This symp osium brings together two roundtables and a film screening to engage the en tanglements of law\, colonialism\, and racialisation. It convenes scholars whose work examines the ongoing formations and afterlives of empire\, explo ring how legal regimes both shape and are shaped by colonial and racial hie rarchies\, as well as the role of the university in addressing pressing iss ues of the present.
Across th ese conversations\, we reflect on the possibilities and limits of radical t ransformation: how law might be mobilized against the structures it has hel ped to constitute\, and what role academia and engaged scholarship can play in such efforts.
The symposi um aims to foster a critical space attentive to the intersections of race\, gender\, and class in the current socio-political moment.
12:00–13:00 | Roundtable 1 – Social Movements and Modes of Action *lunch will be provided
<
/b> Balakrishnan Rajagopal (MIT)
Susan M. Akram (Boston University)
Moderated by Suraj Girijash
anker (Harvard)
14:00–15:00 | Roundtable 2 – Knowledge\, Po
wer\, and the University
Zinaida Miller (Northeastern University)
Andrew Manuel Crespo (H
arvard)
Moderated by Juliana Streva (Harvard)
<
span style="font-weight: 400\;">Location (both roundtables):
Wasserstein Hall\, 1585 Massach
usetts Ave\, Room 2036 (Milstein East A)
16:00 | Film Scree
ning
Ori
Harvard Griffin GSAS Film Club
Location: Carpenter Center for the Visual Arts\, 24 Quin cy St\, Room B04
The event is free and open to the public. Registration: https://docs.goog le.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSfloqU4mDHynm7_CY7eygPB7m2x6hEH_Jtb9RO1tR3_zQqj7A/v iewform?usp=sharing&ouid=110670176480283128902
Seating is limited and available on a first-come\, fi rst-served basis.
Org anized by Juliana Streva and Suraj Girijashanker - Institute for Global Law & Policy (IGLP)\, Harvard U niversity
In case of question s\, please contact:
Juliana Streva - jmoreirastreva@law.harvard.edu
Suraj Girijashanker - gkandath@law.harva rd.edu
More infor mation about speakers and film:
Balakrishnan Rajagopal is Professor of Law and Development at th e Department of Urban Studies and Planning at the Massachusetts Institute o f Technology (MIT) and the Special Rapporteur on adequate housing as a comp onent of the right to an adequate standard of living\, and on the right to non-discrimination (UN). He is the founder of the Displacement Research and Action Network at MIT which leads research and engagement with communities \, NGOs\, and local and national authorities.
Susan Akram< /b> is Professor and Director of the Bosto n University Law’s International Human Rights Clinic. She is the founding d irector of the Immigration Project at Public Counsel in Los Angeles\, and t he Political Asylum/Immigration Representation (PAIR) Project in Boston. Sh e has taught at the American University in Cairo\, Egypt\, at Al-Quds and B irzeit Universities in Palestine\, the Oxford University Refugee Studies Ce nter and the University of Murcia in Spain.
Zinaida Miller is Professor of Law & International A ffairs at Northeastern University’s School of Law and College of Social Sci ences and Humanities. She is co-director of the Northeastern School of Law Center for Global Law & Justice as well as Senior Advisor at Harvard Law Sc hool’s Institute for Global Law & Policy. She works on critical approaches to international law\, transitional justice\, and international human right s as well as on the role of international law and governance in the Palesti nian-Israeli conflict.
Andrew Manuel Crespo is the Morris Wasserstein Public Interest Professor of Law at Harvard Law School\, where he teaches criminal law and procedure and serves as the Executive Faculty Director of the Institute to End Mass I ncarceration. Professor Crespo works to develop modes of legal practice tha t integrate lawyers effectively and responsibly into organizer-led anti-car ceral campaigns and movements.
Film: ORÍ (1989) directed by Rachel Gerber in collaboration with Beatriz Nascimento
Orí means “head” in Yoruba langu age. A visual feast of African transmigration and its continuity and politi cal presence in the Americas. Orí is a film that participates in the life a nd modern organization of Black Movements in Brazil between 1977 and 1988. After 11 years of production\, and a commemorative launch in 4 capitals of the country\, Orí was at the end of 1989 in 17 international events and fes tivals where it received several awards\, such as the Paul Robeson da Diasp ora (11th Pan African Festival of Ouagadougou).
CATEGORIES:Conference/Symposium LOCATION:Wasserstein Hall\, 1585 Massachusetts Avenue\, Milstein Conference Room\, H LS campus GEO:0.000000;0.000000 ORGANIZER;CN="Juliana Moreira Streva":MAILTO:jmoreirastreva@law.harvard.edu URL;VALUE=URI:https://hls.harvard.edu/events/colonialism-empire-and-race-cr itical-conversations-on-law-movements-the-university/ ATTACH;FMTTYPE=image/jpeg:https://hls.harvard.edu/wp-content/uploads/2026/03/Poster_colonialism-empire-race.jpg END:VEVENT BEGIN:VTIMEZONE TZID:America/New_York BEGIN:DAYLIGHT TZOFFSETFROM:-0500 TZOFFSETTO:-0400 DTSTART:20260308T070000 TZNAME:EDT END:DAYLIGHT END:VTIMEZONE END:VCALENDAR