AMERICAN COMMUNITIES PROGRAM
Spring 2012 Calendar of Events: “Utopic/Dystopic Imaginings”
(All events are free and open to students, faculty, staff, and the public.)
Film: The Garden (Director Present!)
Thursday, April 5 • 6:15 pm • U-SU Theatre
1st floor • University-Student Union
This documentary tells the story of the South Central Farm, started as a form of healing after the devastating L.A. Civil Unrest in 1992, where residents could grow their own food, feed their families, and create community. (2008; Running time: 80 minutes). Presented in conjunction with Cross Cultural Centers’ “Independent Visions” series. Director Scott Hamilton Kennedy joins us for discussion after the film!
Border Politics from Above & Below:
Organizing for Justice in Spite of Elections
Thursday, April 26 • 11:30-1:15pm • Salazar Hall C141
Macrina Cárdenas de Alarcon and the Mexico Solidarity Network offer an in-depth discussion of the current situation at the U.S.-Mexico border, in a presentation that weaves together a political analysis of the current conflict, an appreciation for social movements' acts of resistance and solidarity, and Macrina's firsthand stories from life in Tijuana. Co-sponsored with CSULA’s Latin American Studies Program.
Revisiting 1992’s Civil Unrest: L.A. Then and Now
Wednesday, May 2 • 12 – 2 pm • U-SU Theatre
1st floor • University-Student Union
ACP and the Pan African Student Resource Center welcome you to take a look back at the 1992 Los Angeles Civil Unrest, which began following the acquittal of four Los Angeles Police Department officers accused in the videotaped beating of black motorist Rodney King. Faculty, staff, and community members share their insights into race/ethnicity, class, community/police relations, criminalization of communities of color, and the state of L.A. from 1992 to present day. Reception to follow.
Afro-futurism, Science Fiction, and Utopia
Wednesday, May 16 • 6:15 pm • U-SU Theatre
1st floor • University-Student Union
Join us for a roundtable discussion of the tradition of utopian narratives created by African Americans, a tradition that dates back to the 19th century. Featuring Dr. Lisa Yaszek (Georgia Tech), Dr. Kara Keeling (USC), and CSULA’s Dr. Patrick Sharp.
The Vortex of Celebrity: An Evening with Douglas Mao
Thursday, May 17 • 6:15 pm • Los Angeles Room
3rd Floor • University-Student Union
ACP is proud to co-sponsor this year's David Kubal Memorial Lecture, presented by Dr. Douglas Mao of Johns Hopkins University. His talk, "The Vortex of Celebrity," begins with Wyndham Lewis's transformation from literary celebrity to soldier in the Great War and goes on to consider relationships between the scene of war and fantasies of celebrity life in multiple nineteenth- and twentieth-century contexts. Dr. Mao specializes in modernist fiction and poetry of Britain, Ireland, and the United States, and is the author of Solid Objects: Modernism and the Test of Production (Princeton, 1998) and Fateful Beauty: Aesthetic Environments, Juvenile Development, and Literature 1860-1960 (Princeton, 2008).
ACP Fellows Colloquium: Utopic/Dystopic Imaginings
Monday, May 21 • 4:20 pm • Los Angeles Room AB
3rd floor • University-Student Union
Join us as the 2011-2012 American Communities Fellows, Dr. Choi Chatterjee (History), Dr. Maria Karafilis (English), Dr. Molly Talcott (Sociology), and Dr. Mark Wild (History) share the results of their research projects on this year’s theme.
Presented by the American Communities Program, and co-sponsored by Cross Cultural Centers, Department of English, Latin American Studies Program, College of Arts and Letters, Center for the Study of Genders and Sexualities, Center for Contemporary Poetry and Poetics, Dr. Joseph A. Bailey II, M.D., University-Student Union, and student fees.
For more information, or to request accommodations for a disability, please contact Dr. Andrew Knighton, American Communities Program Director, at aknight@calstatela.edu or (323) 343-4164, or find us online at Facebook: American Communities Program.
Nominal parking fee for off-campus guests.