The Backdrop podcast is a monthly interview program featuring conversations with UC Davis scholars and researchers working in the social sciences, humanities, arts and culture. Hosted by public radio veteran Soterios Johnson, the conversations feature new work and expertise on a trending topic in the news.
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Episode 6
Keith Watenpaugh on Helping Refugee Students Reclaim Their Right to Education
According to one estimate, the global refugee population has more than doubled over the past decade to 26 million. Professor Keith Watenpaugh, director of the Human Rights Studies program at UC Davis, leads an innovative project to help refugee students start or continue their university education — even as they’re displaced and on the move.
In this episode of The Backdrop, Watenpaugh discusses the Article 26 Backpack project, the rapid growth of UC Davis’ Human Rights Studies program and his rethinking of the history of humanitarianism.
More info
Article 26 Backpack
Refugees Reclaim Human Rights With Technology
UC Davis Launches Digital Tool in Lebanon to Help Refugees Reclaim Right to Education
Video: Article 26 Backpacker Tells His Story
Doctoral Student Designs Comic Book for Refugee Project
UC Davis Human Rights Studies Program
Book: "Bread from Stones: The Middle East and the Making of Modern Humanitarianism"
Episode 5
Rachel Teagle on the Reopening the Jan Shrem and Maria Manetti Shrem Museum of Art
UC Davis’s fine arts museum is reopening to the public after being closed for more than a year because of the pandemic. The Jan Shrem and Maria Manetti Shrem Museum of Art is reopening on June 3rd, following campus COVID-19 protocols.
In this episode of The Backdrop, the museum’s founding director, Rachel Teagle, discusses the institution's new exhibitions, how the museum has been weathering the pandemic and how the yearlong closure helped the staff focus on issues of diversity, equity and inclusion.
More from the Jan Shrem and Maria Manetti Shrem Museum of Art:
Jan Shrem and Maria Manetti Shrem website
Episode 4
Lizbeth De La Cruz on “Humanizing Deportation”
In a typical year, hundreds of thousands of people are deported from the U.S. for entering or staying in the country illegally. A digital storytelling project at UC Davis, called “Humanizing Deportation,” aims to document their stories.
On this month’s episode, Ph.D. candidate Lizbeth De La Cruz, discusses the project’s goals, how it got started and her experience working as a member of one of the research teams collecting and preserving these stories.
More from The Humanizing Deportation Project
Project website
Humanizing Deportation documentary
Episode 3
Magdalena Wojcieszak on New Studies Finding Exposure to Media Does Not Increase Political Polarization
Conventional wisdom has held that as people are exposed to more partisan news, they become more polarized. But a new study finds that’s not so. On this month’s episode of The Backdrop, Magdalena Wojcieszak discusses a couple of new studies she has co-authored that found no correlation between media exposure and political polarization.
Wojcieszak, a Professor of Communication at UC Davis, studies how the changing media environment creates both opportunities and challenges for informed publics, tolerant citizenry, and responsive governance.
More from Magdalena Wojcieszak
Free Speech And The Rise Of Misinformation And Conspiracy Theories
‘Interview: UC Davis professors discuss combatting COVID-19 vaccine misinformation
An Internet Without Trump
Episode 2
Eric Rauchway on Contentious Presidential Transitions
More from Eric Rauchway
‘Nothing like this has ever happened before:’ Historians reflect on mob violence in Washington
‘I Have Never Heard Of Anything Like This Happening’: A Look At Past Contentious Elections
Episode 1
Kathryn Olmsted on Conspiracy Theories
More from Kathryn Olmsted
What Birthed Modern Conservatism?