eInside Events

Kent State University Hosts Fourth Annual Oxfam Social Issues Banquet

Some guests at the Oxfam Social Issues Banquet sit on
the floor to have their meal in a hunger simulation that
depicts a lower socioeconomic class. The hunger simulation
spotlights the challenges created daily by world hunger.

Kent State University’s Office of Experiential Education and Civic Engagement will host the fourth annual Oxfam Social Issues Banquet on Thursday, Nov. 21, from 11:30 a.m. – 2 p.m. in the Kent Student Center Ballroom. The banquet is free and open to the public.

The Oxfam Social Issues Banquet is part of a series of events hosted during Hunger Awareness and Action Week. It consists of a hunger stimulation event designed to increase awareness of the distribution of food across socio-economic classes. The goal of the event is to explore the impact of hunger on global and local communities. Attendees will partake in rich discussions about the issues of poverty while taking part in a limited meal.

The Office of Experiential Education and Civic Engagement has invited local experts to lead engaging table topic discussions on food insecurities, nutrition, sustainable living, housing and homelessness, food economy, public policy and the geography of poverty.

Faculty, staff, students and community members can also participate in a “Meet and Greet” with local social service agency representatives following the event from 2:15-3:30 p.m. The “Meet and Greet” will offer an opportunity to explore the challenges facing social service agencies and focus on the exchange of physical, social and intellectual resources. Attendees can make a commitment to offer their talents and skills to support local organizations’ efforts.

“The banquet serves as a platform to offer guests hands-on insights into the inequalities in food distribution and to become more informed of the various ways that Kent State is using experiential learning as a means of supporting local efforts that address poverty and other social issues,” says Tina L. Kandakai, director for the Office of Experiential Education and Civic Engagement.

In addition to the banquet, other events are slated for this week. Students in the fall 2013 Art of the Theatre honors course will participate in a theatre performance on Wednesday, Nov. 20, from 1-1:45 p.m. in the EZ Black Box Theatre at Kent State’s Center for the Performing Arts. Admission is also free to this event, but audience members are encouraged to bring a non-perishable food item, which will be donated to the Center of Hope in Ravenna.

All Oxfam-related events are free and open to the public. Proper attire is recommended as seating is limited. Registration is open up to the day of the banquet. To register for the banquet, visit www.kent.edu/oeece or type www.tinyURL.com/2013oxfam directly into your browser.

For more information about the banquet, call the Office of Experiential Education and Civic Engagement at 330-672-7876 or email Kandakai at tkandaka@kent.edu.

Kent State’s Bridgestone Chair of International Marketing to Keynote Michael D. Solomon Speaker Series

Visiting professor and Bridgestone Chair
of International Marketing at Kent State
University Joakim Wincent, Ph.D., will
keynote the Michael D. Solomon
Entrepreneurship Speaker Series on
Nov. 20.

Swedish researcher and professor Joakim Wincent, Ph.D., who also has been appointed visiting professor and Bridgestone Chair of International Marketing at Kent State University, will speak at the Michael D. Solomon Entrepreneurship Speaker Series on Wednesday, Nov. 20. Wincent will address how innovation can extend a company’s potential as a market leader during his presentation, titled “Global Innovation Leadership.” The event, which will take place at the Kent State University Hotel and Conference Center at 6:30 p.m., is free and open to the public.

Attendees at the event will learn how small firms can use entrepreneurial practices to remain at the forefront of innovation.

Wincent is a professor of entrepreneurship and innovation at Luleå University of Technology in Sweden. He has won several awards for his research, including most recently, an award for his paper at the European Academy of Management Conference and Wallenberg Academy Fellows nomination.

As the Bridgestone Chair in International Marketing at Kent State, part of Wincent’s time will be spent working at the university’s Center for Entrepreneurship and Business Innovation to partner with leading European research centers.

The event is sponsored by the Center for Entrepreneurship and Business Innovation in Kent State’s College of Business Administration. For more information and to register for the event, visit www.kent.edu/cebi/registration-page-for-solomon-speaker-series.cfm.

The Michael D. Solomon Entrepreneurship Speaker Series is made possible through an endowed gift from Michael D. Solomon, a 1974 graduate of the College of Business Administration at Kent State who also serves as a national trustee on the Kent State University Board of Trustees. Through Solomon’s generosity, entrepreneurs are brought to campus each year to share their experiences with students, faculty and the business community. Students are given the opportunity to meet the speaker, providing a connection with the world of business and entrepreneurship outside the classroom.

Campus Kitchen at Kent State’s Turkeypalooza to Benefit Local Families in Need

Student volunteers at the Campus Kitchen at Kent State
University prepare meals for people in the community. This
year, the Campus Kitchen at Kent State will provide holiday
meals and groceries to its community clients.

The Campus Kitchen at Kent State University announces its Turkeypalooza event, which is held by Campus Kitchens across the country to ensure that all families have a Thanksgiving dinner. This Thanksgiving season, the Campus Kitchen at Kent State will provide holiday meals and groceries to its regular clients in the community, including those served by Kent Social Services and the Center of Hope. Because this is a huge undertaking, the Campus Kitchen at Kent State needs your help to make it happen.

From Monday, Nov. 18, to Friday, Nov. 22, the Campus Kitchen will celebrate “Take Your Turkey to Work Day!” The Campus Kitchen requests Kent State faculty and staff members to bring a turkey to work during the week of Nov. 18, so that the Campus Kitchen at Kent State can prepare and share Thanksgiving blessings with those less fortunate in the community.

You can bring your turkey to the Campus Kitchen, located at the Beall Hall loading dock, between the hours of 6:30-8:30 a.m. Alternatively, you can arrange for a volunteer to pick up your turkey at your office during the week. Volunteers will also accept financial donations (such as gift cards) to purchase turkeys or other food items.

For more information about Turkeypalooza or to arrange for a pick-up for “Take Your Turkey to Work Day,” contact Alexandra James, Campus Kitchen event coordinator, at ajames14@kent.edu or 440-376-0194.

Kent State University Planetarium Presents “The Skies of Winter”

Kent State University's Planetarium will
present “The Skies of Winter: Holidays
in the Planetarium” from Dec. 5-7.

The Kent State University Planetarium’s traditional holiday presentation “The Skies of Winter: Holidays in the Planetarium” has been scheduled for Thursday, Dec. 5, Friday, Dec. 6, and Saturday, Dec. 7, at 8 p.m. each night in room 108, Smith Hall, on the Kent Campus.

The program continues this year with an exploration of the skies of winter and their connection to religious and cultural observances throughout the world. Join the planetarium to explore what you can see in the lovely clear skies of winter and how the people of the world structure their lives around the heavens.

This hourlong program is open to all, but is not recommended for children under age six. As always, there is no admission charge.

Although there is no admission charge, reservations are necessary as seating capacity is limited. Reservations can be made by calling 330-672-2246 to indicate your interest. Individuals in need of special accommodations for the event are encouraged to call at least one week in advance of the show.

For more information, visit http://planetarium.kent.edu.

Wick Poetry Center Celebrates World Poetry Reading

Natasha Rodriguez-Carroll is one of the featured speakers
at the the Kent State University Wick Poetry Center's World
Poetry Reading on Nov. 21.

Kent State University’s Wick Poetry Center invites Kent State faculty, staff, students, families and friends to the World Poetry Reading, a celebration of poetry from around the world, on Nov. 21 at 7:30 p.m. in Room 317 at the Kent Student Center. The event is free and open to public.

The event, co-sponsored by Kent State’s Office of Global Education, will feature twelve readers from places such as Hungary, Syria, Colombia, Jordan, Georgia, Malaysia, Puerto Rico, Brazil, Russia, Germany, China and Saudi Arabia. They will share poems from their home countries.

“Poetry is a very special form of communication, and I think it encapsulates a lot of different people’s identities,” says Marcello Fantoni, Ph.D., associate provost for the Office of Global Education. “Having them read poems in their languages from their countries could lead to a deeper form of communication among them and that’s an interesting experiment. It is a way to know each other personally and as representatives of their culture.”

Gyorgyi Mihalyi, a featured reader from Hungary and international programming assistant for International Student Scholar Services and the Office of Global Education, says that she is very excited to share her poem in Hungarian.

“It is going to be a great way for other students and the audience to have a little peek into my culture and I am excited to speak in Hungarian to people who have never heard a Hungarian poem before,Mihalyi says”

The event is a culmination of a series of workshops held in the Office of Global Education and led by Kent State English-as-a-second-language instructor Pete Grapentien, under the leadership of Nicole Robinson, the Wick Poetry Center’s outreach manager.

“When we first conceived of this reading, we never guessed that it would attract such a diverse group of student readers,” says Jessica Jewell, program manager for the Wick Poetry Center. “I am absolutely thrilled that so many of our amazingly creative international student poets are going to share poems from their home countries.”

An open reading session and reception will follow the featured readers where Kent State community members can read from their favorite international or original poem in any language.

For more information about other Wick Poetry Center events, visit www.kent.edu/wick/readingseries.

Kent State’s School of Art Announces 2013 Holiday Sale

Ceramic products, like those pictured above, will be on
sale during Kent State University’s School of Art's holiday
sale on Nov. 30 and Dec. 1.

Kent State University’s School of Art will hold its annual holiday sale on Saturday, Nov. 30, and Sunday, Dec. 1, at the School of Art’s Downtown Gallery, located at 141 East Main Street in Kent.

During the holiday sale, local and regional artists — including Kent State faculty, students and alumni — showcase and sell original work in the gallery’s retail space. Gallery visitors can browse and purchase any of the works on display. The sale is a popular seasonal haunt for shoppers seeking unique holiday gifts.

This year’s holiday sale takes place the weekend following Thanksgiving and coincides with Small Business Saturday.

“It seemed like the perfect time for our sale, as many other businesses in the area will be offering special deals as well,” says Lesley Sickle, Downtown Gallery coordinator. “We certainly hope shoppers will support local businesses in downtown Kent.”

The Downtown Gallery’s holiday sale hours will be 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. on Saturday, and noon to 5 p.m. on Sunday.

For more information about the sale, contact Sickle at lsickle1@kent.edu or 330-676-1549.

Free Performance at Kent State University by Country’s Foremost Modern Dance Group, Limón Dance Company

67-year-old company is renowned for its technical mastery and dramatic expression

Dancers with the Limón Dance Company of New York City
choreograph a psalm by José Limón. The dance company
will perform a free concert at Kent State University on
Dec. 6.

(Photo credit: Beatriz Schiller)

Kent State University’s Thomas Schroth Visiting Artist Series proudly presents a concert by one of the country’s foremost modern dance performance groups, the Limón Dance Company of New York City, on Friday, Dec. 6, at 7:30 p.m. The performance will take place in E. Turner Stump Theatre in the Center for the Performing Arts (formerly Music and Speech Building), 1325 Theatre Drive in Kent. The event is free and open to the public. Tickets must be reserved by calling 330-672-ARTS (2787) or online at www.kent.edu/artscollege. A complimentary dessert reception will immediately follow the concert in the Roe Green Center lobby, adjacent to E. Turner Stump Theatre.

Under the artistic direction of Carla Maxwell, the Limón Dance Company is hailed as one of the world’s greatest dance companies. The Limón Dance Company has been at the vanguard of American modern dance since its inception in 1946. The company is the living legacy of the dance theater developed by José Limón and his mentors, Doris Humphrey and Charles Weidman, whose innovative works revolutionized the American dance. After Limón’s death in 1972, the company pioneered the idea that it was possible to survive the death of its founder, setting an example for the entire dance field. Now in its 67th year, the company is renowned for its technical mastery and dramatic expression, and demonstrates both the timelessness of Limón’s works and the humanistic vision that guides the repertory choices.

“I am most especially thrilled that Kent State is able to present a free performance to the public by the Limón Dance Company,” says John R. Crawford, dean of Kent State's College of the Arts and dancer by trade. “Years ago, I studied the José Limón technique, later performed and then eventually taught the Limón principles of style. The company has such a rich dance history and impressive reputation. I encourage everyone to attend the concert to experience firsthand this expressive and passionate form of dance.”

Current Artistic Director Carla Maxwell worked closely with Limón before becoming artistic director in 1978. The company has been committed to producing and presenting programs that balance classic works of American modern dance with commissions and acquisitions from contemporary choreographers, resulting in a repertory of unparalleled breadth. In its first half-century, the company achieved many important milestones: It was the first group to tour under the auspices of the American Cultural Exchange Program (1954), the first dance troupe to perform at Lincoln Center (1963) and has had the honor of appearing twice at the White House (1967 and 1995). More recently, the José Limón Dance Foundation was awarded a 2008 National Medal of Arts, the nation’s highest honor for artistic excellence.

The Thomas Schroth Visiting Artist Series has presented guest artists respected in the field of theatre, dance, visual arts, music and architecture. Now in its 11th year, the Thomas Schroth Visiting Artist Series has brought such noted artists as Tony Award-winning composer Stephen Schwartz and Next to Normal actress Alice Ripley; GRAMMY-winning Emerson String Quartet; postmodern minimalist artist Richard Tuttle; artists and fashion designers Ruben and Isabel Toledo; and internationally acclaimed dance company Ballet Florida; and actor, dancer and arts advocate Ben Vereen, just to name a few.

The Schroth series was established in 2002 by the late Max and Cil Draime of Warren, Ohio, to honor their dear friend, Tom Schroth (1922-1997). A noted regional architect, Schroth designed the Butler Institute of Art’s Trumbull museum in Howland, Ohio, as well as numerous other award-winning projects. Schroth spent his life in Niles, Ohio, as a prominent architect and inveterate collaborator in the artistic life of the Mahoning Valley and Northeast Ohio. A world traveler, he saw human creativity as a window that frames human experience. The Thomas Schroth Visiting Artist Series brings diverse views through that window to the Kent Campus and community. The events are always free and open to the public.

Register for Holiday Card-Making Workshop

Kent State University’s Women’s Center will be hosting a holiday card-making workshop on Tuesday, Dec. 10, from 5-6:30 p.m. at the Women’s Center.

Registration costs $14 and includes all supplies needed for five cards of three different designs.

Limited spots are available, so make a reservation now if you are interested by calling the Women’s Center at 330-672-9230.

For more information about the Women’s Center, visit www.kent.edu/womenscenter.

Kent State’s Wick Poetry Center Welcomes Poet Joshua Bennett

Poet Joshua Bennett will perform on
Nov. 19 at 7:30 p.m. in the Ritchie Hall
Community Theatre. Kent State University's
Wick Poetry Center is hosting the event.

Kent State University’s Wick Poetry Center welcomes spoken-word poet Joshua Bennett, performing Nov. 19 at 7:30 p.m. in the Ritchie Hall Community Theatre. The event, sponsored by the National Endowment for the Arts, is free and open to the public.

Bennett is a performance poet from Yonkers, N.Y., and a graduate of the University of Pennsylvania. He has recited his original work at venues such as the Sundance Film Festival, the NAACP Image Awards and President Barack Obama’s White House Evening of Poetry, Music and the Spoken Word. Bennett also was featured on the HBO series Russell Simmons Presents Brave New Voices, as well as ad campaigns for Reebok and Ralph Lauren’s Rugby Poets Club. Bennett is a second-year Ph.D. candidate in the English department at Princeton University, where he focuses primarily on African-American nature writing.

“Joshua Bennett is a wonderful poet and scholar, and I’m thrilled that he has agreed to perform at Kent State,” says Jessica Jewell, program manager for the Wick Poetry Center. “I think that those who attend his reading will be blown away by his captivating and heartfelt performance.”

Bennett also will perform for high school students at John R. Buchtel Community Learning Center of Akron Public Schools. All students attending the event will receive a postcard with a poem written by him.

“I’m even more excited that he will speak to outreach students in Buchtel High School as part of our ongoing work with the Akron Impact Network and School Improvement Grant schools,” Jewell says.

Bennett will perform, discuss his poetry and answer questions for more than 135 Buchtel students.

“With generous funding from the National Endowment for the Arts, we are excited for the high school students at Buchtel who will be able to find inspiration in Joshua Bennett’s performance and lecture,” says Nicole Robinson, outreach manager for the Wick Poetry Center.

For more information about the Wick Poetry Center’s events, visit www.kent.edu/wick/readingseries.

Kent State Celebrates International Education Week, Nov. 18-22

The annual International Cook-off is one of several
activities marking International Education Week at Kent
State University. The event, which features food from
around the world, takes place Nov. 21.

Kent State University will celebrate International Education Week from Nov. 18-22 and will feature dozens of events campuswide. Events will include concerts, dance lessons, academic lectures and an international cook-off.

According to the Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs, International Education Week is “an opportunity to celebrate the benefits of international education and exchange worldwide.” It is a joint initiative of the U.S. Department of State and the U.S. Department of Education, and it is part of their efforts to “promote programs that prepare Americans for a global environment and attract future leaders from abroad to study, learn and exchange experiences in the United States.”

“At Kent State, the Office of Global Education has worked with student organizations and academic departments to create events of an international or global theme to share different cultures and global issues with the Kent community,” says Desnee Stevens, assistant director of International Student and Scholar Services in Kent State’s Office of Global Education. “All events are open to members of the Kent State community in order to foster diversity and present a shared global learning experience.”

The week of celebration will feature a Thai fashion show; panel presentations; academic lectures focusing on international topics, global issues and heritages; documentaries; cultural dances, games and competitions, including the annual international cook-off, which will take place on Nov. 21 and will consist of six teams, each representing a different country.

“Teams have chosen a culturally significant dish and beverage and will be serving it to visitors and judges,” says Stevens. They will present their recipes in a live cook-off competition. “Attendees will be able to choose their favorite dish, and the winning team will have their recipe featured in the dining halls the following week.”

For a full calendar of events marking International Education Week, visit www.kent.edu/globaleducation/upload/international-education-week-2013.pdf. For more information about International Education Week, contact Alana Baudo at abaudo@kent.edu.