Events

LEXINGTON, Ky.—One of Lexington’s newest hot spots, West Sixth Brewing, is just blocks away from Transylvania University, in an old bread factory turned microbrewery and community creative space. It offers a variety of beer made on site, food from local food trucks and now…science lectures? “In Lexington we have gallery hops, music concerts, poetry readings and Civil War roundtables, which are all fantastic,” said Kirk Abraham, associate professor of exercise science at Transylvania. “However, science topics are generally not a part of our public discourse. I wanted to take science out of the classroom and into a relaxed setting, where people who are not experts can be part of the conversation.” To remove the academic formality of lectures in a class room, Abraham created the West Sixth Science Pub, which takes science topics out of the labs and into the taproom on the third Monday of each month from 6-7 p.m. Upcoming topics range from preventing diabetes with wine to preventing ACL injuries. All talks are free and open to the public. The science pub concept has taken off in other states and it’s not uncommon in  Oregon to have over 100 people attend a science pub talk and people are often lined up at the door when it opens. Abraham hopes the West Sixth Science Pub will generate the same kind of interest in the Lexington community. “I hope anyone who has a general interest in science will attend

Read “Transylvania professors bring science out of the classroom and into the taproom for West Sixth Science Pub, and the public is invited”

LEXINGTON, Ky.—Marion Nestle, one of the nation’s top experts on nutrition, will give the fall 2012 Kenan Lecture Tuesday, Oct. 23, at 7:30 p.m. in Haggin Auditorium in the Mitchell Fine Arts Center. The presentation, titled “Food Politics: How the Food Industry Influences Nutrition and Health,” is free and open to the public. Nestle, a specialist in the politics of food and dietary choice, is the Paulette Goddard Professor of nutrition, food studies and public health at New York University, where she researches the connection between scientific and societal influences on dietary advice and practices. Her book “Food Politics” has won awards from the Association of American Publishers, the James Beard Foundation and World Hunger Year, and “What to Eat” was named one of Amazon’s top 10 books of 2006 and called a “must read” by “Eating Well” magazine. Nestle has a Ph.D. in molecular biology and an M.P.H. in public health nutrition, both from the University of California, Berkeley, where she received the 2011 National Public Health Hero award. In addition to her tenure at NYU, she is the visiting professor in the Cornell University Division of Nutritional Sciences. She was senior nutrition policy adviser for the Department of Health and Human Services and a managing editor for the 1988 Surgeon General’s Report on Nutrition and Health. She has been a member of the FDA Food Advisory Committee and Science Board, the United States Department of Agriculture/Department of Health

Read “Expert nutritionist Marion Nestle to speak at Transylvania Tuesday, Oct. 23, 7:30 p.m.; free and open to the public”

LEXINGTON, Ky.—Transylvania’s Haupt Circle parking lot spaces will be transformed into miniature parks on Friday, September 21, from 8 a.m. to 1:30 p.m. in support of international PARK(ing) Day. The movement, which began in 2005, challenges people to re-think our use of urban spaces and to question the use of public urban lots and empower citizens to redefine public space to suit community needs.  Students, faculty and staff have been invited to get a group together and reserve a parking space to convert to a park. The event is organized by Transylvania’s office of sustainability and Louis Johnson of Urban Collage, coordinator of Lexington’s PARK(ing) Day events. Sustainability is one of the five core values that Transylvania  incorporates into all aspects of campus life. Watch a video of Transylvania’s PARK(ing) Day. Lexington Herald-Leader photo gallery.

LEXINGTON, Ky.—Lexington’s own Liz Knowles, Celtic fiddler, will play at Transylvania University on Thursday, Sept. 20, at 7:30 p.m. in Haggin Auditorium in the Mitchell Fine Arts Center. Tickets are $10 and are available weekdays from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. in MFA 113 (cash only) and can also be purchased at the door. Knowles rose to popularity when she was fiddler for Riverdance and soloist on the soundtrack for the film Michael Collins. She is a respected musician, composer and teacher who has traveled the world, performing with renowned orchestras such as the Celtic Legends, New York Pops and Cincinnati Pops. In New York City she has performed at Carnegie Hall and on Broadway with fellow artists Marcus Roberts, the Bang-on-a-Can Orchestra, and Bobby McFerrin. She has also appeared in the Kennedy Center in Washington, D.C. Her latest work, “Making Time,” explores “both familiar and obscure” Irish music from Irish, Scottish, and Medieval collections while combining Knowles’ unique harmonies (lizknowles.com). Knowles has also established herself as an admired teacher of Irish music. She has taught at the Swannanoa Gathering for their Celtic and Fiddle weeks, the Catskills Irish Art Week, and at many Irish piping festivals with her husband. The event is sponsored by the Transylvania music department.

LEXINGTON, Ky.—The Kentucky Women Writers Conference comes to Transylvania University for a poetry slam featuring author Tara Betts. Bianca Spriggs, a 2003 Transylvania graduate and the founder and artistic director of the slam, will emcee the Gypsy Poetry Slam at 7 p.m., Friday, Sept. 21 in Carrick Theater of the Mitchell Fine Arts Center. The event is free and open to the public. With Tara Betts, author of Arc and Hue, as slam headliner and celebrity judge, poets will compete for a top prize of $500 in a live, multi-round competition with audience judging. The evening will showcase work by eleven national and local women poets. Prior to the competition will be an open mic at 6:30 p.m. Contact Spriggs at bianncaspriggs@gmail.com to sign up for the open mic. Betts, a Ph.D. candidate at Binghamton University, is a lecturer in creative writing at Rutgers University in New Brunswick, was featured on HBO’s “Def Poetry Jam,” performed at The New School in New York City, and has been published in various journals and anthologies including XXL, The Source, BIBR, Mosaic Magazine and Black Radio Exclusive. The Kentucky Women Writers Conference is founded by the University of Kentucky and is the longest standing conferences for women writers in the nation and is celebrating its 34th year. For a full list of events or to register for the conference visit their website.