Mar. 6 “THE BLACK THEATRE: ITS PLACE IN THE WORLD AND THE 21ST CENTURY”
Prof. Aku Kadogo, Director of Black Theatre and World Performance Studies,
Wayne State University.
She is a producer, director, choreographer,
teacher, traveler, and performer whose career continues to
present
opportunities to produce works that challenge and blur boundaries.
Prof. Kadogo’s career commenced in the original Broadway cast of “For
Colored Girls Who Have
Considered Suicide When the Rainbow Is Enuf,”and
has spanned stage, film and television in the U.S.,
Australia, and
China. In her lecture she will describe people who are doing
multi-media work and
diverse groups presenting diverse themes.
Prof.Kadogo is committed to making art “where seeing and
performing are
linked, where there is no producing without learning and no scholarship
without
interaction; where creation entails community and community is
incomplete without creation.”
Mar. 13 “CONTEMPORARY TRENDS IN THE VISUAL ARTS”
Prof. Diane Kirkpatrick, Professor Emerita of History of Art, U-M.
Her special field of interest is contemporary art; especially work in new media and new formats, and in
art that intersects with science. She revised the 18th, 19th, and 20th century sections of the ninth
edition of Gardner’s Art Through the Ages, and was guest curator for the exhibitions in Chicago and
Ann Arbor. Dividing her time between homes in Ann Arbor and London, England, she continues to
write and lecture on today’s art and its context.
We will look at some of today’s visual artists who engage the minds and
imagination of contemporary
viewers through active participation with and interpretation of art works. Strategies include presenting
new iterations of the figure in art, examining how technology shapes
conscious-ness, and awakening
awareness of the numinous boundaries
involving abstraction, symbol, appropriation, and represent-
ation. Among the art covered will be Anthony Gormley’s “Event Horizon” in London, Cara Walker’s recent exhibition in New York, and Tirtza Even’s computer-based video work in Ann Arbor.
Mar. 20 “MUSICAL THEATRE NOW: IS IT GOLDEN?”
Brent Wagner, Chair of the Musical Theatre Department, U-M.
Before joining the U-M faculty in 1984, he taught at Syracuse University. He has directed musicals and
revues throughout North America, from off Broadway in New York to the Banff Center in Alberta, Canada.
He has collaborated with Sheldon Harnick on numerous projects, including opera at the O’Neill Theater
Center, as well as the world premiere of “A Wonderful Life” (music by Joe Raposo) and his recent musical, “Dragons,” both of which were staged at the U-M.
We will compare the current scene of Broadway musicals today with the Golden Age of Broadway, which
we generally consider as the 25 years after the opening of “Oklahoma” in 1943.
Mar. 27 “THE BEST OF TIMES, THE WORST OF TIMES”
Prof. Charles R. Eisendrath, Director of the Knight-Wallace Fellows.
He holds a bachelor’s degree from Yale University and a master’s degree in journalism from the U-M. He
directs two national journalism programs of professional recognition at the U-M. The Knight-Wallace
Fellows, which he converted to private support with a $44 million endowment drive, provides an
academic year of sabbatical study to American and international journalists. As founding director of the
Livingston Awards for Young Journalists, he designed and administers the largest all-media, general
reporting prizes in the country. Since 2006, he is also the Chairman of the American Board of the
International Press
Institute (IPI). In partnership with The New Yorker magazine and its
Cartoon Bank,
he introduced Humor At Michigan (HAM), the first academic
program to study systematically the
physiological and psychological
functions of humor and its evolutionary origins.
Conventional media implodes while new media explodes. What does this mean for newspapers and
magazines? What are the challenges they face as a result of this new media explosion?
Apr. 3 “HIGH NOON AT THE POST MODERN CORRAL”
Larry Goldstein, Professor in the Department of English Language and Literature, U-M.
He received his B.A. from U.C.L.A. and his Ph.D. from Brown University. He has taught at the U-M since
1970. He is the editor of the Michigan Quarterly Review. For the 2006-2007 academic year, he received
the Rackham Distinguished Faculty Award for his outstanding contributions as a teacher, scholar, and
member of the University community. He has published three books of literary criticism and three
books
of poetry. Prof. Goldstein has said that literature has carried
its own cultural war since Ezra Pound
proclaimed “Make it New.”
He will talk about the variety of new writing being fashioned for a new and unusual audience in the
twenty-first century.
Apr. 10 “WHAT IS THE FUTURE OF THEATRICAL FILM?”
Prof. Frank Beaver, Arthur F. Thurnau Professor Emeritus of Communication Studies and Screen Arts
and Cultures.
He was a monthly columnist for the U-M News-E (on line U-M publication) titled “Talking Movies.” He is
the author of five books on the art and history of the motion picture – third edition of Dictionary of Film
Terms published last summer. He was the film critic for WUOM-WFUM-WVGR for 25 years
His talk will focus on the subject “What Is the Future of Theatrical Film?” and will involve content,
technological, and industry issues.
This Lecture Series was planned by Murray Gruber, Ed Marcus, Adeline Medalia, Norm McIver, Eric
Warden
and Marie Juster, Chair
Note:
Osher Lifelong Learning Institute at the University of Michigan
reserves the right to substitute speakers;
Lecture is cancelled
whenever Ann Arbor Public Schools close due to severe weather. Call
734-998-9351 to
confirm cancellation of the day’s scheduled lecture, or go to www.clickondetroit.com
to view "School Closings" and select Osher Lifelong Learning Institute at the University of Michigan
from the drop-down list.