Lenox Library's Distinguished Lecture Series: History of US-China Relations

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LENOX, Mass. — The Lenox Library's 15th Annual Distinguished Lecture Series will continue on Sunday, Nov. 21, 2021 at 4:00 p.m.
 
Dr. Eugenio Menegon, Associate Professor of History at Boston University, will discuss the history of US-China relations from 1776 to today.
 
Due to recent COVID directives, this event will take place via Zoom. Meeting details may be found on the Library's website at https://lenoxlib.org or the Library's Facebook page.
 
According to a press release:
 
In order to understand today's complex relations between the US and China, we need to know the deep roots of the relationship between our two countries. This lecture will explore in creative ways how both sides, Chinese and American, have seen the other, and how the people (leaders and commoners alike), religions, educational, and medical systems, economies, and the militaries, have interacted with each other over the span of the last three centuries. The lecture will also explain, in historical perspective, why the China-US relationship is so important for the world today, even if it is often fraught with misunderstandings and competition. 
 
Professor Eugenio Menegon has published extensively on the history of Chinese-Western relations, and is the author of two books: "One Single Sky: Geography, Art," "Science, and Religion in Europe and China and Ancestors," "Virgins, and Friars: Christianity as a Local Religion in Late Imperial China," which was the recipient of the 2011 Joseph Levenson Book Prize in Chinese Studies. 
 
Dr. Menegon has been Research Fellow in Chinese Studies at the Katholieke Universiteit Leuven (Belgium), Junior and Senior Fellow at the BU Humanities Foundation, and the An Wang Post-Doctoral Fellow at the Fairbank Center for Chinese Studies, Harvard University. He has held appointments as visiting scholar at the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences (Beijing), the Beijing Center for Chinese Studies, the Ricci Institute at the University of San Francisco, the University "L'Orientale" in Naples, the University of Padua, and the Cini Foundation, Venice. He was Director of the Boston University Center for the Study of Asia in 2012-15, and has been a research fellow at the Institute for Advanced Study at Princeton and a Fellow of the Institute for Advanced Jesuit Studies at Boston College, as well as the recipient of the Chiang Ching-kuo Foundation Scholar Grant.  
 
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Ventfort Hall: Making New England Movies

LENOX, Mass. — Jay Craven, American film director, screenwriter, and former film professor at Marlboro College, will present his talk "New England Movies: How and Why" on Sunday, March 1 at Ventfort Hall at 3:30 pm. 
 
Craven will tell the story of his adventures and experiences, developing a sustained filmmaking career in the unlikely settings of Vermont and Massachusetts. A tea will follow his presentation.
 
He will describe working with a wide range of actors, including Rip Torn, Tantoo Cardinal, Kris Kristofferson, Martin Sheen, Ernie Hudson, and Michael J. Fox.  He'll share the satisfactions and challenges that come from immersion into place-based narrative filmmaking. 
 
According to a press release:
 
Craven's work grew out of years of working as a teacher and arts activist whose mission has been the advancement of community and culture in the region.  For four decades he has written, produced, and directed character-driven films deeply rooted in Vermont and New England, including five "Vermont Westerns" based on the works of award-winning Northeast Kingdom writer, Howard Frank Mosher. His latest film, Lost Nation, digs into the parallel Revolutionary War era stories of Ethan Allen and the pioneering Black Guilford poet, Lucy Terry Prince.  His other films have adapted stories by Jack London, Guy du Maupassant, George Bernard Shaw, Craig Nova and, currently, Henrik Ibsen and Dashiell Hammett. Craven also made the regional Emmy-winning comedy series, Windy Acres, for public television and seven documentaries.
 
Craven's films have played festivals and special screenings including Sundance, South by Southwest, The American Film Institute, Lincoln Center, Cinematheque Francaise, the Constitutional Court of Johannesburg, and Cinemateca Nacional de Venezuela. Awards include the Vermont Governor's Award for Excellence in the Arts, the Producer's Guild of America's NOVA Award, and the National Endowment for the Arts American Masterpieces program. His film Where the Rivers Flow North was a named finalist for Critics Week at the Cannes Film Festival.
 
Tickets are $45. Members receive $5 off with their discount code. Ticket pricing includes access to the mansion throughout the day of this event from 10 am to 4 pm. Reservations are strongly encouraged as seats are limited. Walk-ins accommodated as space allows. For reservations visit https://gildedage.org/pages/calendar or call (413) 637-3206. All tickets are nonrefundable and non-exchangeable. The historical mansion is located at 104 Walker St. in Lenox.
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