There’s a lot happening on campus during this short month. Here are a dozen academic events to check out.
WHAT: Lecture: “”Forgotten Dreams: Werner Herzog’s Romantic Cinema”
WHEN: February 2nd at 5:15 p.m.
WHERE: Lucy Ellis Lounge, 1080 Foreign Languages Building, 707 S. Mathews Ave.
ABOUT: This lecture is by Laurie Johnson, Associate Professor of Germanic Languages and Literatures at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign.
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WHAT: Lecture: “Selling Chinese Immigrant History: Cultural Memory, Neoliberalism And Urban Renewal in Late Twentieth Century Silicon Valley”
WHEN: February 4th at 4 p.m.
WHERE: Asian American Studies Conference Room, 1208 W. Nevada
ABOUT: This talk traces the making of the Chinese American Historical Museum of Santa Clara County within the context of San Jose, California’s two billion dollar urban renewal project beginning in the early 1980s to the mid 1990s. Dr. Brian Su-jen Chung, Assistant Professor of Ethnic Studies University of Hawaii at Manoa, will explore the relationship between neoliberalism, urban renewal in Silicon Valley, and the racial politics of Chineseness.
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WHAT: Persian Tea Party
WHEN: February 5th at 6 p.m.
WHERE: Asian American Cultural Center, 1210 W. Nevada St
ABOUT: This event is sponsored by the Less Commonly Taught Languages Program.
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WHAT: Public Presentation: “World of Science: Earthquakes”
WHEN: February 5th at 7 p.m.
WHERE: William M. Staerkel Planetarium at Parkland College
ABOUT: Dr. Timothy Larson, the next speaker in the planetarium’s World of Science lecture series, will discuss earthquakes. The 2015 film San Andreas provided a glimpse into what a major earthquake could do to the West Coast. But how much of the movie is realistic and how much of it is simply Hollywood taking liberties? Larson will discuss the principles of earthquakes, how they are depicted in Hollywood, and the possibility of earthquakes in the Midwest. Larson is a senior geophysicist in the Hydrogeology and Geophysics section at the Illinois State Geological Survey, where he has been employed since 1980. One of his tasks is to operate the ISGS seismometer and engage in public outreach.
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WHAT: Lecture: “Post-Holocaust Antisemitism and the Invention-Discovery of PTSD”
WHEN: February 8th at 5 p.m.
WHERE: Alice Campbell Hall, East Ballroom
ABOUT: This event is sponsored by the Initiative in Holocaust, Genocide, and Memory Studies.
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WHAT: Film Screening: “Cleo de 5 a 7”
WHEN: February 9th at 6:30 p.m.
WHERE: Armory 148
ABOUT: This screening is part of an ongoing series on French Women Filmmakers.
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WHAT: Throat Singers from the Republic of Tuva
WHEN: February 10th at 8 p.m.
WHERE: Smith Memorial Hall Recital Hall
ABOUT: ALASH are masters of Tuvan throat singing (xöömei), a remarkable technique for singing multiple pitches at the same time. Complex harmonies, western instruments, and contemporary song forms may be found in Alash’s music.
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WHAT: Winter Tales
WHEN: February 13th at 2 p.m.
WHERE: Spurlock Museum
ABOUT: This event features a concert of American Indian tales, told during the winter months, the traditional time of telling. This year’s featured performer is Fred A. Shaw, a teller of Shawnee heritage.
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WHAT: Lecture: Machine Guns, Mothers’ Graves and Hitler the Haman: Soviet Yiddish Songs of World War II
WHEN: February 15th at 5 p.m.
WHERE: Illini Union, room 104
ABOUT: This lecture, by Anna Shternshis, the Al and Malka Green Associate Professor of Yiddish Studies at the University of Toronto, is sponsored by the program in Jewish Culture and Society.
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WHAT: Public Talk: “Aegean Adventures”
WHEN: February 17th at 4 p.m.
WHERE: Room 1080 (Lucy Ellis Lounge), Foreign Languages Building (FLB), 707 South Matthews Ave.
ABOUT: The Modern Greek Studies program at the University of Illinois will host University Of Illinois Alumnus and novelist Peter T. Tomaras. Mr. Tomaras will read an excerpt from his recently-published novel, Innkeeper and, as he discusses the challenges of writing fiction, will share some of his extensive life experiences in Greece and Cyprus that provide the foundation for this novel, as well as his previous book, Resistors.
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WHAT: Modern Greek Studies Movie Night: Peppermint
WHEN: February 24th at 6 p.m.
WHERE: Room 1080 (Lucy Ellis Lounge), Foreign Languages Building (FLB), 707 South Matthews Ave.
ABOUT: Stefanos is a man at his 40’s who has inherited a fortune from his mother’s aunt. One day Manolis, his schoolmate, calls him and invites him to a party featuring an old friends’ reunion. Surprised and delighted to hear his old friend’s voice, Stefanos travels back in time, to his childhood and his youth, and remembers his extraordinary relationship with his cousin Marina, his best friend and first love. This film is in Greek with English subtitles.
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WHAT: Miller/Comm Lecture: “Healing the Souls of Black Folks: Transformational Frameworks for the African Diaspora”
WHEN: February 25th at 4 p.m.
WHERE: Knight Auditorium of the Spurlock Museum (600 South Gregory)
ABOUT: In the narrative of black empowerment in the Afro-Atlantic diaspora, the concept of healing is transformational. The questions of coping, which W.E.B. DuBois wrestled with in his 1903 work, The Souls of Black Folk, are disturbingly familiar today. Examining African migration to Brazil and the Caribbean, Kim Butler explores the ways young people create a powerful language of healing through Carnival, Mandinga, and hoodoo bag, and how they grapple with white supremacy, dwindling educational opportunity, police violence, poor housing, and income disparities.
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We live near a major university and a community college. There are smart people that come here every week to talk to the general public about interesting topics. Here’s a sampling of the talks and events you can find in the not-so-ivy-covered buildings near you. These events are free and will fill your brain with yummy knowledge (and sometimes will fill your stomach with free eats).