Busy Feb. 20-22 at Monmouth College

Five events include Maple Leaf concert, food and faith lecture, art exhibit opening, Monmouth Associates and Great Decisions

by Barry McNamara

Monmouth, IL (02/13/2019) —

Former Monmouth resident Suda to be featured at next Maple Leaf concert Feb. 21

One of Monmouth's own will return to the stage for the next event in the Maple Leaf Community Concert Series.

Anne Suda, the daughter of current Monmouth music faculty member Carolyn Suda and professor emeritus David Suda, will perform Feb. 21 as half of the Los Angeles-based duo Cellisimo as part of its U.S. tour. Bringing together artists of different disciplines, Cellisimo speaks to a range of audiences by creating multi-genre performances and interactive experiences.

Suda and Ruslan Biryukov will perform at 7 p.m. in the Kasch Performance Hall of Monmouth College's Dahl Chapel and Auditorium.

An accomplished soloist and chamber musician, Suda began studying cello at age 4 with her mother. Biryukov was born in Baku, Azerbaijan, and is known around the world for his superb artistry, passion and individuality.

The duo will perform works by Bach, Vivaldi, Paganini and Piazzola.

Tickets are $30 at the door. Students and Monmouth College personnel with an ID are admitted free. For more information, call the Monmouth Area Chamber of Commerce at 309-734-3181 or email info@monmouthilchamber.com.

Food and faith talk to address 'Daily Bread for All' Feb. 20 at Monmouth College

The issues of food and faith are discussed at Monmouth College during the summer, thanks to the Lux Summer Theological Institute for Youth, which is directed by the College's associate chaplain, the Rev. Jessica Hawkinson.

Those topics will also be addressed during the academic year on Feb. 20, thanks to a guest lecturer Hawkinson has invited to campus.

Theologian the Rev. Dr. Patricia Tull will speak about "Daily Bread for All: A Lecture on Food and Faith" at 7 p.m. Feb. 20 in the Whiteman-McMillan Highlander Room of Stockdale Student Center. The program is free and open to the public

"Her lecture will explore biblical narratives that urgently speak to contemporary conversations about food security and food justice," said Hawkinson.

Beginning in the creation stories in Genesis, and especially in the story of the escape from Egypt in Exodus, the Bible's earliest stories envision God as providing food, and teaching that food is a basic right to be shared by all people, said Tull.

"Scripture promotes the understanding of food as a gift for the purpose of nutrition, not a commodity to enrich the few," she said. "Such understandings become especially crucial today, as we see the global food system heartlessly leaving some to starve, both in the U.S. and abroad, while others suffer from obesity. As people of faith and as citizens, we share a responsibility to work for a food system that benefits all, through our advocacy, vocations and daily food choices."

An environmental theologian, Tull is the author of Inhabiting Eden: Christians, the Bible, and the Ecological Crisis (Westminster John Knox Press, 2013) and other books on biblical theology. She teaches, preaches and leads workshops nationally on faith dimensions of creation care. She also works with congregations seeking practical, effective ways to address climate change.

An ordained Presbyterian minister, Tull is the A.B. Rhodes Professor Emerita of Hebrew Bible at Louisville (Ky.) Presbyterian Seminary. She and her spouse, Don Summerfield, are building a net-zero energy homestead across the Ohio River from Louisville in Henryville, Ind.

'Wild Things' art exhibit at Monmouth explores conflict between human and animal

Where the wild things are will be Monmouth College when a new art exhibit opens later this month.

"Wild Things: Nature and the Social Imagination," the works of University of Nebraska art professor Sandra Williams, will be on display Feb. 22-April 5 in the Everett Gallery on the upper level of the College's Hewes Library.

A reception for Williams will be held on the opening day of the exhibit at 3 p.m. She will give a gallery talk about the exhibit at 3:30 p.m. The exhibit, reception and talk are all free and open to the public.

Williams's most recent creative research explores the way animal imagery has evolved parallel to human imagery since the beginning of representational art.

"The stories and fables I select are narratives that ultimately attempt to destabilize the modern notion of an unbridgeable boundary between 'human' and 'animal,'" she said. "I continue to investigate and describe the conflict between human and animal, hoping to reveal what animals teach us about our humanity."

Williams said her subject contains variations on the theme of "ecotone" - the area where two communities meet and integrate.

"Traditionally, the term refers to ecological communities, such as the zone where the plains and desert meet the rainforest and the biodiversity that occurs there," she said. "Yet it can also refer the zone where 'nature' and 'culture' intersect - where city meets the preexisting natural environment and the tension resulting from this intersection."

Williams received a bachelor of fine arts degree from The Cleveland Institute of Art and a master of fine arts degree from The Ohio State University. Her mixed media drawings have been exhibited at SOFA New York, Ann Nathan Gallery in Chicago, the Museum of Contemporary Art in St. Louis and National Amazon University in Puerto Maldonado, Peru. Her work is included in the Howard Tullman Collection, The Museum of Contemporary Craft in Portland, Ore., and several private collections.

Williams has been an artist-in-residence at The Contemporary Crafts Museum in Portland and with the Amazon Conservation Association in Madre de Dios, Peru. Recognition for her work in community arts includes a Mayor's Art Award and a Hixson-Lied Award for Outreach, Engagement and Service.

The Everett Gallery is open during library hours: 7:30 a.m.-midnight, Monday-Thursday; 7:30 a.m.-5 p.m., Friday; 9 a.m.-5 p.m., Saturday; and noon-midnight, Sunday.

Education professors to speak at Associates; Great Decisions on U.S.-China trade

Two series will continue at Monmouth College Feb. 20-21.

At the next Monmouth Associates program on Feb. 21, educational studies professors Tammy La Prad, Michelle Holschuh Simmons and Craig Vivian will shed light on challenges faced by rural districts and also explain the College's new education initiatives.

The program will begin at noon in the Whiteman-McMillan Highlander Room of Stockdale Student Center.

Teaching at an institution located in a rural area, the College's educators are keenly aware of some rural school districts' struggle to recruit and retain teachers. In response to that need, the educational studies department has developed several initiatives, including its Rural Teacher Corps and TARTANS - Teachers Allied with Rural Towns and Neighborhood Schools.

The cost for a buffet lunch is $10 ($9 for Monmouth faculty and staff). Reservations can be made by calling 309-457-2231 by Feb. 19 or by email at alumni@monmouthcollege.edu.

A free shuttle van transports passengers from two locations to every Associates luncheon. The van stops at the northeast quadrant of the Public Square at 11:45 a.m. and at the Faith United Presbyterian Church parking lot at around 11:50 a.m. It returns to both locations immediately following the program. Shuttle reservations can be made also by calling 309-457-2231.

Parking is available along North Ninth Street and in the parking lot near the Stockdale Center.

At 7:30 p.m. Feb. 20 in Room 276 of the Center for Science and Business, Monmouth political science professor Farhat Haq will lead the next Great Decisions program, discussing U.S.-China trade.

Though arguably the most advanced economy in the world, the United States still uses centuries-old numbers to measure trade. These antique numbers mangle understanding of the U.S.-China trade relationship, shrinking America's true economic size and competitiveness, while swelling China's.

Bad numbers give rise to bad policies that ultimately kill U.S. jobs and cede market share to China. What other tools can the United States employ to counter China's unfair trade practices? There are several available, yet they remain mostly unused.

Called "America's largest discussion program on world affairs," Great Decisions is a nationwide program sponsored by the Foreign Policy Association, a non-partisan, non-governmental association that works to increase Americans' understanding of foreign policy issues.

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