Ithaca College

The Center for the Study of Culture, Race, and Ethnicity (CSCRE) is hosting a presentation on Monday, April 1, by Michelle Erai, assistant professor of gender studies at UCLA. Her talk, “If I Win, I Might Tattoo My Face—Mike Tyson as Māori Artifact,” will be held at 7 p.m. in Emerson Suites, Phillips Hall. It is free and open to the public.

Since 1989, Erai has been involved in contemporary anti-violence work, mostly concerned with wanting to end rape and domestic violence against Māori women and children. She is currently working on her first book, “Civilizing Images: Violence and the Visual Interpellation of Māori Women,” which examines archival material to discuss the intersections of race, gender, class and sexuality in the oppression of the indigenous Polynesian people of New Zealand.

Erai — who is herself Māori — is a cofounder of “INCITE! Women of Color Against Violence,” a national activist organization advancing a movement to end violence against women of color through direct action, critical dialogue and grassroots organizing. She previously served as the research coordinator for Amokura, a family violence prevention initiative governed by the seven northernmost Māori tribes in Aotearoa (the most widely known and accepted Māori name for New Zealand).

The theme for this year’s CSCRE discussion series is “Suffocating Knowledge: Race, Power, Possibilities.” For more information, visit www.ithaca.edu/cscre. 

Individuals with disabilities requiring accommodations should contact Claire Swensen at cswensen@ithaca.edu or 274-1056. We ask that requests for accommodations be made as soon as possible.

Tags: anti-violence, CSCRE, domestic violence, gender studies, Maori