monday, march 8, 2004
news
the university daily kansan
3A
Brazilian Week festivities kick off
Group's week-long celebration will honor Brazilian culture
By Marc Ingber
mingber@kansan.com
Kansan staff writer
South America will move north this week when the Brazilian Student Association, or BRASA, celebrates its annual Brazilian Week festival.
The festival will take place all week with a different event every day leading up to the Carnival celebration Saturday night. Students will be introduced to the culture with Brazilian food, martial arts, music, language and more.
Terena Silva, Recife, Brazil, sophomore and social chairwoman for BRASA, said she enjoyed watching the exchange among cultures.
"We know a lot about American culture, but we want to show
more about our culture," she said.
The Brazilian Week events will kick off tonight with Brazilian Night at the Ecumenical Christian Ministries, 1204 Oread Ave.
Students will be able to go from table to table experiencing a different part of the culture at each stop.
The tables will include information about Brazilian music, dance, soccer and the Vitoria Program, an exchange program in Brazil .organized by the Department of Spanish and Portuguese.
Marcelo Moreira, Recife, Brazil, junior and BRASA treasurer, said he was looking forward to Brazilian Night for the food. It includes "coxinha" and "empadinha", two appetizers with
chicken, "virgideloire," a chocolate dessert, and three types of Brazilian juices. Brazilian Night will get the week's festivities off to a strong start, he said.
Tuesday night will be the Capoeira Workshop at ECM, where students can go to learn the traditional Brazilian martial arts form of Capoeira.
It is a dance-like martial arts form based on kicks that was started by Brazilian slaves to help protect themselves from their masters.
"it's part of our culture, and it's still really popular," Moreira said.
The Samba workshop will be Wednesday night at the Pine Room in the Kansas Union. In Brazil, the Samba, which has many African influences, is a popular form of dance.
"Instead of dancing to hiphop, we dance to these songs," Moreira said.
Thursday night, BRASA will try something it never has before. It will hold Café Brasil at the Hawk's Nest in the Kansas Union, which will feature open mic set up next to the Jaybowl and Brazilian coffee supplied by the Brazilian Cargo Company from Kansas City, Mo. Performers will play a variety of music styles including Bossa Nova and Brazilian rock.
Brackman Rock Friday night will be a night for students to practice speaking Portuguese at the Mesa Brazileira at Free State Brewing Co., 636 Massachusetts St.
A long table will be set up for people to discuss topics ranging from soccer to political issues going on in Brazil.
BRASA holds this event every
Brazilian Week
All events are free except for Saturday's Carnival, which is $10.
Monday: Brazilian Night, 6 p.m. to 9 p.m. at the Ecumenical Christian Ministries, 1204 Oread Ave.
tuesday, Cappelia Workshop, 5
m. to 6:30 p.m. at ECM
■ Thursday. Café Brasil, 7:30 p.m.
to 10 p.m. at the Hawk's Nest in
the Kansas Union
Wednesday: Samba Workshop.
6 p.m. to 7 p.m. at the Pine Room
in the Kansas Union.
Friday; Mesa Brazilira, 5:30 p.m. to 7 p.m. at the Free State Brewing Co., 636 Massachusetts St.
Saturday; Carnival, 9 p.m. to 2 a.m. at Abe & Jake's Landing, 8 E Sixth St.
Source: BRASA
Friday night at Café Nova, 745 New Hampshire St. but is holding it at Free State this week for a change of pace.
The grandaddy of all the events will be the Carnival celebration Saturday night at Abe & Jake's Landing, 8 E. Sixth St.
Mariana Theodoro, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, junior and vice president of BRASA, said the group tried to create the same vibe as the Carnival celebration in Brazil.
'I think the magic behind it is really close. The feeling behind it
is the same," she said.
This year the performer will be Dandara, a popular singer from Brazil. Moreira said that the celebration, which is the Brazilian equivalent of Fat Tuesday, will draw people from other states including Colorado and Nebraska.
Usually about 1,000 people show up but Abe and Jake's Landing has a capacity of only 900, so it's important to get tickets early in the week, he said.
Events, exhibits highlight Women's History Month
—Edited by Ashley Arnold
By Jodie Kraftt
jkraftt@kansan.com
Kansas staff writer
During the month of March, Women's History Month, students at the University of Kansas can learn more about the roles of women throughout history.
This year's theme, "Women Inspiring Hope and Possibility," will be demonstrated through campus art exhibits, lectures and performances.
is often forgotten," Cudd said.
The many events and topics during the month will appeal to a wide variety of students, said Ann Cudd, director of women's studies and professor of women's studies and philosophy.
Cudd said that in history and philosophy classes, students typically studied the works of men, although women made valuable contributions in those areas as well.
"I think the history of women
By attending this month's activities, students can celebrate women's progress and talk about what can be done to achieve complete equality, Cudd said.
Having these events at the University makes it possible for students to interact with scholars and experts in the field of women's studies and to have discussions about the topic, Megan Johnson, Troy junior, said.
said.
"With the way history is usually taught, every month is Men's History Month," Johnson said. " Hopefully we can make strides toward fully integrating women's history, in its many forms, into our collective idea of what constitutes the history that is worth teaching and knowing."
Johnson, a women's studies major, said she planned on attending the Women and Modern Art exhibit at the Spencer Museum of Art and the video about women artists.
Along with the department of women's studies, the Emily Taylor Women's Resource Center will also sponsor several events.
Emily Taylor, creator of the center, said women have come a long way through women's rights movements, but they still have a long way to go in terms of equality.
"I don't think we're making any progress at all," Taylor said.
She said one example of this was the continuing debate over the merit of Roe v. Wade, the 1973 decision by the Supreme Court to allow women the right to have an abortion. Another example, Taylor said, were instances of unequal pay for women in the job market.
Events celebrating women
Taylor was the dean of women at the University from 1956 to 1975.
Monday, March 8 — Vagina Monologues, 7 p.m., Liberty Hall, $10 for tickets
Thursday, March 11 — Video,
Women Artists: The Other Side of
the Picture, 7 p.m., Spencer
Museum of Art auditorium
Wednesday, March 17
Gender seminar, Women at the Crossroads: Gender, Property and the Construction of Vietnamese Historical Identity,
3:30 p.m. to 5 p.m., Hall Center conference room
An Overview to the National Political and Social
Political and Social
Transformation of Indigenous
Health Care, 3:30 p.m. to 5 p.m.
Hall Center conference room
Thursday, March 18 - Concert by Women's Chorale, 7:30 p.m., Murphy Hall, Swarthout Recital Hall
Thursday, March 18 — American seminar, A Devotion to Indians:
Saturday, March 27—Lecture,
Gender and High Tech: Grounds for
Optimism, 3:30 p.m. to 5 p.m.
Malott Room, Kansas Union,
registration required
Tuesday, March 30 — African studies forum, African Refugees and the Geopolitics of Constructing Difference, 4 p.m.
to 5:30 p.m., Kansas Union,
Alcove D
Tuesday, March 30 — Lecture,
Making Businesses Work for
Women, 7:30 p.m. to 9 p.m.
Gridiron Room, Burge Union
Wednesday, March 31 — Lecture by Kij Johnson, author of Fudoki and The Fox Woman, 7 p.m. to 8:30 p.m., Lawrence Public Library, 707 Vermont St.
- Thursday, April 1 — Lecture,
Family Values: Accounts of Gay
Fatherhood in America, 7:30 p.m.
to 9 p.m., Alderson Auditorium,
Kansas Union
Source: Department of Women's Studies
Although Taylor has returned
In 1975, Taylor left the University to become the director of the Office of Women in Higher Education at the American Council on Education in Washington D.C.
to Lawrence to retire, she still occasionally comes to the University to speak to students on how life was for women in the past and today.
She said improvements in the lives of women would indirectly
lead to improvements in the lives of men.
"You can't separate them out," Taylor said. "That's not the way life works."
Edited by Collin LaJoie
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