Aoki Center

08/24/2026

Please join the Aoki Center’s first Racial Justice Speaker Series event of the 2026-27 school year.

Let’s Talk About Eugenics
Thursday, Sept. 3, 2026 | 12 – 1 p.m. | King Hall, Room 1301 | MCLE Credits Available | No Registration Fee

King Hall Professor Lisa Ikemoto will review the recent expansion of eugenic thinking and how eugenic thinking is shaping national discourse and federal policy. The presentation will then examine how eugenic thinking shapes development and commercialization of reproductive and genetic technologies. Examples may include s***m banks, polygenic risk scoring of in vitro embryos, and emerging technologies such as in vitro gametogenesis.

Lunch provided.

Livestream here: https://mediasite.ucdavis.edu/Mediasite/Play/07edb7ecafa9441ea1f6721c63243cce1d

Learn more about the Aoki Center and upcoming events at law.ucdavis.edu/centers/aoki.

07/08/2026

The Daily Journal has more journalists covering the California legal profession than any other publication. Comprehensive coverage of litigation, arbitration, and mediation results from California state and federal trial courts for attorneys and legal professionals.

05/21/2026

The Aoki Center for Critical Race and Nation Studies had an active year. Read our 2025-26 Aoki Center Annual Report to learn what we’ve been doing and how you can be involved: https://law.ucdavis.edu/aoki-center-annual-report-2026

Thanks to all in our community who supported communities, people in jeopardy, and the Aoki Center. We look forward to building community and raising awareness in the 2026-27 academic year.

05/21/2026

05/11/2026

King Hall Professor Jack Chin will speak on a panel at Voices of the Valley: A Community Movie Night at UC Davis, May 13, 5:30-8 p.m., 1002 Cruess Hall. Free admission; RSVP at 1882foundation.short.gy/Voices.

We often think of Chinatowns in cities like San Francisco or New York when we think about Chinese communities. But the Chinese were a key part of California's agricultural history. What can we learn about these Chinese communities in rural areas?

The panel will accompany three short Chinese American documentaries that capture these stories:

• “Chicago Cafe” follows the Fongs as they prepare to close their family's century-old restaurant in Woodland—a poignant reflection on legacy and what it means to walk away from a place that's been a fixture in the Woodland community.
• “Rising” documents multiple generations of the Wing family who preserved Hanford's China Alley, and the ramifications of a fire that destroyed its historic Taoist Temple Museum.
• “Voices — Women of the Delta” amplifies the often-overlooked stories of women from historic Locke, CA who struggled and thrived despite the hardships they faced in the 20th century.

Panelists include: Professor Jack Chin, Arianne Wing, Carol Lee, and Connie Chan Robison.

More information at https://law.ucdavis.edu/aoki-blog/professor-jack-chin-will-speak-voices-valley-community-movie-night-uc-davis-may-13.

05/11/2026

05/08/2026

Congratulations to Cesar A. Ledesma ’26 for winning the 2026 Angela Harris Prize for Critical Race Scholarship and to Ricardo Martinez ’27 for winning honorable mention. Cesar wrote “Conditional Belonging: Modern Immigration Enforcement in Public Institutions Is Leading to the ‘Social Death’ of U.S.-Citizen Children in Mixed-Status Families.” Ricardo wrote “Accountability Post Trumpism: A Constitutional Model for a Justice-First Truth Commission.” Professors Raquel Aldana and Kevin R. Johnson presented the awards at the Public Service Graduation.

05/08/2026

A heartwarming post from our Harris Prize winner. Congratulations, Cesar!

Today, I had the honor of receiving this year’s Angela Harris Prize for Critical Race Scholarship. I am especially grateful to Professor Lisa Ikemoto for submitting the paper on my behalf! Undoubtedly, the past three years of law school have been a wild rollercoaster of both successes and setbacks...

04/20/2026

The Aoki Center co-sponsored the Immigration & Nationality Law Review Volume 46 Symposium, "Community Resistance: Immigration Law in the Face of Mass Deportation & Repression" at King Hall on April 17. Pictured: Soni Chaturvedi '25, Shaina Aber, Nancy Hormachea, Anusha Entezari '27, Sara Jahangiri '27, Chloe Dillon, Professor Kevin R. Johnson, Aidin Castillo Mazantini '11, and Raha Jorjani.

04/08/2026

Professor Miroslava Chávez-García visited King Hall today to discuss “Architect of Hate: Garrett Hardin and the Rise of Eco-fascism in Modern America” as part of the Aoki Center’s Racial Justice Speaker Series.

Chávez-García is Professor of History at UC Santa Barbara, with affiliations in the Departments of Chicana/o Studies and Feminist Studies as well as Iberian and Latin American Studies. She holds a 2025-26 Andrew W. Mellon Foundation Fellowship at the Center for Advanced Study in the Behavioral Sciences, Stanford University. Pictured with Aoki Center Director Kevin R. Johnson.

Watch the video: https://mediasite.ucdavis.edu/Mediasite/Play/c3da0d32e66a49a5ae2da9c021b850561d

For upcoming Aoki Center events, visit https://law.ucdavis.edu/academics/centers/critical-race/events.