Migration: Shaping the Narrative
October 17-19, 2025
Join us for the 2025 Earl Lecture Series—this year’s theme is Migration: Shaping the Narrative. Through a combination of lectures, workshops, and connections, we’ll explore how stories of migration—past and present—can reclaim power, resist erasure, and shape more just and compassionate futures. We’ll ask what it means to center lived experience, shift dominant narratives, and take collective action toward a world where all belong.
The event begins with the 2025 Distinguished Alumnx Banquet, followed by a day of Earl Lectures that will include engaging speakers, thoughtful discussion, and community worship.
Schedule
Friday October 17th
7:00pm – 10:00pm – Alumnx Banquet
Saturday, October 18th
8:00am – Lecture Registration
9:00am – Worship and Open Keynote (Luis Argueta)
10:30am – Breakout sessions
12:00pm – Lunch in the courtyard
1:30pm – Plenary Session (Cynthia T. Buiza)
2:30 pm – Breakout sessions
4:00 pm – Closing Plenary (José Luis Marantes)
Sunday, October 19th
10:00am – Rev. Dr. David Vásquez-Levy preaching at First Congregational Church of Berkeley (Free)
Featured Speakers
Luis Argueta
“Breaking the Silence: From Fear to Solidarity”
Born in Guatemala during a time of political violence and repression, renowned Guatemalan filmmaker and human rights advocate Luis Argueta grew up in a culture of fear that silenced many voices—including his own. Years later, he found in cinema a powerful means to reclaim that voice and to amplify the stories of others marginalized by systems of oppression.
Argueta’s filmmaking began as a response to the human cost of economic injustice. His early documentary, The Cost of Cotton, tells the story of Indigenous Mayan migrants from Guatemala’s highlands forced to seek seasonal work in the cotton fields of the country’s southern coast—shedding light on cycles of poverty, displacement, and exploitation often hidden from public view.
With The Silence of Neto, Argueta turned to the taboo history of Guatemala’s 1954 U.S.-backed coup d’état. Told through the eyes of a young boy, the film explores how historical trauma becomes internalized, and how breaking silence is a necessary act of personal and collective liberation.
After the September 11 attacks, Argueta witnessed a dramatic rise in anti-immigrant rhetoric and policy in the United States. This turning point deepened his commitment to humanizing the stories of undocumented migrants. His immigration trilogy—abUSed: The Postville Raid, Abrazos, and The U Turn—chronicles the lived experiences of immigrants and their families caught in the web of detention, deportation, and resilience. These films offer an intimate look at how immigration enforcement policies tear communities apart, while also highlighting the strength and humanity of those affected.
Today, Luis Argueta continues to challenge narratives rooted in fear, hate, and exclusion. His work urges us to listen deeply, to remember courageously, and to act in solidarity. As a character in The Silence of Neto says, “breaking the silence is essential—so we can breathe, so we can live.”
Cynthia T. Buiza
“Phillipines, Persuation Window, Most Common, Revolution”
Cynthia has worked as a social justice advocate for the last 30 years. In June 2023, after seven and a half years, she transitioned out of her role as Executive Director of the California Immigrant Policy Center (CIPC) where she oversaw the mission of California’s leading statewide immigrant rights organization, and led major, impactful and groundbreaking campaigns on behalf of the state’s immigrant population. An immigrant from the Philippines, Cynthia brings three decades of experience in nonprofit management and racial justice advocacy. She worked on international refugee, migration, and human rights issues in Southeast Asia until 2004 before working with ACLU as Policy Director for its San Diego regional affiliate. She was also Policy & Advocacy Director at CHIRLA in Los Angeles from 2007-2010. More recently, she worked as a consultant with various racial justice organizations in California and the U.S., helping shape their strategic direction & sustainability goals. Before moving to the United States, she worked in senior positions with various international organizations, including the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees, the Open Society Institute-Burma Education Project in Thailand, and the Jesuit Refugee Service. In June, 2003, she co-authored the book Anywhere but War, focused on armed conflict and internal displacement in Indonesia.
She is currently working as Strategic Advisor for MOSAIC, (a statewide collaborative of 11 leading Asian American organizations), The CA CEO Immigration Funding Table, The CoLab Narrative Change Initiative, and The California Immigrant Justice Innovation Fund. She is also a Scholar -Activist- in Residence at the University of Southern California Equity Research Institute.
Cynthia earned a master’s in International Affairs from the Fletcher School at Tufts University, with a concentration on human security studies. She holds a Bachelor of Science degree in Social Work from the Philippines, and a Certificate in Refugee and Migration Studies from the Oxford University Refugee Studies Centre in England. She also holds executive education certificates from the Harvard Kennedy School of Government and the Stanford Graduate School of Business. Cynthia served for four years as CA State Commissioner with the Milton Marks Little Hoover Commission for State Government Organization and the Economy. She is a member of the Advisory Council for the Immigrant Resilience Fund, and a former Commissioner with CA100. She also serves on the Board of Directors of the Pilipino Worker’s Center and The Angeleno Project (a multi-sectoral civic initiative in Los Angeles). She is a sought- after speaker on immigration, human rights and refugee issues.
José Luis Marantes
“How DACA came to Voice”
José Luis is a community organizer, trainer, and social entrepreneur who brings a passion for unlocking people’s full potential and getting leaders unstuck and on mission. As a co-founder of the United We Dream Network, he helped establish the internal structures that took a small movement-building startup to an established national organization with more than 50 affiliates and dozens of staff leading the fight for immigrant justice. He co-developed the Education Not Deportation Campaign, which won deferred action from deportation for over two million immigrant youth in 2012 and set a new precedent in relief from deportation. As a state director for Mi Familia Vota in Florida, he led a team of 60+ staff to motivate 40,000 voters to go to the polls. He has led campaigns and managed teams for the PICO Network, Center for Community Change, and the Florida Immigrant Coalition, and was selected as an Emerging Innovator by Ashoka Changemakers for his work in bringing communities together in Orlando across language differences. He holds a Masters in Entrepreneurship from the University of Florida and a B.A. in Sociology from Wesleyan University.
Tickets (Early Bird Pricing Until September 12th)
*Limited scholarship assistance available. If you are not able to pay the full amount, please contact events@psr.edu
Registration Coming Soon - Sign-up for Earl 2025 Alerts
FAQs
Will there be parking available?
- Parking is available at no cost to event attendees – located in the PSR parking lot and parking garage. Enter via Scenic Ave.
Will there be food options available for those with dietary restrictions?
- Yes. Vegetarian, vegan, and gluten-free meal options will be available for banquet attendees, and for purchase for Saturday Only attendees.
I’m coming to the event from out of town. Where should I stay?
We have 2 hotel blocks reserved offering options for rates and proximity to campus: The Aiden Hotel, located at 1499 University Avenue (1.3 miles away) is available for $159 / night and The Residence Inn, located at 2121 Center Street (0.6 miles away), is available for $399 / night. Rooms must be booked by September 15th to receive the rates listed.
About the Earl Lecture Series
For more than a hundred years, Pacific School of Religion has hosted the Earl Lectures and Leadership Conference, a three-day event that addresses critical theological, pastoral, and social issues of the day. Founded in 1901, the purpose of the Lectures was “to aid in securing…the adequate presentation of Christian truth, by bringing to Berkeley, California…eminent Christian scholars to lecture upon themes calculated to illustrate and disseminate Christian thought, and minister to Christian life…” Over the years, the content of the Lectures has reflected the important theological, political, economical, and social trends of their time, but one quality is constant: the Lectures have always featured a uniformly high standard of scholarship.
Lecturers have been Biblical scholars, educators, historians, authors, activists, church leaders, and scholars of literature – including international figures as Theodore Roosevelt, Elie Wiesel, Howard Thurman, Maya Angelou, Paul Tillich, Alice Walker, and Robert Reich.
Learn more about the Earl Lecture Series and watch last year’s lecture here.