Nassau Notes

Filmmaker to screen, discuss her work

Filmmaker Jennifer Reeves will screen and discuss her latest work, “The Time We Killed,” at 4:30 p.m. Tuesday, Feb. 15, in the Stewart Film Theater, 185 Nassau St.

Completed in 2004, the black-and-white experimental feature portrays the life and imaginings of a writer unable to leave her New York City apartment during the months leading up to the U.S.-led invasion of Iraq. It premiered at the Berlin International Film Festival, where it won the first of many prizes it has received, including “Best NY, NY Narrative Feature” at the Tribeca Film Festival.

The event is sponsored by the Program in Visual Arts.

Free speech on campus is topic

A lecture titled “Speech Codes, Censorship and Undue Process: Politics and the Restoration of Free Speech and Liberty on Campus” is set for 4:30 p.m. Monday, Feb. 14, in 104 Computer Science Building.

Speaking will be Donald Downs, professor of political science, law and journalism at the University of Wisconsin-Madison and a research fellow at the Independent Institute in Oakland, Calif.

Downs is the author of “Nazis in Skokie: Freedom, Community and the First Amendment,” “The New Politics of Pornography” and “More Than Victims: Battered Women, the Syndrome Society and the Law.” He currently is writing a book on the Cornell student uprising of 1969, which he calls “the watershed event for the rise of a new conception of the university … and contemporary challenges to liberal principles of education.”

His talk, an Alpheus Mason Lecture in Constitutional Law and Political Thought, is sponsored by the James Madison Program in American Ideals and Institutions.

Panel planned on Ukraine

Apanel discussion on “What Happened in Ukraine and Why You Should Care” is scheduled for 4:30 p.m. Monday, Feb. 14, in 16 Robertson Hall.

Panelists discussing the recent political events in that country will include: Oxana Shevel, assistant professor of political science at Purdue University; Joshua Tucker, assistant professor of politics and international affairs at Princeton; and Lucan Way, postdoctoral fellow at the Weatherhead Center for International Affairs and assistant professor of political science at Temple University.

The event is sponsored by the Woodrow Wilson School of Public and International Affairs.

Times writer assesses Middle East reporting

New York Times reporter and former Jerusalem bureau chief James Bennet will present a lecture on “Reporting From the Middle East: Whose Truth?” at 4:30 p.m. Tuesday, Feb. 15, in Dodds Auditorium, Robertson Hall.

A Times reporter since 1994, Bennet became the newspaper’s Jerusalem bureau chief in 2001 and has reported on a broad span of politically sensitive issues related to the Arab-Israeli conflict. In May 2004, he was the subject of an attempted kidnapping by Palestinians in Gaza, while he tried to cover a story.

The lecture is sponsored by the Woodrow Wilson School of Public and International Affairs and is part of the “Journalists Writing the World” series moderated by Professor Gary Bass.

University talent showcased Feb. 17

Members of the University community will showcase their talent in a benefit performance, “This Is Princeton,” at 8 p.m. Thursday, Feb. 17, in Richardson Auditorium, Alexander Hall.

Faculty and staff members, undergraduate and graduate students and alumni will participate in segments ranging from readings and musical offerings to dance and stand-up comedy. The event is designed to highlight the rich arts culture on campus and is open to the public.

Among those on the program are: Pulitzer Prize-winning poet and faculty member C.K. Williams, who will conduct a reading; noted photographer and faculty member Emmet Gowin, who will lead a photography presentation; the Nassoons, Princeton’s oldest a cappella singing group; a jazz quartet of alumni from 1956-60; Sympoh, Princeton’s urban arts troupe; and Tom Harrits, a senior who is a stand-up comedian.

Tickets are $6 for students and $10 for others and are available through University Ticketing at <www.princeton.edu/utickets/> or by calling the Richardson box office at 258-5000. Proceeds will go to benefit Princeton-area youth arts programs through Community House.

The event is sponsored by the Undergraduate Student Government Projects Board and the Office of the Dean of Undergraduate Students.

Author to describe ‘new kind of science’

Stephen Wolfram, author of “A New Kind of Science,” will speak at 6 p.m. Wednesday, Feb. 16, in McCosh 50.

Wolfram has spent more than 20 years developing a new approach to science that focuses on studying the rules embodied in simple computer programs rather than traditional mathematical equations. He described his approach for the first time in his 2002 book, which quickly became a bestseller.

In his presentation, Wolfram will cover some of the key ideas, outline their implications and discuss their personal and historical context. A question-and-answer period will follow.

The lecture is sponsored by the School of Architecture.

Oates reads ‘The Falls’

Joyce Carol Oates will read and talk about her work at 5 p.m. Wednesday, Feb. 16, in 101 McCormick.

The author of more than 100 books, Oates is the Roger S. Berlind ’52 Professor in the Humanities at Princeton. Her newest novel, “The Falls,” one of the New York Times “Notable Books” of 2004, will be the focus of this reading.

The reading is sponsored by the Council of the Humanities. Admittance will begin at 4:30 p.m. for holders of Princeton ID cards and at 4:50 for the general public. The talk will be simulcast in McCosh 10, where there will be open admission.

Program in Theater and Dance’s annual Spring Dance Festival

Sophomore Natasha Kalimada will be among the students performing in the Program in Theater and Dance’s annual Spring Dance Festival Feb. 18-20 at the Berlind Theatre. This year’s festival is directed by Ze’eva Cohen, head of dance, and co-directed by faculty member Rebecca Lazier. It features 33 students performing in choreography by Cohen, Lazier and colleague Dyane Harvey; guest choreographer Regina Nejman; and selected students, including Kalimada, shown here rehearsing her piece, “Awakening.” Curtain times are at 8 p.m. Friday and Saturday, Feb. 18-19, and 2 and 7 p.m. Sunday, Feb. 20. For tickets, contact the McCarter box office at 258-2787 or University Ticketing at <www.princeton.edu/utickets>.

Contributing architect of Patriot Act speaks

A lecture on “The USA Patriot Act and Civil Liberties Since 9/11” is set for 4:30 p.m. Thursday, Feb. 17, in 16 Robertson Hall.

Speaking will be Viet Dinh, professor of law and co-director of Asian law and policy studies at the Georgetown University Law Center. From 2001 to 2003, Dinh left Georgetown to serve as the assistant attorney general for the U.S. Department of Justice’s Office of Legal Policy. He was charged with the evaluation of the Department of Justice priorities, policies and practices post-9/11, and played an integral role in the development of the USA Patriot Act and revision of the attorney general’s guidelines.

The lecture is sponsored by the Woodrow Wilson School of Public and International Affairs, and is one in a series leading up to the April 23-24 Princeton Colloquium on Public and International Affairs.

Omar Sosa and his quartet will perform

Renowned Cuban jazz pianist Omar Sosa and his quartet will perform at 8 p.m. Friday, Feb. 18, in Richardson Auditorium, Alexander Hall. Sosa stretches his genre-expanding fusion with the use of traditional vocals and instruments from the Gnawa culture of North Africa. The concert is presented by the Program in Latin American Studies, Princeton University Concerts, the Program in African American Studies, the Program in African Studies and the Princeton Institute for International and Regional Studies. Tickets are available through the Richardson box office at 258-5000 or University Ticketing at <www.princeton.edu/utickets/>.