Migrations: 2011-12 Theme
To leave one place for another – a different city, region, state, or country – is a fact of life for many people today. Some travel voluntarily in order to explore new horizons, while others are pushed to do so by precarious economic or political conditions. But it is not just people who migrate; the movement of animals, the dispersion of seeds, the shifting of cells in our body, and the transmission of ideas are all migrations. What do these migrations reveal about the changing character of our existence? How have migrations contributed to the complexity of our world? What challenges are posed by mass migrations? How do we define belonging and citizenship in the face of migration? How does migration relate to the human desire to set down roots and construct a place called home?
Spring Programs
OPENING KEYNOTE
Vail Series Presents: Dada Masilo with Lulu Mlangeni
“Death and the Maidens”
Friday, February 3
8pm, Swasey Chapel
Artist Residency Feb. 1-10
Known for her astonishingly quick and often jarring fusion of African dance and classical ballet, Dada Masilo is joined by Lulu Mlangeni, winner of South Africa's popular TV competition So You Think You Can Dance. Together, says CNN World, they "open our eyes to the places where Western and African traditions meet, collide, and create beauty.” In her Vail program, titled “Death and the Maidens,” Masilo retells the stories of well-known tragic heroines, and uses those stories partly as a commentary on the dangerous terrain to which society submits women. These character studies conclude a certain artistic journey for choreographer Dada Masilo. The program she has created is “not about women,” she claims, but “about women who say ‘that’s enough of that.’” Masilo will remain in residency at Denison the following week, interacting with over 260 students during various class visits and choreographing a Denison-centered Dance piece which the students will perform sometime during the weekend of February 10-12.
Co-sponsored by the Vail Series, the Laura C. Harris Symposium, and the Dance Department
The Price of Sex
Tuesday, February 14
7pm, Slayter Auditorium
“Intimate and revealing, The Price of Sex is a feature-length documentary about young Eastern European women who have been drawn into a world of sex trafficking and abuse. It is a story told by the young women who refused to be silenced by shame, fear, and violence. Emmy-nominated photojournalist Mimi Chakarova, who grew up in Bulgaria, takes us on a personal journey"–exposing the shadowy world of sex trafficking from Eastern Europe to the Middle East and Western Europe. Filming undercover and gaining extraordinary access, Chakarova illuminates how even though some women escape to tell their stories, sex trafficking thrives” (Human Rights Watch). Discussion to follow, facilitated by Professor Barbara Fultner, Director of Women’s Studies and Professor of Philosophy, and Assistant Professor Ping Yang, Department of Communication.
This film is one of four in Denison’s annual Human Rights Film Festival, which screens films every Tuesday in February @ 7pm in Slayter Auditorium.
Miguel González, curator in residence March 5th - 9th
Gallery opening reception/ curator talk March 8th, 7pm, Mulberry Gallery
Miguel Gonzalez is a well known Colombian art critic and curator of the Museo La Tertulia in Cali, Colombia. His publications include Colombia, visiones y miradas (2002,2005), Entrevistas, Art y cultura de Latinoamerica y Colombia (2003), and Francois Dolmetsch (2003). In 2005 he co-authored Performance y Arte-Acción en America Latina. He has received several awards for his work as assistant director in films such as Carne de tu carne (Carlos Mayolo, 1984), El dia que me quieras (Sergio Dow, 1988). He has worked with film directors Werner Herzog (Cobra verde, 1987) and Franceso Rossi (Chronicle of a Death Foretold, 1987).
Co-Sponsored by Vail Artist Series, Mulberry Gallery, and the Studio Art Department
International Food and Culture Festival
Sunday, March 25
5:00-6:30pm, Curtis Dining Hall
Inherent to one's migration is the movement and blending of one's cultural heritage (domestic or international), and this is oftentimes evident in one's food identity. Showcasing food and culture from a wide array of cuisines and talents, this year's festival will aim to engage the community in experiential diversity as we do more than eat and watch. We will, quite simply, learn through food.
Co-sponsored by Multi-Cultural Student Affairs, Cross-Cultural Community, International Student Services, Off-Campus Study, Sodexho, and Campus Dining Services
Athletes & Immigration: Opportunity or Exploitation?
Tuesday, March 27
7pm, Livingston Gym
A panel of coaches and athletes discuss the situation of non-U.S. athletes who immigrate to the United States to participate in competitive sports. While for many the chance to compete in the U.S. provides substantial opportunities (such as lucrative contracts or college scholarships), others become victims of a system that does not provide them with the resources needed to thrive, while exploiting them for their athletic abilities. The conversation will be moderated by Bob Ghiloni, head coach of the men's basketball team and assistant professor of physical education at Denison.
Co-Sponsored by the Department of Athletics, Physical Education & Recreation, and the History Department
CLOSING KEYNOTE
“The Diaspora of Ideas”
Dr. Arjun Appadurai
Tuesday, April 17
7pm, Slayter Auditorium
Professor Arjun Appadurai is currently Goddard Professor of Media, Culture, and Communication at New York University in New York City, NY, and also holds a Distinguished Professorship as the John Dewey Professor in the Social Sciences at The New School in New York City. In his keynote lecture, “The Diaspora of Ideas,” he argues that “ideas migrate, and like people, they usually migrate collectively, pushed by inhospitable homes or attracted by new contexts. In this lecture, I shall examine a closely connected set of European ideas clustered around the ideas of ‘modernity’ and ‘modernization’ which cast some light on how ideas move - and sometimes return - thus taking new forms and changing the ideas with which they moved in the first place, and changing their new homes as well.”
Co-Sponsored by the University Programming Council
Fall 2011 Programs
KEYNOTE: HUMAN DNA MIGRATIONS
Thursday, September 8
8pm, Swasey Chapel
Dr. Spencer Wells
Deep Ancestry: Inside the Genographic Project
National Geographic Explorer and Director of the Genographic Project (see genographic.nationalgeographic.com/genographic/index.html) Dr. Wells will discuss this Project, which maps the migration patterns of human DNA across the world over the last 60,000 years. In addition to Dr. Wells' lecture, 129 faculty, staff, and First-Year students submitted creative projects in response to the theme. The project gallery will open to the public on Friday, September 9 for one week in the Bryant Arts Center, after which it will move to Higley Hall 119 for the remainder of the academic year. Stop by Higley to see these incredible student-generated projects! For more information about Dr. Wells, see www.nationalgeographic.com/field/explorers/spencer-wells
Co-Sponsored by the Ronneberg Lecture Series, First-Year Program, the Office of the President, the Office of the Provost, and Sustained Dialogue
Monday, September 26
7pm, Herrick Hall
PALESTINE
A Performance by Najla Said
For information about Ms. Said, see this fascinating video interview at http://bigthink.com/ideas/20477
Sponsored by the Laura C. Harris Symposium and Women’s Studies
KEYNOTE: LATINO MIGRATION
Thursday, September 29
7pm, Higley Hall
Borders, Identity, and Resistance: Political and Cultural Responses to Latino Migration
Facilitated by Dr. Eric Boehme in Political Science, this panel draws on the expertise of representatives from the Mexico Solidarity Network (www.mexicosolidarity.org), and two Kenyon College faculty: Assistant Professor of English, Dr. Ivonne Garcia (www.kenyon.edu/x47799.xml), and Associate Professor of Sociology Dr. Jennifer Johnson (www.kenyon.edu/x41418.xml).
KEYNOTE: AFRICAN AND AFRICAN-AMERICAN MIGRATION
Thursday, October 6
7:30pm, Burton-Morgan Lecture Hall
Dr. Ira Berlin
The Making of African America: The Four Great Migrations
University of Maryland History Professor, Dr. Berlin, will address four key migrations that shaped African and African-American life in North America: the transatlantic slave trade; the forced migration of Africans to the interior U.S. as part of the slave trade; the migration from rural Southern communities to the urban North; and the recent diaspora of Africans and people of African descent from Europe and the Caribbean to the U.S. For more info about Dr. Berlin, see www.history.umd.edu/Bio/berlin.html
Co-sponsored by the Sharp Lecture Fund in American History, the History Department, and the Center for Black Studies
Sunday & Monday, October 9 & 10
10am-4:30pm, Dance 204
An Introduction to the Embryological Foundations of Movement: A Body-Mind Centering Approach
Dance Workshop with Bonnie Bainbridge-Cohen
(Note: Registration required. $250 charge for non-Denison participants)
For information about Bonnie Bainbridge-Cohen and the School for Body-Mind Centering, see www.bodymindcentering.com/Bonnie
Sponsored by the Vail Artist Series and the Dance Department
Monday & Tuesday, October 10 & 11
7pm, Location TBD
I, Too, Sing America: Denison Students Share Their Migration Stories
Dale Shields, Director and Artist-in-Residence
For information about Dale Shields, see poeticsoulsspeak.com/iforcolor/dale-r-shields/
Co-Sponsored by the Office of the Provost Diversity Advisory Committee, Office of Multi-cultural Student Affairs, the Laura C. Harris Symposium, Women's Resource Center, International Student Services, and the Center for Black Studies
Friday, October 14 – Gallery Opening Reception/Artist Talk
Time & Location TBD
October 10-21 – Artist Residency
Jim Winters
“Travelogue”
For information about Jim Winters, see jimwinters.com
Co-Sponsored by Vail Artist Series, Queer Studies
Tuesday, October 18
11am, Burton-Morgan Lecture Hall & Welsh Hills Rooms
Immigrant Entrepreneurship Workshop
For more information about the program, contact Stephanie Hunt-Theophilus at hunts@denison.edu
Co-Sponsored by the Burton-Morgan Entrepreneurship Grant, the Office of Multi-cultural Student Affairs, International Student Services, and the Sociology/Anthropology Department
KEYNOTE: FOOD & CULTURE
Saturday, October 22
9:30am-noon, Open House
Farm to Table Cooking Class: An Experiential Food Adventure
(Note: Reservation required. Space is limited.)
Sign up for this hands-on experiential learning adventure about the migration of our local food! We’ll meet at the Open House, then divide into groups to shop ingredients and learn from local farmers at the Farmer’s Market, returning to the Open House where Short Story’s Chef Robert will help us create a simple, local meal that we can eat together while learning more about local food migration from farm to table. Families welcome! For more information and to register for this event, contact Mark Anthony Arceno at arcenom@denison.edu
Co-Sponsored by the Office of Multi-cultural Student Affairs
KEYNOTE: U.S. “BIRTH RIGHT” CITIZENSHIP
Monday, October 31
4:30pm, Burton-Morgan Lecture Hall
The Great Immigration Debate
Seyla Benhabib
Dr. Benhabib is a Yale University Professor of Political Science and Philosophy and served as the Director of Yale’s Program in Ethics, Politics and Economics from 2002-2008. Her most recent research covers many facets of the immigration debate and birth-right citizenship laws. For additional information, see www.yale.edu/polisci/people/sbenhabib.html
Co-Sponsored by the Philosophy Department, Women’s Studies
Thursday, November 3
5pm, Burton-Morgan Auditorium
Dr. Ken Lohmann
Beyond the Five Senses: the Maps, Compasses, and Sensory Biology of Sea Turtle Navigation
For information about Dr. Lohmann’s research, check out the link to his lab at www.unc.edu/depts/geomag/
Sponsored by the Ronneberg Lecture Series & the Biology Department
Thursday, December 1
Time, Location TBD
Tea Migrations (in collaboration with the “Tea” exhibit at the Denison Museum)
Dr. Valentine Daniel
For information about Dr. Daniel, see www.columbia.edu/cu/anthropology/fac-bios/daniel/faculty.html
Co-sponsored by the Denison Museum, International Studies
KEYNOTE: HUMAN EVOLUTION AND MIGRATIONS
Thursday, December 8
7:30pm, Slayter Auditorium
Dr. Don Johanson
Lucy’s Legacy: Our African Origins
Dr. Johanson is a Professor of Paleoanthropology in Arizona State University’s School of Human Evolution and Social Change, and the Founding Director of the Institute of Human Origins. His breakthrough discovery of “Lucy,” a 3.18 million year old hominid skeleton, was one of the key discoveries of the 20th century. Dr. Johanson will expand upon the scientific breakthroughs in the human migration story introduced by our Opening Convocation speaker, Geneticist Dr. Spencer Wells, and take us on a journey through the evolutionary development and migrations of humankind, from hominids to human beings. For more information, see shesc.asu.edu/johanson
Co-Sponsored by the Ronneberg Lecture Series