Humanities (Video)

Ecologist Rudo Sanyanga and filmmakers R. Lane Clark and Stephan Miescher join moderator Janet Walker (Film and Media Studies, UCSB) for a post-screening discussion of Clark and Miescher’s documentary film Ghana’s Electric Dreams. The film concerns the history of Ghana’s Akosombo Dam, and its complex legacy as a strategic modernization project launched during the presidency of Kwame Nkrumah. The panel conversation highlights the impetus for the film and its multi-stage development, the importance of the availability of archival footage and the filmmakers’ personal familiarity with this region of Ghana, and the far-reaching human and ecological impacts of large hydroelectric infrastructure projects. This event was hosted by the Carsey-Wolf Center in collaboration with the Mellon-Sawyer Seminar for Energy Justice in Global Perspective. Series: "Carsey-Wolf Center" [Humanities] [Science] [Show ID: 34883]

Director Leilah Weinraub joins Mireille Miller-Young (Feminist Studies, UCSB) for a conversation about Weinraub’s 2018 documentary Shakedown, a film that documents the L.A.-based underground black-lesbian strip club of the same name. Weinraub explains how she discovered the club and her decade-long project of capturing the experience of Shakedown on film. The talk also includes discussion of black ownership and labor, the visibility of black identities and sexualities, gentrification in the aftermath of historic riots, and the fragility of contingent cultural spaces under the dual pressures of over-policing and the politics of respectability. Series: "Carsey-Wolf Center" [Public Affairs] [Humanities] [Show ID: 34769]

For four decades, UCLA’s Stephanie Jamison has been somewhat defiantly seeking the stories of women among some of the oldest texts in the world. Jamison shares some of what she has unearthed, the names and stories of women we have likely never heard of before. Jamison’s expertise lies in Indo-Iranian, especially Sanskrit and middle Indo-Aryan languages with an emphasis on linguistics, literature and poetics, religion and law, mythology and ritual, and gender. Series: "UCLA Faculty Research Lectures" [Humanities] [Show ID: 34409]

In "Bad Rabbi and Other Strange but True Stories from the Yiddish Press" Eddy Portnoy mines century-old Yiddish newspapers to expose the seamy underbelly of pre-WWII New York and Warsaw, the two major centers of Yiddish culture in the late 19th and early 20th centuries.

Series: "Taubman Symposia in Jewish Studies" [Humanities] [Show ID: 34806]

What makes us human is a question that not only science asks, but all disciplines of mind from philosophy to religion to sociology and ethics, and even to storytelling and the arts. Tim Disney's new movie "William", about a Neanderthal living in the modern world forces us to ask that and many other questions. Director of the UC San Diego Stem Cell Program Alysson Muotri brought together a panel of experts from across a spectrum of disciplines to discuss those issues in a lively and engaging forum with the movie's creator. Series: "Stem Cell Channel" [Humanities] [Science] [Show ID: 34803]

O que nos torna humanos é uma questão que não apenas a ciência exige, mas todas as disciplinas da mente, da filosofia à religião, à sociologia e à ética, e até à narrativa e às artes. O filme "William", sobre um neandertal vivendo no mundo moderno, nos obriga a fazer essa e muitas outras perguntas. O diretor do Programa de Células-Tronco da Universidade de San Diego, Alysson Muotri, reuniu uma mesa de especialistas de várias disciplinas para discutir essas questões em um fórum animado e envolvente com o criador do filme, Tim Disney.

Series: "O Canal de Células-Tronco" [Humanities] [Science] [Spanish Language] [Show ID: 34862]

New experimental and big data research have generated unexpected ethical challenges for social scientists. Historically, these disciplines have been largely observational - involving the passive collection of existing information and data. More recently, social scientists have embraced experimental methods to study a wide variety of social, policy, and political questions. This experimental revolution has created a new set of ethical problems and a backlash against social science experiments. Especially challenging are the popular field experiments - experiments conducted on a massive scale, without any informed consent, often affecting larger societies or systems. Scott Desposato, professor of political science at UC San Diego, looks at these new issues, examines the perspective of subjects and societies, and discusses the way social scientists are working to build new norms of research. Series: "Exploring Ethics" [Humanities] [Education] [Show ID: 33718]

Celebrating and honoring the legacy of Sally Ride, the first American woman to fly in space, Women in Leadership brings together trailblazers who have shattered barriers and paved the way for women across the globe. Through a candid and timely discussion, the distinguished panel will share their personal stories and vision on how women can help lead our nation to a better future. Series: "Women in Science" [Public Affairs] [Humanities] [Business] [Education] [Show ID: 34217]

UC San Diego Chancellor Pradeep Khosla, Executive Vice Chancellor Elizabeth H. Simmons, and Vice Chancellor for Equity, Diversity, and Inclusion Becky R. Petitt welcome Tam O'Shaughnessy, Cofounder and Executive Director of Sally Ride Science@UC Diego. Tam shares the mission of Sally Ride Science. Journalist Lynn Sherr follows with anecdotes about Sally Ride and her legacy. (uctv.tv/shows/34217) Series: "Women in Science" [Public Affairs] [Humanities] [Education] [Show ID: 34878]

The film Blade Runner was set in a dystopian 2019 Los Angeles. A timely gathering is in order. Three futurists sit down for a conversation on the film’s legacy and its relevance to Southern California. The guest speakers are David Brin, Paul Sammon and Mike Davis. They discuss the film’s influence and compare its vision with today’s 2019. Blade Runner initially underperformed in theaters when it was first released in 1982; some praised its thematic complexity and visuals, while others were displeased with its slow-paced narrative and unconventional plot. However, by 1992 it had become a cult classic and was re-released in newly edited versions. Why did it take a decade to find — or create — its audience? Series: "Library Channel" [Humanities] [Show ID: 34684]