Think Arts at Laurier Day

1. May 7, 2011 ThinkArtsat Laurier Day Professor Alison Blay-Palmer Geography & Environmental Studies “Sustainable food systems: How what you eat makes a difference” How far does your food travel to get to your plate? What is fair trade food? How is food linked to the taxes you will pay? Do you know how food connects you to the place you live in? How can we make the food system do more for us? How can we think about food ads in a new way? Find out more about how you vote for the world you live in through the food you eat. Learn about how you can help create a more sustainable place to live in by using your food purchases to vote for the world you want. Professor Chris Nighman, History “The Italian Renaissance: medieval or modern?” Historians divide up the past into coherent chucks called "periods". But in this, as with many other issues, they disagree with one another on where to draw those lines and why one particular definition is better than the others. In thinking about this issue a historian must grapple with one of THE big questions in the academic discipline of History: what are the most important aspects of human life as we examine change over time? This lecture will offer one historian's opinion on this issue while also engaging with other historians' views.

2. Professor Helen Ramirez, Women and Gender Studies “Discovering Why Gender Matters” What is it about gender that connects us to issues of justice? What does gender have to do with poverty, violence or body image? In this discussion together, we look at why gender and its intersection with race, class and sexuality should be at the centre of any studying we do much less any work in creating a more just world. Professor Byron Williston, Philosophy “Climate Change and the Tar Sands” The Canadian Senate recently killed bill C-311, legislation that would have bound Canada to cut its greenhouse gas emissions substantially by the middle of this century. On one level, the reason for this action is straightforward. Canada simply cannot continue to grow the Athabasca tar sands and cut its greenhouse gas emissions, and the government has decided that growing this industry is the clear priority. Is this decision morally justified? Professor Gregory Cameron, Cultural Studies “The Politics of Popular Culture: A Cautionary Tale” “The Politics of Popular Culture” is a talk about cautionary tales, in particular the Grimm brothers telling of the story of the Frog Prince and Nick Cave and John Hillcoat’s song/video “As I sat sadly by her side”, and a cautionary tale about the relation between manipulation, sex and politics in popular culture. The talk will also include a brief introduction to and explanation of cultural studies which will indicate yet another possible cautionary tale (....and so on?)

3. Professor Mercedes Rowinsky-Geurts Languages and Literature “Pablo Picasso’s Guernica: Depicting the Horrors of War” How can the horrors of war be aesthetically represented? What is the process of creation of a piece of art that represents the pain inflicted on the most innocent? How come this specific painting has become one of the most iconic antiwar representations? Discover the realistic representation of the unthinkable created by one of the masters of Spanish art: Pablo Picasso. Guernica represents what we all should strive to prevent: the atrocities of war. Experience the process of creation and discover the power of images. Professor Timothy Donais, Global Studies “The Libyan Intervention and the Responsibility to Protect” On 17 March, the UN Security Council passed Resolution 1973, authorising the use of military force to protect civilians caught up on Libya's civil conflict. The resolution, and the no-fly zone it established, has once again placed the debate over humanitarian intervention squarely on the global agenda. This talk will explore the dilemmas raised by the Western-led intervention in Libya in the context of the emerging, UN-approved doctrine of the Responsibility to Protect; does the Libyan episode signal a promising new international commitment to human rights protection, or is it a dangerous, ill-conceived military adventure that may end up costing more lives than it saves? Professor Renee Ward, Medieval Studies “Werewolves and Medievalism in Harry Potter“ The Harry Potter series is an example of modern medievalism; it adapts and interlaces motifs and characters from medieval stories and folklore with modern ideas and images in order to explore contemporary concerns. Our session will explore how, through the medievalism inherent in her werewolf figures Remus Lupin and Fenrir Greyback, J. K. Rowling, questions accepted concepts of identity and difference and challenge readers’ expectations and understandings of the world around them.

4. Professor Jeffrey Aguinaldo, Sociology “Analyzing the social construction of reality (Or, what they do on Criminal Minds...)” You will be introduced to the theory and practice of qualitative sociological methods. By applying these methods to mundane everyday data, we will explore the social construction of people's realities, and the ways these realities structure social relations. Professor Bonnie Glencross, Archaeology “Archaeology in the 21st Century” When you hear the word, “archaeology” does it invoke visions of Indiana Jones, treasure hunting and tomb robbers? Not all, actually none, of the working archaeologists in the world are Indiana Jones but, that doesn’t make them any less interesting. See what real archaeologists in the 21st century are doing, and how scientific research into past cultures is contributing to our understanding of contemporary issues. Professor Andrea Austin, English & Film Studies “Clone Futures: Nationalism and/vs. Globalism in Science Fiction”