Smile Politely

Listen Up: January 2016

This month’s academic offerings include film screenings, lectures, and a continuation of campus’s debate surrounding Steven Salaita. 

WHAT: Videoconference Panel Discussion (with U. of Pittsburgh): The Rise of the Right: Survey the American and European Political Landscapes

WHEN: January 19th at 11 a.m.

WHERE: Room 411, International Programs and Studies Building, 507 E. Green St., Champaign, IL

ABOUT: Participants are welcome to discuss the politics of America and Europe with others in this videoconference session.

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WHAT: Yoga and the Creative Arts: Realizing your Fullest Potential

WHEN: January 20 at 6:30 p.m.

WHERE: Krannert Center for the Performing Arts Foellinger Great Hall

ABOUT: Dr. Lisa Garner Santa, Professor of Flute at Texas Tech University, and Director of Yoga Shala Lubbock presents an innovative lecture-demonstration, facilitating peak performance through yoga. Participants are encouraged to dress comfortably and bring a yoga mat or equivalent.

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WHAT: Round table: “Grand Challenge Learning: Piloting Interdisciplinary Teaching”

WHEN: January 21st at 4 p.m.

WHERE: IPRH Lecture Hall, Levis Faculty Center, Fourth Floor 

ABOUT: Join four faculty members to learn about teaching in the campus’s new pilot program in Grand Challenge Learning at the gen ed level.

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WHAT: Lecture: “Learning and Discouragement: Job Search Dynamics during the Great Recession”

WHEN: January 22nd at 3:30 p.m.

WHERE: 7 David Kinley Hall

ABOUT: This lecture is by Tristan Potter of Boston College.

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WHAT: Screening of the Film Borrowed Identity

WHEN: January 25th at 7:30 p.m.

WHERE: Art Theater, 126 W. Church St.

ABOUT: This film is based on Sayed Kashua’s novel Dancing Arabs. There will be a Q & A with Kashua following the screening.

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WHAT: MillerComm Lecture: “All Islands Connect under Water: Making Art, Making Community”

WHEN: January 26th at 4 p.m.

WHERE: Knight Auditorium, Spurlock Museum, 600 South Gregory, Urbana

ABOUT: Ping Chong’s work explores interdisciplinary art as an avenue for social change through the intersection of race, culture, history, art and technology in the modern world. Recipient of a 2014 National Medal of Art, he is acclaimed for bringing unheard voices to the stage and for creating art that addresses issues of inequality, equity, and social justice with beauty and precision. In this presentation Ping Chong will discuss the evolution of this interdisciplinary approach to theater in relationship to changes in contemporary arts and culture over the last 40 years using illustrations from his work.

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WHAT: Lecture: “Making Memory in a German Family: The Autobiographical Writings of the Oettingers from the 1680s to the 1930s”

WHEN: January 26th at 3:30 p.m.

WHERE: 1090 Lincoln Hall

ABOUT: This lecture is by Roberto Zaugg of the Université de Lausanne.

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WHAT: Lecture: “Cook and Peary: The Race to the North Pole”

WHEN: January 27th at 4 p.m.

WHERE: Spurlock Museum, 600 S. Gregory, Urbana

ABOUT: In 1909, Robert Peary and Frederick Cook each began a trip to be the first to the North Pole. The results have generated controversy for more than a century. This talk by Sharon Michalove will trace the history of their rivalry and the story of their journeys. This lecture supports the current “North of the Northern Lights” exhibit at the Spurlock Museum. This exhibit and its associated events are sponsored by the Dr. Allan C. Campbell Family Distinguished Speaker Series and co-sponsored by the University of Illinois European Union Center, funded in part by a US Department of Education Title VI grant.

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WHAT: Lecture: “Learning to be Human in the European Middle Ages”

WHEN: January 27th at 5 p.m.

WHERE: School of Architecture, Room 302, 117 Temple Hoyne Buell Hall, 611 E. Lorado Taft, Champaign

ABOUT: This lecture is sponsored by the Program in Medieval Studies. 

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WHAT: SocialFuse

WHEN: January 27th at 6 p.m.

WHERE: Krannert Center for the Performing Arts

ABOUT: SocialFuse is a recurring pitching and networking event that brings students, faculty and community together from a variety of majors and backgrounds and fuses them through skills, ideas and entrepreneurial ambition.  Attendees can pitch their startup ideas, find teammates, improve presentation skills and get feedback. The event begins with a round of short pitching and idea sharing followed by informal networking. This event is a great way for entrepreneurs to build well-rounded, multi-disciplinary teams to move ideas forward and create successful companies.

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WHAT: Lecture: “What Is Greco-Roman Protreptic?”

WHEN: January 29th at 2 p.m.

WHERE: Lucy Ellis Lounge 1080 Foreign Languages Building

ABOUT: In the strict sense of the term, ‘protreptic’ is an exhortation to philosophy. In order to explain the nature and historical development of this form of address in Greco-Roman literature I discuss Demetr. Eloc. 296–298, a passage that fully foreshadows modern speech act theory. The approach taken by Demetrius successfully solves the old and seemingly desperate problem of defining protreptic as a literary genre in terms of form and content: because it is essentially a speech act, protreptic is not tied to a particular literary form, nor to a particular philosophical teaching. The new interpretative model fully accommodates the variety of material that constitutes Greco-Roman protreptic corpus.

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WHAT: Writing as a Palestinian in American Indian Studies: The Case of Dr. Steven Salaita

WHEN: January 29th at 12 p.m.

WHERE: Native American House

ABOUT: Eman Ghanayem, a doctoral student in the Department of English, will lead this discussion.

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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).   

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