Anita Chitaya has a gift; she can help bring abundant food from dead soil, she can make men fight for gender equality, and she can end child hunger in her village. Now, to save her home from extreme weather, she faces her greatest challenge: persuading Americans that climate change is real.

Traveling from Malawi to California to the White House, Anita meets climate skeptics and despairing farmers. Her journey takes her across all the divisions shaping the US, from the rural-urban divide, to schisms of race, class and gender, to the thinking that allows Americans to believe we live on a different planet from everyone else. It will take all her skill and experience to persuade us that we’re all in this together.

This documentary, ten years in the making, weaves together the most urgent themes of our times: climate change, gender and racial inequality, the gaps between the rich and the poor, and the ideas that groups around the world have generated in order to save the planet.

Free admission. Sponsored by the Institute for African Development at the Mario Einaudi Center for International Studies.

Film website: https://www.antsandgrasshopper.org/

"I am blown away. You have found a hero of such grace and intelligence and power, and you had the good sense to get out of the way, center the narrative on her. The film is obviously not about agriculture in the way I expected to be-- it’s much bigger than that. We get to observe history. That’s what ten years on a movie gets you. I feel invested in the project... so wonderful to see it completed. I will be happy to spread the word." - Michael Pollan, Author & Director Of The Knight Program In Science And Environmental Journalism

Recent assessments of climate change impacts in Sub-Saharan Africa indicate that the continent is already experiencing impacts from rising temperatures, including water shortages, reduced food production, loss of lives and biodiversity loss. There are an increased number of extreme events, from drought, floods and tropical storms, and these events will worsen if global greenhouse gases are not significantly reduced. At the same time, Africa is one of the lowest contributors to greenhouse gas emissions, and many countries struggle to manage with the cost of climate change adaptation, while also paying high levels of debt. Alongside these climate challenges are ongoing extractive industries looking to Africa as a new or ongoing source of resources – including mining precious minerals to support renewable alternatives to fossil fuels. Despite this bleak picture, alternative models that are transformative and reparative are emerging as ways to imagine just climate futures in Africa. These alternatives include attention to multiple types of social inequities and building development strategies through dialogue and careful attention to power dynamics. Adaptation approaches that support decent livelihoods alongside biodiversity, ecosystems and indigenous knowledge are being tested and expanded. Recognition of power inequities at multiple scales and reparation of these inequities is part of such approaches.

Recent assessments of climate change impacts in Sub-Saharan Africa indicate that the continent is already experiencing impacts from rising temperatures, including water shortages, reduced food production, loss of lives and biodiversity loss. There are an increased number of extreme events, from drought, floods and tropical storms, and these events will worsen if global greenhouse gases are not significantly reduced. At the same time, Africa is one of the lowest contributors to greenhouse gas emissions, and many countries struggle to manage with the cost of climate change adaptation, while also paying high levels of debt. Alongside these climate challenges are ongoing extractive industries looking to Africa as a new or ongoing source of resources – including mining precious minerals to support renewable alternatives to fossil fuels. Despite this bleak picture, alternative models that are transformative and reparative are emerging as ways to imagine just climate futures in Africa. These alternatives include attention to multiple types of social inequities and building development strategies through dialogue and careful attention to power dynamics. Adaptation approaches that support decent livelihoods alongside biodiversity, ecosystems and indigenous knowledge are being tested and expanded. Recognition of power inequities at multiple scales and reparation of these inequities is part of such approaches.

Dr. Primitiva Andrea Mboyerwa is a senior lecturer in the College of Agriculture’s Department of Soil and Geological Sciences at the Sokoine University of Agriculture. PhD in Climate-Smart Agriculture & Biodiversity Management from Haramaya University in Ethiopia as well as a M.Sc. in Soil Science and Land Management from Sokoine University of Agriculture. Over the past 14 years, she has studied and researched a wide range of farming systems in Tanzania as well as elsewhere in Africa, Australia and USA, addressing the System of Rice Intensification, crop productivity, soil health, mitigation of greenhouse gas emissions, soil conservation, fertilizer use efficiency, nutrient and water management, tillage practices, soil carbon sequestration, climate- smart agriculture, and biodiversity management. Her research interests have been framed by an understanding of the soil-water-plant-nutrients-environment interface emphasizing integrated approaches for devising crop production systems that have minimal to zero risks to the environment and human health.

Are you a first-time attendee of the Association for Asian Studies annual meeting? A PhD student or early career researcher with questions about how AAS works, how to navigate such a large event, and how to build community with people who share your interests?

Join the GETSEA consortium for an informal discussion with Tom Pepinsky (Cornell), Trude Jacobsen Gidaszewski (NIU), and Nida Sanglimsuwan (UCLA) about the ins-and-outs of the AAS for students and scholars of Southeast Asia.

Talk Description: China Under Mao: A Revolution Derailed

China’s Communist Party seized power in 1949 after a long period of guerrilla insurgency followed by full-scale war, but the Chinese revolution was just beginning. What were the distinctive accomplishments and failures of that revolutionary period, and what drove Mao Zedong’s motivations in launching the Great Leap Forward and the attack on his own party-state during the Cultural Revolution? In his talk, Professor Walder will examine the rise and fall of the Maoist revolutionary state from 1949 to 1976―an epoch of startling accomplishments and disastrous failures, steered by many forces but dominated above all by Mao.

Register Now, to Join Remotely:
https://ecornell.cornell.edu/keynotes/overview/K030724a/

Speaker Bio: Professor Andrew G. Walder

Andrew G. Walder is a renowned sociologist and the Denise O'Leary and Kent Thiry Professor at Stanford University, where he is also a senior fellow in the Freeman Spogli Institute for International Studies. With a career marked by significant contributions to the understanding of communist regimes and their successor states, Walder has been a leading voice in examining the sources of conflict, stability, and change in these systems. Walder's academic journey includes a Ph.D. in sociology from the University of Michigan, followed by teaching positions at Columbia University, Harvard, and the Hong Kong University of Science and Technology. Joining Stanford's faculty in 1997, his research has spanned from the socio-economic organization of early Mao-era China to the political mobilization of the late 1960s, and the subsequent collapse and rebuilding of the Chinese party-state. His focus also extends to post-Mao China, analyzing patterns of stratification, social mobility, and inequality. His distinguished career is marked by fellowships and grants from prestigious institutions, including the Guggenheim Foundation and the National Science Foundation. Walder's scholarly work has been recognized with awards from various academic associations, and he is a member of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences and a Guggenheim fellow. His recent publications, such as "Fractured Rebellion: The Beijing Red Guard Movement," "China Under Mao: A Revolution Derailed," and "Civil War in Guangxi: The Cultural Revolution on China’s Southern Periphery," reflect his deep engagement with the complexities of China's political and social history.

This lecture series is proudly sponsored by The Einaudi Center; The East Asia Program; The Department of History; Charles H. Dyson School of Applied Economics and Management; The Society for Humanities; Cornell External Education, eCornell; Cornell IT; The Department of Government; The Department of Asian Studies.