Events

Monday February 3, 2025- "Okurimono" Film Viewing at 6pm in Karp 105

In honor of the 80-year anniversary of Hiroshima/Nagasaki, the film "Okurimono" will be shown on Monday February 3, 2025 at 6pm in Karp 105, presented by Union College's Film Studies Program and co-sponsored by Union's Asian Studies Program and Templeton Institute.

At the age of 60, Japanese Canadian Noriko Oi embarks on an emotionally charged journey back to Nagasaki, her childhood city, to unravel the tightly kept secrets of her family’s past. Decades after the death of her mother, Mitsuko, and facing the sale of her ancestral home, Oi seizes a poignant opportunity to piece together a mother’s history that was never shared with her. Sifting through the hidden corners of her family home, engaging with those who shared Mitsuko’s history with her, Oi discovers letters and stories that weave a rich tapestry of her mother’s life and untold narratives of her native Japan. Through Laurence Lévesque’s thoughtful storytelling marked by stunning visuals, Okurimono navigates the delicate realms of unspeakable pain and intergenerational trauma with grace, painting a poignant picture of closure.

Tuesday February 25, 2025- "We Have Just Begun" Proctors Film Event at 7pm

"We Have Just Begun" is a new documentary about the 1919 Elaine riot, massacre, and dispossession, that sheds light on an obscured part of US race and labor history. The result of over seven years of investigation into the buried history and legacy of the Elaine massacre and disposition, this film explores the continuity of exploitation and domination in the Arkansas Delta from before 1919 to the present.

The film will be accompanied by a live narration done by Poet Laureate of San Francisco and co-writer Tongo Eisen-Martin, and live astral soul music by composer Joshua Asante. Following the film, there will be a discussion with filmmaker Michael Warren Wilson.

This event was made possible through collaboration with Proctors, and the generous support of Union College's Film Studies Program, Templeton Institute, Modern Languages & Literatures Department, Political Science Department, Visual Arts Department, and Africana Studies Program.

Shuttles will be provided at 6:30pm in the Old Chapel traffic circle to transport viewers to Proctors and at 9:15pm at Proctors to transport viewers back to Union College's Old Chapel traffic circle.

Admission is free with Union ID presented at Proctors' Box Office.

One of our signature events, TI Wednesdays, brings together faculty and staff to meet with their colleagues, get to know each other better, and discuss new ideas and potential integrative collaborations. Each TI Wednesday features a topic (e.g., Academic Honesty, Artificial Intelligence, etc.), and participants will be encouraged to spend at least part of the time discussing such topics together. From time to time, a brief “lightning talk” may be scheduled to stimulate conversation.