Archives
People etc.
Teaching evaluations topic of workshop
The Center for Teaching and Learning Resources (CTLR) is accepting online registrations for "Improving Teaching: The Many Uses of Student Course Evaluations," a workshop to be held from 1-2 p.m. March 31 in 280 Park Hall, North Campus.
The workshop will be led by Peter Gold, associate dean in the College of Arts and Sciences, who will discuss reports on teaching gleaned from the CAS online evaluation system. A summary of online evaluation data for the past four semesters also will be presented.
To register for this workshop, visit the CTLR Web site at http://www.buffalo.edu/ctlr, or contact Lisa Francescone at 645-7328, lcf@buffalo.edu.
Gobbetti-Hoffman to perform
UB faculty member Cheryl Gobbetti-Hoffman will be among the musicians performing in a new concert series, A Musical Feast, debuting March 29 in the Kavinoky Theatre at D'Youville College.
Flutist Gobbetti-Hoffman, adjunct assistant professor in the Department of Music, will join Charles Castleman, professor of violin, Eastman School of Music; Jesse Levine, professor of viola at Yale; pianist Claudia Hoca; and violinist Charles Haupt in the 8 p.m. concert featuring the works of Eugene Ysaye, Arnold Schoenberg, Benjamin Britten, W.A. Mozart, Antonin Dvorak and Arnold Bax.
The concert series, initiated by Haupt, recently retired concertmaster of the Buffalo Philharmonic Orchestra, will include chamber music, solo performances and chamber orchestra.
Haupt says each program will have a thematic focus and will be "a fusion of the new and traditional," featuring both local artists and performers Haupt has worked with throughout his career.
Haupt hopes to present three or four programs during the next season.
Meet the Author set for March 20
Lyanda Lynn Haupt, author of "Pilgrim on the Great Bird Continent: The Importance of Everything and Other Lessons from Darwin's Lost Notebooks," will read from her work at 7 p.m. March 20 in Musicalfare Theatre at Daemen College.
The reading, part of the Meet the Author series presented by WBFO 88.7 FM, UB's National Public Radio affiliate, will be broadcast live on WBFO.
It will be free and open to the public, and is hosted by Bert Gambini, executive producer of the Meet the Author series. A book signing will take place immediately following the reading and light refreshments will be served.
Charles Darwin was a bumbling neophyte naturalist when he boarded the Beagle in 1831. As the ship hugged the coastline of South America over the next five years, Darwin found himself wading through waist-deep mud, climbing tower-like trees in the rain forest, and scaling craggy Patagonian cliffs as he closely observed the relationship between the wild creatures he stalked and the astonishing, utterly unfamiliar landscapes where he found them. At the end of these adventures, Darwin emerged a philosophical naturalist who could draw scientific truths from the simple stories contained in the creatures he encountered.
What happened to Darwin? That's the question Haupt explores in a narrative that places the reader inside the young Darwin's shoes.
By focusing mostly on the birds Darwin observed, and by mining his lesser-known writings—diaries, correspondence, ornithological journals, unruly little pocket notebooks—Haupt illuminates the process of discovery that shaped Darwin's vision.
RIA announces spring seminar series
The Spring 2006 Seminar Series presented by UB's Research Institute on Addictions will open on April 7 with a lecture on the recent findings from the Collaborative Study on the Genetics of Alcoholism (COGA).
The lecture will be given by Victor M. Hesselbrock, Physicians Health Services Professor of Addiction Studies and vice chair of the Department of Psychiatry, University of Connecticut School of Medicine.
The lecture, and all lectures in the series, will take place at 10 a.m. in the first-floor seminar room at RIA, 1021 Main St., Buffalo. They will be free of charge and open to the public.
The lecture series, presented each spring and fall by RIA, is designed to provide information about the study of alcohol, other drugs and other related issues. It showcases topics of interest to researchers, clinicians, policy makers and the general public.
Hesselbrock is principal investigator and scientific director of the National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism (NIAAA) funded Alcohol Research Center and co-investigator of the COGA. His research interests include the genetic epidemiology of alcoholism, co-morbid psychiatric conditions and alcoholism, and psychosocial and cognitive risk factors for alcoholism.
The remainder of the spring lecture series:
April 21: "Adult Outcomes of Youth Treated for Alcohol and Drug Problems," Sandra A. Brown, professor of psychology and psychiatry, University of California-San Diego; associate chief of psychology service, Veterans Affairs San Diego Healthcare System; and associate director of the Child and Adolescent Services Research Center, Children's Hospital of San Diego. Brown is internationally recognized for her developmentally focused alcohol-intervention research, Her current research—funded by the NIAAA, the Center for Substance Abuse Treatment and the National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA)—investigates processes whereby youth escalate or diminish their alcohol use with and without treatment, the role of psychiatric co-morbidity in the treatment of alcohol and drug abuse, novel strategies to diminish alcohol problems among high school students and neurocognitive impact of early alcohol involvement.
April 28: "Perinatal Addiction: Lessons Learned," Dace S. Svikis, professor, Department of Psychology, Virginia Commonwealth University, and director of the Promoting Healthy Pregnancies Program, VCU Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology. Svikis is principal investigator on two National Institutes of Health (NIH) funded grants and lead investigator on a multi-site national study within the Clinical Trials Network of the NIDA. Her current research focuses on treatment engagement and motivational and behavioral brief interventions for women with alcohol and other drug problems.
May 5: "Jocks, Gender, Binge Drinking and Adolescent Violence," Kathleen E. Miller, RIA research scientist and adjunct assistant professor, Department of Sociology, College of Arts and Sciences. As principal investigator on the College Sports, Gender, and Substance Use Study funded by NIDA, Miller is investigating longitudinal relationships among high school and college athletic involvement, gender, and substance use, in addition to developing comprehensive measures of athletic involvement. She previously headed the Health Risks and the Teen Athlete Study funded by the Women's Sports Foundation.
For further information, go to http://www.ria.buffalo.edu/events/index.html.
Sondheim musical to be performed
The Department of Theatre and Dance will present "Merrily We Roll Along" March 30-April 2 and April 6-9 in the Drama Theatre in the Center for the Arts, North Campus.
Performances will be at 8 p.m. Thursday, Friday and Saturday, and 2 p.m. on Sunday.
"Merrily We Roll Along" is based on the book by George Furth, with music and lyrics by Stephen Sondheim. Nationally renowned director and choreographer Marcia Milgrom Dodge, who worked with Sondheim on the Arena Stage production of this musical, serves as guest director. Faculty member Nathan Matthews is the music director.
Sondheim's musical adaptation of the Kaufman and Hart play transforms the story of three successful people looking back on their lost friendship. Frank, Mary and Charley grew up to realize their dreams and goals, but may have paid a greater price than they anticipated. Frank's anguished question—"Why?"—begins the journey backwards in time, recalling rivalries, jealousies, triumphs, failures and loves, both unrequited and reciprocal, as the three seek to discover how they got from "there" to "here." "Merrily We Roll Along" tells the tale of three people reflecting on years of aspiration and reality, and dreams both fulfilled and lost.
Dodge has worked as a director and choreographer throughout the United States, Canada, Great Britain and South Korea. She has directed or choreographed more 75 productions for academic, regional and New York City theaters. She currently is on the faculty of the American Musical and Dramatic Academy.
Tickets for "Merrily We Roll Along" are $16 for general admission and $8 for 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, including ticketmaster.com.
For more information call 645-ARTS.
Music Is Art Live event scheduled
David Finkelstein and Colors in the Air will perform at the next Music Is Art Live @ The Center concert, to be held at 9 p.m. March 21 in the Center for the Arts atrium.
Visual artists featured at the event will be Burke Paterson, Donna Jordan Dusel, Donna Ioviero and Tara Mystica. Dance artists will be C2 Dance Collective.
The event will be free of charge and open to the public.
The weekly Music Is Art Live @ The Center series transforms the CFA atrium into a bustling coffeehouse featuring a unique blend of cutting-edge local musicians and creative visual artists. All events are recorded for future television broadcast.
Music Is Art Live @ The Center is a collaboration between the Center for the Arts and the Music is Art Foundation, founded by Robby Takac of Chameleonwest Studios and the Goo Goo Dolls. Takac and Thomas Burrows, executive director, Center for the Arts, serve as executive producers, supported by a team of production personnel from the CFA, Chameleonwest Studios, local video production personnel and UB student interns.