Nassau notes

Princeton students, faculty, staff and their families are invited to attend the Frist Campus Center’s Winterval celebration from 3 to 6 p.m. Wednesday, Dec. 10.

The annual winter festival will include live entertainment, a cooking demonstration, a dessert and beverage buffet, cookie and eco-friendly tote bag decorating, a knitting circle and other activities to celebrate the winter season.

Live entertainment will take place outside of Café Vivian beginning at 3 p.m., featuring local jazz pianist Tara Buzash; Princeton student musicians Jeff Campbell, Neil Katuna, Andrew Mack and James Marvel; and the Romanian carolers group Colindatorii.

Chef Rob Harbison, the University’s culinary concept coordinator, will host a live cooking demonstration at 3:30 pm on the 100 level. The featured recipe will be spiced candied almonds. The recipe and samples will be available.

Cookie and tote bag decorating will take place in the East TV Lounge starting at 3 p.m. Materials will be provided while supplies last.

Knitters of all skill levels are welcome to participate in the knitting circle in the West TV Lounge starting at 3 p.m. Representatives from Pins and Needles, a local knitting and needlepoint shop, will be on hand to provide instructions and advice. Knitters may bring their own project or use a starter kit while supplies last.

The Office of Religious Life will present an exhibition on the 100 level of peace-themed photographs taken by campus community members.

Following the Winterval, the Fields Center will host a Kwanzaa celebration at 7 p.m. in the Frist Multipurpose Room. Kwanzaa focuses on traditional African values and is a time of reaffirming African American people, their ancestors and culture. Food will be provided.

In addition, Frist will serve as a collection site for the Mercer Street Friends Food Bank. University members may drop off donations of nonperishable food and personal hygiene items near the Mazo Family Game Room on the 100 level during regular operating hours through Wednesday, Dec. 17. For a list of other campus collection sites, visit the Office of Community and Regional Affairs website at www.princeton.edu/community.

Winterval is sponsored by the Frist Campus Center, the Fields Center, the Department of Dining Services, the Office of Community and Regional Affairs and the Office of Religious Life. For more information, visit www.princeton.edu/frist.

Egypt of 1798 Unveiled in Rare Books exhibition

An expedition artist contemplates a mighty granite statue of Rameses II in Thebes (image: Courtesy of Department of Rare Books and Special Collections)

A new exhibition, “Egypt Unveiled: The Mission of Napoleon’s Savants,” will run Dec. 21 through May 10 in the main gallery of Firestone Library. During Napoleon Bonaparte’s 1798 military campaign in Egypt, scientists, engineers and artists documented every aspect of the country to produce the multivolume “Description de l’Égypte.” The exhibition shares highlights of this work, including this image, in which an expedition artist contemplates a mighty granite statue of Rameses II in Thebes.

Wilson biographer Maynard to speak at Labyrinth Books

W. Barksdale Maynard, author of “Woodrow Wilson: Princeton to the Presidency,” will discuss the former U.S. president’s years at Princeton in a talk set for 5:30 p.m. Tuesday, Dec. 9, at Labyrinth Books, 122 Nassau St.

Wilson spent 25 years at Princeton, first as a member of the class of 1879, then as a faculty member and finally as president of the University from 1902 to 1910. Maynard’s book focuses on how Wilson’s Princeton years influenced the ideas and worldview he later applied in politics.

Maynard, a 1988 Princeton graduate, is a lecturer in architecture and the Princeton Environmental Institute.

For more information about this and other events at Labyrinth, visit www.labyrinthbooks.com.

Bill Bradley to speak on Russia

Former U.S. senator and Princeton alumnus Bill Bradley will deliver a lecture titled “Russia: Yesterday, Today and Tomorrow” at 4:30 p.m. Thursday, Dec. 11, in Dodds Auditorium, Robertson Hall.

Bradley represented New Jersey in the U.S. Senate from 1979 to 1997 and, in 2000, contended for the Democratic nomination for president of the United States.

Bradley has written six books on American politics, culture and the economy, including his latest book, “The New American Story.” He currently hosts “American Voices,” a weekly show on Sirius Satellite Radio that highlights the accomplishments of Americans both famous and unknown.

The event is sponsored by the Woodrow Wilson School of Public and International Affairs and the Office of Community and Regional Affairs. A reception with refreshments will immediately follow Bradley’s lecture.

Talks explore international relations

Renowned international relations scholar Stanley Hoffmann will deliver three talks in a new lecture series in honor of retired Princeton scholar Richard Ullman at 4:30 p.m. Monday through Wednesday, Dec. 8-10, in Robertson Hall.

Hoffmann, the Paul and Catherine Buttenwieser University Professor at Harvard University, will present the following lectures: “Understanding the Global System” on Dec. 8 in Dodds Auditorium; “Ethics and Global Policy” on Dec. 9 in Dodds Auditorium; and “U.S. Foreign Policy, Past and Future” on Dec. 10 in 16 Robertson.

The lecture series, sponsored by the Woodrow Wilson School of Public and International Affairs and the Princeton University Press, was created in honor of Ullman, Princeton’s David K.E. Bruce Professor of International Affairs Emeritus. It is designed to feature outstanding scholars of international affairs addressing topics of pressing concerns to the world community, such as national security, globalization, the international economy, human rights and environmental challenges. Each lecture series will be compiled into book form and published by Princeton University Press.

Former Mideast envoy to discuss region

Dennis Ross, a special Middle East envoy under President Bill Clinton, will discuss the region in a lecture titled “Whither the Middle East?” at 7:30 p.m. Wednesday, Dec. 10, in Dodds Auditorium, Robertson Hall.

In the administrations of Clinton and President George H.W. Bush, Ross played a leading role in shaping U.S. involvement in the Middle East peace process. Ross was instrumental in assisting Israelis and Palestinians to reach their 1995 interim agreement on the West Bank and the Gaza Strip. He also brokered the 1997 Israeli-Palestinian Hebron Accord and facilitated the 1994 Israel-Jordan peace treaty.

Ross is the author of “The Missing Peace: The Inside Story of the Fight for Middle East Peace” and currently serves as a consultant for the Washington Institute for Near East Policy.

The event is sponsored by the Woodrow Wilson School of Public and International Affairs and the Office of Career Services.

Friends of Library dinner features Smiley

Television and radio talk show host Tavis Smiley will be the featured speaker at the Friends of the Princeton University Library’s annual winter dinner at 6 p.m. Saturday, Dec. 13, in the Icahn Laboratory. Smiley will offer his thoughts on the 2008 presidential election and on American culture and politics generally.

The dinner is a by-invitation event that is open to individuals who are or become members of the friends organization. Members of the public are invited to join the friends in advance in order to receive an invitation to the dinner. To join, contact Linda Oliveira at loliveir@princeton.edu or 258-3155, or visit www.fpul.org.

In addition to his radio and television work, Smiley is a philanthropist and has written 11 books, including his bestselling memoir “What I Know for Sure: My Story of Growing Up in America.” He also edited the bestselling “Covenant With Black America.”

“A Christmas Carol” returns to McCarter

Dermot Crowley plays Ebenezer Scrooge and Matthew Kuenne is Tiny Tim — at McCarter (photo: Frank Wojciechowski)

Renowned Irish actor Dermot Crowley plays Ebenezer Scrooge and Matthew Kuenne is Tiny Tim in the McCarter Theatre Center’s annual production of Charles Dickens’ classic holiday tale, “A Christmas Carol.” Crowley previously performed at McCarter (and on Broadway) in “Translations,” and has appeared in films such as “Octopussy,” “Babel,” “The Legend of Bagger Vance” and “Return of the Jedi.” McCarter’s production of “A Christmas Carol” runs through Dec. 28. For more information and tickets, call the McCarter box office at 258-2787 or visit www.mccarter.org.

Fleming leads home study course on Chaucer’s ‘Tales’

Members of the campus and local communities can experience one of the University’s most popular undergraduate classes in recent decades — Professor John Fleming’s course on Chaucer — through a home study program offered by the Alumni Association.

The course, “Chaucer’s ‘Canterbury Tales,’” will be offered Jan. 5 through March 27 and will include weekly reading assignments, biweekly lectures, two conference calls and an online discussion group.

Fleming, the Louis W. Fairchild ’24 Professor of English and Comparative Literature Emeritus, taught the undergraduate survey course on Chaucer from 1980 to 2005. Considered a rite of passage for English majors, the course enrolled some 100 students each semester it was offered.

The lectures for the home study course are audio recordings from fall 2005, Fleming’s last semester teaching the class. The lectures are available online in MP3 format. Class handouts also will be available online.

Fleming will hold conference calls with participants at 8 p.m. Mondays, Jan. 5 and Feb. 16. He also will moderate the online discussion.

For more information, visit alumni.princeton.edu/main/education_travel/home_study_programs/alumni_studies/winter09/.