MIT: Independent Activities Period: IAP

IAP 2016 Activities by Sponsor - Literature

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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


2001: A Space Odyssey

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


Sans Soleil

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


The Mirror

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


Aguirre: Wrath of God

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


Mobile Reading Marathon: The Arabian Nights

Susan Wiedner, Staff, Diana Henderson, Professor of Literature

Jan/27 Wed 09:30AM-11:00AM 14E-304
Jan/27 Wed 11:00AM-01:00PM Lobby 10
Jan/27 Wed 01:00PM-03:00PM 1-236
Jan/27 Wed 03:00PM-05:00PM 7-338

Enrollment: Unlimited: No advance sign-up
Attendance: Repeating event, particpants welcome at any session

Scheherazade is calling you!

Or, to return from Rimsky-Korsakov to her Persian roots, Shahrazad: join the Literature community and friends as we explore her stories from The Arabian Nights during our sixth annual Mobile Reading Marathon.  Not a thousand and one nights, just one special day of animated reading (of selections) out loud.

Drop by, listen, join in, or not: no threats of execution for the tongue-tied.  Be among the intrepid few who stay from start to finish, or come for just a bit; all are welcome.  Books and good fellowship provided.  Costumes, props, and other imaginative contributions encouraged.  We may even have a lunchtime excursion into the world of music….

When:  Wednesday, 27 January 2015; 9:30am-5pm

Where: 14E-304 9:30-11a; Lobby 10 11a-1p; Spofford Room (1-236) 1-3p; Stella Room (7-338) 3-5p

Tweet as you participate: #ArabianNights

Sponsor(s): Literature
Contact: Susan Wiedner, 14N-407, 617 258-5629, SWIEDNER@MIT.EDU


Pleasures of Poetry 2016

David Thorburn, Professor of Literature

Jan/04 Mon 01:00PM-02:00PM 14E-304
Jan/05 Tue 01:00PM-02:00PM 14E-304
Jan/06 Wed 01:00PM-02:00PM 14E-304
Jan/07 Thu 01:00PM-02:00PM 14E-304
Jan/08 Fri 01:00PM-02:00PM 14E-304
Jan/11 Mon 01:00PM-02:00PM 14E-304
Jan/12 Tue 01:00PM-02:00PM 14E-304
Jan/13 Wed 01:00PM-02:00PM 14E-304
Jan/14 Thu 01:00PM-02:00PM 14E-304
Jan/15 Fri 01:00PM-02:00PM 14E-304
Jan/19 Tue 01:00PM-02:00PM 14E-304
Jan/20 Wed 01:00PM-02:00PM 14E-304
Jan/21 Thu 01:00PM-02:00PM 14E-304
Jan/22 Fri 01:00PM-02:00PM 14E-304
Jan/25 Mon 01:00PM-02:00PM 14E-304
Jan/26 Tue 01:00PM-02:00PM 14E-304
Jan/28 Thu 01:00PM-02:00PM 14E-304
Jan/29 Fri 01:00PM-02:00PM 14E-304

Enrollment: Unlimited: No advance sign-up
Attendance: Repeating event, particpants welcome at any session

This popular activity –- which aims to reach all lovers of poetry -- has been offered every IAP for the last twenty years.  Each one-hour session is devoted to a single poet, usually a single poem.  The goal is discussion and shared pleasure.  No lectures or professorial arrogance allowed. Some participants attend every session, but many others attend only once or twice to read and discuss a favorite poet or poem.  The roster of poets is always immensely diverse: from ancient Chinese masters to contemporary American poets laureate, from such famous Greats as Shakespeare, Keats, and Auden to Dr. Seuss and Bob Dylan.  Discussion and collaborative close reading are the aim and ideal of each hour.  A packet of all the chosen texts will be posted online (lit.mit.edu) and will be available in hardcopy from the Literature Office.

Sponsor(s): Literature
Contact: Susan Wiedner, 14N-407, 617 258-5629, SWIEDNER@MIT.EDU