Nassau notes

Actors, scholars, playwrights here for Irish theater symposium

By Cass Cliatt

Princeton NJ — Distinguished Irish actors, theater directors and other luminaries well known for their award-winning roles on stage and screen will gather at the University Oct. 13-15 for discussions, readings and performances highlighting the “Players & Painted Stage” symposium.
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New York-based sculptor and installation artist will give talk

Phoebe Washburn, a New York-based sculptor and installation artist known for her unusual use of recycled materials, will speak about her work at 4:30 p.m. Tuesday, Oct. 10, in Room 219 of 185 Nassau St.

Washburn has gained attention in the contemporary art world for large installations made from an eclectic assortment of materials — cardboard boxes, lumber, plastic cups, old newspapers — collected from recycling bins, alleys and loading docks. Her sculpture “It Makes for My Billionaire Status” (at left) was installed in 2005 at the Kantor/Feuer Gallery in Los Angeles. The work is made of post-consumerist materials interspersed with living plants.

Washburn’s talk is sponsored by the Program in Visual Arts.

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Oran speaks Oct. 10 on pioneering work in reactive flow physics

Elaine Oran, a pioneering researcher in reactive flow physics, will deliver a lecture on advances in her field at 8 p.m. Tuesday, Oct. 10, in McCosh 50.

Oran, senior scientist for reactive flow physics at the U.S. Naval Research Laboratory in Washington, D.C., is known for her groundbreaking work in the use of numerical simulation to model the dynamics of reactive flows — for example, those that occur in combustion, rocket and jet propulsion, the oceans and atmosphere, and stars. Her lecture, titled “Matchsticks, Scramjets and Black Holes: Numerical Simulation Faces Reality,” will consider some of the applications of this new technology.

Oran has made pivotal contributions to a broad range of problems in combustion and propulsion, atmospheric physics, and solar physics and astrophysics. Her work has contributed both to basic science and to advanced engineering applications.

Oran has won numerous awards, including: the 2004 Presidential Rank Award for long-term public service; the 1999 Oppenheim Prize for outstanding contributions to the theory of the dynamics of reactive systems; the 2000 Y.B. Zeldovich Gold Medal, awarded by the Russian Academy of Sciences; and the 2002 Dryden Lectureship in Research Award, presented by the American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics. She is a member of the Women in Technology International Hall of Fame and the National Academy of Engineering.

Oran’s lecture, designated as the Louis Clark Vanuxem Lecture, is part of the University’s Public Lecture Series.

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Galbraith to discuss errors in Iraq war

Peter Galbraith, who served as ambassador to Croatia under President Clinton, will discuss his new book, “The End of Iraq: How American Incompetence Created a War Without End,” at 4:30 p.m. Tuesday, Oct. 10, in 16 Robertson Hall.

Galbraith, now a senior diplomatic fellow at the Center for Arms Control and Nuclear Nonproliferation, has held senior positions in the U.S. government and with the United Nations. In his new book, Galbraith describes what he terms strategic errors, miscalculations and “wishful thinking” by the Bush administration in the Iraq war.

From 1993 to 1998, Galbraith served as U.S. ambassador to Croatia, where he helped facilitate the flow of humanitarian assistance to Bosnia and was actively involved in the Croatia and Bosnia peace processes. He played an integral role in articulating and executing the strategic plan that ended the 1993-94 Muslim-Croat war.

Galbraith was a senior adviser to the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, with major responsibilities for the Near East and South Asia and international organizations.

The lecture is sponsored by the Woodrow Wilson School of Public and International Affairs, the Program in Law and Public Affairs and the Liechtenstein Institute on Self-Determination.

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Native American writers will read from their work

Native American writers Luci Tapahonso and David Treuer will read from their work at 4:30 p.m. Wednesday, Oct. 11, in the Stewart Film Theater, 185 Nassau St.

Tapahonso, a professor of American Indian studies and English at the University of Arizona, is the author of three children’s books and five books of poetry. Her book “Blue Horses Rush In” was awarded the Mountain and Plains Booksellers Association’s 1998 Award for Poetry. She also has received the Storyteller of the Year Award from the Wordcraft Circle of Native Writers and an American Indian Leadership Award from the University of Kansas.

Treuer graduated from Princeton in 1992 and published his first novel, “Little,” three years later. He has written two other novels, “The Hiawatha” and “The Translation of Dr. Apelles,” as well as a collection of essays titled “Native American Fiction: A User’s Manual.” His honors include a Pushcart Prize, a Minnesota Book Award and a Fulbright Fellowship.

The event is part of the Althea Ward Clark Reading Series sponsored by the Program in Creative Writing.

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Nursery school holds open house

The University League Nursery School will host an open house from 4 to 5 p.m. Wednesday, Oct. 11, at the school, located at 171 Broadmead. All interested families are invited to attend.

The school offers two-, three- and five-day morning programs on a cooperative basis for children ages 2-1/2 through 5, as well as extended and full-day noncooperative care for children ages 3 through 5.

The school is accredited by the National Academy of Early Childhood Programs and is open from 8:30 a.m. to 6 p.m. Applications for fall 2007 are being accepted until Jan. 15. For more information, call 258-9777.