Month: October 2011

The Truman chapter of the Spanish Honorary Society (Sigma Delta Pi) and the Colombia Support Network of Kansas City together with the Global Issues Colloquium will present “Indigenous Survival in the 21st Century: A Look at the Embera-Chami Community” on Tuesday, November 1, at 7pm in the SUB Georgian Room B.

Ancizar Gutiérrez and Reynelio Yagari, leaders of the Indigenous Colombian community, the Embera-Chami, will speak about the state of Indigenous rights and the efforts to preserve their traditional way of life in the South American country of Colombia. Their presentation will include traditional music of the Embera-Chami. Gutiérrez and Yagari will discuss how their community has sought to survive amidst an ongoing civil war, widespread drug trafficking, and the pressures of industrial development on their lands.

Following their presentation, there will be a Q/A with the audience. They will be accompanied by Truman alumna Rachel Hogan (’09) of the Colombia Support Network. While at Truman, Rachel worked with Dr. Carol Marshall and Dr. Sergio Escobar to translate the cultural myths of this Indigenous group.

A special Global Issues lecture will be given by Peter Menzel and Faith D’Alusio on Thursday, November 10 at 7:30 pm in Violette Hall 1000. Menzel is a photojournalist known for his coverage of international feature stories on science and the environment, and D’Alusio is a former award-winning television news producer. Since 1996 they have been collaborating on a series of documentary books, beginning with Material World: A Global Family Portrait, and Women in the Material World. Two of their most recent books are Hungry Planet: What the World Eats (2005), and What I Eat: Around the World in 80 Diets (2010). In Hungry Planet, the authors detail one family’s weekly food purchases and total costs in 24 countries, and use thought-provoking interviews. The centerpiece of each chapter is a portrait of the entire family surrounded by a week’s worth of groceries. Hungry Planet won the coveted James Beard Best Book Award in 2006, and in 2005 received Book of the Year from the Harry Chapin World Hunger Media Foundation. What I Eat: Around the World in 80 Diets is a photographic journey across 30 different countries that shows us what 80 people eat in a typical day. Through Menzel and D’Aluisio’s evocative narrative style and exceptional photojournalism, What I Eat shines a far reaching beam of light into the pantries of ordinary individuals, revealing a lot about their culture, economy and way of life. Their lecture at Truman is entitled “Calories and Culture: A Worldwide Photographic Journey.” It will feature images from their award winning books Hungry Planet: What the World Eats and Man Eating Bugs: The Art and Science of Eating Insects. More information about their work can be found at www.menzelphoto.com, and in a recent NY Times article.