Trita Parsi, acclaimed author and president of the National Iranian American Council, will speak twice on campus Monday, Nov. 10. Both of his talks are free and open to the public.
The first speech, “U.S. and Iran after the Election,” is part of the "Pizza and Politics" series, and will be given at 12:55 p.m. in Room 302 of the Reamer Campus Center. His second talk, “Iran, Israel and the United States: Past, Present and Future,” is at 5:30 p.m. at the Nott Memorial.
Parsi is the author of “Treacherous Alliance: The Secret Dealings of Iran, Israel and the United States,” which won a 2008 Council on Foreign Relations Arthur Ross Book Award. The book, published in 2007, is based on more than 130 interviews he conducted with senior officials in the three title countries.
Parsi has worked for the Swedish Permanent Mission to the United Nations in New York, where he served in the Security Council handling affairs for Afghanistan, Iraq, Tajikistan, and Western Sahara. He also served as a foreign policy advisor for Congressman Robert Ney (R-Ohio), and spent time as an adjunct professor of international relations at the Johns Hopkins University School of Advanced International Studies.
Parsi is a frequent commentator on U.S.-Iranian relations and Middle Eastern affairs. He has appeared on BBC World News, PBS NewsHour with Jim Lehrer, CNN, Al Jazeera, C-Span, National Public Radio, ABC and MSNBC.
Parsi was born in Iran and grew up in Sweden. He earned a master’s degree in international relations at Uppsala University, a second master’s degree in economics at the Stockholm School of Economics, and a doctorate in international relations at Johns Hopkins University.
An article by Professor of Engineering Ashraf Ghaly, “Pervious Rubberized Concrete Wins Multiple Environmental Missions,” was published in the September 2008 edition of Concrete Today. The article espouses the benefits of the eco-friendly mixture of aggregate, sand, cement and rubber. It also references Ghaly’s research with Andrew Heiser’09 and their work over the summer with members of campus Facilities to pave a test walkway near Memorial Fieldhouse. Ghaly is also the author of “Vote for America’s Infrastructure” in Concrete Today’s October 2008 issue. In it, he looks at the American Society of Civil Engineers’ report card on the state of the country’s infrastructure.
An article by Jennifer Matsue, “The Local Performance of Global Sound: More than the Musical in Japanese Hardcore Rock,” has been published in “Performing Japan: Contemporary Expressions of Cultural Identity” (Global Oriental Press). Matsue is professor of music, anthropology and East Asian studies.
Three Union professors have been teaching at Skidmore this term courtesy of a Mellon Faculty Development grant. They are Chris Duncan, professor of visual arts; Brad Lewis, professor of economics; and Mark Walker, the John Bigelow Professor of History.
Stephen Berk, the Henry and Sally Schaffer Professor of Holocaust and Jewish Studies, recently spoke on “Blacks, Jews and Obama” at Temple Israel in Albany. He discussed the same subject with a full audience at the Nott Memorial over Homecoming and Family Weekend. Berk also lectured on the origin of violent religious hatred at Congregation Agudat Achim in connection with a new film series at the Schenectady synagogue.
Karen R. Ferrer-Muñiz, director of Multicultural Affairs, took part in a conversation about diversity in schools with WNYT Ch. 13 education reporter Elaine Houston this week as part of an election report on the role of race and ethnicity in this year’s presidential race.
Lloyd Waiwaiole, costumer in the Department of Theater and Dance, is director and costumer for the Schenectady Civic Players’ production of “A Christmas Carol.” It will be performed Dec. 5–6 and 10–13 at 8 p.m. and Dec. 7 and 14 at 2:30 p.m. at 12 South Church Street, Schenectady.
Thursday, Nov. 6, 6-8 p.m. / College Park Hall / Monopoly tournament, co-hosted by Delta Kappa Epsilon and Sigma Phi Fraternities in conjunction with and to benefit Family & Child Service of Schenectady. Players compete for chances to win Amtrak tickets, cash and movie and restaurant gift certificates; cost: $10 per person
The Importance of Being Earnest, fall 2008, Yulman Theater
Thursday, Nov. 6 – Saturday, Nov. 8, 8 p.m. / Yulman Theater / “The Importance of Being Earnest,” fall theater production, directed by Lloyd Waiwaiole; tickets $7 for with Union ID, $10 general admission; call 388-6545.
Friday, Nov. 7, 7 p.m. / Messa Rink at Achilles Center / Men’s hockey vs. Dartmouth (ECAC contest)
Friday, Nov. 7 – Monday, Nov. 10, 8 and 10 p.m. / Reamer Campus Center Auditorium / Film: “Tropic Thunder”
Saturday, Nov. 8, noon / Frank Bailey Field / Football vs. Merchant Marine (Liberty League contest)
Saturday, Nov. 8, 7:30 p.m. / Messa Rink at Achilles Center / Men’s hockey vs. Harvard (ECAC contest)
Sunday, Nov. 9, 2 p.m. / Yulman Theater, “The Importance of Being Earnest,” fall theater production, directed by Lloyd Waiwaiole; tickets $7 tickets with Union ID, $10 general admission; call 388-6545
Monday, Nov. 10, 12:55 p.m. / Reamer Campus Center Room 302 / Women and Gender Studies presents Trita Parsi, director, National Iranian American Council, on “U.S. Elections, the United States, Israel and Iran”
union college gate
Monday Nov. 10, 3:05-4:45 p.m. / F.W.Olin Center, Room 115 / Election 2008 course lecture by Mathematics Professor William Zwicker on “Bushwhacked by U.S. Presidential Elections: Why the U.S. Voting System Might Be to Blame”
Monday, Nov. 10, 8 p.m. / Nott Memorial / David Kaczynski, executive director of New Yorkers Against the Death Penalty, and brother of Theordore "Ted" Kaczynski, the Unabomber, speaks on capital punishment; presented by the Union College Scholars program
Tuesday, Nov. 11, 8 a.m. – 5 p.m. / Campus wide / Veterans Day Admissions Open House
Tuesday, Nov. 11, 8 a.m. – 5 p.m. / The Nott Memorial / Sophomore Research Seminar poster sessions featuring students from the following three history classes: “Opium East and West,” “A People’s Contest: Gender and Race in the American Civil War” and “African-American Protest Movements,” and the philosophy class, “Technology, Mind and Media”
Tuesday, Nov. 11, 5:30-7:30p.m. / Wold House / Death in Film Series presents: “The Last Lecture” by Randy Pausch, Carnegie Mellon professor who recently died at age 47 from pancreatic cancer and who became known around the world from his videotaped last lecture and book based on his advice about living a full life
Tuesday, Nov. 11, 8 p.m. / Memorial Chapel / Chamber Concert Series presents Orion Weiss, piano
Wednesday, Nov. 12, 3:05-4:45 p.m. / F.W. Olin Center, Room 115 / Election 2008 course lecture by Clifford Brown, professor of political science, on “Campaign Strategy: Why the Winner Won and Why the Loser Lost”
Wednesday, Nov. 12, 7 p.m. / Nott Memorial / Noted civil rights attorney and author Lani Guinier, the Bennett Boskey Professor of Law at Harvard Law School and author of the memoir, “Lift Every Voice: Turning a Civil Rights Setback into a New Vision of Social Justice.” to speak as part of the Presidential Forum on Diversity series; free and open to the public
Wednesday, Nov. 12, 7 p.m. and 9 p.m. / Reamer Campus Center Auditorium / Latin American and Caribbean Studies Film Series presents a double feature: “Canoa,” directed by Filipe Cazals, a true story of a group of students who accidentally fall victim to a town controlled by a paranoid and fanatical priest; and “Nazarín,” directed by Luis Bunuel, the story of a simple priest trying to live by Christian precepts, with horrifying consequences
Amanda Monaco, Taylor Music center
Wednesday, Nov. 12, 8 p.m. / Taylor Music Center, Emerson Auditorium / Performance by jazz guitarist and composer Amanda Monaco and her group, Amanda Monaco 4, and by the Union College Jazz Ensemble under the direction of Prof. Tim Olsen. Monaco is a resident musician at Congregation B'nai Jeshurun in New York City. Admission free
“Thursday, Nov. 13, 8:30 a.m.-1:30 p.m. / Old Chapel, Hale House, Everest Lounge / Union College Benefits Fair for all faculty and staff. Opportunity to enroll in or change health insurance plans, enroll in Flex Dollar Rebate Program, review other spending plans, meet with service providers and more
Thursday, Nov. 13, 8 p.m. / Reamer Campus Center Auditorium / Classic Film Series presents: "Citizen Kane"
Friday, Nov. 14, 4 p.m. / Taylor Music Center / Gail George Balinese Mask Installation, with wine and cheese reception. Professor Emeritus of Biology Carl George has gifted the collection of masks by his late wife, Gail, to the College.
Friday, Nov. 14, 7 p.m. / Messa Rink at Achilles Center / Men’s hockey vs. Quinnipiac (ECAC contest)
Saturday, Nov. 15, 3 p.m. / Reamer Campus Center Auditorium / Classic Film Series presents: "Citizen Kane"
Saturday, Nov. 15, 4 p.m. / Messa Rink at Achilles Center / Men’s hockey vs. Princeton (ECAC contest)
Saturday, Nov. 15, 2 p.m. / Messa Rink at Achilles Center / Women’s hockey vs. RPI (ECAC contest)
Monday, Nov. 17, 3:05-4:45 p.m. / F.W. Olin Center, Room 115 / Election 2008 course lecture by Joshua Hart, visiting assistant professor of psychology, on “Retrospective, Review and Conclusion”
Young American pianist Orion Weiss, who has often been compared to his celebrated Juilliard School teacher, Emanuel Ax (who’ll be at Union in the winter), comes to Memorial Chapel as part of the Chamber Concert Series Tuesday,Nov. 11 at 8 p.m.
The program includes Schumann’s Symphonic Etudes, Copland’s Piano Variations (1930), and Beethoven’s Sonata No. 12 in A flat, Opus 26 (Funeral March) and Sonata No. 28 in A, Op 101.
At 26, Weiss is already one of the most sought-after musicians in his generation, known for his performances that go beyond technical mastery and dazzle audiences, critics and colleagues in a wide range of repertoire and formats.
The Ohio native attended the Cleveland Institute of Music and made his Cleveland Orchestra debut in February 1999 when he was still in his teens. A month later, with less than 24 hours’ notice, he stepped in to replace André Watts for a performance of Shostakovich’s Piano Concerto No. 2 with the Baltimore Symphony Orchestra.
The 2004 Juilliard graduate has performed with the Baltimore Symphony, Chicago Symphony Orchestra, Los Angeles Philharmonic, Philadelphia Orchestra and New York Philharmonic and has toured Israel with the Israel Philharmonic Orchestra conducted by Itzhak Perlman. This season, in addition to his Union performance, he brings his keyboard virtuosity to the Pittsburgh Symphony, National Arts Centre Orchestra and Detroit Symphony.
According to The Los Angeles Times, “He’s clearly a pianist to watch.”
The concert is free for the Union College community, $20 for general admission and $10 for area students and seniors. For tickets, call 388-6080; for more information, call 372-3651 or visit http://www.union.edu/ConcertSeries.
