Division of Social Studies Events

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Making Light in Dark Times: Art and Anthropology for a Troubled World

Written by Alisse Waterston; Illustrated by Charlotte Corden

Thursday, April 8, 2021
5–6 pm

Online Event
In this joint presentation, an anthropologist-writer and an artist-anthropologist reflect on aspects of their extraordinary collaboration in the making of Light in Dark Times: The Human Search for Meaning, a graphic novel rooted in nonfiction comprised of fictionalized encounters with writers, philosophers, activists and anthropologists. The collaboration and its published book are unique in bringing together serious scholarship and contemporary aesthetics, elevating the graphic genre by presenting complex philosophical and political themes in a mixed media format. In this presentation, the artist and the author describe the process of their artistic creation, an exceptional experiment in art, aesthetics and anthropology. Designed to reach multiple audiences, the book conveys the drama of the world in dark times and difficult circumstances even as it reveals spaces of excitement and hope. The reflections on the production process in this presentation provide insight into innovative ways of demonstrating the relevance of scholarship to real-world concerns, and how to take advantage of multimodal formats to produce, disseminate and receive knowledge in the interest of a more just, ethical world. 

Alisse Waterston is Presidential Scholar and Professor, City University of New York, John Jay College of Criminal Justice, and author or editor of seven books. A Fellow of the Swedish Collegium for Advanced Studies (SCAS) in the Programmes in Transnational Processes, Structural Violence, and Inequality (2020-2022), she served as President of the American Anthropological Association (AAA) in 2015-17. In addition, Waterston serves as Editor of the book series, Intimate Ethnography (Berghahn Books) and Advisor for Otherwise Magazine. Her most recent article is “Imagining World Solidarities for a Livable Future,” kritisk etnografi – Swedish Journal of Anthropology (2020).

Charlotte Corden is an illustrator and fine artist whose work centers around what it is to be human. She is fascinated with how the power of hand-drawn images can reveal and describe complex truths. As anthropologist and illustrator she has worked with Stripe Partners, the British Cabinet Office, and the National Health Service, UK. As a fine artist, she has studied drawing and painting at the London Fine Art Studios and the Arts Student’s League in New York City. 

Join via Zoom Meeting ID: 839 1812 6364 / Passcode: 822601Sponsored by: Anthropology Program; Hannah Arendt Center.

For more information, call 845-758-6822, e-mail ysuzuki@bard.edu, or visit https://bard.zoom.us/j/83918126364?pwd=VHQxTXNJWm4wb0lpcEpiaVVBbmRFQT09.

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The Buddha’s Shadow and God’s Flesh: Image and Anti-image in Huiyuan and Julian of Norwich

Yun Ni, Assistant Professor of English Literature,
Peking University

Friday, April 9, 2021
12–1:30 pm

Online Event
In this talk the speaker will compare how medieval Chinese Buddhism and medieval English Christian mysticism deal with the relationship between the transcendent and the immanent. Specifically, the comparison centers on the ideology of visualization of the late fourth-century Chinese Buddhist monk Huiyuan 慧遠 (334–417) and the late fourteenth-century English Christian mystic Julian of Norwich (1342–1430). A thousand years apart, their articulations of the imagistic representation of the transcendent still reveal synchronic connections between Buddhist and Christian ideas about the absolute presence and necessary absence of the divine. Both religious thinkers use details related to the skin and to textiles when they address the representation of the “ineffable.” The ways they treat the boundaries between skin and textiles expose fundamental differences between the Trinity of the Christian God and the Buddha’s three bodies (the Trikāya), but the two religious writers reflect on a similar oscillation between the active generation and passive reception of mental images.

Join Zoom Meeting:  https://bard.zoom.us/j/81330911036
Meeting ID: 813 3091 1036

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Meeting ID: 813 3091 1036
 Sponsored by: Asian Studies Program; Literature Program; Medieval Studies Program.

For more information, call 845-758-6822, e-mail lkou@bard.edu, or visit https://bard.zoom.us/j/81330911036.

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Seeing Countries From Afar: A Conversation with Suzy Hansen & Kamila Shamsie

Thursday, April 22, 2021
12–1 pm

Online Event
Donald Trump and Brexit shook up the liberal world order and the notion of global cooperation. The Covid-19 crisis further diminished the leadership role that the US and UK have long held. How does the rest of the world see these two countries? BGIA professor and award winning journalist Suzy Hansen and award winning novelist Kamila Shamsie have both written extensively about the US and UK from abroad. Join us for a conversation about seeing countries from afar on Thursday, April 22 at 12pm EST/6pm Vienna. RSVP required. Sponsored by: Bard Globalization & International Affairs Program.

For more information, call 845-758-6822, e-mail ebayrasli@bard.edu, or visit https://bard.zoom.us/meeting/register/tZctdeqpqT8rE90qlCH_gi2cqcdRqTv8RCxh.

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EUS Earth Day Panel

White Nationalism, White Supremacy, and the Environmental Movement

Thursday, April 22, 2021
5:30–7 pm

Online Event
National experts Eric Ward, Scot Nakagawa, and Lindsay Schubiner will lead the Bard community, regional community leaders, and Hudson Valley NGOs in exploring connections between white supremacy, the growth of white nationalism, and the environmental movement over the past 30 years.

Eric K. Ward is a nationally-recognized expert on the relationship between authoritarian movements, hate violence, and preserving inclusive democracy. In his 30+ year civil rights career, he has worked with community groups, government and business leaders, human rights advocates, and philanthropy as an organizer, director, program officer, consultant, and board member. The recipient of the Peabody-Facebook Futures Media Award, Eric’s widely quoted writings and speeches are credited with key narrative shifts. He currently serves as Executive Director of Western States Center, Senior Fellow with Southern Poverty Law Center and Race Forward, and Co-Chair for The Proteus Fund.

Scot Nakagawa is senior partner of ChangeLab, a national racial equity think/act lab addressing issues of demographic change and the transformation of racial identity and meaning in the United States in context of globalization, including the rise of white nationalism and of right wing nationalist movements in communities of color.

Lindsay Schubiner directs Western States Center’s program to counter the dangerous ascension of white nationalism and hate violence across the country. She previously led advocacy efforts against anti-immigrant and anti-Muslim bigotry at the Center for New Community. Lindsay has served as a congressional staffer handling housing, health, and immigration policy, and managed advocacy for sexual health and rights at American Jewish World Service.

https://bard.zoom.us/j/6091568866Sponsored by: Environmental and Urban Studies Program.

For more information, call 845-758-6822, e-mail edueker@bard.edu, or visit https://bard.zoom.us/j/6091568866.