1780 – The Official Blog of Transylvania University

1780 | The Official Blog of Transylvania University

Economic update by Federal Reserve economist LaVaughn Henry at Transylvania March 23, free and open to the public

LEXINGTON, Ky.—LaVaughn Henry, vice president and senior regional officer of the Federal Reserve Bank of Cleveland, will offer an in-depth presentation on current economic conditions at a public forum in Carrick Theater at Transylvania University on March 23, from 8-10 a.m. The event is sponsored by The United Way of the Blue Grass, Business Lexington and Transylvania, and is free and open to the public. Henry will take questions from the audience following his presentation. Henry is responsible for building and maintaining a strong presence and reputation for the Federal Reserve Bank throughout the central and southern Ohio and eastern Kentucky region. He has diverse experience in the private and public sectors and recently served as senior director of market economics and risk analysis at PMI Group, one of the nation’s largest mortgage insurers. Henry has served as a senior economist with the Budget Committee of the U.S. House of Representatives, the Federal Housing Finance Agency (formerly OFHEO) and the FDIC’s Resolution Trust Corporation. He has held positions at Fannie Mae, Ford Motor Company and PricewaterhouseCoopers. Carrick Theater is in the Mitchell Fine Arts Center at Transylvania. Parking is available in the lot behind the building, at the corner of Fourth and Upper streets. RSVPs are not necessary, but you can RSVP via this link http://lexeconforum.eventbrite.com

Leading constitutional law scholar to speak at Transylvania April 26; free and open to the public

LEXINGTON, Ky.—Yale University law and political science professor Akhil Reed Amar, one of this era’s most accomplished constitutional law scholars, will deliver Transylvania’s John Marshall Harlan Lecture on Thursday, April 26, at 6:30 p.m. in Carrick Theater. The lecture is free and open to the public. Amar, who will speak on “America’s Symbolic Constitution,” is Sterling Professor of Law and Political Science at Yale, where he teaches constitutional law in both Yale College and Yale Law School. He earned his B.A., summa cum laude, in 1980 from Yale College and his J.D. in 1984 from Yale Law School, where he served as an editor of The Yale Law Journal. After clerking for Judge Stephen Breyer, U.S. Court of Appeals, 1st Circuit, he joined the Yale faculty in 1985. Amar was named one of the top 20 contemporary U.S. legal thinkers by a Legal Affairs readers’ poll and served as a consultant for the television show “The West Wing.” “We are elated to have Akhil deliver our second John Marshall Harlan lecture,” said Transylvania President R. Owen Williams. “As one of the nation’s truly great constitutional law scholars, he is a perfect fit for this lecture series. In addition to being a prolific writer, he is a remarkably engaging speaker. We are fortunate to have him on campus, and we extend an invitation to our entire community to enjoy this wonderful event.” Amar is co-editor of a leading constitutional law casebook,

Hunter Hensley to present “Songs and Chants: A Window into the Middle Ages” at Transylvania March 22; free and open to the public

LEXINGTON, Ky.—Hunter Hensley, professor of voice at Eastern Kentucky University, will perform “Songs and Chants: A Window into the Middle Ages,” a program of medieval chant and early French song, at Transylvania University’s Old Morrison chapel Thursday, March 22, at 7:30 p.m. The concert is free and open to the public. The performance will include melodies from the earliest repertoire of ninth century Gregorian chant, through fourteenth century Machaut virelai—songs for dancing.  “The medieval melodies are the foundation of most music performed today,” said Hensley. Hensley recently completed academic recording projects of medieval music for musicologists at University of California Berkeley and Cornell University and has performed at three national musicological conferences in the last year and a half. Featured in the program will be a historic six-stringed Kinnor harp, or cithara, reconstructed and made to Hensley’s specifications by Stanley Caswell of Danville, Ky., in a performance of the twelfth century lamentation, Planctus David, by Peter Abelard (1097-1142). For more information, contact the fine arts office at (859) 233-8141

Liz Carroll Celtic music concert has been rescheduled for April 5; new ticket reservations must be made

LEXINGTON, Ky.—Grammy-nominated fiddler Liz Carroll will give a concert Thursday, April 5, at 7:30 p.m. in Transylvania University’s Carrick Theater. Accompanying Carroll will be Cork-born composer and pianist Cormac McCarthy. Tickets for the World Voices Series Concert are $10. (One free ticket with a Transylvania ID). The concert has been rescheduled, after tornado warnings on March 2 prompted the postponement of the show. Ticket reservations for the March 2 show are void and those wishing to attend the concert must make new reservations by calling (859) 233-8141.  Carroll began composing music as a child and has performed with artists ranging from violinist Yehudi Menuhin to rocker Don Henley. “Liz Carroll has amazed audiences around the world and we are thrilled to have her perform at Transylvania,” said Larry Barnes, professor of music and director of the World Voices Series. “She is a recognized master of the Celtic fiddle and all who come to hear her are in for a real treat.” In April 2011, Carroll was awarded the Cumadóir TG4, becoming the first American-born composer to be honored with Ireland’s most significant traditional music prize. Irish Echo, the largest circulation Irish American weekly newspaper, calls Carroll’s playing “nothing less than breathtaking,” and a concert review from The New York Times declares Carroll “Brilliant…She does more than run through her finger twisting reels and sustained slow airs. She—and her listeners—continually rediscover each melody.” McCarthy, originally from Cork, Ireland, lives in Chicago.

“The Long Death of Environmentalism” is topic of Transylvania’s Kenan Lecture, Wed., March 7; free and open to the public

LEXINGTON, KY.—Ted Nordhaus, cofounder and chairman of the Breakthrough Institute, will give a talk titled “The Long Death of Environmentalism,” at Transylvania University on Wednesday, March 7, at 7:30 p.m. The lecture, in the Mitchell Fine Arts Center’s Haggin Auditorium, is free and open to the public. The Breakthrough Institute was founded by Nordhaus and president Michael Shellenberger in 2003 to “modernize liberal-progressive-green politics,” according to the website. Nordhaus and Shellenberger are the authors of the book “Break Through: Why We Can’t Leave Saving the Planet to Environmentalists,” and the essay “The Death of Environmentalism: Global Warming in a Post Environmental World,” which triggered a national debate about the future of environmentalism. “Break Through” was called “prescient” by Time and “the most important thing to happen to environmentalism since ‘Silent Spring’” by Wired. Nordhaus has been profiled in the New York Times, Wired, the National Review, The New Republic and on NPR. In 2007, he and Shellenberger received the Green Book Award and Time’s 2008 “Heroes of the Environment” award.
 This lecture is part of Transylvania’s William R. Kenan Jr. Lecture Series and is funded by a grant from the William R. Kenan Jr. Charitable Trust. For more information, contact the public relations office at (859) 233-8120.