EJ Shin's documentary, Verita$: Everybody Loves Harvard,
Director: Shin Eun-jung (South Korea), is an 80-minute critical examination of Harvard's monumental but disquieting global power. This independent documentary examines Harvard's ties to US foreign policy and neoliberalism. It uses historical footage and interviews with many leading American intellectuals, including MIT professor Noam Chomsky and many Harvard professors.
Running Time: 80' 30"
Q & A following with George Katsiaficas, Professor, Wentworth Institute of Technology, Boston, Massachusetts.
VERITAS Synopsis.doc
"The best and brightest" is how Harvard University is described today. People all over the world admire Harvard. But Harvard is not just an Ivory Tower. It is an organ of the American ruling class and has been very influential in U.S. foreign policy.
This documentary critically examines Harvard's historical role and its global impact. The director describes Harvard's traditional character in three key words: rich, white, and male. To demonstrate these points of view, the director followed Harvard's unknown history such as providing students as strikebreakers in the 1912 Bread and Rose strike and 1919 Boston police strike. It also analyzes conservative Harvard scientists' role promoting American Eugenics in the early 20th century which had deep impact on Nazi Germany.
After WW2, the US became the center of the world, and this change made an impact on all American universities. As a training ground for the international elite, Harvard has maintained close ties with the U.S. Government and provided crucial dimensions of state ideology, particularly during the Cold War. The expansion of Area Studies was a good example of universities serving for the government's agenda. From Marshall Plan to the anti-war movement in the 60s, the documentary follows strained moments of modern history connected to its impact on American universities.
However, the anti-war movement challenged Harvard, and it subsequently adapted neoliberal policies more focused on corporate management than defense management. Harvard's continuing global influence is monumental yet disquieting, as exemplified by its central role in the Russian aid scandal of the 1990s. The film also examines Harvard's neoliberal investment policy and its impact on the community as well.
This documentary questions what the real purpose of education should be. The title "VERITAS" means truth in Latin, and it is the motto of Harvard. But in reviewing their own history, the director questions the real meaning of truth and changes S into $ sign emphasizing the fact that Harvard has pursued money and power.
Shin Eun-jung was awarded the prize for best director of a documentary at the 2011 New York International Film Festival.
Monday Feb 18, 2013
5pm
In Flux space (E110)
Regis Center for Art
University of Minnesota
405 21st Ave. South
West Bank, Minneapolis
