main content 19th Annual Ray Warren Symposium Explores the Art of Storytelling
The Ray Warren Symposium on Race and Ethnic Studies, held November 9–11, will examine the role of storytelling as a means of preserving history and passing down cultural traditions.
by Gabe Korer BA ’23
The 19th annual Ray Warren Symposium on Race and Ethnic Studies, titled the Art of Storytelling, will feature a variety of guest speakers and student-led events from November 9 through November 11. The symposium will explore how storytelling has been used to preserve history, the dynamics of power that have shaped its role in various cultures, and the many different forms it can take.
The student cochairs for this year’s symposium are Azucena Morales Santos BA ’24, Carolina Ruíz BA ’22, and Rocío Yao BA ’24.
My involvement in the International Affairs and Ray Warren Symposiums gave me greater understanding of my fields. I learned the power of academics in provoking questions and starting conversations.
Every Ray Warren Symposium event that I attended both affirmed and challenged my academic experience by making me think of thought-provoking questions.
I think every student at Lewis & Clark can get something special from one of the student-led symposia, either by attending or being a part of organizing the event. There is knowledge to be gained for every person who attends the symposium.
Cochairing the MENA Symposium has allowed me to highlight my interest in the region and share that with the L&C community. This year’s theme of Art and Social Change focuses on something I care about.
Building this symposium from the ground up alongside my fellow cochairs and Prof. Brodkin has strengthened my communication and teamwork skills in an environment that welcomes learning and teaches adaptability.
I am a cochair for the MENA Symposium—an experience that broadened my perspective on the intricate workings of our world and offered a valuable complement to my academic journey.
I applied for the Ray Warren Symposium cochair position because I wanted to give back and contribute to the one initiative, community, and space on campus that has made me feel the most seen and heard in all my time here.
I truly believe that the Ray Warren Symposium is one of Lewis & Clark’s most important events because it is the only annual program that holds intentional space for BIPOC scholars, students, and faculty to share their work
Being a cochair has been one of the most intense and most rewarding experiences of my life. I am so excited for what we have put together. When looking at what themes we wanted to explore and which keynote speakers we wanted to invite, we all looked back at our experiences and classes on campus to find the best and most interesting topics.
It is truly an honor to be a cochair for the International Affairs Symposium. Being entrusted with the responsibility to bring in influential speakers on topics our community deeply cares about is both a challenge and a rewarding experience.
The experience of being a cochair for the 2023 ENVX Symposium has taught me so much, and I am so excited for the event in the fall. I highly recommend getting involved in the symposia at L&C as an organizer!
I felt drawn to be a cochair for the Ray Warren Symposium because of its ability to build community and center scholarship focused on race and ethnicity.
I went to a poem reading at the Gender Studies Symposium. It gave me a lot of insight into the creativity and fantasy of wordplay, which helps with my writing skills.
The amount of work the student organizers put in to planning the symposia is impressive.
I was a volunteer at the 2023 Ray Warren Symposium on Race and Ethnic Studies, and it was my first time being so engaged with the students at L&C. This event helped complete my academic experience by giving me the opportunity to hear speakers talk about their experiences.
I am currently a cochair for the ENVX Symposium. This experience has given me the opportunity to apply my academic knowledge to the real world, and it has also shown me the applications of skills I have learned, such as research and professional correspondence.
As cochairs, we wanted to create a symposium about exploring how borders impact us, the world, and communities around us, and what happens when we break down those borders and connect with each other.
I’ve attended several different symposia events! I always leave them with a new understanding, and a new feeling of excitement. In particular, the Gender Studies Symposium is fantastic. It always opens my mind to new understandings.
I’ve been a Race Monologues presenter twice, which is the concluding event of the annual Ray Warren Symposium on Race and Ethnic Studies. It has been a nerve-wracking but rewarding experience both times.
I’m so excited about the upcoming Gender Studies Symposium! Helping to put together the symposium has allowed me to take what I have learned in my classes and find a way to make those concepts accessible to the wider community.
I am one of the cochairs of the MENA Symposium. It has led me to think critically about how to study a region and listen to its voices, while recognizing my position as a white American in discussions.
I am one of the cochairs for this year’s Gender Studies Symposium. I really appreciate how involved students are on all levels of symposium planning. It requires lots of dedicated teamwork, but seeing that symposium come to life after months of planning makes it all worth it.
I am currently the cochair of the Gender Studies Symposium. Chairing the symposium while simultaneously writing my thesis on reproductive health has empowered me to look beyond the classroom and explore my interests further.
I am a cochair for the Gender Studies Symposium, and I always look forward to attending symposia events. I love learning from the keynote speakers and being able to support my peers and learn about their work.
I have never organized an event like this before, so the mere experience of creating the symposium has been extraordinary. At the beginning I had no idea what the symposium would look like, but now that we are so close to the event it’s really coming together.
I am a cochair of the MENA Symposium and I suggested this year’s theme of Language and Politics. I was thrilled that the concept of multilingualism, a linguistic mosaic, and its relation to politics was incorporated into the symposium!
As a cochair for the fall 2023 ENVX Symposium, it has been an amazing opportunity to connect with different global, national, and local scholars, entrepreneurs, and leaders. I feel that I have grown so much through this experience.
Being a cochair for the Gender Studies Symposium has been one of the most rewarding experiences I have had as a student. It has been inspirational to receive proposals from peers and other institutions knowing how many folks are committed to exploring and valuing gender and sexuality in their academic fields.
I was an organizer for one of the annual Environment Across Boundaries ENVX Symposium. It was interesting to work with everyone. I’d never done planning for this type of event before.
I helped as an organizer for both the Gender Studies Symposium and the Environment Across Boundaries ENVX Symposium. It was fascinating to get a glimpse of all the amazing projects that L&C and other schools’ students are involved in.
As cocurator of the Gender Studies Symposium’s art show, I got to see some really innovative art pushing at gender identities and boundaries, which served as a crucial turning point in my thinking.
My experience as cochair of the Middle East and North African Studies Symposium has been incredibly positive. I’ve felt empowered to contribute my ideas to the symposium, and amplifying these important topics and complementing the academic foundation I’ve built at L&C has been rewarding.
Being a Gender Studies Symposium cochair has been one of the most rewarding experiences. I feel like my time as a cochair has facilitated my shift from a gender studies student to scholar, and I will always look back on this experience with gratitude and fondness.
My work as cochair of the International Affairs symposium has directly complimented my work on my thesis and improved my knowledge of the field overall. It has taught me necessary life skills I’ll need for the future.
The Ray Warren Symposium acts as a catalyst each year to remind students of their privilege, but also brings great minds and conversations together.
Being a member of the International Affairs Symposium taught me confidence when presenting ideas, while being a cochair this year taught me to look at the bigger picture goals. I am immensely proud of the committee we put together this year!
I was a member of the planning committee and an art show cocurator for the Gender Studies Symposium. I loved getting to promote student artists through the art show and learning about how different people on campus interact with the field of gender studies.
I love that the symposia are all student run, and as a participant I’ve really enjoyed attending various events or keynote speakers. It’s obvious that the student organizers put in a lot of hard work for our community.
At my first symposium, I was so inspired to see other students of color work and coordinate such a transformative event, and I knew following the first keynote speech I wanted to become more involved.
I was a committee member and am currently one of the cochairs of the International Affairs Symposium. It is a great feeling getting to see a year’s worth of work come alive. I have also been able to meet and work with some of the most talented people.
Through the symposium, I’ve been able to combine my passion for volunteering with my desire to make a positive impact.
This year’s Gender Studies Symposium was enlightening, and gave me a chance to listen to voices one does not hear often enough in academia.
I am a cochair for this year’s Gender Studies Symposium. I had only attended the events before, so this is my first year in a leadership role. I am really thankful we have so many amazing symposia at L&C!
I am a cochair for the fall 2023 ENVX Symposium. It has been so cool to find speakers and organize events, and I am so excited to hold the symposium in the fall!
Working on the Gender Studies Symposium has been a once-in-a-lifetime experience, and I feel so lucky to have gotten to play a part in bringing together such a meaningful and informative event.
In 2021, Carmen Maria Machado gave a keynote speech for the Gender Studies Symposium. At the time, I was taking fiction writing classes where we read some of her pieces, so it was a wonderful opportunity to listen to an author who I was pretty familiar with.
The ENVX Symposium is the perfect balance of event planning, leadership, organization, and research. The symposium is one of my favorite offerings of the environmental studies program.
“With this year’s theme, we wanted to include a kind of multidimensional framework around storytelling and how storytelling can be embodied through literature, oral history, and various sorts of customs,” Ruíz said.
The symposium begins on November 9 at 7 p.m. in Agnes Flanagan Chapel with a conversation between Hall and Reiko Hillyer, associate professor of history and director of ethnic studies. They will discuss “Visualizing the Past,” exploring Hall’s experience researching women-led slave revolts and the graphic narrative she wrote in collaboration with illustrator Hugo Martínez. Siu will speak at 7 p.m. the following day in the Templeton Campus Center’s Council Chamber, where she will present “Undoing Foundational Fairytales One Story at a Time.”
Ruíz says that both speakers were chosen due to how their work touches on the idea of dismantling structures of power.
In addition to the keynote speakers, the symposium will feature a multitude of other events, including the annual Race Monologues, where participants share personal narratives about their experiences with race and ethnic identity. An art gallery will also be available virtually and in a physical installation in the atrium of Watzek Library, curated by Marta Ružić BA ’25, Mithila Tambe BA ’25, and Diego Zárate BA ’25.
While cochair Yao is looking forward to all the events, she’s particularly excited about the “Ink: Tattoo Work and Heritage” panel, which explores how tattoo work has been used by communities of color as a form of storytelling and tradition across time.
“It’s a panel of speakers and students who have either had direct experience with tattoo work or who have had it passed down through their family or communities,” Yao said. “This panel is a great example of how storytelling is not just a book or the formal narrative we think of. There’s various ways that it can be expressed.”
“For some of us whose stories are not told in history books, this is how our generation, our people, and those we love stay alive,” Yao said.
For more information about the events, including a detailed schedule, visit the symposium’s website. All events are free and open to the general public, although some are first-come, first-served due to limited capacity.
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