'One Earth, Many Disciplines' Spring Cultural Series at SU

SALISBURY, MD---Salisbury University explores the Earth’s environmental beginnings during its “One Earth, Many Disciplines” spring cultural series. Dale Speicher and Chris Leonard inaugurate the series with a performance by their group, Two Percussion Duo, 7 p.m. Monday, February 21, in the Great Hall of Holloway Hall. Dr. Sandra Steingraber, author and internationally recognized expert on the environmental links to cancer and reproductive health, continues the series 7 p.m. Sunday, March 6, in Holloway Hall Auditorium. The 1998 Ms. Magazine Woman of the Year speaks on cancer as a human rights issue. Indian tabla (drum) player Sandip Burman and his sister, Sima, a classical Indian vocalist, follow their appearance at the Kennedy Center with a performance at SU 7 p.m. Monday, March 14, in the Wicomico Room of the Guerrieri University Center. Burman has shared the stage with such musical luminaries as Ravi Shankar and is well known both in Indian music circles, but in the world of American jazz. He performed on Béla Fleck’s Grammy Award-winning album, Outbound. March events conclude with the planting of a sapling from Walden Woods beside SU’s David Henry Thoreau statue near the Guerrieri University Center. The author made the woods famous through his writings. Trees also play a large part in April’s events, which begin with the outdoor exhibit “Trees and Other Place Marks,” featuring the works of environmental artists Howard and Mary McCoy. The campuswide exhibit of outdoor sculptures continues through June. The Cedar Lake II Dance Company, formed in 2002 by Nancy Walton Laurie of the Wal-Mart Stores chain, performs Friday-Sunday, April 8-10, in Holloway Hall Auditorium. A rising presence in the dance world, Cedar Lake blends classical ballet with modern dance and acting techniques. Barton and Priscilla McLean—together known as the McLean Mix—present “Rainforest,” an exhibit of sights and sounds, Tuesday-Thursday, April 12-14, in the Wicomico Room. The interactive audio-visual exhibit allows participants to create original sounds using the “voices of nature,” including bird calls, cricket chirps and wolf howls. The McLean Mix has earned acclaim around the globe from The New York Times to the magazine Music in New Zealand. Jazz clarinetist, writer, ecologist and philosopher David Rothenberg performs 7 p.m. Wednesday, April 20, in the Wicomico Room. He also speaks about his environmental writings, including the 1993 book Hand’s End: Technology and the Limits of Nature and Wisdom in the Open Air: The Norwegian Roots of Deep Ecology. Dr. James Hatley, professor of philosophy at SU, shares his encounters with nature April 22-May 20 with the exhibit “Earthly Vessels, Earthly Lights” in the Atrium Gallery of the Guerrieri University Center. Based on Hatley’s travels in Montana, the exhibit features photography, ceramics, stone assemblages, journal entries and philosophical writings. An opening reception is 5-7 p.m. Friday, April 22. Global warming expert William McKibben, author of The End of Nature, considered the foremost work on the subject, speaks 7 p.m. Wednesday, April 27, in the Great Hall. A Guggenheim Fellow and scholar in residence at Middlebury College, McKibben received accolades on his environmental writings from The New Yorker. His work appears frequently in such publications as The New York Times and Harpers Bazaar, and his books have been republished in 20 languages. The series concludes 7 p.m. Wednesday, May 4, as Patricia Allison of the Earthaven Ecovillage speaks on the principles of permaculture, a design system emulating natural patterns to create a sustainable culture. Topics include maximizing food production with small-scale intensive growing and alternative energy sources. All events are free and the public is invited. For more information call 410-543-6030 or visit the SU Web site at www.salisbury.edu.