May 2016

Month: May 2016

Wriston Art Center features Lawrence senior studio art majors

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Abigail Kosberg: “I am Dophie Doltz,” acrylic paint and thread on cotton fabric

Eight Lawrence University art majors will have their creative work featured in the annual senior major exhibition opening Friday, May 27 in the Wriston Art Center galleries.

The exhibition, which is free and open to the public, runs through July 3. A reception with the student artists at 6 p.m. opens the exhibition.

Works in the exhibition include photography, ceramics, sculpture, textiles, paintings, installation and performance art.

The seniors whose work will be featured are:
• Oumou Cisse, Washington D.C.
• Tess Gundersen, Santa Fe, N.M.
• Liam Hoy, Chicago, Ill.
• Abigail Kosberg, Wildwood, Ill.
• Brandin Kreuder, Burlington
• Isabella Schleisner, Greenville
• Laura Udelson, San Francisco, Calif.
• Austin Wellner, Green Bay

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Brandin Kreuder: “Paddled Box,” ceramic

The Wriston Art Center galleries are free and open to the public Tuesday-Friday 10 a.m. – 4 p.m.; Saturday-Sunday noon – 4 p.m.; closed Mondays. For more information on the exhibition, 920-832-6890.

About Lawrence University
Founded in 1847, Lawrence University uniquely integrates a college of liberal arts and sciences with a nationally recognized conservatory of music, both devoted exclusively to undergraduate education. It was selected for inclusion in the book “Colleges That Change Lives: 40 Schools That Will Change the Way You Think About College” and Fiske’s Guide to Colleges 2016. Engaged learning, the development of multiple interests and community outreach are central to the Lawrence experience. Lawrence draws its 1,500 students from nearly every state and more than 50 countries.

Lawrence adds expertise in the legal, investment, academic and development fields to its Board of Trustees

Four new members have been elected to Lawrence University’s Board of Trustees, including two with previous board service. Each joins the board effective July 1.

Attorney William Hochkammer, University of California, San Diego alumni director Tamika Franklin, Columbia University political scientist John Huber and equity fund founder Cory Nettles were named to the board at its recently concluded May meeting.

They will replace two retiring members of the board: John Ellerman, a 1958 Lawrence graduate who has served on the board since 1983; and David Knapp, a 1989 Lawrence graduate who joined the board in 2002.

“On behalf of the Board of Trustees, I am pleased to welcome back former trustees Bill Hochkammer and Cory Nettles,” said board chair Susie Stillman Kane ’72. “Bill provided outstanding leadership during his tenure as chair of the board and co-chair of the “More Light” campaign a decade ago. Cory’s more recent contributions as a member of the President’s Advisory Council have been invaluable. We look forward to the insights he will bring to the board.

“With John’s expertise in academia and the liberal arts and Tamika’s in development and alumni relations, their additions will enhance even further the multi-generational makeup and perspective of our board,” Kane added.

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Willilam Hochkammer

William Hochkammer ’66, Bloomfield Hills, Mich.
A partner at the Detroit law firm of Honigman Miller Schwartz and Cohn, L.L.P., Hochkammer rejoins the board having previously served as a member from 1993-2015, including as chair of the board from 2005-07. He is the first trustee in Lawrence history to complete his term limit and be invited to rejoin the board.

As co-chair of the Capital Campaign Steering Committee, Hochkammer was instrumental in the success of the $160 million “More Light!” campaign, the most ambitious fundraising effort in Lawrence’s history, that ended in 2011.

He served on the Presidential Search Committee that appointed Jill Beck as the university’s 15th president and currently serves as a member of the leadership team for Lawrence’s $75 million “Full Speed to Full Need” endowed scholarship campaign.

A 1966 Lawrence graduate, Hochkammer joined Honigman Miller Schwartz and Cohn in 1972 and was the founding chair of the firm’s health care and insurance departments. He served as the firm’s chair from 1991-98 and as its CEO from 1993-98.

Hochkammer has been included on the annual “Best Lawyers in America” list every year since 1991 in the areas of health care law and insurance law. He was recognized as the Detroit Insurance Lawyer of the Year in 2011 and the Detroit Health Care Law Lawyer of the Year in 2014 by “Best Lawyers.”

In addition to a bachelor’s degree in economics from Lawrence, Hochkammer earned a law degree from Northwestern University School of Law, where he was a writer and editor for the Journal of Criminal Law.

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Tamika Franklin

Tamika Franklin ’05, San Diego, Calif.
Franklin is the board’s third Recent Graduate Trustee, a position established in 2014 exclusively for Lawrence alumni within 2-10 years of their graduation. She will serve one three-year term.

An advancement professional, Franklin has served as UC-San Diego’s director of alumni affairs within the development and alumni relations office for the division of physical sciences since May 2013. She played a leading role in developing UCSD’s Black Alumni Council and an Asian Pacific Islander Alumni Council and serves as a staff liaison for both. UCSD honored Franklin with its Diversity Award in 2014.

Prior to joining UCSD, Franklin spent four years at San Diego State University working with the vice president of university relations and development.

A native of Jamaica, Franklin earned a bachelor’s degree in government and philosophy from Lawrence in 2005.

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John Huber

John Huber ’84, New York, N.Y.
An accomplished and nationally recognized scholar, Huber joined the political science department at Columbia University in 1998 after faculty appointments at Ohio State and the University of Michigan. He was promoted to full professor in 2002 and has served as chair of the department six of the past 10 years.

At Columbia, he has been engaged in institutional issues related to admissions, financial aid and global education.

A specialist in the comparative study of democratic processes, Huber’s current research interests focus on ethnic politics, inequality and the politics of redistribution.

He is the author of the books “Rationalizing Parliament” and “Deliberate Discretion? Institutional Foundations of Bureaucratic Autonomy,” which received numerous awards, including the William Riker Prize. It was named 2002’s best book in comparative politics by the American Political Science Association.

Huber was elected to the prestigious American Academy of Arts and Sciences in 2013 and spent 10 years as the editor of the Quarterly Journal of Political Science. He also has served on the editorial boards of several publications, including the Journal of Politics, French Politics, Legislative Studies Quarterly and the American Journal of Political Science.

A 1984 cum laude graduate of Lawrence with a degree in government, Huber earned a master’s degree and Ph.D. in political science from the University of Rochester.

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Cory Nettles

Cory Nettles ’92, Bayside, Wis.
An attorney, Nettles begins his second as a board member, having previously served from 2005-10. He is the former co-chair of the President’s Advisory Council.

Nettles is the founder and managing director of Generation Growth Capital, Inc., a Milwaukee-based private equity fund that provides growth capital to lower middle-market companies in the Midwest. The company is committed to working in low to moderate income communities, investing and creating jobs in distressed communities and supporting ethnic minority entrepreneurs.

He serves of counsel with Quarles and Brady LLP in the law firm’s corporate services and government relations groups. His experience ranges from mergers and acquisitions to tax incremental financing and diversity-related matters.

Nettles served as the secretary of the Wisconsin Department of Commerce from 2003-05 under Governor Jim Doyle before joining the corporate world. As secretary, he managed one of the state’s largest agencies, with 450 employees and an annual budget in excess of $225M. He was a principal architect of Governor Doyle’s “Grow Wisconsin” plan, a comprehensive strategy for investing more than $1 billion in Wisconsin’s economy.

In 2015, he was one of five African-American executives who formed Partners for Community Impact LLC to become minority investors in the Milwaukee Bucks basketball team.

Besides Lawrence, Nettles serves as a board member numerous businesses and organizations, among them Associated Bank, the United Way of Greater Milwaukee. Boys & Girls Clubs of Greater Milwaukee, Teach For America, the Medical College of Wisconsin and the University of Wisconsin Foundation.

He was inducted into the Milwaukee Business Journal’s “40 Under 40 Hall of Fame” in 2015 and was named one of the “Most Influential African Americans in Wisconsin” by Madison 365 that same year.

After graduating magna cum laude from Lawrence in 1992 with a degree in government, Nettles earned a law degree from the University of Wisconsin.

About Lawrence University
Founded in 1847, Lawrence University uniquely integrates a college of liberal arts and sciences with a nationally recognized conservatory of music, both devoted exclusively to undergraduate education. It was selected for inclusion in the book “Colleges That Change Lives: 40 Schools That Will Change the Way You Think About College” and Fiske’s Guide to Colleges 2016. Engaged learning, the development of multiple interests and community outreach are central to the Lawrence experience. Lawrence draws its 1,500 students from nearly every state and more than 50 countries.

Annual Honors Convocation features philosophy professor John Dreher

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John Dreher

John Dreher, Lee Claflin-Robert S. Ingraham Professor of Philosophy at Lawrence University, discusses the motivation of modern day spin doctors in the college’s annual Honors Convocation.

Dreher presents “21st Century Merchants of Doubt: Where Is Plato When We Need Him?” Tuesday, May 24 at 11:10 a.m in the Lawrence Memorial Chapel. The event is free and open to the public and also will be webcast live.

The Honors Convocation publicly recognizes students and faculty recipients of awards and prizes for excellence in the arts, humanities, sciences, social sciences, languages and music as well as demonstrated excellence in athletics and service to others.

Dreher was chosen as the 2016 speaker as the recipient of Lawrence’s annual Faculty Convocation Award, which honors a faculty member for distinguished professional work. He is the seventh faculty member so honored.

In their 2010 book “Merchants of Doubt,” historians Naomi Oreskes and Eric Conway detail how a group of high-level scientists with extensive political connections, effectively organized campaigns designed to mislead the public and deny well-established scientific truths on issues ranging from the connections between smoking and lung cancer to links tying coal emissions to acid rain.

Dreher will discuss how Plato challenged similar “doubt merchants” of his day nearly 2,500 years ago and how the same factors that drove those ancient sellers of doubts motivate today’s spin doctors, the motivation of modern day spin doctors in the college’s annual Honors Convocation.namely their view of the place of individuals within society.

A member of the Lawrence faculty since 1963, Dreher is a two-time recipient of the college’s Babcock Award “for outstanding service to students,” the University Award for Excellence in Teaching and the Freshman Studies Teaching award. He served as the chair of Lawrence’s philosophy department most years from 1968- 2011 and directed the college’s signature Freshman Studies program on three occasions (1982–83; 1986–87; 1993–95).

A native of New Jersey, Dreher’s scholarship interests include environmental ethics, applied ethics and the history of philosophy.

He earned a bachelor’s degree in English from St. Peter’s College, a master’s degree in philosophy from Fordham University and a Ph.D. in philosophy from the University of Chicago.

About Lawrence University
Founded in 1847, Lawrence University uniquely integrates a college of liberal arts and sciences with a nationally recognized conservatory of music, both devoted exclusively to undergraduate education. It was selected for inclusion in the book “Colleges That Change Lives: 40 Schools That Will Change the Way You Think About College” and Fiske’s Guide to Colleges 2016. Engaged learning, the development of multiple interests and community outreach are central to the Lawrence experience. Lawrence draws its 1,500 students from nearly every state and more than 50 countries.

Meghan Murphy awarded critical language scholarship to study in Taiwan

Don’t blame Meghan Murphy if she isn’t 100 percent focused during the upcoming Spring Term final exams.

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Meghan Murphy ’18

The Lawrence University sophomore will have good reason for a little mind wandering. She needs to be in Tainan, Taiwan by June 8 — the final day of exams — as a recipient of a U.S. Department of State Critical Language Scholarship (CLS) to study Chinese.

Murphy, a double degree candidate pursuing majors in religious studies and violin performance, will spend eight weeks living with a host family in Tianan, a city of nearly two million on the the island’s southwest coast during the program.

The CLS program includes four hours a day of personalized, intensive language study as well as various activities and excursions designed to expand students’ understanding of the history, politics, culture and daily life of their host country. The scholarship covers all the program’s expenses and includes a $960 stipend.

Selected from more than 5,700 applications nationally, Murphy was among 560 U.S. undergraduate and graduate students awarded one of the state department’s critical language scholarships.

Murphy has been to mainland China three times previously, but this will be her first trip to Taiwan. She went to China with her family when she was 11 years old and spent a year in Beijing during a gap year before coming to Lawrence.

“Studying abroad gives you a lot of different perspectives and helps you mature,” said Murphy, a home-school graduate who lives in Milwaukee. “I had already taken four years of Chinese at UW-Milwaukee during high school so China was the logical place to go for a gap year before coming to Lawrence.”

“I’m excited about this trip particularly because Taiwan is a place I haven’t been before,” added Murphy, who took her first Chinese language lessons when she was 10. “Because of all the conflict between China and Taiwan and my experience becoming familiar with the Chinese perspective while living in China, I’m very interested in learning the Taiwanese side of the story.”

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Meghan Murphy spent 18 days in China last December as part of Lawrence’s “Sustainable China” initiative.

Murphy’s most recent trip to China was last December as part of Lawrence’s 18-day multi-disciplinary initiative “Sustainable China: Integrating Culture, Conservation and Commerce.” She was one of 12 students to participate in that program.

“I hope to continue applying what I learned on the Sustainable China trip particularly in relation to the intersection of religion beliefs and environmental awareness,” said Murphy.

Jason Brozek, Stephen Edward Scarff Professor of International Affairs and associate professor of government at Lawrence, who led the December “Sustainable China” trip, called Meghan “a terrific student with exactly the kind of broad, diverse interests we encourage Lawrentians to develop.”

“I had the pleasure of working with her over the course of several months as part of the Sustainable China traveling classroom and the critical language scholarship will be an excellent springboard for her future success,” said Brozek.

While her critical language scholarship may complicate the final weeks of Murphy’s Spring term, it’s a trade-off she’s more than willing to make.

“I’m always looking to experience new perspectives, so going somewhere new, having a host family to live with, and taking language classes is a spectacular opportunity.”

The CLS, a program of the U.S. Department of State, Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs, was launched in 2006 to increase opportunities for American students to study critical-need languages overseas and expand the number of Americans studying and mastering critical-need languages, including Arabic, Chinese, Indonesian Japanese, Korean, Persian, Russian, Indic (Bangla/Bengali, Hindi, Punjabi and Urdu) and Turkic (Turkish and Azerbaijani).

About Lawrence University
Founded in 1847, Lawrence University uniquely integrates a college of liberal arts and sciences with a nationally recognized conservatory of music, both devoted exclusively to undergraduate education. It was selected for inclusion in the book “Colleges That Change Lives: 40 Schools That Will Change the Way You Think About College” and Fiske’s Guide to Colleges 2016. Engaged learning, the development of multiple interests and community outreach are central to the Lawrence experience. Lawrence draws its 1,500 students from nearly every state and more than 50 countries.

Cultural ambassadors: Hayley Cardinal, Kirstin Edwards heading to Germany as Fulbright grant recipients

A pair of Lawrence University seniors will spend the majority of their first post-graduation year as English language teaching assistants and cultural ambassadors, courtesy of the United States Department of State and the J. William Fulbright Foreign Scholarship Board.

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Seniors Kirstin Edwards (l.) and Hayley Cardinal will spend 10 months in Germany on a Fulbright grant beginning in September.

Hayley Cardinal, a German and linguistics major from Lombard, Ill., and Kirstin Edwards, a German and physics major from Whitefish Bay, have been awarded 2016-2017 Fulbright U.S. Student grants to Germany. The Fulbright Program is the flagship international educational exchange program of the United States.

Both will travel to Germany in September, where they will spend 10 months working in a school as a teacher’s aide. Cardinal knows she will be in the capital city of Berlin, while Edwards’ final destination is still to be determined, although she knows it will be somewhere in the central state of Hessen.

It will be a return trip for Cardinal, who spent a semester in Berlin a year ago on a study-abroad program.

“Berlin was my first choice, which I was not expecting to get,” said Cardinal, who spent a month in Germany as a high school junior on a student-exchange program. “I’m super excited to go back.”

Cardinal applied for a Fulbright grant after realizing it was a perfect combination of several of her passions.

“I love German and linguistics and working with students,” said Cardinal, who first started studying German as a high school freshman. “Helping students learn English will be ideal as far as potential career fields I’ve been considering. I’m interested in speech therapy, working with high school or younger students, helping with speech problems they struggle with or possibly going into English as a Second Language.”

Hayley Cardinal '16
Hayley Cardinal ’16

Ruth Lunt, associate professor of German and Cardinal’s advisor, called her a “perfect choice” for the Fulbright program.

“Her linguistics training and knowledge of both English and German give her an advantage when it comes to explaining aspects of English to German speakers,” said Lunt. “She also has shown a deep understanding of German culture. Hayley is one of the most intellectually curious, highly motivated and intelligent students I have had the pleasure of working with. She is creative, energetic and has taken the time to explore and think about what she really wants to do.”

Perhaps being part prescient, Cardinal studied Arabic this year, knowing Germany has accepted a large number of Syrian refugees.

“I really hope to work with a volunteer program where I can help teach English to refugees, which would go hand-in-hand with what I’m doing with my Fulbright,” said Cardinal, a three-time conference champion on the Lawrence women’s swimming team and a hurdler on the women’s track team. “I think it’s an important part of current German culture and helping these refugees to succeed is really important. It’s not easy to integrate thousands of these people into the country, so I’d like to help in any way I can.”

Edwards also participated in a student exchange program in high school, during which she spent time on a farm in the state of Hessen, has gotten a taste of what it’s like to teach a language as a German tutor at Lawrence.

She spent last summer in the Netherlands working with Lawrence graduate Jennifer Herek in her optics laboratory at Twente University. Her time there inspired her to apply for the Fulbright.

“I worked in the Netherlands and really enjoyed working with an international group,” said Edwards, who often took the train across the border to venture about in Germany. “I saw a lot of value in that sort of international exchange and felt I would benefit from a more immersive experience in Germany.”

Alison Guenther-Pal, assistant professor of German, was nearly as happy for her advisee as Edwards was for herself.

“I’m thrilled that Kirstin earned the Fulbright, not only because she is such a deserving candidate, but also because she was not able to spend a lengthy period of time in Germany as an undergraduate,” said Guenther-Pal. “As a diligent, thoughtful and multi-interested person, Kirstin will be a wonderful representative of Lawrence abroad.”

Kirstin Edwards '16
Kirstin Edwards ’16

While improving her German is important, Edwards is excited about the opportunities the Fulbright grant will present.

“Teaching will be a very valuable experience, especially with students who are interested in learning about the United States,” said Edwards, a three-year starter on Lawrence’s women’s soccer team. “I’m looking forward to learning from them about their own culture, too.  Spending 10 months in a single place that is foreign to me will be exciting. Maybe not always in positive ways, but I’m sure that there will be plenty of new experiences every day.”

Edwards hopes to pursue a graduate degree in geophysics, possibly at a German university, after her Fulbright program.

Cardinal and Edwards are the 24th and 25th Lawrence students since 2008 to be awarded Fulbright grants. Nine of those were student fellowships to Germany.

The Fulbright Program is designed to build relations between the people of the United States and the people of other countries that are needed to solve global challenges. Celebrating the 70th anniversary of its establishment in 1946, the program operates in more than 160 countries worldwide. Fulbright recipients are among more than 50,000 individuals participating in U.S. Department of State exchange programs each year.

About Lawrence University
Founded in 1847, Lawrence University uniquely integrates a college of liberal arts and sciences with a nationally recognized conservatory of music, both devoted exclusively to undergraduate education. It was selected for inclusion in the book “Colleges That Change Lives: 40 Schools That Will Change the Way You Think About College” and Fiske’s Guide to Colleges 2016. Engaged learning, the development of multiple interests and community outreach are central to the Lawrence experience. Lawrence draws its 1,500 students from nearly every state and more than 50 countries.

 

 

 

Environmental law professor discusses renewable energy strategies, challenges in presentation

Integrating cleaner energy into the existing infrastructure and strategies for new facilities to incorporate renewable energy will be explored in a Lawrence University science hall/economics colloquium.

Elizabeth Wilson
Elizabeth Wilson

Elizabeth Wilson, professor of energy and environmental policy and law at the University of Minnesota, presents “Remaking Energy: Creating Sustainable Electricity Systems” Monday, May 16 at 4:30 p.m. in the Wriston Art Center auditorium. The talk is free and open to the public.

Wilson’s research focuses on the implementation of energy and environmental policies and laws. She studies how institutions support and thwart energy system transitions, focusing on the interplay between technology innovation, policy creation and institutional decision making.

Her most recent research has examined how energy policy stakeholders view the opportunities and challenges of decision-making within Regional Transmission Organizations and creating smart grids. RTOs currently manage the transmission planning, electricity markets and grid operations for more than 70 percent of North America.

Wilson was awarded a 2015 an Andrew Carnegie Fellowship that will support research in Denmark, Germany and Spain of their energy systems, which include high levels of renewable resources as well as nuclear policies and electric grid architectures different than the United States.

She is the co-author of the 2015 book “Smart Grid (R)Evolution: Electric Power Struggles” and the 2014 book “Energy Law and Policy.”

A former employee of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, Wilson spent a year as a visiting scholar in China at Beijing’s Tsinghua University and also has worked in Belgium, Burundi and Tanzania. She earned a Ph.D. from Carnegie Mellon University in engineering and public policy.

About Lawrence University
Founded in 1847, Lawrence University uniquely integrates a college of liberal arts and sciences with a nationally recognized conservatory of music, both devoted exclusively to undergraduate education. It was selected for inclusion in the book “Colleges That Change Lives: 40 Schools That Will Change the Way You Think About College” and Fiske’s Guide to Colleges 2016. Engaged learning, the development of multiple interests and community outreach are central to the Lawrence experience. Lawrence draws its 1,500 students from nearly every state and more than 50 countries.

Annual Harrison Symposium highlights student research in the humanities, social sciences

Twenty-eight presentations on topics ranging from the performance of Indonesian shadow puppetry to the role of churches in the lives of North Korean refugees will be addressed Saturday, May 14 during Lawrence University’s 19th annual Richard A. Harrison Symposium.Harrison Symposium 2016_newsblog

The symposium highlights exceptional student research in the humanities and social sciences, beginning at 9:15 a.m. in various locations throughout Main Hall. A complete schedule of presentations, times and locations can be found here.

The symposium features series of 20-minute presentations arranged by topic or field. Each series is moderated by a Lawrence faculty member and includes a 10-minute question-and-answer session following the presentations. Symposium participants present their work in the format used for professional meetings of humanities and social sciences scholars.

First conducted in 1996, the symposium honors former Lawrence Dean of the Faculty Richard Harrison, who died unexpectedly the following year. The symposium was renamed in his honor to recognize his vision of highlighting excellent student scholarship.

About Lawrence University
Founded in 1847, Lawrence University uniquely integrates a college of liberal arts and sciences with a nationally recognized conservatory of music, both devoted exclusively to undergraduate education. It was selected for inclusion in the book “Colleges That Change Lives: 40 Schools That Will Change the Way You Think About College” and Fiske’s Guide to Colleges 2016. Engaged learning, the development of multiple interests and community outreach are central to the Lawrence experience. Lawrence draws its 1,500 students from nearly every state and more than 50 countries.

Lawrence Theatre Arts department presents David Ives’ “The Liar”

The consequences of the lies we tell are unraveled in Lawrence University Theatre Arts department’s production of David Ives’ comedy “The Liar.”

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Junior Maddie Scanlan (left) plays Clarice, the already-married love interest of a young lawyer, while Junior Isabel Hemley (left) portrays Lucrece, her best friend, in four performances of “The Liar.” PHOTO: Ken Cobb

Four performances of “The Liar” will be staged in Stansbury Theater May 12-14 with an 8 p.m. show each night and an additional 3 p.m. matinee on Saturday, May 14. Tickets, at $15 for adults, $8 for students/seniors, are available through the Lawrence Box Office, 920-832-6749.

Popular French Renaissance playwright Pierre Corneille wrote this comedy in 1643 in the midst of a more tragic series of plays. Described as “a series of breathtakingly intricate lies,” the story centers around Dorante, a young lawyer who comes to the big city in search of romance. He meets Clarice and immediately falls for her, unaware that she is already secretly engaged to his friend Alcippe. In his efforts to woo her, he invents a tale of his amazing military feats, unleashing a web of falsehood that ensnares all of the characters, sparking mishaps, mistaken identities and lie upon lie.

The production is based on Ives’ “translaptation” from 17th-century French to English of Corneille’s original play. Ives considered “The Liar” “one of the world’s great comedies.”

“I felt as if some lost Shakespeare festival comedy on the order of ‘Twelfth Night’ or ‘Much Ado About Nothing’ had been found,” Ives has said.

As a social satire, Ives liked the way the play’s lies are woven into the fabric of things, revealing how lies can feed love and actually create happiness.

He preserved the rhyming in the play’s original verse, but introduced changes that intersect with current audiences in the same way audiences identified with the original.

“We’ve taken that a step further and are using haute couture and installation art to look at ways that history is reflected in today’s visual aesthetics,” said director Kathy Privatt, James G. and Ethel M. Barber Professor of Theatre and Drama and associate professor of theatre arts. “There will be some ‘visual lies’ to go with the lies in the story, such as a wig that isn’t made of hair.”

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Kathy Privatt directs “The Liar.”

Somewhat serendipitously, the timing of the production, according to Privatt, turned out perfectly.

“After choosing the play, I opened the local newspaper to a story about an organization that gives an award for best lie of the year,” said Privatt. “Then the political debate season rolled around and the various fact-checking websites lit up. Suddenly, a piece that lets us examine ways we lie to each other and ourselves seems very appropriate.”

Freshman Marco Mazzetta from Wheeling, Ill. plays Dorante, while Maddie Scanlan, a junior from St. Paul, Minn., portrays Clarice. Senior Matt Johnson from Elmhurst, Ill., plays Geronte, Dorante’s father and Zoey Lin, a junior from Nanjing, China, portrays Cliton, Dorante’s servant.

Junior Isabel Hemley from Grafton and Madison junior Tony Harth portray Clarice’s friend Lucrece and her fiancé Alcippe, respectively. Junior Lauren Abdulm from New York City, plays Isabelle and Sabine, maids to Clarice and Lucrece. Sophomore Rory Coleman from St. Paul, Minn., plays Philiste, Alcippe’s best friend.

About Lawrence University
Founded in 1847, Lawrence University uniquely integrates a college of liberal arts and sciences with a nationally recognized conservatory of music, both devoted exclusively to undergraduate education. It was selected for inclusion in the book “Colleges That Change Lives: 40 Schools That Will Change the Way You Think About College” and Fiske’s Guide to Colleges 2016. Engaged learning, the development of multiple interests and community outreach are central to the Lawrence experience. Lawrence draws its 1,500 students from nearly every state and more than 50 countries.

Lawrence Jazz Series welcomes guitarist Kurt Rosenwinkel

Trailblazing guitarist Kurt Rosenwinkel and his New Quartet band close out Lawrence University’s 2015-16 Jazz Series Friday, May 13 at 8 p.m. in the Lawrence Memorial Chapel.

Tickets, at $25/$30 for adults, $20/$25 for seniors and $18/$20 for students are available through the Lawrence Box Office, 920-832-6749.

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Kurt Rosenwinkel

During his 25-year career, Rosenwinkel, who lives in Berlin, Germany, has evolved the language of jazz in a way few other guitarists have since his arrival on the scene. He won the 1995 Composer’s Award from the National Endowment for the Arts and since has released 10 studio albums.

He also has been featured on more than 75 other albums, including hip-hop veteran Q-Tip’s “Renaissance” project. His extensive list of collaborations includes such dynamic peers as Brad Mehldau, Brian Blade, Joshua Redman and Chris Potter as well as jazz elders Joe Henderson, Paul Motian and Gary Burton.

“Kurt is both unique and very steeped in bebop tradition,” said Steve Peplin, who teaches jazz guitar at Lawrence. “His earlier work really shows how deeply rooted he is in the language of jazz. His compositions, on the other hand, are very modern, often informed by the new augmented-scale thing happening around the globe, but much more deep than just another harmonic concept Kurt reminds me of Lennie Tristano in the way he synthesizes the old and the new.

“His emphasis on tone and a light touch, combined with singing his lines in unison with his guitar creates a ghostly sonority not often heard in modern jazz guitar,” Peplin added.

Rosenwinkel says his music is about “the relationship that we each have with the universe at large and how we use our intuition to hear what it is telling us.”

His most recent album, 2012’s “Star of Jupiter,” which he says came to him in a dream, underscores that concept, transporting “listeners on a journey toward discovery, truth and ultimately peace.”

It features his New Quartet band — pianist Aaron Parks, bassist Eric Revis and drummer Justin Faulkner — a fiery group of rising stars and veterans-in-the-making.

About Lawrence University
Founded in 1847, Lawrence University uniquely integrates a college of liberal arts and sciences with a nationally recognized conservatory of music, both devoted exclusively to undergraduate education. It was selected for inclusion in the book “Colleges That Change Lives: 40 Schools That Will Change the Way You Think About College” and Fiske’s Guide to Colleges 2016. Engaged learning, the development of multiple interests and community outreach are central to the Lawrence experience. Lawrence draws its 1,500 students from nearly every state and more than 50 countries.

Spoerl Lecture explores relationship between African-Americans and environmentalism

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Carolyn Finney

Carolyn Finney explores the complex relationship of African Americans to nature and environmentalism in the Lawrence University Spoerl Lecture Series address “Radical Presence: Black Faces, White Spaces & Other Stories of Possibility.” The presentation, Thursday, May 12 at 7 p.m. in Thomas Steitz Hall of Science 102, is free and open to the public.

The talk is based on Finney’s 2014 book “Black Faces, White Spaces: Reimagining the Relationship of African Americans to the Great Outdoors,” in which she held “green” conversations with black people from around the country. Using film, literature and popular culture, as well as historical moments, including the establishment of the Wilderness Act in 1964 and the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina, Finney exposes the perceived and real ways nature and the environment are racialized in America.

Finney, assistant professor of geography at the University of Kentucky, is a member of the U.S. National Parks Advisory Board, working to assist the park service engage in relations with diverse communities.

About Lawrence University
Founded in 1847, Lawrence University uniquely integrates a college of liberal arts and sciences with a nationally recognized conservatory of music, both devoted exclusively to undergraduate education. It was selected for inclusion in the book “Colleges That Change Lives: 40 Schools That Will Change the Way You Think About College” and Fiske’s Guide to Colleges 2016. Engaged learning, the development of multiple interests and community outreach are central to the Lawrence experience. Lawrence draws its 1,500 students from nearly every state and more than 50 countries.