February 19, 2024 - Screening of 1982
The SAWA! series of recent films from the Arab world announces a screening of 1982 The Pomona College Department of Media Studies and the Arabic Program in the CMC Department of Modern Languages are pleased to announce a screening and discussion with the director, Oualid Mouaness and cast member Moe Dalli of 1982 (released in 2019). This film also stars the acclaimed Lebanese actress and director, Nadine Labaki, and is about a day at a school in the hills outside Beirut. As the kids go about their school day, going to class, taking exams, and playing and flirting with each other, the teachers and staff must deal with breaking news. The film is set during the early summer of 1982, as the Lebanese civil war raged and Israel invaded Lebanon. Radio reports detail how the Israeli army has broken through the PLO and Lebanese resistance lines and has entered West Beirut, and so the school teachers and staff rush to contact parents to pick up their kids and arrange for buses to send other kids home and to safety even as our 11 year old protagonist tries to tell a girl that he loves her before the school day is over.
Screening time and location: 7:00 pm, Wednesday, February 19, in the Freeburg Forum (LC 62) in the Kravis Center at Claremont McKenna College. This screening and the SAWA! series is open to all and was made possible with support from the Office of the President of Pomona College, the Pomona College Department of Media Studies, and the CMC Department of Modern Languages.
March 26, 2024 - Palestine: Understanding Iran’s Role
Please find the recording at this link.
Iran is the elephant in the room. In the American media and for the American political establishment, the Islamic Republic of Iran is the biggest obstacle to attaining “peace” in the Middle East. In response to accusations of funding Hamas and the Lebanese Hezbollah as well the Yemeni Houthis who are targeting commercial ships in the Red Sea, the Islamic Republic claims to be forming the “Axis of Resistance” to Western interests and proxies in the region. Mobilizing Shi’a interpretations of Islam, the Iranian regime claims to continue the anti-colonial struggles of the post-war period to rid the region of direct imperialist control. The Islamic regime ruling Iran, however, is also facing growing discontent and resistance from its own population demanding democracy and greater rights for minorities and women.
This talk by Pomona Visiting Professor of Media Studies, Kouross Esmaeli, will lay out the history of Iran’s relationship to the question of Palestine from 1948 to today. The talk seeks to provide a framework for understanding Iran’s geopolitical and ideological interests in the ongoing struggle over Palestine and to help us understand the tensions and contradictions between the struggle for democracy in Iran with the struggle for justice in Palestine.
Kouross Esmaeli, Visiting Assistant Professor of Media Studies at Pomona College, worked over ten years as a journalist and documentary filmmaker for media organizations such as Current TV, Aljazeera, Democracy Now! and Press TV. He is a founding Board Member of the Arab & Middle Eastern Journalist Association and has reported from Iran, Iraq, Lebanon and throughout the Americas.
Co-sponsored by: Pomona Media Studies, Middle Eastern Studies, SJP & Palestine Liberation Week
April 4, 2024 - Eckstein Symposium
Thanks to the generous support of Paul F. Eckstein ’62 and Florence O. Eckstein, the Department of Media Studies hosts the semiannual Eckstein Symposium in Media Studies. Held every one or two years over one or more days, the Eckstein Symposium provides an intimate forum for an extended engagement at the forefront of research in media studies.
The Eckstein Symposium gathers scholars who are leaders in their field—regionally, nationally, and internationally—with the goal of pursuing a unique topic, selected for its ability to expand theoretical knowledge in the study of media. Especially in an era valuing quick conversation that risks superficial outcomes, the Eckstein Symposium is committed to a careful, nuanced, yet still dynamic engagement with media theory and to an experimental unfolding of thoughts, ideas, and theories critical for media studies today. Undergraduates in media studies participate in the Symposium, usually after a semester of preparation, and have the opportunity to both witness and join in on the creation and assessment of some of the most advanced work in their field.
The Eckstein Symposium draws its support from The Paul F. Eckstein '60 and Florence O. Eckstein Media Studies Endowment, established in May 2010. The Ecksteins have also provided leadership support to another fund that benefits the department, the Brian Stonehill Memorial Fund for Media Studies.
Event will be held at 4:30 PST in Crookshank 108 Ena Thompson Reading Room.
Past Events
February 28, 2024 - Americonned Screening and Panel
Sean Claffey - Director of Americonned
Chris Smalls - President and founder of Amazon Labor Union
Americonned follows the recent resurgence of the American labor movement born from the devastating income inequality in the US. While politicians continue to prioritize the rich and spend American tax dollars on imperialist wars, it is more important than ever to strengthen the labor movement as it is essential to reviving the American left. Join us for a screening and in-person discussion connecting student activism with labor and global movements for justice.
Sponsored by: Pomona Media Studies Eckstein Fund, Linguistics & Cognitive Science Robert Efron Lectureship Fund, Pomona Anthropology & Economics Departments and the Claremont Student Worker Alliance (CSWA).
Event will be held at 6:30 PST in Rose Hills Theater.