Events By Quarter
An Evening of AFRO-HYPNO-SONIC: Jojo Abot
MCC Theater
Hypnotic, sultry, vulnerable, and empowering—these words come to mind when first experiencing the music of Jojo Abot, the Ghanaian singer-songwriter who is poised to capture the ears of discerning listeners worldwide with her experimental blend of electronica, afrobeat, jazz, neo-soul, house and reggae. However, the raw emotion at the heart of the four-track project which centers on a woman’s right to choose comes from the generational ties that bind the women in her family together.
Listen to the music: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WHI98ANJUmM
Tickets: $5 UCSB Students and Children under 12 / $15 General. Purchase tickets online or call the A.S. Ticket Office (805) 893-2064.
IS EVERYBODY STUPID?
MCC Lounge
Hilarious and daring, this timely multimedia performance-lecture is a detailed look into American apathy, disengagement, and the commoditization of death and incarceration in rap culture. Ise Lyfe is an award-winning spoken word & recording artist, justice advocate, and author. His core teaching focuses on social literacy and is grounded in a pedagogy that fosters an environment for students to explore the root causes of poverty and apathy, deconstructing popular narratives charged by prejudice and fear.
Cup of Culture
Seoul Searching
MCC Theater
During the 1980s, the Korean government created a special camp where gyopo (foreign-born teenagers) could spend a summer in Seoul learning about their motherland. While the intentions of the program were honorable, the activities of the teens were sometimes not. The program was eventually cancelled because the government could not control the youth. Seoul Searching is a teen comedy and coming-of-age film based on a true story about one of the 1986 summer camps. Dr. Suk-Young Kim, Professor of Theater and Dance at UCSB, will lead a post-film discussion. (110 min, Korean w/ English subtitles, 2015)
Watch the trailer: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-AQGDxCS-64
DIVERSITY LECTURE
The Muslim American Life: Crushing Islamophobia with Countercultures of Resistance
MCC Theater
How should we understand the nature of contemporary Islamophobia? What motivates it? What sustains it? Who gains by it? Moustafa Bayoumi—author of the award-winning books How Does It Feel To Be a Problem? Being Young and Arab in America and This Muslim American Life: Dispatches from the War on Terror—discusses “War on Terror culture” as way to comprehend today’s Islamophobia. He will examine the ways the media, law, and politics mutually reinforce each other in viewing Muslims as potentially dangerous outsiders. Bayoumi will also address a growing “War on Terror counterculture,” that, by resisting the stereotypes and challenging the prevailing narratives of the “War on Terror,” fights not only for the rights of Muslim Americans but for the civil liberties of all. Professor Bayoumi teaches English at Brooklyn College.
