We want to extend our profound thanks to Dr. David Tombs for his excellent well-researched lecture on “The Scandal of the Cross: Sexualised Violence, Silence and Crucifixion” on November 20, 2013. You can view the lecture below.
In addition to his lecture, David visited Lee Smithey’s class on “Transforming Intractable Conflict” and offered an information lunch session on the Northern Ireland Semester Program.
Tombs_Swat_11-20-2013 from Swarthmore Peace Studies on Vimeo.
A few weeks ago, we posted a video of the collage installation by Dee Craig and Paul Downie on the second floor of Kohlberg Hall. Now, there is also a video of the mural installation on the side of the Science Center that was part of Craig’s Mellon Creative Residency this semester.
Dee Craig Mural Installation at Swarthmore College from Swarthmore Peace Studies on Vimeo.
Jim MacMillan, Assistant Director of the Center for Public Interest Journalism at Temple University and Editor for the GunCrisis Reporting Project, spoke in our Introduction to Peace and Conflict Studies course today about peace journalism. In the convergence journalism style for which he is known, Jim lectured from a Storify page, which we are all able to review:
The Dance Program of the Department of Music and Dance sends a warm invitation to all to join us for the 2013 Fall Student Dance Concert. Dance and music performances will include West African, Brazilian, Tap, Ballet and Taiko. Please join us in celebrating the creativity and hard work of our student, faculty, and staff. Families with children are especially welcome to attend.
The Dance Program of the Department of Music and Dance sends a warm invitation to all to join us for the 2013 Fall Student Dance Concert. Dance and music performances will include West African, Brazilian, Tap, Ballet and Taiko. Please join us in celebrating the creativity and hard work of our student, faculty, and staff. Families with children are especially welcome to attend.
The Senior Company 2014 presents AMERICAMISFIT by Dan Dietz in the LPAC Frear Ensemble Theatre.
Thursday, December 5th, 2013 10pm
Friday, December 6th, 2013 7pm
Friday, December 6th, 2013 10pm
Saturday, December 7th, 2013 7pm
It’s the B-side of the American Revolution, the song playing on the other side of the record, while you thought you were listening to what’s on top.
America’s first serial killers, the Harpe Brothers, are fighting a private war in the woods of Tennessee against the doomed democracy of the tyrant George Washington. As Big and Little Harpe, with their murderous and beautiful companions, the Roberts twins, cut a bloody swath across Satan’s hometown of Knoxville, a preacher’s daughter is ready for a little bit more… excitement in her life.
But the record of history is scratched and jumping around and it’s all playing at once, and it’s only held together by the sweet crooning of your host, your MC, a man known only as The Rockabilly Boy, who bears a not-coincidental resemblance to a certain King of rock and roll…
Fast-paced, bloody, scored by a live rockabilly band, Americamisfit is the side of the country you only see out of the corner of your eye. Blink, and it’s gone.
The Senior Company 2014 includes Madeline Charne, Tyler Elliot, Katie Goldman, Allison Hrabar, Mark Levine-Weinberg, Theo Noomah, Anna Russell, Swift Shuker-Haines, and Morgan Williams. With Set Design by Marta Roncada, Costume Design by Tara Webb and Sound Design by Scott Burgess. Music Direction by Ben Diamond and Choreography by Ashley Banks.
The Scandal of the Cross: Sexualised Violence, Silence and Crucifixion
SWARTHMORE – 20 November, 2013 – How contemporary reports of torture and sexualised violence can offer new understanding of the crucifixion will be explored at a public talk at Swarthmore College, Swarthmore, Pennsylvania on Wednesday, November 20th, 2013 at 4:15 p.m. in the Scheuer Room of Kohlberg Hall.
Prof. David Tombs
In a lecture entitled The Scandal of the Cross: Sexualised Violence, Silence and Crucifixion, Dr David Tombs, Assistant Professor in Conflict Resolution and Reconciliation at Trinity’s cross-border campus in Northern Ireland, will use both ancient and modern sources to examine crucifixion as a form of state terror torture and sexualised violence.
Speaking in advance of the lecture, Dr Tombs commented: “St. Paul’s description of the cross as ‘a scandal’ (1 Cor. 1.23) is widely known. Christians around the world are familiar with it, and many recall it each year on Good Friday. But what exactly made the cross a scandal, and why is it relevant to a Christian response to sexualised violence in conflicts today?”
“In this lecture I will present 15 years of research on why the cross was so scandalous in the ancient world. I will look at why the most critical element in the scandal has been unspeakable for two millennia, and why this has profound relevance to a church concerned about sexualised violence in conflicts around the world today.
“My research suggests that ‘the scandal of the cross’ is a scandal of sexualised violence, and it is also scandalous for theologians and churches to have been silent on this for so long. In in response to reports of widespread conflict-related sexualised violence (including Central America in the 1980s, Bosnia and Rwanda in the 1990s, and the Democratic Republic of Congo in the last decade) the central symbol of Christianity needs to be seen in a new way. The cross challenges theologians to break the silence and taboo of sexualised violence, and yet do so in a way that affirms the dignity of victims past and present. The lecture points to how this might be done in three areas of theological thought: the humanity of Christ; the unspoken memories of Eucharist; and the good news of resurrection.”
Co-sponsored by Peace & Conflict Studies, Department of Religion, Provost’s Office, Off-campus Study, The Northern Ireland Semester, Gender and Sexuality Studies
STUDY ABROAD INFORMATION SESSION
Semester in Northern Ireland Program
Please join Professor David Tombs for lunch
Thursday, November 21st, Noon, Sharples #5
Prof. David Tombs
Professor David Tombs, Assistant Professor of Conflict Resolution and Reconciliation for the Irish School of Ecumenics, will meet with interested students and answer questions.
The program provides students a unique opportunity to study conflict, ongoing peace building efforts, and social entrepreneurship in local communities in Northern Ireland, a region in a critical transition after 30 years of violent political and ethnic struggle. Students work (for supervised credit) within local community organizations while studying conflict, peace, and reconciliation at the Irish School for Ecumenics of Trinity College at its Belfast campus. Community placements can be tailored to fit your particular academic interests (e.g. theatre as peace building, culture and conflict, transitional politics, segregated education, cross-border economics, etc.)
The Semester in Northern Ireland is based in two geographic locations, Derry / Londonderry or Belfast, but student involvement with community groups may take place elsewhere in Northern Ireland. Students may register for one semester or two, and further possibilities for summer research and/or service work may arise.
Visit the Northern Ireland Semester website where you can read more about the program, including student contributions to the program’s blog. Also visit the new program website.
All students are welcome to participate in the program. For Peace and Conflict Studies students, all four credits may be applied toward the minor.
Contact Professor Lee Smithey at lsmithe1 or Rosa Bernard at rbernar1
Mellon Creative Residency Mural Launch
Tuesday, November 12, 2013
12:00 Noon
Science Center Wall closest to DuPont Parking Lot (Directions)
Photo credit: Annette Newman
The large mural being painted on Swarthmore’s campus by Mellon Creative Resident, David “Dee” Craig, will be launched on TUESDAY, November 12 at 12:00 NOON on the southeast corner of the Swarthmore College Science Center (next to the DuPont Parking Lot).
The planning and creation of this mural has actively involved students, faculty, and staff. Come join us in thanking the artist and many others who have made this project a success. Light food will be available in the studio tent at the wall (where we will gather in the event of rain).
Dee Craig, an experienced artist from Belfast, Northern Ireland, specializes in large-scale mural projects and has been involved in community art for over 20 years. Throughout the month-long residency, Craig has visited with classes across the Tri-College Community (Swarthmore, Haverford, and Bryn Mawr) and displayed an exhibit of his work and mural art in Northern Ireland in McCabe Library.
Craig’s mural marks this year’s 150th anniversary of the founding of Swarthmore College, and the celebration of 125 years since the first higher education course in Peace and Conflict Studies was taught at Swarthmore College.
The Mellon Creative Residency Mural Launch event and the exhibition of his work in the atrium of McCabe Library are open to the public. For more information about the residency, visit http://bit.ly/swatcraig To follow the residency as it develops, visit http://bit.ly/craigstory
Photo credit: Annette Newman
If you are out and about in Philly….
Murmuration Theater Company presents MAKESHIFT By Jessie Bear ’09
Murmuration Theater was founded in June of 2013 by a collection of people who identity as actors, playwrights, dramaturgs, designers, and artists. The members of Murmuration Theater began working together in 2010 at Swarthmore College and collaborated on four shows prior to coming together to form Murmuration Theater.
Murmuration Theater Company will premiere their first ever work, Makeshift, upstairs in Plays and Players. A thoughtful and heartfelt new play exploring loss, imagination, and the enduring detritus of our lives, Makeshift is the product of three years of workshops, revisions, and conversation. As directed by M. Craig Getting, Makeshift explores themes of love, loss, connection, and disconnection through both naturalism and magical realism. Makeshift will run for a limited engagement from November 6 – 10.
Featuring Swarthmore College alumni (Nell Bang-Jensen ’11 & Isa St. Clair ’11) and faculty designer, Laila Swanson, this promises to be a great show!
Tickets are available now at http://www.brownpapertickets.com/event/449687
Preview Tickets are $10
All other performances: $15 general admission, $10 Industry/Student/Under 25