This one-credit course consists of a weekly film series + discussions. It is open to all students and community members on a "drop-in" basis. For more information contact Prof. Gwyn Kirk: gkirk@uoregon.edu · office phone: 346-5953

Jan 6          

"Fashion Resistance to Militarism" (Kimberley Alvarenga & Women of Color Resource Center 2006) offers a provocative look at the military's influence on fashion and popular culture (10 mins).

"Arlington West: Voices from War" (Peter Dudar and Sally Marr 2009). Poignant interviews with veterans and military families at the temporary cemetery erected by Vets for Peace on a Southern California beach; shown widely in LA-area schools (41 mins).

Jan 13           

"Caught in Between: What to Call Home in Times of War" (Lina Hoshino 2003) weaves together personal stories of Japanese American internment during WWII with perspectives from Muslim, Arab, and South Asian communities under attack following the attacks of 9/11.  Members of these communities stand together in the hope that mass incarceration of innocent people will not be repeated (25 mins).

"The Cats of Mirikitani"(Linda Hattendorf 2006). Eighty-year-old Tsutomo ("Jimmy") Mirikitani survived the trauma of WWII internment camps and homelessness by creating art. When 9/11 threatened his life on the New York City streets a local filmmaker brought him to her home, which started a life-changing journey for them both in confronting Jimmy's painful past (96 mins).

Jan 20           

"Why We Fight" (Eugene Jarecki 2005) features politicians and military experts who analyze and critique the vast scope and reach of the military-industrial complex in the United States. The title refers to World War II-era newsreels commissioned by the U.S. government to justify the decision to enter the war (98 mins).

Jan 27

"Lioness" (Meg McLagan and Daria Sommers 2008) tells the story of female Army support soldiers involved in the first program in U.S. history to send women into direct ground combat. They fought in some of the bloodiest battles of the Iraq war and are part of this country's first generation of female combat veterans (82 mins).

Includes clips of live combat.

Feb 3            "The Life and Times of Rosie the Riveter" (Connie Field 1980) documents the experiences of 5 women who built ships and planes during WWII, working at jobs previously denied to women. Connie Field weaves interviews with newsreel footage, government-sponsored ads, and archival images in this classic work (65 mins).

Feb 10            "Regret to Inform" (Barbara Sonneborn 2000). In 1968, Barbara Sonneborn received word that her husband had been killed by a mortar in Vietnam. "We regret to inform," the telegram began. Twenty years later, she embarked on a journey in search of the truth about war and its many legacies, including the poignant stories of widows from both sides of the American-Vietnam war (65 mins).

Includes clips of live combat.

            Feb 17           

            "Sin City Diary" (Rachel Rivera 1992) explores the lives of women who worked in bars and clubs around the U.S. Navy base at Subic Bay in the Philippines, and raises important questions about United States' responsibility to this former colony, and the complex relationship between women, prostitution, militarism, and the economy (29 mins).

Short clip on militarism and sex trafficking from "Remote Sensing" (Ursula Biemann 2001), a video project that traces the routes and reasons of women who travel across the globe for work in the sex industry. 

Segment from "Living Along the Fenceline: Women Resisting Militarism and Creating a Culture of Life" (Lina Hoshino 2009), featuring Alma Bulawan of the Buklod Center, Olongapo, Philippines (10 mins).

             Feb 24            

              "A View from a Grain of Sand" (Meena Nanji 2006). Combining verité footage, interviews, and archival material, this documentary, filmed in refugee camps in Pakistan and the war-torn city of Kabul, creates a harrowing, thought-provoking, yet intimate portrait of Afghan women's lives and their determination to resist the crushing effects of militarism and war on their communities (58 mins).

 Mar 3  "Pray the Devil Back to Hell" (Gini Reticker and Abigail Disney 2008)  featuresLiberian women's courageous and creative nonviolent activism as they united across lines of religion, ethnicity, and class to bring an end to their nation's ghastly civil war (78 mins). Includes clips of live combat.

 Mar 10 "Women Confront the Wall" (Omar Nazzal for the Ministry of Women's Affairs, Palestinian National Authority 2004) A report about the effects of Al-Jihar, the Israeli

separation wall, on Palestinian women's lives (21 mins).

"1000 Women and a Dream" (Gabriela Neuhaus and Angelo Scudeletti 2005) features1,000 women from virtually every country in the world who were nominated as a group for the Nobel Peace Prize in 2005, and offers glimpses into the remarkable international organizing and documentation process behind this project (55mins).