The young virtuosos of Trio Cavatina will make their third Chamber Concert Series appearance Wednesday, Oct. 28 at 8 p.m. in Memorial Chapel.
Trio Cavatina
During the performance, pianist Ieva Jokubaviciute, violinist Harumi Rhodes and cellist Priscilla Lee will present bicentennial tributes to two great composers. The three women will play Haydn’s Trios in C, Hob XV: 27 and E, Hob XV: 12, in addition to Mendelssohn’s Trios in D, Op. 49 and C, Op. 66.
Formed in 2005 during the renowned Marlboro Music Festival, Trio Cavatina is rapidly emerging as one of today’s most outstanding chamber ensembles. The group, which makes its Carnegie Hall debut in 2010, was the winner of this year’s prestigious Naumburg Chamber Music Competition.
In addition to its classical and romantic repertoire, Trio Cavatina is committed to collaborating with living composers. They have worked closely with American composer Leon Kirchner, for instance, who will compose his third piano trio for them.
The group, whose members recently completed the New England Conservatory’s Professional Piano Trio Training Program, will record all three of Kirchner’s trios for CD release and premiere in the 2010-2011 season.
General admission tickets cost $20, though area students may attend for $10. The show is free to members of the Union community.
For more information, call (518) 388-6080. For a complete Series schedule, click here.
Two prominent writers will visit Union over the next few days. Professor and author Helen Vendler will speak on “Walt Whitman: the Noncombatant War Poet” Friday at 5 p.m. in Emerson Auditorium, while Irish poet and playwright Paula Meehan will read from her recent works Monday, Oct. 19 at 7:30 p.m. in Room 019 of the Humanities Building.
Vendler is the A. Kingsley Porter University Professor of English and American Literature at Harvard University. She has written books about many famous writers, including William Butler Yeats, John Keats and William Shakespeare. Her Mellon lectures, “Last Looks, Last Books: Stevens, Plath, Lowell, Merrill, Bishop,” will appear in print next spring.
Vendler, who is currently working on “Selected Poems of Emily Dickinson: 150 Poems with Commentaries,” is a frequent contributor to “The New York Review of Books” and the “The New Republic.”
Paula Meehan
Meehan’s work has won her many accolades, among them the Martin Toonder Award, the Butler Literary Award and the Denis Devlin Award. A resident of Dublin, she has written many books of poetry, including “Return and No Blame,” “Reading the Sky,” “Pillow Talk” and “Mysteries of the Home: A Selection of Poems.” Her newest volume is “Reading Rain.”
In addition to poetry, Meehan has also penned the plays “Mrs. Sweeney,” “Cell: A Play,” “The Voyage,” “The Wolf of Winter” and “Kirkle.” She holds degrees from Trinity College and Eastern Washington University.
For additional information on Vendler’s visit, call 388-6206; for Meehan, call 388-8065.
Darius Rejali, an internationally recognized expert on torture and interrogation, will speak on “Secret Histories of Modern Torture” at the Nott Memorial Wednesday, Oct. 21, at 7 p.m.
His talk is free and open to the public.
Earlier in the day (12:50 p.m.) as part of Pizza & Politics, he will discuss “Torture and Democracy: What Now?” in Social Sciences 104.
A professor of political science at Reed College, Rejali is the author of “Torture and Democracy” (Princeton University Press, 2007), an examination of the use of torture by democracies in the 20th century. It won the 2007 Human Rights Book of the Year Award from the American Political Science Association and the 2009 Raphael Lemkin Award from the Institute for the Study of Genocide.
The Iranian-born Rejali was a visiting professor in the Department of Political Science at Union in 1988-89. His visit is sponsored by the department, the Minerva Programs and the President’s Office.
This year, the Fulbright Commission awarded Rejali the Distinguished Danish Chair for Human Rights and International Studies in Copenhagen. In 2003, he was named a Carnegie Scholar in recognition of his innovative approach to the study of violence.
Rejali is also the author of “Torture and Modernity: Self, Society and State in Modern Iran” (Westview, 1994), as well as many articles on violence, including “Masculinity and Torture,” “Media Representations of Torture,” and “Practice of Stoning in the Middle East.”
Rejali has been a member of the Reed faculty since 1989. He earned a Ph.D. in political science from McGill University and a B.A. in philosophy from Swarthmore College. He is a member of the editorial board of Human Rights Review.
Friday, Oct. 16, 5- 9 p.m. / Mandeville Gallery and downtown Schenectady venues / Art Night Schenectady
Friday, Oct. 16- Monday, Oct. 19, 8 and 10 p.m. / Reamer Campus Center Auditorium / Film: “Funny People”
Friday, Oct. 16, 5 p.m. / Taylor Music Center, Emerson Auditorium / Sorum House and the Department of English present Helen Vendler: “Walt Whitman the Noncombatant War Poet”; Helen is the A. Kinglsey Porter University Professor of English and American Literature at Harvard University
Friday, Oct. 16, 7 p.m. / Achilles Center / Women’s ice hockey vs. Sacred Heart
Saturday, Oct. 17, 9 a.m.-noon / Meet at Old Chapel Circle / John Calvin Tolls Day of Service, beautifying monuments, parks and other public sites in and around Schenectady
Saturday, Oct 17, 4 p.m. / Achilles Center / Women’s ice hockey vs. Sacred Heart
Sunday, Oct. 18, 3 p.m. / Memorial Chapel / Emerson String Quartet kicks off 38th Concert Series kicks
Monday, Oct. 19, 1 p.m. / Frank Bailey Field / Field hockey vs. St. Joseph
Monday, Oct. 19, 7:30 p.m. / Humanities Building Room 019 / Department of English, Women and Gender Studies and the Minervas present Irish poet and playwright Paula Meehan, reading her recent works
Monday, Oct. 19, 8 p.m. / Taylor Music Center / Union College and the Eastern NY Chapter of the American Guild of Organists presents Bach’s “The Art of Fugue,” Johann Sebastian Bach’s last work, performed by duo-pianists John Gillock and Dean Kauffman; open to public, general admission $20
Wednesday, Oct. 21, 12:50 p.m. / Social Sciences Room 104/ Pizza & Politics discussion on “Torture and Democracy: What Now?” featuring Darius Rejali, professor at Reed College and author of the award-winning book, “Torture and Democracy,” which examines the use of torture by democracies in the 20th century. Rejali was visiting professor in the Political Science Department in 1988-1989.
Wednesday, Oct. 21, 6 p.m. / Frank Bailey Field / Field hockey vs. Williams
Wednesday, Thursday, Oct. 21, 7 p.m. / Nott Memorial / “Secret Histories of Modern Torture,” featuring Reed College Professor (and former Union faculty member) Darius Rejali, author of the award-winning book, “Torture and Democracy”; program sponsored by the Department of Political Science, Minerva Programs and the President's Office. Contact: Tom Lobe, lobet@union.edu
RUBBERBANDAnce choreographer Quijada
Wednesday, Oct. 21, 6 p.m. / Frank Bailey Field / Field hockey vs. Williams
Wednesday, Oct. 21, 6:30-8 p.m. / Visual Arts Building, Dance Studio / Master class, the Montreal-based RUBBERBANDance Group, in residence at Union courtesy of the Stephanie C. Davis Dance Residency
Thursday, Oct. 22, 4:30 p.m. / Schaffer Library, Phi Beta Kappa Room / Philosophy Speaker Series presents Australian National University/NYU’s David Chalmers: “The Extended Mind Revisited”
Thursday, Oct. 22, 6:30-8 p.m. / Visual Arts Building, Dance Studio / Open rehearsal, RUBBERBANDance Group, in residence at Union courtesy of the Stephanie C. Davis Dance Residency
Andrea Cohen-Kiener
Thursday, Oct. 22, 7 p.m., Nott Memorial / "The Ecological Crisis through the Lens of Faith: Claiming Earth as Common Ground," talk by Andrea Cohen-Kiener, director of the InterReligious Eco-Justice Network, a faith based- initiative in environmental theology and practice. The spiritual leader of Congregation Pnai Or of Central Connecticut, she lectures frequently on issues in congregational worship, Jewish feminism, ecology, communication and spirituality. Sponsored by the LaMont Preacher’s Fund, Hillel, Multifaith Council, Campus Protestant Ministry and Wold House.
Friday, Oct. 23, 1:50 p.m. / Emerson Auditorium in the Taylor Music Center / Union College Department of Music and IEF present Friday Jazz with Professor Tim Olsen and Friends, featuring “Bebop”; free admission
Friday, Oct. 23, 7 p.m. / Messa Rink at Achilles Center / Men's ice hockey vs. American International College
Friday, Oct. 23 –Monday, Oct 26, 8 and 10 p.m. / Reamer Campus Center Auditorium/ Film: “The Ugly Truth”
Saturday, Oct. 24, 1 p.m. / College Park Field / Men’s soccer vs. Hamilton
Saturday, Oct 24, 7 p.m. / Messa Rink at Achilles Center / Men’s ice hockey vs. Sacred Heart University
Sunday, Oct. 25, 1 p.m. / College Park Field / Men’s soccer vs. Hobart
Union has been recognized as a “good neighbor” for its positive contributions to the city of Schenectady, according to a national survey released this week.
“Saviors of Our Cities: 2009 Survey of College and University Civic Partnerships,” ranked colleges and universities in terms of their economic, social and cultural contributions to the communities surrounding their campuses.
Union was among 100 schools named to the survey’s honor roll. Schools were selected based on 10 criteria, including the institution’s longstanding involvement with its urban community; the real dollars invested through its foundations and annual budgets; the presence felt from payroll, research and purchasing power; and faculty and student involvement in community service.
Mayor Brian Stratton Stephen Ainlay baseball field central park 2009
The survey is a follow-up to a list compiled in 2006 by Evan Dobelle, president of Westfield State College in Massachusetts and former president of Trinity College in Hartford. Union was also cited in that list.
In the past year, the College has engaged in a number of partnerships with the city of Schenectady, including renovating a baseball field in Central Park and installing 10 public surveillance cameras to help deter crime in the surrounding neighborhood.
The public continues to take advantage of a number of cultural opportunities at the College, including exhibits in the Nott Memorial, plays at the Yulman Theater and the chamber concert series in Memorial Chapel.
An independent report by the Capital District Regional Planning Commission concluded that the College’s positive economic impact on Schenectady County alone exceeds $273 million annually.
Earlier this year, Union was named to the President’s Higher Education Community Service Honor Roll with Distinction for exemplary service to the local community, the highest federal recognition for a school’s commitment to service learning and civic engagement.
Last year, 762 Union students gave more than 7,700 hours of service to a range of projects. Volunteers at the Kenney Community Center tutored and read to local children, served as Big Brothers and Big Sisters and participated in the state Volunteer Income Tax Assistant Program (VITA). Since its launch in 2005, the VITA program at Union has secured some $1.4 million in cumulative tax refunds for local residents.
