Month: February 2012

C. E. Morgan LEXINGTON, Ky.—Fiction writer C.E. Morgan and mandolin player Ryan Blevins, of the Virginia bluegrass group No Speed Limit, will offer an evening of reading and music at Transylvania University on Tuesday, February 21, at 7 p.m., in the Mitchell Fine Arts Center’s Carrick Theater. The event is part of this year’s Delcamp visiting artist series. The event is free and open to the public. Morgan’s first novel, “All the Living,” (2009) was a finalist for the Hemingway Foundation/PEN Award for a distinguished book of fiction. Published by Farrar Straus & Giroux, “All the Living” received outstanding reviews and the New York Times Book Review named it an Editor’s Choice. Morgan also received recognition as one of the National Book Foundation’s “5 Best Writers under 35” and, in 2010, The New Yorker published her story “Twins” in a fiction edition titled “20 under 40,” devoted to the work of twenty important and emerging writers under the age of forty. Morgan studied English and voice at Berea College and holds a master’s in theological studies from Harvard Divinity School. She lives in Kentucky. The lecture is sponsored by the Delcamp Visiting Writer series. For more information, contact the public relations office at (859) 233-8120.

LEXINGTON, Ky.—Eugenie Scott, executive director of the National Center for Science Education (NCSE), will speak at Transylvania University on Wednesday, February 15, at 4:30 p.m. in the Mitchell Fine Arts Center’s Carrick Theater. “What Would Darwin Say to Today’s Creationists?” is free and open to the public and is scheduled near Darwin Day, which is internationally celebrated on or around February 12, the birthday anniversary of the evolutionary biologist Charles Darwin. Scott, a former university professor, has been a researcher and activist in the creationism/evolution controversy for over 25 years. As a speaker, she addresses many components of this controversy, including educational, legal, scientific, religious and social issues. She has received national recognition for her NCSE activities, including awards from scientific societies, educational societies, skeptics groups and humanist groups. She holds a Ph.D. in physical anthropology from the University of Missouri and eight honorary degrees. She is the author of “Evolution vs Creationism” and co-editor, with Glenn Branch, of “Not in Our Classrooms: Why Intelligent Design Is Wrong for Our Schools.” “Many elements of the modern American creationist movement would be familiar to Darwin, especially the argument from design, which of course was very well known and well-regarded by educated people of his time,” said Scott. “Young-Earth creationism, on the other hand, would be puzzling to him. Darwin might have heard of the ‘scriptural geologists’ who promoted a young-Earth view during the 19th century, but like other scientists of his

Read “"What Would Darwin Say to Today’s Creationists?": Creative Intelligence Lecture at Transylvania on February 15.”

LEXINGTON, Ky.—Transylvania University Theater’s first production of 2012, “Spinning into Butter,” explores the dangers of both racism and political correctness in America today. The play runs Feb. 16-18 and 23-25, at 7:30 p.m., and Feb. 19, at 2 p.m. in the Lucille C. Little Theater. Transylvania senior Annie Barbera directs the regional premiere of this play, written by American playwright Rebecca Gilman. When an African American student at fictional Belmont College begins receiving hate mail, the campus erupts, first with shock, then with mutual recrimination as faculty and students alike try to prove their own tolerance by condemning one another. At the center of his maelstrom is Dean of Students Sarah Daniels. As the administration sponsors public “race forums” and students start their own activist groups, Sarah is forced to explore her own feels of racism, leading to some surprising discoveries. Tickets are $10 and may be reserved by calling the box office at (859) 281-3621. For more information, contact Transylvania’s fine arts office at (859) 233-8141. Poster design by Hunter Kissel ’13.