WILL SCERBO, musician and music director of WJHU
Downton Abbey, the critically acclaimed and internationally popular British drama series, came to an end this past Sunday after six seasons in an uplifting two-hour series finale. In a show marked by tragedy, the finale gave viewers a chance to see every character get the happy ending he or she had long been striving for.
As a part of women’s history month, the Digital Media Center (DMC) held a talk on the role of women in the video game community on Feb. 5. The talk was titled “Pretty Dolls or Rational Actors?” and was given by Bridget M. Blodgett, an assistant professor at the University of Baltimore in the Simulation and Digital Entertainment program.
Kendrick Lamar has been in the public eye for the past five years and has undergone a meteoric rise in popularity in the last three. In his breakout studio album good kid, m.A.A.d city, Lamar paid his respects to multiple west coast icons including Dr. Dre. Years later, Lamar holds notoriety that rivals that of Dre’s considerable clout in the rap industry.
The English Club hosted an Ides of March party in the Tudor & Stuart Room in Gilman on March 9. The event, which commemorated the day that Julius Caesar was assassinated in 44 B.C.E., included elements of both Roman and Shakespearean literature, with allusions to the play written by the Bard in the 16th century. The event appealed to students of all majors and varying degrees of knowledge about Caesar and Shakespeare.
Baltimore’s Charles Theatre is currently showing the Hungarian film Son of Saul in the wake of the film’s Oscar victory in the category of “Best Foreign Language Film.” The movie, which is director László Nemes’ feature film debut, follows a Hungarian-Jewish man, Saul Ausländer, as he navigates the living hell of Auschwitz.
The JHU Pride and The Arts, Entertainment, Media and Entrepreneurship Affinity Group (AEMA Affinity) presented a showing of the documentary We Do: After Marriage Equality on March 3. The JHU Pride is a group that works to create a community for Hopkins’ LGTBQ alumni and the AEMA Affinity for alumni to connect with one another and discover new resources and information through their former classmates.
The movie was directed by Rick Famuyiwa and tells the story of three Inglewood teenagers who, in their battle against adversity fought from the depths of social exile, get involved with some drugs — not in the after-school special sense, just in the sense that it’s an issue. The cast is headlined by Shameik Moore as Malcolm, a geek with a passion for the ‘90s. He is flanked by Tony Revolori and Kiersey Clemons as Jib and Diggy, his best friends as well as fellow neon and flattop fetishists. The three are picked on for doing what Malcolm calls “white things,” like skating, studying and having a punk band. They also all have ridiculous amounts of fashion sense: crop tops, denim and primary colors have never looked so good.
On Feb. 19, musician Kesha Sebert’s attempt to get an injunction against her former producer Lukasz “Dr. Luke” Gottwald was denied. This was the event in Kesha’s ongoing legal battle with Dr. Luke as she attempts to sue the producer for alleged sexual assault, amongst other transgressions against her (including emotional distress). The case began with Kesha’s lawsuit in 2014.
Senior Neil Mallinar held an open arts night known as Tradition Scarf on Feb. 5 for Hopkins students to perform in however they pleased. The News-Letter spoke with him about what inspired the event as well as plans for future events.
Giving the Hopkins community an opportunity for musical expression and a constant source of entertainment, WJHU radio has been expanding its presence on campus since its creation decades ago.
In a night celebrating the power of poetry, Red Emma’s held an event on Feb. 28 celebrating the release of poet Tariq Touré’s new book, a collection of poems and reflections entitled Black Seeds. Touré is a black Muslim essayist, poet, educator and public speaker who is known for his creation of the #NoJusticeNoLeBron movement urging LeBron James to sit out of a game in protest of a grand jury’s decision not to indict Cleveland police officers after the shooting of 12-year-old Tamir Rice in 2014.
Wyatt Prunty and John Irwin headlined an event on Feb. 5 as part of the Writing Seminars department’s Reading Series. The series allows Hopkins students and the general public to indulge in free readings of works of fiction and poetry by the authors themselves.
Longtime friends Justin Broadrick (Godflesh, Jesu) and Mark Kozelek (Sun Kil Moon) combined their individual takes on sonic texture and songwriting in the coherent and cohesive collaboration record Jesu / Sun Kil Moon.
The Johns Hopkins Photography Forum, known as JHPF, hosted an information session for those interested in joining the student group on Feb. 22. JHPF is a group on campus that aims to tell stories of Hopkins via photography and share a unique perspective of campus life. The group also does features on non-profit organizations off campus.