March

The Classical-era solo concerto fit perfectly with the Enlightenment view of the individual (the concerto soloist) in collaboration with, or sometimes pitted against, the collective (the concerto orchestra). During the Baroque era, the violin family was perfected and the piano was invented. These instruments became the beneficiaries of the concerto repertoire during the Classical Era. In this lecture, we explore double-exposition form, the adaptation of sonata form to the needs of the Classical-era solo concerto. The first movement of Mozart's Piano Concerto no. 17 in G Major provides an illustration of double exposition form.

Hear the incredible story and sound of Joshua Bell’s 300-year-old Stradivarius. Through video clips, pictures and sound recordings the violin’s history will profile four of its remarkable owners, the violin’s connection to the saving of hundreds of musicians and their families from the Holocaust, and its theft and 50-year disappearance.

I will discuss some the structural issues around creativity from my personal perspective as a watercolorist and as a Rhetorician. I will use examples from my work as well as from other artists. I will also try to relate creativity a more academic discussion from the perspective of the thought process itself.

After retiring from a career with the State of Oregon, Rollie Wisbrock became a Visiting Professor of Rhetoric at Willamette. He is now a very well known Salem painter/artist.

Please notice that the location for all of today's lectures is at Tokyo University Auditorium.

Several ICL members will share short art history presentations of their choice. Included will be artists, paintings, architecture and more. The following ICL members will be presenting: Phil Caudill, Derek Stables, and Charlene Robbins.

Please notice that the location for all of today's lectures is at Tokyo University Auditorium.

Turkey: a nation at a crossroads, a bridge over an ever-growing chasm between the East and West. Turkey’s first Prime Minister Kemal Ataturk envisioned a modern, democratic nation-state built on the ashes of the Ottoman Empire with strong ties to Europe, not the Middle East. But as the clashes between secular and religious groups and the recent protests in Taksim Square show, the soul of Turkey is still very much up for grabs.

Peter Rasmussen will lead the presentation and discussion.

Please notice that the location for all of today's lectures is at Tokyo University Auditorium.

Using the tools of causal inference we will explore how variations in voting hours impacts participation rates. Causal inference implies reaching a conclusion based on the conditions of the occurrence of an event. This implies that longer voting hours increases voter turnout. But does it? We shall see, based on empirical analysis of voter behavior.

Robert W. Walker, Ph. D. is Associate Professor of Quantitative Methods in the Atkinson Graduate School of Management at Willamette University. Though his Ph.D. is in political science, Professor Walker has taught statistics and research methods to both undergraduate and graduate students at Dartmouth College, Texas A&M University, Washington University in Saint Louis, and Rice University prior to his arrival at Atkinson in addition to courses in political economy. He was a regular instructor in the National Science Foundation's Empirical Implications of Theoretical Models summer program at Washington University in Saint Louis and has regularly taught courses in the analysis of longitudinal data at the Essex Summer School in Social Science Data Analysis in the United Kingdom.

His joint work received the Warren Miller Prize for the best published paper in 2009 in Political Analysis, the journal of the Society for Political Methodology and the most cited journal in Political Science during the most recent evaluation period. His published work spans international political economy, political methodology, and the political economy of state and municipal bond markets.

Education

Ph.D. University of Rochester
M.A. University of Rochester
B.A. University of Texas at Austin

Nonviolent Communication, or NVC, is about increasing our capacity to use language with more awareness and skill. That awareness is very useful in times of relative harmony; it’s even more useful in times of stress and conflict. What grows in the process of learning NVC is a larger capacity for patience and compassion – with yourself and with others. NVC helps to establish an environment of mutual understanding and respect, a place from which we can respond rather than react. It is here where our desired “win-win” strategies are built.

In this two hour presentation Tim Buckley and Elaine Hultengren of Buckley Communications of Salem will explain the principles of NVC as well as its basic methodology: learning how to differentiate between:
- Observations and judgments
- Feelings and thoughts
- Needs and strategies
- Requests and demands

The class will be interactive, using short written exercises that stimulate experiential learning, not just cerebral. And, given that their traditional introductory NVC class is about 24 hours (12 classes of 2 hours each), this presentation is only intended to serve as an introduction to Nonviolent Communication.

Languages typically change quite quickly: there are cases where linguists examine a language at one point only to find that 60 years later, it has morphed into practically a brand new one. However, when a dialect of a language is used widely in writing and literacy is high, the pace of change is artificially slowed because people come to see “the language” as on the page and inviolable. This helps create diglossia: standard Arabic is based on the language of the Koran, while the colloquial Arabics went on with natural change.

The presentation will be hosted by David Engen.

The 1940s saw great Broadway musicals with many composers, but critics acclaim that the duo Rodgers and Hammerstein dominated the era. Professor Bill Messenger (Peabody Institute) describes these years in this segment of his Broadway video series, leading up to the production of South Pacific.

In this session, we’ll explore the biology of sleep – What happens when we sleep? What are the effects of sleep deprivation? Can we improve our sleep quality? No dream interpretation in this session – just a brief exploration of some recent research on the science of sleep!

Professor Stevens received her BA in linguistics from Reed College and her MS and PhD in cognitive neuroscience from the University of Oregon. Prior to joining the Willamette faculty in 2008, Dr. Stevens lived in New York City where she was a research associate at Weill Cornell Medical College and visiting faculty member at Sarah Lawrence College.

In her research, Dr. Stevens examines typical and atypical brain development using non-invasive neuroimaging techniques (EEG/ERP, fMRI, DTI). She is particularly interested in the neural systems important to selective attention, as well as the role of selective attention on academic foundations, including language and literacy acquisition. Dr. Stevens’ research has appeared in several venues including the Journal of Cognitive Neuroscience, Developmental Science, Brain Research, and the Journal of Learning Disabilities. She has also lectured both nationally and internationally on the development of attention.

Professor Stevens joined the Willamette faculty in 2008, where she is currently director of Willamette’s Cognitive Neuroscience Laboratory (CNL). Professor Stevens teaches Cognitive Neuroscience, Language & Literacy Acquisition, Statistics, and Introduction to Psychology, as well as topical senior and freshmen seminars.

If you are interested in gaining research experience as a volunteer in the Cognitive Neuroscience Laboratory, please contact Professor Stevens to learn about current research opportunities available in the CNL.

APRIL 10 – 26, 2014

By: Euripides, adapted by Jonathan Cole
Director: Jonathan Cole
Preview: April 10, 7:30 p.m.
Runs: April 11-26
Evening Performances: Thursday-Saturday, 7:30 p.m.
Matinees: April 13, 20 and 26, 2:00 p.m.

DESCRIPTION

In the aftermath of the Trojan War, the women of the ruined nation of Troy, gathered by their conquerors, await their fate even as they mourn their dead. This play, written in 415 BCE as Euripides’ public protest against the Peloponnesian War, forces us to look beyond social justice, beyond nationalism and patriotism to consider at core what we believe to be right, and what we know is wrong. This aggressive, hard-hitting, movement-based production will force us to scrape away the grit, to wipe the dirt from our eyes as we look beyond despair to find our humanity.

Director Jonathan Cole and several of the theater students will be presenting to ICL. They will be introducing us to the play production.

Turning from star birth to star death get a preview of the sun’s distant future by examining the Cat’s Eye Nebulae. Such planetary nebulae (which have nothing to do with planets) are the exposed debris of dying stars and are among the most beautiful objects in the Hubble gallery.

Two years ago, the Students for Change service club at West Salem High School made an excellent presentation at ICL on Human Trafficking.

Students for Change inspires the student body of West Salem High School to positively impact the lives of others both locally and around the world. Over the last six years, the spirit of change has driven West Salem High students to collect food for the local food bank, provide textbooks for girls in Afghanistan, educate the public on the tragedy of human trafficking, and provide financial support for reforestation in Ethiopia, safe drinking water in the DR of the Congo, and mosquito nets in Sudan.

Next Thursday will be ICL’s presentation of the musical, South Pacific. Today, ICL member David Engen will tell us about the South Pacific Island of Guadalcanal.

This presentation will include discussion of two related topics: an overview of cultural landscapes and the legacy of Lord and Schryver as it illustrates local examples of vital, community landscapes.

Starting the program will be a consideration of what constitutes a cultural landscape, their many definitions, examples of the various types with emphasis on the west coast, and most importantly, why we should bother to preserve them. This contextual perspective will provide the framework for an in depth narrative on Salem’s iconic cultural landscapes, namely those created by Elizabeth Lord and Edith Schryver, nationally significant landscape architects of the early to mid twentieth century.

Bobbie Dolp:
Born and raised in upper New York State, Bobbie went to Smith College followed by UC Berkeley where she received a PhD and a husband. After two+ years of living in Cairo, she moved to Orange County before coming to the Salem area in 1976. Two children graced the scene: a daughter now living in Manhattan and a son with family in Portland. She taught science in several venues along the way, retiring from Central High School (Independence) in 2000. Current activities include working with the L&S Conservancy, being a gramma, gardening, traveling , knitting and Book Club. She appreciates the opportunity to help make the potential of the L&S legacy realized and honored.

Gretchen Carnaby:
Raised in a gardening family, Gretchen received an advanced degree in biology from the Univ. of Illinois. She has owned and operated Perennial Designs and been active in the Hardy Plant Society of Oregon, then Salem, since 1983. Co-founder and Project Coordinator of the Friends of Bush Gardens, Gretchen became interested in the gardens of Lord & Schryver through her growing awareness of the Deepwood Historic Gardens and her tenure as owner of another one of their gardens. She, along with Bobbie Dolp, Ruth Roberts, Ross Sutherland, and Davida Wilson formed the Lord & Schryver Conservancy in 2001. Since then, her interest in garden design has led her into restoration work in these historic gardens under the guidance of The Garden Conservancy, a national organization involved in the preservation of significant cultural landscapes.

A medley of songs from this timeless post WWll musical will be presented in an audience sing along format, complete with a full cast of colorful characters and snappy dialogue to advance the story line. Join us for an afternoon of great recorded music enhanced by our own ICL voices!