Fowler Outspoken Lectures enhance understanding and appreciation of the peoples, cultures, & religions of the world, informed by interdisciplinary approaches & the perspectives of the cultures represented.

May 18: Video Remains/Video Changes: 20 Years of AIDS Activist Video—In the earliest days of the epidemic, people affected by AIDS took up camcorders, producing an unprecedented variety of activist video documenting the art, theory, science, politics, humor and daily experiences of AIDS. This highly celebrated work from the first decade of the crisis holds the charge, anger, community and power of its time, as well as the faces, words and actions of the many who died (and the few who lived). As people died or despaired, this (video) movement quieted and AIDS became a chronic illness or the tragedy of another region. Alexandra Juhasz, professor of media studies at Pitzer College, will outline the history of AIDS activist video, showing clips and considering what we might learn about AIDS now from the video remains of the past.

June 1: From Seduction to Death and Beyond: The Lure of Lasiren, the Mermaid Queen in Haitian Vodou—Anthropologist and art historian Marilyn Houlberg discusses the water spirits of Haitian Vodou including: Lasiren, the beautiful but potentially deadly mermaid; Mami Wata, the Snake Charmer; and other spirits ranging from snakes to winged dragons. Houlberg will consider how Lasiren are depicted by artists in beaded and sequined ceremonial flags, temple mural walls, altars, as well as through dance, in documentaries and Hollywood films.