The Alumni Magazine for Worcester Polytechnic Institute. (WPI)
Issue link: http://wpialumnimag.epubxp.com/i/114745
π W digital reads Stories from the World R ETURNING HOME FROM an excursion often leaves Judy Richardson (center, at age 14) at a sit-in that helped end segregation in the South. Photo by Danny Lyon, used with permission. photorealism Kennedy to Kent State: The '60s and Beyond WPI hosts "Photography, Media, and Society" symposium FROM THE FUNERAL of a slain president, to student protesters gunned down by the National Guard, certain images have come to stand for a moment in history, or an entire era. On Oct. 13, scholars, journalists, and interested citizens gathered at WPI to discuss the impact of these iconic images on our collective memory and to consider their influence on present-day attitudes. The daylong symposium, "Photography, Media, and Society: the '60s and Beyond," was co-sponsored by WPI and MassHumanites, and presented by the Worcester Art Museum in conjunction with its photo exhibit "Kennedy to Kent State: Images of a Generation." With flashbacks to the Vietnam War era and the struggle for civil rights in the South, speakers showed how highly charged images of one era can resonate across generations. Filmmaker Bestor Cram, a member of Vietnam Veterans Against the War, screened footage from that movement—followed by speak-outs from contemporary warriors disillusioned by their experiences in Afghanistan and Iraq. College of the Holy Cross professor Jerry Lembcke, author of Hanoi Jane and The Spitting Image: Myth, Memory, and the Legacy of Vietnam, discussed how images can be distorted, falsified, and even fabricated. He researched the widespread claim that returning soldiers were spat upon by antiwar protestors and found no photo evidence or news coverage of these incidents. Judy Richardson, who has documented the struggle for racial equality through books and films (including the PBS series Eyes on the Prize) spoke of the grassroots nature of that struggle, which is sometimes overshadowed by ubiquitous images of Martin Luther King. "You did not see the price paid by regular people who organized and sustained [the movement] before national organizations got involved," she said. Standing before a projected black-and-white photograph of young people occupying a segregated lunch counter in Atlanta, Richardson pointed out her 14-year-old self. "In images like this, folks see themselves and understand that people who looked like them were changing the world. That's important, because unless they know that—they don't know they can do it again." 18 Winter 2013 us with more than just a suitcase full of dirty laundry to unpack. WPI's newest digital publication Unpacked gives the WPI community a forum to share and reƃect on their international and intercultural experiences. Assistant director of international students and scholars Colleen CallahanPanday created the magazine as an outlet for all of WPI's world travelers: those who travel to global project centers, as well faculty, staff, and international students. Diving into the digital age, Unpacked allows mass distribution and lets contributors quickly send a link to family back home—even if they're far from home. In "La Vaca Enamorada," professor of Spanish and director of the Buenos Aires Project Center Aarti Smith Madan shares highlights of a restaurant dinner that turned out to be "the icing on our Argentine torta for her and her Language and Culture Immersion students. The eccentric proprietor spared no effort to engage with group, despite his limited English—pulling up a chair to converse and resorting to GoogleTranslator when needed. When it came time to order, he ƃuttered and ƃapped his arms to signify that his ñoquis (gnocchi) were so light they would ƃy like a dove (rather than sitting like a dead weight in the belly). Madan notes, "I'm always eager to showcase the new directions WPI is going with its global initiatives, and I WPI's International & Intercultural Magazine think the Argentina program is a Ƃne example of the Institute's larger Issue 1: Fall 2012 mission." Callahan-Panday hopes this sharing will deepen connections. "We all know there are people with interesting experiences at WPI, but there's so much more we don't know," she says. "We are hoping that having these experiences discussed more widely on campus will help increase dialogue, interest, and interaction." To leap into an international adventure or two, check out Unpacked at wpi.edu/+unpacked. unpacked Inside this issue : Argentina * Bhutan * Costa Rica * Kenya Morocco * Namibia * Paraguay * South Africa * Thailand * US * and more!