Calendar of Events

Free Public Events

Oldest Nazi Concentration Camp Survivor to Speak

To reserve your free tickets, email    agutai@vcccd.edu

Seventy years after his imprisonment in a Nazi concentration camp, the Holocaust's oldest male survivor Leopold Engleitner will speak at Moorpark College May 22 and 23 in the PAC as part of a major U.S. speaking tour.

The 103-year-old Austrian, whose courage and torture was chronicled in the book and prize-winning documentary film "Unbroken Will," will be accompanied by his friend and biographer, Bernhard Rammerstorfer.

Engleitner, who entered the Buchenwald concentration camp in 1939 as a 33-year-old, was offered his freedom in exchange for renouncing his faith as a Jehovah's Witness. Instead he submitted to Nazi persecution and torture, enduring years of imprisonment that reduced him to a weight of sixty-two pounds.

Engleitner's story was lost to the pages of history until a chance meeting over half a century later with author and filmmaker Rammerstorfer. This meeting marked the beginning of a remarkable and extraordinary friendship that resulted in Rammerstorfer's documentary "Unbroken Will."

Despite his exceptional age, this will be Mr. Engleitner's third speaking tour in the United States. Prior coming to Moorpark he will speak at Harvard University on May 4, and the Florida Holocaust Museum, on May 6. Other Los Angeles area speaking engagements are planned.

Engleitner and Rammerstorfer will be hosted at Moorpark College as the final event in the 2008-09 Year of Democracy program on Friday May 22, at 7:30 PM and Saturday May 23, 2009, at 6:30 PM. The Friday event will be webcast around the world via http://video.moorparkcollege.edu/.

These two events are free to the public and seating is open on a first-come, first-served basis. Speakers will include Robert Buckley, consultant to the United States Holocaust Museum in Washington DC, Dan Brown, Holocaust historian and author and filmmaker Ferenc Gutai.

"Leopold Engleitner's willingness to stand up for his righteous convictions in the face of tyranny shows us that we cannot ever surrender our beliefs to the dark side," said Brown.

Spring Events

Tuesday, April 28: The Year of Democracy presents: "The State Budget is in Your Hands" in the CCCR at 10 a.m. Do you know about the five propositions on the special California ballot on May 19, the ones that will decide how our state budget problems are handled? Neither to many Californians!!!

Learn what is at stake and what your vote really means when the non-profit, non-partisan League of Women Voters' David Maron interviews Dr. Herbert Gooch, chairman of the Political Science Department at California Lutheran University.

Co-sponsored by the Ventura County Taxpayers Association and the Ventura County Civic Alliance

Multicultural Day: Wed. April 15

Monday, April 13: Dr. Elenora Pasotti will be speaking in the CCCR at 1 p.m. Drawing on the experiences of three cities on three continents, Pasotti will discuss how cities, using Naples, Bogata and Chicago as her case studies, can recover from decades of poor government, entrenched patronage, lack of development, and social conflict and make a transition to a new form of governance: brand politics. Pasotti is an Assistant Professor of Political Science at UC Santa Cruz.

The Moorpark College Theatre Arts Department is proud to announce its contribution to the ongoing Year of Democracy celebration with its production of the controversial and classic Greek comedy "Lysistrata." Lysistrata, this semester's main stage production, will run March 19, 20, 21, 26, 27, 28 and April 2, 3, 4 @ 8:00pm with Sunday matinees on March 22, 29 and April 5 @ 2:00pm.

Wednesday, March 25: Ventura County Star Reporter Scott Hadly will recount his experiences of being embedded as a Journalist in Iraq last summer. Hadly will speak in the CCCR at 10 a.m.

On Monday March 23 from 11:30 a.m. -1:30 p.m.-"Sick Around the World" will be shown in the Camus Center Conference room, followed by a panel discussion (starting at 12:30). The film goes to 4 countries and looks at their health care systems and points out how substandard the U.S. health care system is in the world.  the panel will have a panel with individuals from the Simi Valley Free clinic and others.

The Year of Democracy presents ‘Politics in the Middle East' in the T.V. Studio in the Communications Building at noon on Thursday, March 12. Faculty and lecturers from UCSB, the American Jewish University and University of La Verne will discuss the possibilities and impediments of the path to peace in the Middle East. The speakers, whose areas of expertise include Iran, Israel, Hamas and Palestine, will discuss the politics and culture that make the topic fascinating, important and extremely relevant in today's society. The 35-minute panel discussion will be followed by a Q & A with the audience.

Tues. Feb. 17: Actor Arthur Burghardt presents Frederick Douglass, a one-man interpretation in the PAC at 11:30.

Monday, Jan. 26: The Year of Democracy opens the spring semester with the performance of "A Walk in the Woods."  A reception will begin at the PAC at 6p.m.

Tuesday, Jan. 20: Join us for a viewing of the Presidential Inauguration in the PAC from 8-10 a.m. Come watch as President-Elect Barack Obama is sworn into office.

Faculty Lecture Series

The Faculty Lecture Series take place in the T.V. Studio in the Communications Building at Noon.

Wed. Feb. 18 Anthropology Professor John Baker will speak on "The U.S. & "Them," How the U.S. Compares as a Democracy." The United States is the world's longest-running democracy. But is it the best? This presentation will consider how the U.S. compares with some of the world's other democracies with regard to freedom, education, and other measures of democratic success.

Wed. March 18: Political Science Professor Steve Pfeffer will be speaking on Democratization in Japan. For more information, see the Student Voice article here.

Wed. April 15: Economics Professor Ray Zhang will be speaking on "The End of Market Liberalism?" Zhang was recently featured in The Student Voice and Ventura County Star for his writing about the economy and the new president's bailout. To read that article, click here.

Fall Events

Thursday, 11/13: Election Wrap Panel. Ventura County Star's Sacramento Bureau Chief, Timm Herdt leads this panel discussion, in the Performing Arts Center at 2 pm.

Monday, 10/27: Marta Jorgensen will speak about what it's like to run for Congress,  in the Campus Center Conference Room at  10 a.m.

Thursday, 10/16: The Ventura County Civil Grand Jury will present on the ins and outs of serving on a grand jury at 11:30 a.m. in the Campus Center Conference Room.

Monday, 10/13: Historian Klaus Fischer will discuss student revolts during the Vietnam War period as detailed in his book America in Black, White and Gray.  in the Campus Center Conference Room at noon.

Rep. Barry Goldwater, Jr. will speak at Moorpark College on Monday, Oct. 6 at 10 a.m. in the Campus Center Dining Room. Please join us to hear the former eight-term California Congressman provide a conservative's perspective on our country's economics and politics. Free and open to the public.

That evening, nationally recognized political journalist Robert Scheer will speak at the Performing Arts Center at 7:00 pm.

Monday, 9/29: Ventura County Deputy District Attorney Michael Lief, author of The Walls Came Tumbling Down, will speak on important civil liberties trials at 12:30 pm in the Performing Arts Center.

Wednesday, 9/17: Constitution Day, Year of Democracy opens with a Free Speech Fair and Voter Registration Drive beginning at 10 am. Keynote speaker John Dean, constitutionalist and former White House counsel to President Richard Nixon, will speak in the Performing Arts Center at 12:30 pm.  His newest book is Broken Government: How Republican Rule Destroyed the Legislative, Executive, and Judicial Branches.

Other Events

The Political Science Association is hosting an Election Day Discussion. Come watch the Election Coverage on Tues. Nov. 4 from 6 p.m. - 8 p.m. in the Campus Cafeteria. We will open the floor to discussion and comments. This event is open to students, faculty, staff and the community.

The Political Science Association is hosting a Debate Night Discussion. Come watch the Vice-Presidential Debate on Thurs. Oct. 2 from 6 p.m. - 8 p.m. in the Campus Cafeteria. After the debate we will open the floor to discussion and comments. This event is open to students, faculty, staff and the community.

Come watch the second presidential debate on Tues., Oct. 7 6p.m. - 8 p.m. in the Campus Cafeteria. After the debate we will open the floor to discussion and comments. This event is open to students, faculty, staff and the community.

Wed. Oct. 15 Journalism Professor Joanna Miller will be speaking on the effects of the media on the Presidential Election.

The Faculty Lecture Series Take place in the T.V. Studio in the Communications Building at Noon.

Patty Colman will speak with the showing of  Amistad on Oct. 20 at 3p.m.  in the Forum

Susan Kinkella will discuss Iron Jawed Angels on Nov 5 at 3 p.m. in the Forum