Currents

In Brief

Looking for rare books?

The Department of Rare Books and Special Collections will be closed to the public from Wednesday, March 5, through Wednesday, March 12. New carpet will be installed in the area at that time.

Plutzik features Barrett

Local author Andrea Barrett, whose latest book, Ship Fever, won the 1996 National Book Award for fiction, will give a reading in the Plutzik Memorial Poetry Series Thursday, February 27, at the University. The reading will take place at 8 p.m. in the Welle s- Browne Room of Rush Rhees Library. Admission is free and open to all.

Barrett also is the author of Lucid Stars, Secret Harmonies; The Middle Kingdom, and Forms of Water.

For more information, call x5-4092.

Microbiology camp

The Summer Microbiology Academy is seeking high school students with an interest in the biological sciences to take part in a four-week summer program. The program will meet from July 21 through August 15 and will enroll 40 students. Tuition is $750; a limited number of scholarships are available. The program involves guided and independent lab projects, discussion workshops, computer labs, seminars, and field trips.

For information, call x5-8056 or e-mail dinamarkow@aol.com.

River Campus music

The 100-member University of Rochester Symphony Orchestra will perform the third concert of its 1996-97 season at 8 p.m., Saturday, March 1, in Strong Auditorium.

The program, conducted by David Harman, will feature Wagner's Siegfried's Rheinfahrt, Bizet's L'Arlésienne, Suite I, and Peter Warlock's Capriol Suite. The concert also will include Ravel's orchestration of Mussorgsky's Pictures at an Exhibition.

Admission is free. For more information, call x5-2828, or visit the web site at http://www.rochester.edu/College/Music/ursourco/.

Religion and women in North Africa

The impact of the political aspects of religion on North African women is the focus of a conference to be held at the University on February 28 and March 1.

The Politics of Religion in North Africa: the Case of Women, will be held in Room 301, Schlegel Hall. The public is invited to attend.

Julia Clancy-Smith, a University of Arizona professor, will talk from 1:30 to 3 p.m. February 28 about citizenship and sexuality in French Algeria. From 3:30 to 5 p.m. the same day, Norma Moruzzi will discuss Feminist Attitudes Toward Female Circumcision: a Cultural Problem. Moruzzi is on the faculty of the University of Illinois at Chicago.

Laila Moustafa, executive director of the El Nadim Center's Violence Against Women Program at Cairo University, will speak Saturday, March 1, from 10:30 a.m. to noon, on An Egyptian Woman's Challenge and Defense of Human Rights Under Islamic Law.

For more information, call x5-8318 or e-mail mslf@db1.cc.rochester.edu.

British cinema

British filmmaker Isaac Julien will showcase Displacement and Time in New British Cinema: The Black Diaspora, a suite of five films he recently curated for the Institute of Contemporary Art in Boston.

The program will take place at 7 p.m. on Friday, February 28, in Room 201, Lattimore Hall. Admission is free and open to the community.

The program will feature five short films that explore the city as the primary site of exchange, communication, identity, and history. They represent a new departure in modern British black/diaspora film and culture, while challenging the notion of cultural identity in a strict nationalist sense. The films are Lati fah and Himli's Nomadic Uncle, Alnoor Dewshi; The Whites of Their Eyes, Jess Hall; The Third Woman, Mitra Tabrizian; The Body of a Poet: A Tribute to Audre Lorde, Sonali Fernando; and The Homecoming: A Film about Ajamu, Tropher Campbell.

Julien is known as one of the most provocative and politically uncompromising British filmmakers. Combining narrative, documentary, and performance, his films explore racial and sexual identities, with a focus on black gay desire.

Julien's latest work, Frantz Fanon: Black Skin, White Mask, will be screened at the Dryden Theater on Saturday, March 1, at 8 p.m.

For more information, call x5-9249.

Crisis in public health

A community discussion on African Americans, Latinos(as) and AIDS: A Crisis in Public Health will take place on Wednesday, February 19, from 7:30 to 10 p.m., in the May Room of Wilson Commons.

Free and open to the community, the discussion will focus on the impact of HIV/AIDS in the black and brown communities of the United States. It will also touch on the status of ideas and resources for prevention and care, the reality of discrimination, and suggestions for community mobilization.

Slated to participate are Dr. Amneris Lukue, director of the AIDS Clinic at Strong Memorial Hospital; moderator Eloy J. Hernandez, a graduate student in the Department of Art and Art History; Maisha Enaharo, director of Rochester AIDS Prevention Project for Youth; and Rudy Rivera, director of the Action Front Center. Audience questions will be taken following the presentation.

For more information, call x5-7235.

Poe-sy

A leading scholar of the works and life of Edgar Allan Poe will talk about how artists and moviemakers have depicted Poe's stories, at 7:30 p.m., Tuesday, March 4, in Lander Auditorium of Hutchison Hall.

Burton R. Pollin, who recently retired from teaching English at the City University of New York, is one of the leading Poe scholars of his generation. He'll show how Poe is the most diversely and inten sively illustrated author aside from Shakespeare.

Pollin is general editor of the definitive critical edition of The Writings of Edgar Allan Poe. He also has published seven books and 120 articles on the author, including Images of Poe's Works: A Comprehensive Descriptive Catalogue of Illustrations.

Admission is free, and the community is invited to attend. For more information, call x5-4092.

Telling stories

Alicia Quintano, a storyteller and actress, will present Escape From Fosdick, an evening of humor and insight for men and women on the issues of power, food, sex, and identity, on March 3, at 8 p.m., in Hoyt Hall. Quintano's characters are contemporary and instantly recognizable. The subject matter is pertinent to anyone who has, is, or will struggle with issues of power or identity, while its execution will fulfill the hopes of those who'd like a good story and a hard laugh. The program is free of charge.

For more information, call x3-5775.

Project Eye Care

The Department of Ophthalmology's Project Eye Care provides free eye examinations to about 2,000 people a year in local homeless shelters, community centers, housing facilities for the elderly, and soup kitchens. Department residents, staff, faculty, and volunteers donate their time to provide this service. Through a partnership with LensCrafter, the uninsured clients with prescriptions receive glasses at no charge.

The program needs ongoing financial support, in the way of donations, to continue to maintain service. For more information, call x5-4499.

Creative Excellence Award

The multidisciplinary Human Values Cluster is sponsoring a Creative Excellence Award competition. The award will go to a University student who submits the best work in any medium--poetry, fiction, fine art, etc.--that deals with issues of human values in health care. The winner will receive $200 and a plaque. Submissions are due by April 11.

Copyright 1997, University of Rochester
Maintained by University Public Relations
Please send your comments and suggestions to: Public Relations.
Last updated 2-20-1997
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