Bringing Doers to Campus

The College of Graduate Studies is pleased to host the Inaugural Graduate Studies Speaker Series in celebration of 15 years of interdisciplinary graduate programs at UCF. The speaker series will feature esteemed speakers who embody the interdisciplinary concentrations in the graduate program and will engage attendees in valuable cross-disciplinary conversations centered on social justice and advocacy, environmental sustainability, workplace equality, and globalization. 

Our first speaker will be Samuel Sinyangwe on November 5, 2015, in the College of Business Administration, Room 119, from 3:30pm to 4:30pm. 

Sinyangwe is an activist, researcher, and policy analyst working to fight systemic racism in communities of color through data-driven policies. He has been featured on several national and international media outlets and will share about his efforts to create policies of change. 

Sinyangwe’s presentation on Campaign Zero: A Blueprint to End Police Violence, is about activists across the country collecting and using data as a tool for fighting and ending police violence.

On January 21, 2016, Susan Hassol, a communicator, analyst and author will share her presentation Telling the Climate Change Story. Hassol is known for her ability to translate science and making complex issues accessible to policymakers and the public. She’ll be speaking in the Student Union, Room 218 from 12:00pm – 1:00pm.

Our third speaker is Gini Sikes on February 25, 2016 from 2:30pm – 3:30pm in the Morgridge International Reading Center. Sikes is a filmmaker, author and investigative journalist, she will be sharing information from her most recent documentary Equal Means Equal; a film highlighting the erosion of women’s rights in the U.S. today.

Our final speaker in the series, has recently brought a lot of purple pride to Orlando. He is Founder and President of the Orlando City Soccer Club, Phil Rawlins. 

Rawlins will speak about his Global Goals: Bringing Soccer to Orlando on March 30, 2016 from 3:30pm – 4:30pm at the Morgridge International Reading Center.

The Speaker Series is free and open to all UCF faculty, staff, and students as well as the central Florida community. For more information regarding the event email [email protected].