Tag Archives: discussion

EVENT
Conversation about Music, Feminism and Cultural Production with Whore Paint

Feminist, artist, musician, and citizen of humanity Ally Bernstein ’13 is continuing the discussion:

How can we foster an inclusive and exciting music and arts scene at Wesleyan?

Recently, I wrote an opinion piece about the lack of female performers in Spring Fling (since then, Girl#$wag has been added to the line-up; shout out Emma Daniels ’13). Members of the band Whore Paint (hailing from Providence, RI) will be on campus at 4:00 PM to discuss their experiences and answer questions. All are welcome to come share and discuss strategies for fostering an empowering scene at Wesleyan.

Date: Saturday, May 4
Time: 4:oo PM
Place: Room 113, 41 Wyllys

Read on for Ally’s rundown of Whore Paint’s members.

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EVENT
Discussion on “Peaceful” Uprising in Tunisia

From Joe Ringoen ’14:

Arab Spring in Focus: The “Peaceful” Revolution in Tunisia

Interested in the Arab Spring? Not sure what to do with your WesFest prefrosh? Come out to WesAmnesty’s main spring event on Thursday night!

The event will include a brief video presentation, followed by a panel discussion and Q&A led by students and faculty. They will contribute diverse perspectives on the unique revolution occurring in Tunisia, from personal accounts to academic knowledge of the social movement. Mahmoud Ghedira ’16, a Tunisian native, inspired the event after creating a viral YouTube video of Tunisian students in America expressing their solidarity with the Tunisian people.

Date: Thursday, April 18
Time: 8-9 pm
Place: PAC001

EVENT
Palestinian Justice Film Series: Salt of this Sea

Samantha Sikder ’14 writes in with the next installment of the Palestinian Justice Film Series:

The Palestinian Justice Film Series continues this week with Salt of this Sea. Join us a for a viewing, snacks and discussion.

“Annemarie Jacir’s politically charged feature debut is the story of Soraya (Suheir Hammad), a Brooklyn-born woman who travels to Palestine to retrieve her grandfather’s savings, frozen in a Jaffa bank account after his 1948 exile. Struggling to feel at home in the land of her ancestors — and rebuffed by the country’s financial institutions — she meets Emad, a young Palestinian whose ambition, contrary to hers, is to leave forever. Tired of the constraints that dictate their lives, they devise a plan to reclaim what is theirs — whatever the consequences may be.”

Date: Today, April 17

Time: 8pm

Place: PAC104

Face the Book: Here

EVENT
HUMANITY FESTIVAL FEATURING AMANDA PALMER

If you’re a senior and you’re reading this: you’re too drunk or too tired to read this (or both). Go to bed. Otherwise, check out this big thingamajig that Raechel Rosen ’15 has put together, apparently with some inspiration from Dar Williams ’89:

Humanity Festival is a one-day musical celebration in solidarity
against bigotry, racism, and social divisions within a community.
Foss Hill. Saturday. 3:00 pm. Come dance,sing, discuss, and smile
with:

Amanda Palmer

Don Minott (with Wesleyan student accompaniment including Matt

Chillton, Leo Grossman, Zach Kantor, Angus Macdonald, and Jacob Masters)

Jess Best, Mel Hsu & Sam Friedman

Siren

Oz, Rhys Langston, & Izzy

Along with many talented spoken word artists. There will be time
between sets, called SOAP BOX, for members of the audience to say
their piece about the divisions present in the Wesleyan and greater
Middletown community.

Sponsored by Gibson Guitars and the 1Love foundation.

Date: Tomorrow, April 13th
Time: 3 PM
Place: Foss Hill
Facebook: Event
Website: HumanityFestival.org

FEATURED
Complete Video: Panel on Guns and Gun Violence

Back in February, just before winter storm Nemo crippled most of campus, the CFA Hall hosted “Guns and Gun Violence: Crisis, Policy and Politics,” a panel discussion featuring various visiting scholars. Chaired by Wesleyan’s own Professor of History and African-American Studies Leah Wright, the discussion involved professors Saul Cornell, Kristin A. Goss, and Matthew Miller from Fordham, Duke, and Harvard, respectively—a rather stacked lineup of experts. The room was packed, but in his reflection on the discussion that ensued, Wesleying’s justice described it as an echo chamber of predominantly left-leaning views:

While I will happily advocate for the liberal solution for many issues (with appropriate data as backup), I would also like to hear what people with “non-traditionally-Wesleyan” opinions have to say, especially with an issue as explosive as gun control. And this event would have been a perfect opportunity to bring in a panelist with a non-liberal perspective. But we didn’t. And we can tell ourselves all we want that this was because the “other side” simply isn’t correct, but in the end, that’s the real problem—we’re just talking to ourselves.

If you missed the event but remain interested, the Allbritton Center for Building Names That Sound Like Robots has only recently managed to post the entire thing on YouTube. Judge for yourself—watch it below, or at this link.

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EVENT
Prison-Based Gerrymandering: A Discussion

Alicia Gansley ’15 reminds us how awesome the word “gerrymandering” is:

How does the prison industrial complex steal your vote?

Peter Wagner, Executive Director of the Prison Policy Initiative, is leading a national movement to protect our democracy from the prison industrial complex. His pioneering work at the intersection of criminal justice and electoral representation has permanently changed how legislative districts are being drawn in 4 states, and has inspired pending legislation in 9 states including Connecticut. Wagner, the nation’s leading expert on “prison gerrymandering”, will be in Middletown to explain how legislators who have prisons in their districts get to claim incarcerated people as their constituents, deny them the vote, and then turn around to push for harsher sentencing laws. And Wagner will explain what you can do about it.

Co-sponsored by Wesleyan Democracy Matters and the WesACLU

Date: Wednesday, March 27
Time: 7:00 p.m.
Place: PAC001
Cost: Free

EVENT
Liberating Education & Deschooling Anti-Austerity

Why are we in here and not out there? How can we reconcile the intellectual merits of the Academy with its role in perpetuating class divisions? What is the role of education in our daily lives and in society as a whole? Is struggling for need-blind enough, or do we need to go beyond offering “equal access” to alienating, repressive, and reactionary institutions?

If you’ve ever found yourself pondering these questions, this event on Saturday is a can’t-miss. Rumor has it a covert collaborator from inside the Wesleyan sociology department might make an appearance. Dan Fischer ’12 with the deets:

How can we defend our schools at the same time as we work to radically transform or even abolish them? This roundtable aims to find areas for collaboration between teachers’ union, student anti-austerity, deschooling, unschooling, horizontal pedagogy, and free school movements, among others.

12:00 – 12:30   Remarks by Daniel Long, Professor of Sociology
12:30 – 1:30     Schooling and Austerity: The Public School Dilemma
1:30 – 2:30       Unschooling: Opting Out and Overcoming Barriers to Access
                         or Resisting the Neoliberal Academy: Beyond Need Blind
2:30 – 3:30       The School-to-Prison Pipeline in CT
                         or Technology and Survelliance: Impacts on Schools
3:30 – 4:00        Open Discussion

“If we want to abolish prisons, then in a sense we’re going to have to abolish schools in the way they currently reproduce the prison and disciplinary technologies.” -Angela Davis

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EVENT
Open Discussion with Roth: Research at Wesleyan

ROTHROTHROTHROTHROTHROTHROTHROTHROTHROTHROTHROTHROTHROTHROTHROTHROTHROTHROTHROTHROTHROTHROTHROTHROTHROTHROTHROTHROTHROTHROTHROTHROTHROTHROTHROTHROTHROTHROTHROTHROTHROTHROTHROTHROTHROTHROTHROTHROTHROTHROTHROTHROTHROTHROTHROTHROTHROTHROTHROTHROTHROTHROTHROTHROTHROTHROTHROTHROTHROTHROTHROTHROTHROTHROTHROTHROTHROTHROTHROTHROTHROTHROTHROTH From Andrew Trexler ’14 comes an opportunity to spend some cozy-time with President Roth tomorrow at noon, before this weekend’s Board of Trustees meeting:

I am writing to invite you to participate in a new form of student engagement with President Michael Roth and the Board of Trustees. Over the past several months, I have worked with the President’s Office to organize a face-to-face discussion with the President on an open question about Wesleyan’s future direction, shape, and character. Board meetings (in which WSA representatives participate) usually address one such question, and this time around I am pleased to announce that the question is also being posed to the student body as a whole.

President Roth’s question:

We often talk about the scholar-teacher model as being at the heart of Wesleyan’s educational experience. I believe very strongly that much of the work that our faculty do to advance their own fields makes their teaching sharper and more vital. But not all research finds its way into the classroom, and at many universities there is a strong feeling that research serves some larger cultural good — not just the good of the students. This is much less true at most liberal arts colleges. Many professors at institutions that value research express that they want time “to do their own work,” and this often means work that serves their disciplines, not (necessarily) the university.

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EVENT
Veritas Forum Follow-Up Discussion: Monopolizing Knowledge – Can Science Explain Everything?

Shirley Deng ’14 opens up a serious can of worms:

Didn’t get your questions answered at the Veritas Forum this past Thursday? Dissatisfied, intrigued, or contemplative after the talk? Miss the talk completely?

If so, Professor Voth from the Physics Department at Wesleyan will be facilitating a follow-up discussion about questions surrounding the topic of science and faith this upcoming Wednesday in Usdan 108!

See you there!

Date: Wednesday, February 27
Time: 7:00 p.m. – 9:00 p.m.
Place: Usdan 108
Cost: Free

EVENT
Federalism and Floating Cities

From Charlie Smith ’15:

A Discussion on Federalism and Floating Cities with Professor Elvin Lim

What is the function of federalism in US politics? Can competition between governments make them more responsive to the needs of their citizens? Could floating communities in international waters provide this sort of competition?

Come join Students for a Free Society for a discussion on the role of Federalism in US politics and its potential (if any) for promoting good governance. Professor Lim will be with us to discuss the “right to exit” and the potential for competition between governments to produce better services. We will also discuss the work of the Sea Steading Institute in attempting to make floating cities in international waters to innovate in the provision of government services.

Date: Today 2/19
Time: 8pm – 9:20pm
Place: 41 Wyllys Rm.111


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