Liberal
Arts & Education Notes:
College hosts lectures and events throughout fall semester.
Highlighter & Laureate,
Winter 2002
The College has had a busy fall hosting a number of speakers and events as part of the College’s 125th anniversary:
- On Oct. 21, Kevin Boyle (’82) spoke on the Ossian Sweet
Trial, an historical event that involved the acquittal of an
African-American doctor for shooting and killing a white person by an
all-white jury in the 1920s.
Preceding the talk, UDM Professor of Theatre Arthur Beer read a scene from the play, “Malice Aforethought,” that dramatized the trial. The play was written by Beer, and was staged by the Theatre Company in the 1980s. In addition, a brief presentation was made by Daniel Baxter ('01) on his efforts to restore the Sweet home and acquire historical recognition for it.
- On Oct. 15, Detroit native Guy Consolmagno, S.J., who works at the
Vatican Observatory in Rome, spoke on “The Mechanics of
God: How Technical People Encounter Religion.”
A series of lectures about the City of Detroit were also presented.
- Metropolitan Issues Today - September 19 - Ann Serra,
director of grants and metropolitan equity, Archdiocese of Detroit,
discussed the effects of urban sprawl on the region with a panel that
included Tom Barwin, city manager of Ferndale and Melvin Hollowell,
attorney and 2002 Michigan Secretary of State candidate.
- Neighborhood Self-Help:
The Grandmont/Rosedale Story -September 29 - which featured Tom Goddeeris of the Grandmont/ Rosedale Development Association, who explained how one neighborhood in northwest Detroit has organized to strengthen and revitalize itself. Presented at the Detroit Historical Museum, in conjunction with the Connections: Metro Detroit Neighborhoods exhibit, which opened August 24, 2002.
- Whither the City? - October 26 - featuring Dorian
Moore, vice president of Archive D.S. in Windsor, who spoke on the role
of cities of the past, present and future. Presented at the Detroit
Historical Museum, in conjunction with the Connections: Metro Detroit
Neighborhoods exhibit.
- The Rise of Southwest Detroit - November 2 - with
Kathy Wendler, president of the Southwest Detroit Business Association,
who spoke on how her neighborhood grew around the automotive industry,
its recent resurgence and its future. Presented at the Detroit Historical
Museum, in conjunction with the Connections: Metro Detroit Neighborhoods
exhibit.
- The Urban Crisis and its Solutions–The Detroit Experience
of a Century Ago - November 21 - by Dr. Thaddeus Radzilowski,
president of St. Mary’s College
The Women’s Studies and Master’s in Religious Studies programs
hosted two dramatic presentations in October.
- Jepthah’s Daughter: A Lament for Women’s Voices,
Piano, Guitar, Woodblock and Dumbeck, a cantata based on Chapter
11 of the Book of Judges, was performed at Gesu Church, October 27.
- On October 25, American poet and critic Alicia Suskin Ostriker, read
from her new book of poems, The Volcano Sequence.
Both events were co-sponsored by the Writers Voice of the YMCA of Metropolitan Detroit.
