World Issues Forum

Still Standing: From Bir al-Saba to Be’er Sheva—How a New Palestinian Town Became an Israeli Old City

Dr. Yoav Duman, Associate Professor of Political Science, Green River College

How did a recently built Palestinian town become an Israeli Old City? This talk traces Beersheba’s transformation after 1948, showing how dispossession, institutional reuse, heritage, and antiquity reshaped surviving places. It argues that selective depoliticisation made Palestinian history visible while limiting its power to shape the present and future claims.

The Chosen and the Damned: Native Americans and the Making of Race in the United States

David J. Silverman, PhD, Professor of History at George Washington University

An examination of the ways Indigenous people have factored as objects and actors into the invention of racial identities in the United States and its colonial predecessors.

The Contested American Revolution Today: Thinking about the 250th

Johann Neem, Prof. of History, Western Washington University

Today, Americans are as divided about the past as they are about the present. In this talk, Prof. Neem will explore the competing visions we Americans have about the country’s founding as we commemorate the United States’s 250th anniversary and how we might move beyond the false choices offered by partisans on both sides.

FILM: The River Remembers

The River Remembers is a character-driven documentary that follows Tribal members of the Elwha and lower Klamath Rivers as they lead the largest dam removals in U.S. history — restoring salmon and renewing culture after a century of struggle. The film is a story of resilience and hope, showing that when rivers heal, people heal too.

Panel discussion to follow.

Panelists: 

Vanessa Castle: Vanessa Castle is a Lower Elwha Klallam Tribal member, fisherwoman, and mother. She has witnessed the Elwha River’s transformation firsthand, sharing how dam removal brought the return of salmon and helped restore cultural practices tied to fishing, ceremony, and stewardship.

Vanessa works at the intersection of culture and conservation as a Cultural Conservation Science Coordinator with the Olympic Cougar Project and as a Tribal Engagement Coordinator with Ridges to Riffles. She believes protecting nature is protecting our future and works to bring people together around river and habitat restoration.

Noelani Auguston: Writer/Producer

Noelani is a member of Shxhwa:y Village, Nooksack and Hawaiian. A wife and a mother to two young boys she and her husband raise in their homelands along the Nooksack River. She received a BA from the University of Washington and as a storyteller at heart, she later graduated from the Institute of American Indian Arts, where she obtained an MFA degree in Creative Writing with a Screenwriting focus. Noelani currently produces and writes for Setting Sun Circle (formerly Children of the Setting Sun Productions). She believes in giving an authentic worldview behind stories that represent Indigenous peoples, especially her own, those of the Salish Sea. She is motivated by providing Native people, especially the youth, with hopeful representations of themselves that share transformative characters and stories to model by.

Jordan Riber: Director/Producer/Editor 

Jordan is an accomplished filmmaker with twenty years of experience producing, directing and editing both scripted and unscripted films. He grew up in Zimbabwe and spent 15 years in Tanzania, working with Indigenous communities. Jordan has four films that were selected for competition at globally recognized film festivals, and three aired on Netflix. Since 2020, Jordan has been collaborating with Setting Sun Circle on film projects.

Adonia Cairns: Producer & Community Engagement

Adonia is a Makah Tribal member and producer with Setting Sun Circle (formerly Children of the Setting Sun Productions). Her work brings together Indigenous storytelling, cultural programs, and community gatherings through relationships with tribal leaders, Native artists, youth, and families. For The River Remembers, she coordinates film festivals, community screenings, and conversations that connect audiences with the film’s stories and the people behind them. A member of Xwlolemes Canoe Family, Adonia also helped restore I’Yes, Lummi for “Beauty,” a 40-foot traveling canoe, and is producing a documentary about its return to the water. Her work is rooted in community, cultural connection, and creating opportunities for younger generations.

The Struggle for Gay and Lesbian Adoption Rights: Lessons Learned for the Next Generations

Lynn Grotsky: MSW, Clinical Social Worker (retired); Lisa Brodoff: JD, Emerita Professor of Law Seattle University

In 1986, Lisa and her partner Lynn had a baby via donor insemination, but Lynn’s legal parenting rights as the non-biological mother were not guaranteed. 

Hear their story: a two-year court battle that won parenting rights for themselves and same-sex couples across Washington. Follow their journey from state law to D.C., and their ongoing fight for LGBTQ+ equality today.