Category: Events

TEDx Comes to K

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Tanush Jagdish with a TED Talks banner
Tanush Jagdish

Good ideas will be spread across (and via) Kalamazoo College this spring when a descendant of the popular TED (Technology, Entertainment, Design) Talks series comes to campus as TEDxKalamazooCollege.

First-year student Tanush Jagdish, of Bangalore, India, is the main organizer of the inaugural event, to be held May 16, and thereafter (hopefully) to occur annually. Jagdish says he came up with the idea after being impressed with the cooperation and collaboration he saw between students and faculty at the College, in everything from research to planning campus events.

Concentrating on biology and chemistry, he is already working on high-level research in the lab of Dr. Michael Wollenberg, assistant professor of biology.

“Even as a first-year, I am already learning fantastic things,” Jagdish says. “I have been so impressed with the College. I figured, why not showcase K? Holding an event like this that is known worldwide will help to build the image of the school. A TED event is a great way to go about doing that.”

There are still some small details to be worked out, but the tentative theme for the talk is “Breaking Borders,” Jagdish says. The talk is to have nine speakers: two students, one alumnus, and six K faculty. Shannon Haupt ’16 will speak on “Fossil fuel divestment campaign as a model for a multi-issue, dynamic, and collective force for change.” The title of senior Tibin John’s talk is “Implications of computational simulation and dynamical systems theory for biomedical research.” Liberal arts polymath and ArtPrize finalist Ladislav Hanka ’75 is “can’t miss” with “Collaborating with bees to produce works of art that explore and reflect the sublime quality of nature.”

Faculty presenters include:

• Tim Kailing (Biology)—Biological Principles and philosophies of instruction and education

• Jeanne Hess (Physical Education)—Sportuality: the transcendental power of blending sport, spirit, and education

• Jan Tobochnik (Physics)—Using computational models to display and predict wealth distribution

• Carol Anderson (Religion)—Exploring the relationship between religion, gender, and sexuality

• Jim Langeland (Biology)—Constructing advanced modelling techniques for understanding aspects of genetics, including chromosomal recombination

• Bob Batsell (Psychology)—Application of learning theories in helping cancer patients undergo chemotherapy

Jagdish saw that the College encouraged the cross-pollination of ideas between diverse academic disciplines, and he wanted to highlight this unique take on learning, he says. At K, he says, ideas are allowed to swirl and be discussed openly.

“The talk will focus on breaking the boundaries between the liberal arts and sciences,” he says. Speakers will discuss the environment, sustainability, the liberal arts, and other topics.

TEDx was created in the spirit of the mission of the popular TED Talk series, which is to promulgate ideas worth spreading.” TEDx supports independent organizers who want to create a TED-like event in their own community. Those interested in hosting a TEDx event must wade through a rigorous application process and climb a mountain of application material.

Jagdish submitted the application in December, and heard back in January with the go-ahead. It’s very rare for an institution of higher education to receive permission from the organization to host an event, he says.

“It usually takes long time to be granted a license to host a TEDx event. But I think they liked the idea of a small liberal arts college hosting a talk. It’s a very prestigious thing to be granted a license.”

Adding to Jagdish’s enthusiasm for the TEDx event is that the push to host it has been almost entirely student led. That autonomy, he says, highlights the faith and freedom College officials place in K students and is a testament to the culture of self-led learning that the College is so well-known for.

“It’s amazing, really,” he says. “I think it shows how the College is focused on building leadership skills in its students. I have already seen leadership develop among those students involved in organizing this event. Now, hopefully, the world can see what K is all about, too.” Text by Chris Killian

Hornets at National Championship Meet

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Kalamazoo College men's and women's swimming and diving teamsFive Hornet members of the men’s and women’s swimming and diving team have qualified for the 2015 NCAA Division III Men’s and Women’s Swimming and Diving Championships. Qualifiers are Tristyn Edsall ’17, Ellen Neveux ’17, Colleen Orwin ’17, Christina Park ’17, and Will Guedes ’15. The championships take place March 18 through March 21 at the Conroe Natatorium in Shenandoah, Texas. In addition to the national competition, there will be an opportunity to meet the K swimmers, divers, and coaches in an informal dinner setting on Saturday, March 21. The Office of Alumni Relations will host a complimentary dinner immediately following the competition at Guri Do Sul Brazilin Steakhouse (1400 Research Forest Drive, The Woodlands, Texas). Please confirm your attendance no later than Monday, March 16, by contacting Kerri Barker, assistant director of alumni relations (269.337.7289). Tickets for the championships are $80 for an all-session pass, which includes prelims and finals on all four days.

Campus-Wide Meeting Called

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Shortly after midnight this morning (March 4) an entry of hate speech that included a threat for March 5 against faculty was anonymously placed in a Student Commission “Google Doc” document. Kalamazoo College sent the message below to all members of the K community and called for a 4 p.m. campus-wide meeting to discuss measures regarding safety and the campus environment. The meeting will occur in Stetson Chapel.

Standing for Our Values

Dear Members of the Kalamazoo College Community:

Just after midnight on Wednesday morning, March 4, Kalamazoo College officials were informed that a highly inflammatory entry had been placed in a Student Commission Google Doc, a document repository hosted on Google servers which allows for group editing and sharing online. The entry is racist, anti-Semitic, sexist, and homophobic. It also contained a direct threat for March 5 aimed at “faculty at Kalamazoo U, that will teach them the value of campus carry.”

As soon as we became aware of this matter, the associate dean of student development and other College administrators (including the president met with approximately 40 deeply concerned students. Over the course of more than three hours in the early morning we discussed safety measures for students directly involved (those whose contact information may have been identified by the person(s) responsible for the inflammatory entry) and students generally. We outlined measures for immediate implementation, and a campus-wide meeting later this afternoon will update concrete actions underway and to be done. An officer from the Kalamazoo Department of Public Safety (KDPS) met with several students as well.

The College and KDPS consider the inflammatory entry a hate crime, and KDPS is investigating it as such. Police investigators also have informed the FBI and enlisted the agency’s support in the matter. Information Services personnel are attempting to determine the identity of the source of the anonymous entry. Kalamazoo College and KDPS take all threats seriously. Our campus Security staff and the KDPS will be on heightened alert with more patrols through the campus until further notice.

The Student Commission created the Google Doc in order to share information with students in hopes of being more transparent. The document allowed anonymous editing, and this capability extended to persons not associated with K.

The inflammatory comments are antithetical to Kalamazoo College and to its Honor System, which calls us to “respect those with whom we may differ and to recognize the rights held by others.” We invite all of us to stand together to reject any action that dehumanizes members of our community.

We also urge all of us to take responsibility for the accuracy of what we choose to share on social media about these matters. Posting information that is not factual carries the potential to do harm. The College’s Honor System commits us to “honesty in speech and conduct.”

We believe that Kalamazoo College is a safe place for students, faculty, staff, and visitors, and we are committed to creating a learning environment of free inquiry that not only is safe but also feels safe for all.
We invite the campus community to convene this afternoon (March 4) at 4 p.m. in Stetson Chapel for an hour of reflection that also will include an update on measures regarding safety and the campus environment. A KDPS officer will attend the meeting.

The initial assessment of KDPS is that this incident is not a credible threat and that it is unlikely to be acted upon. Nevertheless, it is unnerving for many people, and we are taking precautions and measures to address the concerns of those who feel uneasy. Please be aware of your surroundings, and if you see anything you consider amiss please report it to the Security Department.

Eileen B. Wilson-Oyelaran
Mickey McDonald
Sarah Westfall
James Prince
Al DeSimone
Eric Staab
Greg Diment
Melanie Williams

Kalamazoo College 2015 Thompson Lecture by Rabbi Rachel Mikva

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Rabbi Rachel S. Mikva
Rachel Mikva, 2015 Thompson Lecturer

Kalamazoo College’s 2015 Thompson Lecture will be held Monday, March 2 at 7:30 p.m. in the Olmsted Room in Mandelle Hall with guest speaker Rabbi Rachel S. Mikva, Ph.D. Her lecture is titled “Fraught Justice: Is Reward and Punishment a Dangerous Religious Idea?” The lecture is free and open to the public.

Rachel S. Mikva currently serves as the Herman Schaalman Chair in Jewish Studies and Director of the Center for Jewish, Christian and Islamic Studies at Chicago Theological Seminary. The Center and the Seminary work at the cutting edge of theological education, training religious leaders who can build bridges across cultural and religious difference for the critical work of social transformation.

After 13 years in the congregational rabbinate, Dr. Mikva went on to teach and earn her Ph.D. at Jewish Theological Seminary, focusing on rabbinic literature and the history of scriptural interpretation. Her courses address a range of Jewish and comparative studies, with a special interest in the intersections of scripture, culture and ethics.

She is the author of Broken Tablets: Restoring the Ten Commandments and Ourselves (Jewish Lights, 2000) and Midrash vaYosha: A Medieval Midrash on the Song at the Sea (Mohr Siebeck, 2012), as well as a variety of articles and academic papers on Jewish exegesis and interreligious engagement. Her current writing project is entitled Dangerous Religious Ideas: A History of Scriptural Exegesis and its Impact in Judaism, Christianity and Islam.

The Paul Lamont Thompson Memorial Lecture was established by a gift from the sons and daughters-in-law of Paul Lamont and Ruth Peel Thompson. A committee of alumni and friends of the College worked diligently to build the fund with gifts from those many students whose lives were enriched by Dr. Thompson’s leadership.

Paul Lamont Thompson, Ph.D., was president of Kalamazoo College from 1938 to 1949. Dr. Thompson founded the Annual Fund at K helping to ensure the financial integrity of the College for years to come. Several buildings were added to the campus during his tenure, among them Harmon Hall, Stowe Stadium, Angell Field, and Welles Hall. He served as president of the Association of Church Related Colleges during his years at K. Dr. Thompson was known as an excellent speaker whose wit, wisdom, and gentle patient manner helped nurture generations of K students.

Jane and Grace

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Seniors Jane Huffman and Grace Gilmore
Current seniors Jane Huffman (left) and Grace Gilmore during one of their sophomore year collaborations–Shakespeare’s “Titus Andronicus”

Seniors Jane Huffman and Grace Gilmore are collaborating on the Festival Playhouse at Kalamazoo College’s production of Ann-Marie MacDonald’s Good Night Desdemona (Good Morning Juliet).

Jane is the assistant director of Good Night Desdemona…, a different–or, perhaps more accurately–an “expanded” directing experience than the one she enjoyed previously this term when her own play, Where the Bee Sucks, was performed at the New Play House Festival in downtown Kalamazoo. “To go from a one act play with three actors to a two act play with six actors has been illuminating,” says Jane. “I’ve learned a great deal from Karen Berthel [director of Good Night Desdemona… and an associate professor of theatre arts] about how to work in a bigger space, with a bigger company.”

Jane also finds this term’s work good preparation for the spring term, when she will direct the play, Nine Parts of Desire. Jane is earning majors in theatre arts and in English, and she has published quite a few of her poems. “I’ve learned that getting published is about 90 percent submitting and 10 percent writing.” Next year she plans to begin work on an MFA in poetry.

Grace Gilmore plays the lead role of Constance in Good Night Desdemona…. “At times I feel really connected with Constance but other times so far away from her. Her views and opinions come from second-wave feminism, which is difficult for me to relate to.” Fall term Grace performed her Senior Individualized Project, the one-woman show “2.5 Minute Ride” by Kalamazoo College alumna (and Tony Award nominee) Lisa Kron ’83. Grace also won the Irene Ryan Award for Performance for Region 3 of the American College Theatre Festival. Grace competed against 274 other contestants from Region 3, ACTF’s largest, which includes Wisconsin, Illinois, Michigan, and Indiana. She and the seven winners from the other ACTF regions will take part in a national program at the John F. Kennedy Center this summer. Grace will work with national directors, perform at various venues in New York, and participate in a final showcase performance at the Kennedy Center. In the meantime, we can enjoy the work of these two talented seniors at Festival Playhouse this coming weekend. —Text and Photo by Mallory Zink ’15

NATURAL LIFE Screens on Kalamazoo College Campus

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A scene from "Natural Life"The documentary film “Natural Life” will be shown on Monday, February 16, at Kalamazoo College’s Arcus Center for Social Justice Leadership (ACSJL). The film focuses on juveniles who are serving life terms in prison without the possibility of parole. The event begins at 6:30 p.m. with sponsor introductions; screening of the film follows at 7 p.m. The sponsoring organizations are seeking legislative action to eliminate juvenile life sentences also for youths convicted before 2012. In addition to the ACSJL, sponsors include Amnesty International USA Group 29, Kalamazoo Metropolitan Branch NAACP, Southwest Michigan American Civil Liberties Union, and the Kalamazoo College Amnesty International Group.

In Michigan some 350 prisoners were convicted as perpetrators or accessories to capital crimes committed when they were juveniles. They were sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole. In 2012 the United States Supreme Court banned such sentences as unconstitutional; nevertheless, Michigan Attorney General Bill Schuette has held that the ruling does not apply retroactively to Michigan youths sentenced before the Supreme Court decision. The ACSJL is located at the corner of Monroe and Academy streets. The event is free and open to the public.

Kalamazoo College Presents Juliet and Desdemona…Together?!

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Seven students rehearsing for "Goodnight Desdemona {Good Morning Juliet}"
The players in a scene from “Goodnight Desdemona {Good Morning Juliet}” are (l-r): Katelyn Anderson ’15 (Desdemona/Ramona), Aidan Johnson ’17 (Iago/Chorus), Grace Gilmore ’15 (Constance Ledbelly), Lauren Landman ’18 (Juliet/Student), Cameron Schneberger ’16 (Othello/Claudio/Tybalt/Nurse), Sam Meyers ’18 (Romeo/Ghost), and Jasmine Khin ’18 (Mercutio/Servant/Soldier). Photo by Robert Manor ’17.

Juliet and Desdemona, somewhat askew their famous contexts, come together when Festival Playhouse of Kalamazoo College presents Goodnight Desdemona {Good Morning Juliet} by Ann-Marie MacDonald in the Nelda K. Balch Playhouse. The play opens Thursday, February 26, at 7:30 p.m. Additional evening performances occur Friday and Saturday, February 27-28, at 8 p.m., and a matinee (2 p.m.) concludes the run on Sunday, March 1. Tickets are $5 for students, $10 for seniors, and $15 for other adults. For reservations call 269.337.7333. For more information visit the website.

The characters from the tragedies Othello and Romeo and Juliet appear with unexpected outcomes, thanks to the scholarship of MacDonald’s character Constance. Goodnight Desdemona {Good Morning Juliet} explores the borderlands between imagination, scholarship, and literature. Constance, a stumbling academic, embarks on a quest to find the holy grail of comparative literature: the true source of Shakespeare’s often-contested texts. She falls down the Elizabethan rabbit hole and finds herself immersed in the tomfoolery, betrayal, swordplay and wit of Shakespeare’s iconic worlds. As Constance journeys closer to proving her thesis true, she discovers that the answer is within herself, and returns to the real world with confidence. We are presented with the age-old dichotomy of the unfit hero—the underdog—who must come to terms with her own life before she can save another’s. Constance challenges us to find solace—and truth—in imagination.

The play is playful. MacDonald riffs on Shakespeare’s verse and meter, and exacerbates his characterizations to an extent that is gut-wrenchingly funny. Desdemona is a ruthless and bloodthirsty warrior, Iago is conniving for the sake of being conniving, and Romeo and Juliet fall in love with anything that moves. Constance must come face to face (and sometimes hand to hand, lip to lip) with these characters in order to navigate through their worlds. She seeks to find the “missing fool”—a character absent from Shakespeare’s tragedies who should have interrupted the narratives and made them comedic. But what Constance discovers is that she, in her stumbling but brilliant ignorance, is the missing link. Even though Constance’s path—riddled with deception, drag, and cans of Coors Light—bites its thumb at the traditional hero’s journey, she does find her way home again, the wiser for the way.

Kalamazoo College Hosts THREE Art Hop Stops

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Got Art? Kalamazoo College will host THREE stops on the monthly downtown Kalamazoo Art Hop, Friday Feb. 6. Each stop is open 5-8 p.m. and is free and open to the public.

Artist Nayda Collazo-Llorens at the Arcus Center for Social Justice Leadership
Nayda Collazo-Llorens and Stanger Land

STRANGER LAND
Arcus Center for Social Justice Leadership
205 Monroe St.
Stranger Land is a site-specific project by artist Nayda Collazo-Llorens. This text-based piece is the first to be commissioned for the new Arcus Center for Social Justice Leadership building. See the new building and talk with the artist about her methods and inspiration for the piece.

Displays of Senior Individualized Projects from K students
K Community Art Studio in Park Trades Center

SIP SELECTIONS
Kalamazoo College Community Art Studio
Park Trades Center
326 W. Kalamazoo Ave. / Suite 312 (3rd Floor)
SIP Selections features select digital, video, and other media by senior K art majors from their Senior Individualized Projects. Meet the artists, discuss their work, and check out the K community studio in the Park Trades Center.

Art from the Petals and Paws Exhibit
Petals and Paws In A.M. Todd Rare Book Room

PETALS & PAWS
A.M Todd Rare Book Room
Upjohn Library
3rd Floor
150 Thompson St.
Petals & Paws features select flora and fauna resources from K’s permanent collection of art, books and more.

The Petals & Paws exhibit remains open thru March 12 (Mon, Tue, Thu – 1-3 p.m.)

Weber Lecture on Detroit Bankruptcy

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Gerald Rosen, Chief Judge of the United States District Court for the Eastern District of MichiganThe Honorable Gerald Rosen ’73, Chief Judge of the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Michigan, will deliver the 2015 William Weber Lecture in Social Science at 8 p.m. on Thursday, February 5. The lecture is free and open to the public and will take place in the Mandelle Hall Olmsted Room on Kalamazoo College’s campus. The lecture is titled “Detroit Bankruptcy: Lessons Learned” and will draw from Rosen’s experience as chief judicial administrator for the Detroit bankruptcy case, the largest municipal bankruptcy case in U.S. history.

At K, Rosen earned his bachelor’s degree in political science. He was the first K student to study abroad in Sweden (Stockholm), to which he returned in his senior year to complete his Senior Individualized Project, which focused on Swedish press coverage of the 1972 U.S. presidential election. He began his professional career as a legislative assistant to United States Senator Robert P. Griffin (R-Michigan), serving on Senator Griffin’s staff in Washington, D.C., from 1974 to 1979. During this time Rosen was involved in some of the most significant and challenging issues of the period. He also was attending the George Washington University Law School at night, and he obtained his J.D. degree in May 1979. (Today he is a member of the law school’s board of advisors).

For 20 years, Rosen has served as an adjunct professor of law for University of Michigan Law School, Wayne State University Law School, University of Detroit Law School, and Thomas M. Cooley Law School. Throughout the years he has presided over a number of high-profile, ground-breaking cases, including the first post-9/11 terrorism trial, an early partial-birth abortion case, and one of the first physician-assisted suicide cases. Nevertheless, he describes his work on the Detroit bankruptcy case as “the most challenging and rewarding experience of my professional career.”

Rosen is involved with several charitable and community organizations, including serving on the board of directors of Focus: HOPE and the Michigan Chapter of the Federalist Society. He has written and published articles for professional journals and the popular press on a wide range of issues, including civil procedure, evidence, due process, criminal law, labor law, and legal advertising, as well as numerous other topics. He is also a co-author of Federal Civil Trials and Evidence, Federal Employment Litigation, and Michigan Civil Trials and Evidence.

The William Weber Lecture in Government and Society was founded by Bill Weber, a 1939 graduate of Kalamazoo College. In addition to this lectureship, he established the William Weber Chair in Political Science at the College. Past lecturers in this series have included David Broder, Frances Moore Lappé, E. J. Dionne, Jeane Bethke Elshtain, William Greider, Ernesto Cortes, Jr., John Esposito, Benjamin Ginsberg, Frances Fox Piven, Spencer Overton, Tamara Draut, Van Jones, and Dr. Joan Mandelle.

Directors Debut

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Emma Franzel and Haroon Chaudhury play Emma Franzel and Haroon Chaudhury in "Wooed and Viewed"
WOOED AND VIEWED characters Emma and Hector are played by Emma Franzel and Haroon Chaudhury.

Liberal arts in theatre arts means a chance for multiple roles—as in actor, crew member, and director. Kalamazoo College’s Senior Performance Series provides senior students a chance to do the latter. This winter’s SPS features The Gas Heart, directed by Joseph Westerfield ’15, and Wooed and Viewed, directed by Arik Mendelevitz ’15. The performances will occur Thursday through Sunday, February 12-15, in Kalamazoo College’s Dungeon Theatre (Light Fine Arts Building). Tickets are $5. Thursday’s performance begins at 7:30 p.m. Friday and Saturday shows begin at 8 p.m. Sunday’s matinee begins at 2 p.m.

The Gas Heart was written by Tristan Tzara, who, according to director Westerfield, described his piece as “the only and greatest three act hoax of the century; it will satisfy only industrialized imbeciles who believe in the existence of men of genius.” Westerfield explained that his production of the play “questions the conventions of normative theatre and invites the audience to participate in their emancipation as a spectator.”

Wooed and Viewed is a French farce (by playwright Georges Feydau) that, like The Gas Heart, defies societal expectations. The character of Emma (played by sophomore Emma Franzel) defies the traditional role of passivity when she orders a stranger to make love to her in order to provoke her husband’s jealousy. Emma has “made herself an other but not the other she is told to be,” says director Mendelevitz. “Women, especially when it comes to sex, exist in a marginalized place in our society where they are told that their role is to put themselves on display for men to come by and window shop,” he added. Mendelevitz has chosen to present the play using a deconstructionist approach in order “to explore new possibilities that would be impossible…on the firm, familiar ground, Art exists in relation to our world, yet simultaneously steps outside of it.” Mendelevitz has written a philosophy treatise about the play which he will present at the Michigan Academy of Science, Arts and Letters at Andrews University (Berrien Springs, Mich.) in March.

For more information about SPS, which is part of the 51st season of Festival Playhouse visit the website or call 269.337.7333