Author: geneviev

It’s Not Better in Mentor: Bullying, Suicide, and Denial in an All-American Town (New England premiere)
Friday, Feb. 6, 2015, 4 – 6 p.m.
Wasserman Cinemateque, Sachar International Center, IBS
Part of the ‘DEIS Impact Festival of Social Justice

At first glance, Mentor, Ohio, seems like any other wholesome midwestern town, even earning a spot in Money Magazine’s 100 Best Places to Live. But Mentor’s tree-lined streets and marching bands could not prevent the spate of teen suicides caused by relentless bullying and an indifferent school system.

The Vidovic family came to Mentor to escape the war in Croatia only to have their daughter Sladjana commit suicide at age 16 after years of relentless bullying. More interested in maintaining its image than in helping protect vulnerable students, Mentor High School failed to punish the perpetrators.

Eric Mohat, 17, hardly seemed the type to be targeted by bullies. Active in musical theatre, he seemed like a happy kid. Until the day he committed suicide, the family had no idea of the bullying he endured.

Devastating, illuminating and buttressed with a haunting score, director Lambert skillfully documents bullying in the internet age and makes us wonder if Mentor is just the tip of the iceberg. This film is thought provoking and unforgettable.

A discussion with filmmaker Alix Lambert and bullying expert Dorothy L. Espelage, Ph.D., moderated by Joy Von Steiger, clinical director of the Brandeis Psychological Counseling Center, follows the screening.

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/mentordocumentary

–About the filmmaker:
Alix Lambert’s feature length documentary The Mark of Cain was nominated for an Independent Spirit Award and aired on Nightline. She went on to produce additional segments of Nightline as well as produce 7 segments for the PBS series LIFE 360. Lambert has written for a number of magazines including Stop Smiling, ArtForum, and The LA Weekly, and is an editor at large for the literary journal OPEN CITY. She wrote Episode 6, season 3 of Deadwood: A Rich Find (for which she won a WGA award) and was a staff writer and associate producer on John From Cincinnati.

 

Contact Myrna Fox, Computer Science Administrator for tickets.

“Reimagining (Bio)Medicalization, Pharmaceuticals and Genetics – Old Critiques and New Engagements ” is a medical sociology book written by Susan Bell and Anne Figert. Brandeis’ own Prof. Peter Conrad wrote the preface, while Prof. Sara Shostak contributed a chapter. For more information on the book, check the link.

Professor David Cunningham, Chair of the SOC department, was recently featured on BrandeisNOW for his research on the influence of KKK on Southern voters in the 1960s. For more information, read the full article.

http://www.brandeis.edu/now/2014/december/cunningham-kkk-impact.html

Want $10,000 to implement a peace project anywhere in the world? One (or more) Brandeisians will get the opportunity to do so through the Davis Projects for Peace, and that could be you!

We are pleased to announce that we are accepting proposals for the 2015 Davis Projects for Peace grant.  All Brandeis undergraduate students are eligible to apply for this $10,000 grant. 

The deadline to apply is January 15, 2015.  Interested students must contact Professor Fellman prior to December 12 to discuss their proposal.

The Davis Projects for Peace initiative encourages students to design grassroots projects for peace that they themselves will implement anywhere in the world during the summer of 2015.

For more details, please visit: http://www.brandeis.edu/programs/peace/awards/davis.html