Multi-Cultural Diversity Events
SPRING 2012 MULTI-CULTURAL / DIVERSITY
Students scan Eagle ID cards for attendance tracking
Jan. 30, 2012 7:30 p.m. OF EBONY EMBERS-VIGNETTES OF THE HARLEM RENAISSANCE Wattenbarger Auditorium
This is a music theatre work for actor and chamber music trio. The performance, produced by the Core Ensemble with text by Akin Babatunde, celebrates African American music and poetry of the 1920's and 1930's featuring scenes from the lives of three great Harlem Renaissance writers: Langston Hughes, Countee Cullen and Claude McKay - all seen through the eyes of painter and muralist Aaron Douglas, known as the Father of Black Art. The musical score is drawn from the heartfelt spirituals and blues of the Deep South, the urban vitality of the Jazz Age, and contemporary concert music by African Americans. Of Ebony Embers is a joyful exploration of a rich and dynamic era in African American history. This innovative performance melds dramatic narrative and chamber music, creating a unique artistic expression. http://www.core-ensemble.cc
Jan. 31, 2012 7:30 p.m. ALVIN AILEY II DANCE TROUPE Cookeville Performing Arts Center (Broad Street)
Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater was founded in 1958 by dancer choreographer and visionary Alvin Ailey to bring African American cultural expression and Modern dance tradition to the world. The Theater grew from a now-fabled performance in March 1958, at the 92nd Street Young Men's Hebrew Association in New York. Led by Alvin Ailey and a group of African modern dancers, that performance changed forever the perception of African American. The theater is well known nationally and worldwide for its artistry. http://www.opus3artists.com
NOTE: CURRENTLY REGISTERED STUDENTS MAY PICK UP TICKETS (limit 2) WITH AN ID, IN HENDERSON HALL 204C FROM 8:30 A.M UNTIL NOON AND RUC 258 FROM 1:00 P.M. UNTIL 4:30 P.M. BEGINNING MONDAY JANUARY 23 UNTIL NOON FRIDAY JANUARY 27. THE TICKET GUARANTEES YOUR SEAT ONLY UNTIL 7:15 P.M. AFTER 7:15 P.M. THERE WILL BE OPEN SEATING. DOORS OPEN AT 6:45 P.M.
Mar. 14, 2012 7:00 p.m. DR. JOY CAREW "From Alabama to Moscow - Unusual Partnerships in Unusual Times: African Americans in Stalin's Russia"
RUC Multipurpose Room
This presentation addresses a little known aspect of the African American experience - Blacks lured to Stalinist Russian in a quest for better lives. In the 1920s and 1930s, African Americans were attracted to the Soviet Experiment's promise of a non-racial societ which welcomed anyone of goodwill. Those who went in the 1920s were fellow travelers and political trainees. They were particularly anxious to learn tools from those who had overthrown their oppressive government. Of special note was the evidence of rapid inprovement in the lives of the Soviet Union's own people of color, which challenged the prevailing cautions given to Blacks in the U.S. that it would take generations for their lives to improve. After the Stock Market collapse and the Great Depression many went to Stalin's Soviet Union to live and work.
Dr. Carew is the author of Blacks, Reds, and Russians: Sojourners in Search of the Soviet Promise (Rutgers U. Press 2008) She will be available for a book signing.
Mar. 20, 2012 7:00 p.m. AN EVENING WITH MAYA ANGELOU Derryberry Hall Auditorium
Author Maya Angelou is a renowned African-American autobiographer and poet. Before becoming a writer, Dr. Angelou was a cable car conductor, a waitress and cook, an actress, a dancer, a newspaper editor, a teacher, and a civil rights activist. Her first and most well-known work, "I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings", brought her international recognition and awards, and has been used as a set text in schools and universities; it is also #6 on the Top 100 list of most challenged/banned books of 2000-09 of the American Library Association. She was active in the Civil Rights movement alongside Malcolm X and Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., made an inaugural recitation of her poem, "To See the Pulse of Morning", at President Clinton's inauguration, and is currently the Reynolds Professor of American Studies at Wake-Forest University in North Carolina. http://www.lordly.com
Mar. 27, 2012 7:00 p.m. ANDREA MOORE-EMMETT "INSIDE POLGAMY Derryberry Hall Auditorium
Andrea Moore-Emmett is an award-winning journalist and birthright Mormon who later left the church and authored the 2004 book God's Brothel: The Extortion of Sex for Salvation in Contemporary Mormon and Christian Fundamentalist Polygamy and the Stories of 18 Women Who Escaped. In addition to the stories of these women, Moore-Emmett discusses the history of polgamy in America and explains the current breakdown of the major contemprorary polgyamist groups.
Mar. 31, 2012 INTERNATIONAL FRIENDSHIP BANQUET
The International Friendship Banquet celebrates the connection between TTU students, faculty, staff and the international students of the community. This will be a pot luck dinner and entertainment by the Lion Dancers of Knoxville.
April 3, 2012 11:00 a.m. DR. CHRISTOPHER POWELL "MAYA GEOMETRY" Clement Hall 212
In the "Shapes of Sacred Space" Dr. Powell presents his revolutionary new theories regarding Maya geometry and explains how the Maya, both ancient and modern, incorporate the proportions of nature in their art and architecture. Dr. Powell is an expert on Maya geometry and Maya architecture. He was a Field Director of The Proyecto Grupo de Las Cruces, Palenque 1997-2000. He is an archaeologist with 20 years in the field. Dr. Powell has worked all over the Maya world, both in the archaeological ruins and with modern Maya people. More information about Dr. Powell and his research may be found at http://www.mayaexploration.org/
April 13-14, 2012 WINDOW ON THE WORLD RUC and Derryberry Hall Auditorium
Apr. 13 Symposium
Apr. 14, 10:00 a.m. - 5:00 p.m. Festival
International food, crafts, and performances. http://www.tntech.edu/wow
