Charles B. Wang Center - Office of Asian and Asian American Programming

Breakthrough is an innovative, international human rights organization using the power of popular culture, media, leadership development and community education to transform public attitudes and advance equality, justice, and dignity. Through initiatives in India and the United States, Breakthrough addresses critical g...lobal issues including violence against women, sexuality and HIV/AIDS, racial justice, and immigrant rights.

Madhuri Mohindar, program coordinator for Breakthrough, illustrates the power of music videos, filmed campaigns, video games and other cutting-edge media in raising awareness and spurring activism for pressing social issues. She is a documentary filmmaker, media producer, and journalist. She has worked on a number of documentary films featuring diverse subjects, including immigrant experiences, civil liberties, gay rights, and the impact of globalization on Bollywood dancers.

Her first public film, Red Roses, is a sociological portrait of South Asian women in a beauty parlor in New York, and has played at a number of international film festivals and has also received substantial press coverage including "CNN-IBN" and "India Today." She has published numerous articles in Inter Press Service, a global news service dedicated to covering developing news features.
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Ven. Bhikkhu Bodhi is an American Buddhist monk from New York City. Drawn to Buddhism in his youth, he traveled to Sri Lanka after completing his university studies where he received full ordination in 1973. He was appointed editor of the Buddhist Publication Society in 1984 and its president in 1988. The Ven. Bodhi is... a leading scholar and translator of Buddhist texts with many important publications to his credit. In May 2000, he gave the keynote address at the United Nations on the occasion of Vesak, the day celebrating the Buddha's birth, enlightenment, and passing away. He returned to the U.S. in 2002 and presently lives and teaches at Chung-yen Monastery, Carmel, New York and Bodhi Monastery in Lafayette, New Jersey.

Meetings held weekly on Thursdays, September 3 through December 17, in Room 301, Wang Center. Please check our Web site for updates, room assignments, and possible date/time changes. To receive our weekly newsletter, please send an email to buddhism@ic.sunsyb.edu.Read More

Nancy Bonardi began practicing meditation with Chan Master Sheng Yen of Dharma Drum Mountain in 1978. She has been teaching meditation for beginning and intermediate levels and conducting one-day retreats at the Chan Meditation Center for years. In this workshop Nancy will share with you the teaching of wisdom in Buddh...ism, alternating with periods of sitting meditation.

Meetings held weekly on Thursdays, September 3 through December 17, in Room 301, Wang Center. Please check our Web site for updates, room assignments, and possible date/time changes. To receive our weekly newsletter, please send an email to buddhism@ic.sunsyb.edu. Read More

Shlomi takes care of everyone. He takes care of his ailing grandfather, his older soldier brother, his quick-tempered mother, his older sister's twins and keeps them happy by cooking their favorite dishes. But no one in the family really sees Shlomi until one day a routine math test arouses the suspicions of Shlomi`s m...ath teacher and school principal. Realizing that a brilliant and very unique personality is hiding behind this neglected and dormant boy they, along with the help of Rona the gardener with whom he falls head over heels in love, help Shlomi discover himself. (94 minutes, Hebrew with English subtitles, 2003) Co-Sponsored by Osher Life Long Learning Institute (OLLI). Discussion with Thora Wagner to follow.Read More

Once, not long ago, a small Egyptian police band arrived in Israel. Not many remember this. It wasn't that important: Arriving in Israel from Egypt, the Alexandria Ceremonial Police Orchestra finds there is no delegation to meet them, nor any arrangements to get to their destination of Petah Tiqva. Stuck in the remote ...town of Beit Hatikva until the next morning's bus, the band gets help from the worldly lunch owner, Dina, and settles in as best they can; each of the members attempts to get along with the natives in their own way. What follows is a special night of quiet happenings and confessions as the band makes its own impact on the town and the town on them. (87 minutes, Hebrew with English subtitles, 2007)

The Band's Visit is co-Sponsored by Osher Life Long Learning Institute (OLLI). Discussion with Thora Wagner to follow.Read More

Yodok is one of the many concentration camps in today's North Korea where an estimated 200,000 to 500,000 are imprisoned under the worst possible conditions, including systematic torture, starvation, and murder. A small group of people who escaped from Yodok to South Korea decide to make an extraordinary and controvers...ial musical about their experiences. Despite death treats and many obstacles, Yodok Stories becomes a tour de force for this ensemble of refugees and offers them a possibility to talk about their experiences and inspire others to protest the existence of the camps. (83 minutes, Korean/English with English subtitles, 2008) Read More

A Lao prophecy says, "A time will come when the universe will break, piece by piece, the world will change beyond what we know." That time had come for the small country by 1973, at which point the United States had dropped three million tons of bombs on Laos in the fight to overcome the North Vietnamese, more than the... total used during both world wars. The Betrayal takes us through Thavisouk Phrasavath's youth, his escape from persecution and arrest in Laos, his family's reunion and their journey as immigrants to America, and the second war they had to fight on the streets of New York City. (96 Minutes, English/Lau with English subtitles, 2008)

Guest Speakers: Ellen Kuras and Thavisouk Phrasavath, Co-Directors / Writers.Read More

In Afghanistan you risk your life to sing. After 30 years of war and Taliban rule, pop Idol has come to Afghanistan. Millions are watching the TV series "Afghan Star" and voting for their favorite singers by mobile phone. For many this is their first encounter with democracy. This timely film follows the dramatic stori...es of four contestants as they risk all to become the nation's favorite singer. The organizers, Tolo TV, believe with this programme they can "move people from guns to music." But will they attain the freedom they hope for in this vulnerable and traditional nation? (87 minutes, Pashtu/Dari with English subtitles, 2009)

Guest Speaker: Naheed Bahram from Women for Afghan Women Read More

Two of the founders of the New York Arab American Comedy Festival come to the Wang Center to make you laugh with their insight and wit.

Born in New Jersey, Dean Obeidallah's comedy comes in large part from his unique background of being the son of a Palestinian father and a Sicilian mother. Dean, an award-winning comed...ian has appeared on ABC’s “The View,” Comedy Central’s “Axis of Evil” Comedy special and is the co-creator and co-producer of Comedy Central.com’s critically acclaimed Internet series “The Watch List,” featuring a cast of all Middle Eastern-American comedians performing stand up and sketch comedy.

Maysoon Zayid is an actress and professional stand-up comedian, who received her BFA in acting from Arizona State University. Maysoon has performed comedy in top New York clubs, including The Improv, Caroline's, Gotham, and Stand-Up NY, and has toured extensively in both the USA and abroad. Maysoon was the first comedian to perform standup live in Palestine, performing in Nazareth, Haifa, Bethlehem, Ramallah, and Jerusalem.

Opening Act by SAAD SARWANA
Saad grew up in Pakistan and moved to Canada for college and eventually the US where he completed a graduate degree in physics at Stony Brook. He 's a professional physicist and a published scientist, and still works in Superconductivity. But he continues to make people laugh as "Pakistan's #1 Comic" and the “Wacky Packy.” Saad will have you rolling in laughter as he breaks stereotypes while talking about physics, racial profiling, and being a Pakistani-Muslim living in the US.

Tickets: $25 for VIP; $15 for General; $10 for Student/Senior
Reserve your tickets by e-mailing wangcenter@stonybrook.edu or call (631) 632-4400.


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Born out of collaborations in New York City between Mongolian and Japanese American musicians, Khoomei Taiko Ensemble searches for and creates cultural links between Mongolia, the United States, and Japan through music. Easily transitioning between traditional Mongolian long and Japanese Minyo folk melodies to freeform... jazz-inspired improvisations, the Khoomei Taiko Ensemble use the morin khuur (horsehead fiddle), Mongolian jaw harp, khoomei (throat singing), long song, matgaal (praise) songs, Japanese flutes and taiko (drums) to emphasize the similarities between Japanese and Mongolian traditions and bring both into the future together.

Reserved seating for all VIP ticket holders. Reservations highly recommended.
Please reserve your tickets by e-mailing wangcenter@stonybrook.edu or call (631) 632-4400.Read More

The Greatest Break-Up Story Ever Told–Sita is a Hindu goddess and a dutiful wife who follows her husband Rama on a 14 year exile, only to be kidnapped by an evil king from Sri Lanka, in India's epic the Ramayana. In a delightful animated adaptation, Sita Sings the Blues parallels the director's life to the classic epic... when her husband breaks up their marriage via email from India. Narrated by three hilarious Indonesian shadow puppets with Indian accents, this ancient tragedy and modern comedy features musical numbers and a cast of hundreds: flying monkeys, evil monsters, gods, goddesses, warriors, sages, and winged eyeballs. (USA, 82 minutes, English, 2008)

Discussion to follow with director Nina Paley and some members of the cast.Read More