University of Oregon Libraries
University of Oregon Libraries

Library Diversity Committee

Diversity Events Calendar

(...library, campus, community, the world)

 

February 2006

  • Feb. 6: Weaving Together Indigenous Rights, Culture, and Art in Oaxaca, Mexico. 6:00 - 8:00 p.m., UO Many Nations Longhouse, 1630 Colombia St. - behind the UO Law School and next to the Museum of Natural and Cultural History. A conversation with Pastora Gutiérrez - Zapotec, weaver, indigenous rights activist, and President of the women's "New Life  Cooperative" from Teotitlán del Valle, Oaxaca.  Pastora lives with her mother and grandmother in Teotitlán del Valle. Pastora's work and that of other weaving cooperatives is featured in the new book, Zapotec Women: Gender, Class, and Ethnicity in Globalized Oaxaca (2005), by UO professor Lynn Stephen. Cosponsored by CISCAP, Dept. of Anthropology, Latin American Studies Program, Ethnic Studies, Center for the Study of Women and Society, Women's and Gender Studies, and the Museum of Cultural and Natural History. For further info call 485-8633.
  • Feb. 11: The Eugene Public Library hosts "Diversity: From the Idea to Practice," 3:00-5:00 p.m., Downtown Library. As Oregon grows increasingly diverse, daily life calls on community members to live up to deeply revered American values, such as the Pledge of Allegiance's promise of "liberty and justice for all." Yet despite good intentions, many find it challenging to match real-life actions to the ideal of equal treatment. Join a facilitated discussion exploring three interrelated factors: the null curriculum (what is not taught), the power of stereotyping, and the unearned advantages enjoyed by members of a dominant culture. Drawing on both academic training and personal experience, Lani Roberts, Assistant Professor of Philosophy at Oregon State University and a fifth-generation Oregonian, delves into the meaning of diversity and the commitment to this most American of ideas.
  • Feb. 14: St. Valentine's Day. The holiday's roots are in an ancient Roman fertility festival. Circa 496, Pope Gelasius I recast this pagan festival as a Christian feast day in honor of St. Valentine, but there are at least three different early saints by that name. How the day became associated with romance remains obscure, and is further clouded by various fanciful legends.
  • Feb. 16: Professor Abdi Samatar, University of Minnesota, Dept of Geography, presents: "Beneath the Headlines: Democracy, Ethnicity and the State in Africa." 4:00 p.m., UO Art Museum Lecture Hall. Refreshments will be served before the talk at 3:30. For more information, see: http://www.uoregon.edu/~africa/
  • Feb. 17: Professor Jean Franco (Professor Emerita, Columbia University), will deliver a lecture entitled: "Alien to Modernity: The Rationalization of Discrimination." In her lecture, Professor Franco will revisit the long history of discrimination against the Indigenous peoples of Peru through an examination of the recent report by the Truth and Reconciliation Commission that investigated human rights violations in that country.She will also examine the rationalization of discrimination encapsulated in the phrase "alien to modernity" and exemplified in the political and fictional writings of Mario Vargas Llosa. Jean Franco is one of the foremost specialists in Latin American literature, intellectual history, cultural studies, and feminist theory. She taught at the University of Essex, Stanford University, and Columbia University. She is the author of numerous books, including Plotting Women: Gender and Representation in Mexico (1989), Critical Passions. Selected Essays (1999) and The Decline and Fall of the Lettered City, and Latin America in the Cold War (2002), which won the 2003 Bolton-Johnson Prize for best book in Latin American History. She has been President of the Latin American Studies Association and has served as General Editor of the Oxford University Press Library of Latin America. In 1996 she was the recipient of the Gregory Kovolakos award for lifetime achievement from PEN, the international writers organization. In 2000, she received the Latin American Studies Association Kalman Silvert Award. She has also received the Andrés Bello and Gabriela Mistral prizes from the governments of Venezuela and Chile respectively for her contributions to the study of Latin American cultures. Professor Franco's lecture will take place on Friday, February 17th, 3 pm, in the Browsing Room (Knight Library). This event is free and open to the public. A reception will follow. An informal colloquium with Professor Franco will be held on
    Friday, February 17th, at 10:30 am, in 375 McKenzie Hall.
  • Feb, 17-19: DisOrient Filmfest is the first film festival in Oregon featuring independent films and video by and/or about Asian Americans. The festival opens at the Bijou Art Cinemas on Friday, February 17th with its Opening Night Gala and continues on Saturday and Sunday at the Asian Celebration (below) at the Lane County Fairgrounds and at the Downtown Initiative for the Visual Arts (DIVA). Many shows will sell out quickly, so please be early to guarantee seating. Call 1-800-838-3006 to order tickets.
  • Feb. 18-19: 2006 Oregon Asian Celebration, "The Next GenerAsian." Lane Events Center, Lane County Fairgrounds, Eugene, Oregon. This annual event features a bustling array of Asian culture through its colorful marketplace of vendors, Asian and Asian-American dances and entertainment, an art exhibit, crafts, martial arts and cooking demonstrations, youth activities, a wide selection of tantalizing Asian delicacies and so much more. The 21st annual Oregon Asian Celebration features the theme "The Next GenerAsian" and combines traditional event elements with new activities that showcase the emergence of Asian and Asian American culture through entertainment, demonstrations and special events. Many new activities such as Asian games, the return of the sushi showdown competition featuring beautiful displays of traditional and new sushi, a celebrity chef demonstrating emerging Asian cuisine, an Asian film festival, an Asian heritage exhibit, activities for youth, and more.
  • Feb. 21: Los Angeles-based acting ensemble Will & Company will perform "Portraits of Courage: African-Americans You Wish You Had Known" at 7:30 p.m. in the UO EMU Ballroom, 1222 E. 13th Avenue. Written by Colin Cox, the play features Cristy Joy Wilson and Will Owen playing such historical characters as Madame C. J. Walker, Fannie Lou Hamer and W.E.B. DuBois. Will & Company tours the nation with classical theater and new works that deal with contemporary issues. Admission is free.
  • Feb. 28: Shrove Tuesday (Mardi Gras). Falls the day before Ash Wednesday and marks the end of the carnival season, which once began on Epiphany but is now usually celebrated the last three days before Lent. In France, the day is known as Mardi Gras (Fat Tuesday), and celebrations are held in several American cities, particularly New Orleans. The day is sometimes called Pancake Tuesday by the English because fats, which were prohibited during Lent, had to be used up.

March 2006

Women\'s History Month!

National Women's History Month began as a single week and as a local event. In 1978, Sonoma County, California, sponsored a women's history week to promote the teaching of women's history-at that time a neglected subject in elementary and high school curriculums. The week of March 8th was selected to include International Women's Day. In 1981 Congress passed a resolution making the week a national celebration, and in 1987 expanded it to the full month of March.

  • March 1: Ash Wednesday is the beginning of Lent for Western Christian churches. It's a day of penitence to clean the soul before the Lent fast. Roman Catholic, Anglican, and some other churches hold special services at which worshippers are marked with ashes as a symbol of death, and sorrow for sin.
  • March 3: Girls Day, Japan. Hinamatsuri is a seasonal festival (called sekku). It is considered a day for praying for the health and happiness of girls and celebrated by their families. Also known as the Festival of Dolls, a set of dolls dressed in costumes which were worn in the royal court in ancient times are displayed together with peach blossoms as decoration. A sweet drink called shirozake, brewed from rice gruel mixed with fermented rice, is partaken of on this day.
  • March 6: Eastern Orthodox (or Great) Lent always begins on a Monday between February 15 and March 21. The beginning date, Clean Monday, is set at seven weeks before Pascha, or Easter, in the Orthodox church. Great Lent is so named to differentiate it from the Advent fasting period which is known as Little Lent. Great Lent is a period of self-denial and is observed with strict abstinence from meat, dairy products, wine, and olive oil. Orthodox Christians also make a sacrifice during this period such as giving up a favorite food or other pleasure.
  • March 17: St. Patrick's Day is Ireland's greatest national holiday as well as a holy day. The date marks the anniversary of the death of the missionary who lived in Britain in the 4th Century, and who became the patron saint of Ireland. St. Patrick has been honored in America since the first days of the nation. Perhaps the most notable part of the observance is the annual St. Patrick's Day parade on Fifth Avenue in New York City.
  • March 20: Vernal (Spring) Equinox. To the elders of the Olde Way, these times, equinoxes, were markers in which seeds would be planted and then harvested. The first of these, the Spring or Vernal Equinox occurs on or about March 21st. The ancient goddess, Eostre, a Saxon deity who marked not only the passage of time but also symbolized new life and fertility, was the key symbol of this celebration which was also known as Ostara. Legend has it that the goddess was saved by a bird whose wings had become frozen by the cold of winter. This process turned the bird into a hare. Yet this was no ordinary cottontail; this long-eared rabbit could also lay eggs! The main symbols for Easter are the egg, for new life or beginnings, and the rabbit/hare, for fertility.

April 2006

  • April 1: April Fool\'s Day or All Fools Day is a holiday of uncertain origin, known for practical joking and celebrated on the first of April. Prior to the adoption of the Gregorian calendar in 1564, the date was observed as New Year's Day by cultures as varied as the Roman and the Hindu. The holiday is considered to be related to the festival of the vernal equinox, which occurs on Mar. 21. The English gave April Fool's Day its first widespread celebration during the 18th century.
  • April 12: Passover begins at sundown. Passover is the 8-day observance commemorating the freedom and exodus of the Israelites (Jewish slaves) from Egypt during the reign of the Pharaoh Ramses II.
  • April 14: Good Friday is observed by the Christian Church as the anniversary of the Crucifixation of Jesus Christ.
  • April 16: Easter. Observed in all Western Christian churches, Easter commemorates the Resurrection of Jesus. It is celebrated on the first Sunday after the full moon that occurs on or next after the vernal equinox (fixed at March 21) and is therefore celebrated between March 22 and April 25 inclusive. This date was fixed by the Council of Nicaea in A.D. 325.

 

    http://libweb.uoregon.edu/diversity/events/events.html
    Last updated: February 16, 2006
    By Laine Stambaugh
    Created by Laine Stambaugh, University of Oregon Libraries