Newsletter : Winter 2008 OregonOregon HumanitiesHumanities CenterCenter 154 PLC | 541-346-3934 | www.uoregon.edu/~humanctr Steven Shankman Director Distinguished Professor, CAS 2007-08 O’Fallon Lecture English; Classics Julia J. Heydon MIT’s Henry Jenkins Talks About How Digital Associate Director Technologies Are Reshaping Popular Culture Melissa Gustafson Program Coordinator Welcome to convergence culture, where old and new Rebecca Force media collide, where audiences participate in the pro- TV Producer duction and circulation of media content, where social networks shape the fl ow of music, where stories extend Peg Gearhart Offi ce Specialist across multiple media platforms, where teens become media producers by sampling and remixing their favorite 2007–2008 Advisory Board bands, and where YouTube and Second Life become the James Crosswhite meeting grounds for diverse creative communities. English On Wednesday, January 16, 2008 at 7:30 p.m. in Amalia Gladhart 182 Lillis Hall, MIT Media Professor Henry Jenkins will Romance Languages speak on “Art and Storytelling in the Age of Media Con- Michael Hames-Garcia vergence.” He will explore how growing trends towards Ethnic Studies media convergence, collective intelligence, transmedia Lori Kruckenberg entertainment, pop cosmopolitanism, and participatory Music culture are reshaping the ways media gets produced, cir- C. Anne Laskaya culated, and consumed. Jenkins maintains that this isn’t English just fun and games—these shifts in our relations to popu- Jeffrey Librett lar culture are starting to impact politics, education, and German and Scandinavian continued on page 2 Deb Morrison Journalism and Communication 2007-08 Clark Lecture Craig Parsons Political Science Stephen Schneider to Jenifer Presto Speak on Global Warming Comparative Literature Ellen Rees In partnership with the Environmental Studies Pro- German and Scandinavian gram, the OHC is pleased to host Stanford biology and Elizabeth Reis environmental studies professor Stephen Schneider in the Women’s and Gender Studies 2007-08 Clark Lecture entitled “Global Warming: How John Schmor Do We Manage the Risks?” The lecture will take place on Theater Arts Tuesday, March 4, 2008 at 7:30 p.m. in 182 Lillis Hall. Andrew Schulz There is a strong and growing consensus that due to Art History an increasing number of people in the world demanding Ying Tan a higher standard of living using cheap, available tech- Art nologies based on the burning of fossil fuels, the carbon Anita Weiss dioxide content in the atmosphere will double or even International Studies triple by 2100. This increase in CO2 in the atmosphere implies many serious consequences, though as Stephen Schneider points out, not all of them are negative. How- continued on page 2 2 Oregon Humanities Center | winter 2008 Renowned Calligrapher and Buddhist TELLING: Veterans’ Voices Scholar to Visit Eugene Feb. 12-14, 2008 Theatre Arts and the Veterans and Family Student Association Japanese calligrapher and Buddhist (VFSA) present TELLING, a “wit- scholar Kazuaki Tanahashi will be visit- ness theater” production chronicling ing Eugene and presenting three events the experiences of veterans of the in mid-February. On Tuesday, February U.S. military as they return from 12, at 7 p.m. he will give a talk at the Eu- service and try to reintegrate them- gene Zendo (2190 Garfi eld St.) on Dogen selves into society as students, fam- Zenji, the founder of the Soto School of ily members, friends, and citizens. Buddhism in Japan. Then, in conjunc- Directed by professor John Schmor, tion with the Jordan Schnitzer Museum the student-veteran actors will pres- of Art’s exhibit, “Buddhist Visions,” Ta- ent scenes and monologues based nahashi will be giving a talk and callig- upon their own experiences and raphy demonstration in the Papé Room words. Performances are February 8 at the Museum on Wednesday, Febru- and 9 at 8 p.m. and Sunday, Febru- ary 13, at 6 p.m. entitled “In Search of ary 10 at 2 p.m. at the Veteran’s the Meaning of Circles: Calligraphy in Memorial Hall, 1626 Willamette St., Zen Buddhism.” Finally, on Thursday, Eugene. Admission is free. Dona- February 14, from 5-7:30 p.m. there will tions welcomed. For information, be a gallery talk and reception at White contact <[email protected]>. Lotus Gallery (767 Willamette Street) with the artist entitled “Brushmind: Cal- ligraphy by Kazuaki Tanahashi.” Tanahashi, a native of Japan, now Kazuaki Tanahashi, Miracles of Each Moment, lives in California. He has taught and white on black, original one-stroke circle; acrylic Jenkins on canvas, scroll (30” x 36”) 2001. continued from front page exhibited his works internationally. His Eugene visit is co-sponsored by the Eu- religion, offering us new models for what gene Zendo, the Oregon Humanities Center, the Jordan Schnitzer Museum of Art, and it means to participate in the powerful Religious Studies. (Please see individual calendar entries for more information.) institutions which impact our lives. An eccentric and popular fi gure on the MIT campus, Jenkins is a scholar at Schneider the forefront of exploring how digital continued from front page technologies are reshaping popular cul- ever, the distribution of the impacts of and Global Survival; The Coevolution of ture. Described by a colleague as the em- climate change will be uneven, with the Climate and Life; Global Warming: Are bodiment of “principled antic behavior,” most severe effects being experienced in We Entering the Greenhouse Century? Jenkins calls himself a “fan,” who “boldly poorer, warmer places; high mountain- and Laboratory Earth: The Planetary goes where no humanist has gone before.” ous areas; polar regions; and in “hurri- Gamble We Can’t Afford to Lose. He is the Peter de Florez Professor of Hu- cane alley.” People are beginning to take In 1992 Schneider received a MacAr- manities and the co-director of the Com- action on the local, regional, and even thur Fellowship for his ability to integrate parative Media Studies Program at MIT. international levels, but—as Al Gore and interpret the results of global climate Jenkins is the author or editor of twelve noted in his recent Nobel Prize accep- research through public lectures, semi- books on media and popular culture in- tance speech—while private, individual nars, classroom teaching, environmental cluding Convergence Culture: Where Old actions can help, they are not enough. assessment committees, media appear- and New Media Collide (2006), and Fans, What is needed now is collective action ances, Congressional testimony, and Bloggers and Gamers: Media Consum- on a global level. research collaboration with colleagues. ers in a Digital Age (2006). He regularly Stephen Schneider will talk about He was elected to membership in the U.S. writes about media and culture change at how much more could be done to sub- National Academy of Sciences in April his blog, henryjenkins.org. stantially reduce the magnitude of the 2002. Currently, he is actively involved This lecture, sponsored by Betsy risks associated with global warming if with the Intergovernmental Panel on Mayer and the O’Fallon family, is free only we can summon the political will to Climate Change (IPCC). and open to the public, and will be fol- take decisive action—soon. The lecture is free and open to the lowed by a book sale and signing. For Schneider is the founder and editor public. For more information, or for dis- more information, or for disability ac- of the interdisciplinary journal, Climatic ability accommodations (which must be commodations (which must be made by Change. He is editor-in-chief of the En- made by February 26), please call (541) January 9), please call (541) 346-3934. cyclopedia of Climate and Weather and 346-3934. author of The Genesis Strategy: Climate Oregon Humanities Center | winter 2008 3 OHC Director’s Report by Steven Shankman In my Director’s Report of a year ago, I talked about unpredictable directions. It gives faculty the UNESCO Chair in Transcultural Studies, Interreligious the opportunity to offer a new course one Dialogue, and Peace that was about to be established quarter followed by a term in which they at the University of Oregon. President Frohnmayer coun- are asked to research—with the help of ter-signed the agreement—which had been signed by their undergraduate students from the previous quarter— the Secretary General of UNESCO—on June 1, 2007. some of the promising topics and questions that emerged The Chair is now in place, the fi rst in the United States in from their teaching of the course. UNESCO’s Intercultural Dialogue Program. The plan was In our efforts to increase the Center’s—and the to house the Chair at fi rst in the Humanities Center, and University’s—engagement with the community, we have then to found a new Center around the Chair. I am very pledged to support one faculty member per year to be grateful for the support of the central administration, which trained to teach humanities courses as part of the Inside- has moved very quickly and enthusiastically with the plan Out Prison Exchange Program. So far we have trained two to establish a new UNESCO center for intercultural dia- faculty members. The fi rst UO Inside-Out course—consist- logue and peace. It will be up and running by September ing of fi fteen UO students and fi fteen inmates—was taught 1, 2008, and I will be directing it. during spring term 2007 at the Oregon State Penitentiary, This means that as of September 1 of the coming year the state’s maximum-security facility. Another course will there will be new leadership at the Oregon Humanities be taught this coming spring. Center. An internal search for a new Director will begin this The Center has tried to respond to international crises quarter.