Learning from Socialism: Alternative Modernities in the Second World

Second and final day of the CEAH (Center for Excellence in the Arts and Humanities) Symposium: “Learning from Socialism: Alternative Modernities in the Second World,” organized by College of Design faculty Vladimir Kulic, associate professor of architecture, and Kimberly Zarecor, professor of architecture, with colleague James Andrews, University Professor of history.

This symposium was originally scheduled in April 2020 and postponed during the pandemic. April Eisman, associate professor of art and visual culture (art history), was part of the original planning team.

This event brings together leading thinkers from around the world working on questions of the histories and legacies of the built environments of global socialism. It will include three roundtable discussions, a keynote lecture and a film screening as well as an exhibition on People’s Palaces curated by Kulic with students from the Department of Architecture, which will be installed in the College of Design atrium.

Optional RSVP requested by Sunday, May 15, to aid in organizing seating and plan for coffee and snacks.

Today’s Schedule

(click on image for complete details)

9:30–11 a.m. Keynote

“Unplanned Obsolescence: Redesigning Vietnam’s Concrete Modernity”

Christina Schwenkel, professor of anthropology, University of California, Riverside

11–11:15 a.m. Coffee and Snacks

11:15 a.m.–1:15 p.m. Roundtable 3

“State Infrastructures of Socialism”

1:15–2:30 p.m. Lunch

2:30–4 p.m. Closing Remarks and Discussion