1780 – The Official Blog of Transylvania University

1780 | The Official Blog of Transylvania University

Transylvania University names Kathleen S. Jagger interim vice president and dean of the college, effective August 1, 2012

LEXINGTON, Ky.—President R. Owen Williams announced today that he has appointed Associate Vice President and Associate Dean of the College Kathleen Jagger interim vice president and dean of the college, effective August 1, 2012. William Pollard, who has held the position since 2004, will step down on July 31. He will remain professor of English. “Kathleen is an exceptional individual on many levels, and I look forward to working with her on a broader spectrum of issues,” Williams said. “I am deeply grateful to her for agreeing to serve in this important capacity.” Jagger joined the faculty in 2002 as professor of biology and is currently associate vice president and associate dean of the college. “I am honored to have the opportunity to serve Transylvania in a new capacity and continue some of the initiatives Dean Pollard began such as increasing our interdisciplinary majors and minors, enriching the breadth of the curriculum with additions such as Chinese language study and developing the enhanced First Year Student Experience,” Jagger said. “It will be a marvelous opportunity to support our students, my colleagues on the faculty and the administration as we collaborate to move the college forward.” Jagger’s major responsibilities have been in mentoring, advising, retention, diversity and coordinating academic support services. She implemented a first-year community book project, facilitated the formation of a first-year academic honorary and designed the QuickStart preorientation program. Jagger is vice chair of the university’s Quality Enhancement

“La Esencia Flamenco: Dance Across Cultures” at Transylvania Feb. 29 features Flamenco Louisville performance, discussion and tapas

Flamenco Louisville LEXINGTON, Ky.—Flamenco Louisville, an inclusive, participatory community of dancers, musicians, teachers and aficionados, will share their passion for the Spanish dance with the Lexington community at the “La Esencia Flamenco: Dance Across Cultures” performance at Transylvania on February 29, at 7:30 p.m. in the Mitchell Fine Arts Center’s Haggin Auditorium. The performance, discussion and reception to follow are free and open to the public. In addition to the performance, there will be a discussion and exploration of this unique art expression, including remarks from Lori Rowland Houlihan, special events liaison of the office of the mayor of Lexington; Henry Berlin, professor of Spanish at Transylvania; Transylvania religion professors Paul Jones and Carole Barnsley and author Rosie Moosnick. The speakers will discuss the various cultures and religions that influenced Spain and flamenco across centuries. An informal reception will follow the performance, during which further dialogue with Houlihan, Berlin, Jones, Barnsley and Moosnick will be welcome.  Authentic Spanish tapas and non-alcoholic sangria will be served at the reception. Flamenco is a system of singing, music and dance with its roots in the diverse cultures of Moorish-ruled Al-Andalus (the Iberian peninsula), now known as Spain and Portugal. The many flamenco song forms, or palos, were developed and preserved in the Gitano families and communities of Southern Spain that lived on the fringes of society. It is something that, in its purest form, takes place within the family or an intimate community.

“enigmatic remembrances” explores the works of artists Petra Carroll and Rae Goodwin; opens Friday, Feb. 17 in Transylvania’s Morlan Gallery

the body of, of the body (2012) LEXINGTON, Ky.—Transylvania University’s Morlan Gallery presents “enigmatic remembrances: new work by petra carroll and rae goodwin.” The exhibit, which opens Friday, Feb. 17 during Gallery Hop with a reception from 5-8 p.m, runs through Friday, March 23. “The premise of the exhibition is investigation of the power our memories have to commandeer our perceptions,” says gallery director Andrea Fisher. “The resulting work takes on a variety of media including two and three-dimensional mixed media that are often site-specific and transform the gallery space.” Working collaboratively, Carroll and Goodwin describe the ideas that motivated their latest work. “Exploration of memory is the exploration of the unknown. Each time we walk down ‘memory lane’ our recollections diverge and vary because we view the memory of the past from a different point in time. Our perception of the past shifts and changes as we shift and change.” Goodwin, director of foundations at the University of Kentucky, lives in Lexington and has taught at Pikeville College and Winthrop University. She ran an arts enrichment business for nine years in North Carolina. Her performance and sculptural works have been shown regionally, nationally and internationally in New Zealand, the McColl Center for Visual Art in North Carolina, Central Park in Manhattan and the Atlanta Contemporary Arts Center. She earned her M.F.A. in sculpture from Winthrop University and her B.A. degree in art from Framingham State College. Carroll, assistant professor

Novelist C.E. Morgan and mandolin player Ryan Blevins offer evening of reading and music at Transylvania Feb. 21 at 7 p.m.; free and open to the public

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.

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

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