The Freeman Spogli Institute for International Studies is proud to co-present films with the 14th UNAFF (United Nations Association Film Festival): Education is a Human Right.

The panel "Studying or Working: A Young Person's Dilemma" begins at 5:15 following the screening of the following two films:

4:30 PM film screening, "GRACE" (Philippines) 23 mins

Thirteen-­‐year-­‐old Mary-­‐Grace Rapatan has lived on a garbage dump in the Philippines her entire life, picking through mountains of trash to help feed her family. She is trapped in a cycle of poverty, but Mary-­‐Grace is determined to give herself a better future by getting an education. She scavenges on weekends to pay for school, but a family tragedy soon takes hold. While in Grade 5, Mary-­‐Grace’s father, the family’s provider, has a stroke. The girl is left a choice: quit school or starve. She begins scavenging eight hours a day on the Umapad garbage dump so her family can afford rice. Footage from a head-­‐ camera worn by Mary-­‐Grace gives us a close and disturbing look at the conditions of the Umapad garbage dump. After months of scavenging in the heat only to make about a dollar a day, Mary-­‐Grace begins wondering if she’ll ever have a second chance to build a future for her family. This film shows us the enormous burden one girl must carry, and the power education has to give children hope for the future. 

Director: Meagan Kelly
Producers: Rouven Steinfeld, Florian Hoffman

5:00 PM film screening: "White Gold: The True Cost of Cotton" (UK/Uzbekistan) 8 mins

White Gold tells the story of the true cost of cotton. Largely filmed undercover, this film exposes how each year schools are closed and tens of thousands of children are forced by the Uzbek government to work in the fields for months at a time. Uzbekistan in Central Asia is the world’s third largest exporter of cotton. Europe is one of its biggest buyers. The state controlled cotton industry makes billions of dollars for the governing elite but little of this benefits the rest of the population. A third are forced to work in modern day slavery to produce this white gold. Many are children. Tens of thousands of children, some as young as seven, are taken out of school and forced to work in the cotton fields for little or no money during the harvest. The period can last up to three months, during which older children live in dormitories or classrooms under harsh conditions. The combined effect of exhausting work, a poor diet, lack of clean water and exposure to toxic pesticides has a dramatic impact on health. These children are also missing out on vital education to pick cotton for the world’s fashion industry.

Director/Producer: Environmental Justice Foundation 

The Freeman Spogli Institute for International Studies is proud to co-present films with the 14th UNAFF (United Nations Association Film Festival): Education is a Human Right.

The panel, “Teachers’ Pay as a Factor in Education Quality” begins at 6:00pm following the 4:15 film screening of "American Teacher" (80 min).

About the film

American Teacher narrated by Matt Damon chronicles the stories of four teachers -­‐ Erik Benner, Jonathan Dearman, Jamie Fidler, and Rhena Jasey -­‐ who live and work in disparate urban and rural areas of the country. By following these teachers as they reach different milestones in their careers, the film tells the deeper story of the teaching profession in America today. The film shows us the experience of these four young teachers as they recognize the importance of what they do, and how much they love what they do, but ask: can I afford to continue to teach?

Directors: Vanessa Roth, Brian McGinn
Producers: Nínive Calegari, Dave Eggers, Vanessa Roth 

The lecture is co-sponsored by the Abbasi Program in Islamic Studies, CDDRL Program on Arab Reform and Democracy and Stanford Humanities Center

This lecture will assess the social-economic and political roots of the ongoing revolutionary process in the MENA region in light of the explanation of revolutions as expressions of the contradiction between the development of productive forces, the mode of production and the political structure. It will address the variety of situations and processes in MENA as related to the differences in social structures and types of states. The social dynamics of the revolutionary process will be examined, pointing to the social-political nature of the forces involved – whether those forces that pre-existed the upheaval or the new forces that emerged during the upheaval. Finally, it will reflect on the perspectives of the process at the regional level.

 Gilbert Achcar is Professor of Development Studies and International Relations at the School of Oriental and African Studies (SOAS) of the University of London, where he is based since 2007, after Beirut, Paris and Berlin. He is the author of several books on politics and international relations in general, and the Middle East and North Africa in particular, including most recently The Clash of Barbarisms: The Making of the New World Disorder (2006), Perilous Power: The Middle East and U.S. Foreign Policy (co-authored with Noam Chomsky, 2007), and The Arabs and the Holocaust: The Arab-Israeli War of Narratives (2010).

The complex triangular relationship between China, Taiwan, and the United States has a long and storied history, and most recently, China’s meteoric economic rise has forced a reconsideration of positions by all parties involved. China is on target to become the largest world economy in terms of purchasing power parity within the next decade, and this explosive economic growth is coupled with military expansion that challenges the existing security circumstances in the region. These developments, in turn, have put Taiwan on a path towards economic dependence, international isolation, and security threats, and Beijing’s increasing leverage in Washington allows for yet further indirect influence on cross-Strait relations.

Dr. Yeong-kuang Ger will discuss the background surrounding these issues to provide a context for analysis on the future of this important triangular relationship, and will address in particular the policy moves made by all three parties in adjustment to this changing status quo, as well as the strategy of President Ma’s administration since his election in 2008. Dr. Ger will conclude with a discussion of the implications of these developments for the United States moving forward, with an emphasis on Taiwan’s geopolitical importance to the peace and prosperity of the region as a whole.

Dr. Yeong-kuang Ger is a Member of the Control Yuan of the Republic of China, and a Professor in the Department of Political Science and the Graduate Institute of National Development at National Taiwan University. Dr. Ger received his undergraduate degree from National Taiwan University, and his Ph.D. from the Department of Political Science at the University of Wisconsin-Madison. In 2009 he was awarded the Freedom Medal of Honor by the Philippine Council for World Freedom. 

In addition to his responsibilities with the Yuan and NTU, he acts as a Board Member of the American Association for Chinese Studies; and he is also a Member of the Review Committee, Center for Asian Studies, Chu Hai College in Hong Kong. Dr Ger has authored nine books and over 80 journal articles and conference papers on politics, culture, development and security in Taiwan and East Asia. His recent books include: Political Parties and Electoral Politics (2011); Security Challenges in the Asia Pacific Region: The Taiwan Factor with M.J. Vinod and S.Y. Surendra Kumar (2009); Ideology and Development: Dr. Sun Yat-sen’s Thoughts and Taiwan’s Developmental Experience (2005); and Party Politics and Democratic Development (2001).