All Events
Race Matters Series
Black Star, Crescent Moon: Islam and Muslims in the Black Radical Imagination Sohail Daulatzai
MCC Lounge
Despite the “post-racial” euphoria associated with the election of Barack Obama, the specter and threat of Muslims to the U.S. and the larger West persists. As this talk will reveal, there was a pre-history to 9/11 in which Blackness, Islam and the politics of the Muslim Third World found common cause. In resurrecting this past, we will explore the significance of this forgotten history for contemporary politics and arts when Black artists and activists imagined themselves not as national minorities but as part of a global majority. Sohail Daulatzai is Associate Professor in the Department of Film and Media Studies and the Program in African American Studies at UC Irvine as well as author of Black Star, Crescent Moon: The Muslim International and Black Freedom beyond America (2012). Co-sponsored by the Center for Middle East Studies, the Center for New Racial Studies, and the Department of Religious Studies.
Cup of Culture
Harvest of Empire: A History of Latinos in America
MCC Theater
Revealing the direct connection between the history of U.S. intervention in Latin America and the current immigration crisis, this film based on Juan González’s book by the same title, provides a powerful glimpse into the sacrifices and triumphs of the growing Latino communities, putting a human face on issues that are often reduced to stereotyping. The film features immigrant stories as well as interviews with Nobel Peace Prize Laureate Rigoberta Menchú, Pulitzer Prize-winning writer Junot Díaz, and more. Peter Getzels and Eduardo Lopez, 90 min., English and Spanish with English subtitles, 2012.
Interfaith
Seekers without Borders: Perennial Wisdom for the Spiritually Independent Rabbi Rami Shapiro
MCC Theater
Five questions lay at the heart of the spiritual quest: Who am I? Where did I come from? Where am I going? How shall I live? and Why? Called the Perennial Wisdom, this understanding of life and how best to live it crosses religious borders and speaks directly to the emerging vanguard of spiritually independent seekers of truth. Rabbi Rami Shapiro will explore Perennial Wisdom through the five questions, and help us deepen our search for truth. Co-sponsored by the Department of Religious Studies and the Walter H. Capps Center.
Cup of Culture
Schooling the World: The White Man’s Last Burden
MCC Theater
Posing a challenge to the assumption that the western model of education improves lives wherever it is, this controversial film gives insight to the effects of western education as a panacea for world issues. 'With a rare, philosophical sense for the truth, the documentary reflects on the alienating impact of schooling not just on children but also on adults in indigenous contexts such as Ladakh.' Dr. Nosheen Ali, UC Berkeley. Carol Black, 66 min., English, USA and India, 2010. Co-sponsored by the Education Abroad Program – UC Santa Barbara.
