Academic

The Scissor Dance is a traditional dance of Peru, often performed during religious and non-religious festivals. As part of the opening of Endangered Languages Week 2012 at SOAS, Jose Navarro (Pishtaco) and Jose Fernandez (Ccory Ccente) performed traditional and contemporary interpretations of the dance. Join us in the home of Pishtaco as he talks to us about the themes and traditions behind the Scissor Dance.

Sand drawing is a unique art form only found in the Vanuatu archipelago in the South Pacific Ocean. They are a unique form of communicational art which represent physical objects as well as stories of the local populace, and are listed by UNESCO as part of the intangible cultural heritage of humanity, in need of safeguarding for future generations Listen as Mike Franjieh, a PhD student of Linguistics who has carried out research in the island of North Ambrym in Vanuatu, describes the drawings and their stories.

How many languages are there in the world? How many are endangered? Are they worth saving, or are they a waste of time? You would be surprised to find out what people think. Join the Linguistics Masters students as they set out to discover what people around London really think about languages and whether or not they are worth saving.

Panel Two: ‘The 21st Century UN and lessons from the origins’ with Prof. Thomas. G Weiss discussing ‘UNRRA, Avant-garde of International Cooperation’ and Sir Richard Jolly on ‘Changing Challenges and Perspectives’. Chaired by Dame Margaret Anstee.

Global campaigns for feminism and de-nuclearisation

Speaker: Felicity Hill

Dr. Leslie Vinjamuri, Professor at the CISD and one of her students, Peter Barrett interviewed Daniel Byman on the topic of his new book as part of the International Relations Speaker Series 2011/2012.

Daniel Byman focuses on counterterrorism and Middle East security. He is also a professor at Georgetown University's Security Studies Program. He served as a staff member on the 9/11 Commission and worked for the U.S. government. His most recent book is A High Price: The Triumphs and Failures of Israeli Counterterrorism.

WaterAid is well known for its eye-catching and hard-hitting advocacy campaigns. In this episode of Sanitation Matters, Yael Velleman describes the work of the international charity and her role there as a senior policy analyst specialising in health and sanitation. She discusses advocacy at the World Health Assembly and WaterAid's involvement in the SHARE consortium, which conducts research on sanitation and hygiene. The links between poor sanitation and violence against women and the challenges ahead are also raised.

In the final Angus Graham Memorial Lecture of 2012, Professor Carine Defoort of the University of Leuven examines the idea of how the master teaches his students, in the Zhuangzi. She starts with reference to how her teacher, Angus Graham, himself taught Zhuangzi. Delivered at SOAS on 23 February 2012.

Surfing Soweto is a documentary film by Sara Blecher set in Soweto, South Africa. It was screened in London at the film festival Film Africa 2011, followed by a lively Q&A with the director about the difficulty in filming train surfing, and the ethics involved in telling the stories of young and disenfranchised South African men. This podcast includes a discussion of the film as well as an interview with the director conducted by Robin Steedman.