LAIH Virtual Luncheons 2021-22: (If you are prompted for a password, please use: LAIH)

September 24: Sherry Turkle is best known for exploring the dysfunctional relationships between humans and their screens. In conversation with LAIH fellow, Henry Jenkins, Turkle will discuss a new focus – herself – in her memoir, The Empathy Diaries (Penguin Press, March 2021), tying together her personal story with her groundbreaking research on technology, empathy, and ethics. https://vimeo.com/635714755/5a6a88d0fb

October 8: In September 2020, Los Angeles Times reporter Angel Jennings became the newspaper’s first assistant managing editor for culture and talent, part of the media company’s efforts to reform hiring practices, increase staff diversity and overhaul how it treats Black and Latino journalists and communities. In the wake of Jennings’s appointment to the masthead, she will discuss the changing tide at the Times and what still needs to come. Introduction by Tom Zoellner. https://vimeo.com/636466260/fa94e74992

October 22: A presentation from 26-year-old filmmaker, Chapman University instructor and surfer, Devyn Bisson, discussing her work-in-progress film about the 80-year-old Japanese women who are part of a group called the Ama who free dive for abalone. Devyn also runs a non-profit organization called the Center for Documentary Progression for emerging filmmakers and she will be centering her talk around the practice of documentary filmmaking through lessons of her projects. Introduction by Dr. Amy Parish. https://vimeo.com/643715258/e57abe71a9

November 12: In addressing the devastating impact of COVID-19 on the literary community, David Kipen, former literature director of the National Endowment for the Arts, aims to revive the Depression-era Federal Writers Project. (No video link available.) December 3: Bina Vekatarman, the head of the editorial page of The Boston Globe, served as Senior Advisor for climate change innovation in the Obama White House, where she forged partnerships across communities, companies and government to prepare for climate disasters. Her 2019 book, The Optimist’s Telescope: Thinking Ahead in a Reckless Age was named a best book of the year by Amazon, Science Friday, and National Public Radio. Moderated by KC Cole. https://vimeo.com/657495216/09cdb50862

LAIH Virtual Luncheons 2020-21:

September 11: A discussion of black male joy by LAIH Fellow Peter J. Harris and founder of the Black Man of Happiness Project, a creative, intellectual and artistic exploration of African American life and history as seen through the lens of happiness. Introduction by Associate Director Janice Rhoshalle Littlejohn. https://vimeo.com/464352837

September 24: (rescheduled) LAIH Fellow Tom Zoellner, author of Island on Fire: The Revolt That Ended Slavery in the British Empire. This discussion of Island on Fire, published in May 2020, provides an account of the 1831-32 slave revolt that unexpectedly made the final case for abolition throughout the British Empire. Introduction by Co-Director Leo Braudy. https://vimeo.com/466630294

October 9: USC Law Professor Jody Armour to discuss his new book, N*GGA THEORY: Race, Language, Unequal Justice, and the Law, published in August 2020. “N*gga Theory interrogates conventional assumptions and frames a transformational new way of thinking about law, language, moral judgments, politics, and transgressive art. Introduction by Associate Director Janice Rhoshalle Littlejohn. a href=”https://vimeo.com/468203901 ” target=”_blank”>https://vimeo.com/468203901 October 23: LAIH Fellow Jon Wiener presents Set the Night on Fire: L.A. In the Sixties. Co-authored with Mike Davis, Set the Night on Fire (published in April 2020) is the first comprehensive movement history of L.A. in the sixties, drawing on extensive archival research and dozens of interviews with principal figures, as well as the authors’ storied personal histories as activists. Introduction by Co-Director Louise Steinman. https://vimeo.com/509991605/4599727aa7

November 13: A Post-Election LAIH Virtual Town Hall with LAIH Fellow Marty Kaplan. Introduction by Co-Director Leo Braudy. https://vimeo.com/480839584 January 22: Dr. Nicole R. Fleetwood discusses Marking Time: Art in the Age of Mass Incarceration in which she investigates the impact of the carceral state on American life through the lens of art and visual culture. Introduction by Co-Director Louise Steinman https://vimeo.com/505306582/155433c90c

February 12: Paula Yoo’s debut YA nonfiction book, From a Whisper to a Rallying Cry: The Killing of Vincent Chin and the Trial that Galvanized the Asian American Movement (Norton, 2021), is a searing examination of the killing of Vincent Chin, and the trial and verdicts that followed, launching the Asian-American civil rights movement and led to stronger federal hate crime legislation. Introduction by Associate Director Janice Rhoshalle Littlejohn https://vimeo.com/513643334/e34e296d3e

February 26: Fellow Alex Ross discusses Wagnerism: Art and Politics in the Shadow of Music (FSG, 2020), exploring one of the most widely influential figures in the history of music. Introduction by Co-Director Leo Braudy. https://vimeo.com/518314372/68e83a341f

March 12: Fellow and USC Journalism Professor Emeritus KC Cole presents a work-in-progress book titled, The Caterpillar, the Cosmos and the Common Good, about “differences that don’t make a difference.” Introduction by Fellow Dr. Amy Parish https://vimeo.com/527997281/b261806aa9

March 26: Watts Towers Arts Center Campus Director Rosie Lee Hooks and Artist-in-Residence Charles Dickson discuss the life of this living art center during a global pandemic and recession. Moderated by Fellow Charmaine Jefferson. https://vimeo.com/530838333/9c0eee188f

April 9: Historian and heritage conservation consultant Alison Jefferson discusses her book, Living the California Dream: African American Leisure Sites During the Jim Crow Era (Nebraska, 2020). Introduction by Fellow William Deverell. https://vimeo.com/536861501

April 23: Biological Anthropologist, Primatologist and Darwinian Feminist Dr. Amy Parish discusses our primate relatives. Introduction by Co-Director Leo Braudy. https://vimeo.com/541756655/2dfb968723