Mimi Khúc will be the keynote speaker for the 2025 Social Justice Summit at Cal Poly Humboldt. As part of the summit, She will share her work on the pedagogy of unwellness from her new book, “dear elia: Letters from the Asian American Abyss,” on Thursday from 3 to 4:20 p.m. in College Creek 260 (The Great Hall) above the Marketplace on Harpst Street.

“dear elia” is a hybrid scholarly-arts project that traces the contemporary mental health crisis at its many intersections with what she calls “compulsory wellness” and through that asks readers to engage their own unwellness. In it, Khúc introduces her framework of a pedagogy of unwellness — the recognition that people are all differentially unwell and thus all in need of radical care, an offering set to revolutionize the fields of mental health, Asian American studies, disability studies and higher education more broadly.

The 31st annual Social Justice Summit, a student-led event dedicated to learning, community-building and advocacy will be held Monday through Friday. This year’s theme, “Cultures Within Our Communities: The Advocacies We Stand For,” highlights the diverse movements and identities that shape people’s collective experiences. Through workshops, discussions and interactive sessions, the summit provides a platform to celebrate culture, address critical social issues and foster understanding, solidarity and action. Learn more at https://www.humboldt.edu/sjei/sjs.

Khúc is a writer, scholar and teacher of things unwell. She is the creator of the acclaimed mental health projects Open in Emergency and the Asian American Tarot, and the author of “dear elia: Letters from the Asian American Abyss,” a deep dive into the depths of Asian American unwellness at the intersections of ableism, model minoritization and the university, and an exploration of new approaches to building collective care. Read more at: https://www.mimikhuc.com/about.

The summit is co-sponsored by the Department of Critical Race, Gender & Sexuality Studies with partnership from Asian Desi Pacific Islander-Middle East & North African Collective, and the Office of Student Life.

For more information about parking on campus, go to https://www.humboldt.edu/transportation-parking/visitor-parking.