Humanities Fall 2024 events
Posted on by Jose Diaz

College of Humanities Fall 2024 Academic Programing Fund Sponsored Events

For the fall 2024 semester, the College of Humanities is sponsoring a wide array of special programming. These unique events are designed to augment course curriculum, expand interest, and deepen understanding across a diverse landscape of subjects. All events are free of charge and most are open to the entire CSUN community. 

September 26, 2024, at 4:00pm.

The Sandwich Space: Using Statistical Breakdowns to Explore Semantic Categories, a Zoom lecture with guest presenter Sarah MacDougall

This special LING 408 lecture will cover an interesting case study which relates to the popular debate about whether a hotdog qualifies as a sandwich. Sarah MacDougall shows how this pop culture reference has important theoretical consequences in the field of semantics and even in legal settings. Open to all CSUN students, faculty, and staff. Zoom registration for The Sandwich Space.

October 15, 2024 at 2:00pm in the Whitsett Room (SH-451) and online.

Bilingual Book Presentation: Sik’inik Chukojol Cholaj on Indigenous Resistance Day 2024

This virtual hybrid book presentation will host guest speakers Angel Poyon, Artist Comalapa, Guatemala, and Eddy Tocón, Kaqjay Collective, Patzicia, Chimaltenango, Guatemala. The event highlights a publication that is unprecedented because it is rare for an Indigenous collective to take on a curatorial role and because contemporary art is rarely installed surrounded by agricultural fields. More importantly, it makes visible the production of thought, art, and content produced from within contemporary Indigenous communities. Please register Bilingual Book Presentation.

October 16, 2024 from 10:00-11:15am in the Whitsett Room (SH-451).

Lookout Weekend: A book Talk by Chicano Photographer Pablo Aguilar

Look Out Weekend is a book of fliers from 1980-1990 that were meticulously collected and preserved offering a portal to an era and a region when dance music and fashion-forward “party crew” pop-up parties were the social gatherings of choice for young Chicano/Latinos from across Los Angeles (East LA, Southeast LA, Montebello and the San Gabriel Valley). The published collection offers a glimpse into the socio-cultural dynamics of Chicano/Latino youth of the 1980-1990s and the LA neighborhoods and locations— backyards, high school gyms, clubs–where the youth (re)constructed empowering community space(s). This event is open to the CSUN community.

October 17, 2024 from 10:00-11:30am at the Chicana/o House.

Dia de los Muertos Cyanotype Workshop

As part of CHS 111: Chicana/os in the Arts, this Cyanotype Workshop with artist Felix Quintana will introduce students to the traditions of Dia de los Muertos through an experimental and non-traditional technique. Also known as “sunprints”, cyanotypes are a slow-reacting photographic printing process that uses the sun as a light source to create images. Students will create images using organic materials like flowers/plants, text, hand drawn and reproduced photographic images. This event is open to CHS 111 Students only.

October 22, 2024 from 10:00-11:15am via Zoom.

A Historical Perspective on Maya Painting-Writing and Dance-Music in Highland Guatemala

Dr. Diego Vásquez Monterroso’s CESPA Webinar will bring ethnographic examples and conversations about how art is distinct in different cultures. A perspective that is important to ethnic studies because historical information about the art in our communities, like the Mayans, promote counternarratives regarding the definition of art and its connection to indigenous peoples. Attendees should register in advance for this event.

October 22, 2024.

A Day-Long Residency with Yazmin Monet Watkins

Poet, comedian, writer, actress, educator, and organizer Yazmin Monet Watkins will kick off the day with a writing workshop in GWS 220 where students will be guided through an exploration of poetry, gender, and masculinity. Later in the afternoon, Watkins will read from her latest book and engage with the audience during a Q&A session. Following the reading, there will be a book sale and signing opportunity. The residency will end with an Open Mic event, in collaboration with the Black House, where Watkins will hold space and MC. This will provide an opportunity for students to present their own writing and share their work with the wider community.

October 22, 2024 from 2:30-3:30pm in Sequoia Hall 104.

Muxe Identity in the Flesh

In conjunction with Queer studies 369, guest speaker Xenari Damain will decontextualize Muxe identity as a third gender in Juchitán society. This presentation will be followed by a short embroidery workshop which will center muxhedad of the Isthmus of Tehuantepec artistic forms of knowledge production as a decolonizing project. Students, staff, and faculty are invited to attend. This event is open to the CSUN community. To attend in person please RSVP using the QR code, or join via Join Muxe Identity in the Flesh via Zoom

October 22 and 29, 2024 in JR-348.

Queering the Rainbow: Guest Speakers and Workshops

On October 22 at 5:15pm, filmmaker Tennessee Martin will be screening shorts (among then LESBOPHILIA) and talking about working within the industry.

On October 29 at 4:00pm, filmmaker Michelle Ehlen will be sharing their feature MAYBE SOMEDAY and talking about independent film.

The screenings and talkbacks are open to the CSUN community.

October 29, 2024 at 11:30am in Bookstein Hall 1208.

Trans Masculinities Panel

As part of Men and Masculinities (GWS 220) a panel of guest speakers will offer personal insights into how both hegemonic and marginalized forms of masculinity shape their lives. The course framework underscores that masculinity is not static; it evolves across time and place, encompassing both conventional and unconventional expressions. These discussions encourage students to reflect on their own perceptions of masculinity and challenge any preconceived notions they may hold.

October 29, 2024 at 6:00pm in the Shigemi Matsumoto Recital Hall (Cypress Hall 158).

Herencia Flamenca with Yolanda Arroyo and Paco Arroyo

This performance is free and open to the whole university community.

October 30, 2024 at 11:30am in the Ferman Presentation Room in the University Library.

Love and (R)evolution: A Conversation with Artist and Activist Lydia Emily

Artist and activist Lydia Emily in conversation with English, Gender and Women’s Studies, and Queer Studies faculty member Heidi Schumacher. Lydia Emily is considered by many to be one of the preeminent female street artists of our time, and her large-scale murals have appeared all over the world. Her art is deeply political, and this event will provide the opportunity for CSUN students, faculty, and staff to learn about and discuss the relationship between art and politics, alongside intersectional identity and resistance (the focus of much of her work). Her mural on Skid Row honoring a survivor of sex trafficking is the longest-standing untouched and untagged mural in Los Angeles, a deep sign of respect in the street art community.

November 7, 2024 from 11:30am-12:45pm in JR130.

How to Podcast with Sebastian Ferreda

As part of CHS 460: Chicano Politics, guest speaker Sebastian Ferreda will conduct a “How to Podcast” workshop. With a focus on immigration politics at the federal, local, cultural, and ideological level, attendees will learn how to construct a narrative that is captivating and informative. They will also be exposed to the technology available in the Chicano Studies Media Lab and learn how to use the different technological tools and software and archive their work.

November 7.

Debbie Martinez-Rambeau and the History of the CSUN Powwow

As part of Indigenous Awareness Month at CSUN, Debbie Rambeau, who attended CSUN in the 1970s, will speak to students about her involvement in organizing the first powwow at CSUN. She will also share about her continued involvement in the annual event, and various traditions and protocols related to the event that celebrates American Indian song, dance, and crafts. Debbie is a respected elder in the American Indian community in Los Angeles County, a retired educator, and an accomplished artist.

November 12, 2024 at 11:30am in Bookstein Hall 1208.

Female Masculinities Panel

As part of Men and Masculinities (GWS 220) a panel of guest speakers will offer personal insights into how both hegemonic and marginalized forms of masculinity shape their lives. The course framework underscores that masculinity is not static; it evolves across time and place, encompassing both conventional and unconventional expressions. These discussions encourage students to reflect on their own perceptions of masculinity and challenge any preconceived notions they may hold.

November 13, 2024 from 10:00-11:15am in the Whitsett Room and Webinar.

Land of Trees: A Book Talk by Mexican Photographer James Rodríguez

James Rodríguez (1972, US-Mexico) is a Guatemala-based documentary photographer, photojournalist, filmmaker, and drone pilot. Raised in Mexico City, Rodríguez moved to the Los Angeles area as a teenager. He graduated from UCLA in 1996 with a B.A. degree in Cultural Geography. Fluent in Spanish & English, proficient in Portuguese & Japanese, James has worked and traveled to over 60 countries in all continents and lived in Japan, Kenya, Brazil, Guatemala, Mexico and the United States. Guatemala’s internal war ravaged the Central American nation from 1960 to 1996. The book, Tierra de árboles/Land of Trees (2024) culminates an 18-year project and documents the last two decades of the aftermath of the brutal war, attempting to understand its present-day ills. This in-person and virtual lecture is open to the entire CSUN community.

November 21, 2024 at 6:00pm in the Armer Screening Room.

In Search of Fellini – a coming-of-age journey, a quest for self-fulfillment, and a cultural wild ride into the world of Master FeFe

A film screening and Q&A with actor and writer Nancy Cartwright. In Search of Fellini is the brainchild of Nancy Cartwright. The film is based on Nancy’s personal journey through Italy looking for the famed director Federico Fellini, a hunt for the creator of La dolce vita. While idealized, it is a memoir that takes us on a magical tour of Italy, its language, culture, monuments, people, stereotypes, the good, the bad, and the ugly, in short of any adventure propelled by dreams. The film is a formative road trip for Lucy the twenty something, very innocent, starry-eyed protagonist.

November 22, 2024 at 9:30-11:00am in the Whitsett Room.

The Power of Rituals: How Seemingly Senseless Acts Make Life Worth Living

Guest speaker Dimitris Xygalatas studies ritual behavior across the globe. He has conducted extensive fieldwork, focusing on high-intensity rituals and developing experimental methodologies to study them in their natural contexts. Xygalatas directs the Experimental Anthropology Lab at the University of Connecticut, which develops methods and technologies for quantifying behavior in real-life settings. He is affiliated with the Cognitive Science Program, the Connecticut Institute for the Brain and Cognitive Sciences, and the Institute for Collaboration on Health, Intervention, and Policy. The talk will focus on Xygalatas’ latest book, The Power of Rituals: How Seemingly Senseless Acts Make Life Worth Living. This event is open to all CSUN students, staff, and faculty. For more information and to RSVP to The Power of Rituals.

December 3, 2024 from 5:00 – 6:15pm via webinar.

Transgender Immigrants in Los Angeles

The Center for the Studies of the Peoples of the Américas (CESPA) will be hosting Mariana Marroquín’s talk regarding her work with transgender immigrants in Los Angeles. As a community leader, Marroquín’s work spans multiple areas of social justice and support for marginalized LGBTQ+ immigrant communities. Marroquín’s extensive community work has been inspired in part by her own experiences as a transgender Guatemalan immigrant to the U.S. This webinar is open to all CSUN community members.

December 4, 2024 from 12:00-1:30pm in the Whitsett Room.

Guest Speaker Duncan Ryuken Williams

Professor Williams will give a talk on “The Irei Project: A Buddhist-Inspired Monument to the WWII Japanese American Incarceration. In this talk, Duncan Ryuken Williams will first describe the history of monument-building by Japanese American internees and incarcerees confined in America’s concentration camps during WWII. Created under the leadership of Buddhist priests at Manzanar and Rohwer, the Ireito and Ireihi monuments – which still stand in the former camp cemeteries – were the most well-known memorials to the forced removal and injustice of incarceration. Williams will then speak about a contemporary national monument-building project that he directs called The Irei Project that is inspired by the wartime memorials.

Dr Jose

December 4 at 4:00pm in JR-319.

Guest Speaker Dr. José Carlos de la Puente Luna

Translators and interpreters played a vital role in the colonial system, acting as cultural mediators and agents of power. Through their work, they helped build relationships between native Americans and Europeans in colonial America and thus, needed to be knowledgeable about both cultures to accurately convey meaning. Taking all these facts into account, Dr. De la Puente will discuss literary, religious and administrative documents and engage in a dialogue with other disciplines that can provide a more nuanced view of the role of translation, and of the mediators, during the controversial encounter/clash between Europeans and Amerindians. He will also bring to the table how historians rely on translation and interpretation for their work. Finally, De la Puente will share with the audience the challenges and achievements of a Spanish-speaking academic navigating a mostly English-speaking field.

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