SGS Newsletter; Vol. 3, Issue 3 by Mark Rapacz

Stanford Global Studies STANFORD UNIVERSITY SGS PROGRAMS & CENTERS: CENTER FOR AFRICAN STUDIES CENTER FOR EAST ASIAN STUDIES

Vol. 3, Issue 3

SGS Programs Partner with Cantor Arts Center for Major Exhibition by Mark Rapacz

CENTER FOR LATIN AMERICAN STUDIES CENTER FOR RUSSIAN, EAST EUROPEAN AND EURASIAN STUDIES CENTER FOR SOUTH ASIA EDUCATION PARTNERSHIP FOR INTERNATIONALIZING CURRICULUM THE EUROPE CENTER FORD DORSEY PROGRAM IN INTERNATIONAL POLICY STUDIES FRANCE-STANFORD CENTER FOR INTERDISCIPLINARY STUDIES GLOBAL STUDIES INTERNSHIP PROGRAM HAMID AND CHRISTINA MOGHADAM PROGRAM IN IRANIAN STUDIES MEDITERRANEAN STUDIES FORUM PROGRAM IN INTERNATIONAL RELATIONS SOHAIB AND SARA ABBASI PROGRAM IN ISLAMIC STUDIES TAUBE CENTER FOR JEWISH STUDIES WSD HANDA CENTER FOR HUMAN RIGHTS AND INTERNATIONAL JUSTICE

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Gohar Dashti (Iran, b. 1980), Untitled #5 from the series Today’s Life and War, 2008. Pigment print. Courtesy of the artist, Azita Bina, and Robert Klein Gallery, Boston. © Gohar Dashti

The Sohaib & Sara Abbasi Program for Islamic Studies and the Hamid and Christina Moghadam Program in Iranian Studies recently partnered with the Cantor Arts Center, the Clayman Institute for Gender Research, and the Brown Institute for Media Innovation to help develop programming around She Who Tells a Story for the greater Bay Area community. Originally curated by the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston (MFA), the exhibition, which runs from January 28 through May 4, features photographs and a video piece by leading women artists from Iran and the Arab world. “The subject of the work and variety of photographers included made it a clear choice for dialogue and collaboration,” said Colleen Stockmann, Assistant Curator for Special Projects at Cantor. “This exhibition fulfills Cantor’s educational mission and serves the Stanford population through its relevance to coursework and research conducted on campus.” The exhibition presents a narrative and understanding of the Middle East that is not typically covered by Western media, while also combatting the notion that women from this region are powerless. continued on page 2

2 SGS Programs Partner with Cantor (continued from page 1)

“Several students I spoke with had never seen images of this sort from the various places represented, and that is in many ways the impact of the show—to provide alternatives to mass media imagery that obscures real lived experiences and complex identities that the artists capture,” added Stockmann. The works are from 12 photographers whose range in style shows the diverse aspects of life in this tumultuous region. Many pieces juxtapose a certain playfulness with haunting images of war, such as Gohar Dashti’s piece Untitled #5 where two newlyweds sit forlorn in a burned out car on a field of battle, or Shadi Ghadirian’s piece Nil, Nil #11, which depicts a purse overflowing with cosmetics and bullets. “The artists featured in the exhibition are tremendously skilled at humanizing their subjects and creating ambivalent scenarios that reveal the variety and complexity of women’s lives in these countries,” said Director of the Abbasi Program Robert Crews. “She Who Tells a Story presents an exciting opportunity to see a complicated world, in often unexpected ways.” Crews went on to say that the Abbasi Program is delighted to work with the Cantor Arts Center and Moghadam Program to highlight artists whose work poses provocative and thoughtful challenges to the prevailing images of Muslim-majority societies in the Middle East.

Rana El Nemr (Active in Egypt, b. Germany 1974), Metro #7, 2003. Pigment print. Museum of Fine Arts, Boston. Museum purchase with general funds and the Abbott Lawrence Fund. Photography © 2014 MFA, Boston

Shadi Ghadirian (Iran, b. 1974), Nil, Nil #11, 1998. Gelatin silver print. Museum of Fine Arts, Boston. Horace W. Goldsmith Fund for Photography and Abbott Lawrence Fund. Photography © 2014 MFA, Boston

Similarly, the Moghadam Program, which annually organizes the Iranian Arts Series and hosts two prizes for Iranian arts, “Politics and the economy, no less than art and culture, are looks to this exhibition as a chance to further promote Iran’s parts of our mandate. The Daryabari Endowment in Persian letters has enabled us to augment our efforts in the cultural vibrant and historic pursuit of the arts. domain,” said Director for the Moghadam Program Abbas Milani. “Our hope is to work with Cantor to further introduce the campus to the many facets of Iranian arts.” A number of events are organized in conjunction with the exhibition. The Moghadam Program is hosting a talk by Iranian architect and curator Faryar Javaherian at the Cantor Arts Center at noon on February 26, while the Abbasi Program is hosting a roundtable discussion on April 9 at 5:30 PM at the Cantor Arts Center Auditorium. The Abbasi Program is also providing student field trip grants for grades 7-12 teachers. More details on the grants can be found at the Abbasi Program’s website <islamicstudies.stanford.edu>.

The Cantor Arts Center is also hosting a vibrant series of events, including a gallery talk with Dr. Attiya Ahmad on March 5 at 12:15 PM and an artist panel on March 19 at 5:30 PM with Boushra Almutawakel, Tanya Habjouqa, and Rania Matar, who will discuss their contributions to the exhibition. Free, docentled tours are also available. Complete event details can be found at Cantor’s website <museum.stanford.edu>. ]

“Urban” Projects Receive Awards from SGS Stanford Global Studies (SGS) in cooperation with the Department of Anthropology and the Vice Provost of Research recently awarded funding to two faculty research efforts under the “Urban Beyond Measure: New Urban Forms for the 21st Century” initiative to focus greater attention on the social realities of daily life within cities.

With these awards, the Center for Deliberative Democracy (CDD) will hold a series of workshops for undergraduate and graduate students in Fall 2015, while the Mapping Cairo project will use the funds to develop a multi-layered, interactive map of Cairo. “We chose these ambitious projects because they capture the spirit of the initiative,” said Fisher Family Director of SGS Norman Naimark. “Both projects delve into the diverse informal urban systems of knowledge, seeking to understand how governance and social responsibility actually work within cities.”

by Jane Stahl

Political Map of Greater Cairo” plan to illustrate important aspects of the socio-political experience for citizens living in a city that is the largest metropolitan area in Africa and the third largest in the Islamic world.

The project team consists of Associate Professor of Political Science and Senior Fellow at the Freeman Spogli Institute Lisa Blaydes along with three PhD candidates in political science: Caroline Abadeer, Alexandra Blackman, and Scott Williamson. The team hopes that by incorporating demographic and electoral data—as well as data on sites of violence and collective action—into one online map, they will discover previously opaque geographic trends.

Democracy and Public Opinion in Africa, Asia & Latin America CDD will use the award to hold several workshops for undergraduate and graduate students to discuss recent Deliberative Polling projects in Africa (Uganda and Ghana), Asia (China and Japan), and possibly Latin America (focusing on Argentina and Brazil). Developed by CDD Director and The Mapping Cairo Team (L to R): Alexandra Blackman, Caroline Abadeer, Janet M. Peck Professor of and Scott Williamson International Communication James S. Fishkin, the Deliberative Polling Begun with a seed grant from the “Urban Beyond Measure” method uses television and public initiative in 2013, the project team has already translated and opinion research to help people merged census data with electoral data, developed databases become more informed and more of police stations and militant attacks, and begun work on an engaged by political issues. The online interactive map. This award will support future efforts trademarked methodology is a to add more data on militant attacks, police violence against process of public consultation in Associate Director of the protesters, and sectarian attacks against religious minorities. Center for Deliberative which a scientifically representative The team will also begin data collection in Baghdad, Tunis, Democracy Alice Siu sample of people are polled before and Casablanca. and after they have discussed key questions related to their region. “Once completed, we plan to hold a public event to introduce the resource to the Stanford community,” said Caroline Abadeer, “We hope these workshops will enable students to engage in graduate student in Political Science and Co-Principal deep discussions with our international collaborators and truly Investigator. “The event will use the new map to visually explore understand the growing problems faced by each country and non-obvious geographical correlations as well as discuss some region,” said Alice Siu, Associate Director of the Center for of the political events in Egypt and the broader Middle East.” ] Deliberative Democracy. For more information about the “Urban Beyond Measure: New Mapping Greater Cairo Urban Forms for the 21st Century initiative,” visit their website Members of the team that comprise “Mapping Cairo: A Socio- at sites.stanford.edu/urbanbeyondmeasure/.

CSA Interns Learn and Grow Through Service in Pune, India by Mark Rapacz

The Center for South Asia (CSA) is once again offering their Summer Service Internship Program to undergraduates entering their junior or senior years. Launched last year to great success, the program offers students opportunities to work with non-profit organizations in Pune, India, in the areas of education, women’s issues, public health and environmental sustainability. “We are thrilled at the outcomes of the first round of our service internships. Their experiences surpassed our expectations,” said Associate Director for the Center for South Asia Sangeeta Mediratta. “They worked shoulder to shoulder with disadvantaged communities and learned a tremendous amount in the process, not to mention the significant contributions they made over a relatively short period of time.”

The Solid Waste Control and Handling cooperative (SWaCH) strategizes before one of their major projects.

The first group of students returned from their internships enthusiastic and energized by their experiences. “I was able to work on a variety of different projects. I built a model toilet, helped redesign a health survey to assess the “Most gratifying to hear upon the students’ return to Stanford impact of the initiative, and also worked on publishing was the excitement in their voices and the motivation to informational documents and outreach materials,” Kishnani participate further in such global service projects,” Mediratta said. added. Among Kishnani’s many roles, she spent much of her time with Sustainable Sanitation in the Home survey teams in the communities themselves, synthesizing Saniya Kishnani, Human Biology, ’16, spent 10 weeks as a data to create educational materials in English so that people public health intern with Shelter Associates, an NGO devoted around the world could get a sense of the harsh ground realities to housing rehabilitation and sanitation projects. Her main in these struggling areas. project was working with “One Home, One Toilet,” which aims “I had seen many of these communities but had never been in to address the growing sanitation issues prevalent throughout one,” Kishnani reflected. “I was confronted with tremendous the developing world. wealth inequalities, striking poverty, and some heart-wrenching conditions of humanity. It was an eye-opening experience.” The Waste Picker Union Claire Thompson, Earth Systems, ’16, immersed herself in the self-founded, self-operated union of waste pickers SWaCH. An offshoot of the cooperative KKPKP (Kagad Kach Patra Kashtakari Panchayat), SWaCH is a growing organization that works to bring structure, safety, and dignity to more than 6,000 women waste pickers throughout Pune. The broad scope of this organization gave Thompson the freedom to delve into a number of aspects she was interested in—advocacy, women’s rights, and sustainable practices.

Kishnani helped lead workshops like this one in the community, which all had themes like sanitation, health, women’s health, waste disposal, and composting, among many others.

“I had a lot of freedom in mapping out my internship,” said Thompson. “My supervisor took great care in showing me the ropes but also gave a lot of independence in my work.” Through these efforts, Thompson had the opportunity to be directly involved with SWaCH’s nirmalaya collection project, continued on next page

5 which is a huge initiative planned around Ganpati Visarjan, an annual festival celebrating Lord Ganesh.

said Harrison. “Children come to school in torn uniforms, without school supplies, and without having done their homework, yet the teachers never gave up.”

During the festival, citizens celebrate by making offerings (nirmalaya). Traditionally, tons of flowers, fruits, cloth, and As dedicated as the teachers were, Harrison understood the plaster Ganesh idols are tossed into the rivers, which further struggle they and their students faced daily trying to teach harm the already polluted waterways. To effectively deal with and learn within a community without sufficient means. this problem and help minimize the amount of material “All of the students come from challenging homes. None of disposed of in the rivers, SWaCH members mobilized a massive their families speak English and very few have parents who collection effort around the event. finished high school,” Harrison noted. “Getting help on schoolwork at home is nearly impossible, which is a big piece of education.”

The experience was so moving and profound for Harrison that she has started to seriously consider education as a future career path. “This summer, I saw the transformative power of education and I want to be a part of the educational system here in my own country.” Get Involved Students interested in service internships similar to the ones described above are encouraged to apply through the Center for South Asia. Internships include accommodation and a Mary Harrison with students from Matoshri English Medium School, where small stipend for living expenses. All interns must make their she interned through the CSA’s Summer Service Internship Program. own travel and visa arrangements. Deadline to apply is “It was very hectic. There was a lot of office work gearing up February 16, 2015. Applications and further details are available for the festival—compiling data, taking inventory of materials, on CSA’s website. ] etc.,” said Thompson. “And during the collection days, my The Center for South Asia facilitates teaching and learning about supervisor and I were on the ground from morning until night, the South Asian subcontinent, which encompasses the nations visiting different stations, troubleshooting with coordinators, of India, Pakistan, Bangladesh, Nepal, Bhutan, and Sri Lanka. and checking in with volunteers.” Thompson’s efforts with SWaCH certainly did not go to waste. The organization nearly doubled the 100 tons of offerings they collected the year before. “This year we collected over 170 tons of nirmalaya—which is 170 tons not clogging up the rivers!” The Akanksha Foundation Mary Harrison, Economics, ’16, spent her summer interning at the Akanksha Foundation, an NGO that operates schools in Pune and Mumbai. She began her internship just as Akanksha was piloting a new curriculum program. Harrison’s efforts primarily revolved around the Matoshri English Medium School, where she observed classes, collaborated with the Akanksha curriculum team, and worked with teachers on how to best implement the program. “I met some of the most brilliant and inspirational teachers,”

Questions about SGS? For general information or to sign up for the online version of this newsletter visit our website: sgs.stanford.edu For past issues of the SGS Newsletter visit: sgs.stanford.edu/newsletter

Contact SGS: NORMAN NAIMARK The Sakurako and William Fisher Family Director of the Stanford Global Studies Division KATE KUHNS Executive Director kkuhns@stanford.edu JANE STAHL Office Manager jstahl2@stanford.edu JOANNE CAMANTIGUE Financial Assistant jcamanti@stanford.edu

Events & Announcements URBAN MYTHS: Contemporary and Urban Art from Nepal

an evening w/ KASHISH DAS SHRESTHA FEBRUARY 23, 4:00 PM TO 7:00 PM Encina Hall West, Room 208 (417 Galvez Mall) Free and open to the public

CAMERA AS WITNESS SERIES: Reflections on Art through Documentary Filmmaking “The Desert of Forbidden Art” MARCH 4, 7:00 PM TO 9:00 PM Ceras Room 101 (520 Galvez Mall) Free and open to the public

POLYVOCAL HINDUSTAN: Literatures, Languages, and Publics MARCH 6–7 Board Room, Stanford Humanities Center Register at southasia.stanford.edu/Polyvocal_Hindustan Free and open to the public

MARK RAPACZ Communications Coordinator mrrapacz@stanford.edu KATHERINE WELSH Program Administrator kwelsh@stanford.edu

Stanford Global Studies Division 650.725.9317 • sgs.information@stanford.edu • 417 Galvez Mall, Stanford, CA 94305-6045 © Stanford University