Peace activist Cindy Sheehan, jazz violinist Billy Bang among 2006 Syracuse Symposium guestsAugust 16, 2006Kelly Homan Rodoskikahoman@syr.edu
A diverse mix of lectures, performances, exhibits and courses will be the catalyst for the Syracuse University and greater Syracuse communities to this fall explore the character and products of the human imagination through the 2006 Syracuse Symposium, presented by SU’s College of Arts and Sciences.
The symposium is a semester-long intellectual and artistic festival that celebrates interdisciplinary thinking, imagination and creation. This year’s theme is “Imagination.” For more information on symposium events, visit http://symposium.syr.edu.
“The Syracuse Symposium has brought a stimulating outpouring of imagination to the campus in each of its first five years,” says Cathryn R. Newton, dean of The College of Arts and Sciences. “Now we will step back and consider imagination itself, in all its modes and manifestations, recognizing that imagination is essential to our capacity to improve ourselves and our world. This highly creative campus will surely be energized in fascinating and productive ways as we do so.”
Planning for the Syracuse Symposium starts by soliciting ideas from the entire University community for themes, related speakers and performances. The Syracuse Symposium Committee, whose members include faculty, staff and students from across campus, meet to discuss all suggestions and then begin the process of developing themes to propose to Newton, who makes the final selection. Collaboration across the schools and colleges is a priority for the committee, as is bringing students, faculty and the larger Syracuse community together for extraordinary intellectual and artistic experiences outside the classroom.
“The 2006 Syracuse Symposium events are exceptional opportunities to unleash our imaginations and examine topics with which we may be familiar in new and innovative ways,” says Kandice Salomone, associate dean in The College of Arts and Sciences and chair of the Syracuse Symposium Committee. “The campus and community discourse that results from wide participation in the symposium, which the Symposium Committee expects will continue well past the events themselves, will no doubt encourage reflection on some of the world’s most intransigent challenges and inspiring intellectual advances, using the arts and humanities as muse.”
In addition to the featured events and exhibitions, several courses in the Fall 2006 semester will examine the “Imagination” theme.
This year’s events are free and open to the public unless otherwise noted.
Syracuse Symposium schedule
The Noor Wodjouatt Ensemble — Monday, Aug. 28, at 7:30 p.m., Goldstein Auditorium in the Hildegarde and J. Myer Schine Student Center. Kabul native Noor Wodjouatt (left) and his ensemble perform Afghan-inspired music and dance. The event, which is co-sponsored by the Office of Orientation and Transitions Services and U.Encounter, is also part of the 2006 Syracuse University Shared Reading Program for first-year students, which is highlighting “The Kite Runner” (Riverhead Trade, 2004) by Kabul native Khaled Hosseini. The novel is also the 2007 CNY Reads selection. Paid parking for the public is available in the Marion lot and University Avenue Garage.
Art Spiegelman — Thursday, Sept. 21, at 7:30 p.m. in Shemin Auditorium in the Shaffer Art Building. Creator of the masterful graphic novel “Maus,” which portrays Jews as mice and Nazis as cats, Pulitzer Prize winner Spiegelman has created comics noted for their shifting graphic styles, controversial content and complexity. The event is co-sponsored by The Soling Program, U.Encounter, the Judaic Studies Program and the Winnick Hillel Center. Paid parking for the public is available in the Marion lot and Irving Garage.
Ravi and Anoushka Shankar — Tuesday, Sept. 26, at 8 p.m. in Goldstein Auditorium in the Schine Student Center. Legendary composer and sitarist Ravi Shankar and his daughter Anoushka perform improvisation and world music. The event is co-sponsored by PULSE. Tickets are $20 for the general public; $10 for SU faculty, staff and alumni; and $5 for students with valid SU I.D., and are available for purchase at the Schine Box Office, 443-4517. Paid parking for the public is available in the Marion lot and University Avenue Garage.
Billy Bang — Thursday, Sept. 28, at 8 p.m. in the Rose and Jules R. Setnor Auditorium in Crouse College. Jazz violinist and winner of the 2003 Indie Award for best mainstream jazz recording, “Viet Nam: The Aftermath,” Billy Bang is one of a handful of musicians who has successfully adapted the unique timbre and range of the violin to the demands of improvisational music. The event is co-sponsored by the Department of African American Studies, U.Encounter and Kaleidoscope. Paid parking for the public is available in the Marion lot and Irving Garage.
Ned Kahn — Thursday, Oct. 5, at 7:30 p.m. in Hendricks Chapel. Artist and MacArthur Fellow Ned Kahn is widely known for his installations at the San Francisco Exploratorium and other venues, which capture and transform the natural environment into dynamic artistic experiences. The event is co-sponsored by the Robert B. Menschel University Lectures. Paid parking for the public is available in the Marion lot and Irving Garage.
Wangari Maathai — Tuesday, Oct. 17, at 4:30 p.m. in Hendricks Chapel. Nobel Peace Prize recipient and founder of the grassroots Greenbelt Movement, Maathai is a noted environmentalist who is internationally recognized for her visionary work in saving public forests. Her memoir, “Unbowed” (Knopf), will be released on Oct. 3. The event is a joint presentation of the Robert B. Menschel University Lectures, the Geoffrey O. Seltzer Lecture and the Syracuse Symposium, and is co-sponsored by the SUNY College of Environmental Science and Forestry, Hendricks Chapel, the Chancellor’s Office and the Center for Environmental Policy and Administration (CEPA). Paid parking for the public is available in Irving Garage.
Cindy Sheehan and Cynthia Enloe — Thursday, Oct. 19, at 7:30 p.m. in Hendricks Chapel. Sheehan is a founding member of the Gold Star Families for Peace and an activist opposed to the war in Iraq. Enloe is a feminist scholar who is known for her work on gender and militarization. The event is presented in cooperation with the 2006 Feminism and War Conference, Hendricks Chapel and the Women’s Studies Program. Free tickets are required and will be available at the Schine Box Office on Sept. 25 for students with valid SU I.D. (two tickets per I.D.) and on Oct. 4 for the general public (two tickets per person). Paid parking for the public on the evening of the event will be available in Irving Garage.
Joy Harjo — Thursday, Nov. 9, at 8 p.m. in Setnor Auditorium in Crouse College. Harjo is an internationally acclaimed poet and musician of the Mvskoke/Creek Nation and winner of numerous artistic awards, including the William Carlos Williams Award from the Poetry Society of America and a Lifetime Achievement Award from the Native Writers Circle of the Americas. Harjo is also noted for her performances of poetry and solo saxophone. The event is co-sponsored by the Native American Studies Program; the Center for Indigenous Law, Governance and Citizenship; the Office of Multicultural Affairs, U.Encounter and Kaleidoscope. Paid parking for the public is available in Irving Garage.
Lisa Randall — Wednesday, Nov. 29, at 7:30 p.m. in Gifford Auditorium, located in Huntington Beard Crouse Hall. Noted Harvard physicist and cosmologist and author of “Warped Passages: Unraveling the Mysteries of the Universe’s Hidden Dimensions” (Harper Collins, 2005), Randall examines the possible existence of worlds only imagined in science fiction. The event is co-sponsored by the Department of Physics, The Renee Crown University Honors Program and the Department of Science Teaching (A Frontiers of Science Lecture) and the Women in Science and Engineering Program. Paid parking for the public is available in Irving Garage.
Syracuse Symposium exhibitions
Related events
The Fourth Annual South Asia Human Rights Film Festival will be held Oct. 26 -28, co-sponsored by the S.I. Newhouse School of Public Communications, U. Encounter, the South Asia Center and the South Asian Students Association. All films will be shown in Shemin Auditorium in the Shaffer Art Building and include:
Feature Films
Documentaries — “Communities in Conflict,” Oct. 28 at 1 p.m.
Documentaries — “Defining Human Rights,” Oct. 28 at 4 p.m.
Related courses
