Birth of Nations and Partitions
Meriam Belli
No enrollment limit, no advance sign up
Participants welcome at individual sessions (series)
In the period following World War II, new nations, nation-states, and political identities emerged from territorial partitions, which social consequences people are still struggling and living with today. This five-day film series presents three such cases of partitions that occurred between 1947 and 1949: India/Pakistan (1947), Israel/Palestine (1948), and West Germany/East Germany (1949).
Contact: Mabel Chin, E51-285, x3-4965, mchin@mit.edu
Cosponsor: Womens Studies
Partitioned Identities - Earth (Deepa Mehta, 1998)
Haimanti Roy
Based in Lahore of 1947, the film revolves around the lives of some of its subaltern citizens whose idyllic lives are fractured by the Partition. We see the absurdities of Partition through the eyes of an eight-year-old Parsi girl, Lenny. The film is based on the award-winning novel by Bapsi Sidhwa, Cracking India (Ice-Candyman).
Mon Jan 8, 07:30-10:30pm, 32-141
Partitioned Identities - Meghe Dhaka Tara (Cloud Capped Star)(Ritwick Ghatak, 1960)
Haimanti Roy
The film revolves around the predicaments faced by a Bengali family who tries to come to grips with their new status as refugees in the wake of the Partition in Bengal. Nita, the main character in the film clearly embodies both the socio-economic implications of the Partition as well as the gendered nature of the event itself.
Tue Jan 9, 07:30-10:30pm, 32-141
Crossing Borders - The Syrian Bride/Kala Ha-Surit (Israel, 2004)
Meriam Belli
1947-UN approved Palestine's partition. 1948-Jewish nationalists won independence of Israel. Borders created in 1948 & 1967 Arab-Israeli War resulted in Palestinian refuge problem & separation/alienation of people from one another. In The Syrian Bride-E. Riklis tells the story of a Druze-Israeli bride who leaves Israeli-occupied Golan Heights to marry a Syrian t.v. star, knowing crossing the border she can't return home.
Wed Jan 10, 07:30-10:30pm, 32-141
Crossing Borders - Rana's Wedding (Jerusalem, Another Day)
Meriam Belli
Hany Abu-Assad (Palestine, 2002). 90 minutes.
A romantic drama about a Palestinian girl who wants to get married with the man of her choice. She only has ten hours to find her boyfriend in an occupied and chaotic Jerusalem. When the abnormality of barriers and occupation becomes an everyday reality, love and marriage turn into fiction.
Thu Jan 11, 07:30-10:30pm, 32-141
Breaking the Wall - Good bye Lenin (Germany, 2003)
David Ciarlo
"East Germany"(GDR)est.1949 Soviet occupied zone/"West Germany" occupied by US/GB/FR. Germany reunified after popular protest movement leading to fall of Berlin Wall-1989 & free elections-1990. This film, a brilliant comedy:Christiane, socialist/supporter of GDP, falls into a coma on eve of the fall of the Berlin Wall. Upon wakening, Germany is reunited; her son protects her from the truth/creates an alternative reality.
Fri Jan 12, 07:30-10:30pm, 32-141
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Old Food: Ancient and Medieval Cooking
Anne McCants, Margo Collett
Mon Jan 29, 12-06:00pm, Next House, Kitchen
Enrollment limited: first come, first served
Signup by: 05-Jan-2007
Limited to 25 participants.
Single session event
Prereq: Stomach and sense of humor
Interested in gnawing on greasy lamb shanks? Perhaps you prefer vetches, oats and spelt-cakes? How about fermented fish sauce? Come join us for an afternoon of good old--and we mean REALLY old--fashioned ancient & medieval cookery. We will prepare, cook, and eat medieval foods from both sides of the Mediterranean Sea. Preparations will involve the use of authentic period recipe-books. You are invited to join us for this afternoon of fun and feasting. For those with more academic interests we will have sources available for your reading pleasure--or horror. If you plan to arrive later than the start time, please indicate this when registering. Location:Next House, Country Kitchen
Contact: Anne McCants, E51-293, x8-6669, amccants@mit.edu
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Staging Revolutions on Film
Meriam Belli
No enrollment limit, no advance sign up
Participants welcome at individual sessions (series)
This five-day film series presents cinematic portrayals of revolutionary characters and moments in world cinema, from the U.S. to China, including France, Iran, and Russia. This series figures as the foretaste of a new subject offered by the History Faculty in Fall 2007, entitled, "How to Stage a Revolution," which will explore the revolutionary pasts of the aforementioned countries.
Screenings will be presented by a member of the History Faculty.
Contact: Mabel Chin, E51-285, x3-9846, mchin@mit.edu
Staging Revolutions on Film - "Reds" (United States)
Prof. Christopher Capozzola
Warren Beatty, Reds (1981). 194 min.
This historical epic recounts the reel-life of radical journalist and political activist John Reed (1887-1920) and feminist Louise Bryant between 1915 and 1920. The story follows Reed and Bryant from the U.S. through Europe, and finally to Russia in 1917, as they witnessed the October Revolution. NOTE: This event starts at 6:00 pm.
Mon Jan 22, 06-10:30pm, 32-155
Staging Revolutions on Film - "Danton" (France)
Prof. Jeffrey Ravel
Andrzej Wajda, Danton (France/Poland, 1983). 136 min.
This film recreates the “Reign of Terror,” the brutal and divided political atmosphere of 1794 revolutionary France. After the suppression of the counter-revolution, Jacobinists, under the decisive lead of Maximilien Robespierre, controlled the Parisian political theater and “Madame Guillotine.”
Tue Jan 23, 07-10:00pm, 32-155
Staging Revolutions on Film - "The Battleship Potemkin" (Russia)
Prof. Elizabeth Wood
Sergei Eisenstein, The Battleship Potemkin (Russia, 1925). 74 min.
A cinematic and propagandistic chef-d’oeuvre, an ode to the communist Russian revolution, and an aesthetic revolution in itself, this film dramatically recounts the 1905 historical rebellion of a battleship crew against its Tsarist officers.
Wed Jan 24, 07-10:00pm, 32-155
Staging Revolutions on Film - "Morning Sun" (China)
Prof. Peter C. Perdue
Carma Hinton, Geremie Barmé, and Richard Gordon, Morning Sun (US, 2003). 120 min.
This award-winning documentary recreates the political, cultural, and ideological climate of the Chinese Cultural Revolution in the 1960s and is based on interviews conducted with men and women who were born around the time of the creation of the People’s Republic of China (1949) and who grew up during the Cultural Revolution.
Thu Jan 25, 07-10:00pm, 32-155
Staging Revolutions on Film - "Two Women/Do Zan" (Iran)
Meriam Belli
Tahmineh Milani, Two Women/Do Zan (Iran,1999)
This film, received as an event in Iran in 1999, tells a story of friendship between two female architecture students in Tehran in the early, politically agitated years of the Islamic Revolution(1979). The women’s destinies take different turns. Urban middle-class Roya continues a brilliant career, while Fereshteh, a provincial girl, is trapped in an abusive marriage.
Fri Jan 26, 07-10:00pm, 32-155
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The Distaff Arts: Medieval Clothing Technology
Anne McCants, Miranda Knutson, Margo Collett
Mon Jan 22, Tue Jan 23, Thu Jan 25, 01-05:00pm, E51-095
Enrollment limited: advance sign up required (see contact below)
Signup by: 10-Jan-2007
Limited to 15 participants.
Participants requested to attend all sessions (non-series)
This course explores a wide range of medieval textile and clothing production technologies, offering students hands on experience in their use. We will work with a raw fleece; card and spin the wool; use simple waist looms to weave a belt; dye a variety of fabrics; and design/construct a single garment - either a cloak or tunic. All materials provided - students must commit to all 3 days of class.
This course will question typical characterization of medieval textile work as unskilled, as well as consider distinctions usually made between activities labeled as crafts versus those labeled as art.
Contact: Anne McCants, E51-292, 258-6669, amccants@mit.edu
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Why Not Wikipedia? --And When
Chris Capozzola, Amy Stout, Brian Keegan
Fri Jan 26, 11:30am-01:00pm, 5-217
No enrollment limit, no advance sign up
Single session event
What do you think about Wikipedia: Is it better than Britannica? Your social knowledge network? Breeding ground for “truthiness”? Part of the decline of the Enlightenment?
Come and discuss Wikipedia as a research tool and as a social & cultural phenomenon with MIT faculty, students, and librarians in science, engineering, and the humanities. We’ll also watch excerpts of a Wikipedia documentary produced by students and faculty from MIT Comparative Media Studies. Panelists will go over pros and cons; experiences as Wikipedia users and contributers; Wikipedia in the classroom; and implications for research.
Web: http://web.mit.edu/astout/www/wiki/
Contact: Michelle Baildon, 14S-222, x3-9352, baildon@mit.edu
Cosponsor: Libraries
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