eInside Events

Kent State Picked For 11 a.m. ESPNU Broadcast on Feb. 11

Join the Golden Flashes for a ‘GOLDOUT’ against Ball State

The Golden Flashes' Feb. 11 game against Ball State will
be broadcast on ESPNU beginning at 11 a.m. Fans are
encouraged to wear gold to the game.

Kent State’s Feb. 11 men’s basketball game against Ball State has been selected for an 11 a.m. broadcast on ESPNU. Kent State fans are encouraged to wear gold to the game as the Golden Flashes host a ‘GOLDOUT’ for the nationally-televised contest.

In addition to the ‘GOLDOUT,’ Kent State will be giving away a “Crazy Hair” wig to the first 1,000 fans through the door.

Halftime entertainment includes a performance by the Marquette School of Dance and a series shootout for a chance to win $10,000.

Kent State, the two-time defending Mid-American Conference (MAC) regular season champion, heads into this weekend one game out of first in the Mid-American Conference East Division Standings.

Led by first-year Head Coach Rob Senderoff, the Golden Flashes have compiled a 12-5 overall record and a 2-2 mark in league play, so far this season. Senior forward Justin Greene, from Brooklyn, N.Y., is the only active MAC player to have totaled more than 1,300 points, 100 blocks and 100 steals in a career. Greene, who was named the MAC East Player of the Week on Jan. 16, leads the league with 18.0 points per game during conference play this season.

For tickets, call the Kent State Athletics Ticket Office at 330-672-2244.

Kent State’s Department of Pan-African Studies Hosts West African Artist

Kent State's Department of Pan-African
Studies will hold a gallery exhibition of
West African sculpture artist Isaac
Kwame Awuku's work on Feb. 16.

Kent State University’s Department of Pan-African Studies will host West African wood and clay sculpture artist Isaac Kwame Awuku at a Feb. 16 gallery exhibition of his work and reception in the lecture auditorium at Ritchie Hall.

Awuku, from Ghana, will present a wood carving demonstration from 2 - 4 p.m., and deliver a lecture at 3 p.m. A reception will be held at 5:30 p.m.

Awuku began creating art at age 11, learning traditional carving techniques from his family. He studied the art of wood and clay sculptures at Ghana’s Opportunity Industrialization Centre. As a renowned artist and arts educator, Awuku has created art programs for children and elders in Ghana and has lectured extensively in the United States.

All of the day’s events are free and open to the public.

For more information about the Department of Pan-African Studies, visit www.kent.edu/cas/pas.

Wick Poetry Center Hosts Poets Jody Rambo and Elizabeth Breese

Kent State University’s Wick Poetry Center will host poets Jody Rambo and Elizabeth Breese on Wednesday, Feb. 15, at 7:30 p.m. in Room 306 ABC of the Kent Student Center.

Jody Rambo, an M.F.A. graduate from Colorado State University, now teaches creative writing at Wittenberg University in Springfield, Ohio. She won the 2009 Wick Chapbook Competition for Ohio Poets with her chapbook, Tethering World. Her poetry has appeared in Barrow Street, Colorado Review, Gulf Coast, Notre Dame Review, Quarterly West, Verse, Virginia Quarterly Review, and other journals.

Elizabeth Breese’s chapbook, The Lonely-Wilds, was also a winner of the 2009 Wick Chapbook Competition. Breese recently graduated from The Ohio State University with an M.F.A. Her poetry has appeared in Hadyen’s Ferry Review, Barrow Street, Field, and other publications.

This reading is free and open to the public.

More information is available at www.kent.edu/wick or by calling the Wick Poetry Center at 330-672-2067.

Concerto Competition Winners to Perform in Upcoming Orchestra Concert, Rock and Peace

The Kent State University Hugh A. Glauser School of Music's
Orchestra will continue its season with “Rock and Peace” led
by Orchestra Director Liza Grossman.

The Kent State University Hugh A. Glauser School of Music's Orchestra will continue its season with “Rock and Peace” led by Orchestra Director Liza Grossman at 7:30 p.m. on Sunday, Feb. 12, at the University Auditorium in Cartwright Hall.

The performance will include an eclectic program of classical and contemporary music. Guests can expect to hear:

“Sizzle” by Cleveland composer Margaret Brouwer
“Dragon and Phoenix Overture” by Grammy award-winning Tan Dun
“Kashmir” by Led Zeppelin

In addition, guests will hear the undergraduate and graduate winners of the 2011 Concerto Competition, which took place in the School of Music in December. Winners Lindsey Sandham Leonard and Alexandre Marr will perform their selected pieces with the orchestra.

Sandham Leonard, who is a vocal graduate student, will perform “Ach ich fuhl's” from Mozart's “Magic Flute.” Sandham Leonard, an Ohio native, has performed in the opera program for the School and studies with Marla Berg. She graduated from Baldwin-Wallace Conservatory of Music where she was the soprano II soloist for the Buxtehude cantata at the renowned 2010 Bach Festival.

“My major has an emphasis in opera, so this is a great opportunity to sing with an orchestra. I’m looking forward to working with Liza Grossman and the Kent State Orchestra,” says Leonard. “It adds to my experience and credibility as a classical performer and voice instructor.”

Marr, a sophomore fashion merchandising major and piano minor, will perform Rachmoninoff “Piano Concerto No. 2 in C Minor.” Marr, also an Ohio native, has been playing the piano since he was 11 years old and studies the instrument with Kent State Artist-in-Residence Donna Lee. Marr is a transfer student from Case Western Reserve University, where he competed in the Symphony Concerto Competition and won last year. He also competed in the Solon Young Artists Concerto Competition 2011 and won third place.

“I have always dreamed of performing this concerto with an orchestra and I am delighted that I finally have the opportunity to do so,” Marr says.

Tickets will be available at the door. Ticket cost for adults and seniors is $10, and $5 for students with a valid college ID. Only cash or check will be accepted.

For more information, call the School of Music at 330-672-2172.

Kent State University Marks Black History Month

Award-winning journalist and political commentator Jeff Johnson to serve as keynote speaker

Award-winning investigative journalist,
social activist and political commentator
Jeff Johnson will speak at the Kent Student
Center Kiva as part of activities marking
Kent State’s Black History Month celebration.

Black United Students and the Department of Pan-African Studies will commemorate Black History Month this February.

Black History Month seeks to educate the Kent State community about African-American heritage, promote inclusion and a common understanding across cultures, and enhance social and leadership development among student participants.

Jeff Johnson, award-winning investigative journalist, social activist and political commentator, is the keynote speaker for Kent State’s Black History Month celebration. As a MSNBC contributor and White House correspondent for The Grio, an African-American website owned by NBC, Johnson covers important issues facing the nation. Johnson will speak at the Kent Student Center Kiva on Feb. 29, from 7:30 – 9 p.m.

This year, several campus organizations will host a variety of events and activities throughout the month. The celebration will include film screenings, reflections and discussions about social issues and topics that affect the African-American community, health awareness events and more.

“Our program this year is all-inclusive,” says Avery Danage, president of Black United Students. “We have partnered with a variety of campus organizations to provide a diverse and rich program line-up and we hope that you will join in the celebration of African-American heritage by attending and participating in these events.”

Click here to see the 2012 Black History Month calendar of events.

For more information, contact Danage at adanage1@kent.edu.

Kent State University at Trumbull Announces Black History Month Lecture Series

Join Kent State University at Trumbull in February as it celebrates Black History Month with a variety of activities, including a series of featured speakers.

"Black Baseball in Ohio" with Dr. Leslie Heaphy
Monday, Feb. 13, 1:30 p.m. - 2:30 p.m.
Dr. Leslie Heaphy teaches a variety of courses at Kent State University. She was awarded the Distinguished Teaching Award in 2004 and is currently the director of the Honors Program for Kent State University at Stark. Heaphy will focus on various teams from the Negro Leagues and some of the prominent players who made their mark in Ohio, with an emphasis on the World Series Champion — the Cleveland Buckeyes. The lecture will take place in Room 202 of the Classroom/Administration Building.

"The African Odyssey in Pre-Columbian America" with Dr. George Garrison
Thursday, Feb. 23, 6 p.m. - 7 p.m.
Dr. George Garrison is a tenured professor at Kent State University. His scholarly works are published nationally and internationally. Before his time at Kent State University, Garrison served in the Vietnam War and also taught at a boarding school in the Navajo Nation. Garrison will discuss how over the last half century or more, evidence has been discovered that has clearly established an African presence in the Americas centuries before the voyages of Columbus to this part of the world. This lecture will endeavor to summarize the evidence, which is the foundation for the claim that Africans have been present in this land from the Pre-Christian era to the period of the arrival of Europeans in this hemisphere; and to explain how these ancient African visitors traveled throughout this continent, given the impenetrable forests, swamps, mountains and deserts that were natural barriers to traveling in this land. The lecture will take place in Room 202 of the Classroom/Administration Building.

Kent State University at Stark Hosts Diversity Events During Black History Month

Wallace Coleman, a 10-year veteran of the Grammy
Award-winning Robert Lockwood Jr. Band, will perform
on Feb. 23 at the Kent State Stark Main Auditorium.

Kent State University at Stark will feature a variety of events to commemorate February as Black History Month. All events take place on the Kent State Stark Campus, 6000 Frank Ave. NW in Jackson Township. Events are free and open to the public. No tickets are required.

The Black List

• Volume I - Monday, Feb. 6, 12:30 – 2 p.m.
• Volume II - Wednesday, Feb. 15, 12:30 – 2 p.m.
• Volume III - Wednesday, Feb. 22, 12:30 – 2 p.m.
  

Black List events will take place in the Library Conference Room.
Photographer/filmmaker Timothy Greenfield-Sanders, and public radio host, journalist and former New York Times critic Elvis Mitchell produced video portraits of some of today’s most prominent African-Americans from the areas of arts, sports, politics, business and government. The series provides insight on identity, diversity and race in America. Each video will be followed by a moderated discussion.

African-American Men in Post-Obama America
Thursday, Feb. 16, 12:30 - 2 p.m. in the Library Conference Room
Join moderator William Casterlow for a discussion about the African-American male experience in America, with a special emphasis on the struggles and triumphs experienced in the 21st century.

African-American Women Pioneers in Sports
Monday, Feb. 20, 12:30 - 2 p.m. in the Library Conference Room
The presentation by Dr. Leslie Heaphy highlights African-American women who have made significant contributions and achievements in sports. The event is co-sponsored by Kent State Stark’s History Club.

Electric Blues, Featuring the Wallace Coleman Band
Thursday, Feb. 23, at 6 p.m. in the Main Hall Auditorium
Wallace Coleman, a 10-year veteran of the Grammy Award-winning Robert Lockwood Jr. Band, started his own band in 1996. Four years later, he established his own record label, Pinto Blues Music. Since then, he has released five CDs, including Repossession Blues with UK bluesman Dave Thomas, and his latest release, Blues in The Wind. Coleman has won a Living Blues Award for fan favorite, and garnered two nominations for outstanding harmonica. He has been named an Ohio Heritage Fellow. His performance embodies an American art form that has all but disappeared from the African-American music landscape and is certain to captivate blues lovers of all ages.

For more information about Kent State Stark’s Black History Month celebration, call 330-499-9600 or visit www.stark.kent.edu/about/diversity.