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Ziarek to deliver IREWG lecture
Ewa Plonowska Ziarek, newly appointed Julian Park Chair in the Humanities in the Department of Comparative Literature in the College of Arts and Sciences, will discuss feminist theory and the militant suffrage movement at the annual Institute for Research and Education on Women and Gender (IREWG) Distinguished Faculty Lecture, to be held at 4 p.m. Tuesday in the Screening Room of the Center for the Arts, North Campus.
The talk, titled "You Have Kept Us from the 'Joy' of the Revolt': Feminist Theory and the Militant Suffrage Movement," aims to recover the contributions of the British suffrage movement to a broadly conceived political theory of subjectivity, sexuality and antagonism. It is free and open to the public.
Ziarek's teaching and research interests focus on the intersection of feminist theory and politics, ethics and aesthetics, and on 20th century literature and literary theory. She is the author of "The Rhetoric of Failure: Deconstruction of Skepticism, Reinvention of Modernism" (SUNY Press, 1995) and "An Ethics of Dissensus: Postmodernity, Feminism and the Politics of Radical Democracy" (Stanford, 2001), as well as the editor of "Gombrowicz's Grimaces: Modernism, Gender, Nationality" (SUNY Press, 1998).
Prior to joining the UB faculty, Ziarek was professor of English and gender studies at the University of Notre Dame. She is completing a new book, titled "Feminist Aesthetics: Art, Gender and Race in Modernity."
Rauchway to speak in "Meet the Author" series
Historian Eric Rauchway, author of "Murdering McKinley: The Making of Theodore Roosevelt's America," will speak at 7 p.m. Feb. 9 in the Allen Hall Theatre, South Campus, as part of WBFO 88.7 FM's "Meet the Author" series.
Rauchway's reading will be broadcast live on WBFO 88.7 FM, UB's National Public Radio affiliate.
The event is free and open to the public. Bert Gambini, WBFO music director, will be the host. A reception and book signing will take place immediately following the reading. The event is sponsored by the Theodore Roosevelt Inaugural National Historic Site.
In "Murdering McKinley," Rauchway recreates the events surrounding the assassination of President William McKinley by presenting arguments from all sides about the "meaning" of the murder. The voices of Teddy Roosevelt, alienist Vernon Briggs, Jane Addams, Emma Goldman, members the Czolgosz family, and many others—not least of all Rauchway himself—come together to paint a portrait of Progressive-Era America that is as compelling and complex as E. L. Doctorow's "Ragtime."
Joyce Carol Oates to speak at UB
Lockport native Joyce Carol Oates, one of America's most acclaimed writers, will speak at 8 p.m. March 2 in the Mainstage theater in the Center for the Arts, North Campus, as part of the Distinguished Speakers Series.
Oates is the author of a number of distinguished books in several genres, all published within the past 25 years. In addition to numerous novels and short story collections, she has published several volumes of poetry, several books of plays, five books of literary criticism and the book-length essay, "On Boxing."
John Gardner called her "one of the greatest writers of our time." Her writing has earned her much praise and many awards, among them her third Nobel Prize nomination in 1999.
Oates's "vision" often is that of a highly complex America populated with presumably ordinary families who experience common, yet intense, emotions and relationships, and who frequently encounter violence. Her ambition is to create a fictional world that mirrors the ambiguity and felt experience of the real world of her time.
Oates's recent works include "The Tattooed Girl" (2003); "Small Avalanches and Other Stories" (2003), a collection of short stories; "I'll Take You There" (2002); "Big Mouth & Ugly Girl," her first novel for young adults (2002); "Beasts" (2002); "Middle Age: A Romance" (2001); "Faithless: Tales of Transgression" (2001), a short story collection, and "Blonde" (2000).
Oates received a bachelor's degree from Syracuse University and a master's degree from the University of Wisconsin. She is the Roger S. Berlind Distinguished Professor of the Humanities at Princeton University.
Tickets for Joyce Carol Oates range from $18 to $28 and may be purchased at the Center for the Arts ticket office from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. Monday through Friday, or at all Ticketmaster locations.
Main Street reconstruction to affect access to South Campus
The long-anticipated reconstruction of Main Street from Bailey Avenue to Hertel Avenue is expected to begin in late February or early March and will impact access to the South Campus by both motorists and pedestrians.
According to Richard Noll, manager for planning and programming in Facilities Planning and Design, University Facilities, once work is finished on underground utilities, work on the roadway will begin in two places: an expansion of the current Jersey Left Turn bus staging area at Main and Bailey, and a reconstruction of the intersection of Kenmore Avenue and Main Street. The work at the intersection will include removal of unsafe pedestrian islands and reconstruction of the intersection into "more of a simple 'T'," Noll says.
Once work at the Kenmore-Main intersection is finished, crews will begin reconstruction of Main Street, beginning at Bailey Avenue and moving southwest towards Hertel.
Noll says the Allen driveway onto the South Campus will be removed, and two new entrances to campus will be built—one at the University Plaza and one across from Capen Boulevard.
"These driveways will line up better in assisting motorists in making turns out of campus, plus they will make it safer for pedestrians trying to cross Main Street from campus to the University Plaza," he says.
Another benefit of the reconstruction work is that the traffic lights along Main Street will be timed during rush hour, he added.
Crews will attempt to keep at least two traffic lanes open on Main Street and one driveway open into the Main-Bailey and NFTA parking lots during the construction, he says. However, delays and traffic congestion are to be expected due to the presence of construction vehicles and activity on the road and adjacent areas.
The project is being conducted jointly by the New York State Department of Transportation and the City of Buffalo Department of Public Works, Parks & Streets.
International photonics workshop to be held
Cutting-edge research in photonics will be presented at the International Workshop on Photonics, being held from 8:15 a.m. to 12:50 p.m. on Monday in the Jeanette Martin Room, 567 Capen Hall, North Campus.
Sponsored by the Institute for Lasers, Photonics and Biophotonics, the workshop will feature speakers from Tohoku University in Japan, the Royal Institute of Technology in Sweden and the French Atomic Energy Commission.
Topics to be covered include organic nanocrystals and their composites for photonic applications, crystal and polymer waveguides and non-linear media. Paras N. Prasad, SUNY Distinguished Professor in the Department of Chemistry in the College of Arts and Sciences and executive director of the institute, will speak on "Nanophotonics and Biophotonics."
The workshop is chaired by Alexander Cartwright, associate professor of electrical engineering and director of the institute's lasers and photonics division. Jaylan Turkkan, vice president for research, will deliver opening remarks.
For more information, contact the institute at 645-6800, ext. 2102.
Dawes to speak at Sports Day
A speech by Olympic gold medal-winning gymnast Dominique Dawes will be the featured attraction as UB celebrates its 14th annual National Girls and Women in Sports Day Feb. 4-14.
Dawes was a member of the 1996 U.S. Olympic team that won the team gold medal. She took a bronze medal in the floor event. She will speak at 5 p.m. Feb. 11 in Slee Concert Hall, North Campus. Dawes' presentation is sponsored by the Division of Athletics, in conjunction with the undergraduate Student Association.
During the event, which also will feature UB student-athlete speakers in addition to Dawes, former President William R. Greiner and his wife, Carol, will be presented with the UB Recognition Award in honor of their ardent support of UB athletics.
A reception will follow the presentation. The UB women's basketball team will take on Kent State at 7 p.m. in Alumni Arena, North Campus. Group tickets to the presentation in Slee Hall and to the women's basketball game are available for $3 by calling the UB Ticket Office at 645-6666.
The National Girls and Women in Sports Day festivities at UB will kick off on Wednesday with a panel discussion featuring university faculty and staff from 8-9:30 a.m. in 120 Clemens Hall, North Campus. The panel discussion is sponsored by the Institute for Research and Education on Women and Gender. Entitled "Beyond the Playing Field," The breakfast networking event will explore the theme of "playing fair" and its effects on other areas, from Title IX to sports psychology.
As part of the community outreach portion of the celebration, UB varsity and club student-athletes and coaches will host an all-youth multi-sports clinic at 11 a.m. Feb. 14 in Alumni Arena. The clinic will be followed by a basketball doubleheader—UB women versus Akron at 1 p.m., men versus Central Michigan at 3 p.m.
Boys and girls ages 5 to 15 can register for the event at http://www.buffalobulls.com/ events.
National Girls and Women in Sports Day is a national event that celebrates and honors women's participation in and contributions to sports around the country and around the world. UB's celebrations have featured such Olympians as Janet Evans, Cheryl Miller, Sheryl Swoopes and Jillian Vogtli, as well as television broadcaster Robin Roberts.
Comedian Jim Norton to perform in CFA
Comedian Jim Norton, who gained nationwide notoriety on the now infamous "Opie & Anthony" radio show, will perform at 8 p.m. Feb. 7 in the Mainstage theater in the Center for the Arts, North Campus.
Norton is a regular on Comedy Central's "Tough Crowd with Colin Quinn" and numerous other television and radio comedy programs. Judi Brown of the Aspen Comedy Festival calls Norton "brutally honest. He's very refreshing in a business where a lot of people are phony."
Tickets for Jim Norton are $22 for general admission and $18 for UB students. Tickets are available at the CFA box office from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. Monday through Friday, and at all Ticketmaster locations.
For more information, call 645-ARTS.
Daemen to present Fulbright workshop
UB faculty are invited to attend a workshop at Daemen College for faculty and administrators at local colleges who are interested in learning more about Fulbright grant opportunities.
The session will be held from noon to 2 p.m. Feb. 20 in Alumni Lounge in Wick Center at Daemen, 4380 Main St., Amherst.
The workshop, to be presented by the offices of Academic Affairs and Academic Grants at Daemen, will offer information on the myriad lecturing and research opportunities available in 140 countries, advice on which country to apply to and how to make contacts abroad and how to prepare a successful Fulbright application, as well as information on how institutions can host a visiting Fulbright scholar from abroad
Ellen Barclay, deputy director of the Council for International Exchange of Scholars (CIES), which sponsors the Fulbright scholarship program, will conduct a PowerPoint presentation, followed by a question-and-answer session.
This workshop is free and lunch will be served.
Anyone interested in attending should respond by Feb. 13 to the Office of Conferences and Events at Daemen College by phone at 839-8253 or by email at confevents@daemen.edu.
For more information, visit http://www.daemen.edu/ offices/grants.
Funding proposals sought
The Canadian-American Studies Committee is seeking proposals for funding for projects and activities designed to encourage and promote increased awareness and understanding of Canada at UB and of relations between Canada and the United States.
The funding is provided by the Canadian Studies Grant Program of the Canadian Embassy in Washington, D.C., and by the College of Arts and Sciences at UB.
Proposals are welcome from full-time UB faculty and graduate students who have faculty sponsorship for the proposed project or activity. Individuals are encouraged to submit proposals for projects that have not been funded previously, that offer promise for eventually securing external funding or that establish and strengthen collaborative ties with colleagues in Canada. Due to the relatively small amount of funding available, priority will be given to requests that do not exceed $500.
The deadline for applications is noon on March 22.
Application forms are available at the committee's Web site at http://canam.buffalo.edu, or by contacting Donna Banach at 645-2722, ext. 42, or at dbanach@acsu.buffalo.edu.