International Conference on Hate Studies, held virtually

About This Event

Justice and Equity: Challenging hate and Inspiring Hope is the theme for the Sixth Gonzaga International Conference on Hate Studies that will be held virtually. The conference is co-hosted by the Spokane County Human Rights Task Force and the Kootenia County Task Force on Human Relations.

Conference Dates

Registration is now open. Community and student "Living Light" and scholarship registrations are available. Conference registrants will receive a video link to attend the four featured panel presentations along with any of the presentations, workshops, and roundtable discussions in the concurrent tracks.  Learn more about the International Conference on Hate Studies at our official website.

Featured Panels

• Practitioner Perspectives: Building Coalitions and Organizations and the Research Needed to Support the Work.
  • Thursday, Nov. 4, 6:30-8:00 p.m. (PT)
  • Panelists: Connie Chung Joe, Asian Americans Advancing Justice; Rachel Carroll Rivas, Human & Civil Rights Organizer; Eric K. Ward, Western States Center
• Academic Perspectives: What is the Future of Hate Studies Research?
  • Friday, Nov. 5, 9:00-10:30 a.m. (PT)
  • Panelists: Kathleen Blee, University of Pittsburgh; Thomas Brudholm, University of Copenhagen; Mengyao Li, Max Plank Institute; Robert Sapolsky, Stanford University.
• Academic Centers for the Study of Hate: What is the role of University Communities?
  • Saturday, Nov 6, 9:00-10:30 a.m. (PT)
  • Panelists: Ken Stern, Bard College; Brian Levin, California State University San Berardino; Barbara Perry, Ontario Tech University; Kristine Hoover, Gonzaga University
• Human Rights Task Force Perspectives: Creating Inclusion and Countering Hate.
  • Saturday, Nov 6, 9:00-10:30 a.m. (PT)
  • Panelists: Brenda Hammond, Bonner County; Dean Lynch, Spokane County; Travis McAdam, Montana; Tony Stewart, Kootenai County

Conference registrants will be able to choose from sessions ranging from Anti-Bias Lessons for Educators; to COVID-19 Hate Incidents and Hate Crimes Against Asian Pacific Islander Americans; to a session entitled From Memory to Action: A Living Memorial to the Holocaust Inspires Youth to Confront Hatred Today. A presentation on Caucusing as a form of community building will be followed by actual caucusing sessions for people from the INW will be co-facilitated with Lead Washington. Speakers highlighting the conference include: Kathleen Blee, Ph.D., distinguished professor and dean of the Dietrich School of Arts and Sciences and the College of General Studies at the University of Pittsburgh and co-director of the University of Pittsburgh and Carnegie Mellon’s Collaboratory Against Hate — Research and Action Center. Thomas Brudholm, Ph.D., associate professor at the University of Copenhagen Department of Cross-Cultural and Regional Studies and co-editor of “Hate, Politics, Law: Critical Perspectives on Combating Hate,” published in Oxford University Press. Connie Chung Joe, J.D., chief executive officer of Asian Americans Advancing Justice, Los Angeles. Mengyao Li, senior research fellow at the Max Planck Institute on Collective Goods focusing on the psychological processes of moral courage. Rachel Carroll Rivas, organizer for rural human/civil rights, formerly the co-director and research director of the Montana Human Rights Network, an affiliate of the Center for Popular Democracy. Robert Sapolksy, Ph.D., professor of neurology and of neurosurgery at Stanford University and author of “Behave: The Biology of Humans at Our Best and Worst.” Eric K. Ward, executive director of the Western States Center and a nationally recognized expert on the relationship between authoritarian movements, hate violence, and preserving inclusive democracy.

The International Conference on Hate Studies brings scholars and practitioners together with students and community members to bridge theory and practice and expand our learning with and from one another. Conference participants hear from internationally renowned speakers, engage in workshops, name the injustices of dehumanization in all manifestations, and reignite passions to address the “dis-ease” of hatred.

The Gonzaga Institute of Hate Studies supports research and education focused on the human capacity to dehumanize an ‘other’ and the processes that can counter that capacity. With partners locally and across the globe, we are a founding member and leading contributor to the interdisciplinary field of hate studies. This work is central to the identity of Gonzaga as a Jesuit university, following in the ways of St. Ignatius of Loyola by naming the harms of marginalization and taking action against bias and bigotry. This is our magis – to work against hate and in solidarity for a world with greater justice.

Silver Sponsors for the conference include Laura Boyse-Aargon and the Kootenai County Task Force on Human Relations in honor of JoAnn Harvey. Additional support for the conference is provided by Frontier Behavioral Health, and Gonzaga's School of Business, Law School’s Center for Civil & Human Rights, School of Leadership Studies, Office of Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion, Finance Department, and Foley Library.