Exciting Courses for Summer & Fall 2022 with the College of Arts, Humanities, and Social Sciences Mar 11, 2022 The College of Arts, Humanities, and Social Sciences is excited to announce some of our new and returning courses for Summer and Fall 2022. New class descriptions will be added daily! Check back often. If you have questions about courses, please contact our college at cahs@uah.edu or speak with your Academic Advisor. ENGLISH EH 618: Indigenous Women’s Literature Dr. Alanna Frost frosta@uah.edu This course will explore issues of identity, representation, and experience in texts written by and about Indigenous North American women. We will engage with a broad variety of texts—fiction, literary criticism, ethnographies, and native-studies criticisms—in order to consider the politics of demarcating what counts as Indigenous women’s literature and what it means to mark a course as concerned with understanding “Indigenous” and “Women.” HISTORY HY 399: History of the Modern Olympic Games Dr. Molly Johnson johnsomw@uah.edu This course will explore the history of the Olympic Games from 1896 to the present, using the Olympics as a microcosm for exploring broader themes including: nationalism and internationalism, amateurism and professionalism, politics and protest; race, gender, commercialization, media, urban planning, environment, security and terrorism, and the emerging global anti-Olympics movement. MUSIC MUX 390: Concert Choir Dr. Matthew Carey mjc0030@uah.edu The UAH Concert Choir is an SATB ensemble, comprised of singers with a wide range of experience and ability from almost every college and major on campus. The Concert Choir and Chamber Choir often collaborate with the UAH Wind Ensemble, Huntsville Community Chorus, and Huntsville Symphony. WORLD LANGUAGES & CULTURES Spanish 101S: Intro to Foreign Language Various Faculty wlc@uah.edu NEW! This course will be online for summer and fall with a hybrid model of both synchronous and asynchronous course schedules. You will be required to be at one Zoom class meeting each week, while other material will be completed online asynchronous. Teaches beginning listening, speaking, reading, and writing within cultural contexts. No prerequisites are needed. ENGLISH 207 AND 208 COURSE INFORMATION: EH 207-05 - Joseph Taylor Literature and Culture teaches critical analysis of texts from ancient times through the Age of Discovery. This course introduces students to the methods of literary study through an examination of works in their social, historical, and philosophical contexts. We will examine different genres such as poetry, prose fiction, and drama and oral literatures. These texts will take us from ancient Mesopotamia (Iraq) to ancient Greece, from pre modern Britain to medieval Africa, and from early modern Spain to Renaissance England. Our readings will consist mainly of works in translation but will also include texts first written in English. Our main texts for this course will include the ancient Mesopotamian epic Gilgamesh, the fifth-century BCE drama Oedipus Tyrannus, the Old English poem Beowulf, the epic of medieval Mali, Sundjiata, the fourteenth-century Middle English poems Sir Gawain and the Green Knight and The Canterbury Tales, the sixteenth-century Spanish picaresque novel Lazarillo de Tormes, and Shakespeare's tragedy Macbeth. We will also read other supplemental texts relative to the periods/cultures that produced the main texts. EH 207-06/10 - Ryan Brown Literature without Environmental Borders explores the ways that humans have constructed not only physical boundaries between them and their environment—like fences, walls and fire—but also symbolic ones in the literature of early civilizations. The course focuses on literary texts depicting and performing human-animal-plant relationships and analyzes the ways these borders are maintained or reimagined today. By reconstructing and deconstructing the literary boundaries created in ancient texts, we hope to understand more about our modern hurdles toward healthier relationships with our environments. The course will explore what it means to be human, what happened to nature, what animals mean to us, fear, love, violence, and the boundless terrains of foundational literature. EH 207-07/08/09 - Lacy Marschalk-Brecciaroli Topic: "Storytelling Animals: Beginnings to 1605" “One of the most intrinsic things about [humans],” says author Salman Rushdie, “is that we're storytelling animals. The need to understand the world through our stories is profoundly embedded in human nature." In this course, we will study extant literature from ancient times through the so-called “Age of Discovery.” In particular, we will be examining the history of storytelling, of how stories are told and why they are told, in cultures from around the world. To answer these questions, we will analyze works within their social, historical, and philosophical contexts while paying special attention to the forms of stories and their narrative structures and techniques. Readings may include The Odyssey, The Ramayana, The Thousand and One Nights, Sir Gawain and the Green Knight, King Lear, and The Tale of Genji. EH 208-01/05 - David St. John (POST) HUMAN WISHES: Monsters, cyborgs, artificial intelligences and everyday humans populate the readings in this survey of literature since the Enlightenment. The authors we study in this class all propose differing answers to the question of what makes humans "human." In addition to tracing the development of literature across the aesthetic movements of Romanticism, Modernism, and Post-Modernism, this class incorporates writers from outside the western canon that have their own novel perspectives. Texts include Frankenstein (Shelley), The Metamorphosis (Kafka), and Never Let Me Go (Ishiguro), along with shorter readings by David Hume, Sandra Cisneros, Maxine Hong Kingston, and others. EH 208-06/07 - Joseph Conway The Legacy of Frankenstein: Since its publication in 1818, Mary Shelley's Frankenstein has been an endless inspiration to writers and filmmakers: A warning to scientists. A class parable. A prophesy of A.I. or genetic engineering. A feminist critique of patriarchal marriage. An allegory about artistic creation. A study of racism. A mournful meditation on human violence. A good old-fashioned horror story. In this class we will explore The Legacy of Frankenstein beginning with Shelley's original and continuing through writers like H.G. Wells, Karel Čapek, Nnedi Okorafor, Victor Lavalle, and Kazuo Ishiguro, and films like Blade Runner and Bride of Frankenstein. ... Now Showing! The Complete Works of William Shakespeare Abridged Feb 24, 2022 The Complete Works of William Shakespeare Abridged opens Wednesday, February 23rd in our Morton Hall Black Box Theatre. The play is by Adam Long, Daniel Singer, and Jess Winfield and will be directed by Dr. Chad Thomas, Associate Professor of English at The University of Alabama in Huntsville. Three actors present all 37 plays by William Shakespeare in a hilarious evening of theatre. An irreverent, fast-paced romp through the Bard’s plays, The Complete Works of William Shakespeare (abridged) was London’s longest-running comedy having clocked a very palpable nine years in London’s West End at the Criterion Theatre! Join these madcap actors in tights as they weave their wicked way through all of Shakespeare’s Comedies, Histories, and Tragedies in one wild ride that will leave you breathless and helpless with laughter. CLICK HERE FOR TICKETS Director's Note: Directing The Complete Works of William Shakespeare (Abridged) is an admittedly odd choice for someone as devoted to Shakespeare as I have been in my professional career. In a former life, I used to act with Shakespeare in Santa Fe. Later, I wrote a dissertation and several journal articles that focus on Shakespeare and Shakespeare Studies. At present, I teach undergraduate and graduate courses on Shakespeare for UAH and have directed a number of Shakespeare’s plays for Theatre at UAH. Plus, I continue to produce, direct, and act with Huntsville Shakespeare. Why, you may ask, am I directing this show instead of a play that Shakespeare actually wrote? I’m so glad you asked! First of all, this show is funny! All of us have had an incredibly difficult couple years and, frankly, there haven’t been a lot of opportunities for laughter. We wanted to change this and offer you a chance to forget your troubles and enjoy 37 plays in 97 minutes. The New York Times called this show “Pithier than Python. Irresistible.” The Miami Herald raved, “Shakespeare as it was back in the Bard’s day: bawdy, irreverent, sublimely entertaining.” And according to the Today Show, “If you like Shakespeare, you’ll love this show. If you hate Shakespeare, you’ll love this show!” So there is truly something for everyone with this show. And second, The Complete Works of William Shakespeare (Abridged) is a difficult show to produce, so we did for the challenge! Coming into this, I knew it would require a major commitment from designers and technicians, but I had no idea just how much stuff had to happen for the show to succeed. Student designers did an incredible job with costumes, sound, and lighting. The set is inspirational, the wigs are hysterical, and the assortment of props is truly astonishing. Plus, I cast at least two actors in each role, and they all worked so hard – not only did they have to learn lines and differentiate between characters, they had to fight and dance. (Needless to say, the choreography is amazing.) This show rejoices in the collaborative nature of theatre – and it is our gift to you. We hope you have as much fun watching The Complete Works of William Shakespeare (Abridged) as we had preparing it! -Dr. Chad Thomas Director PROGRAM Photo Credit: Chris Baker C Scott Photography... UAH Theatre Alum Anoop Dharmendrakumar appearing in national ads and television shows Feb 22, 2022 The Theatre Program at The University of Alabama in Huntsville (UAH) would like to spotlight the recent successes of Anoop Dharmendrakumar (‘21 Theatre Performance). After graduating, Anoop has appeared in national advertisements and popular television shows. During his time at UAH, Anoop was active in his college community and held numerous leadership positions, including a College of Arts, Humanities, and Social Sciences Ambassador. Anoop’s theatre resume at UAH included lead roles in She Kills Monsters: Virtual Realms, La Cage aux Folles,and Neighborhood 3 Requisition of Doom. He also has performed with the Huntsville Ballet Company and the Mountainside Theatre in North Carolina. Anoop describes his experiences in the professional world of acting, “After graduating, I moved to Atlanta, GA, and signed with an acting agency. I have been working on many tv/commercial projects since. I have appeared on the tv shows COBRA KAI and ATLANTA as a co-star. These projects have allowed me to work with industry professionals like Ralph Macchio and Donald Glover. I have also appeared on commercials for Chase Bank, Starbucks, McKinsey Consulting, IHG Hotels & Resorts, which are showing on TV, streaming services, and social media. I have been able to apply the skills I trained on, pursuing my Theatre major, in long and short-form storytelling for the screen. Atlanta, being a vibrant city, has given me the opportunity to learn and grow in the film industry.” We look forward to supporting Anoop’s future projects. Photo Credit: SlingShot Photography, Poiema Films, Upright Media Productions, Partizan Inc. For more information about UAH Theatre, please email theatre@uah.edu ... UAH Theatre Digital Callboard Feb 15, 2022 Welcome, UAH students and the theatre community! UAH Theatre hosts a digital callback board to access information about auditions, backstage crew needs, production information, class updates, and professional work and graduate information. We encourage you to bookmark our site to stay updated with all things UAH Theatre! Questions?Please get in touch with Amy Guerin at amy.guerin@uah.edu UAH Theatre Digital Callboard... UAH to host The Huntsville Human Rights Film Festival March 30 – April 3, 2022 Feb 11, 2022 The Huntsville Human Rights Film Festival will take place March 30 – April 3 on the campus of the University of Alabama in Huntsville. The Festival is a collaboration of the UAH Humanities Center, Office of Diversity and Inclusion, Office of Student Life, North Alabama School for Organizers, Southern Fried Film Festival, North Alabama Standing Up for Racial Justice (SURJ), and other campus and community groups. The Festival elevates the twin themes of environmental and social justice through documentaries, feature-length films, guest speakers, artists, and performances that vividly portray stories of hope, anguish, resilience, and strength--- pillars of the inexorable, global movement of marginalized peoples toward social justice. These are voices and experiences not often heard, and the Festival opens the door for memorable film experiences and eye-opening, first-person interactions among diverse people groups. All events are free and open to the public. Film screening locations include Morton Hall, Chan Auditorium, and Charger Union on the campus of The University of Alabama in Huntsville. Event Map Printable Schedule of Events SCHEDULE OF EVENTS Wednesday, March 30 Location: Morton 147 Time: 6:00 pm A pre-Festival film screening and discussion of Anthropocene: the Human Epoch will be moderated by College of English lecturer Dr. David St. John. Dr. St. John and co-panelists Tyler Dickey, James Galliher, Sydney Lanier, and James Rogers will critically discuss the film and their work in the critical theory course, Writing the Anthropocene. Film Description: ANTHROPOCENE: The Human Epoch is a vivid cinematic depiction of the breadth and impact of humanity’s interaction with the planet. A cinematic meditation on humanity’s massive reengineering of the planet, ANTHROPOCENE: The Human Epoch is a four years in the making feature documentary film from the multiple-award-winning team of Jennifer Baichwal, Nicholas de Pencier, and Edward Burtynsky. Thursday, March 31 Location: Charger Union Theater Time: 7:00 pm The Huntsville Human Rights Film Festival officially kicks off Thursday, March 31, 7:00 pm with the public premiere of Angel of Alabama, a documentary featuring Lawrence County activist Brenda Hampton who stood up to corporations and led the charge to heal her community of dangerous water contaminants. Ms. Hampton will join the Festival with documentary producer Elijah Yetter Bowman. Bowman will also preview the forthcoming feature-length film, GENX: A Chemical Cocktail. Message from Ethereal Films: During the production of the feature film GenX, the film crew met Brenda Hampton, a truly remarkable activist serving communities in North Alabama. Her story moved us and with her gracious permission, we decided to produce a separate short film highlighting her work. Brenda is one-of-a-kind and simply breathes love into everything she does. It is our honor to help share her story with the world. Brenda Hampton is the founder of Concerned Citizens of North Alabama Grassroots. Friday, April 1 Location: Chan Auditorium, Business Administration Building Time: 7:00 pm Film Screening: Short film, Mni Wiconi: The Stand at Standing Rock (8 minutes Run Time) Dialogue: Indigenous Voices: Water Protection, Land Back, and Sovereignty Movements. A dialogue with award-winning Indigenous artist Christian Takes Gun Parrish, aka, Supaman, The University of Alabama’s Dr. Cindy Tekobbe, and The University of Alabama BISON student activists Katherine Johnston and Kiana Younker. Dr. Cindy Tekobbe teaches and researches Indigenous, feminist, and digital rhetorics as an Assistant Professor at The University of Alabama. Dr. Cindy Tekobbe teaches and researches Indigenous, feminist, and digital rhetorics as an Assistant Professor at The University of Alabama. Her work has been published in academic journals like Present Tense, Enculturation, First Monday, and Information, Communication & Society. Her current book project, Indigenous Voices in Digital Spaces is under advance contract and in review with the University Press of Colorado. Dr. Tekobbe is a member of the Alabama Indigenous Coalition, and she is a citizen of the Choctaw Nation of Oklahoma. The Bama Indigenous Student Organization Network (BISON) is intended as a space of support, advocacy, and cultural understanding for Native and Indigenous students at UA. We strive for openness, acceptance, and representation, and aim to unite Indigenous members of the campus community. We also welcome non-Indigenous allies. Intermission Performance: The Medicine Bundle Tour: Sacred Dance featuring Christian Takes Gun Parrish, aka, Supaman. Supaman is an award-winning Indigenous activist, hip-hop artist, and fancy dancer who enthralls audiences with lyricism and dance. Saturday, April 2 Film Screening: No Dumb Questions (24 minutes Run Time) Location: Morton Hall 147 Time: 9:30 AM No Dumb Questions is a lighthearted and poignant documentary that profiles three sisters, ages 6, 9, and 11, struggling to understand why and how their Uncle Bill is becoming a woman. These girls love their Uncle Bill, but will they feel the same way when he becomes their new Aunt Barbara? With just weeks until Bill's first visit as Barbara, the sisters navigate the complex territories of anatomy, sexuality, personality, gender, and fashion. Their reactions are funny, touching, and distinctly different. This film offers a fresh perspective on a complex situation from a family that insists there are no dumb questions. Event Panel: Celluloid, Coffee & Conversation Location: Morton Hall 146 Time: 9:30 am UAH Alumni Devin Townsend and Ray Santisteban, director of the First Rainbow Coalition, discuss filmmaking and activism and preview the historic documentary. Ray Santisteban is an award-winning documentary filmmaker Ray Santisteban is an award-winning documentary filmmaker whose work has aired nationally and internationally on public television. His work gravitates toward political subjects and artist profiles, addressing the themes of justice, memory, and personal transformation. A graduate of NYU’s film and TV production program, his subjects include NY Black Panther leader Dhoruba Bin Wahad - Passin' It On, (Co-Producer), which was Broadcast Nationally on the PBS series POV in 1993, the roots of Puerto Rican poetry, Nuyorican Poets Cafe (1994, Director, Producer), and Chicano poetry, Voices From Texas (Director, Producer). He was Senior Producer of Visiones: Latino Art And Culture In The U.S. a three-hour PBS series nationally broadcast in Oct. 2004. In January of 2020, his hour documentary, The First Rainbow Coalition, was broadcast nationally on the PBS series Independent Lens. In October 2020, his short video Vincent Valdez: The Beginning is Near, was part of the inaugural slate of the American Masters/Firelight Media web-based series: In the Making. Film Screening: The First Rainbow Coalition (1 Hour Run Time) Location: Morton Hall 146 Time: 10:00 AM An account of the groundbreaking 1960’s Chicago alliance between the Black Panthers, Young Lords, and Young Patriots. In 1969, the Chicago Black Panther Party, notably led by the charismatic Fred Hampton, began to form alliances across lines of race and ethnicity with other community-based movements in the city, including the Latino group the Young Lords Organization and the working-class young southern whites of the Young Patriots. Finding common ground, these disparate groups banded together in one of the most segregated cities in postwar America to collectively confront issues such as police brutality and substandard housing, calling themselves the Rainbow Coalition. The First Rainbow Coalition tells the movement’s little-known story through rare archival footage and interviews with former coalition members in the present day. While the coalition eventually collapsed under duress from constant harassment by local and federal law enforcement, including the murder of Fred Hampton, it had a long-term impact, breaking down barriers between communities, and creating a model for future activists and diverse politicians across America. Event Panel: Dialogue with Hy Thurman, North Alabama School of Organizers, and friends of the Movement. Location: Morton Hall 146 Time: 11:00 AM A post-documentary discussion with members of the First and Second Rainbow Coalition, discussing new pathways in the movement for justice and equality, moderated by Dr. Troy Smith. Film Screening: Always In Season (1 hour 29 minutes Run Time) Location: Morton Hall 148 Time: 10:00 am Always In Season explores the lingering impact of more than a century of lynching African Americans and connects this form of historic racial terrorism to racial violence today. The film centers on the case of Lennon Lacy, an African American teen who was found hanging from a swing set in Bladenboro, North Carolina, on August 29, 2014. Despite inconsistencies in the case, local officials quickly ruled Lennon’s death a suicide, but his mother, Claudia, believes Lennon was lynched. Claudia moves from paralyzing grief to leading the fight for justice for her son As the film unfolds, Lennon’s case, and the suspicions surrounding it, intersect with stories of other communities seeking justice and reconciliation. A few hundred miles away in Monroe, Georgia, a diverse group of reenactors, including the adult daughter of a former Ku Klux Klan leader, annually dramatize a 1946 quadruple lynching to ensure the victims are never forgotten and encourage the community to come forward with information that might bring the perpetrators to justice. As the terrorism of the past bleeds into the present, the film asks: what will it take for Americans to begin building a national movement for racial justice and reconciliation? Film Screening: Forbidden: Undocumented and Queer in Rural America (81 minutes Run Time) Location: Morton Hall 147 Time: 10:00 am Growing up in rural North Carolina, Moises Serrano fell in love with a country that refused to recognize his full humanity - both as an undocumented immigrant and as a gay man. The documentary Forbidden follows Moises’ personal journey as an activist fighting for the American Dream. Moises Serrano is an openly queer and undocumented activist and storyteller Photo Credit Moises Serrano Event Panel: Zoom Talk with Undocumented’s Moises Serrano, activist, storyteller, producer Location: Morton Hall 147 Time: 11:30 am Moises Serrano is an openly queer and undocumented activist and storyteller who has lived most of his life in Yadkin County, NC. Since coming out as undocumented in 2010 he has relentlessly pursued equality for his community through the sharing of his narrative. His mission is to de-criminalize and humanize the issue of migration while advocating for immediate relief to migrant communities. Moises quickly became one of the most requested speakers in the state of North Carolina. Described as a “consummate orator,” his advocacy has led him to lead a Tedx talk in Greensboro and to be named a notable Latino of the triad. For the past seven years, Moises has dedicated his life to building a local and national dialogue that he envisions will one day change the way we speak about undocumented immigrants in our country. Moises is a recent undergraduate student studying Public Policy at Sarah Lawrence College. Moderator Eirian Waldron. Film Screening: Oyate (1 hour 30 minutes Run Time) Location: Morton Hall 148 Time: 12:00 pm In 2016, the world turned its eyes to the people of Standing Rock as they formed a coalition of unprecedented magnitude to defend their land and water from the threat of the Dakota Access Pipeline. An inflection point for human rights and environmental justice, the #NoDAPL struggle became a rallying cry for Indigenous people everywhere to take a stand against the myriad injustices committed against them for centuries. Oyate elevates the voices of Indigenous activists, organizers, and politicians as they offer their perspective on that complicated history, contextualize the #NoDAPL movement, illuminate the interconnectivity between the issues facing Indian Country today, and look towards a more sovereign and sustainable future for their people. Featuring perspectives from Chase Iron Eyes, Phyllis Young, Secretary Deb Haaland, Tokata Iron Eyes, Stuart James, and more. Event Panel: Oyate Talk Back Session Location: Morton Hall 148 Time: 1:30 pm After the screening of Oyate, join Brandon Jackson, Director/Producer, Emil Benjamin, Director/Producer, and Jennifer Martel, Producer for a post-film dialogue on activism, storytelling, and the growing Indigenous movement for social justice. Moderated by Dr. Cindy Tekobbe, The University of Alabama. Film Screening: Ferguson Rises (1 hour 22 minutes Run Time) Location: Morton Hall 146 Time: 12:00 pm How does a father and a community find purpose in their pain? In 2014, Michael Brown Sr.’s son was killed by police officer Darren Wilson in Ferguson, Missouri, an event that fueled the global Black Lives Matter movement. But his personal story of seeking justice and healing, and the story of the community, has not been told until now. Film Screening: Deep Run (75 minutes Run Time) Location: Morton Hall 147 Time: 12:30 pm Deep Run is a powerful verité portrait of trans life in rural North Carolina. Exiled by her family and rejected by an ex-partner, 17-year-old Spazz has no one to lean on for support. But when Spazz falls in love again and summons up the courage to become Cole, a strong-willed trans-man, his candid humor and steadfast, all-inclusive Christian beliefs counter the bigotry he experiences daily. This deeply personal documentary reveals rebirth and courage within America’s deeply conservative Bible Belt as Cole struggles to find a church that will affirm his identity and the couple's relationship. With a small group of supportive friends, relatives, and his girlfriend, Ashley, Cole's search for love and belonging leads him to a radical revision of what faith and church can be. An intimate study of young outsiders in an insular Christian community, Deep Run explores the intersection of modern identity and faith in the American South. Film Screening: Geek Girls (83 minutes Run Time) Location: Morton Hall 147 Time: 2:00 pm Nerdy women - the "hidden half" of fan culture - open up about their lives in the world of conventions, video games, and other rife-with-misogyny pop culture touchstones. While geek communities have recently risen to prominence, very little attention is paid to geek women. Filmmaker Gina Hara, struggling with her own geek identity, explores the issue with a cast of women who live geek life up to the hilt: A feminist geek blogger, a convention-trotting cosplayer, a professional gamer, a video-game designer, and a NASA engineer. Through their personal experiences in the rich cultural explosion of nerdom, GEEK GIRLS shows both the exhilaration of newfound community and the ennui of being ostracized. These women, striving in their respective professions and passions, face the cyberbullying, harassment, and sexism that permeates the culture and the industry at large. Film Screening: Judas and the Black Messiah (2 hours 6 minutes Run Time) Location: Charger Union Theater Time: 2:00 pm Fred Hampton, a young, charismatic activist, becomes Chairman of the Illinois chapter of the Black Panther Party - putting him directly in the crosshairs of the government, the FBI, and the Chicago Police. But to destroy the revolution, the authorities are going to need a man on the inside. Event Panel: Reflections with Nancy Hollander Location: Charger Union Theater Time: 6:30 pm Internationally recognized criminal defense lawyer Nancy Hollander Internationally recognized criminal defense lawyer Nancy Hollander joins the Festival to discuss her four decades representing individuals and organizations accused of crimes, including those involving national security issues, in trial and on appeal. In her appeal, she was the lead appellate counsel for Chelsea Manning and won Ms. Manning’s release in 2017 when President Obama commuted her sentence from 35 years to seven years. Ms. Hollander has also represented two prisoners at Guantanamo Bay Naval Base, and in 2016, she won the release of one of them – Mohamedou Ould Slahi – who had been incarcerated for 14 years without charge. His story is chronicled in his New York Times bestselling book, Guantanamo Diary, which Ms. Hollander helped facilitate and publish, and in a feature film entitled The Mauritanian. Hollander was portrayed by actress Jody Foster in the film, which will be screened Saturday, April 2, at 7:00 pm in Charger Union. Film Screening: The Mauritanian (2 hours 9 minutes Run Time) Location: Charger Union Theater Time: 7:00 pm Based on the New York Times best-selling memoir "Guantánamo Diary" by Mohamedou Ould Slahi, The Mauritanian is the inspiring true story of Slahi's fight for freedom after being detained and imprisoned for years without charge by the U.S. Government. Slahi finds representation in defense attorney Nancy Hollander (played by Jodie Foster) and her associate Teri Duncan who battle the U.S. government in a fight for justice that tests their commitment to the law and their client at every turn. Their controversial advocacy, along with evidence uncovered by a formidable military prosecutor, Lt. Colonel Stuart Couch (Benedict Cumberbatch), uncovers shocking truths and ultimately proves that the human spirit cannot be locked up. (From Rotten Tomatoes) Sunday, April 3 Film Screening: The Coconut Revolution (1 hour Run Time) Location: Morton Hall 146 Time: 12:00 pm A modern-day story of the world’s first eco-revolution and a native people's remarkable victory over Western Colonial power. A Pacific island rose up in arms against giant mining corporation Rio Tinto Zinc (RTZ) - and won despite a military A David and Goliath story of the 21st century, The Coconut Revolution will appeal to people of all backgrounds. Film Screening: Gaza Fights for Freedom (1 hour 30 minutes Run Time) Location: Morton Hall 146 Time: 1:00 pm Filmed during the height of the Great March Of Return protests, it features exclusive footage of demonstrations where 200 unarmed civilians have been killed by Israeli snipers since March 30, 2018. It is a documentary about the historic Great March Of Return protests, which occurred every week from March 2018 until December 2019, but covers so much more. It tells the story of Gaza past and present, showing rare archival footage that explains the history never acknowledged by mass media. Film Screening: The Boy Game (16 minutes Run Time) Location: Morton Hall 147 Time: 11:00 am The Boy Game tackles bullying among boys at its core: the culture of toughness and silence boys live by. Targets need to be protected, absolutely, but rather than vilify bullies, The Boy Game looks to unpack the complex dynamics that lead some boys to bully and the majority to stand watching in silent conflict. Film Screening: Missing Magic (10 minutes Run Time) Location: Morton Hall 147 Time: 11:20 am As uprisings spread across the country, a young poet in Birmingham, Alabama becomes involved in local protests against decades of police brutality. As he tries to reconcile the city’s modern image as a diverse and welcoming metropolis with its violent and complex civil rights history, he suddenly becomes a part of the story when he’s arrested at a demonstration. Directed by Anissa Latham. Film Screening: Uniontown (16 minutes Run Time) Location: Morton Hall 147 Time: 11:40 am In the midst of a high-stakes local election, a group of grassroots activists in rural Alabama band together to take on industrial polluters and complacent politicians. Winner of Best Short Film at EarthX Film Festival and The Reel South Award at Indie Grits Film Festival. Official Selection at Big Sky Documentary Film Festival and American Documentary Film Festival. Film Screening: Come Hell or High Water: The Battle for Turkey Creek (56 minutes Run Time) Location: Morton Hall 147 Time: 12:00 pm Come Hell or High Water: The Battle for Turkey Creek follows the painful but inspiring journey of Derrick Evans, a Boston teacher who returns to his native coastal Mississippi when the graves of his ancestors are bulldozed to make way for the sprawling city of Gulfport. Derrick is consumed by the effort to protect the community his great grandfather’s grandfather settled as a former slave. He is on the verge of a breakthrough when Hurricane Katrina strikes the Gulf Coast. After years of restoration work to bring Turkey Creek back from the brink of death, the community gains significant federal support for cultural and ecological preservation. Derrick plans to return to Boston to rebuild the life he abandoned, but another disaster seals his fate as a reluctant activist. On the day Turkey Creek is featured in USA Today for the 40th anniversary of Earth Day, the Deepwater Horizon rig explodes. Film Screening: Coded Bias (1 hour 30 minutes Run Time) Location: Morton Hall 147 Time: 1:00 pm Modern society sits at the intersection of two crucial questions: What does it mean when artificial intelligence increasingly governs our liberties? And what are the consequences for the people AI is biased against? CODED BIAS explores the fallout of MIT Media Lab researcher Joy Buolamwini’s discovery that facial recognition does not see dark-skinned faces accurately,or classify the faces of women. It chronicles her journey as she delves into an investigation of widespread bias in algorithms to push for the first-ever legislation in the U.S. to govern against bias in the algorithms that impact us all. As it turns out, artificial intelligence is not neutral, and women are leading the charge to ensure our civil rights are protected. Film Screening: Beyond Recognition, A film by Michelle Grace Steinberg (27 minutes Run Time) Location: Morton Hall 148 Time: 12:30 PM After decades of struggling to protect her ancestors’ burial places, now engulfed by San Francisco’s sprawl, a Native woman from a non-federally recognized Ohlone tribe and her allies occupy a sacred site to prevent its desecration. When this life-altering event fails to stop the development, they vow to follow a new path- to establish the first women-led urban Indigenous land trust. BEYOND RECOGNITION explores the quest to preserve one’s culture and homeland in a society bent on erasing them. Shattering stereotypes, the film tells the inspiring story of women creating opportunities amid a system that fractures Native communities across the nation. Through cinéma vérité, interviews, and stunning footage of the land, BEYOND RECOGNITION introduces Corrina Gould, Johnella LaRose, and Indian People Organizing for Change as they embark on an incredible journey to transform the way we see cities. The film invites viewers to examine their own relationship to place, revealing histories that have been buried by shifting landscapes. Produced in collaboration with PBS affiliate KRCB, BEYOND RECOGNITION points to the intersection of human rights, women’s rights, and environmental protection, spotlighting a California story that has national and worldwide resonance. Film Screening: Oyate (1 hour 30 minutes Run Time) Location: Morton Hall 148 Time: 1:00 pm In 2016, the world turned its eyes to the people of Standing Rock as they formed a coalition of unprecedented magnitude to defend their land and water from the threat of the Dakota Access Pipeline. An inflection point for human rights and environmental justice, the #NoDAPL struggle became a rallying cry for Indigenous people everywhere to take a stand against the myriad injustices committed against them for centuries. Oyate elevates the voices of Indigenous activists, organizers, and politicians as they offer their perspective on that complicated history, contextualize the #NoDAPL movement, illuminate the interconnectivity between the issues facing Indian Country today, and look towards a more sovereign and sustainable future for their people. Featuring perspectives from Chase Iron Eyes, Phyllis Young, Secretary Deb Haaland, Tokata Iron Eyes, Stuart James, and more. For more information on the festival contact: Dr. Noelle Hunter, UAH Political Science, nh0046@uah.edu or 256-824-2397 Hy Thurman, North Alabama School for Organizers, ypo1967@gmail.com or 256-323-0068 ... Experience the 2022 UAH Faculty Art Show Feb 10, 2022 The 2022 Faculty Art Show featured works from The University of Alabama in Huntsville's Department of Art, Art History & Design faculty. Enjoy visually creative pieces that incorporate painting, mixed media, photography, and more! The show was displayed in the Salmon Library Gallery from January 13 till February 3, 2022. The featured piece "Rabbit Detail" is by Roxie Veasey. View the Online Gallery: ... Student, Kendra Kizer, Creates Magic With Her Party Planning Business, Spellbound Celebrations Feb 07, 2022 For Kendra Kizer, true magic is welcoming children into an immersive world that gives them a magical escape from reality. ... UAH English Alum Leslie Leonard discovers unpublished text by Frederick Douglass Jan 31, 2022 The Department of English at The University of Alabama in Huntsville (UAH) would like to extend congratulations to Leslie Leonard (‘16 MA English) on their recent publication and discovery on the unpublished text by Frederick Douglass. Leonard’s discovery of an unpublished text by Frederick Douglass appears in the Fall 2021 issue of J19. Frederick Douglass wrote Slavery in 1894, the final year of his life, for a commissioned Illustrated History of the Afro-American Race. For unknown reasons, the Illustrated History itself was never published, and Douglass’s essay sat unread and unnoticed in the Library of Congress archives. “I was lucky enough to recognize that I did not recognize the text and, with the help of my advisor Nick Bromell, I reached out to John McKivigan and Robert S. Levine (two authorities on Douglass’s work) to try and identify the essay. Once it was clear that the essay had never been published before in any collection of his works, I reached out to J19, the journal for nineteenth-century Americanists, and offered to edit and annotate the piece as well as provide an introduction to contextualize it for their readers.” Leonard describes the text and its importance of it today. Douglass’s essay itself is 64 pages in length and recontextualizes our understanding of his work. Many readers will have only encountered Douglass’s abolitionist work, but he wrote and spoke widely on a variety of issues throughout the century. Written at the end of the nineteenth century, Douglass’s essay contends with the long-lasting effects of U.S. chattel slavery, with continued anti-Black violence, with an increase in white supremacist beliefs, and with the inappropriate memorialization of the Confederacy – all of which we are still dealing with today. The violences of the past and the present come together in Douglass’s piece, and I’m very glad that modern readers will now be able to read it. As the Department of English celebrates Leonard’s achievement, they also look back on their time at UAH with admiration. “I would not have gotten to a Ph.D. if not for Dr. Alanna Frost, Dr. Joseph Conway, and Dr. Chad Thomas in the UAH English Department. The classes and faculty were so supportive and trained me as both a scholar and as a teacher. I genuinely and honestly would not be where I am without them.” Leslie is currently using an Andrew W. Mellon short-term fellowship to critically engage with the emergent idea of personal responsibility in the nineteenth century, particularly as it conflicted with established norms of individual duty. They will complete their doctorate from the University of Massachusetts Amherst in May 2022. “The goal of the Ph.D. for me was always just to get to engage in scholarship and to be in community with other scholars for as long as possible. My program pays me to teach, study, and produce work while collaborating with and learning from others doing similar work. The title itself also means a lot to me since I’m the first person in my family to attend college.” For more information on the Department of English and our Master of Arts in English, please contact english@uah.edu. Correction Update: 2/3/2022... Our Town Jan 14, 2022 Our Town Directed by: Amy Guerin Our Town is a classic American play about community, hope, and love. This story of a small American town at the turn of the 20th century is told by America now, making Our Town about our own need for connection and hope today. Through the darkest days of the pandemic, Americans found ways to connect with one another and to have hope that we would persevere. As we find ourselves in another dark moment, connection, community, hope, and love are needed more than ever. Presented by the UAH Theatre Program OUR TOWN PROGRAM ... Dido and Aeneas Jan 14, 2022 Dido and Aeneas Directed By: Karen Baker Musical Direction By: Maya Osuga Conducted By: Matthew Carey Presented By: The Department of Music and the UAH Theatre Program PROGRAM Dido, the queen of Carthage, had determined to never remarry after the death of her husband. She is now tormented by her attraction to their Trojan guest, Aeneas. Belinda, her sister and attendant urges that uniting their two kingdoms would benefit both. Aeneas arrives and convinces Dido of his love, and she accepts him. A sorceress and her witches plot the downfall of Dido. They will conjure a storm and then send an elf, disguised as Mercury, to remind Aeneas that the Gods have decreed his duty is to set sail for Italy. She confronts Aeneas over his unforgivable betrayal of their love. Though he vows to stay, she orders him away. Knowing she must die at his leaving, she asks that she be remembered well. ... 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10