AAS_Weekly Digest

Major/Minor Faculty Courses Special Events Weekly Digest Links Students Speak

Recommended Special Events

Smith College and Beyond

Monday Nov. 17th , Neilson Browsing Room, 7PM
Tonya Gonnella Frichner, Esq. of the Onondaga Nation
President & Founder of American Indian Law Alliance Non Governmental Organization in consultative status with the United Nations Economic and Social Council (2008-2011 appointment North American Regional Representative to the United Nations
Permanent Forum on Indigenous Issues) will speak on indigenous issues and her role as an unpaid UN representative.

Tuesday Nov. 18th, Weinstein Auditorium, Wright Hall, 7PM
Film Showing: “Powwow Highway”
Buddy Red Bow and Philbert Bano are best friends, trying to cope with their troubles linked to their heritage and identity. When Buddy’s sister gets arrested, Buddy and Philbert try to have her released. In the meantime, they must care for her children. This film illustrates many of the complex issues Native Americans face today, including the continuous struggle to become and remain a sovereign people.

Wednesday Nov. 19th, King/Scales, Chase/Duckett Dinning Halls, 5:30 PM
Native American Food Night, hosted by ISSA (Indigenous Smith Students & Allies). The menu includes fry bread Indian tacos, pesole soup (hominy soup), corn, squash, and pumpkin pie (vegan/vegetarian options).

Wednesday Nov. 19th, Seelye 106, 7PM (right after Native American Food Night)
Alice Nash, UMass History Professor and Co-coordinator of the 5 College Certificate in Native American Studies will lead a discussion on Native American Identity.

BUNKER HILL
Film and Introduction by Director Kevin Willmott
Professor, University of Kansas
Monday, November 17, 2008, 7:30 PM
Herter Hall, Room 231, UMass Amherst

Bunker Hill, the new independent feature film from director
Kevin Willmott (CSA: Confederate States of America) stars Emmy and
Peabody Award winner James McDaniel (NYPD Blue); Laura Kirk, star and
co-writer of the acclaimed feature fi lm Lisa Picard is Famous, which
premiered at The Cannes Film Festival; and Saeed Jaffrey the legendary
actor from India who has starred in more than 150 films.

What would happen if 9/11 happened again? Bunker Hill is the story of a
former Wall Street executive who leaves prison and heads for the
small town of Bunker Hill, Kansas, where his ex-wife and their children
have started a new life. Soon after he arrives, an apparent massive
terrorist attack against America darkens the town. Cut off from the
world, the town’s militant past is reawakened and forces coalesce to
protect citizens from an unseen enemy. The town’s fear leads to the
creation of a posse of gunmen, resulting in torture, illegal
searches and eventually, murder. Civil liberties and justice itself hang
in the balance as the town must decide whether to embrace freedom or fear.

Are you looking for an awesome class to take during Winter Session? Come learn about “History of the Civil Rights Movement”! Through thought provoking discussions, group work, lecture, video, and engaging readings you will gain a greater appreciation of the women and men who made a profound impact on American society.

Instructor: Cristy Casado Tondeurctondeur@afroam.umass.eduM, T, W, TH 3:30-6:00January 5th – 23rd

VISIONS OF FREEDOM
A Roundtable on African American Visual Art of the 1960s and 1970s!!

Presentations by eminent artists and scholars: Nelson Stevens, Richard
Yarde, Margo Crawford and Mario Ontiveros

For more information please find see pdf flyer or visit our
website at www.umass.edu/afroam.

The Boston University Art Gallery Presents
Exposures: Other Histories in Early Postcards from Africa

Exhibition Dates: November 21, 2008 - January 18, 2009
Opening Reception: Thursday, November 20, 2008, 6-8pm

(Boston) - The Boston University Art Gallery (BUAG) continues its
2008-2009 season with the presentation of Exposures: Other Histories in
Early Postcards from Africa. The exhibit presents early African
postcards as a reflection of life on the continent between 1870 and the
1930s.

The exhibition is a collaborative effort between Cynthia Becker,
Assistant Professor of African Art at Boston University and Christraud
M. Geary, Teel Curator of African and Oceanic Art at the Museum of Fine
Arts, Boston. It showcases selections from private collections and
creates a poignant display of postcards produced from images by both
African and foreign photographers during that era. Cynthia Becker says:
"Instead of focusing on European stereotypes so prevalent in photography
during colonialism, we wanted to show indigenous African self-portrayal
and demonstrate how Africans took control of their own self-images."

The picture postcards in this exhibition expose Africans as cosmopolitan
people, participating in creative exchange and imaginative engagement
across lines of difference. They reveal other histories, showing how
the lives of Africans unfolded in vibrant cities during the colonial era
and how Africans fashioned their own cosmopolitan image of modernity.
The postcards also demonstrate that African rulers recognized the power
of the image to legitimize their rule and used photography and by
extension postcards for this purpose.

"We wonder if the Africans depicted in these postcards knew their
personal photographs had second lives," says Becker. Today the images
on these cards help modern audiences better understand African agency
and other histories, which typically have been subverted and forgotten
over time.
Dedicated to serving the public of New England as well as the university
community, Boston University Art Gallery (BUAG) is a non-profit art
gallery geared toward an interdisciplinary interpretation of art and
culture. Maintaining an ongoing exhibition schedule in its current
location since 1958, now named the Stone Gallery, exhibitions focus on
international, national, and regional art developments, chiefly in the
twentieth century. BUAG has a particular commitment to offer a
culturally inclusive view of art, one that expands the boundaries of
museum exhibitions.
BUAG is located at 855 Commonwealth Avenue, at the Stone Gallery inside
the College of Fine Arts building on the Boston University campus (BU
West T stop on the "B" Green Line). Gallery hours are Tuesday-Friday
11:00 AM - 5:00 PM, Saturday & Sunday 1:00 - 5:00 PM (closed Mondays and
holidays). For more information, please visit www.bu.edu/art.
EXHIBITION AND GALLERY EVENTS ARE FREE AND OPEN TO THE PUBLIC

SUPPLEMENTARY PROGRAMMING
Saturday, November 22 at 9:30 AM to 6:00 PM
Symposium: "Cosmopolitan Identities and Alternative Histories: Africans
in Front and Behind the Camera" (Boston University African Studies
Center, 270 Bay State Road)

Tuesday, December 9 at 4:00 PM
Curators Cynthia Becker and Christraud Geary will lead a discussion of
the art and explore the conception of the exhibit. (Boston University
Stone Gallery)

“It’s My Country Too,” produced by Pakistan’s top rock musician, Salman Ahmad, is a BBC-World documentary film that features Ahmad as he explores post 9/11 views of American Muslims. The lead guitarist and founding member of Junoon, South Asia’s most popular rock band, fields questions about the social consequences of the 9/11 attacks, talking to taxi drivers, students, an attorney, and a Muslim mother of a 9/11 victim. The event, which is co-sponsored by the Music Department, President’s Office, and Office of Religious and Spiritual Life, will offer a post-film discussion with Smith faculty Suleiman Mourad (Religion) and Saleema Waraich (Art History) with Jennifer Walters, dean of Religious Life serving as moderator.

When: Tuesday, Nov. 11
What time: 7:00 p.m.
Where: Weinstein Auditorium, Wright Hall
How much: FREE

Concert for Peace and Tolerance on Sunday, November 16 that features guitarist Salman Ahmad and Indian virtuoso tabla player Samir Chatterjee. The pair will perform live contemporary music from Pakistan and India. Ahmad’s "Sufi Rock" band Junoon has sold over 25 million albums worldwide. A passionate peace activist, Ahmad has performed at the Nobel Peace Prize awards ceremony and has appeared with Pearl Jam, Iron Maiden, Queensryche, Sting, Def Leppard, and Prodigy. Chatterjee’s work has has been a catalyst for the fusion of Indian and Western musical traditions. He has performed extensively on Indian national radio and television and has appeared with Ravi Shankar, Vilayat Khan, Bhimsen Joshi, Branford Marsalis, Ravi Coltrane, Dance Theater of Harlem, Boston Philharmonic, Ethos Percussion group, Da Capo Chamber Orchestra, Boston Musica Viva, and other jazz, classical, and avant-garde musicians and ensembles. Ahmad and Chatterjee will present an acoustic blend of popular music incorporating Eastern and Western influences and conveying messages of peace and tolerance. The concert is co-sponsored by The Smith College Music Department, the President’s Office, the Lecture Committee, and the Kent Fund.

Ahmad, a trained doctor who left a promising career in medicine to embrace his deep passion for music, has inspired thousands of Muslims and Hindus in Pakistan and India to work towards a peaceful resolution of their half-century conflict. At one point in his career he was banned from Pakistani TV and radio; and band members received death threats for his outspokenness. He served as a United Nations Goodwill Ambassador on HIV/AIDS in 2004, and joined relief efforts for Hurricane Katrina victims and earthquake victims of northern Pakistan in 2005.

WHEN:Sunday, Nov. 16
WHAT TIME: 4:00 p.m.
WHERE: Sweeney Concert Hall, Sage Hall
HOW MUCH: FREE

"The Political Imagination in Contemporary South Africa" -- English 337s (01)

This seminar examines the variety of literary and cultural expression in South Africa since the 1970's, focusing on the relations between art and political struggle. Among the topics to be discussed are the imagination of history in South African literature; the emergence of the Black Consciousness movement (and its legacies); responses to the Truth and Reconcilliation Commission.

Professor Paula J. Giddings Discusses her Book, Ida: A Sword Among Lions, November 18, 2008, UMass-Amherst

Undergraduate Ethics Symposium at the Prindle Institute for Ethics, April 2009

Labrys, the Smith College art and literary magazine is launching a new online space for students to share and showcase their work. We hope you can send the following announcement to all majors and minors in your departments:

Introducing The Labcat, the online life of Labrys, Smith College's art and literary magazine. We want to see what you do, and we want you to see what we do, and not just once a year! Please send submissions as attachments to labrys@email.smith.edu. We especially like short poems, flash essays, flash fiction, jokes, comics, fotos, drawings, scans/transcripts of things you made or wrote in grade school, and last but certainly not least, collages. That said, send in whatever you are up to!

In addition, we have attached a poster version of the announcement. Please feel free to send this along as well!

Please let us know if you have any questions. We are hoping to create a space for a wider variety of work to be shared-- across departments, media, and class years. This means writing and visual projects from art to math to english to archaeology to biochemistry!

The Studio Museum in Harlem is currently accepting applications for the
Winter internship season, which runs from December 2008 through February
2009. 10-week, paid internship positions are available in the
Curatorial, Education, Development, and Public Relations departments,
and the Director's Office.

I have attached the application to this message. Please forward it to
your undergraduate and graduate students who may be interested in the
internship, and whom you feel might be a good match for an internship at
the Studio Museum.

Thank you, and please feel free to contact me with any questions
regarding the Internship Program.

Invitation to two historic events at Brown University with author and activist

On behalf of the Weissman Center for Leadership and the Liberal
Arts at Mount Holyoke College, I write to share with you information
about /ELECTIONS 2008: HISTORY IN THE MAKING/, a discussion
featuring Columbia University law professor and /The Nation
/columnist PATRICIA WILLIAMS and /National Review Online/ editor
KATHRYN JEAN LOPEZ. This forum is the third fall semester event in
/Body Politic(s)/, our 2008-2009 Weissman Center lecture series.

/Elections 2008 /is scheduled for THURSDAY, NOVEMBER 6, AT 4:30
P.M. in Hooker Auditorium in Clapp Hall at Mount Holyoke College. Our
speakers will discuss the 2008 elections and outcomes, and assess
the current and future impact of class, gender, and race on U. S.
elections. The event is free and open to the public.

PATRICIA WILLIAMS is a professor of law at Columbia University and
columnist for /The Nation/ magazine. A MacArthur Fellow and graduate
of Wellesley College and Harvard University Law School, she has
practiced law as deputy city attorney in Los Angeles and been staff
lawyer for the Western Center on Law and Poverty. She has taught at
the University of Wisconsin School of Law, City University of New
York Law School, and Golden Gate University School of Law. In
addition to her well-known column “Diary of a Mad Law Professor” for
/The Nation/, she has published extensively legal theory and on
issues of gender, law, and race. Her works include /The Alchemy of
Race and Rights/, /Seeing/ /A ColorBlind Future: The Paradox of Race/
and /Open House: On Family Food, Friends, Piano Lessons and The Search
for a Room of My Own. /

KATHRYN JEAN LOPEZ is editor of the /National Review Online/ and
associate editor at /National Review/. A graduate of the Catholic
University of America and an award-winning journalist whose writings
on politics, religion, bioethics, feminism, and education have been
appeared in publications such as /The Wall Street Journal/, /The
Washington Times/, /The Women's Quarterly/, /The National Catholic
Register/, /American Outlook/, and /The Human Life Review/. She
worked for the Heritage Foundation, a conservative think tank, and
has been a guest on /CNN/, the /Fox News /Channel, /MSNBC/, /Oxygen/,
and a range of American and international radio and television shows.

We hope that this event will be of great interest to your
colleagues and students. A flyer announcing the event is attached, and
additional information can be found at our website:
www.mtholyoke.edu/go/bodypolitics.

We look forward to welcoming you to the lecture and discussion at
4:30 pm on Thursday, 6 November 2008.

Mark your calendars to attend the annual Otelia Cromwell Day events on Thursday, Nov. 6. This year's theme: "Dialogues Across Difference." At 1 p.m., in Sweeney Concert Hall, Sage, activist Majora Carter, founder of Sustainable South Bronx, and Luma Mufleh, founder and coach of the Fugees soccer team and after-school program for young refugees, will present "Changing the World, Community by Community." Following their dialogue, choose the associated workshop of your choice from 2:30 to 4:30 p.m. Then don't miss "An Evening with Sarah Jones," the Tony Award-winning playwright and performer, at 7:30 p.m., also in Sweeney Concert Hall.

Smith College Archivist Nancy Young will be speaking about the history of the Black Student Alliance and Otelia Cromwell: Sunday, November 2 at 2 pm in Mwangi Cultural Center. This event is part of the BSA general body meeting; all are welcome.

Ryan Alexiev and Hank Willis Thomas, Members of the Cause Collective
will give a joint artist talk

The Cause Collective is a diverse group of artists, composers and ethnographers with equally diverse training from graphic arts to political science, who work both as a group and also work as individuals. Their collective work is all public art. They are a young group, sharp and clear in their engagement in the issues they address: identity in the mediatized and consumerized age, problems of cultural translation, the troubling history of African American representation in the context of capitalism, the consequences of consumer choice replacing political choice.

Their work is multimedia, smart and accessible. They are also a very useful model for students to imagine what they can do in a collective situation without giving up their own individual work. The Collective’s agenda, as they put it, is to “explore and enliven public spaces by creating a dynamic conversation between issues, sites and the public audience. By exploring ideas that affect and shape society, we seek to add the ‘public’ back into public space and art.” For additional information visit http://causecollective.com

The event is sponsored by the Smith College Film Studies Program with support from the departments of American Studies, Art and Afro-American Studies, the Smith College Endowed Lecture Fund and the James E. Robison Foundation, Inc.

*Documentary Production Company in Northampton Seeking Spring Interns
*The Media Education Foundation in downtown Northampton, MA is offering two
internships for the Spring '09 semester.

Production interns work directly with MEF producers and editors on a variety
of tasks assisting in the completion of both daily and long-term operations.
These include media collection and research, converting media to an
assortment of different formats, transcribing, maintaining our extensive
in-house news log and other responsibilities.

We are looking for someone with experience using Macs and Mac-based programs
such as Final Cut Pro, DVD Studio Pro, and/or Photoshop. Experience with
these programs is preferred, but primarily we are looking for people with
depth, diligence, communication skills and the ability to collaborate.

*Marketing/Administration Internship
*6-9 Credits
(2-3 days a week, 9am-5pm)
Marketing interns gain experience in various aspects of market and
distribution research, outreach, and public relations. Marketing interns
assist in creating and assembling press kits, developing and updating
content for the website, and sending out new video releases to reviewers.
Additional past projects have included writing articles for the MEF
E-newsletter, creating student handouts, submitting our films to film
festivals, and proofreading print and web materials. On the administration
side, interns will assist in all aspects of sales and distribution, and help
with other front-office operations.

Desirable candidates will be curious, organized and self-directed, and able
to multi-task. Strong writing and communication skills are essential.
Knowledge of basic HTML is a plus.

To apply send a resume, unofficial transcript, and a brief explanation of
interest to:

Scott Morris
Media Education Foundation
60 Masonic St.
Northampton, MA 01060
scott@mediaed.org

*The deadline for applications is Friday, October 31, 2008.
*More information about MEF can be found at http://www.mediaed.org/jobs
Check out clips of all our films at http://www.mediaed.org

This is the second talk of the year-long W.E.B. Du Bois Lecture Series, "Black
Europeans: Race and the New Europe." The talk is free and open to the public.

At 7:30 in Campus Center 911-915 Professor Piesche will conduct a seminar for
faculty members and graduate students on the topic of her lecture. For a
reading (in German and/or English) to accompany the seminar, contact Sara
Lennox at lennox@german.umass.edu

Since 1990 Peggy Piesche has been an active member of ADEFRA, an organization
for Black women in Germany. She was a founding member of the research
initiative ³Black Europe: History of a Forgotten Continent.² Her books include
AufBrueche: Kulturelle Produktionen von Migrantinnen, Schwarzen und jüdischen
Frauen in Deutschland (1999) and Mythen, Masken und Subjekte. Kritische
Weissseinsforschung in Deutschland (2005).

Fernald Hall is located off of North Pleasant Street, on Infirmary Way to the
northeast of the new Studio Arts Building und just south of Franklin Dining
Commons.

Happiness, Empire and Melancholic Migrants -- Sara Ahmed, Professor of Race and Culture Studies at Goldsmith College, University of London

We want to hear your take on Women, Power and Politics. We're looking for submissions from women and men in every corner of the globe!

Women, Power and Politicsglobal online exhibition at the International Museum of Women
I.M.O.W. extends an invitation to the Smith student body to publish your views and works in its current global online exhibition Women, Power and Politics. From March 8 to December 31, 2008, Women, Power and Politics focuses on a provocative new topic each month, such as campaigning, voting, power and appearance, religion and politics, and women's transnational organizing.

Log on to the online exhibition at www.imow.org/wpp and share your views. Or learn how to submit your work at www.imow.org/wpp/about. I.M.O.W. accepts essays, academic papers, art, photography, film, political cartoons and other creative work related to its exhibition topics. Your work could be chosen for a special feature in the exhibition's upcoming topic on campaigning in October or transnational organizing in November. Work can also be submitted in one of the exhibition's four languages: Arabic ( http://www.imow.org/wpp/about/index?language=ar ), English ( http://www.imow.org/wpp/about/index?language=en ), French ( http://www.imow.org/wpp/about/index?language=fr ) and Spanish ( http://www.imow.org/wpp/about/index?language=es ).

Be a part of a global community of artists, activists and intellectuals working to transform the lives of women and the world. I.M.O.W. is an online social change museum with a mission to value the lives of women around the world and amplify their voices using innovative multi-media exhibitions and a global online community.

The History department is pleased to announce the Frank and Lois Green Schwoerer '49 Annual History lecturer for 2008-2009 is Ussama Makdisi. He is the Arab-American Educational Foundation Chair in Arabic Studies and Professor of History at Rice University, whose talk is entitled, “The Origins of Anti-Americanism in the Middle East.” Professor Makdisi has authored The Culture of Sectarianism: Community, History, and Violence in 19th Century Ottoman Lebanon (2000) and The Artillery of Heaven: American Missionaries and the Failed Conversion of the Middle East (2008). His lecture will address the history of Arab-American relations in the nineteenth and first half of the twentieth centuries.

Date: Thursday, October 23
Time: 5:00 p.m.
Location: Stoddard Auditorium., G-2, Smith College

We are pleased to announce a community service trip to Hawaii this January term! The UMASS Civic Interfaith Alliance is coordinating a January Term trip to Oahu, Hawaii to work with disadvantaged children. We hope to experience Hawaii from an anti-tourist perspective. The trip will be for approximate two weeks between January 5th and the 25th. The exact dates will be determined by when we can the best airfares and will be announced no later than November 21st. Application are now being accepted. To further insure your place in this program, priority deadline is October 15th. The final deadline for applications is October 31st. Please email volunteerhawaii@gmail.com for an application as soon as possible.

Students accepted into the program will be responsible for airfare and personal spending money. Through fundraising, the other necessities such as shelter, food, and transportation will be provided. After your application is approved, a nonrefundable deposit of $400 will be due by November 7th. You will then be responsible for the remainder of the the ticket price by last day of classes or December 12th. Ticket prices are anticipated not to exceed $800, and you will only be asked to pay for the exact price of the ticket.

The first information session will be held on Thursday, October 9th at 6pm at three places simultaneously: The Blue Wall/UMASS, Freedman Apt D-4/Smith, and Blanchard/Mt. Holyoke. Please come to one of these session most convenient to you.

This unique experience will allow students to visit Hawaii and live as most locals do. To be a part of this amazing opportunity contact volunteerhawaii@gmail.com as soon as possible!

We are pleased to announce that Alternative Spring Break is now accepting applications for our annual trip to New Orleans and the Gulf States. This year, we plan to continue help restore these regions from hurricane damage, but we will also expand our mission to include more youth work and interpersonal activism.

Upon acceptance, each team member will be required to attend weekly meetings. While credit is not offered for participation, expect to make a 2 - 3 hour time commitment per week in the weeks leading up to the trip. Various meeting times will be offered, but attendance is absolutely mandatory. One missed meeting means probation. Two missed meetings and your invitation will be revoked. Meetings will typically run 1 hour to 1.5 hrs. If you are interested in obtaining credit for the program, you will need to make those arrangement on your own.

ASB feels very strongly about understanding the uniqueness situation of the in New Orleans and other disaster-struck areas before we try to "remedy" it. As such, weekly meetings are meant to be forums to open up dialogue about activism and social justice as they relate to disaster. Common discussion themes may address issues of race, gender, class and spirituality.

A substantial portion of meeting time will also be dedicated to team building and fundraising efforts. There is a fee for the trip, which we anticipate will be about $200.00. Each team is required to do additional fundraising to meet the costs of the trip. Team building is also crucial as you will work very closely under difficult conditions with your team during spring recess.

The application is attached. Note that deadlines are as follows: Priority - Nov. 1 (most applicants get their first-choice destinations); Regular Decision - Dec. 1; Last Call - Jan. 1.

The Smith College Anthropology Club proudly presents a film showing of the
Media Education Foundation's "Hijacking Catastrophe: 9/11, Fear, and the
Selling of American Empire." It will feature a discussion led by the film's
maker, renowned professor Dr. Sut Jhally. Please join us, one and all on
Monday, Ocotober 6th @ 7pm in Seelye 106 for an exploration on how this
issue continues to have widespread consequences around the globe.

We hope you can join the Anthropology Club in view this extraordinary
documentary and discussion with an amazing UMASS Professor and Founder of
the Media Education Foundation--Dr. Sut Jhally (see attached poster)!! If
professors think this topic is relevant to their courses in some way, and
even if not, please announce to your students.

I would like to inform you of a wonderful “Alternative Fall Break” opportunity. During Fall Break the Office of Student Affairs and the Inter-group Dialogue Program are sponsoring a Social Identity Retreat. It is FREE and FABULOUS!!! During our one-night stay at the retreat location (Oct. 13-14) we will journal and discuss the ways in which our social identities (those socially and internally constructed) affect our daily experiences. Also, there will be s’mores and campfires!!! If you would like to apply and/or learn more about this wonderful FREE opportunity, please visit the Inter-group Dialogue Program website: http://www.smith.edu/sao/intergroupdialogue/. At the bottom of the site you will find a link to the application.

Donielle C. Hatcher
Smith College '09
Mellon Mays Undergraduate Fellow
College Judicial Board Co-Chair
College Initiative for Diversity Awareness
Multicultural Recruitment Working Group
Hubbard House Diversity Representative

Smith College Psychology Department Colloquium Presentation
Sponsored by the Smith College Lecture Committee

Tuesday, October 7
Jeffrey Mio, PhD
Professor of Psychology, California State Polytechnic University
Department of Psychology and Sociology
Title: The Development, Experiences, and Effects of Allies
Talk: 4:00-5:00 pm
Room: McConnell B05, Smith College

Professor Jeffery Mio, California State Polytechnic University, will give a lecture on multicultural psychology. He will discuss his work on the topic of Allies: those who advocate for groups on the downside of power who are not part of that demographic group. In addition to publishing research articles, Professor Mio has written or edited five books in the areas of clinical and multicultural psychology. His latest (2006) is a textbook titled Multicultural Psychology: Understanding our Diverse Communities.

______________________________
Benita Jackson, PhD MPH
Assistant Professor
Department of Psychology
Clark Science Center
44 College Lane
Smith College
Northampton MA 01063

Office: 406 Bass Hall
Phone: 413-585-7694
Fax: 413-585-3786
E-mail: bjackson@email.smith.edu

Join WFU Anthropology Professor Margaret Bender for a great experience
exploring the unique cultural and linguistic environment of London at
WFU’s Worrell House in Spring 2009. A few spaces and scholarships are
still available. In the program’s two anthropology courses, students will

* Conduct ethnographic research in specific ethnic neighborhoods
* Learn firsthand how diasporic communities and globalization force
us to re-theorize /culture/
* Engage in service-learning projects through the Camden Volunteer
Bureau (opportunities in arts, health, education and other areas)
* Collect data on dialectal diversity in British English
* Study the impact of multilingualism on London’s institutions,
public spaces, and graphic landscape

Students will also take a course in British theatre that includes twelve
live performances (free to students) and an art history class that will
take them on weekly gallery tours.* *

For more information, contact Margaret Bender at bender@wfu.edu
<mailto:bender@wfu.edu> or 336-758-5326. Apply online no later than
October 15 at
<http://studyabroad.wfu.edu/index.cfm?FuseAction=Programs.FeaturedPrograms>.

--
Margaret Bender
Associate Professor and Chair
Department of Anthropology
Wake Forest University
P.O. Box 7807
Winston-Salem, NC 27109-7807
Phone: (336) 758-5326
Fax: (336) 758-6064

Robin D.G. Kelley, regarded as one of the nations preeminent scholars
in African American history, will deliver Hampshire Colleges eleventh
annual Eqbal Ahmad Lecture on October 15 at 4 p.m. in the Robert
Crown Center. His talk will be titled "Confronting Obama: A Primer on
Race and Empire for the New U.S. President."

Kelley is professor of American studies and ethnicity at the
University of Southern California.

Kelleys book Yo Mamas DisFunktional!: Fighting the Culture Wars in
Urban America was selected as one of the top ten books of 1998 by the
Village Voice. Among other books he has authored are Hammer and Hoe:
Alabama Communists During the Great Depression (1990), Race Rebels:
Culture Politics and the Black Working Class (1994), and Freedom
Dreams: The Black Radical Imagination (2002).

His research interests include labor history, popular culture, the
African diaspora, and jazz. He is currently completing a biography of
jazz great Thelonious Monk.

Prior to joining the faculty of the University of Southern
California, Kelley held positions as William B. Ransford Professor of
Cultural and Historical Studies at Columbia University and chair of
the New York University history department. At age 32, he became one
of the youngest full professors in the United States.

He has a doctorate in U.S. history and masters degree in African
history from the University of California, Los Angeles.

The annual Eqbal Ahmad Lecture honors the teaching, scholarship and
activism of the late Eqbal Ahmad, who was a long-time Hampshire
College professor. Professor Ahmads faculty colleagues, former
students, family, and friends from around the globe have joined
together to make this lecture series a continuing celebration of his
life and work. Previous Eqbal Ahmad Lecturers include Kofi Annan,
Edward Said, Noam Chomsky, Arundhati Roy, and Seymour Hersh.

‘black womanhood’ exhibition opens at the davis museum-Wellesley College

Wistariahurst Museum has received funds from the Massachusetts Foundation for the Humanities for a new oral history initiative that will include a training session with local scholars on how to conduct oral history interviews; a library of oral history texts; trainees collecting digital oral histories from local institutions; oral history opportunities for classrooms; and access to these oral histories via the museum website and on air at local broadcasting stations.

Wistariahurst will advertise the need for local citizens to apply to be local oral historians. Participants will be chosen based on experience, willingness to learn and time schedules. These participants, after being trained, will eventually become our oral historians who will go out into the field and interview residents of Holyoke. Once in the field, we expect our oral historians to meet monthly to discuss and review relevant texts and learn from each other’s field experience. When the oral historians have collected three interviews each, they will then become the tools for local educators who are interested in brining oral history techniques into their classrooms.

Job Description and Commitment: Oral historians, working with Holyoke’s City Historian and staff at Wistariahurst, will be trained on several methodologies of collecting oral histories; will go out into the field and interview residents of Holyoke; will meet monthly to discuss and review relevant texts; will learn from each other’s field experience; and will become the tools for local educators who are interested in brining oral history techniques into their classrooms. We are looking for people who have a willingness to learn oral history techniques and theory, are willing to use digital voice recorders, will interview residents of Holyoke at various locations, will transcribe, can commit to monthly meetings for 8 months, will read relevant texts and excerpts from 9 books; will collect three interviews and are willing to be a resource for local educators to use in the classroom. Approx. 40 hours of work.

If you are interested in this project yourself or have students who are interested, there is an application process, so please let me know!

Thanks so much
Kate Thibodeau
Holyoke's City Historian

Michel Martin, National Public Radio Host of "Tell Me More" will be on campus today, September 19, 2008.

Michelle Wright, University of Minnesota, will give a public talk entitled "The Physics of Blackness: Reconsidering the African Diaspora in the Postwar Era” on September 25 at 4 p.m. in 101 Campus Center, UMass Amherst.

Professor Wright is the author of "Becoming Black: Creating Identity in the African Diaspora".

Professor Wright is the first of six experts on "race" in contemporary Europe who will present public lectures in connection with the year-long W.E.B. DuBois Lecture Series focused on "Black Europeans: Race and the New Europe."

At 7:30 on September 25 Professor Wright will a conduct a seminar for faculty and graduate students in 174-76 Campus Center. TO OBTAIN A COPY OF THE READING FOR THIS SEMINAR, CONTACT SARA LENNOX, lennox@german.umass.edu. If you cannot make this meeting of the seminar but wish to be added to the seminar mailing list, please also contact Sara Lennox.

The W.E.B. DuBois Lecture Series pays tribute to DuBois, a pioneering theorist of the transnational dimensions of “race” issues, by examining the complex histories and identities of Blacks within contemporary European cultures and societies.

The series is organized by Prof. Sara Lennox and Prof. Jonathan Skolnik, from the Program in German and Scandinavian Studies in the Department of Languages, Literatures, and Cultures.

On behalf of the Weissman Center for Leadership and the Liberal Arts at Mount Holyoke College, I write to share with you information on /Body Politic(s)/, our 2008-09 public program series that will explore contemporary political matters, issues of women and power and powerlessness, and the issues, possibilities, and challenges that arise when bodies are politicized by domestic and international policies, wars, and conflicts.

Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist, professor, and foreign policy analyst SAMANTHA POWER will launch the series with her lecture “Human Rights in the Age of Genocide” on Thursday, 25 September at 7:30 p.m. in Gamble Auditorium in the Art Building at Mount Holyoke College. Ms. Power will address the unspeakable realities of genocide and the impact of civil wars, and also discuss the mandates for public activism and political intervention. The event is free and open to all.

BIOGRAPHICAL PROFILE: Named in 2004 by "Time Magazine" as one of the 100 top scientists and thinkers of that year, Samantha Power has been hailed for her compelling critiques of leadership, eloquent writing, and savvy political analysis of foreign affairs. Ms. Power is the founding executive director of the Carr Center for Human Rights Policy at Harvard University. Currently the Anna Lindh Professor of Practice of Global Leadership and Public Policy, Ms. Power teaches courses on human rights and foreign policy.

A native of Ireland, where she lived until age nine, Ms. Power graduated from Yale University and from Harvard University Law School. Following her graduation from Yale, she began her journalism career, and for three years reported on the wars and conflicts in the former Yugoslavia for "U.S. News and World Report", "The New Republic", and the "Boston Globe". Since her first articles appeared in 1993, she has published widely in journals, magazines, and newspapers such as "The New Yorker", "Atlantic Monthly", "The Economist", "New York Times", "Washington Post", and "Time Magazine", for which she serves now as foreign policy columnist. She also has been featured on radio and television on shows such as "All Things Considered" and "Day to Day" on National Public Radio, "The Charlie Rose Show", /"he Rachel Maddow Show" on Air America, and "The Colbert Report".

We hope that this event will be of great interest to your colleagues and students. A flyer announcing the event
is attached, and additional information can be found at our website: www.mtholyoke.edu/go/bodypolitics.

We look forward to welcoming you to the lecture and discussion on Thursday, 25 September.

The Center for Latin American, Caribbean, and Latino
Studies (CLACLS) & The Department of Afro-American Studies Invite to:

EVALUATING THE DURBAN AGENDA AGAINST RACISM IN THE
AMERICAS:
A Report from the Latin American and Caribbean Review
Conference,
Brasilia, June 2008.

Agustin Lao-Montes: Sociology UMass & Coordinator
CLACLS & Afro-Am Project "Afro-Latino Diasporas:
Black Cultures & Racial Politics in the Americas"

MODERATOR:
Sonia Alvarez, CLACLS Director and Hortwitz Professor
Political Science UMass

A Reception will follow. This activity will be the kick-off
event for CLACLS's and Afro-Am's Project
"Afro-Latina/o Diasporas: Black Cultures and Racial
Politics in the Americas". We are planning a very
active year including a conference early December on
"Reconfigurations of Racism and New Scenarios of Power
after 2001" in which intelectual-activists from both
movements and academia and from U.S. and Latin America will
analyze and discuss political and policy alternatives.

Are you looking for a class that connects the classroom to the community Do you want to bring theory and practice together? Are you interested in how doing Sociology can make a difference in the world beyond the College?

Then SOC308 is the class for you! This 5 credit Senior Seminar, Practiucum in Community Based Research offers students the opportunity to engage in action research on an on-going environmental justice issue in Holyoke's predominantly Latina/o Ward 2.

The issue was covered by the Valley Advocate in the spring -- http://www.valleyadvocate.com/article.cfm?aid=5964 and http://www.valleyadvocate.com/article.cfm?aid=7653 -- and the course was featured in the local news (see attached article). Please contact me with any questions or simply come to the first class, Tuesday at 1 p.m. in Sabin-Reed 225, for more information.Ginetta E.B. Candelario
Director, Latin American & Latina/o Studies and
Associate Professor, Sociology Department and
Committee Member, Program for the Study of Women & Gender

and American Studies Department
Smith College
Northampton, MA 01063
Tel: (413) 585-3454 Fax: (413) 585-3554*******************************************

I have been working with students in the Science Center Committee on Diversity (SCCD) organizing a mini-symposium to celebrate the life of Dr. Vera Joseph Peterson. Dr. VJP was Smith College's health center director 'till she retired in 1974. She recently passed away and some of our students, who read the attached obituary in the NY times, believe that Smith College should had done something to celebrate her contributions to the college community. The attached program should give you and idea of why this is a relevant activity for all of our students, but specially for those interested in Afro-Am and medicine. One of the speakers (Carla Peterson) is a Professor in the English Department at the University of Maryland and you may be familiar with her work. The documentary in obstetric fistulas (Bisuba) may also be very relevant as well.

Esteban Monserrate, Ph.D.
Department of Biological Sciences
Sabin-Reed 454
Smith College
Northampton, MA 01063
phone: (413) 585-3851
fax: (413) 585-3786

SPRINGFIELD - Vera Joseph Peterson died peacefully, Saturday, Jan. 26, in Springfield. She was 98.

Born in a small village in St. Ann's Parish, Jamaica, W.I., Dr. Joseph, as she was known professionally, came to the United States through Ellis Island in 1919. She attended George Washington High School in New York City and won a scholarship to Barnard.

She was one of the first African-American graduates of Barnard College, where she earned Phi Beta Kappa as a junior and graduated in 1932. Dr. Joseph earned her medical school degree at the College of Physicians & Surgeons at Columbia University, graduating AOA in 1936. She subsequently did an internship at Harlem Hospital. In 1938, she married Dr. Jerome S. Peterson, also a graduate of Columbia University Physicians & Surgeons, class of 1931.

From 1940 to 1942, they lived in Puerto Rico, where they managed several tuberculosis clinics. Returning to New York, Dr. Joseph was a physician and assistant to the director at the International Ladies Garment Workers Union Health Center. In 1950, the family moved to Beirut, Lebanon, where Dr. Joseph was an assistant professor of medicine at the American University of Beirut, while her husband worked with the United Nations. The family relocated to Geneva, Switzerland, in 1953 when her husband accepted a position with the World Health Organization. In Geneva, Dr. Joseph was active with the Medical Women's International Association and served as its honorary secretary. She was a member of the Governing Board of the International School, and in 1958 became consultant to the European regional office of WHO for the advisory group on public health and aging.

The couple returned to the United States in 1964, settling in Amherst. Dr. Joseph assumed a position with the Smith College Health Service, where she eventually rose to become director. In 1974, she and her husband were co-recipients of the Ira Hiscock award for contributions in public health from the New England Public Health Association. She retired in 1975 from Smith College Health Service. Dr. Joseph served as a trustee of the Jones Library and the Amherst Savings Bank, on the Board of Overseers of Williston-Northampton School and on the Health Services Advisory Council of the College of Physicians & Surgeons. Her husband died in 1987, and she founded the Vera Joseph/Jerome S. Peterson Fund for Minority Students at the College of Physicians & Surgeons to honor his memory.

Dr. Joseph eventually moved from Amherst to Reeds Landing, a retirement community in Springfield.

Vera Joseph Peterson is survived by three daughters; Jane Peterson, of Seattle, Wash., Danna Peterson of Worcester, and Carla Rosenbloom, of Washington, D.C.; four grandchildren, Claire Roberts, of Spokane, Wash., Sarah Rosenbloom, of New York City, Julia Rosenbloom, of Philadelphia, and Philip Peterson, of Worcester; and one great-grandchild, Jacob Roberts, of Spokane.

FALL 2008 LECTURE SERIES
RACE, POLITICS, JUSTICE: ELECTION YEAR CONVERSATIONS
“A Gathering Place for Dialogue”:
The Role of Radio in Our
National Conversation about Race
Michel Martin
National Public Radio Host of
“Tell Me More”
Friday, September 19, 2008
4:00 p.m.
Weinstein Auditorium – Wright Hall

Sponsored by Afro-American Studies, American Studies, Government,
Latin American and Latino/a Studies, Philosophy, Study of Women and Gender, Offices of the Dean of the College, Institutional Diversity,
and the Smith College Lecture Committee
SMITH COLLEGE, NORTHAMPTON, MASSACHUSETTS

This documentary by filmmakers Allan Shinohara, Nozomi Ito, and Peter Scheehle traces the lives of Jamaican migrant farm workers who come to rural Massachusetts every summer to work the tobacco harvest - the staple crop of the region and the last to rely solely on manual labor.

Maria Cuerda, a member of the Pioneer Valley Project for Immigrant and Worker Rights and legal advisor for Western Mass Legal Services will lead a discussion afterwards.

Sponsored by the Program for the Study of Women and Gender.
More information at www.smith.edu/swg/news.html