Climate and environmental changes profoundly influence the movement of people, birds, and other species across the globe. The news is replete with stories of human migration, often portraying it as a crisis. Yet despite changes in movement patterns over recent decades, migration has been a natural phenomenon for millennia.

Let’s take the politics out of migration and pause to understand why birds and people migrate and what similarities and differences exist between their migration patterns. Let’s also consider what individuals, communities, and policymakers can do to rethink migration and develop sustainable solutions that recognize that we live in an interdependent world. Globally, we need solutions that benefit the planet and humans alike.

On a bus en route from Dakar, Senegal, to Lagos, Nigeria, three women must band together as they navigate the risks that come with traveling alone while female, fighting back against threats of violence, sexual harassment, and government corruption at each border crossing. This inspiring drama from BurkinabŽ director, Apolline TraorŽ, pays tribute to the bravery of West African women asserting their independence in a patriarchal society.

Free admission. Sponsored by the Institute for African Development (IAD) at the Mario Einaudi Center for International Studies and supported by IAD's Undergraduate International Studies and Foreign Languages (UISFL) Grant from the U.S. Department of Education.

Film website: https://www.diffa.tv/frontieres-91-2016-burkina-faso-france/

A History of Drones and Precision Warfare

Since 2012, the global proliferation of drones has increased by 96.3 percent. Inspired by the American pioneering of ‘pin-point’ precision strike and remote-control technologies during the early 2000s and 2010s, a total of 118 nation-states have now developed a military drone program (2024). These drones are transforming the character of war around the globe, from Ukraine to Yemen and most notably with the Houthis over the Red Sea. Yet, how did drones and precision technologies rise up to become the ‘go-to’ weapons of nation-states and increasingly violent non-state actors?

In this talk, James Patton Rogers (Executive Director of the Cornell Brooks Tech Policy Institute, Cornell University), will take us back to 1917 and the origins of this quest for ‘precision’ in war within American strategic thought. Along the way, he will outline how precision developed throughout the 20th Century and highlight what the contemporary proliferation of precision weapons and drones means for the future of international security.

About the Speaker
James Patton Rogers is the Executive Director of the Cornell Brooks Tech Policy Institute at Cornell University and the NATO Country Director of the Full Spectrum Drone Warfare project, supported by NATO SPS. An expert on drones, disruptive technologies, and the history of weaponry and strategy, James has worked with the UN Security Council, UNOCT, and UNCTC (amongst others). He is the author of ‘Precision: A History of American Warfare’ (Manchester, 2023).

Host
Reppy Institute for Peace and Conflict Studies

In a bustling Mexican household, seven-year-old Sol is swept up in a whirlwind of preparations for the birthday party for her father, Tona, led by her mother, aunts and other relatives. As the day goes on, building to an event both anticipated and dreaded, Sol begins to understand the gravity of the celebration this year and watches as her family does the same.

This poignant and emotionally expansive film from Lila AvilŽs (The Chambermaid) cements her skill at directing dynamic, ensemble performances in her stunning sophomore effort.

T—otem screens as part of "Cine Con Cultura". Courtesy of Janus Films and Sideshow Pictures.

Set in Paraguayan Chaco, Eami a magic-realist film by Paraguayan director Paz Encina is the story of the Ayoreo Totobiegosode people, told from the perspective of a young girl.

Eami is a young girl and member of the Ayoreo Totobiegosode community whose homeland is invaded by settlers intent on brutally corralling the Ayoreo and driving them out of their ancestral lands. Embodying Asoj‡, the bird-god-woman, Eami falls into trance in which she walks slowly and stunned through her beloved forest as she prepares to leave it forever.

The trance grants Eami the ability of an omniscient and timeless look, which, from the mixture between documentary and fiction, becomes the narrator of the story. She hears the voices of her grandparents, while she is joined by one of her animal friends, the lizard, who guides her. He knows that Eami must leave the forest. She must leave everything behind, and leave, so she doesn't die there.

The film takes place in the Paraguayan Chaco, the territory with the highest deforestation rate in the world, where currently over 25,000 hectares of forest are cut down per month, or 841 hectares per day, or 35 hectares per hour. The forest barely lives on, and it does only due to a reservation that the Totobiegosode obtained by law. They call this place Chaid’, which means "Ancestral place", or "the place where we have always been", and it is currently part of the Natural and Cultural Heritage of the Ayoreo Totobiegosode.

Eami is a story of the displaced. ItÕs the memory of a people that had to leave its original place, that eversmaller forest, to become Òco–oneÓ, an ayoreo word that means insensitive or insensate, and itÕs the word they use to define us.

Eami screens as part of Cine Con Cultura 2024. Courtesy of MPM Premium.

With a small film crew, Wim Wenders accompanied his old friend Ry Cooder, who had written the music for Paris, Texas and The End of Violence, on a trip to Havana, and immersed himself in the world of Cuban music. Over the course of several months, he observed and accompanied the musicians' first at home in Havana; then, weeks later, in April 1998, on their trip to Amsterdam for the first public performance of the band (who had never played together outside a studio); then, still later, in July 1998, to their triumphal concert at New York's Carnegie Hall.

The result is Buena Vista Social Club, a seductive documentary that follows the old heroes of the traditional Cuban son music on their path from being completely forgotten to becoming world famousÑwithin the period of just a few months. The music documentary became a cinematic sensation and an international success, earning an Academy Award nomination for best documentary film, the German Film Prize in Gold, Germany's Golden Camera, and the Grand Prize for Film in Brazil, as well as garnering numerous other awards.

Buena Vista Social Club screens as part of our "Party Like It's 1999" and "Cine con Cultura" series. Courtesy of Janus Films.

Registration Link in person: https://cvent.me/dx9K9m

Registration Link online: https://cornell.zoom.us/s/93668620332

A fireside chat between Andrew Karolyi and Iván Duque about Duque's new book: "Our Future: A Green Manifesto for Latin America and the Caribbean", Planeta, 2024.

Andrew Karolyi, Charles Field Knight Dean of the Cornell SC Johnson College of BusinessIván Duque, Former President of Colombia (2018-2022)
A reception will be held after the fireside chat at Sage Hall atrium.
Please register to attend and keep posted about this event.

Registration Link in person: https://cvent.me/dx9K9m

Registration Link online: https://cornell.zoom.us/s/93668620332

Master calligrapher and contemporary artist Hakim Karimzada will discuss his work, on view in the exhibition "Herat and Me," in conversation with Dr. Seema Golestaneh, associate professor in the Department of Near Eastern Studies.

Born in Afghanistan in 1972, Karimzada is known for bold and daring pieces that express his own experience of migration. For him, calligraphy celebrates his beloved hometown of Herat and through it he introduces the ancient culture and civilization of its people.

Dr. Golestaneh’s research is situated at the nexus of anthropology and religious studies. Her current project investigates the dreams and aspirations of Afghan intellectuals in the late 1980s and ’90s for forms of government and collectivity that did not come to pass.

Click here to join the webinar (pass code: 911500)

Support for this program was provided by the Stoikov Asian Art Lecture Fund.

"I Belong Here: Addressing Gen Z Learner Identities through Differentiated Instruction in World Languages"
Tom Garza
UT Regent's and University Distinguished Teaching Associate Professor and Director of the Texas Language Center, UT Austin

Tomlinson et al. (2003) characterized differentiated instruction (DI) as "providing students with classroom instruction that suits to their varied readiness levels, interests, learning necessities, and preferred modes of learning." Over the past two decades, this basic definition has served to inform models of learner-centered instruction well and has been effectively applied to world languages (WL) learning, where learners in a single classroom might be at various levels of proficiency and/or have varying ways of approaching language study (visual, oral, aural, holistic, analytic, schematic, etc.). More recently, however, research on individual differences in WL classes – not only regarding proficiency levels – has focused on individual learner identities (Ortega et al., 2018; Smith & Chestnutt, 2021), allowing for greater participation of Gen Z learners in our courses and the creation of more accessible, equitable, inclusive learning environments and a sense of individual belongingness in our WL courses. For WLs, especially for LCTLs, such an approach to DI can help us maintain more robust enrollments in our courses by creating welcoming ecologies of teaching and learning that will attract a larger, more diverse Gen Z learner population to our courses.

This presentation will offer participants:

an overview of models for identifying learner differences in WL classrooms; consideration of individual identities of Gen Z learners (gender, race/ethnicity, socioeconomic status, educational access, family setting, sexual identity, neurodivergent status, ableness, etc.) in the WL classroom;examples of task variations to address learner differences;an adaptation of the flipped classroom to accommodate DI;DI models that use authentic materials to facilitate autonomous interaction with the WL; andexamples of task-based DI practices that engender participation and proficiency gains for Gen Z learners with diverse and varied identities.
Works Cited:

Ortega, D., Cabrera, J., & Benalcázar, J. (2018). Differentiating instruction in the language learning classroom: Theoretical considerations and practical applications. Journal of Language Teaching and Research, 9(6), 1220-–228.

Smith, A., & Chestnutt, C. (2021). Differentiation for equity. Journal of Higher Education Theory and Practice, 21(6), 232–241.

Tomlinson, C., Brighton, C., Hertberg, H., Callahan, C., Moon, T., Brimijoin, K., & Reynolds, T. (2003). Differentiating instruction in response to student readiness, interest, and learning profile in academically diverse classrooms: A review of the literature. Journal for the Education of the Gifted, 27(2) 119–145.

Bio: Thomas Jesús Garza is Associate Professor in the Department of Slavic and Eurasian Studies and Founding Director of the College of Liberal Arts Texas Language Center at the University of Texas at Austin. He teaches courses on Russian language, language pedagogy, Russian popular culture, and critical pedagogy in education. He received his doctorate from Harvard University in 1987. During his more than 30-year tenure at U Texas, he received numerous prizes for undergraduate and graduate teaching and was inducted into the University Academy of Distinguished Teachers in 2003, selected for a U Texas Regents' Outstanding Teaching Award in 2009, and chosen a "Texas Top Ten" instructor by the Texas Exes in 2018. He has published articles in The Modern Language Journal, Foreign Language Annuals, Slavic and East European Journal, Russian Language Journal, and Current History. He recently completed a book manuscript on filmic portraits of machismo in contemporary Russian and Mexican cultures and is currently working on an edited volume of essays with Rachel Stauffer on decolonizing Russian studies in the US.

This event will be held in person in G25 Stimson and will also be streamed live over Zoom (registration required). Join us at the LRC or on Zoom.

The event is free and open to the public.

"Generative AI in Language Education: Insights and Implications for Teacher Development"
Ilka Kostka
Teaching Professor and Program Lead of the NU Immerse and Global Pathways Programs, Northeastern University

We are in a moment of immense educational transformation as generative artificial intelligence (GenAI) continues to develop and influence a range of industries and disciplines, including language education. While there is potential to leverage GenAI to innovate teaching and enhance student learning, there are new challenges that language teachers must collectively address as GenAI becomes more widely used. This presentation focuses on two main areas of GenAI in language teacher development. First, I describe findings from a research project conducted with English language teachers, focusing on their attitudes toward GenAI and their applications of GenAI to teaching. I then share examples of how I have integrated generative AI into my classes, focusing primarily on guidelines for GenAI use and ways of enhancing student-centered learning and critical thinking. Drawing from research and practice, I conclude with recommendations for professional learning and change management in an increasingly AI-focused world.

Bio: Dr. Ilka Kostka is Teaching Professor and Program Lead of the NU Immerse and Global Pathways Programs at Northeastern University in Boston, where she teaches and oversees academic English language courses for international students. Her scholarly interests focus on applications of generative artificial intelligence to English language teaching, particularly in terms of faculty development. With Dr. Rachel Toncelli, she is the co-recipient of TESOL International Association’s 2024 Ron Chang Lee Award for Excellence in Classroom Technology; she was also a semi-finalist for Magic School AI's Educator of the Year award. Dr. Kostka serves on the Board of Directors of Literacy Volunteers of Greater Worcester in Massachusetts and is a member of the first cohort of the Professors Without Borders Women in Higher Education Fellowship Programme.

This event will be held in person in G25 Stimson and will also be streamed live over Zoom (registration required). Join us at the LRC or on Zoom.

The event is free and open to the public.