Newsletter : Spring 2008 Musicologist Richard Taruskin to Speak on Censorship and Music The Kritikos Professorship was established in 1994 to enrich public dialogue by encourag- ing visiting scholars to engage in critical inquiry, to ?speak their minds,? and, if necessary, to ?go against the grain? of prevailing thought. In light of these aims, UC Berkeley musicologist Rich- ard Taruskin makes a perfect Kritikos Profes- sor. Known for his controversial style, Taruskin says, ?The value of scholarship lies precisely in its power to raise provocative points, if they are supported by evidence. I have done my homework?I do not merely assert my points but demonstrate them.? Taruskin will deliver this year?s Kritikos Lec- ture, ?Did Somebody Say Censorship?? in Eugene on Tuesday, May 13 at 7:30 p.m. in 182 Lillis Hall. The lecture will be repeated in Portland on Thursday, May 15 , at 6:30 p.m. in the Benson Hotel Crystal Ballroom . The Portland lecture will be preceded at continued on page 2 1 5 4 P L C | 5 4 1 - 3 4 6 - 3 9 3 4 | w w w . u o r e g o n . e d u / ~ h u m a n c t r Steven Shankman Director Distinguished Professor, CAS English; Classics Julia J. Heydon Associate Director Melissa Gustafson Program Coordinator Rebecca Force TV Producer Peg Gearhart Of? ce Specialist 2007?2008 Advisory Board James Crosswhite English Amalia Gladhart Romance Languages Michael Hames-Garcia Ethnic Studies Lori Kruckenberg Music C . Anne Laskaya English Jeffrey Librett German and Scandinavian Deb Morrison Journalism and Communication Craig Parsons Political Science Jenifer Presto Comparative Literature Ellen Rees German and Scandinavian Elizabeth Reis Women?s and Gender Studies John Schmor Theater Arts Andrew Schulz Art History Ying Tan Art Anita Weiss International Studies Oregon Humanities Center I am delighted at the prospect of stepping in as director of the OHC as of September! What more could one want? I?ll have the chance to work in a unit that already enjoys much success and with a cracker-jack team of creative, productive, ef? cient women who can teach me what I need to know. Steve Shank- man will be leaving a large pair of shoes to ? ll, but I look forward to picking up where he leaves off and helping the OHC move into new endeav- ors. I would love to hear from all my humanist colleagues on campus about how the Center can best promote their work and bring them together as a community. Some have already been in touch with me and have shared some great ideas. Of course, the fellowship programs will continue to provide time and resources for individual scholars to make progress on their work, and the high-pro? le lecture series will bring speak- ers to campus to challenge us all in our think- ing. Beyond that, however, as the only research center on campus dedicated to the humanities, the OHC is a natural home for all of us scattered throughout the traditional departments and programs, a place where both newcomers and veterans can come together to explore areas of common interest. I hope to start the new aca- demic year with some opportunities to discuss and brainstorm, and to decide how we can con- nect even more effectively with the broader com- munity. Please watch this space for an invitation to join in. And in the meantime, all good wishes to Steve. We?ll keep the home ? res burning! ?Barbara Altmann Barbara Altmann, a Professor of French, is currently Chair of the Department of Romance Languages. Her work focuses on Old and Middle French literature and language and gender stud- ies. She served as Interim Director of the OHC in 2002-03. A Message from the Incoming OHC Director: 2 Oregon Humanities Center | spring 2008 Taruskin continued from front page 5:45 p.m. by a reception in the Benson Fireplace Lobby. Drawing on sound bites from thirty musical works that have been altered in the course of their reception?sometimes by their creators, more often by others, including legal authorities?Taruskin will provocatively explore when it is appropri- ate to speak of censorship, and whether censorship is always a bad thing. Richard Taruskin has worked as a specialist in four ? elds of music his- tory, and has transformed all of them. His specialties include ? fteenth-cen- tury music, Russian music, Stravinsky, analytical methods, and the theory of performance practice. He is the author of the monumental six-volume, 4,252-page Oxford History of Western Music (Ox- ford University Press, 2005), along with six other books and numerous journal articles. For the last two decades he has been a frequent contributor to the public press, appearing regularly in the New York Times and The New Republic , and has become contemporary music?s most proli? c public intellectual. Taruskin has received numerous awards for his scholarship, including the Greenberg Prize (1978), the Alfred Einstein Award (1980), the Dent Medal (1987) and the Kinkeldey Prize (1997). Both lectures are free and open to the public. For information, or for dis- ability accommodations (which must be made by May 6th), call 346-3934. ?Man of Oregon? Orchestral Piece Premieres at Bach Festival July 1, 2008 Not long after legendary UO track coach Bill Bowerman passed away in December of 1999, Bill?s son Jay, a biologist and folk musician (as well as a former member of the OHC?s Board of Visitors), approached Steve Shankman and Julia Heydon with an idea for creat- ing a musical tribute to his father. That idea ? nally came to fruition in 2007 in a ?symphonic biography? for chamber orchestra written by UO music compo- sition graduate Rebecca Oswald . The chamber orchestral version received its premiere in Bend last spring, performed by the Central Oregon Symphony. When we shared the 22-minute piece with the staff at the Oregon Bach Festival, they liked it?so much so, in fact that they asked that it be rescored for full orchestra, and presented as part of a larger event honoring Bill Bowerman in conjunction with the Eugene 08 Olympic Trials this summer. We hope you will be able to join us for the premiere of ?Man of Oregon? on July 1 at 7:30 p.m. in Silva Hall at the Hult Center . In addition to the premiere of Oswald?s symphonic biography for full orchestra, this gala multimedia tribute to Bill Bowerman will include a screening of the Oregon Public Broad- casting documentary about the legendary coach and OBF patron, and several other musical works for orchestra and chorus. For more information and to order tick- ets, please see the Bach Festival web site: www.oregonbachfestival.com. Little did OHC director Steven Shankman realize, when asked by a col- league in 1999 how various campus build- ings got their names, that the seemingly innocent query would launch the Center into a creative project that would consume much of the next several years ? but that is precisely what happened! Originally conceived as a story that might be told in one or two ?UO Today? episodes, the project turned into a sweep- ing, ?warts and all? three-hour video documentary history of the UO spanning more than a century, from the university?s founding in 1857 through the early 1980s, thanks mostly to the tireless efforts of writer, nar- rator, and producer Rebecca Force. The telling of this story in docu- mentary form presented some interesting challenges. Until the late 1920s, there were many still photographs taken of the early campus, but very few moving images. So, we borrowed period cos- tumes from the Theatre Department and recruited talented volunteers to create representations of students and commu- nity members during the early years on campus. We pulled dozens of headlines from micro? lmed newspapers, copied hundreds of photos from the archives of the University of Oregon, and imposed on several institutions for images that would help us tell this story. We waded through, researched, and logged the University of Oregon?s ? lm archive and unlabeled news footage from the 1960s, 70s and 80s. Re- gents? minutes were read, boxes of presidential papers pe- rused, and personal papers examined. Reel-to-reel tapes were dusted off and played and re-recorded. Yearbooks, newspapers, theses, reports, and memoirs were searched. Quotations gleaned from dry pages in dusty boxes were audio-recorded by patient friends, bringing the words to life. People who had played key roles in the life of the University were in- terviewed. Then came the choosing of the stories to be told, the writing, rewriting and recording of the narration, the com- posing and adding of the music, and the seemingly endless editing and re-editing. The history of the University is an amazing story about remarkable people in interesting times. The ? rst hour of this documentary video aired in 2001-02, dur- ing the UO?s 125 th anniversary year. We hope you will join us for the premiere of the ? nal two chapters of this fascinating story on Friday, May 30 th , from 5-7 p.m. in Rooms 41 and 42 of Media Services in the Knight Library . DVDs will be available for sale. For information, call 346-3934. Video History of UO Premieres May 30th Oregon Humanities Center | spring 2008 3 Baroque Violinist Jaap Schr?der Returns to Campus April 22-23 The Oregon Humanities Center, in collaboration with the School of Music and Dance, is pleased to welcome Dutch vio - linist Jaap Schr?der back to campus after an absence of several years for a lecture-demonstration entitled, ?Performing the Bach Sona - tas and Partitas for Solo Violin.? The lecture-performance will take place on Tuesday, April 22nd at 5:30 p.m. in Gerlinger Alumni Lounge , and is free and open to the public. A leading international soloist deeply admired for his interpretation of Bach?s six Sonatas and Partitas for unaccompanied violin, Jaap Schr?der recently published a long-awaited guide to the performance of these works entitled Bach?s Solo Violin Works: A Performer?s Guide (Yale University Press, 2007). No serious violinist can avoid studying these pieces, and few concert artists can resist the temptation of performing them. In his new book, Schr?der provides musicians with a detailed but informal guide to the performance of these sub - lime violin pieces which are so central to the baroque musical repertoire. Schr?der will also be featured in a concert of baroque music on Wednesday, April 23rd , with baroque cellist and UO faculty member Marc Vanscheeuwijck at 7 p.m. at the Episco - pal Church of the Resurrection , 3925 Hilyard Street. For more information about this concert please call 346-5678. Jaap Schr?der, who lives in the Netherlands and in France, is increasingly active in the United States where he is a visiting lecturer at Yale University. He also frequently performs and re - cords in Iceland. His Smithsonian recording of the Sonatas and Partitas has recently been reissued on the Naxos label. The OHC is deeply grateful to its Endowment for Public Outreach in the Arts, Sciences, and Humanities for helping to make maestro Schr?der?s visit to campus possible. For more information about the lecture-demonstration, call 346-3934. 2008-2009 OHC Fellowship Awards Announced Research Fellowships Erin Cline , Philosophy and Religious Studies, ?Justice, Hu - man Nature, and the Family? (Spring) Alisa Freedman , East Asian Languages and Literatures: ?Tokyo ?Train Girls?: Female Transport Workers as Model Laborers, Literary Icons, and Tourist Attractions in Twenti - eth-Century Japan? (Fall) Deborah Hurtt , Art History, ?Contested Territory: Architec - ture and Modernity in Interwar France? (Fall) Michelle McKinley , Law, ?The Unbearable Lightness of Be - ing: Hybridity and Racial Identity in Colonial Lima? (Fall) Daisuke Miyao , East Asian Languages and Literatures, ?Let There Be Light: Henry Kotani and the Emergence of Motion Picture Lighting in Japan? (Winter) Daniel Pope , History: ?Editing the Memoirs of James Rorty? (Fall) Deborah Shapple , English, ?Uneven Exchanges: Narratives of Realism in 19th-Century South Africa? (Fall) Professor Shapple is also the recipient of the Ernest G. Moll Research Fellowship in Literary Studies. Tania Triana , Romance Languages, ?Trans-American Racial Politics in Jos? Mart??s New York Cr?nicas? (Fall) Research Fellowship Alternate Gerald Berk , Political Science, and Dennis Galvan , Inter - national Studies and Political Science, ?A Field Guide to Creative Syncretism, or How People Remake Institutions? (Winter) Teaching Fellowships Cristina Calhoon , Classics, ?Greece and India: Reincarnation and Afterlife in the Classical Tradition? (Spring: HUM 399) Mark Johnson and John Lysaker , Philosophy, ?Sources of the Self? (Winter and Spring: PHIL 407/507) Professors Johnson and Lysaker are also the recipients of the 2008-2009 Robert F. Wulf and Evelyn Nelson Wulf Professorship in the Humanities . Graduate Research Fellowships Melissa Baird , Anthropology, ?The Politics of Place: Heri - tage, Identity, and the Epistemologies of Cultural Land - scapes? (Fall) Janet Fiskio , Environmental Science, Studies and Policy, ?Ecohermeneutics and the Epistemology of Literary Form? (Fall) Lesley Wallace Wootton , English, ?Sentimental Classism: Social Divisions and ?Natural? Differences in 19th Century American Women?s Novels? (Fall) George Lakoff , professor of cognitive linguistics at UC Berkeley and co-founder and Senior Fellow of the progressive Rockridge Institute, will give a talk entitled ?The Brain and Its Politics? on Friday, April 25th at 7 p.m. in 150 Columbia . The lecture is sponsored by the Oregon Humanities Center?s Wulf Professor - ship and Endowment for Public Outreach in the Arts, Sciences, and Humanities . For information, call 541-346-3934. Cognitive Linguist George Lakoff to Speak April 25 First-Class Mail U.S. Postage PAID Eugene OR Permit No. 63 Upcoming W.I.P.s We continue our series of work-in-progress talks by University of Oregon faculty and graduate students on their current or recent research on Fridays at noon in the Humanities Center Conference Room, 159 PLC . Brown-bag lunches are welcome! April 11 Larissa Ennis , graduate fellow, English, speaking on ?Father Figures and Broken Hearts: The Godfather Saga as Paternal Melodrama.? April 18 Daniel Falk , religious studies, speaking on ?Ideology and Theology in the Qumran Prayers.? April 25 Katya Hokanson , comparative literature and REESC, speaking on ?Theatrical Asides: Gender and Nation in Russian Women?s Travel Writing.? May 2 Judith Raiskin , women?s and gender studies, and her graduate stu - dents presenting their project ?There are No Mondays in Aruba: Creat - ing a Digital Database of Historic and Contemporary Travel Ads.? May 9 Jeffrey Ostler , history, speaking on ?The Question of Genocide in U.S. History.? May 30 David Li , English, speaking on ?The World of Jia Zhangke Viewed: Neorealist Aesthetics against Neoliberal Logics.? June 6 Cecilia Enjuto Rangel , romance languages, speaking on ?The Ruins of the Spanish Civil War and its Transatlantic Poetics.? All faculty and graduate students are encouraged to attend. The con - ference room seats eighteen; early arrival is recommended. The University of Oregon is an equal opportunity, af?rmative action institution committed to cultural diversity and compliance with the Americans with Disabili - ties Act. To arrange disability accommodations for Humanities Center events or to obtain this newsletter in an alternative format, call 541-346-3934. This newsletter is also available on our website: www.uoregon.edu/~humanctr/ If you receive this newsletter through U.S. Mail and would like to be taken off our mailing list please let us know. Call 541-346-3934 or send an e-mail to: peg@uoregon.edu. OREGON HUMANITIES CENTER 5211 University of Oregon Eugene OR 97403-5211 ADDRESS SERVICE REQUESTED Human Rights Activist to Speak on Genocide in Sudan John Prendergast is a human rights activist focused on bringing international attention to the genocide in Sudan and the atrocities of the Lord?s Resistance Army in Northern Uganda. An adviser to the White House and the State Department in the mid- 1990s, he later served as a Senior Adviser at the International Crisis Group. He currently works for the ENOUGH Project, whose mission is to ?prevent genocide and mass atrocities by promoting peace, providing protection, and punishing the perpetrators.? Prendergast has written a number of books on Africa, most recently a volume with Don Cheadle entitled Not On Our Watch: The Mission to End Genocide in Darfur and Beyond . Prendergast will give a pub - lic lecture entitled ?Confronting Genocide in Sudan: What You Can Do? on Thursday, April 3 at 7:30 p.m. in 180 PLC . For information, call Hal Applebaum at 343-8920. This event is cosponsored by Oregon Hillel, the Oregon Humanities Center, and the Jewish Student Union.