2011-2012 Season Past Events
INSIGHTS INTO SURFACE
Sept. 21 – Oct. 25
Sanders Administration Building
Opening Reception and Gallery Talk
with Greg Kitterle
Wednesday, Sept. 21 at 6:30 pm
- Gregory Kitterle’s painting and drawings use traditional materials combined with abstract compositional concerns.
- His choices of materials in the presented work are pencil, dry and wet pigment, and Venetian plaster made according to traditional fresco formulation.
- From this combination Kitterle creates scenes that vary from abstract to full narrative.
- The source of these narratives is often obscure, much like half-remembered stories where all interpretations can be considered valid.
SWORDS AND SANDALS: HERCULES UNCHAINED (ERCOLE E LE REGINA DI LIDIA/HERCULES AND THE QUEEN OF LYDIA, 1958)
Thursday, Sept. 22 at 3:30 & 7 pm
Ellis White Lecture Hall
(Hammond Campus Center)
In this visually stunning adventure directed by Pietro Francisci, muscleman Steve Reeves stars as Hercules, who attempts to prevent a war over the city of Thebes and, along the way, becomes enchanted by the mysterious Queen of Lydia, Omphale. George Bohrer, professor of Communications Media, introduces this film.
Sponsored by the Center for Italian Culture at Fitchburg State University
LYNN TREFZGER—VENTRILOQUIST
Saturday, Oct. 1 at 8 pm
Weston Auditorium
Have you ever had a childhood hobby that got out of hand? That explains Lynn Trefzger’s start as a ventriloquist/comedienne. For over 30 years, Lynn has given life to a trunk full of comical characters. She has performed for audiences worldwide in corporations, colleges, theatres, and cruise ships.
PETER YARROW
Sunday, Oct. 2 at 3 pm
Percival Auditorium
Peter Yarrow, Paul Stookey and Mary Travers—Peter, Paul & Mary—gave voice to a generation. Their renditions of songs like "Man of Constant Sorrow" brought America’s folk songs out from forgotten places while "Blowin' in the Wind" or "If I Had a Hammer" moved their social and political commentaries to the forefront. Mixing stories, songs and anecdotes, Peter returns us to that time of passionate idealism and sweet nostalgia.
Co-sponsored by the Sentinel & Enterprise with additional support from Leominster Credit Union and Slattery's Restaurant.
Media partner: WPKZ
FITCHBURG STATE UNIVERSITY SPEAKERS SERIES
Monday, Oct. 5 at 12:30 pm
The Center for Teaching & Learning (Hammond Campus Center)
Kate Jewell, History professor, presents “On Behalf of Southern Progress: The SSIC and Freight Rate Equalization.”
HARROD LECTURE
Wednesday, Oct. 5 at 3:30 pm
Kent Recital Hall (Conlon Music)
Sally Moore, assistant professor of Art, presents “Above and Below: An Investigation of Inner Space Through Sculpture.”
ITALIAN BOOK CLUB: VERY VALENTINE
Wednesday, Oct. 5 at 6:30 pm
Center for Italian Culture (4th floor)
Amelia V. Gallucci-Cirio Library
Very Valentine is the first novel in a trilogy by the prolific author Adriana Trigiani. With a keen eye, her novels capture and convey the Italian-American world with all its familial layers and nuance. Very Valentine is a sumptuous treat, a journey of dreams fulfilled, a celebration of love and loss filled with Trigiani’s trademark heart and humor.
Sponsored by the Center for Italian Culture at Fitchburg State University
STUFFER
Wednesday, Oct. 12 at 3:30 & 7 pm
Ellis White Lecture Hall
Sargent Rose Vasquez, a decorated soldier of the U. S. Army, returns home to her husband and daughter after completing her third tour of duty in Afghanistan. Fearful that she and her family are about to default on the mortgage of their dream home, Rose has made choices to safeguard her home and family. She now returns with a dark secret. Stuffer is the fictional story of a family, but it is also a commentary on many of the issues and situations facing Americans today. Rose and her husband Ramon are simple people struggling to be a family while facing both economical and cultural challenges. They may be Latino, but their plight is not unique to their ethnicity. Through the actions and words of Rose Vasquez we discover a new hero, an ordinary woman driven to action by extraordinary circumstances. This short by Fitchburg State alumnus Nathan Crooker has garnered four Best Short awards—including Worldfest Houston—as well as a Silver Palm at the Mexico International Film Festival. Crooker will attend the screenings.
“WHAT WILL FUTURE GENERATIONS CONDEMN US FOR?”
Monday, Oct. 17 at 3:30 pm
Ellis White Lecture Hall (Hammond Campus Center)
The idea for the panel came from an Op Ed piece by Kwame Anthony Appiah (Princeton) in The Washington Post, where he examined some of the Global Issues of today which future generations will condemn us for not addressing. On Monday the 17th, we will have brief presentations, followed by discussion. Our panelists are:
- Chris Picone on the environment
- Rene Reeves on Modern Slavery/Trafficking
- Viera Lorencova on the status of women
- David Svolba on violence
- David Weiss on the burgeoning prison population
- Eric Budd on global poverty
SWORDS AND SANDALS: ROMULUS AND REMUS (ROMOLO E REMO, 1961)
Thursday, Oct. 20 at 3:30 & 7 pm
Ellis White Lecture Hall
(Hammond Campus Center)
Romulus and Remus, directed by famed Spaghetti Western director Sergio Corbucci, recounts the story of the founding of Rome and the personal struggle between two brothers – one motivated by virtue, the other by power and greed – destined to fight over who will found the new city. Steve Reeves and Gordon Scott (Tarzan) play the film’s title characters. Daniel Sarefield, assistant professor of History, introduces the film.
Sponsored by the Center for Italian Culture at Fitchburg State University
GARE ST. LAZARE PLAYERS, IRELAND
THE END BY SAMUEL BECKETT
Thursday, Oct. 27 at 7 pm
Percival Auditorium
Enter into the theatrical world of Gare St. Lazare with Conor Lovett’s performance of The End and be caught in an exquisite, sublime moment of art. From the nuance of his hand gestures to the subtle acknowledgement of the audience to the rich language of Samuel Beckett, we are in that timeless place created out of art’s magic—an emotional and unparalleled aesthetic experience.
"Conor Lovett’s command of the stage for this Gare St. Lazare production of The End is so apparently effortless as to be relaxing, except that with Samuel Beckett one can never relax. With The End the result is comedy, sly and biting, all the sharper for seeming to come out of hiding and ascending, or descending depending on one’s attitude to Beckett, to actual merriment." IRISH TIMES
ASPHALT ORCHESTRA
Friday, Nov. 4 at 7 pm
Weston Auditorium
Today’s marching band isn’t your traditional, run-of-the-mill piccolo, trumpet and trombone configuration—especially the Asphalt Orchestra. It’s all your favorite marching band instruments but with so much more—pushing the envelope with tunes by Frank Zappa, staging impromptu flash performances, and adding choreography by Susan Marshall. Asphalt Orchestra breaks free from the confines of the stage and the canon of John Philip Sousa with enthusiasm, energy and elan. They are tomorrow’s band today.
"An iconoclastic 12 piece marching band… part parade spectacle, part halftime show and part cutting-edge contemporary music concert. The playing was coolly brilliant and infectious. And what a scene!"—New York Times
Co-sponsored by WICN and NEFA
Fitchburg State SPEAKERS SERIES
Monday, Nov. 7 at 12:30 pm
The Center for Teaching & Learning (Hammond Campus Center)
Brady Chen (Computer Science)
“PC Robots for Undergraduate Teaching & Research”
The Honor Code: How Moral Revolutions Happens
Monday, Nov. 14 at 12:30 pm
The Center for Teaching and Learning (Hammond Campus Center)
On Monday November 14, we will be hosting a lunchtime discussion of Kwame Anthony Appiah’s book The Honor Code: How Moral Revolutions Happens. In the book, Appiah examines how such practices as slavery, foot binding, dueling, etc. fell out of favor and were stopped. Everyone is welcome (even if you don’t get a chance to read the book!) It will be from 12:30-2pm in the CTL.
New England Writers Series: "Wording the World"
with Kathryn Lasky
Wednesday, Nov. 16 at 7 pm
Kent Recital Hall (Conlon Music)
Newbery Honor-winning author Kathryn Lasky’s most recent fame is in the world of film with the newly released Guardians of Ga'hoole. But her love affairs with words and books began as a child. In this evening’s conversation, Ms. Lasky shares that journey as she explores the meaning of words in her life from her earliest memories of reading to becoming an author of more than 100 fiction and nonfiction books for children and young adults.
Support for the academic classroom visits by the author and the New England Writers Series comes from the Roberta Fitzmaurice Connors Endowment ’63 of Fitchburg State University.
ITALIAN BOOK CLUB: DON’T SING AT THE TABLE
Wednesday, Nov. 2 at 6:30 pm
Center for Italian Culture (4th floor)
Amelia V. Gallucci-Cirio Library
Focusing on Don’t Sing at the Table: Life Lessons from My Grandmothers, this book-club session continues the exploration of Adriana Trigiani’s writing, moving from her fiction writing with its influence by her grandmothers to this “primer” filled with Lucy and Viola’s sage advice, observances, traditions and everyday experiences.
“No one ever reads just one of Trigiani’s wonderfully quirky tales. Once you pick up the first, you are hooked.” —Book Page
Sponsored by the Center for Italian Culture at Fitchburg State University
SWORDS AND SANDALS: SPARTACUS (1960)
Thursday, Nov. 10 at 3:30 & 7 pm
Ellis White Lecture Hall
(Hammond Campus Center)
This monumental American historical drama directed by Stanley Kubrick, winner of four Oscars, presents the life of the rebellious slave Spartacus and the events of Rome’s last and greatest slave rebellion. This film stars Kirk Douglas as Spartacus and Laurence Olivier as Roman general Marcus Licinius Crassus, with Peter Ustinov,
Gavin, Jean Simmons, Charles Laughton, John Ireland, Herbert Lom, Woody Strode, Tony Curtis, and many others. Joseph Moser, professor of English, introduces the film.
ROMEO & JULIET
-
Tuesday, Nov. 15 and Wednesday, Nov. 16 at 6 pm (preview);
-
Thursday, Nov. 17 – Saturday, Nov. 19 at 7:30 pm;
-
Sunday, Nov. 20 at 2 pm
McKay Theater
The Fitchburg State Theatre Program passionately dives into the play that defines our image of love-
“Star-crossed lovers…”
“O Romeo, Romeo! wherefore art thou, Romeo?”
“A rose by any other name would smell as sweet.”
“Parting is such sweet sorrow that I’ll say goodnight, 'til it be morrow.”
Underscored by the great Russian composer Prokofiev’s breathtaking ballet score—Romeo and Juliet.
Bring your hanky. Directed by Richard McElvain
JOHN MCDERMOTT
Saturday, Dec. 3 at 8 pm
Weston Auditorium
Order Tickets online: $32/$32/$10
With one of the most popular and beloved tenor voices, the internationally-renowned John McDermott brings his inimitable style to the stage. No stranger to CenterStage, this year we have asked for an early Christmas present—an evening of well-known favorites to usher in the holiday season! Call early—seats won’t last long for this performance.
Sponsored by
FITCHBURG STATE SPEAKERS SERIES
Monday, Dec. 5 at 12:30 pm
The Center for Teaching & Learning (Hammond Campus Center)
Peter Staab (Math) presents, “How Many Unique 4 by 4 Natural Magic Squares Are There?”
WINTER ENSEMBLE CONCERT
Wednesday, Dec 7 at 7:30 pm
Weston Auditorium
Admission- free
Fitchburg State University Jazz Band and Concert Band present an array of instrumental music. All are welcome to attend.
WINTER DANCE CLUB SHOWS
Thursday, Dec. 8 at 7 pm
Saturday, Dec. 10 at 4 pm
Weston Auditorium
- Eight years of high powered, exciting dance!
- Kick off your holiday season with the Dance Club’s annual Winter Show featuring selections from many of the club’s classes in a winter theme.
WINTER CHORAL CONCERT
Monday, Dec. 12 at 7:30 pm
Weston Auditorium
Admission- free
The Choral Arts students at Fitchburg State present a choral concert under the direction of Marjorie Ness. The concert features selections from Vivaldi’s Gloria with members from the Greater Gardner Community Choir; and accompanied by the Fitchburg State University Community Orchestra under the direction of Hildy Schilling.
FACULTY SHOW
Nov. 9 – Dec. 20
|
 |
| Peter Laytin | |
 |
|
| Sally Moore |
- Art and Communications Media faculty have been creating new works in photography, sculpture, design, painting, drawing, film, video, and mixed media.
- This biennial exhibition highlights some of their best and recent works.
Admission: free
ASL interpreters will be provided for the gallery talk.
THE 2012 KENNEDY CENTER AMERICAN COLLEGE THEATER FESTIVAL (KCACTF)
Jan. 24-29
Fitchburg State University
The 2012 Kennedy Center American College Theater Festival will be hosted again this year by Fitchburg State University with events held here in Fitchburg/Leominster Jan. 24-29 (McKay Auditorium, Weston Auditorium, Dukakis Center for the Performing Arts at Montachusett Technical Vocational High School, Four Points Sheraton and Courtyard Marriott). A full program of all workshops, performances, exhibits, lectures, and competitions may be found at www.kcactf1.org.
Students from 58 colleges/universities will be attending the 44th theater festival from the states of New York, Maine, Vermont, Rhode Island, Massachusetts, New Hampshire and Connecticut with roughly 2,000 students/faculty/staff present for the week's festivities. In recent years Fitchburg State students have been nominated for the National Irene Ryan Acting Scholarship Award, national technical, stage management, design, and criticism awards; and have served as guest hosts.
DAN ZANES AND FRIENDS—HIS OWN AND OURS
Thursday, Feb. 2 at 7 pm
Weston Auditorium
Order Tickets online: $25/$22/$5
Ten years and ten albums have unfolded as the iconic Dan Zanes of Del Fuegos fame has blossomed into the "leading man of the family music genre." And rooted in his work are heartfelt initiatives—sharing songs from the rich cultures of the Spanish-speaking Americas and singing with youth choirs. That translates to the stage at Weston being filled with Dan, his friends, students from Memorial and Longsjo schools and the sounds of
¡Nueva York! Son jarocho, cumbia, Christmas holiday music of the aguinaldo, bailecito, nueva canción and merengue styles—gathered from the neighbourhoods in New York—they originate from Puerto Rico, Mexico, Colombia, and the Dominican Republic and resonate in Fitchburg.
"True children's music, but executed with such sweet (and un-gooey!) humor, casual multiculturalism and shambling groove that you can call it your own."
—New York Times
Educational co-sponsors
With additional funding from
¡NUEVA YORK! SCHOOL PERFORMANCE
THURSDAY, FEB. 2 AT 10 AM
WESTON AUDITORIUM
TICKETS: $15/SENIORS; $5/STUDENTS
FITCHBURG STATE SPEAKERS SERIES
Monday, Feb. 6 at 12:30 pm
The Center for Teaching & learning (Hammond Campus Center)
Allison Craig (English) presents, “Whose Body? The Dangerous Doctor in Dorothy Sayer’s Detective Fiction.”
THE FIRST ANNUAL INTERNATIONAL AND CONFLICT STUDIES KEYNOTE SPEAKER SERIES (SPECIAL PUBLIC FORUM)
Monday, Feb. 6 at 7:30 pm
President's Hall (Mazzaferro Center, 291 Highland Ave)
“Resurgent Religion, Global Politics, and Conflict Resolution”
Dr. Monica Duffy Toft
Associate Professor of Public Policy
John F. Kennedy School of Government
Harvard University
- Dr. Toft is Director of the Belfer Center’ s Initiative on Religion in International Affairs and a 2008 Carnegie Scholar, with previous experience at the Rand Corporation and the U.S. Army.
- Dr. Toft authored, co-authored, or co-edited: Securing The Peace: The Durable Settlement of Civil Wars, The Geography of Ethnic Conflict: Identity, Interests, and Territory, God's Century: Resurgent Religion and Global Politics, The Fog of Peace: Strategic and Military Planning under Uncertainty
- Dr. Toft holds a Ph.D. from the University of Chicago and a bachelor’s degree in Political Science and Slavic languages and Literatures from the University of California, Santa Barbara.
This Keynote Address is free for the University and the greater Fitchburg community.
HARROD LECTURE
Wednesday, Feb. 8 at 3:30 pm
Kent Recital Hall (Conlon Music)
George Babich, professor of Biology, presents “Stem Cells, Differentiation and Limb Regeneration.”
Admission: free
L’ITALIA LIBERATA: ROMA, CITTÀ APERTA
Thursday, Feb. 9 at 3:30 and 7 pm
Ellis White Lecture Hall
(Hammond Campus Center)
Roma, Città Aperta is the story of Italian resistance fighters as the Nazis tightened the noose on Rome. The film, shot amidst the wreckage of Rome just after the Nazi surrender, stars Anna Magnani and Aldo Fabrizi. Director Roberto Rossellini took his cameras into the streets and based the script on the experiences of the Italians under Nazi occupation between 1943 and 45; it was released in September 1945 less than six months after the Nazi surrender. The New York Times called it one of the "strongest dramatic films yet made about the recent war" after its U.S. release in 1946.” It won the Cannes Film Festival's grand prize, and the New York and National Board Awards as Best Foreign Language Film. Co-written by a young Federico Fellini.
Tickets: $15/series pass; $7/adults; $5/students (at the door)
AND THE SUN STOOD STILL BY DAVA SOBEL
Wednesday, Feb. 22 at 7 pm
Percival Auditorium
“I got the idea for the play about Copernicus years ago, when I first learned his story—how he had shelved his heliocentric universe for fear he’d be ridiculed, until a brilliant young mathematician paid him a surprise visit and talked him into promulgating the theory. Although these two men were different in almost every way, especially regarding religion (Copernicus worked as a canon of the Catholic Church in Poland, while his visitor was a Protestant from Luther's own university in Germany), their meeting led directly to the publication of De Revolutionibus. And, of course, no one knows what they said to each other.” —Dava Sobel
This staged reading of Pulitzer Prize finalist Dava Sobel’s newly published play reaches the Percival stage as a collaboration with the Catalyst Collaborative@MIT, Fitchburg State theater students and faculty member Richard McElvain. Ms. Sobel and emeriti Harvard scholar Owen Gingerich facilitate the post-performance discussion.
Review of Sobel's book by the NY Times
Admission: freewill donation
Support for the And the Sun Stood Still comes from the Amelia V. Gallucci-Cirio Endowment and Ruth Butler Grant of Fitchburg State University.
FITCHBURG STATE SPEAKERS SERIES
Monday, March 5 at 12:30 pm
The Center for teaching & learning (Hammond Campus Center)
Jessica Robey (Humanities) presents, “An Allegory of Sight: Visual Consumption and the Production of Knowledge in Antwerp’s Golden Age and After.”
L’ITALIA LIBERATA: CINEMA PARADISO
Thursday, March 8 at 3:30 and 7 pm
Ellis White Lecture Hall
(Hammond Campus Center)
The semi-autobiographical story of director Giuseppe Tornatore. Young Toto is an eight-year-old boy growing up in 1940s Sicily, whose father is missing and presumed dead in the war. His impoverished mother struggles to support the cinema-mad youngster who escapes to the town's small movie house where he is befriended by the projectionist played by Phillippe Noiret. The story moves back and forth to tell in flashback of his twin loves: a passion for the cinema and for a beautiful girl. With music by Ennio Morricone, the film won the Cannes' Special Jury Prize after its 1990 release.
Tickets- $15/series pass; $7/adults; $5/students (at the door)
Sponsored by the Center for Italian Culture at Fitchburg State University
GRADUATE & CONTINUING EDUCATION: 6TH ANNUAL DISTINGUISHED SPEAKER SERIES
Wednesday, March 14 at 10 am
Weston Auditorium
Dr. Robert Marzano presents: The Art & Science of Teaching
Robert J. Marzano, PhD, is cofounder and CEO of Marzano Research Laboratory. In his foundational book The Art and Science of Teaching, Dr. Marzano highlights well-researched practices educators use to be truly effective and realize gains in student achievement. Learn which strategies make the most difference in the classroom and how and when to use them in this all day workshop.
NATALIE MACMASTER
Wednesday, March 21 at 7 pm
Weston Auditorium
Order tickets online: $32/$32/$10 (all sales final)
Captivating and commanding, with fingers flying over the strings of her fiddle, voice soaring and feet tapping, Natalie MacMaster is unquestionably the most well-known
of the cadre of Cape Breton artists. While mastering the music of her childhood—Scottish reels, jigs, marches, airs and strathspeys—she has garnered numerous awards and accolades from Junos to "Fiddler of the Year." Extend your St. Patrick’s Day celebrations to include this fiddling superstar and sweetheart.
Co-sponsored by
Media partner
CROSSING BORDERS
Sunday, March 25 at 4 pm
Ellis White Lecture Hall (Campus Center)
Arnd Witcher’s 70-minute documentary follows four Moroccan and four American university students as they travel together through Morocco. With humor, honesty and frank discussions, the students confront the complex implications of the supposed “clash of civilizations” between Islam and the West; and in the process of discovering “the other”, discover themselves. The relationships formed through shared experiences contrast sharply with the media-shaped views Americans and Muslims have of each other.
Tickets- students free; $5/adults
All proceeds to support the Study Abroad Scholarship program of Fitchburg State University
Sponsored by the Office of International Education of Fitchburg State University
"HEALTH, CONFLICT AND CLIMATE CHANGE"
Monday, March 26 at 3:30-5:00 PM
Reception at 3:00 PM
President’s Hall at the Mazzaferro Center
Fitchburg State University
Fitchburg State University Center for Conflict Studies and the International Studies Minor Program present: Dr. Aaron Bernstein, Associate Director of the Center for Health and the Global Environment, Harvard Medical School
On “Health, Conflict, and Climate Change”
Keynote Address as part of the Conflict and International Studies Keynote Lecture Series
Aaron Bernstein is the Associate Director of the Center for Health and the Global Environment at Harvard Medical School and a pediatric hospitalist at Children’s Hospital Boston. Dr. Bernstein’s work examines the human health effects of global environmental changes, such as climate change and the loss of biodiversity, with the aim of promoting a deeper understanding of these subjects among students, educators, policy makers, and the public.
ITALIAN BOOK CLUB: DARK WATER
Wednesday, March 28 at 6:30 pm
Center for Italian Culture (4th floor)
Amelia V. Gallucci-Cirio Library
Dark Water: Art, Disaster, and Redemption in Florence is Robert Clarks’ account of the 1966 flood that ravaged Florence, Italy. The book folds stories from those who responded to save the art into the tales of the disastrous event. And during the 40th anniversary commemorations of 2006 the author asks himself why art matters so very much to us, and how beauty seems to somehow save the world even in the face of overwhelming disaster.
Admission: free
SAGAPOOL
Saturday, March 31 at 4 pm and 8 pm
Weston Auditorium
Order Tickets online: $15/$12/$5 (all sales final)
How to capture and define theSagapool sound. Nu-Jazz. Jam Band. Acoustic. Joyful and cinematographic music; an idiosyncratic sound that wraps gypsy swing, jazz and klezmer in with touches of ska, Latin and folk rhythms. This is music at an intersection of exuberant creativity and blazing virtuosity composed by each of the musicians on stage. Sagapool won Best Instrumental album at the 2008 Canadian Folk Music Award.
Co-sponsored by
With support from the Government du Quebec
ARSENIC & ODD LACE
-
Tuesday, March 27 and Wednesday, March 28 at 6 pm (preview);
-
Thursday, March 29 – Saturday, March 31 at 7:30 pm;
-
Sunday, April 1 at 2 pm
McKay Theater
Admission will be free to the public.
Fitchburg State speakers series
Monday, April 2 at 12:30 pm
The Center for Teaching & Learning (Hammond Campus Center)
David Svolba (Philosophy) presents, “Two Accounts of the Wrongness of Killing.”
Trials of "the Sandwich Generation"
Wednesday, April 4 at 6:30 pm
Kent Recital Hall (Conlon Fine Arts Building)
367 North St.
The struggles of the so-called "sandwich generation," who must balance raising children, caring for their aging parents and their own work lives will be explored at free seminars this spring sponsored by the Coalition for Communication and Intercultural Leadership, Fitchburg State University and Mount Wachusett Community College. According to the Pew Research Center, over one in every eight Americans aged 40 to 60 is both raising a child and caring for a parent. In addition, between 7 to 10 million adults are caring for their aging parents from a long distance. This discussion about how to manage the demands of caring for children and aging parents will include a panel of experts who will share insights, ideas and practical advice on meeting this growing challenge.
Featured speakers include Mary Ellen Bartlett, RN, parish nurse at St. Michael's Parish in Hudson; Dr. John Chetro-Szivos, professor of communications media at Fitchburg State University; Robin Frkal, FLMI, ALHC, MSPC, assistant vice president at UNUM Corporation; Margaret Jaillet, assistant dean at the School of Health Sciences and Community Service at Mount Wachusett Community College; and Dr. Maryann Kane, professor of early childhood education at Mount Wachusett Community College.
Attendees are asked to RSVP to gluo@student.fitchburgstate.edu or to call Taryn Holley at 978-665-3675. Certificates and professional development points are available.
The program is supported by the Douglas and Isabelle Crocker Center for Civic Engagement at Fitchburg State University and the Center for Civic Learning and Community Engagement at Mount Wachusett Community College.
GRAPHIC DESIGN LECTURE SERIES
Featured Designer: Richard Doubleday
Thursday, April 5 at 3:30 pm
Condike Science Lecture Hall
A free lecture series featuring award-winning designers who have helped shape and articulate how graphic design defines our culture continues next month when the Communications Media Department at Fitchburg State University welcomes its next speaker. The Graphic Design Lecture Series will present Richard Doubleday, assistant professor at the School of Visual Arts at Boston University, who will discuss "Cultural Identity in Graphic Design" at 3:30 p.m. Thursday, April 5 at in the Condike Science Lecture Hall. Doubleday is the author of Jan Tschichold, Designer: The Penguin Years and co-author of Jan Tschichold - Master Typographer. His presentation will include a discussion of how he has exchanged European and Asian icons to make new icon and identity designs, bridging language barriers and investigating the influences that different cultures can have upon symbol systems. Doubleday taught workshops in London, England and Nanjing, China, where students used icons from Boston and their own cities to create beautiful, one-of-a-kind artist books that explored cultural identities.
The series concludes in May with Alston Purvis, chairman of the Graphic Design Department at the School of Visual Arts at Boston University. Purvis, an author of many highly respected books on design history and the editor of Meggs' History of Graphic Design, will present "Dutch Poster Design: A Century of Innovation" on Thursday, May 3, at 3:30 p.m. in the Condike Science Lecture Hall. The talk will address the unique influence of Dutch poster design over the last 100 years.
The series opened in March with a talk by Clifford Stoltze, the principal and creative director of Stoltze Design in Boston. His presentation included a survey of over 40 years of high notes in design for music featuring favorites from Stoltze's own LP, CD and poster collections as well as some of Stoltze Design's own projects for the music industry.
The lecture series is supported by the Ruth Butler Grant at Fitchburg State University.
THE LENTICULAR IMAGE: POLITICS, POP-CULTURE, & POPCORN
Confronting the Towers (Not a Memorial)
Lenticular panels and stainless steel sculpture.
In advent of The Lenticular Image exhibition Rich Cutrona and Kate Farrington installed the only known sculpture to combine lenticular images and stainless steel frames. This piece of public art will reside in the pedestrian plaza throughout the winter. The artists encourage viewers to share their comments and reactions tocenterstage@fitchburgstate.edu.
Jan. 25 – April 10
|
 |
| Life Sentence |
- Stereoscopic and 3D images have been the subject of wonder and intrigue for centuries. From political-campaign buttons to Cracker Jack prizes, the lenticular image has been a fixture in American visual culture for generations.
- Today, modern technology has made these techniques more accessible to the independent fine artist than ever before.
- Using a combination of digital illustration and photomontage, Richard Cutrona creates digitally interlaced prints that are aligned and laminated to lenticular material.
- The resulting images are an exploration of post-9/11 American media culture that address issues ranging from the war in Afghanistan to the environmental crisis in the Gulf of Mexico.
- This exhibition also includes an extraordinary piece of lenticular sculpture that Cutrona created in collaboration with Kate Farrington. It is located outside the building in the pedestrian plaza.
Admission: free
ASL interpreters will be provided for the gallery talk.
L’ITALIA LIBERATA: MEDITERRANEO
Thursday, April 12 at 3:30 and 7 PM
Ellis White Lecture Hall
(Hammond Campus Center)
This is the tale of melodramatic and romantic adventures of a small band of Italian soldiers stranded on a island at the end of World War II. Cut off from all communication with Italy they first join the Greek natives and enjoy life, but then must choose between repatriation and the struggle of rebuilding their lives in war-ravaged Italy or remaining on their island paradise. The film raises intriguing questions about national identity and the challenges of life in post-Mussolini Italy. Directed by Gabriele Salvatores and starring Claudio Bigagli, the film was nominated for Best Foreign Language Oscar in 1991.
Tickets: $15/series pass; $7/adults; $5/students (at the door)
A VENETIAN CULINARY DELIGHT
Thursday, April 19 & Friday, April 20 at 6:30 pm
The Fay Club, Main Street
The Republic of Venice was a seafaring empire that brought spices, jewels and all kinds of foods from around the world to its capital city. The Adriatic Sea provided the Republic with an abundance of fish and seafood. Venice also had local territory with rivers, farms with villas, and deep forests that provided all kinds of foods of the land to be combined with the exotic flavors from elsewhere. The result was a cuisine like nowhere else—not even in Italy—and renowned author and gourmand Fred Plotkin has planned a Venetian menu for you. With this delightful repast come fascinating stories of the world's most singular city.
For tickets:
Weston Box Office is open Wednesday – Friday from 12:30 -3:30 pm
call 978.665.3347
or buy online.
Reservations required.
Tickets: $30 inclusive
Mr. Plotkin’s talk is sponsored by the Sandro and Lillian Clementi Lecture Fund of Fitchburg State University
SPRING DANCE CLUB SHOWS
Thursday, April 19 at 7 pm
Saturday, April 21 at 4 pm
Weston Auditorium
Presenting the 30th annual spring dance show!
The Dance Club—the largest club on campus with more than 200 members—brings a dynamic and diverse show featuring selections from tap I and tap II; jazz I, II and III; lyrical I, II, and III; hip hop I and advanced hip hop; modern; contemporary; theatrical/Broadway; street/urban; contemporary ballet; jazz funk; Irish step; video/pop; reggae; techno; African; and Latin.
Tickets: $5/general public & students (at the Hammond Center Info Desk)
An Evening with Groucho
Saturday, April 28 at 8 pm
Weston Auditorium
Order Tickets online: $25/$22/$7 (all sales final)
Picture Groucho Marx: his greasepaint mustache, hand-in-the-crook-of-his-back swagger, ever-present cigar and rapid-fire delivery of innuendo-laden patter in full force on the Weston stage. In this fast paced 90-minutes of hilarity, award-winning actor/director/playwright Frank Ferrante recreates his PBS, New York and London acclaimed portrayal of the youngest Marx brother whose legendary career spanned vaudeville, radio, television and film.
Co-sponsored by
Media partner
The Wave
Monday, April 30 at 3:30 PM
Ellis White Lecture Hall
As its final event of the semester, the Center for Conflict Studies is sponsoring a film screening of the German film The Wave. When his high school students say that fascism could never return to Germany, a high school teacher develops a class experiment which calls that optimism into question. The film will be shown in Ellis White on Monday April 30th from 3:30-5:30, with discussion to follow by Eric N. Budd, PhD Professor for Dept. of Economics, History & Political Science.
The Wave
To give his high school students a real-world example of how dictatorships can get too powerful, a high school teacher starts a social experiment that gives some of his students strong advantages while leaving others subservient & powerless.
SPRING ENSEMBLE CONCERT
Wednesday, May 2 at 7:30 pm
Weston Auditorium
Admission- free
Fitchburg State University Jazz Band and Concert Band present an array of instrumental music. All are welcome to attend.
Fitchburg State SPEAKERS SERIES
Monday, May 7 at 12:30 pm
The Center for Teaching & Learning (Hammond Campus Center)
GL Mazard Wallace (Sociology) presents, “Disability, Organization, and Embodiment in Cape Town, South Africa.”
Spring Choral Concert
Monday, May 7 at 7:30 pm
Weston Auditorium
Admission- free
The Choral Arts students of Fitchburg State University present a concert under the direction of a guest director. All are welcome to attend.
The Asian Culture Show
Wednesday, May 9 at 7:00 PM
Weston Auditorium
The Asian Culture Society will showcase different Asian cultural performances, starring the club members themselves and other talented students at the university. The Asian Culture show comprises of around 13 acts of that incorporate various Asian Culture that include: Hmong, Japanese, Tibet, China, and Korea. The show includes, great musical performances by student members of the orchestra, members of ACS doing Korean Pop dance and traditional ribbon dancing. Great orchestra accompaniment with powerful voices from Merry carol Yumi Bruso, Jill Bailey, and Kia Yang. Feel the experience of different Asian cultures in this captivating show. The show features music veterans: New England Piano Trio: Kristjon Imperio, piano, Peter Hughes, violin, Ning Tien, cello.
Come to support and watch:
-Ping Pong (Matrix style)
-Chinese traditional dance
-Martial art demos
-Orchestral pieces by Hisashi, Yiruma, and Uematsu
-Korean pop dances by Wonder Girls, 2ne1, and After School
-Traditional Asian music sung in Japanese, Chinese, and Hmong
-Music from Final Fantasy VII, Hayao Miyazaki, Old Boy, and more!!!
-Surprise performance: Slumdog Millionaire
Tickets:
Students, alumni, and faculty (or with OneCard) - $3
General public - $5
All proceeds will go to the Asia Foundation: www.asiafoundation.org
For more information, contact fitchburgacs@gmail.com
Like our FB club page: https://www.facebook.com/groups/77985610845/
