Around the Nation: November 14, 2008

Lecture with Jerry Harris. While nationalism still plays a strong role in world affairs, particularly in the form of the US military/industrial complex, economic hegemony is now in the hands of transnational capital. The contradiction between nationalism and globalization cuts across traditional party lines as the capitalist class struggles to develop a political project that can manage their growing crisis. Jerry Harris is author of The Dialectics of Globalization, Political and Economic Conflict in a Transnational World and national secretary of the Global Studies Association. His articles are often featured in Science & Society, Race and Class and Das Argument. Harris has spoken widely on globalization including lectures in London, Prague, Bogota and Rajasthan. Co-sponsored by Science & Society. Sliding scale: $6/$10/$15. At The Brecht Forum, 451 West Street, between Bank and Bethune.

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The Margaret Mead Film Festival (at the American Museum of Natural History) will open with a screening of the recently restored 1914 silent film In the Land of the Head Hunters. The film will be accompanied by a live performance of the original musical score by the Coast Orchestra, an all-Native American ensemble. Following the film, a small delegation of Kwakwaka'wakw--some descendants of the film stars--will speak, sing and perhaps share a dance or two. Details and tickets available online.

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Michael Denning analyzes contemporary and twentieth-century representations of workers, the unemployed, and the imaginative crisis of the figure of “global labor.” Michael Denning is the William R. Kenan Jr. Professor of American Studies at Yale University and director of the Initiative on Labor and Culture. Among his publications are Culture in the Age of Three Worlds and The Cultural Front: The Laboring of American Culture in the Twentieth Century. The Graduate Center, Room 4406, 365 Fifth Avenue at 34th St. Free.

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On February 25, 2000, a young gay Mormon named Henry Stuart Matis drove to the Mormon Ward House in Los Altos, California, placed a gun to his head and ended his life. This provocative drama is based on the actual events of his life in which he faced a tragic, false dilemma; either one is gay or one is Christian. Trapped between his same sex attraction and the power of his LDS faith, Henry made the ultimate sacrifice, removing the chains of his mortality. At the TBG Theatre, 312 West 36th St. Tickets: $18.

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Six-session course, Wednesdays beginning Oct. 29. Facilitated by Ora Wise, Ryvka Bar Zohar, Carlos Nunez, Una Osato, Brian Pickett, Tej Nagaraja and Rania Jawad. This course aims to provide a solid understanding of the history and current politics of Palestine. We will analyze the intersecting systems of imperialism, capitalism, colonization, and racism underlying the situation in Palestine and draw connections to the parallel systems of oppression operating in the US. Sliding scale: $65-$85. The Brecht Forum is located at 451 West Street (between Bank and Bethune). 212-242-4201.

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