UC Santa Barbara (Video)

How it is possible for imagination to have practical social effects? The great potential size of human societies, in contrast to those of other primates, is due to a kind of shared imagination of which kinship and religion are important examples, says Maurice Bloch, Emeritus Professor of Anthropology at the London School of Economics. Bloch says that the shared imaginary emerges in normal life at certain moments yet is still governed by the potential of imagination. The lecture is illustrated by Bloch’s experience of an isolated village in Madagascar. [Humanities] [Science] [Show ID: 33941]

Gwyneth Paltrow, Oscar-, Golden Globe-, and Emmy-winning actress, appeared in Wes Anderson's The Royal Tenenbaums in 2001. After a recent screening at UC Santa Barbara, she discussed the film and more. Series: "Carsey-Wolf Center" [Humanities] [Show ID: 33950]

Since its beginning in 1999, the UCSB New Venture Competition provides a unique opportunity for UCSB students to learn how to start a business. This eight-month educational experience, with activities and curriculum spanning the entire academic year, culminates with the New Venture Finals, where the finalist teams present an investor pitch to a panel of judges for prize money. Series: "Innovator Stories: Creating Something from Nothing" [Business] [Show ID: 33938]

Hardly a week goes by without another controversy over free speech on college campuses. On one side, there are increased demands to censor hateful, disrespectful, and bullying expression and to ensure an inclusive and nondiscriminatory learning environment. On the other side are traditional free speech advocates who charge that recent demands for censorship coddle students and threaten free inquiry. UC Irvine Chancellor Howard Gillman is an expert in the American Constitution and the Supreme Court. Here he discusses why campuses must provide supportive learning environments for an increasingly diverse student body but can never restrict the expression of ideas. Series: "Ethics, Religion and Public Life: Walter H. Capps Center Series" [Public Affairs] [Education] [Show ID: 33944]

UCSB Pollock Theater Director Matt Ryan and crew meet Comic-Con 2018 participants in San Diego. Series: "Carsey-Wolf Center" [Humanities] [Show ID: 33951]

Novelist, critic and cultural historian Marina Werner and Peter Bloom (Film and Media Studies, UCSB) engage Lotte Reiniger’s The Adventures of Prince Achmed (1926) from several angles. They discuss the film’s astounding technical craft, Reiniger’s addition of feminist perspectives to the narrative, and the film’s relation to both the Arabian classic 1001 Nights and the French translation/adaptation of that work. Werner and Bloom discuss Reiniger’s relationship to the source material and provide rich historical details about early-twentieth century relations between Europe and what was then called “the Orient.” Series: "Carsey-Wolf Center" [Humanities] [Show ID: 33756]

Novelist Sinaan Antoon and journalist Leila Fadel join UCSB’s Mona Damluji for a post-screening discussion of Kasim Abid’s 2008 film Life After the Fall. They discuss the difficulties of living and working in U.S.-occupied Iraq after the fall of Saddam Hussein, the decline of security and safety, loyalties-of-necessity to one’s particular neighborhood in the power vacuum that ensued, and the complications and sometimes harrowing difficulties of everyday life. At issue in particular is each guest’s struggle to tell stories about Iraq that felt honest, empathetic, and adequate when most narrativization of Iraq at the time tended to feel too superficial (U.S. media coverage), too insular (stories from inside the Green Zone), too nostalgic (for a functional Iraq, if one under dictatorship), or too limited in scale (to the scope of whatever groups, such as families or friends, that were intimate enough to permit trust).

Series: "Carsey-Wolf Center" [Humanities] [Show ID: 33760]

Amar Akbar Anthony was a Bollywood blockbuster when it was released in 1977 and has become a classic of Hindi cinema and a touchstone of Indian popular culture. William Elison (Religious Studies, UCSB), Christian Lee Novetzke (International Studies, University of Washington) and Andy Rotman (Religion, Smith College) discuss their co-authored book on the film that offers a sympathetic and layered interpretation of the film’s deeper symbolism, seeing it as a lens for understanding modern India’s experience with secular democracy. Series: "Carsey-Wolf Center" [Humanities] [Show ID: 33816]

Hari Kondabolu, comedian and star of The Problem With Apu (2017), joins UCSB’s Kum-Kum Bhavnani for a conversation about the film. Kondabolu reflects on what it means to retrospectively reexamine offensive stereotypes about race, culture, and forms of work, as well as the power of humor to disarm and dismantle them. Kondabolu and Bhavnani discuss at length how, rather than creatively being intended as hurtful or offensive, stereotypes can enter the cultural lexicon as struggling/tokenized forms of representation in cultures where there is otherwise none, or as a form of insensitive marketing of foreignness in and for a dominant culture, as well as the eventual dilemmas this can cause for the creators and the legacy of their works.

Series: "Carsey-Wolf Center" [Humanities] [Show ID: 33754]

This Q&A features Dave Stewart, Executive Producer for the North American League of Legends LCS, moderated by Alexander Champlin (Film & Media Studies, UCSB). Their conversation covers the growth of the esports industry and the work of producing videogame competitions. Stewart discusses the growing esports scene in Los Angeles, the global scale of these competitions, and draws comparisons between traditional sports and gaming competitions. Stewart began his career as a writer for cable sports broadcasts before joining Riot Games to direct the NALCS, and brings insights about the way esports and traditional sports programing intersect. He discusses his work on one of the largest and most successful esports franchises, the growing appeal of esports, the fans who consume this media, and the places where this industry is gaining the most traction.

Series: "Carsey-Wolf Center" [Humanities] [Show ID: 33759]