Elizabeth Camarillo Gutierrez: “Heartbreak on the Southern Border”

In conversation with Ruben Reyes, Jr. Moderated by Alejandra Bronfman
3:30 p.m. – 4:30 p.m., Campus Center Assembly Hall

Elizabeth Camarillo Gutierrez is the author a widely acclaimed new memoir, My Side of the River (2024), about her experience as the U.S. born daughter of immigrants, and what happened when— at age 15— her parents were forced back to Mexico, leaving her with the responsibility of raising her younger brother. A New York Times Editor’s Pick, the memoir explores the trauma of family separation and the challenges of achieving the American dream. She is currently a product manager for Facebook parent company, Meta. Her TED talk, “What’s missing from the American immigrant narrative,” has received over 2 million views.

Janell Hobson: “Kamala, Beyoncé, and Black Female Power”

In conversation with Tanisha C. Ford and Martha S. Jones
2:15 p.m. – 3:15 p.m., Campus Center Assembly Hall

Janell Hobson is a UAlbany faculty member, and the author of numerous cover stories for Ms. magazine, including the influential 2013 article, “Beyoncé's Fierce Feminism.” Janell Hobson is professor and former chair of UAlbany's Department of Women's, Gender, and Sexuality Studies. Her most recent book is When God Lost Her Tongue: Historical Consciousness and the Black Feminist Imagination (2021). Other books include Venus in the Dark: Blackness and Beauty in Popular Culture (2005), Body as Evidence (2012), and The Routledge Companion to Black Women’s Cultural Histories (editor, 2021).

*Due to unforeseen circumstances this event will not take place on Saturday. Harold Holzer: “Lincoln and American Immigration”

In conversation with Hank Greenberg
12:00 p.m. – 1:00 p.m., Campus Center West Auditorium

Harold Holzer, one of America’s leading authorities on the life and career of Abraham Lincoln, is the author of the new book, Brought Forth on This Continent: Abraham Lincoln and American Immigration (2024), a groundbreaking account of Lincoln’s grappling with the politics of immigration. In the three decades before the Civil War, some ten million foreign-born people settled in the United States, forever altering the nation’s demographics, economy, culture, and—perhaps most significantly—its voting patterns. While transforming the nation, their arrival also unleashed a violent wave of nativism and bigotry.

Martha S. Jones: “Kamala, Beyoncé, and Black Female Power”

In conversation with Tanisha C. Ford and Janell Hobson
2:15 p.m. – 3:15 p.m., Campus Center Assembly Hall

Martha S. Jones, eminent historian of Black women in American politics, is the author of Vanguard: How Black Women Broke Barriers, Won the Vote, and Insisted on Equality for All (2020), the epic history of Black women as one of the most powerful forces in American politics, from women’s suffrage in the 19th century to the 1965 Voting Rights Act. Ms. magazine said, “If you read no other book on suffrage this centennial of the 19th Amendment, read this one. Let the incomparable historian Martha S. Jones take you to school.” Professor of history at Johns Hopkins University, Jones is also the author of Birthright Citizens: A History of Race and Rights in Antebellum America (2018).
 

David Kaczynski: “Reverberations of the Unabomber”

Discusses his experiences with being the brother of a domestic terrorist
2:30 p.m. – 3:30 p.m., Campus Center West Auditorium

David Kaczynksi wrote about his experiences as the younger brother of domestic terrorist Ted Kaczynski in his 2016 memoir, Every Last Tie: The Story of the Unabomber and His Family. A former resident of New York’s Capital Region, David recognized “The Unabomber Manifesto” as his brother’s work and played a role in his capture. He is known locally for his executive leadership of New Yorkers Against the Death Penalty, the Equinox Youth Shelter in Albany, and other organizations. His newest book is Refugees in Samsara: The Myth of Boundaries (2023), an attempt to distill hard-won wisdom through creative fiction. He currently lives with his wife on a remote plot in the west Texas desert without electricity or running water.

*Due to unforeseen circumstances this event will not take place on Saturday. Lisa Ko: “Girls, Coming of Age”

In conversation with Aisha Abdel Gawad, Emily Layden, and Elisa Albert
10:30 a.m. - 11:30 a.m., Campus Center West Auditorium

Lisa Ko, novelist, is the author of the National Book Award finalist and national bestseller, The Leavers (2017), the story of an undocumented Chinese immigrant, Polly, who disappears on her way to her job at a nail salon. Left to foster care, her 11-year-old son is eventually adopted by a pair of well-meaning white professors, and raised in Upstate New York, where he struggles to make sense of his past. Ko’s much-anticipated new novel is Memory Piece (2024), the story of three teenaged girls as their lives and ambitions evolve from the predigital 1980s, to the art and tech subcultures of the 1990s, to a strikingly imagined portrait of the 2040s. Vogue named it a “Best Book of 2024.”