Kathleen "Kat" Cruz Gutierrez is Assistant Professor of History at the University of California, Santa Cruz, where she teaches courses on modern Southeast Asia, the Philippines, and the history of science and the environment. She completed her Ph.D. in Southeast Asian Studies with a Designated Emphasis in Science and Technology Studies (STS) at the University of California, Berkeley. Her dissertation on the international consolidation of botany in the Philippines was shortlisted for Best Dissertation in the Humanities by the International Convention of Asia Scholars in 2021. With Paul Michael Atienza, she is guest co-editing a special issue on STS for Philippine Studies: Historical and Ethnographic Viewpoints. Presently, Dr. Gutierrez is in residence at the Humanities Institute of the New York Botanical Garden completing her first book manuscript.

This Gatty lecture will take place in person at the Kahin Center, but people are also welcome to join us on Zoom. Please register here if you wish to attend via Zoom: https://cornell.zoom.us/meeting/register/tJ0rduioqzgpHNMTX31Z7KpbwfHg58…

For questions, please contact seapgatty@cornell.edu.

In accordance with university event guidance, all campus visitors who are 12 years old or older must also present a photo ID, as well as proof of vaccination for COVID-19 or results of a recent negative COVID-19 test. If you are not currently participating in the Cornell campus vaccination/testing program, please bring proof of vaccination or the results of a recent negative test.

More information on acceptable documentation is available here: https://covid.cornell.edu/visitors/

CEAS publications and EAP welcome author Scott Mehl, Colgate University to discuss his book, "The Ends of Meter in Modern Japanese Poetry."

In "The Ends of Meter in Modern Japanese Poetry", Scott Mehl analyzes the complex response of Meiji-era Japanese poets and readers to the challenge introduced by European verse and the resulting crisis in Japanese poetry. Amidst fierce competition for literary prestige on the national and international stage, poets and critics at the time recognized that the character of Japanese poetic culture was undergoing a fundamental transformation, and the stakes were high: the future of modern Japanese verse.

2002 > Japan > Directed by Hayao Miyazaki
An animated tale of a young girl named Chihiro whose fantastic adventures are reminiscent of those in Alice in Wonderland. Winner of Best Animated Feature Oscar in 2002. The original Japanese language will be shown on March 24 & 26, and the English dubbed version on March 27. Subtitled. More at gkids.com/films/spirited-away
2 hrs 5 min

2007 > Japan > Directed by Satoshi Kon
With Megumi Hayashibara, T™ru Furuya, K™ichi Yamadera, Satomi Koorogi
In this masterly example of Japanese anime that looks at the connection between movies and dreams, our heroine is a genius scientist by day, and an eighteen-year-old dream warrior named Paprika by night. Only Paprika, who has the ability to enter people's dreams, can save the world from an evil genius threatening to invade and destroy the world's dream life. Subtitled. More at www.sonyclassics.com/paprika/
1 hr 30 min

Ithaca Premiere

2021 > Japan > Directed by Ryusuke Hamaguchi

With Kotone Furukawa, Ayumu Nakajima, Hyunri

Hamaguchi (Drive My Car) spins three tales of chance meetings and the mysteries of desire in a film which is "Elegant and amusing, with a delicacy of touch and real imaginative warmth." (The Guardian) Subtitled. More at https://www.filmmovement.com/wheel-of-fortune-and-fantasy

2 hrs 1 min

1998 > Taiwan > Directed by Hou Hsiao-hsien

With Tony Leung Chiu-wai, Michiko Hada, Carina Lau

Set in the world of 19th century courtesans, Flowers of Shanghai boasts a cast of Taiwanese stars and a remarkable long-take style that gives the impression of suspended time. Shown in a new restoration. Subtitled. More at https://www.janusfilms.com/films/2006

1 hr 53 min

Ithaca Premiere

1962 > France > Directed by James Blue

With Pierre Prothon, Jean Pélégri, Marie Decaître

Influential American documentarian James Blue's only narrative feature, drawn from Jean Jean Pélégri’s autobiographical novel, was shot in Algiers during the Algerian War. The story unfolds as Jean returns home to visit his dying father and recalls his childhood. "His memories of boyhood on his father's farm are told in flashbacks with a lush serenity that contrasts to the teeming, tank-filled streets of contemporary Algiers." (Kino Lorber) The film was the inaugural winner of the Critics Prize at Cannes (1962) and was recently restored. Subtitled. With a pre-recorded intro by Richard Herskowitz, former Cornell Cinema director, who works on the James Blue Project and was involved with the film’s restoration. More at https://www.kinolorber.com/film/the-olive-trees-of-justice

1 hr 21 min

2019 > Senegal > Directed by Mati Diop
With Mama Sane, Amadou Mbow, Ibrahima Traore
In a suburb of Dakar, workers on the construction site of a futuristic tower, without pay for months, decide to leave for Portugal in search of a better future. Among them is Souleiman, the lover of Ada. Though the men's small ship has disappeared at sea, Souleiman has recently been spotted in Dakar, upsetting the lives of the women who were left behind. Subtitled. More at netflix.com/title/81082007
1 hr 44 min

The turbulence of the Trump administration and a chaotic 2020 presidential election revealed vulnerabilities in American democracy, and raised the possibility that it could be threatened directly. Many observers imagined that the election’s outcome might restore some sense of stability to a democratic system under stress, but 2021 was no tonic: we saw a violent assault on the U.S. Capitol provoked by fantastical claims of a stolen election; escalating conflict over voting rights, one of the basic pillars of a democratic society; and deepening partisanship and polarization over the basics of public health in a devastating global pandemic.

Recent polls indicate that a majority of Americans believe that democracy in the United States is in crisis. What aspects of our democracy remain under threat? Are there areas where the drift toward democratic backsliding has halted, or even reversed? We invite you to join us for a discussion that will focus on critical sources of both vulnerability and resilience for American democracy. Register now!

Moderator:
E. J. Dionne (The Washington Post)

Panelists:
Carol Anderson (Emory University)
Frances Lee (Princeton University)
Lilliana Mason (Johns Hopkins University)

This event is the first in our webinar series, Democracy in the Balance: Vulnerability, Resilience, and Reform, sponsored by the Mario Einaudi Center for International Studies, the American Academy of Political and Social Science, and the American Democracy Collaborative. These three panels will assess the state of American democracy and evaluate prospects for its reform and renewal, based on the latest evidence and insights from political and social science.