Fall 2006 - Spring 2007
Sponsored by MIT's Center for Bilingual/Bicultural Studies and Foreign Languages and Literatures, the CB/BS Seminar will provide a forum for informal discussions of issues related to the history and current ramifications of translingual, transnational, and transcultural phenomena. We are interested, for example, in asking new questions about national identities and emergent hyphenated identities, rethinking race and gender through cross-cultural and historical comparison, and interrogating the impact of border crossings on artistic production. Through interdisciplinary discussions of these and other related issues, we hope to generate new vocabulary, approaches, and theories for examining contemporary translingual/ transnational/transcultural realities.
The Seminar will be conducted as a series of informal "brown-bag" lunch style meetings, held Fridays between 12:00-1:30 p.m.
Click here for more information.
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John G. Russell (Gifu University, Japan)
The Cool Japan research project’s first public lecture of the 06-07 academic year will examine issues of race, popular culture and globalization. Anthropology professor John G. Russell of Gifu University (Japan) will discuss his current book project which explores the ways iconographies of “blackness” in popular culture in Japan and the US exert a powerful influence on national identity and cross-cultural understandings. He argues that what is popularly thought of as "black culture" in Japan and the US tends to reify stereotypes while obscuring Asian-Black encounters. His multimedia presentation will be followed by a question-and-answer session.
This year's theme for the Cool Japan research project is "Race, Sex, and Nation." The group receives support from the MIT Japan Program, MIT Foreign Languages & Literatures, and Harvard’s Reischauer Institute for Japanese Studies.
For more info, please contact Professor Ian Condry (FL&L) condry@mit.edu or Christine Phillips (FL&L) cphill@mit.edu or 617-253-4771.
Date: Wednesday, September 20, 2006
Time: 4:00 - 6:00 PM
Location: 4-237
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Sponsored by MIT Foreign Languages and Literatures, the MIT Contemporary French Studies Fund, MIT Center for Bilingual/Bicultural Studies.
Please contact 617-253-4771 with questions.
- Series includes events listed below:
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Konnecting Souls
Franck II Louise Company
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Hip Hop and New Technologies:
A Talk and Demonstration
A choreographer and composer, Franck II Louise is a pioneer of the French hip hop scene. He combines music and dance in a highly original manner and the musicality of movement lies at the heart of his work.
- He is presently preparing a new creation titled "Konnecting Souls" which will have its premiere in Paris at the End of October, using live motion capture equipment to generate sounds. Fitted with sensors linked to a musical interface, the dancers compose the music of the show in real time and are becoming musical instruments. The usual process of dance / music creation is turned on its head : here, both dance and music come into being simultaneously. For this stop in Boston, during a lecture/demonstration, Franck II Louise will present his process, the technologies involved, and excerpts of his new piece.
Date: Wednesday, October 4, 2006
Time: 7:00 PM
Location: Kresge Little Theater
- Sponsored by MIT Foreign Languages and Literatures, The MIT Contemporary French Studies Fund, Center for Bilingual/Bicultural Studies at MIT, Cultural Services of the Consulate General of France in Boston.
- An Evening with Marjane Satrapi
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Discussion and Book Signing
Marjane Satrapi was born in 1969 in Rasht, Iran, and currently lives in Paris. She is the author of the internationally best-selling and award-winning comic book autobiography in two parts, Persepolis and Persepolis 2, and the graphic novel Embroideries. Ms. Satrapi will discuss her work including the recently released Chicken with Plums (Pantheon Books, October 2006) the story of her great-uncle, a celebrated Iranian musician, who gave up his life for music and love.
- Persepolis, Persepolis II, Embroideries, and Chicken with Plums were originally published in French and translated to English.
Date: Monday, October 23, 2006
Time: 7:00 PM
Location: 32-123
Talk is in English.
- Sponsored by MIT Foreign Languages and Literatures, The MIT Contemporary French Studies Fund, CB/BS, De Florez Fund for Humor, Council for the Arts at MIT.
- A Cool Japan Panel Discussion
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Katsuhiro Izumi, BANDAI, Chief Product Designer
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Adam Newman, BANDAI, International Business Strategy
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Ian Condry, MIT, Foreign Languages and Literatures/CMS
Bandai, one of Japan’s leading toy companies, faces challenges as an entertainment business in the midst of transition: China is now the center of manufacturing; Japan’s low birthrate means fewer children nationally; and overseas markets prove complex. Nevertheless, Bandai has been successful creating toys from Japan’s character businesses – animation, TV heroes, comic books – aimed at both children and adults. Ian Condry will discuss giant robot Gundam toys and their pivotal role in anime history; Katsuhiro Izumi will describe product design for the “expensive toys” market; and Adam Newman will comment on Bandai’s international strategies. In contrast to the variety of digital media now dominating headlines, this panel will examine toys, a media form that still depends on the physical package – its tangibility, sociability, and appeal.
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Free and open to the public.
- The Cool Japan research project explores the cultural connections, dangerous distortions, and critical potential of popular culture.
Date: Tuesday, October 24, 2006
Time: 3:00 - 4:30 PM
Location: 5-217
- Sponsored by MIT Japan Program, Harvard’s E. O. Reischauer Institute of Japanese Studies, the Harvard Asia Center, MIT Foreign Languages and Literatures, and Comparative Media Studies.
- Abduction: The Megumi Yokota Story
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Followed by discussion with Directors Chris Sheridan and Patty Kim.
This is the remarkable story of a 13-year-old Japanese girl abducted on her way home from school by North Korean spies. For 20 years, her parents had no idea what had happened to her or if she was even alive. Then, one day the whole world learned the shocking truth.
An extraordinary tale of mystery, intrigue and most of all, love. The film is told through the eyes of the girl's mother and father who have been searching for their daughter for nearly 30 years. The film begins with the day Megumi vanishes, traces the astonishing course this personal tragedy takes, as it becomes a battle between two nations, rising to a shocking climax.
A human story about a strange, painful journey, full of bizarre twists as an ordinary banker and housewife are caught up in a life they could never have imagined. Ultimately, ABDUCTION is a moving, emotional testament to the unbreakable bonds of love.
Date: Wednesday, October 25, 2006
Time: 6:00 PM
Location: MIT Bartos Theater (E15)
- Sponsored by MIT-Japan Program, MIT Foreign Languages and LIteratures, and the Japan Society of Boston.
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Comic strips of Belgium or the big success of a small country
La bande dessinee belge ou ce qui fait la grandeur d'un petit pays
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Willem De Graeve
Deputy Director, Belgian Comic Strip Centre
Directeur Adjoint, Centre Belge de la Bande Dessinée
Date: Thursday, November 2, 2006
Time: 7:00 PM
Location: 32-155
- Talk is in English.
- Belgium is the country with the highest concentration of comic strip artists per square kilometer in the world. As much as Belgian beer and Belgian chocolate, comics represent a great source of pride for this small country! Willem De Graeve will discuss the history of Belgian comics, from Hergé to Franquin, Morris, Peyo and Vandersteen, reasons for their success as well as their importance in Belgium today.
- Sponsored by Foreign Languages and Literatures, The MIT Contemporary French Studies Fund, Center for Bilingual/Bicultural Studies at MIT
Pascal Rambert : works for film and for stage
SIDE ONE POSTHUME THEATRE (France) at MIT, November 13th (film event) & November 14th (live theater event).
Pascal Rambert (b. 1962) is among the most notable of the current generation of younger creators for the French stage. His vision is boldly contemporary and cutting-edge. In June 2006, the French Ministry of Culture appointed him to become the new artistic and administrative director of the Théâtre de Gennevilliers, one of France’s great national theaters. Rambert’s works tend to be multidisciplinary, often combining written text with dance, video, and original music. In addition to the bilingual (French and American English) Le Début de l’A., mounted in Paris at the Studio du Louvre by the Comédie-Française, his many stage works include After/Before, which was featured at the Avignon Festival in summer 2005; and Paradis (un temps à déplier) [Paradise (Time Unfolded)], which played to critical acclaim at Manhattan’s Dance Theater Workshop in December 2005 as part of ACT FRENCH, a season of contemporary French theater in New York. His publisher is Editions Les Solitaires Intempestifs (Paris).
Events are free and open to the public.
These two events are part of the series "Hip-Pop in French: Contemporary Theater, Film, Dance, Comics and Graphic Arts".
Sponsored by MIT Foreign Languages and Literatures, The MIT Contemporary French Studies Fund, Center for Bilingual/Bicultural Studies at MIT
Three Experimental Short Films, Written and Directed by Pascal Rambert
Pascal Rambert explores the beginnings and the ends of love in these innovative experimental shorts. Screening will be followed by Q & A with the director.
Quand nous étions punk (When We Were Punk) captures two lovers, an American woman and a French man, at the height of their passion in a brief encounter at the Charles De Gaulle airport.
Carwash, filmed in one single shot and within the real time of an actual carwash, presents a couple’s breakup as seen and felt from the vantage point of their young daughter.
Début depicts the delicate, glorious beginnings of ‘l’A.,’ that is to say, of l’Amour, of Love.
Date: Monday, November 13, 2006
Time: 7:00 PM
Location: 26-100
- Sponsored by Foreign Languages and Literatures, The MIT Contemporary French Studies Fund, Center for Bilingual/Bicultural Studies at MIT
- Pascal Rambert
Side One Posthume Theatre: Live Stage Event
Le Début de l'A. (The Beginnings of A.)
Le Début de l'A. is a poetic, autobiographical drama by the French author-director Pascal Rambert about the start of a transatlantic love affair between a young actress from Brooklyn, New York and a writer from Paris, France. Partly recited; partly sung. To be performed by the author and his American-born muse, Kate Moran, with music by Alexandre Meyer. A delightful theatrical event that has been mounted at the Studio Theater of the Comedie-Française and at New York's Dance Theater Workshop.
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NOTE: This staged work is performed mainly in French with some English; all French dialogue will be translated on supertitles.
Date: Tuesday, November 14, 2006
Time: 8:00 PM
Location: Killian Hall
- Sponsored by Foreign Languages and Literatures, The MIT Contemporary French Studies Fund, Center for Bilingual/Bicultural Studies at MIT
- Elizabeth Reian Bennett
- Songs of the moon, the sky, of the Buddha of Light, the phoenix reborn, and of pilgrimage will be on offer by Elizabeth Reian Bennett, on Tuesday, January 23 at 7 PM at MIT's Killian Hall. The shakuhachi is an end-blown bamboo flute, once played by a sect of wandering monks in Japan. Haunting, throaty and considered by the Japanese as a call from beyond this world of transience, Reian Bennett’s shakuhachi has also been compared to John Coltrane: a kind of meditative jazz from the Far East. Information on Reian Bennett and her latest recording is available at www.CDBaby.com/cd/erbennett
- Elizabeth Reian Bennett is the first woman to be certified a Grand Master of the shakuhachi and one of only a handful of western players trained in traditional Japanese music. She has played with Living National Treasure Aoki Reibo, recognized as Japan’s foremost shakuhachi instrumentalist, for 25 years.
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Date: Tuesday, January 23, 2007
Time: 7:00 PM
Location: Killian Hall (Building 14)
- This event is sponsored by MIT Foreign Languages and Literatures, MIT Music and Theater Arts, and MIT Japan Program.
For more information, contact MIT Foreign Languages and Literatures at 617-253-4771.
View map of MIT at http://whereis.mit.edu/map-jpg.
- Anime Screening and discussion with the director
- "Hip-Hop Japan" book launch and discussion
- Miss Monday in Concert
- Panel Discussion: "Love and War in Japanese Pop Culture"
- Afro Samurai screening and talk with creator Takashi Okazaki
- Panel Discussion: "Love and War in Japanese Pop Culture"
- Reading and Discussion in German and English with Hansjörg Schertenleib
Since January 2006, Ian Condry has been organizing the research project Cool Japan: Media, Culture, Technology at MIT and Harvard. The project involves colloquia and international conferences to examine the cultural connections, dangerous distortions, and critical potential of pop culture.
Cool Japan 2007 Schedule of Events (February 28th - March 3rd)
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Anime director Mamoru Hosoda will screen and discuss his feature film "The Girl Who Leapt Through Time" (Toki o kakeru shojo, 2006, Kadokawa/Mad House), which was awarded Best Animation by the Media Arts Festival 2007. This high school drama is based on a classic short story by sci-fi writer Tsutsui. Hosoda reinterprets the tale for today's generation of youth through crisp storytelling and stylish visuals. This preview screening is free and open to the public, though space is limited to the first 300 guests. This film would be appropriate for teens and up.
Date: Wednesday, February 28, 2007
Time: 7:00 PM
Location: 32-123 (MIT Stata Center)
Date: Thursday, March 1, 2007
Time: 4:00 - 5:30PM
Location: 4-237 (MIT)
Miss Monday female rapper from Japan, with her group. Her major label albums include "&I" (2006), "Miss Rainbow" (2004), "Natural" (2003), and "Free Ya" (2002). More information and sound samples online: http://www.missmonday.com
Don't miss this opportunity to hear irrepressible Japanese hip-hop from one of Tokyo's hottest artists. this show will also feature local hip-hop stars Akrobatik and Danielle Scott.
Date: Thursday, March 1, 2007
Time: 8:30 PM (Doors), 9:00 PM (Show)
Location: The Middle East (Upstairs) (272 Mass Ave. Cambridge)
Tickets Required: $8 in advance, $10 at the door.
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The Visual (1:00 PM)
Susan Napier (Tufts/University of Texas) - author, Anime: from Akira to Howl's Moving Castle
Roland Kelts (University of Tokyo) - author, Japanamerica: how Japanese pop culture invaded the US
Adam Kern (Harvard) - author, Manga from the Floating World: comicbook culture and kibyoshi of Edo Japan
Design (3:00 PM)
Marcos Novak (USCB) - artist, transarchitect, and designer, http://www.centrifuge.org
Kostas Terzidis (Harvard) - author, Algorhithmic Architecture
Larry Kubota (GLOCOM) - filmmaker, Black Current Productions
Date: Friday, March 2, 2007
Time: 1:00 - 5:00PM
Location: CGIS (South), Room 020 (Harvard: 1730 Cambridge St., Cambridge)
(C) 2006 Takashi Okazaki, GONZO / SAMURAI PROJECT
Manga artist Takashi Okazaki will discuss the concept and origins of Afro Samurai, a character he created in an indies comic, and which has been remade by Tokyo-based Gonzo studios as an anime mini-series, starring Samuel L. Jackson, for SpikeTV. Free and open to the public.
Date: Friday, March 2, 2007
Time: 7:0 PM
Location: Gund Hall, Piper Auditorium, Harvard Graduate School of Design (48 Quincy St., Cambridge)
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Culture (1:00 PM)
Laura Miller (Loyola) - author, Beauty Up: exploring Japanese beauty aesthetics
Christine Yano (U Hawaii) - author, Tears of Longing: nostalgia and nation in Japanese popular song
Ian Condry (MIT / Harvard) - author, Hip-Hop Japan: rap and the paths of cultural globalization
Politics (3:00 PM)
David Leheny (U Wisconsin) - author, Think Global, Fear Local: sex, violence, anxiety in contemporary Japan
Ted Gilman (Harvard) - author, No Miracles Here: fighting urban decline in Japan and the US
Ueno Toshiya (Wako U) - author, Urban Tribal Studies: a sociology of club and party cultures
The presentations will take place as panels that will encourage discussion and dialogue with the audience. Free and open to the public.
Date: Saturday, March 3, 2007
Time: 1:00 - 5:00PM
Location: 32-124 (MIT Stata Center)
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Hansjörg Schertenleib is the Max Kade Writer in Residence at MIT. He will be reading from his latest novel from 2005, Der Glückliche (The Happy One)
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Hansjörg Schertenleib is the author of numerous novels, poetry, film scripts, drama, and radio plays, and his works have been translated into seven languages. Schertenleib was born in 1957 in Zürich, Switzerland. He was trained as a typesetter and a graphic designer and educated at the School of Arts in Zürich. He was co-editor of the literary-magazine Orte from 1980 to 1984. He has lived in Vienna and London. Since 1996 he lives in County Donegal in Ireland.
Awards include: Prize of Switzerland; ndl-literature prize, Berlin; Book Prize of the city of Zurich; Kranichsteiner literature prize; Hermann-Ganz-Prize; C.F. Meyer-Prize and Stipend of the German literature fund.
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Date: Tuesday, April 3, 2007
Time: 5:00-7:00 PM
Location: 14S-200
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This event is sponsored by MIT Foreign Languages and Literatures, The Max-Kade Foundation New York, S.H.A.R.E., and MIT CB/BS.
For more information, contact MIT Foreign Languages and Literatures at 617-253-4771.
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Michel Onfray is a philosopher and writer and teaches at the Free University of Caen. Onfray has published over 30 books, including the most recently translated Atheist Manifesto.
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VIVRE SANS DIEU (Life Without God). Talk in French
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Date: Wednesday, April 4, 2007
Time: 5:30-7:00 PM
Location: Stata Center (32-124)
- Sponsored by MIT Residential Scholar’s Program at at Simmons Hall
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SOCIO-TECHNO DU PLAISIR ET DU LOISIR: LE ROLE DE L’INGENIEUR (The Art of Finding Pleasure in Today’s Techno-Scientific World). Talk in French
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Date: Thursday, April 5, 2007
Time: 5:00-6:00 PM
Location: Simmons Hall MPR (W79)
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This event is sponsored by MIT Foreign Languages and Literatures and Contemporary French Studies.
For more information, contact MIT Foreign Languages and Literatures at 617-253-4771.
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Professeure en études cinématographiques à l’Université de Caen; author of La Drôle de guerre des sexes du cinéma français (1996) and La Nouvelle vague, un cinéma au masculin singulier (2005). Talk is in French.
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Date: Thursday, April 5, 2007
Time: 1:00-2:30 PM
Location: 16-676
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This event is sponsored by MIT Foreign Languages and Literatures, Contemporary French Studies, and French Cultural Services.
For more information, contact MIT Foreign Languages and Literatures at 617-253-4771.
- MIT's Third European Short Film Festival offers a unique glimpse into the most recent short-film productions from Europe, with a special focus on productions from European film schools and award-winning films from recent Festivals in Europe. This year's topics are:
• New Identities/Social Realities
• Transformations
• Mitteleuropa/Central Europe
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Date: April 13-15, 2007
Time: 7:00 PM
Location: 10-250
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The festival is co-sponsored by Foreign Languages & Literatures, Comparative Media Studies, and several European cultural institutions. The films for the festival are selected by a group of humanities faculty and CMS graduate students
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For further information please see the festival website: http://web.mit.edu/shortfilm/ or contact the festival organizer, Kurt Fendt (fendt@mit.edu)
