iStudent Blog: Equity, Diversity and Inclusion

Published: July 8, 2024 by Matsuko Friedland

As part of the national celebration of Native American Heritage Month, the San José State University (SJSU) iSchool hosted a free online symposium on November 3, 2023, titled “Honoring the Past & Planning for the Future: Indigenous Perspectives on Library and Information Sciences”. The symposium began with a welcome and land acknowledgement by Dr. Anthony Chow. Next, Dr. Tonia San Nicolas-Rocca introduced the keynote speakers, featuring Indigenous LIS leaders: Halena Kapuni-Reynolds, Associate Curator of Native Hawaiian History and Culture, National Museum of the American Indian; Jennifer Himmelreich, Senior Program Officer, Institute of Museum and Library Services (IMLS); and Richard Sneed, 28th Principal Chief of the Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians.

Published: August 31, 2023 by Eori Tokunaga

As part of the national celebration of Pride Month, the San José State University iSchool hosted a free online symposium on July 5th, 2023, titled “Celebrating LGBTQIA+ Librarianship in Tough Times.” The symposium began with a brief introduction of keynote speaker, Deb Sica, by Dr. Anthony Chow. The symposium also featured a panel discussion with speakers Melinda Borie, Ana Elisa de Campos Salles, Michael Wallace-Davis, Jr., SJSU iSchool Alumnus Angela Ocaña, and SJSU iSchool Alumnus Dontaná McPherson-Joseph.

Published: August 6, 2023

As part of the national celebration of Asian American, Native Hawaiian and Pacific Islander Heritage Month, the San José State University iSchool hosted a free online symposium on May 26, 2023, titled “Self-Care, Challenges, Solidarity: Asian American Women Leaders.” The symposium opened with a warm welcome and brief story by Dr. Anthony Chow, followed by a presentation from co-keynote speakers, Annie Pho and Alanna Aiko Moore. Prior to their introductions, the speakers began with a land acknowledgment: “We’d like to start today with a land acknowledgment in recognizing that the Indigenous people, who are the original inhabitants of the land that all of us are on were dispossessed of their land through violence, through murder, through deceptive processes, and colonialism…and since land acknowledgments are often done without action, Annie and I have made a donation today to the National Indigenous Women’s Resource Center in support of the land that we are on.”