Professors Shed Light on Independence Movements

On September 11, the History and Foreign Language departments held the first of a series of special speaking events at UCBA’s campus. This first installment was about Scotland, Quebec, and Cata- lonia’s similar desires for independence from their current ruling countries.

UCBA professors Jody Ballah, of the Foreign Languages Department, and Tim Forest, of the Department of History, Philosophy, and Political Science, spoke about the long history of each country’s longing for independence and how they are continuining their own pursuit of it into the modern day.

Both professors intended to show that there is more to these issues than just the pop culture images associ- ated with them. “It is unfortunate that students in the U.S. don’t know of the events that are happening,” said Ballah, a native of Western Canada. “Neither here nor the main campus is there a Ca- nadian studies class, and so the students are only getting knowledge from films or books.”

“Part of the reason we’re doing this is to talk about something we may not get a chance to talk about in our class,” said Forest. “We’re hoping this gets more stu- dents to think about this, especially given the recent events going on.”

During the presentation, which last- ed about 90 minutes, both Ballah and For- est spoke about major figures and events in each country’s history and how everything ties into recent events.

They also announced future events for the speaker series, including a talk on urban planning on October 22, and a showing of the 1962 film “To Kill a Mock ingbird” by the UCBA Film Club. “The Film Club shows a combination of American and foreign films,” Ballah explained. “We hope to show films that students may not get a chance to see, especially since Cincin- nati doesn’t get the the first run of these films or a very limited release of them.”

For more information about the speakers series or upcoming events asso- ciated with the History and Foreign Language departments, contact Professor Forest at Timothy.Forest@uc.edu or Professor Ballah at ballahjy@uc.edu.