Author: Lauren Saulino

“Israel-Palestine: What the Media Leave Out”

On Friday, April 19, at 3PM in ECTR 116, award winning journalist and media critic Alison Weir will discuss what American news media are not revealing about Israel-Palestine. The press is arguably the most powerful institution in the United States; it provides the kinds of information that Americans use to form their conclusions about issues and candidates seeking election. Weir will detail the media’s filtering that prevents the public from receiving the full facts on Israel-Palestine; she will also discuss the systemic and structural causes of the situation.

AlisonWeir

Veteran journalist Alison Weir is the Executive Director of “If Americans Knew,” a non-profit organization that specializes in statistical and factual information on Israel-Palestine and the media’s coverage of the region. Weir is also President of the Council for the National Interest, a group founded 19 years ago by congressmen and ambassadors to work for foreign policies not dominated by special interests. Weir’s speeches have included briefings on Capitol Hill and to the National Press Club and presentations at the Asia Media Summit in Kuala Lumpur and Beijing. She has lectured at several universities including Harvard, Yale, Stanford, Berkeley and the Naval Postgraduate Institute. Weir is generally considered the foremost analyst on media coverage of Israel-Palestine. Her articles have appeared in the Washington Report on Middle East Affairs, CounterPunch, The New Intifada, Censored 2005, and the Encyclopedia of the Israeli-Palestinian Conflict. She narrated the award-winning documentary Occupation 101.

 

Alison Weir’s appearance is co-sponsored by the College of Charleston’s Department of Sociology and Anthropology, the Office of Institutional Diversity, and Charleston Peace One Day. The lecture will be followed by an informal reception.

 

Sidney Rittenberg: Screening “The Revolutionary”

 Sidney Rittenberg

Screening: The Revolutionary

Monday, April 15, 2013 at 7:00PM

Stern Center Ballroom

The Yaschik/Arnold Jewish Studies Program is sponsoring a documentary screening of The Revolutionary, followed by a lecture from the film’s subject, native Charlestonian Sidney Rittenberg.

Sidney Rittenberg arrived in China as a GI Chinese language expert at the end of World War II. Discharged there, he joined the Chinese Communist Party, and was an active participant in the Chinese communist revolution and its aftermath. An intimate of the Party’s leadership, including Mao Zedong and Zhou Enlai, he gained prominence at the Broadcast Administration, one of the most important agencies of government. But in the convulsions of a giant country constantly reinventing itself, he twice ran afoul of the leadership, and served a total of 16 years in solitary confinement. He returned to the United States in 1980. –revolutionarymovie.com

The event is co-sponsored by the Asian Studies Program, International Studies, and the School of Languages, Cultures and World Affairs. Please encourage your students and colleagues to attend what promises to be a fascinating evening.

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in!Genius event features our own Dr. Abuhakema: April 9 @ 5:30pm

Find more information on the in!Genius event.

TedTalks Meets Pecha Kucha
Coming to College of Charleston

 

The College of Charleston is home to artists, scientists, and advocates – all who are pioneers in their field. They’ll all be together on Tuesday, April 9, 2013 in an event for the mind. It will be the best of TedTalks and Pecha Kucha: one hour of ideas and stories that are as varied as the speakers. in!Genius is a free event, open to the public, that will take place at 5:30 p.m. in Sottile Theatre, with a reception to follow.

Steve Cody, a stand-up comedian from New York City, will be the emcee. Cody is also the managing partner and co-founder of Peppercomm, a global public relations/marketing firm, and a member of the College of Charleston Department of Communication Advisory Council.

 

About the presenters:

Natasha Adair, first-year women’s basketball coach will talk about the success of the program. In just one year, the team has doubled the number of points per game, shots made, and assists, while dramatically decreasing the number of turnovers. Watch a video. Read the College of Charleston Magazine article.

Professor Joe Carson and undergraduate students Thea Kozakis, and Laura Stevens made an out-of-this-world discovery when they identified a new exoplanet. Carson is a physics and astronomy professor who has discovered several plants (one of which was named one of Time magazine’s top 10 discoveries). Watch a video. Read the College of Charleston Magazine article.

Jimmy Freeman ’11 is one of the first graduates of the College’s Call Me MISTER Program, which addresses the critical shortage of African American male teachers in South Carolina’s lowest performing schools. Freeman is a teacher at a Title I school in Goose Creek. Read the College of Charleston Magazine article.

Naomi Gale and Ghazi Abuhakema are professors teaching and talking about the culture of the Middle East – the interesting twist? One is Israeli and one is Palestinian.

Alix Generous is a sophomore biology student with Asperger’s Syndrome who presented original research on coral reefs to United Nations Delegates last fall in India. She was inspired after a study abroad trip to Bali last summer. Read an article in the College of Charleston Magazine.

Edward Hart ’88 is a music professor and renowned composer who will talk about the inspiration of place in conjunction with some of his performed pieces. Read a College of Charleston Magazine article about him.

Brian Rutenberg ’87 is an award-winning abstract artist living and working in New York City. He calls the School of the Arts his “personal buffet line.” Watch a video.

Levi Vonk is an international studies major in the Honors College who works closely with migrant workers and migrant law.

http://news.cofc.edu/2013/03/19/two-critical-language-scholarships-won/

Two Students Earn Scholarships to Study Critical Languages

March 19, 2013

RSS

Two College of Charleston students will continue their study of Hindi and Arabic through the Critical Languages Scholarship Program from the U.S. Department of State. Elizabeth Marjorie Burdette and Madeline Edwards will study abroad in 2013 improving their language skills in Hindi and Arabic, respectively.

The College’s Associate Provost for International Education Professor Andrew Sobiesuo asserts: “The College of Charleston is committed to infusing global perspectives in the curriculum and study abroad is one of the best avenues to accomplish that. The Center for International Education and other campus entities such as the Office of Nationally Competitive Scholarships work together to inform students of scholarship opportunities and guide them through the application process.”

Sobiesuo continues, “The study of any language and particularly a critical language is not only an academic achievement but a national security necessity. Language study is the vehicle to discovering and comprehending the soul of the other. And the more we as a nation can understand our allies (and enemies alike) and communicate directly with them, the more we can boast of our stature as a world power.”

Burdette will be studying Hindi at the American Institute of Indian Studies in Jaipur and residing with a host family. She remarked that the award is, “a long-awaited open door for me. I’ve been studying Hindi and Indian culture for two years now. I surprised myself by falling completely in love with both the language and the culture, and I have wanted the opportunity to see practical use of my knowledge in a way that will have a meaningful impact on who I am and what I want to become.”

When asked about how she wishes to use her College studies, Burdette said she hopes to work in the field of “social justice issues and asset-based community development in India, particularly in advocating for women’s equality in India and working with women who are at high risk of being trafficked into the sex industry.” She states “Hindi language skills will be essential if I’m going to live and work there.”

College faculty member  Leena Karambelkar who teaches Hindi, said of Burdette, “She is an extremely bright student. I am honored to have her in class and feel happy that I could help her in realizing her dreams. I am sure, this bright young leader is going to enlighten many lives, and show path to many less fortunate and continue the great American humanitarian traditions.”

After only two semesters enrolled in Arabic at the College, Edwards, will be studying at the Qasid Institute in Amman, Jordan. She is looking forward to her summer studies because they will allow her to “learn the Jordanian dialect.” She says this is useful because the Modern Standard Arabic learned in the classroom is not the same as colloquial Arabic spoken in real life. Edwards will be living with a Jordanian host family which provides a full, immersion  language experience.

Fam, an adjunct instructor of Arabic says , “I strive to create a welcoming atmosphere in my classroom. When students begin studying Arabic they have no knowledge of the language or alphabet. Everyone starts from the same place.’”

In the future Edwards has thoughts of “working for human rights groups such as Human Rights Watch or Amnesty International to expose the plights of marginalized groups and people in the Middle East.”

A program of the U.S. Department of State, Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs, the Critical Language Scholarship (CLS) Program offers intensive summer language institutes in thirteen critical foreign languages. The selection process is administered by American Council for International Education with awards approved by the U.S. Department of State, Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs.

The CLS Program is part of a U.S. government effort to expand dramatically the number of Americans studying and mastering critical foreign languages. Students of diverse disciplines and majors are encouraged to apply. Participants are expected to continue their language study beyond the scholarship period, and later apply their critical language skills in their future professional careers.

For more information about the College’s Center for International Education, visit the website.