KEYNOTE SESSIONS

Kimberlé Crenshaw, Professor of Law at UCLA and Columbia Law School, is a leading authority in the area of Civil Rights, Black feminist legal theory, and race, racism, and the law. Her work has been foundational in two fields of study that have come to be known by terms that she coined: Critical Race Theory and Intersectionality. 

Crenshaw works on issues pertaining to gender and race in the domestic arena including violence against women, structural racial inequality, and affirmative action. She consults with leading foundations, social justice organizations, and corporations to advance their race and gender equity initiatives.

Viet Thanh Nguyen is an award-winning author and educator. His novel The Sympathizer is a New York Times best seller and won the Pulitzer Prize for Fiction. His other books are Nothing Ever Dies: Vietnam and the Memory of War and Race and Resistance: Literature and Politics in Asian America. His current book is the bestselling short story collection, The Refugees.

At the University of Southern California, Nguyen is the Aerol Arnold Chair of English, and a Professor of English, American Studies and Ethnicity, and Comparative Literature.