Willamette University Events Focus on Global Warming

Focus the Nation, a nationwide conversation dedicated to finding solutions to global climate change, will take place Thursday, Jan. 31, at more than 1,200 colleges and universities across the nation. Willamette University will host a free day-long symposium and a free concert. The community is invited.

Joint Chiefs of Staff, a regional band, will kick off the event with a free concert Wednesday, Jan. 30, at 8 p.m. in Smith Auditorium. Willamette has invited students and community members to produce an accompanying music video for the original song, "Oceans Rising," by singer/songwriter Kristen Grainger, who serves as Willamette’s vice president. Winning videos will be shown at the concert.

Beginning Thursday, Jan. 31, the eight panel sessions are:

--- "Local and National Responses to Global Climate Change," 8 to 9:30 a.m., Montag Center. Panel moderator is Joe Bowersox, Dempsey Chair in Environmental Policy and Politics.

--- "Health Effects and Behavioral Solutions to Climate Change," 9:40 to 11:10 a.m., Alumni Lounge, University Center. Panel moderator is psychology Professor Sue Koger.

--- "Economic Incentives to Address Climate Change," 9:40 to 11:10 a.m., Montag Center. Panel moderator is economics Professor Don Negri.

--- "Tomorrow’s Global Citizens: Education and the Challenge of Global Climate Change," 11:30 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. in Cone Chapel, Waller Hall. The convocation will be moderated by Professor Neil Liss, School of Education.

--- "The Role of Law and Policy in Addressing Climate Change," 12:50 to 2:20 p.m., Alumni Lounge, University Center. Panel moderator is law Professor Susan Smith.

--- "Faith and Climate Change," also from 12:50 to 2:20 p.m., Montag Center. The Rev. Karen Wood, associate chaplain for vocational exploration and director of the Lilly Project at Willamette, will moderate.

--- "Private Sector Contributions to Sustainability," 2:30 to 4 p.m., Montag Center. Elliot Maltz, professor of marketing at the Atkinson Graduate School of Management, will moderate.

--- A Willamette University student panel, 2:30 to 4 p.m., Alumni Lounge, will provide the closing discussion.

Visiting panelists include Michael Grainey, Oregon Department of Energy; Tim Stumhofer, Climate Clean; Regina Hauser, Oregon Natural Step Network; Bruce Hamilton, PPM Energy; Geoff Huntington, Sustain; Professor Paul Thiers, Washington State University, Vancouver; The Rev. Gail McDougal, First Congregational Church; Dave Aston, Port of Portland; Dr. Ernie Neimi, ECONorthwest; Steve Novick, candidate for U.S. Senate; Jon Yoder, Salem-Keizer Public Schools; Gail Achtermann, Oregon State University Institute of Natural Resources; Maggie Langlas, U.S. Department of the Interior, BLM; Rabbi David Kominsky, Temple Beth Sholom, Salem.

Focus the Nation is the brainchild of Lewis and Clark College Professor Eban Goodstein, who wrote “Fighting for Love in the Century of Extinction: How Passion and Politics Can Stop Global Warming.”

It is Goodstein’s belief that university professors will fail as educators unless they prepare students for the challenge of climate change.

For more information visit www.willamette.edu/about/sustainability/focusthenation/schedule.htm, www.focusthenation.org or www.willamette.edu/about/sustainability/contest/song.htm.

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Museum Features Native American Painter

An exhibition of work by James Lavadour, a Native American painter and printmaker known for his exploration of landscape as both inspiration and subject, will be on display Feb. 2 through March 30 at the Hallie Ford Museum of Art at Willamette University.

James Lavadour: The Properties of Paint, organized by anthropology Professor Rebecca Dobkins, faculty curator of Native American art at the museum, examines the conceptual layers underlying Lavadour’s work of the past eight years. Since 2000, Lavadour has focused intensely on the properties of paint, creating works he describes as the intersections between his better-known landscapes and his lesser-known architectural structures.

The exhibition includes 12 works drawn from regional and national collections and will be accompanied by a full-color brochure. Once the exhibition closes in Salem, it will be displayed at the Tamastslikt Cultural Institute near Pendleton, Ore., from April 10 through June 10, and the Schneider Museum of Art at Southern Oregon University in Ashland, Ore., from July 10 through Sept. 13.

A free forum and symposium are planned in Salem. The forum, “Art/Culture/Homeland: Voices from the Umatilla Reservation,” is Feb. 1 from 4 to 6 p.m. in Hudson Hall at Willamette and is part of the Indian Country Conversations series. It will introduce the Umatilla Indian Reservation in northeastern Oregon, which is the home and inspiration for Lavadour, and address the tribes’ philosophy and strategies for sustainable community development.

Participants include Lavadour, founder of the Crow’s Shadow Institute of the Arts on the reservation; Roberta “Bobbie” Conner, director of the Tamastslikt Cultural Institute; Antone Minthorn, chairman of the board of trustees for the Confederated Tribes of the Umatilla Indian Reservation (CTUIR); and Donald Sampson, executive director of CTUIR. An opening reception at the museum will follow the forum.

The free symposium, “The Properties of Paint,” is March 13 from 6:30 to 8:30 p.m. in the Roger Hull Lecture Hall at the museum. The event will bring artists and scientists together to discuss the material and philosophical properties of paint and the interconnections between art, geology, the environment, physics and human creativity. Participants include Lavadour and Willamette faculty members.

James Lavadour: The Properties of Paint is supported by an endowment gift from The Confederated Tribes of Grand Ronde through the Spirit Mountain Community Fund. Additional support was provided by grants from the City of Salem’s Transient Occupancy Tax funds and the Oregon Arts Commission.

The Hallie Ford Museum of Art is located at 700 State St. (corner of State and Cottage streets) in downtown Salem near the campus of Willamette University. Hours are Tuesday through Saturday from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. and Sunday from 1 to 5 p.m. The galleries are closed Monday. Admission is $3 for adults and $2 for seniors and students. Children younger than 12 are admitted free, and Tuesday is an admission-free day. For more information, call (503) 370-6855 or visit www.willamette.edu/museum_of_art.

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Distinguished African Art Scholar Visits Willamette

Pamela McClusky, one of the foremost African art historians in the country, will deliver a free lecture on Yoruba art and thought at 7 p.m. Jan. 31 in the Paulus Lecture Hall at the Willamette University College of Law.

The lecture is in conjunction with the Hallie Ford Museum of Art exhibition Yoruba Sculpture: Selections from the Mary Johnston Collection, on display through March 16. The exhibition features ritual objects from the Yoruba people of West Africa.

According to McClusky, Yoruba art is filled with ashe, or “the power to make things happen.” In performances, masqueraders called Egungun, or “beings from beyond,” enact movements that no one can explain. Gelede masks are worn to enact parodies of different personalities. In sculpture, the Yoruba depict a wide array of deities that are akin to those of the ancient Greeks. In her lecture, McClusky will discuss these traditions and describe how Yoruba rituals still thrive in Western Nigeria as well as Brazil, the Caribbean, London and even New York.

McClusky has published extensively about African art and has organized numerous exhibitions on the topic. While a graduate student at the University of Washington, she discovered African art in the basement of the Seattle Art Museum and convinced the director to place the collection on view. In 1980, she helped establish the Department of African and Oceanic Art at the museum, and she has served as its curator since 1996. She also established a series of permanent galleries to house the Seattle Art Museum’s collections of African and Australian Aboriginal art.

The Hallie Ford Museum of Art is located at 700 State St. (corner of State and Cottage streets) in downtown Salem near the campus of Willamette University. Hours are Tuesday through Saturday from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. and Sunday from 1 to 5 p.m. The galleries are closed Monday. Admission is $3 for adults and $2 for seniors and students. Children younger than 12 are admitted free, and Tuesday is an admission-free day. For more information, call (503) 370-6855 or visit www.willamette.edu/museum_of_art.

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Community Invited to Celebrate Martin Luther King Jr.

Willamette University will host a week of public events in January to honor the life and works of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.

The first public event is the Stride Toward Freedom 5K Run/Walk at 9 a.m. Jan 19 on Brown Field. The cost is $15, and proceeds benefit the Fabric of Cultures: Performance & Lecture Series at the Salem Multicultural Institute. Registration is available online at www.active.com.

Willamette will host a free lecture featuring Jamie Washington at 7 p.m. Jan. 21 in Hudson Hall. The topic is “Our Work for the Next 40 Years: Realizing the Dream 2048.” Washington is president and founder of the Washington Consulting Group, a multicultural organizational development firm in Baltimore, Md. He is a founding faculty member of the Social Justice Training Institute, a diversity development program for professionals.

A free civil rights film series will be available Jan. 22–24 in Montag Den. The series opens Jan. 22 with “Strange Fruit,” which explores the history and legacy of a song that portrays the lynching of a black man in the American South. “The Beloved Community,” shown Jan. 23, is about a city near Detroit struggling with a toxic petrochemical industry that could be leading to problems with women’s pregnancies. The series ends Jan. 24 with “Coffee Date,” which uses comedy to raise awareness of gay stereotypes. All films begin at 7 p.m. and are followed by discussions.

Also on Jan. 24 is a free showing of “Spirit to Spirit: Nikki Giovanni” at 11:30 a.m. in Cone Chapel. The film highlights the life and work of world-renowned poet and activist Giovanni, who was once crowned “The Princess of Black Poetry.”

The week culminates with an MLK celebration featuring Nikki Giovanni and the Rainbow Dance Theatre at 7:30 p.m. Jan. 25 in Smith Auditorium. The theme is “Truth is on its Way.” Tickets are $5 each, with a limit of four per person, and are available beginning at 9 a.m. Jan. 21 at the University Center Information Desk.

For information about any of these events, call (503) 370-6265 or visit www.willamette.edu/go/mlk.

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Poet, Dance Troupe to Perform at Martin Luther King Jr. Event

World-renowned poet and activist Nikki Giovanni and Rainbow Dance Theatre are the featured performers at Willamette University’s Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. celebration.

The event is at 7:30 p.m. Jan. 25 in Smith Auditorium. Tickets are $5, with a limit of four per person, and are available beginning at 9 a.m. Jan. 21 at the University Center Information Desk. The theme of the event is “Truth is on its Way.”

Giovanni is a widely read American poet, commentator, activist and educator who has authored some 30 books for both adults and children. She prides herself on being “a black American, a daughter, a mother, a professor of English,” and she is known for her outspokenness and long-time commitment to the fight for civil rights and equality. She is a University Distinguished Professor at Virginia Tech.

Rainbow Dance Theatre gets its name from its roots in Hawaii, the “land of rainbows,” as well as from the ethnic diversity of its company members and the diverse cultural influences in its choreography. The company’s virtuosic style fuses West African dance, Haitian dance, hip-hop, martial arts and American modern dance with computer animation and aerial choreography.

For more information, call the Office of Multicultural Affairs at (503) 370-6265 or go to www.willamette.edu/go/mlk.

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Willamette Ranks Third Among Peace Corps' Top Producers

Willamette University ranks No. 3 on the Peace Corps’ top 25 list of small undergraduate schools producing Peace Corps volunteers, moving up six spots from last year.

With 27 alumni serving as Peace Corps volunteers, Willamette ranks behind only the University of Chicago and Gonzaga University among colleges and universities with fewer than 5,000 undergraduates.

Since the Peace Corps’ inception in 1961, 275 Willamette alumni have joined its ranks, making Willamette one of the Peace Corps’ top 200 all-time producers of volunteers in a list of nearly 3,000 schools of all sizes.

To read more about the rankings, visit http://www.peacecorps.gov/index.cfm?shell=resources.media.press.view&news_id=1291.

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West African Sculpture Featured at Museum

An exhibition of ritual objects found among the Yoruba people of West Africa opens Jan. 19 and is on display until March 16 at the Hallie Ford Museum of Art at Willamette University.

Organized by museum Director John Olbrantz, Yoruba Sculpture: Selections from the Mary Johnston Collection features 24 objects on loan from Johnston’s collection in Florence, Ore.

Special events connected to the exhibition include a free lecture and a film showing. Pam McClusky, curator of African and Oceanic art at the Seattle Art Museum, will give a free lecture on Yoruba sculpture Jan. 31 at 7 p.m. in the Paulus Lecture Hall at the College of Law. An evening of free films on Yoruba art and culture is scheduled for Feb. 7 at 7 p.m. in the Roger Hull Lecture Hall at the museum.

The exhibition includes masks worn in various festivals and rituals, such as the Gelede and Egungun ceremonies; cult figures made of bronze and wood, including Shango wands and Ibeji figures; Dun Dun drums used in different ceremonies; an elaborately carved 8-foot house post; a king’s beaded crown; and an Egungun masquerade costume.

Mary Johnston, who holds degrees from the University of Oregon in anthropology and psychology, inherited the collection from her brother, who acquired it in Berlin, Germany in the early 1970s. She has devoted the past 20 years to studying the pieces.

Yoruba Sculpture: Selections from the Mary Johnston Collection has been supported in part by grants from the City of Salem’s Transient Occupancy Tax and the Oregon Arts Commission.

The Hallie Ford Museum of Art is located at 700 State St. (corner of State and Cottage streets) in downtown Salem near the campus of Willamette University. Hours are Tuesday through Saturday from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. and Sunday from 1 to 5 p.m. The galleries are closed Monday. Admission is $3 for adults and $2 for seniors and students. Children younger than 12 are admitted free, and Tuesday is an admission-free day. For more information, call (503) 370-6855 or visit www.willamette.edu/museum_of_art.

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New Music at Willamette presents free winter concert

SALEM, Ore. — New Music at Willamette will present a free winter concert featuring violinist Rolf Schulte and pianist Stephen Gosling Monday, Jan. 28, at 7 p.m. in Hudson Hall at Willamette University.

According to The New Yorker, Schulte is “one of the most distinguished violinists of our day,” while The New York Times said the contemporary virtuoso is “explosive, venturesome and thrilling.” Schulte has premiered the works of numerous prominent composers.

The New York Times hailed Gosling’s piano playing as “electric” and “luminous.” The Washington Post says he possesses “utter clarity and conviction.” Gosling is a member of both Ensemble Sospeso and the New York New Music Ensemble.

The performance features the music of Elliott Carter, recognized as one of the primary innovators of 20th-century music. He has received two Pulitzer Prizes for rhythmically complex music that explores tempo relationships and texture, and was hailed by Aaron Copland as “one of America’s most distinguished creative artists.” The concert also includes a work by Conlon Nancarrow, who focused much of his energy on writing music for the player piano.

Schulte will lead a master class and composer reading-session for student performers and composers Tuesday, Jan. 29, at 11:30 a.m. in Hudson Hall. This event is free and open to the public. For information contact the Willamette music department at (503) 370-6255.

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Willamette University MBA Named a ‘Best Business School’ by the Princeton Review

The Willamette University MBA is among the Princeton Review’s “Best 290 Business Schools” for the fourth year in a row. All 290 schools are profiled on the Princeton Review’s website and listed in the publication in alphabetical order.

The Princeton Review compiled the survey based on school–reported data and information from 19,000 business students around the world. The survey asked students and alumni about their school’s academics, student body and student life. Respondents were also asked to rate their personal experience and career plans.

“Inclusion in the Princeton Review’s publication demonstrates the Willamette MBA’s reputation on an international scale,” said Interim Dean Debra Ringold. “It shows that our alumni and students are pleased with their Willamette degrees and are successful in their careers.”

For more information on Willamette University’s MBA program options visit www.willamette.edu/mba.

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