Sponsored by The Goldfarb Center

Showing of A History of Violence (2005, David Cronenberg)

Jerry Miller of Haverford College will speak as part of the Philosophy Department's Colloquium Series.

Sponsored by The Goldfarb Center and by the Spencer Fund of the Cultural Events Committee

Screening of The Baader Meinhof Complex (2008, Uli Edel)

Sponsored by The Goldfarb Center and by the Spencer Fund of the Cultural Events Committee

Screening of The Weather Underground (2002, Sam Green and Bill Siegel)

Journalist and critic Anthony Kaufmann will be show the critically acclaimed film "Better this World," which has won the best documentary prize at the Sarasota and San Francisco International Film Festivals. You can read more about the film at: http://www.pbs.org/pov/betterthisworld/

Want to sit in on a class about domestic terrorism? Here is your chance!

On November 9th, a group of students in Prof Adam Howard's class will present on Bill Ayers'
memoir and Assata Shakur's memoir. During their presentation, they
will provide a summary of the works and then facilitate a discussion
about the factor that race plays in activist work and the consequences
of that work. 

You do not need to read either book to participate! Please contact Cyrus Shahan (cshahan) for details.

To have its desired effect, terrorism depends on the uncertainty and trauma its victims face.  But other forms of trauma terrorize people as well.  Paula Vogel's "The Long Christmas Ride Home" can be seen as an example of how violence can erupt in the seemingly safest of places and how we carry the memory of trauma without us throughout our lives.  Please also join Director Todd Coulter, members of the cast, and Carol and John Farrell of Figures of Speech Theater for a post-show discussion after the Saturday performance.

 The last five years have been among the most violent and tense in parts of China's minority regions since the Cultural Revolution. The Chinese government has increased security measures against what it calls the "three evils" of international terrorism, ethnic splittism, and religious extremism. What's behind the rise of ethnic activism, particularly in Tibet and Xinjiang? Are government policies easing or exacerbating tensions? Is there a peaceful solution to ethnic strife in China or will tensions continue to rise? This talk is part of the China Town Hall series of events.

Professor Rodman's December 5 class will examine US detention and interrogation policies in Guantanamo and Iraq in light of the Geneva Conventions and the Convention against Torture and address the question of whether these practices violate international law or are defensible given the "different kind of war" the US is waging against Al Qaeda

As our society struggles with how to detain and punish terrorists, what psychological factors are at play? How do punishers understand their role, and how does it affect their conception of their own moral standing?  Gabrielle Adams will address the topic of punishment and deviance generally in this Psychology Department Colloquium lecture.

Photojournalist Andrea Bruce has documented the horrors of political violence in countries such as Afghanistan and Iraq. She will present her work and speak about the experience of being a photojournalist in parts of the world disrupted by terrorism.

Throughout his career, Harold Koh has dealt with matters of international law relevant to terrorism. In his current capacity as the Obama administration's Legal Adviser to the Department of State, Koh has argued for the legality of drone strikes within Pakistan and Yemen as part of the United States' war on terror.

How do language and feeling shape terrorism?  How in turn are they shaped by terrorism?  What defines bioterrorism?  What differentiates eco-activism from eco-terrorism?  What role do nuclear weapons play in global terrorist threats?  In this roundtable, five Colby faculty will share their perspectives on these questions: Keith Peterson (Philosophy), Charles Conover (Physics), Hollis Griffin (WGSS), Arthur Greenspan (French & Italian) and Susan Childers (Biology).

 Colby's Model United Nations Club is organizing a simulation with the following description: A catastrophic accident creates a chain of unfolding events. A pathogen is released in a metropolitan area in Europe, causing both disease and panic on a large scale. In a short period of time, healthcare and government officials must deal with both of these aspects of the situation and monitor the progress of their efforts.  Participants will take on the role of these professionals and work together to resolve the crisis.

It is well established that United States authorities have systematically used music and sound as elements of detention and interrogation practices so harsh as to have been defined by some as psychological torture aimed at destroying prisoners' subjectivities. This talk, by Suzanne Cusick, Professor of Music at New York University, draws on first person accounts of former prisoners to explore how "the music program" in many detention centers constitutes a form of violence that causes great psychological harm to detainees and does indeed constitute a form of torture.

The fact that Osama bin Laden's code name was Geronimo indicates that Native Americans are sometimes still associated with terrorism and violent resistance.  What is the history of Native American resistance to European and then American expansion? In her talk, historian Pauleena MacDougall will speak on the many and mostly nonviolent ways the Penobscot Nation in Maine has resisted oppression and assimilation and remained a thriving community in the 21st Century.

In Professor Allbritton's class, students will read and discuss two short plays that emerged in the aftermath of Madrid's 2004 train bombings. These bombings, initially blamed on ETA and only later revealed to be the work of al-Qaeda terrorist cells living in Spain, brought about an incredible sea change in the country's politics. Together we will analyze these plays and how they begin to represent the social change brought forth from the dark shadows of terrorism.

What differentiates gang violence from terrorism?  This documentary spotlights the extreme violence in the Haitian slum Cite Soleil after the exile of Jean-Bertrand Aristide.