Around Campus: Upcoming events at UM-Dearborn

November 7, 2011

Select, upcoming events at UM-Dearborn

Tuesday, Nov. 8, 2011

Paul Spickard, a professor of history at the University of California, Santa Barbara, and a specialist on race and ethnicity in the United States and in comparative international perspective, will present “War on Terror, War on Immigrants: Race, Religion, and Membership in America since September 11, 2001” on Nov. 8.

The event, which is free and open to the public, will take place at 1 p.m. in Room 1500 Social Sciences Building. Light refreshments will begin at noon.

After the attacks of September 11, 2001, the United States government and the American people threw themselves into what they called a “War on Terror.” It became a war on immigrants. In what amounted to a racialization of religion, Muslim Americans were singled out as irredeemably foreign and sinister. The gradual darkening in the public mind of Arab, Muslim, and other Middle Eastern Americans, which had begun in the 1970s, quickened apace. Anti-Muslim demagogues found sinister intent in the building of mosques and in charitable activities. In a flight of rhetorical lunacy, anti-immigrant demagogues blamed the September 11 attacks on the lack of a wall along the US-Mexico border. Deportations skyrocketed. Newly-brown Americans of Middle Eastern descent found themselves conflated in public rhetoric with Americans of Mexican descent, and both came to be regarded as permanent foreigners in American society despite their formal citizenship. The race for the Republican presidential nomination in 2012 became a contest to see who could promise the highest level of abuse for immigrants. Professor Spickard will chart the causes and course of these interlocking hysterias and contemplate what may be in store for Middle Eastern peoples and Latinos in the United States.

The event is sponsored by the Arab Student Union, the departments of social sciences and history, and the College of Arts, Sciences, and Letters.

Wednesday, Nov. 9, 2011

Baroque harpsichordist and violinist Nadja Lesaulnier will visit campus Wednesday, Nov. 9 for a special performance and conversation from 11:30 a.m. to 12:45 p.m. in Kochoff A, University Center.

The event is a special meeting of Vera Flaig's “Introduction to Music” course (MHIS 100), where Lesaulnier will discuss the nature of 18th-century music, its clarity and ornamentation, in relation to the style and culture of its day, and her role/career as a period instrumentalist and a modern woman performing artist.

Lesaulnier’s talk and performance is co-sponsored by the CASL Dean's Office and the disciplines of modern languages, history and music. Admission is free.

Wednesday, Nov. 16, 2011

Thomas Pyszczynski, Distinguished Professor of Psychology at the University of Colorado at Colorado Springs, will visit UM-Dearborn to present a talk on “Terror Management Theory” as part of a special series of CASL lectures commemorating the events of 9/11.

Pyszczynski’s talk, which is free and open to the public, will take place at 4:30 p.m. Weds. Nov. 16 in Room 1500 Social Sciences Building. The event is sponsored by the Department of Behavioral Sciences and the College of Arts, Sciences, and Letters.

Pyszczynski is co-author of In the Wake of 9/11: The Psychology of Terror, which explores the emotions of despair, fear and anger that arose after the terrorist attacks on the World Trade Center and the Pentagon on Sept. 11, 2001. In the book, the authors analyze reactions to the attacks through the lens of terror management theory, an existential psychological model that explains why humans react the way they do to the threat of death and how this reaction influences their post-threat cognition and emotion.

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In recognition of Veterans Day, the Student Activities Office, Veteran Success Team and Student Veterans Association will show the film Where Soldiers Come From at 7 p.m. Wednesday, Nov. 16 in Kochoff Hall A of the University Center.

From a snowy small town in Northern Michigan to the mountains of Afghanistan and back, Where Soldiers Come From follows the four-year journey of childhood friends, forever changed by a faraway war.

A documentary about growing up, Where Soldiers Come From is an intimate look at the young men who fight our wars and the families and towns they come from. Returning to her hometown, director Heather Courtney gains extraordinary access following these young men as they grow and change from teenagers stuck in their town, to 23-year-old veterans facing the struggles of returning home.

Watch a trailer for the film: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gWixLvfef0Y

Thursday, Nov. 17, 2011

Students learning Arabic, French, German and Spanish will read poems and perform excerpts from plays as part of the “A Polyglotinous Lollapalooza: Celebrating Literature in Four Languages” event on Nov. 17.

The event, which is free and open to the public, will take place from 7 p.m. to 8 p.m. in Room 1500, Science Building. It is sponsored by Modern and Classical Languages in the Department of Language, Culture, and Communication at UM-Dearborn. Refreshments will be served.

Translations or short summaries will be provided, so even those who don’t speak or understand Arabic, French, German or Spanish will enjoy the music of the languages.

Saturday, Nov. 19, 2011

The Henry Ford Estate will host a holiday wreath-making workshop on Saturday, Nov. 19 from 9 a.m. to noon. Professional florists from Christopher & Co. will teach the class.

Participants will make a holiday wreath with fresh greens and seasonal decorations to take home that day. The program is geared for adults and youths aged 12 and up. Workshop fee is $35 per person and includes materials. Proceeds benefit the Henry Ford Estate Gardens.

Registration and pre-payment required by Nov.18. Seating is limited seating, so early registration is encouraged.

For more information, contact Karen Marzonie at 313-701-2240 or Pamela Morrison at 313-701-2241 weekdays.

Tuesday, Nov. 22, 2011

American Studies, in cooperation with the Student Activities Board, African and African American Studies and the First Year Seminar program, will host a museum exhibit, seminar, video screening and performance featuring Khalid El-Hakim of the Black History 101 Mobile Museum, 5ELA hip hop artists (Thyme, Mudd and DJ Sicari), and Steve Furay of Common Breath Media, who will use various media to teach about the history of the hip hop movement in a global and local context.

The event, will take place from noon to 5 p.m. on Nov. 22 in Kochoff Hall B:

Noon to 5 p.m. - Black History 101 Mobile Museum Exhibit: “And the Legacy Continues…”

Through rare albums, photographs, magazines, concert flyers, posters, lyric books and many other artifacts, "And the Legacy Continues..." exhibit highlights over 30 years of Hip Hop culture beginning with artifacts from the Bronx and ending with material objects that reflect Detroit artists' influence on this global phenomenon.