Manthia Diawara (Sarah)

Hello,
On 01/30/07 I went to Stevenson Hall to listen to Manthia Diawara discuss "Senghor's Aesthetic Criticism and Contemporary African Art." Knowing not of Leopold Sedar Senghor I left feeling empty. Perhaps it's because I am not an art student and am unaware of the 'issues' concerning African art. I left Stevenson Hall wanting to understand both original approach as well as Manthia's new approach to understanding Senghor as a cultural nationalist and Pan-Africanist.
I found the presentation over my head, however, when people asked questions about how Senghor applies to today, Manthia replied that rap music, films, and poetry seemed to be closer to Senghor. I want to know more so here is an advertisement for Manthia Diawara tomorrow. (Yikes, that is if you have time from 2-5 tomorrow)

Fellow Manthia Diawara, University Professor, New York University
Thursday, February 1st, 2007 from 2 p.m. to 5 p.m.
"Negritude in the art of David Hammons, Yinka Shonibare, Moustapha Dime, Vieux Diba et. al."
If time permits, the seminar will look at Nigerian video films as the new national and Pan-African imaginary.
Location: Institute for the Humanities, lower level Stevenson Hall.
For complete information, see http://www.uic.edu/depts/huminst/visiting_fellow.html or contact Linda Vavra at 996-6354
This announcement was posted by lvavra@uic.edu on 01/10/2007

UIC Faculty Fellows (Sarah)

This week 01-23-07 I went to a meeting with the Fellows of UIC (all academic professors) where Steven Engelman gave a speech about the biopolitics and the pursuit of social science. Steven divided his speech from the descent of man to the sociobiology. Linking Darwin's formula of evolution to to the politics or living government that exists today. Dense material! There are more meetings throughout the year, about a variety involving the Fellows and I think I may attend them. Check the UIC paper. They had a calender like the one handed out in class.
Sarah S.

Activism (Bliss)

On Sunday I went to an anti-war forum. There were two speakers: one was an ex-soldier and the other is a writer. The forum was held in order to get people informed about the situation in Iraq. Also, people were asked to join the war protest on January 27. This will be interesting considering that protesting in front of the White House is illegal.

Connections (Liz)

For my community happening I attended first meeting for Connections the meeting that Noel announced in class yesterday. It's a program through the writing center and their goal is to help kids become better writers. Unfortunately I don't think I will be able to work it into my schedule this semester. But anyone that has an hour or two a week to spare, this would be a great way to get involved in the community!

Also, for anyone who wants to get psyched about a cause, I would recommend reading anything by Jonathan Kozol! I read Amazing Grace for my English 161 class freshman year and it has always stuck with me. In fact, if anyone wants to borrow my copy just let me know!

Happening (Giovanni)

My community happening was a lecture given by Walter Virkus, M.D. Dr. Virkus practices primarily in orthopaedic oncology and trauma, his lecture focused on orthopaedic trauma rehabilitation. I went to this lecture because I work for a physical therapy company called Athletico. They hold lectures for employees to attend, primarily for physical therapists to satisfy their continuing education credits.

For those attending the lecture Dr. Virkus used invented ethos right away. As people entered the room they were given a handout that showed his credentials. Some of the things listed were the medical school he attended, residency and fellowship programs completed, it stated that he was board certified in orthopaedic surgery and that he focuses in orthopaedic oncology and trauma. The handout proved that he was qualified and has had quite a bit of experience in his field. Dr. Virkus is part of a medical practice called Midwest Orthopaedics at Rush. This practice is recognized nationally as a leader in orthopaedic medicine and they are the team physicians for the Chicago White Sox and Chicago Bulls. Even for those who did not know Dr. Virkus he had a good reputation before the lecture even started.

Dr. Virkus proved that he was well-informed about orthopaedic injuries. His lecture included cases that he has dealt with throughout his career and included some statistics regarding why certain rehab considerations may work better than others. He specifically does research in fracture fixations(requires metal plates or rods to stabilize a fractured bone); most of the lecture had to do with surgical interventions and rehabilitative treatment for a variety of bone fractures.

I thought he was a very good speaker, his power point slides only had bullet points and he was able to discuss each topic thoroughly without notes. He kept the lecture interesting and gave respect to the listeners if they had any questions or if they were confused about anything. Before his lecture he said that he didn’t mind if anyone interjected during the lecture because he acknowledged that everyone (besides me) was a licensed physical therapist.

Speech Tournament (Alex)

This past Saturday there was a speech tournament hosted at the College of Dupage. My girlfriend, Cathi Martin, was there for North Central and she has been kind enough to give me a transcript of her speech. She wants me to remind everyone that it is unfinished and still being refined, so be kind. Speech tournaments are probably going to be a great source for Community Happenings for those of us who either can't find somewhere to go or aren't interested in anything happening that week. You can usually find a tournament or even just a practice to go to every weekend.

For the sake of saving space on the class blog I have posted Cathi's speech here on my personal blog at http://www.xanga.com/almostincognito
Along with Cathi's speech you can find some of my semi-coherent ramblings about nothing at all and more reciently my more meaningful thoughts.