Please find a link to register for each event in the boxes below.
December 1st, 1pm-2pm
Please register for this event at the following link:
https://wwcc-edu.zoom.us/meeting/register/tZ0vd-2uqTIuH9IWY7SMt1qtl9hdCuCTw6-E
Great city streets emptied of people; a population panicked; misinformation in the air. If some of our experiences during the COVID-19 pandemic seemed familiar, it might be because the movies already imagined them. Whether the cause is environmental factors (The Day After Tomorrow, Snowpiercer, Contagion), nuclear disaster (On the Beach), or unexplained doomsday (Midnight Sky, Children of Men), film has explored what it looks like when the “Big One” hits—and how we might react.
In this talk illustrated with clips, Robert Horton looks at the eerie imagery of apocalyptic movies, and how these films foreshadowed our responses during the pandemic: the extremes of divisiveness and community-building, the loneliness of isolation, and the tantalizing possibility of starting over again—but maybe doing it better this time.
Robert Horton (he/him), a member of the National Society of Film Critics, was the longtime film reviewer for the Seattle Weekly, Everett Herald, and KUOW. His books include a critical study of Frankenstein. He has been a Fulbright specialist, a Smithsonian Journeys speaker, and an instructor at Seattle University and the Architectural Association in London. He now hosts the radio program, The Music and the Movies.
October 26th, 1pm-2pm
Please register for this event at the following link:
https://wwcc-edu.zoom.us/meeting/register/
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Murder isn’t what it used to be. Explore the shifting role of the victim in detective novels, and how that shift reflects broader social changes.
From Poe and Sherlock Homes to British cozies and Hardboiled pulps, author Matthew Sullivan traces the many influences on the postwar and modern eras of the mystery genre and shows how empathy plays a unique role in contemporary crime novels—especially in today’s literary mysteries.
What does the way crime victims are portrayed say about a society’s culture? Join Sullivan to reflect on the special relationship between reading literature and experiencing empathy—on the page and in our daily lives.
Matthew Sullivan (he/him) is 2021-2023, Humanities Washington Speakers Bureau particpan. Sullivan is the author of the novel Midnight at the Bright Ideas Bookstore, which was an IndieNext pick, a Barnes & Noble Discover pick, and winner of the Colorado Book Award. His essays and stories have appeared in the New York Times, Daily Beast, Spokesman-Review, Sou’wester, and elsewhere. He is currently a writing teacher and is working on a crime novel set in Soap Lake.
November 17th, 1pm-2pm
Please register for this event at the following link:
https://wwcc-edu.zoom.us/meeting/register/
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A film can build tension through editing, just like a simmering stew builds flavor through a slow dance between ingredients. Putting food and film together, however, opens movie lovers up to a slew of wonderful experiences and shared memories. Food can help us to identify with characters who bond over meals, explore ideas about identity and belonging, or make a romantic tale more seductive.
Join film historian John Trafton to explore the complex relationship between food and film throughout history, and how this relationship continues to impact our cultural landscape. Take a deep dive into how movies from The Gold Rush and Get Out to Parasite and Pan’s Labyrinth use food to reveal hidden messages and enhance our experience.
John Trafton (he/him) teaches film and media history at Seattle University and for the Seattle International Film Festival’s Education program. He has authored several works on film history and culture, including The American Civil War and the Hollywood War Film (2015). His recent work examines visual culture in Southern California from 1870 to 1930 and how Los Angeles became the epicenter of America’s motion picture industry.
