As a part of women’s history month, the Digital Media Center (DMC) held a talk on the role of women in the video game community on Feb. 5. The talk was titled “Pretty Dolls or Rational Actors?” and was given by Bridget M. Blodgett, an assistant professor at the University of Baltimore in the Simulation and Digital Entertainment program.
Kendrick Lamar has been in the public eye for the past five years and has undergone a meteoric rise in popularity in the last three. In his breakout studio album good kid, m.A.A.d city, Lamar paid his respects to multiple west coast icons including Dr. Dre. Years later, Lamar holds notoriety that rivals that of Dre’s considerable clout in the rap industry.
The English Club hosted an Ides of March party in the Tudor & Stuart Room in Gilman on March 9. The event, which commemorated the day that Julius Caesar was assassinated in 44 B.C.E., included elements of both Roman and Shakespearean literature, with allusions to the play written by the Bard in the 16th century. The event appealed to students of all majors and varying degrees of knowledge about Caesar and Shakespeare.
Baltimore’s Charles Theatre is currently showing the Hungarian film Son of Saul in the wake of the film’s Oscar victory in the category of “Best Foreign Language Film.” The movie, which is director László Nemes’ feature film debut, follows a Hungarian-Jewish man, Saul Ausländer, as he navigates the living hell of Auschwitz.
The JHU Pride and The Arts, Entertainment, Media and Entrepreneurship Affinity Group (AEMA Affinity) presented a showing of the documentary We Do: After Marriage Equality on March 3. The JHU Pride is a group that works to create a community for Hopkins’ LGTBQ alumni and the AEMA Affinity for alumni to connect with one another and discover new resources and information through their former classmates.
The movie was directed by Rick Famuyiwa and tells the story of three Inglewood teenagers who, in their battle against adversity fought from the depths of social exile, get involved with some drugs — not in the after-school special sense, just in the sense that it’s an issue. The cast is headlined by Shameik Moore as Malcolm, a geek with a passion for the ‘90s. He is flanked by Tony Revolori and Kiersey Clemons as Jib and Diggy, his best friends as well as fellow neon and flattop fetishists. The three are picked on for doing what Malcolm calls “white things,” like skating, studying and having a punk band. They also all have ridiculous amounts of fashion sense: crop tops, denim and primary colors have never looked so good.
On Feb. 19, musician Kesha Sebert’s attempt to get an injunction against her former producer Lukasz “Dr. Luke” Gottwald was denied. This was the event in Kesha’s ongoing legal battle with Dr. Luke as she attempts to sue the producer for alleged sexual assault, amongst other transgressions against her (including emotional distress). The case began with Kesha’s lawsuit in 2014.
Senior Neil Mallinar held an open arts night known as Tradition Scarf on Feb. 5 for Hopkins students to perform in however they pleased. The News-Letter spoke with him about what inspired the event as well as plans for future events.
Giving the Hopkins community an opportunity for musical expression and a constant source of entertainment, WJHU radio has been expanding its presence on campus since its creation decades ago.
In a night celebrating the power of poetry, Red Emma’s held an event on Feb. 28 celebrating the release of poet Tariq Touré’s new book, a collection of poems and reflections entitled Black Seeds. Touré is a black Muslim essayist, poet, educator and public speaker who is known for his creation of the #NoJusticeNoLeBron movement urging LeBron James to sit out of a game in protest of a grand jury’s decision not to indict Cleveland police officers after the shooting of 12-year-old Tamir Rice in 2014.
Wyatt Prunty and John Irwin headlined an event on Feb. 5 as part of the Writing Seminars department’s Reading Series. The series allows Hopkins students and the general public to indulge in free readings of works of fiction and poetry by the authors themselves.
Longtime friends Justin Broadrick (Godflesh, Jesu) and Mark Kozelek (Sun Kil Moon) combined their individual takes on sonic texture and songwriting in the coherent and cohesive collaboration record Jesu / Sun Kil Moon.
The Johns Hopkins Photography Forum, known as JHPF, hosted an information session for those interested in joining the student group on Feb. 22. JHPF is a group on campus that aims to tell stories of Hopkins via photography and share a unique perspective of campus life. The group also does features on non-profit organizations off campus.
Barnes & Noble hosted David Linden, author and neuroscience professor at the School of Medicine, on Feb. 16. Linden read from and discussed his recent book Touch: The Science of Hand, Heart, and Mind, published last year.
Performing a selection of songs from the hit musical Hairspray, the Dunbar Baldwin Hughes (DBH) Theatre Company held their Spring Cabaret this past Saturday, Feb. 20 in the SDS Room of Mattin Center. After two months of rehearsal, the theater group sang and danced to the numbers from the classic musical based on the zany John Waters film from 1988.
The results of the Academy Awards rarely produce surprising results for audience members or even the nominees themselves. The Academy, comprised mainly of older white men, tend to play it safe, leaning towards historic biopics and actors who have charmed the public throughout the awards season.
Animal Collective have forged their own mythology in their 17 year stint as a band. The members, known by the monikers Avey Tare, Deakin, Geologist and Panda Bear, all hail from Maryland in some way, shape or form. Their current claim to fame is the ability for each of their albums to sound vastly different from that which came before and this remains true with their tenth album, Painting With, which was released on Feb. 19 by Domino.
