On Tuesday, April 24, the Committee on Teaching will host members of the AAC Subcommittee on Academic Integrity who have been exploring the possibility of introducing an honor code at Union. "Please come to hear what they have found so far and to offer your views on the subject," says Committee member Tomas Dvorak. The event is 12:50-1:50 p.m. in Everest Lounge.
Read MoreUnion vigil offers show of solidarity for Virginia Tech victims, families
Hundreds of members of the Union community participated in a candlelight vigil outside the Nott Memorial Tuesday to offer prayers and support to Virginia Polytechnic Institute, where 33 people were killed Monday.
“As part of the undergraduate student culture in America, many Union students were strongly impacted by the tragedy that occurred at Virginia Tech. As part of a small community, it is easy for us to band together to show our support to fellow students at other institutions,” said Brian Gulack, president of the Student Forum, which coordinated the vigil with Interfaith Chaplain Viki Brooks-McDonald.
Among those who spoke was Director of Residential Life Todd Clark, a 1995 graduate of Virginia Tech.
Brooks-McDonald encourages faculty, staff and students to send cards and letters to the Blacksburg, Va., campus as a way of “communicating our care campus to campus.”
Read MoreEXHIBITS
Through May 2
Wikoff Gallery
Nott Memorial
Wandering the Souk:
Marketplaces and Peoples
of Israel and Turkey
Student show by Maureen Hsia ’07
This show features 16 photos taken by Hsia, a History major from Shanghai who traveled to Turkey and Israel last winter, in part for her senior thesis research. Her project, she says, "is part of a larger desire I have to explore and understand history and culture in the Middle East. My hope is that this project conveys more than just the beauty of people and places in Israel and Turkey; I also hope to share some insight on my perception of social and cultural realities in the Middle East."
Through May 6
Mandeville Gallery
Nott Memorial
Infinite Images: Technologies of Printmaking and Beyond
This selection of prints and photographs from the Union College Permanent Collection and the Special Collections of Schaffer Library includes prints by Albers, Audubon, Blake, Benton, Bittleman, Corot, Hatke, Hockney, Krasner, Millet, Rauschenberg, Rivers, Ruscha, Tiepolo and Wimer; and photographs by Benjamin, Doisneau, Erwitt and Stillman. It is a collaboration among the Gallery, Permanent Collection, Visual Arts Department and Special Collections. It was curated by Rachel Seligman, Mandeville Gallery director, with Visual Arts Professor David Ogawa and Stephanie Berlind ’09, for whom it is a Sophomore Research Project.
Read MoreHollywood comes to Union for a “Classic” debate
Directors, writers and producers of some of the most popular films and television series visited Union College for a two-day conference on how Hollywood treats the ancient world of Greeks and Romans.
Among those who participated in the April 27-28 conference, “Recreating the Classics: Hollywood and Ancient Empires” were Brad Silberling, Jonathan A. Zimbert and Niels Mueller.
They were joined by some of the top Classics scholars in the country for a series of roundtable discussions and presentations. Participants examined how the ancient world has enjoyed a resurgence in film, television and popular culture in part because of “Gladiator,” “300” and “Rome,” and why many scholars and students of antiquity vilify these productions, assailing them for their historical inaccuracies.
“The conference will question how films on the ancient world recast and reinterpret classical texts to reflect modern interests,” said Stacie Raucci, assistant professor of Classics at Union who organized the conference. “We would like for scholars and filmmakers to come together to discuss how and why such films are being made. It will be an opportunity for the campus community to engage in an intellectual discussion about how the past intersects with and is reflected in the present.”
The conference is related to a course Raucci is teaching this term called “The Ancient World in Film and Literature.” Students are required to read classics like Homer’s “Iliad” and Sophocles’ “Oedipus Rex,” as well as view movies such as “Gladiator,” “Spartacus” and “Troy.”
Mueller, the writer and director of “The Assassination of Richard Nixon,” was instrumental in bringing several of the filmmakers to campus. His brother, Hans-Friedrich Mueller, is a professor and chair of Classics and interim chair of Modern Languages and Literatures at Union.
Zimbert, executive producer of films including “The Presidio,” “American Outlaws” and “Narrow Margin,” also has ties to the College. His son Max is set to graduate from Union in June.
Among the films directed by Silberling are “Lemony Snicket’s A Series of Unfortunate Events,” “City of Angels” and the upcoming “The Lost Boys of the Sudan,” about children orphaned by the nation’s civil war.
"You are playing with dynamite when you interpret historically documented facts," Siberling said during a roundtable discussion about the responsibility for accuracy in historic films. "But I would argue that you can take some liberties because you are doing a literary interpretation."
Others participating included Emmy-award winner Jonathan Stamp, historical consultant and co-producer of “Rome” and other series featuring ancient themes; Kevin Kennedy, writer and producer of “The Assassination of Richard Nixon”; and cinematographer Nate Goodman (“Heroes,” “Grey’s Anatomy”).
"Movies are now a primary way that younger people learn about history and the past," said Stamp. "So you have to be careful about skewing certain realities that people might take as truth when they are developing their views of the past."
In addition to Raucci and Hans-Friedrich Mueller, other scholars who participated included Monica Cyrino, University of New Mexico; Judith Hallet, University of Maryland; Christopher McDonough, University of the South; Kristina Milnor, Barnard College; Jon Solomon, University of Illinois; and Martin Winkler, George Mason University.
Funding for the conference was provided by the Ahmanson Foundation and the Office of the Dean of Faculty at Union College.
For a conference schedule, go to http://www.union.edu/News/RecreatingtheClassics_prog.pdf
Read MoreEVENTS
Friday, April 20, 8 p.m. / Union College Memorial Fieldhouse / Concert – Third Eye Blind with special guest, The Upwelling
Friday, April 20 – Monday April 23, 8 and 10 p.m. / Reamer Campus Center Auditorium / Film: “Stomp the Yard”
Saturday, April 21, noon / Central Park, Schenectady / Men’s baseball vs. Rensselaer
Saturday, April 21, 1 p.m. / Alexander Field / Women’s softball vs. Skidmore
Saturday, April 21, 2 p.m. / Frank Bailey Field / Women’s lacrosse vs. William Smith
Sunday, April 22, 9 a.m. / Union Boathouse, Mohawk River / Men’s and women’s crew vs. St. Lawrence and Skidmore
Sunday, April 22, 1 p.m. Frank Bailey Field / Men’s lacrosse vs. St. Lawrence
Sunday, April 22, 7 p.m. / Memorial Chapel / Concert: “Songs of Solace,” Burnt Hills Oratorio Society
Monday, April 23, 7 p.m. / Nott Memorial / “Demystifying the Academic Game" with authors Gerald Graff and Cathy Birkenstein; with informal reception 4:30–5:30 p.m., Humanities Lounge
Tuesday, April 24, 3 p.m. / Alexander Field / Women’s softball vs. Hamilton
Tuesday, April 24, 4 p.m. / Tennis Courts / Men’s tennis vs. Hartwick
Tuesday, April 24, 4 p.m. / Central Park, Schenectady / Men’s baseball vs. SUNYIT
Tuesday, April 24, 4 p.m. / Frank Bailey Field / Women’s lacrosse vs. Middlebury
Tuesday, April 24, 5-6:30 p.m. / Reamer Campus Center 205 / LGBT Ally training
Wednesday, April 25, 4 p.m. / Frank Bailey Field / Men’s lacrosse vs. Hamilton
Wednesday, April 25, 6 p.m. / Arts 215 / Feminist Film Series presents “Veronica Guerin”
Thursday, April 26, 4:30 p.m. / Schaffer Library Phi Beta Kappa Room / Philosophy Speaker Series presents “Regarding as Rational” with David Vellemen of New York University
Friday, April 27, 9 a.m. – 5 p.m. / Various campus venues /Conference: “Recreating the Classics: Hollywood and Ancient Empires”
Friday, April 27, 3 p.m. / Alexander Field / Women’s softball vs. Rensselaer
Friday, April 27 – April 30, 8 and 10 p.m. / Reamer Campus Center / Film: “Alpha Dog”
Saturday, April 28, 9 a.m. – 1 p.m. / Various venues / Conference: “Recreating the Classics: Hollywood and Ancient Empires”
Saturday, April 28, 1 p.m. / Frank Bailey Field / Union Invitational: Men’s and women’s outdoor track / Starting times TBA
Saturday, April 28, 8:30 a.m. / Union College Memorial Fieldhouse / Rube Goldberg Engineering Competition
Saturday, April 28, 8 p.m. / Memorial Chapel / Chamber Concert Series presents ECCO String Chamber Orchestra
Sunday, April 29, 3 p.m. / Alexander Field / Women’s softball vs. St. Lawrence
Read More