Top News

2011 BROWN SYMPOSIUM WILL BRING SALONS TO LIFE

The salons of centuries past will come back to life Feb. 23-25 as Southwestern University holds its 33rd annual Brown Symposium.  

The symposium is titled “Think – Converse – Act: The Salon and Its Histories.” It has been organized by Michael Cooper, professor of music and holder of the Margarett Root Brown Chair.  

The symposium will feature three lectures on the history of salons, along with three public salons on topics that are important in today’s world. It also will feature several musical performances and a gallery exhibit.  

Read more here.  

CONFERENCE FOR STUDENT LEADERS TO BE HELD AT SOUTHWESTERN FEB. 25-26

More than 100 student leaders from Texas and surrounding states will be at Southwestern Feb. 25-26 for a conference designed to help them learn more about the field of university advancement.

The conference is sponsored by The Council for the Advancement and Support of Education’s Affiliated Student Advancement Programs (ASAP). ASAP includes student alumni associations, student foundations and similar organizations at more than 300 CASE member institutions. Its goal is to foster and enhance student involvement in all areas of advancement, including alumni relations, fundraising, communications and marketing. ASAP also supports the advancement profession by making students aware of career opportunities at colleges and universities.

“I’m excited about this opportunity to show off our group and our campus to all these other organizations,” said Austin Painchaud, a sophomore business major who is vice chair of the Southwestern Student Foundation and chair of the conference.

Read more here.

Events

ORCHESTRA, WIND ENSEMBLE TO PERFORM FEB. 19

The Southwestern University Orchestra and Wind Ensemble will give a joint concert under the direction of guest conductor Donald Hunsberger on Feb. 19 at 7 p.m. in the Alma Thomas Theater. 

Hunsberger is professor emeritus of the Eastman School of Music and conducted the Eastman Wind Ensemble from 1965-2002. The program will include works by Beethoven, Debussy and Shostakovich. It also will include music to “The Thief of Bagdad” composed by senior Andrea Plybon for a King Creativity project.
A reception will follow the performance in the lobby of the Prothro Center. 

Prior to the concert, there will be a panel conversation on “Film Music and Its Effects on the Perception of Western Music” at 2 p.m. in the Alma Thomas Theater at 2 p.m.  Hunsberger will participate in the panel along with David Neumeyer, George Oldziey, Brian Satterwhite and Jon Slott. This program was organized by Plybon as part of her Capstone project.

2011 JESSIE DANIEL AMES LECTURE WILL BE GIVEN MARCH 1

Silvia Henriquez, executive director of the National Latina Institute for Reproductive Health, will give the 2011 Jessie Daniel Ames lecture in Feminist Studies on Tuesday, March 1, in the Campus Center Ballrooms. Henriquez will discuss issues of reproductive health and how they intersect with issues of immigration, with a particular focus on Latina/o communities.

For more information, contact Alison Kafer, associate professor and chair of Feminist Studies, at kafera@southwestern.edu or 512-863-1417.

‘INTO THE WOODS’ OPENS MARCH 2

The Southwestern Theatre Department is presenting Stephen Sondheim’s “Into the Woods” March 2-6 in the Alma Thomas Theater. Performances will be held at 7 p.m. Wednesday and Thursday, 8 p.m. Friday and Saturday, and 3 p.m. Saturday and Sunday.

Inspired by Bruno Bettelheim’s 1976 book, The Uses of Enchantment, “Into the Woods” brings to musical life Cinderella, Jack and the Beanstalk, Little Red Riding Hood and other well-known fairy-tale characters. Interwoven with these classic tales is the story of a baker and his wife whose longing for a child is thwarted by a mischievous witch who lives next door.  

In the upcoming production at Southwestern, journeying into the woods might be synonymous with getting through a day in our busy, fast-paced, technologically complex lives. Instead of being set in the woods, the characters find themselves in the middle of a modern-day city, surrounded by the imposing steel and glass structures of an urban landscape and far too many road signs indicating the best way for each of them to get to their desired destination. While these well-known characters remain much the same as those we met and grew to depend upon in childhood stories, we see them struggling with many of the same pressures and obstacles we face every day.  

Tickets for the Wednesday, Thursday and Sunday performances are $16 for adults, $14 for seniors and students with ID, and $12 for youth 16 and under. Tickets for the Friday and Saturday performances are $18 for adults, $16 for seniors and students with ID, and $14 for youth 16 and under. Tickets may be purchased online at www.southwestern.edu/boxoffice or by calling 512-863-1378 Monday through Friday from 1-5 p.m.

Media Coverage

John McCann, assistant dean for faculty development, and 2010 graduate Lindsey Knapton were interviewed for a story the Williamson County Sun did to mark the 50th anniversary of the Peace Corps.

Notables

Melissa Byrnes, assistant professor of history, presented a paper at the Society for French Historical Studies Annual Conference in Charleston, S.C., Feb. 11. The paper was titled “From Comrades-in-Arms to Community Burden: How Decolonization Reshaped Municipal Migration Policies in Saint-Denis” and was presented as part of a panel on “Coping with Decolonization: From Pondicherry to Paris.”

Eileen Meyer Russell, associate professor of music, and Ann Alston, a senior majoring in economics with a minor in music, presented their research concerning the recruiting and retaining low brass players at the Texas Music Educators Association conference in San Antonio on Feb. 11. The research was funded by a Southwestern faculty-student research grant.

Senior Communication Studies major Lori Warren will present her capstone research project at the 82nd annual convention of the Western States Communication Association Convention in Monterey, Calif., Feb. 20. The paper is titled “Camp (and) Gaga: The Lady’s Hegemonic and Resistive Constructions of Sexuality and Gender.”

At the same conference, Julia Johnson, associate professor and chair of Communication Studies and a Feminist Studies affiliate, will perform “Embodiment and Motion” in honor of Christie Logan, professor emeritus of Communication Studies at CSU Northridge. She also will serve as a respondent for two panels, one titled “Gaga, Vixens, and Archetypal Masculinity: Mediated Identities and Evolving Representations in Popular Culture” and a second titled “From Ethnographic ‘Eyes’ to the Ethnographic ‘I’: Exploring Researcher Reflexivity in Critical Ethnographic Work.”