38th Annual Science Fiction Marathon
Erika Lu
| Jan/23 | Sat | 07:00PM-07:00AM | 26-100 |
Enrollment: Limited: First come, first served (no advance sign-up)
7:00 pm - The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy
9:15 pm - The Martian
11:45 pm - pizza break
12:00 am - a special surprise!
1:00 am - Apollo 13
4:00 am - Street Fighter
The Lecture Series Committee (LSC) is proud to host our 38th Science Fiction Marathon (FREE this year), featuring four full-length films, one surprise feature, and a special selection of refreshments! Our theme this year: adaptations. Pizza pre-orders will be taken between The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy and The Martian and ready for pickup before Apollo 13. Breakfast foods will be available before Street Fighter.
For more information, see lsc.mit.edu
Sponsor(s): LSC
Contact: Victoria Gunning, 617-253-3791, lsc@mit.edu
Abstract and Experimental Film
Laura Ryan, Film Office
Enrollment: Unlimited: No advance sign-up
Attendance: Participants welcome at individual sessions
This series will explore films that reject or challenge the narrative tradition that has been a hallmark of Hollywood film. We will investigate the use of framing, camera movements, and editing to discover how they create meaning without plot or character. Recurring themes will include time, humans and their relationship to nature, and history and memory. Attendance at all screenings is strongly encouraged but not required.
Screenings (Wednesdays)
1/6 3-7pm 2001: A Space Odyssey Stanley Kubrick
1/13 3-7pm Sans Soleil Chris Marker
1/20 3-7pm The Mirror Andrei Tarkovsky
1/27 3-7pm Aguirre: Wrath of God Werner Herzog
There will be a break in between screening and discussion. Following the screening, the discussion will run between 1 hour and 90 minutes. Not all sessions will run until 7pm.
Sponsor(s): Literature
Contact: Susan Wiedner, 14N-407, 617 258-5629, SWIEDNER@MIT.EDU
| Jan/06 | Wed | 03:00PM-07:00PM | 3-370 |
2001: A Space Odyssey Stanley Kubrick (1968)
Aggressive apes, space machinery, killer A.I., and psychedelic time warps. This is Kubrick's epic space opera masterpiece.
There will be a break in between screening and discussion. Following the screening, the discussion will run between 1 hour and 90 minutes. Not all sessions will run until 7pm.
Laura Ryan - Film Office
| Jan/13 | Wed | 03:00PM-07:00PM | 3-370 |
Sans Soleil Chris Marker (1983)
Chris Marker takes us on a tour across 3 continents in this unique cine-essay that combines travel footage, dictated letters, and early experiments with video synthesizers.
There will be a break in between screening and discussion. Following the screening, the discussion will run between 1 hour and 90 minutes. Not all sessions will run until 7pm.
Laura Ryan - Film Office
| Jan/20 | Wed | 03:00PM-07:00PM | 3-370 |
The Mirror Andrei Tarkovsky (1975)
Personal and national history become deeply interwoven in this poetic dream-like journey through the time and space of rural Russia. This film is pure visual poetry at its best.
There will be a break in between screening and discussion. Following the screening, the discussion will run between 1 hour and 90 minutes. Not all sessions will run until 7pm.
Laura Ryan - Film Office
| Jan/27 | Wed | 03:00PM-07:00PM | 3-370 |
Aguirre: Wrath of God Werner Herzog (1972)
A heroic quest? Or a descent into madness? The story of a 16th century quest in search of El Dorado.
There will be a break in between screening and discussion. Following the screening, the discussion will run between 1 hour and 90 minutes. Not all sessions will run until 7pm.
Laura Ryan - Film Office
Comics Culture from Print to Screen
James Paradis, Lacey Lord
Enrollment: Limited: Advance sign-up required
Sign-up by 01/18
Limited to 15 participants
Attendance: Participants welcome at individual sessions
This IAP activity will address formal and cultural shifts in the comics medium in North America and Europe with a particular focus on the US. The goal of this activity is to explore comics as texts and cultural artifacts in class discussions, viewings, readings, and some activities. Readings will include a mixture of academic writing and comics, including print, short film clips, and digital selections.
We will start with the early history of comics and its relationship to other media, and then move on to the current state of comics as the medium transitions from print to digital modes. In the final session, we will ask you to bring in the comics you want to discuss.
Sessions may be attended individually, but we strongly suggest that participants attend all sessions. Advance signup is required to guarantee a seat. To sign up, please email lglord@mit.edu the following information: name, MIT email address, your status or MIT title, MIT department/section, and a sentence or two about your previous experience with comics. All experience levels are welcome.
Notes:
Sponsor(s): Comparative Media Studies/Writing
Contact: Lacey Lord, lglord@mit.edu
| Jan/19 | Tue | 12:00PM-01:00PM | E17-122 |
Early Comic History, from the The Yellow Kid to Flipbooks and Cartoons
| Jan/20 | Wed | 12:00PM-01:00PM | E17-122 |
Comics and Early Animation: KrazyKat, Mickey Mouse, and Company
| Jan/21 | Thu | 12:00PM-01:00PM | E17-122 |
The Panel and the Screen, from Watchmen to Framed
| Jan/22 | Fri | 12:00PM-01:00PM | E17-122 |
Comics and the Senses, from Issues to iPads
| Jan/25 | Mon | 12:00PM-01:00PM | E17-122 |
Comics Appreciation Session: BYOC (Bring your own comics!)
Engineering China: Cost and Consequence of the Three Gorges
Chris Leighton
| Jan/27 | Wed | 05:00PM-07:00PM |
Enrollment: Limited: Advance sign-up required
Sign-up by 01/25
Limited to 25 participants
Prereq: None
Under the leadership of the Communist Party (many of whose elite members have engineering backgrounds) countless ambitious infrastructure projects have remade the China physically. How should we measure the social impact of these changes?
Yung Chang considers this topic in the documentary Up the Yangtze, which focuses on the massive Three Gorges Dam, a 1.5 mile long 600 foot high marvel that displaced millions, (very slightly) changed the rotation of the earth, and drowned a landscape as iconic as the Grand Canyon, while at the same time potentially providing 100 terawatt-hours of electricity per year. As boats cruise for scenic farewell voyages up and down the river, the film follows the lives of two people who work those rising waters.
Participants will watch and discuss the film over a shared Chinese meal. No prerequisites; all welcome.
Sponsor(s): History
Contact: Christopher Leighton, E51-288, 617 324-0541, CLEIGHT@MIT.EDU
Hard at Work: Film Portrayals of Gender, Social Mobility, and Economic Insecurity in the 1970s
Renee Blackburn
Enrollment: Unlimited: Advance sign-up required
Sign-up by 01/28
Attendance: Participants welcome at individual sessions
How do we define 1970s America? Is it through watching dancing disco lovers at Studio 54? Is it through hearing Richard Nixon’s resignation speech? Is it through seeing the long lines of cars lining up at gas stations during the oil crisis? This four-film series brings to light the issues of gender, economic instability, and social mobility in the United States during that period. Each film provides an insight into the social and cultural America of the 1970s, pulling us through the decade’s insecurities, instabilities, and changes, only to emerge on the other side in a different decade with different views on gender, race, class and society.
During each session, we will watch a film and leave time afterward for an optional discussion. Additonally, there will be OPTIONAL, supplemental readings that accompany the films, if you're interested in reading more!
Find more details and sign up at: http://hardatworkinthe70s.weebly.com/
Sponsor(s): Science, Technology, and Society, Women's and Gender Studies
Contact: Renee Blackburn, RMBLACK@MIT.EDU
| Jan/19 | Tue | 05:00PM-08:00PM | 66-148 |
From Amazon: Two hippie bikers set out to discover "the real America" and wind up taking the ultimate bad trip.
| Jan/20 | Wed | 05:00PM-08:00PM | 66-148 |
From IMDB: A mentally unstable Vietnam war veteran works as a night-time taxi driver in New York City where the perceived decadence and sleaze feeds his urge for violent action, attempting to save a preadolescent prostitute in the process.
| Jan/26 | Tue | 05:00PM-08:00PM | 66-148 |
From IMDB: A Brooklyn teenager feels his only chance to succeed is as the king of the disco floor. His carefree youth and weekend dancing help him to forget the reality of his bleak life.
| Jan/27 | Wed | 05:00PM-08:00PM | 66-148 |
From IMDB: Three female employees of a sexist, egotistical, lying, hypocritical bigot find a way to turn the tables on him.
Harry Potter Movie Mash
Katherine Stone, President
| Jan/21 | Thu | 07:00PM-10:00PM | 32-082 |
Enrollment: No limits
Hello Witches and Wizards! Come join us at the Annual Quidditch Team Movie Mash! We will be featuring all 8 of the Harry Potter films on 8 different screens simultaneously. Come and watch your favorite scenes, catch up on the movie you missed, or sit back and laugh at all the fun scene mixes. Fun fact: In the first movie, where Sean Seamus blows up his water is about the same time as when he blows up the bridge in the final movie!
Sponsor(s): MIT Quidditch
Contact: Katherine Stone, katstone@mit.edu
How To Stand-Up (Comedy)
Mehran Khaghani, Comedian
Enrollment: Limited: Advance sign-up required
Sign-up by 12/31
Limited to 15 participants
Attendance: Participants must attend all sessions
Prereq: None
Have you ever wanted to try stand-up comedy? This IAP, the MIT Stand-Up Comedy Club welcomes Mehran Khaghani, a comedian who has appeared on MTV and Comedy Central, and recently starred on the reality show Last Comic Standing on NBC, to teach a six-week stand-up class to MIT students. This is an incredible opportunity to learn from a wildly successful comedian, who has also been a fantastic teacher and mentor to previous students. At the end of the course, students will perform a stand-up show for the MIT community. Last year's show was attended by ~200 students!
The class will be offered Tuesdays 7-10pm with an optional writing session 6-7pm. Participants are expected to attend all sessions. The class will run six Tuesdays, from 1/5-2/8, with the final show on Thursday 2/10. This class is limited to undergraduate and graduate students at MIT.
No prior comedy experience is required, but any amount of comedy experience is acceptable!
In order for each participant to receive adequte attention, the class is limited to 15 students. If you would like to participate, please fill out the application form here by 12/31 and we will get back to you shortly thereafter to let you know if you got a spot:
http://goo.gl/forms/i3HZAeNA5F
The MIT DeFlorez Fund for Humor has very graciousy funded this class. Without them, this class would not happen.
Sponsor(s): MIT Standup Comedy Club
Contact: MIT Stand-Up Comedy Club, succ-officers@mit.edu
| Jan/05 | Tue | 07:00PM-10:00PM | TBD |
Session 1 of 6
Mehran Khaghani - Comedian
| Jan/12 | Tue | 07:00PM-10:00PM | TBD |
Session 2 of 6
Mehran Khaghani - Comedian
| Jan/19 | Tue | 07:00PM-10:00PM | TBD |
Session 3 of 6
Mehran Khaghani - Comedian
| Jan/26 | Tue | 07:00PM-10:00PM | TBD |
Session 4 of 6
Mehran Khaghani - Comedian
Ride or Die: Introduction to The Fast and the Furious
Sue Ding
Enrollment: Unlimited: Advance sign-up required
Sign-up by 01/13
Attendance: Participants welcome at individual sessions
The Fast and the Furious movies have earned nearly $4 billion worldwide, and each successive installment in the series has garnered additional popular and critical acclaim. We will discover which installments are the fastest and most furious, unravel the franchise's complicated continuity, and explore how the series grew into the juggernaut it is today.
Attendance at both sessions is encouraged but not required. Both connoisseurs and newbies are welcome, although please be advised that there will be some major spoilers.
Sponsor(s): Comparative Media Studies/Writing
Contact: Sue Ding, sue@mit.edu
| Jan/14 | Thu | 12:00PM-01:30PM | E15-335 |
This session will be an overview of the entire franchise, covering major plot, production, and aesthetic developments. We will also cover key themes and casting, marketing, and music choices.
| Jan/15 | Fri | 12:00PM-03:00PM | 3-370 |
In this session, we will watch Fast Five, universally recognized as the best film in the series. After the screening, we will discuss the film's visual and narrative style and its engagement with race, masculinity, and criminality.
Urban Planning Film Series
Ezra Glenn
Enrollment: Unlimited: No advance sign-up
Attendance: Participants welcome at individual sessions
For IAP, the department's ongoing Urban Planning Film Series continues with three excellent documentaries about housing, home, and community. Come to one or come to all!
Sponsor(s): Urban Studies and Planning
Contact: Ezra Glenn, 7-337, 617 253-2024, EGLENN@MIT.EDU
| Jan/13 | Wed | 07:00PM-09:15PM | 66-110 |
Desperate, broken men chase their dreams and run from their demons in the North Dakota oil fields. A local pastor risks everything to help them. Winner, Special Jury Award for Intuitive Filmmaking: Documentary, 2014 Sundance Film Festival.
"Might bring tears to your eyes\ldots a blue-collar meditation on the meaning of community and the imperative of compassion.''---Jeannette Catsoulis, The New York Times.
Ezra Glenn
| Jan/20 | Wed | 07:00PM-10:30PM | 66-110 |
This cinema-verite documentary captures daily life at the Ida B. Wells public housing development in Chicago. The film illustrates some of the experiences of people living in conditions of extreme poverty, including the work of the tenants council, street life, the role of police, job training, drug education, teenage mothers, dysfunctional families, elderly residents, nursery school, and after school teenage programs.
Ezra Glenn
| Jan/27 | Wed | 07:00PM-09:30PM | 66-110 |
Herman Wallace may be the longest-serving prisoner in solitary confinement in the United States---he's spent more than 40 years in a 6-by-9-foot cell in Louisiana. Imprisoned in 1967 for a robbery he admits, he was subsequently sentenced to life for a killing he vehemently denies. Herman's House is a moving account of the remarkable expression his struggle found in an unusual project proposed by artist Jackie Sumell.
Ezra Glenn
Video Games as Media Hybrids
Michal Zmuda
Enrollment: Unlimited: No advance sign-up
Attendance: Participants welcome at individual sessions
Video games are deeply grounded in a culture of technological progress. They are promoted as a new form of entertainment, after all they introduce new aesthetics and new ways of engagement. This notion often overshadows the fact that video games are hybrids, not only games but also a conglomerate of different medialities, like movies, literature, drama, radio etc...
This series will explore how video games approach old media they were built upon. We will see how they implement, interpret and refashion them. We will try to examine: how the historical and sociological context of given media is adapted by games, how the gameplay influences and reshapes those medialities, what those medialities can tell us about video game medium itself.
The series of 3 meetings will consist of lectures and discussions. Sessions may be attended individually, but it is recommended that participants attend all of them.
Sponsor(s): Comparative Media Studies/Writing
Contact: Michal Zmuda, mzmuda@MIT.EDU
| Jan/21 | Thu | 12:00PM-01:00PM | 56-162 |
Video Games and Remediation
Introduction to Jay David Bolter's and Richard Grusin's concept of remediation. We will explore how it applies to video games.
| Jan/26 | Tue | 12:00PM-01:00PM | 56-162 |
Video Games as Interpretation of Literature
Can the concept of intertextuality be used for interpretation of video games? We are going to find out by analyzing games based on literary works.
| Jan/28 | Thu | 12:00PM-01:00PM | 56-162 |
Historical remediation
We will discuss how games create historical authenticity not only with gameplay and narration, but also with the use of different media languages.
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