The Department of Visual Arts is hosting
the photography exhibit, “Photographs by Iraqi Civilians, 2004,” from Feb. 18
through March 7 in the
Burns Arts Atrium Gallery.
Ten Iraqi civilians were given disposable
cameras in April and May of 2004 by the Daylight Community Arts Foundation and
asked to reveal Iraq
as they knew it.
The exhibit consists of 30 exhibition
quality ink-jet color prints ranging in size from 16 x 20 inches to 20 x 24
inches. The exhibition was curated by PixelPress, funded in part by the Open
Society Institute, the Department of Photography & Imaging and New York University's
Tisch School of the Arts.
This exhibition was recently displayed at
New York University's
Tisch School of the Arts. The New Yorker magazine describes the exhibition as “sublime.” The Los Angeles Times describes the
exhibit as “striking” and reports, “Some pictures expose scenes of devastation,
such as a family that, along with 500 others, lives in a garbage dump. But the
children still play, and life goes on.”
The Black Tulip, an
original musical written and directed by Kit Goldstein '05, will be presented
Thursday through Saturday, Feb. 24 through 26, at 8 p.m. at Yulman Theater.
Performances are free and open to
the public.
Performed by Mountebanks, the
student theater group, the musical is based on the romantic novel of the same
name by Alexandre Dumas, the classic French novelist.
Set in 17th-century Holland
at the height of tulip-mania – the craze that swept Europe
in which fortunes were made and lost – The Black Tulip is the
story of a dedicated tulip-grower whose life is nearly destroyed by a jealous
rival and his political schemes. With memorable melodies and a romantic plot, The Black Tulip is appropriate for all ages.
Goldstein, a Niskayuna native, is the author of several musicals and
plays that have been produced locally, including The Wrong Box (2002, Union College),
and It Spoiled His Constitution (2001, Schuyler Mansion State Historic
Site). She is majoring in cultural
musical theater at Union.
The musical features Joe Nimon as Cornelius Van Baerle, the guileless
botanist; Laura Mercado as the cynical daughter of a prison guard; and Justin
Silvestri as Cornelius's bitter rival.
The cast also includes Victor Cardinali, Will Deegan, Meaghan Heisinger,
Joey Hunziker, Sarah Jensen, Ben Jones, Pam Koncius, Reyna Machado, Bre
Mackenzie, Mary Olushoga, and Danny Shain, all Union College
students.
Daniel O. Mosquera, assistant professor
of Spanish and Latin American Studies, has had an article accepted for
publication in the Journal of Latin
American Cultural Studies (14:2) to be published this year. The article is
titled “Consecrated Transactions: Of Marketplaces, Passion Plays, and Nahua
Christian Devotions.” By examining the confiscation of passion plays in the
historical context of colonial marketplaces, this article explores how they
became spaces of cultural resilience and socialization, providing Nahuas with a
medium of devotional and artistic transaction that resisted and negotiated with
Spanish continual regulations.
Investigative
reporter and author Eric Schlosser will speak on his best-selling book, “Fast Food Nation,”
on Thursday, March 3, at 7:30 p.m. in the Nott Memorial at Union College.
The talk, part of the College's Perspectives at the Nott series, is
free and open to the public.
Besides his book on the national diet, Schlosser is the author of
another best-seller, Reefer
Madness.
Schlosser
investigates the hidden realms of American business and culture and their
far-reaching effects on our lives. Heralded as “society's quiet crusader,”
Schlosser challenges us to think about such critical and often-overlooked
issues as food safety, workers' rights, the war on drugs, marketing to
children, and the epidemic of
obesity.
In Fast Food Nation, he uncovers the
inner workings of the fast food industry, and shows how it has transformed our
diet as well as our economy, workforce, and popular culture.
Schlosser is a correspondent for the Atlantic Monthly. His work has also appeared in Rolling
Stone and The New Yorker.
Lester
Brown, called the “guru of the environmental movement,” will give the keynote
address at a one-day conference on “Sustainable Development: Balancing Growth,
Preservation and the Environment” on Friday, Feb. 25, from 8 a.m. to 4:30 p.m.
at Union's College Park Hall (the former Ramada Inn) on Nott Street.
Brown, founder and
president of the Earth Policy Institute, also will give a pre-conference
talk on Thursday, Feb. 24, at 7 p.m. in Union College's
Nott Memorial. He will talk on his recent book, Plan B: Rescuing a Planet Under Stress and a Civilization in Trouble.
The talk is free to the public.
James Howard Kunstler, author of The Geography of Nowhere and a renowned
lecturer on America's
man-made landscape, will speak at the conference on Friday, Feb. 25, at 1 p.m.
The one-day conference also will
feature a plenary session on “Balancing Regional Economic Growth, Community
Preservation and Environmental Protection” with regional planning, government
and economic development leaders; and a number of break-out sessions on topics
including smart growth, the costs of sprawl, storm water regulations and
comprehensive planning.
Brown is the author of 48 books
and numerous articles. The Washington Post called
him “one of the world's most influential thinkers.” The Telegraph
of Calcutta refers to him as “the guru of the
environmental movement.” In 1986, the Library of Congress requested his
personal papers noting that his writings “have already strongly affected
thinking about problems of world population and resources.”
Kunstler, who has also written Home From Nowhere and The City in Mind, is a frequent lecturer and presenter
at professional organizations. He has been called”one of the great
commentators on American space and place.”
The conference is co-sponsored by ECOS: The
Environmental Clearinghouse and the Union College Environmental Studies
Program. Additional sponsors are the League of Women Voters of Schenectady
County, Schenectady County Environmental Advisory Council, Social Action
Committee of the First Unitarian Society of Schenectady, and the Environmental
Awareness Club of Union College.
“The impact of development on taxes, traffic, water
and air quality, open space and community character is of increasing concern to
residents and community decision makers,” said conference organizer Patrick
Clear, executive director of ECOS. “This conference will bring people together
and provide participants with information and tools they need to work toward
sustainable development in our region.”
Cost is $25 (including buffet lunch). Students are
free (lunch $10). Registration deadline is Feb. 18. For information, contact
ECOS at 370-4125 or ecos@global2000.net.
