University Symposium Calendar of Events, 2007-08
Friday July 6
Catastrophe: Imaging and Imagining Disruptions in Time
“Catastrophe: Imaging and Imagining Disruptions in Time” explores time through “catastrophic” events that challenge linear, stable, and continuous models of time. Across several academic disciplines and artmaking practices, theories and descriptions of catastrophe underscore how temporal discontinuity, heterogeneity, and randomness undermine the idea that time is fundamentally uniform, measurable, and predictable. Our workshop will address how catastrophe can revitalize notions of time and the event, focusing on the interdisciplinary nature of “catastrophe,” a term with cross-disciplinary resonances that remains largely unexplored within the academy. We encourage active participation from diverse academic fields to enhance our understanding of catastrophe as event and concept. Participants include Dr. David Odde and Dr. Victor Barocas, from the University of Minnesota Department of Biomedical Engineering, Dr. Tomas Co and Dr. Faith Morrison, from the Michigan Technological University Department of Chemical Engineering, Dr. Thomas Odde, film scholar, and James Gladman, an artist and Professor of Broadcast Design and Motion Graphics at Savannah College of Art and Design. More information can be found at their website.
2:00 p.m., 155 Nicholson
Wednesday July 25
Wreck: Time through the Lens of Embodied Knowing
As a part of the second year of the University of Minnesota Symposium on Time, the locally based dance theater company Black Label Movement led by Director of the University’s Dance Program Carl Flink continues its examination of the presence of time in the creation of their evening length work Wreck with an open rehearsal featuring all new material. This will be the fifth in a dynamic series of open rehearsals and formal showings that offer observers an unparalleled opportunity to experience and intimately engage the making of this challenging work through dialogue with Flink and the Black Label Movement performers. In Wreck, time plays a unique and pivotal role as the piece will last only as long as it takes 10 people to breathe the last oxygen in a watertight compartment of an ore boat that lies recently sunk on the bottom of Lake Superior. Look for two more open rehearsals in the upcoming fall. The completed version of Wreck will premiere during a two week run in January 2008 at the fabulous Southern Theater,1420 Washington Ave South, Minneapolis. Funded by a University Symposium Award.
4:30-6:00 p.m., Barbara Barker Dance Center, Room 100
Friday, July 27
Microtubule Catastrophe: Social Interaction at the Nanoscale
David Odde, Professor of Biomedical Engineering at the University of Minnesota, will address microtubule catastrophe as part of the "Catastrophe: Imaging and Imagining Disruptions in Time" project. Microtubules are self-assembled filaments of living cells that serve as "railroad tracks" for long-distance, molecular motor-based transportation of key cargo, such as a chromosome. Although composed of a single type of subunit, microtubules are surprisingly dynamic, exhibiting alternating phases of growth and shortening. The transitions between phases are very abrupt and random, and endow microtubules with the ability to undergo dramatic reorganization to meet cellular demands. Odde is particularly interested in the switch from growth to shortening, known in the field as "catastrophe." He will review the rise and fall of the microtubule and the "social" interactions between tubulin neighbors that lead to both growth and catastrophe. Short animated film clips, depicting various views of microtubule catastrophe, will be presented and discussed. It is hoped that this nontechnical presentation will stimulate cross-disciplinary thinking and discussion related to the general topic of catastrophe. More information can be found at their website.
2:00 p.m., 155 Nicholson
Tuesday, July 31; Thursday, September 20; Thursday, October 18; Monday, November 12
Talk about Time: Lunch discussions
To further discussion on the topic of Time, the Institute for Advanced Study is sponsoring a series of lunches in different locations on the Twin Cities campus. Participation is open to all; discussion will cover any aspect of time, from the most speculative thoughts to ideas for forthcoming events in the Symposium. We particularly encourage participation by those working on projects funded by a Symposium Award. Reservations will be required and attendance will be limited to the first 15 respondents in order to facilitate discussion. Please contact the Institute at ias@umn.edu or 626-5054 in order to make a reservation.
12:00-1:30 p.m., 125 Nolte Center
Friday, August 3
Catastrophe in Film: Werner Herzog’s Lessons of Darkness and James Gladman’s Tantra
As part of the "Catastrophe: Imaging and Imagining Disruptions in Time" project, Werner Herzog's documentary Lessons of Darkness (Lektionen in Finsternis, 1992) and Jim Gladman's Tantra will be screened and discussed. Through apocalyptic visions brought about by oil fires in Kuwait following the first Gulf War, Herzog's film bears witness to the profound psychological and environmental trauma caused by war. Pedagogical in its aims and poetic in its means, the stunning imagery of Lessons of Darkness offers an alternative "lesson" to the images of catastrophe disseminated by dominant media. It asks viewers to recognize, as Herzog puts it, "the deeper strata of truth in cinema. It is mysterious, elusive, and can be reached only through fabrication and imagination and stylization." We are also pleased to have James Gladman introduce his film, Tantra. Meditative and repetitive in form, Gladman's work explores representations of violence in Hollywood action and disaster films. Showing looped footage from well-known action films, Tantra takes the explosive, catastrophic moments from these and places them within a context of sustained intensity. Rather than dissipating explosive energy in the present, the pleasurable "payoff" associated with action films, catastrophe unfolds meditatively as a prolongation of a series of catastrophes. James Gladman is Professor of Broadcast Design and Motion Graphics at the Savannah College of Art and Design. More information can be found at their website.
2:00 p.m., 155 Nicholson
Thursday, September 13
“Tribal Time, Ceremony and Public Art”
Artist Edgar Heap of Birds discusses public expressions of the scientific and artistic awareness of the passage of time among indigenous societies. This event is also part of the Thursdays at Four series.
4:00 p.m., 125 Nolte Center
Tuesday through Thursday, September 25 - 27
Cities in Conflict: Exploring Israeli-Palestinian partnerships
Symposium on the relationship between affect, place, and catastrophe in contemporary understandings of memory through the interplay of art and architecture. Events include a film screening with panel discussion, and a lecture by Wendy Pullan, University of Cambridge. Organized by Space & Place, funded by a University Symposium Award
Monday, October 1 and Tuesday, October 2
“The Poetry of Time and the Disorientation of Memory”
Music, video, and poetry project by composer Jason Rubin and video artist John Merigliano that manipulates media to disorient experiences of time. Funded by a University Symposium Award. Rubin and Megliano's film, The Pale Memory, can be viewed through our media page.
Monday, 4:00 p.m., 125 Nolte Center
Tuesday, 1:00 p.m., Singer Rehearsal Hall, 206 Weber Music Hall, UM-Duluth
Wednesday, October 17
The Sound Creates the Space: Time and Place in Aural Art
Poet Daniel Givens and guitarist Nathaniel Braddock perform and discuss the problems of timing in collaborative improvisational work.
4:15 p.m., 125 Nolte Center
Tuesday, October 23, Monday, November 26
Open rehearsals of Wreck
Ongoing series of open rehearsals and discussion around aspects of time in the creation of an evening-length theater dance piece by Carl Flink and Black Label Movement.
4:00-5:30 p.m., Barbara Barker Center for Dance, Studio 100
Thursday, October 25
“What Einstein Did to Time”
Conversation between philosopher Oliver Pooley and historian of physics Michel Janssen. This event is also part of the Thursdays at Four series.
4:00 p.m., 125 Nolte Center
Friday, October 26
"Performing the Archive, Placing the Past": A performance with Walid Raad and Iris Haussler
Performers, visual artists, and animators of imagined pasts, Raad and Haussler both make work that plays on the unstable boundary between artistic fact and historical fiction. Raad's photographic, documentary, and academic fabrications deal with the occluded past of conflict in Lebanon, while Haussler's domestic environments promise access to the interior worlds of people who never were. Organized by the Space & Place collaborative and cosponsored by the Department of Art, the Department of Theatere Arts and Dance and the Institute for Global Studies.
Thursday - Saturday, October 25-27
Symposium on Time and Relativity
Organized by Michel Janssen and Antigone Nounou, the symposium will feature a keynote address by Harvey Brown entitled "Kinematics versus dynamics: putting Einstein's 1905 relativity paper in historical context" and two days of panel discussions.
Events will be held in 125 Nolte Center, with the exception of Harvey Brown's public lecture in 275 Nicholson Hall and Session 2 on Friday afternoon, which will be in room 131 of the Tate Laboratory of Physics.
Thursday, November 8
"Simulations of Time and Life in Medieval Automata: Islamic Symbolism, Teleological Mechanisms, and Ontological Difference"
Ayhan Aytes discusses the concept of time as it is manifested in examples from medieval engineer al-Jaziri’s automata. This event is also a part of the Thursdays at Four series.
Cosponsored by the Center for Medieval Studies.
4:00 p.m., 125 Nolte Center
Monday, December 3
"Slow Art": A presentation by John Kelly and Arden Reed
Arden Reed is Arthur M. Dole and Fanny M. Dole Professor of English, Pomona College and his current research examines Tableaux Vivants. John Kelly is a performance and visual artist working in areas of dance, theater, voice, photography, video, drawing, and painting.
4:00 p.m., 125 Nolte Center
January 11-20
Wreck
Premier of evening-length dance theater piece by Carl Flink and Black Label Movement. Funded by a University Symposium Award. Contact the theater box office at 612.340.1725 or visit their website for ticket information.
Southern Theater, 1420 Washington Ave South, Minneapolis
Tuesday, January 22
Amnesia Curiosa
In this contemporary cabinet of curiosities, performers Geoff Sobelle and Trey Lyford (authors, producers, and performers of the award-winning vaudeville production all wear bowlers) unearth a museum of absence and artifact where the paranormal becomes normal. Lyford and Sobelle will join us for a ten-day residency that includes a workshop with Theatre Arts and Dance students, visit to Space&Place intersecting courses, and a public performance. Organized by the Space & Place Collaborative.
7:00 p.m., Rarig Center Thrust Theater
Thursday, February 28
"Time in the Shadow Universe": A talk with Marvin Marshak
Sub-atomic particles known as neutrinos experience only the weak interaction and gravity. Neutrinos comprise a "shadow" Universe that occupies the same space as our normal Universe, but communicate with us and other regular matter only very weakly. The question of whether neutrinos have mass and thus experience ordinary time has challenged physicists for several decades. We discuss experiments to resolve these questions and their outcome. Marvin Marshak is a Professor of Physics and Astronomy at the University of Minnesota. This event is also a Thursdays at Four presentation. Cosponsored by the School of Physics and Astronomy.
4:00 p.m., 125 Nolte Center
Monday, March 10
Time Frames: The Past in the Present
Thomas Rose, Professor of Art at the University of Minnesota, will give a presentation on changes in the architecture of the Orpheum Theater over time. Cosponsored by the Department of Art.
4:00 p.m., Shepherd Room, Weisman Museum
Thursday and Friday, March 13-14
Humans Through Deep Time: Archeology and the Pace of Change
Peter S. Wells, Professor of Anthropology at the University of Minnesota, is the primary organizer for this symposium exploring the role of Archaeology in the study of time. The symposium will feature a plenary address, "The Pace and Direction of Change in Lowland Maya Civilization," delivered by David Freidel of Southern Methodist University. Funded by a University Symposium Award.
Cowles Auditorium, Hubert Humphrey Center
Friday, April 18
The Architecture of Emptiness
How is "emptiness" experienced, designed and negotiated? Through a series of presentations by artists, scholars and activists, Architectures of Emptiness explores the historical gaps created in the wake of political, social and spatial displacements, as well as the ethics of witnessing such traumas. Organized by Space&Place. Cosponsored by the College of Architecture & Landscape Architecture, the CLA Scholarly Events Fund, the Department of Architecture and the Institute for Global Studies.
9:30-11:45 a.m., 140 Nolte Center
12:00-6:00 p.m., 100 Rapson Hall
Tuesday, April 22
The Present Moment
Creation of a contemplative environment for stress reduction on campus, including a series of ephemeral spatial transformations for a portion of the Nolte Center lounge, presented by Rebecca Krinke, Diane Willow, and Henry Emmons. Cosponsored by the Department of Art.
4:00 p.m., 125 Nolte Center
Tuesday-Thursday, April 22-24
Sustaining the Flow of Wealth in Northeast Minnesota
This first-of-its-kind symposium will explore building a more sustainable future. The primary purposes of the symposium will be to identify critical data layers for the distribution and flow of resources (people, currency, energy, cultural, and natural resources), explore how these components can be linked spatially and over time, and build a foundation for a major proposal that focuses on the sustainability of natural resources that is a combination of economic, social, cultural, and environmental perspectives. The symposium will bring together a diverse group of individuals to explore, to discuss, and to link these essential components of a regional society. Individuals among the following disciplines will be included: natural resource economics, quantitative sociology, energy, finance, systems ecology, theology, and geographic information systems. This symposium is organized by Gilman D. Veith, Senior Research Associate, and Gerald J. Niemi, Professor of Biology and Director, Center for Water and the Environment, Natural Resources Research Institute, UM-Duluth, and funded by a University Symposium Award.
April 22 and 23, 9:00 a.m.-5:00 p.m.; April 24, 9:00 a.m.-12:00 p.m.
UMD Library - Rotunda Reading Room, 416 Library Drive, University of Minnesota Duluth.
Friday, April 25
Time and Embodied Cognition
This workshop will investigate the philosophical implications of embodied cognition, especially as it relates to time and space. It will feature presentations by Dr Ursina Teuscher (Cognitive Science, University of California San Diego), Dr Evan Selinger (Philosophy, Rochester Institute of Technology), Professor Wade Savage (Professor Emeritus of Philosophy, University of Minnesota), and Thomas Stoffregen (Professor of Kinesiology and Director of the Affordance Perception-Action Laboratory, University of Minnesota)
Organized by Muhammad Aurangzeb Ahmad (Computer Science and Engineering) Dr Arun Saldanha (Geography) and funded by a University Symposium Award.
3:00-5:30 p.m., 125 Nolte Center
Saturday, April 26
Natural Rhythms and Time: An Exploration of Time in Nature at the Minnesota Landscape Arboretum
Immerse yourself in spring, and join us for Natural Rhythms and Time: An Exploration of Time in Nature at the Minnesota Landscape Arboretum. Explore the concept of time through the lives of plants and the natural world by participating in discussions, presentations, walking tours, and hands-on activities. This learning experience takes place in the living laboratory that is the Arboretum, and includes three guided presentations:
Phenology: Nature's Timeline
Start with a classroom presentation about phenology and spring wildflowers (ephemerals). Continue with a guided walk through the 15-acre woodland wildflower garden to get a close-up look at Minnesota's woodland wildflowers. Take home a woodland wildflower plant at the end of the day.
Plants of the Dinosaurs
Explore plant evolution on a planetary timeline, starting with the days of the dinosaurs continuing through present day. A discussion of human impact on plant evolution and what the future may hold is part of this session. Hand lenses and microscopes are used for a close-up, hands-on look at plants.
Tree Time
Explore the concept of time from a tree's point of view. Learn about the life cycles of trees, explore trees as chronological storytellers, and meet a few of the Arboretum's centurions in person on a guided walk.
Open to the public, but registration is required and space is limited!
Registration fee is $10 and includes entrance to the Arboretum, lunch, and a $10.00 gift certificate for the Arboretum Bookstore on the day of the event. Registration fee is non-refundable, but is transferable to another person. Please specify if you would like a vegetarian lunch when you call to register.
Call 952-443-1422 to register.
9:45 a.m. to3:30 p.m., Minnesota Landscape Arboretum, Chaska
Wednesday, November 28 and Wednesday, May 14
"Telling Time": A series of presentations with Lynn Lukkas
Artists, musicians, humanists, social scientists, and natural scientists work in collaboration to create an interactive art project that will explore the translation of units of elapsing time produced by participant/performers into visual and/or audio forms. Lynn Lukkas is an Associate Professor of Art at the University of Minnesota. Funded by a University Symposium Award. Cosponsored by the Department of Art.
4:00 p.m., 125 Nolte Center
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Events from University Symposium on Time, 2006-07
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