SPARTANBURG, S.C. – Special guest speakers and lectures highlight the month of October at Wofford College. Other events include musical performances and art exhibitions.
All events are open to the public and are free of charge unless otherwise noted. Please check the online calendar at calendar.wofford.edu for frequent updates. For athletics events, please go to athletics.wofford.edu.
For more information, contact Laura Corbin at woffordnews@wofford.edu or 864-597-4180.
Monday, Oct. 3
Dunlap Chamber Music Concert
7 p.m., Leonard Auditorium, Main Building
Alexander Kobrin, pianist and winner of the Van Cliburn, Busoni, Chopin and Scottish international competitions, will perform with Wendy Warner, cellist and winner of the Rostropovich international prize. They will perform works of Rachmaninoff, Shostakovich and others.
Tuesday, Oct. 4
Discussion: “Immigration, Christian Faith Communities and Multiculturalism in the U.S. South”
5 p.m., Olin Teaching Theater, Franklin W. Olin Building
Dr. Philip Dorroll, assistant professor of religion at Wofford College, and Wofford students will discuss multiculturalism and practice in mostly white churches in the U.S. South, where religious multiculturalism is changing and reinforcing the guide for social relationships.
Thursday, Oct. 6
Troubadour Series: Marina Alexandra, guitar virtuoso
7 p.m., Leonard Auditorium, Main Building
Guitar virtuoso Marina Alexandra will perform as part of Wofford’s Troubadour Series. Alexandra is a dynamic performer who Finger Style Guitar Magazine described as “an amazing player that commands the guitar with world-class technique and musicianship that is uncommon.”
Thursday, Oct. 6
Discussion: “The Kurdish Century: Implications for an Independent State, Regional Stability and Countering Islamic Extremism”
7 p.m., Olin Teaching Theater, Franklin W. Olin Building
Dr. Jedidiah Anderson, visiting assistant professor of modern languages, literatures and cultures, and religion, will lead a discussion about Islamic extremism and the reaction of Kurds. Kurds can theoretically and practically provide a strong counterbalance to Islamic extremism and are examples of “moderate Islam.”
Tuesday, Oct. 11
Lecture: “‘Last Night I Dreamt of America:’ The United States in the Syrian Imagination”
Speaker: Dr. Jedidiah Anderson, visiting assistant professor in the Department of Modern Languages, Literatures and Cultures and the Department of Religion
7 p.m., Olin Teaching Theater, Franklin W. Olin Building
Dr. Jedidiah Anderson, visiting assistant professor in the Department of Modern Languages, Literatures and Cultures and the Department of Religion, will focus on American automobiles as symbols and instruments of individual freedom, analyzing the advertising and sale of cars as well as the cinematic depicture of “car culture” and other forms of mobility in post-WWII Syria, linking these phenomena to public discourses about urban planning, public transportation, safety, order and hygiene, in the context of urbanization and “national” development. The lecture is an element of a larger project that explores the reach of American “soft power” in the Arab World.
Wednesday, Oct. 12
Lecture: “Shadows in the Garden of Perfect Brightness: Imperial Garden and Imperialist Metaphor”
Speaker: Dr. Kevin Greenwood
4 p.m. Leonard Auditorium, Main Building
Wofford’s Asian Studies Program and the Department of Art and Art History will present a lecture on Chinese Imperial Garden of Perfect Brightness and its metaphor by Dr. Kevin Greenwood. Since its inception in the early 18th century, the vast complex of the Garden of Perfect Brightness, constructed by the Qing imperial court outside Beijing, has engendered varying interpretations. For the Qing emperors, both dominance and esteem could be implied when a part of their empire was encapsulated within the microcosm of the imperial gardens. In the Garden of Perfect Brightness, this cultural appropriation extended from sections evoking Chinese elite literary culture to the lives of farmers, fishermen and merchants, or even to the exotic, faraway lands of Europe. For the colonial powers of the late 19th and early 20th centuries, the garden was a proxy, burned and looted to humble the recalcitrant Qing court. For 20th century revolutionaries, imperial gardens such as the Garden of Perfect Brightness would symbolize the decadence and mismanagement of the Qing empire, or the inequities of feudal society. Today, some imperial gardens have been restored or recreated as tourist sites, officially examples of the achievements of the workers, craftsmen and architects of the high Qing heyday. However, the immense ruins of the Garden of Perfect Brightness are preserved as a reminder of national humiliation, and references to the garden in film, contemporary art and particularly in international auctions of looted treasures regularly incite nationalistic passion. This lecture will examine these interpretations and discuss the Garden of Perfect Brightness as a floating signifier of opportunity.
Thursday, Oct. 13
Lecture: "The Politics of International Business"
Speaker, Paul S. Atkins, former SEC Commissioner
11 a.m., Leonard Auditorium, Main Building
Paul S. Atkins served as a commissioner of the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (2002-08). In 2009, he was appointed by Congress to serve as a member of the Congressional Oversight Panel for the Troubled Asset Relief Program (TARP). Before his government service, Atkins was a partner of PricewaterhouseCoopers and predecessor firm Coopers & Lybrand, where he advised financial services firms on regulatory compliance, internal controls and risk management issues. Currently, he is chief executive of Patomak Global Partners, LLC. Atkins received his A.B., summa cum laude, Phi Beta Kappa, from Wofford College and his J.D. from Vanderbilt University School of Law. A frequent speaker and television commentator on regulatory and capital markets issues, he is a visiting scholar at the American Enterprise Institute for Public Policy Research in Washington. His writings have appeared in The Wall Street Journal, Financial Times, Forbes, USA Today, and Politico, as well as scholarly journals such as the Harvard Business Law Review and the Fordham Journal of Corporate & Financial Law.
Tuesday, Oct. 18
Faculty Talk: “Boys Don’t Cry?: Not According to Masculinity Studies”
Speaker: Dr. Carey Voeller, associate professor of English
4 p.m., Gray-Jones Room, Burwell Building
Dr. Carey Voeller, assistant professor of English at Wofford, will present an overview of masculinity studies, discuss its origins and concepts, and discuss how it can apply to other classes and culture.
Wednesday, Oct. 19
Chapman Lecture in the Humanities: “Crisis of the European Union in Historical Perspective”
Speaker: Dr. Mark Mazower, Columbia University
7 p.m., Leonard Auditorium, Main Building
Dr. Mark Mazower, professor of history at Columbia University, will speak on “The Crisis of the European Union in Historical Perspective.” Mazower is the Ira D. Wallach Professor of History at Columbia University and author of numerous well-received books. He specializes in modern Greece, 20th century Europe and international history. His interests include the history of international norms and institutions, the history of Greek independence and the historical evolution of the Greek islands in the very long run.
Thursday, Oct. 20
Lecture: “(What) Can Pragmatists Think about Justice?”
Speaker: Professor Robert Talisse, Vanderbilt University
4 p.m., McMillan Theater, Campus Life Building
Professor Robert Talisse of Vandervilt University, author of multiple political and philosophical books, will speak on democracy and its connection to justice. Talisse is the chair of the Department of Philosophy at Vanderbilt. He will discuss why justice must become connected to democracy, while proposing a justice concept that pragmatists need to embrace.
Thursday, Oct. 20
Milliken Lecture Series on Sustainability and Public Health: “Food, Genes and Culture: Why Silver Bullet Diets and Quick Genetic Fixes Won’t Reduce the Prevalence of Nutrition-Related Diseases”
Speaker: Dr. Gary P. Nabhan, University of Arizona Southwest Center
7 p.m., Olin Teaching Theater, Franklin W. Olin Building
Dr. Gary P. Nabhan, the W.K. Kellogg Endowed Chair in Sustainable Food Systems at the University of Arizona Southwest Center, will speak on “Food, Genes and Culture: Why Silver Bullet Diets and Quick Genetic Fixes Won’t Reduce the Prevalence of Nutrition-Related Diseases” during the first of the Milliken Lecture Series on Sustainability and Public Health for the fall semester. Nabhan is an internationally celebrated nature writer, agrarian activist and ethnobiologist who works on conserving the links between biodiversity and cultural diversity. He has been honored as a pioneer and creative force in the “local food movement” and seed saving community by Ute Reader, Mother Earth News, the New York Times, Bioneers and Time magazine. He is founding director of the Center for Regional Food Systems. The Milliken Lecture Series is part of the Milliken Sustainability Initiative at Wofford, announced in December 2015. The initiative was made possible by a $4.25 million grant from the Romill Foundation, the personal foundation of the late Roger Milliken, a dedicated champion of Wofford and the Upstate.
Monday, Oct. 24
History Talk: “Venice: History of the Floating City”
Speaker: Dr. Joanne Ferraro, San Diego State University
4 p.m., Olin Teaching Theater, Franklin W. Olin Building
Dr. Joanne Ferraro, professor of history at San Diego State University, will discuss her book, “Venice: History of the Floating City.”
Tuesday, Oct. 25
Lecture: "100 Years of Communism"
Speaker: Marion Smith, executive director, Victims of Communism Memorial Foundation
7 p.m., Leonard Auditorium, Main Building
Marion Smith is a civil-society leader, expert in international affairs and executive director of the Victims of Communism Memorial Foundation (VOC). After graduating from Wofford College in 2007, Smith studied in England, France, the Netherlands and Hungary, where he received a masters’ degree in international relations from Central European University. His articles have appeared in USA Today, CNN.com, The Hill, The Washington Post and The Wall Street Journal. VOC is a U.S-based nonprofit educational organization whose mission is to educate people about the ideology, history and legacy of communism. VOC was established by unanimous act of Congress on Dec. 17, 1993, to build a memorial in Washington, D.C., to commemorate the more than 100 million victims of communism.
GALLERY EXHIBITIONS:
Through Nov. 4
Cold War Propaganda Posters
Martha Cloud Chapman Gallery, Campus Life Building
The Martha Cloud Chapman Gallery features the collection of posters that demonstrates the intense ideological conflict of the Cold War. The posters from the Soviet Union and Eastern Europe present communists’ critiques of capitalism with imagery so vivid they do not require translation. The posters also provide clear, contrasting views of who was the aggressor in the conflict, the Soviet Union or the United States/NATO. The time period of the posters, from the 1940s to 1980s, highlights how, although the intensity of the ideological conflict varied throughout the war, it always was present to some degree.
Monday, Oct. 3, through Thursday, Dec. 15
“Recently Acquired Asian Art”
Sandor Teszler Library Gallery
This exhibition features selected works of the Asian art from Wofford’s permanent collection. The exhibition includes Chinese ink rubbings, Japanese prints and ceramic pieces, among various other items.