Two events, a common view

This week, two events are set to take place, offering an alernative spin on the situation in Haiti.

Professor Ted Henken of the departments of sociology and Black and Hispanic studies will be moderating a Teach-in for Haiti in the Vertical Campus, room 5-150 from 12:30 p.m. to 2:20 p.m. on Thursday, Feb. 4.

Henken stated that teach-ins intend to address contemporary topics in a serious academic way. "[Teach-ins] give the topics a context that's lacking in the news media, and that's what we want to encourage," said Henken.

The event will bring together five experts on Haiti to give a "survey" of the nation.

According to Henken, professor Carolle Charles of the sociology and anthropology department is set to speak along with Ned Sublette who is team teaching a feit seminar with Henken this semester, Erol Josué, a houngan or spiritual leader in the Vodou religion, and two other experts.

"We realize that Americans have responded but in order to guide a response, we need to know about Haiti, its culture and its religion," said Henken. "We are guilty of being ignorant about Haiti."

On Wednesday, Feb. 3, Intervarsity will be holding an evemt entitled, "A Soulful Celebration of Haiti" that aims to celebrate Haitian culture.

"This [earthquake] has caused a lot of pain and sadness but Haitians are the most resilient people, so we would rather celebrate Haiti," said David St. Jean, the secretary of Intervarsity in an email. The event will be held in the multipurpose room and there will be live Haitian music and proceeds will go to the relief efforts.

Correction:

An earlier version of this article incorrectly reported the date of the Teach-In as Tuesday, February 2. The actual date of the event was Thursday, February 4. The Ticker regrets this error.