April 15, 2016, 6-9pm, Thomson Hall 280

 

 

St. Olaf College held a special screening of Threshold: Whispers of Fukushima. an award-winning documentary film that examines the experience of several musicians from the Fukushima area after the earthquake, tsunami, and nuclear disasters of March 2011. The screening was followed by a reception with refreshments and a question and answer session with the director Toko Shiiki and composer Erik Santos.

Director Toko Shiiki focuses on the role of music as a positive and unifying force that supports a recovering community. She writes, “Finding and nurturing one’s happiness to continue living a healthy life is a fundamental human concern. No matter where we live, we must face this. The people in Fukushima have such inspiring sounds and stories to share with the world. From these positive people, perhaps we might learn and remember something important and unexpected.”

On April 24, 2015 Dr. Raman Sukumar of the Indian Institute of Science presented a talk on The World of the Elephant: Behavior, Ecology and Conservation.  He covered the major ecological features of Asian and African elephants in relation to their habitats, their complex social organization and behavior, their interactions with people, their exploitation for the ivory trade, and the conservation dilemmas of the 21st century.

 

 

The students who studied food and environment in China, Japan and Northfield educated their colleagues with presentations and posters on topics like Factory Farming, Rice-Fish Culture, Food Packaging during dinner on 16 March 2015.

 

 

Over the 2015 interim, the Asian Conversations and Environmental Conversations programs collaborated in a project about the sustainability and environmental impact of Chinese and Japanese food systems. Upon returning from Asia in February 2015, the Asian Conversations joined with Environmental Conversations students for an evening of Chinese cuisine and to meet their partners.

 

 

 

In November 2014, St. Olaf College invited Hiraoka Yoko, master of the biwa, shamisen, koto, and biwa storytelling, to perform “The Tale of Genji” in the Christiansen Hall of Music. As an introduction, she gave a lecture on the symbiosis of Buddhist culture and ecology as it was seen in the Japanese biwa storytelling tradition.

 

 

St. Olaf held a live streaming national webcast link to President Jimmy Carter on China/US Relations. This was followed by a seminar discussion titled “China at the Environmental Tipping Point” by Dr. Jennifer Turner, Director China Environment Forum – Woodrow Wilson Center.