Category: Events

Public Art and Artistic Truth Lecturer at K

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Author, philosopher and theologian Lambert Zuidervaart
Author, philosopher and theologian Lambert Zuidervaart

Kalamazoo College will host two public lectures on “Artistic Truth” and “Public Art” by Lambert Zuidervaart, Ph.D., professor of philosophy at the Institute for Christian Studies in Toronto and a member of the graduate faculties in theology and philosophy at the University of Toronto. He was recently appointed Director of ICS’s Centre for Philosophy, Religion, and Social Ethics. His recent books include Art in Public (2011), Dog-Kissed Tears (2010), Social Philosophy after Adorno (2007), and Artistic Truth (2004).

On Thursday Feb. 28, his topic will be “Artistic Truth.” On Friday March 1, his topic will be “Public Art.” Both lectures take place in the Olmsted Room, in Mandelle Hall, at the corner of Academy and Thompson streets on the K campus. Free and open to the public, the lectures start at 8:00 p.m. Call (269) 337-7076 for more info.

Zuidervaart is a recognized expert in critical theory, especially the work of Theodor Adorno. His research and teaching range across continental philosophy, hermeneutics, social philosophy, and philosophy of art, with an emphasis on Kant, Hegel, Marx, Heidegger, Gadamer, and Habermas. He is currently developing a comprehensive and transformative conception of truth, in debate with prominent philosophers in both analytic and continental traditions.

Before moving to Toronto in 2002, Zuidervaart was a professor of philosophy at Calvin College for 17 years and served as board member and president of the Urban Institute for Contemporary Arts.

K Honors Extraordinary Student Leaders

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2013 Senior Leadership Award WinnersLeadership development is part of the mission of Kalamazoo College, and gains in leadership capability for every student is one of K’s goals. Each year the College recognizes extraordinary leadership–leaders’ leaders, so to speak–with the annual Senior Leadership Recognition Award.

The 30 seniors honored this year serve as student organization leaders, athletic team captains, student housing resident assistants, peer leaders, departmental student advisors, teaching assistants, literacy tutors, civic engagement scholars, career advisors in the Center for Career and Professional Development, and peer advisors for the Center for International Programs.

Their leadership has benefited fellow students and members of the Kalamazoo community, and their work has contributed to the achievements of organizations such as Helping Youth through Personal Empowerment, the First-Year Experience Program, Farms to K, Student Commission, the Chapel Program, Student Activities Committee, K-Crew, Community Advocates for Parents and Students, the Writing Center, Jewish Student Organization, LandSea, Black Student Organization, Frelon Dance Company, Gospel Choir, Kalamazoo Outing Club, OrangeZest, Asian and Pacific Islander Student Association, and Model United Nations, among others.

The 2013 Senior Leaders are (l-r): front row–Kathleen Barrett, Marjorie Toshach, Allison Liddane, Brittany King-Pleas, Eric Glanz, Darwin Rodriguez; second row–Monika Egerer, Charles Weber, Mary Goyings, Hannah Gray, Eeva Stout-Sharp, Bianca Rasho, Yongle Wang, Grace Kelley, Shoshana Schultz-Purves; third row–Michael Hicks, Caitlin McCarthy, Moriam Aigoro, Elizabeth Vincensi, Craig Isser, In Hae Sohn, Samantha Gross; back row–Melissa Sparow, Lauren Rosenthal, Bradley Merritt, Ian Flanagan, and Angiola Gabriel. Not pictured are Cierra Gillard, Mara Livezey, and Margaux Reckard.

K Declares!

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Kalamazoo College sophomores Sarah Whitney, Cheyenne Harvey and Allison Kennedy
Sophomores (l-r) Sarah Whitney, Cheyenne Harvey, and Allison Kennedy enjoy the festivity of Declaration of Major day.

It almost eclipsed Valentine’s Day! And one could think of it as an academic love story. Tuesday, February 12, was the long-awaited Declaration of Majors (DOM) day held in the Fine Arts Building. Three hundred and thirty seven sophomores gathered to declare and celebrate an academic track of their choosing for the next two and a half years. Scores of faculty members along with their department student advisors eagerly waited at their booths during the lunch hour to answer questions and assist with declaration forms. “This event officially welcomes sophomores to the academic curriculum of Kalamazoo College,” says Lesley Clinard, assistant director of academic advising and institutional support. “It’s a fun time that has become a rite of passage because of the cake and ‘I declared…’ stickers.” DOM makes a difference in academic focus before spring course registration. Most students expressed excitement; a few called it “anticlimactic” and “not a big deal.” Assistant Professor of Classics Elizabeth Manwell says DOM is “an opportunity for sophomores to feel special. Moving forward,” she adds, “students begin thinking about their future courses and all the pieces of the K-plan.” Tristan Kiel, department student advisor of Computer Science, thinks being a sophomore is difficult because class workloads pick up. “But DOM brings together the diverse spectrum of sophomores, and they own and enjoy this momentous occasion,” he says. (Story and photo by Sameen Haque ’14)

Into the Next Fable

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Festival Playhouse of Kalamazoo College continues its season of “Fables and Fairy Tales” with the Southwest Michigan premier of Sarah Ruhl’s award-winning comedy In the Next Room (or the Vibrator Play). The play opens Thursday, February 28, in the Nelda K. Balch Playhouse and plays through Sunday, March 3. Thursday’s performance begins at 7:30 PM, with Friday and Saturday at 8 PM, and a 2 PM matinee on Sunday. Thursday is “pay what you want.” The other performances cost $15 (adults), $10 (seniors), and $5 (students with ID). The box office opens one hour prior to each performance.

In the Next Room was nominated for the 2010 Tony Award for Best Play and was a finalist for a Pulitzer Prize. The play is set in 1880s America at the dawn of the age of electricity, and it contains adult subject matter and language. It’s also “a modern fable with its own invention, an electric vibrator,” says Jane Huffman ’15, student dramaturge.

“Catherine Givings listens with great curiosity and wonder at the door of her husband’s medical laboratory,” adds Huffman, “as he successfully treats female patients suffering from ‘hysteria,’ a catch-all anxiety disorder with symptoms ranging from restlessness to ‘causing trouble.’ All the while Catherine sits in the next room, burdened with dissatisfaction.”

In the Next Room is directed by Associate Professor of Theatre Arts Karen Berthel, with scene design by Professor of Theatre Arts Lanny Potts, and costume design by Elaine Kauffman. Senior Alden Phillips and sophomore Grace Gilmore, playing the roles of Dr. and Mrs. Givings, lead the cast of K students.

Why We Play

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"Why We Play" 2013 speakers Erran Briggs, Allison Liddane, Alex Gothard, Johanna Kupe, Allison Thomas, Brad Merrit, Jeanne Hess and Rebecca Gray
“Why We Play” 2013 speakers, left-to-right (top), Erran Briggs ’14, Allison Liddane ’13, Alex Gothard ’15, Johanna Kupe ’13, Allison Thomas ’13, Brad Merrit ’13, (bottom) Jeanne Hess, Rebecca Gray ’81.

“Why We Play” was the topic of the Winter Quarter Week Six (Feb. 15) Community Reflection in Stetson Chapel. Co-sponsored by the Kalamazoo College Department of Athletics, the annual Reflection offers a space for K student and alumni athletes to share in the collective stories and songs that capture the spirit of sport, recreation, and joy from their Division-III intercollegiate athletic experiences.

Professor of Physical Education and Head Coach of Volleyball Jeanne Hess opened the reflection before an audience of about 200 people. She read an excerpt from her book, “Sportuality: Finding Joy in the Games,” in which she explains why she thinks student athletes choose play sports. “The spiritual life is a purposeful life, and the ‘sportual’ life is a purposeful and playful life,” she said.

Student athletes Johanna Kupe ’13, Alex Gothard ’15 and Allison Thomas ’13 performed “Solider,” a song by Gavin DeGraw. Kupe said she selected the song after a teammate left the encouraging lyrics on a note in her locker before a volleyball game.

President of the Athletic Leadership Council and two-sport athlete Allison Liddane ’13 spoke about the approaching end of her collegiate athletic experience. “My list of ‘why I play’ could be never ending,” she said. Golfer Brad Merrit ’13 read an essay about the recent death of K’s Head Men’s Golf Coach Steve Tyler. Merrit, who won the MIAA Sportsmanship Award, said Tyler was his reason for playing. “We wanted to make him proud,” he said.

Football player Erran Briggs ’14 spoke about his unique love for the game and Division-III level. “When you allow yourself purely to play because you love it, not because you need it, you experience the game on a new level,” he said.

Rebecca Gray ’81 was the featured alumna speaker. A former basketball and field hockey player, Gray is K’s sole Rhodes Scholar. Speaking fondly of her time as a student athlete, shortly after the passage of Title IX that opened more intercollegiate athletic opportunities to women, Gray said sports continue to enhance her life. “For decades now, playing sports, for me, has been a completely reliable and utterly uncomplicated pleasure,” she said. She added that she looks forward to the day when she is no longer referred to as K’s only Rhodes Scholar, but simply as its first.

Community Reflections offer a unique forum for discussion, worship, performance, and community expression each Friday at 10:50 a.m. (refreshments at 10:30) in Stetson Chapel. The entire campus community and general public are invited. On Friday of Week Seven Feb. 22), the Chapel will host “40 Days of Lent: Preparing for Easter.” This reflection will focus on the traditions, history, and ways in which Christians today celebrate Easter and Lent.

Story and photo by Elaine Ezekiel ’13

K Jazz Band Performs in Ann Arbor Concert Series

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The Kalamazoo College Jazz Band swings into Ann Arbor as part of a concert series at the First Baptist Church of Ann Arbor. The Jazz Band performs at 7:30 PM on March 1, and the performance is free and open to public. First Baptist is a beautiful historic church located at 517 East Washington Street. It’s history is entwined with Kalamazoo College’s–President Allan Hoben (1922-1935) served at the church prior to his presidency, and First Baptist of Ann Arbor is the church home of Marlene Crandell Francis ’58, trustee emerita of Kalamazoo College. A reception with the student musicians will occur following the music! The Jazz Band is directed by Professor of Music Thomas Evans.

K Hoops Halftime Event To Benefit St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital

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Jessie Wagner ’04, a career development specialist in the Haworth College of Business at Western Michigan University, will be a special guest speaker at halftime of the Kalamazoo College men’s basketball game against Adrian College on February 13. (Tip off is 8 PM in the Anderson Athletic Center.) Jessie’s halftime appearance is part of a benefit fundraiser for St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital. Jessie is a former patient at St. Jude, and she will share her story of her struggle against childhood cancer. Proceeds from the game’s ticket gate and special activities at the game will be donated to St. Jude’s.

Martin Luther King Jr. Convocation at K

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Kalamazoo College’s annual Martin Luther King Jr. Convocation takes place Monday Jan. 21 at 10:50 a.m. in Stetson Chapel. Harvey Hollins III ’87 will deliver the Convocation address on the theme of Dr. King’s “I Have a Dream” speech, which was delivered 50 years ago this year. Mr. Hollins is Director of the State of Michigan’s Office of Urban and Metropolitan Initiatives. In this position, he serves as a principal advisor to Michigan Governor Rick Snyder on matters related to urban and regional economic initiatives that contribute to job growth. The Convocation is free of charge and open to the public.

Monday Jan. 21 is a Federal holiday. No classes will be held at the College and most offices will be closed.

Renowned Professor and Public Servant To Speak at Kalamazoo College

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Kenneth Marcus, the Lillie and Nathan Ackerman Chair in Equality and Justice in America at Baruch College of the City University of New York, will deliver a lecture titled “The Conundrum of Race: Civil Rights, Law, and Jewish Identity,” on Tuesday, January 29, at 7:30 P.M. in the Mandelle Hall Olmsted Room. The event is free and open to the public.

Marcus is a former staff director of the United States Commission on Civil Rights and was last month named to the “Forward 50,” the Jewish Daily Forward’s listing of the American Jews who made the most significant impact on the news last year. Marcus is the founder, president, and chief counsel of the Louis D. Brandeis Center for Human Rights, which combats the resurgence of anti-Semitism in American higher education. He is the author of the award-winning book, Jewish Identity and Civil Rights in America (Cambridge University Press, 2010).

Marcus’s lecture is sponsored by K’s Jewish Studies Program and the Department of Political Science.

Arcus Center for Social Justice Leadership Will Host Summit on Social Justice in the Academy

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Kalamazoo College’s Arcus Center for Social Justice Leadership will host “A Summit on Social Justice in the Academy,” January 17-19, 2013 on the K campus. Social justice scholars, thought leaders, activists, and program directors from the United States, Kenya, and South Africa will examine the integration of social justice into higher education.

Two “Summit” events, a documentary film screening and a luncheon, are open to the public.

“Numerous colleges and universities have established social justice centers, institutes, offices, programs, schools, and prizes,” said Lisa Brock, academic director for Kalamazoo College’s Arcus Center for Social Justice Leadership (ACSJL), and a “Summit” organizer.

“Some have missions focused on social transformation and curricular infusion, while others concentrate on community involvement, solution-based research, and/or global engagement. Most are dedicated to some combination of these practices, and all work in some ways on progressive social change,” she said. “Although there have been many conferences to discuss social justice and public engagement, this is the first time these topics will be discussed by directors and leaders in the field of social justice.”

The documentary film Mountains That Take Wing—Angela Davis & Yuri Kochiyama will be screened in the Recital Hall Theatre, Light Fine Arts Building, on Jan. 17 at 7:00 p.m. “Mountains” chronicles 13 years in the lives of two women who share a passion for social justice: scholar-activist Angela Davis, and grassroots community activist and 2005 Nobel Peace Prize nominee Yuri Kochiyama. A conversation with filmmakers C.A. Griffith and H.L.T Quan follows the screening.

“Beyond Heroes and Holidays: Social Justice Leaders Reflect on the Civil Rights Movement,” is the theme of a luncheon discussion on Friday Jan. 18, 12:00 to 2:30 p.m. in the Hicks Student Center banquet room. Summit members will examine the values and work of three very different leaders of the Civil Rights movement—Martin Luther King, Jr., Ella Baker and Bayard Rustin—and discuss what inspirations and cautions others should take from them on building and sustaining movements today.

Attendance to the film and luncheon is free of charge, but reservations are required. Please RSVP to ACSJL@kzoo.edu.

“Summit” invitees are: Lisa Brock; Dara Cooper, ACSJL Fellow and Founding Program Director, Freshmoves, Chicago; Kenyon Farrow, Communications Director, The Praxis Project New Orleans; Jaime Grant, Executive Director, ACSJL; Crystal Griffin, Social Justice Filmmaker, Arizona State University; Donte Hillard, Assistant Dean of Students and Director Multicultural Student Center and Institute for Justice Education and Transformation, University of Wisconsin-Madison; Amber Hollibaugh, Executive Director, Queers for Economic Justice, New York City; Janet Jakobson, Director, Barnard Center for Research on Women, Barnard College; Joseph Jones, Director, Office of the Social Justice Initiative, Philander Smith College; Godwin Morunga, Associate Director, African Leadership Center, University of Nairobi and Kings College-London; H. L. T. Quan, School of Social Transformation, Arizona State University; Barbara Ransby, Vice Provost, Social Justice Initiative, University of Illinois-Chicago; Gail Smith, Communications Director, Institute for Strategic Reflection, Mapungubwe, Johannesburg, South Africa; Rhonda Williams, Director of the Institute for Social Justice, Case Western University.