2008-2009 Schedule

 

You are invited and encouraged to join us for Western's 2008-2009 Cultural Enhancement Series. All events are free and open to all students, faculty and community members.

This year, the Cultural Enhancement Committee continues to offer an additional incentive to students to take part in these entertaining and enlightening lectures and performances-besides free admission!  For more information on the RAFFLE*, please scroll to the end of this page or call Potter College Dean's Office at 270-745-5204.

 

 

Richard Norton Smith: Our Lincoln

Tuesday, February 17, 2009
7:30 PM
Capitol Arts Theatre, Downtown Bowling Green

                                       

Presidential historian Richard Norton Smith is a familiar face to viewers of C-Span, The News Hour with Jim Lehrer, and ABC News. He has served as a director of five Presidential libraries including the Abraham Lincoln Presidential Library and Museum in Springfield, Illinois. The author of five major books, he is a recipient of the Kennedy School's Goldsmith Prize, and he has been a finalist for the Pulitzer Prize. Smith is an insightful student of the Presidency and Abraham Lincoln who firmly believes that when it comes to History "there's no excuse for a dull book, a dull museum, or a dull speech."

 

 

TAIKOPROJECT:

(re)generation Japanese Drumming for a New Era

Tuesday, March 17, 2009
7:30 PM
Capitol Arts Theatre, Downtown Bowling Green

"This ain't your mama's taiko, but it may be your hip younger cousin's" wrote L.A. Weekly after experiencing TAIKOPROJECT. Founded in 2000 by artistic director Bryan Yamami, TAIKOPROJECT is a Los Angeles-based ensemble of America's premier, emerging taiko drummers dedicated to preserving and disseminatingAmerican taiko. Co-sponsored by Campus Activities Board.

The ensemble's work balances the traditions and rich history of Japanese and American taiko with a contemporary edge while exploring new dimensions in the art form. Traditionally, taiko drums were used in feudal Japan to awaken and inspire the troops. TAIKOPROJECT's drummers infuse the ancient "big drum" with hip-hop, jazz, rock and other musical elements to create a new spin on the meaning of rhythm.

Student workshop/master class, March 16. Stay tuned for more information on this session.

Co-sponsored by Campus Activities Board.

                   

Previous events in this year's Series:

 

The Carolina Chocolate Drops

 

 Tuesday, September 23, 2008

 

The Carolina Chocolate Drops are a trio of young African American string band musicians who have come to together to play the rich tradition of Carolina fiddle and banjo music. Rhiannon Giddens and Justin Robinson both hail from the green hills of the North Carolina Piedmont, while Dom Flemons is a native of Arizona.

THIS WAS A FABULOUS CONCERT! The Carolina Chocolate Drops were AMAZING. Rhiannon's voice alone blew everyone out of the Capitol.

 

 

 

Kenneth Miller:

Only a Theory

Tuesday, November 18
7:30 p.m.
Downing University Center Theater, WKU Campus

 

Please join the Cultural Enhancement Committee and the Department of Biology for the following additional events in preparation for Dr. Miller's campus visit:

NOVEMBER 7 at 2 p.m. in Thompson Complex North Wing 224:

WKU Libraries' Charles Smith speaks on Alfred Russel Wallace and the Original Meaning of the Term "Natural Selection".

NOVEMBER 10 at 5:30 p.m. in Thompson Complex North Wing 224:

We will show NOVA's Judgment Day:Intelligent Design on Trial, featuring Kenneth Miller. NOVA will be followed by an informal discussion of issues raised in the program led by WKU Biology and Religious Studies faculty.

Kenneth Miller is the author of the acclaimed book Finding Darwin's God: A Scientist's Search for Common Ground Between God and Evolution, a lively analysis of the key issues that divide science and religion. He contends that, properly understood, evolution adds depth and meaning to a view of the world that is both scientific and spiritual. As a Roman Catholic Christian, Miller is a firm believer in evolution and in God-and he doesn't find the two beliefs to be mutually exclusive. Bruce Alberts, the president of the National Academy of Sciences, says that Miller "convincingly argues that science and religion offer different, but compatible, ways of viewing the world."

In his critically acclaimed new book, Only a Theory, and in his talks, Kenneth Miller dissects the arguments of the Intelligent Design movement; despite wonky science, they have nonetheless succeeded in casting doubt on evolution to a largely unscientific public. Nothing less than America's "soul" -- its place as the world's leading scientific nation -- is at risk, says Miller. But he's not pessimistic. He sees the national debate as an opportunity for public understanding -- a moment when support for science can be redeemed. In offering the definitive, ironclad, and in its own way, beautiful, argument for the theory of evolution, Miller shows you how America can, and why it must, save its scientific soul.

 

*RAFFLE DETAILS

You will accumulate 'electronic raffle tickets' based on the number of events you attend. For example:

1 event = 1 ticket

2 events = 3 tickets (1 ticket + 2 tickets)

3 events = 6 tickets (1 + 2 + 3)

4 events =10 tickets (1 + 2 + 3 + 4)

The more events you attend, the greater your probability of winning. The same is true regarding the benefit to you in terms of your learning! Be sure to bring your Big Red ID Card to each event - we will swipe your card after each event to record your attendance, and use this record to generate your electronic raffle tickets.

The drawing will be for one of two $500 book awards, and will be announced at the end of March. All full-time undergraduate and graduate students are eligible for the drawing.

Congratulations to last year's winners:

Kelly Scheurich, Potter College of Arts & Letters major

Shana Wilson, College of Education & Behavioral Sciences major

For more information about the Series or the raffle, please call the Potter College Dean's Office at 745-5204.

   

 

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