Spring 2026 Film and Seminar Series
“Agents of Change”
A documentary about the timely and inspiring story of how successful protests for equity and inclusion led to establishing the first Black and Ethnic Studies departments at two very different universities: San Francisco State (1968) and Cornell (1969).
Date and Time: 4:00 – 5:30 pm, Wednesday, February 25
Location: Sykes 252
Student Activism and the Formation of Ethnic Studies @ WCU – 1960s to the Present
A talk on how WCU students, faculty, and staff, and the broader social and political context of the 1960s and 70s influenced and shaped the development of the Institute of Race and Ethnic Studies program and the general university curriculum. Presenter: Dr. Miguel Ceballos, Sociology
Date and Time: 2:00 – 3:15 pm, Thursday, March 5
Location: Philips Hall Autograph Library
“No Más Bebés”
A documentary telling the story of a little-known but landmark event in reproductive justice, when a small group of Mexican immigrant women sued county doctors, the state, and the U.S. government after they were sterilized while giving birth at Los Angeles County-USC Medical Center during the late 1960s and early 1970s.
Date and Time: 4:00-5:30 pm, Wednesday, March 18
Location: Sykes 252
Honoring the Legacy of Saint Oscar Romero of El Salvador:
US Immigrants and Allies Fighting for Human Rights in 2025-26
This presentation will introduce select articles of the UN Declaration of Human Rights to discuss and expose the mass violations of human rights occurring on US soil by Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) actions and in ICE detention centers. The question of how a social political movement to defending immigrant rights as human rights is growing out of this will be considered in light of past responses to state violence in the U.S. and Latin America. Presenter: Dr. Linda Stevenson, Political Science
Date and Time: 2:00 – 3:15 pm, Tuesday, March 24
Location: Sykes Ballroom C
(Sponsoring Departments: Political Science, Global Studies, Latin American and Latino Studies, Institute of Race and Ethnic Studies, Department of Anthropology & Sociology)
“Asian Americans: Breaking Through”
A PBS documentary traces the story of Asian Americans, spanning 150 years of immigration, racial politics, and cultural innovation. At the turn of the millennium, Asian Americans have become the fastest growing population in the U.S. It is a time of tremendous change, as the country tackles urgent debates over immigration, race and economic disparity.
Date and Time: 4:00-5:30 pm, Wednesday, April 8
Location: Sykes 252
Past Events
50th Anniversary of Ethnic Studies @ WCU Film Series
History of Ethnic Studies I: The San Francisco State College and University of California-Berkeley
Student Strikes
Wednesday, Feb. 7, 2024
Presentation and discussion of films of the 1968-69 student strikes for the creation
of a School of Ethnic Studies at SF State and a Third World College at UC Berkeley.
History of Ethnic Studies II: The SF State College Student and Faculty Strike for
Ethnic Studies
Wednesday, Mar. 6, 2024
A film on the involvement of the SF State faculty union in the 1968-69 student strike
for the creation of a School of Ethnic Studies.
The Continued Struggles in Support of Ethnic Studies
Thursday, Apr. 4, 2024
Presentation of a film on the 1999 protests to defend Ethnic Studies at UC Berkeley
and a discussion of more recent attacks against Ethnic Studies around the country.
BLACK HISTORY MONTH
Film Screening: The Bell Affair
Special guest: Dr. Kwakiutl Dreher, film director
Thursday, February 23, 2023 | 4:30 pm – 6:30 pm
Sykes Theatre
The Bell Affair is an animating film about an historical event, in which Daniel and Mary Bell, living in Washington, DC, sued for their freedom from slavery and won. After the slaveholder threatened to re-enslave Mary and their children, they participated in one of the largest escape attempts in American history, setting off for freedom to Philadelphia on a schooner called The Pearl.
From the Director's Chair: The Making of The Bell Affair
with Dr. Kwakiutl L. Dreher
Wednesday, February 22 | 4:30 pm – 6:00 pm
Sykes Student Union 252
Dr. Kwakiutl L. Dreher, a director, producer, and writer of The Bell Affair, and Associate Professor of English at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln. Dr. Dreher is a screenwriter, actor, director, playwright, and author. A native of South Carolina, she writes about African American literature, film, visual, and popular culture. She is the author of Dancing on the White Page: Black Women Entertainers Writing Autobiography (SUNY Press) and numerous articles and essays.
The Bell Affair events are made possible with funding and support from the Office of Equal Opportunity and Compliance and the co-sponsorship by the African American Studies Program, African & African American Literature Program, Dowdy Multicultural Center, Frederick Douglass Institute, Sociology Club.