By Cole Hatcher
Ohio Wesleyan University recently announced its March 2023 lineup of public events. Unless otherwise noted, admission is free.
Through March 26, with closing reception – “Ohio Imprint: Dick Arentz & Brian Harnetty”
Part of the Richard M. Ross Art Museum’s new Artists in the Archive series, in the West Gallery of the museum, 60 S. Sandusky St., Delaware. The display will conclude with a free public reception from 2 p.m. to 4 p.m. March 26. Refreshments will be provided. For “Ohio Imprint,” interdisciplinary artist Harnetty responds to images by photographer Arentz, whose platinum and palladium prints focus on Ohio farms, factories, water towers, and other human-made structures that shape the natural world.
Harnetty revisits these sites and creates sound collages and videos that reflect on themes of place, labor, history, the archive, and the ecological imprint of humans. Learn more at www.brianharnetty.com. During the academic year, the Ross is open Tuesday, Wednesday, and Friday from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m.; Thursday from 10 a.m. to 9 p.m.; and Sunday from 1 p.m. to 5 p.m. The museum will be closed for spring break from March 11-20, 2023. The Ross is handicap-accessible and admission is always free. Call (740) 368-3606 or visit owu.edu/ross for more information.
Through March 26, with closing reception – “Black Palimpsest: Jared Thorne”
Part of the Richard M. Ross Art Museum’s new Artists in the Archive series, in the Kuhlman Gallery of the museum, 60 S. Sandusky St., Delaware. The display will conclude with a free public reception from 2 p.m. to 4 p.m. March 26. Refreshments will be provided. For the exhibit, Thorne’s multimedia works bring a critical lens to a series of masks from the museum’s African Art holdings. Thorne’s project approaches the masks as palimpsests – objects where the original context has been effaced and overlaid with new understandings but aspects of the original are still visible. The exhibit explores the cultural co-modification of African art objects in Western museums while asking how these same objects signify history, identity, and authenticity for many African Americans. Learn more at http://jaredthorne.com.
During the academic year, the Ross is open Tuesday, Wednesday, and Friday from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m.; Thursday from 10 a.m. to 9 p.m.; and Sunday from 1 p.m. to 5 p.m. The museum will be closed for spring break from March 11-20, 2023. The Ross is handicap-accessible and admission is always free. Call (740) 368-3606 or visit owu.edu/ross for more information.
4:15 p.m. March 2 – Nigerian American novelist Chinelo Okparanta reads from her novel “Harry Sylvester Bird”
In the Milligan Room inside Slocum Hall, 75 S. Sandusky St., Delaware. Okparanta’s book was named a “Best Book of the Summer,” “Most Anticipated,” and “New and Noteworthy Book” by Esquire, Cosmopolitan, LitHub, Book Riot, Ms. Magazine, The Millions, Lambda Literary, Poets & Writers, and more. Okparanta also is the author of the short story collection “Happiness, Like Water” and the novel “Under the Udala Trees.” Learn more at www.chinelookparanta.com. Her presentation is Ohio Wesleyan’s annual Quinn Lecture sponsored by the Department of English and the Creative Writing Program. A question-and-answer session and book signing will follow Okparanta’s reading. Books will be available for purchase at the event. Admission is free. Learn more at owu.edu/English.
Friday night guest nights at Perkins Observatory
8 p.m. March 3, 10, 17, 24, and 31 – Content varies based on weather conditions, but may include a planetarium show, observatory tours, and stargazing with the 32-inch Schottland Telescope. Tickets are $10 in advance or $12 on the day of the event and at the door. Reserve tickets by calling (740) 363-1257. Learn more at owu.edu/perkins.
7 p.m. March 5 – Ohio Wesleyan senior recital featuring Gavin Abrams, trombone, in Jemison Auditorium inside Sanborn Hall, 23 Elizabeth St., Delaware. Admission is free. For more information, visit owu.edu/PerformingArts.
OWU music faculty recital featuring Karl Pedersen, viola
8 p.m. March 7 – OWU music faculty recital featuring Karl Pedersen, viola, in Jemison Auditorium inside Sanborn Hall, 23 Elizabeth St., Delaware. Admission is free. For more information, visit owu.edu/PerformingArts.
“Learning to Navigate the Sky,” at Perkins Observatory
7 p.m. March 9 – Telescope workshop. The observatory is offering a series of monthly workshops between February and May to help participants become experienced telescope observers. The two-hour workshops will be offered at 7 p.m. on the second Thursday of the month. The remaining events are April 13, “Binocular Basics – Using Binoculars to Augment Your Telescope Observing,” and May 11, “Advanced Observing Techniques – Lunar, Deep Sky, and Solar Observing.” Workshop tickets are $30 per session. Reserve tickets by calling (740) 363-1257. Learn more at owu.edu/perkins.
Novelist, essayist, and journalist Brendan Isaac Jones
4:15 p.m. March 20 – Jones, whose writings draw attention to environmental issues concerning Tongass National Forest in Alaska, will read from his works, in the Milligan Room inside Slocum Hall, 75 S. Sandusky St., Delaware. Winner of the 2022 Green Earth Book Award, Jones is the author of the young adult novel “Whispering Alaska” and the novel “The Alaskan Laundry.” His essays and works of literary journalism have appeared in The New York Times, The Smithsonian, The Huffington Post, Narrative Magazine, the Anchorage Daily News, and NPR. He is a graduate of Oxford University and Stanford University, where he was awarded a Stegner Fellowship in fiction, and he is the recent recipient of a Fulbright Scholarship in Russia. Learn more at www.brendanisaacjones.com. Jones’ presentation is sponsored by the Department of English and the Creative Writing Program. A question-and-answer session and book signing will follow the reading. Books will be available for purchase at the event. Admission is free. Learn more at owu.edu/English.
Sarah B. Snyder, Ph.D., professor at American University’s School of International Service, discusses human rights activism and policy
7 p.m. March 22 – In the Bayley Room on the second floor of OWU’s Beeghly Library, 43 Rowland Ave., Delaware. Snyder is a historian of U.S. foreign relations who specializes in the history of the Cold War, human rights activism, and U.S. human rights policy. Her latest book, “From Selma to Moscow: How Human Rights Activists Transformed U.S. Foreign Policy,” explains “how transnational connections and 1960s-era social movements inspired Americans to advocate for a new approach to human rights.” Her presentation represents Ohio Wesleyan’s 2020 Robert Kragalott Lecture on Genocide, Mass Atrocity, and Human Rights. Admission is free. Learn more at owu.edu/history.
Ohio Wesleyan’s neuroscience club, the Neurds, is hosting Brain Fair 2023
11 a.m. to 1 p.m. March 23 – In Benes Rooms A and B inside Hamilton-Williams Campus Center, 40 Rowland Ave., Delaware. The campaign is a global initiative to foster public enthusiasm and support for brain science. The Brain Fair will feature booths with a variety of neuroscience-related information, games, giveaways, and interactive activities for people of all ages. Learn about topics ranging from mental health to brain-computer interfaces. Admission is free. Learn more about Brain Awareness Week at www.brainawareness.org, and contact [email protected] for more information.
Greg Kirstein, retired senior vice president and general counsel of the Columbus Blue Jackets
7:30 p.m. March 23 – Ohio Wesleyan’s 2023 Heisler Business Ethics Lecture, in the Benes Rooms of OWU’s Hamilton-Williams Campus Center, 40 Rowland Ave., Delaware. Kirstein, J.D., was with the Blue Jackets for 23 years before retiring in 2021, and is a long-time hockey advocate in central Ohio. Kirstein’s presentation is sponsored by The Woltemade Center for Economics, Business and Entrepreneurship. Admission is free. Learn more about the center and lecture series at owu.edu/woltemade.
Michael Flamm, Ph.D., Ohio Wesleyan professor of History, presents “OWU at War: Charles Leighton and the Memphis Belle”
7 p.m. March 28 – In Benes Rooms A and B inside Hamilton-Williams Campus Center, 40 Rowland Ave., Delaware. “Eighty years ago, the Memphis Belle safely completed 25 missions over Europe,” Flamm said. “The B-17 bomber then became the focus of a war bond tour, the subject of a celebrated documentary film, and the most famous plane of World War II. The crew’s navigator was Charles Leighton, an Ohio Wesleyan chemistry major and football player who enlisted after Pearl Harbor.” Flamm’s multimedia presentation will explore Leighton’s life and honor his service to his country. Flamm’s presentation will be Ohio Wesleyan’s 2022-2023 Joseph and Edith Vogel Lecture sponsored by the Department of History. The Vogel Lecture is made possible through an endowment from their son, Ezra F. Vogel, Ph.D., now deceased. Learn more at owu.edu/history.
Melvin Van Peebles Symposium
March 31 and April 1 – Ohio Wesleyan hosts its first Melvin Van Peebles Symposium to honor the life and legacy of the 1953 OWU graduate and accomplished filmmaker whose work broke through the boundaries of race and gender. Van Peebles died in September 2021 at age 89. The two-day symposium will be held on the Ohio Wesleyan campus and feature screenings of several of his films, as well as academic presentations about his work and its impact. Actress-dancer-director Jasmine Guy (“A Different World”) will serve as keynote speaker. Additional speakers will include award-winning writer Wil Haygood, author of “Colorization: One Hundred Years of Black Films in a White World,” and academic, author, and artist Simone Drake, an Ohio State University professor who helped to edit the book “Are You Entertained?: Black Popular Culture in the Twenty-First Century.” General admission tickets are $115 per person, or $135 after March 1. Discounted rates are available for Ohio Wesleyan alumni, students and employees. For more information about the symposium and to purchase tickets, visit owu.edu/VanPeebles.
All Ohio Wesleyan public event information is subject to change. For the latest updates, visit owu.edu/calendar or “like” www.facebook.com/OhioWesleyanUniversityNews. For more Battling Bishop athletics events, visit battlingbishops.com.
Source: OWU Press Release
