1780 – The Official Blog of Transylvania University

1780 | The Official Blog of Transylvania University

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Junior Paul Brown’s first solo exhibit "The Prayer Project" opens at LOT Gallery Sept. 30

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LEXINGTON, Ky.—On September 30, Transylvania University junior Paul Brown will open his first solo exhibit, “The Prayer Project,” at the Land of Tomorrow (LOT) Gallery in Lexington. A reception will be held at 6-11 p.m. and is free and open to the public. For “The Prayer Project,” a sculptural audio show, Brown has collected nearly 400 prayers from a variety of sources and had volunteers record them. The prayers can be heard from one end of a soup can telephone mounted onto each of three sculptures. Each sculpture broadcasts a different type of prayer: inward, outward or upward. Prayers are commonly categorized in this way, with inward prayers functioning as a means of self-reflection or meditation, outward prayers being about and for others and upward prayers being a means of connecting with the divine, such as a prayer of praise. “I decided religion and prayer were good foils for that lack of clarity that comes from using can telephones,” Brown said, of his concept for the exhibit. Kevin Ladd, associate professor of psychology at Indiana University South Bend, will give a talk at the opening reception. Ladd’s research interests include prayer, the interface between science and religion and spiritual transformation. Brown has consulted with Ladd throughout the development of his exhibit and the graphite drawings Brown has also included in the exhibition depict prayer positions that seem universal among most faiths and are consistent with Ladd’s concept of directional prayer.

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“The Civil War and Reconstruction in the Border States: History and Memory at the Sesquicentennial” premieres on KET through Sept. 24 and Oct. 11-15

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LEXINGTON, Ky.—In commemoration of the 150th anniversary of the American Civil War, four prominent scholars of nineteenth-century American history and legal history took part in “The Civil War and Reconstruction in the Border States: History and Memory at the Sesquicentennial. Taped at Transylvania University’s Haggin Auditorium, the Michael Breeding Media film will air on Kentucky Educational Television (KET and KET KY) through September 24 and October 11-15. Participants include David W. Blight, professor of American history, Yale University; Annette Gordon-Reed, professor of law and history, Harvard University; and John McCardell Jr., vice-chancellor, The University of the South. Jed Shugerman, assistant professor of law, Harvard University, served as moderator. The panelists spoke on the history of the South, slavery, Reconstruction and Robert Penn Warren’s reflections on the war during the symposium taped for this one-hour program. The program will air on the following dates and times (Eastern): Tuesday, September 20, 9 p.m. (KETKY) Thursday, September 22, 4 a.m. (KET) and 4 p.m. (KETKY) Saturday, September 24, noon (KETKY) Tuesday, October 11, 11 a.m. and 10 p.m. (KETKY) Saturday, October 15, noon (KETKY) The symposium was held April 28 in Haggin Auditorium as part of the festivities surrounding the inauguration of R. Owen Williams as Transylvania’s 25th president. A DVD of the KET special can be ordered here, by clicking on “Miscellaneous Conferences” on the menu on the left, then selecting “Civil War DVD.” DVDs are $12 each. A promo of the

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Transylvania University’s new John Marshall Harlan Lecture Series presents legal and constitutional historian William Wiecek, September 26, at 7:30 p.m.; free and open to the public

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LEXINGTON, KY.—Transylvania University launches a new lecture series, the John Marshall Harlan Series, with a talk by legal and constitutional historian William Wiecek on Monday, September 26th, at 7:30 p.m. in Carrick Theater in the Mitchell Fine Arts Center. The lecture, “John Marshall Harlan, Race, and the United States Supreme Court,” is free and open to the public. “We created this lecture series to bring to campus highly esteemed legal figures of national or international prominence who have distinguished themselves in constitutional law or history,” said Transylvania President R. Owen Williams. “We are delighted to have William Wiecek as our first speaker.” Wiecek is currently serving as the Lassiter Distinguished Visiting Professor at the University of Kentucky Law School. He is the author of numerous books. His most recent, “The Birth of the Modern Constitution: The United States Supreme Court, 1941–1953” (volume 12 of the Holmes Devise History of the Supreme Court of the United States), won the John Phillip Reid Prize awarded by the American Society for Legal History for the best book in legal history published in 2006. Harlan, an associate justice on the U.S. Supreme Court from 1877-1911, was a Kentucky lawyer and politician and an 1852 graduate of Transylvania’s law department. An early champion of civil rights, he is most notable as the lone dissenter in the Civil Rights Cases (1883) and Plessy v. Ferguson (1896), which, respectively, struck down as unconstitutional federal anti-discrimination legislation and

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Transylvania moves up seven places in U.S. News & World Report ranking

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LEXINGTON, Ky.—Transylvania University moved up seven places—from 88 to 81—in the latest U.S. News & World Report college rankings. U.S. News ranked 252 national liberal arts colleges and universities in statistical measures such as student graduation and retention rates, financial resources, commitment to instruction, class size, faculty pay, student selectivity and alumni giving, as well as a subjective measure of academic reputation. “We take the U.S. News rankings seriously; however, we don’t live and die by them,” said Transylvania President R. Owen Williams. “We do know that many high school students and their families look at college rankings when selecting a college. We think that U.S. News uses very reasonable metrics, and most of the ranking is based on objective measures.” Transylvania made gains in its graduation rate performance, graduation and retention rates, faculty resources and student selectivity. Transylvania, founded in 1780, is the nation’s sixteenth oldest institution of higher learning and is consistently ranked in national publications as one of the top liberal arts colleges in the country.

Tangletown Trio to give free performance at Transylvania on September 13 at 7:30 p.m.

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LEXINGTON, Ky.—Seattle-based touring ensemble TangleTown Trio will give a performance at Transylvania University on Tuesday, September 13 at 7:30 p.m. in Carrick Theater. The show, “Song Nouveau,” is free and open to the public. The trio, comprised of violinist Jo Nardolillo, pianist Judith Cohen and soprano-composer Sarah Mattox, is dedicated to living American composers and the idea that there should be no barriers between art, music and the audience. Their program will include contemporary art songs in an accessible style, many of them composed by Mattox, as well as pieces composed by Mark Olivieri and Aaron Copeland. “Song Nouveau” literally means “New Song,” and most of the concert will feature new works by Mattox and Olivieri. The title also refers to the Art Nouveau movement that flourished at the turn of the 20th century, spanning architecture, sculpture, furniture and almost all visual arts. It incorporated elements of nature and emphasized bringing art into everyday life. “Song Nouveau” strives to combine these same elements, programming songs of nature and life, which are immediately accessible to the audience. TangleTown Trio’s performance at Transylvania begins a week of touring Kentucky, with appearances planned for WUKY’s “Curtains @ 8,” at Natasha’s Bistro and for “Woodsongs Old Time Radio Hour.”