1780 – The Official Blog of Transylvania University

1780 | The Official Blog of Transylvania University

Political science professor Jeff Freyman to present inaugural lecture in ‘Left of Center’ speaker series at Transylvania Nov. 29; free and open to the public

LEXINGTON, Ky.—Jeff Freyman, professor of political science and director of The Center for Liberal Education at Transylvania University, will present “The American Empire” in the Cowgill Center, room 102, at 7 p.m. on Thursday, Nov. 29. The presentation, which is free and open to the public, is the first of the “Left of Center” speaker series sponsored by the Transylvania College Democrats. Freyman will discuss how the United States formed a world order after the Second World War, how it was similar to and different from previous imperial orders, how finance has been instrumental in securing global dominance and the consequences of the order on the 2008 financial crisis. His areas of research include globalization, comparative democratization, comparative political economy and Marxism. The speaker series was created to inform Transylvania students and members of the Lexington community on left leaning political views. “Not all points of view are represented fairly in our political system and oftentimes little can be accomplished if we all ‘toe the party line’ analytically,” said junior Michael Case, president of Transylvania College Democrats. “The series is open to speakers from a variety of ideological viewpoints ranging from the reform liberalism of the current Democratic Party platform to the far-left.”

Morlan Gallery celebrates local printmakers; exhibition opens Nov. 5 and culminates in holiday party and print sale Dec. 5

Sara Turner (Cricket Press) “The Walkmen” (2012) LEXINGTON, Ky.—Transylvania University’s Morlan Gallery celebrates local printmakers with its newest exhibition, Lexington Legatees: Contemporary Printmaking in the Bluegrass, which opens Monday, Nov. 5, and runs through Wednesday, Dec. 5. The exhibition focuses on Lexington printmakers who carry on the city’s strong printmaking history. Artists in the exhibition include Nick Alley, Cricket Press (Sara and Brian Turner), Joel Feldman, Liz Foley, Homegrown Press (Johnny Lackey), Hound Dog Press (Nick Baute and Robert Ronk), Larkspur Press (Gray Zeitz) and dRock Press (Derrick Riley). Kentucky’s first printmaker set up shop in Lexington in 1787. John Bradford unloaded his press and type from the Ohio River landing in Maysville and traversed 65 miles of rough roads to establish the Kentucke Gazette. In the 1940s, when hobby presses were all the rage, noted Viennese artist and printmaker Victor Karl Hammer moved to Lexington to serve as artist-in-residence at Transylvania. The quick result was a deepening dedication to the fine craft of book arts by these home press operators. Although Hammer had many devotees, it was printmaker Carolyn Reading who advanced the press in Lexington perhaps more than any other, eventually establishing the King Library Press, located in the Margaret I. King Library at the University of Kentucky. Reading and Hammer married in 1955. Lexington Legatees artist Gray Zeitz bridges the gap between the vibrant Hammer era and today’s resurgent printmaking scene in Lexington. Zeitz, who learned the

Soprano Christine Goerke performs Nov. 3, the first show of the inaugural Gail Robinson Series

Soprano Christine Goerke LEXINGTON, Ky.—Transylvania University will host four concerts for the inaugural season of the Gail Robinson Series, beginning with a performance by Metropolitan Opera star Christine Goerke on Saturday, Nov. 3, at 7:30 p.m. in Haggin Auditorium. Tickets are available through the Singletary Center box office at (859) 257-2949, online or in person. Robinson, a soprano, sang with many of the world’s leading opera companies in the 1970s and 1980s. She spent 34 years at the Metropolitan Opera, including ten years as executive director of the Met’s Young Artists Program. She was also director of the Met’s National Council Auditions. In 1999, she became a voice professor at the University of Kentucky, where she taught until her death in 2008. Three of her mentees, Goerke, Gregory Turay and Michelle DeYoung, are featured in the inaugural season of the recital series. Soprano Goerke has appeared in the major opera houses of the world including the Metropolitan Opera, San Francisco Opera, Santa Fe Opera, Washington National Opera, Royal Opera House Covent Garden, Paris Opera, La Scala, Teatro Municipal de Santiago and the Saito Kinen Festival. She has sung much of the great soprano repertoire, beginning with the Mozart and Handel heroines and now moving into the dramatic Strauss and Wagner roles. Goerke has also appeared with leading orchestras including the New York Philharmonic, Boston Symphony Orchestra, Chicago Symphony Orchestra, Cleveland Orchestra, Los Angeles Philharmonic, Sydney Symphony and the Orchestra of

Laughter and fun will be in the air when “The Liar” opens Thursday, Oct. 25, at Transylvania University

LEXINGTON, Ky.—Transylvania University Theater opens the 2012-13 season with “The Liar,” which runs Oct. 25-27 and Nov. 1-3, at 7:30 p.m., and Oct. 28, at 2 p.m., in Transylvania’s Lucille C. Little Theater.   Sullivan Canaday White, program director and assistant professor of theater, directs this Pierre Comielles farcical romance set in mid-seventeenth century France and linguistically adapted for today by David Ives. Dorante is a charming young man with a single flaw: He cannot tell the truth. In quick succession he meets Cliton, a manservant who cannot tell a lie, and falls in love with Clarice, a charming young woman whom he unfortunately mistakes for her friend Lucrece. What our hero regrettably does not know is that Clarice is secretly engaged to his best friend Alcippe. Nor is he aware that his father is trying to get him married to Clarice, whom he thinks is Lucrece, who actually is in love with him. “If I had to pick one word to describe it I would say ‘silly,’” said junior Andrew Traughber, who plays the role of Dorante’s father, Geronte. “The set is very colorful and close enough to the audience that they may feel as if they are a part of the set. The costumes are comic renditions from the period; think Three Musketeers meets Liberace, without the glitter and sequins.” Tickets are $10 and may be reserved by calling the box office at (859) 281-3621, Monday-Friday, from 1-4

Transylvania University and BCTC host eighth annual Latino Multicultural College Fair Oct. 16

LEXINGTON, Ky.—On Tuesday, October 16, more than 400 Latino, immigrant and refugee students are expected to attend the Eighth Annual Latino Multicultural Student College Fair (LMCF) at Transylvania University in the Beck Center from 9 a.m.-2 p.m. The LMCF began as a collaboration between Bluegrass Community & Technical College’s (BCTC) Hispanic/Latino Outreach and the Kentucky State University Hispanic Initiative. The fair features workshops in English and Spanish centered on success in higher education. Since 2006, the fair has been held annually and has served more than 3,000 youths. “It is our hope to inspire and encourage students to explore all of their post-secondary opportunities,” said Gaby Baca, BCTC Latino Outreach Coordinator. The LMCF will offer many concurrent sessions including college preparation and planning, tips for selecting a college and how to apply for financial aid. There will also be sessions that offer help to first generation college students on how to be successful and advice for students on how to speak to parents about college planning, savings and Latino American history. Community college students searching for four-year institutions and university students searching for graduate school opportunities are also encouraged to participate. College representatives from 36 state and private colleges throughout Kentucky, Indiana, Ohio, Tennessee and West Virginia are scheduled to attend. This year’s fair features a teachers’ and a parents’ conversation series as well. “We are encouraging teachers and parents to attend this event to learn and discuss what these