Aoki Center

This Thursday, in person and online. We hope you can join us!

Please join the Aoki Center for the next event in the Racial Justice Speaker Series.

The Honor of Defending
Thursday, Sept. 24, 2026 | 12 – 1 p.m. | King Hall, Room 1301 | MCLE Credits Available | No Registration Fee

Public defenders perform one of the legal profession’s most important constitutional functions, yet they lack the elite recruitment infrastructures that exist in other forms of public service law. Why is that and should that be changed? This talk will include a discussion about Professor Irene Oritseweyinmi Joe’s current research on these questions and exploration of the impact the creation of such programs could have on the stability of the public defender institution.

Lunch provided.

Livestream here: https://mediasite.ucdavis.edu/Mediasite/Play/f00e60998a4a4a35a20af53908ce5dc41d

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

Please join the Aoki Center for the next event in the Racial Justice Speaker Series.

The Honor of Defending
Thursday, Sept. 24, 2026 | 12 – 1 p.m. | King Hall, Room 1301 | MCLE Credits Available | No Registration Fee

Public defenders perform one of the legal profession’s most important constitutional functions, yet they lack the elite recruitment infrastructures that exist in other forms of public service law. Why is that and should that be changed? This talk will include a discussion about Professor Irene Oritseweyinmi Joe’s current research on these questions and exploration of the impact the creation of such programs could have on the stability of the public defender institution.

Lunch provided.

Livestream here: https://mediasite.ucdavis.edu/Mediasite/Play/f00e60998a4a4a35a20af53908ce5dc41d

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

The Unity Bar of Yolo County will present the Group Advocacy Award to UC Davis School of Law's Immigration Law Clinic for its Detention Advocacy. Professor and Immigration Law Clinic Co-director Holly S. Cooper will accept the award on behalf of the Clinic at the association's third gala in November.

Other honorees include California Court of Appeal, Third Appellate District Associate Justice and longtime UC Davis Law Visiting Lecturer Shama Mesiwala ’98, who is to receive the Judicial Award and Alberto T. Rosas, a visiting lecturer at UC Davis Law, who will receive the Community Service Award.

Congratulations to all on this well-deserved recognition!



Image description: Professor and Immigration Law Clinic Co-director Holly S. Cooper wearing a blazer and smiling at the camera.

Professor Lisa Ikemoto gave an engaging and disturbing talk on the recent expansion of eugenic thinking at the Aoki Racial Justice Speaker Series: Let’s Talk About Eugenics on Sept. 3.

Watch the video: https://mediasite.ucdavis.edu/Mediasite/Play/07edb7ecafa9441ea1f6721c63243cce1d

We hope to see you at the next Aoki Racial Justice Speaker Series event, where Professor Irene Oritseweyinmi Joe will discuss her research on public defender recruitment.

The Honor of Defending
Thursday, Sept. 24, 2026 | 12 – 1 p.m. | King Hall, Room 1301 | MCLE Credits Available | No Registration Fee | Lunch Provided

Stream at https://mediasite.ucdavis.edu/Mediasite/Play/f00e60998a4a4a35a20af53908ce5dc41d

Upcoming events and past videos at law.ucdavis.edu/centers/aoki.

King Hall students learned about the Aoki Center at a welcome lunch on Sept. 1. Director Kevin R. Johnson told them about the center’s namesake, Professor Keith Aoki, and gave them a history of the center before describing upcoming events. Professor Jack Chin and the Aoki Center’s new Faculty Affiliate Carrie Rosenbaum ’02 shared ways that students can get involved.

Please join us at the Aoki Center’s next event:

Racial Justice Speaker Series: Let’s Talk About Eugenics with Professor Lisa Ikemoto

Thursday, Sept. 3, 2026 | 12 – 1 p.m. | King Hall, Room 1301 | MCLE Credits Available | No Registration Fee | Lunch Provided

Stream at https://mediasite.ucdavis.edu/Mediasite/Play/07edb7ecafa9441ea1f6721c63243cce1d

More Aoki Center events at law.ucdavis.edu/centers/aoki

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.

How courts built federal control over immigration in America 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.

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.

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.