The 2008 Syracuse Symposium™ invites the Syracuse University and Central New
York communities to explore "migration" through engaging lectures, concerts,
exhibitions and award-winning films during the semester-long intellectual and artistic
festival presented by SU's College of Arts and Sciences.
Highlights of the Fall 2008 festival include presentations by human rights activist
Ishmael Beah, author of "A Long Way Gone: Memoirs of a Boy Soldier" (Farrar,
Straus and Giroux, 2007); critically acclaimed theatre director and installation-artist
Ping Chong; award-winning cartoonist and illustrator Adrian Tomine, author of the
graphic novel "Shortcomings" (Drawn & Quarterly, 2007); performances by the
Syracuse Symphony Orchestra and award-winning soprano Anita Johnson; and the
6th Annual Human Rights Film Festival: Illuminating Oppression.
"Migration means movement-to warmer climates, safe havens, deeper insights and
new perspectives," says Kandice Salomone, associate dean in The College of Arts and
Sciences and 2008 Syracuse Symposium coordinator. "This year's symposium will
explore how the migration of people and other living organisms, as well as the
migration of ideas and cultures, change what is left behind, even as it creates
something new. The collection of events is sure to spark reflection and debate as we
explore, as a community, migration phenomena and probe the dynamics of human
existence in all its dimensions."
In addition to the featured events and exhibitions, several Fall 2008 courses will
explore the "migration" theme. All of the 2008 Syracuse Symposium events are free
and open to the public. Further information about the events and related courses is
available at http://www.syracusesymposium.org.
Featured speakers and events include:
GUEST SPEAKERS
Samuel Clemence, Meredith Professor and professor of civil and environmental
engineering in SU's L.C. Smith College of Engineering and Computer Science, and
Gary Radke, Meredith Professor and Dean's Professor of the Humanities in The
College of Arts and Sciences, will present "Leonardo da Vinci: Artist and Engineer,"
7:30 p.m., Tuesday, Sept. 9, in Shemin Auditorium, Shaffer Art Building. The
evening is co-sponsored by the Tolley Professorship in the Humanities. Parking is
available for $3.50 in the Booth Garage (garage closes at 10 p.m.).
Paula Luttringer, Argentine photographer and memorialist of violence, and
Margarita Drago, Argentine memoirist and author of "Memory Tracks: Fragments
from Prison (1975-1980)" (Editorial Campana, 2007), 6 p.m., Tuesday, Sept. 16, in
Watson Auditorium. The presentation is co-sponsored by Light Work and the Latino-Latin American Studies Program. Parking is available for $3.50 in the Booth Garage
(garage closes at 10 p.m.).
Ishmael Beah, human rights activist and author of "A Long Way Gone: Memoirs of
a Boy Soldier" (Farrar, Straus and Giroux, 2007), 7:30 p.m., Tuesday, Sept. 23, in
Hendricks Chapel. Beah's book is the selection for the Fall 2008 Syracuse University
Shared Reading Program. The lecture is co-sponsored by The University Lectures
and presented in cooperation with the Laura Hanhausen Milton First-Year Lecture.
Parking is available in the Irving Garage for $3.50.
Lynn Margulis, internationally celebrated evolutionary biologist and author, 4 p.m.,
Thursday, Sept. 25, in the Peter Graham Scholarly Commons, E.S. Bird Library,
first floor. In addition to publishing a number of books about science and evolution,
Margulis released her first fiction, "Luminous Fish: Tales of Science and Love"
(Chelsea Green Publishing), in 2007. The lecture is presented in cooperation with The
Kameshwar C. Wali Lecture. Parking is available in the Booth Garage for $1.75 for
the first hour. Fee increases by $1 for each additional hour.
Ping Chong, critically acclaimed theater director and installation artist, 7:30 p.m.,
Monday, Oct. 6, in the Joyce Hergenhan Auditorium, Newhouse III. The lecture is
presented in cooperation with the world premiere of Ping Chong's "Tales from the Salt City" at Syracuse Stage, Oct. 14-Nov. 2. Parking is available in
the University Avenue Garage for $3.50 (garage closes at 10 p.m.).
Adrian Tomine, cartoonist, illustrator, graphic novelist and author of the mini-
comic "Optic Nerve," 7:30 p.m., Thursday, Oct. 16, in Watson Auditorium.
The Village Voice describes Tomine as "the most masterful cartoonist of his
generation" and his latest graphic novel, "Shortcomings" (Drawn & Quarterly,
2007), as "... equal parts poignant, hilarious and sad." The lecture is co-sponsored by
the Soling Program. Parking is available for $3.50 in the Booth Garage (garage closes
at 10 p.m.).
Marcelo Suarez-Orozco, immigration and globalization specialist, co-director of
immigration studies at New York University, 7:30 p.m., Tuesday, Oct. 28, in
Hendricks Chapel. The lecture is co-sponsored by the Renee Crown University
Honors Program. Parking is available in the Irving Garage for $3.50.
Spencer Wells, geneticist, anthropologist and director of the Genographic Project at
National Geographic, 7:30 p.m., Thursday, Nov. 6, in the Life Sciences Complex
Auditorium. The Genographic Project uses DNA samples to trace human migration
out of Africa more than 60,000 years ago. The lecture is co-sponsored by the
Department of Biology. Parking is available for $3.50 in the Booth Garage (garage
closes at 10 p.m.).
FILM FESTIVAL
6th Annual Human Rights Film Festival: Illuminating Oppression
Thursday, Sept. 25-Saturday, Sept. 27. All films will be shown in the Life Sciences
Complex Auditorium. A complete listing of films is available on the web at
http://www.syracusesymposium.org.
The three-day festival features award-winning documentaries by independent
filmmakers from Africa, Europe, Latin America, North America, South Asia and
West Asia. Film Festival co-sponsors are: Breakthrough, the S.I. Newhouse School of
Public Communications, the South Asia Center at the Daniel Patrick Moynihan
Institute for Global Affairs, LGBT Resource Center, and the South Asian Students Association. Breakthrough
is an international human rights organization that uses media, education and pop
culture to promote values of equality, dignity and justice.
Parking is available in the Booth Garage on Thursday at 5:30 p.m. for $3.50 and
Friday at 5:30 p.m. in all non-gated parking lots. Saturday parking is available in the
Booth Garage for $7 during the football game (time TBA; garage closes two hours
after the completion of the football game). Parking on Saturday following the
football game is available in all non-gated parking lots.
PERFORMANCES
"From Sonnets to Spirituals," featuring award-wining soprano Anita Johnson,
who will present a program of vocal gems-settings of Michelangelo sonnets followed
by a generous offering of heartwarming spirituals, 2 p.m., Sunday, Sept. 21, in
Hendricks Chapel.
The concert is a joint presentation of the Malmgren Concert Series, SU's Pulse
performing arts series, Syracuse Symposium and The College of Arts and Sciences in
collaboration with the Office of Alumni Relations, and is part of "Rethinking
Michelangelo: A Series of Lectures, Concerts and Special Events" that complements
"Michelangelo: The Man and the Myth," an unprecedented exhibition at the SUArt
Galleries Aug. 12-Oct. 19. Parking details to be announced.
"Folk Arts: Soul of Syracuse," music, dance, and traditional arts by Syracuse
community members, 2-4 p.m., Saturday, Oct. 4, and Saturday, Oct. 25, in the
Hildegarde and J. Myer Schine Student Center, Panasci Lounge. The performances
complement the Syracuse Symposium exhibition "Migrating Memories, Migrating
Arts: Photographic Retrospective" and are part of the Soul of Syracuse Folk Arts
Series, funded by the New York State Council on the Arts and the Chancellor's
Office. Parking is available in all non-gated parking lots.
"Adventures in Great Music," the Syracuse Symphony Orchestra performs
Haydn, Copland, Bernstein and Larsen with Daniel Hege, conductor, 8 p.m.,
Monday, Oct. 13, in the Rose and Jules R. Setnor Auditorium in Crouse College. The
concert, which is co-sponsored by Pulse, will feature critically acclaimed soloist Eileen
Strempel and will include a performance of Libby Larsen's
"This Unbearable Stillness: Songs from the Balcony," and four songs for soprano and
string quartet adapted from the work of Arab poets Dima Hilal and Sakeeena
Shaben. Parking is available in the Irving Garage for $3.50.
EXHIBITIONS
Sept. 15-25
Lessons from Rwanda
Joseph A. Strasser Commons, Second Floor, Eggers Hall (Sept. 15-19)
Hildegarde and J. Myer Schine Student Center, Panasci Lounge (Sept. 20-25)
The exhibition presents an account of the events taking place before, during and after
the 1994 genocide in Rwanda, during which as many as 1 million people are
estimated to have died during several weeks of systematic massacres. The purpose of
the exhibition is to raise awareness of the lessons to be learned from those events, the
work of the International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda and other judicial
mechanisms in ending impunity, and the lasting impact of genocide on survivors.
The exhibition was launched in New York at the United Nations Headquarters in
April 2007 and has subsequently been displayed in Burkina Faso, Canada, Rwanda,
Senegal, South Africa and Tanzania.
The exhibition is a production of Aegis Trust for genocide prevention
(http://www.aegistrust.org) in partnership with the United Nations Department of
Public Information (UNDPI) and is part of "Lessons from Rwanda: The United
Nations and the Prevention of Genocide" outreach program.
Gallery hours for the Panasci Lounge are Monday-Friday, 7:30 a.m.-11:30 p.m., and
Saturday-Sunday, 11 a.m.-11:30 p.m. Gallery hours for the Joseph A. Strasser
Commons are Monday-Friday 7:30 a.m.-10 p.m.; closed Saturday-Sunday.
Sept. 27-Oct. 25
Migrating Memories, Migrating Arts: Photographic Retrospective
Hildegarde and J. Myer Schine Student Center, Panasci Lounge
The exhibition celebrates the formative cultural fermentation occurring in the present
regional landscape of Central New York. These photographs document "Folk Arts:
Soul of Syracuse," a series of community-University collaborative programs hosted
by the Department of Anthropology in SU's Maxwell School of Citizenship and
Public Affairs with Catholic Charities Refugee Resettlement Services, the Center for
New Americans, St. Vincent de Paul Church and Tabernacle Baptist Church in 2007
and 2008.
Gallery hours for the Panasci Lounge are Monday-Friday, 7:30 a.m.-11:30 p.m., and
Saturday-Sunday, 11 a.m.-11:30 p.m.
Sept. 8-Dec. 31
Dawn of a New Age: The Immigrant Contribution to the Arts in America
Special Collections Research Center
E.S. Bird Library, 6th Floor
This exhibition introduces selected artists who, after their arrival during the period
between World War I and II, created a dynamic vision for a new America. Drawing
on the holdings of SU's Special Collections Research Center, this exhibition features
selections from the papers of, among others, William Lescaze, Louis Lozowick and
John Vassos.
Gallery hours for E.S. Bird Library are Monday-Friday, 9 a.m. to 5 p.m.
