Kites Over Peru: Bruce Owen's Aerial Adventures in Archaeology, March 21

Bruce Owen has combined kites and archaeology into a fascinating pursuit of ancient South American treasures. The adjunct professor will discuss his research methods in a lecture called "An Archeologist Flies His Kite: Kite Aerial Photography in Peru," from noon to 1 p.m. on Tuesday, March 21 in Stevenson 2011. The program is the first lecture from the Brown Bag Series of the School of Social Sciences.

Satellite imagery and air photos from planes are great, but to clearly see archaeological sites or other human-scale things, one needs to fly lower, Owen says. One solution is to hang a camera from a kite. Last summer, Owen used kite-aerial photography to take pictures of archaeological sites and excavations in Peru. He made photographic maps by combining shots into mosaics. Owen will show how it works, from the kite and homemade hardware through the computer work, along with the pros and cons and practical experience.

For a look at the rest of the Brown Bag series from the School of Social Science, visit http://www.sonoma.edu/socsci/get_involved/brown_bag_lectures.htm.

A&H Forum Looks at Two Legends - El Cid and Ali

The theme of the Arts & Humanities Forum on Thursday, March 23 is "Legends" and the speakers look at the lives of El Cid and Mohammed Ali. Two relatively new faculty, Tania deMiguel Magro and Michael Ezra, will discuss their research.

Tania de Miguel Magro (Modern Languages & Literatures)
“El Cid: The Legend”

Since the Middle Ages, El Cid has probably been the most popular Spanish national hero. Legend transformed the historical 11th century mercenary into a perfect Castilian Christian warrior, who devoted his life to serving the monarchy and fighting the Muslim invaders. During his lifetime, there were already songs and poems celebrating his exploits. Ever since then this figure has been part of the national imagination. In Spain, El Cid: La leyenda (The legend) achieved a record audience for a national animation film. Tania de Miguel Magro's talk examines this film and its portrayal of El Cid in the context of modern Spain, a country that considers itself multicultural and modern. "It is a film clearly shaped after the Disney industry," she says. "But what all this Disney-like fantasy has not left behind is the proclamation of a traditional set of values: Castile, honor, unity, and the Muslim as the bad guy."

Michael Ezra (American Multicultural Studies)
“What I’ve Learned from Studying Muhammad Ali”

Ezra says "Since I have been an undergraduate, I have been researching the life and
times of Muhammad Ali. Through this research, I have not only learned a
lot about American politics and culture, but also about myself." He explains more at the lecture.