eInside Events

Curator and Guardian of the Dead Sea Scroll Collection to Speak at Kent State University

Adolfo Roitman, Ph.D., curator of the
Shrine of the Book, which houses the Dead
Sea Scroll collection at the Israel Museum in
Jerusalem, will speak about “The Meaning of
the Dead Sea Scrolls for Judaism and
Christianity” at Kent State University on
Thursday, Sept. 19.

Adolfo Roitman, Ph.D., curator of the Shrine of the Book, which houses the Dead Sea Scroll collection at the Israel Museum in Jerusalem, will speak about “The Meaning of the Dead Sea Scrolls for Judaism and Christianity” at Kent State University on Thursday, Sept. 19, at 7 p.m. in the Kent Student Center Kiva. A dessert reception will follow the lecture. The event is free and open to the public.

The lecture is presented by Kent State’s Jewish Studies Program, with support from the College of Arts and Sciences and the Department of Philosophy.

“It’s very exciting when we can host a world-class scholar at Kent State, especially on a topic that has a wide appeal and profound historical and archaeological implications,” says Chaya Kessler, director of the Jewish Studies Program at Kent State. “Dr. Roitman is a dynamic speaker with an encyclopedic knowledge of the history of the Dead Sea Scrolls, from discovery to storage, as well as the extensive scholarship that has taken place surrounding the scrolls. Anyone that has an interest in the significance of the Dead Sea Scrolls should make it a point to attend his lecture at the Kiva on Thursday, Sept. 19, at 7 p.m.”

Roitman, a senior lecturer at the Schechter Institute of Jewish Studies in Jerusalem, lectures widely on early Jewish literature, the history and significance of the Dead Sea Scrolls and biblical interpretation. He also has served as a visiting scholar at universities across the United States and Central and South America.

He is the author of several books about the Dead Sea Scrolls, including The Sectarians from Qumran: Daily Life of the Essenes (Barcelona: Ediciones Martínez Roca, 2000, in Spanish) and A Day at Qumran: The Dead Sea Sect and Its Scrolls (Jerusalem: The Israel Museum, 1997).

An ordained conservative rabbi, Roitman earned his Ph.D. in Ancient Jewish Thought at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem in 1993. His fields of research include comparative religion, anthropological science and art history. He is a member of the World Union of Jewish Studies and the Society of Biblical Literature.

For more information about the lecture at Kent State, contact Kessler at ckessle7@kent.edu or David Odell-Scott at dodellsc@kent.edu.

For more information about Kent State’s Jewish Studies Program, visit www.kent.edu/CAS/JewishStudiesProgram.

Kent State Division of Diversity, Equity and Inclusion Invites Faculty and Staff to Fall Reception

The division will officially launch its Equity Action Plan at annual reception

Kent State University’s Division of Diversity,
Equity and Inclusion, led by Vice President
Alfreda Brown, Ed.D., will present its Equity
Action Plan at a fall reception on Sept. 9
at the Kent Student Center Ballroom Balcony.

Kent State University’s Division of Diversity, Equity and Inclusion invites Kent State faculty and staff to its fall reception on Monday, Sept. 9, from 3:30-5 p.m. at the Kent Student Center Ballroom Balcony.

The reception will mark the official launch of the division’s five-year strategic Equity Action Plan, “Charting Our Future.” Copies of the plan will be available for senior leadership in attendance. The reception also gives members of the university community the opportunity to learn about the division’s initiatives for the academic year, and also get introduced to staff of the division, including newly hired staff members.

“Our Equity Action Plan, the first of its kind at Kent State, is designed to promote fairness and inclusive values for all members of the Kent State community, and more specifically, to increase opportunities for underrepresented and underserved groups,” says Alfreda Brown, Ed.D., vice president for diversity, equity and inclusion at Kent State. “The plan impacts all Kent State colleges and divisions, including students, faculty, staff, administration and alumni, so we invite you to join us on Sept. 9 as we formally launch and share details of the plan.”

The reception will feature light refreshments and appetizers with informational folders provided.

For more information about the fall reception, contact Dana Lawless-Andric, executive director for diversity and inclusion, at dlawless@kent.edu or 330-672-1980.

For more information about Kent State’s Division of Diversity, Equity and Inclusion, visit www.kent.edu/diversity.

Sing-A-Long-A Sound of Music Coming to Kent State Tuscarawas

Jane Dietrick (right) is shown sewing costumes for
(back row left to right) student Elyse Bois-Jobidon, Tamara
Benson and Suzanna Glowacki (front) for the Sept. 5
Sing-A-Long-A Sound of Music.

The audience can join in the fun at the Sing-A-Long-A Sound of Music on Sept. 5 at 6 p.m. at the Performing Arts Center at Kent State University at Tuscarawas. This hit show is a screening of the classic Julie Andrews film musical in glorious, full-screen Technicolor, complete with subtitles so that the whole audience can sing along.

The event is co-sponsored by the Student Activities Council and Ars Mundi Sodalicium (AMS), a student performing arts society.

As part of the event, audience members are encouraged to dress in costumes related to the movie and participate in a fancy-dress competition.

“I am anxious to get people to attend the event in costume to see how the excitement adds to the performance and audience experience,” says Jane Dietrick, an AMS associate member and part-time Performing Arts Center employee.

Dietrick believes the costumes and competition will add to the fun of this interactive movie experience.

“Dressing up is not required, but it is encouraged,” she adds.

Dietrick has already made several costumes for friends, including nun costumes and play clothes similar to that of the Von Trapp children. She is keeping her own costume a secret until the Sept. 5 event.

Tickets are $10 and can be purchased now at the Performing Arts Center box office, online at www.tusc.kent.edu/pac or by calling 330-308-6400. The box office is open Monday through Friday from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. Free parking is available for all shows. The Performing Arts Center at Kent State Tuscarawas is located at 330 University Dr. NE, New Philadelphia.

Kent State University Downtown Gallery Presents “Recent Landscapes: Works by Doug Unger, Ben Bassham and Charles Basham”

Local artists and emeriti faculty show off amazing talents

Charles Basham, artist and Kent State adjunct faculty
member, created the oil on board art "Cold Front" that is
pictured above.

The Kent State University School of Art’s Downtown Gallery will present “Recent Landscapes: Works by Doug Unger, Ben Bassham and Charles Basham” from Sept. 4 through Oct. 5 in the Downtown Gallery. The gallery will host an opening reception on Thursday, Sept. 5, from 5 to 7 p.m., which is free and open to the public. The gallery is located at 141 E. Main St. in Kent.

The Downtown Gallery is excited to highlight the works of these three talented affiliates of Kent State. Each of them has a unique and beautiful sense of the world around them. Inspired by their surroundings, this exhibition displays their recent landscape works.

Doug Unger is also a professor emeritus of art at Kent State, where he taught painting and drawing for 35 years. He studied at the Cleveland Institute of Art and the Cape School of Art, and he completed his graduate studies at Syracuse University.

Unger has won several Ohio Arts Council grants and received an Ohio Heritage Award in 2004. In 1993, he also was awarded a National Endowment Prize. As a landscape painter in both oils and pastels, Unger explores man's stewardship of the land found in the Amish Farms in the Holmes County Village of Charm, Ohio. He is an artist, craftsman and traditional musician, living and working in Peninsula, Ohio.

Ben Bassham, a professor emeritus of art history at Kent State, retired in 1999. After 30 years of teaching, he now devotes his time to his love of painting. Bassham’s colorful and realistic views of the landscape reflect his travels to diverse areas. He is drawn to the striking New Mexico deserts and mountains and the coastlines of Maine, New Hampshire and Massachusetts. He also has traveled several times to Italy. Bassham studied art at the University of Arkansas and pursed graduate studies in art history at the University of Wisconsin in Madison. In addition to painting, he has written three books, edited two others and published several scholarly articles. He and his family spend a month of the year in Taos, N.M., and live in Kent, Ohio.

Charles Basham, Kent State adjunct faculty member, has been making art for 30 years. Basham received both his BFA and MFA from Kent State. Throughout his career, Basham has become more and more attuned to the subtle changes in weather and atmosphere. He captures dramatic and compelling moments of morning and evening light over the farmlands of the Midwest and the marshes and beaches of the low country in South Carolina. Basham resides in Ohio on the family farm where he grew up.

For more information, please visit http://galleries.kent.edu or call the Downtown Gallery at 330-676-1549.

Main Street Kent Presents Third Annual International Festival

Pictured is a view of downtown Kent where the annual
International Festival, hosted by Main Street Kent, will take
place on Saturday, Sept. 14, from noon to 7 p.m.

Main Street Kent will host the third annual International Festival in downtown Kent on Saturday, Sept. 14, from noon to 7 p.m. Admission to the event is free. Event goers can purchase a variety of ethnic cuisine, including Chinese, Polish, Indian and more. The Kent Jaycees will be selling bratwurst and German beer at the plaza. North Water Street will be closed from Main Street to Columbus Street for the event.

Attendees can pick up their “passport” at the Main Street Kent booth to take an excursion “Around the World.” Local businesses and restaurants will have international offerings to experience at each stop on the passport. Art exhibits, food samples and crafts from Greece, India, England, Vietnam, Japan, Nepal, Ireland, Italy, China, Germany, Mexico and Peru will be included.

Live music and dance will be featured at the Hometown Bank Plaza, with Woodsy’s providing sound for the all-day event. While the entertainment schedule is not yet finalized, visitors can expect to see Celtic music, Native American dance, Mediterranean guitar, Japanese dance, African drums, Bavarian brass music, a Chinese dragon dance and more. The event will end with a sky lantern release and drumming session at the Hometown Bank Plaza. The entertainment schedule will be posted at the Main Street Kent website closer to the date of the event: www.mainstreetkent.org/#/international-festival/4566331191.

This event is generously sponsored by College Town Kent, Hometown Bank, Kent State University, NEOMED and PARTA.

Main Street Kent is a non-profit organization focused on the revitalization of downtown Kent. It is an affiliate of the national Main Street program and the Heritage Ohio program.

Art in the Park Community Event Takes Place Sept. 7 and 8

The Kent Parks and Recreation Department will hold its annual Art in the Park fine art festival at Fred Fuller Park located on Middlebury Road in Kent. The event will take place on Saturday, Sept. 7, from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m., and Sunday, Sept. 8, from 11 a.m. to 5 p.m.

Art in the Park features artists who express their creativity through photography, paintings, artful apparel, ceramics and pottery, drawings, jewelry, glasswork, metal and wood. The event also features live entertainment, a children’s art area with a special theme, demonstrations, variety of food vendors, and the Sylvia Coogan Scholarship silent auction. Admission and parking are free.

For more information about the event, visit www.kentparksandrec.com/annual-events/art-in-the-park.