Two Cornell departments have joined forces to present a thought-provoking symposium titled "Doing Memory: Performing the Legacies of Imperialism," March 30-April 1. The series of events, a collaborative effort by the university's departments of English and of Theatre, Film and Dance, includes several public performances, lectures and presentations. The following events are free and open to the public, and all events will take place in Room SB10 of the Center for Theatre Arts, with the exception of the Gottschalk Memorial Lecture:
7 p.m.: "The Imperial Work of Freeways," reading and discussion, with Helena Maria Viramontes, Cornell associate professor of English, reading from her forthcoming novel, Their Dogs Came with Them, and Eric Avila, University of California at Los Angeles, reading from his work, "The Folklore of the Freeway: Space, Identity, and Culture in the Postindustrial City." A discussion will follow moderated by Mary Pat Brady, Cornell assistant professor of English.
10 a.m. to 12:30 p.m.: "Into the Space of Memory," lectures and presentations: Jennifer Brody, George Washington University, "Opening Sequences: Bill T. Jones' '21 Paces in/to the Space of Memory'"; Jill Lane, New York University, "Cuban Rhythm, Transracial Bodies"; and Michelle Habel-Pallan, University of Washington, "Trans-nationalism and Chicana Popular Culture."
1:30-4 p.m.: "Body (Laughter) Affects," panel presentation and discussion: Ted Ziter, New York University, "The Harem at Hyde Park: Ethnography, Human Displays and the Great Exhibition"; Ann Pellegrini, Barnard College, "(Laughter)"; and Fred Moten, New York University, "Around the Five Spot."
4:30 p.m.: Gottschalk Memorial Lecture in Hollis E. Cornell Auditorium, Goldwin Smith Hall: Joseph Roach, Yale University, "The Enchanted Island: Vicarious Tourism in Adaptations of 'The Tempest.'"
8 p.m.: "Performing Amnesia" two performances: "White Noises," written and performed by Shannon Jackson, scholar and performer, University of California at Berkeley, and "Milk of Amnesia" or "Leche de Amnesia," written and performed by Obie Award winning playwright and actress Carmelita Tropicana.
9:30-10:45 a.m.: Further discussion and presentation "Returning to 'The Enchanted Island': Responses to Joseph Roach": Christopher Pye, Williams College, "First Encounter/Missed Encounter: The Tempest in Memory"; and Elizabeth DeLoughrey, Cornell assistant professor of English, "The Repeating Island."
11 a.m. to 1 p.m.: Panel discussion "Playing Race, Playing Religion, Playing History": Theresa Tensuan, Haverford College. "'Forgive them daddy, cause they don't know what they doin': Performing passion"; Yvonne Yarbro-Bejarano, Stanford University, "Race and Sexuality in Chicana/Chicano Cultural Production"; and Sandra Greene, Cornell associate professor of history, "Notsie Narratives: The Performance of Memories Colonized."
2-3 p.m.: Plenary lecture by Richard Schechner, New York University and Cornell A.D. White Professor-at-Large, "Remembering the Future in (Research About) Ramlila of Ramnagar."
3:15-5:30 p.m.: "Doing Memory" roundtable discussion: Shannon Jackson, University of California at Berkeley; Fred Moten, New York University; Joseph Roach, Yale University; Richard Schechner, NYU; Yvonne Yarbro-Bejaranno, Stanford; David Bathrick, Cornell J.G. Schurman Professor of Theatre, Film and Dance; and moderator Rebecca Schneider, Cornell assistant professor of theater, film and dance.
8 p.m.: Performances titled "Flesh Memory /Re-membering Flesh," intermedia and video presentations with discussion moderator David Bathrick, Cornell: Steven Kurtz of the Critical Art Ensemble, Pittsburgh, will present aspects of the group's recent work on "New Eugenics Consciousness," which raises questions about the relationship between contemporary genetic engineering, colonialism and memory; and Rachel Schreiber, Maryland Institute College of Art, will present pieces from "On the Holocaust and Flesh Memory," titled "This is Not Erotica," and "Please Kill Me: I'm a Nigger Faggot Jew," as well as selections from her most recent work in digital art. Schreiber's work takes up the difficult space between desire and horror as it intersects with memory, loss and longing.
"Doing Memory" also is sponsored by the Gottschalk Memorial Lecture Fund; the Society for the Humanities; the Humanities Council; the Vice President's Fund for Research; the University Lectures Committee; La Asociación Latina; the American Studies Program; the Latino Studies Program; the Field of Lesbian, Bisexual and Gay Studies; and the Women's Studies Program.
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