Spring 2005 Events
Documentary short films from the Burch Thailand Program Thursday, May 5 at 4 pm in Graham Memorial, room 39 This spring, thirteen UNC students joined Professor Joanne Hershfield for a Burch Field Research Seminar in Bangkok, Thailand. Over the course of three short months, they studied the history and culture of Southeast Asia, and traveled around Thailand and Cambodia. The centerpiece of the seminar in Bangkok was the students’ productions of documentaries on social, political, and cultural issues in Thailand, which provide great insight into the students' experiences in Thailand this semester. The films are about 10 min. each. Refreshments will be served. The Last Stop is the story of a young British couple who journey to Thamkrabok Buddhist Monastery, located 140kms north of Bangkok, Thailand, to undergo an herbal detoxification service to drug addicted persons. By Katrina Chmielecki, Derek Rochelle, and Robin McKenzie. Chu Prayad is a story about a motorcycle-taxi driver, one of the thousands of street-cowboys in Bangkok who plays Takraw, a national sport played with a guava-sized ball woven from either rattan stems or plastic, which is volleyed over a 5 ft. net between two opposing teams. By Habib Yazdi and Joey Marra. Fighting Traditions focuses on the disparate perspectives of the first female Buddhist monk in Thailand, a male Muay Thay boxing promoter working to advance female athletes in the male-dominated sport, and a sex trade union leader, in order to explore the obstacles, opportunities, struggles, and triumphs of those working to further women’s opportunities in Thailand. By Hannah Sink, Shayla Freeman, Morgan Diamond, and Allison Money. The Elephant Problem is a film about four American students who come to Thailand to make a film about the exploitation of elephants and, instead, produce a documentary about their experience and understanding of Thailand through the lens of elephants. By Leah McWilliams, Billy Smith, John David Devirgiliis, and Meredith Darlington. |
Why Study A Foreign Language? Monday, April 25 at 6 pm in Dey Hall, Toy Lounge UNC alumnus Kenlind Jackson will speak on the importance of continuing enrollment within the foreign language disciplines and the possibilities available to foreign language degree holders. Mr. Jackson is a 2001 UNC graduate in Business Administration and German. After completing an Internship with Siemens VDO in Wuerzburg, Germany, he has returned to the area and is currently working at a German semiconductor business, Infineon, in Cary. His talk will be followed by a reception. Sponsored by the UNC German Club. |
Japanese film: Hush! Sunday, April 24 at 8 pm in White Lecture Hall, East Campus, Duke. Hush! (2001, 135 min., Japanese, subtitled) is a surprisingly unconventional look at the changing definition of the Japanese family, a human comedy about a gay couple and a young woman who decide to come together to create a family. Director Ryosuke Hashiguchi tells the story with a great deal of wit and originality, sympathetically capturing both the relative conservatism of Japanese society and the often futile lifestyle of the country's youth. Part of the Cine-East 5 film series. |
Malaysia: Melting Pot of Ethnic Harmony Thursday, April 21 at 7 pm in Murphey, room 118. Visiting Humphrey Fellow Mun Tiep Liew will deliver this lecture on the interplay of culture and religion in Malaysian society. Malaysia has enjoyed more than 3 decades of peace and harmony among the Malays, Chinese, Indians and other races in the country. What are the reasons for this success? What is the secret recipe for this melting pot? How is it like for a 'minority' to live in a predominantly Muslim country? In a world now where racial and religious tensions are the sources of devastation and fear, Malaysia offers a living example that peace among races and religions is not just a dream. Sponsored by SEAIA. |
A Night Under the Moon & Stars Wednesday, April 20 from 9 to 11 pm at La Residence, 202 W. Rosemary St. An evening of poetry, music, dramatic performance, and visual art celebrating Jewish and Muslim traditions and culture through artistic expression. Free admission and hors d'oeuvres. Sponsored by NC Hillel and the UNC Muslim Students Association. |
Film: Mechina: A Preparation Wednesday, April 20 at 7:30 pm in the Griffith Theatre, Bryan Center, West Campus, Duke. This documentary film, made by Duke senior and Robertson Scholar Maital Guttman, follows Guttman's cousin and five of his friends as they prepare to join the Israeli army for their obligatory military service. Although teenagers in Israel are required to join the army after high school graduation, they are allowed to defer their involvement for one year of volunteerism and studying--the program from which the film draws its name. Guttman joined her cousin and his friends during the end of their year of Mechina. Having to join the military is especially challenging for the subjects of the film because all six are strong proponents of peace. For more information on the film, and on other upcoming local showings, see the recent Chronicle article. |
Taiwanese film: Yi Yi |
Lecture: Luceil Friedman Wednesday, April 20 from 6:30 to 7:30 pm at UNC Hillel, 210 W. Cameron Ave. Informal talk by Prof. Friedman about her experiences in Israel, followed by refreshments. Sponsored by Carolina Israel Public Affairs Committee. |
Palestinian film: The Milky Way Monday, April 18 at 8 pm in White Lecture Hall, East Campus, Duke. Set in 1964 in a small village in Galilee, The Milky Way (1997, 104 min., Arabic & Hebrew, subtitled) confronts the fallout from the 1948 war of Israeli Independence by looking at the inhabitants of a troubled village that is under military rule. The villagers hate their appointed ruler, the Mukhtar, who is one of their own people, but who, all the same, refuses to help them. The villagers' tense dealings with military rule are mimicked by the village fool's games with the children of the village, offering a unique insight into the effect the war had on much of Israel. The title of the film is a reference to the question of responsibility - the villagers wonder if anyone is responsible for their present situation, or if their fate was determined by the stars. Part of the Through Palestinian Eyes film series. |
Israel Fest 2005 Monday, April 18, from 11 am to 1 pm in the Pit. This annual celebration of Israeli culture will fill the Pit with tables showcasing different cultural aspects: history, human rights, geography, falafel, Turkish coffee and candy, a sukkah with hookah inside, Israeli dancing, music, archaeological digs, and more. Sponsored by Carolina Students for Israel. |
Arabian Night Saturday, April 16 from 7 to 9 pm, at NC State in Raleigh. Arabian Night is a cultural festivity displaying the culture and arts of the Middle East. The evening will include traditional Middle Eastern foods, hookahs, a variety of different musical forms, and dances from several areas spanning the region. Sponsored by the Middle East and North African Student Association; for location and details, see the MANASA website. |
India-Utsav Saturday, April 16 from 3 to 6 pm at the Century Center in Carrboro. This annual celebration of Indian culture features Indian food, live music, classical and folk dances, mehndi (henna painting), a fashion show, and more. Admission is free, though donations to the Interfaith Council for Social Service are gladly accepted. Across from Weaver St. Market, easily accessible by bus from campus. For more information, see the festival website. |
Comedy benefit: Russell Peters Friday, April 15, at 8 pm at Dorton Arena in Raleigh. Well-known South Asian comedian Russell Peters is performing to raise money for tsunami relief. Admission $15. Afterparty at the Office in Raleigh; $7 cover. Sponsored by Sangam. |
Taiwanese film: Goodbye, Dragon Inn Monday, April 11 at 8 pm in White Lecture Hall, East Campus, Duke. Goodbye, Dragon Inn (2003, 84 min., Mandarin, subtitled) is a haunting glimpse of a Taipei movie theatre on its last night of operation. Set on a rainy night, in the soon-to-be-torn-down Fu-Ho movie house during a final screening of King Hu’s classic 1966 film, Dragon Inn, this is one of the most direct examinations ever put to celluloid of the movie-viewing process itself, and specifically of the uniquely communal nature of sitting with a roomful of strangers in a darkened theatre, watching images flicker onto a projection screen. Director Tsai Ming-liang’s sadly ironic twist here is that rather than a theater full of attentive film aficionados watching the martial arts classic, the Fu-Ho is instead haunted (perhaps literally as well as figuratively) by lonely gay men cruising for male company, a crippled ticket-taker limping around the building in attempt to track down the projectionist (on whom she has a secret crush), and weary ghosts of movies past. Part of the Cine-East 5 film series. |
Film: Paper Clips Monday, April 11 at 4 pm in the Carolina Union Cabaret The documentary Paper Clips (2004, 82 min.) recounts what happened when a middle-school principal in a small, homogeneous community in Tennessee looked for an innovative way to teach a lesson about prejudice. As part of their struggle to comprehend the enormity of the Holocaust, the kids at this middle school decided to collect six million paper clips. The project became more than anyone could have anticipated. This screening is part of UNC's Holocaust Remembrance Week; for more information and a full schedule of events, see www.unc.edu/hrw. |
Shifting Politics in China: The Strange Marriage Between the State and Private Business in Contemporary Beijing Monday, April 11 from 3:00-4:30 at Perkins Library, Breedlove Room, West Campus, Duke. Lecture by Jonathan Unger, head of the Contemporary China Centre, Australian National University. |
Recent Trends in Chinese Labor Issues--Signs of Change Friday, April 8 from 12:00-1:30 pm at Perkins Library, Breedlove Room, West Campus, Duke. Lecture by Anita Chan, research fellow at the Contemporary China Centre, Australian National University. |
Israeli film: No. 17 Thursday, April 7 at 6:30 pm in Greenlaw auditorium Documentary No. 17 (2003, 76 min., Hebrew/English) recounts the efforts to identify the victim of a terrorist attack. In June 2002, a bus on its way to Tiberius from Tel Aviv was bombed. 17 people were killed. 16 were identified. No. 17 was not. No. 17 was buried - anonymous. The police stopped searching. The filmmakers step in, documenting over a period of six months the search for the identity of a man no one claimed missing. The film takes the form of a detective investigation, but also pursues the stories of several people who were affected directly or indirectly by this bombing. The screening will be followed by a discussion with producer Elinor Kowarsky. |
Japanese film: Innocence: Ghost in the Shell 2 Wednesday, April 6 at 8 pm in the Griffith Theatre, Bryan Center, West Campus, Duke. Innocence: Ghost in the Shell 2 (2004, 99 min., Japanese, subtitled) follows a cyborg policeman named Batou and his partner Togusa as they investigate a series of murders committed by female robots. The emphasis of the film, though, is less on who committed these crimes and why but rather on what it means to be human in a landscape dominated by artificiality. Oshii accomplishes this through an interrogation of what is "real" in the world, and to this effect he employs a range of literary references and a wink to feminist scholar and cyborg theorist Donna Haraway, after whom he names one of the film's characters. Themes such as the nature of dreams and reality have been present throughout most of Oshii's previous films, but such issues are brought to the forefront in Ghost in the Shell 2 through the use of dialogue quoting thinkers from Confucius to Descartes. First Japanese anime film ever to be shown at the Cannes Film Festival. Part of the Cine-East 5 film series. |
Southeast Asian films: 12 Storeys and Cyclo Sunday, April 3 starting at 12:30 pm in Bingham, room 103 12:30 pm: Today's double feature will be preceded by a delicious lunch from 35 Chinese: appetizers, vegetarian and chicken dishes for only $4. 1:00 pm: 12 Storeys (1997, 100 min., English/Chinese/Tagalog/Malay) is set in a Singapore high-rise. After a young man jumps to his death, his lingering ghost connects the intertwined stories of three other households. San San, fat, silent, and alone, hears the ghost of her mother constantly upbraid her. She futilely seeks the friendship of a wealthy woman with whom she was raised. Ah Gu, a tofu soup vendor, is at odds with Lily, his materialistic wife, a Chinese immigrant who longs for something he cannot provide. Meng spouts every moralistic bromide of the striving middle class, and is unhinged by his teenage sister May who won't study, parties all night, and seems doomed by youth culture. 3:00 pm: Cyclo (1995, 120 min., Vietnamese) is a haunting and surrealistic portrait of a young bicycle-taxi driver in contemporary Ho Chi Minh City. After losing his bicycle, he becomes ensnared in an underworld of crime and corruption. Part of the Southeast Asian Film Festival sponsored by SEAIA. |
Thai film: The Iron Ladies Friday, April 1 at 7 pm in Bingham, room 103 The Iron Ladies (2000, 104 min., Thai) tells the true story of a Thai male volleyball team that competes in the national championships in 1996 with a team consisting mostly of gays, transvestites, and transsexuals. Part of the Southeast Asian Film Festival sponsored by SEAIA. |
Korean film: Tell Me Something |
Asian American Heritage Week Monday, March 28 through Friday, April 1 in the Pit Celebration of different Asian cultures every day in the Pit. Sponsored by ASA. |
Rites/Rights/Rewrites: Women's Video Art from India Wednesday, March 2 through Friday, April 1 at Duke's Franklin Center, 2204 Erwin Rd. This exhibition of short video examines the work of six Indian women artists by exploring the body in the context of narcissism. The artists emphasize their corporeality by reflecting on themselves as empowered and embodied sites of resistance; the exhibition also foregrounds questions of globalization, postcolonial feminist critique, and issues of race and gender in the context of contemporary India. Artists included in the exhibition are Shilpa Gupta, Shakuntala Kulkarni, Monali Meher, Sharmila Samant, Surekha, and Darshana Vora. For more information, call 684-2765. |
Korean film: Nowhere to Hide Monday, March 28 at 8 pm in White Lecture Hall, East Campus, Duke. In Nowhere to Hide (1999, 100 min., Korean, subtitled), a detective searches after an elusive assassin, becomes entangled with a femme fatale, and predictably meets his foe in a bloody final showdown. A highly stylistic action work that captures the "hide-and-seek game" between notorious criminal Jang Sung and equally notorious Detective Woo, Nowhere to Hide stands out as a fine example of South Korea’s recent film renaissance. Lee Myung-Se’s exuberant direction sets this thriller apart from the pack. Together with its eclectic soundtrack and playful narrative, the film boasts a striking, dynamic visual style that explodes with movement and energy. Part of the Cine-East 5 film series. |
Containing Arab Nationalism: The Eisenhower Doctrine and the Middle East Monday, March 28 at 4 pm in Murphey 104. Lecture by Salim Yaqub, assistant professor of history at the University of Chicago. Yaqub specializes in American and international history, with a particular focus on U.S. involvement in the Middle East since 1945. His first book, Containing Arab Nationalism: The Eisenhower Doctrine and the Middle East, was published in 2004 by UNC Press; he is now writing a book on U.S.-Arab relations in the 1970s. |
Palestinian film: The Inner Tour Sunday, March 27 at 8 pm in White Lecture Hall, East Campus, Duke. The Inner Tour (2002, 98 min., Arabic & Hebrew, subtitled), filmed a few months before the outbreak of the 2000-2001 Middle East violent clashes, tells the story of a group of Palestinians, residents of the West Bank and Gaza Strip, who go on a 3-day sightseeing bus tour through the state of Israel. This documentary road movie uses a simple situation to present an emotional exploration of one of the most complicated and painful national conflicts of our time. A diverse group of people boards the bus at the dawn of the first day of the journey. They begin the trip as strangers, all from different backgrounds, but as they get to know each other and we get to know them, we realize one thing that is common to them all, the significance of Israel in their lives. It is not merely an unknown country that they are touring. It's the country they live in, but are not allowed to move about in. It is an alienating state, under whose occupation they live. For some, it is the land from which they were exiled. Now traveling through tourist sites, towns and villages of this so close yet so far country, they see and meet Israelis, and discover how easy and how hard it is for them to be here. Part of the Through Palestinian Eyes film series. |
Palestinian film: The Olive Harvest Tuesday, March 22 at 7 pm in the Carolina Union. The Olive Harvest (2003, 90 min., Arabic, subtitled) explores tradition and family loyalty set in the larger context of unease in a Palestinian countryside vulnerable to encroaching Israeli settlements. Upon his release from an Israeli prison, older brother Mazen develops romantic feelings for the beautiful Raeda. However, Raeda is already engaged to Mazen's younger brother Taher, their love kept a secret because of the tradition for the eldest brother to wed first. Unsure of her true feelings, Raeda is forced into making a decision by the feuding brothers and by her authoritative father. Part of the Through Palestinian Eyes film series. |
Indian classical concert Saturday, March 12 at 7 pm in Nelson Hall Auditorium, NC State A Special Lute-Flute Jugalbandi between Sangeet Samrat Chitravina N Ravikiran (Millennium Award Winner) and Flute maestro Shashank. Tickets are $15 general public; $10 seniors; $5 students. More information available on the Indian Classical Music & Dance Society website. |
Trading Tobacco for Health: Enabling Tobacco Control in Southeast Asia Friday, March 11 at noon in McGavran-Greenberg, room 1304. Brown-bag seminar with Anthony So, Senior Research Fellow in Public Policy and Law and Director of the Program in Global Health and Technology Access, Sanford Institute for Public Policy, Duke University. For more information, contact Emily Bobrow. |
Japanese film: After Life Wednesday, March 9 at 8 pm in the Griffith Theatre, Bryan Center, West Campus, Duke. After Life (1998, 118 min., Japanese, subtitled), from the award-winning director Hirokazu Kore-eda, is a remarkably touching film exploring the profound human need to discover meaning in everyday life. Many films have offered insight into the unexplainable realm of the afterlife. In Hirokazu's thought-provoking vision, the newly deceased find themselves in a way station somewhere between Heaven and Earth. With the help of dedicated caseworkers, each soul is given three days to choose one cherished memory from their life that they will relive for eternity. As the film reveals, recognizing happiness and finding a life's worth of meaning in a single event is no simple task. If Heaven is only a single memory from your life, as Hirokazu suggests, which memory would you choose? Part of the Cine-East 5 film series. |
Japanese film: Charisma Monday, March 7 at 8 pm in the Griffith Theatre, Bryan Center, West Campus, Duke. Charisma (1999, 104 min., Japanese, subtitled) is the story of a hostage negotiator suffering from a personal crisis, who is sent on forced vacation to a strange wooded region – where he discovers a community of opinionated screwballs dominated by the wicked, all-pervasive emanations of a godlike tree named "Charisma"! As in Kiyoshi Kurosawa’s other genre-defying thrillers, humankind learns to co-exist with occult terror, and rational thought proves it’s not all it’s cracked up to be. Part of the Cine-East 5 film series. |
Chinese film: Once A Thief Friday, March 4 at 7 pm in the Carmichael Dorm fishbowl. Once A Thief (1991, 101 min.) is a comedy about three Hong Kong art thieves, working the circuit in Europe, who seek revenge after their boss, who trained them from childhood, double-crosses them. Sponsored by CUSA. |
Countercurrents of Influence: Korea's Impact on the Buddhist Traditions of East Asia Friday, March 4 from 3:00-4:30 pm at Perkins Library, Breedlove Room, West Campus, Duke. Lecture by Robert Buswell, professor of East Asian Languages & Cultures at UCLA. |
Children of War Wednesday, March 2 at 6:30 pm in the Cobb Theatre, Stone Center. A panel of UNC students who have lived through wars in Iraq, Kosovo, Lebanon, and Liberia share their personal stories of survival and talk about the real effects of war. |
Radical Sheik and the Challenges of Islamic Terrorism Tuesday, March 1 at 7 pm in 111 Carroll Hall. Lecture by Charles Kurzman, UNC professor of sociology. Part of the Great Decisions lecture series. |
Palestinians in the Post-Arafat Era Tuesday, March 1 at 3 pm, Fleishman Commons, Sanford Institute, West Campus, Duke. Lecture by Khalil Shikaki, director of the Palestinian Center for Policy and Survey Research. Sponsored by the Sanford Institute of Public Policy. |
Reading Lolita in Tehran: Lecture & book signing Monday, February 28 at 10 am, Jones Auditorium, Meredith College, Raleigh. Azar Nafisi is a visiting professor and director of the Dialogue Project at the Foreign Policy Institute of Johns Hopkins University's School of Advanced International Studies. A professor of aesthetics, culture, and literature, Nafisi was expelled from teaching at the University of Tehran in 1981 for refusing to wear the mandatory Islamic veil. For two years before her return to the United States, Nafisi and her former students gathered for a book club, reading Western literature as a form of protest. Her book, Reading Lolita in Tehran: A Memoir in Books, chronicles Nafisi's life and those of her students during that period. For more information, call the Meredith College Dept. of English at 760-8507. |
Masala Golden Globes fashion show Saturday, February 26 at 7 pm in the Carolina Union Great Hall. Masala's annual fashion show is a magnificent cultural showcase in which 14 different cultural organizations on campus present their culture through dances, skits, songs, and models wearing traditional clothing and accessories. Tickets $7 in advance (available starting Feb. 21 in the Pit or at the Union box office) or $10 at the door. |
Chinese film: Once Upon a Time in China 2 Friday, February 25 at 7 pm in the Carmichael Dorm fishbowl. Once Upon a Time in China 2 (1992, 107 min.) presents the continuing late-19th-century adventures of Chinese folk hero and doctor Wong Fei-Hong (Jet Li), who arrives in Canton with for a medical conference. Unfortunately, the city is about to start a revolution as the fighting between the anarchist White Lotus Clan and the pro-democracy rebels heats up and threatens the livelihood of the city. This Tsui Hark film, which features fight choreography by Yuen Woo-Ping, is widely considered to be one of the high points of Hong Kong cinema. Sponsored by CUSA. |
International Student Talent Show Friday, February 25 from 6:30-10 pm in the Cabaret, Student Union basement This evening of international music and culture will showcase the traditional songs and dance of many nations. There will be a DJ spinning world music at the end of the evening, and international refreshments throughout. Free admission. Sponsored by the GPSF International Student Issues committee. |
New Year's Lantern Festival (Yuan Xiao Jie) Wednesday, February 23 at 7 pm at Chase Dining Hall, second floor. An evening of traditional Asian cuisine and cultural entertainment marks the end of the Lunar New Year. Dinner will be served starting at 7 pm, for only $3 per person. Performances will start at 7:30 pm and include the Sunnydance Club of Raleigh doing a traditional Chinese “Yi Dance” and the Vietnamese Dance group performing to the song "Doan Xuan Ca" (A Song to Welcome the Spring). Sponsored by ASA, CUSA, KASA, and VSA. |
Change Through Bounded Innovations: Contemporary Chinese Media Reform Wednesday, February 23 from 4:30-5:30 pm at Perkins Library, Breedlove Room, West Campus, Duke. Lecture by Zhongdang Pan, Professor of Communication Arts at University of Wisconsin, Madison. Dr. Pan is a leading scholar in Chinese media studies, whose research covers two general areas: mass media and public opinion, and media changes and their impact in China. For further information, contact Liu Kang, 684-3615. |
Human Rights in the Middle East Tuesday, February 22 at 8 pm in Bingham, room 103. Lecture by Dror Elner, speaking on Israeli-Arab, gay, and women's rights in contemporary Israel. Dror Elner was born in Kfar-Hogla, a moshav (small agricultural community) just north of Netanya, Israel. After serving as a commander in the Israeli Navy, Mr. Elner studied law at the Hebrew University. He spent several years practicing law, where he advocated for women's rights and took many pro bono environmental cases. Sponsored by Carolina Students for Israel. |
Palestinian film: Ford Transit Tuesday, February 22 at 7:30 pm in Hamilton Hall, room 100. Ford Transit (2002, 80 min., Arabic, English, & Hebrew, subtitled) follows cab driver Rajai and his passengers in Ramallah and Jerusalem, as they detour around roadblocks and speed through short cuts. Rajai's passengers form a heterogeneous group of ordinary people and local celebrities who, with humor and sincerity, express divergent opinions about the situation in Palestine and views of the conflict with Israel while being bused around in his van. Interwoven with these powerful interviews are Rajai's life and dreams: we hear about his family, his sideline pursuit of smuggling illegal CDs, his view of the political situation and solutions for it, his dreams of a future abroad. Part of the Through Palestinian Eyes film series. |
Japanese film: Omocha (The Geisha House) Monday, February 21 at 8 pm in the Griffith Theatre, Bryan Center, West Campus, Duke. Omocha (1999, 113 min., Japanese, subtitled) is a moving and entrancing exploration of a culture that has fascinated the Western world for centuries. Kinji Fukasaku's Omocha was released in 1998, presaging a flurry of literature and memoirs that have helped to broaden our understanding of the geisha's role in Japanese society. Fukusaku's film is a work of great delicacy with moments of hypnotic beauty, and his tender direction, often touched with a sense of wonder, fills the screen with lovingly constructed scenes. At its heart is the poignant situation of the women who must sacrifice their normal relationships to live an ambiguous life in which they are a key part of society while being kept, for the most part, on its periphery, like perpetual mistresses. Part of the Cine-East 5 film series. |
Adventurers for Peace Monday, February 21 at 4 pm in Peabody, room 104. Video & panel presentation featuring Israeli and Palestinian members of the Breaking the Ice Peace Expedition, an outdoor expedition to build intercultural understanding. With Heskel Nathaniel, Olfat Haider, and Ziad Darwish. For more information, contact lbaucom@unc.edu. |
Koreanite 2005: Bringing It Home! Saturday, February 19 at 6 pm in the Carolina Union Great Hall. The Korean American Students Association's annual cultural show features performances by Kamikaze Dancing Team, UNC Taekwondo Club, Traditional Korean Drum Band, C4 Hiphop Group, as well as several skits by UNC students. Of course, delicious Korean foods will be served before the show starts! Dinner is at 6 pm and the show starts at 7 pm. There's also an afterparty at Avalon. Tickets are on sale in the Pit through Friday or at the door: $8 for dinner & show; $5 for show only. |
Evening of Israeli short films Saturday, February 19 at 7:30 pm at NC Hillel, 210 W. Cameron Ave. Eicha (21 minutes) is a modern Orthodox girl living in Jerusalem with her Israeli father, American-born mother, brothers and sisters (whose names all reflect the parents' religious beliefs). At age 18, Eicha (Lamentations) decides to change her name and ventures into the secular Israeli world to do so. Newspapers & Flowers (26 minutes): Carmel is a young, modern religious girl who wants a man to fall in love with her for who she is and not merely because she'd be a proper religious wife. An amusing look at how she finds true love. Halel (22 minutes): Yael Klein is a young, religious woman who is attracted to the life of a secular bookshop owner whom she meets when she accidentally hits his car. A sensitive look at relationships. Evacuation Order (16 minutes): A tongue-in-cheek look at what happens when a young, Israeli male soldier is sent to the West Bank to evacuate a young, single Israeli female. |
Struggles within Islam: The Emergence of Human Rights for Women and Minorities in Bangladesh Friday, February 18 at noon at UNC Law School room 5042. Lamia Karim, professor of legal anthropology at the University of Oregon, will speak on current struggles in Bangladeshi society with regard to the processes of democratization and the discourse of citizenship. Her talk will focus on the role of feminist NGOs which have emerged as vocal proponents on the rule of law, of the Constitution, and of international laws that protect citizenship and human rights. Prof. Karim will describe how feminist NGOs have appropriated human rights laws to work for Muslim women's rights to maintenance and alimony and citizenship in the context of the developing human rights discourse and the contradictions and accommodations that it encounters in Bangladeshi society. For more information, contact Deborah Weissman. |
Iron Chef competition Thursday, February 17 at 5:30 in the Carolina Union, room 3413. If you like the Iron Chef cooking show on TV, you'll enjoy seeing representatives of UNC student groups battle it out for culinary bragging rights in the second annual Iron Chef competition, sponsored by the Asian Students Association. |
Remembering Edward Said: Two Documentary Films Wednesday, February 16 at 8pm in White Lecture Hall, East Campus, Duke. Selves and Others: A Portrait of Edward Said (2003, 54 min.). Known as one of America's great contemporary intellectuals and a prominent spokesperson for the Palestinian cause in the United States, Said died in September of 2003 at the age of 67. Shortly before his death, a French film crew spent several weeks with him and his family. The result is an intimate documentary that offers a glimpse at some of Said's final reflections on the themes that dominated his life's work. Edward Said on Orientalism (1998, 40 min.). Edward Said's book Orientalism has been profoundly influential in a diverse range of disciplines since its publication in 1978. In this engaging (and lavishly illustrated) interview he talks about the context within which the book was conceived, its main themes, and how its original thesis relates to the contemporary understanding of "the Orient." Said argues that the Western (especially American) understanding of the Middle East as a place full of villains and terrorists ruled by Islamic fundamentalism produces a deeply distorted image of the diversity and complexity of millions of Arab peoples. Part of the Through Palestinian Eyes film series. |
Thai Night Saturday, February 12 at 6 pm, at University Baptist Church, 100 S. Columbia St. The third annual Thai Night is a dinner, Asian culture program, and silent auction extravaganza in support of Habitat for Humanity International. Silent auction starts at 6 pm; dinner starts at 6:30 pm. Tickets are $7 and can be reserved or purchased at the door. For reservations or more information, contact laurag@email.unc.edu. |
Mountain of Great Prosperity: The Cult of Oyama in Early Modern Japan Wednesday, February 9 at 4 pm in Murphy Hall, room 118. Lecture by Barbara Ambros of Columbia University. |
The Death of Buddhism: Locating the Dead in Contemporary Japan Monday, February 7 at 4 pm in Murphy Hall, room 118. Lecture by Mark Rowe of Princeton University. |
Calligraphy and Illumination Exhibition Tuesday, January 25 through Friday, February 4 at Duke, West Union Bldg. Exhibition of the Islamic arts of calligraphy and illumination by Turkish artists Efdaluddin Kilic and Gulnihal Kupeli. For more information, see the exhibition website. |
After the Tsunami: The Economic, Political, and Social Implications of the Tsunami in Southeast Asia Thursday, February 3 at 8 pm in 116 Murphey Hall This discussion panel with William Itoh, former U.S. Ambassador to Thailand, and Dr. Kevin Hewison, Director of the Carolina Asia Center, will address relief efforts taken in Southeast Asia after the tsunami, as well as the political conflict in the Aceh Province in Sumatra before and after the tsunami. Sponsored by SEAIA. A note to basketball fans: To address the conflict between this event and the game, the second half of the basketball game will be taped and shown on the big screen after the discussion concludes, starting around 9:30. Refreshments will be served. |
Can a Princess Be a Nun?: The Buddhist Practice of Elite Women in Seventeenth Century Japan Monday, January 31 at 4pm in Murphy Hall, room 118. Lecture by Gina Cogan of Harvard University. |
Info session: Kyoto Summer Program in Japanese Culture Monday, January 31 from 4-5pm in House Library room 207. Come to this information session to learn about this exciting study abroad program. Meet with Professor of Japanese Language and Literature Jan Bardsley, who will be leading the program. Former participants will also be present to talk about their experiences on the program. |
ASIAid: UNC's Tsunami Benefit Show |
Holding On While Letting Go Saturday, January 29 at 7pm at NC Hillel, 210 W. Cameron Ave. This lecture by Reb Mimi Feigelson, lecturer in rabbinic literature, Ziegler School of Rabbinic Studies, University of Judaism, Bel Air, California, is a mystical Havdallah experience full of song, story and Chasidic gems. |
Japanese film: Mishima: A Life in Four Chapters |
Lecture: Excavating Palestinian Cinema: A Historical and Cultural Perspective Tuesday, January 25 at 4:30 pm, East Duke Bldg. rm. 204B, East Campus, Duke. This talk by Prof. Kamran Rastegar of Brown University presents an overview of Palestinian cineastes, from the 1920s to the present day, with an eye to identifying areas and developments that have been subject to neglect for political or historical reasons. Is there a Palestinian national cinema, and if so, how does it function within our understanding of other national cinemas? Part of the Through Palestinian Eyes film series. |
Study Abroad in Asia Info Session |
Through Palestinian Eyes film series--"Films by Palestinian Women" Monday, January 24 at 5 pm at White Lecture Hall, East Campus, Duke. 5:00-6:30 pm: Like Twenty Impossibles (2003, 17 min., Arabic, English, & Hebrew, subtitled), followed by a talk and Q&A with award-winning director Annemarie Jacir. 6:30-7:00 pm: break; 7:00-8:00 pm: reception 8:00 pm: 3 cm Less (2003, 60 min., Arabic, subtitled). The title of this documentary refers to projections that today's Palestinian kids, due to the deprivation they are experiencing in childhood, will grow up to be an average of 3 cm shorter than their parents. Followed by Frontiers of Dreams and Fears (2001, 56 min., Arabic, subtitled), a documentary tracing the lives of two Palestinian girls living in different refugee camps and the friendship they carry on by correspondence. Opening event of the Through Palestinian Eyes film series. |
Concert: Shaam-e Ghazal Friday, January 14 at 8:30 pm at NC State, G107 Caldwell Hall. An evening of Urdu-Hindi poetry set to music, with Mehnaz, "Sitara-e-Imtiyaz," renowned vocalist from Pakistan, accompanied by Umed Hussain on tabla and Ustad Rashid Bukhari on keyboard. Tickets: $20. Sponsored by the NC Center for South Asia Studies. |
Last updated: 2 May 2008