 

 

Queer Activism: How the Personal becomes Political in the fight for Social Justice

​

I will talk about how coming into myself as a gay man and navigating public spaces as a ‘visibly queer’ person has shaped the work that I do at Q-Initiative which largely focuses creating safe spaces for SOGIE (sexual orientation, gender identity and expression), youth in environments their sexual orientation is criminalized and designing and implementing programs and interventions that give agency to SOGIE persons.

My talk will provide insight on the following;

1.       SOGIE advocacy context in Kenya where same-sex acts are criminalized under the Penal Code

2.       New developments in health advocacy and programing for SOGIE persons

3.       Lessons learnt as an activist doing health programming for SOGIE persons

4.       What the global north can do to meaningfully support the advocacy efforts by local activists without taking away their agency.

08:00 - 10:00pm: Reception (AW 4th Floor Lobby) 

​

Saturday, April 27th: 

***********************************************

09:00 - 10:00am: PLENARY: (AH 100)

Introduction to Criminalization of the Body

 

10:00 - 10:30am: Break and Refreshments (AW 4th Floor Lobby) 

​

10:30 - 12:00pm: Morning Breakouts: 

​

A. Migration and Health in Europe: The Case of Norway with Hadil Al-Tamimi (Moderator) and Dr. Fungisai Gwanzura Ottemöller  (AW 304)

​

Migrants and refugees struggle to find a safe place and when they do, other challenges arise such as, learning the language, integrating into society, accepting a new way of life, and much more. In this session we will first give an introduction to migration as a whole and its impact on the people and the European countries that are taking them in. Second, we will present some of the challenges that refugee children/young people face when adapting to life in Norway, taking a look at the available resources or the lack of resources during adaptation.  

​

B. Policing and Incarceration: Examination of Violence Against Black and Brown Bodies with Dr. Clarence Spigner, S. Komarovsky, Dr. Michael Wolff and Patanjali de la Rocha, MPHc/MSWc (AW 204) 

​

This panel solidifies the connection between negative health outcomes, policing and incarceration to examine how bodies are criminalized by states across the globe. Panelists will answer questions regarding: who, how, why, when and where policing and incarceration occur. Using an intersectional lens, this panel will look at what communities are being targeted by the state based off a number of characteristics including race, ethnicity, gender and class and how this contributes to larger global systems of oppression. Panelists will examine liberation movement across different social movements and borders, comparing and contrasting how communities are fighting against police violence. Attendees will walk away with a inquiries regarding the connection between policing, incarceration and health inequities in a global context.

​

C. Working Within Criminalization: Public Health Work and Criminalized Populations and Services with Tim Costello (moderator), Dr. Diane Bushley, Erin Papworth, and Jennifer Segadelli (AW 403)

​

Around the world, women and LGBTQIA persons face significant barriers in accessing safe healthcare services. This session will address the legal status of abortion services and related health implications around the world, providing case studies of how organizations are working globally to increase access to safe abortion care and other essential reproductive health services. Panelists will also expose discriminatory healthcare practices against LGBT+ individuals occurring in various regions of the world, and discuss opportunities to become involved in global advocacy efforts on these issues. 

      

D. Policing Gender: Access and Obstacles for Transgender Individuals in Ecuador, India, Thailand, and the U.S. with Dr. Raine Dozier (AW 210)

​

Transgender people have faced harsh treatment around the globe including criminalization, police brutality, violence and sexual assault, family rejection, homelessness, and economic and educational marginalization. However, over the past decade, they have experienced new opportunities and improving conditions in many nations due to protective legislation and growing acceptance. Yet, as trans* people become increasingly visible, transgender bodies are used to both position countries as “modern” and justify state control over citizens. While increased access to quality trans health care is encouraging, it strengthens opportunities for the state to legislate gender.

​

12:00 - 02:00pm: Lunch: (AW 4th Floor Lobby)

 

**B Gallery Art Exhibition** (Fine Arts Building)

​

 

02:00 - 03:30pm: Afternoon Breakout: 

​

A. Understanding the Intersection of Law, Migration, and Health with Dr. Angela Fillingim (moderator), Bayle Conrad, MPH, Dr. Dolores Calderon and Wendy J. Elizalde Romero, JD  (AW 304)

 

This panel offers a unique perspective of four well-versed educators and legal/immigration experts on the subject of human migration. The session will focus on the intersections between law, health, and migration by exploring these questions:​

• How can immigration law/policy—at the local, state, or federal level--facilitate or impede health?

• In what ways do legal systems—local, state, and federal-- impact the health of specific migrant populations?

• What is the refugee process once people arrive at their final destination in the United States? 

• And an exploration of narratives regarding the unequal treatment of refugees/immigrants living in the United States.

​

B. An Indigenous Round Table: Decolonizing Gender, Trauma, and Wellness with Miriam Zmiewski-Angelova, Dr. Dian Million and Dr. Natalie Clark (AW 403)

 

This roundtable centers Indigenous voices, focusing on the importance of decolonizing concepts of trauma and wellness. Panelists will identify what colonization looks like now in the United States, Canada, and abroad. It will focus on how present-day colonization serves to criminalize Indigenous and First Nations bodies, compromising health and wellness in these communities. Specifically, this roundtable will focus on the impact of colonial and gendered politics on Indigenous and First Nation communities, as gender inequalities play a crucial role in maintaining hierarchies created by nation-states. Speakers will provide a deeper understanding of the magnitude, nature and context of violence experienced specifically by Indigenous girls, adolescents and young women. Finally, this roundtable will address ways that communities can heal from trauma outside the Western narrative through Indigenous trauma informed healing practices.

​

C. Global Criminalization of Homosexuality Panel with Amie Bishop, MPH/MSW (moderator), Macland Njagi Nyaga, Lina Stinson-Ali, and Nayyef Hrebid (AW 210)

 

Currently, 69 countries criminalize homosexuality, with a number of other criminalizing forms of non-traditional gender expression (anti-cross-dressing laws) or through use of “debauchery” or “anti-propaganda” laws to crackdown in LGBTIQ communities. This panel will first provide an overview of the current status of and progress towards elimination of criminalization globally, as well as some of the available evidence regarding the harmful impact of homophobia and transphobia in criminalized settings on health and well-being. Panelists from Iraq, Tanzania, and Kenya will then specifically discuss the implications of criminalization in the contexts of their countries, sharing their own lived experiences of living as LGBTIQ people in their homelands.

​

D. Challenging Power and Privilege in Global Health with Julia Robinson, MPH/MSW (moderator), Dr. James Pfeiffer, Jennifer Segadelli, Adam Granto, Jodi-Ann Burey, Celso Inguane, PhC, Josette Wicker, and Kanesia Price (AW 204)

This session will explore the ways in which we can interrupt the power and processes that perpetuate harmful legacies of international aid and development work. From exploring how data is used and misused, to understanding how donors and NGOs can cause more harm than good, to exploring the ways in which study abroad programs can become a force for good, we will challenge traditional practices of global health work and offer more just and equitable alternatives.​

​

​

03:30 - 04:00pm: Break and Refreshments (AW 4th Floor Lobby)

 

04:00 - 05:30pm: PLENARY: (AH 100)

How to Start a Social Movement: Workshop on Tools for Change with Dr. Vicki Hsueh, Pantajali de la Rocha, MPHc/MSWc Festus Ibanda Kisa, Dr. Rachel Chapman and Dr. Muna Osman 

​

This plenary session brings together an inspiring group of activists to share their experiences, insights, and advice for global health activism. We hope that the session will serve as a “toolkit” and inspiration for local, transnational, and global grassroots and activist work. 

​

The session will address: 

• Examples of impactful global health activism 

• How students and practitioners on the ground can embark on this work

• What inspires and sustains the work of global health activism

• Tackling the responsibilities of speaking for others, especially across significant geographical distances and divides

• Struggles and successes of global health activism 

• How to sustain local/global connections and what are the strengths and tensions of working transnationally?

• What are the most pressing issues today to address

​

​​

​

​

SUNDAY, April 28th: 

********************************************

09:00 - 10:30am: Morning Breakout:

​

A. Resistance Through Art with WWU's Blue Group's President Cindy Marquina-Negrete and Vice President Emma Caro (AW 305)

​

This workshop allows us to discuss some history of activism through different art forms, specifically Blue Group’s history of activism through art. We want to engage participants in a conversation about how to express themselves, their frustrations, and their needs through art through small group discussions. We will also partake in making our very own screen printing to spread support and awareness for immigrant rights. Be sure to bring an item you’d like to screen print on! 

​

B. People of Color Caucus Debrief with James Pai and Kayla Johnson (AW 303)

 

Description is Coming! 

​

C. Whiteness in Global Health: How to Utilize White Privilege for Equitable Change with Mad Rackers (AW 203)

 

This workshop will examine how whiteness and colonialism manifest in the global health movement, specifically in regards to international aid, global health policy, and how equity is viewed from a Western lens. This workshop is intended to be a space for white folks to examine how their whiteness manifests in their daily work, and how to maintain an equity and justice-centered focus in global health and social justice efforts.

​

D. Bodies Beyond Binaries: Normalization Paradox in Cleanliness Practices of Female Sex Workers (FSW's) in China with Dr. Yeon Jung Yu and Anna Schrieve (AW 403)

 

Yeon’s paper illuminates the principal social mechanisms that increase the risk of sexually transmitted infections (STIs) for female sex workers (FSWs) in China. It draws primarily on her 27 months of extensive ethnographic fieldwork in and around red-light districts in post-reform China. Chinese sex workers there challenge dominant representations of them as illegal, immoral, and unclean subordinates and understand themselves also as sacrificing, capable, and modern women. She will show how the women’s conflicted subjectivity, continuously shaped through social networks, affects their personal health decisions and, significantly, leads them to adopt clinically risky practices. She will conclude by arguing that public health interventions in China should take these conflicted subjectivities into account in working to improve the women’s health.

​

E. Global Health Advocacy and the State (AW 210)

 

This workshop will address what health issues are affecting stateless people in the Palestinian diaspora today from the perspective of community members, as well as a conversation on how to be an effective global health advocate through Palestinian solidarity efforts.

 

10:30 - 11:00am: Break and Refreshments (AW 4th Floor Lobby)

​

11:00 - 12:00pm: CLOSING PLENARY 3: (AW 204)

WWU Alumni activists Speak / Student report-outs with Kyann Flint and Dr. Rachel Clark

​

Western Washington University Alumni will be speaking about their activism with guiding questions that engage how WWU has impacted their work and what is needed moving forward. This session will also close the 15th Annual Western Regional Global Health Conference.