Tickets: $8; $5 for students andseniors. La Maison Française.854-4482. Miller Theatre.

12TH, TUES.6:00 P.M. Concert. AyaHamada, pianist, performingmusic by Debussy, Liszt,Granados, Takemitsu and oth-ers. 854-0480. St. Paul’sChapel.

6:30 P.M. Dinner & a Movie:“Cet Obscur Objet du Désir(That Obscure Object ofDesire.)” Directed by LuisBunuel, (1977). In French withEnglish subtitles. Must RSVPby Mar. 11th. 854-4482. Din-ner: $5 for students; $10 formembers. East Gallery, LaMaison Française.

13TH, WED.12:05 P.M. Concert. Ben-jamin Bradham, pianist. 870-2231. Chapel, Interchuch Ctr.

14TH, THURS.9:30 P.M. Film: “Royal Ten-nenbaums.” Directed by WesAnderson. Admission fee: $3.Ferris Reel Film Society. 853-7969. Roone Arledge Cinema,Lerner.

CALENDAR

8TH, FRI.2:00 P.M. “Las Fronteras de laCoca (Coca Borderlands): AMultimedia Presenation.” SilviaRivera Cusicanqui, U of Mayor deSan Andres, Bolivia. CCLS. 854-4541. Heyman CtrBoardroom, EastCampus.

11TH, MON.5:30 P.M. “Reflectionson the Environmentand National Policy.”Bruce Babbitt, fmr Sec-retary of the Interior.Law. 854-1571. RoomL107, Warren Hall.

7:00 P.M. “What’sPhysics Good For?”Horst Stormer, CU.Columbia College Stu-dent Council andPhysics. mks42@columbia.edu. E569,Lerner.

8:00 P.M. “Holy Fam-ily and Facist State:On Religious Codifica-tion of Power in Theavon Harbou’s Noveland Fritz Lang’s Film‘Metropolis’.”Albrecht Koschorke, Uof Konstanz. DeutchesHaus.

12TH, TUES.12:00 P.M. “BalkanIslam after Commu-nism: A Decade of Changes.”Xavier Bougarel, National Scientif-ic Research Council, Paris. HI.854-4623. 1219 IAB.

12:00 P.M. “The Impact of Gen-trification on the Disadvan-taged.” Lance Freeman, CU. Ctrfor Urban Research. 854-2072.801 IAB.

3:00 P.M. “Turbulent Diffusionin Geofluids.” Geoffrey Vallis,Princeton. Applied Mathematics.854-4457. 200 Mudd.

5:00 P.M. Café Conversation.Coffee, tea, cookies and conversa-tion in French. 854-4482. LaMaison Française.

8:00 P.M. University Lecture:“Violence, Terror, and Politicsand Usual.” Charles Tilly. TheRotunda, Low MemorialLibrary.

13TH, WED.12:00 P.M. “Effect of Health onSurvival Mechanisms of Elderlyin Russia.” Mark Foley. HI. 854-4623. 1219 IAB.

14TH, THURS.12:00 P.M. “Eurodollar Compet-itiveness: History, Policy,

6 C o l u m b i a U n i v e r s i t y RECORD March 8, 2002

FEB. 6TH – MAR. 30THWed., Fri. – Sat., 1:00 P.M. –5:00 P.M. Exhibit: “The Print inItaly.” British Museum andNational Gallery of Canada. 854-7288. Wallach Art Gallery,Schermerhorn.

11TH, MON.6:30 P.M. & 8:30 P.M. Film:“Place Vendôme.” Directed byNicole Garcian (1998). InFrench with English subtitles.

SUBMISSION INFORMATION

E-mail: calendar@columbia.eduFax: 212-678-4817All submissions must be received in

writing by the deadline. Events are list-ed in this order: date, time, title,name/affiliation of speaker(s) or per-former(s), title of series (if any), spon-sor(s), fee and registration information(if any), phone number of contact, andlocation. All phone numbers are area code(212) unless otherwise noted.

For deadlines & information, callRebecca Chung, Calendar Editor, 212-854-6546 or the RECORD, 212-854-3282.

The Calendar is updated weekly onthe Web athttp://www.columbia.edu/cu/news/cal-endar/.

Events are listed on a first-come,first-served basis free of charge. Allevents are subject to change; call spon-sors to confirm.

EVENTS AT COLUMBIA — MAR. 8TH - MAR. 14TH

Talks HealthSciences

Arts

Unless otherwise noted, all list-ings are at Columbia University’sHealth Sciences campus in Wash-ington Heights. Call sponsors

for details.

8TH, FRI.All Day. Employee Recogni-tion Day. All employees invitedto attend receptions: 7–9 A.M.,11 A.M. – 2 P.M., 4–6 P.M.Columbia Presbyterian MedicalCtr. 305-5587. Baldwin Halland the Clark Conference Ctr,MHB 1.

11TH, MON.12:00 P.M. “Structured Inves-tigation of Ribosomes andFunctional Ribosonal Com-plexes by 3DcryoEM.” Christ-ian M.T. Spahn, Wadsworth Ctr.Biochemistry & Molecular Bio-physics. 305-3885. 523 BB.

4:30 P.M. “Angiogenesis in

Misperceptions.” Irene FinelHonigman. HI and ISE. 854-4623.1219 IAB.

12:00 P.M. “Hyphen-Nation: ThePolitics of Diversity in ‘A Nationof Immigrants’ c. 1960’s – Pre-sent.” Matthew Jacobson, Yale.CSER. 854-0507. 420 Hamilton.

12:30 P.M. “Frontiers of China:From Turfan to

Taiwan.” Peter C. Perdue, MIT.EAI. 854-8193. 918 IAB.

4:00 P.M. “Crime Noir: TheUnderworld of Film in MillenialMumbai.” Arjun Appadurai,Chicago; and GyanPrakash, Prince-ton. CCLS. 854-4541. WoodAuditorium, Avery.

4:30 P.M. “Geometric and Elec-tronic Structure Contributions toFunction in Bioinorganic Chem-istry: Active Sites in Non-hemeIron Enzymes.” Edward IraSolomon, Stanford. Chemistry.854-2202. 209 Havemeyer.

Pediatric Solid Tumor Mod-els.” Jessica Kandel, CU. Pedi-atrics. 305-9561. McIntoshConference Room, 1-113 BHS.

13TH, WED.7:00 A.M. State of the Hospi-tal Talk at Children’s Hospi-tal. Herbert Pardes, Presidentand CEO, Columbia Presbytari-an Medical Ctr. 305-5587.McIntosh Auditorium, 1st fl.

10:00 A.M. & 2:00P.M. State of theHospital Talk. Her-bert Pardes, Presidentand CEO, ColumbiaPresbytarian MedicalCtr. 305-5587. Bald-win Hall, MHB 1.

1:00 P.M. Class:“Adobe Acrobat:Creating Your OwnPDF Files.” Pre-reg-istration required:305-3692. Health Sci-ences Library. Com-puter Classroom, 2ndfl, HHSC.

14TH, THURS.9:30 A.M. “Researchand Service Needs ofHIV-Positive Moth-ers Who Have SexWith Women.” Hellavon Unger, U of Han-nover, Germany; andMichelle Lopez, Com-munity HealthcareNetwork. HIV Ctr.543-5969. Room6602, New Building.

10:00 A.M. State of the Hospi-tal Talk at Allen Pavilion.Herbert Pardes, President andCEO, Columbia PresbytarianMedical Ctr. 305-5587. Thay-er Conference Rm 1-013.

12:00 P.M. “Intrinsic Limit-ing Steps in Protein and RNAFolding.” Tobin R. Sosnich, Uof Chicago. Biochemistry &Molecular Biophysics. 305-3885. 523 BB.

4:00 P.M. “Novel Approachesto the Study of Cyclic Neu-cleotide Signaling.” Jeffrey W.Karpen, U of Colorado. Bio-chemistry & Molecular Bio-physics. 305-3885. 301 HHSC.

A Night of SEOUL

On March 13 - 15, more than 250 campus facilities directors, administrators, planners, architectsand builders from the north east and Canada will meet to explore the close relationship between tech-nology, teaching and educational facilities at a Society for College and University Planning (SCUP)conference entitled "Bricks and Clicks: Challenges in the Digital Age." The conference will beheld at Columbia, where efforts to strike a balance between the preservation of its century-old McKim,Mead and White campus and the technological demands of higher education in the 21st century areongoing. Sessions will be held in Alfred Lerner Hall. For more information and conference fee goto: www.ccsu.edu/planning/nascup.

“Bricks and Clicks: Challenges in the Digital Age”

On Saturday, March 9th, the Korean Students Asso-ciation of Columbia will host its annual Culture Show.The theme of this year’s event is “Reunification” andwill feature a skit addressing various social and polit-ical issues facing the divided Korean peninsula. Inaddition, the show will also feature acts of traditionalas well as modern Korean music and dance, and afashion show contrasting traditional Korean clothingwith the fashions of Korea’s latest designers.

Students modeling the fashions of modern Korean designers. Traditional Korean Drum Dance

What: KSA Culture Show 2002Where: Roone Arledge Auditorium, Lerner HallWhen: 8:00 P.M., Saturday, Mar. 9thTickets: $10 pre-sale at Lerner Box Office; $12 at door.

C o l u m b i a U n i v e r s i t y RECORD March 8, 2002 7

In a scene from the GoldenGlobe-nominated film "MonsoonWedding," the father of a bride asksthe incessant cell-phone-using wed-ding coordinator if the wedding tenthe is constructing is waterproof. Thecoordinator replies with an ancientsaying: if the peacocks have stoppeddancing, it will not rain. He then pro-ceeds to use his wrist-watch/calcula-tor to determine the additional costfor waterproofing

"Monsoon Wedding," written bySabrina Dhawan (SoA, ’02) anddirected by Mira Nair, adjunct assis-tant film professor, offers a glimpseinto 21st-century India, where tradi-tion and modernity coexist. Last fallthe film won the Golden Lion, thetop prize at the Venice Film Festival,before opening to positive reviewsin India and the United Kingdom,where it was nominated for a BritishAcademy of Film and TelevisionArts award for Best Foreign Film.

As a student in Columbia’s filmdivision, Dhawan befriended Nairand worked with her as a teachingassistant. The two share a commonbond—both grew up in Delhi, India.Both were interested in making afilm featuring Punjabi families,which Dhawan describes as "inter-esting, loud and boisterous," charac-teristics that she likens to large, Ital-ian-American families.

Nair was interested in depicting aPunjabi wedding, a large, grand cel-ebration that lasts for an entire week,but Dhawan had a dramatically dif-ferent idea. She was interested inwriting a story about the delicatetopic of sexual abuse in an upper-middle class family in Delhi. Theconcept may not seem surprising toU.S. audiences, as it is discussedopenly in films and television talkshows, but such a story has neverbeen done before in India. Peopleoften think that in India abuse is per-petuated by servants, not"respectable" middle and upperclass family members, saysDhawan.

The notion of a lavish weddingversus the serious issue of sexualabuse are so diverse it may not seemlike they could be incorporated into

India’s Past and Present Meet in New Film By Professor/Student Team

“Chinese Literature inthe Second Half of aModern Century: A Crit-ical Survey” edited byPang-Yuan Chi and DavidDer-Wei Wang, professorof East Asian languagesand cultures (Indiana Uni-versity Press, $39.95). Ageneral overview of Chi-nese literature in the Peo-ple’s Republic and Taiwanduring the last half of the20th century, when ideo-logical conformity gaveway to a looser, moreambitious literary expres-sion.

“Defacement: Publ icSecrecy and the Labor ofthe Negative” by MichaelTaussig, professor ofanthropology (StanfordUniversity Press, $19.95).Studying the defacementof public ojects helpsexplain public secrets,those inconvenient or dan-gerous truths that are “gen-erally known, but cannotbe articulated.”

“Encyclopedia of Evan-gelicalism” by RandallBalmer professor of reli-gion (Westminster JohnKnox, $29.95). Six yearsin the making, this one-volume encyclopedia ofevangelicalism includesover 3,000 entries of thepeople, movements, insti-tutions and organizationsthat have been most influ-ential in shaping evangeli-cal Christianity, particular-ly in North America.

“Legislative Entrepre-neurship in the U.S. Houseof Representatives,” byGregory Wawro, assistantprofessor of political sci-ence (University of Michi-gan, $39.50). In a way anal-ogous to their businesscounterparts, House entr-preneurs—who initiate pol-icy revisions, spearheadnew laws and build theirreputations—drive the leg-islative agenda and help theHouse fulfill its essentialfunctions.

“The Fate of ‘Culture’:Geertz and Beyond, edit-ed by Sherry B. Ortner,professor of anthropology(University of CaliforniaPress, $45). In addition tothe editor, Columbia con-tributors to this volumeassessing the long-termsignificance of the anthro-pologist Clifford Geertzinclude professor ofanthropology Lil Abu-Lughod.

BookshelfBY KRISTIN STERLINGthe same film, but the talentedDhawan managed to combine theseideas through an elaborate ensembleof five stories.

While the film is centered aroundpreparations for the arranged mar-riage of Aditi Verma to a young Indi-an man who lives in Texas, one ofthe storylines involves a cousin whonotices a male family member tak-ing an interest in a young girl. Thisprompts her to come forward andreveal that the man abused her as achild.

Elisabeth Bumiller of the NewYork Times writes, "… The crisis ofincest provides the father of the bride

… with a painful choice. In the end,that choice gives ‘Monsoon Wed-ding’ its ballast and moral center."

"I wanted to show the other sideof India," says Dhawan, "the sidethat many Westerners are not famil-iar with." In 21st-Century India, Easttruly does meet West; tradition andmodernity coexist. In India, likeAmerica, people use cell phones andwatch soap operas, yet there are stillarranged marriages.

The tradition/modernity para-digm is demonstrated by the femalefamily members in the film. As theysit around a room preparing for thearranged marriage, they includeolder women wearing saris andspeaking Hindi and Punjabi and ayounger English-speaking relative

who wears mini-skirts and has a tat-too.

Throughout the film Westerninfluences on modern India are alsoevident: the bride’s mother occa-sionally sneaks into the bathroom tosmoke a cigarette; her father is anavid golfer, and her younger brotherwatches television programs on theIndian Food Network.

Since opening in the UnitedKingdom on Jan. 4, the film has metwith unexpected success, becomingthe fourth top-grossing film in thecountry. "Monsoon Wedding"opened in New York on Feb. 22 andin eleven North American cities in

March."It is such a pleasant surprise,"

says Dhawan of the attention andacclaim the film has received. "Weare very pleased."

An up-and-coming young screen-writer, Dhawan has already receivedgreat accolades. Her short film,"Saanjh As Night Falls," was nomi-nated for a Student AcademyAward. The film received an awardfrom New Line Cinema for MostOriginal Film at the Polo Ralph Lau-ren New Works Festival in 2000 andwas cited as Best of the Festival atthe Palm Springs International FilmFestival.

"Sabrina Dhawan is a young film-maker of enormous range and abili-ty," says Dan Kleinman, chair of the

film division. "It's exciting to con-template the delights she may bringus in the future. Sabrina has the tal-ent to have a long and productivecareer."

Dhawan was born in England andraised in Delhi. After graduatingfrom college in India, she went toEngland to earn her master’s degreein communications research.Dhawan subsequently returned toIndia where she worked as a jour-nalist for three years. During thattime she decided that she wanted tocome to the United States to studyfilm.

By coming to New York, Dhawansays she has had the opportunity tolearn different kinds of lessons, andwas pleased to realize that people inNew York care about the "quality ofart."

Not only has the Columbia filmprogram taught her the basics aswell as the intricacies of filmmak-ing, but Dhawan is also pleased thatshe had the opportunity to work withso many talented people, both stu-dents and faculty. "I believe thatscreenwriting is a craft, and I learnedthat craft here," says Dhawan.

Having graduated from theSchool of the Arts on Feb. 13,Dhawan plans to remain in NewYork and hopes to expand her craftbeyond Indian-centered stories. Sheis currently working on a film forPBS and is adapting the book,"Death of Vishnu," for a film. She isalso interested in working with theBombay cinematic community,called Bollywood, to write a filmthat will appeal to Western audi-ences the way Academy Award win-ner "Crouching Tiger Hidden Drag-on" did. Dhawan is working on ascript now, and hopes to complete itin the coming months.

As is the case with so many inAmerica, the events of Sept. 11have affected Dhawan’s thoughtson the future and sparked a sur-prising personal revelation. "Ihave always thought of Delhi as‘home,’ " says Dhawan, but inlight of these events, "I have real-ized that I am home. There arethings I love about New York andthings I love about Delhi, but theydo different things to me. NewYork is so much my home now."

The bride and groom enjoy a rare moment alone in “Monsoon Wedding.”

Theatre and Art Encourage Healing, Activism at Barnard Conference BY JO KADLECEK

Playwright and actress AnnaDeavere Smith is not necessarilyimpressed when audiences standand applaud her at the end of ashow. She’d rather have them gohome and talk about what they justexperienced. "The bigger questionis the ‘now what’ question. We justsaw this show, now what are wegoing to do about it?" Smith says.

In other words, theatre is not onlyabout tricks on stage. Smithbelieves "it has a lot more potentialthan that," and could be used notonly to help create a sense of com-munity and healing, but a vision forsocial change as well.

Best known for her one-womanplays about racial tensions in Amer-ican cities—"Twilight Los Ange-les" (Obie Award-winner and TonyAward nominee) and "Fires in theMirror" (Obie Award-winner andrunner-up for the 1993 PulitzerPrize) where she plays multiplecharacters—Smith challenges audi-ences to think differently about the-atre and the role of artists especiallyin university settings.

Smith’s thoughts served as an

insightful climax to a recent semi-nar entitled "Public Sentiments:Trauma, Memory, History andAction." Sponsored by BarnardCollege’s Center for Research onWomen, the 27th annual Scholarand the Feminist Conference drewover 100 participants for the day-long discussion on how artisticefforts promote healing andactivism. Scholars, artists, students,and activists joined Smith to con-sider how tragedies such as theSept. 11th attacks affect publicemotion as well as how social andhistorical actions have fueled injus-tices both domestically and abroad.

"This conference was a com-pelling exploration of how thestrong emotional responses evokedby accounts of trauma and sufferingcan serve as calls for responsiblesocial action," said Judith Shapiro,Barnard College president. "It alsoinvited us to ponder both the powerof first-hand testimony and thetransformation of direct experienceinto successful works of artisticexpression."

During the morning panel discus-sion, in fact, participants listened tothe testimony of Chilean activistNieves Ayress who recalled her dif-

ficult experiences as a prisoner tor-tured during Pinochet’s dictator-ship. After her years in prison,Avress was exiled and eventuallysettled in New York City where sheco-founded a grassroots communi-ty center in the South Bronx.

Avress’s poignant account stirredfurther thought, discussion andemotion during specific workshopsthat focused on other historical ornational traumas such as Americanslavery, the Holocaust, and theAIDS crisis. Mary Marshall Clark,director of Columbia’s Oral HistoryResearch Office, facilitated a work-shop on "Public Memory, PrivateNarratives: The Sept. 11 Oral Histo-ry Narrative and Memory Project."

"The goal [was] to spark a dia-logue on how social justice move-ments are formed, executed, anddefined by the emotions and strug-gles of their respective communi-ties," said Janet Jakobsen, directorof the Barnard Center for Researchon Women. "How, for instance, dopublic sentiments enable—orblock—movements for socialchange? And if we consider suchmovements broadly, so as toinclude socially conscious art andperformance, then how do artistic

renderings of public sentiment con-tribute to, or intervene in the forma-tion of communities and theiractions?"

Ann Pellegrini, Associate Profes-sor of Drama at the University ofCalifornia at Irvine, who joinedSmith in the afternoon discussion,emphasized how "vital art is intransforming our national life. Howcan we take it more seriously?"

"We all have a responsibility. Wecan be imaginative about preparingaudiences to learn to listen and torespond," Smith responded. Hailedby Newsweek as "the most excitingindividual in the American theater",Smith received a 1996 MacArthurFoundation "Genius" Fellowshipfor creating "a new form of the-ater—a blend of theatrical art,social commentary, journalism andintimate reverie." She recently ini-tiated a "think and do" tank thatbrought people from a variety ofvocations together to the theatre toaddress these certain social issues.

"We were especially fortunate inhaving Anna Deveare Smith atBarnard to help us explore justwhat it is that makes art efficaciousin changing the world in which welive," Shapiro said.