Fall Event Series Brings Dr. Cornel West and Other Performers to Campus
By Whitney Frasier
Arts & Lectures, a long-standing event series at California State University San Marcos (CSUSM), kicks off its fall lineup with The Way You Look (at me) Tonight on Thursday, Sept. 22. This season boasts a diverse selection of eight events as the University welcomes renowned guest speakers, performances and concerts, as well as Dr. Cornel West, who will lead a discussion that imparts a message of love, equality and justice with a focus on the American democratic experiment.
All attendees must purchase or reserve tickets online via the Arts & Lectures website at www.csusm.edu/al. Tickets are on sale now.
---------------------------------------------SCHEDULE OF EVENTS-------------------------------------------
The Way You Look (at me) Tonight
Thursday, Sept. 22 at 7:30 p.m.
CSUSM, Arts Building, Performance Hall 111
- CSUSM Students: Free
- CSUSM Faculty/Staff: $6
- Community Members: $12
The Way You Look (at me) Tonight is a social sculpture — a sensory journey for two performers and the audience. Dancing, singing, telling stories and asking questions, Claire Cunningham and Jess Curtis combine performance, original live music and video to wrestle with important questions about habits and practices of perceiving others and the world. Preview an excerpt.
A touch tour will also be offered before the performance for people who are visually impaired or blind. Please contact the office of Arts & Lectures at 760-750-8272 for touch-tour reservations.
Co-sponsored by CSUSM Dance Studies, PADL West, and the New England Foundation for the Arts.
Let Them Eat Cake
Wednesday, Oct. 5 at 6 p.m.
CSUSM, University Student Union, Ballroom
- CSUSM Students: Free
- CSUSM Faculty/Staff/Alumni: $5
- Community Members: $10
This poetic documentary film takes viewers on an international journey, exploring the ironies between pastry-making and those who cannot afford to eat cake. Filmmakers in 12 countries joined hands with award-winning writer and director Alexis Krasilovsky to address the complex relationships among global food production and consumption, poverty and social justice.
Let Them Eat Cake won “Best Documentary Feature” at the December 2015 Paris Independent Film Festival among many other awards and accolades.
Join the post-screening discussion with the director about the making of this poignant film and its far-reaching implications. Learn more about this event by visiting Pastriology.
Fearless Project featuring Jeff Sheng
Tuesday, Oct. 18 at 6:30 p.m.
CSUSM, The Sports Center
- CSUSM Students: FREE
- CSUSM Faculty/Staff/Alumni: $6
- Community Members: $12
Jeff Sheng is an American artist whose photographic work over the last decade has focused on the 21st century Lesbian Gay Bisexual Transgender (LGBT) rights movement. He began photographing FEARLESS in 2003 as a self-exploration of his own identity as a former closeted high school athlete.
The project now features portraits of over 200 LGBT student-athletes and was published as a book with an afterword by retired NBA basketball player Jason Collins. The photographs from FEARLESS have been exhibited at the headquarters of Nike and ESPN, as well as select locations at the 2010 Winter Olympics and the 2012 Summer Olympics. An exhibition of photographs from the series will be displayed as part of the event.
Last Day of Freedom
Wednesday, Oct. 19 at 6 p.m.
CSUSM, University Student Union, Ballroom
- CSUSM Students: Free
- CSUSM Faculty/Staff: $5
- Community Members: $10
When Bill Babbit realized his brother Manny has committed a crime he agonizes over his decision — should he call the police? Last Day of Freedom is a richly animated personal narrative that tells the story of Bill’s decision to stand by his brother, a veteran returning from war, as he faces criminal charges, racism and ultimately the death penalty. The documentary and film screening is a portrait of a man at the nexus of the most pressing social issues of our day – racial bias, veterans’ rights, mental health care and criminal justice.
Created from over 32,000 hand-drawn images, the film has garnered international film attention and won numerous awards since its premiere at Full Frame Film Festival in April 2015 where it won Best Short Story Documentary. Last Day of Freedom recently won the IDA Award for Best Short Documentary and was a 2015 Oscar Nominee.
A discussion with director Nomi Talisman will follow the film screening.
The History of Jamaican SKA
Thursday, Oct. 27 at 6 p.m.
CSUSM, University Student Union, Ballroom
- CSUSM Students: Free
- CSUSM Faculty & Staff: $5
- Community Members: $10
The Amalgamated is a 10-piece band dedicated to performing traditional style Jamaican SKA, Rocksteady and Reggae music. The band has performed throughout Southern California and Arizona and has shared the stage with many original Jamaican artists.
The Amalgamated will perform their fun and funky tunes and discuss the many facets of early Jamaican music.
Ask the Right Question
Thursday, Nov. 3 at 6 p.m.
CSUSM, University Student Union, Ballroom
- CSUSM Students: Free
- CSUSM Faculty/Staff/Alumni: $5
- Community Members: $10
Join award-winning veteran and internationally renowned speaker and violinist Amanda Wirtz on an exploration of story and music investigating a question that has the power to transform the world. Discover the truth behind her incredible tragedy-to-triumph story as she creatively weaves musical talent into an unforgettable tapestry.
Dr. Cornel West
Friday, Nov. 4 at 6 p.m.
CSUSM, University Student Union, Ballroom
- CSUSM Students: Free
- CSUSM Faculty/Staff/Alumni: $6
- Community Members: $12
In the forthcoming Democracy Matters Tour, Dr. Cornel West will impart a message of love, equality and justice with a focus on the American democratic experiment but with reference to a broader, global humanitarian context. Topics will range from the 2016 political climate, Socratic self-examination, social activism and civic engagement, police brutality, the African-American Freedom Fighting tradition and more.
West is a Professor of Philosophy and Christian Practice at Union Theological Seminary and Professor Emeritus at Princeton University. He has also taught at Yale, Harvard and the University of Paris. West graduated magna cum laude from Harvard in three years and obtained his M.A. and Ph.D. in Philosophy at Princeton.
As a writer of 20 books and editor of 13, he is best known for his classics, Race Matters and Democracy Matters, as well as his memoir, Brother West: Living and Loving Out Loud.
Collaborating with Prince, Jill Scott, Andre 3000, Talib Kweli, KRS-One and the late Gerald Levert, he has produced three spoken word albums, including Never Forget.
West is a frequent guest on The Bill Maher Show, CNN, C-Span and Democracy Now. He made his film debut in The Matrix – and was the commentator (with Ken Wilbur) on the official trilogy released in 2004.
West has a passion to communicate to a vast variety of publics in order to keep alive the legacy of Martin Luther King Jr. – a legacy of telling the truth and bearing witness to love and justice.
Co-sponsored by Office of Diversity, Educational Equity and Inclusion; Tukwut Life and Student Life & Leadership; College of Education, Health and Human Services; Community Engagement; The Max and Anna Levinson Foundation; Undergraduate Studies; American Indian Studies Department; Anthropology Department; Border Studies; CA Indian and Sovereignty Center; College of Humanities, Arts, Behavioral and Social Sciences; Extended Learning; The Faculty Center; Global Commitment Initiative; History Department; Latin@ Center; Liberal Studies Department; Literature and Writing Studies Department and the Philosophy Department.
What I Learned from Cesar Chavez
Wednesday, Nov. 30 at 6:30 p.m.
CSUSM, University Student Union, Ballroom
- CSUSM Students: Free
- CSUSM Faculty/Staff: Free
- Community Members: $5
Marc Grossman served as Cesar Chavez’s press secretary, speechwriter and personal aide as he worked alongside the civil rights leader for 24 years. Grossman provides a unique insight into the complex life and legacy of Cesar Chavez, including Chavez’s transformational vision of what a union could be and why he was the first to successfully organize farm workers.
Grossman is the author of the new foreword to Sal Si Puedes (Escape If You Can), CSUSM’s Sixth Annual Common Read.