This lecture asks how the spatial politics of migration have been inflected by histories of colonialism. Using the example of the Anglo-Caribbean island of Barbados and its majority African-descended population, Osayimwese examines migration to the Global North as a response to the inequitable structure of plantation society. She shows that migration fundamentally transformed the structure of Barbadian society by enabling property acquisition through remittances. The remittance landscape that ensued, however, encompassed both land and houses on the island and property purchased in receiving countries, which remain connected by particular Afro-Caribbean approaches to land ownership and modes of dwelling.
Itohan Osayimwese is an architectural and urban historian. She is assistant professor of history of art and architecture at Brown University. She engages with theories of modernity, postcoloniality, and globalization to analyze German colonial architecture, urban design, and visual culture; modern architecture in Germany; African and African diaspora material cultural histories; and the architecture of development in Africa. Another research interest is the architectural and urban lives of religious cults.
Due to a fortunate confluence of water, geography and entrepreneurial vision, Detroit at the end of the 19th century was poised to experience unprecedented growth. Even before the Ford Motor Company was established in 1903, Detroit was a major industrial center and transportation hub. All this commercial activity and prosperity led to a building boom of incredible proportions at a time when the most popular architectural styles were Beaux Arts, Gothic Revival, Classical Revival, and Art Deco. Each of these styles typically required extensive ornamentation and because of this, Detroit became a treasure trove of architectural sculpture.
Jeff Morrison’s new book Guardians of Detroit: Architectural Sculpture in the Motor City documents these incredible features in a city that began as a small frontier fort and quickly grew to become a major metropolis and industrial titan. For this AADL presentation, Jeff will share more than 100 spectacular close-up pictures of architectural sculpture from throughout the city of Detroit. You will also learn about the symbolism behind the ornamentation and hear some of the untold stories of the artists, artisans, and architects involved in its creation, all drawn from the book.
Jeff Morrison is a historian and photographer who has been taking pictures since his parents gave him his first camera at age nine. He has a bachelor’s degree in history and art from Eastern Michigan University and over thirty years’ experience as a graphic artist. Jeff lives in Oxford, Michigan, with his lovely wife, Susie, and their wonder dog, Manfred.
This event includes a book signing and books will be on sale.
ONE PAUSE POETRY SALON is (literally) a greenhouse for poetry and poets, nurturing an appreciation for written art in all languages and encouraging experiments in creative writing.
We meet every Weds in the greenhouse at Argus Farm Stop on Liberty St. The poems we read each time are unified by form (haiku, sonnet, spoken word), poet, time / place (Tang Dynasty, English Romanticism, New York in the 70s) or theme / mood (springtime, poems with cats, protest poems). We discuss the poems and play writing games together, with time for snacks and socializing in between.
Members are encouraged to share their own poems or poems they like – they may or may not relate to the theme of the evening. This is not primarily a workshop – we may hold special workshop nights, but mostly we listen to and talk about poems for the sake of inspiring new writing.
Whether you are a published poet or encountering poetry for the first time, we invite you to join us!
$5 suggested donation for food, drinks and printing costs.
8-10 p.m., Argus Farm Stop greenhouse, 325 W. Liberty. $5 suggested donation. onepausepoetry.org, 707-1284.
“Beyond Solidarity” traces a genealogy of rebel care work. Without imposing a future, what political, cultural and social questions emerge when we center dignity in thinking beyond solidarity? Specifically with regards to the complimentary, contested and contradictory relationships between the university and the prison, who produces and benefits from the creation and production of knowledge? What is considered knowledge?
What is the role of Ethnic Studies in how we imagine and create a society not centered and organized around the idea that vengeance is justice, that punishment should only mean exile and imprisonment? What is the role of the university in the after-life of incarceration and the after-life of detention, for the communities that students come from, or in relation to policy or pedagogy? How does/can the university reproduce and undue the prison as a total institution? (Strike for print material)
Alan Eladio Gómez is a historian, Southwest Borderlands Scholar and associate professor of justice and social inquiry in the School of Social Transformation at Arizona State University. He is also an affiliated faculty member with the School of Transborder Studies and the Herberger Institute of Design and the Arts. Gómez is the author of The Revolutionary Imaginations of Greater Mexico: Chicana/o Radicalism, Solidarity Politics & Latin American Social Movements (University of Texas Press, 2016)
Literati is thrilled to be partnering with the Neutral Zone and the Ann Arbor District Library to celebrate the NEA Big Read month-long exploration of Claudia Rankine’s Citizen
Community members will come together and celebrate the culmination of this month-long NEA Big Read program around Citizen by Claudia Rankine. Featured artist Kush Thompson will perform poetry and talkback with the audience. Members of the Neutral Zone teen book club will also share their poetic responses to Citizen and all of the identity collages created earlier in the month will be displayed for viewing.
The NEA Big Read is a program of the National Endowment for the Arts (NEA) designed to broaden our understanding of our world, our communities, and ourselves through the sharing of a good book. For more information, see www.arts.gov/national-initiatives/nea-big-read. This event is in partnership with the Neutral Zone.
Each week will feature different Detroit-based speakers and guests who will explore the given topic and engage the students through a combination of formal remarks, presentations, and public discussion. Light dinner provided; free transportation from Ann Arbor to Detroit; public welcome and encouraged to attend.
Marcin Wodzinski has produced the first cartographic reference book on Hasidism, one of the modern era’s most vibrant and important mystical movements. In this lecture, he will discuss Hasidism’s emergence and expansion in Eastern Europe; its spread to the New World; and its remarkable postwar rebirth. Wodzinski’s innovative mapping allows him to show to what extent Hasidism dominated the Eastern European Jewry, which Hasidic dynasties were strongest and why, and how the Hasidim resurrected in the Post-Holocaust era.
Marcin Wodziński (b. 1966) was born and raised in Silesia, Poland. He currently works at the Department of Jewish Studies, University of Wrocław, Poland, where he is professor of Jewish history and literature. His research focuses on the history and culture of East European Jews in modern times, especially the Haskalah and Hasidism. Of his recent publications, he is most proud of “Historical Atlas of Hasidism” (2018) and “Hasidism: Key Questions” (2018).
The Jewish Federation of Greater Ann Arbor and Jewish Community Center of Greater Ann Arbor are proud to present ISIS: The Day After – A Look from Within, a lecture by renowned Israeli war correspondent and documentarian, Itai Anghel. One of the most prominent TV journalists in Israel, Mr. Anghel is known for his unique field-work and in-depth documentaries. In his lecture, he presents rare encounters with ISIS fighters, dynamic and updated maps of the region and exclusive pieces of his documentaries to help his audience understand the process that led to the rise and fall of the Islamic State and other Jihadists elements in the region. Wednesday, April 3 at 7pm. Jewish Community Center of Greater Ann Arbor, 2935 Birch Hollow Dr., Ann Arbor, 48108. Free admission. Register at jewishannarbor.org or email events@jewishannarbor.org.
ONE PAUSE POETRY SALON is (literally) a greenhouse for poetry and poets, nurturing an appreciation for written art in all languages and encouraging experiments in creative writing.
We meet every Weds in the greenhouse at Argus Farm Stop on Liberty St. The poems we read each time are unified by form (haiku, sonnet, spoken word), poet, time / place (Tang Dynasty, English Romanticism, New York in the 70s) or theme / mood (springtime, poems with cats, protest poems). We discuss the poems and play writing games together, with time for snacks and socializing in between.
Members are encouraged to share their own poems or poems they like – they may or may not relate to the theme of the evening. This is not primarily a workshop – we may hold special workshop nights, but mostly we listen to and talk about poems for the sake of inspiring new writing.
Whether you are a published poet or encountering poetry for the first time, we invite you to join us!
$5 suggested donation for food, drinks and printing costs.
8-10 p.m., Argus Farm Stop greenhouse, 325 W. Liberty. $5 suggested donation. onepausepoetry.org, 707-1284.
This event brings together Michigan Supreme Court Chief Justice Bridget McCormack, legal scholar and practitioner Len Niehoff, and acclaimed actor John de Lancie to explore the work of the courts and the law; how the human impulse for narrative performance and drama informs the inner workings of the courtroom; and how the courtroom is represented on stage and screen.
Chief Justice Bridget McCormack joined the Michigan Supreme Court in January 2013, and became chief justice in January 2019. As the chief justice, McCormack has promoted statewide initiatives devoted to improving the courts’ service to the public, and in particular delivering on a promise that courts are independent, accessible, engaged with their communities, and efficient. Len Niehoff is a nationally prominent law practitioner, professor, and scholar in three fields: media law and the First Amendment; higher education law; and trial and appellate litigation. Niehoff is working on a book about the Salem witch trials. John de Lancie is best known for his role as “Q” on Star Trek: The Next Generation, however, his credits are numerous and include The Hand that Rocks the Cradle, The Fisher King, Breaking Bad, and The West Wing. He was recently in a national tour of the “Scopes Monkey Trial” with Ed Asner where he played Clarence Darrow, and is the first recipient of the Clarence Darrow Award. De Lancie is currently at work on a play about the 2005 Kitzmiller vs. Dover School District trial.
Presented in partnership with University of Michigan Museum of Art (UMMA). This event heralds Witness Lab, a project by Roman J. Witt Artist in Residence Courtney McClellan. This courtroom installation is activated from February 15 through May 17, 2020, in UMMA’s Stenn Gallery.
