Bard Alum Charlie Mai ’18 Among the Young Asians Pushing Their Parents to Acknowledge Racism Amid Protests
Young Asians and Latinx in the United States are taking the conversation about racism in America home by tackling difficult conversations with their families. Bard alumnus Charlie Mai and his brother, Henry, caused a family row when they told their father, a retired FBI agent, that they were attending a Black Lives Matter protest in D.C. Since then, conversations about race in their house have progressed, with Glenn Mai admitting, “I’ve been wrong.”
Bard Alum Charlie Mai ’18 Among the Young Asians Pushing Their Parents to Acknowledge Racism Amid Protests
Charlie Mai, 24, center, and Henry Mai, 22, left, with their mother, Mary Byrne, at their home in Arlington, Va. Photo: Jahi Chikwendiu/the Washington Post
Post Date: 06-22-2020
Bard’s Omar Encarnación on the Real Reason the U.S. Lags on LGBTQ Rights
Professor of Political Studies Omar G. Encarnación writes for Foreign Policy magazine in response to last week's historic Supreme Court ruling extending the 1964 Civil Rights Act to LGBTQ people. Professor Encarnación examines the foreign experience to try to find answers for why advances in LGBTQ rights are so difficult in our country.Bard’s Omar Encarnación on the Real Reason the U.S. Lags on LGBTQ Rights
Joseph Fons holding a gay pride flag in front of the U.S. Supreme Court building in Washington on June 15.
CHIP SOMODEVILLA/GETTY IMAGES
CHIP SOMODEVILLA/GETTY IMAGES
Post Date: 06-22-2020
Eighty-Five-Year-Old Photographer Steve Schapiro ’55 Reflects on the Civil Rights Movement
Chicago public television profiles acclaimed photographer Steve Schapiro ’55, who took iconic photos during the Civil Rights Movement. He reflects on his time embedded with James Baldwin in the South and meeting leaders of the movement in the 1960s. Even into his eighties, Schapiro has been taking photographs, including covering Black Lives Matter protests.Eighty-Five-Year-Old Photographer Steve Schapiro ’55 Reflects on the Civil Rights Movement
James Baldwin With Abandoned Child, Durham, North Carolina, 1963. Photo: Steve Schapiro
Post Date: 06-21-2020
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“We should tell our stories”: Bard Alum Youssef Kerkour ’00 Is Knocking Down Arab Stereotypes, One Role at a Time
“We should tell our stories”: Bard Alum Youssef Kerkour ’00 Is Knocking Down Arab Stereotypes, One Role at a Time
The Moroccan actor has been nominated for a Bafta for his role as Syrian refugee Sami Ibrahim in the British comedy series Home. “I’d like our stories to be told in a more authentic, humane way,” he says. The entertainment industry “is literally your country's flag that travels all around the ether and plants itself in somebody else's brain” he says. “Who tells your story when you're Arab? It should be us.”Youssef Kerkour plays Sami Ibrahimin in 'Home'. Photo: Mark Johnson / Channel 4
Post Date: 06-21-2020
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George Floyd Protests Draw Attention to How Little Has Changed on Race and Justice, Writes Professor Sanjib Baruah
George Floyd Protests Draw Attention to How Little Has Changed on Race and Justice, Writes Professor Sanjib Baruah
“In India, critics have legitimately called out the hypocrisy of elites who express digital solidarity with American protesters but ignore police violence and racial prejudice at home,” writes Sanjib Baruah, Professor of Political Studies at Bard College, for the Indian Express. Baruah examines the uprising in the U.S. and the response in India in the context of a global history of racial thinking and the ideology of racial hierarchy.Illustration by C R Sasikumar
Post Date: 06-20-2020
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Bard Alumna, La Voz Editor Mariel Fiori ’05 Speaks at Walk 4 Black Lives Event in Kingston, New York
Bard Alumna, La Voz Editor Mariel Fiori ’05 Speaks at Walk 4 Black Lives Event in Kingston, New York
Bard College alumna and La Voz cofounder and managing editor Mariel Fiori ’05 addressed the crowd at the Walk 4 Black Lives march in Kingston, New York, on Wednesday, June 17, 2020. Fiori offered a message of solidarity. “Racism is no stranger to our community,” she told the gathered protesters, “For me, and for many Latinx, your fight is my fight. I am grateful and full of respect for this community that continues to fight for the respect due to all human beings, regardless of skin color, legal status, or sexual orientation.”Mariel Fiori ’05 addresses the Walk 4 Black Lives protest in Kingston.
Post Date: 06-18-2020
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Nikkya Hargrove ’05 on Making Stories of Struggle a Thing of the Past
Nikkya Hargrove ’05 on Making Stories of Struggle a Thing of the Past
“I’m a black woman married to a brown woman,” writes Nikkya Hargrove in the New York Times. “It is up to us, the parents of the next generation, to teach new lessons and continue to share our stories with our kids.”Art by Lucy Jones for the New York Times.
Post Date: 06-15-2020
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Photographer, Bard Professor An-My Lê on How Pictures Can Help Us Keep Up with a Rapidly Changing World
Photographer, Bard Professor An-My Lê on How Pictures Can Help Us Keep Up with a Rapidly Changing World
Professor An-My Lê’s ongoing series of photographs Silent General speaks to the current political and cultural moment: packed protests, fallen monuments, and anti-Trump graffiti echo the images filling TV screens and social media. “It’s eerie to see how some of the issues that unfolded when I started Silent General [in 2016] are now back at the forefront in an even more urgent way,” says Lê. “History doesn’t move through time in a straight line.”An-My Lê, Fragment VII: High School Students Protesting Gun Violence, Washington Square Park, New York (2018). Courtesy of the artist and Marian Goodman Gallery. ©2020 An-My Lê.
Post Date: 06-08-2020
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Brooklyn Rail Conversation Focuses on Bard Prison Initiative and Bard Microcolleges
Upcoming Events
- 7/09Thursday2:30 pm – 3:30 pm EDT/GMT-4Farewell, My Concubine 霸王別姬 (1993, dir. Chen Kaige)Thursday, July 2, 2020
Club Meeting: Thinking through China/Chineseness in Film and Literature
A Book/Movie Club on Zoom for Students on Campus
2:30 pm – 3:30 pm EDT/GMT-4
Hosted by Lu Kou, Assistant Professor of Chinese, Bard College
IntroductionThe pandemic and concomitant biotechnological competitions have strained the already fragile US- China relation. The rising hostility between the two nations has promoted many to claim that a new Cold War is dawning upon us. A binary mode of thinking is prevalent in both countries, which is often couched in sentences such as A can never be B; A will never understand B; A and B are enemies. The US and China thus represent the opposite ends of a political, cultural, and ideological spectrum: socialism/capitalism, authoritarian/democratic, collective/individualistic, east/west, and so on. This Cold War pattern of thinking is unproductive and dangerous as it reinforces stereotyping and prevents an empathetic understanding of those who are different from us. How can we understand China and its cultural complexity beyond the image of unchanging, inscrutable “East”?
How do Chinese people come to terms with their nation and national past? How does the broader sinophone world consider China as a political and cultural entity? And finally, what is, then, China? With these questions in mind, we will use the summer to close read and discuss some of the most celebrated fictions and films from both China and larger sinophone community in which authors and directors poignantly negotiate with the increasingly globalized world and their cultural heritage. Starting from specific texts, we will also venture to answer some of the larger questions. For example, why is science fiction popular in China? What’s going on between China, Taiwan, and Hong Kong? Who is Confucius, and why is he significant? How did China become modern? The literary and cinematic texts hardly give any definitive conclusions, but invite us readers to participate in the discussion and offer our interpretations.
This is a casual gathering. You are welcome to attend all the meetings; you are also welcome to join the sessions that interest you the most. All materials will be provided (on Google Classroom) with English translation as well as the original Chinese. Depending on the participants, the discussion can be conducted in Chinese or English.
Site:https://classroom.google.com/u/0/c/ODY3NDg3NTQzMzNa
Code:n2wepmy
What do you need to do:1. Enjoy the stories or films (finish reading/watching the materials before the meeting)2. I will post all the materials on Google Classroom with some questions. If you like, youcan keep a reading journal by posting your thoughts and comments there.3. Join the meeting and share your ideas!
Lu Kou’s Zoom Link:https://zoom.us/j/8649159276?pwd=NEw5MzExN29ERFovRlBFZWVXSzY0QT09
If you have any questions, please send email to: lkou@bard.eduSchedule(may be subject to changes depending on the availability of the materials)Unit 1 China in Two Films- Week 1 (June 4): Queerness, Theater, and Modern Chinese historyChen Kaige 陈凯歌 dir. Farewell, My Concubine 霸王別姬- Week 2 (June 11): Road to CapitalismFeng Xiaogang 冯小刚 dir. The Big Shot’s Funeral 大腕Unit 2: The Contemporary- Week 3 (June 18): Science FictionLiu Cixin 刘慈欣, Village Schoolteacher 乡村教师Hao Jingfang 郝景芳, Folding Beijing 北京折叠- Week 4 (June 25): Nobel Prize ComplexMo Yan 莫言, White Dog and the Swing 白狗秋千架Mo Yan 莫言, Iron Child 铁孩- Week 5 (July 2): Avant-gardeCan Xue 残雪, Hut on a Mountain 山上的小屋Can Xue 残雪, Soap Bubbles in the Dirty Water 污水中的肥皂泡Unit 3: The Modern- Week 6 (July 9): Youth and (The Cultural) RevolutionJiang Wen 姜文 dir. In the Heat of the Sun 阳光灿烂的日子- Week 7 (July 16): Love and Urban RomanceEileen Chang 张爱玲, Love in a Fallen City 倾城之恋- Week 8 (July 23): ModernityLu Xun 鲁迅, Mending Heaven 补天Lu Xun 鲁迅, Medicine 药Unit 4: The Sinophone- Week 9 (July 30): TaiwanZhang Da-chun 张大春, General’s Monument 将军碑- Week 10 (August 7): Hong KongXi Xi 西西, The Floating City 浮城异志- Week 11 (August 14): Southeast AsiaNg Kim Chew 黄锦树, Fish Bone 鱼骸Unit 5: Confucius- Week 12 (August 21)Confucius 孔子, The Analects 论语