World Workshop #22: "BORN INTO HARD LABOR" (+ Dinner)

2/21/14 @6:00 pm in CSUF Hum 123. This event is part of the Left Bank's "World Workshops" series on Friday evenings. Today's theme: BORN INTO HARD LABOR. Co-hosted by Dr. Hélène Domon and Jessie Bonafede.

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Speakers will assess working conditions around the world, after which we will screen the amazing French-African film Rêves de Poussière (Dreams of Dust), set in one of Burkina Faso's horrid gold mining communities.

PROGRAM:

(If you want to be a speaker, please see instructions below.)

• Hélène Domon, professor of French Studies at CSUF: "How Hard Do Humans Work? An Assessment of Working Conditions Around the World."

• Jessie Bonafede, CSUF French Club President: "Introducing 'Rêves de Poussière (Dreams of Dust)'.

• (your name! )

• FILM: 'Rêves de Poussière (Dreams of Dust)' France/Canada/Burkina Faso, 2006, directed by Laurent Salgues. 1h28. "With his deeply cathartic and intransigent drama Dreams of Dust, Laurent Salgues takes an unflinching look at life in a hellish African gold-mining community. For countless hours, days and weeks on end, the employees of a mining camp burrow long tunnels into the sand in search of increasingly elusive nuggets. When one is found, economic circumstances improve for all; when the tunnels collapse, the workers lose their lives, new teams are reeled in, and the process begins anew. Yet Salgues unveils a core of dignity at the story's center, personified by two characters - the Nigerian farmer Mocktar, still reeling from a personal tragedy, who nevertheless demonstrates astonishing tenacity by climbing into the scorching tunnels each morning; and his female counterpart, the gorgeous Coumba, also reeling from a disaster - the sudden, unexpected death of most of her family, and her consequent need to raise her daughter on her own. Amid a difficult, threatening environment, these two quickly find soulmates and a ray of hope in one another." ~ Nathan Southern, Rovi

• Round-Table Discussion.

• After the workshop, we will have dinner in Fullerton. Details later.

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• Give a talk! Anyone at the Left Bank is welcome to submit a proposal for a 10-minute presentation on this topic. You do not need to be an expert, a teacher or a published writer - just an informed citizen of the Earth who would like to provide insights.

Rules of the game:

1. Email a title and short summary to Helene at hdomon@fullerton.edu at least a few days before the workshop date;

2. Focus your topic on one theme you would like to emphasize;

3. Your presentation is 10 minutes max, followed by an informal group discussion;

4. A PowerPoint is welcome, but not mandatory. Lectures, round tables, videos, poetry, slam, spoken word, songs, art, performance and other forms of expression are all welcome.

Cheers, come on, don't hesitate! Share your knowledge and hopes! Be part of the people's university where we learn and grow from each other and build tomorrow's world!

Cost: The workshop is FREE.

Directions and Parking: From FWY 57, take Nutwood Exit to the west. Make a right on Folino Dr. and an immediate left into Parking lot F. Drive around the curve and park close to Humanities building, which is the tallest building near the parking lot, with a beehive-like wall pattern. Parking is free on Fridays after 5:00pm.