Liberal Arts Interdisciplinary Panel On Evolution

Members of the Faculty of the College of Liberal Arts will convene for an interdisciplinary look at evolution on Monday, March 2, at 3:00 in 112 Rouse Life Sciences Bldg as part of the Charles Darwin Commemorative Celebration.  Chris Qualls, Assistant Professor of Theater, Elizabeth Brestan Knight, Associate Professor of Psychology, Giovanna Summerfield, Associate Professor of Foreign Languages, and Brigitta Brunner, Margaret Fitch-Hauser, and Robert French, professors in the department of Communications and Journalism will offer varying interpretations of Darwin and evolution from perspectives within the arts and humanities.

Professor Qualls, who will present a dramatic reading from the transcripts of the Scopes "Monkey" Trial from 1925, will be followed by professor Knight who will offer a psychological theory of mate selection that is based on Darwin's theory of evolution.  Drs. Brunner, Fitch-Hauser, and French will next investigate the evolution of the public relations industry from Barnum to Bloggers.  The final presentation by professor Summerfield will explore Collodi's masterpiece, The Adventures of Pinocchio.  Written one year after Darwin's death, its main character carries on the revolution against an intervening deity, with an emphasis on competitive struggle for existence and self-betterment.

This interdisciplinary panel presented by College of Liberal Arts' faculty promises to offer an interesting and unusual collection of original investigations of Darwin's groundbreaking ideas.  All are invited to attend.

For more information please visit www.auburn.edu/cah or call 334-844-4946

Follow the Tasman String Quartet!

Already into their second week of residency, the Tasman String Quartet has kept busy with visits to Birmingham, Scottsboro, and Pisgah, Alabama. Want to follow them on their mission to bring music to students around the state? Visit http://tasman.tumblr.com/ for photos and videos, as well as a calendar of their outreach activities.

Brought to Auburn under the auspices of the Breeden Eminent Scholar, held by Dr. Howard Goldstein of the College of Liberal Art's Music Department, the group will offer unique opportunities in string education and performance for students and faculty as well as the general public. The residency is coordinated by Goldstein, the Auburn University Music Department and the Caroline Marshall Draughon Center for the Arts & Humanities.

Questions about the quartet, the Breeden Scholar, or the center's outreach activities? Email us at cenarts@auburn.edu.

Tasman String Quartet Residency

Beginning February 15, the Auburn University College of Liberal Art's Department of Music will host the Tasman String Quartet in a month-long residency. The group will serve as guest faculty at Auburn, perform in concert and travel the state giving lessons and workshops.

Founded in Wellington, New Zealand, in 2006, the Tasman String Quartet includes violinists Anna van der Zee and Jennifer Banks, violist Christiaan van der Zee and cellist Miranda Wilson. The Quartet was mentored by the New Zealand String Quartet and quickly gained acclaim and was invited to perform in many cities. They were also invited to perform for Chamber Music New Zealand and Radio New Zealand.

While in residence at Auburn, the Tasman Quartet will be involved in several special events. A concert on Feb. 16 at 7:30 p.m. in the Music Department's Goodwin Hall will kick off the residency. The concert is free and open to everyone; a reception follows the show.

Online Introduction to Civic Reflection

On Friday, February 20 from 10:00 to 11:30 a.m., the Caroline Marshall Draughon Center for the Arts & Humanities will host an online introduction to Valpraiso University's Project on Civic Reflection with project director Dr. Elizabeth Lynn.  The meeting will take place via conference call and online at connect.auburn.edu/cah and is free and open to anyone interested.

For over ten years, the Project on Civic Reflection has helped civic groups build capacity, commitment and community through discussion of short readings from a variety of genres-classic and modern-as a means of reflecting on basic questions at the heart of their giving, service and leadership. For more information on the project, visit civicreflection.org.  For more information and conference call instructions, please email mwilson@auburn.edu or call Mark Wilson at 334-844-4948 by February 18.

Join us for "The Business of Southern Energy"

We invite you to join us on Thursday, February 12, 2009, from noon to 2:00 p.m., for a Southern Growth Policies Board forum on "The Business of Southern Energy: Making Choices for Your Community." The forum will take place in the boardroom of the Alabama State Council on the Arts in Montgomery and will be moderated by Jennifer Jones and Christopher McCauley, graduate students in the department of political science at Auburn University.

Formed by the region's governors in 1971, Southern Growth Policies Board is a non-partisan public policy think tank based in Research Triangle Park, North Carolina and provides a network for collaboration among a diverse cross-section of the region's governors, legislators, business and academic leaders, and the economic and community development sectors. This annual forum, sponsored by the Caroline Marshall Draughon Center for the Arts & Humanities in the College of Liberal Arts, the Alabama State Council on the Arts, and DesignAlabama, is one of several forums to be convened around the state by SGPB partners this spring.

To RSVP and receive a copy of the discussion guide and directions to the Alabama State Council on the Arts offices, please email mwilson@auburn.edu or call 844-4946 by Tuesday, February 10.