Literature & Lectures
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Films
Stay tuned for more information on our new series, Ideas & Arts at the JCC East Bay, our regular Thursday night programming at both Oakland and Berkeley Branches, plus special evening events throughout the week!
Mensch Society Lecture with Marc Freedman,
The Big Shift: Navigating the New Stage Beyond Midlife
Date: February 16
Time: 7:30 pm
Contact: Julie Iny
Phone: 510-848-0237 x129
Email: juliei@jcceastbay.org
Followed by a dessert reception and book signing.
Marc Freedman is CEO and founder of Civic Ventures. He spearheaded the creation of Experience Corps, now America’s largest nonprofit national service programs engaging people over 55, and The Purpose Prize, which annually provides five $100,000 prizes to social innovators in the second half of life. Freedman was described by The New York Times as “the voice of aging baby boomers who are eschewing retirement for…meaningful and sustaining work later in life,” while The Wall Street Journal writes, “In the past decade, Mr. Freedman has emerged as a leading voice in discussions nationwide about the changing face of retirement.” He is the author, most recently, of The Big Shift: Navigating the New Stage Beyond Midlife. Recognized by Fast Company magazine three years in a row as one of the nation’s leading social entrepreneurs, Freedman is widely published and quoted in the national media and has been honored with numerous awards and fellowships. He was named in 2010 as one of the 50 most powerful and influential individuals in the nonprofit sector.
Cost: $10 Mensch Society/JCC Members, Presale Tickets through Jan. 31
$15 General Ticket Sales Open February 1
Buy tickets online at www.brownpapertickets.com. Limited amount of tickets sold at the door.
Please contact Julie Iny for more information at juliei@jcceastbay.org or 510-848-0237 x129.
Author: Joel Bakan
Date: February 21
Time: 7:00 pm - 8:30 pm
Contact: Andrew Gordon-Kirsch
Phone: 510-848-0237 x138
Email: andrewgk@jcceastbay.org
The JCC of the East Bay welcomes best-selling author and legal scholar Joel Bakan on Feb. 21st at 7:00 p.m. Bakan, a professor of law at the University of British Columbia in Vancouver, will appear to discuss his latest book, “Childhood Under Siege: How Big Business Targets Children.”
In “Childhood Under Siege,” Bakan illustrates how large corporations spend billions marketing to children, using dubious and manipulative tactics to fuel the burgeoning “kid marketing” industry, which in the last 50 years has become an essential part of the consumer economy. Through exhaustive research, he uncovers the increased health risks faced by children due to marketing strategies used by pharmaceutical corporations, the infiltration of American schools by private companies, the shocking use of child labor on farms and more.
“Childhood Under Siege: How Big Business Targets Children” is the follow-up to Bakan’s 2004 best-selling title “The Corporation: The Pathological Pursuit of Profit and Power,” an account of how corporations have risen in the last 150 years to become a dominant economic force, wielding immense power over governments and society as a whole. It has been published in 20 languages and was the basis for the documentary film of the same name, which won the award for best foreign documentary at the 2004 Sundance Film Festival.
In addition to being a successful author and law professor, Bakan is also a noted legal scholar and popular public speaker, as well as a professional jazz guitarist and former Rhodes Scholar. He has served as a law clerk to Justice Brian Dickson of the Supreme Court of Canada, authored landmark legal judgments and published several articles in respected legal journals.
Supported by the Koret Taube Initiative on Jewish Peoplehood thanks to the generous funding of the Koret Foundation and the Taube Foundation for Jewish Life & Culture.
Cost: $9 General / $7 JCC East Bay Member, Senior, Student
Buy tickets in advance at www.brownpapertickets.com.
Book Talk: Heeding the Voice of Conscience with The Nation's Eyal Press
Date: March 6, 2012
Time: 7:30 pm - 9:00 pm
Contact: Andrew Gordon-Kirsch
Phone: 510-848-0237 x138
Email: andrewgk@jcceastbay.org
What impels ordinary people to defy authority and convention, sacrificing safety for the fierceness of their convictions? In his new book, Beautiful Souls, journalist Eyal Press (author of Absolute Convictions) weaves dramatic stories and groundbreaking research by psychologists and neuroscientists. He examines the choices and dilemmas we face when our principles collide with the loyalties we harbor and the duties we are expected to fulfill. Talk followed by signing.
BEAUTIFUL SOULS: Saying No, Breaking Ranks, and Heeding the Voice of Conscience in Dark Times. A moving and revelatory exploration of what animates individual acts of courage and conscience in dangerous circumstances.
Fifty years after Hannah Arendt examined the dynamics of conformity in her seminal account of the Eichmann trial, Beautiful Souls explores the flipside of the banality of evil, mapping out what impels ordinary people to defy the sway of authority and convention. Through the dramatic stories of unlikely resisters who feel the flicker of conscience when trust into morally compromising situations, Eyal Press shows that the boldest acts of dissent are often carried out not by radicals seeking to overthrow the system, but by true believers who cling with unusual fierceness to their convictions.
Cost: $9 General / $7 JCC East Bay Members, Senior, Student
Buy tickets online at www.brownpapertickets.com.
Contemporary Jewish Museum Series: Do Not Destroy: Trees, Art, and Jewish Thought
Date: March 22
Time: 7:30 pm - 9:00 pm
Contact: Andrew Gordon-Kirsch
Phone: 510-848-0237 x138
Email: andrewgk@jcceastbay.org
Join us for a presentation by the Contemporary Jewish Museum on Do Not Destroy: Trees, Art, and Jewish Thought, an exhibition on view at the CJM through May 28, 2012. Do Not Destroy: Trees, Art, and Jewish Thought is an exciting opportunity to explore the subject of the tree in Jewish tradition through the lens of contemporary artists who enable us to see the world in new ways and to encourage us to find fresh meaning in tradition. The tree is a universally potent symbol with particular significance in Judaism, especially now as global environmental concerns have begun to impact contemporary Jewish practice.
Attendees receive a discount code for 2-for-1 tickets to the Contemporary Jewish Museum. It’s a wonderful way to check out an exhibit in advance!
Cost: $11 General / $9 JCC East Bay Membet, Senior, Student
Buy tickets online at www.brownpapertickets.com.
