FASS in Dal News

• Lissa Skitolsky channels hip‑hop's critical testimony to the academy
  At the launch of her new book, Hip-Hop as Philosophical Text and Testimony: Can I Get a Witness?, Dal's Simon and Riva Spatz Visiting Chair of Jewish Studies will share the spotlight with local hip-hop artists — highlighting their stories and raising awareness about the community that supports them.
  
• Trump‑inspired mob at U.S. Capitol follows a familiar path of election violence
  The attack on the U.S. Capitol follows some familiar patterns of violence inspired by politicians around the world who won't accept election losses, write Dalhousie's Robert Huish and University of Ottawa's Gabrielle Bardall on The Conversation.
  
• Ask an expert: Ajay Parasram on the police response to Trump mob's storming of U.S. Capitol
  Why was law enforcement not more aggressive in its response as the U.S federal legislature was stormed by rioters? We ask Dr. Ajay Parasram, a professor in the Department of International Development Studies and the Department of History.
  
• How to come together while being apart over the holidays
  The holiday season is a time of festivities, social gatherings and making memories. The situation this year could challenge some of those rituals and comforts and prompt new ways of celebrating, says Martha Radice, an associate professor in the Department of Sociology and Social Anthropology.
  
• Saluting the spirit of Hanukkah during difficult times
  Lissa Skitolsky, the Simon and Riva Spatz Visiting Chair in Jewish Studies at Dal, reflects on the story of Hanukkah and negotiating between past and present in the holiday tradition.
  
• Rewriting the script on film studies during a global pandemic
  Shannon Brownlee adapted her film studies classes for an online environment this year to ensure more opportunities for shared viewing and discussion, both essential elements of learning in the discipline.
  
• Ask an expert: Robert Huish on pandemic‑fuelled stigmas and what can be done to prevent them
  The International Development Studies researcher shares insights from his study on the consequences and outcomes of stigma and how it has evolved throughout the pandemic.
  
• Nearly a century old, Machinal’s underlying themes as relevant as ever
  Inspired by the trial and execution of the murderer Ruth Snyder, the Fountain School’s second production of the season, Machinal, uses character archetypes — young woman, mother, husband — to explore how societal forces can impact our inner lives.