eInside Events

Kent State’s Guest of Honor University Artist/Lecture Series Presents Renowned Author and Poet

Author, poet and screenwriter Sherman Alexie will deliver a lecture at the Kent Student Center Kiva on Wednesday, March 28, at
6 p.m. as part of Kent State’s Guest of Honor University Artist/Lecture Series. Alexie’s presentation, “The Business of Fancydancing: Poems, Stories, Punch Lines and Highly Biased Anecdotes,” is free and open to the public.

Alexie was named one of The New Yorker’s 20 top writers for the 21st century. The New York Times Book Review described him as “one of the major lyric voices of our time.” Men’s Journal called him “the world’s first fast-talking and wisecracking mediagenic American-Indian superstar.”

Alexie, a Spokane/Coeur d’Alene Indian, grew up on the Spokane Indian Reservation in Eastern Washington. His first novel, Reservation Blues, won Booklist’s Editor’s Choice Award for Fiction. The Toughest Indian in the World won the 2001 PEN/Malamud Award, honoring excellence in the art of storytelling. Ten Little Indians was a 2003 national bestseller and Publishers Weekly Book of the Year.

A gifted orator, Alexie tells tales of contemporary American Indian life laced with razor-sharp humor, unsettling candor and biting wit. His latest books include Flight: The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian, which won the 2007 National Book Award in Young People’s Literature; and Face, his first full collection of poems in nine years. His 2009 collection of short stories, War Dances, was the winner of the PEN Faulkner Award.

Alexie wrote and produced the film Smoke Signals, based on his book, The Lone Ranger and Tonto Fistfight in Heaven, which won the Audience Award and Filmmakers Trophy at the 1998 Sundance Film Festival. In 2002, he made his directorial debut with The Business of Fancydancing.

The Guest of Honor University Artist/Lecture Series is funded by the Office of the Provost and coordinated by the Honors College. Contact the Honors College at 330-672-2312 if special accommodations for disabilities are required.

Nobel Laureate to Speak About Advances in Organic Photovoltaics on April 17

Nobel Laureate and Professor Alan
Heeger will serve as keynote speaker at
a Kent State symposium on advances in
organic photovoltaics on April 17. Heeger
is widely known for his pioneering research
in the field of semiconducting and metallic
polymers.

Kent State University announces a symposium to celebrate its traditional strength in advanced materials and launch a major research and development initiative in organic photovoltaics.

The symposium, to be held at the Kent Student Center Kiva on April 17, from 12:30 to 6 p.m., will bring together academic and industry researchers, regional business leaders and students who have an interest in the science and promising new technology of organic photovoltaics (OPVs).

The symposium will provide a platform for local and national research and industry leaders to discuss opportunities and hurdles inherent in organic photovoltaics, including research, development and manufacturing challenges.

The keynote speaker Professor Alan Heeger is widely known for his pioneering research in and the co-founding of the field of semiconducting and metallic polymers. He is the recipient of numerous awards, including the Nobel Prize in Chemistry (2000), the American Physical Society's Oliver E. Buckley Prize for Condensed Matter Physics, the International Balzan Prize for the Science of New Materials, the President's Medal for Distinguished Achievement from the University of Pennsylvania, the Chancellor's Medal from the University of California, Santa Barbara, and honorary doctorates from universities in the United States, Europe and Asia. He is a member of the National Academy of Science, the National Academy of Engineering, the Korean Academy of Science and the Chinese Academy of Science.

Heeger has more than 800 publications in scientific journals and more than 50 patents. He founded UNIAX Corporation in 1990; UNIAX was acquired by DuPont in 2000. Heeger is a co-founder and serves on the board of directors of Konarka Technologies Inc. He is co-founder and chairman of CBrite Inc. in Santa Barbara. He is co-founder and vice chairman of Cynvenio (micro fluidics for cell sorting and related areas) and Cytomx Therapeutics (novel technology for targeted drug delivery).

Other invited speakers include:

• Brett Ellman, Kent State University
• C. Daniel Frisbie, University of Minnesota
• L. Jay Guo, University of Michigan
• Yo Shimizu, National Institute of Advanced Industrial Science and Technology, Kansai Center, Japan
• Robert Twieg, Kent State University
• Yang Yang, University of California, Los Angeles
  

Registration is required for this event, which is free and open to the public. To register, go to: http://reg.abcsignup.com/reg/event_page.aspx?ek=0055-0003-6343ba6f0b0c4cbbb656ab249d6acd43.

To learn more about the Organic Photovoltaics Symposium, go to the Symposium home page.

For more information, contact Jim Maxwell at jmaxwel2@kent.edu.

Learn About the Big Bang, Dark Matter, Unseen Dimensions and Universes on March 28

Yale Professor of Physics John W. Harris will deliver a
lecture titled, “An Odyssey Through Our Universe – From
the Big Bang and Unknown Dark Forces to Unseen Dimensions
and Universes,” at the University Auditorium in Cartwright Hall
on March 28.The lecture is intended for a non-technical audience.

The Division of Research and Sponsored Programs and the Department of Physics at Kent State will host a public lecture by Yale Professor of Physics John W. Harris. Attendance is free and open to the public.

The public lecture, “An Odyssey Through Our Universe – From the Big Bang and Unknown Dark Forces to Unseen Dimensions and Universes,” will be held in the University Auditorium in Cartwright Hall on March 28 starting at 7 p.m.

A reception will be held in the auditorium lobby at 6:30 p.m. This event is being held in conjunction with the Outstanding Research and Scholarship Award ceremony, which begins at 5:30 p.m. and will also be held in the lobby just outside of the University Auditorium in Cartwright Hall.

The lecture is intended for a non-technical audience, so children and adults of all ages are encouraged to attend.

“I invite you to take a pedestrian’s guided tour through the genesis of our universe!” Harris wrote in an abstract for the lecture.

Harris further explains, “From the Big Bang through initial faster-than-light Inflation of the Universe, watch the universal force of nature split into four forces. Travel through a hot Quark Soup into the regime of particles, atoms and molecules, then to galaxies, solar systems and planets. Along the way, learn “not to exceed the cosmic speed limit” and “to avoid conflicts of cosmic proportions. In this lecture I will discuss issues that constitute some of the most intriguing mysteries and marvels remaining in modern-day physics, including gravity, black holes, quantum mechanics, string theory, dark matter and the Higgs particle,” he says.

Harris’s research interests focus on understanding the behavior of nuclear, hadronic and partonic matter at high energy densities. Such energy densities are predicted to have existed a few microseconds after the Big Bang and are expected in collisions of heavy nuclei at ultrarelativistic energies. Formation, discovery and determination of properties of the QGP is the primary purpose of ultrarelativistic nucleus-nucleus experiments at the Relativistic Heavy Ion Collider (RHIC) at Brookhaven Laboratory on Long Island in New York, and at the Large Hadron Collider at CERN in Geneva, Switzerland.

Harris was involved in the original proposal to initiate a nucleus-nucleus experimental program at CERN to search for a possible QGP phase transition, and has been an active member in the planning, conceptual design, construction, data acquisition and physics of ultrarelativistic nucleus-nucleus experiments NA35 and NA49 at CERN, and the STAR (Solenoidal Tracker at RHIC) experiment at Brookhaven. He was the founding spokesperson for STAR from 1991 until 2002. In addition to his work on STAR, he is currently focusing his research effort on the ALICE experiment at the LHC at CERN and is National Coordinator for the ALICE-USA Collaboration.

To learn more about this public lecture, visit www.kent.edu/research/johnharrispubliclecture.cfm.

For more information, contact Jim Maxwell at jmaxwel2@kent.edu.

Department of Pan-African Studies Lecture Series Continues with Presentation by College of Wooster History Professor

Kent State's Department of Pan-African
Studies will host College of Wooster
History Professor Ibra Sene during its
lecture series on March 13.

Kent State University’s Department of Pan-African Studies will host College of Wooster History Professor Ibra Sene at a March 13 reception and lecture in the second floor lecture hall at Ritchie Hall.

Sene’s lecture will focus on youth, religion and cultural identity in the era of globalization. The talk will focus on Hizbut Tarqiyya, a West African social youth movement of Islamic intellectuals.

The reception will be held from 5:30 to 6:30 p.m., and Sene will lecture at 7 p.m.

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

Author Julie Des Jardins Visits Kent State on March 8 to Speak About Women’s Contributions to Science

Are the fields of science and technology still considered to be predominantly male professions? Julie Des Jardins, Ph.D., will explore the lives of women scientists in relation to their male counterparts on Thursday, March 8, from 4 to 5:30 p.m. at the Kent Student Center Kiva.

Des Jardins is a professor in the Department of History at Baruch College – The City University of New York. A reception with refreshments will follow the event in Room 306 A in the Kent Student Center.

Des Jardins, author of the book The Madame Curie Complex: The Hidden History of Women in Science, will explore unexpected revelations about women’s contributions to the sciences and how they have transformed scientists’ roles. Her presentation, “The Hidden History of Women in Science,” will discuss why the fields of science and technology are still considered to be predominantly male professions. Des Jardins will dive into the world of women scientists, how they often ask different questions, use different methods and come up with different explanations for phenomena in the natural world.

The program is a capstone event presented by the Kent State IDEAL (Institutions Developing Excellence in Academic Leadership) Project, a National Science Foundation-funded project to encourage career advancement of women and underrepresented groups in science and technology.

“The timing to bring Des Jardins to Kent State is perfect for the third and final year of the project,” says Mary Louise Holly, Kent State’s IDEAL co-director. “Des Jardins will enhance the dynamic and evolving conversations about diversity at the university.”

Through an innovative three-year partnership with Case Western Reserve University, the IDEAL program at Kent State is supporting cultural transformation to enhance equity and inclusion in the STEM disciplines.

“Our Kent State team has experienced significant accomplishments over the last three years,” Holly says.

After identifying key players throughout the university, the IDEAL team administered a climate survey in its first year. In year two, in addition to bringing Bernice Sandler, the godmother of Title 9, to campus, the team helped to shape the Presidential Task Force on Women in STEM Education and Research, which is now 30 people strong. Des Jardins’ presentation continues the team’s momentum.

Event sponsors include the Office of the Provost, the College of Arts and Sciences, the Division of Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion, the Faculty Professional Development Center and the Women’s Center.

For more information about the event, visit www.kent.edu/IDEAL.

Thomas Schroth Visiting Artist Series Brings Architect George Miller to Kent State

World-renowned architect George H. Miller
will speak at Kent State on March 15 about
current techniques in the architecture industry
during this year's Thomas Schroth Visiting Artist
Series.

The annual Thomas Schroth Visiting Artist Series presents world-renowned architect George H. Miller, managing partner at New York-based Pei Cobb Freed and Partners, at 7 p.m. on March 15 in the Kent Student Center Kiva. The lecture is free and open to the public. To ensure a seat, call 330-672-2760 or email collegeofthearts@kent.edu.

During his visit, Miller will share images of projects and talk about the current techniques in the architecture industry. Douglas Steidl, dean of the College of Architecture and Environmental Design, will have an interview-type conversation with Miller, and a question-and-answer segment will conclude the series.

“I hope to draw out how Pei Cobb Freed addressed the issues and how their design quality was maintained through differing issues and approaches,” Steidl says. “Mr. Miller’s visit reflects the philosophy that has guided the architecture program at Kent State since its establishment.”

Miller is an architect principal and managing partner at Pei Cobb Freed and Partners in New York, where he has worked for more than 35 years. The company is known for such projects as the Grand Louvre in Paris, the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and Museum in Cleveland, the Paloaao Lombardia in Milan and the U.S. Holocaust Memorial Museum in Washington, D.C. Miller is also a former president of the American Institute of Architects, a member of the Architectural League of New York, Municipal Arts Society, Society of Architectural Historians and is director of the New York Building Congress.

Born in Berlin, Germany, and raised in northeastern Pennsylvania, Miller received his B.A. in architecture from Pennsylvania State University, and was recently awarded The Alumni Fellow Award. He is licensed to practice architecture in 20 states and the District of Columbia and is also a member of the Order of Architects in Luxembourg.

Working from their studio in New York, eight partners and approximately 80 colleagues of Pei Cobb Freed and Partners approach each project on its own terms, drawing inspiration more from specific surroundings than from formal or theoretical preconceptions. This approach stems from the conviction that successful environments of lasting value can be created only when individual building projects reflect a concern for the specific physical and cultural contexts in which they occur.

The Thomas Schroth Visiting Artist Series aims to bring diverse views to Kent State in the fields of architecture, visual art, music, theatre and dance to share interdisciplinary experiences with students, faculty and the community. The series was created by Max and Cecile Draime in memory of their dear friend and architect, Thomas Schroth.

Apollo's Fire Performs Mozart's The Magic Flute at Kent State University

Apollo's Fire dancers perform in Mozart's The Magic Flute.

Apollo's Fire, The Cleveland Baroque Orchestra, presents Mozart's The Magic Flute in the University Auditorium in Cartwright Hall on Saturday, March 24, at 8 p.m. Apollo's Fire takes Mozart's masterpiece back to its roots – as popular music theatre – in its anniversary event of the season that celebrates 221 years since Mozart's box-office hit and 20 years of passionate, period-instrument performances by Apollo's Fire.

With the landmark performance at Kent State, an educational mini-concert for children and a special lecture by visiting international scholar Dr. Benjamin Dunlap, Mozart's The Magic Flute promises to be a delight for the whole family.

Mozart's masterpiece is known for its multi-layered symbolism and rich tapestry of fantasy and legend. Sorrell's "vision of musical authenticity...guided by a shared commitment to honest emotional expression" (BBC Magazine) once again shines in a program that mixes the highest levels of artistry with folklore. In addition to the perfect blend of classical and folk, fable and fantasy, Mozart's masterpiece requires a delicate balance of drama and music – something Apollo’s Fire achieves in its commitment to period style.

For tickets, call 800-0314-2535 or visit www.apollosfire.org for details. Tickets start at $25. Student, senior, young adult, and group discounts are available.

Special Lecture: Join visiting international scholar Dr. Benjamin Dunlap as he discusses multilayered symbolism in Masonic Ritual and Egyptian Legend in The Magic Flute, one hour before the performance.

Children’s Concert: Apollo's Fire will present a 45-minute educational concert introducing children to the world of Papageno and his magic queen on Saturday, March 24, at 3 p.m. at the University Auditorium in Cartwright Hall. Only by learning to be truthful was Papageno finally rewarded with the girlfriend of his dreams. A small ensemble leads children through some of the show's most delightful musical moments. The concert is an interactive experience complete with colorful costumes.

Tickets for the children’s concert are $10 for adults and $5 for children under 18.

Tickets will be sold at the door for this educational event, but advance ordering is recommended. For each child's ticket that you buy for the children's concert, receive a discount voucher for a child or college student to attend the full two-hour performance of The Magic Flute, March 22-24. The three performances are March 22 (7:30 p.m.) at Finney Chapel in Oberlin, Ohio; March 23 at Severance Hall (8 p.m.); or March 24 at Kent State University (8 p.m.).

Click here for more information or contact Sarah Blue, marketing manager, Apollo's Fire, at sblue@apollosfire.org or 216-320-0012.

The Kent State Downtown Gallery Presents Opportunity for Artists to Sell Work

Kent State's School of Art’s Downtown Gallery will host a
Spring Sale from March 7-24, in place of the cancelled
12th Annual Cup Show.

The School of Art’s Downtown Gallery at Kent State University will host a Spring Sale from March 7-24, in place of the cancelled 12th Annual Cup Show. The Spring Sale is free and open to national, regional and local artists and Kent State students, faculty and staff. A reception will be from 5-7 p.m. on Wednesday, March 7.

Artists were encouraged to enter ceramics, jewelry, glass, textiles, prints, photos, wood and works on paper, and drop off their work at the Downtown Gallery on March 2 and 3.

The pieces will be available for purchase in the retail space of the Downtown Gallery. This sale offers the opportunity to purchase unique artwork as well as support the local art community. The School of Art Galleries will benefit from 40 percent of all sales.

The Cup Show, an annual contest and sale of imaginative cups made of all sorts of materials, was scheduled from Feb. 22 - March 17 with a reception from 5 to 7 p.m. on Thursday, March 1, and cancelled due to lack of entries.

For more information on the School of Art’s Downtown Gallery, call 330-676-1549.