Kent State Celebrates International Education Week, Nov. 18-22
Kent State University will celebrate International Education Week from Nov. 18-22 and will feature dozens of events campuswide. Events will include concerts, dance lessons, academic lectures and an international cook-off.
According to the Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs, International Education Week is “an opportunity to celebrate the benefits of international education and exchange worldwide.” It is a joint initiative of the U.S. Department of State and the U.S. Department of Education, and it is part of their efforts to “promote programs that prepare Americans for a global environment and attract future leaders from abroad to study, learn and exchange experiences in the United States.”
“At Kent State, the Office of Global Education has worked with student organizations and academic departments to create events of an international or global theme to share different cultures and global issues with the Kent community,” says Desnee Stevens, assistant director of International Student and Scholar Services in Kent State’s Office of Global Education. “All events are open to members of the Kent State community in order to foster diversity and present a shared global learning experience.”
The week of celebration will feature a Thai fashion show; panel presentations; academic lectures focusing on international topics, global issues and heritages; documentaries; cultural dances, games and competitions, including the annual international cook-off, which will take place on Nov. 21 and will consist of six teams, each representing a different country.
“Teams have chosen a culturally significant dish and beverage and will be serving it to visitors and judges,” says Stevens. They will present their recipes in a live cook-off competition. “Attendees will be able to choose their favorite dish, and the winning team will have their recipe featured in the dining halls the following week.”
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Kent State's Institute for Applied Linguistics Hosts Translation Studies Scholar Lawrence Venuti, Nov. 15
Kent State University’s Institute for Applied Linguistics will host Lawrence Venuti, a leading translation studies scholar, during the fourth annual Gregory M. Shreve Lecture Series. Venuti will speak about the genealogies of translation theory on Friday, Nov. 15, at 4 p.m. in the Moulton Hall Ballroom. This event is free and open to the public.
“The annual Shreve Lecture Series recognizes the legacy of Greg Shreve, the founder of the Institute for Applied Linguistics, and brings internationally renowned translation studies scholars to present cutting-edge research to graduate students and faculty,” says Françoise Massardier-Kenney, director of Kent State’s Institute for Applied Linguistics. “A recent external report said that Kent State has the premiere translator training program and translation research group in the U.S., and as such, we are committed to bringing speakers who have a high impact on the discipline.”
Venuti, professor of English at Temple University, is a translation theorist and historian, as well as someone who can translate from Italian, French and Catalan. He is the author of The Translator’s Invisibility: A History of Translation, The Scandals of Translation: Towards an Ethics of Difference, and Translation Changes Everything: Theory and Practice, as well as the editor of The Translation Studies Reader, an anthology of theory and commentary from antiquity to the present. His translations include Antonia Pozzi’s Breath: Poems and Letters, the anthology Italy: A Traveler’s Literary Companion, Massimo Carlotto’s crime novel The Goodbye Kiss, I.U. Tarchetti’s Fantastic Tales and Ernest Farrés’s Edward Hopper: Poems, for which he won the Robert Fagles Translation Prize.
The Gregory M. Shreve Lecture Series is made possible through the generosity of Kent State alumni, faculty members and friends of the Institute for Applied Linguistics at Kent State.
For more information about the event, please contact Massardier-Kenney at firstname.lastname@example.org.
For more information about Kent State’s Institute of Applied Linguistics, visit .
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Kent State’s Wick Poetry Center Welcomes Poet Joshua Bennett
Kent State University’s Wick Poetry Center welcomes spoken-word poet Joshua Bennett, performing Nov. 19 at 7:30 p.m. in the Ritchie Hall Community Theatre. The event, sponsored by the National Endowment for the Arts, is free and open to the public.
Bennett is a performance poet from Yonkers, N.Y., and a graduate of the University of Pennsylvania. He has recited his original work at venues such as the Sundance Film Festival, the NAACP Image Awards and President Barack Obama’s White House Evening of Poetry, Music and the Spoken Word. Bennett also was featured on the HBO series Russell Simmons Presents Brave New Voices, as well as ad campaigns for Reebok and Ralph Lauren’s Rugby Poets Club. Bennett is a second-year Ph.D. candidate in the English department at Princeton University, where he focuses primarily on African-American nature writing.
Bennett also will perform for high school students at John R. Buchtel Community Learning Center of Akron Public Schools. All students attending the event will receive a postcard with a poem written by him.
“I’m even more excited that he will speak to outreach students in Buchtel High School as part of our ongoing work with the Akron Impact Network and School Improvement Grant schools,” Jewell says.
Bennett will perform, discuss his poetry and answer questions for more than 135 Buchtel students.
“With generous funding from the National Endowment for the Arts, we are excited for the high school students at Buchtel who will be able to find inspiration in Joshua Bennett’s performance and lecture,” says Nicole Robinson, outreach manager for the Wick Poetry Center.
Kent State University’s African Community Theatre’s Fall Production to Premiere Nov. 21
Kent State University’s African Community Theatre will premiere its production of No Niggers, No Jews, No Dogs written by John Henry Redwood and directed by Terrence Spivey on Nov. 21 in Ritchie Hall on the Kent Campus.
In the story, Halifax, N.C., is where the Cheeks family – Rawl and his wife, Mattie, and their two daughters – makes its home. The year is 1949, and the title refers to signs commonly posted in the region in that era. The Cheeks are visited by Yaveni, a Jewish scholar from Cleveland, who is researching the effects of prejudice on both Blacks and Jews, and Aunt Cora, a mysterious local black woman who wanders around wrapped in a black garment with a dark secret.
“The audience will experience the true courage of a woman (Mattie Cheeks) taken through some harsh trials during the absence of her husband and the strength to face up to a decision that turns the play into an unexpected ending,” Spivey says. “It's a nail biter!”
Variety magazine gave the story a positive review saying: “Redwood is at his best when creating those strong, emotional currents that never surface but run deep around the peripheries of his characters’ life experiences. He achieved that beautifully in The Old Settler. He repeats that accomplishment again with an intense family unit in No Niggers, No Jews, No Dogs.”
The New York Times wrote: “You will not often find a stage family where both the individual relationships and the overall dynamic are as vibrant and well defined as they are in this one.”
The play dates are:
- Nov. 21-23: Doors open at 6:30 p.m.
- Nov. 24: Doors open at 1:30 p.m.
- Dec. 6-7: Doors open at 6:30 p.m.
- Dec. 8: Doors open at 1:30 p.m.
The African Community Theatre is located in Ritchie Hall (Room 230) at 225 Terrace Drive on the Kent Campus. Tickets are $10 at the door. Kent State undergraduate students are admitted for free. Parking is available at the rear of Ritchie Hall. Additional parking is available at the Kent Student Center visitor lot on Summit Street.
About Director Terrence Spivey
Spivey recently joined Kent State for the 2013-2014 academic year as its director-in-residence. Since 2003, he has been the artistic director of the Karamu House, a historic performing arts center in Cleveland. His work seeks to “educate, inspire and entertain diverse audiences in thought-provoking ways,” he says.
“My vision for the African Community Theatre is for it to be a collegiate theatre program to be reckoned with in Northeast Ohio and beyond, to the highest standards of professionalism,” Spivey says.
At Karamu House, Spivey also currently serves on the Board of Trustees as second vice chair for community partnership for arts and culture. Founded in 1915, and originally named Settlement House, Karamu House is the oldest African-American theater in the United States. Many of Langston Hughes’ plays were developed and premiered at the theater and many notable actors got their start there, including Bill Cobbs, Minnie Gentry, Robert Guillaume, Dick Latessa and Ron O’Neal.
“The Department of Pan-African Studies is pleased to have Mr. Terrence Spivey join us as director-in-residence for the 2013-2014 academic year,” says Amoaba Gooden, Ph.D., chair of Kent State’s Department of Pan-African Studies. “Mr. Spivey's residency will reinvigorate our theatre program and assist the department with reestablishing connections with Kent State's surrounding community, while providing an opportunity for many to experience innovative and diverse artistic talents that gives expression to the Black world experience.”
"Mothers, Mentors and Muses” is the Women’s Center’s signature event recognizing Kent State University female faculty or staff members who have made a significant difference in the life of a student or colleague. More than 150 women across the university have received this honor.
You are invited to submit* the name and a descriptive statement of a Kent State woman for the 2014 “Mothers, Mentors and Muses” event.
This award is intended to honor women of Kent State who have served in any of three roles:
- Mother – one who has helped “birth” ideas, thoughts and academic endeavors in others, or who serves as a nurturing individual to others.
- Mentor – one who serves as a trusted counselor, colleague and/or role model.
- Muse – one who inspires creativity and artistic/academic passion in others.
Who can be recommended for the honor?
Any female Kent State faculty or staff member, except those who have previously been honored at this event.
See the list of previous honorees from 2010 to 2013.
Who can submit?
Any member of the Kent State community, including faculty, staff, emeriti, students and alumni can submit a nomination. Click here to complete the submission form. The deadline for all submissions is Dec. 20.
Honorees will be celebrated at the Women’s Center’s “Mother’s, Mentors and Muses” annual scholarship fundraiser on March 11, to which the university community is invited to attend.
* Note that all names and submissions will be recognized the night of the event.