On Campus:
Diversity Is Key
At CultureFest '96
Leslie Rice
Homewood
News and Information
|
CultureFest begins this Thursday on the Homewood campus, and
organizers think this year's event is bigger and better than
ever.
For the weeklong series, called "CultureFest '96: The World
Within Our Reach," students will bring to campus a wide range of
events including performances by the Lakota Sioux Indian Dance
Troupe; a musical drama in remembrance of Kristallnacht; lectures
by the chairman of the Congressional Black Caucus and
motivational speaker Samuel Betances; a foreign film festival;
and discussions on issues like the Iraqi-Kurd conflict, problems
of second-generation Asian Americans and ways to conquer one's
own homophobic views.
Students began CultureFest in 1987 to create the kind of
exciting intellectual environment that happens when there is a
social and cultural understanding among members of a diverse
community.
This year's co-chairs are junior Gitanjli (Tanya) Arora and
senior Varsha Reddy. Reddy said this CultureFest is much grander
than ones in years past largely due to the involvement of dean of
students Susan Boswell and the Homewood Committee on Diversity
and Community.
"They've encouraged a lot of different departments to get
involved," Reddy said, including the Counseling Office, Career
Planning and Development, Office of Volunteer Services and Campus
Ministries. "And the student cultural groups were also very
enthusiastic this year; they're putting on all sorts of events,
some that are just fun and entertaining, others that are very
consciousness-raising."
CultureFest '96: The World Within Our
Reach
Thursday, Nov. 7, noon
Breezeway between Ames and Krieger Halls
Opening ceremonies
|
Opening ceremonies to the annual week long-series of dance,
demonstrations, and discussions designed to celebrate the many
cultures that make up the Hopkins community. CultureFest '96
hopes to celebrate the beauty of our differences while
strengthening the ties that bind us together. Opening ceremonies
include an introduction by Hopkins president William R. Brody and
music by the Baltimore Islanders Steel Drum Band. Free. (410)
516-5435.
|
Thursday, Nov. 7, 7 p.m.
Newbury Auditorium, Mudd Hall
Film
|
Color of Fear. This 90-minute
documentary on racism is a searing
study of the experiences of two educators, activists, and
trainers on diversity issues. Free. (410) 516-5435.
|
Thursday, Nov. 7, 10 p.m.
E-Level Pub, Levering Hall
Band night
|
E-Level presents the Electric Chick Magnets, a
popular Syracuse-
based band that plays disco tunes from the 70s. $2. (410) 516-
5435.
|
Friday, Nov. 8, 7 p.m.
AMR 1 Multipurpose Room
Dance
|
The Afrikan Ancestors Living Theater will
perform traditional
African dance and ancestral art. The evening will include
interactive activities such as dancing to traditional drums and
songs, making masks and sculptures, learning how to prepare a
gele (a Ghanian woman's head wrap) and fixing a
delicious African
meal. Free. (410) 516-5435.
|
Saturday, Nov. 9, 8 and 10 p.m.
Locations listed below
Foreign film festival
|
8 p.m., AMR 1 TV Room: Shallow Grave
(Scotland, thriller). When
three friends discover that their roommate has mysteriously died
and left a suitcase under his bed, the boundaries of trust and
sanity are pushed to the extreme.
8 p.m., McCoy Multipurpose Room: Strawberry and
Chocolate (Cuba, drama/comedy). Experience the
passion of life and love with a
young, nationalist college student when he encounters two
extraordinary people.
10 p.m., AMR 1 TV Room: Before the Rain
(Macedonia, drama). A
Pulitzer Prize-winning photographer travels to his homeland of
Macedonia to salvage a small portion of peace that may be
left.
10 p.m., McCoy Multipurpose Room: The
Funeral (Japan, black
comedy). An old man's unexpected death creates hilarious
confusion when a modern Japanese family tries to undertake a
traditional Buddhist funeral.
All foreign films are subtitled. Free. (410) 516-5435.
|
Saturday, Nov. 9, 6 p.m.
AMR 1 Multipurpose Room
Talk
|
Dr. Frank Spellman and Dr. Desbele G.G. The JHU
Black Student
Union will present a unique look at the field of medicine in
America. Desbele left an outstanding career as an eye surgeon in
Eritrea to join the movement for Eritran Independence. He will
discuss his participation in the movement as well as his return
to medicine in the United States at Hopkins. Spellman, a JHU
alumnus, is also a renowned eye surgeon who practices in
Washington D.C. He will speak on his experiences as an African-
American in the medical field. Free. (410) 516-5435.
|
Saturday, Nov. 9, 10 p.m.
Glass Pavilion, Levering Hall
Salsa lessons
|
With a little music, ambience and enthusiasm JHU's Latin-American
student group OLE (Organizacion Latina
Estudiantil) will teach
you how to salsa like a native. Learn as professionals teach you
how to salsa, mamba and release your wild side. Free. (410) 516-
5435.
|
Sunday, Nov. 10, 7:30 p.m.
Schafler Auditorium, Bloomberg Center
Performance
|
"An Evening with Madame
F." This powerful experience of music,
song, and drama depicts the experience of Fania Fenelon, an
Auchwitz inmate forced to perform music for Nazi officials. The
performance takes place in observance of Kristallnacht, "The
Night of the Broken Glass." The evening remembers Nov. 10, 1938,
when 91 Jews were killed as rioters burned and destroyed Jewish
synagogues, homes, and shops in Germany and Austria. Sponsored by
Campus Ministries. Free. (410) 516-8188.
|
Monday, Nov. 11, 7 p.m.
Newbury Auditorium, Mudd Hall
Lecture
|
Rep. Donald Payne, D-NJ, will talk about the
NAACP and its future.
Payne is a prominent member of the House of Representatives and
is presently chairman of the Congressional Black Caucus. Free.
(410) 516-5435.
|
Monday, Nov. 11, 8 p.m.
Schafler Auditorium, Bloomberg Center
Discussion
|
The Iraqi-Kurd Conflict in the Middle East. This
panel, composed
of experts on the Middle East, will discuss the Iraqi-Kurdish
conflict. Participants include Rend Rahim
Francke, an expert on
the Ba'th party's political impact on Iraqi society since its
takeover in 1968; Nameer Jawdat, an Iraqi-born
political analyst;
Ebrahim Marashi, a politically active student who has worked at
the Iraqi Front Desk; Phoebe Marr, professor at
War College and
expert on the history of the conflict; Barham
Salih,
representative to the United States from the Patriotic Union of
Kurdistan; Muawhid Shah, editor of the Asian
Review who will
discuss the Muslim perspective in the Arab World; Joshua
Sinai
from the Library of Congress, who will discuss the factors that
prevent the Kurds from establishing their own nation and will
propose some creative solutions to the Kurdish predicament and
Kani Xulam, director of the American Kurdish
Information Network
who will talk about the history and culture of the Kurds. Free.
The event will be followed by a reception catered by the
Cheesecake Factory. (410)516-5435.
|
Monday, Nov. 11, 8 and 10 p.m.
Locations listed below
Foreign film festival
|
8 p.m., AMR 1 Multipurpose Room: Eat Drink Man
Woman (China,
drama). Enter the world of Chinese cuisine where a master chef is
about to discover the importance of love over his culinary
creations.
8 p.m. McCoy Multipurpose Room: The Adventures of
Priscilla,
Queen of the Desert (Australia, comedy). Three drag
queens are
about to relive their theatrical glory days on one wild road trip
through Australia.
10 p.m., AMR 1 TV Room: Man Bites Dog
(France, black comedy).
Follow a film crew as they document the life of a charming,
philosophical homicidal maniac and try to keep their objectives
straight.
10 p.m., McCoy Multipurpose Room: Wend
Kuuni (Burkino Faso,
drama). A mute abandoned child is adopted by a villagers who name
him "God's Gift." Journey with them to rediscover his
past
through traditional values. All foreign films are subtitled.
Free. (410) 516-5435,
|
Tuesday, Nov. 12, 8 p.m.
Shriver Hall
Dance
|
Lakota Sioux Dance
Theater.
This 15-member Native-American dance troupe will perform
Cokata
Upo! (Come to the Center!) in three
parts: birth, death and rebirth of a nation. The program includes
the grass, jingle dress, fancy, traditional, horse, buffalo,
eagle, round and inter-tribal dances, juxtaposed with dance
interpretations of the Lakota warrior tradition. The dances are
performed against a backdrop of spectacular video imagery and
traditional, sacred, and courting songs. $8 general admission, $5
for Hopkins students. (410) 516-8209.
|
Wednesday, Nov. 13, 3 p.m.
Great Hall, Levering Union
Discussion
|
"Breaking Barriers: Cracking the Corporate
Ceiling." Although
some progress has been made to provide equal opportunities, is
there equal representation of women and minorities in upper-level
management positions? What can you do to get on the fast track?
Representatives from government and the private sector will
discuss how women and minorities can break the barriers into
upper-level management positions. Presented by the
Office of
Career Planning and Development. Free. (410) 516- 8056.
|
Wednesday, Nov. 13, 8 p.m.
Newbury Auditorium, Mudd Hall
Lecture
|
The Frank R. Kent Memorial Lecture
with Frank Rich, op-ed
columnist for The New York Times. Rich's twice-weekly
column
comments upon American society and culture, drawing from his
background as theater critic and observer of art, entertainment,
and politics. Presented by the Office of
Special Events. Free.
(410) 516-7157.
|
Wednesday, Nov. 13, 10 p.m.
E-Level Pub, Levering Hall
Party
|
Arabian Night. Come to E-Level for a magical
night in the Middle
East. There will be exotic foods, beautiful surroundings, live
music, and professional belly-dancing. Afterward, dance till 2
a.m. to the latest Arab-American music. Free. (410) 516-5435.
|
Wednesday, Nov. 13, 10 p.m. and
midnight
Locations listed below
Foreign film festival
|
10 p.m., AMR 1 TV Room: The Two
Daughters (India, drama/comedy).
Two stories of relationships, one concerning the encounter
between a postmaster and an orphan girl and another chronicling a
man who rejects his mother's choice of a bride.
10 p.m., McCoy Multipurpose Room: Swimming With Sharks (USA,
black comedy). Discover the story of an aspiring young man as he
tries to enter the harsh world of corporate climbing in the
Hollywood film industry.
Midnight, AMR 1 TV Room: The Vanishing.
(The Netherlands, France,
thriller). The psychodrama of a man's obsession to discover what
happened to his girlfriend, who inexplicably vanishes at a
vacation rest stop.
Midnight, McCoy Multipurpose Room: Night on
Earth (USA, drama,
comedy). Five separate stories of five taxi drivers in five
different cities around the world in one night. Start the meter.
All foreign films are subtitled. Free. (410) 516-5435.
|
Thursday, Nov. 14, noon to 4
p.m.
Glass Pavilion
Fair
|
Grab a CultureFest '96 passport and let student cultural
groups
take you on a trip to faraway lands. Stroll through the bazaar to
learn customs of other nations, write in different languages,
dress in a foreign land, and learn how to prepare some of the
most exotic foods in the world. Free. (410) 516-5435.
|
Thursday, Nov. 14, 5 p.m.
111 Mergenthaler
Lecture
|
"Between Two Worlds: Experiences of Second-Generation
Asian-
Americans." Asian-American college students in the U.S.
are often
socialized in two differing value systems -- the more
"traditional" Eastern mores of their parents and Western
traditions of the mainstream North American culture. This seminar
will explore some of the specific ways in which this issue
affects Asian families in the United States and how those of the
second-generation balance the sometimes differing demands of
Eastern and Western cultures. Free. (410) 516-5435.
|
Thursday, Nov. 14, 8 p.m.
Shriver Hall
Lecture
|
A talk by Samuel Betances, a leading
motivational speaker in the
United States. Betances presents refreshing, informative, and
witty new perceptions concerning issues of diversity. A biracial,
bicultural, and bilingual citizen of the world, Betances rose
from inner city poverty, racial discrimination, violence,
welfare, and illiteracy. He has a master's and doctorate from
Harvard University, is professor emeritus of sociology at
Northeastern Illinois University, and is a national and
international consultant on diversity issues. Free. (410) 516-
5435.
|
Friday, Nov. 15, 3 p.m.
AMR 1 Multipurpose Room
Discussion
|
"Social Aspects of Sexuality." The panel of
speakers in this
discussion will address topics aimed at a primarily heterosexual
audience. Topics will include heterosexual and homosexual
friendships, student-to-student social interactions, and
conquering one's own homophobic views. Free. (410) 516-5435.
|
Friday, Nov. 15, 7 p.m.
Levering Hall
Closing party
|
"The Tastes and Sounds of the World."
CultureFest '96 wraps with
a dinner banquet and cultural show. Baltimore's finest ethnic
restaurants will offer a vast array of dishes. During dessert,
enjoy a celebration of culture with performances by Hopkins
student groups.
Afterwards, join New York City's Magic Sounds D.J. in E-
Level and dance to the latest dance music from countries all over
the world. $8 for both the banquet and E-Level; $3 admission to
E-Level only. (410) 516-5435.
|
Go back to Previous Page
Go to Gazette Homepage
|