special projects

Art during war time

Joan Dobkin, fellow while the Center's theme was war (2002-03), and therefore during the Iraq war that began in March 2003, created an image specifically in response to that war. Click here to view this original work of art.

Time Slips

Time Slips was an interactive, intergenerational community project that involved people who have Alzheimer's disease and related dementia with students in inventing stories together. Directed by Anne Davis Basting, now director of UWM's Age and Community Center, Time Slips was designed to explore the creativity that continues in the face of Alzheimer's disease. In 1998-99 storytelling workshops were conducted at four care sites for people with Alzheimer's disease -- two in Milwaukee and two in New York City.

A ninety-minute play based on the stories was produced in Milwaukee from May 11 through May 19, 2000, and there was a New York production the following year. Discussions facilitated by leaders in community-based art, aging, and health care followed each performance. Time Slips is housed at the Center and supported by the Brookdale Foundation, the Helen Bader Foundation, and Alterra.

"Disciplining" Animals

In October 1999 the Center organized an interdisciplinary panel discussion entitled "'Disciplining' Animals" in conjunction with the visit of the American Council of Learned Societies to the city of Milwaukee, the University of Wisconsin - Milwaukee, and the Center for Twentieth Century Studies. The five panelists each presented recent projects about animals and animal representations. While those studies were largely informed by the panelists' specific disciplines, they also depended on cross-disciplinary approaches to research and presentation.

The panelists included Andrew Isenberg (History, Princeton University), Lisa Naughton (Geography, University of Wisconsin - Madison), Kathryn Olson (Communication, University of Wisconsin - Milwaukee), and Robert Schwartz (Philosophy, University of Wisconsin - Milwaukee).

Representing Animals, a book in the Center's series, Theories of Contemporary Culture (Indiana University Press), based on papers from this conference, is now available.

The Unfinished Reality of Latin America

A summer seminar for high school teachers entitled "Borges, Cortázar, García Márquez, and the Unfinished Reality of Latin America," directed by UWM Professor of Spanish Julio Rodríguez-Luis, was held June 28-July 30, 1999. Fifteen teachers from around the country participated in the seminar, which was funded by the National Endowment for the Humanities and sponsored by UWM's Center for Latin America, with support from the Center for Twentieth Century Studies.

Anthropology, Genetic Diversity, and Ethics

In the spring of 1999 the Center hosted a two-day workshop funded by the National Science Foundation on "Anthropology, Genetic Diversity, and Ethics." Scientists, anthropologists, ethicists, attorneys, and representatives of various populations were brought together to discuss and debate the ethical and cultural issues involved in genetic research on diverse populations. Ethical questions addressed at the workshop included:

• What is informed consent in a population that is unfamiliar with genetic testing?
• What does informed consent mean when both the individual and the population are involved?
• Can consent be withdrawn?
• What benefits will a population derive from participation in these projects?
• Are there any detriments to participation in these projects?

Center for 21st Century Studies

Daniel J. Sherman, Director