ayiti cheri haitian film festival, 3/12-3/14

CLACS is proud to announce the program of events for the Ayiti Cheri Haitian Film Festival. A minimum donation of $5.00 is suggested for admission to each film, with proceeds to support Partners in Health in earthquake relief efforts. The festival is generously co-sponsored by the Haitian Earthquake Relief Effort at Brown, the New England Festival of Ibero-American Cinema, and Alliance for Haiti.

Venues @ Brown University:

• MacMillan Hall, 167 Thayer Street, Providence, RI 02912
• List Art Center, 64 College Street, Providence, RI 02912
• Salomon Center, Main Green, Brown and Waterman Streets, Providence, RI 02912

For inquiries about the festival, please call email José Torrealba or call (401) 863-2645. If you would like further information on Brown's response to the earthquake in Haiti, visit the Haiti Earthquake Response website here.

Friday, March 12, 2010

• How to Conquer America in One Night by Dany Laferrière, 6:00 PM (MacMillan 117)

Saturday, March 13, 2010

• The Agronomist by Jonathan Demme, 1:00 PM (List 120)
• The Road to Fondwa by Dan Schnorr, 3:00 PM (List 120)
• Poto Mitan: Haitian Women Pillars of the Global Economy by Renée Bergan and Mark Schuller, 3:45 PM (List 120)
• On the Verge of a Fever by John L'Ecuyer, 7:00 PM (Salomon 001)

Sunday, March 14, 2010

• The President has AIDS? by Arnold Antonin, 1:00 PM (MacMillan 117)
• Looking for Life by Claudette Coulanges, 3:00 PM (MacMillan 117)
• Jacques Roumain: Passion for a Country by Arnold Antonin, 5:00 PM (MacMillan 117)
• 60 Minutes: Dr. Farmer's Remedy for World Health, 5:15 PM (MacMillan 117)

                         

                          Poto Mitan

60 Minutes: Dr. Farmer's Remedy for World Heath

This documentary reflects Dr. Paul Farmer's life dedication and career to delivering medical
treatment in Third World countries, saving countless lives in places like Haiti and Rwanda.

The Agronomist by Jonathan Deme

A profile of Haitian radio journalist and human rights activist, Jean Dominique.

                                       

                       On the Verge of  Fever                             60 Minutes: Dr. Farmer's Remedy

How to Conquer America in One Night by Dany Laferrière

Newly arrived in Montréal, and determined to conquer North America by charming a blond-haired women, Gégé, a Haitian in his thirties, lands up at Fanfan's - his nostalgic uncle who has given up poetry for a good old taxicab and dreams of returning to his homeland.

Jacques Roumain: Passion for a Country by Arnold Antonin

This exploration of Haitian society of the late 19th and early 20th centuries focuses on the tormented life of one of Haiti’s most important authors and prominent political figures, Jacques Roumain.

                        

             The President has AIDS?                                          Jacques Roumain: Passion for a Country

Looking for Life by Claudette Coulanges

Anne-Rose and Rosemene, who each one has their own particular way of battling through life. Through the connection between these two women the film shows part of their daily work and the constant battle for survival that they lead together with other women in Haiti. Going beyond this, however the film demonstrates the extent to which the importation of North American goods has brought about the collapse of Haitian regional production and ruined Haiti's economy.

On the Verge of a Fever by John L'Ecuyer

Against the backdrop of poverty, fear and the brutal dictatorship of Haiti in 1971, On the Verge of a Fever is about Fanfan, a 15-year-old boy who just wants to experience life for himself with his streetwise friend Gégé.

                                 

                Looking for Life                                                                The Agronomist

Poto Mitan: Haitian Women Pillars of the Global Economy by Renée Bergan and Mark Schuller

Told through compelling lives of five courageous Haitian women workers, Poto Mitan gives the global economy a human face. Each woman’s personal story explains neoliberal globalization, how it is gendered, and how it impacts Haiti.

The President has AIDS? by Arnold Antonin

Dao is the biggest movie star in Haiti, the self-proclaimed "President of Compas." He has women falling at his feet and men emulating him. He feels invincible-living the life of a rock star--sex, drugs and alcohol--except that he can no longer hide his illness which is threatening to derail his career.

The Road to Fondwa by Dan Schnorr

The Road to Fondwa tells the powerful story of a rural Haitian community poised to change the future of Haiti one University student at a time.

                                        

                                  The Road to Fondwa                                How to Conquer America in One Night

                                    

                     

Haiti @ Brown, Brown in Haiti

Haiti and Haitian language studies have an important place at Brown. We are one of the few universities outside Haiti to offer two full years of Haitian language (Creole) through Prof. Patrick Sylvain and the Center for Latin American and Caribbean Studies. Prof. Sylvain has organized a mentoring program between Brown students and Haitian students at Hope High School. Brown will host the Haitian Studies Association annual meetings at Brown in November 2010. The John Carter Brown Library houses the second best collection in the world of materials on colonial Haiti and is digitizing its Haitian materials in partnership with Yelé Haiti. Brown’s Alpert Medical School has exchange programs with three medical schools in Haiti.

These collaborations and partnerships make it all the more important for the Brown community to step forward at this time and help Haiti in the short and long term.

Please check this website regularly for updates and information about Haiti Earthquake Response Efforts @ Brown!

Thanks to all for your commitment in responding to Haiti’s crisis,

Matthew Gutmann
Vice President for International Affairs
Director, Center for Latin American and Caribbean Studies
Professor of Anthropology

Barrymore Bogues
Harmon Family Professor
Professor of Africana Studies and Political Science

ALUM SPOTLIGHT: TAYLOR BARNES '09

Since graduating from Brown, CLACS concentrator and former DUG leader Taylor Barnes '09 has worked as a correspondent for the Christian Science Monitor. Taylor recently published pieces exploring the fluid border between Mexico and Texas ("Mexico: All Aboard the 'School-Bus' Plane to Texas") and the success of Mexican immigrant investors in San Antoni0 ("Who's Creating US Jobs? Mexicans"). Her future plans include freelancing for the Monitor in Mumbai and eventually returning to Latin America or Mozambique to continue working on her Spanish and Portuguese. CLACS congratulates Taylor and wishes her continued success in these endeavors!

2010-2011 Cogut and Sarmiento Fellowship Applications Now Available

The Craig M. Cogut Visiting Professorship in Latin American and Caribbean Studies brings leading scholars from Latin America and the Caribbean to teach and conduct research at Brown University. Visiting Professors are based at the Center for Latin American and Caribbean Studies and teach one undergraduate course on Latin America per semester, advise undergraduate and graduate student theses, and give presentations in Center or affiliated departmental colloquia. Brown faculty members are invited to encourage applications and submit names of potential candidates to the Center for Latin American and Caribbean Studies. A committee will start to review applications after December 30, 2009. More information is available here.

The Craig M. Cogut Dissertation Fellowship in Latin American and Caribbean Studies is a twelve-month dissertation fellowship for graduate students at Brown University who are in the writing stage of their dissertation. The fellowships are open to students in any department whose dissertation is directly relevant to Latin America and/or the Carribean. Applications for the 2o10-2011 academic year are due at the Center for Latin American and Caribbean Studies no later than March 1, 2010. More information is available here, or by calling 401-863-2106.

The Honorable Domingo Faustino Sarmiento Fund for Latin American Studies annually awards a short-term $5,000 fellowship for a resident from a Spanish-speaking South American country to pursue pre-doctoral dissertation, post-doctoral or independent research at Brown University. The fellowship enables close collaboration with Brown scholars from a wide array of disciplines. The application materials may be submitted in Spanish. The application deadline for the 2010 Sarmiento Fellowship is February 1, 2010. More information is available here.

Spring 2010 Course Announcements

Cogut Visiting Professor Ruben Oliven will lead a course on The Making of Modern Brazil (LAST 1510J) on Thursdays from 4:00-6:20 pm. The class will analyze the crucial processes and meanings of the building of the Brazilian nation. Please see the course syllabus here. Professor Oliven, the former president of the Brazilian Associação Nacional de Pos-Graduação e Pesquisa em Ciencias Sociais and an anthropologist from the Universidade Federal do Rio Grande do Sul in Porto Alegre, is the Cogut Visiting Professor for 2009-10.

Joshua Tucker, Visiting Assistant Professor of Music, will offer a class on Indigenous Music of the Americas (ETHN 1890D) on Tuesdays from 4:00-6:20 pm. The course introduces students to the music of indigenous communities in the Andes, the Amazon, the US, and Canada, exploring the relationship between performance, cultural identity, and social change. A flyer about the course is available here.

Choices on Haiti!

Brown’s Choices Program has developed a lesson for high school students, drawing on interviews with two Brown faculty members Professors Tony Bogues (Africana Studies) and Patrick Sylvain (Center for Latin American and Caribbean Studies). The Haitian Crisis: Thinking Historically challenges students to think beyond the earthquake, consider the role of Haiti’s rich history in the current crisis, and think about the global role in long term reconstruction.

"Ports of Sorrow," poem by Professor Patrick Sylvain

Brown University Haitian Creole language and culture Professor Patrick Sylvain is also a writer, essayist and poet. Professor Sylvain has been published in several anthologies, magazines and reviews including African American Review, Agni, and American Poetry Anthology, among several others. His latest book, Love, Lust & Loss / Lanmou, anvi ak pèdans, was published by Mémoire d'Encrier in October 2005. To listen to Professor Sylvain's interview on PBS' Art Beat Weekly Poem, please visit PBSNEWSHOUR. If you want to read more of his poetry, please go to the Brockton Public Library Poetry Series.