The Diversity Matters Film & Lecture Series began in 2006. Approximately nine presentations annually are offered across MCC campuses and centers. Discussion leaders are identified for the films.
LECTURE: The History behind the War in Ukraine
Nicholas B. Breyfogle, Ph.D.
Associate Professor, Department of History, Director of the Goldberg Center , The Ohio State University
Professor Nicholas B. Breyfogle received his Ph.D. (1998) and M.A. (1994) in Russian and European History from the University of Pennsylvania. He received his B. A. (1990) from Brown University in History and French Civilization.
Professor Breyfogle is a specialist in Imperial Russian history, c. 1700 to 1917, especially the history of Russian imperialism and the non-Russian nationalities of the tsarist empire. His research interests include Russian colonialism, inter-ethnic contact, peasant studies, religious belief and policy, and the history and culture of Armenia, Azerbaijan, Georgia, and Siberia.
WATCH THE HISTORY BEHIND THE WAR IN UKRAINE
video & discussion: meltdown in dixie
discussion led by D'andra orey, ph.d., professor political science, jackson state university
In Orangeburg, SC, a battle erupts between the Sons of Confederate Veterans and an ice cream shop owner forced to fly the Confederate flag in his parking lot. This film explores the broader role of Confederate symbolism in the 21st century and the lingering racial oppression which these symbols help maintain.
Watch Meltdown in Dixie question & answer session again
MCC personnel and students may access this streaming video by using steps below:
- Going to the MCC Library website: www.mccneb.edu/library
- Click on the Streaming Videos tab
- Click on the blue “Streaming Videos” link
- Click on Microsoft Stream or Docuseek.
- Search by video title---Meltdown in Dixie
FILM & DISCUSSION: FIRST VOTE
Discussion led by Yi Chen, Director, Soros Equality Fellow and DC Arts and Humanities Fellow
Following the stories of four politically engaged voters during the 2018 midterm elections, First Vote crafts an insightful look at Asian Americans' diverse experiences at the polls. Taking her camera on the road, filmmaker Yi Chen introduces us to a diverse cross section of politically engaged Chinese Americans: an avid Trump supporter in Ohio; a Democratic podcaster whose views have alienated his wife’s conservative friends; a gun-toting, Tea Party-favorite in North Carolina; and a progressive University of North Carolina professor. Speaking with distinct political voices, they share the common goal of seeing Asian Americans take their rightful place in American political life.
Watch First Vote question & answer session again
MCC personnel and students may access this streaming video by using steps below:
- Going to the MCC Library website: www.mccneb.edu/library
- Click on the Streaming Videos tab
- Click on the blue “Streaming Videos” link
- Click on Microsoft Stream or Docuseek.
- Search by video title---First Vote
VIRTUAL VIDEO & DISCUSSION: Mission: JOY!
Discussion led by Kenneth Allen, Pastor, Zion Baptist Church
Deeply moving and laugh-out-loud funny, Mission: JOY is a documentary with unprecedented access to the unlikely friendship of two international Nobel Peace Prize winners and global icons who transcend religion: His Holiness the Dalai Lama and Archbishop Tutu. In their final joint mission, these self-described mischievous brothers give a master class in how to create joy in a world that was never easy for them. They offer neuroscience-backed wisdom to help each of us live with more joy, despite circumstances.
Consisting largely of never-before-seen footage shot over 5 days at the Dalai Lama’s residence in Dharamsala, the film invites viewers to join these luminaries behind the scenes as they recount stories from their lives, each having lived through periods of incredible difficulty and strife. With genuine affection, mutual respect and a healthy dose of teasing, these unlikely friends impart lessons gleaned from lived experience, ancient traditions, and the latest cutting-edge science regarding how to live with joy in the face of all of life’s challenges from the extraordinary to the mundane.
Mission: Joy is an antidote for the times.
Inspired by the New York Times bestseller The Book of Joy: Lasting Happiness in a Changing World, the film showcases the exchange between these two Nobel Peace Prize winners that led to that book.”
Video & discussion: FARMSTEADERS
Discussion led by ART TANDERUP, Retired Educator, Farmer, Pipeline Fighter, Earth Day Lifetime Achievement Award Winner
Farmsteaders is a love story, a farm story, and a story of contemporary rural America. Nick Nolan, his wife Celeste, and their young family are on a journey to resurrect his grandfather’s dairy farm, even as corporate agriculture drives more and more family farms out of business nationwide. The film points an honest and tender lens at the beauty and hardship of everyday life, watching as the Nolans work to balance their fears and hopes with their family, their livelihood, and their future at stake.
MCC personnel and students may access this streaming video by using steps below:
- Going to the MCC Library website: www.mccneb.edu/library
- Click on the Streaming Videos tab
- Click on the blue “Streaming Videos” link
- Click on Microsoft Stream or Docuseek.
- Search by video title---Farmsteaders
lecture: centering possibility in black education
chezare a. warren, ph.d., associate professor of equity & inclusion in education policy, vanderbilt university
Dr. Chezare A. Warren served in K-12 teaching and leading for nearly a decade and then began a career in higher education. His training is in policy studies, urban education, and critical race studies leading him to the publication of three books and more than 45 articles, chapters, reports, and commentaries since 2013.
Chezare’s academic achievements have garnered national and international recognition. He received two early career awards from the American Educational Research Association. In 2019, he was the first faculty member in Michigan State University College of Education history to be awarded the National Academies of Science, Engineering and Medicine/Ford Foundation postdoctoral fellowship. Dr. Warren has keynoted several national conferences, as well as delivered distinguished lectures or invited talks at some of the nation’s most prestigious colleges and universities. He has also held visiting faculty appointments at Stanford University, New York University, and the University of Pennsylvania.
Hailing from the South Side of Chicago, Dr. Warren began singing at an early age, and is a proud alum of Walt Whitman and the Soul Children of Chicago. While teaching is Chezare’s first love, music has always brought him immeasurable joy. As an undergraduate, he was a soloist in the University of Illinois Black Chorus and lead singer in a men’s acapella group he formed his junior year.
Grandson of a Jamaican immigrant and bluecollar parents, Chezare graduated from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign where he earned a Bachelor of Science in Elementary Education with a minor in Mathematics. He earned his PhD from the University of Illinois-Chicago.
DATE: Tuesday, February 14
TIME: 12:15-1:30 p.m. CST
Register for Centering Possibility in Black Education
VIDEO & DISCUSSION: ADIOS AMOR - postponed
Discussion led by Laurie Coyle, Director, BAVC Media Makers and Latino Producers Academy fellow, co-founder of the bilingual storytelling initiative MiHistoria
The search for a hero that history forgot - before Cesar Chavez, Maria Moreno was the first woman farmworker to be hired as a union organizer, and became a charismatic leader in the early movement for farmworker justice.
LECTURE: Howie’s Art Circles: Psychological/Social Support for Refugee Children
Howard Dotson, Interfaith Chaplain & Art Therapist
For the past 19 years, Dotson has been providing art therapy for refugee children in numerous countries. He has collaborated with several refugee NGOs, and helped train local volunteers to continue the work. Recently he has provided art therapy for Ukrainian children at 5 train stations in Poland and Ukraine. The Art Circles are adjacent to World Central Kitchen tents.
DATE: Monday, April 10
TIME: 2:30-3:30 p.m. CDT
Register for Howie’s Art Circles
video & discussion: inhabitants: indigenous perspectives on restoring our world
Discussion led by Ben-Alex Dupris, Producer, enrolled member of the Colville Confederated Tribes
Follow five Native American communities as they restore their traditional land management practices in the face of a changing climate. The five stories include sustaining traditions of Hopi dryland farming in Arizona; restoring buffalo to the Blackfeet reservation in Montana; maintaining sustainable forestry on the Menominee reservation in Wisconsin; reviving native food forests in Hawaii; and returning prescribed fire to the landscape by the Karuk Tribe of California. As the climate crisis escalates, these time-tested practices of North America's original inhabitants are becoming increasingly essential in a rapidly changing world.
DATE: Thursday, April 20
TIME: 10:10 a.m. CDT
Register for Indigenous Perspectives
Participation for all programs is free and open to the public.
Contact interculturaled@mccneb.edu or 531-622-2253 for more information.
Additional International/Intercultural Education virtual programming can be found on YouTube.
ACCOMMODATIONS: Audience members requiring accommodations due to a disability must contact Barbara Velazquez, bvelazquez@mccneb.edu, 531-622-2253 at least two weeks prior to the program.
