September 26, 2023
October brings a nationally recognized musical ensemble, a unique film festival, academic lectures and more to Susquehanna University’s campus. All events are free and open to the public unless otherwise noted.
Artist Series continues with Branford Marsalis Quartet
Susquehanna University’s Artist Series will present the Branford Marsalis Quartet at 7:30 p.m. Tuesday, Oct. 3, in Weber Chapel Auditorium.
Tickets are $20 for adults, $15 for seniors, and $5 for non-SU students.
Saxophonist Branford Marsalis is one of the most influential and revered figures in contemporary music. The NEA Jazz Master, Grammy Award winner and Tony Award nominee is equally at home performing concertos with symphony orchestras and sitting in with members of the Grateful Dead, but the core of his musical universe remains the Branford Marsalis Quartet.
After more than three decades of existence with minimal personnel changes, the celebrated Branford Marsalis Quartet is revered for its uncompromising interpretation of a kaleidoscopic range of both original compositions and jazz and popular classics.
Lecture to explore economic liberalization
Economist Art Carden will deliver the lecture Leave Me Alone and I’ll Make You Rich at 7 p.m. Thursday, Oct. 5, in Isaacs Auditorium, Seibert Hall.
Why have incomes in most Western countries increased by 3,000% over the past 200 years? Carden will explore how economic liberalization helped improve societies and the lessons this growth has for society moving forward.
Carden is a professor of economics at Samford University’s Brock School of Business. He earned his bachelor’s and master’s degrees from the University of Alabama, and his doctorate from Washington University in St. Louis.
Symphonic Band and Wind Ensemble to present concert
Susquehanna University’s Symphonic Band and Wind Ensemble will present a concert at 7:30 p.m. Saturday, Oct. 7, in Stretansky Concert Hall in the Cunningham Center for Music and Art.
Susquehanna’s Symphonic Band and Wind Ensemble are under the direction of Eric Hinton, chair and associate professor of music and director of bands. Under his leadership, Susquehanna’s bands have performed at conferences of the College Band Directors National Association, the Pennsylvania Music Educators Association and the National Association for Music Educators.
Hinton earned his bachelor’s and master’s degrees from Northwestern University and his doctorate from Birmingham City University.
Wild & Scenic Film Festival focuses on our connection to water
Susquehanna will host the Wild & Scenic Film Festival on Sunday, Oct. 8, in the Degenstein Center Theater in the Charles B. Degenstein Campus Center.
The event will include multiple film screenings followed by a panel discussion and an art exhibition. Films will begin screening at 2 p.m. and will continue until 4:10 p.m. A full listing of the films to be screened can be found here.
Following the films, an interdisciplinary panel discussion will convene to explore the films in the context of watershed impairment, restoration progress, humanity’s connection to rivers. Panelists will include John Dawes, executive director of the Foundation for Pennsylvania Watersheds; George Ferrandi, artist and creative director of Jump!Star; Adrienne Hobbins, program manager at the Chesapeake Conservancy; and John Zaktansky, executive director of the Middle Susquehanna Riverkeeper Association.
The event is also sponsored by Susquehanna’s Lore Degenstein Gallery and the Chesapeake Conservancy. The gallery’s ongoing exhibition, Flow, coincides with the Wild and Scenic Film Festival.
Scholarly experts to discuss Russia, Ukraine
Rob Babcock and Andrea Lopez will deliver the lecture History and Politics of Russia and the Ukraine at 7 p.m. Thursday, Oct.19, in Isaacs Auditorium, Seibert Hall.
Panelists will discuss the historical relationship of Russia and Ukraine, the current political situation and what might happen in the future.
Babcock is the director of the Pushkin Institute of Russian Language and Culture and professor of history at Hastings College, Nebraska. He is preparing a military history of the Cossack rebellions during the Time of Troubles.
Lopez is an associate professor of political science at Susquehanna University. Her research includes efforts to determine how Russia engages in counterinsurgencies, how the Wagner Group’s activities in Africa, and how China and Russia are competing for influence in places like Central Asia and Africa.
Seavey Writing Series to present award-winning author
Susquehanna’s Seavey Visiting Writers Series will present Manuel Muñoz at 7 p.m., Tuesday, Oct. 24, in Isaacs Auditorium, Seibert Hall.
Muñoz is the author of The Consequences: Stories, which was published by Graywolf Press in 2022. He is the winner of the 2023 Joyce Carol Oates Prize, and the collection was a finalist for the Aspen Words Literary Prize and was shortlisted for The Story Prize. The author of two previous collections of short stories, Zigzagger and The Faith Healer of Olive Avenue, and a novel, What You See in the Dark, Muñoz has been recognized with a Whiting Writer’s Award, three O. Henry Awards and two appearances in The Best American Short Stories. His frequently anthologized work has appeared in The New York Times, Virginia Quarterly Review, American Short Fiction, ZYZZYVA, and Freeman’s. A native of Dinuba, California, Muñoz currently lives and works in Tucson, Arizona.
Gallery to open 14th annual Figurative Art Exhibition.
The Lore Degenstein Gallery will hold an opening reception at 7 p.m. Saturday, Oct. 28, for the 14th annual Figurative Art Exhibition.
The exhibition runs through Dec. 3
This national, juried visual art competition and exhibition is open to two-dimensional figurative artists (referencing the human figure), working in painting, drawing and printmaking, who are over the age of 18.
This year’s juror is Nicole M. Santiago, professor of art at the College of William and Mary in Williamsburg, Virginia. Santiago will give remarks and award prizes at the opening reception.
Ticket information
Tickets can be purchased in person at the Degenstein Center Box Office Monday through Friday while classes are in session, 12 p.m. noon to 5 p.m.; by calling 570-372-ARTS; or online at https://susqu.universitytickets.com/.