The Leading Edge

Events

Monday, April 8

2019 Ideas Matter Series on the Philosophy of Food: What Should We Do About Our Food? — Lecture by Dr. David M. Kaplan. Kaplan will discuss ethical consumerism, food justice, and the politics of disgust. Dr. Kaplan is Associate Professor in the Department of Philosophy and Religion at the University of North Texas. He is author of “Food Philosophy” (2019), editor of the “Encyclopedia of Food” and “Agricultural Ethics” (2014), and several articles on fake, processed, artificial, and junk foods. He also runs the Philosophy of Food Project at UNT, which disseminates information about the philosophical dimensions of food, agriculture, eating, and animals: www.food.unt.edu. Free and open to the public. 6 p.m., Milam Hall, Room 319. 

Wednesday, April 10

Star Trek and the Ethics of Genetic Enhancement Technology — In the Star Trek Universe, one of the most dangerous villains is a genetically enhanced human being from the 20th century: Khan Noonian Singh. Genetic enhancement is one of the only tabooed forms of science in Star Trek. In this discussion, we will talk about the way Star Trek portrays this kind of medical intervention, in order to consider the ethical and political issues raised by the possibilities of tailor-making stronger and more intelligent human beings. Pizza will be provided. 12 p.m. Milam Hall, Room 319.

Thursday, April 11

Green Legacy Hiroshima Peace Tree — Join Corvallis Mayor for Peace Biff Traber to plant a Green Legacy Hiroshima Peace Tree, grown from a tree that survived the nuclear bombing of Hiroshima on August 6, 1945. The Peace Tree will be dedicated to Oregon Hiroshima survivor Dr. Hideko Tamura Snider. The ceremony will be followed by refreshments and a facilitated discussion about nuclear weapons. 4 p.m. Asian & Pacific Cultural Center.

Race and Racism in Cuba — Cuban scholar-activist and cultural investigator Roberto Zurbano will give a public talk at the Willamette Room of the CH2M HILL Alumni Center at 7 p.m.  OSU will be Zurbano’s only stop in the Pacific Northwest and he will present on the topic that has made him internationally recognized and regarded: “Race and Racism in Cuba.”

Friday, April 12

Music à la Carte — John Sharp, guitar. 12 p.m., MU Lounge. 

Saturday, April 13

The 5th Annual Pacific Northwest Undergraduate Religious Studies Conference showcases the work of student researchers from Oregon State University, the University of Puget Sound, Linfield College, Willamette University, and Lewis and Clark College. Presentations range widely from Islamic architecture, Tibetan Buddhism, and resurrection in Orthodox Christianity to the religious symbolism of Star Wars, the ethical shortcomings of the war on drugs, and the religious roots of the American penal system. Free and open to the public. MU, Journey Room 105.

Corvallis Repertory Singers —  Presenting “The Music Man” in concert on April 13, at 7 p.m. and April 14 at 3 p.m. at Corvallis High School, 1400 NW Buchanan St. Tickets and information are available at repsing.org.

Sunday, April 14

Corvallis-OSU Piano International’s Steinway Piano Concert Series — Presents Yeol Eum Son on Sunday, 4 p.m. at the LaSells Stewart Center. Tickets and info at www.corvallispiano.org.

Upcoming Events

Songs of Myself: Monks, Mystical Diaries, and Queer Kinship in 15th-century England  — A work-in-progress talk by Tekla Bude, assistant professor in the School of Writing, Literature, and Film. Bude’s research focuses on ways medieval writers were influenced by and influenced the study of music, arithmetic, geometry, and astronomy. Her new book project investigates forms of ‘silent’ or ‘metaphysical’ music from 1300-1550. In this talk, she’ll discuss how the 15th-century diaries of John Norton and Richard Methley, two Carthusian monks, serve as sites for the production of an intersubjective sonic body through which they expressed their affection and desire for one another. Monday, April 15, 4 p.m., Center for the Humanities, Autzen House 811 SW Jefferson.

The School of Arts & Communication’s Visiting Artists and Scholars Lecture Series — Presents Cassils on Wednesday, April 17 at 6 p.m. (note the time change) in C&E Hall at the LaSells Stewart Center. A light reception with the artist will take place at 5:30 p.m. in the Myrtle Tree Alcove. Reception and talk are free and open to all.

News

CFP: 2019-2020 Humanities Research Clusters — The OSU Center for the Humanities invites proposals for 2019-2020 Humanities Research Clusters. Supported through a partnership with the Office of the Provost, this program offers scholars with expertise in different disciplines the opportunity to explore a topic of shared interest in common and in depth. Deadline: Monday, June 3. More information and a link to application instructions are available online: https://humanities.oregonstate.edu/research-clusters

Current Research, Publications and Creative Activity

Karen Holmberg’s lyric essay, “The Small Selves Haunting Us in the Stones,” appears in the Spring issue of “Tupelo Quarterly”: http://www.tupeloquarterly.com/tag/karen-holmberg/

On April 4, Nabil Boudraa was a guest on BBC’s history program “The Forum,”  (bcworldservice.com/forum) to discuss the life and works of the French-Algerian writer, Albert Camus. The show will be aired in few weeks. Details about the broadcast will follow.

Joseph Orosco was the featured speaker for the Cesar Chavez Day Celebration at the University of Detroit-Mercy, sponsored by the Carney Latin American Solidarity Archive and the King/Chavez/Parks foundation of the city of Detroit.

Rena Lauer’s book titled “Colonial Justice and the Jews of Venetian Crete” has just been published by University of Pennsylvania Press, April 2019.

Coordinator of Contemporary Music and Research Dana Reason’s recent performace of Rosce Mitchell’s “Nonaah” was favorably reviewed by the New York Times. Seth Colter Walls wrote “[that Nonaah by Roscoe Mitchell was] played in a more lyrical arrangement for piano, oboe and flute.” The performance took place at the Park Avenue Armory in New York City.

Instructor of Guitar Cameron O’Connor was recently invited to teach a performance class for guitar students at the University of Southern California’s Thornton School of Music, where he also served as a substitute studio teacher for Thornton faculty member William Kanengiser and was an adjudicator for the ASTA Aaron Green Guitar Competition hosted by USC. While in California, O’Connor also performed a solo recital for the “Classical Guitar in Woodlands Series” in Glendale, Calif.

Associate Professor of Music Technology Jason Fick’s recent composition “I’m The Expert” was performed on March 30 at the College Music Society regional conference held at Central Washington University in Ellensburg, Washington. The 2018 work shares stories from residents of Denton, Texas about the effects of fracking on their lives following the overturning of the city’s landmark fracking ban.

Instructor of Music Technology Michael Gamble presented a performance of the his MultiMeteorchestra at Disjecta in Portland, Oregon on March 28. The group, lead by Gamble, featured an ensemble of electric bass, guitar, keyboard, cello, violin and drums in addition to Gamble’s own compositions, audio effects, projections and improvisations.  A preview of the performance was featured in Portland’s Willamette Week.

Instructor of Music History Kimary Fick and Assistant Professor of Musicology Allison DeSimone from the University of Missouri-Kansas City co-presented a lecture recital titled “Virtute Duce, comite Fortuna: Eignteenth-Century Music for Harpsichord and Flute by Female Composers” at the 50^thannual meeting of the American Society of Eighteenth-Century Studies (ASECS) in Denver, Colorado. The lecture-recital was generously funded by the ASECS Art, Music, and Theater Fund. Fick also presented a lecture-recital at the Parish House Baroque Society in Colorado Springs, CO. This presentation included recent research on publishing eighteenth-century female composers Elisabetta de Gambarini and Anna Bon, followed by a live historically informed performance by Fick (baroque flute) and DeSimone (harpsichord).

Instructor of Art Anna Fidler’s exhibition, “Her Kind” at the Johansson Projects in Oakland, Calif., was reviewed in the San Francisco Arts supplement of the New York Times on Sunday, March 3. Arts writer, Christian Frock wrote that Fidler’s work “declares a new world order where feminists call the shots.” Her exhibition ran through March 16. Fidler also has a painting included in a group show titled “I ❤️ Paint 3D” at Patel Gallery in Toronto, Ontario, Canada, April 4-28. The exhibition was curated by Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada Artists Kim Dorland, who is one of Canada’s best-know contemporary painters.

Associate Professor of Art History Kirsi Peltomäki conducted a public conversation with artist Joan Truckenbrod on art, science, history, and technology in the Truckenbrod Gallery (517 SW 2nd Street, Corvallis, Oregon 97333) on Thursday, March 21, as part of the Corvallis Art Walk.

Instructor of Digital Art John Whitten’s work was published in the INDA 12 Drawing Annual, which has been recently printed and is available for purchase through their website at http://www.manifestgallery.org/nda/inda12/ The INDA 12 Manifest received 1540 submissions from 476 artists from 42 states, one U.S. territory, and 28 countries. The publication will include 120 works by 76 artists from 20 states and 11 countries.

On March 22, Associate Professor of Philosophy Allen Thompson gave two talks as part of the Cleveland Humanities Festival. The first talk concerned how to think about our moral relations with future generations given our failure to prevent global climate change, titled “A World They Don’t Deserve: Moral Failure and Deep Adaptation.” The second talk was titled “Where is Environmental Ethics Today?” and took advantage of Thompson’s position as editor of the “Oxford Handbook of Environmental Ethics” and his service as President of the International Society for Environmental Ethics. At the Festival, Thompson also participated in a panel discussion on March 21 titled, “Changing the Politics of Earth.” On April 17th Thompson will deliver a plenary keynote address at the Eleventh International Conference on Climate Change: Impacts and Responses, hosted at the Catholic University of America, in Washington D.C..