1780 – The Official Blog of Transylvania University

1780 | The Official Blog of Transylvania University

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Alt-folk group Vandaveer to visit Transylvania on Sept. 19

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LEXINGTON, Ky—Nationally known alt-folk rocker and 2000 Transylvania University graduate Mark Heidinger returns to campus Thursday, Sept. 19, for a free concert and lecture. Heidinger performs under the name Vandaveer with a cycling cast of band members, the latest being co-vocalist Rose Guerin, whose voice has been compared to Emmylou Harris’. Currently on a national tour, the duo will perform murder ballads from the CD Oh, Willie, Please. Last year, the web-based 78 Project asked Heidinger to select public domain songs and record them with a single microphone and a 1930s Presto direct-to-acetate disk recorder. Originally the plan was to record the well-known murder ballad “Pretty Polly.” Although the band ended up covering another ballad, Heidinger was attracted by the “darker side of the human condition” and went on to record 11 murder ballads for this new release. Reflecting on his time as an English major at Transylvania, Heidinger says, “I began to learn how to read and think critically, as an adult. You apply that to your artistic trade almost inherently at that point. You become a chief and strident critic of your own writing. Beyond exposing me to important writers and great writing, the English department taught me how to think.” Transylvania art professor Kurt Gohde created the album artwork for Vandaveer’s 2007 release Grace and Speed. Heidinger will talk about the formation of the band and sources of inspiration for Oh, Willie Please during a lecture Thursday,

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American Spiritual Ensemble to perform at Transylvania

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LEXINGTON, Ky.—The American Spiritual Ensemble, founded and directed by University of Kentucky professor Everett McCorvey, will perform at Transylvania University Sept. 22 at 3 p.m. in Haggin Auditorium of the Mitchell Fine Arts Center. The concert is free and open to the public. The ensemble, which includes celebrated vocalists from across the U.S., performs a varied repertoire, from Negro spirituals to classical works to Broadway tunes. Its members have sung in theaters and opera houses around the world, including the Metropolitan Opera, New York City Opera, Houston Grand Opera, and abroad in Italy, Germany, Britain, Scotland, Spain and Japan. The ensemble’s performance at Transylvania is part of Still Overcoming: Striving for Inclusiveness, the university’s year-long celebration of 50 years of desegregation on campus and acknowledgment of the strides the university and society at large have yet to make. McCorvey, the director of UK’s Opera Theatre, returned to his alma mater, the University of Alabama, in June for the 50-year commemoration of its desegregation. In an article that appeared in the Lexington Herald-Leader on June 30, 2013, McCorvey wrote: “Today in Tuscaloosa, and in many universities around the United States, we celebrate the success of education for all and the strides that we have made as a country in breaking the hold of segregation and providing access to all who desire it. “While acknowledging the complicated road ahead, we can still point to amazing progress since Kennedy’s address to the nation

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Transylvania University receives grant to attract science and math students

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LEXINGTON, Ky.—The National Science Foundation has awarded $593,869 to Transylvania University to attract and retain science and math students over the next five years. The largest portion of the grant—$520,000—will be applied to scholarships for deserving students from across the U.S. “Prospective students and their families have long recognized Transylvania’s excellence in math and science,” said Brad Goan, vice president for enrollment and dean of admissions. “The STEM Scholars Program builds on that outstanding tradition and provides even more opportunity here for talented and motivated students.” The focus on STEM (science, technology, engineering, and mathematics) disciplines as part of an interdisciplinary education has recently gained widespread attention as a way to prepare students for a variety of twenty-first century careers. Transylvania professors Eva Csuhai (chemistry), George Kaufman (chemistry), Sarah Bray (biology), and Mike LeVan (mathematics) will manage the program. Application details are not yet in place.  In addition to scholarship opportunities, the grant will fund guest lecturers who can talk to students about careers in science and math and present workshops on such topics as study habits and conducting research. A portion of the money is also designated for summer research to help prepare students for competitive opportunities outside Transylvania. “The main focus of the grant is to give scholarships to bright students who have a serious interest in science and math,” said Csuhai. “We want them to spend less energy worrying about financial issues and more energy on their

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Transylvania kicks off “Still Overcoming: Striving for Inclusiveness,” a year-long celebration of racial and ethnic diversity

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LEXINGTON, Ky.—The year 1963 was a watershed for race relations—both nationally and at Transylvania University. Fifty years ago, Martin Luther King Jr. delivered his “I Have a Dream” speech in Washington, D.C. Around the same time, Lula Morton Drewes ‘67 became the first African-American student to enroll in the regular B.A. degree program at Transylvania, an act that heralded the beginning of desegregation at the university. Drewes will soon mark the 50th anniversary of her enrollment with a return to campus. She’ll speak at Transylvania’s fall convocation, which formally opens the academic year, at 7 p.m. Sept. 15 in Haggin Auditorium. The event is free and open to the public. The convocation will kick off a year-long celebration and discussion at Transylvania titled “Still Overcoming: Striving for Inclusiveness.” The program will focus on the advent of a more enlightened attitude toward racial and ethnic diversity, which Drewes’s arrival on campus has come to symbolize, and on other events that have furthered this purpose over the years. Additional speakers, scholarly presentations, panel discussions, film screenings, and music and artistic programs are among the other activities being considered for Still Overcoming. It will center not only on Transylvania’s experiences, but also on related issues in America both past and present. “Race is obviously still an issue in this country, and we want it to be the starting point for our conversation at Transylvania as we celebrate 50 years of desegregation,” said Eduardo

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Transylvania University’s Morlan Gallery opens 2013-14 with large-scale video installations

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LEXINGTON, Ky.—An exhibition incorporating video and sound waves to evoke the sights and sounds of moving water kicks off the Morlan Gallery season. “Waves & Currents: An Exploration of Sound, Light, and Time” opens Friday, Sept. 6, and runs through Friday, Oct. 11. The exhibition features two video installations: Dark Swell by Boston artist Georgie Friedman and River by Montreal artist Lenka Novakova. The title “Waves & Currents” references not only the ocean waves and river currents visually represented in the video installations, but also the media in which the artists are working: sound waves and electrical current. “The combination of water and electricity is normally a cause for alarm, but in this case, the results are electrifying in the most positive sense,” says Morlan Gallery director Andrea Fisher. Novakova’s multi-channel video installation “River” transforms the entire gallery space by simulating the experience of being caught up in a river current. The installation consists of multiple conical screens suspended from the ceiling leaving space in-between for participants to walk comfortably. Multiple projectors display river images on the screens. Meanwhile, Friedman’s “Dark Swell” depicts an ocean wave rumbling on a 9-foot-tall and 14-foot-wide wave-like form. The two-channel video installation is projected in various wave frequencies so it moves around the viewer, while a pulsating audio-scape emanates from speakers. Georgie Friedman is an interdisciplinary artist whose projects include large-scale video installations, single and multi-channel videos and several photographic series. She has lived,

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