The article finds that in Croatia, national identity was constructed in terms of convergence with European norms and identity, homonationalism was used to distinguish themselves from a “Balkan” identity, and there was a lower threat perception of the LGBT community framed primarily as a “threat to the family.” In Serbia, state and national identity was constructed in opposition to Europe and homosexuality had stronger threat perception, framed primarily as “threat to the nation.”

The article, published in the peer-reviewed journal East European Politics and Societies, is part of a larger conversation among scholars, policymakers and activists about how LGBT rights change or are resisted in states that are aiming to become part of a larger community, such as the European Union.  This research has relevance for other states where LGBT rights have become politicized by nationalist and/or authoritarian governments. 

The Syrian War: Making Sense of an Intractable Conflict

Numen Lumen Pavilion, 5:30 p.m.

Najib Ghadbian, Special Representative for the National Coalition of Syrian Revolution and Opposition Forces’ to the United States and United Nations

Sponsored by the 黑料不打烊 Center for the Study of Religion, Culture, and Society

Numen Lumen Pavilion, 4:30-6:00 pm.

Reception to follow 

Speak Out for Syria and the International and Global Studies program present a unique event featuring the voices and experiences of a Syrian refugee family in North Carolina as they tell their story of their journey from Syria to the U.S. Panelists will also examine how this global political and moral crisis has developed since 黑料不打烊 examined the issue last fall. This is an opportunity to better understand the people behind the headlines and to discuss potential options to reduce suffering and end a war that has killed an estimated 500,000 people and created more than 4 million refugees since 2011.  

Additional sponsors include: The Center for the Study of Religion, Culture, and Society, The Center For Public Affairs – Department of Political Science, Department of Sociology and Anthropology, PERCS, Peace and Conflict Studies, Department of History and Georgraphy, the Truitt Center.

This event has been Identified by the Council on Civic Engagement as an opportunity to foster student intellectual and civic engagement.

Amelie (France, 2001, 122 min, Dir: Jean-Pierre Jeunet,)

Themes: the art of film

“Amélie” is a fanciful comedy about a young woman who discretely orchestrates the lives of the people around her, creating a world exclusively of her own making. Shot in over 80 Parisian locations, acclaimed director Jean-Pierre Jeunet (“Delicatessen”; “The City of Lost Children”) invokes his incomparable visionary style to capture the exquisite charm and mystery of modern-day Paris through the eyes of a beautiful ingenue (Wikipedia). 

Discussant: Safia Swimelar (political science/international and global studies)

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Marina Abramovic: The Artist is Present (US, 2012, 106 min. Dir: Akers and Dupre)

Themes: performance art, identity, the body

Known for her extreme performance-art installations, many involving nudity and punishing bodily deprivation, Serbian artist Marina Abramovic is one of the few artists of her generation still active in the field. A glamorous art-world icon, a lighting rod for controversy, and a myth of her own making, this film examines her retrospective at New York’s Museum of Modern Art (MOMA), giving her an opportunity to put performance art on the mainstream map (HBO).  

Discussant: Ken Hassell (Art) 

Marie Antoinette (US/France, 2006, 127 min, Dir: Sofia Coppola,)

Themes: fashion, costume, and culture 

An Austrian teenager (Kirsten Dunst) marries the Dauphin (Jason Schwartzman) of France and becomes that country’s queen following the death of King Louis XV in 1774. Years later, after a life of luxury and privilege, Marie Antoinette loses her head during the French Revolution (Wikipedia)

Speaker and discussant: Jack Smith (sponsored by French program)

The Global Neighborhood Film Series is supported by Residential Life and also by the International and Global Studies Program. 

A simple man learns he might be better off dead, at least financially, in this satiric comedy from Indian filmmaker Anusha Rizvi. Natha (Omkar Das Manikpuri) and Budhia (Raghubir Yadav) are two brothers who run a family farm in Peepli, a small town in India. Business has been bad on the farm, and the brothers are unable to repay a government loan, with a default judgment due any day. When the brothers call on a local politician to ask if anything can be done while they wait for a judge’s ruling on their case, he facetiously suggests that one of them could commit suicide, since the government would pay benefits to the surviving family members. A television reporter overhears the conversation and immediately puts the story on the air. A media frenzy ensues to see whether a suicide will occur. Peepli Live received its North American premiere at the 2010 Sundance Film Festival.

 Trailer: 

Film Series Sponsored by the Global Neighborhood (Residence Life), Peace and Conflict Studies, International Studies, and Religious Studies. 

Iva and Marija, a young lesbian couple, rent an apartment in a seemingly quiet building in Zagreb. What initially appears as a safe home quickly turns into a nightmare when other tenants find out about their relationship. Finding themselves surrounded by a wide range of belligerent characters, the young couple deals with the situation as best as they can, until Marija’s father tries to sabotage their relationship, leading to a violent conclusion.

Event sponsored by: General Studies, International Studies, Peace and Conflict Studies, Political Science and Policy Studies, Women and Gender Studies, and the LGBTQIA Center. 

Bio of Mima Simic: Croatian writer, film critic, activist, media personality, teacher, translator and Croatian LGBT person of the decade. Simic has master’s degrees in comparative literature and English language and literature from the Zagreb University Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences as well as master’s in gender studies from the Central European University in Budapest. She has published a book of short stories, (AGM, 2005), which is currently being adapted for screen as an animated series, and her book of essays on film, (Croatian Film Association, 2009), which earned her the Vladimir Vukovic award for best Croatian film critic. She is also a translator, having translated several books into Croatian and English, both fiction and theory.  She teaches on feminism and popular culture (with focus on LGBT films in the post-Yugoslav region) at the Zagreb Women’s Studies Center, and she teaches on activist strategies and interventions in the media at the Zagreb Peace Studies Center. She is also the editor of a weekly film program on the Croatian National Radio. She has long been involved in feminist and LGBT activist movements and in 2011 she was voted Croatian LGBT person of the decade. Mima is also the host of an intellectual talk show on TV in Zagreb called “Peti Dan.” 

WHEN: MONDAY, FEBRUARY 10, 5:30-7:00 IN ISABELLA CANNON ROOM, MCRARY CENTER FOR THE ARTS. 

Light refreshments provided.

Event sponsored by: General Studies, International Studies, Peace and Conflict Studies, Political Science and Policy Studies, and Women and Gender Studies

ALSO JOIN MIMA SIMIC FOR A SCREENING OF THE FIRST CROATIAN LGBT FILM: FINE DEAD GIRLS (2002, 77 min) on Tues, Feb. 11, 7:00 pm. in McEwan screening room 

Film Summary:  

Iva and Marija, a young lesbian couple, rent an apartment in a seemingly quiet building in Zagreb. What initially appears as a safe home quickly turns into a nightmare when other tenants find out about their relationship. Finding themselves surrounded by a wide range of belligerent characters, the young couple deals with the situation as best as they can, until Marija’s father tries to sabotage their relationship, leading to a violent conclusion.

Bio of Mima Simic: Croatianwriter, film critic, activist, media personality, teacher, translator, and LGBT person of the decade.  Mima holds MA degrees in Comparative Literature and English Language and Literature from the Zagreb University Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences as well as an MA in Gender Studies from the Central European University in Budapest. She has published a book of short stories, (AGM, 2005), which is currently being adapted for screen as an animated series, and her book of essays on film, (Croatian Film Association, 2009), which earned her the Vladimir Vukovic award for best Croatian film critic. She is also a translator, having translated several books into Croatian and English, both fiction and theory.  She teaches on feminism and popular culture (with focus on LGBT films in the post-Yugoslav region) at the Zagreb Women’s Studies Center and she teaches on activist strategies and interventions in the media at the Zagreb Peace Studies Center. She is also the editor of a weekly film program on the Croatian National Radio. She has long been involved in feminist and LGBT activist movements and in 2011 she was voted Croatian LGBT person of the decade. Mima is also the host of an intellectual talk show on TV in Zagreb called “Peti Dan.” 

Mima and her partner Marta vote against the Croatian constitutional referendum to ban same-sex marriage in December 2013.  

Image from Reuters News 

“Beyond Dollars and Pesos: the cost of lighting our homes”
Wednesday, Nov. 13 from 6:30 to 8 p.m. in LaRose Digital Theater, Koury Business Center

Perez has played a major role in making public the January 13th Drummond coal spill by sending photos of the sinking barge to media outlets. It was not until after these photos appeared publicly that Drummond filed a report about the spill. He then aided with the environmental investigation into Drummond, resulting in death threats to him and his family. Come hear Anibal speak about his experience organizing for workers’ rights and environmental rights in northeast Colombia.

Sponsored by Department of World Languages and Cultures, Peace and Conflict Studies and International Studies 

For more information, contact April Post at apost@elon.edu

Have you ever heard a celebrity, a political leader or a peer say something blatantly offensive and get away with it? The discussion of controversial issues within our society is cloaked in the kind of rhetoric and stereotypes that prove toxic to meaningful conversation and the exchange of differing opinions. What is the cause of this problem and is there a way we can work to change the nature of our conversations? The Politics Forum is hosting a panel of 黑料不打烊 staff and professors from various departments to address this issue as it is relevant to both our society and our campus relations. The panel will include Professor Laura Roselle (Political Science), Ken Hassell (Art), and Stephen Bloch-Schulman (Philosophy) and Angel Garcia (Residence Life). They will all share their own expertise from their different disciplines/areas and attempt to find a way to move our dialogues in a more meaningful direction. 

Tuesday, Nov. 12, 5 to 6:15 pm. in Moseley 215 

Sponsored by: The Politics Forum 

For more information contact Politics Forum president Niki Molinaro: nmolinaro@elon.edu

Trailer: 

Summary: Aaron, a respectable butcher in Jerusalem’s ultra-orthodox Jewish community is married to Rivka and is a dedicated father of four children. One day, he meets Ezri, a handsome 22-year old student, and soon falls in love with him. He then starts to neglect his family and community life, swept away by his love and lust for Ezri. But guilt, torment and pressure from the community will catch up with him, leading him to make a radical decision.

“Haunting, languorously paced tale of a doomed Orthodox Jewish gay couple – a father of four, and the young man he hires as an apprentice in his butcher shop – eschews sentimentality and pathos, instead letting body language and the dusty gloomy streets of Jerusalem shape the story.”  -New York Magazine 

Sponsored by: Global Neighborhood, International Studies, Peace and Conflict Studies, Religious Studies, and Jewish Studies.

Tuesday, October 29 @ 6:30 p.m. in LaRose Digital Theater, Koury Business 

(dir: Joshua Oppenheimer, US/Denmark)

Themes of the film: psychology of mass killing; perpetrator impunity; post-conflict justice; representation, cinema, and violence; Indonesian communist period and genocide/mass killings 

Trailer:

Summary:  The Act of Killing has won over 25 international awards and has received overwhelming critical acclaim for its raw and shocking look at the psychology of mass killing that took place in 1960s Indonesia.  Anwar Congo and his friends have been dancing their way through musical numbers, twisting arms in film noir gangster scenes, and galloping across prairies as yodeling cowboys as they re-enact the killings of their past as they live as free men in present-day Indonesia. Their foray into filmmaking is being celebrated in the media and debated on television, even though Anwar and his friends are mass murderers. When the government of Indonesia was overthrown by the military in 1965, Anwar and his friends were promoted from small-time gangsters who sold movie theatre tickets on the black market to death squad leaders. They helped the army kill more than one million alleged communists, ethnic Chinese, and intellectuals in less than a year.  (adapted from film website)

Discussion of the film to follow.   

For info: 

Interview with the director:

For critics’ reviews:

NPR story on Indonesia’s Communist Purge:

http://www.npr.org/2012/04/09/150149910/exposing-indonesias-cold-war-communist-purge