The annual symposium orchestrated by the year-long Education for Public Inquiry and International Citizenship (EPIIC) class is only about two weeks away, beginning on Feb. 19. To promote the event on campus, members of EPIIC have divided into committees, each with its own strategy for spreading the word. One of these committees is sponsoring a film series that shows movies relating to the theme of their EPIIC class, "Global Cities." Last Thursday, members of the committee screened "Wall-E" (2008) in Braker Hall. Sophomore Meera Pandit, a member of the committee, explained how "Wall-E" related to the theme of "Global Cities."
"‘Wall-E' deals with themes of sustainability and taking care of this planet," Pandit said. "We will be having a panel about sustainability at the symposium, and it's a topic that we covered this year in the course."
Tonight at 7:30 PM in Braker 001, the series is screening "Night on Earth" (1991), a documentary that characterizes five cities through taxi rides around their streets. "The documentary shows that we all share humanity," Lumay Wang, another member of the Film Series committee, said. "The topic of the documentary is global, but it still brings the topic down to a level that everyone can understand."
The third film in the series is the documentary "Street Soldiers" (2006), which discusses local urban violence. The movie explores a program in which former gang members intercede in current gang violence, hoping to end the bloodshed. Many of the individuals are from Boston, so the story is locally relevant. This screening is coming up on Thursday, Feb. 12, also at 7:30 p.m. in Braker 001.
"The documentary is reflective of the spirit that crime should be cut by tackling the problems before they start," Pandit said. "The program hopes to rehabilitate former gang members and getting them to help those currently involved in gang violence."
The last film will be shown on Feb. 17, the Tuesday before the symposium begins. "City of God" (2002) is a critically acclaimed film about the "favelas," or shanty towns, of Rio de Janeiro in Brazil.
"This screening really brings everything full circle," Pandit said. "The first thing we learned about were the slums in Rio. We're trying to show films that tie into our own topics, but that also offer something for others."
The EPIIC symposium does not start for two more weeks, but the members of the film series committee are already pleasantly surprised by the interest generated by the "Wall-E" screening. For the symposium, committee members are hoping to attract an audience that is not comprised solely of people related to the Institute of Global Leadership (IGL) and the EPIIC program.
"IGL and EPIIC exist in a small but intense niche in the Tufts community," Pandit said. "We want to promote the symposium, with International Relations being the biggest major at Tufts. People have a vested interested in these topics, and they are all topics that students have heard of."
Both Pandit and Wang stressed the inclusive nature of the "Global Cities" topic and its relevance for all Tufts students. The topic also promotes the ever-present Tufts motto of active citizenship.
"Everything we've learned in this class has been pretty much about active citizenship," Wang said. "We're hoping with these films we can stimulate interesting conversation that will spur students to be active citizens."
The committee hopes that their films will not only generate interest in the upcoming symposium but will also get students thinking about the role global cities play in their own lives. Members also hope that the films and the symposium will persuade students to help others less fortunate than themselves.
"People need to understand the world they live in and things they can be doing," Pandit said. "Students need direction and inspirations. We just want to generate ideas and plans for change. Any ideas for projects are really valuable."
