Can one person make a difference? One woman? On Wednesday, November 18, Pandora’s Box will close its fall series with, Taking Root, the inspiring story of Nobel Peace Prize Laureate Wangari Maathai. Her simple act of planting trees grew into a nationwide movement to protect the environment, human rights, and Kenyan democracy. Math professor Kimber Gross will introduce the film and lead discussions along with Steve Rota, Sr. H/S Technician, and Jordan Carswell, Instructional Technology.

Click here to view the embedded video.

Registration for this free continuing education class is available right before the class starts at 12:30 p.m. in the Katy Cyber Lounge at 1550 Foxlake Drive, 77084. For more information please call 713-718-5750, contact michael.ronan@hccs.edu

Tuesday November 17th at 12:30pm Katy CyberLounge

Award winning filmmaker, Marcela Gaviria has produced 15 documentaries for PBS Frontline, including five films on post war Iraq and two on the current war in Afghanistan. The latest, Obama’s War, aired October 13.   On Tuesday, November 17, she will speak at Pandora’s Box and discuss and show segments of her films.

A native of Colombia, she graduated from Brown University and field-produced documentaries from Latin America for PBS and the BBC before joining RAINmedia in New York.  Other films in clude The Madoff Affiar, Medicating Kids, The Storm (About Katrina and New Orleans for which she won an Emmy in 2005), and the four-hour series Drug Wars.  Librarian Cindy Belmar will introduce the speaker.

For more information:

• Frontline website on Obama’s War, aired October 13, 2009
• RAIN Media

Registration for this free continuing education class is available right before the class starts at 12:30 p.m. in the Katy Cyber Lounge at 1550 Foxlake Drive, 77084.  For more information please call 713-718-5750, contact michael.ronan@hccs.edu

Wednesday, November 11 at 12:30pm Katy Campus CyberLounge

On Wednesday, November 11, Pandora’s Box presents Obama’s War, a documentary that takes an in-depth look at President Obama’s grand attempt to combat terrorism at its roots. The wisdom of the counter insurgency strategy developed by General McChrystal for Afghanistan, nation building, drone warfare, and the dilemma of Pakistan are explored.  The producer of the film, Marcela Gaviria, will speak this coming Tuesday, November 17. History professor Jim Thomas will introduce the film and lead discussions.

Click here to view the embedded video.

The film was first broadcast on PBS Frontline on October 13, 2009.

For more information:

• Frontline website on the documentary

Registration for this free continuing education class is available right before the class starts at 12:30 p.m. in the Katy Cyber Lounge at 1550 Foxlake Drive, 77084.  For more information please call 713-718-5750, contact michael.ronan@hccs.edu

Tuesday November 10th at 12:30pm Katy Campus Cyber Lounge

Fat and happy, right?

On Tuesday, November 10, Pandora’s Box presents the documentary Killer at Large, which examines America’s obesity problem, one that has grown from a public health issue to a national calamity.  Studies show deaths due to being overweight exceed 100,000 per year at a cost to taxpayers of $117 billion annually.  Director of Technology & Institutional Computing Tom Haymes will introduce the film and lead discussions.

Click here to view the embedded video.

Movie website

Registration for this free continuing education class is available right before the class starts at 12:30 p.m. in the Katy Cyber Lounge at 1550 Foxlake Drive, 77084.  For more information please call 713-718-5750, contact michael.ronan@hccs.edu

Wednesday, November 4, 2009 at 12:30pm, Katy Cyber Lounge

Employers are frustrated, according to Gen Y expert Nancy Barry.  On Wednesday, November 4, at Pandora’s Box, the author of When Reality Hits: What Employers Want Recent College Graduates to Know, will discuss what managers say.  Her talk will include the importance of “soft skills,” what drives bosses crazy, professional communication, and much more.  English professor Michael Ronan will introduce the speaker.

HCC students, faculty, staff, and the public are invited.  The event begins at 12:30 p.m. in the Katy Cyber Lounge at 1550 Foxlake Drive, 77084.  For more information on the event, please call 713-718-5750, contact michael.ronan@hccs.edu.

Growing up: How different is it on line?

This week’s film looks at the divide between those of us who did not grow up with a mouse in our hand and our children who have. On Tuesday, November 3, Pandora’s Box Continuing Education Class presents the documentary Growing Up Online, which examines the very public private worlds that kids create online and raises questions about how the internet transforms childhood in ways parents are slow to embrace. English professor Kristine Ervin will introduce the film and lead discussions afterward.  Registration for this free class will be available prior to the start of class .

Click here to view the embedded video.

For more information on the film:

Frontline website with resources and a link to watch the documentary online

Flow investigates the growing privatization of the world’s dwindling fresh water supply with a focus on politics, pollution, human rights, and the emergence of a potential world water cartel.

Trailer for film:

Click here to view the embedded video.

Registration for the free continuing education class is available right before the class starts at 12:30 p.m. in the Katy Cyber Lounge at 1550 Foxlake Drive, 77084.  For more information please call 713-718-5750, contact michael.ronan@hccs.edu

Whale Wars follows “eco-pirates” as they hunt in icy Antarctic waters to stop by any means necessary Japanese “research” ships that hunt endangered whales and sharks for profit.

Click here to view the embedded video.

Registration for this free continuing education class is available right before the class starts at 12:30 p.m. in the Katy Cyber Lounge at 1550 Foxlake Drive, 77084.  For more information please call 713-718-5750, contact michael.ronan@hccs.edu

Till Death Do Us Part serves as an after-the-trial defense for 13 California women sentenced to life in prison for murdering their spouses.  All victims of  “battered woman syndrome,” they were unable to explain their actions before sentencing.

Trailer for film:

Click here to view the embedded video.

Registration for this free continuing education class is available right before the class starts at 12:30 p.m. in the Katy Cyber Lounge at 1550 Foxlake Drive, 77084.  For more information please call 713-718-5750, contact michael.ronan@hccs.edu.

Tuesday, October 20, 2009 Katy Campus Cyber Lounge

Backlash: Being Muslim in America explores the challenges Muslims have always faced fitting their religion into the American lifestyle and the new ones they have encountered since 9/11.

The film explores:

• The History and Teachings of Islam
• Old Faith, New Prejudice
• Casting Recall — Examines Hollywood typecasting

Registration for this free continuing education class is available right before the class starts at 12:30 p.m. in the Katy Cyber Lounge at 1550 Foxlake Drive, 77084.  For more information please call 713-718-5750, contact michael.ronan@hccs.edu