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Asian Studies to host visiting Islamic scholar
The Asian Studies Program in the College of Arts and Sciences will host a visiting scholar in the field of Islamic studies for several weeks in October and November.
Syafiz Abdul Mughni, a member of the faculty of the State Institute of Islamic Studies in Surabaya, Indonesia, will be in residence at UB from Oct. 22 through Nov. 18. A specialist in Islamic thought, civilization and institutions, Mughni holds master's and doctoral degrees in Islamic studies from the University of California-Los Angeles.
While at UB, he will teach a short course, "Topics in Asian Studies: Islamic Institutions" (AS 395). The class will meet from 4-5:20 p.m. on Mondays and Wednesdays from Oct. 23 through Nov. 15. Faculty members are welcome to sit in on the course.
Mughni also is available for speaking engagements on campus and in the community at no charge. To make arrangements, contact the Asian Studies Program at 645-3474.
Family Weekend scheduled
UB's Family Weekend, which will take place tomorrow through Sunday, offers a series of events and activities to help families experience college life at UB.
Among the events will be the UB Bulls football game against the Miami (OH) RedHawks; a performance of Cirque Voila!, a troupe of aerialists, contortionists, tightrope artists and clowns drawn from a variety of national and international companies, including Cirque du Soleil; a brunch; and a performance by comedian Dwayne Perkins.
Also scheduled are an ice cream social, movie, Texas Hold 'em tournament and a jazz coffeehouse.
For more information, go to http://parent. buffalo.edu/family.shtml.
Leahy to perform in CFA
Leahy, the eight-member brother-and-sister act from Canada, will perform at 8 p.m. Nov. 3 in the Mainstage theater in the Center for the Arts, North Campus.
A whirlwind triple-threat of fiddle-driven music, dance and vocals augmented by keyboards and percussion, Leahy leaves onlookers breathless from the moment the groups hits the stage. At the center is the oldest brother, Donnell, who is internationally proclaimed as one of the best fiddle players on the planet.
The Leahys grew up in Lakefield, Ontario. Each of the children learned to play fiddle from their father, while their mother, a champion step-dancer born and raised in Cape Breton, Nova Scotia, taught them to sing, dance and play piano.
The siblings gained popularity touring as the 'Leahy Family,' traveling across Canada to play at fairs and festivals. Their recognition increased with the release of a student documentary about the family entitled "Leahy: Music Most of All." The film won an Academy Award in 1985 for Best Foreign Student Film. In 1996, the group burst onto the Canadian recording scene with the release of its debut self-titled CD. Subsequent touring earned Leahy a total of three Juno Awards—for Best Instrumental Group and Best New Group (1997), and for Best Country Group or Duo (1998).
Tickets for Leahy are $22 for the general public and $15 for students, and 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.
Scholar advocates a more inclusive citizenry
Increasingly, the term "U.S. citizen" fails to include the rights of a large and growing public—that of immigrants and U.S.-born Latina/os, according to Angela Valenzuela, Haskew Centennial Professor, University of Texas-Austin.
Valenzuela will speak today about her work as an advocate for "a groundless post-national definition of citizenship that may be obtained through a reinvigorated human rights discourse articulated in some scholarship as cultural citizenship."
Her talk, "Latino Immigrant Youth and the Right to an Education: Toward a Groundless Post-National Definition of Citizenship," will be given from 4-6 p.m. in 105 Harriman Hall, South Campus. It is free and open to the public.
The lecture is part of the Graduate School of Education's Charlotte C. Acer Colloquium on Urban Education, begun in 1991. Acer, a 1987 graduate of UB with a doctorate in education, endowed the fund to facilitate lectures, discussions and analyses that address the complexities of urban education.
Valenzuela's presentation challenges much of the liberal, democratic discourse in the field of education that marshals such terms as "civic engagement" or "citizen-scholars" and refers to the goals of "education citizens for a democracy" or "fostering the skills of critical citizenship" with unreflective ease. While democracy and democratic principles resonate deeply within us as a public, Valenzuela contends that this very discourse is misaligned to the rights of immigrants and U.S. born Latina/os.
PSS to present development events
The Professional Staff Senate's Staff Development and Services Committee has organized two events for members of UB's professional staff.
A breakfast seminar "Conflict Resolution: What Is the Solution?" will be held from 8:30-11 a.m. Nov. 2 in the Holiday Inn, 1881 Niagara Falls Blvd., Amherst.
Participants will learn how to identify strategies and techniques that not only resolve personal conflict in the office, but encourage it as part of a natural and productive experience.
The workshop will be presented by Amy Wilson, recently named associate director of UB's Leadership Development Center.
Registration will begin at 8:30 a.m., with the program running from 9:15-11 a.m.
Cost of the seminar, which includes a breakfast buffet, is $13.
To register, go to http:// www.pss.buffalo.edu/breakfastseminar06.ppt.
The Staff Development and Services Committee also will present a video series on leadership development.
All sessions run from noon to 12:50 p.m.
The first video, "The Abilene Paradox," featuring management expert Jerry B. Harvey, uses a family trip to Abilene, Texas, as a parable about making better group decisions by avoiding false consensus, overcoming the fear of speaking out and encouraging effective decision-making within a group. It will be shown Wednesday in 100 Allen Hall, South Campus, and on Oct. 19 in 33 Student Union, North Campus.
The second video, which will be screened on Nov. 15 in 100 Allen Hall and on Nov. 16 in 330 Student Union, is based on "The Leadership Challenge," the best-selling book by Jim Kouzes and Barry Posner. It presents as examples the actions of leaders of a variety of organizations and demonstrates methods to put into action five leadership practices.
For more information about these professional development offerings, contact the PSS at 645-2003 or visit http://www.pss.buffalo.edu.
Teaching workshop set
"Creating the Active Classroom," a live satellite broadcast in which national award-winning teachers will share their advice and demonstrate practical examples to create an "active" classroom, will be held from 2:30-3:30 p.m. Oct. 26 in B-15 Abbott Hall, South Campus.
The broadcast, which will be followed by a 30-minute audio conference, is sponsored by the Center for Teaching and Learning Effectiveness. It is free of charge and open to all faculty, staff, graduate students and postdoctoral fellows, but space is limited and registration is required.
To register, go to http://wings.buffalo.edu/provost/ctlr/files/events.htm#oct_26, or call Jeannette Molina at 645-6272.