Ten UK Scholars Awarded Gaines Fellowships
The Gaines Center for the Humanities has selected 10 new UK scholars from a diverse group of studies for the Gaines Fellowship Program. 7 of 10 new Gaines Fellows are A&S students!
American Studies at Shanghai University: Andy Doolen
With the help of a generous grant from the U.S. State Department, UK has been able to forge a partnership across the Pacific. On March 29th, 2012, three UK scholars will go to deliver lectures for the Inaugural Symposium for the American Studies Center at Shanghai.
Japanese Bluegrass Sound Comes to Kentucky
Tsugaru shamisen musicians Oyama x Nitta will present a concert at UK on April 1 as part of the Kentucky Cherry Blossom Festival. Yutaka Oyama and Masahiro Nitta are known for using the Tsugaru shamisen instrument to bring a modern sensibility to ancient, highly percussive folk music sometimes referred to as "Japanese bluegrass."
A&S Dean Mark Kornbluh Visits Jilin University in Changchun, China
Dean Kornbluh met with Jilin University's Vice President, students, and delivered talk to strengthen the partnership between the two universities.
Oyama and NItta Japanese Shamisen Performance
The Oyama and Nitta duo, known for their exquisite and powerful music performance with Tsugaru Shamisen (a banjo-like Japanese instrument), will come to the University of Kentucky’s Memorial Hall from Japan to hold a concert at 3 pm on Sunday, April 1. This is a kick-off event to celebrate the 100 year anniversary of the gift of cherry blossom trees from Japan to the US. Tickets for this concert are now available at the Student Center ticket office: http://getinvolved.uky.edu/TicketOffice/ticketInfo.html Tickets are $10 for the general audience and $5 for students. You can buy them by phone or in person at the student center.
You can watch their sample performance here. Download the flyer.
About the Artists
The Oyama x Nitta Duo is comprised of two of Japan’s foremost shamisen performers, Yutaka Oyama and Masahiro Nitta. Using a creative and innovative approach to the traditional sounds of the shamisen, the duo performs classic and original scores with virtuosic improvisations that display the versatility of the instrument. With roots in Aomori and Hokkaido respectively, Oyama and Nitta both began studying the shamisen at an early age and have won numerous tsugaru shamisen contests in Japan. Oyama x Nitta Duo performs regularly in Japan and abroad, delivering its unique sound to audiences throughout the world.
Yutaka Oyama, a third generation Tsugaru shamisen player of the Oyama school, hails from Aomori—the epicenter of rich folkloric music. Oyama is a two-time winner (2001, 2002) of the National Folkloric Music Association’s Tsugaru Shamisen Contest in Japan, and has visited many countries in Africa, Europe, and Asia as part of cultural exchange programs of the Japan Foundation which contribute to the popularization of Japanese culture. In addition to live performances, he has recorded albums, commercials, and video game software. In 2003, he formed the group Soothe for Tsugaru shamisen, Japanese taiko, guitar, bass, and drum. The ensemble has released three albums: Soothing (2004), Habitual (2006), and Bolinho De Arroz (2009).
Masahiro Nitta is a second-generation Tsugaru shamisen player of the Nitta school who began his studies at the age of 14 with the encouragement of his father Hiroshi Nitta. Nitta won the Tokyo National Tsugaru Shamisen Championship, Junior and Senior High School Division, and went on to win the Kanagi National Tsugaru Shamisen Championship twice (2000, 2001), as well as the National Tsugaru Shamisen Contest (2002). He has recorded several albums, including Shamisen Kid, which he released in 2000 while still in high school. Nitta has performed with a number of celebrated musicians including his father, Minneapolis-based guitarist Dean Magraw, the Monsters of Shamisen with Californian shamisen players Kevin Kmetz and Mike Penny, and the Esoragoto Band, which includes Japanese taiko, bass and saxophone. Nitta has toured extensively throughout Asia, Europe, and the US.
Date:
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Location:
Memorial Hall
Lecture to Discuss Arab World Revolutions
The revolutions throughout Egypt, Libya, Tunisia and other nations in the Arab world have inspired earnest debate among experts. UK experts will discuss related topics this Friday.
Symposium: Understanding the Arab Spring
The Arab Spring: Are the Islamists Coming?
The Arab Spring with its largley civil, peaceful, and immensely popular character surprised many experts and lay observers. But an intense debate continues about the ideological underpinnings of the Arab Revolutions. Are they liberal, democratic, religious, or simply non-ideological revolutions? The recent remarkable success of religious parties in the polls in Morocco, Tunisia, and Egypt has begun to cause anxiety among those who feared of these revolution as spearheading an Islamist takeover of the Arab world. Do these revolutions herald the entrenchment of Islamist politics in the Middle Eastern societies and states? The lecture attempts to answer this question.
Featuring
Professor Asef Bayat, Department of Sociology, University of Illinois
Agha Kan, Visiting Chair of Islamic Humanities, Brown University
Ihsan Bagby, Arabic and Islamic Studies, University of Kentucky
Hsain Ilahiane, Department of Anthropology, University of Kentucky
Diane King, Department of Anthropology, University of Kentucky
Sponsored by the College of Arts & Sciences and the Muslim World Working Group
Download the flier here.
WHEN: Friday, March 23, 3:00p.m.
Date:
Location:
Young Library Auditorium
Demolition (拆迁 ) & discussion with the director
April 3, 2012 - 6:00pm
Whitehall Classroom Bldg 118
Demolition(拆迁 ) & discussion with the director
http://hcl.harvard.edu/hfa/films/2009mayjun/sniadecki.html
Demolition explores the impacts of migrant labor and the urban experience by focusing on the city of Chengdu, the capital of Sichuan province. Director J.P. Sniadecki examines the interactions between the members of China’s floating population of migrant workers and the residents of Chengdu as well as the booming construction industry in China.
Date:
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Location:
Whitehall Classroom Building Room 118
Little/Gaines Artist Explores 'The Daily Routine' of Life
Little/Gaines Artist Kit Donohue, a UK graduate student and musician, has teamed with dancer and UK alumna Kasey Schackelford to explore how life imitates art in tonight's program "The Daily Routine: Themes and Variations." The program will feature a new composition by Donohue and choreography by Shackelford.
Another Bric in the Wall?: South Africa's Developmental Impact on Sub-Sarahan Africa
Padraig Carmody Trinity College, Dublin presents "Another Bric in the Wall?: South Africa's Developmental Impact on Sub-Saharan Africa". The event is sponsored by the College of Arts & Sciences and the Department of Geography. The event is scheduled for Friday March 2nd at 4:00p.m. in Whitehall Classroom Building Room 114.
Date:
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Location:
CB 114
