In Brief: April 6
BGSU hosts Phi Beta Kappa Visiting Scholar
David SchmidtzThe University will host David Schmidtz, a 2014-15 Phi Beta Kappa Society Visiting Scholar.
His lecture, “Society Is Not a Race,” is scheduled at 5 p.m. April 9 in 115 Olscamp Hall. In addition to the public lecture, Schmidtz also will meet informally with students and faculty members, and participate in classroom discussions and seminars.
Schmidtz is the Kendrick Professor of Philosophy at the University of Arizona. He also has appointments in economics and in the McGuire Center for Entrepreneurship, and is founding director of Arizona’s Center for Philosophy of Freedom. For the fall of 2014, he was named the John Stuart Mill Professor at the University of Hamburg.
He works in ethics, environmental philosophy and rational choice. In his main field, political philosophy, the University of Arizona is ranked as the No. 1 graduate program in the world. His students have published articles in the Journal of Philosophy and Ethics, and the Oxford and Princeton University presses have published their books. He is editor-in-chief of Social Philosophy and Policy, published by Cambridge University Press.
He is the author of “Rational Choice and Moral Agency,” “Elements of Justice” and “Person, Polis, Planet,” the coauthor of “Social Welfare and Individual Responsibility,” “Brief History of Liberty” and “Markets in Education,” and co-editor of “Environmental Ethics: What Really Matters, What Really Works.”
The Phi Beta Kappa Visiting Scholar presentation is part of the BGUS College of Arts and Sciences Dean’s Lecture.
Since 1956, the Phi Beta Kappa Society’s Visiting Scholar Program has offered undergraduate students the opportunity to spend time with some of America’s most distinguished scholars, contributing to the intellectual life of the institution by making possible an exchange of ideas between the visiting scholar, the resident faculty and students. Now in its 59th year, the program has sent 623 scholars on 5,092 two-day visits.
Jon Cowherd brings his Mercy Project to Festival Series stage
The Festival Series concludes its 2014-15 season on a high note with renowned jazz artist Jon Cowherd and his Mercy Project. The concert takes place at 8 p.m. Saturday (April 11) in Kobacker Hall at the Moore Musical Arts Center.
The performance will feature Brian Blade on drums, Steve Cardenas on guitar, and Tony Scherr on bass in music from Cowherd’s recent album, “Mercy,” which features 11 original compositions.
Cowherd’s impressive resume dates back many years to when Cowherd, a Kentucky native, formed a performing and composing partnership with Loyola classmate Brian Blade, featuring Cowherd on piano and Blade on drums. They formed the Brian Blade Fellowship, which went on to release several albums. Cowherd has gained fame through his exceptional keyboard and compositional skills, which have catapulted him to success and established him as one of jazz’s most accomplished and in-demand musicians.
Though his recent decision to release a solo album was difficult, he said, he attributes his confidence to Jeff Goldstein, with whom he studied classical piano from 2001-09.
In addition to creating his own music, Cowherd has been featured as a producer on a wide variety of projects with artists including Lizz Wright, Alyssa Graham and The Local NYC. Artists such as Rosanne Cash, Iggy Pop, Marc Cohn, Mark Olson and Victoria Williams have featured Cowherd’s instrumental work on their albums. Cowherd recently served as a co-musical director and keyboardist for the all-star Joni Jazz Concert at the Hollywood Bowl, in honor of Joni Mitchell.
Tickets for the Festival Series performance are $20 for the public and $5 for BGSU students. Purchase tickets online or by call the Arts Box Office at 419-372-8171.
‘Love and Whiskey’ looks at Depression-era women’s lives
BGSU Firelands College Theatre finishes its 47th season this week with the world-premiere presentation of “Love and Whiskey,” by Allyson Currin.
Based on the Depression-era diaries kept by the playwright’s grandmother Lucy Mae, “Love and Whiskey” chronicles the journey of the last unmarried daughter of the Knott clan and caretaker of an ill family member. As she balances the demands at home with her own unfulfilled desires and thwarted dreams, she struggles to define her independence and find her ultimately triumphant way in a world that provides few options for women without means.
Currin is an award-winning playwright living in Washington, D.C., and teaching at George Washington University. She is the author of more than 20 plays and has twice been nominated for the Helen Hayes MacArthur Award for Outstanding New Play. She has also been singled out for numerous honors from the Washington Theatre Festival of New Plays.
“Love and Whiskey” was developed through Charter Theatre Company and the Shenandoah International Playwrights Retreat at the Hamner Theatre in Virginia. The Firelands production is the world premiere of the fully staged production.
The ensemble cast comprises students and community members and is produced by Firelands theatre instructor Grechen Lynne Wingerter.
Performances are scheduled for 7:30 p.m. Thursday (April 9), Friday (April 10) and Saturday (April 11), and at 2 p.m. Saturday and Sunday (April 12) in BGSU Firelands’ McBride Auditorium at One University Drive. The 2 p.m. Saturday performance is a “Pay-What-You-Can” performance, and tickets are only available at the door.
Tickets for the remainder of the performances are available to purchase from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Monday through Friday through the Sandusky State Theatre Box Office. Call 419-626-1950 or visit the website to reserve seats.
Regular admissions are $14 for adults, $12 for senior citizens and BGSU Firelands faculty/staff, $10 for children under 17, and $6 for BGSU Firelands students. Groups of 15 or more are $10 per person.
For more information, contact Wingerter at 419-372-0868 or grechlw@bgsu.edu.
Updated: 12/02/2017 12:43AM