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‘Decolonizing Knowledge on Palestine’ presented by CSUSB’s Ahlam Muhtaseb at TEDx Talks
TEDx Talks YouTube Channel
Posted on Jan. 7, 2021
Ahlam Muhtaseb is a professor of media studies and the director of the Center for the Study of Muslim & Arab Worlds at California State University, San Bernardino, presented this talk at a TEDx event using the TED conference format but independently organized by a local community. The talk, posted online by TEDx, took place at the TEDxMSJC event on Oct. 23 at Mt. San Jacinto College in San Jacinto, Riverside County.
Her presentation focused on the “colonized and misrepresented histories of the indigenous peoples of the world,” and challenging Americans’ negative image of Palestinians in particular. She said, “You see, history is usually written by the colonial conquerors, the powerful, and the occupiers – not the colonized natives, the indigenous and the occupied.”
Muhtaseb talked about her academic journey of “seeking knowledge, critiquing and challenging knowledge, into eventually decolonizing knowledge by producing it.”
View the video of the talk at “Decolonizing Knowledge on Palestine | Ahlam Muhtaseb | TEDxMSJC.”
Role of CSUSB’s School of Entrepreneurship in county’s economic development discussed
Site Selection Magazine
January 2021
Michael Stull, the interim director of the School of Entrepreneurship at Cal State San Bernardino, was interviewed for an article on how San Bernardino County equips workers with skills in technology and entrepreneurship.
At CSUSB, the new School of Entrepreneurship is the first of its kind in the Golden State.
Call it a startup for startups. Founded and led by interim director Michael Stull, who also serves as the director of the Inland Empire Center for Entrepreneurship (IECE), the new school is part of the Jack H. Brown College of Business & Public Administration at CSUSB.
“I joined the university nearly two decades ago and taught the very first class in entrepreneurship here in 2001,” says Stull. “We had maybe 10 to 12 students then. Over the last 19 years, the program has grown. We had 267 students at the start of the fall 2020 semester representing many different academic programs.”
Stull says the goal of the new School of Entrepreneurship is to “be a destination for faculty and students. We want to go beyond the local talent pool and make this a place where people will want to come from other states. Our goal is to double the size of the program in five years.”
Stull says the program is not just for entrepreneurs looking to launch startups. It’s also a place where companies can send their more entrepreneurial employees.
“Our students will bring their own ideas to your company,” says Stull. “For example, we do a fast pitch competition with Garner Holt Productions. He is developing Garner’s Garage — a community-focused makers’ space.”
Garner Holt Productions is a well-known animatronics manufacturing company based in Redlands. Stull and his students have collaborated with Garner Holt, the company’s founder and chief executive, since 2007.
Read the complete article at “Closing the Talent Gap.”
CSUSB professor warns of social media and extremism following chaos at US Capitol
ABC 10 (Sacramento)
Jan. 6, 2021
Social media companies faced fresh calls to remove President Donald Trump from their platforms after pro-Trump extremists stormed Capitol Hill on Wednesday.
"The suspension of the president’s accounts today is kind of closing the door after the horses came out of the barn. But you know what, better late than never," said Professor Brian Levin, director of the Center for the Study of Hate and Extremism at Cal State San Bernardino.
Levin testified before Congress in 2019, warning that fragmented echo chambers of the internet have for decades fueled white supremacy and other extremist ideology.
"That toxic mold is taken a little bit already. It's hard to put a tarp over and eliminate it," Levin said.
And he warned that law enforcement, state capitols, elected officials at federal, state, and local levels must all prepare for a new era of emboldened extremists willing to use organized violence.
Read the complete article and see the video report at “California professor warns of social media and extremism following chaos at US Capitol.”
Security of government buildings in wake of U.S. Capitol violence discussed by CSUSB professor
KCAL 9 (Los Angeles)
Jan. 6, 2021
Brian Levin, director of CSUSB’s Center for the Study of Hate and Extremism, was interviewed about the violence by backers of President Donald Trump on Capitol Hill on Jan. 6 as Congress worked to certify the Electoral College’s votes that officially made Joe Biden the next president.
Levin discussed the security of government buildings in the wake of the violence. He said it appeared that security at the Capitol “caught short as far as personnel, and then the security barriers were of such construction that they were breached.”
He also spoke about the need for preparedness. “We had both a date certain, Jan. 6, and a location that really should have been secured better. But I don’t think the Capitol Police alone could have done, because of its size.”
He said there were issues in regard to level of personnel, intelligence about the impending protests, preparation, and appropriate placement of personnel at sensitive areas. Levin also called for a full review of what went wrong.
CSUSB professor discusses what contributed to violence on Capitol Hill
Spectrum 1 News (Los Angeles)
Jan. 6, 2021
Brian Levin, director of CSUSB’s Center for the Study of Hate and Extremism, discussed the information that was out on social media and other channels in advance of the Jan. 6 violent protests at the U.S. Capitol.
Part of what contributed to the violence was the rhetoric and social media posts of President Donald Trump, who repeated the falsehood that the election was stolen from him, energizing his strongest supporters that include extremists.
“He has emboldened extremists,” Levin said. “What’s interesting is this isn’t my opinion – we see this in fact. When he makes statements around catalytic and conflictual events, whether it was the San Bernardino terrorist attack (in December 2015); five days after that attack, he proposes a Muslim ban, hate crimes against Muslims increase 23 percent. … So what he’s been doing is fomenting this type of anti-government extremism.”
More protests likely in wake of Jan. 6 violence on Capitol Hill, CSUSB professor says
KNX-AM Radio (Los Angeles)
Jan. 7, 2021
Brian Levin, director of CSUSB’s Center for the Study of Hate and Extremism, was on KNX much of the morning discussing the violence that erupted during protests by supporters of President Donald Trump on Jan. 6 at the U.S. Capitol.
Levin said more protests are likely. “So I’m, in some ways, as worried or concerned about the stealth folks that we don’t know who don’t show up in public, but get radicalized in these ecosystems, which still exist on social media.”
These news clips and others may be viewed at “In the Headlines.”