Monday, April 21, 2014

"The Week of Student Leadership and Civic Action for a Better World!" -- April 21-26, 2014

Join the Beyond the Classroom Living & Learning Program for
“The Week of Student Leadership and Civic Action for a Better World”
Taking Action on Climate Change, Sexual Assault Prevention, Environmental Contamination, Healthy Food Choices, Human Rights and Social Justice Issues!
April 21-26, 2014
University of Maryland, College Park
All events are open to the University of Maryland Community

Beyond the Classroom presents “The Wisdom to Survive: Climate Change, Capitalism & Community”
Thursday, April 24, 2014: 12:00 noon-1:30 pm
1102 South Campus Commons, Building 1
THE WISDOM TO SURVIVE (2014, 56 minutes) accepts the consensus of scientists that climate change has already arrived, and asks, what is keeping us from action? The film explores how unlimited growth and greed are destroying the life support system of the planet, the social fabric of the society, and the lives of billions of people.
Will we have the wisdom to survive? The film features thought leaders and activists in the realms of science, economics and spirituality discussing how we can evolve and take action in the face of climate disruption. They urge us to open ourselves to the beauty that surrounds us and get to work on ensuring it thrives.
Among those featured are Bill McKibben, Joanna Macy, Roger Payne, Richard Heinberg, Gus Speth, Stephanie Kaza, Nikki Cooley and Ben Falk. 
·         The Wisdom to Survive is both instructive and inspiring. It combines incisive scientific and social analysis regarding anthropogenic climate change, while raising important existential and ethical questions. At the same time, it shows people working in practical, transformational, and imaginative ways to bring about a fundamentally different and more just and sustainable world, and thus provides very helpful food for thought in terms of where to go from here and now." Joseph Nevins, Associate Professor of Geography, Chair of Earth Science and Geography, Vassar College.
The Struggle for Human Rights: Global Perspectives Documentary Film Festival
Beyond the Classroom, Series on “People Power: Activism for Social Change!”
Friday, April 25, 2014: 1:00-5:30 pm
1102 South Campus Commons, Building 1
Join us for screenings of two award-winning documentary films on the struggle for human rights around the world from the Philippines to Guatemala!
1:00-2:45 pm“Give Up Tomorrow” (2012, the Philippines, Spain)
As a tropical storm beats down on an island in the Philippines, two sisters leave work and never make it home… 
Simultaneously a murder-mystery and an exposé of endemic corruption today, GIVE UP TOMORROW looks intimately at the case of Paco Larrañaga, a student accused of killing two sisters on the provincial island of Cebu.  In a way that is both specific to the country and disquietingly universal, the film exposes a Kafkaesque extravaganza populated by flamboyantly crooked public officials, cops on the take, and a frenzied legal and media circus. 
GIVE UP TOMORROW is also an intimate family drama focused on the near mythic struggle of two angry, sorrowful mothers who have dedicated more than a decade to executing or saving one young man.  Their irreconcilable versions of justice play out in a controversial case, dubbed "The Trial of the Century", that ends a country's use of capital punishment, yet fails to free an innocent man.
GIVE UP TOMORROW is an Emmy® nominated documentary for Outstanding Investigative Journalism, and a finalist for the Puma Impact Award.


2:45-5:30 pm:  The Dictator in the Dock” (2013, Guatemala)
The Dictator in the Dock film series brings viewers into the courtroom as former dictator General Efraín Ríos Montt stands trial for genocide and crimes against humanity in Guatemala. This historic case marked the first time, anywhere in the world, that a former head of state was tried for genocide in a national court, in the country where the crimes were committed. It is also the first time in the history of South or North America, that the genocide of indigenous peoples was tried in a court of law, significantly in a country of the Americas with a majority indigenous population.
As Francisco Soto, legal representative of the Maya victims, said in his concluding statement at the trial, “Justice is poised to play an important role in the historical memory of our country. For the first time in 500 years we are able to judge genocide.” The symbolic and precedent setting nature of this trial for all indigenous peoples and all national justice systems cannot be overestimated.
Skylight filmed the entire genocide trial of Ríos Montt from the day it started on March 19, 2013 to its conclusion on May 10, 2013, capturing the high-stakes drama of a reckoning with heinous crimes, an unveiling of impunity, and a nation’s struggle to reconcile with a legacy of mass atrocities.
Reject and Protect Tipi Ceremony and Procession
Beyond the Classroom Civic Learning Event
Saturday, April 26, 2014:  8:00 am-2:00 pm
The National Mall, Washington, D.C. between 9th and 12th Streets
On Earth Day 2014, the Cowboy Indian Alliance (C.I.A.) will place their tipis on the National Mall for a week-long encampment to raise awareness about the environmental, economic and social impacts of the Keystone Tar Sands XL Pipeline Project from Canada to the Gulf of Mexico. We will gather on the National Mall at 9:00 am for the traditional water ceremony on Saturday, April 26th at the encampment to hear first-hand from indigenous peoples, farmers, ranchers and community members why they are building an international alliance against the Keystone Tar Sands XL Pipeline Project. As we gather, everyone present will be asked to make their thumbprint mark on a tipi. Then we will hear from the farmers, ranchers, tribal leaders and refinery community members who will be directly impacted by Keystone XL and the tar sands — and who have pledged to lead the resistance should it be approved. Then, those leaders will carry our painted tipi to present to President Obama, with thousands of people standing behind them in solidarity. This tipi will represent our collective hope that President Obama will reject the pipeline, and our promise that we will protect our land, water and climate if he chooses to let the pipeline move forward. Once the tipi is delivered, we will return to the encampment in song and make our pledge to continue resistance to the pipeline should it be approved.
For more information:
Beyond the Classroom Living & Learning Program
University of Maryland
 

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