Posted on Oct 23, 2007

Maya Angelou, the award-winning poet, civil rights activist and playwright, captivated an overflow crowd of more than 900 in Memorial Chapel Monday night.

People began lining up at least an an hour before the event, hoping to get inside to hear the 79-year-old icon speak. For the people who packed the Chapel, Angelou did not disappoint.

Displaying her wide range of talents, Angelou sang, recited poetry, told jokes and offered words of wisdom to the audience, who responded with two standing ovations during the night.

She also recounted her difficult childhood growing up black and poor in Arkansas, which included being molested at the age of seven by her mother’s boyfriend. Traumatized by the incident and the subsequent news that an uncle had killed her attacker, Angelou lost the ability to speak for five years.

Instead, she turned to reading for salvation. She was especially attracted to the words of Shakespeare, who seemed to understand her troubles.

"At one point I was sure that Shakespeare was probably a black girl," she told the crowd.

Angelou is the recipient of dozens of honorary degrees, and she became one of only two poets to read an original work at a presidential inauguration when she was invited by President Bill Clinton to speak in 1993. Her work, “On the Pulse of Morning,” earned Angelou a Grammy award.

Her best-known book is “I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings,” the first of six volumes of her memoirs. The 1970 autobiography was nominated for a National Book Award.

Over the years, Angelou has published dozens of works, including “Singin’ and Swingin’ and Gettin’ Merry Like Christmas,” “The Heart of a Woman,” and “Even the Stars Look Lonesome.”

Angelou has also directed and appeared in numerous television programs, including “Roots.” Since 1981, she has been the Reynolds Professor of American Studies at Wake Forest University in North Carolina.

She hosts a weekly radio show on XM Satellite Radio as part of the Oprah and Friends group of shows.

Angelou’s visit was part of the College’s President’s Forum on Diversity.

Posted on Oct 22, 2007

Two filmmakers are coming to Union this month to showcase their work and reflect on their careers.

At 7 p.m. on Oct. 25 in Visual Arts room 215, media artist Leslie Thornton will screen and discuss several works that conceptually explore the outer parameters of ethnographic and narrative form through film, video, photography and installation. Thornton has been honored with numerous awards, including the Maya Deren Award and the first Alpert Award in the Arts for Media. She is currently a professor of Media at Brown University.

Thornton’s talk is sponsored by the departments of Visual Arts and Women’s and Gender Studies.

On Tuesday, Oct. 30 at 7 p.m. in the F.W. Olin Center Auditorium, documentary filmmaker Christopher Moore will screen "¿Puedo Hablar? May I Speak?” which chronicles three months of the volatile 2006 Venezuelan presidential elections. Photographs Moore shot while on location will be on display in the Olin Rotunda during his visit.

A 2006 graduate of Trinity College, Moore’s work has been featured on Al Gore’s “CurrentTV” and has been screened on five continents in addition to the Bronx Film Festival and the prestigious D.C. Shorts Festival.

Moore's talk  is sponsored by the Latin American and Caribbean Studies program and the departments of Visual Arts, History and Political Science.

Both Thornton's and Moore's visits are free and open to the public.

For more information, contact Lorraine Morales Cox, assistant professor of Contemporary Art & Theory, at (518) 388-8038 or coxl@union.edu.

Posted on Oct 22, 2007

Naomi Tutu, an international human relations scholar, recently spoke at the Nott Memorial and met with students and staff.

Tutu, the daughter of Archbishop Desmond Tutu of South Africa, discussed the Diana Legacy Fund, an international campaign to bring hospice care and other services to people dying of AIDS in sub-Saharan Africa.

The Legacy Fund is named after Diana, Princess of Wales, who supported AIDS causes before her death 10 years ago. Organizers hope to raise $10 million in the next five years to benefit AIDS patients in the region, which contains nearly 50 countries south of the Sahara. The money will be used to train personnel and provide drugs, housing and transportation services.

One of the people who helped launch the Legacy Fund was Phil Di Sorbo ’71. As the co-founder and executive director of the Foundation for Hospices in Sub-Saharan Africa, Di Sorbo regularly visits AIDS-ravaged Africa to offer assistance.

The Times Union chronicled Tutu's visit.

To read the complete story, click here (registration may be required).

Posted on Oct 19, 2007

"The Hapa Project: Portraits by Kip Fulbeck," featuring work by one of the seminal artists exploring multiraciality, opened Oct. 19 in the Mandeville Gallery during Art Night Schenectady.

The Hapa Project is an exhibition of photographs of people whose mixed racial heritage includes Asian or Pacific Island descent. Each subject was also asked to write an answer to the question, “What are you?” The exhibition features 30 color portraits, each paired with the subject’s handwritten response to that question.

The word hapais slang for a person of such mixed ancestry, from the Hawaiian: hapa haole, or half white. Originally a derogatory term, hapa has come to embrace the beauty of a multiracial identity.

Fulbeck is a professor and chair of art at the University of California, Santa Barbara, who uses his own Cantonese, English, Irish, and Welsh background as a springboard to exploring identity through photography, film, writing, monologues and multimedia performances. His works have been exhibited worldwide, and his award-winning videos have aired on PBS.

Fulbeck traveled the country photographing more than 1,000 hapas of all ages and from all walks of life, including construction workers, comic book artists, rock stars, porn stars, engineers and teachers. His book, Part Asian, 100% Hapa (Chronicle Books, 2006), contains 116 of the photographs from his project.

The Hapa Project runs through Feb. 3, with a lecture and reception at the Nott set for Jan. 31. 

Also on view during Art Night Schenectady were two other College exhibits: “Aristophanes, The Birds,” which runs through Dec. 9 at the Wikoff Student Gallery in the Nott Memorial; and “Nepal 1975-2005, Photographs by Kevin Bubriski,” through Nov. 13 in the Atrium Gallery, Visual Arts Building.

“Aristophanes, The Birds” features costume pieces used in last spring’s production of “The Birds,” produced by the Department of Theater and Dance and directed by Professor William A. Finlay. Each headdress represents a different world culture in the guise of a “bird.” They were designed by Department Costumer Lloyd Waiwaiole and built by theater students.

Art Night Schenectady spotlights the arts, restaurants and various businesses on
the third Friday of every month. For more information, an events map and a complete listing of participants, visit http://artnightschenectady.com/ .

Posted on Oct 19, 2007

The Office of Residential Life is promoting cultural awareness, diversity and tolerance with the return of the television program known as the “30 Days Series.”

Showings begin Tuesday, Oct. 23, at 7 p.m. with the film “Binge Drinking Mom” in the Richmond basement lounge. It features a strait-laced mother who takes up binge-drinking in a desperate last-ditch attempt to show her teenage daughter how ridiculously dangerous her excessive behavior can be.

“Straight Man in a Gay World” will air Tuesday, Oct. 30 at 7 p.m. in West Dining Hall. It is about a 24-year old straight man who moves to San Francisco to live in what is known to have the largest gay community in the country.

Discussions about both films, facilitated by Residence Hall Advisors (RAs) and faculty, follow at 8 p.m. 

The shows also will be aired ahead of time on TVUC to enable more students to participate in the Tuesday discussions. Students from each first-year residence hall will attend each showing.

Created by Academy Award nominee Morgan Spurlock, who directed “Super Size Me,” “30 Days” explores what transformations someone can undergo within 30 days. Last year, more than 100 students and faculty came together in the first-year dormitories to watch and discuss six episodes covering such topics as homophobia, religion and college binge drinking. 

Joe Martel ’08, a Mechanical Engineering major and West College head resident advisor, was instrumental in bringing the program to campus last year and has continued his charge.

“Diversity and multi-cultural awareness are paramount concerns in college,” said Martel. “By using faculty and administrators to facilitate discussion, it will be more like an extension of the classroom and, hopefully, easier for students to join in.”

Other participating students include Beth Solomon ’09, Head RA, Richmond House and Kristen Hotvet ’09, Head RA, Davidson House. The “30 Days Series” will continue during winter term. For more information, contact Martel at martelj@union.edu.