Southeast Missouri State University student publication

Southeast kicks off Carpe Diem and International Education Week with film series

Tuesday, November 10, 2020
Instructor of Chinese and Chinese History Shu-Chuan Wang-McGrath hosts the first film, “King of Masks,” at the International Film Series on Thursday, Nov. 5. The film series occurs in Rose Theater every Thursday until Thanksgiving break.
Photo by Beau Nations

Southeast began their International Film Series as part of Carpe Diem and International Education Week on Thursday, Nov. 5. The week aims to “showcase the people and cultures of the countries represented at Southeast and to give us all a better, more sophisticated understanding of the world around us,” according to the Carpe Diem website.

The film series takes place every Thursday at Rose Theater in the Grauel building until Thanksgiving break. Panelists with expertise in different cultures including Chinese, Cuban and Nepalese cultures selected the three movies shown during the month. The next two movies in the series are “Un Traductor” on Nov. 12 and “Searching for Nepal” on Nov. 19.

Traditionally, Carpe Diem and International Education Week occur throughout one week, but this year is different due to the inability to host an event for large gatherings of people.

“We decided to come up with a month-long celebration of different things that we can do that achieve the same goals that Carpe Diem is normally trying to accomplish,” Executive Director of International Education and Services Dr. Kevin Timlin said. “This is the first year that we’ve added the film series as part of International Education Week.”

After the showing of each film, a panel discussion will round out the evening. The panel consists of people who are connected to the culture shown in the film. The panel discussions are streamed on the International Education & Services at Southeast’s Facebook page.

“Learning about culture and developing intercultural competence is an intentional process that takes effort,” Timlin said. “You need to think about it, you need to process, you need additional context. I wanted to have the ability to have a discussion after the film, in order to give people a deeper understanding of what they just saw, and give them the ability to process it or contextualize it.”

The first movie of the International Film Series was “The King of Masks,” and was hosted by Professor Shu-Chuan Wang-McGrath, instructor of Chinese and Chinese history at Southeast.

“The biggest issue that is discussed in this film is gender issues, and I myself came from a very grass-roots background,” Wang-McGrath said. “This film depicts the storyline back in 1930 in China and even though the society progressed, did we really get rid of the gender inequalities? I don’t think so. It is still an ongoing issue that we can bring back to make ourselves aware of that and discuss it.”

Students can watch the films in-person at the event or stream them remotely at their own leisure through Kent Library’s free streaming platform, Kanopy. A Southeast log-in is required for access. Admission to the film series is free, and refreshments are provided by the Student Activities Council.

For more information on Southeast’s Carpe Diem and International Education Week, visit their website.

For access to Kent Library’s streaming platform, Kanopy, visit their website.

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