center for media, culture and history
25 waverly place new york, ny 10003 tel. 212.998.3759
 


RELIGION AND THE POLITICS OF CULTURE
SPRING 2008

CENTER FOR MEDIA, CULTURE AND HISTORY
CENTER FOR RELIGION AND MEDIA

Roundtable Discussion
Monday/ January 28/ 5:00-7:00 pm
Jurow Hall, Silver Center
100 Washington Square East

On Suicide Bombings by Talal Asad (CUNY Graduate Center)

In his recent book Asad scrutinizes the idea of “clash of civilizations,” and explores suicide terrorism. Discussion with Gil Anidjar (Columbia) and Harry Harootunian (NYU). Moderated by Michael Gilsenan (NYU).

Kevorkian New Book Series
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Distinguished Lecture
Thursday/ January 31/ 6:30-8:00 pm
Jurow Hall, Silver Center
100 Washington Square East

Purnima Mankekar (UCLA)
Religious Affiliation, Identity, and Patriotism: Publics and Publicity after September 11, 2001

How have the semiotics of recognition and misrecognition of minoritized subjects changed since 9/11? This talk draws on interviews with Sikh and Muslim South Asians and media representations of the 9/11 attacks to trace how religious affiliations have mutated into racial identities.
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Screenings/Roundtable
Friday/ February 15/ 1:00-6:00 pm
Casa Italiana Zerilli-Marimo, 24 West 12th Street

The Cross & The Camera: the films of Gan Xiao’er

In the post-Mao era, religious life rarely appears in China’s new independent films.  Gan's Raised From Dust portrays the troubles of a rural Christian family whose father is dying. The documentary Church Cinema shows Christian audiences’ reactions to his feature.

1:00-2:45 pm: Raised from Dust / Juzi chentu (2007, 102 min)
3:00-4:30 pm: Church Cinema / Jiaotang dianying (2008, 60 min) PREMIERE
4:30-6:00 pm: Roundtable with filmmaker Gan Xiao’er, Ruoyun Bai (Media, Culture and Communicaion), Jonathan Kahana (Cinema Studies), moderated by Angela Zito (CRM)

Co-sponsored with East Asian Studies, Cinema Studies and Religious Studies
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Lecture
Thursday/ February 28/ 6:30-8:00 pm
Room 300, Silver Center
100 Washington Square East

Chris Pinney (Northwestern University)
Lessons From Hell: Karma and Governmentality in Popular Indian Imagery

Anthropology Department Colloquium Series.
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Roundtable Discussion
Monday/ March 3/ 5:30-7:00 pm
Kevorkian Center, 50 Washington Square South

Impossible Archives

Based on their collaborative project, Index of the Disappeared, artists Mariam Ghani and Chitra Ganesh discuss legal, historical, and artistic strategies for archiving secret, undocumented, and censored materials.  With Ramzi Kassem (Yale Law School), Martha Wilson (performance artist, director of Franklin Furnace Archive), and Orit and Tal Halpern (new media artists).

Kevorkian Visual Culture Series
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Screening/Discussion
Friday/ March 7/ 4:00-6:00 pm
Tisch School of the Arts, 721 Broadway, Room 006

The Reunion of All My Babies (George Stoney, 1953/2007, 55 min.)
55 years ago, the classic documentary All My Babies celebrated the work of legendary midwife Mary Frances Coley. A Reunion of All My Babies, recently filmed in Albany, GA carries on the original film’s challenge to public policy about maternity care.

Post-screenng discussion with filmmaker George Stoney, Bernard Coley and David Bagnall.

ADDED ATTRACTION!
Flesh in Ecstasy
Gaston Lachaise and The Women He Loved
is a twenty-one minute film designed by Stoney and Bagnall to accompany a touring exhibit of the sculptor's works. This is its first New York screening.

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Lecture
Thursday/ April 3/ 6:00-8:00 pm
Hemmerdinger Hall, Silver Center
100 Washington Square East

Steve Feld (University of New Mexico)
On the Acoustic Materiality of Modernity in Accra:
Union Drivers, Klaxon Honk Horn, and the Chronotope of the Road

Annette B. Weiner Memorial Lecture, Anthropology Department Colloquium Series.
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Artist’s Talk
Monday/ April 7/ 5:00-7:00 pm
Kevorkian Center, 50 Washington Square South

Silence is Silver by Huda Lutfi (American University of Cairo)

One of Egypt’s most notable contemporary image makers with a feminist sensibility and a broad knowledge of Arab Muslim culture, in this work seeks to problematize censorship.

Kevorkian Visual Culture Series
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Screening/Discussion
Thursday/ April 10/ 6:00-8:30 pm
Kriser Room, 25 Waverly Place

Super, Girls! (Jian Yi, 2007, 123 min)

Jian Yi followed the second season of “Supergirls” China’s wildly popular response to “American Idol”. This intimate documentary shows young women changing their “destinies” as 400 million cell-phones hummed with votes. The government cancelled the show, citing its “vulgarity.”
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Colloquium

Objects of Affection: The Jewish Wedding in Media and Material Culture
Sunday/ April 13
Center for Jewish History, 15 W. 16 St., New York
(Schedule to be announced)

As the most elaborately celebrated of Jewish life cycle events, weddings provide rich opportunities to consider the intersection of media and Jewish religious life.  Scholars, artists, curators discuss the visual and material culture of weddings including photography, videography, music and their portrayal on stage and in film, literature, art, and museum display.

Please click here to view a copy of the schedule.

For more information please contact Jeffrey Shandler at JAShandler@aol.com

Co-sponsored by The Working Group on Jews, Media, and Religion of NYU’s Center for Religion and Media; and The Center for Jewish History.
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Screenings and Discussion
The First Thursdays Film Series

February 7, March 6, April 10 6:00-9:00 pm
Cantor Film Center, 36 East 8th Street

Scholars and filmmakers discuss controversial and insightful independent feature and documentary films, spotlighting Asian/Pacific/American diasporic filmmaking and issues.

Organized by the Asian/Pacific/American Institute at NYU
Information: http://www.apa.nyu.edu

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PROGRAM SUBJECT TO CHANGE
All events are co-sponsored by Cinema Studies (TSOA), Anthropology and Religious Studies and are free and open to the public. Seating is limited and on a first-come basis. Persons with a disability are requested to call 212-998-7608 for assistance.


Archive of past events at the Center for Media, Culture and History

 


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background images: Processional Projections Melissa Shiff (2003), Another Road Home Danae Elon (2004), Waiting for Miracles Ulla Dalum Berg (2003), Brian Larkin (1995).