Monday, October 23, 2006
Wear Halloween costumes, bring mementos of departed to "The Day of the Dead"
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The International Interdisciplinary Colloquium, “The Day of the Dead: Ceremonies of Passage,” will be held from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. Tuesday, October 31, in Carter Hall. Pat Aakhus, director of International Studies and assistant professor of English, is project director for the colloquia. “We want to share experiences of global culture with the USI community and the Tri-state community, so we’re looking at our cultural inheritance from different parts of the world,” she said. The colloquium is attended by approximately 2,500-3,000 students, faculty, and staff; high school students from throughout the Tri-state; and members of the community. Faculty members present a series of 20-minute presentations from a variety of cultural perspectives, including art history, psychology, anthropology, and literature, as well as creative medias such as original poetry, literary essays, photography, and paintings. “Students get an interdisciplinary approach to learning, and faculty get to learn from each other,” Aakhus said. The Day of the Dead is richly celebrated in Latin America, but the festival also is observed in other parts of the world. About half of the presentations will focus on Latin American culture. Examples from other cultures include The Tibetan Book of the Dead, Day of the Dead traditions in Ireland and Rome, and a discussion of “voodoo death” and the neuroscience of fear. Aakhus said that though the colloquium will examine the culture of death, it’s not morbid. “It’s about celebrations and ceremonies of death, the idea of the spirit and return, a concept and belief which many cultures share,” she said. “The rituals of Halloween that we celebrate have their origin in ancient Day of the Dead ceremonies: the Roman Lemuralia; Samhain, from Ireland, Britain and France; and All Souls’ Day and All Saints’ Day in the Christian tradition. What they all have in common is reverence for the dead – in some cases an invitation to the departed spirits of family to visit, in other cases efforts to ward off unfriendly spirits. It’s about boundaries, hospitality, and the idea that there is life after death.” Students, faculty and staff are invited to bring photos of departed family and friends, flowers, and other mementos to create a communal shrine in the Latin American tradition. Halloween costumes also are encouraged. Faculty are encouraged to bring their classes to the colloquium. Refreshments will be served at the noon session. Due to the large numbers anticipated, rather than using sign-up sheets, faculty are asked to require brief written responses as evidence of student attendance. Any writing projects associated with the colloquium will be gratefully accepted to aid in assessment of the project. The colloquium is sponsored by International Studies and funded through a grant by the Center for Teaching and Learning Excellence. “The Day of the Dead” will be the third annual International Studies colloquium. Past colloquia included “The Parthenon Project” in 2004 and “The Ram in the Thicket” in 2005. Future projects will focus on “The Gothic Imagination” (2007), and “The Great Wall” (2008). Click here for the complete schedule. |
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