Josephine Baker: A Black Venus in Europe
Tiffany Florvil, Ph.D., UNM
February 9, 2020 (Sun) 3:00 – 5:00 p.m.
UNM School of Architecture, George Pearl Hall
African American entertainer Josephine Baker, also known as the “Black Pearl” and the “Creole Goddess,” made a huge splash in 1925 when she arrived in Paris, France. Her Danse Sauvage, performed with a banana skirt and exuding exoticism and sensuality, established her as the biggest Black female star in the world, traveling across Europe and the globe. Baker’s presence helped to change the cultural landscape of interwar Europe and contributed to a new understanding of African American culture. Tiffany Florvil shares her path to stardom, her performances, her involvement in the French Resistance and later civil rights activism, as well as her important legacy beyond her celebrity. +More Info
Breaking Carbon’s Grip: Pathways to a Clean Energy Future for the US, New Mexico and the World
Melanie Kenderdine, Senior Fellow, Atlantic Council
February 21, 2020 (Fri) 3:00 – 5:00 p.m.
Albuquerque Journal Auditorium
7777 Jefferson Blvd. NE
Continents are on fire. Glaciers are melting. The impact of mankind’s “carbon footprint” is driving climate change with growing and increasingly dire consequences. Deep decarbonization by mid-century is essential but two thirds of the countries that signed on to the Paris Agreement are not meeting their targets. Also, clean energy technologies to enable a low carbon future will use significantly higher amounts of metals and minerals than conventional energy sources; many of these resources are not found in the US, raising a range of new energy security concerns for the planet’s survival. Melanie Kenderdine’s talk will help us better grasp the problem and consider possible solutions. +More Info
Women Fashion Designers and the Birth of Modern Dress
Cassidy Zachary, Ph.D. candidate, UNM
March 8, 2020 (Sun) 3:00 – 5:00 p.m.
UNM School of Architecture, George Pearl Hall Auditorium
Lady Lucile Duff Gordon is perhaps most famous for surviving the Titanic, but she was also responsible for revolutionizing fashion at the dawn of the 20th century, one of a handful of pioneering fashion designers who designed corset-optional clothing for the modern woman. A few of these designers were men, but many more were women, including Madeleine Vionnet, Jeanne Lanvin and Jeanne Paquin. That the work of these women precludes that of their more famous counterpart Gabrielle “Coco” Chanel speaks to one of the most common myths surrounding modern fashion: it was a product of the 1920s. In fact, fashion was modernized in the era just before and during World War I, a time when designers redefined the shape of fashion and women redefined themselves. +More Info
Solito, Solita: Crossing Borders with Youth Refugees from Central America
Jonathan Freedman, Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist
March 20, 2020 (Fri) 3:00 – 5:00 p.m.
Albuquerque Journal Auditorium
7777 Jefferson Blvd. NE
They are a mass migration of thousands, yet each one travels alone. Solito, Solita (Alone, Alone): Crossing Borders With Youth Refugees From Central America is a collection of oral histories that tells—in their own words—the story of young refugees fleeing countries in Central America and traveling for hundreds of miles to seek safety and protection in the United States. Fifteen narrators describe why they fled their homes, what happened on their dangerous journeys through Mexico, how they crossed the borders, and for some, their ongoing struggles to survive in the United States. Their intense testimonies will leave us astonished at the bravery of the human spirit. What can their stories teach us about abuse and abandonment, bravery and resilience, hypocrisy and hope? +More Info
How Media is Affecting Ukraine and its Role in the World
Martha Dyczok, Ph.D., University of Western Ontario
April 24, 2020 (Fri) 3:00 – 5:00 p.m.
Albuquerque Journal Auditorium
7777 Jefferson Blvd. NE
Ukraine’s 2019 presidential election will likely make it into the textbooks. An actor with no political experience won a landslide victory without campaigning in traditional ways. He did not meet with voters, largely refused to give interviews, and made only two live media appearances at the tail end of the campaign. Volodymyr Zelensky won the presidency by using media in a new way: he played a character in a popular TV series. And he was business partners with one of country’s richest men, who owned one of the country’s most powerful media corporation that aired the show. This talk will look at how a virtual candidate became a real president. It will also provide an analysis of how media is affecting Ukraine and its role in the world. +More Info
