Events

9:00 PM, $5 suggested

The Hungry Brain
2319 W. Belmont

Godzilla 101: The Birth of an Atomic Monster

Together, Homeroom and the JASC host Dr. Larry Mayo, professor of anthropology at DePaul University, for a look at the radioactive origins of the world’s most caustic monster risen from the ashes of the U.S. devastation of Hiroshima, Nagasaki, and Bikini Atoll. Godzilla was at once comfort to a nation in mourning as well as confrontation with the dawning of the Atomic Age. Mayo will trace out the direct influence of the U.S. occupation of Japan, the H-bomb, and modernity as “foreign pathology” on the genesis of Godzilla, as well as the continuing mutation of our hero/horror in popular global culture. Is Godzilla friend or foe? Is he to be understood—OR DESTROYED!?

The night features special guests, slide-shows and screenings (including excerpts from Kim Jong-il’s “Godzilla” movie) plus, monstrous J-Rock curated by Laurel Fujisawa.

Presented in partnership with the Japanese-American Service Committee

101 is an informal lecture and discussion series in which enthusiasts explore sub-culture and pop in front of a drinking crowd. It takes place on occasional Tuesdays at the Hungry Brain in Roscoe Village.

Larry Mayo has a doctorate in cultural anthropology from the University of California , Berkeley (although he refers to himself as a social anthropologist) and has taught at DePaul since 1988. He conducted research in Guam , focusing on the process of urbanization, the politics of ethnicity and sociocultural change. His teaching interests are mainly toward undergraduate courses that introduce students to fundamental concepts in anthropology, such as processes of social and cultural change, the process of ethnicity, the concept of “race,” social inequality, the concept of culture, and contemporary cultures in the Pacific Islands. He teaches courses that introduce the concept of culture to students through multiple idioms, such as cultural anthropology, food and culture, and cultures of the Pacific; and specific topical courses such as urban anthropology, urban ethnography, and urban ethnicity. His non-academic interests are jazz, sci-fi (movies and books) and monster movies (especially Godzilla).