The Specter of Global China: Contesting the Power & Peril of Chinese State Capital in Zambia

Ching Kwan Lee graduated from the University of California-Berkeley Sociology Department, and is the author of the award winning Against the Law.  Her talk analyzes the peculiarity of outbound Chinese state capital by comparing it with global private capital in copper and construction in Zambia.  Refuting the dominant narratives of "Chinese colonialism" and "south-south cooperation," comparative ethnographic data collected over a 5-year period chronicle the multi-faceted struggles that confront and differentiate these two varieties of capital entailing uneven potentials for post-colonial African development.

There will also be a small workshop on doing ethnography in China at 10AM on the same day. (Please contact Thomas Janoski at tjanos@uky.edu for details)

Date:
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Location:
West Room, 18th Floor, Patterson Office Tower
Event Series:

"Sleepless Nights/Wasted Time: Seeking Islam in Egypt's Hollywood"

Professor Joel Gordon will explore the depiction of ‘normative’ religious practices and personal expressions of religious identity in recent Egyptian movies with a particular focus is on Egyptian youth.  Whereas in the past signs of piety had been restricted to either ‘traditional’ Egyptians – often in comic fashion – or political extremists, a few recent films have dared to depict ‘normal’ veiled women and bearded men and even a social environment in which questions of piety, morality and proper behavior dominate the discussions, concerns and conflicts between young Egyptians.  These films may point to a growing willingness by film artists to honestly explore social trends that have been taboo, especially as Egypt enters a new political era.

Prof. Joel Gordon: Professor of History and Director of Middle East Studies, University of Arkansas; Specialist in modern Egyptian history and Arab popular culture; Author of Nasser' Blessed Movement, Revolutionary Melodrama, and Nasser: Hero of the Arab Nation

 
Date:
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Location:
UKAA Auditorium @ WT Young Library

“The Lebanese Community of Mexico and the Development of Mexican Film"

 
 
Dr. Carlos Martínez Assad, Professor Emeritus, National Autonomous University of Mexico and 2013 Winner of Mexico’s National Prize for Arts and Sciences, is the author of numerous books and articles on Mexican history, politics, culture, and film, and two books and a novel on the Middle East. He has been a columnist for various Mexican newspapers, presently he is writing for El Universal.   
 
The documentary, La historia en la mirada (The Gaze of History) on the Mexican Revolution, for which he did the historical research and screenplay, won the Ariel (Mexican Oscar) for best documentary in 2010. At UK, he will be presenting his documentary on the Lebanese community in Mexico. (The Lebanese in Mexican film – with English subtitles.)  Discussion to follow.
 

 

 

Date:
-
Location:
Hardymon Theater @ the Marksbury Building

Esposito Opens Discussion of Islam

One of the most respected American scholarly authority on Islam, John L. Esposito, will visit the University of Kentucky Wednesday to discuss “The Future of Islam: Assessing the Elements of Reform, Revival, and Fundamentalism in the Muslim World.” The community is invited to attend his presentation at 6:30 p.m. Wednesday, Sept. 10, at the Singletary Center Recital Hall.

Ukraine

A briefing and geopolitical account by a former Peace Corps volunteer in Ukraine. Gwen Schaefer, a recent graduate of the University of Kentucky, was deployed to Ukraine this year when Corps personnel were directed to leave the country as the political situation deteriorated. The developments over the summer after she left the county will also be adressed. Schaefer will be starting a new Peace Corps mission to Macedonia in September.

Date:
-
Location:
Taylor Education Building Room 231
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