September 11, 2023
K-State First Book additional fall programming on 'They Called Us Enemy'
K-State First Book announces additional fall programming for the 2023 common book, "They Called Us Enemy."
All events are free and open to the public unless otherwise noted.
Thursday, Sept. 7, 5:30-7 p.m., Marianna Kistler Beach Museum of Art. K-State Student Welcome Event featuring the 2023 Common Works of Art. The event features Sumi painting, visual thinking strategy discussions of the Common Works of Art, a video of Roger Shimomura's "Memories of Childhood," The Suitcase — an activity based on the relocation experience, resources and other accounts of life in the camps, additional materials on Roger Shimomura, and refreshments. Sponsored by the Beach Museum of Art.
Sunday, Sept. 10, 8 p.m., outside of Hale Library; rain location: Town Hall, Leadership Studies Building. Movies on the Grass: "To Be Takei." "Together with his husband, Brad, actor-activist George Takei parlays his remarkable acting career and wicked sense of humor into a new role as a beloved pop-culture icon and internet phenomenon." Sponsored by Movies on the Grass and others.
Sept. 12, 5:30-6:30 p.m., Regnier Hall Forum, 1117 Regnier Hall, and Zoom. "Places of Memory." Join APDesign for a panel centered on memorialization, cultural history, and remaking home after disaster. This panel serves as the APDPro Kickoff Event (APDesign's professional development program for students) and is open to the entire K-State community. Sponsored by the College of Architecture, Planning, & Design.
Sunday, Sept. 17, 8 p.m., outside of Hale Library; rain location: Town Hall, Leadership Studies Building. Movies on the Grass: "Betrayed: Surviving an American Concentration Camp." "Discover the story of a group of Japanese Americans and their incarceration by the U.S. government during World War II. Through the compelling voices of survivors of Minidoka, a concentration camp in the Idaho desert, 'Betrayed' tells a universal story about unjust incarceration and the loss of civil rights." Sponsored by Movies on the Grass and others.
Thursday, Sept. 21, noon to 1 p.m., Zoom. K-State MANRRS and "They Called Us Enemy." Join the K-State Minorities in Agriculture, Natural Resources, and Related Sciences, or MANRRS, Chapter as we dive into a conversation about the book "They Called Us Enemy." Register for the Zoom link. Sponsored by MANRRS. Part of the Fall 2023 K-State MANRRS Week.
Thursday, Sept. 21, 3-5 p.m., Justin Hall Room 109. "Drawing on Your Power to be an Everyday Peace Builder." Join the Applied Human Sciences department for a panel from 4-5 p.m. focusing on the dynamics of being in a multicultural society, understanding the trauma people experience traversing between cultures, and empowering people to be everyday peace builders. Prior to the panel, from 3-4 p.m. in Hoffman Lounge in Justin Hall, you are invited to view visual representations of pivotal moments in their lives and/or how they want to be a change agent and enjoy some refreshments, and create your own addition to the visual representation. Sponsored by the College of Health and Human Sciences.
Thursday, Sept. 21-28, College of Engineering atrium, Hale Library, and the Morrison Family Multicultural Center. Make a Wish — K-State Star Festival. Turn the light of truth on the wrongs/hurts by sharing the hidden stories of wrongs: injustice, discrimination, institutionalized or individual microaggressions, negative stereotypes, lower expectations, and more gathered from our own community. After learning from those stories, the participants will write their wishes on colorful strips of paper and hang them on a Tanabata bamboo branch in hopes that their wishes for a better future will come true. We also will learn from others' perspectives by reading their wishes. Sponsored by the Global Engineer Program, Carl R. Ice College of Engineering.
Monday, Sept. 25, 3-4:30 p.m., Zoom. Professional Development Workshop: The Foundations of SAFE Zone to Address Belonging. SAFE Zone serves as a foundation for recognizing differences in a non-threatening way while being a launching point for building intercultural relationships. Workshop leader: Debra Bolton. Register at tinyurl.com/ksfb2023bolton. Sponsored by the Office of Diversity, Equity, Inclusion and Belonging.
Sunday, Oct. 1, 8 p.m., outside of Hale Library; rain location: Town Hall, Leadership Studies Building. Movies on the Grass: "A Whale of a Tale." "The camera delves into the lives of local whalers, global activists and an American journalist in the 'whale and dolphin killing town' of Taiji, Japan, revealing not everything is as black and white as it seems." Sponsored by Movies on the Grass and others.
Tuesday, Oct. 10, noon to 12:50 p.m., Beohringer Engelheim Annimal Health Auditorium — between Mosier Hall and Trotter Hall — College of Veterinary Medicine complex and Zoom. Intercultural and Inclusion Lunch and Learn session. Japanese American faculty will present on aspects of Japanese culture. Zoom link: tinyurl.com/ksfb2023vetmed. Meeting ID: 936 7344 1625. Passcode: VetMed. Sponsored by the College of Veterinary Medicine.
Tuesday, Nov. 7, 4:30-6 p.m., Zoom. Lecture by Ken Mochizuki. Author and illustrator Ken Mochizuki will speak about his work for young readers. Mochizuki is the son of parents who were sent to an internment camp during World War II. Their experiences in the camp inspired him to write the award-winning picture book "Baseball Saved Us." In his talk, he will concentrate on disrupting stereotypes, prejudice and racism. Register for the Zoom link at tinyurl.com/ksfb2023coe. Sponsored by the College of Education.
Wednesday, Nov. 8, 3-4 p.m., Hemisphere Room, fifth floor, Hale Library. What effect did World War II and the Japanese internment have on Japan-U.S. relations in the decades that followed? One example from Kansas State University is the famed glassblower Mitsugi Ohno, who immigrated with his family to Manhattan in 1961. Come to a panel discussion that will explore this topic and connect it locally and personally. One panelist will be Ohno's son, Tsutomu, who was born in Tokyo and was six years old when his family came here. The second panelist will be David A. Graff, Pickett Professor of Military History and chair of the history department at K-State. His main teaching fields are Chinese and Japanese history. After the panel, attendees will be able to enjoy a small pop-up exhibit of samples from Mitsugi Ohno's papers in the university archives as well as some examples of his work and glassblowing tools. Light refreshments will be served. Sponsored by K-State Libraries Special Collections and the history department, with support from the Dow Center for Multicultural Studies
Thursday, Nov. 9, noon to 1 p.m., Hale Library 181. "Historical and Mathematical Influences in the Works of Nakamura, Asawa, and Obata." Natasha Rozhkovskaya, professor of mathematics, will speak on Kazuo Nakamura, Ruth Asawa and Gyo Obata — two artists and an architect — whose lives were shaped by the 1942 Executive Order of Internment. Uniting them in a different way is a thread of math influence on their work. Join us to discover these artists and explore the ways mathematics intersects with their creations. Sponsored by the mathematics department. Part of the online Arts and Math Seminar.
"We are grateful to our campus partners for organizing an amazing selection of events to broaden our understanding of 'They Called Us Enemy' and the experiences that George Takei shares," said Karin Westman, department head of English and chair of the K-State First Book PR/Events Committee. "We encourage members of the K-State and Manhattan communities to contact K-State First Book when they organize an event that resonates with the 2023 selection and its themes, so we can recognize their contribution to the conversation."
Visit K-State First Book for more information about Takei's book and the K-State First Book program.