Moderator and IAJS Faculty Co-Director Brian Lowery with panelists David W. Blight, Bonnie McDonald, and Siying Qu, credit: Tonal Williams
What Can Become of Us?
A collaboration inspired by art, public programs, and essays
Much is said about what divides us. What if we focused instead on what can bring us together?
Stanford University's Institute for Advancing Just Societies (IAJS) and Zócalo Public Square, a unit of Arizona State University Media Enterprise, are leading an exploration of this topic through a nationwide program inviting everyone to envision new perspectives on migration, America’s changing communities, and how people come together across differences.
Storytelling partnership
IAJS is honored to partner with Los Angeles-based Zócalo Public Square to produce this program. Zócalo combines experiential programs and journalism to examine essential questions in a broad-minded and accessible spirit. This year-long series activated four regions of the United States and highlighted newly commissioned works of art—visual, textile, and dance—to inspire a national conversation through public programs and essays, and to work toward a better future.
Global audience
The full suite of “What Can Become of Us?” materials can be found on this website, including related essays by scholars and writers. The four events are posted on YouTube and will subsequently air on Arizona PBS. The art, unveiled at partnering venues, is on exhibit at Stanford's Institute for Advancing Just Societies.
An innovative approach
Key cultural institutions
A series of programs, free and open to the public, held in the four ordinal regions of the United States at key cultural institutions and gathering spaces.
Lively public conversations
Featuring scholars, cultural critics, and community leaders with new perspectives on migration, America's diverse communities, and how people come together across differences.
Art by respected creatives
Commissioned works by American artists exploring race and ethnicity in their practices were unveiled at each event, sparking impactful discussions.
Fostering deeper connections
Each program concluded with a reception allowing the audience to find deeper connections with the works, the artist, the panelists, and one other.
A national conversation
Cedit: Stephan Pruitt, Fiasco Media
“How Do We See Ourselves in Each Other?” — Asheville, May 2025
We began in May 2025 at the Asheville Art Museum, aiding its Hurricane Helene recovery effort. This event focused on the sub-question of “How Do We See Ourselves in Each Other?” The featured artwork, by Pedro Lasch, involves a black mirror that allows viewers to see themselves in images of Mexica and European art.
Credit: Gracie Hammond
“How Is Migration Woven Into America?” — Chicago, August 2025
Our second event was held in August 2025 at Chicago’s Zhou B Art Center, founded by Chinese immigrants. It featured weaver Kira Dominguez Hultgren, who used patterns from a variety of sources to challenge understandings of race and ethnicity, and of world building and world belonging.
Credit: Toby Tenenbaum
“What Is the Language of Taste?” — Brooklyn, October 2025
This program was inspired by Speak Sing Shout: We, Too, Sing America (2025) by Pakistani American artist Sarah K. Khan. The piece consists of eight blue and white porcelain serving vessels featuring images of spices, delicate flowers, and incense as depicted in the 16th-century Sultanate period recipe book The Book of Delights.
Credit: Nikolas Liepins/Ethography for Stanford IAJS
How Do We Dance with Legacy? — Stanford, March 2026
The series culminated at Stanford in March 2026, with an original performance by Bharatanatyam choreographer and dancer Mythili Prakash and a panel discussion. Mythili’s piece, Durga's Daughters, features two present-day young women, daughters of a Hindu goddess, grappling with ancient philosophy, wisdom, and magic in an increasingly empirical world.