https://orfaleacenter.ucsb.edu/wp-content/uploads/2023/12/Raed_Interview_ED.mp3 On the Exilic Condition, Queerness as a Verb, and Writing through Imagery – An Interview with Dr. Raed Rafei  In this episode, Dr. Raed Rafei tells us about how his experiences as a filmmaker and journalist have impacted his scholarship and vis versa. In the podcast, we speak about his work in Lebanon, his […]Read More

Cops-Off Campus, Being in Community, and Global Policing – An Interview with Dr. Andrew Johnson In this episode, we speak to Dr. Andrew Johnson, who formed a core part of this research cluster when he worked as a graduate fellow with the Orfalea Center before receiving his PhD from UCSB in 2022. Dr. Johnson recounted […]Read More

On Researching Torture and the Fight Against It – An Interview with Dr. Lisa Hajjar: In this episode, Dr. Lisa Hajjar, a professor of Sociology at UCSB, shares with us her 20-year journey of research that culminated in her latest book,  The War in Court: Inside the Long Fight Against Torture. Dr. Hajjar recounts some of the […]Read More

What Can we Learn from the Gulag Today? – An Interview with Alexandra Noi: From receiving a doctorate in Chinese Literature from St. Petersburg State University, to pursuing a PhD in History at the University of California Santa Barbara, Alexandra Noi’s multi-faceted scholarly trajectory gives us an interesting lens for thinking comparatively about authoritarianism, repression, […]Read More

Using the Archive for a Different Public Memory – An Interview with Salma Shash: In this episode, Salma Shash shares how her experiences in Egyptian feminist and activist/political networks have impacted her research interests, her thoughts on how to make use of governmental or state-owned archives to create a different public memory, and some of […]Read More

Ethnography and Archives from the Margins – An Interview with Mina Ibrahim Alongside his scholarly and academic work, Mina Ibrahim is a project coordinator for the MENA Prison Forum, an invaluable global partner to the Structural Violence, Decoloniality, and Police/Prison Abolition research cluster. He is also the founder of SARD, an archival and research center […]Read More

 Pedagogy and The Freedom School – An Interview with Dr. Felice Blake: Professor Felice Blake shares some of her thoughts on pedagogy, pra.cticing scholarship that is engaged with the community,  and the myths of colorblindness in the humanities fields. Blake tells us about her experience growing up in Santa Barbara, leaving, and eventually returning to […]Read More

Global Activism and the Particulars of Combating Police Violence – An Interview with Dr. Jean Beaman: Professor Jean Beaman’s extensive fieldwork and research on immigration, racism, citizenship, and police violence in Paris, France combined with her own experiences of growing up, living  in, and eventually working and teaching in the United States has given depth […]Read More

Episode 1: Tunisia’s Amatuer Autocrat: The Rise of Kais Saied This episode delves into the current state of democracy in Tunisia and traces the country’s political journey since the Arab Spring. It focuses on the role of societal groups, the political dynamics at play, and how President Saied rose to power. The episode aims to […]Read More