Political Science Comes to Eastman

The Humanities Department expanded its disciplinary breadth in 2007 when Dr. Glenn Mackin (PhD 2005, Political Science, U. of Washington) joined the Eastman Faculty. "Eastman students have shown steady interest in Political Science classes, and we are glad to be able now to offer them on our campus," says department chair Timothy Scheie. "Moreover, as a political theorist Professor Mackin also brings a strong philosophical perspective to our course offerings."

Professor Mackin comes to Rochester from Seattle, where he taught for two years at the University of Washington before joining the Eastman faculty. He is currently teaching a course on democratic theory and two sections of the Freshman Writing Seminar on "The Politics of Personhood." This spring he has developed two courses that are new to our curriculum: "Concepts of Power" and "Modernity and Politics."

New Diversity in the Curriculum

A new course, “African-American Art” (AH 281), is broadening diversity in Humanities study at Eastman this fall. “Race is an enormously important issue in American culture, particularly in the wake of Katrina,” says Professor Rachel Remmel, the course’s instructor. “A course on African-American art will complement the study of jazz at our school.” Students in the course explore four main moments in the history of African-American Art: slavery, the nineteenth century, the Harlem Renaissance, and postmodernism.”

Pictured: Louiza Francis Combs, Woven Wool Blanket, Kentucky, c. 1890, 79 1/2" x 61". Collection of Kenneth Combs, Warrensville Heights, Ohio.

For images of post-Katrina New Orleans, visit
http://www.flickr.com/photos/recluse26

Fulbright Grants and the Eastman Experience: a Successful Match

This year four Eastman students are studying and teaching through the U.S. Government Fulbright program. Jay Kacherski, Masters of Music in Guitar Performance (2005) is in Mexico City, researching, studying and performing contemporary Mexican classical guitar music at the Escuela Nacional de Musica (National School of Music). John Koslovsky, Ph.D. candidate in Music Theory (2009) is researching the life and work of musicologist Felix Salzer at the Universität für Musik und darstellende Kunst Wien (pictured). Adam Peithmann, Bachelor of Music candidate in Organ Performance (2007) is studying the organ works of Dietrich Buxtehude on North German Baroque instruments with Professor Harald Vogel at the Hochschule für Kunst in Bremen, Germany. Anton (TJ) Grasch, a bachelor's degree candidate in voice (2007), has received a Fulbright-administered teaching assistantship in Austrian schools.

“I’m thrilled with this year’s success,” says Humanities professor and Fulbright Program Advisor Reinhild Steingröver, “but not at all surprised. Eastman students often fit the profile the Fulbright commission is seeking. Take Adam Peithman, for example. As an undergraduate he studied German language, history, and culture in the Humanities Department at Eastman and on the University of Rochester’s summer program in Berlin. His intellectual curiosity and strong language skills, along with a well-articulated project and the excellence of his playing, permitted him to assemble an exceptionally strong application.”

For more information on the Fulbright Program, visit
http://us.fulbrightonline.org/about.html
For information on Eastman’s Fulbright application process, visit
http://www.esm.rochester.edu/careers/fulbright.php

Adventures in Illegal Art

Negativland isn't just some group of merry pranksters; its art is about tearing apart and reassembling found images to create new ones, in an attempt to make social, political and artistic statements. Hilarious and chilling.
- THE ONION

Pranks, media hoaxes, media literacy, the art of collage, creative activism in a media saturated multi-national world, file sharing, intellectual property issues, evolving notions of art and ownership and law in a digital age, artistic and funny critiques of mass media and culture, so-called “culture jamming” (a term coined by Negativland way back in 1984).... even if you've never heard of Negativland, if you are interested in any of these issues you’re sure to find this presentation worth your time and attention.

Most famous for getting sued for their “U2” single, Negativland have had many years of fun being a thorn in the side of the corporate media and entertainment biz. They’ve released a a number of CDs, do occasional tours, make little movies, and were the subject of San Francisco filmmaker Craig Baldwin’s 1995 feature film “SONIC OUTLAWS”.

In February the Humanities Department will co-sponsor a 90-minute film and storytelling presentation by Mark Hosler, founding member of Negativland, with Q and A to follow. The time and place are to be announced.

No lawyers were harmed in the making of this event!

To hear and see examples of Negativland’s projects, visit http://www.negativland.com

A Damned Good Picture

On November 6, the Humanities Department co-sponsored a special screening of F.W. Murnau's silent feature Faust (1926) at the George Eastman House's Dryden theater. The screening was anything but silent, however. The Willem Breuker Kollektief, a ten-piece jazz ensemble from the Netherlands, provided musical accompaniment on instruments including lute, clarinet, tuba, double bass, saxophone, and piano. Humanities professor Reinhild Steingröver introduced the film to an audience of nearly 500. With Murnau's visionary images, the incomparable Emil Jannings as Mephistopheles, and the witty new score, the audience enjoyed a devilishly good time.

Stay tuned for more film and music collaborations sponsored by the Humanities department.

For a trailer of the film with the Willem Breuker Kollektief accompaniment, visit http://www.xs4all.nl/~wbk/FAUSTtrailer.html

For more on the George Eastman House, visit http://eastmanhouse.org

The Organ as Artifact

What does an organ tell us about the society in which it was designed, crafted, and assembled? We will soon find out. The Humanities department is a co-sponsor of a university-wide project "The Organ in Society: Culture and Technology." The project will coincide with the installation of a precise replica of the rare Casparini organ built in 1776 in Lithuania. The new instrument has been painstakingly reproduced by international experts in Sweden and will be installed in Rochester's Christ Church during the 2007-08 academic year. Faculty and students drawn from the College of Arts and Sciences and the Eastman School of Music will combine forces with authorities from around the world to explore the ways in which the pipe-organ provides insight into the culture of both eighteenth-century Vilnius and twenty-first century Rochester. We will consider the physics and engineering of these instruments, their function in the lives of those who heard them, the music played on them, and their significance for those who built and restored them.

For more on the Eastman Rochester Organ Initiative (EROI), visit http://www.esm.rochester.edu/eroi/

For information on the "Organ in Society: Culture and Technology" humanities project at the University of Rochester, visit
http://www.rochester.edu/College/humanities/projects/?organ

We're hot.

The Eastman School of Music has been named America's "hottest" music school by the Kaplan/Newsweek "How to Get Into College" Guide. While the science of determining a school's degree of hotness might appear murky, the guide cites the rich academic opportunities available to our students as a deciding factor in bestowing this distinction. We in the Eastman Humanities department are proud of our part in leading students to reflect intelligently on their place in contemporary culture, to develop strong intellectual perspectives, and to be able to voice these convincingly.

To see the Kaplan/Newseek college guide, visit
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/20228437/site/newsweek