UCI conference explores range of Southern California's inequities


EVENT:
"Inequality: Southern California's Major Faultline" explores the inequities in education, labor and quality of life across the region -- as well as strategies for overcoming them. Harvard University's William Julius Wilson will kick off the discussion with a public talk on race, inequality and how political coalitions can help middle-class Americans. The following day, a series of panel discussions will bring together community leaders and researchers such as Myron Orfield to explore issues including California's polarized job market; how socioeconomic status impacts high school graduation rates; racial divisions in urban areas; and the weakening safety net for working-class families.

WHEN:
6-8 p.m. Thursday, May 11, keynote address by William Julius Wilson
9 a.m. Friday, May 12, keynote address by Myron Orfield
10:45 a.m.-5 p.m., Friday, May 12, panel discussions

WHERE:
Beckman Center of the National Academies of Sciences and Engineering,
100 Academy, UC Irvine. Campus map: www.uci.edu/campusmap

INFORMATION:
Free, registration is required for the conference on Friday. To register, or view a detailed schedule of events, visit http://webfiles.uci.edu/copc/www/inequality.html

BACKGROUND:
Thursday, May 11
6-8 p.m.
William Julius Wilson -- Once selected by Time Magazine as among America's 25 Most Influential People, Wilson is the Lewis P. and Linda L. Geyser University Professor at Harvard University and author of several acclaimed books, including most recently "The Bridge over the Racial Divide: Rising Inequality and Coalition Politics" (2001). Wilson's lecture is part of UCI's Chancellor's Distinguished Fellows Series.

Friday, May 12
9 a.m.
Myron Orfield -- A former Minnesota state senator, Orfield is the director of the Institute on Race and Poverty at the University of Minnesota School of Law. He is known for his research on social, racial, fiscal, land use and political trends in major American metropolitan areas including Los Angeles, which he explored in "American Metropolitics: The New Suburban Reality" (2002). Orfield will discuss social separation and sprawl in the Los Angeles region.

10:45 a.m.-12:15 p.m. (concurrent sessions)
"The Limits of Prosperity: Labor Inequality in Southern California," with Gilbert Gonzalez, professor of Chicano/Latino studies, UCI; Madeline Janis-Aparicio, executive director, Los Angeles Alliance for the New Economy; Goetz Wolff, lecturer in urban planning, UCLA; moderated by Rodolfo Torres, professor of planning, policy and design and Chicano/Latino studies, UCI.

"Not Making the Grade: Educational Inequalities and Regional Underdevelopment," with Audrey Yamagata-Noji, president, Santa Ana Unified School District; Stephanie Reyes-Tuccio, director, California Social Science/History Project, UCI; Danny Solorzano, professor of education and information studies, UCLA; moderated by Gilberto Conchas, assistant professor of education, UCI.

2-3 p.m. (concurrent sessions)
"Taking It to the Street: Mapping Southern California's Spatial Inequalities" with Gilda Haas, executive director, Strategic Actions for a Just Economy; Laura Pulido, associate professor of geography, USC; Neal Richman, associate director, UCLA Advanced Policy Institute; moderated by Kristen Day, associate professor of planning, policy and design, UCI.

"What Safety Net? Social Policy in an Era of Retrenchment" with Victoria Basolo, associate professor of planning, policy and design, UCI; Maya Dunne, vice president for community outreach, St. Joseph's Health System; Ellen Reese, assistant professor of sociology, UC Riverside; moderated by Michael Montoya, assistant professor of anthropology and Chicano/Latino studies, UCI.

3:45-5 p.m.
"Urban Futures: Reconsidering Southern California" with Mike Davis, professor of history, UCI; Myron Orfield, director, Institute on Race and Poverty, University of Minnesota Law School; Linda Vo, associate professor of Asian American studies, UCI; moderated by Vicki Ruiz, professor of history and Chicano/Latino studies, UCI.

"Inequality: Southern California's Major Faultline" is sponsored by UCI's Community Outreach Partnership Center, an initiative of the School of Social Ecology that builds bridges between UCI and the local community. COPC supports research, teaching and outreach projects that address the widespread impacts of demographic change.