Core Curriculum

News & Events

Spring 2012

Be sure to check back for a more complete list of GHS events for the semester:

February 22, 12:00pm.  GHS Pizza Chat: "The Curious Case of Belgium and the Congo" a lecture by Matthew G. Stanard, Ph.D. Author of "Selling the Congo: A History of European Pro-Empire Propaganda and the Making of Belgian Imperialism." Please send RSVP to: lmcobb@butler.edu (Gallahue Hall 108)

March 7, 7:30pm.  GHS Film "Goodbye, Lenin"- This German comedy takes place in 1990, when a young man protects his fragile mother from a fatal shock after a long coma as he attempts to keep her from learning that her beloved nation of East Germany as she knew it has disappeared. (JH141)

March 27, 3:00pm. "La Palabra en el Bosque" a film screening and discussion with director Jeffery Gould.  (Robertson Hall, Johnson Room)

April 4, 7:00pm.  "People of the Book", A student-led panel discussion on Jewish, Christian and Islamic faith practices. (Robertson Hall, Ford Salon)

April 10, 6:30pm.  "The Invisibility of One's Own Death: Encounters with the Living Dead in Heart of Darkness"- A lecture by Amit Baishya, Ph.D., Professor of postcolonial literature and theory, world literature and cultural studies at Ball State University. (Gallahue Hall 108) 

April 13, 12:00pm.  "Malaria in Sub-Saharan Africa: prospects for elimination" - A lunchtime pizza chat with Tulane University epidemiologist, Dr. Joseph Keating. (Gallahue Hall 108)

April 17, 7:00pm.  "Primum non nocere: HIV and AIDS in Africa and the Caribbean"- A lecture by Michael Vance, Ph.D., Professor of Pharmacology and Global and Historical Studies. (PB156)

 

Past Events

Fall 2011

September 19, 12:00pm. Music, Spirituality, and Your Brain- A presentation by Yuval Ron, composer and producer of music for films, television, dance, and theater. He has performed for the Dalai Lama, the King of Morocco, and the Sufi leader Pir Inayat Khan. He has been featured on CNN, National Geographic, and in the international press. (Clowes Memorial Hall, Krannert Room)

September 20, 7:00pm."Road to Kashgar"-A musical performance by the Orchid Ensemble. (Atherton Union, Reilly Room)

September 27, 7:00pm."China in World History"- A lecture by Jerry Bentley, professor of history at the University of Hawaii at Manoa and founding editor of the Journal of World History. (Pharmacy Building 150)

October 2, 2:00pm. Wind Ensemble Concert: "Ask the Earth and the Sky" Preconcert Talk. Wei Su, professor of East Asian language and literature at Yale and librettist of "Ask the Earth and the Sky" will give a preconcert talk for the Wind Ensemble Concert: "Ask the Earth and the Sky". (Clowes Memorial Hall)

October 5, 7:00pm. Film: "To Live"-Originally banned in China, this moving film is set against four decades of Chinese political turmoil, and follows the lives of a couple as they struggle to survive their own changing station within the upheaval. (Jordan Hall 141)

October 19, 12:00pm. "The Migrant Journey"- A pizza chat with Mexican migrant rights advocate Jaqueline García Salamanca. Jaqueline García Salamanca, former immigrant to the United States and Mexican migration expert, will be speaking about why people migrate, the risks they face, what they leave behind, and how we can be advocates for change. (Clowes Memorial Hall, Krannert Room). Please RSVP to lmcobb@butler.edu by October 14th.

October 20, 4:00pm."Poetry of Rumi"-Poet Adrian Vyner-Brooks will recite poetry of the ancient mystic Rumi. (Jordan Hall 141)

November 1, 7:00pm. "Sharia Law and Muslim Women"- A lecture by Rafia Zakaria, the first Pakistani American woman to serve as a Director for Amnesty International USA and the director of the Muslim Women's Legal Defense Fund for the Muslim Alliance of Indiana/The Julian Center Shelter.

November 14, 7:00pm. "Bling and the Aesthetics and Politics of Visibility in the Postcolonial Caribbean."- A lecture by Krista Thompson, professor of Art History at Northwestern University. (Pharmacy Building 150)

Spring 2011

February 9, 7:00pm. "Life Under the Old Regime"- A lecture by Paul Hanson, Professor of History and specialist on the French Revolution. Jordan Hall 141.

March 4, 3:00pm.  "Helen of Troy: Goddess, Princess, Whore, and How to Write the Biography of a Hole." A lecture by award-winning historian and author, Bettany Hughes. Lecture will be followed by a reception and book signing. Johnson Room, Robertson Hall.

Bettany Hughes is an award-winning historian, author and broadcaster who has devoted much of the last twenty years to the vibrant communication of the past. Her first book Helen of Troy: Goddess, Princess, Whore, was published to great critical acclaim and has now been translated into ten languages. Bettany has made a number of factual films for the BBC, Channel 4, PBS, Discovery, The History Channel and ABC for both the British and International markets including "The Spartans", "When The Moors Ruled in
Europe", "Athens: The Truth of Democracy", "The Women of the Bible" and "Helen of Troy". These have now been seen by over 100 million people worldwide. She is president of JACT and advisor to the Foundation for Science Technology and Civilization. She has recently been awarded a special award for services to the Hellenic Culture and Heritage and the Naomi Sargent award for Broadcast Excellence. In 2011 she is the Chair of the Orange Prize for Fiction. Her latest book The Hemlock Cup: Socrates, Athens and the Search for The Good Life has already been selected as a Book of the Year by the national press in the UK and was read on BBC Radio Four as the Book of the Week in the run up to Christmas. Bettany was a Scholar at Oxford University and holds a Research Fellowship at King's College, London.
She lives in the UK and abroad with her husband and two daughters.

March 8th, 12:00-12:50pm- "The European Union: Will It Replace the US as a Superpower?" A lunchtime "pizza chat" with Professor Emeritus of Political Science, Dr. David Mason. Dr. Mason is the author of The End of the American Century and Revolutionary Europe: 1789-1989,  and taught Political Science at Butler for over thirty years. Pizza and soft drinks will be available. Please RSVP to bcate@butler.edu by March 1st. (Krannert Room, basement of Clowes Hall).

March 9, 7:00pm. GHS Film "Goodbye, Lenin"- This German comedy takes place in 1990, when a young man protects his fragile mother from a fatal shock after a long coma as he attempts to keep her from learning that her beloved nation of East Germany as she knew it has disappeared. (JH141)

March 28, 4:00pm.  "A Sufi View of the 99 Names of Allah." An Ayers lecture by Wali Ali Meyer. Johnson Room, Robertson Hall. Sponsored by the Honors Program and GHS.

April 6, 7:00pm. GHS Film: "Adio, Kerida" ("Goodbye, Dear Love"), followed by a discussion with anthropologist and filmmaker, Ruth Behar. JH141. Free and open to the public.

"Adio Kerida" is a personal documentary directed and produced by Ruth Behar about the search for identity and memory among Sephardic Jews with roots in Cuba. Dr. Behar is Professor of Anthropology at the University of Michigan.

April 8, 12:00pm. "Once Upon a Time in Africa"- A pizza chat with storyteller, Deborah Asante. Come and hear Ms. Asante tell stories from West Africa. Pizza and soft drinks will be served. (Krannert Room, basement of Clowes Hall).

April 11, 7:30pm. "Life After Trafficking in the US"- Dr. Denise Brennan.

Dr. Brennan, an associate professor of anthropology at Georgetown University, studies the confluences between migration, gender and labor, seeking to better understand how poor women and men in the developing world craft long-term labor strategies to move their families out of poverty. She is the author of What's Love Got to Do with It? Transnational Desires and Sex Tourism in the Dominican Republic, explores the connection between large structural forces in the globalized economy and their effects on individuals in a sex-tourist destination - particularly as they face hierarchies based on race, gender and citizenship. Her talk draws on new research that explores trafficking and exploitation of migrant labor in the United States. She will discuss the struggles and everyday experiences of these trafficked individuals as migrants attempting to maintain control over their work lives. PB150. Sponsored by Gender, Women's and Sexuality Studies.

April 20, 7:00pm. "Framing Islam: Gender, Religion and Politics in Nigeria." A lecture by Dr. Obioma Nnaemeka, Chancellor's Professor of French and Women's Studies at IUPUI. Dr. Nnaemeka is an internationally recognized expert on the African Diaspora, African women, developing nations, globalization, multiculturalism, and human rights.  JH141.

April 22, 12:00pm. "Tropical Disease in Africa"- a lunchtime pizza chat with Tulane University epidemiologist, Dr. Joseph Keating. Dr. Keating's research on vector-borne illnesses has taken him to tropical countries all over the globe, including Haiti, Zambia, Eritrea and Nigeria. The presentation will last for one hour, and will be held in the Ford Salon (in Robertson Hall).  

Fall 2010 

September 29, 7:00pm. "Tradition and Change in Rural Tibet"- a lecture by Dr. Melvyn Goldstein, John Reynolds Harkness Professor in Anthropology and Co-Director, Center for Research on Tibet, Case Western University. Jordan Hall 141. Email bcate@butler.edu for more information.

October 4, 6:00pm.   Film: "To Live." Originally banned in China, this moving film is set against four decades of Chinese political turmoil, and follows the lives of a couple as they struggle to survive their own changing station within the upheaval. Jordan Hall 141.

October 7, 7:30pm.  "Transnational Feminist Practices and Methodologies." A lecture by Dr. Inderpal Grewal, Professor of Women's, Gender, and Sexuality Studies, Yale University. Pharmacy Building 150.

October 11, 6:30pm. "Gandhian Ecology: A Way of Living in the World." Dr. Larry Shinn, President of Berea College. Pharmacy Building 150.

October 26, 7:00pm   Iranian-American writer, Reza Aslan, author of No god But God: The Origins, Evolution and Future of Islam, will give a lecture to the Butler community entitled "Peace and Conflict: The Future of Islam." Clowes Memorial Hall, main auditorium. Dr. Aslan has been a frequent guest on the THE DAILY SHOW, REAL TIME with Bill Maher and The Colbert report. Book signing to follow. TICKETS ARE FREE, BUT REQUIRED, AND ARE AVAILABLE AT THE CLOWES MEMORIAL HALL BOX OFFICE.

November 8, 6:00pm. "Rivers of India: Population, Pollution and Piety." India's rivers present a paradox.  They are among the most polluted rivers in the world.  And yet, at the same time, many of them are deified, considered goddesses by pious Hindus who bathe in them daily and hope to die and be cremated along their shores.  In fact, these pieties at times obstruct attempts to address the problem of pollution, as they do in the case of the river Ganges.  After all, how could the river goddess ("Mother Ganges") be impure?  Dr. David Haberman, Professor of Religious Studies at Indiana University Bloomington, and Dr. Kelly Alley, Professor of Anthropology at Auburn University, will deal with these and other issues relevant to the rivers of India. JH141.

November 29, 6:00pm  GHS will show the German film "The Lives of Others"  This critically-acclaimed, Oscar-winning film is an erotic, emotionally-charged thriller. Before the collapse of the Berlin Wall, East Germany's population was closely monitored by the State Secret Police (Stasi). Only a few citizens above suspicion, like renowned pro-Socialist playwright Georg Dreyman, were permitted to lead private lives. But when a corrupt government official falls for Georg's stunning actress-girlfriend, Christa, an ambitious Stasi policeman is ordered to bug the writer's apartment to gain incriminating evidence against the rival. Now, what the officer discovers is about to dramatically change their lives - as well as his - in this seductive political thriller Peter Travers (Rolling Stone) proclaims is "the best kind of movie: one you can't get out of your head." (description from Amazon.com) JH141.

December 1, 7:00pm. GHS will show the film "Paradise Now." This film follows two Palestinian childhood friends who have been recruited for a strike on Tel Aviv and focuses on their last days together. When they are intercepted at the Israeli border and separated from their handlers, a young woman who discovers their plan causes them to reconsider their actions. JH141.