Eckerd College offers myriad activities and programs as a service to the community. All events are held on the Eckerd College campus and are free and open to the public, unless otherwise stated.
Eckerd College is located at 4200 54th Avenue South in St. Petersburg. Programs and events are subject to change. For more information, email events@eckerd.edu, visit eckerd.edu/events or call 727.864.7979. To see all International Cinema Series at Eckerd College offerings, visit eckerd.edu/international-cinema.
SPEAKERS
Evicted: An Evening With Matthew Desmond
Mon., October 2, 7:30 p.m., Fox Hall
Matthew Desmond, Ph.D., professor of sociology at Princeton University and the Class of 1968 Distinguished Visiting Scholar at Eckerd College, was awarded a 2017 Pulitzer Prize in general nonfiction for writing Evicted: Poverty and Profit in the American City. At Eckerd, he will discuss his research involving eight families from Milwaukee, which focuses on a topic largely unexplored: the role of rising rents and rampant evictions in feeding a cycle of poverty and despair in the U.S.
Sponsored by the Class of 1968 Distinguished Visiting Scholar Endowment in partnership with the Foundations Collegium as part of the Presidential Events Series at Eckerd College
To End Hunger, Begin With Democracy
Tues., October 10, 7:30 p.m., Fox Hall
Frances Moore Lappé—author or co-author of 18 books about world hunger, living democracy, and the environment—will share her knowledge about the deep connection between a functioning democracy and a prosperous people. Her writing career started with the three-million-copies-sold Diet for a Small Planet in 1971 and has extended to her new book, Daring Democracy: Igniting Power, Meaning, and Connection for the America We Want, co-authored with Adam Eichen (Beacon Press, Sept. 2017). Lappé received the Right Livelihood Award (considered an “Alternative Nobel Prize”) “for revealing the political and economic causes of world hunger and how citizens can help to remedy them.”
Sponsored by the Albert and Marie Roth Endowed Lecture Series on Peace and Justice and the Col. Christian L. and Edna M. March International Relations Lecture Series as part of the Center for Spiritual Life Burchenal Lecture Series and the Presidential Events Series at Eckerd College
Michael A. Grego, Superintendent of Pinellas County Schools
Thurs., October 12, 4 p.m., Lewis House
As an educator for 35 years, Michael Grego was chosen to lead Pinellas County Schools just a few years before the district made national headlines for the serious problems facing five elementary schools in south St. Petersburg. Since then, he has been working with the school board and local leaders to try to turn around the negative trends in that community.
Sponsored by the Academy of Senior Professionals at Eckerd College (ASPEC)
What the End of White Christian America Means for Our Shared Sense of National Identity
Thurs., October 12, 7:30 p.m., Fox Hall
Drawing on decades of social science research, Robert P. Jones, Ph.D., CEO and founder of the Public Religion Research Institute and author of The End of White Christian America, argues that today’s most divisive debates—over immigration, the rise of white supremacy groups, and police violence—can be understood only against the backdrop of demographic, religious, and cultural transformations that are challenging longstanding assumptions about what it means to be an American. If we are to continue to make one out of many, we will need both leadership and practices that can help us all step back from the reactivity of the present and take up the more arduous task of weaving a new national narrative in which all Americans can see themselves.
Part of the Center for Spiritual Life Burchenal Lecture Series and the Presidential Events Series at Eckerd College
Cultural Appropriation Workshop
Fri., October 13, 7 p.m., Fox Hall
David Romero—Mexican-American spoken word artist, author and activist—uses this interactive workshop to teach participants about various forms of cultural appropriation and how to distinguish between cultural appropriation, cultural assimilation and cultural appreciation.
Sponsored by Eckerd’s Latinos Unidos and Multicultural Affairs Office as part of the Presidential Events Series
Learning to Champion Respect
Thurs., October 19, 7 p.m., Dan and Mary Miller Auditorium
Nevin Caple is a nationally sought-after consultant and speaker on issues related to LGBT inclusion and sports. She works with college, professional and club teams and their coaches and administrators across the country. Join Caple for this lively discussion about how Eckerd can continue to be proactive in its work to welcome all students—not just into our classrooms and residence halls but onto our playing fields and courts as well.
Sponsored by Eckerd’s Office of Advocacy and Gender Justice, Triton Athletics, and Dean of Students along with the Eckerd College Organization of Students (ECOS) as part of the College Program Series
Confederate Monuments in the South: Place, Memory and Lingering Wounds
Mon., October 23, 7 p.m., Miller Auditorium
Lee Irby, author and visiting professor of history and American studies at Eckerd College, discusses recent news of cities trying to handle the legacy of the Civil War and the monuments that were erected to glorify the Lost Cause. His new book, Unreliable, is set in Richmond, Va., where the largest of these controversial statues resides.
Part of the Presidential Events Series at Eckerd College
Love, Home and Permaculture: Plenitud Farm Puerto Rico
Thurs., October 26, 7:30 p.m, Fox Hall
Owen Ingley and Paoli Garrido operate the Plenitud teaching center, an eco-educational organization located in Las Marias, Puerto Rico, that specializes in permaculture, bio-construction and sustainable community service projects. The center is dedicated to the research and demonstration of organic agriculture and sustainable practices. The layout, methodology and development of the farm have been primarily guided by permaculture design principles—emphasizing soil conservation, responsible water management, renewable energy and natural building. Ingley and Garrido, who established the farm in 2010, will share their vision of how permaculture and love can help us establish sustainable communities.
Sponsored by the Office of Service-Learning, Center for Spiritual Life, and Religious Studies discipline at Eckerd College as part of the College Program Series
ART
The Ninth Annual Interdisciplinary Arts Show
Works From Eckerd College’s Permanent Collection
Sun., October 29–Fri., November 3, Cobb Gallery
Gallery Hours: Monday–Friday, 10:30 a.m.–4:30 p.m.
Our junior interdisciplinary arts students showcase their works in this annual portfolio exhibition.
FILM
Personal Shopper
Fri., October 6, 7 p.m., Dan and Mary Miller Auditorium
Directed by Olivier Assayas (English, French and Swedish with English subtitles, 105 min., 2017)
Our Halloween season begins with this enigmatic ghost story starring Kristen Stewart as a high-fashion personal shopper to the stars who is determined to make contact with her recently deceased twin brother.
Part of the Eckerd College International Cinema Series
Racing Extinction
Wed., October 11, 7 p.m., Dan and Mary Miller Auditorium
Directed by Louise Psihoyos (English, 94 min., 2015)
This award-winning film details the effects of the mass anthropogenic extinction of species and the efforts made by scientists, activists and journalists to understand and combat it.
Sponsored by the Eckerd College Organization of Students (ECOS) as part of the College Program Series
Creepy
Fri., Oct. 20, 7 p.m., Dan and Mary Miller Auditorium
Directed by Kiyoshi Kurosawa (Japanese with English subtitles, 130 min., 2016)
One year after a botched negotiation with a serial killer, a former detective takes a new job at a university, where he and his wife hope to leave the past behind. He is drawn into the investigation of an open case by a former colleague and becomes increasingly convinced that his strange new neighbor is somehow connected to the case.
Part of the Eckerd College International Cinema Series
After Spring: Documentary and Discussion
Tues., October 24, 7 p.m., Dan and Mary Miller Auditorium
Directed by Steph Ching and Ellen Martinez (English, Arabic and Korean with English subtitles, 102 min., 2016)
Join us to watch a documentary that follows two refugee families in transition, and aid workers fighting to keep the camp running. Viewers will experience what it’s like to live in Zaatari, the largest camp for Syrian refugees. After the documentary, the Eckerd Student Refugee Alliance will lead a thoughtful discussion on the most recent developments related to the refugee experience in the United States.
Sponsored by the Eckerd College Student Refugee Alliance as part of the College Program Series
Shin Godzilla (Godzilla Resurgence)
Fri., October 27, 7 p.m., Dan and Mary Miller Auditorium
Directed by Hideaki Anno and Shinji Higuchi (Japanese with English subtitles, 120 min., 2016)
The king of the monsters is back in Tokyo for a city-crushing crusade that both updates and pays homage to the original. Released by the Toho Company, which started it all with their groundbreaking and earth-shattering release of Gojira in 1954.
Part of the Eckerd College International Cinema Series
Dark Girls
Tues., October 31, 7 p.m., Dan and Mary Miller Auditorium
Directed by Bill Duke and D. Channsin Berry (English, 75 min., 2011)
This film examines the prejudice and discrimination that darker-skinned Black women face. It advances that colorism is a crucial component of racism, wherein darker-skinned women face harsher social penalties than lighter-skinned people within and outside of Black communities. A discussion will follow the film showing.
Sponsored by the Eckerd College Women’s Resource Center as part of the College Program Series
THEATRE
Live HD St. Pete Events
Get your tickets at livehdstpete.com—$25 for the general public and $22 for members of the Academy of Senior Professionals at Eckerd College (ASPEC) and the Osher Lifelong Learning Institute (OLLI).
Live HD St. Pete: Norma
An Opera by Vincenzo Bellini
Sat., October 7, 12:55 p.m., Dan and Mary Miller Auditorium
Set in Gaul (France) at the beginning of its occupation by the Roman Empire, a powerful woman (Sondra Radvanovsky) compromises her ideals for love, only to find herself betrayed by her lover. But equally gripping is her relationship with the younger woman (Joyce DiDonato) who is the new object of her former lover’s attention and in whom Norma sees both a rival and a second self. The title role of this archetypal bel canto opera demands dramatic vocal power combined with the agility and technique of a coloratura singer. Conductor Carlo Rizzi takes on a daunting challenge that few can rise to—those who have are part of operatic lore.
Live HD St. Pete: No Man’s Land
A Play by Harold Pinter
Fri., October 13, 1:30 p.m., Dan and Mary Miller Auditorium
Following their hit run on Broadway, Ian McKellen and Patrick Stewart return to the West End stage in Harold Pinter’s No Man’s Land, broadcast live to cinemas from Wyndham’s Theatre, London. One summer evening, two aging writers, Hirst and Spooner, meet in a Hampstead pub and continue their drinking into the night at Hirst’s stately house nearby. As the pair become increasingly inebriated, and their stories increasingly unbelievable, the lively conversation turns into a revealing power game, further complicated by the return home of two sinister younger men. The broadcast will be followed by an exclusive Q&A with the cast and director Sean Mathias.
Live HD St. Pete: Die Zauberflöte
An Opera by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart
Sat., October 14, 12:55 p.m., Dan and Mary Miller Auditorium
Die Zauberflöte—a sublime fairy tale set in Egypt that moves freely between earthy comedy and noble mysticism—was written for a theater located just outside Vienna with the clear intention of appealing to audiences from all walks of life. The story is told in a Singspiel (“song-play”) format characterized by separate musical numbers connected by dialogue and stage activity, an excellent structure for navigating the diverse moods, ranging from solemn to lighthearted, of the story and score. The composer and the librettist were both Freemasons—the fraternal order whose membership is held together by shared moral and metaphysical ideals—and Masonic imagery is used throughout the work. The story, however, is as universal as any fairy tale.