College of Humanities

Fantastic & Strange: Reflections of Self in Science Fiction Literature

Tuesday, September 18 - Friday, July 26 All Day - Tseng Gallery, Oviatt Library
http://library.csun.edu/blogs/goingson/fantastic-strange/

Science fiction literature, one of the most popular and entertaining genres in modern fiction, has been read and loved by children and adults for decades. From the earliest pulp publications to modern masterpieces, science fiction short stories and novels have often functioned as a lens through which we express our sense of wonder, marvel at the possibilities of new technologies, and engage in our wildest imaginings. Join us as we celebrate the fantastic and strange in science fiction literature.

How Castles work

4:00 pm - 5:30 pm - Whitsett Room, Sierra Hall 451

Please join us for a lecture by esteemed Northwestern University Archaeologist Matthew Johnson on Thursday, November 1st at 4:00 p.m.  Dr. Johnson's lecture is titled, "How Castles Work".  The lecture will be held in the Whitsett Room, 4th Floor, Sierra Hall 451.

Day of the Dead Celebration

6:00 pm - 12:00 am - Chicano House (CH)
http://www.csun.edu/~hfchs006/

2012 Psychology Department Brown Bag Series

12:00 pm - 1:00 pm - Sierra Hall 322

Please join the Department of Psychology's 2012 Brown Bag Series featuring Chaya Greisman ('10), Research Analyst, Marketing Science, Lieberman Research Worldwide featuring

Insights from Applied Psychology:  How Psychology, Research Design and Statistics Inform Business and Marketing Decisions

Distinguished alumnus, Chaya Greisman, will talk about how her education in the General Experimental program at CSUN prepared her for a career as a business and marketing research analyst.  Chaya currently uses her psychology research and skills in advanced analytics for marketing research that directly influences the major business decisions for Fortune 500 Companies.  She will discuss the kinds of techniques frequently used using real life examples, the theories and models they draw from, and how the Market Research industry is progressing with collaborative efforts between industry experts and academic researchers.

Day of the Dead Celebration

6:00 pm - 12:00 am - Chicano House (CH)
http://www.csun.edu/~hfchs006/

Tenth Biennial Phenomenal Woman Reception and Awards Fundraiser

4:00 pm - 7:00 pm - University Student Union, Grand Salon
http://www.csun.edu/ws/PW/phenomenalwoman2012.html

Tenth Biennial Phenomenal Woman Reception and Awards Fundraiser

The Phenomenal Woman Awards event celebrates women who have made outstanding contributions to our community. It also allows the Gender & Women�s Studies Department to raise funds to sponsor special programming, support student and faculty research, and finance scholarships for Gender and Women's Studies students. In addition, these contributions support the CSUN Women�s Resource and Research Center, the oldest continuing Women�s Center within the California State University system.

CENDRILLON opera

2:00 pm - 5:00 pm - CSUN Campus Theatre
http://www.csun.edu/theatre

CENDRILLION by Jules Massenet. Libretto by Henri Cain.

This Massenet opera approaches the classic French fairy tale, Cinderella, with a musical sense of humor---wonderfully frothy and liberally spiced with dry Gallic wit.  This is one grand ball you'll not want to miss. Sung in French with English supertitles. Directed by Maurice Godin. Musical direction by David Aks.

CSUN Campus Theatre (Nordhoff Hall)

Limited Performances Oct 26, 28, 31, Nov 2, 4 only.  Curtain time 7:30pm except Sundays at 2pm. Box Office (818) 677-2488. Very limited late seating, often only at intermission.

Valley Pioneer Lecture Series in California Studies

7:30 pm - 9:30 pm - Whitsett Room, Sierra Hall 451
http://www.csun.edu/csbs/departments/history/index.html

The Valley Pioneer Lecture Series in California History presents

Professor Nicolas G. Rosenthal, Loyola Marymount University who will facilitate a discussion on "The Red Power Movement in Los Angeles and other Cities in the 1970s."

Professor Rosenthal's first book, Reimagining Indian Country:  Native American Migration and Identity in Twentieth-Century Los Angeles (2012) follows the migration of American Indians to cities, the development of urban American Indian life, and the relationships between cities and American Indian Reservations.  Copies will be available for purchase

Seating is limited, so please RSVP to the Department of History (818) 677-3566 and to obtain parking information.

For more information on the lecture visit the Department of History's webpage at http://www.csun.edu/csbs/departments/history/index.html.

Jewish Music with Cantor Mike Stein

9:30 am - 10:45 am - University Student Union; Flintridge Room
http://www.csun.edu/jewish.studies/calendarF12.html

Jewish Music with Cantor Mike Stein

Hazzan (Cantor) Mike Stein will present an overview of the history and development of Jewish music by playing the guitar, violin, oud and shofar. You are welcome to join us in learning about diverse and exciting Jewish music from Europe, the Middle East, the United States and Africa.

Please call 818-677-4724 or email jewish.studies@csun.edu to reserve a seat.

Eva Brettler, Holocaust Survivor

4:00 pm - 5:15 pm - Jerome Richfield, 384
http://www.csun.edu/jewish.studies/calendarF12.html

Eva Brettler, Holocaust Survivor
Eva Brettler, a survivor of the Ravensbruck concentration camp, will be speaking about her experiences before, during, and after the Holocaust.

Limited Seating. Please call 818-677-4724 or email jewish.studies@csun.edu to reserve a seat.

Veterans, the Middle East, and Reflections on Lawrence of Arabia

7:00 pm - 9:00 pm

Veterans, the Middle East, and Reflections on 'Lawrence of Arabia'

A gallery exhibition of student research and panel of War on Terror veterans
Jerome Richfield 319
7:00 PM - 9:00 PM
Thursday, November 8

At 7:00 PM, doors will open for the research exhibits
At 7:30 PM, attendees will be seated for the panel of speakers and subsequent discussion

This event is free and open to the public.
Refreshments and food will be provided.

(People whose schedules necessitate that they arrive late or leave early are welcome! We hope you can experience this event.)

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The significance of this film:

This year is the 50th anniversary of Lawrence of Arabia, an epic film that has been considered by many critics one of the greatest ever made. It was the highest grossing motion picture of 1962 and received seven Academy Awards, including Best Picture (Sam Spiegel), Best Director (David Lean), and Best Cinematography (Frederick Young). Earning over $37 million, it grossed twice as much as the next top film.

Peter O'Toole and Omar Sharif became cinematic superstars after the release of the film, both earning nominations for Best Actor and Best Supporting Actor, respectively.

More importantly, however, Lawrence of Arabia, based on the life of British officer T.E. Lawrence, forged some of the most powerful mid-century myths of the Middle East. Set during and after World War I, it depicts in sweeping vistas the wartime trauma and identity crisis of not only whites sent to fight in the Middle East, but also Arabs and Muslims forced into European geopolitics removed from their own history.

The homoerotic relationship between Peter O'Toole and Omar Sharif's characters marked a milestone for queer representations in cinema as well as a harbinger for postcolonial criticism in the decade following.

As we near the tenth anniversary of the invasion of Iraq and the eleventh anniversary of the invasion of Afghanistan by US and allied forces, the film offers us an opportunity to reflect on the evolving relationship of US viewers to the "theater" of war in the Middle East. We will have the opportunity to rekindle our understanding of World War I's role in today's War on Terror.

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The commemoration of this film:

Most importantly, for the 50th anniversary of this film, four veterans of the War on Terror will share their reactions to viewing the film in 2012. They will talk about the ways in which Lawrence of Arabia might be relevant or outdated--and generally, what it feels like to watch it, having served in wars tied to the same region.

Below are our panelists:

VAL REYES is a retired colonel of the US Army, who served in Afghanistan as part of Operation of Enduring Freedom. He was formerly in the social work department at the University of Southern California and now operates a combat trauma center. He has published research on war trauma and remains interested in studying the reintegration process of veterans as they return from war overseas.

JOSEPH LONERGAN is a military police officer of the US Army, who served a tour of active duty at Guantánamo prison, where he had to respond to conflicts surrounding detainees. Now he is stationed at Fort Leavenworth. A graduate of California Lutheran University with a BS in criminal justice, he is currently pursuing an MA in English and planning a career in academia.

JASON FREUDENRICH holds an MA in Rhetoric and Composition from California State Northridge. He is a retired corporal from the US Marine Corps, who served a tour of active duty in Iraq as a Motor T specialist. Presently he teaches writing at Pierce College.

PIERRE MARCOS holds an MA in English from California State Northridge. He is a retired sergeant from the US Marine Corps who did multiple tours in the War on Terror (Iraq) as an infantryman. Presently he teaches English at Chaminade High School and coaches football.

Student Research Gallery:

Students in English 473 (American Literature), English 312 (Film and Literature), and Greco-Roman Mythology (Classics 315) are doing research projects that seek to draw insight from Lawrence of Arabia by relating the cinematic narrative to other war myths rooted in American literary traditions, cinema conventions, as well as ancient narratives.

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The mission of this event:

This is the second of six fiftieth-anniversary celebrations as part of "Myth Goes to the Movies." The first event was "The Music Man" on September 24, which is summarized here:

http://textontrial.blogspot.com/2012/09/the-music-man-and-shirley-jones-50th.html

The third event will be the 50th anniversary of "Dr. No" on December 4 at 4:30 PM in Sierra Hall -- details forthcoming.

Sara Dean, a graduate of CSUN's English MA program, is coordinating the film series with me. Our mission is to open new kinds of transdisciplinary and transcultural discussion by bridging film and mythology. All events involve guest speakers, student research galleries, and discussion of landmark films from 1962-1963. My hope is also to build on this work to develop a World Literature minor at CSUN, analogous to comparative literature. If you have any questions about the film series or the World Literature program, feel free to contact me at the following email: rolopez@csun.edu or at this phone number: 818-677-3415.

Special Thanks:

"Myth Goes to the Movies" would not be possible without generous assistance from the Arthur N. Rupe Foundation in Santa Barbara, California.

The Distinguished Visiting Speakers Program Presents

12:00 pm - 1:30 pm - Whitsett Room, Sierra Hall 451

The Distinguished Visiting Speakers Program Presents...

Professor Joshua Correll featuring Can We Train Away Racial Bias in the Decision to Shoot?

This talk will focus on a question that has perplexed us for 5 years.  Using a videogame task in which participants must make shoot/don't-shoot decisions about Black and White targets who appear on screen, we find that naive participants show a pronounced pattern of racial bias in the decision to shoot.

Brain Chemistry

7:00 pm - 9:00 pm - Whitsett Room, Fourth Floor, Sierra Hall 451

The College of Social and Behavioral Sciences presents

A Richard W. Smith Lecture in Cultural Studies featuring:

Pal Zak on Recent Research on Brain Chemistry:  A Revolution in the Sciences of Good and Evil

Why do human beings engage in courageous acts of compassion but also perpetrate violence?  Could the apparent flip-flopping morality of our species have a hidden explanation?

Paul Zak's new book The Moral Molecule:  The Source of Love and Prosperity is a first-hand account of the discovery of a molecule that makes us moral.  It reveals that compassion is part of our human nature, why loneliness can kill you, and why your neighbor may be a psychopath.

From the laboratory to the jungles of Papua New Guinea, Paul Zak takes you on an amazing journey that reveals what it means to be human.

This event is scheduled for Tuesday, November 13th, at 7:00 p.m. in the Whitsett Room, Sierra Hall 451.  Reservations are requested.

Lost in Lithuania: One Family's Journey to Discover the Truth About its Eastern European Past Presented by Lisa Lainer-Fagan

12:30 pm - 1:45 pm - University Student Union, Thousand Oaks Room
http://www.csun.edu/jewish.studies/calendarF12.html

Maria Elena Gaitan, The Art of Performance and Social Justice, A lecture and performance by Chola Con Cello

4:00 pm - 5:30 pm - Johnson Auditorium

Maria Elena Gaitan is an interdisciplinary artist who examines history, race, gender, and a variety of social issues through music and performance art. Gaitán has performed throughout the U.S., and internationally and has been the recipient of a variety of awards, including the Gateways Bi-national Ford/Rockefeller Residency Award from the Guadalupe Cultural Arts Center in San Antonio and CSUN's 2012 "The Phenomenal Woman Award." She has been a Lead Artist for the Ford Foundation�s Animating Democracy Initiative in San Antonio, Texas. Gaitán�s on-going project AZTL�N/AFRICA: Songs of Affinity, funded by the Ford Foundation's Africa Exchange Project, brings together musicians, visual artists and scholars of different races and cultures to celebrate the African Diaspora in the Americas. With a significant record of activism, such as being the first Latina appointed to the Los Angeles County Board of Education, Gaitán occupies a unique place in Chicano artistic production and the history of politics in Los Angeles.

This event is sponsored by the Chicana/o Studies Department, the College of Humanities Academic Programming Fund and the Gender and Women�s Studies Department.

Gender Inequality and Literacy Campaigns

10:00 am - 12:00 pm - Linda Joseph English Reading Room, JR 319
http://www.csun.edu/cas

Literacy and Educational Attainment among Salvadoran in the United States and El Salvador.

• Shartriya Collier, Department of Education, CSUN
• Guillermo Galván, Undersecretary for Development and Decentralization, El Salvador
• Sheena Malhotra, Gender and Women Studies, CSUN
• Mari Riddles, Centro Latino for Literacy of Los Angeles
• Karina Zelaya, Central American Studies, CSUN

Sponsored by the Central American Studies, College of Humanities Academic Programing Fund, Chicano(a) Studies Department, and the Gender and Women Studies Department

Maria Elena Gaitan, The Art of Performance and Social Justice, A lecture and performance by Chola Con Cello

4:00 pm - 5:30 pm - Johnson Auditorium

Maria Elena Gaitan is an interdisciplinary artist who examines history, race, gender, and a variety of social issues through music and performance art. Gaitán has performed throughout the U.S., and internationally and has been the recipient of a variety of awards, including the Gateways Bi-national Ford/Rockefeller Residency Award from the Guadalupe Cultural Arts Center in San Antonio and CSUN's 2012 "The Phenomenal Woman Award." She has been a Lead Artist for the Ford Foundation�s Animating Democracy Initiative in San Antonio, Texas. Gaitán�s on-going project AZTL�N/AFRICA: Songs of Affinity, funded by the Ford Foundation's Africa Exchange Project, brings together musicians, visual artists and scholars of different races and cultures to celebrate the African Diaspora in the Americas. With a significant record of activism, such as being the first Latina appointed to the Los Angeles County Board of Education, Gaitán occupies a unique place in Chicano artistic production and the history of politics in Los Angeles.

This event is sponsored by the Chicana/o Studies Department, the College of Humanities Academic Programming Fund and the Gender and Women�s Studies Department.

Radical Narcissism: A Performance Art and Writing Workshop by Raquel Gutierrez

4:30 pm - 6:45 pm - The Colleague's Room (2nd floor of the Sierra Center)

Radical Narcissism: How do we invoke our truths in ways that create a dynamic cross-hatched narrative that straddles identity, politics, affect and community building without shaking our fists in tired political ranting or maudlin acts of self-defeat? How we do create a vernacular around the building of community and other senses of belonging? This workshop is for emerging writers and performing artists who wish to deepen their artistic process beginning with the communities each body emerges from as a place of research.Through a rigorous self-questioning method, this performance art and writing workshop will focus on zones of intimacy, finding authenticity and the act of presence with ourselves in relation to the worlds we inhabit and create. Using imagery work and a wide variety of experimental situations, participants will develop skills to communicate with text and the body and transform ideas into performance. The emphasis will be placed both on solo and group explorations as well as performance process.

Raquel Gutierrez cut her teeth on Los Angeles performance art when she interned and house managed at Highways Performance Space in the year 2000. Raquel is a performance writer, playwright, and cultural organizer, studied in university settings and performed in a variety of locations, like the Salvadoran countryside, cabarets, galleries, San Antonio, more universities, Pico-Union, etc. In 2001, Gutierrez was one of the co-founding members of the performance ensemble, Butchlalis de Panochtitlan (BdP), a community-based and activist-minded group aimed at creating a visual vernacular around queer Latinidad in Los Angeles. Raquel also co-founded other queer women of color projects and Latino projects, Tongues, A Project of VIVA and Epicentro Poetry project. Raquel has published work in Ambientes: New Queer Latino Writing (edited by Lazaro Lima and Felice Picano), Los Angeles Weekly, Make/shift magazine, Journal of Chicana/Latina Studies, and Izote Vos: Salvadoran American Literary and Visual Art (published by SF's Pacific News Service).

Sponsored by the Department of Chicana and Chicano Studies, CSUN Pride Center and the Distinguished Visiting Speakers Program, Office of Graduate Studies.

Rushing Waters, Rising Dreams: How the Arts Are Transforming A Community

11:15 am - 12:45 pm - Presentation Room, Oviatt Library
http://www.facebook.com/csunhumanities

Luis J. Rodriguez Award-winning writer and poet and Activists and Artists from the Northeast San Fernando Valley

The Northeast San Fernando Valley of Los Angeles is the second largest community of Mexicans and Central Americans in the United States with 500,000 people. Yet, until 2001 when Tia Chucha�s opened it�s doors, the Northeast Valley had no trade bookstores, movie houses, art galleries, or decent cultural spaces. The book explores twenty years of how the lack of neighborhood cultural spaces adversely affects struggling families and communities, and how the example of Tia Chucha�s inspires a cultural awakening and a revival of the economy and community spirit. The book speaks to a need for a national art s policy of cultural spaces, arts education, independent bookstores, public art projects, and more.

Books will be available for purchase and signing at the event. For more information on the event please contact Dr. Denise Sandoval at denise.sandoval@csun.edu.

Sponsored by the Department of Chicana and Chicano Studies

Rushing Waters, Rising Dreams: How the Arts Are Transforming A Community

11:15 am - 12:45 pm - Presentation Room, Oviatt Library
http://www.facebook.com/csunhumanities

Luis J. Rodriguez Award-winning writer and poet and Activists and Artists from the Northeast San Fernando Valley

The Northeast San Fernando Valley of Los Angeles is the second largest community of Mexicans and Central Americans in the United States with 500,000 people. Yet, until 2001 when Tia Chucha�s opened it�s doors, the Northeast Valley had no trade bookstores, movie houses, art galleries, or decent cultural spaces. The book explores twenty years of how the lack of neighborhood cultural spaces adversely affects struggling families and communities, and how the example of Tia Chucha�s inspires a cultural awakening and a revival of the economy and community spirit. The book speaks to a need for a national art s policy of cultural spaces, arts education, independent bookstores, public art projects, and more.

Books will be available for purchase and signing at the event. For more information on the event please contact Dr. Denise Sandoval at denise.sandoval@csun.edu.

Sponsored by the Department of Chicana and Chicano Studies

UBU ROI the play

Friday, November 16 7:30 pm - Sunday, November 18 2:00 pm - Experimental Theatre of the Valley Performing Arts Center
http://www.csun.edu/theatre

UBU ROI by Alfred Jarry

More than a century before the Occupy Movement, this young playwright stood up for the 99% with a satirical attack that is at once scatological, crude, funny, and provocative. Championed as the first Absurdist drama.  Directed by Larry Biederman

Experimental Theatre of the Valley Performing Arts Center

Nov 16-17-18, 28-29-30, Dec 1-2 Curtain time is 7:30pm except Sundays at 2pm. Box Office 818-677-2488.  Very limited late seating, often only at intermission.

Interpreted performance for the deaf on Wednesday Nov 28.

29th Annual CSUN Powwow

10:00 am - 9:00 pm - Chicano House Lawn
http://www.csun.edu/americanindianstudies/

29th Annual CSUN Powwow

10:00 am - 9:00 pm - Chicano House Lawn
http://www.csun.edu/americanindianstudies/

UBU ROI the play

Wednesday, November 28 7:30 pm - Sunday, December 02 2:00 pm - Experimental Theatre of the Valley Performing Arts Center
http://www.csun.edu/theatre

UBU ROI by Alfred Jarry

More than a century before the Occupy Movement, this young playwright stood up for the 99% with a satirical attack that is at once scatological, crude, funny, and provocative. Championed as the first Absurdist drama.  Directed by Larry Biederman

Experimental Theatre of the Valley Performing Arts Center

Nov 16-17-18, 28-29-30, Dec 1-2 Curtain time is 7:30pm except Sundays at 2pm. Box Office 818-677-2488.  Very limited late seating, often only at intermission.

Interpreted performance for the deaf on Wednesday Nov 28.

ESCAPE FIRE: Eye-Opening Documentary on the American Healthcare System

6:00 pm - 8:30 pm - Kaiser Permanente Woodland Hills, Entrance 5, Auditoriums B&C, 5601 De Soto Avenue, Woodland Hills, CA 91367

ESCAPE FIRE The Fight to Rescue American Healthcare

A Film by Matthew Heineman & Susan Froemke

MUST SEE

Eye-Opening

Documentary

On The American

Healthcare System.

November 30th 6:00 pm

At The Kaiser Permanente

Woodland Hills Medical Center

Snack, and Networking at 6pm,

Film Begins at 6:30pm

More Info contact csunhsci@gmail.com

Entrance 5, Auditoriums B&C

5601 De Soto Avenue

Art of the Ancient Maya

12:30 pm - 1:30 pm - Whitsett Room, SH 451

Art of the Ancient Maya

12:30 pm - 1:30 pm - Whitsett Room, SH 451

Diego Rivera, The American Murals

12:30 pm - 1:30 pm - JR 153

Salvador Suazo, Historian and Writer

11:00 am - 12:30 pm - Jacaranda Hall (JD) 3516

Diego Rivera, The American Murals

12:30 pm - 1:30 pm - JR 153

Please join the students of ENGL 456: The Age of Enlightenment: Reforming the Eighteenth Century?

2:00 pm - 3:30 pm - Jack & Florence Ferman Presentation Room (Lower Level of Oviatt)

Please join the students of
ENGL 456: The Age of Enlightenment: Reforming the Eighteenth Century?

as they present their research and service-­�integrated
final projects

Thursday, 6 December 2012
Oviatt Library�s Jack & Florence Ferman Presentation
Room (Lower Level of Oviatt)
2:00-­�3:30 PM
refreshments will be served

In addition to studying eighteenth-century British literature, over the course of the fall semester, students have each completed 20 hours of service at local nonprofits across LA County, for a total of 500 cumulative hours. Nonprofit partners include the following:

826LA
MEND (Meeting Each Need with Dignity) North Valley Occupational Center ARC
LAPD SOLID
San Fernando Middle School

Northridge Middle School
Grover Cleveland High School
CSUN Cat People
CSUN Pride Center
CSUN Institute for Sustainability
CSUN Women�s Resource Center

Questions? Contact Danielle Spratt, danielle.spratt@csun.edu

2012 Psychology Department Brown Bag Series

12:00 pm - 1:00 pm - Sierra Hall 322

The Department of Psychology presents their 2012 Brown Bag Series with Jesse Graham, Department of Psychology at USC.

Ideological Conflicts as Opposing Moral Visions

Why do our moral convictions feel like objective truth, and yet differ so greatly across individuals and cultures?  How do shared ideological narratives influence our sense of right and wrong, and how do our moral convictions influence our political choices?  This talk will explore these questions with an investigation of the interactions between morality and ideology.

This event is scheduled for December 7, 2012, 12:00 to 1:00 p.m. in Sierra Hall 322.