Southeastern faculty participate in Christwood Arts and Lectures Series
Contact: Constance Woods
1/25/07
HAMMOND – Southeastern Louisiana University faculty poets, authors and musicians will share their work in contemporary culture through a series of lectures and performances at Christwood, a continuing care retirement community at 100 Christwood Blvd. in Covington.
The arts and lecture series is free and open to the public. The series includes:
▪ Jan. 30 -- “Divine Ideas: King David, The United Kingdom of Israel and Biblical Archeology,” Matt Rossano, Psychology. The head of the Psychology Department will discuss Finkelstein and Silberman’s work on the archeology of ancient Israel, which gives a humble view of Kings David and Solomon, and the United Kingdom of Israel. It also offers a vision of the Judean King Josiah as the motivation behind the myth of Israel’s glorious past.
▪ Feb. 6 -- “Psychology of the Smile,” Kara Faust, Psychology. Of all the non-verbal forms of communication, we most easily recognize the smile and what it means, or do we? Some smiles are real, some are false. Research on the real smile says it can predict the likelihood of a happy life from its occurrence. Can you tell the real smile from the false? Let’s see…
▪ Feb. 13 -- “The Movies Begin,” Joe Burns, Communication. Believe it or not, motion pictures began with a sneeze. Burns hosts “an evening at the movies” starring the earliest works of Thomas Edison and his cross-pond rivals in France. He will detail the technology used to capture the first motion pictures and show what has been termed the first movie blockbuster, Edwin Porter’s “The Great Train Robbery.”
▪ Feb. 27 -- “Dispatches from the Middle of Paradise,” Dayne Sherman, Sims Memorial Library. Southeastern’s librarian-turned-novelist reads from his fiction, including his critically acclaimed novel, “Welcome to the Fallen Paradise.” A book signing will follow.
▪ March 6 -- “Things About the Guitar,” Patrick Kerber, Music & Dramatic Arts. Southeastern’s coordinator of guitar activities will perform classical guitar music of various cultures with entertaining descriptions of guitar performance practices and insightful historical highlights about the guitar and its eclectic place in the contemporary music landscape.
▪ March 13 -- “Hotter Than the Core of the Sun – Fusion Energy on Earth,” Daniel McCarthy, College of Science and Technology. Southeastern’s plasma physicist and dean of the college notes that one very promising solution to the world’s need for safe, clean, long-term energy solutions is fusion energy, the same process that fuels the stars. McCarthy discusses the fundamental difference between fusion and other conventional energy sources, why it is such a good source, why it is so hard to do, and where we are now.
▪ March 27 -- “The Southeastern Guitar Quartet.” An ensemble of advanced students from Southeastern’s vibrant guitar program will perform a concert of music from the brilliant Italian Baroque, dreamy French Impressionist, and flamenco inspired Neo-Romantic Spanish repertoire.
▪ April 3 -- “A Poetry Reading,” Alison Pelegrin, English. Pelegrin’s collection “Big Muddy River of Stars” won the Akron poetry prize and will be published in the fall by the University of Akron Press. She is also the author of “The Zydeco Tablets” and three prize-winning chapbooks. A book signing will follow.
▪ April 17 -- “Snakes: Farces and Facts in Films,” Brian Crother, Biological Sciences, assistant dean, College of Science and Technology. An innate fear of snakes has passed through generations since Adam and Eve. So, it is only natural that humans would turn snakes into horror film stars. Crother’s illustrated talk will examine snake myths in films and compare them with the real thing. (Sure anacondas are big enough to eat people, but can they fly and move as fast as a speeding train?)
▪ April 24 -- “The Real Martha and George Washington,” Patricia Brady, sponsored by the Department of History and Political Science. The author of “Martha Washington: An American Life,” Brady will discuss the Washington’s 41 year relationship from its rocky beginning to the personal and national sorrow caused by his death in 1799. She will also talk about the American Revolution, the founding of the presidency, and the ways in which the Washington’s happy marriage contributed to the growth of the nation. A book signing will follow.
▪ May 1 -- “Backdoor to the Gulf: An American Paradise Lost – The Pass Manchac Region 1699-2006,” Charles A. Dranguet and Roman Heleniak, History and Political Science. Two veteran history professors discuss their new book, the result of over two decades of research. Funded by Southeastern’s Lake Pontchartrain Basin Research Program through a grant from the Environmental Protection Agency, the book tracks the demise of the great cypress forest that once covered the region.
For additional information regarding the arts and lecture series, contact William Robison, head of the Department of History and Political Science, (985) 549-2109.
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