Nassau notes
Communiversity set for April 26
The Communiversity celebration, which annually brings the town and University together for a day of performances, food, games and more, is planned for noon to 5 p.m., Saturday, April 26.
Scheduled to take place rain or shine on Nassau and Witherspoon streets and the campus, the event is sponsored by students at the University and the Arts Council of Princeton. Merchants, nonprofit organizations, musicians, performing and visual artists, food vendors and 60 University student organizations and performing groups will turn the area into a colorful fairground with events for students and families alike.
Numerous student and community groups will perform on five stages, and the streets of Princeton and the front of campus will be filled with vendors, information booths, art exhibits and food stands.
The Princeton University Band will begin the festivities with a pre-Communiversity concert on Witherspoon Street at 11:45 a.m. Campus Communiversity activities will feature: several performing groups on a stage near Stanhope Hall, including the Princeton University Players, the TapCats, Raks Odalisque, the Princeton Juggling Club and student bands; numerous student organization booths; sports clinics put on by University athletes; and performances by the University’s a cappella groups in the East Pyne arch.
Tours of the campus by the student-led Orange Key guide service will leave from in front of Nassau Hall throughout the festival. The Cotsen Children’s Library and the University Art Museum will team up near the Scheide Caldwell House to host “The Great Eye-Scape,” a table where children can decorate eyeglasses and see the world in a different way — ideally as artists and writers. The University’s tiger mascot will roam the festivities to greet kids of all ages.
The University’s Davis International Center will continue its tradition of participation with an elaborate flag procession led by Chinese lion dancers beginning at 2 p.m. on the Nassau Street stage and ending on campus. Each flag will represent a Princeton student’s home country. As the culmination of a month of programming for the International Festival, Communiversity will sponsor a “Global Village,” featuring food, information booths, performances and artwork from around the world.
This year, the Arts Council is expanding the Communiversity spirit to encompass the entire weekend. For more information on events that begin Friday, April 25, contact the Arts Council at 924-8777 or visit www.artscouncilofprinceton.org; for more information about Communiversity, also call the University’s Office of Community and Regional Affairs at 258-5144.
Service for Goheen set for April 27
A service of remembrance and celebration for President Emeritus Robert F. Goheen is set for 1:30 p.m. Sunday, April 27, in the University Chapel.
Goheen, who served as president from 1957 to 1972, died March 31 at age 88. A full obituary ran in the April 7 issue of the Princeton Weekly Bulletin.
In lieu of flowers, the family has requested that memorial contributions be made to the University’s Annual Giving program. A blog intended to honor the life and legacy of Goheen is open to all who wish to share comments and stories at blogs.princeton.edu/goheen.
Bassler looks at diversity and scientific research
Bonnie Bassler, Princeton’s Squibb Professor in Molecular Biology, will present a lecture titled “So You Want to Be a Doctor: Diversity and Scientific Research” at 5:30 p.m. Tuesday, April 22, in 101 McCormick Hall.
Bassler will look at who the role models are in scientific research and how they have changed in recent years. She will share ideas about mentoring and role models and how, in her role as director of graduate studies in the Department of Molecular Biology, she has focused on the challenge of racial disparity in biological science education at Princeton.
Bassler, whose research has revealed surprisingly sophisticated methods of communication among bacteria, was awarded a MacArthur Foundation “genius grant” in 2002. She was chosen in 2005 to be a young investigator by the Howard Hughes Medical Institute, one of the highest honors in biomedical research.
Her talk is the third annual James Baldwin Lecture sponsored by the Center for African American Studies in honor of the essayist and cultural critic. The series aims to celebrate the work of Princeton faculty and to reflect on issues of race and American democracy.
Jamal discusses Muslim Americans and democracy
“Muslim Americans: Enriching or Threatening American Democracy?” is the title of a talk by Amaney Jamal, an assistant professor of politics at Princeton, scheduled for 4:30 p.m. Tuesday, April 22, in 16 Robertson Hall.
Jamal’s research focuses on democratization and the politics of civic engagement in the Middle East as well as patterns of political and civic engagement of Muslims and Arabs in the United States.
Jamal’s first book, “Barriers to Democracy,” explores the role of civic associations in promoting democracy in the Middle East. Her second book, “Race and Arab Americans Before and After 9/11: From Invisible Citizens to Visible Subjects,” an edited volume with Nadine Naber of the University of Michigan, looks at the patterns and influences of Arab- and Muslim-American racialization processes. She is writing a third book on citizenship in the Arab world.
The lecture is sponsored by the Woodrow Wilson School of Public and International Affairs and the Center for the Study of Religion as part of their “Crossroads of Religion and Politics” series.
Novelist Vargas Llosa to speak
Mario Vargas Llosa, one of the most influential Latin American writers and a onetime candidate for the Peruvian presidency, will deliver a lecture on “Onetti and the Shadows of Faulkner and Borges” at 8 p.m. Tuesday, April 22, in McCosh 50.
The lecture will consider the work of Uruguayan novelist Juan Carlos Onetti — a 1980 winner of the Cervantes Prize, the most prestigious award for Spanish-language literature — and its relationship to the writing of William Faulkner and Jorge Luis Borges.
The talk, designated as a Spencer Trask Lecture, is the final event in this year’s University Public Lectures Series.
Activist Prendergast to accept Crystal Tiger Award
Princeton students have selected John Prendergast, co-founder and co-chair of the ENOUGH Project to end genocide, as the winner of the 2007-08 Crystal Tiger Award. Prendergast will accept the award, deliver an address and respond to questions during an event at 7:30 p.m. Monday, April 21, in McCosh 50. Seats will be available on the day of the event on a first-come, first-served basis.
The Crystal Tiger Award is given each year by Princeton undergraduates to individuals who have been agents of progress — leaders, thinkers and creators who have improved society and strengthened people’s values. The award recognizes those who have demonstrated a strong commitment to enriching the human experience and who have inspired students at Princeton to pursue the same goal.
Past recipients include U.N. Secretary-General Kofi Annan, Microsoft founder Bill Gates and U.S. Secretary of State Colin Powell.
The ENOUGH Project is a Washington, D.C.-based initiative to end genocide and crimes against humanity. Prendergast travels regularly to Africa’s war zones on fact-finding missions, peace-making initiatives, and awareness-raising trips involving network news programs, celebrities and politicians.
During the Clinton administration, he served as director of African affairs at the National Security Council and as special adviser at the Department of State. He later served as a senior adviser at the International Crisis Group.
Prendergast has written eight books on Africa, including “Not on Our Watch: The Mission to End Genocide in Darfur and Beyond,” a New York Times bestseller he co-wrote with actor-activist Don Cheadle.
Talk focuses on Iraqi refugees’ plight
“Five Years Later, A Hidden Crisis: The Plight of Iraqi Refugees” is the title of a talk by George Biddle, senior vice president of the International Rescue Committee (IRC), scheduled for 4:30 p.m. Monday, April 21, in 16 Robertson Hall.
IRC, a New York-based humanitarian agency, operates programs in 25 countries around the world and across the United States, directly aiding millions of people displaced and affected by war. Before joining IRC, Biddle was vice president of the International Crisis Group, a private, multinational organization committed to helping the international community to prevent, contain and resolve deadly conflict. He also was president of the Washington, D.C.-based Institute for Central American Studies, a nonprofit organization he founded in 1989 to assist post-Cold War Central America in its transition from violent conflict to peace and democracy.
The lecture is sponsored by the Woodrow Wilson School of Public and International Affairs.
Orchestra will perform Mahler’s Ninth Symphony
The Princeton University Orchestra will perform Gustav Mahler’s monumental Ninth Symphony to conclude the 2007-08 season at 8 p.m. Friday and Saturday, April 25-26, in Richardson Auditorium, Alexander Hall.
The 2008 Mindlin Memorial Concerts also will mark the culmination of conductor Michael Pratt’s 30th season at Princeton. He believes it is the first Princeton performance of this great piece of music. Tickets are available online through University Ticketing at www.princeton.edu/utickets or by calling 258-9220.
Jason Moran (left; photo: Clay Patrick McBride) and Cyrus Chestnut (photo: Courtesy of McCarter Theatre Center)
Jazz trios at McCarter — in a double bill
The McCarter Theatre Center will present two of today’s hottest jazz piano trios — Jason Moran (left) and the Bandwagon, and Cyrus Chestnut and Manhattan Trinity — in a double bill at 8 p.m. Saturday, April 26.
Moran creates passionate, funky and forceful music that incorporates a wide range of artistic traditions including hip-hop and southern blues. Chestnut’s hard-swinging, soulful sounds have become a staple in the jazz community; his most recent release, “Cyrus Plays Elvis,” re-examines the blues and gospel roots of Elvis Presley’s classic rock songs.
For ticket information, call the McCarter box office at 258-2787 or visit www.mccarter.org.
Event promotes health benefits of walking
The kickoff of the Princeton Start! Walking Program, an initiative to promote the health benefits of walking, is set for 11:30 a.m. to 2 p.m. Friday, April 25, on the Frist Campus Center south lawn.
Highlighted by a one-mile fun walk around campus beginning at 12:15 p.m., the event also will feature health screenings, information about the benefits of walking, and merchandise and discounts from area businesses.
The Princeton Start! Walking Program is sponsored by Healthier Princeton. Organizers hope to offer regularly scheduled, informal walking groups for campus community members.
The kickoff event is free and open to all faculty, staff and students, with no registration required. Questions may be directed to Gina Abrams at gbaral@princeton.edu or Susan Crane at c6@princeton.edu.
Physics department hosts recital
Faculty, staff and students from the Department of Physics will showcase their creative talents in the department’s 20th annual music recital at 8 p.m. Saturday, April 26, in Taplin Auditorium, Fine Hall.
The event began in April 1988 and over the years has included performances by classical pianists, rock bands, clarinetists, saxophonists, singers, flautists, drummers and cellists.
The recital will be followed by a reception in the Joseph Henry Room, Jadwin Hall, where an exhibition of artwork by members of the department will be on display.
