December 2nd, 2021 at 12pm Pacific
The Department of Critical Theory & Social Justice and The Representation Project host a conversation with Alya Michelson, an artist, philanthropist, and journalist with a passion for uplifting stories of the immigrant woman’s experience.
co-sponsored by Occidental's Gender, Women & Sexuality Studies Program
Born in Russia, Alya studied music and dance as a child and never lost her passion for the arts. As a young woman, she pursued a career in journalism, earning a degree from Moscow State University, and worked as a correspondent for Russia’s leading network, Ria Novosti, covering several of the biggest stories of the day, including the Kursk submarine disaster in 2000 and the Beslan school siege in 2004.
Her newest venture is FirstGen, a storytelling platform that celebrates global citizenship by highlighting how the immigrant experience strengthens the American story. Harkening back to Alya’s journalistic roots, FirstGen celebrates the stories of America’s 23 million immigrant women—famous and unknown, artists and entrepreneurs, innovators and trailblazers.
Through FirstGen, Alya creates communal spaces for women to gather in celebration of their diverse experience and shine a light on all the ways immigrant women positively impact our world today.