1780 – The Official Blog of Transylvania University

1780 | The Official Blog of Transylvania University

Transylvania University students endorse a safe community for all during Gender Week

LEXINGTON, Ky.—As part of their commitment to fostering dialog about gender issues, Transylvania students have planned a variety of activities—from participating in the annual Take Back the Night rally, sponsored by the University of Kentucky, to a campus panel discussion on feminism—during the week of March 24. Events are sponsored by various campus groups, including SAGE, the Sexual Awareness and Gender Education committee, and VOICE, which encourages discourse on gender equality and justice. “Gender Week promotes a safer campus and lets students show commitment to ending violence in our community,” said Ashley Gutshall, assistant director of residence life and coordinator for interpersonal violence prevention programming. Students will be active participants in a number of events, including the Clothesline Project, which encourages them to paint messages relating to interpersonal violence on colorful T-shirts that are then displayed in the university’s dining hall. Students will also present a performance of “The Vagina Monologues” to raise awareness about sexual violence and sexual assault. A favorite event is the Holi Festival, a Hindu celebration of spring during which there is traditionally a loosening of social norms of gender and caste. As part of the celebration, students toss brightly colored powder into the air. Free events of interest to the public include: A Creative Intelligence lecture presented by Karen Tice about her book “Queens of Academe: Beauty Pageantry, Student Bodies, and College Life,” which examines the themes of class, race, beauty, body discipline and self-regulation

March isn’t just for bands; Transylvania offers variety of student concerts

LEXINGTON, Ky.—March has something for just about everyone who loves live music: a gospel choir concert, electronica and a concert band. All performances are by Transylvania University students in the Mitchell Fine Arts Center and are free and open to the public. Choir Concert March 17, 7:30 p.m. For the final performance in the Transylvania Choir Concert tour, members will perform sacred selections that emphasize global music, including songs of worship and adoration from the ancient to the contemporary.  A Lithuanian folk tune, a Nigerian Christmas song, Gregorian melodies and an E.E. Cummings’ poem set to music are all part of the diverse mix of spiritual music offered by the choral group. Transylvania’s a cappella group, TBA, will perform after the intermission. A subset of the choir, TBA will invite the audience to join them in Michael McGlynn’s “Alleluia: Incantations.” Electronic Music Recital March 19, 7:30 p.m. New to the music program is electronic music; students compose on computer software and perform through synthesizers and samplers. The majority of musical offerings are original compositions by the students and are accompanied by computer-generated graphics. At least one performance, by junior Zach Bain-Selbo, is live on stage with a synthesizer and a computer. The performance will be in Coleman Recital Hall. Concert Band March 28, 7:30 p.m. Under the direction of Ben Hawkins, professor of music and director of instrumental ensembles, the Concert Band will present “Short Ride in a Fast Machine.”

Warning: This lecture may endanger conventional views

LEXINGTON, Ky.—Death of God theology? Not too extreme for John D. Caputo, who will bring his provocative philosophy to Transylvania University’s Carrick Theater at 7 p.m. March 20. His talk, “The Future of Justice: Nihilism and the History of Hope,” is part of the Rick O’Neil Lecture Series. “Caputo’s cutting-edge thought challenges the conceits of religious traditions and secularity to offer different, affirmative ways of imagining the future,” said Wilson Dickinson, associate dean for religious life. “His work stretches the boundaries of our typical ways of thinking to make room for justice, love, and perhaps even God.” Caputo, an internationally known professor emeritus at Syracuse and Villanova universities, has written more than 15 books that have been translated into a dozen languages. He lectures in far-flung locales—from Qatar to Norway. “Caputo writes about profoundly complex matters in accessible prose—in ways that are provocative and understandable,” Dickinson said. “While his ideas are new and challenging, he also draws from the deep wells of philosophical and theological traditions.” Caputo has been influential in the continental philosophy and emergent church movements. According to his Syracuse University profile, he is “intent on producing impure thoughts, thoughts which circulate between philosophy and theology, short-circuits which deny fixed and rigorous boundaries between philosophy and theology.” His book, “The Weakness of God: A Theology of the Event,” earned the 2007 American Academy of Religion Book Award for Constructive-Reflective Studies in Religion, and “What would Jesus Deconstruct?” won

An evening of Spanish-themed music for piano and flute

  Jana Flygstad Erica Rumbley LEXINGTON, KY―Transylvania University faculty member and piano accompanist Erica Rumbley will be joined by flutist Jana Flygstad for a recital featuring, among other Spanish favorites, “Fantasia para un Gentilhombre” (Fantasia for a Gentleman) by composer Joaquín Rodrigo and the “Sonata Romanticia” by Joaquín Turina. The duo will perform on Thursday, Feb. 27, at 7:30 p.m. in Carrick Theater, located in Transylvania’s Mitchell Fine Arts Center. The hour-long event is free and open to the public. Currently pursuing her Ph.D. in musicology at the University of Kentucky, Rumbley says she is excited about the concert, which features passionate music that is “intriguing and enjoyable for both performer and audience.” Flygstad earned a Master in Music Performance from Northwestern University, where she studied flute and piccolo with Walfrid Kujala. She received her Bachelor of Music in music education from the University of Kentucky and studied with Gordon Cole. In 2007, Flygstad won First Prize in the Flute Society of Kentucky Young Artist Competition. She has also been a Finalist in the Chicago Flute Club Young Artist Competition and the Flute Society of Kentucky Piccolo Artist Competition. Flygstad is a founding member and flutist of Air City Woodwind Quintet and Unbridled Flutes. Free parking for the event is available in the lot adjacent to the Mitchell Fine Arts Center, located off Fourth Street between North Broadway and Upper Streets. The Mitchell Fine Arts Center is handicap accessible. For

Morlan Gallery exhibition showcases generations of women sculptors

Image courtesy of the Louisville Courier-Journal. LEXINGTON, Ky.—Women still earn 77 cents for every dollar a man earns. They make up a small percentage of our political representatives. And women artists are ridiculously underrepresented in standard texts published about art. The newest exhibition at Transylvania University’s Morlan Gallery is designed to help bridge that gap in awareness of the contributions of female artists. “ENID: Generations of Women Sculptors” opens at the Morlan Gallery on Friday, Feb. 28, with a reception for the artists from 5–8 p.m. The show runs through Friday, March 28. The exhibition is free and open to the public weekdays from noon to 5 p.m. The gallery will be open 2–7 p.m. on Friday, March 21. (During the university’s spring break week, which begins March 10, the exhibition is open by appointment only. Contact gallery director Andrea Fisher at 859-233-8142 to make arrangements to view the exhibition between 9 a.m. and 5 p.m.) Fourteen artists will be featured in the exhibition: Gayle Cerlan, Caren Cunningham, Jeanne Dueber, Ewing Fahey, Sarah Frederick, Mary Dennis Kannapell, Frances Kratzok, Shawn Marshall, Suzanne Mitchell, Joyce Ogden, Jacque Parsley, Cynthia Reynolds, Gloria Wachtel and Melinda Walters. The Kentucky-based collective of female artisans started in 1998 when a small group of female sculptors in Louisville came together to provide support for one another. They unanimously elected to take on the name ENID for their collective as a way to honor Enid Yandell, Louisville’s