5.7.09 “The Redemptive Melancholy of Elliott Smith”

Dearest Society,

Tomorrow evening, Taylor Worley will present on the musical legacy of Elliott Smith. Entitled “The Redemptive Melancholy of Elliott Smith,” the presentation will focus on the brief but brilliant career of the post-punk songwriter and the enduring gravity of his melancholic work. The presentation will also include a few special guests offering live performances of Smith songs. It should be great time to reflect on Smith’s legacy and share his music afresh. See you there.

8pm @ the Worley’s
328 Westwood Ave.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fd-zwe1fWB0&feature=player_embedded

“The End of Christianity in Iraq?”

Dearest Society,

The inestimable Craig Davis has agreed to postpone his film night presentation this week, so we can defer to a timely and important event hosted by UU’s Center for Politics and Religion:

“The End of Christianity in Iraq?”

On Thursday, April 23 at 7:00 in Harvey Hall, the Center for Politics & Religion will host Dr. David Michelson who will deliver a talk entitled “The End of Christianity in Iraq?”. Dr. Michelson will discuss the long history of Christianity in Iraq from Apostolic times through the rise of Islam to the present. He will also analyze the current crises faced by Christians in contemporary Iraq, with a particular focus on Iraq’s Aramaic speaking minority population.

David Michelson is an assistant professor in the History Department at the University of Alabama where he teaches Ancient and Early Medieval History with a focus on the history of Christianity in the Middle East. His current research focuses on the Syriac speaking churches of Turkey, Syria, Iran, and Iraq. Prof. Michelson earned his Ph.D. from Princeton University and has also studied in Oxford, Rome, and Turkey.

We strongly encourage you not to miss out on this very important conversation and hope to see you there!

Next week: Dr. Micah Watson presents “Nietzsche, the Christian, and the Open-Minded Life”

Dr. Janna Chance 04.16.09

Dearest Society,

We’re very happy to announce that the long-awaited presentation from Dr. Janna Chance’s doctoral research comes next on our calendar. Since we first learned of her fascinating work, we knew we had to have her come and share some of the fruits of her intellectual labor with us. This week we look forward to hear:

“Obeying God Rather Than Men: Protestant Individualism and the Empowerment of Victorian Women”

8pm, Thursday, April 16th
328 Westwood Ave.

Andrea Zittel at the Frist

State of the Art: Contemporary Lecture Series featuring Andrea Zittel
Thursday, April 16, 6:30 p.m.
Auditorium, FREE

The State of the Art lecture series is designed to bring nationally and internationally renowned critics, curators, and artists to Nashville to share their perspectives on current issues and ideas in contemporary art.

Conceptual artist and designer Andrea Zittel conducts experiments that simplify the everyday tasks of our lives. Using her own life as inspiration, she constantly examines and improves her relationship to her domestic and social environment, and ultimately the environments of others as well. Part artist, architect, environmentalist, crafter, nutritionist, engineer, and designer, Zittel possesses an everlasting enthusiasm for her projects.

Zittel received a BFA in painting and sculpture from San Diego State University and an MFA in sculpture from Rhode Island School of Design, Providence, Rhode Island. Her work has been included in numerous exhibitions in the United States and Europe, including the 2004 Whitney Biennial and her 2005 comprehensive survey Andrea Zittel: Critical Space organized by the New Museum and the Contemporary Arts Museum, Houston. Zittel received the 2005 Smithsonian American Art Museum’s annual Lucelia Artist Award. The artist currently lives and works in Los Angeles, California, and Joshua Tree, California, where her A–Z West enterprises is located.

David Robbins returns…

Apr. 3 – Visiting Artist Program: David Robbins
4/3/2009 7:00 p.m.

David Robbins made a name for himself in the international art world by creating conceptual artworks such as “Talent,” in 1986, which addressed the idea of fame and featured headshots of artists such as Jeff Koons, Cindy Sherman and Jenny Holzer. Robbins moved back to Milwaukee a decade ago where recently the Green Gallery East in Milwaukee held its grand opening with a show by Robbins. He has taught at UCLA, The School of the Art Institute of Chicago, and the University of Illinois at Chicago.

The lecture, presented by the Department of Art at Lipscomb University, will be held in Ward Hall. For more information, call 615.966.5813 or e-mail deidra.piatt@lipscomb.edu.

Allysha Martin on “Orientalism” 4.2.09

It is our distinct pleasure to host Ms. Allysha Martin, instructor of language at Union University, to present on “Orientalism.” For those of you that may be unfamiliar with this topic, orientalism follows from the 1978 book of the same name by the cultural critic and literary theorist Edward Said (pronounced “Sa ‘yid”) and remains an important postcolonial discourse on the way that the West views the East. This should be a fascinating introduction to a most timely study. If you would like a short reading from Said, you can email societyforcriticalimagination@gmail.com to request it.

Luke Aleckson in Nashville!

LUKE ALECKSON

Audio from an evening with David Dark…

If you missed our evening with David Dark, it was a wonderful time. You can get the audio here.

Be sure to check out the publisher’s page for his new book (with a sample selection!) by clicking on the image above and subscribe to his blog: Peer Pressure Is Forever.

Or, look for David at Calvin College’s upcoming Festival of Faith and Music.

Calvin Seerveld

A Theologian Reflects: Q & A with Calvin Seerveld

8pm TUESDAY Mar. 10th
at 328 Westwood Ave.

The society is really pleased to host a conversation with Prof. Calvin Seerveld of the Toronto Institute of Christian Studies and preeminent theologian of art and aesthetics. Prof. Seerveld remains one of the most influential and thoughtful voices on a theology of the arts in our time. You can learn more about his prolific and diverse career and writings here: http://www.seerveld.com/tuppence.html and here: http://www.freewebs.com/seerveld/

Amid a packed schedule of speaking in chapel and guest lecturing all over campus, he has agreed to an intimate conversation with us on the nature of his contributions to theological aesthetics.

Please note the change in normal schedule. We will meet this coming Tuesday night rather than the normal Thursday evening. Also, should Baby Quinn Worley arrive early, we will have a contingency plan in place. So, stay tuned.

An Evening with David Dark

An Evening with David Dark
Thursday, March 5 at 8:00 pm in Barefoot’s Joe

Presenting from his forthcoming book, The Sacredness of Questioning Everything, David Dark offers that the act of questioning is a sacred practice that is integral to the health of our communities.

David Dark is the critically acclaimed author of Everyday Apocalypse and The Gospel According to America and is an educator who is currently pursuing his PhD in Religious Studies at Vanderbilt University. He has had articles published in Paste, Oxford American, Books and Culture, Christian Century, and elsewhere. A frequent speaker, Dark has lectured at Calvin College’s Faith and Music Festival, as well as appearing on C-SPAN’s Book-TV and in an award-winning documentary, Marketing the Message.

David\’s personal blog: \”Peer Pressure Is Forever\”:
http://www.davidsarahdark.blogspot.com/

Website for Everyday Apocalypse:
http://www.everydayapocalypse.org/

David\’s talks and interviews at Calvin\’s FFM 2007:
http://www.calvin.edu/admin/sao/festival/2007/audio/

David\’s books:
http://www.amazon.com/s?ie=UTF8&tag=mozilla-20&index=blended&link_code=qs&field-keywords=David%20Dark&sourceid=Mozilla-search