MIT IAP

IAP 2002 Activities by Sponsor

History

Mexico: Migration and Memory (Film Series)
Jeff Ravel
No enrollment limit, no advance sign up
Participants welcome at individual sessions (series)
Prereq: None

Films shown in this series will explore the lives and experiences of rural Mexicans over the last century and a half of Mexican history, from the 1850s to NAFTA. Topics will include rural memory of national events, struggles for land rights and family relationships in the twentieth century, and the struggles in Chiapas since 1994.
Contact: Jeff Ravel, E51-285, x3-4451, ravel@mit.edu

"El Norte"
Jeff Ravel
EL NORTE (1984). This film dramatizes the flight of an Indian brother and sister who flee Guatemalan military forces in search of safety and a better life. They pass through Mexico, make a hazardous crossing at the US-Mexican border, then face the difficulties of immigrant life in Los Angeles. A moving portrayal of the clash of cultures and the desperate plight of political refugees from Latin America.
Tue Jan 15, 07-10:00pm, 56-169

"Barriers of Solitude" and "Alonso's Dream"
Jeff Ravel
BARRIERS OF SOLITUDE (1998). A rural "chronicle" evoking the memories of the town of San Jose, and setting them against major events in the post-independence period of Mexican history. ALONSO'S DREAM (2000). Documentary treatment of a Mayan lay preacher caught between the federal government and the Zapatista uprising.
Tue Jan 22, 07-10:00pm, 56-169

"Paulina"
Jeff Ravel
PAULINA (1997). Part documentary, part fictionalized approach to the life of a rural woman whose parents traded her for land rights in the 1950s. In middle age, she returns to confront her parents and the town.
Tue Jan 29, 07-10:00pm, 56-169

Old Food: Ancient and Mediaeval Cooking
Anne McCants and Joshua Sosin
Sat Jan 12, 19, 03-07:00pm, BakerCountryKitchen, can come as late as 5 PM

No limit but advance sign up required (see contact below)
Signup by: 09-Jan-2002
Participants welcome at individual sessions (series)
Prereq: Stomach and sense of humor

Interested in gnawing on greasy lamb shanks? Or do you prefer vetches, oats and spelt-cakes? Come join us for an afternoon (or two!) of good old--and we mean REALLY old--fashioned ancient and mediaeval cookery. We will prepare, cook and eat ancient and mediaeval foods, from authentic period recipe-books. Students are invited to join for one or both afternoons. You may come as late as 5 PM, but as early as 3 PM, if you want to roll up your sleeves and get your hands dirty. For those with more academic interests we will have sources availabe for your reading pleasure--or horror.
Contact: Anne McCants and Joshua Sosin, E51-175 / 186, 86668/86669, amccants@mit.edu / jsosin@mit.edu

Perspectives on the Events of September 11 and Their Aftermath
Mona Russell, Jeffrey Ravel
No enrollment limit, no advance sign up
Participants welcome at individual sessions (series)
Prereq: None

"Perspectives on the Events of September 11 and Their Aftermath" is an attempt to understand their context and consequences. This series will include a documentary film that deals with a suicide bombing from the perspective of the victim's families, as well as those of the bombers; an examination of American response to foreign attack at two critical junctures: Pearl Harbor and September 11; and a lecture on the Taliban by a journalist who has covered Afghanistan.
Contact: Mona Russell, E51-178, 253-4126, monalisa@mit.edu

A Comparison: Japanese-American Experiences during WWII, and Arab-American Experiences during the Gulf War and the Current Conflict
Mona Russell, Jeffrey Ravel
Speakers will be Ms. Mae Takayanagi, American Friends Service Committee, and Mr. James Zogby, President of the Arab-American Institute.
Wed Jan 16, 07-10:00pm, 56-114

First-Hand Perspectives on the Taliban Cancelled
Mona Russell, Jeffrey Ravel
Speaker: Mr. Anthony Shadid, author of "Legacy of the Prophet: Despots, Democrats, and the New Politics of Islam" (Westview, 2001), who spent a month with the Taliban in Afghanistan.
Wed Jan 23, 07-10:00pm, 56-114

"The Bombing": A Documentary
Mona Russell, Jeffrey Ravel
A screeening of "The Bombing", a 1999 documentary which looks at suicide bombing by three Palestinian youths in downtown Jerusalem. The film features interviews with the survivors of Israeli and Palestinian dead, and shows the meeting of Palestinian and Israeli parents whose children were wounded or killed in the event.
Wed Jan 30, 07-10:00pm, 56-114

Traveling the Silk Road Through China and Central Asia
Peter C. Perdue
No enrollment limit, no advance sign up
Participants welcome at individual sessions (series)
Prereq: None

The ancient Silk Road ran West from China through Central Asia to Europe, providing a channel of contact for merchants, missionaries, nomads, camels, and travellers. We will watch three episodes from a spectacular film series about the history of this exotic route, followed by discussion of the Silk Road's legacy today.
Contact: Peter C. Perdue, E51-291, x3-3064, pcperdue@mit.edu

A Thousand Kilometers Beyond the Yellow River; The Art Gallery in the Desert
Peter C. Perdue
Cross the Yellow River, gaze at the giant Buddha, enter secret caves. Tour 500 caves containing 3000 murals and statues dating from 366 AD to the 13th century, in the middle of the desert.
Wed Jan 9, 07-09:00pm, 1-246

Khotan: Oasis of Silk and Jade; A Heat Wave Called Turfan
Peter C. Perdue
See two oases renowned for valuable jade, central stopping places for merchant caravans. Turfan is hotter and lower than Death Valley, with delicious grapes and ruined ghost towns.
Wed Jan 23, 07-09:00pm, 1-246

Where Horses Fly like Wind: The Kazakhs; Journey Into Music
Peter C. Perdue
Cross the Tianshan mountains to the Kazakh steppe, viewing lofty snowclad peaks and swift nomad riders.
Wed Jan 30, 07-09:00pm, 1-246


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