Research Unplugged, the popular Penn State speaker series that brings University researchers into the community for lively public discussions, launches its spring season on March 15. The series begins its eighth year on a new time and day -- 12:15 to 1:15 p.m. on Thursdays -- and in a new location -- Schlow Centre Region Library's Downsbrough Community Room, downtown State College, Pa. Schlow Library joins Penn State's Office of the Vice President for Research and Office of University Relations as a partner in the Research Unplugged series. The events are free and open to all, with complimentary light refreshments. (more)
Dawn G. Blasko, associate professor of psychology at Penn State Erie, The Behrend College, and Timothy P. Johnson, associate professor of landscape architecture in the College of Arts and Architecture, are recipients of the 2011 Milton S. Eisenhower Award for Distinguished Teaching. The award recognizes excellence in teaching and student support among tenured faculty who have been employed full time for at least five years with undergraduate teaching as a major portion of their duties. Milton S. Eisenhower, brother of former U.S. President Dwight D. Eisenhower, served as president of Penn State from 1950 to 1956. (more)
The first signs of spring mark the return to downtown State College of Research Unplugged, a non-traditional lecture series where experts from varying fields lead conversations with community members. All six Research Unplugged talks will be held Wednesdays from noon to 1 p.m., at the Penn State Downtown Theatre on Allen Street. On March 23, join sociology professor Sam Richards and colleague Danna Jayne Seballos of the "World in Conversation Project" to find out "Why Race Still Matters: Creating Conversations in 21st Century Classrooms." (more)
Penn State alumnus and painter Brian Alfred will give a free public lecture at 6 p.m. on Tuesday, Feb. 15, in the Palmer Lipcon Auditorium at the Palmer Museum of Art on Penn State's University Park campus. Alfred's lecture is sponsored by the Penn State School of Visual Arts' John M. Anderson Visiting Artists and Scholars Lecture Series. (more)
In celebration of the 200th anniversary of the birth of composer Franz Liszt, the School of Music of Penn State, in collaboration with the Pennsylvania chapter of the American Liszt Society, is sponsoring a recital and master class by well-known pianist Enrico Pace, winner of the International Liszt Piano Competition in Utrecht. A master class will take place at 7 p.m. on Feb. 9, in Esber Recital Hall, in Music Building I. A free recital of music by Liszt will be held at 8 p.m. on Feb. 10; the program will consist of the first book of Liszt's "Pilgrimage Years" followed by the "Sonata in B Minor." (more)
Writer Phoebe Hoban will give a free public lecture, titled "ALICE NEEL: The Art of Not Sitting Pretty," at 7 p.m. Feb. 3, in the Palmer Lipcon Auditorium at the Palmer Museum of Art on Penn State's University Park campus. Hoban's lecture is co-sponsored by the Palmer Museum of Art and Penn State School of Visual Arts' John M. Anderson Visiting Artists and Scholars Lecture Series. (more)
Palmer Museum of Art has announced the opening of the exhibition "John Rogers: American Stories" on Feb. 22. The exhibition, organized by the New York Historical Society and drawn from its comprehensive collection of works by the artist, will be on view through May 15. The Palmer Museum of Art is located on Curtin Road and admission is free. Museum hours are Tuesday through Saturday, 10 a.m. to 4:30 p.m., and Sunday, noon to 4 p.m. The museum is closed Mondays and some holidays. Reduced hours over Spring break (March 5-13) will be from noon to 4 p.m. (more)
The Leslie P. Greenhill Photography Award Exhibition, featuring work by alumni and current student award winners, will run through Feb. 4 in Borland Gallery on the University Park campus. The gallery is open from 8:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m., Monday through Friday. (more)
Linda Weintraub, environmentalist, writer, curator and artist, will give a free public lecture titled "Art on the Edge and Over: Searching for Art's Meaning in Contemporary Society 1970s-1990s" at 2:30 p.m. on Jan. 25, in the Palmer Lipcon Auditorium at the Palmer Museum of Art on Penn State's University Park campus. Weintraub's lecture is sponsored by the Penn State School of Visual Arts' John M. Anderson Visiting Artists and Scholars Lecture Series. (more)
The Pennsylvania State University Press, in collaboration with the University of Washington Press (primary grant recipient), the Duke University Press and the University of Pennsylvania Press, has been awarded a collaborative publishing grant of $1.2 million from the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation to publish first books by scholars in the field of art history. The Art History Publication Initiative (AHPI) will assist in the publication of 40 books during five years through an innovative collaboration that addresses the special challenges facing art historical scholarship in the digital age. (more)
