Do Lunch with Anne Cubilie, Feb. 1
Team Kenan hosts the first installment of the new year in its new lunchtime series, Do Lunch, February 1st with a discussion featuring Anne Cubilié. For the past decade, Dr. Cubilié has worked in humanitarian and development policy at United Nations headquarters while maintaining a consistent interest in bridging the gap between academic research and the political and policy considerations of international aid. Her book, Women Witness Terror: Testimony and the Cultural Politics of Human Rights, reads testimony by women survivors of war and human rights abuse through critical frameworks of ethics, trauma and witnessing.
Wednesday, February 1, 12-1:30pm
101 West Duke Building (map)
Lunch will be provided for the first 25 to RSVP by January 31st at noon. Click here to RSVP.
Identity, Satire and Responsibility–Postponed until Feb. 7
Due to travel delays, Dr. Avishai will now be joining us February 7th at 5pm in room 100 of the West Duke Building
In 1969 Philip Roth’s novel Portnoy’s Complaint became infamous almost as soon as it was published, due to its coarsely sexual imagery as well as the deeply satirical portrayal of an American Jewish family. Many felt betrayed, suggesting that Roth’s book reflected poorly on the entire American Jewish community. The book is now recognized as a classic, though Roth described it in a recent interview as a “youthful indiscretion.”
When a community suffers from discrimination, do its members have a special responsibility to avoid adding fuel to the fire? Does great art get a pass for being greatly offensive? Dr. Bernard Avishai will join us for a discussion of Roth’s most famous book and the social and culture whirlwind that received it.
Monday, February 6, 5-6:30pm
101 West Duke Building (map)
2012 Ethics Film Series kicks off Jan. 17 with a free public screening of Defiance
The Kenan Institute for Ethics kicks off its 2012 Ethics Film Series with a free public screening of Defiance (2008) on January 17 at 7pm in the Griffith Theater, Bryan Center, Duke University. Starring Daniel Craig and directed by Edward Zwick, Defiance tells the story of the Bielski partisans, three Jewish brothers who helped save Jewish refugees from the Nazis in 1941.
Taking the theme “condemned to be free,” each of the films in this series in some way explores how individuals – even in the most restrictive, oppressive circumstances – claim their existential freedom by taking responsibility for their decisions and actions. The consequences of these claims, and the weight of their responsibility, may appear overwhelming, but it is this acknowledgement of freedom that enables authentic ethical action.
Co-sponsored by the Center for Documentary Studies and the Program in Arts of the Moving Image.
Free and open to the public.
Tuesday, January 17, 7pm
Griffith Film Theater, Bryan Center, Duke University (map).
Parking is available in the Bryan Center parking deck.
Team Kenan presents the Censored 11, Jan. 18
In 1968, United Artists removed eleven Looney Tunes cartoons from syndicated distribution due to their racist portrayals of Africans and African Americans. Nearly fifty years later, cartoon historians are calling for the end of the ban, arguing that their artistic value overrides the negative effects of the outdated stereotypes depicted in the cartoons. Can art transcend a nasty past? Is it ever okay to overlook some aspects of a work of art? Can we understand contemporary racism without understanding its roots in popular culture, like these cartoons?
Join us for a screening of two of the most critically lauded cartoons followed by a discussion with Duke History Professor Adriane Lentz-Smith.
Tuesday, January 18, 6-8pm
101 West Duke Building (map)
Light refreshments will be provided.
Free and open to the public.
Little Town of Bethlehem screening, Feb. 20
Documentary film Little Town of Bethlehem (2010) tells the story of three men of three different faiths living in Israel and Palestine. Writer and director Jim Hanon explores each man’s choice of nonviolent action in the face of constant violence, and in so doing, finds the humanity common to all three.
Taking the theme “condemned to be free,” each of the films in this series in some way explores how individuals – even in the most restrictive, oppressive circumstances – claim their existential freedom by taking responsibility for their decisions and actions. The consequences of these claims, and the weight of their responsibility, may appear overwhelming, but it is this acknowledgement of freedom that enables authentic ethical action.
A panel discussion (panelists to be named) will follow the screening.
Co-sponsored by the Center for Documentary Studies and the Program in Arts of the Moving Image.
Free and open to the public.
Monday, February 20, 7pm
Griffith Film Theater, Bryan Center, Duke University (map).
Parking is available in the Bryan Center parking deck.
One Summer in Damak on view through the spring
One Summer in Damak: Glimpses of Life in a Bhutanese Refugee Camp, the product of this summer’s student research trip to Nepal, opened September 12 and runs through Spring 2012 semester. With little hope of returning to Bhutan or being welcomed as citizens of Nepal, the refugees depicted in this 60-plus photograph exhibit confront resettlement to third countries including the United States, with many moving to Durham and surrounding communities. However, within this context of insecurity and uncertainty, they have created lives filled with beauty, work, leisure, school, worship, family, and friends.
The exhibit is part of the Kenan Institute’s Bhutanese Resettlement Project, a multi-site community-based research project in eastern Nepal and Durham exploring the effects of resettlement upon Bhutanese refugees.
West Duke Building (map)
Contact Lou Brown for more information.
iThink Cafe: Morality and the Chain of Command, Nov. 30
Wednesday, November 30, 6-7:30 pm
Breedlove Room of Perkins Library (map)
Team Kenan
This event is free and open to the public.
Team Kenan hosts the final Fall iThink event on the how organizational hierarchy affects individual moral responsibility, specifically in the wake of the Penn State sex abuse scandal.
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