The Leading Edge

Events

Wednesday, Feb. 6

“Eating Animals” Film Screening & Discussion — Based on the best-selling book by Jonathan Safran Foer, “Eating Animals” is an urgent, eye-opening look at the environmental, economic, and public health consequences of factory farming. 6 p.m. MU Lounge. Free vegan pizza.

SAC’s Visiting Artists and Scholars Lecture Series — “Upgrade Available,” a talk by artist Julia Christensen. Christensen is associate professor of integrated media in the studio art department at Oberlin College in Ohio. She is an artist and writer whose work explores systems of technology, time, change and memory. She is currently collaborating with scientists at NASA’s jet propulsion lab to envision artwork for an interstellar spacecraft that will travel to Proxima b, 4.2 light years away from Earth. Her forthcoming book, on which her talk is based, “Upgrade Available” (Dancing Foxes), is a product of her long-term art/research project about how upgrade culture – the perceived relentless need to upgrade software and hardware to remain relevant — impacts life on a range of scales.7 p.m. LaSells Stewart Center.

Thursday, Feb. 7

From Selma to Moscow: How Human Rights Activists Transformed U.S. Foreign Policy — Sarah B. Snyder traces the influence of human rights activists and advances a new interpretation of U.S. foreign policy in the “long 1960s.” A major work of international and transnational history, “From Selma to Moscow” reshapes our understanding of the role of human rights activism in transforming U.S. foreign policy in the 1960s and 1970s and highlights timely lessons for those seeking to promote a policy agenda resisted by the White House. Snyder is a historian of U.S. foreign relations, an award-winning author and an associate professor at American University’s School of International Service. 4 p.m. MU, La Raza, Room 208.

Phi Beta Kappa Visiting Scholar Program — “The Spread of Islam: New Ways of Understanding Conquest and Confessional Change in Iraq, Iran and Central Asia,” a lecture by Jamsheed Choksy, distinguished professor and chair of Central Eurasian Studies at Indiana University, Bloomington. Choksy’s writings and lectures explore why human existence is often viewed as a struggle between good and evil, and how beliefs and religious practices shape our actions. Choksy will discuss the impact of faith on politics, international relations and security. Thurs., Feb. 7, 7 p.m., MU Horizon Room.

Friday, Feb. 8

Music à la Carte — OSU’S Bella Voce and the South Salem High School Women’s Choir, 12 p.m., MU Lounge. 

SAC Presents — The series brings Flamenco Vivo Carlota Santana to campus. Hailed as “The Keeper of Flamenco” by Dance Magazine, and honored by the king and government of Spain with “La Crux de la Orden al Mérito Civil,” Carlota Santana is an internationally renowned flamenco and Spanish dance artist and educator. “Voces del Sur” brings to Corvallis a company that includes Carlota Santana as artistic director; plus six dancers and three musicians. The work is comprised of seven dances meant to give the audience a glimpse into the mysterious land of Andalucía, the Southern region of Spain known as the “cradle of flamenco.” 7:30 p.m. LaSells Stewart Center. Tickets and information: http://liberalarts.oregonstate.edu/SACpresents

Sunday, Feb. 10

Corvallis Repertory Singers — Presenting Haydn’s “The Creation.”  Steven Zielke, director of choral studies and associate director in the School of Arts and Communication conducts. 3 p.m. First United Method Church. Tickets and information: http://repsing.org

Upcoming Events

Walter Hamady and the Extravagance of Letterpress — Walter Hamady, founder of Perishable Press Limited, is an artist and poet celebrated for his inventive approach to bookmaking and the printed arts. In this talk, Center for the Humanities fellow Karen Holmberg (SWLF) will examine how Hamady engages extravagance—visual, material, and temporal—to explore and press meaning from each convention of book and page. By doing so, he expands the book’s capaciousness not only as a form, but also as a metaphor. Monday, Feb. 11, 4 p.m., Autzen House, 811 SW Jefferson Ave.

News

The Honors College and the Center for the Humanities are pleased to invite applications from faculty/undergraduate partners for a new summer internship program. Up to two $5,000 fellowships will be awarded to support Honors College undergraduates working with College of Liberal Arts faculty members during summer, 2019. Work can also contribute to the intern’s Honors College thesis. The $5,000 fellowship will provide $4,500 in pay to student interns and $500 to faculty applicants. Applications must be submitted jointly by one faculty supervisor and one Honors College undergraduate by Friday, April 5^th at 5:00 p.m. For additional details and application instructions, visit https://honors.oregonstate.edu/honors-college-center-humanities-summer-internships.

Current Research, Publications and Creative Activity

Associate Professor Ron Mize (SLCS), was just published in the Washington Post: “The U.S. militarized its southern border once before. It didn’t work” The OSU Center for the Humanities is a proud sponsor of the Washington Post’s Made by History section.

Jun Bum Shin, assistant professor of graphic design, has won Best On Campus Professor in the 2019 Best of Beaver Nation Awards published by Orange Media.

Sarah Sheldrick, speech communication instructor, is directing William Shakespeare’s “A Comedy of Errors” at the Majestic Theatre, Feb. 1 – 10. Sheldrick is also a Ph.D. student in environmental studies.

John Whitten, art instructor, has work in “Surface / Interrupted,” an exhibition of new work from Morgan Buck, Whitten, and Rachel Wolf, curated by Sam Hopple, at the Hoffman Gallery at Oregon College of Art and Craft. The show runs Feb. 1 – March 1 and had an opening reception on Feb. 1.

Instructor of Trumpet Jay Chen was recently chosen to serve as an adjudicator at the Oregon Music Educators Association District 4 solo and ensemble festival at McNary High School in Salem, Oregon.

Coordinator of Music Technology Jason Fick was recently awarded a Career Opportunity Grant for Individual Artists from the Oregon Arts Commission to support the performances of his original compositions at the MoxSonic Festival of Experimental Music in Kansas City, Missouri from March 7-10.

Assistant Professor of Choral Music Education Sandra Babb was the invited guest conductor of the Salem All-City Middle School Honor Choir on Saturday, February 2. The event was held at North Salem High School in Salem, Oregon.

Instructor of Guitar Cameron O’Connor was a featured guest artist on the Siempre La Guitarra concert series, giving solo recitals at Clackamas Community College in Clackamas, Oregon and at Burnt Bridges wintery in Vancouver, Washington.

Instructor of Voice Amy Hansen performed on the Camerata Musica Series at the Loucks Lecture Hall in Salem, Oregon. Hansen, along with OSU Instructor of Clarinet Carol Robe and Portland-based pianist Cary Lewis of the Lanier Trio performed works by Mozart, Mahler, Schubert, Ives and more.

Instructor of Flute Abigail Sperling was recently awarded an Individual Artist Fellowship by the Oregon Arts Commission. Sperling will use the grant award to commission a new work for flute and piano by Oregon-based composer Andrea Reinkemeyer.

Recurring Events

The Little Gallery — “Celebrating Traditional Asian Dress and Culture.” The installation includes dress worn for ceremonial occasions and cultural objects, including a painting of bamboo by Zheng Yie, Bizen pottery from Okayama Prefecture, a Janggu ( drum)  for traditional Korean music, and traditional Korean masks. The exhibition runs from January 22-March 22.