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Intellectual Legacy of Provocative Author Edward Said Examined by Lawrence University Faculty Panel

The influence of award-winning and often-controversial author and social commentator Edward Said will be examined from the perspective of several different academic disciplines in a Lawrence University Main Hall Forum.

A six-member faculty panel presents “Edward Said’s Intellectual Legacy” Tuesday, April 13 at 4:30 p.m. in Main Hall, Room 201. The event is free and open to the public.

Rosa Tapia, instructor in Spanish, will serve as moderator for the forum, which will feature the personal insights of the panelists as well as a question-and-answer session following the individual presentations.

Joining Tapia on the panel will be Peter Blitstein, assistant professor of history, Alexis Boylan, assistant professor of art history, Catherine Hollis, assistant professor of English, W. Flagg Miller, lecturer in anthropology, and Lifongo Vetinde, associate professor of French.

Born in Jerusalem in 1935 and raised in Egypt, Said spent nearly 30 years teaching English and comparative literature at Columbia University. He wrote more than a dozen books and edited numerous others, establishing himself as a provocative cultural critic while writing on topics as diverse as the Palestinian-Israeli conflict and the Middle East peace process to literary criticism, cultural theory and opera. Once described as “one of the premier political intellectuals of his generation,” he was widely recognized as an astute commentator on Middle Eastern affairs and as a respected proponent of Palestinian
national rights. He served as a member of the Palestine National Council from 1977-91.

One of Said’s best-known works, “Orientalism,” took a critical view of European and American representations of Middle Eastern people and societies, charging traditional Western scholarship on the region painted stereotypes of its cultures as irrational, unchanging, violent and morally degenerate. He argued that those stereotypes have been used as justification for Western economic and political domination of the Middle East. Said died of leukemia last September at the age of 67.

Making History: LU’s Jonathon Roberts Vies for National ACTF Sound Design Title

It wasn’t a case of stage fright that Jonathon Roberts overcame to earn himself a place in the Lawrence University theatre department’s history book.

Roberts turned a little self-doubt and a bout of procrastination into an award-winning sound design that has him in the running for a trip to the national finals of the American College Theatre Festival April 12-18 at the Kennedy Center in Washington, D.C., where his work would be showcased with the best of the best in U.S. college theatre in a variety of design and acting categories.

Roberts became a footnote in Lawrence history — with the possibility of becoming a much more prominent note — by winning the ACTF’s sound design category at the five-state Region III competition earlier this year at Illinois State University in Normal, Ill. He is the first Lawrence student in any category to win at the ACTF regional level and advance to the national competition.

Cited for his work on Lawrence’s fall 2003 production of Shakespeare’s “The Winter’s Tale,” Roberts’ design is one of eight regional winners that will be selected as the ACTF’s national winner. In addition to an invitation to appear at the Kennedy Center, the winner receives a month-long summer fellowship with the sound director of the Eugene O’Neill Theater Center in Waterford, Conn.

Roberts was responsible for all sound aspects of the production, which included composing nearly 25 minutes of original music for scene changes and underscoring and writing the music for four songs that were performed in the play. His design incorporated an eclectic mix of conventional and exotic instruments — marimba, Indian Noah bells, a “singing bowl,” wood and metal wind chimes — along with the distinctively non-conventional musical sounds of different types of gravel being poured, dropped and rubbed.

Timothy Troy, associate professor of theatre arts, who directed “The Winter’s Tale,” describes Roberts as “really quite brilliant.”

“Getting to the ACTF nationals is confirmation from the outside that he’s good,” said Troy, who competed in the ACTF himself as a graduate student in 1987. “But I can tell you, he’s really good. Jonathon is as talented a sound designer as anyone I’ve ever worked with in my 15-year professional career. He has an uncanny ability to find a sonic metaphor for the action on stage that perfectly reflects the deepest meanings of the play. That is a rare and highly valued talent.”

Being selected a national sound design finalist is all the more surprising for Roberts considering he barely made it to the regional competition.

“It was right down to the wire to get my materials together and get them submitted for the regional and I was telling myself, ‘I don’t even think I should be doing this,'” said Roberts, a senior double degree candidate majoring in music composition and theatre and drama from Sturgeon Bay. “I wound up turning in an all-nighter to get everything put together.”

The effort proved to be well worth it when, after intense questioning and review by a jury of professionals, Roberts’ design was selected from among 15 regional finalists.

The regional competition involves much more than merely submitting a tape or CD of the productions sounds. Roberts had to assemble a large display that explained how his sounds were created and more importantly, why they were created. The designer’s presentation to the judges plays a role in the process as well.

“I was really nervous,” recalled Roberts, who has served as sound designer for five productions at Lawrence. “The judges were pretty intimidating. They really know their stuff. You have to thoroughly explain exactly why you did everything in your design. I was so impressed with their comprehensive knowledge. I learned a tremendous amount about sound and theatre design in a very short time.”

Roberts had to leave the regional competition before it was concluded, not knowing his status. He wound up learning the good news several days after he returned to Lawrence.

“I found out from a friend at UW-Green Bay who also was there that my design was the one selected as the winner,” said Roberts. “I was really blown away with what I saw at the regional competition, so it was quite thrilling to learn the judges picked mine. I expect to see some truly amazing designs at the national competition.”

Thanks to support from the ACTF regional, Roberts will travel to the Kennedy Center to attend masterclasses and design workshops whether he’s selected the national winner or not.

Unlike NCAA athletics, the ACTF doesn’t designate divisions based on institutional size or curriculum, which means Roberts is competing against sound designers from more than just peer institutions, including those with graduate programs in theatre.

“Regardless of what happens from here, just getting to the national finals is a win,” said Troy.

Roberts’ design work has drawn the attention of several prestigious programs. If the national title and the O’Neill Theater Center fellowship eludes him, he is hoping to land an internship this summer with either the Steppenwolf Theatre in Chicago, the Chicago Shakespeare Theatre or the Pacific Conservatory of Performing Arts in Santa Maria, Calif.

Political Systems Expert Discusses Democratization of China in Lawrence University Address

Minxin Pei, senior associate and director of the China Program at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace in Washington, D.C., discusses China’s current economic transition and explores the possibility of the country’s democratization in a comparative perspective in the third installment of Lawrence University’s four-part international studies lecture series, “Democracy, Development and Human Rights.”

Pei presents “Democratizing China: Lessons from East Asia” Wednesday, April 14 at 7 p.m. in the Wriston Art Center auditorium on the Lawrence campus. The event is free and open to the public.

Drawing upon other recent transitions in the area — the gradual reform that marked Taiwan’s experience, the authoritarian collapse that precipitated change in the Philippines and Indonesia as well as the Thailand and South Korea models where change was both slow and crisis-induced — Pei will provide some context as to what extent China’s future political transition, if it happens at all, will resemble the experience of its neighbors. Pei calls China “a test case” for the validity of various theories of democratization in general and the theory linking economic development to democratization in particular.

A specialist in the development of democratic political systems and the politics of economic reform, Pei is the author of the forthcoming book, “China’s Trapped Transition: The Limits of Developmental Autocracy” as well as the 1994 book “From Reform to Revolution: The Demise of Communism in China and the Soviet Union.”

In addition, Pei contributes regularly to a wide range of professional journals, including “Foreign Policy,” “Foreign Affairs,” “China Quarterly” and “Journal of Democracy,” among others.

A former professor of politics at Princeton University, Pei has been recognized with numerous honors and awards, among them the Robert S. MacNamara Fellowship of the World Bank and the Hoover Institution’s National Fellowship. He earned his Ph.D. in political science at Harvard University.

Gender, Sexuality Issues Explored in Lawrence University Conference

Former high school librarian Debra Davis, now the executive director of the Gender Education Center, a Minnesota-based advocacy and education organization that promotes understanding, acceptance and support for the gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender communities, will deliver the keynote address at a day-long conference examining gender identity and sexuality issues Saturday, April 3 at Lawrence University.

The conference, “Who are the People in Your Neighborhood? Recognizing the ‘T’ and ‘B’ in GLBTQ,” will feature Davis’ address, a series of workshops, a documentary film and a drag show/dance.

Attendance at the conference is open to the public, however registration is required to attend the workshops. Interested participants can register the day of the conference ($15), beginning at 8:30 a.m. April 3 in the Science Hall Atrium on the Lawrence campus. Registrations will be accepted throughout the day until 5:30 p.m. The conference is open to Lawrence faculty, staff and students free of charge.

Highlighting the conference will be Davis’ keynote address, “Reading Rainbows: An Evening with a Transgendered Librarian,” at 7:30 p.m. in the Wriston Art Center auditorium. Unlike the rest of the conference, there is no charge to attend Davis’ lecture.

The conference will feature morning and afternoon workshop sessions conducted in Briggs Hall and Wriston auditorium led by Lawrence University faculty and students. Workshop topics scheduled include:

• Gender 101, led by Davis.

• What a Lesbian Looks Like: The Problems and Promise of Picturing Identity, led by Alexis Boylan, assistant professor of art.

• Rejecting Labels, Embracing Ambiguity: Challenging Gender and Sexual Binaries, led by Lawrence seniors Courtney Doucette and Erin Knapp.

• Boys in Skirts: Cross-dressing and Fluidity of Desire in Shakespeare, led by Gina Bloom, assistant professor of English.

• Putting a Queer Cast into a Straight Past, led by Edmund Kern, associate professor of history.

• Connecting the Personal, the Political and the Academic, led by Monica Rico, assistant professor of history.

• Conceptualizing No Gender: Buddhist Views of Sexual Identity, led by Dirck Vorenkamp, associate professor of religious studies.

• What Does Biology Have to Do With It?, led by Nancy Wall, associate professor of biology.

Other conference activities include a screening of Joelle Ruby Ryan’s documentary film, “TransAmazon: A Gender Queer Journey” at 3:30 p.m. in the Wriston Art Center auditorium and a drag show/dance at 9 p.m. in Riverview Lounge of the Lawrence Memorial Union. Additional conference information can be found at
www.geocities.com/tblglawrence.

The conference is sponsored by the student organization GLOW, the Office of Multicultural Affairs and the Class of 1965 Student Activities Grant.

Two Lawrence University Seniors Awarded $22,000 Fellowships for Year-Long Study Abroad Projects

With the help of kitchen cupboards and china cabinets, Janie Ondracek and Rachel Hoerman cultivated intellectual curiosities as youngsters that have since blossomed into adult passions. Those passions will soon be fed — both literally and figuratively — with a year-long study abroad adventure as newly anointed Watson Fellows.

Ondracek, a senior neuroscience major from Neenah, and Rachel Hoerman, a senior majoring in history and studio art from Bryant, were two of this year’s 50 recipients of a $22,000 fellowship announced Monday (3/15) by the Providence, R.I. based Thomas J. Watson Foundation. The fellowship supports a “wanderjahr” — a year of independent travel and exploration outside the United States — on a topic of the student’s choosing.

Ondracek grew up watching her parents create mouth-watering magic in the family kitchen through wholly different methods. While her mother, the owner of a catering business, paid close attention to her collection of cookbooks, Ondracek’s Czech Republic-born father whipped up eastern European favorites with the flair of a culinary conductor, improvising freely from his spice rack with a pinch here and a dash there.

“Learning through observation, I couldn’t help but love to cook,” said Ondracek.

Her fondness for food, including its preparation, will soon take Ondracek to France, India and Japan to examine the pedagogical methods chefs use to instruct culinary arts students, the technical and visual preparation of meals and the habits, customs and etiquette found in the social consumption of a meal.

“These countries represent three very distinct customs of food preparation, from the seasonings and ingredients used, to the manner in which each course is prepared,” said Ondracek. “I want to explore these countries as an apprentice cook and as a true devotee of the rigor, care and pleasure that goes into making, arranging and consuming a meal.”

During her year abroad, Ondracek will visit a variety of restaurants and culinary schools in Lyon and Paris in France, interview chefs and individual residents in both southern India, where the Hindu influence favors a largely vegetarian cuisine, and northern India, where the kitchens of Bengali women play a role and conclude her wanderjahr in Japan speaking with culinary instructors in Tokyo and Kyoto.

“Social situations fascinate me,” said Ondracek, who plans to pursue a medical degree when she finishes her fellowship. “Each country undoubtedly has a very specific code of etiquette. I’m curious to learn how these rules developed and the history behind them.

“I hope to experience not only the pleasures of savoring foreign delicacies, but the satisfaction of learning about fascinating cultures in such a revealing and personally significant way,” she added. “The Watson offers me a chance to meet people who are as enthusiastic about food as I am despite our cultural differences. And it offers me an opportunity, unlike any other, to be able to say that I have honestly and unreservedly pursued one of my most treasured interests in life.”

Hoerman’s fascination with non-Western art grew out of the living room of her grandmother’s 100-year old farm house. Stories told by her grandfathers and great uncles recounted their experiences in World War II and the Korean War. Objects from those faraway lands kept in the family china cabinet — beautifully decorated black lacquer shelves, photographs of Japanese temples and ink-brushed bamboo — sparked a strong sense of wonder. A well-traveled aunt’s collection of oriental scrolls, silk screens and carvings further fueled Hoerman’s young imagination and artistic drive.

Beginning in August, Hoerman will embark on a comparative study of printmaking in Japan and painting and printmaking in Bhutan, Tibet and Australia. Her project will focus on the artistic traditions that have survived to the present day and how geographic isolation, cultural factors and various modern institutions have altered or aided the development of traditional art and artists.

“As a student of history and art, I’m constantly reminded of the long and often strange transitions both ideas and images make as they move through the years,” said Hoerman, who, as a freshman, was named a Wriston Scholar, allowing her to travel extensively throughout Europe the past three summers. “By the same token, I’m struck by how many things seem to remain the same. Painting in Bhutan and Australia and printmaking in Japan are art forms that have been preserved and practiced for centuries.

“I want to find answers to questions about how traditional arts have survived and how they are passed down and preserved, who creates traditional art and what role art and artists play in society,” Hoerman added.

Hoerman will start her project in the tiny east Asian country of Bhutan, the world’s only Buddhist kingdom, where she will visit the National Painting School in the capital of Thiumphu, as well as temples and monasteries throughout the country.

The second phase of her project will take her to Kyoto, Japan to study woodblock printing, which dates to the 7th century. In addition to working at the Kyoto Handicraft Center, which specializes in the preservation of traditional Japanese handicrafts, Hoerman will visit galleries, museums and temples in Tokyo.

The final four months will be spent in Australia, where she hopes to work with artists in Aboriginal communities, observing their work and learning their traditional designs and processes.

“My fellowship ties together the interests that have sustained me from childhood through college,” said Hoerman, who hopes to pursue graduate studies in creative writing and museum studies or possibly painting. “This project will challenge my skills as an artist and as an observer in cultural environments very different from my own and to reassess my world view. It’s going to allow me to pursue what I love to do and to test my determination and ability to do it on a global scale.”

Ondracek and Hoerman were selected from nearly 1,000 students representing 50 of the nation’s top liberal arts colleges and universities who applied for the fellowship. Since the program’s inception in 1969, Lawrence has had 60 students awarded a Watson Fellowship.

The Watson Fellowship Program was established by the children of Thomas J. Watson Sr., the founder of IBM Corporation, and his wife, Jeannette, to honor their parents’ long-standing interest in education and world affairs. Watson Fellows are selected on the basis of the nominee’s character, academic record, leadership potential, willingness to delve into another culture and the personal significance of the project proposal.

Lawrence University Pianist, Saxophone Quartet Share Top Honors in State Music Competition

Five Lawrence University music students shared top honors in the 10th annual Neale-Silva Young Artists competition held Sunday, March 7 in Madison.

Pianist Ka Man (Melody) Ng and the Lawrence University Saxophone Quartet were named two of the four winners in the Wisconsin Public Radio-sponsored competition. It was the fifth time in the past seven competitions that Lawrence music students have won or shared top honors in the Neale-Silva, which is open to instrumentalists and vocal performers 17-26 years of age who are either from Wisconsin or attend a Wisconsin college. This year’s competition attracted 34 entries, 13 of which were invited to perform as finalists.

Ng, a freshman from Hong Kong, performed Debussy’s “Suite for the Piano” and Liszt’s “Legend of St. Francis of Paola Walking on the Water.” She is a student in professor Anthony Padilla’s piano studio.

The saxophone quartet — junior Sara Kind of Oshkosh, senior Jacob Teichroew of Silver Spring, Md., senior Bryan Wente of Stillwater, Minn., and senior Rasa Zeltina of Edina, Minn. — performed “Tetraphone” by Lucie Robert. The quartet studies under the direction of professor Steven Jordheim.

In addition to receiving first-place prizes of $250, Ng and the quartet will reprise their winning performances Sunday, March 21 at 2:30 p.m. as part of WPR’s “Live from the Elvehjem” series.

The Neale-Silva Young Artists’ Competition was established to recognize young Wisconsin performers of classical music who demonstrate an exceptionally high level of artistry and is supported by a grant from the estate of the late University of Wisconsin Madison professor Eduardo Neale-Silva, a classical music enthusiast who was born in Talca, Chile and came to the United States in 1925.

Western Biases in Study of African History Examined in Lawrence University Address

Xavier University historian Kathleen Smythe will discuss a pair of long-term historical processes of significance in African history before 1000 CE (Common Era), explore their connections to history in other parts of the world and how they illuminate world history in general in a Lawrence University Main Hall Forum.

Smythe presents “African Lessons for World History” Thursday, March 4 at 4:30 p.m. in Main Hall, room 201. The event is free and open to the public.

Because African historians have traditionally not situated their works and discoveries within a wider frame of world historical developments, African history tends to be integrated less consistently into world history than other geographical regions. Smythe will examine some of the methods African historians have pioneered to uncover history beyond the use of written sources, including the techniques of historical linguistics.

She also will discuss how current historical research on Africa often has been hindered by an overreliance on Western history and concepts constructed by 19th- and 20th-century Western historians who typically
relied on written evidence and paradigms based on centralized states, development, progress and technology which tend to neglect most regions of the world.

A specialist in African and colonial history, Smythe joined the Xavier history department in 1997 after earning her Ph.D. at the University of Wisconsin. She is the author of the forthcoming articles “Literacy: A Vehicle for Cultural Change” and “Religion in Colonial Africa: Indigenous Religion” for the Encyclopedia of African History.

Lawrence University Theatre Production Earns Two Actors Invitations to Regional Competition

For the second straight stage production, two Lawrence University actors have earned invitations to the Irene Ryan Acting Scholarship Competition as part of the annual American College Theatre Festival.

Devin Scheef, a junior from Racine, and Nick Endres, a junior from Sun Prairie, were selected for Ryan Competition based on their recent performances in Lawrence’s production of Carlo Goldoni’s “Il Campiello,” an 18th-century comedy set in Venice that looks at life and love in a small neighborhood.

In the four-show production staged Feb. 19-22, Scheef played the role of Fabrizio, a crotchety Neapolitan trying to marry off his niece. Endres portrayed Anzoletto, a jealous peddler.

Scheef and Endres will be among 200 student actors participating in the five-state regional competition next January at Illinois State University in Normal, Ill. Participants in the regional acting audition vie for two $500 scholarships and the chance to advance to the ACTF’s national auditions at the Kennedy Center in Washington, D.C., next spring.

In addition to Scheef and Endres for their acting roles, Jessica Whitehead, a junior from Burlington who served as stage manager for “Il Campiello,” was nominated to stage manage for the 10-minute play festival at next years regional competition.

Earlier this year, senior Brendan Marshall-Rashid and sophomore Matt Murphy represented Lawrence at the 2004 Irene Ryan Acting Scholarship Competition for their roles in last fall’s production of Shakespeare’s
“A Winter’s Tale.”

The ACTF was founded in 1969 to recognize and celebrate the finest and most exciting work produced in college theatre programs and provide opportunities for participants to develop their theatre skills. Conducted since 1972, the Irene Ryan Acting Scholarship was established in the will of the late actress, best known for her role as the lovable and feisty ‘Granny Clampett’ on the TV hit show “The Beverly Hillbillies.”

Author SARK Shares Her Passion for the Positive in Lawrence University Convocation

Author, artist and inspirational tour de force Susan Ariel Rainbow Kennedy — professionally known as SARK — shares her infectious perspective on living life to its fullest Thursday, March 4 in a Lawrence University convocation.

SARK presents “Make Your Creative Dreams Real” at 11:10 a.m. in the Lawrence Memorial Chapel. She also will conduct a question-and-answer session at 2 p.m. in Riverview Lounge of the Lawrence Memorial Union. Both events are free and open to the public.

With more than two million books in print, SARK is the author and illustrator of a dozen personal growth, inspiration and creativity books, including the bestsellers “Succulent Wild Woman” and 2002’s “Prosperity Pie: How to Relax About Money and Everything Else.” She’s also embraced the importance of creativity in her books “Inspiration Sandwich,””The Bodacious Book of Succulence,” “Change Your Life Without Getting Out of Bed” and “Eat Mangoes Naked.”

She has been profiled in the PBS series “Women of Wisdom and Power,” shared her passion for life in the documentary film “The World According to SARK” and is a periodic guest on National Public Radio. For more than 10 years, she has provided positive motivation via her own “Inspiration Line.”

A self-proclaimed recovering procrastinator/perfectionist, SARK grew up in Minneapolis. She studied at the Minneapolis Art Institute, the University of Tampa and the University of Minnesota, where she earned a degree in radio and television production. She makes her home today in San Francisco, where she oversees Camp SARK, a company that produces inspirational cards, posters and calendars.

Progress on Human Rights Goals in Newly Independent African, Caribbean Countries Focus of Lawrence University Lecture

The success of former European colonies in Africa and the Caribbean that earned their independence in the 1950s and ’60s in reaching stated goals on matters of civil liberties, economic justice and educational and social access for the masses will be examined in the second installment of Lawrence University’s four-part international studies lecture series “Democracy, Development and Human Rights.”

John McCartney, associate professor of government and law at Lafayette College, presents “The Struggle for Human Rights in Africa and the Caribbean,” Thursday, Feb. 26 at 7 p.m. in the Wriston Art Center auditorium on the Lawrence campus. The event is free and open to the public.

A scholar of African politics, Latin America and the Caribbean, McCartney will discuss the United Nations’ 1948 “Universal Declaration of Human Rights,” which recognized the importance of civil and political rights, as well as the “economic, social and cultural rights for the dignity and free development of the personality of the individual.” Using selected case studies, McCartney will illustrate the successes and failures of several decolonized African and Caribbean nations that have attempted to live up to the U.N. guidelines as newly independent states.

In addition, McCartney will speculate on the future of human rights in Africa and the Caribbean and address the question of whether human rights are synonymous with Western democratic rights.

Before joining the Lafayette faculty in 1986, McCartney spent six years as the president of the Vanguard Party, a social democratic political party in the Bahamas. He began his academic career as a member of the political science department at Purdue University. He is the author of the book, “Black Power Ideologies” and co-wrote the book “The Struggle for Freedom in the Bahamas.” McCartney earned his doctorate in political theory at the University of Iowa.

The “Democracy, Development and Human Rights” lecture series is sponsored by the Mojmir Povolny Lectureship in International Studies. Named in honor of Lawrence’s long time professor of government, the lectureship promotes interest and discussion on issues of moral significance and ethical dimensions.