Note to editors and reporters: Reporters are welcome to cover the videoconference on Wednesday, Oct. 3, 9:30 a.m.-12:30 p.m., at Cal State L.A. in King Hall, room C-172. Please contact the Public Affairs office ahead of time at (323) 343-3050 to arrange interviews.
‘Dramas and Trauma’ to take literary look at Iraq war as
Cal State L.A. links live with London, Glasgow Oct. 3
to visit Cal State L.A. students, faculty
Los Angeles, CA -- While the war in Iraq dominates the media, there has been remarkably little literary writing that engages with it directly.
On Wednesday, Oct. 3, “Dramas and Trauma: Writers’ Reponses to War”—a live three-way videoconference at Cal State L.A.—will aim to assess and analyze the current complexities surrounding writing, performance and the Iraq War in an Anglo-American context, with the focus on literature as opposed to political referendum.
Exploring the National Theatre of Scotland’s production of the stage drama “Black Watch” in terms of conflict, trauma and national identity, professors and students from Cal State L.A. will engage in trans-Atlantic but face-to-face discussions with counterparts from Royal Holloway, University of London and the University of Glasgow, Scotland.
Funded by the British Council and cosponsored by Cal State L.A.’s Center for Contemporary Poetry and Poetics, the videoconference will be held in King Hall, room C-172, on the Cal State L.A. campus, while being held simultaneously at sites in London and Glasgow.
“Black Watch,” by playwright Gregory Burke and directed by John Tiffany, examines the war in Iraq as described by soldiers in Scotland’s legendary Black Watch regiment. The play is an adaptation of actual transcripts of interviews with Scottish soldiers who had served in Iraq. The U.S. premiere of “Black Watch” opened to rave reviews on Sept. 18 and will run until Oct. 14 at UCLA’s Freud Playhouse.
Cal State L.A. English Professor Lauri Ramey, the videoconference co-organizer and director of Cal State L.A.’s poetry center, says, “Cal State L.A. is proud to be a core participant in the conversations surrounding the presentation of this play in its U.S. premiere. We are pleased to continue our partnership with the British Council, which has been visionary in its sponsorship of timely cultural events throughout the world.”
Ramey says, “By participating in this videoconference, which focuses on a contemporary play about a current topic, students learn that education has immediate application. We are providing them with practical experience as thinking individuals and artists.”
On Tuesday, Oct. 9, 1:30 p.m., the Cal State L.A. community will have an opportunity to meet four members of the “Black Watch” cast. They are coming to King Hall, room 5108, at Cal State L.A. to discuss rehearsal and performance strategies, and issues they grappled with in trying to empathize as actors with the soldiers’ experiences.
For more information on the videoconference, contact Ramey at (323) 343-4165 or [email protected].
Videoconference Program at Cal State L.A. (King Hall, room C-172)
9:30 a.m. to 12:30 p.m., Wednesday, Oct. 3, 2007. (5:30 to 8:30 p.m. in London and Glasgow): 9:30 - Welcome/icebreaker-first impressions of “Black Watch”
9:40 - Lead paper from Glasgow
10:00 - Response from Oli Belas of London
10:05 - Response from Lauri Ramey of Cal State L.A.
10:10 - Additional comments, bookmarking main points
10:30 - Break
10:45 - Offline discussions of presentations
11:30 - Open discussions between students at all three sites
noon - Additional comments and final discussion
12:30 - Lauri Ramey, Cal State L.A. students, faculty available for interviews
Working for California since 1947: The 175-acre hilltop campus of California State University, Los Angeles is at the heart of a major metropolitan city, just five miles from Los Angeles’ civic and cultural center. More than 20,000 students and 200,000 alumni—with a wide variety of interests, ages and backgrounds—reflect the city’s dynamic mix of populations. Six colleges offer nationally recognized science, arts, business, criminal justice, engineering, nursing, education and humanities programs, among others, led by an award-winning faculty. Cal State L.A. is home to the critically-acclaimed Luckman Jazz Orchestra and to a unique university center for gifted students as young as 12. Programs that provide exciting enrichment opportunities to students and community include an NEH- and Rockefeller-supported humanities center; a NASA-funded center for space research; and a growing forensic science program, to be housed in the Hertzberg-Davis Forensic Science Center. www.calstatela.edu
About the British Council: The UK’s international organization for educational and cultural relations, the British Council builds long-term relationships between the US and the UK and fosters appreciation of the UK’s creative ideas and achievements.
The British Council increases recognition of the wide array of learning opportunities available in England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland, and facilitates educational cooperation between the US and UK. Through transatlantic artistic partnerships, the organization introduces the American public to high-quality, groundbreaking creative achievements from the UK, and its science programs build networks that draw upon the UK's innovation in biotechnology, climate change and other disciplines. For more information, visit www.britishcouncil.org/usa.