"Darwin's Evolving Legacy" lecture: Jane Buikstra (left), Regents' Professor of Bioarchaeology and director of the Center for Bioarchaeological Research at Arizona State University, will give the Wendorf Distinguished Lecture in Archaeology. She will speak on "Tuberculosis: a Deep Time Perspective" at 5 p.m. Nov. 19 in McCord Auditorium, 306 Dallas Hall.

"Holocaust Legacies" series continues: SMU professors Virginia Dupuy (Meadows School of the Arts), Christopher Anderson (Perkins School of Theology) and John Holbert (Perkins School of Theology) present "Music Out of the Ashes," a lecture/performance focusing on Victor Ullmann's opera Der Kaiser von Atlantis, written in the Theresienstadt concentration camp but not performed until the 1970s. The evening will include scenes from the opera interspersed with commentary about the camp, the music and the composer and takes place 6-10 p.m. Nov. 19 in the Great Hall, Perkins Prothro Hall.

World music: Imaginative improvisation and plenty of jamming are part of the performance for the Meadows World Music Ensemble (right), directed by Jamal Mohamed. The group performs traditional works and original compositions at 8 p.m. Nov. 19 in the Greer Garson Theatre, Owen Arts Center. Free and open to the public.

Chamber Music Honors Concert: The Meadows School of the Arts presents its most outstanding chamber music ensembles, performing a range of works composed for trios, quartets and quintets. The concert takes place at 8 p.m. Nov. 21 in Caruth Auditorium, Owen Arts Center. Free and open to the public.

For a song: The Meadows Chorale and Concert Choir present "The Spirit Rejoices" at 8 p.m. Nov. 22 in Caruth Auditorium, Owen Arts Center. In lieu of admission, the choirs request voluntary donations to the North Texas Food Bank - give online or at the concert. For more information, call the Division of Music, 214-768-1951.

Social and political satirist Christopher Buckley will give the next lecture in SMU's 2009-10 Willis M. Tate Distinguished Lecture Series Nov. 17. Buckley will present The Lacerte Family Lecture at 8 p.m. in McFarlin Auditorium.

Buckley, who served a stint as chief speech writer for former Vice President George H.W. Bush, has written for numerous national newspapers and magazines but is best known as the author of more than a dozen books. His best-sellers include Little Green Men, Supreme Courtship and Thank You for Smoking, which became a major motion picture in 2006.

A native of New York, Buckley graduated from Yale University and became managing editor of Esquire magazine at the age of 24. At age 29, he published his first best-seller, Steaming to Bamboola: The World of a Tramp Freighter. In 1989 he started a new magazine, Forbes FYI, for which he still serves as editor-in-chief.

The evening lecture is sold out. Buckley will answer questions from SMU community members and local high school students in the Turner Construction Student Forum at 4:30 p.m. Nov. 17 in the Hughes-Trigg Student Center Ballroom.

• Visit the Tate Distinguished Lecture Series homepage

NASA scientist David J. Des Marais, the Hamilton Visiting Scholar in Geophysics for SMU's Huffington Department of Earth Sciences, will present two departmental lectures and one public lecture Nov. 17-20.

Des Marais will deliver his free, public lecture, "Life on Mars," at 7 p.m. Nov. 17 at the Frontiers of Flight Museum, 6900 Lemmon Avenue, at the southeast corner of Love Field.

His departmental lectures will be from noon to 1 p.m. in 153 Heroy Hall:

• Nov. 18: "Early Evolution of Earth Biogeochemical Carbon Cycles"
• Nov. 20: "Marine Microbial Mat Ecosystems and Earth's Early Biosphere"

For more information, contact Sandi Herrera.

After a winning Homecoming 2009 weekend, the SMU community prepares to celebrate another long-standing tradition: Family Weekend, set for Nov. 13-15.

With a theme of "Passport to SMU," the weekend includes activities designed to help families learn more about their students' experiences at the University. Highlights include:

• Nov. 13 - Ford Stadium tour at 10:30 a.m.; Mothers' Club reception and luncheon starting at 11 a.m. in the Hughes-Trigg Student Center; meetings with the faculty at 2 p.m.; and a student talent show at 8 p.m. in McFarlin Auditorium.

• Nov. 14 - Meadows Museum tour starting at 10:30 a.m.; barbecue with the Dads' Club and a tailgate party on the Boulevard starting at 11:30 a.m.; cheer on the Mustangs against the University of Texas-El Paso Miners at 2 p.m. in Ford Stadium.

• Nov. 15 - Mass in Perkins Chapel at 9 a.m.; College Hispanic American Students luncheon at noon in Hughes-Trigg Student Center; and the Asian Council dinner at 6 p.m. in Hughes-Trigg.

• Read the full schedule courtesy of SMU News (PDF format)

Liudmila Georgievskaya, an Artist Certificate candidate in piano in SMU's Meadows School of the Arts, won first prize in the 2009 Liszt-Garrison Festival and International Piano Competition held at the College of Notre Dame in Maryland in October.

Georgievskaya won the top prize in the Concerto division with her performances of Liszt's Second Concerto and Ginastera's Danzas Argentinas. The prize includes a performance as soloist with the Concert Artists of Baltimore, conducted by Edward Polochick, during their 2010-11 season.

Nearly 60 contestants from 25 countries competed in the biannual event, sponsored by the American Liszt Society. All contestants are required to play a work by Liszt and a work by an American composer.

Georgievskaya is a student of Joaquín Achúcarro, the Meadows School's Joel Estes Tate Professor of Piano. At SMU, she was named winner of the 2009 Concerto Competition and received the Von Mickwitz Prize in piano. She will present a free recital at 8:30 p.m. Dec. 1 in Caruth Auditorium, Owen Arts Center. For more information, call the Division of Music at 214-768-1951.

• Read more from SMU News

Clements Center Brown Bag Lecture: Clements Center Fellow Sarah Cornell examines the clashes between workers and planters in early 20th-century Mississippi and Louisiana in "Planters and Peons: Mexican Workers in the U.S. South" at noon Nov. 11 in the Texana Room, DeGolyer Library. Bring your lunch. For more information, contact the Clements Center for Southwest Studies, 214-768-3684. (Right, African American and Mexican cotton pickers in a plantation store, Mississippi Delta, 1939.)

"Holocaust Legacies" symposium: A panel of Holocaust historians, educators and survivors - as well as gerontologists, social workers and pastoral care clergy - will discuss findings from a study on resilience, forgiveness and survivorship among older Holocaust survivors in "Holocaust Survivors: Stories of Resilience." Presenters include Roberta R. Greene, School of Social Work, University of Texas; and Harriet L. Cohen, Harris College of Nursing and Health Sciences, Department of Social Work, TCU. The symposium takes place 8:30 a.m.-12:30 p.m. Nov. 12 in the Great Hall, Perkins Prothro Hall, and is part of the "Holocaust Legacies: Shoah as Turning Point" series presented by SMU's Human Rights Education Program.

A song in their hearts: The Dallas Opera/SMU Emerging Artist Program presents Opera in a Box: Follow Your Dreams, written and directed by Meadows Opera Theatre Director Hank Hammett. Using props and costumes, four aspiring opera singers share their personal passions, experiences and joys while creating some of their favorite characters onstage. The performance is sung in English and begins at 1 p.m. Nov. 13 in the Taubman Atrium, Owen Arts Center. Cosponsored by The Dallas Morning News. Free and open to the public.

Six by Tenn: The Meadows Wind Ensemble (right) leads an evening of music and poetry featuring mezzo-soprano and SMU Professor Virginia Dupuy in a performance of Warren Benson's Shadow Wood: Six Poems of Tennessee Williams, composed on commission for the Meadows Wind Ensemble and featured on the Ensemble's first commercial CD in the late 1990s. The program also features Joseph Schwantner's Music of Amber with Meadows pianist and professor Samuel Holland as guest soloist, Augusta Read Thomas's Magneticfireflies and a set of works by Toru Takemitsu. The concert begins at 8 p.m. Nov. 13 in Caruth Auditorium, Owen Arts Center. Tickets are $7 each for students, faculty and staff members. For more information, contact the Meadows Ticket Office, 214-768-2787 ((214-SMU-ARTS).

"Meadows at the Bath House" Series: The Meadows School of the Arts faculty jazz quintet Jampact will perform with videographers and movement artists using live cameras and improvisation to create a unique performance experience. The show begins at 8 p.m. Nov. 13 in the Bath House Cultural Center on White Rock Lake, 521 E. Lawther Drive. Tickets are $5 each. For more information, contact Kim Corbet at 214-542-5663 or visit the Bath House Cultural Center website.

Dr. M. Joycelyn Elders, who served as the United States' 15th surgeon general during the Clinton Administration, will discuss the state of women's healthcare in America during SMU's 2009 Louise B. Raggio Endowed Lecture in Women's Studies. The event takes place at 7 p.m. Nov. 4 in the Hughes-Trigg Student Center Theater.

Dr. Elders became the first African American and the second woman to hold the post of surgeon general when she was sworn in on Sept. 8, 1993. As surgeon general, she initiated programs to combat youth smoking and teen pregnancy and to increase childhood immunizations. She remains an influential advocate for prenatal care, healthcare reform, women's health and treatments for HIV/AIDS.

The lecture series is presented by SMU's Women's and Gender Studies Program. Tickets are $10 each. For more information, contact Erin Sutton, 214-768-4575.

• Visit the Raggio Lecture Series homepage

A minister, a businessman and a nonprofit founder will receive SMU's 2009 Distinguished Alumni Awards, the highest honor the university bestows upon its graduates.

This year's 2009 recipients include:

• Frederick B. Hegi Jr. ('66), founding partner of the private investment firm Wingate Partners
• Joe T. White ('70), founder of Kanakuk Kamps and Kids Across America and president and board chair of Kanakuk Ministries
• Cecil Williams ('55), minister and leader of Glide Memorial United Methodist Church in San Francisco, one of the nation's most racially and culturally diverse congregations

The DAA Award banquet and ceremony takes place at 7 p.m. Nov. 5 at the Hilton Anatole Hotel, 2201 Stemmons Freeway. For more information, visit smu.edu/homecoming.

Social media and their impact on career growth will be the hot topics of the 3rd annual Digital Threads networking symposium, to be held Nov. 5-6 in SMU's Meadows School of the Arts.

SMU faculty and students will have the opportunity to meet with leaders in social media while discussing innovative uses of social networking tools.

This year's keynote session is scheduled for 2-4 p.m. Nov. 5 in O'Donnell Recital Hall, 2130 Owen Arts Center. "Advertising, Music, Television - Social Media Changes Everything" will be moderated by Terry Mackin, president of the global media consulting practice Foresight Lab. Participants include:

• Larry Weintraub, CEO of the digital word-of-mouth marketing company Fanscape
• Jimmy Dunne, president of the music and entertainment promotions firm Inspire
• Tyson Wheatley, producer and news manager of CNN.com

Concurrent sessions on the uses of social media will take place throughout the day Nov. 6, with topics ranging from building a brand, to breaking into the music industry, to news gathering and dissemination.

• Find a complete schedule at the SMU News website

The SMU community celebrates Homecoming 2009 through Nov. 8. This year's theme is "Let the Games Begin," and the event is coordinated by the Student Foundation.

Activities kicked off Oct. 31 with campus-wide community service projects and will conclude with the Homecoming worship service at 11 a.m. Nov. 8 in Perkins Chapel. Highlights include:

• The Distinguished Alumni Awards Nov. 5 at the Hilton Anatole Hotel.

• Reunion gatherings, planned for the classes of '64, '69, '74, '79, '84, '89, '94, '99 and '04. For more information, call SMU Reunion Programs at 800-766-4371 or visit smu.edu/homecoming.

• The Homecoming parade, beginning at 11 a.m. Nov. 7 and featuring Senator Kay Bailey Hutchison as 2009 Parade Marshal. After the parade, head to Bishop Boulevard for tailgating.

• The Homecoming game, where the Mustangs take on the Rice Owls at 2 p.m. Nov. 7 in Ford Stadium. Call 214-SMU-GAME or visit smumustangs.com for tickets.

Find a full schedule at the Student Foundation website.

All that jazz: SMU's Meadows Jazz Orchestra under the direction of Akira Sato (right) presents an evening of small-group jazz featuring classic works such as Stella by Starlight by Victor Young, Take Five by Dave Brubeck, Windows by Chick Corea and Groovin' High by Dizzy Gillespie. The concert begins at 8 p.m. Nov. 3 in the Greer Garson Theatre, Owen Arts Center. Free and open to the public. For more information, call the Division of Music at 214-768-1951.

Maguire Public Scholar Lecture: Law Professor Jenia Turner will examine the limits of advocacy in representing clients accused of war crimes, crimes against humanity or genocide in "Ethical Dilemmas of International Criminal Defense Attorneys," part of the "Holocaust Legacies: Shoah as Turning Point" series. The lecture takes place noon-1 p.m. Nov. 5 in the Hughes-Trigg Student Center West and Central Ballrooms; heavy hors d'oeuvres will be served at 11:30 a.m. Presented by SMU's Maguire Center for Ethics and Public Responsibility and Human Rights Education Program. Free and open to the public; no RSVP necessary.

Gilbert Lecture Series: Poet Jeff Dolven, professor of Renaissance literature at Princeton University and author of Scenes of Instruction in Renaissance Romance, speaks on "Styles of Disjunction" Nov. 5 in DeGolyer Library. Reception at 6 p.m. in the Texana Room; lecture at 6:30 p.m. in the Stanley Marcus Reading Room. Free and open to the public. Presented by the Department of English, Dedman College.

Meadows Chamber Music Showcase: Performers will present chamber works ranging from the early Classical period to the 20th century at 8 p.m. Nov. 6 and 2 p.m. Nov. 8 in Caruth Auditorium, Owen Arts Center. Free and open to the public. For more information, call the Division of Music, 214-768-1951.

Former Clements Center Fellow Pekka Hämäläinen will receive SMU's William P. Clements Prize for Best Non-Fiction Book on Southwestern America during ceremonies at 6:30 p.m. Nov. 3 in SMU's DeGolyer Library.

His award-winning book, The Comanche Empire (Yale University Press, 2008), is about the nation-changing power of the Comanche Indians. He honed the work during his 2001-02 fellowship in Dedman College's William P. Clements Center for Southwest Studies.

The $2,500 Clements Book Prize honors fine writing and original research on the American Southwest. The competition is open to any nonfiction book, including biography, on any aspect of Southwestern life, past or present.

Hämäläinen is the second former Clements Center Fellow to win the Clements Book Prize. Juliana Barr received the honor in 2008 for Peace Came in the Form of a Woman: Indians and Spaniards in the Texas Borderlands (University of North Carolina Press, 2007).

"The Comanche Empire is a landmark study that will make readers see the history of southwestern America in an entirely new way," said David Weber, Robert and Nancy Dedman Professor of History and director of the Clements Center. Pulitzer Prize-winning author Larry McMurtry has called The Comanche Empire "cutting-edge revisionist western history in every way." The book has received numerous other awards, including a 2009 Bancroft Prize awarded by Columbia University.

McMurtry wrote in the New York Review of Books that Hämäläinen's work spelled out a convincing argument that Comanche power is the missing link in the historical sequence that led to Spain's failure to colonize the interior of North America and, ultimately, the decay of Mexican power in what is now the American Southwest. Citing Hämäläinen's description of the political, economic and social organization of the Comanches, McMurtry wrote, "Blink a time or two and the reader might forget that the book at hand is about Comanches, rather than Microsoft."

Hämäläinen, a native of Finland, received his Ph.D. in general history at the University of Helsinki and has been associate professor of history at the University of California-Santa Barbara since 2004. He notes in the acknowledgment section of The Comanche Empire that the book would not exist without the counsel and encouragement of Weber and the Clements Center manuscript workshop that brought together prominent scholars to discuss his project.

• Read more from SMU News
• Visit the Clements Center for Southwest Studies online

Faculty and students in SMU's Meadows School of the Arts have found a new way to blend their talents. "Meadows at the Bath House," a new series of performances that cross genres and disciplines, opens at 8 p.m. Oct. 28 at Dallas' Bath House Cultural Center.

The series reflects the Meadows School's interest in expanding its interdisciplinary offerings in the community, fostered by Dean José Bowen.

"In any given show you're likely to see musicians working with dancers, poets and/or actors," says Kim Corbet, series producer and Meadows music history faculty member. "Behind the scenes, there may be collaborations with the advertising department or film students documenting or using their talents as a component within the show itself."

The inaugural show features the music and dance explorations of BL Lacerta. The interdisciplinary ensemble includes three musicians and two dancers: Corbet on trombone and synthesizer, Kevin Hanlon (Associate Professor of Music Composition) on guitar, and pianist David Anderson of SMU's Huffington Department of Earth Sciences. The Meadows-trained dancers are Tawanda Chabikwa (M.F.A. '10) and Jennifer Mabus (B.F.A. '93).

"The group rigorously rehearses improvisationally, with dancers routinely making music and musicians moving on stage with the dancers," Corbet says.

The second show, set for 8 p.m. Nov. 13, features the Meadows faculty jazz quintet Jampact along with videographers and movement artists. The group includes Meadows Dean José Bowen (piano) and Meadows faculty members Akira Sato (trumpet), Jamal Mohamed (drums), Buddy Mohamed (bass) and Corbet.

Tickets to each performance are $5. The Bath House Cultural Center is located at 521 E. Lawther Drive on the east side of White Rock Lake. For more information, contact Kim Corbet at 214-542-5663 or visit the Bath House Cultural Center website.

• Read more from SMU News

SMU's campus in Plano's Legacy Business Park, formerly known as SMU-in-Legacy, officially changes its name to SMU-in-Plano Oct. 29 with a 4 p.m. reception featuring SMU President R. Gerald Turner and Plano Mayor Phil Dyer.

A Community Open House is scheduled for 10 a.m.-2 p.m. Oct. 30-31, to which all University faculty and staff are invited. Saturday will include trick-or-treating and a costume contest for kids. All events take place at the SMU-in-Plano campus, 5232 Tennyson Parkway. For more information, visit smuplano.com.

• Read more about SMU-in-Plano

Service of Memory: SMU's Office of the Chaplain and Religious Life and Perkins School of Theology invite faculty, staff and students to honor the University community members who have passed away in 2009 during the annual Service of Memory at noon Oct. 28 in Perkins Chapel.

Levine Endowed Lecture: Biblical studies expert Marvin Sweeney, professor of Hebrew Bible at Claremont School of Theology in California, will discuss "Reading the Bible after the Holocaust" in SMU's 7th Nate and Ann Levine Endowed Lecture in Jewish Studies at 7:30 p.m. Oct. 28 in McCord Auditorium, 306 Dallas Hall.

Clements Center Lecture: Bob Moser, editor of the Texas Observer and an award-winning political reporter for The Nation, will discuss his new book on how changing attitudes and shifting demographics have created the potential for a Democratic Party revival in the South. "Blue Dixie: Awakening the South's Democratic Majority" begins at noon Oct. 29 in the Texana Room, DeGolyer Library. Bring your lunch; books will be available for purchase. Presented by SMU's Clements Center for Southwest Studies, the Geurin-Pettus Program in the Department of Political Science, and DeGolyer Library.

Inside baseball: Author Warren Corbett visits SMU Oct. 29 to discuss The Wizard of Waxahachie: Paul Richards and the End of Baseball as We Knew It, his new book on the life and 60-year baseball career of a Texan who became one of major league baseball's legends, published by SMU Press. Reception at 6 p.m. in the Texana Room; lecture and book signing at 6:30 p.m. in the Stanley Marcus Reading Room. Presented by SMU Press, DeGolyer Library and Friends of the SMU Libraries.

Tech talk: SMU's Office of Information Technology (OIT) presents its first annual Technology Fair 10 a.m.-3 p.m. Oct. 30 in the Hughes-Trigg Student Center lower level. Meet vendor representatives; attend sessions on security, software and applications such as Locker and Office; or visit the Blackboard Help Desk and the Cell Phone First Aid table. The festivities include giveaways and a drawing for a USB hub. For more information, visit the OIT website.

Meadows Symphony Orchestra: The season's second concert features Brahms' Piano Concerto No. 2 in B-flat Major with international artist and Meadows faculty member Joaquín Achúcarro as soloist, as well as Above Light - a conversation with Toru Takemitsu by new Meadows faculty member Xi Wang and Symphonic Metamorphoses on Themes of Weber by Hindemith. The music starts at 8 p.m. Friday and 3 p.m. Sunday, Oct. 30 and Nov. 1, in Caruth Auditorium, Owen Arts Center. Tickets are $7 each for SMU faculty, staff and students. For more information, contact the Meadows Ticket Office, 214-768-2787 (214-SMU-ARTS).

It's almost Halloween - seek out some scary fun with these campus activities:

• Enjoy a frightfully good workout with Group X Spooky Spinning, beginning at 5:30 p.m. Oct. 29 in the Dedman Center for Lifetime Sports. All Dedman Center members and guests are invited; no Group X pass is required. Costumes are encouraged. Contact Brook Jimenez, 214-768-4824.

• Bring your own pumpkin and start cutting at SMU's annual Pumpkin Carving Contest, 6-8 p.m. Oct. 29 at The Falls, Dedman Center. Carving tools will be provided. Jack-o'-lanterns will be displayed through Nov. 6 in the Dedman Center main lobby. Visit and vote for your favorite - prizes will be awarded for the best designs. Contact Tony Bates, 214-768-9916.

• Outdoor Adventures offers late-night atmosphere and DJ'ed music in its Halloween Midnight Cosmic Climb, 11 p.m.-1 a.m. Oct. 29 in Dedman Center. Bring your own harness; appropriate shoes will be provided as needed. Costumes are encouraged (must be harness-compatible), and prizes will be awarded for the best men's and women's get-ups. Contact David Chambers or Albert Mitugo, 214-768-4822.

• SMU Child Care and Preschool holds its annual Halloween Parade beginning at 10 a.m. Oct. 30. The procession begins at Hawk Hall and crosses the street before making its way to Boaz Hall, the flagpole, the Owen Arts Center and beyond. Come out to Bishop Boulevard to see the costumes and treat the tricksters.

• Meadows Opera Theatre plays up the magic and make-believe in its annual Halloween Opera Free For All, which will include scenes from La Cenerentola (Cinderella), The Magic Flute, Rusalka, Hansel and Gretel, Once Upon a Mattress and Into the Woods. The free performance begins at 1 p.m. Oct. 30 in the Bob Hope Theatre Lobby, Owen Arts Center. For more information, call the Meadows School of the Arts Division of Music, 214-768-1951.

• SMU-in-Plano's Community Open House Oct. 30-31 will include trick-or-treating and a costume contest for kids from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. on Halloween Day. For more information, visit smuplano.com.

Sleep in after the Halloween holiday: You'll gain an hour on Sunday, Nov. 1, when Standard Time returns for fall 2009.

Don't forget to set your clocks one hour earlier, and check your home and office computers and other electronic devices to be sure they're displaying the correct time.

SMU's internationally famous collection of black independent films from the 1930s, '40s and '50s will be showcased from 7-10 p.m. Oct. 26-27 as part of the Fondren Library AV Bi-Annual Film Festival.

The G. William Jones Film and Video Collection in SMU's Hamon Arts Library is home to the Tyler, Texas Black Film Collection, from which the festival screenings were chosen. These "race movies," shown mostly in the segregated movie houses of the mid-20th century American South, were discovered in an East Texas warehouse on miraculously well-preserved nitrate stock in 1983. Transferred to safety film in 1985, several were digitally restored and released in a 3-DVD boxed set in 2004.

"These films stand as a testimony to the history of black independent film in the United States, to the skill and artistry that have existed in the genre for much longer than many people may know," says Tinsley Silcox, director of public services for SMU's Central University Libraries (CUL). "They're also an undistorted glimpse of African-American life in the early 20th century, devoid of the usual Hollywood stereotypes. They're very representative of African-American self-consciousness of the time."

Silcox and Rick Worland, professor of cinema-TV in SMU's Meadows School of the Arts, will host the festival and provide commentary on the films. All screenings will be held in McCord Auditorium, 306 Dallas Hall. Admission is free and open to the public.

The complete schedule:

Monday, Oct. 26

SMU students, faculty and staff will gather at the Flagpole at mid-day Oct. 21 for games, giveaways and green tips as the Hilltop celebrate the 7th annual national Campus Sustainability Day.

Members of the University's Campus Sustainability Committee will moderate a game of Environmental Jeopardy, encourage students to sign a green pledge, and introduce the residence halls' new team of E-representatives from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. Winners of the SMU Green Minute video competition will be announced at noon.

"SMU has a long list of sustainable practices on an institutional level that people just don't know about," says Campus Sustainability Chair Michael Paul. "We'd love for people to check out our website at smu.edu/sustainability to find out what we're doing. And it's also a good place to find tips for easy things that our community can do to keep SMU green."

Campus Sustainability Day was founded in 2002 as part of the Society for College and University Planning's early efforts to support campus planning for sustainability. Several organizations now join with SCUP to support the event, including the Higher Education Associations' Sustainability Consortium.

Read about the history of Campus Sustainability Day and see a list of organizations that have participated since 2003 at the Campus Sustainability Day website.

• Visit the Sustainability @ SMU website

The Caruth Institute for Engineering Education in SMU's Lyle School of Engineering welcomes Sherwin Greenblatt, former president of the BOSE® Corporation, as guest speaker for the SMU/Lockheed Martin Skunk Works® Lecture Series at 3:30 p.m. Oct. 20 in the Hughes-Trigg Student Center Theater.

An alumnus of Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Greenblatt currently heads the MIT Venture Mentoring Service. His interests are in innovation and how to encourage people to be entrepreneurs.

Greenblatt was the first employee at Bose Corporation, according to MIT. As a project engineer, he worked on the early development of Bose® high-fidelity loudspeakers and related electronic systems. Before retiring in 2000, he held the positions of Chief Engineer, Director of Engineering, Executive Vice President and, for 15 years, President. He received his B.S. and M.S. degrees, both in Electrical Engineering, from MIT.

A reception will follow the lecture from 4:45 p.m. to 5:30 p.m. in the Embrey Engineering Building's Huitt-Zollars Pavilion.

Darwin Year continues: Scott Appleby (right), professor of history and director of the Joan B. Kroc Institute for International Peace Studies at the University of Notre Dame, will speak on "From Apocalypse to Accommodation: Catholic, Protestant and Jewish Responses to Darwin in America, 1865-1910" at 5:30 p.m. Oct. 20 in McCord Auditorium, 306 Dallas Hall. The lecture is the latest event in SMU's year-long "Darwin's Evolving Legacy" series. Sponsored by the Department of Religious Studies in Dedman College, the Office of the Chaplain and Religious Life and the Catholic Campus Ministry. Free and open to the public.

Reading and results: SMU Distinguished Professor of Education Leadership and Policy Reid Lyon will speak on "Leadership Lessons: Turning the Agony of Reading Failure Around" at 8 a.m. Oct. 22 at the Park City Club, 17th floor, 5956 Sherry Lane in Dallas. The lecture is part of the Dallas Regional Chamber's Focus on Education Series. Cost is $45 for non-Chamber members. Register online at the Chamber's website; click on the Events tab.

President's Leadership Summit: Hart Group Vice Chair and CEO Linda Hart will share her experiences and expertise with SMU students in President R. Gerald Turner's Leadership Summit at 5 p.m. Oct. 22 in the Hughes-Trigg Student Center Forum. No RSVP is needed. For more information, contact Leadership and Community Involvement, 214-768-4403.

Perkins Interdisciplinary Dialogue: The ongoing struggles of everyday life as a source of theological reflection and of women's influence in society will be the topic of "Lo Cotidiano: Daily Life, Stage for Religious Understanding" Oct. 27 in the Prothro Hall Refectory, Room 104. The discussion will be moderated by Ada Maria Isasi Diaz, visiting professor, Perkins School of Theology; and Josephine Caldwell-Ryan, Women's and Gender Studies, Dedman College. A light dinner will be served at 6:30 p.m., followed by discussion 7-8:30 p.m. To register, contact Rachel Lamb.

Faculty Club Distinguished Luncheon: SMU Associate Provost Ellen Jackofsky will speak on "Women at SMU: Creating and Continuing a Meaningful Legacy" in the next Distinguished Luncheon at noon Oct. 28 in the SMU Faculty Club. Lunch is $12 for members, $15 for nonmembers. RSVP by Oct. 23 to Dee Powell, 214-768-3012.

Programs, providers and preparedness - as well as a dose of prevention - will be features of SMU's 2009 Health and Wellness Day Oct. 22. Faculty and staff members can visit with vendors, learn more about Access.SMU Open Enrollment, get a seasonal flu shot and more during the benefits fair, scheduled for 9 a.m.-2:30 p.m. in the Hughes-Trigg Student Center's lower level.

Keynote speaker Marsha Upsom, founder of the Naturally Slim Healthy Weight Loss Program, will discuss "Simple Steps for Losing Weight, Gaining Health and Reducing the Sugar in Your Diet." Other information sessions will include:

• A comprehensive look at choosing a medical plan with Director of Total Compensation and Associate Director of Human Resources Sheri Starkey
• An introduction to SMU's new vision care provider, Vision Services Program (VSP)
• A panel discussion on flu preparedness

• Blood pressure
• Blood sugar testing
• Body fat testing
• Body mass index
• Breast cancer information
• Diabetes information
• Skin cancer screenings

Clubhouse Lunch: Assistant Professor Hector Rivera, director of the Center for Child and Community Development in the Annette Caldwell Simmons School of Education and Human Development, speaks on "Integrating English Language Learners Into Our Schools - What Do We Need to Know?" at noon Oct. 14 in the Faculty Club. The lecture is part of the SMU Faculty Club's Clubhouse Lunch series. Lunch is $5, or feel free to bring your own.

Clements Center Brown Bag Lecture: Associate Professor of History Alexis McCrosson discusses her new book, including the visual rhetoric of scarcity and abundance in the U.S.-Mexico borderlands and their history of "institutions of abundance" such as department and "big box" stores, in "Land of Necessity: Consumer Culture in the United States-Mexico Borderlands" at noon Oct. 14 in the Texana Room, DeGolyer Library. Presented by the Clements Center for Southwest Studies, Dedman College. Bring your lunch.

Long live the King: The Meadows Wind Ensemble spends a musical evening with an American icon in "Elvis Has Left the Building" at 8 p.m. Oct. 16 in Caruth Auditorium, Owen Arts Center. The program features an Elvis "Vegas" medley, Michael Daugherty's Dead Elvis, Eric Whitacre's Godzilla Eats Las Vegas and a set of works by Frank Zappa - as well as a possible appearance by "the King" himself. Tickets are $7 for SMU faculty, staff and students. For more information, contact the Meadows Ticket Office, 214-768-2787 (214-SMU-ARTS).

Music for a cause: The Meadows Chorale opens its season with a program of contemporary music that celebrates the passage of life into afterlife at 2 p.m. Oct. 18 in Perkins Chapel. "Each Shall Arise" features works by Tarik O'Regan, Morten Lauridsen and Eric William Barnum. In lieu of admission, online donations are requested for the North Texas Food Bank. Food items may also be donated in person at the concert. For more information, call 214-768-1951.

Author and Dallas Observer columnist Jim Schutze will share his views on everything from City Hall to the Trinity River toll road with the Retired Faculty Association Oct. 13. "Inside Dallas: A Muckraker's Paradise" begins at 4 p.m. in Smith Auditorium, Meadows Museum.

A former Dallas bureau chief for the Houston Chronicle, Schutze is familiar to Dallasites for his Observer work focusing on city politics. His reporting has earned three Unity Awards, a national prize for journalism on racial issues.

Schutze is also the author of several nonfiction books on true murder cases; two have been finalists for the Edgar Allan Poe Award presented by the Mystery Writers of America. His 1998 work, Bully: A True Story of High School Revenge, in 2001 became a major motion picture directed by Larry Clark.

The afternoon begins with a wine and cheese reception from 3 to 4 p.m. in the Meadows Museum's Jones Great Hall. The event is sponsored by the SMU Retired Faculty Association, with the support of the Provost's Office.

For more information, contact Darwin Payne, Retired Faculty Association president.

The Meadows Museum reopens its redesigned plaza and sculpture garden - including its iconic Wave installation - with a dedication ceremony beginning at 6 p.m. Oct. 7. The celebration will include the unveiling of a major new acquisition, Sho (left), a monumental sculpture by Catalán artist Jaume Plensa.

The dedication launches a celebration of the Elizabeth Meadows Sculpture Collection with the exhibition "Face and Form: Modern and Contemporary Sculpture in the Meadows Collection." The new plaza will feature a permanent installation of monumental sculpture from the Elizabeth Meadows Collection and the Meadows Museum by artists such as Jacques Lipchitz, Henry Moore, Isamu Noguchi, and Claes Oldenburg.

The plaza's centerpiece will be Sho, acquired in summer 2009 through gifts from The Eugene McDermott Foundation, Nancy and Jake Hamon, The Meadows Foundation, The Pollock Foundation, the family of Mr. and Mrs. Richard R. Pollock and the family of Mr. Lawrence S. Pollock III.

Santiago Calatrava's Wave (right), already a fixture of the plaza's southwest corner, can now be viewed from above from a terrace donated by Richard and Gwen Irwin in honor of his parents, William and Florence Irwin. A staircase, which can be approached from each side, will help integrate the plaza with the rest of the campus, while a new fountain at its foot will greet museum visitors.

The museum will also feature two exhibitions, opening Oct. 8, that illustrate the processes used by Plensa and Calatrava in the creation of Sho and Wave. The displays in the downstairs galleries will include drawings, watercolors, photographs and other materials highlighting both the creative and construction processes involved.

• Read more about "Face and Form: Modern and Contemporary Sculpture in the Meadows Collection"
• Visit the Meadows Museum online

Three contemporary plays will open the 2009-10 season of the Division of Theatre in SMU's Meadows School of the Arts. The shows will open consecutively beginning Oct. 8 and will run through Oct. 18 in the Margo Jones Theatre, Owen Arts Center.

The first show, Betrayed by George Packer, opens Oct. 8. Packer, a writer for The New Yorker and author of The Assassins' Gate: America in Iraq, based his play about Iraqi translators working for the Americans in Baghdad on his experiences as a reporter there. Betrayed portrays the real-life struggles of Iraqi citizens who offered their services to support the U.S. mission, only to be denied protection by the American government they served as the country splintered among insurgent groups. Stan Wojewodski Jr. directs.

Opening Oct. 9 is Chat Room, a one-act by contemporary Irish playwright Enda Walsh. The drama focuses on a bullied, depressed teenage boy looking for connections in Internet chatrooms, where he finds two anonymous "advisors" who make it their mission to drive him to suicide. Regina Bonifasi directs.

Pure Confidence by Carlyle Brown opens Oct. 10. This comedy-drama, based on historical characters, tells the story of Civil War-era jockey and slave Simon Cato, who uses his determination, wit and athletic skill to chart his own course to freedom. Erik Carter directs.

Tickets for each show are $7 each for SMU faculty, staff and students. Find a complete performance schedule, and buy tickets online, at the Meadows Division of Theatre homepage.

Above, sophomore theatre majors Katherine Bourne and Joel Heinrich (at right in photo) with junior theatre major McLean Krieger (center) in Chat Room by Enda Walsh, directed by Regina Bonifasi. Photo by Linda Blase.

Wendland-Cook Professorship Inaugural Lecture: SMU's Perkins School of Theology commemorates the establishment of the Wendland-Cook Professorship in Constructive Theology with a lecture by the first faculty member to hold that position. Joerg Rieger will discuss "Speaking Truth to Power - With a Twist: Re-envisioning the Task of Theology and the Academy" at 5 p.m. Oct. 8 in the Great Hall of Elizabeth Perkins Prothro Hall, followed by a reception in the Kirby Hall Parlor. Free and open to the public.

"Holocaust Legacies" lecture: Author and University of Pittsburgh Professor of Art History Kirk Savage (Monument Wars: Washington, D.C., the National Mall, and the Transformation of the Memorial Landscape) will explore the achievements and pitfalls of the victim monument, which has come to rival the hero monuments of old. "Beyond the Victim Monument" begins at 5:30 p.m. Oct. 8 in Dallas' Sixth Floor Museum at Dealey Plaza. Co-sponsored by the Division of Art History in SMU's Meadows School of the Arts, the Dallas Holocaust Museum and The Sixth Floor Museum. Free and open to the public; tickets required. For more information, call 214-768-2698; for tickets, call 214-768-2787. (Right, the Titanic Memorial on Washington, D.C.'s southwest waterfront, originally erected in 1931.)

Screening a classic: Friends of the SMU Libraries/Colophon and the Hamon Arts Library present a free screening of Spencer Williams' 1941 classic, The Blood of Jesus, Oct. 8 in the Hughes-Trigg Student Center Theater. Made specifically for African-American audiences in segregated movie theaters, the film was placed in the Library of Congress National Film Registry in 1991. The event begins with a reception at 6:30 p.m., followed by the screening at 7 p.m. and a panel discussion moderated by SMU Professor of Cinema-TV Rick Worland at 8 p.m. Arrive early - seating is first-come, first-served and not guaranteed. For more information, call 214-768-3225 or visit smu.edu/friends.

Clubhouse Lunch: The SMU Faculty Club hosts a Clubhouse Lunch with Hector Rivera, director of the Center for Child and Community Development in the University's Annette Caldwell Simmons School of Education and Human Development, at noon Oct. 14 in the Faculty Club. Rivera will speak on "Integrating English Language Learners Into Our Schools - What Do We Need to Know?" Lunch is $5; attendees are welcome to bring their own.

Supreme Court Associate Justice Clarence Thomas will give the next lecture in SMU's 2009-10 Willis M. Tate Distinguished Lecture Series at 8 p.m. Sept. 30 in McFarlin Auditorium.

In 1990, Justice Thomas became a Judge of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit. He took his seat on the Supreme Court in 1991 after his nomination by President George H.W. Bush. He was admitted to law practice in Missouri in 1974, and served as an Assistant Attorney General of Missouri from 1974-77. Following that, he was an attorney with the Monsanto Company from 1977-1979 and Legislative Assistant to Senator John Danforth from 1979-81.

From 1981-82, Justice Thomas served as Assistant Secretary for Civil Rights in the U.S. Department of Education. From 1982-90, he was Chairman of the United States Equal Employment Opportunity Commission.

He received an A.B. cum laude from Holy Cross College and his J.D. degree from Yale Law School in 1974. In addition, Justice Thomas is the bestselling author of My Grandfather's Son: A Memoir, published in 2007 by Harper.

The evening lecture is sold out. Justice Thomas will answer questions from SMU community members and local high school students in the Turner Construction Student Forum at 4:30 p.m. Sept. 30 in the Hughes-Trigg Student Center Ballroom.

• Visit the Tate Distinguished Lecture Series website

Author, political journalist and broadcaster Gwen Ifill will present SMU's 2009 Rosine Smith Sammons Lecture in Media Ethics at 8 p.m. Oct. 1 in Caruth Auditorium, Owen Arts Center.

Since 1999, Ifill has been moderator and managing editor of PBS' "Washington Week" - in its 40th year, the longest-running prime-time news and public affairs program on television. She also serves as senior correspondent and occasional anchor on "NewsHour with Jim Lehrer." On "Washington Week," Ifill leads a rotating panel of journalists offering analysis into the week's top news stories.

Previously, Ifill worked at NBC News as chief congressional and political correspondent, appearing on the "Nightly News with Tom Brokaw," "Today" and MSNBC, and was a frequent panelist on "Meet the Press." In addition, she was White House correspondent for The New York Times and covered politics and government for The Washington Post, The Baltimore Sun and the Boston Herald American.

Ifill moderated the vice presidential debates during the 2004 and 2008 elections. During the 2008 presidential campaign, she wrote The Breakthrough: Politics and Race in the Age of Obama. Her analysis of the changing black political culture and power structure, as well as the roles of race and racism in the election itself, made the New York Times bestseller list.

In 2001, Ifill gave SMU's Louise B. Raggio Endowed Lecture in Women's Studies.

The Sammons Lecture Series is presented by the Division of Journalism in SMU's Meadows School of the Arts. Tickets are free; reservations are required. For more information, contact the Meadows Ticket Office, 214-768-2787 (214-SMU-ARTS).

October is National Cybersecurity Awareness Month, and SMU's Office of Information Technology (OIT) will celebrate with several events designed to inform and engage the University community.

Awareness Month begins with a kickoff event 10 a.m.-2 p.m. Oct. 2 at the Hughes-Trigg Student Center Crossing.

Events will culminate with OIT's first annual Technology Fair 10 a.m.-3 p.m. Oct. 30 in the lower level of the Hughes-Trigg Student Center. Representatives from Apple, Dell, Verizon and other vendors will be on hand.

The fair will also include brief sessions on security, software and applications such as Locker and Office, as well as a Blackboard Help Desk and a Cell Phone First Aid table. The festivities include table giveaways and a drawing for a USB hub.

In addition, OIT will host weekly brown-bag sessions on issues such as malware, desktop security and identify theft. The complete schedule:

• Oct. 2: Identity Theft
  Noon-1 p.m., Hughes-Trigg Student Center Forum
• Oct. 8: Yours, Mine, and Ours - Protecting Personal Information
  Noon-1 p.m., HR Training Room, 208 Expressway Tower, East Campus
• Oct. 16: Passwords Are Like Underwear
  Noon-1 p.m., 112 Laura Lee Blanton Student Services Building
• Oct. 23: Phishing, Spyware, and Worms, Oh My!
  Noon-1 p.m., Hughes-Trigg Student Center Forum
• Oct. 30: Desktop Security
  Noon-1 p.m., Hughes-Trigg Student Center Forum (during the Tech Fair)

• Visit the Office of Information Technology online
• Learn about National Cybersecurity Awareness Month
• More about malware from Wikipedia

The SMU Staff Association celebrates a decade of peace, love and music with its 2009 Talent Show Oct. 8.

An exhibition of staff-created art, photography and crafts begins at 11:30 a.m. in the Hughes-Trigg Student Center Ballroom foyer. A live show with staff members sharing their talents as singers, musicians, dancers and comics begins at noon inside the Ballroom.

The event is free and open to the University community. The preceding luncheon is $12, and advance payment is required. Send your lunch RSVP to SMUSA by Sept. 30; send checks payable to "SMU Staff Association" to Gretchen Voight at SMU Box 181.

It's not too late to participate - contact SMUSA by Sept. 30 if you'd like to perform or exhibit at the event.

• Visit the SMU Staff Association website

Friends of Friends: New York Times theater critic Wilborn Hampton will discuss the work of his friend - playwright and screenwriter Horton Foote - in a lecture and signing for his new book, Horton Foote: America's Storyteller. The event takes place 6-8 p.m. Oct. 1 in the Texana Room, DeGolyer Library. Sponsored by the Friends of the SMU Libraries. For more information, call 214-768-3225.

Dance is back: The Meadows School of the Arts Division of Dance presents its Fall 2009 Brown Bag Dance Series, featuring student performances and choreography in multiple dance genres, Oct. 5-9. Each event begins at noon in the Bob Hope Lobby, Owen Arts Center. Bring your lunch. For more information, call 214-768-2718.

Here's the pitch: Eight-time All-Star and 2008 Baseball Hall of Fame inductee Richard "Goose" Gossage will discuss his legendary career in the Guaranty Bank SMU Athletic Forum, noon-1:30 p.m. at the Hilton Anatole Hotel, 2201 Stemmons Freeway. Tickets are $60 each. For more information, contact Program Services, 214-768-4314.

In McFarlin Auditorium:

Oct. 9-10: TITAS presents Remember Me, a collaboration between Parsons Dance and the Grammy-nominated East Village Opera Company featuring dance, rock music, multimedia and special effects. Showtime is at 8 p.m. For tickets, call TITAS at 214-528-5576.

A landmark federal court decision banning the teaching of creationism, and the NOVA film documentary that recounts the case, will be the focus of a series of events at SMU Sept. 24-25.

In 2005, federal Judge John E. Jones III banned the Dover, Pennsylvania, school district from teaching "intelligent design" in the classroom, ruling that the course of study had been introduced by the local school board for religious reasons and did not constitute science.

But the case was far from the final word. Many Americans still question evolution and believe that an alternative should be taught in public schools. In Texas, controversy over the teaching of science continues to roil meetings of the State Board of Education.

Several of the major players in the Dover trial, as well as professionals who later helped analyze its impact through the media, will be featured at SMU through an assortment of lectures, film screenings and panel discussions.

The programs begin Sept. 24 with a 10 a.m. reception and 10:30 a.m. lecture at DeGolyer Library, featuring Paula Apsell (right), senior executive producer, and Melanie Wallace, senior series producer of NOVA's documentary, "Judgment Day: Intelligent Design on Trial." Those planning to attend should RSVP to 214-768-3225 or Cynthia Ruppi.

The documentary, "Judgment Day: Intelligent Design on Trial," will be screened at 4 p.m. Sept. 24 in O'Donnell Hall, Owen Arts Center. A panel discussion on legal, ethical and journalistic issues surrounding the making of the film will follow from 7 p.m.-8:30 p.m. in Caruth Auditorium, Owen Arts Center. Panelists will include Judge Jones, documentary producers Apsell and Wallace, plaintiff's council Eric Rothschild and Lauri Lebo, author of The Devil in Dover.

On Sept. 25, from 10-11:30 a.m., First Amendment issues will get closer scrutiny in a panel discussion at SMU's Dedman School of Law. Jones, Rothschild (now in private practice), Liberty Legal Institute attorney Hiram Sasser and Dedman School of Law Professor Lackland Bloom will trade ideas and opinions in Karcher Auditorium, Storey Hall.

The series concludes Sept. 25 with reporter and author Lebo's lecture from 2-3 p.m. in the Hughes-Trigg Student Center Forum. Lebo will speak on "From Dover to Texas: Reporting on Extremist Views in a Fair and Balanced World" and sign copies of her book, The Devil in Dover.

NOVA Senior Executive Producer Apsell, who received an honorary degree from SMU in 2008, says the documentary underscores not only a historic court case, but also a critical science lesson.

"What happens when half of the population doesn't accept one of the most fundamental underpinnings of the sciences?" Apsell asks. "Evolution is the absolute bedrock of the biological sciences. It's essential to medical science, agriculture, and biotechnology. And it's critical to understanding the natural world around us."

The events are part of SMU's yearlong "Darwin's Evolving Legacy" series. All are free and open to the public.

• Read more from SMU News
• Visit the "Darwin's Evolving Legacy" website
• Learn more about the documentary at the NOVA homepage
• Review Kitzmiller v. Dover Area School District at Wikipedia

Gilbert Lecture Series: Johns Hopkins University Professor Amanda Anderson (Tainted Souls and Painted Faces: The Rhetoric of Fallenness in Victorian Culture) will discuss the role of political ideology in the works of authors such as Charles Dickens, George Eliot, Elizabeth Gaskell and Anthony Trollope in "Politics and the 19th-Century British Novel" Sept. 22 in DeGolyer Library. Reception in the Texana Room at 6 p.m., lecture in the Stanley Marcus Reading Room at 6:30 p.m. Cosponsored by the Department of English and DeGolyer Library. Free and open to the public. For more information, visit the Gilbert Lecture Series homepage.

Turn down the noise: Feeling the burn of too much stress? Learn positive ways to cope at noon Sept. 23 in Room 205, Memorial Health Center. Faculty and staff earn 1 Wellpower credit for attending. Sponsored by Counseling and Psychiatric Services. For more information, contact Marianne Stout.

Celebrating Darwin: Friends of the SMU Libraries/Colophon and The Friends of KERA host a celebration of the 150th anniversary of On the Origin of Species and the 200th birthday of Charles Darwin Sept. 24 in DeGolyer Library. Guest speakers include Paula Apsell ('08 honoris causa), "NOVA" senior executive producer; and Melanie Wallace, "NOVA" senior series producer. Reception at 10 a.m., lecture at 10:30 a.m. RSVP to 214-768-3225 or Cynthia Ruppi.

"Tragic" love: The Meadows Symphony Orchestra performs Gustav Mahler's epic Symphony No. 6 ("Tragic") at 8 p.m. Sept. 25 and 3 p.m. Sept. 27 in Caruth Auditorium, Owen Arts Center. Tickets are $7 for faculty, staff and students. For more information, contact the Meadows Ticket Office, 214-768-2787 (214-SMU-ARTS).

Clements Center Brown Bag: SMU History Professor John Chávez will discuss his new book tracing the evolution of "peripheral" ethnic homelands around the North Atlantic in "Beyond Nations: Evolving Homelands in the North Atlantic World, 1400-2000." The event begins at noon Sept. 30 in the Texana Room, DeGolyer Library. Bring your lunch.

Sounds of India: The Meadows School of the Arts presents a concert of classical South Indian music with percussionist and Grammy Award nominee Poovalur Srinivasan and his group, Karnatic Kutcherri, at noon Sept. 30 in the Taubman Atrium, Owen Arts Center. The show is part of the Expanding Your Horizons Brown Bag Concert Series. Admission is free; bring your lunch. For more information, call 214-768-1951.

September is National Preparedness Month, and SMU has joined in its observation by scheduling Emergency Preparedness Day for Sept. 16. The details were shared in the following e-mail sent to students, faculty and staff members on Sept. 14-15:

As a part of the Department of Homeland Security's National Preparedness Month, SMU has designated September 16, 2009 as Emergency Preparedness Day.

We encourage SMU students, faculty and staff to do the following:

• Orient yourself to Lockdown procedures by viewing the video, "Shots Fired on Campus."
• Update your personal contact information, especially your cell phone number, in Access.SMU so you can be notified in the event of an emergency.*
• Know What to Do in emergencies on campus by reviewing the safety actions: evacuation, shelter-in-place and lockdown. Look for posters in classrooms or review them online.

---

* Please Note: A test of the SMU Emergency Notification System will be conducted on September 16. The test will consist of cell phone messages, text messages and e-mails that read: "This is a test of the SMU Emergency Notification System." No action on your part will be necessary.

Recent research that suggests human culture may have had a profound effect on shaping our DNA will be the topic of the Collegium da Vinci's 2009 Darwin's Evolving Legacy Public Lecture. Robert Moyzis, professor of biological chemistry at the University of California-Irvine, will address the question, "Are Humans Still Evolving?" at 7:30 p.m. Sept. 20 in the Crum Auditorium, Collins Executive Education Center.

Moyzis' work focuses on human DNA, particularly the tips of human chromosomes, known as telomeres. His mapping of these areas as part of the Human Genome Project revealed that these telomeres - previously thought to be "junk DNA" - contain active sequences that may play important roles in cancer and aging. His most recent research suggests that as much as 10 percent of the human genome is still evolving and that the process may actually have accelerated during the past several thousand years.

In 1993, Moyzis won the Ernest Orlando Lawrence Award from the U.S. Department of Energy Office of Science for "distinguished contributions to the field of molecular genetics," citing research that "point[s] to the existence of a new type of DNA code that is 'structural' in nature and is shared by the DNA of many other organisms."

The lecture is free and open to the public. For more information, contact the Collegium da Vinci office, 214-768-1177.

• Learn more at the Collegium da Vinci homepage

Good books: Nearly 60 remarkable bibles - including Medieval, Renaissance, Reformation and early American editions - are on view in "The Elizabeth Perkins Prothro Bible Collection" in the Elizabeth Perkins Prothro Galleries, Bridwell Library, through Dec. 11, 2009. For more information call 214-768-3483 or visit the Bridwell Library website. (Right, a page from an illuminated Paris Vulgate, ca. 1250.)

Patriotic pride: SMU celebrates Constitution Day 2009 at 11:30 a.m. Sept. 17 in the Hughes-Trigg Student Center Commons. The Sons and Daughters of the American Revolution and the traveling Liberty Bell will be present, and cake and punch will be served. For more information, contact Mariana Sullivan, 214-768-4498.

Remembering a pioneer: Author and editor Charlotte Whaley will give a lecture on her latest work - a collection of memoirs by Alice Marriott, one of the first women in the Southwest to hold an advanced degree in anthropology and who studied Southwestern American Indian culture. Reception at 6 p.m., lecture at 6:30 p.m., followed by a book signing for Alice Marriott Remembered. All events take place in SMU's DeGolyer Library. Sponsored by Friends of the SMU Libraries/Colophon and DeGolyer Library. For more information, call 214-768-3225.

"Holocaust Legacies" lecture: Georgetown University Professor of Philosophy Thomas Beauchamp, senior research scholar with the Kennedy Institute of Ethics and primary author of the Belmont Report, will participate in a lecture and panel discussion, "From the Nuremburg Code to the Belmont Report and the Final Rule: The Protection of Human Research Subjects in the 21st Century," Sept. 17 in McCord Auditorium, 306 Dallas Hall. Reception at 6:30 p.m., lecture at 7 p.m. Presented by SMU's Maguire Center for Ethics and Public Responsibility and Human Rights Education Program as part of "Holocaust Legacies: Shoah as Turning Point." Free and open to the public.

Stanton Sharp Lecture: Author, editor and historian Ronald L. Numbers (Galileo Goes to Jail and Other Myths About Science and Religion), Hilldale Professor of the History of Science and Medicine at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, will discuss "Anti-Evolution in America: From Creation Science to Intelligent Design" Sept. 18 in McCord Auditorium, 306 Dallas Hall. Reception at 3:30 p.m., lecture at 4 p.m. Sponsored by SMU's Clements Department of History, Dedman College. For more information, contact the history department, 214-768-2967, or visit its Sharp Lectures web page.

Fun and games: Prospective students can explore The Guildhall at SMU during its Fall 2009 open house, 10 a.m.-noon Sept. 19 at the SMU-in-Plano campus, 5232 Tennyson Parkway, Building 2. Activities include food and games for all ages and a bounce house for kids, plus LEGO Star Wars for gaming enthusiasts. RSVP online at the Guildhall website.

Tate-Willson Lecture: Nigel Biggar - Regius Professor of Moral and Pastoral Theology and director of the McDonald Centre for Theology, Ethics, and Public Life at the University of Oxford - will discuss "Behaving in Public: Christian Ethics in a Polyglot Secularity" at 11:30 a.m. Sept. 22 in 106 Prothro Hall. The lecture is free and open to the public. For more information, contact the Graduate Program in Religious Studies Office, 214-768-2432. Presented by the Graduate Program in Religious Studies and cosponsored by SMU's Maguire Center for Ethics and Public Responsibility.

Author and historian Robert J. Norrell, professor of history and Bernadotte Schmitt Chair of Excellence at the University of Tennessee, will join SMU experts in a panel discussion of the University's 2009 Common Reading at 4 p.m. Sept. 15 in the Hughes-Trigg Student Center Theater.

Three SMU professors, all from Dedman College of Humanities and Sciences, will participate in the discussion of Barack Obama's 1995 memoir, Dreams From My Father: A Story of Race and Inheritance:

• Angela Ards, assistant professor of English
• Kenneth Hamilton, associate professor of history
• Harold Stanley, Geurin-Pettus Professor of American Politics and Political Economy

The event is sponsored by the Gartner Honors Lecture Series, the University Honors Program and the Office of the Provost. For more information, visit SMU Central University Libraries' Common Reading homepage.

The installation of new University Chaplain Stephen Rankin takes place at 4 p.m. Sept. 14 in Perkins Chapel. A reception will follow the ceremony in Jones Hall, Meadows Museum.

Rankin joined SMU in July 2009 as chaplain, minister to the University and adjunct professor of church history and ministry in Perkins School of Theology. Previously, he was campus minister and Kirk Chair Professor of Religious Studies at Southwestern College in Winfield, Kansas.

• Read more about Chaplain Rankin
• Visit the SMU Chaplain's Office online

The SMU community is invited to celebrate the dedication of Elizabeth Perkins Prothro Hall and the expanded, renovated Perkins School of Theology quad at 12:15 p.m. Sept. 11 near Perkins Chapel at 5901 Bishop Boulevard.

The Perkins-Prothro family of Wichita Falls, whose financial support of the seminary spans three generations, gave $6 million to the school in January 2007 - about half of the funds required to renovate Kirby Hall and Selecman Hall, both of which were originally built in the early '50s, and to construct a commons building to be named in honor of the late Elizabeth Perkins Prothro.

A lunch and open house will follow the dedication. In addition, SMU will honor Mrs. Prothro's contributions to the University with a celebration of her life.

• Read more about the theology quad expansion
• See and RSVP President Turner's invitation online

The joy of science: SMU professors from multiple schools and disciplines will participate in a faculty symposium on "The Year of Darwin" 9:30 a.m.-noon Sept. 12 in McCord Auditorium, 306 Dallas Hall. Participants include David Meltzer and Ronald Wetherington, Anthropology, Dedman College; Larry Ruben and John Wise, Biological Sciences, Dedman College; Louis Jacobs, Huffington Department of Earth Sciences, Dedman College; and Rhonda Blair, Theatre, Meadows School of the Arts. Presented by the Office of the Provost, Dedman College, Meadows School of the Arts, and Annette Caldwell Simmons School of Education and Human Development. For more information, contact Pia Vogel, 214-768-1790, or visit the "Darwin's Evolving Legacy" homepage.

Interdisciplinary Dialogue: The interplay between basic social science research and action research will be at the center of "Research on Latino Religious Topics: A Challenge to Scholars," moderated by Harold Recinos, professor of church and society, Perkins School of Theology; and Hector Rivera, assistant professor, Annette Caldwell Simmons School of Education and Human Development. The event begins Sept. 16 in the Prothro Hall Refectory (Room 104) with a light dinner at 6:30 p.m. and discussion 7-8:30 p.m.

Going green: The City of Dallas and more than 20 vendors will present sustainable products and other green solutions as part of SMU's first Sustainability Fair for students, faculty and staff. The event takes place 10 a.m.-1:30 p.m. Sept. 17 in the Hughes-Trigg Student Center Ballroom. Hors d'oeuvres will be served along with tea and lemonade. Presented by SMU Purchasing.

Godbey Lecture Series: Associate Professor of Hispanic American Literature Francisco Morán of Dedman College will discuss "Why Poetry Matters: Playing 'Ajedrez' (Chess) with Language" Sept. 17 at Maggiano's NorthPark Center. The lecture begins at 11 a.m., followed by lunch at noon. The cost is $45 for Godbey members, $65 for non-members. Register online or call 214-768-2532.

SMU's Human Rights Education Program is cosponsoring a three-month series of lectures, symposiums, film screenings, photography exhibits and musical performances examining how the Holocaust continues to affect the world.

"Holocaust Legacies: Shoah as Turning Point" begins Sept. 9 with a 7 p.m. reception and a 7:30 p.m. introductory panel discussion in the Hughes-Trigg Student Center Forum. The program will run through the end of November with events held both on and off the SMU campus, and all events are free and open to the public.

Panel members on Sept. 9 will include Christopher Anderson, associate professor of sacred music in Perkins School of Theology; Janis Bergman-Carton, art history chair in Meadows School of the Arts; Elliott Dlin, executive director of the Dallas Holocaust Museum; Rick Halperin, director of SMU's Human Rights Education Program and Tom Mayo, director of SMU's Maguire Center for Ethics and Public Responsibility.

Halperin, who each December escorts educational groups to former Nazi death camp locations in Poland, is committed to raising awareness of what he calls "the crime within the war," even as the number of people who lived through the war, and the Holocaust, dwindles with each passing year. September marks the 70th anniversary of the Nazi German invasion of Poland and beginning of World War II.

"It's safe to say most Americans don't think about World War II any more," Halperin said. "We fought the war, defeated the Nazis, and came home the good guys. We mushroomed into a world power. Most Americans since then have lived a relatively safe and comfortable life."

But the legacy of the Holocaust continues at many levels, Halperin said: The Nazis committed the greatest art theft in history, looting the collections of Jewish families whose descendents are still litigating to see their treasures returned. All major war crime tribunals bear the stamp of the post-World War II Nuremburg Trials, and the United States in May deported a nearly 90-year-old man, John Demjanjuk, for Nazi war crimes.

Halperin noted that in Europe, sensitivity to the Shoah's legacy is reflected even in restrictions to how people talk and write about the Nazi regime. "You can buy a copy of Adolph Hitler's Mein Kampf in the SMU Book Store - that's free speech," Halperin explained. "You can deny the Holocaust in the U.S., and that's free speech, too. You can't do that in Europe." Halperin said he expects the series to be "a powerful, emotional, somber and sobering series of events."

Co-sponsors for the 2009 Fall Program Series are SMU's Cary M. Maguire Center for Ethics and Public Responsibility, the Dallas Holocaust Museum/Center for Education and Tolerance, SMU Meadows School of the Arts, SMU Perkins School of Theology, TCU's Harris College of Nursing and Health Sciences, Department of Social Work and the University of Dallas.

• Find a complete schedule at the SMU News site

Journalist and author Fareed Zakaria will speak to about 200 Dallas-area students in the 2009 Hart Global Leaders Forum Sept. 9.

Zakaria, editor of Newsweek International since 2000, is responsible for the magazine's overseas editions. He also writes a Newsweek column that appears in The Washington Post. In 2008 he began hosting a foreign affairs program, "Fareed Zakaria GPS," for CNN Worldwide. He is the author of The Post American World, The Future of Freedom and From Wealth to Power and co-editor of The American Encounter.

On Sept. 8, Zakaria will help kick off the 28th season of SMU's Tate Distinguished Lecture Series with Thomas Friedman and David Gergen. The three will answer questions from the audience at The Turner Construction Student Forum at 4:30 p.m. in the Hughes-Trigg Student Center Ballroom. They also will give The Linda and Mitch Hart Lecture at 8 p.m. in McFarlin Auditorium, with Gergen serving as moderator.

• Visit the Tate Distinguished Lecture Series homepage

The entire SMU community is invited to the dedication of the new Mustang Plaza and Mall at 4:30 p.m. Sept. 4 in front of Moody Coliseum.

The mall opens the area in front of the coliseum to pedestrian traffic and is designed to be the main thoroughfare to and from proposed new sophomore housing as laid out in the University's Centennial Master Plan.

• See the Centennial Master Plan map
• See President Turner's invitation at SMU News

When Charles Darwin's On the Origin of Species was first published in 1859, only 1,250 copies of the book were printed. Subsequent printings were not much larger, 3,000 at the most, despite five additional editions published through 1872.

The collections of SMU's DeGolyer Library include a copy of each of the six editions published in Darwin's lifetime, as well as the numerous impressions made for each edition - including more than 60 volumes printed through 1890. Those editions form the nucleus of a major exhibit about the father of evolution.

"On the Origin of Species: Texts and Contexts for Charles Darwin's Great Work" will appear Sept. 8-Dec. 9, 2009, as part of "Darwin's Evolving Legacy," SMU's yearlong celebration honoring both the 150th anniversary of the publication of Darwin's seminal text and the 200th anniversary of his birth. The exhibition will be accompanied by comments from the popular press of the time, as well as other books and publications by Darwin, including his famous The Voyage of the Beagle.

"The Charles Darwin collection is one of the hidden jewels in the library. While we are best known, perhaps, for our Western Americana and railroadiana, our books and journals in the history of science are extraordinary," says Russell Martin, DeGolyer Library director.

"We hope the exhibit will be a visual feast," Martin adds. "We"ll get to see how the book itself evolved over time - text, bindings - and how Darwin fit into the scientific and popular literature of his day. Many of the books are annotated by former readers, so we can see the notes his contemporaries made."

Read more about the exhibition in the Spring 2009 issue of Annotations, the newsletter of SMU's Central University Libraries.

• Find more Darwin Year events
• Visit DeGolyer Library online

Faculty-Staff Campaign Kickoff: Join your colleagues in campuswide events to mark the launch of the faculty and staff component of The Second Century Campaign on Sept. 3. School and area events will take place throughout the day (find yours here) and will culminate in an all-University celebration hosted by SMU President R. Gerald Turner at 4 p.m. in the Grand Ballroom, Umphrey Lee Center. For more information and to make a gift, visit smu.edu/fs.

Jewish life, past and present: Photographer Loli Kantor has documented the disappearing population of Holocaust survivors and their lives within the vanishing shtetls of Poland and Ukraine. In the process, she found glimpses into a re-emergence of Jewish life and culture in Central and Eastern Europe that is beginning to transform larger communities. Her work is collected in There Was a Forest - Jews in Eastern Europe Today, on display through Nov. 15 in the Hawn Gallery, Hamon Arts Library. Kantor will lecture on campus at 6 p.m. Sept. 11 in the Taubman Atrium, Owen Arts Center, followed by a reception at 7 p.m. Both events are part of "Holocaust Legacies: Shoah as Turning Point," a semester-long series presented by SMU's Human Rights Education Program.

Game time: The Mustang football team hosts its season opener against Stephen F. Austin at 7 p.m. in Ford Stadium. Traditional tailgating parties and other festivities will take place on The Boulevard for most of the day. Find a complete season schedule, ticket information and more at 2009 Gameday Central, and learn more about Sellout 2009. (Right, wide receiver and senior co-captain Emmanuel Sanders, SMU's career leader in touchdown catches and the first player in University history to record three 600-yard receiving seasons.)

Tate Lecture Series opens: New York Times columnist Thomas Friedman and Newsweek International editor Fareed Zakaria, moderated by former White House adviser David Gergen, will offer their insights on current events and international politics in the first event of the 2009-10 Willis M. Tate Distinguished Lecture Series season. The event begins at 8 p.m. Sept. 8 in McFarlin Auditorium.

The faculty and staff component of SMU Unbridled: Campaign for the Second Century will begin with campuswide events Sept. 3, culminating in an all-University celebration at 4 p.m. in the Umphrey Lee Center Ballroom hosted by President R. Gerald Turner.

Faculty and staff gifts received by Sept. 3, 2009, will be counted in the participation competition that will jump-start the campaign. At the 4 p.m. kickoff, the school or administrative unit with the highest rate of participation this fiscal year to date will be announced.

Harold Stanley and Julie Wiksten, co-chairs of the Campaign Steering Committee for Faculty and Staff, mailed letters and pledge forms to each faculty and staff member.

SMU is seeking the same levels of participation for faculty and staff as for alumni: 25 percent annual participation and 50 percent cumulative participation over the life of the campaign.

The Campaign Steering Committee includes representatives from 13 areas of the University, which includes all seven schools plus Athletics; Business and Finance; Central University Libraries; Development and External Affairs; President's Office, Provost/Academic Affairs and Legal Affairs; and Student Affairs.

As a campaign co-chair, "I have heard strong statements of commitment and connection to SMU from faculty and staff members across the board," says Stanley, the Geurin-Pettus Distinguished Chair in American Politics and Political Economy in SMU's Dedman College of Humanities and Sciences. "My own take is that this is a great place to work and a great community. It's important to help SMU become the great university it can be.

"Other donors can take as testimonial the enthusiasm with which our faculty and staff members give back. That spirit will have meaning above and beyond a dollar amount."

Wiksten ('78, '92), executive director of auxiliary services in the Division of Business and Finance, lived in the Park Cities as a child and has worked at SMU for 31 years. In addition, she earned two degrees from the University - a bachelor's in urban studies and sociology and a Master of Liberal Arts. "I'm motivated by my connections to the University," she says. "I've dedicated so much of my life to SMU that it seems a wise investment to put my money into making SMU the best it can be."

Faculty and staff members can expect creative fund-raising initiatives within each area, she adds. "We're going to see lots of ways to participate that will encourage friendly competition and enthusiasm for reaching our goals."

Giving is strictly voluntary, and gifts to any area on campus - including endowment, operating funds and the President's Partners program - are counted toward the campaign. Donors may also choose to support one of the campaign priorities: Student Scholarships, Faculty and Academic Excellence or Campus Experience.

The Second Century Campaign officially launched Sept. 12, 2008, with the goal of raising $750 million by 2013 to support student quality, faculty and academic excellence and the campus experience.

Visit smu.edu/fs for more information about the campaign, the Campaign Steering Committee for Faculty and Staff, and the kickoff events schedule.

Thomas Friedman and Fareed Zakaria will offer their insights on current events and international politics Sept. 8 in the first event of the Willis M. Tate Distinguished Lecture Series' 2009-10 season.

Friedman is a three-time Pulitzer Prize-winning columnist with The New York Times and the bestselling author of Hot, Flat, and Crowded: Why We Need a Green Revolution - And How It Can Renew America. Zakaria is editor of Newsweek International and host of CNN's "Fareed Zakaria GPS." The two will participate in a discussion moderated by news analyst, former White House adviser and longtime Tate Series favorite David Gergen.

The lecture is sold out. All SMU community members are invited to attend the Tate Lecture Series Student Forum with the speakers at 4:30 p.m. on lecture day in the Hughes-Trigg Student Center. Doors open at 4 p.m. Seats may be reserved online, and reserved seats are guaranteed until 4:15 p.m.

Scientists, satirists, fashion leaders, and one of the first men to walk on the moon are among the leaders coming to campus as part of the 2009-10 Tate Series. The line-up, announced at political analyst Cokie Roberts' lecture May 5, includes Supreme Court Associate Justice Clarence Thomas, director and Oscar-winning actress Diane Keaton, fashion industry icon Kenneth Cole, political satirist Christopher Buckley, neuroanatomist Jill Bolte Taylor and former Apollo astronaut Edwin "Buzz" Aldrin.

Learn more about this season's Tate lecturers and the Tate Student Forum series for the community at smu.edu/tateseries.

Community reading: Faculty, staff members and incoming first-year students will take part in the 2009 Common Reading discussion beginning at 2 p.m. Aug. 25 after the mandatory residence hall meetings. Learn more about the 2009 Common Reading, Dreams From My Father by Barack Obama.

Welcome, class of 2013: Bobby B. Lyle Professor of Leadership and Global Entrepreneurship Jeffrey W. Talley, founding director of the Lyle School of Engineering's Institute for Engineering and Global Development, will give the address in SMU's 95th annual Opening Convocation at 5:30 p.m. Aug. 25 in McFarlin Auditorium.

Fall General Faculty Meeting: The first day of class brings the first general faculty meeting of the 2009-10 academic year, at 4 p.m. Aug. 26 in the Hughes-Trigg Theater. The meeting is preceded by a reception at 3 p.m. in the Theater foyer.

Everyday magic: Czech housewife and self-taught artist Anna Zemánková developed a lyrical and highly original style when she took up drawing in 1960, at age 52. A new SMU exhibition pays tribute to her talent - By Magical Means: Drawings by Anna Zemánková will be on display Aug. 31-Oct. 10 in the Pollock Gallery, Hughes-Trigg Student Center. Admission is free.

The next General Faculty Meeting takes place Aug. 26 in the Hughes-Trigg Student Center Theater. A reception will begin at 3 p.m. in the the theater foyer, with the meeting scheduled to start at 4 p.m.

Newly tenured faculty will receive their regalia, and Provost Paul Ludden will announce the recipient of the 2008-09 University Scholar/Teacher of the Year Award.

New and returning students are arriving on the Hilltop, and the entire campus is gearing up for the Fall 2009 semester. Keep track of some important dates and times with this handy back-to-school calendar:

• Mustang Corral: Aug. 21-23
• Common Reading discussion: Aug. 25, 2:15-3:15 p.m. in residence halls (learn more about the 2009 Common Reading, Dreams From My Father by Barack Obama)
• Opening Convocation and Rotunda Passage: Aug. 25, 5:30 p.m. (address by Jeffrey W. Talley, Bobby B. Lyle Professor of Leadership and Global Entrepreneurship and founding director of the Institute for Engineering and Global Development, Lyle School of Engineering)
• First day of class: Aug. 26
• General Faculty Meeting: Aug. 26 in the Hughes-Trigg Theater (reception at 3 p.m., meeting at 4 p.m.)
• First Faculty Senate meeting of 2009-10: Sept. 2, 3:10 p.m, Hughes-Trigg Student Center
• Labor Day: Sept. 7 (University offices closed)
• Fall Break: Oct. 12-13
• Homecoming Weekend: Nov. 6-7 (SMU vs. Rice)
• Family Weekend: Nov. 13-14 (SMU vs. UTEP)
• Thanksgiving: Nov. 26-27 (University offices closed, no classes Nov. 25)
• Last day of class: Dec. 9
• Finals Week: Dec. 11-17
• December Graduation: Dec. 19
• Christmas/Winter Break: Dec. 21-25 (University offices closed)
• New Year's Day holiday: Jan. 1 (University offices closed)

Mexican artist Diego Rivera (1886-1957) spent several critical years early in his career in Paris, during World War I, where he immersed himself in literary and art circles and enthusiastically embraced the Cubist movement. While his Cubist works experimented with a range of genres, including landscape and still life, Rivera showed a particular affinity for portraiture, and he created empathetic and moving portrayals of some of the era's most important figures.

Thirty-one of these works are brought together for the first time in an exclusive exhibition at SMU's Meadows Museum. Diego Rivera: The Cubist Portraits, 1913-1917 will run June 21-Sept. 20, 2009 and is funded by The Wachovia Foundation and The Meadows Foundation.

"We are thrilled to have organized this exhibition, which will introduce to Dallas a fascinating aspect of one of Mexico's greatest artists," says Mark Roglán, Meadows Museum director. "Through the quality of the paintings, complexity of the drawings, and his always evolving technique, this exhibition presents a unique opportunity for our visitors to learn about and appreciate both Rivera's portraits and Cubism at its best."

The exhibition was inspired by a key piece in the Meadows Museum's permanent collection, Rivera's Portrait of Ilya Ehrenburg (top right). It is one of only 4 Cubist portraits by Rivera in a public American collection. The additional 22 paintings and 8 preparatory sketches and book illustrations are from museums and private collections in the United States and other countries, and include several works that will be exhibited publicly for the first time.

A complementary exhibition in the museum's first-floor galleries, Mexican Art at the Meadows, will showcase lithographs by Rivera and other Mexican artists in the Meadows Museum's permanent collection. Included will be Rivera's portrait of his wife, Frida Kahlo, titled Seated Nude with Raised Arms, and scenes of rural and peasant life in Mexico.

In addition, the Museum will host several public programs in conjunction with the exhibition, including drop-in art classes, family events, and public lectures by Roglán, SMU Professor Emeritus of History Luís Martín, and Paloma Alarcó, curator of modern paintings at the Museum Thyssen-Bornemisza in Madrid.

• Read more from SMU News
• Find a complete schedule of public events

Top right: Portrait of Ilya Ehrenburg, 1915, oil on canvas. Meadows Museum, Algur H. Meadows Collection. Photography by Michael Bodycomb.

Bottom right: Dos mujeres, 1914, oil on canvas. Arkansas Arts Center Foundation, Little Rock, Arkansas. © 2008 Banco de México Diego Rivera & Frida Kahlo Museums Trust.

Ready to dig up some divots with your fellow University community members? SMU Recreational Sports will hold its second Faculty/Staff Golf Tournament of 2009 at 12:45 p.m. June 12 at Firewheel Golf of Garland, 600 W. Campbell Road.

The cost per player is $36. To RSVP, e-mail Jack Harper or Chris Coleman in SMU Recreational Sports by Thursday, June 11. Please include your average 18-hole score in your message.

For more information, contact Chris Coleman, assistant manager of intramurals and sports clubs, 214-768-3362. (Right, a view of The Bridges, Firewheel's newest course.)

• Find directions to the greens at the Firewheel website
• Visit SMU Recreational Sports online

SMU-in-Plano's Summer Youth Program is bringing selected workshops to the University's main campus for summer 2009.

Offerings include the popular LEGO workshops for students ranging from kindergarten to grade 4, including Early Structures, Crazy Contraptions, Car Rally and Mindstorms: Apprentice Droids.

Entering kindergarteners may also sign up for Toy Builders classes, where they will learn to make playthings ranging from robot hands to musical instruments out of ordinary household items.

The Plano campus will continue to offer a full slate of programs, including workshops in math, writing, computer gaming, 3D animation, college prep and planning, reading enhancement, study and social skills, forensic science, cooking, fashion sketching, and web page design, among others.

Parents may register children online for both the Dallas and Plano workshops. Students registered for a full morning and afternoon of workshops may bring food for a supervised lunch at no additional cost.

For more information, contact SMU Summer Youth Programs, 214-768-5433.

• Read more about main campus youth programs
• More summer youth programs at SMU-in-Plano

SMU's coaches and staff will make their expertise available to local children this summer with day and residential camps and clinics throughout summer 2009.

Faculty and staff discounts are offered for many camps and clinics. Visit the links below for more information, or visit the SMU Coaches' Camp and Clinics homepage:

• Men's Basketball
• Women's Basketball
• Football
• Rowing
• Men's Soccer
• Women's Soccer
• Swimming and Diving Camp
• Swimming and Diving - Summer Lessons (Beginning through Competitive)
• Tennis
• Track and Field Throwing Clinics
• Volleyball

In a publishing industry hit hard by the economic downturn, Shilpi Somaya Gowda has beaten the odds. Gowda (at right in photo), a 2007 alumna of the Creative Writing Program in SMU Continuing and Professional Education (CAPE), has signed a contract with HarperCollins for her upcoming debut novel, The Secret Daughter. The publisher has given Gowda's book a release date of winter 2010.

Gowda will share her experiences selling her first novel in an SMU Writer's Salon at 7 p.m. May 28 at Legacy Books, 7300 Dallas Parkway in Plano.

Even in a slumping and increasingly cautious publishing market, Gowda's achievement "is proof that excellence sells," says Amy Heitzman, CAPE executive director in SMU's Annette Caldwell Simmons School of Education and Human Development.

The novel tells the stories of three women - an Indian who places a daughter for adoption; an American who adopts the girl; and Aisha, the daughter, who travels to India to discover her roots.

Gowda wrote the book while studying in the SMU CAPE Creative Writing Program novel track. She also attended the program's New York Seminar, where eligible writers meet with editors and agents who have read the beginnings of their books.

"Shilpi is talented. Most of our students are," says Suzanne Frank, director of the Creative Writing Program and New York Seminar. "But she also had the determination, the drive to write and rewrite until she made her work the best she could. The willingness to work and to learn is probably her - or any writer's - greatest strength."

Gowda's talk will be free and open to the public. RSVP online to the SMU CAPE Creative Writing Program.

• Visit SMU Continuing and Professional Education online
• Learn more about the SMU CAPE Creative Writing Program

Above, Shilpi Gowda (at right in photo) with fellow participants in the 2007 New York Seminar of the SMU CAPE Creative Writing Program.

SMU's 2009 Staff Appreciation Day and President's Picnic takes place 11 a.m.-2 p.m. May 21 on the south lawn of Clements Hall.

In addition, SMU President R. Gerald Turner will present the 2008-09 Presidential Recognition Awards for Staff during a brief ceremony 11:30 a.m.-noon in the Dallas Hall Rotunda. Four awards will be given: the New Employee Excellence Award, the Continuing Excellence Award, the Outstanding Leadership Award and the Innovation Award.

Staff members can earn up to 2 Wellpower Spirit credits for attending the picnic - one for attending and another for participating in any game. RSVP online to sign up for a competition and find a list of this year's games.

The Guildhall at SMU will showcase new video games developed by graduate students in art creation, level design and software development during its Spring 2009 Exhibition May 15.

The exhibition schedule includes these events:

• Graduating students from Cohort 10 presenting their directed focus studies and master's thesis projects in individual poster sessions, 12:30-3:30 p.m.

• Honors presentations featuring nominated works by the graduating class' top talent, 2:30-3:30 p.m.

• Poster sessions from the graduating class' top 5 team winners, plus play-testing of their 2D games, 3:30-5 p.m.

• "Interactive classrooms" of Capstone team presentations and play-testing of 3D games developed by graduating students, 6-9 p.m.

The Spring 2009 Exhibition will take place in Building 2, SMU-in-Plano, 5232 Tennyson Parkway. The Capstone team presentations and 3D play-testing will take place in the Great Room, Building 3, SMU-in-Plano. For more information, visit the Guildhall website.

Pictured, screencaps from Guildhall at SMU Cohort 10 games The Chronos Project (top) and Leviathan (right).

SMU observes its 94th Commencement May 15-16 with events for students, faculty, alumni and the entire community.

Former First Lady and current SMU Trustee Laura Bush ('68) will speak at the all-University ceremony at 9:30 a.m. May 16 in Moody Coliseum. The University expects to award nearly 2,000 undergraduate, graduate and professional degrees.

Some major events at a glance:

• May 15-16 - Class of 1959 golden reunion
• May 15 - Honorary Degree Symposia honoring Harold W. Attridge, Arthur Mitchell and Alexander McCall Smith
• May 15 - Baccalaureate and Rotunda Recessional
• May 16 - Faculty Breakfast and Distinguished University Citizen Awards presentation
• May 16 - All-University Commencement
• May 16 - School diploma presentations

Find more information at the Registrar's Commencement 2009 website.

• Read more about Laura Bush
• Find times and locations for the 2009 Honorary Degree Symposia
• Get a preview of the University's new academic regalia

In keeping with University tradition, SMU will welcome its 2009 class of honorary degree recipients with a series of symposia in their honor. The symposia are scheduled for May 15, and all are free and open to the entire campus community.

"The honorary degree symposia are an opportunity for the campus and Dallas communities to see why these folks are being honored with an SMU degree," says Fred Moss, associate professor in Dedman School of Law and symposium moderator. "Otherwise, they might simply be a name and a list of impressive credentials. They can be more fully appreciated as being outstanding in their fields though such events."

The events and participants are as follows:

• Panelists Mark Chancey of Dedman College's Religious Studies Department and Jaime Clark-Soles, Roy Heller and Susanne Scholz of Perkins School of Theology discuss "The Bible in American Public Life" in a symposium honoring Doctor of Divinity recipient honoris causa Harold W. Attridge, dean of Yale Divinity School. The symposium takes place 10 a.m.-noon in Perkins Chapel, preceded by a 9:15 a.m. reception in Bridwell Library.


• Co-founder and artistic director of the Dance Theatre of Harlem and honorary Doctor of Arts recipient Arthur Mitchell will discuss his life and work with Meadows School of the Arts professors Shelley Berg, Dance, and Maria Dixon, Corporate Communications and Public Affairs, in "A Conversation with Arthur Mitchell," followed by a Q & A with the audience. The event begins at 1 p.m. in O'Donnell Hall, 2130 Owen Arts Center.


• SMU faculty, staff and students are invited to meet acclaimed author and honorary Doctor of Humane Letters recipient Alexander McCall Smith and to take part in "A Conversation with Alexander McCall Smith," moderated by Dedman School of Law Professor Fred Moss, from 2:30-4 p.m. in the Umphrey Lee Ballroom. The SMU Bookstore will sell McCall Smith's books on site, and the author will autograph them after the program.

Last days of the Etruscans: The landmark Meadows Museum exhibition "From the Temple and the Tomb: Etruscan Treasures From Tuscany" closes May 17. Make plans to visit now - visit the Meadows Museum website for hours and more information.

B.F.A. Qualifying Exhibition: SMU's annual spring exhibition by the Division of Art's newest Bachelor of Fine Arts graduates features works in a wide-ranging variety of styles and mediums. Check it out through May 16 in the Pollock Gallery on the Hughes-Trigg Student Center main level.

Honorary Degree Symposia: SMU honors its 2009 class of honorary degree recipients with the following special events, all scheduled for May 15:

• Panelists Mark Chancey of Dedman College's Religious Studies Department and Jaime Clark-Soles, Roy Heller and Susanne Scholz of Perkins School of Theology discuss "The Bible in American Public Life," a symposium honoring Doctor of Divinity recipient honoris causa Harold W. Attridge, dean of Yale Divinity School. The symposium takes place 10 a.m.-noon in Perkins Chapel, preceded by a 9:15 a.m. reception in Bridwell Library.

• Co-founder and artistic director of the Dance Theatre of Harlem and honorary Doctor of Arts recipient Arthur Mitchell will discuss his life and work with Shelley Berg, Dance, and Maria Dixon, Corporate Communications and Public Affairs, in "A Conversation with Arthur Mitchell," followed by a Q & A with the audience. The event begins at 1 p.m. in O'Donnell Hall, 2130 Owen Arts Center.

• SMU faculty, staff and students are invited to meet acclaimed author and honorary Doctor of Humane Letters recipient Alexander McCall Smith and to take part in "A Conversation with Alexander McCall Smith," moderated by Dedman School of Law Professor Fred Moss, from 2:30-4 p.m. in the Umphrey Lee Ballroom. The SMU Bookstore will sell McCall Smith's books on site, and the author will autograph them after the program.

• Read more about the 2009 honorary degree recipients

Commencement Countdown 2009:

May 15-16: Class of 1959 Golden Reunion
May 15: Baccalaureate and Rotunda Recessional
May 16: Faculty Breakfast and Distinguished University Citizen Awards presentation
May 16: All-University Commencement
May 16: School and departmental diploma ceremonies

• Find more information at the Registrar's Commencement 2009 website
• Read more about former First Lady Laura Bush ('68), the 2009 Commencement speaker

Cokie Roberts, political analyst for ABC News and author of the New York Times best-seller Ladies of Liberty: The Women Who Shaped Our Nation, will give the final lecture in SMU's 2008-09 Willis M. Tate Distinguished Lecture Series at 8 p.m. May 5 in McFarlin Auditorium.

In her more than 40 years in broadcasting, Roberts has won many awards, including 3 Emmys. She has covered Congress, politics and public policy for nearly 20 years at ABC News. She also serves as senior news analyst for National Public Radio, where she was the Congressional correspondent for more than 10 years.

From 1996 to 2002, Roberts and Sam Donaldson co-anchored the weekly ABC interview program "This Week." She has been inducted into the Broadcasting and Cable Hall of Fame, and was cited as one of the 50 greatest women in the history of broadcasting by American Women in Radio and Television.

With her husband, Steven V. Roberts, she writes a weekly newspaper column syndicated by United Media. The Robertses are also contributing editors to USA Magazine. Her books include the best-sellers Founding Mothers, From This Day Forward (with Steven V. Roberts) and We Are Our Mothers' Daughters.

Roberts will answer questions from SMU community members and local high school students in the Turner Construction Student Forum at 4:30 p.m. May 5 in the Hughes-Trigg Student Center Ballroom. The Tate Series' 2009-10 season will be announced at her evening lecture. Watch SMU Forum for more information after the announcement, and learn more at smu.edu/tate.

Save the date: Make plans now for the 2009 Staff Appreciation Day and President's Picnic. The annual celebration takes place May 21. Watch the SMU Forum for time, location and more information.

Dinner with Friends: The Friends of the SMU Libraries will hold their Annual Dinner and Meeting at 6 p.m. May 4 at Popolo's Café. Skip Hollandsworth, executive editor of Texas Monthly magazine, will share light-hearted Texas tales including the story of the Preston Hollow jewel thieves and the legend of Candy Barr. Reservations are required. For more information, contact Amy Carver, 214-768-3225.

Honorary Degree Symposia: SMU honors its 2009 class of honorary degree recipients with the following special events, all scheduled for May 15:

• Panelists Mark Chancey of Dedman College's Religious Studies Department and Jaime Clark-Soles, Roy Heller and Susanne Scholz of Perkins School of Theology discuss "The Bible in American Public Life," a symposium honoring Doctor of Divinity recipient honoris causa Harold W. Attridge, dean of Yale Divinity School. The symposium takes place 10 a.m.-noon in Perkins Chapel, preceded by a 9:15 a.m. reception in Bridwell Library.

• Co-founder and artistic director of the Dance Theatre of Harlem and honorary Doctor of Arts recipient Arthur Mitchell will discuss his life and work with Shelley Berg, Dance, and Maria Dixon, Corporate Communications and Public Affairs, in "A Conversation with Arthur Mitchell," followed by a Q & A with the audience. The event begins at 1 p.m. in O'Donnell Hall, 2130 Owen Arts Center.

• SMU faculty, staff and students are invited to meet acclaimed author and honorary Doctor of Humane Letters recipient Alexander McCall Smith and to take part in "A Conversation with Alexander McCall Smith," moderated by Dedman School of Law Professor Fred Moss, from 2:30-4 p.m. in the Umphrey Lee Ballroom. The SMU Bookstore will sell McCall Smith's books on site, and the author will autograph them after the program.

• Read more about the 2009 honorary degree recipients

Commencement Countdown 2009:

May 15-16: Class of 1959 Golden Reunion
May 15: Baccalaureate and Rotunda Recessional
May 16: Faculty Breakfast and Distinguished University Citizen Awards presentation
May 16: All-University Commencement
May 16: School and departmental diploma ceremonies

• Find more information at the Registrar's Commencement 2009 website
• Read more about former First Lady Laura Bush ('68), the 2009 Commencement speaker

Alice Kendrick, Temerlin Advertising Institute, Meadows School of the Arts, received the national Billy I. Ross Advertising Education Award from the American Academy of Advertising at its national conference March 27, 2009 in Cincinnati. The award, which recognizes innovative work that advances the field of advertising education, was given jointly to Kendrick and Jami Fullerton of Oklahoma State University for their research and publishing in advertising education and multiculturalism.

Kendrick's and Fullerton's honor marks only the third time the Billy Ross Award has been given since its establishment in 2002.

Sebastien Hurtaud, an Artist Certificate candidate in cello in SMU's Meadows School of the Arts, won 1st prize in the 7th Adam International Cello Festival and Competition in Christchurch, New Zealand. He also won the Bach Prize for best performance of a work by Bach. The honor includes a cash prize, a recording contract with Naxos and a performance contract with the New Zealand Symphony Orchestra. Hurtaud is a student of Andrés Díaz, associate professor of cello and international recording artist.

Hurtaud will present a free recital at 8 p.m. May 3 in O'Donnell Hall (Room 2130), Owen Arts Center. The event is open to all. For more information, call 214-768-1951.

SMU's DeGolyer Library is honoring Willard Spiegelman on April 30 to mark the release of his latest book - a celebration of the pursuit of everyday pleasures. The event begins with a 6 p.m. reception in the library's Texana Room, followed by a 6:30 lecture and book signing in its Stanley Marcus Reading Room

Spiegelman, the Duwain E. Hughes Jr. Distinguished Professor of English in Dedman College of Humanities and Sciences, has written Seven Pleasures: Essays on Ordinary Happiness, published in April 2009 by Farrar, Straus and Giroux. In Seven Pleasures, Spiegelman seeks to define "real happiness" and examines the possibilities for achieving it without recourse to the "happiness industries" - religion and pharmacology.

In his essays, Spiegelman - who is also editor of SMU's Southwest Review literary quarterly - explores 7 activities that lead naturally and easily to a sense of well-being: dancing, reading, walking, looking, listening, swimming and writing.

"Some books are easy companions, and this essay collection, in which Spiegelman speaks affectionately of them, can join their ranks," reads the Publishers Weekly review. "Spiegelman ... is no self-help guru, but he is an intelligent, well-read and kindly soul."

Copies of Spiegelman's book will be available for purchase at the signing. The event is free; to reserve a place, contact Betty Friedrich in DeGolyer Library.

A major new collaboration between SMU's Divisions of Theatre and Music will allow students in the Meadows School of the Arts to work with and learn from professionals on the development of a musical production.

The workshop for theatre and music students - co-directed by Kevin Hofeditz, professor of theatre and associate dean of student affairs, and Hank Hammett, director of opera - showcases Theresa Rebeck's new musical theatre piece, The Two Orphans.

Based on the popular 19th-century melodrama about the harrowing experiences of siblings lost and separated in Paris, Rebeck's libretto tells the story of two African-American sisters adjusting to life in 1865 New Orleans after the end of the Civil War.

Composer Kim D. Sherman and lyricists Rebeck and John Sheehy will be guest artists in residence during rehearsals. Performances take place at 8 p.m. Wednesday-Saturday and 2 p.m. Saturday and Sunday April 29-May 3 in the Bob Hope Theatre, Owen Arts Center. Tickets are $7 each for SMU faculty, staff and students. Purchase online or call 214-768-2787 (214-SMU-ARTS).

(Right, senior music major Madelyn Fortner, standing, and senior theatre major Bianca Denis in The Two Orphans. Photo by Linda Blase.)

Don't worry, be happy: The SMU Health Center hosts a brown bag presentation on the Science of Happiness noon-12:50 p.m. April 30 in Room 205, Memorial Health Center. Learn about positive psychology, a new movement in psychology that focuses on what makes people happy. Faculty and staff earn 1 Wellpower Mind credit for attending. For more information, contact Jennifer Hughes.

End-of-the-year fun: Join the SMU Student Foundation for the annual Mane Event from 3-6 p.m. May 1 on the lawn in front of Dallas Hall. The carnival-like event is a great way to have some fun before finals and includes music, games, inflatables and tons of free food. The event is free and open to the entire SMU community.

In McFarlin Auditorium:

May 1-2: TITAS presents Alonzo King's LINES Ballet at 8 p.m. For tickets, call 214-528-5576.

Compiled by Theresa Nelson ('09).

Three outstanding SMU faculty authors will be honored for books published in 2008 at the 29th annual Godbey Lecture Series Authors' Award Luncheon. The 2009 ceremony takes place 11:45 a.m.-1:30 p.m. April 29 in the Umphrey Lee Ballroom.

The price for the luncheon is $17 per person, and the reservation deadline is Friday, April 24. For more information or to reserve a place, contact Deborah Martin in the Godbey Lecture Series office, 214-768-2532.

The Godbey Authors' Awards are presented by the Godbey Lecture Series in SMU's Dedman College of Humanities and Sciences. Honorees are chosen for their outstanding scholarly research, publications and teaching ability. Each receives a prize of $1,000.

The 2009 honorees are:

• Eric Barnes, professor of philosophy in Dedman College, for The Paradox of Predictivism (Cambridge University Press)

• Seyom Brown, John Goodwin Tower Distinguished Chair in International Politics and National Security in the Department of Political Science, Dedman College, for Higher Realism: A New Foreign Policy for the United States (Paradigm Publishers)

• Benjamin Heber Johnson, associate professor in the William P. Clements Department of History, Dedman College, for Bordertown: The Odyssey of an American Place (Yale University Press)

SMU faculty, staff and students are invited to participate in a town hall meeting on the University's General Education Curriculum, to take place at 4 p.m. April 22 in McCord Auditorium, 3rd floor, Dallas Hall.

The General Education Review Committee will present draft recommendations for a new University curriculum for discussion. The committee is co-chaired by Dedman College Associate Dean for General Education Dennis Cordell and Associate Provost Tom Tunks.

Best-selling author Alexander McCall Smith, Yale Divinity School Dean Harold W. Attridge and Dance Theater of Harlem co-founder Arthur Mitchell will receive honorary degrees at SMU's 94th Commencement ceremony at 9:30 a.m. May 16 in Moody Coliseum. Former First Lady Laura Bush ('68) will deliver the Commencement address.

Theologian and academic leader Harold W. Attridge will receive the honorary Doctor of Divinity degree. Law professor and best-selling author Alexander McCall Smith will receive the honorary Doctor or Humane Letters. Dancer, choreographer and educator Arthur Mitchell will receive the honorary Doctor of Arts degree.

"The conferring of honorary degrees is an important part of the Commencement tradition, and we are pleased to recognize three distinguished individuals who have made unique contributions to varied fields of endeavor," said SMU President R. Gerald Turner. "Their achievements help our young graduates to appreciate the breadth of opportunity possible for their own futures as a result of their education."

Harold W. Attridge, an internationally respected scholar of early Christianity, currently serves at Yale Divinity School as dean and Lillian Claus Professor of New Testament. After receiving his A.B. degree from Boston College, he earned two degrees at Cambridge University and a Ph.D. from Harvard University. He served on the faculty of SMU's Perkins School of Theology from 1977 to 1985. He then joined the University of Notre Dame, where he was professor of New Testament and later dean of the College of Arts and Letters. He joined the Yale faculty in 1997 and became dean of the Divinity School in 2002.

Attridge's research has contributed significantly to understanding of the intellectual and religious environment in which Christianity arose. His books include a landmark commentary on the New Testament Epistle to the Hebrews.

Alexander McCall Smith has excelled in two diverse careers, as legal scholar and fiction writer. He earned a law degree and Ph.D. from the University of Edinburgh, where he has led a distinguished career as professor of medical law. He has been a visiting professor at law schools in Europe and the United States, including twice at SMU's Dedman School of Law, in the late 1980s and in fall 1998. An international authority on biomedical ethics, he has served on the International Bioethics Commission of UNESCO.

Professor McCall Smith is most widely known, however, as a best-selling author. His mystery series on The No. 1 Ladies' Detective Agency has sold more than 20 million copies worldwide and been translated into more than 40 languages. The series has been adapted for radio, television and feature film.

Professor McCall Smith has strong connections with faculty in SMU's Dedman School of Law. He co-authored a professional book with Professor Daniel W. Shuman and dedicated a book in the Isabel Dalhousie Sunday Philosophy Club series to Professor Shuman. Professor McCall Smith dedicated the first book in The No. 1 Ladies' Detective Agency series to Professor Joseph W. McKnight and his wife, Mimi, and featured the McKnights as characters in one of the Dalhousie books.

Arthur Mitchell is a pivotal figure in the world of dance, as well as an agent for social change. He is co-founder and artistic director of the Dance Theatre of Harlem, a multicultural ballet company of international renown that has broken barriers around the world. After studying at the School of American Ballet, Mitchell became the first African-American male to be a permanent member and principal dancer with the New York City Ballet. Following the assassination of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. in 1968, he resolved to provide opportunities for the children of Harlem and co-founded the Dance Theatre of Harlem.

Over the years, Mitchell and his dancers have served as cultural ambassadors and received worldwide acclaim. He also helped develop Dancing Through Barriers®, a national and international education and community outreach program that introduces young people to dance.

SMU expects to award nearly 2,000 undergraduate, graduate and professional degrees to students at the University-wide Commencement ceremony. The University's schools and departments will hold individual diploma ceremonies throughout the day.

Sister Helen Prejean, author of the Pulitzer Prize-winning book Dead Man Walking: An Eyewitness Account of the Death Penalty in the United States, will speak at SMU April 23 as part of a panel discussion, "Arts, Social Change, and Human Rights," from 7-8:30 p.m. in the Hughes-Trigg Student Center Theater.

Hosted by SMU, Fort Worth Opera and the Dallas Opera, the panel will be moderated by Rick Halperin, director of the Human Rights Education Program in SMU's Dedman College of Humanities and Sciences.

The other panelists include Jonathan Pell, artistic director for the Dallas Opera; Darren K. Woods, general director of Fort Worth Opera; and Jake Heggie, composer of the modern opera derived from Dead Man Walking.

Sister Helen Prejean, a former teacher from Louisiana, joined the Sisters of St. Joseph of Medaille at a young age and dedicated her life to the poor of New Orleans. She began a prison ministry in 1981 and became a pen pal and spiritual adviser to convicted felons, which led her to share her experiences through Dead Man Walking. The book was made into a major motion picture in 1996.

Sister Prejean received the Robert O. Cooper Peace and Justice Fellowship from SMU in 1998. The fellowship is sponsored by the SMU Office of the Chaplain, in collaboration with the Human Rights Program, the Ethnic Studies Program and the Dallas Peace Center.

The panel discussion will highlight examples of how the arts have impacted communities and will emphasize efforts to integrate the arts into social change. The event also will spotlight Heggie's operas Dead Man Walking, which will be presented by Fort Worth Opera in May, and Moby Dick, which the Dallas Opera will premiere in 2010.

The panel is free and open to the public, and a reception will follow the discussion.

The smiling image of SMU's only Heisman Trophy winner has become the face of a student-run campaign to bring out Mustang fans for a first look at the University's 2009 football team.

SMU students have begun to see advertising posters featuring SMU football alumnus Doak Walker, encouraging students to attend the annual Red and Blue Scrimmage at 1 p.m. April 25 at Gerald J. Ford stadium.

Beginning at 11:30 a.m. Saturday at Doak Walker Plaza, there will be free food, giveaways, contests and a live performance by The Big Red Rooster sponsored by the W Hotel of Dallas. Food will be provided by Pluckers, Pokey O's, Olivella's and Celebrity Bakery. Fantastic prizes and giveaways include a Dallas Mavericks signed basketball, a signed Dirk Nowitzki jersey, an Impeccable Pig necklace and a $100 gift certificate to Kenichi.

The scrimmage is free to students, alumni, and the surrounding community and showcases the SMU football team's talent and plays for the upcoming season.

The SMU Cox School of Business Honors Marketing Practicum class has been working with the SMU Athletic Department to plan the pre-scrimmage festivities.

"We want to pack the stadium full of fans to show how much spirit and encouragement SMU has," says Practicum Class member Lauren Wright. "This is a chance to start something big here on campus that lasts for years after we have graduated. We can come back to attend the scrimmage and see how much it has grown."

The Honors Marketing Practicum class functions much like a marketing agency with different departments. It is their semester project to plan and execute a campaign and event for the Annual Red and Blue Scrimmage in hopes of creating awareness and increasing attendance.

A unique set of political, economic and social forces have helped make the Sunbelt a national power center - from the "marketplace missionaries" of Chick-Fil-A to the region's burgeoning Latino population. These political and social dynamics will be the focus of the 2008-09 Annual Public Symposium, presented by SMU's William P. Clements Center for Southwest Studies.

"Sunbelt Rising: The Politics of Space, Place, and Region in the American South and Southwest" is cosponsored by the Huntington-USC Institute on California and the West and takes place 8:15 a.m.-4:15 p.m. April 25 in McCord Auditorium, Dallas Hall.

The Sunbelt has been steadily drawing Americans from older cities to Southwestern metropolitan centers since World War II. The symposium will explore this phenomenon in topics ranging from urban renewal as a civil rights issue in Miami to the intersections of politics and religion that occur throughout the region.

The symposium is open to the public. Register online or contact the Clements Center for Southwest Studies, 214-768-3684.

As the 2008-09 academic year draws to a close, SMU celebrates by honoring some of its most distinguished faculty, staff and students. The 2009 Honors Day Convocation and Awards Extravaganza take place on the afternoon and evening of April 20.

Geoffrey Orsak, dean of SMU's Bobby B. Lyle School of Engineering, will deliver the address at the 12th annual Honors Day Convocation at 5:30 p.m. in McFarlin Auditorium. The ceremony celebrates academic achievement at the University and department levels. Retired and current faculty will assemble in academic dress no later than 5:10 p.m. in the Perkins Administration Building lobby and will process together to McFarlin Auditorium. A reception follows the Convocation in the Dallas Hall Quadrangle.

Later, the University presents several awards for excellence - including its highest honor, the "M" Award - during the Awards Extravaganza at 7:30 p.m. in the Hughes-Trigg Student Center Theater. Winners will be listed in SMU Forum the day after the ceremony.

(Photo from Honors Convocation 2008 by Kim Ritzenthaler.)

Kitchen Dog Theater (KDT) and SMU's Meadows School of the Arts continue their artistic collaboration with the premiere of the latest KDT-Meadows Theatre co-production - a new adaptation of William Shakespeare's bloodiest play.

Titus Andronicus will run April 17-May 16 at The McKinney Avenue Contemporary (The MAC), 3120 McKinney Avenue, in Dallas.

The 2009 production, adapted by KDT Artistic Company Members Leah Spillman and Lee Trull, transposes the play from classical Rome to an ancient Mayan setting with its themes of revenge, justice and violence begetting violence intact. The play contains adult situations and graphic violence and is recommended for mature audiences.

"There is a strong sense in the play that Shakespeare was exploring the nature of a powerful empire. I felt that setting the story in the Mayan empire is appropriate when you consider the themes of this play set against the backdrop of this primitive yet complex civilization," says director Christopher Carlos, KDT's co-artistic director.

"The cycle of vengeance has existed across time, and no matter how civilized we appear to have grown, humans still revert to revenge to address their losses today. I think it is important for us to see the very human side of violence in order to confront it in ourselves and in our society."

Six current SMU theatre students will perform in the play: Brigham Mosely (Lucius), Rukhmani Desai (Lavinia), Micah Figueroa (Chiron), Andres Ortiz (Demetrius), Robert Patrick Paterno (Alarbus) and David Gorena (Maritus).

In addition, the production team features SMU students Emily Bean (lighting design), Colby Peck (dramaturg) and Stephanie Slevin (set design). Meadows faculty members Bill Lengfelder (fight choreographer) and Jamal Mohammed (composer) also hold key production positions.

Opening night tickets are sold out. Tickets for remaining shows are $15-$25. Buy tickets online or visit the KDT website for more information.

(Above, Kitchen Dog Theater Artistic Company Member Joe Nemmers as Titus and SMU senior theatre major Rukhmani Desai as his daughter, Lavinia, in the KDT/Meadows co-production of Titus Andronicus. Photo by Matt Mrozek.)

SMU's Lyle School of Engineering will induct 4 trailblazers into its Hall of Leaders April 16 - including the first married couple to be so honored. The celebration begins at 6:30 p.m. at Cityplace, 39th Floor, 2711 N. Haskell Avenue in Dallas.

The 2009 honorees are:

• Thomas E. Armstrong ('60) and Susan Downs Armstrong ('59), philanthropists and volunteers in engineering education and medical initiatives

• Communities Foundation of Texas, managers of the Texas High School Project and one of its major efforts, the Texas Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics Initiative

• Engineers Without Borders-USA, which works in partnership with local communities and people around the globe on renewable projects aimed toward basic human needs such as clean water, power, sanitation and education

For more information, contact Alan Bordelon, 214-768-4136.

• Visit the Lyle School of Engineering homepage
• Learn more about Communities Foundation of Texas
• Engineers Without Borders-USA on the web

Former First Lady Laura Bush will return to her alma mater May 16 to deliver the address at SMU's 94th Commencement ceremony. SMU expects to award nearly 2,000 undergraduate, graduate and professional degrees in the University-wide ceremony, starting at 9:30 a.m. in Moody Coliseum.

Mrs. Bush earned a bachelor's degree in elementary education from SMU in 1968.

"With her life-long dedication to education and the global insights she has gained from her years as First Lady, Mrs. Bush will offer a unique perspective to our graduates. At the same time, she brings a shared memory of her own graduation from the University," said SMU President R. Gerald Turner. "We are pleased to welcome her back to campus for this important academic tradition."

Mrs. Bush is actively involved in national and global issues, with an emphasis on education, health care and human rights. As First Lady, she made a historic trip to Afghanistan in 2005 to witness the progress achieved by the Afghan people after the fall of the Taliban regime. She visited the Women's Teacher Training Institute in Kabul, which is preparing women to lead classrooms that girls were once forbidden to enter. Mrs. Bush's involvement in Afghanistan began in 2001, when she delivered a weekly radio address to call attention to the plight of women and children suffering under the Taliban.

A former teacher and librarian, Mrs. Bush in 2001 convened a Summit on Early Childhood Cognitive Development, a forum for scholars and educators to share research on preparing children for lifelong learning. She led former President George W. Bush's Helping America's Youth initiative and remains an enthusiastic proponent of teacher recruitment programs such as Teach for America, The New Teacher Project and Troops to Teachers.

A long-time proponent of literacy programs, Mrs. Bush joined with the Library of Congress in September 2001 to launch the first National Book Festival. As First Lady of Texas in 1995, Mrs. Bush established the Texas Book Festival, which continues to thrive. In 2006, Mrs. Bush hosted leaders from around the world for the White House Conference on Advancing Global Literacy, showcasing literacy programs from diverse countries. Her leadership of this effort led to her current role as Honorary Ambassador for the United Nations Literacy Decade.

As an advocate for women's health, Mrs. Bush has been an active participant in campaigns to raise awareness of breast cancer and heart disease, both in the United States and globally in such countries as Jordan, Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates and Panama.

At SMU, the achievements of Mrs. Bush are recognized through the Laura Bush Promenade, a garden and seating area outside Fondren Library Center. The promenade was contributed in 1999 by then Governor George W. Bush to honor his wife's contributions to libraries and literature. In 1999 Mrs. Bush received SMU's Distinguished Alumni Award. In addition to numerous national awards, in 2008 she was honored in Dallas with the Robert S. Folsom Leadership Award of the Methodist Health System Foundation.

A native of Midland, Texas, Laura Bush grew up loving books and wanting to share her passion for literature with others. She taught in public schools in Dallas, Houston and Austin and worked as a public school librarian. In 1977, she met and married George Walker Bush. They are the parents of twin daughters, Barbara and Jenna.

"As a graduating senior, I cannot think of anyone I would rather have speak at my commencement ceremony," said Lamar Dowling, student member of the SMU Board of Trustees. "Over the past eight years of serving our country, Mrs. Bush has gained experiences around the nation and globe that have provided her much wisdom to share. As an SMU alumna, she has a variety of accomplishments to show the infinite possibilities that an SMU education can provide."

After the University-wide Commencement, SMU's schools and departments will hold individual ceremonies throughout the day to honor graduates. SMU enrolls nearly 11,000 students in seven degree-granting colleges.

Her Excellency President Ellen Johnson-Sirleaf - Liberia's first elected female president and Africa's first freely elected female head of state - will visit campus for SMU's 2008-09 Willis M. Tate Distinguished Lecture Series April 14. The lecture takes place at 8 p.m. in McFarlin Auditorium.

In January 2006, President Johnson-Sirleaf took office after nearly two decades of civil war in Liberia. A Harvard-educated economist and grandmother of eight, she had been exiled to Nigeria and nicknamed "The Iron Lady." She won a run-off election with 59 percent of the vote and has since found ways to reform a corrupt authoritarian government saddled by astronomical debt. She also has appointed an unprecedented number of women to leadership positions in all areas in the Liberian government.

Also a presidential candidate in the 1997 Liberia general election, President Johnson-Sirleaf finished second in a field of 13 candidates. Before that, she served for 5 years as assistant administrator and director of the United Nations Development Programme's Regional Bureau for Africa and was the first woman to lead the United Nations Development Project for Africa. She also has served as the first woman Minister of Finance for Liberia, vice president of Citicorp, vice president of the HSBC Equator Bank, and senior loan officer of the World Bank.

President Johnson-Sirleaf will answer questions from the audience in the Turner Construction/Wachovia Student Forum at 4:30 p.m. in the Hughes-Trigg Student Center Ballroom. Doors open at 4 p.m., and the entire SMU community is invited. The evening lecture is sold out.

Learn more about the remaining Tate season and the Student Forum series for the community at smu.edu/tate.

Five authors will share their work and their perspectives on the writing process with the SMU community during the University's 2009 Literary Festival, scheduled for April 16-17 in Dallas Hall and DeGolyer Library.

This year's guests were chosen by Creative Writing Director David Haynes and Visiting Assistant Professor Jennifer Key, both of the Department of English in Dedman College. They include:

• Scott Blackwood (top right), author of We Agreed to Meet Just Here, which won the 2007 AWP Award for the Novel. His award-winning collection of stories, In the Shadow of Our House, was published by SMU Press in 2001.

• Melissa Kirsch (middle right), author of The Girl's Guide to Absolutely Everything (Workman, 2007), now in its 4th printing. She writes for such publications as New York, Good Housekeeping, National Geographic Traveler, Scientific American and The Huffington Post, as well as her own website.

• Michael Narducci, whose short fiction has appeared in The Virginia Quarterly Review, Gadfly Magazine, Meridian and The Texas Review. He also works as a television and film writer and has written for the science fiction series "The 4400" as well as the NBC drama "Medium."

• April Wilder, Vice-Presidential Fellow in Creative Writing at the University of Utah, whose fiction has appeared in Zoetrope, McSweeney's, Guernica and other publications. Currently, she is working on a novel, I Think About You All The Time, Starting Tomorrow.

• Tracy Winn (bottom right), whose short stories have appeared in journals such as the Alaska Quarterly Review, The New Orleans Review, and Hayden's Ferry Review. Mrs. Somebody Somebody is her debut collection of stories, published by SMU Press in April 2009.

The 2009 LitFest is organized around events that will provide plenty of opportunity for students and authors to interact, says LitFest coordinator Ben Painter, a senior English major and political science minor in Dedman College of Humanities and Sciences. Three LitFest authors - Kirsch, Narducci and Wilder - will meet one-on-one with students throughout the festival.

"The authors have given us a great deal of their time outside of the festival's scheduled events," says Painter. "Students already are signing up for these meetings and e-mailing stories to get the writers' input."

Painter is also co-founder of the student organization SMU Writers' Group. In addition to providing support for the University's student writing community, "one of our main goals is to re-establish LitFest at SMU as one of the premier literary festivals in the nation," he says.

The SMU Literary Festival is free and open to University students, faculty and staff. For a complete schedule, visit the SMU LitFest homepage.

In 1960, at age 21, Fred Cruz was arrested for robbery, convicted and sentenced to 50 years on a Texas prison farm. The San Antonio native denied committing the crimes but couldn't afford a lawyer to appeal his case. With only an 8th grade education, Cruz read every law book he could find and filed his own appeal.

Fred Cruz's story is now an independent film by producer/director Susanne Mason and will debut at SMU at 6 p.m. April 15, 2009 in McCord Auditorium, Dallas Hall. "Writ Writer: One Man's Journey for Justice" tells the story of Cruz's evolution into a jailhouse lawyer, the legal battle he waged against physical and racial violence, and how he used writs of habeas corpus to secure the constitutional rights of Texas prisoners.

Told by wardens, convicts and former prisoners who knew Cruz, "Writ Writer" uses contemporary and archival film footage to show the transformation of a prisoner and a prison system still haunted by their pasts. The film was honored as an official selection of the 2008 South By Southwest Film Festival. The SMU screening is sponsored by the University's Clements Center for Southwest Studies in Dedman College.

The screening will be followed by a panel discussion on prisons, rights, race and violence featuring the following participants:

• Rick Halperin, moderator, director of SMU's Human Rights Education Program
• Susanne Mason, director and producer of "Writ Writer"
• Robert Chase, Clements Center Fellow and author of the upcoming book, Civil Rights on the Cell Block: Race, Reform and Punishment in Texas Prisons and the Nation, 1945-1990
• Ernest McMillan, civil rights veteran and community activist
• Reginald Gordon, community activist

Master of Fine Arts Qualifying Exhibition: With spring comes the annual exhibition of the Division of Art's graduate students works, featuring art in a wide-ranging variety of styles and media. The event is open daily from 11 a.m.-5 p.m. until April 18 in the Pollock Gallery, Hughes-Trigg Student Center. For more information, contact Victoria Winkelman, 214-768-4439.

Documentaries at their best: SMU's Meadows School of the Arts and Division of Cinema-Television welcome Fred Wiseman, regarded as one of the world's greatest living documentary filmmakers, at 6 p.m. April 14, Hughes-Trigg Student Center Theater. Wiseman's body of work includes Titicut Follies and High School and Domestic Violence, which won numerous honors including a Peabody Award for Significant and Meritorious Achievement. The event is free and open to the public, but reservations are required. For more information and to make a reservation, call 214-768-2787.

Let's talk about sex: Boston University professor Donna Freitas will be on campus April 15 to discuss her research and her book "Sex and the Soul", which focuses on juggling sexuality, spirituality, romance and religion on America's college campuses. There will be a faculty and staff light lunch and lecture at 11:30 a.m. in the Umphrey Lee Ballroom. RSVP to Edilson Volfe. In addition, Freitas will hold a student forum at 5 p.m. in the Hughes-Trigg Student Center. For more information, call 214-768-4502.

Finding a better way: SMU's Maguire Energy Institute hosts a town hall meeting with T. Boone Pickens at 2 p.m. April 16 in McFarlin Auditorium. Pickens is the author of The First Billion is the Hardest, and the first 200 SMU students at the event will receive a free autographed copy of his book. The lecture will focus on The Pickens Plan: Ending Our Dependence on Foreign Oil. The event is free and open to the public, but reservations are required.

Gilbert Lecture Series: SMU's Dedman College and Department of English present Alan Liu and "Digital Humanities and Academic Change" at 6:30 p.m. April 16 in the Stanley Marcus Reading Room, DeGolyer Library. Professor Liu argues that the digital humanities are catalyzing fundamental changes in humanities practices and organization. The event opens with a 6 p.m. reception in the Texana Room. Free and open to the public. For more information contact Leslie Reid 214-768-2946.

Up all night to make a difference: SMU and Panhellenic sponsor the 6th annual Relay for Life April 17 on Bishop Boulevard. The event celebrates cancer survivorship and raises money for research and programs for the American Cancer Society. Students participating in the evening-long team relay will walk non-stop around the Boulevard to symbolize that cancer never sleeps and the need to move forward in the fight against it. Free and open to the public; visit the website to join a team or donate to the cause.

In McFarlin Auditorium:

April 19: The Dallas Metropolitan Ballet presents the classic ballet comedy Coppelia at 2 p.m. For tickets, call 214-631-2787.

April 19: The Dallas Museum of Art presents author, humorist and commentator David Sedaris at 7:30 p.m., benefiting the Kay Cattarulla Endowment for the Literary and Performing Arts. Sold out. For more information, visit the DMA website.

Biological philosopher Elliott Sober will speak on "Charles Darwin and Intelligent Design" at 5 p.m. April 13 in Dallas Hall's McCord Auditorium.

Sober, the Hans Reichenbach Professor and William F. Vilas Research Professor at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, appears as part of "Darwin's Evolving Legacy: Celebrating Ideas That Shape Our World." The University is presenting an ongoing series of free, public lectures throughout 2009 celebrating Darwin's 200th birth date and the 150th anniversary of the publication of his seminal book, On the Origin of Species.

Sober's 2008 book, Evidence and Evolution: The Logic Behind the Science, has been called one of the most in-depth analyses of the relationship between statistical reasoning and evidence in evolutionary biology.

• Visit the "Darwin's Evolving Legacy" website

Many children of undocumented immigrants have lived in the United States for most of their lives and received their education in U.S. high schools and colleges. Should the lack of a legal document prevent them from joining the nation's work force?

Scholars, legal experts, business leaders and representatives of community organizations will be addressing the question at SMU April 9. The Simmons School of Education and Human Development is cosponsoring a symposium on the DREAM Act (Development, Relief, and Education for Alien Minors Act), which was re-introduced in Congress in March 2009.

In partnership with the Texas DREAM Act Coalition, the Simmons School will hold an all-day series of panel discussions focusing on the issue of having well-trained college graduates unable to work.

First introduced with bipartisan support in the U.S. Congress in 2001, the DREAM Act would provide legal residency to students who came to the United States as children and desire to seek higher education or serve in the armed forces. An estimated 65,000 students who would qualify for the DREAM Act's benefits graduate from U.S. high schools each year.

• Learn more at the DREAM Act Symposium web page
• Read an article from The Dallas Morning News
• Learn more about DREAM Act legislation

The Meadows Dance Ensemble in SMU's Meadows School of the Arts presents its 2009 Spring Dance Concert April 1-5 in the Bob Hope Theatre, Owen Arts Center.

This year's concert features the choreography of Arthur Mitchell and honors Mitchell's 75th birthday as well as the 40th anniversary of the company he co-founded and directs, the Dance Theatre of Harlem.

Among the featured dances is Holberg Suite, choreographed by Mitchell in 1971 for the Dance Theatre of Harlem and included in George Balanchine's Complete Stories of the Great Ballets.

The program also includes Paul Taylor's Cloven Kingdom (right), based on Baruch Spinoza's "Man is a social animal."

The concluding dance will be Swing Concerto, choreographed by Associate Professor Danny Buraczeski, which celebrates the relationship between Eastern European Klezmer music and the swing orchestras of Artie Shaw and Benny Goodman.

Performances take place at 8 p.m. Wednesday-Saturday and 2 p.m. Sunday. Tickets are $7 each for SMU faculty, staff and students. For more information, contact the Meadows Ticket Office, 214-768-2787 (214-SMU-ARTS).

Health counselor, personal trainer and triathlete Morris Brossette will give a free lecture on "Sugars and Sweeteners" at 6:30 p.m. April 1 in Classroom 1, Dedman Center for Lifetime Sports. The event kicks off SMU Fitness' newest program for 2009, Nutritional Counseling, which is open to SMU faculty, staff and students.

Brossette earned his B.S. degree in exercise science from Northwestern State University in Louisiana and has more than 13 years of experience as a personal trainer. Board-certified as a Holistic Health Practitioner through the American Association of Drugless Practitioners, he is also certified through the National Academy of Sports Medicine and American Council on Exercise. He received his training to practice health counseling at the Institute for Integrative Nutrition and is a featured health counselor with the T. Colin Campbell Foundation.

More information on the Nutritional Counseling program, including pricing, will be available at the lecture. For more information, contact Gina Garcia in Recreational Sports, 214-768-4818.

If uncertain financial markets have gotten you down, SMU Human Resources offers a potential pick-me-up. Financial Health Day 2009, scheduled for April 6 in the Hughes-Trigg Student Center, is designed for "anyone who wants to explore their financial goals and learn more about how the SMU benefits plans can help achieve them," says Amy Mittelstet Sample, senior human resources manager, Compensation and Records Management.

One presentation will address faculty and staff concerns about the volatile market and give options for investing retirement savings. Those who are nearing retirement can learn about the Emeriti Retiree Health Accounts and how Medicare coordinates with the program.

In addition, "we will have a presentation on Social Security that clarifies the appropriate age for each person to start receiving benefits, depending on individual factors," Sample says. "We will also discuss the benefits of long-term care insurance and why someone would need and want to purchase it."

Those who are nearing retirement may have particular interest in the program, Sample adds, "but we encourage anyone who has considered or started saving for retirement to attend, no matter how long they have until they retire."

The best financial advice is tailored to the individual, so Human Resources has made it easy to contact SMU benefits vendors directly for one-on-one appointments. CNA, Fidelity, Reliance Standard, TIAA-CREF and Vanguard will also take questions at their Financial Health Day booths from 10:30 a.m. to 2:30 p.m.

Human Resources encourages attendees to bring their lunch, as well as to talk directly with the vendors at their booths. No RSVP is necessary, and participants may attend any or all of the sessions.

• Learn more, including vendor contact information, at the SMU HR website

Meadows at the Meyerson: SMU's Meadows School of the Arts presents its 16th annual benefit concert, "The 2009 Meadows at the Meyerson," at 7:30 p.m. April 1 in the Morton H. Meyerson Symphony Center, 2301 Flora Street. Under the direction of Paul Phillips, the Meadows Symphony Orchestra will perform Pohjola's Daughter, Op. 49 by Sibelius. The Meadows Chorale and Meadows Concert Choir will join the symphony in a performance of John Corigliano's Fern Hill. Concluding the program will be Rimsky-Korsakov's Scheherazade. Students from the Meadows School will also present performances and displays in the lobby before the concert. Tickets range from $7-$13 and are available online or though the Meadows Ticket Office, 214-768-2787 (214-SMU-ARTS).

Learning from the best: President Turner welcomes Gerald J. Ford to the President's Leadership Summit lecture series at 5 p.m. April 1 in the Hughes-Trigg Student Center Forum. Ford is a member of the SMU Board of Trustees and a preeminent expert in banking and financial institutions. The event is free and open to the public. For more information, contact Sherry Aikman, 214-768-4403.

A week of dance: The Meadows School of the Arts presents the Meadows Spring Dance Concert at 8 April 1-5 in the Bob Hope Theatre, Owen Arts Center. The event features a diverse selection of ballet, contemporary and jazz works by distinguished guest artists and faculty. The performance will honor the 75th birthday of Arthur Mitchell founder and director of Harlem's Dance Theatre, Arthur Mitchell's 75th birthday and the 40th anniversary of the Dance Theatre of Harlem. Tickets are $7 for SMU students, faculty and staff and can be purchased online. For more information contact Victoria Winkelman, 214-768-2787.

Interdisciplinary Dialogue: The Center for the Study of Latino/a Christianity and Religions at Perkins School of Theology will address the role of religious communities and religious leaders in Latin America in the area of human rights. "Human Rights and Communities of Faith in Latin America" begins at 7 p.m. April 1 in the Faculty Dining Room, Umphrey Lee Center. The event will be moderated by Rick Halperin and Joerg Rieger. Guests are invited to attend a light dinner at 6:30 p.m. before the discussion. The event is free; registration is required. Contact Rachel Lamb.

Honoring a racing great: The Guaranty Bank SMU Athletic Forum welcomes the winner of three NASCAR Championships and winner of 84 Winston Cups, Darrell Waltrip, at noon April 2 in the Grand Ballroom, Hilton Anatole Hotel. Waltrip was voted the American Driver of the Year three times, NASCAR Driver of the Decade for the 1980s, and was inducted into the International Motorsports Hall of Fame in 2005. He is now a NASCAR analyst on the FOX Network, for which he won a 2007 Emmy Award for Outstanding Sports Personality. Visit the Athletic Forum website for more information and to purchase tickets for the event.

Comini Lecture Series: Sarah Rogers will examine the career and work of Daoud Corm, Beirut's first professional painter, in "Daoud Corm, Cross-Cultural Encounters, and the Origins of Lebanese Modern Art." The lecture begins at 5:30 p.m. April 2 in the Bob Smith Auditorium, Meadows Museum. The event is free; reservations are required. Call 214-768-2787 (214-SMU-ARTS).

Brush up your Shakespeare: Meadows Opera Theatre presents an "Opera Free For All" at 1 p.m. April 3 in the Bob Hope Lobby, Owen Arts Center. The event will feature a musical journey into the heart of the Bard with scenes from operas and musicals inspired by Shakespeare's works. Free and open to the public; bring your lunch.

For one hour on March 28, the lights will go down in SMU's historic Dallas Hall as part of Earth Hour 2009. Hundreds of cities are expected to participate in the observance at 8:30 p.m. local time.

SMU community members will gather on the Main Quad from 8:30-9:30 p.m. to reflect on power usage and climate change. Individuals are also being encouraged to turn off their own lights during that time.

The building joins several other Dallas icons in the voluntary blackout Saturday night. The lights of Reunion Tower, the red neon Pegasus atop the Magnolia Hotel and the green argon outlines of the Bank of America Tower all will go dark. Street lights, traffic lights and other safety lighting will not be affected.

Earth Hour began in Sydney, Australia in 2007, when 2.2 million homes and businesses switched off their lights for one hour. By 2008 the message had gone global, with 50 million people participating worldwide, as well as such international landmarks as San Francisco's Golden Gate Bridge, Rome's Colosseum, the Sydney Opera House and the Coca-Cola billboard in Times Square.

Earth Hour organizers have set a goal of 1 billion individual participants for 2009.

• Read more from The Dallas Morning News
• Visit the official Earth Hour website

The award-winning folk music group Kristall-Balalayka will arrive on campus from Saratov, Russia to appear in SMU's 13th annual Russian Cultural Festival and Concert. The event begins at 6:30 p.m. March 29 in the Hughes-Trigg Student Center Theater.

"This is a major recruiting event to introduce SMU students and the Dallas community to our Russian program," says Tatiana Zimakova, chair of Russian Area Studies in the Foreign Languages and Literatures Department of Dedman College. Attendees will have the opportunity to learn about the University's language and culture classes as well as study-abroad opportunities in Moscow and St. Petersburg, she adds.

Other featured artists include classical guitarist Christopher McGuire and performers from the Nascimento Piano Trio, a group of recent graduates of SMU's Meadows School of Arts. In addition, nearly a hundred 6th- and 7th-grade Russian-language students from Dallas' William B. Travis Academy/Vanguard for the Academically Talented and Gifted will give a choral performance. The program includes songs, dances and music by Russian composers.

For more information and photos, visit the Russian American Center website.

Local 3rd graders will get a chance to witness cell biology up close March 28 on the SMU campus, when Provost Paul Ludden offers a session on sea urchin egg fertilization for elementary school students and grandchildren of University faculty.

The students will observe live sea urchins in a salt water tank, which will be treated with potassium chloride to induce production of eggs and sperm. The 3rd graders will then be able to observe the fertilization and cell-division process over the course of the day. At the end of the experiment, all sea urchins will be given to a local pet store.

Ludden has demonstrated this experiment to children across the country for 20 years, since his own daughter was their age, he says. "I have learned that this experiment is usually appreciated best by 3rd graders," he adds. "It is always fun to see children observe the phenomenon of cell division."

Assisting Ludden will be Sara Gingrich and Natalie Kashefi, biological science majors in SMU's Dedman College. The two undergraduates have given the presentation in area schools, including Dallas' Lipscomb Elementary School.

The experiment begins at 8:30 a.m. and continues until about 3 p.m. For more information, contact Linda May in the Provost's office. (Above, Kashefi and Gingrich demonstrate the sea-urchin experiment to Lipscomb Elementary students in 2008.)

• Read about a previous experiment and see a slide show from SMU News

SMU's Meadows School of the Arts will honor noted arts and civic patrons Peggy Sewell and SMU Board of Trustees Chair Carl Sewell ('66) in its 16th annual benefit concert. "The 2009 Meadows at the Meyerson" takes place at 7:30 p.m. April 1 in the Morton H. Meyerson Symphony Center, 2301 Flora Street.

Under the direction of Paul Phillips, the Meadows Symphony Orchestra will perform Pohjola's Daughter, Op. 49 by Sibelius, a musical interpretation of the Scandinavian folk tale about a magician trying to win the beautiful "daughter of the North." The Meadows Chorale and Meadows Concert Choir will join the symphony in a performance of Fern Hill, a work by Pulitzer Prize- and Academy Award-winning American composer John Corigliano based on the poem of the same name by Dylan Thomas. Concluding the program will be Rimsky-Korsakov's Scheherazade.

Students from the Meadows School will also present performances and displays in the lobby before the concert.

"For the past 16 years, 'Meadows at the Meyerson' has been one of our most important annual events," says Meadows Dean José Bowen. "Thanks to the generosity of many supporters, it has raised more than one million dollars to benefit our students, our programs and our educational mission. It also enables us to provide scholarship support for the Meadows Scholars program, which was inaugurated last year to recruit the brightest and most talented students to Meadows and SMU.

"We applaud Peggy and Carl, our first supporters of this program, for their commitment to provide scholarships for the next generation of creative leadership at SMU."

Tickets range from $7-$13 and are available online or through the Meadows Ticket Office, 214-768-2787 (214-SMU-ARTS).

The Division of Theatre in SMU's Meadows School of the Arts presents 6 innovative new plays written and directed by undergraduates in its 15th annual spring playwriting festival, "New Visions, New Voices," March 25-29.

The 2009 festival includes 4 fully produced plays: Welcome, Waystation, The Constellations Don't Have Faces and Where Pride Rides.

Two additional plays, But It's My Wedding Day and Lapsaria, will be read Saturday afternoon and Sunday evening, respectively.

"Our playwriting students have drawn praise from notable professional playwrights for their work, which reflects their talent, intellect and dedication," says Gretchen Elizabeth Smith, associate professor and head of theatre studies. Festival alumni "can be found across the country in the entertainment world," she adds. "It offers the public a wonderful opportunity to see the first material by these artists of the future."

All performances take place in the Margo Jones Theatre, Owen Arts Center. Some of the plays contain adult situations and/or strong language. Tickets are $7 for students and SMU faculty and staff. For more information, contact the Meadows Ticket Office, 214-768-2787, or find a link to buy online at the Meadows website.

(Above, senior Bianca Denis and sophomore Beverly Johnson in the February 2009 Meadows Theatre production of Intimate Apparel by Lynn Nottage. Student director Molly Murphy will also direct 2 plays in this year's "New Visions, New Voices" festival. Photo by Linda Blase.)

• Read more about this year's productions, including dates and times, from SMU News

Gartner Honors Lecture: Former SMU Honors Program student Rebekah Hurt ('06, top right), a 2004 Richter Scholar and recipient of a Marshall Scholarship, will discuss representations of the 'been-to' - an African who has been to Britain or America, usually to study, and who has subsequently returned home - in African fiction since 1911, and elements of the 'been-to' experience that resonate across national and historical lines. Her lecture, "Responsibilities of the 'Been-To' in African Literature and the Experience of an SMU Marshall," begins at 3:30 p.m. March 24 in Hughes-Trigg Student Center Promenade AB.

Ancient mysteries: World-renowned archaeologist Zahi Hawass, secretary general of Egypt's Supreme Council of Antiquities, will share new scientific findings from Tutankhamun's tomb in a lecture presented by the Dallas Museum of Art. The event begins at 7:30 p.m. March 24 in McFarlin Auditorium. Tickets are $22 (student rate) to $37 and will be available at the box office.

Visiting Artist Lecture Series: The Meadows Museum presents Ranjani Shettar at 6:30 p.m. March 24 in the Dr. Bob Smith Auditorium, Meadows Museum. Shettar, a native of Bangalore, India, creates sculptural installations that use a wide range of materials from the organic to the industrial to evoke the present collision of high-tech Bangalore with its rural surroundings. For more information, contact Victoria Winkelman, 214-768-2489.

Visiting Artist Lecture Series: Writer and film/video maker Gregg Bordowitz, author of The AIDS Crisis Is Ridiculous and Other Writings, 1986-2003 and faculty member in the School of the Art Institute of Chicago, will speak at 6:30 p.m. March 26 in the Dr. Bob Smith Auditorium, Meadows Museum.

Gilbert Lecture Series: Film theorist Sharon Willis explores how the films of Sidney Poitier manage the contradictions generated in their stories of interracial encounter and reconciliation, as well as Poitier's iconic weight within white liberal discourse, in "Black Mentors and White Redemption: The Extraordinary Career of Sidney Poitier." The lecture begins at 6:30 p.m. March 26 in the Stanley Marcus Reading Room, DeGolyer Library. Presented by the Department of English and DeGolyer Library. For more information contact Leslie Reid, 214-768-2946.

Friday Gallery Talk: Anne Bromberg, Cecil and Ida Green Curator of Ancient and Asian Art at the Dallas Museum of Art, will speak on "Exploring Etruscan Art" at 12:15 p.m. March 27 in the Jake and Nancy Hamon Galleries, Meadows Museum.

In McFarlin Auditorium:
• March 27-28: TITAS presents the Parsons Dance Company at 8 p.m. For tickets, call 214-528-5576.

Compiled by Theresa Nelson ('09).

Innovation is a tough concept to define and even harder to teach. But Lockheed Martin's legendary Skunk Works®, where the fastest military jets are born in secret, is sharing its name and formula for innovation with SMU's Bobby B. Lyle School of Engineering.

Frank Cappuccio, Lockheed Martin executive vice president and Skunk Works® director, will deliver the program's inaugural lecture at 3:30 p.m. March 18, 2009 in the Hughes-Trigg Student Center Theater. Cappuccio will speak "Creating an Environment For Innovation" to mark the beginning of this unique partnership. Online registration is available for this free lecture.

The SMU/Lockheed Martin Skunk Works® Program is the first university program anywhere to teach the storied approach to problem solving behind aviation marvels like the F-35 Joint Strike Fighter. SMU students will not design airplanes - but they will learn the Lockheed Martin Skunk Works® method of tackling daunting problems in small teams under high-pressure deadlines.

Every SMU engineering graduate will experience the Skunk Works® program, starting with the incorporation of philosophy and case studies in undergraduate coursework. Lockheed Martin will rotate Skunk Works® engineers through the SMU program as visiting mentors and lecturers. But the best student opportunities for learning engineering innovation will come from varying degrees of immersion into Skunk Works® lab research, ranging from a project lasting a week or two between terms to an intensive, semester-long assignment for senior-level students working on a challenging problem.

"What we want to do is apply the philosophy of the Skunk Works®, which is imbedded in founder Kelly Johnson's 14 different principles," says Engineering Dean Geoffrey Orsak. "The key is doing things quickly. In today's world doing things quickly is very important. If you take too long, you lose out."

• Read more from SMU News

Now in its 5th year, the SMU-in-Taos Cultural Institute provides an opportunity for parents, alumni and friends of SMU to learn about the Southwest - its colorful history, diverse cultures, rich art and literature, and ancient archaeological sites. The 2009 Cultural Institute is set for July 23-26.

Cultural Institute courses are taught by distinguished SMU faculty and local experts against the backdrop of northern New Mexico. Offerings this summer include courses on Southwest cooking and wine, the life and art of Georgia O'Keeffe, Taos history and politics, the Los Alamos nuclear project, northern New Mexico's geological history, digital photography and outdoor sports.

The registration fee of $700 per course covers tuition, designated meals and field trip fees. Class size is limited to allow for in-depth discussion and individual attention. Transportation and lodging are the responsibility of the student.

Learn more at smu.edu/culturalinstitute or call 214-768-8267. (Left, a Taos image by Mandy Dake, a student in the Cultural Institute's popular Digital Photography course.)

Civil rights, social justice: SMU's Meadows School of the Arts and its Corporate Communications and Public Affairs Department present a week-long symposium on the importance of understanding and valuing diversity and how we conceive of, and practice, communication. "Keeping the Faith: Civil Rights and Social Justice 45 Years After Freedom Summer" takes place March 16-21, 2009 and will feature participants in the 1964 Mississippi Freedom Summer Project, as well as artists, professionals and politicians who have kept the organizing tradition of civil rights alive in America. Events include lectures, panel presentations, a musical performance, photography exhibit and screening of an award-winning documentary. For more information, contact Victoria Winkelman, 214-768-4359, or visit SMU News.

Clements Center Lecture: Clements Center Fellow Robert Chase will discuss the successes and failures of post-World War II Texas prison reform - highly regarded as modern and efficient for its time but with an internal reality at odds with its public reputation, which collapsed when inmates, inspired by the Civil Rights Movement, revolted. His Brown Bag Lecture, "Jail House Attorneys, Building Tenders and Slaves of the State: Prisoners' Rights, Internal Economies and Sexual Violence in Texas Prisons, 1945-80," takes place at noon March 18, 2009 in the Texana Room, DeGolyer Library. Bring your lunch. (Image courtesy of Bruce Jackson, University of Buffalo.)

Rhythm and Dhoom 2009: The SMU Indian Student Association presents its annual talent show, a statewide dancing and singing competition hosted by Comedy Central's Daniel Nainan. Doors open at 6:15 p.m., and performances start at 7 p.m. March 21 in McFarlin Auditorium. Tickets are required for the event; admission is $12 pre-sale and $15 at the door. For more information, visit the ISA website.

Watch the ISA's YouTube talent show preview:

Compiled by Theresa Nelson ('09).

U.S. Daylight Saving Time for 2009 begins this Sunday, March 8, at 2 a.m. Don't forget to set your clocks forward one hour, and check your computer to be sure it's displaying the correct time.

SMU's Retired Faculty Association, with the support of the Provost's Office, has invited Dallas playwright and theater critic Tom Sime to inaugurate its annual Distinguished Lecture series. Sime will speak on "Commercial and Nonprofit Theater: Competition or Symbiosis?" at 3:30 p.m. March 13, 2009 in Smith Auditorium, Meadows Museum.

In a departure from its usual retirees-only events, "the RFA is inviting active faculty and staff to the new series as a means of strengthening its ties to former colleagues and the University," says Thomas Arp, professor emeritus of English in Dedman College and RFA president.

Sime is well known in the Metroplex for his reviews in The Dallas Morning News and the Dallas Observer and was manager for the Contemporary Theater of Dallas. His most recent play, My Favorite Animal, was staged by his newly formed company, The Modern Stage, at Teatro Dallas in August 2008. In addition, Sime is a painter and sculptor with gallery showings in Dallas, New York and Houston. He received his B.F.A. degree in cinema from SMU in 1990.

The lecture will be preceded by a wine-and-cheese reception at 2:30 p.m. in the museum's Great Hall. For more information, contact Thomas Arp. (Above, Tom Sime in a Dallas Morning News file photo.)

Pulitzer Prize-winning New York Times columnist Nicholas Kristof will discuss his reporting on some of the world's most difficult stories in SMU's 2008-09 Tate Distinguished Lecture Series March 3. The lecture takes place at 8 p.m. in McFarlin Auditorium.

Kristof, who has written for the Times since 1984, covered the 2000 presidential campaign and has written on subjects ranging from economics to 21st-century sex slavery. In 1990 he and his wife, fellow Times reporter Sheryl WuDunn, became the first married couple to win a Pulitzer Prize for journalism for their coverage of China's Tiananmen Square democracy movement. Kristof won a second Pulitzer in 2006 for his commentary on the genocide in Darfur.

Since 2006, The New York Times has sponsored a "Win a Trip With Nicholas Kristof" contest, in which both students and teachers apply for the chance to travel and report with the columnist. A documentary of the 2007 trip, "Reporter," premiered at the 2009 Sundance Film Festival in January, where it was nominated for a Grand Jury Prize. This year's contest winners will join Kristof on a journey to Africa.

In addition, Kristof will participate in the Turner Construction/Wachovia Student Forum at 4:30 p.m. in the Hughes-Trigg Student Center. Doors open at 4 p.m., and the entire SMU community is invited.

Learn more about the remaining Tate season and the Student Forum series for the community at smu.edu/tate.

• More on the 2009 "Win a Trip With Nicholas Kristof" competition
• Read an SMU Forum report on Kristof's April 2007 campus visit

SMU staff members can explore how to keep things in balance when finances are tight at the 2009 Staff Development Day March 11. This year's topic, "Maintaining a Balance in Today's Economy," will focus on planning for (and dealing with) retirement, vacation, tuition expenses, investments and stress. For more information, watch the SMU Staff Association website.

Looking back to look forward: The Spring 2009 O'Neil Lecture in Business Journalism presents a timely and provocative look at the New Deal. Author and expert in economic history Amity Shlaes will discuss the New Deal - what it did or didn't do to revive America, and the lessons it holds for today. Shlaes will compare past efforts to the current Obama administration's attempt to revive the U.S. economy in "Edifice Complex, 1936 and 2009: What the Great Depression Teaches About Building an Economy on Infrastructure" at 3:30 p.m. March 2 in Crum Auditorium, Collins Executive Education Center. The event is free and open to all.

Ballet at lunchtime: Students in the Meadows Division of Dance present lunchtime performances of 10-15 original short ballet, modern and jazz works in the Spring 2009 Brown Bag Dance Series, running from March 2-6 with performances at noon on Monday, Wednesday and Friday and at 12:30 p.m. on Tuesday and Thursday. All performances will be held in the Bob Hope Lobby, Owen Arts Center. The event is free and open to the public. For more information, call 214-768-2718.

Shared border, common interests: Clements Center Fellow Miguel Ángel González Quiroga discusses perception vs. reality in the history of border race relations in a Clements Center Brown Bag Lecture, "Conflict and Commonality in the Texas-Mexico Border Region, 1830-1880," at noon March 3 in the Texana Room, DeGolyer Library. Bring your lunch.

Alone in the vault: The DeGolyer Library presents author, printer and bookseller Tom Taylor and "Alone in the Vault: An Initiation into the Bibliophilic Mysteries." The lecture will take place 6:30 p.m. March 5 in the Stanley Marcus Reading Room, DeGolyer Library. A reception precedes the lecture at 6 p.m. in the Texana Room. The event is free and open to the public, registration is required.

Where we came from: Biologist Sean B. Carroll, who uses DNA evidence collected from modern animals to study ancient evolution, will lecture on "Remarkable Creatures: Epic Adventures in the Search for the Origin of Species" at 5 p.m. March 5 in McCord Auditorium, Dallas Hall. The event is part of SMU's series "Darwin's Evolving Legacy: Celebrating Ideas That Shape Our World."

Celebrating Darwin's legacy: Theodore Walker Jr., associate professor of ethics and society at SMU's Perkins School of Theology, will speak on "Methodist Perspectives on Darwin and Creation Through Evolution" as part of the Perkins Theological School for the Laity. He will speak between 9 a.m. and 4:45 p.m. March 7 in the Hughes-Trigg Student Center. The event is part of SMU's series "Darwin's Evolving Legacy: Celebrating Ideas That Shape Our World." For more information, contact Pia Vogel or call 214-768-1790.

In McFarlin Auditorium:

March 7: TITAS presents Juan de Marcos & The Afro-Cuban All Stars at 8 p.m. For tickets, call 214-528-5576.

Compiled by Theresa Nelson ('09.)

Three Texas universities and a federal agency will meet to explore best practices for achieving equal access and opportunity in the 2009 Higher Education Symposium. "Achieving Equality - Yes, We Can!" takes place March 3-5 at Dallas' Radisson Hotel Central, 6060 North Central Expressway.

SMU, the University of Texas-Austin and the University of North Texas join with the U.S. Department of Labor's Office of Federal Contract Compliance Programs for college and university administrators in the areas of affirmative action, athletics, campus security, diversity and equity, equal employment opportunity, human resources, legal and labor relations, and risk management.

Cal Jillson, professor of political science in SMU's Dedman College, will talk about the effect of the Obama presidency on equal opportunity and affirmative action. University Director of Human Resources Jeff Strese will discuss how to leverage technology to advance HR practices and minimize risk. In addition, students from SMU's Dedman School of Law and UNT will present a moot court demonstration.

The symposium cost is $275 for all 3 days. Register online and find more information at SMU's Institutional Access and Equity website.

As part of SMU's ongoing celebration of Black History Month, the Division of Cinema-Television in Meadows School of the Arts and the Human Rights Education Program will present two documentary films by new CTV chair and Emmy Award-winning filmmaker Rachel Lyon.

"Race to Execution," which aired on PBS' "Independent Lens" (2007) and blackpublicmedia.org (2008), examines the ways in which race bias affects the United States' capital punishment system and the factors that influence decisions on who lives and who dies at the hands of the state. The film traces the fates of two death-row inmates through their personal stories and testimony from defense attorneys, prosecutors, criminal justice scholars and experts in law and the media.

"Juror Number Six" is a short Internet film focusing on how the media affects public perceptions of race, crime and punishment. The film highlights the role that TV news, shows like "CSI" and "Cops," the Internet and other new media can have in the racialized crime-media business.

Following the showings will be a panel discussion with Lyon; Rick Halperin, director of the Human Rights Education Program; Dick Hawkins, associate professor of sociology in Dedman College; and Victoria Palacios, associate professor in Dedman School of Law. Refreshments will be served.

The screenings begin at 7:30 p.m. Feb. 26 in the Hughes-Trigg Student Center Forum, with the panel discussion scheduled to begin at 8:45 p.m. A reception will kick off the events at 7 p.m. The program is free and open to the public. For more information, call 214-768-1158 or 214-493-8848.

Meadows Theatre celebrates Black History Month 2009 with its production of Lynn Nottage's award-winning play Intimate Apparel Feb. 25-March 1 in the Greer Garson Theatre, Owen Arts Center. The production is directed by Molly Murphy, a senior directing student in the Division of Theatre, Meadows School of the Arts.

Winner of five national awards for best play, including the New York Drama Critics Circle award, Intimate Apparel revolves around the character of Esther, an African-American seamstress living in New York at the beginning of the 20th century who creates beautiful lingerie for society women and prostitutes alike. She falls in love with a Panama Canal laborer who woos her through romantic letters, though she is also admired by a shy Jewish merchant who sells fabrics to her. Nottage, who based the play on the life of her great-grandmother, called it "a lyrical meditation on one woman's loneliness and desire."

Showtimes are 8 p.m. Wednesday-Saturday and 2 p.m. Saturday and Sunday. Tickets are $7 each for SMU faculty, staff and students. For more information, contact the Meadows Ticket Office, 214-768-2787 (214-SMU-ARTS).

(Above, senior Bianca Denis as Esther and sophomore Beverly Johnson as Mayme in the Meadows Theatre production of Intimate Apparel. Photo by Linda Blase.)

Don L. Anderson, renowned geophysicist and author of A New Theory of the Earth, will lecture as SMU's Hamilton Visiting Scholar in Earth Sciences at 7 p.m. Feb. 25 in Crum Auditorium, Collins Executive Education Building. The lecture is free and open to the public and is presented by the Huffington Department of Earth Sciences in Dedman College.

Anderson will speak on "The Subterranean Cycle: The Continental Drip Hypothesis." His theory for the Earth places plate tectonic evolution, hot spot volcanism, and the breakup of continents into an evolutionary framework more consistent with insights from other planets.

Winner of the Royal Swedish Academy's prestigious Crafoord Prize, Anderson is the Eleanor and John R. McMillan Professor Emeritus of Geophysics at California Institute of Technology. He was director of the Seismological Laboratory of the California Institute of Technology from 1967-1989 and was elected to the National Academy of Sciences in 1982.

• Read more about Anderson
• Learn more about the Continental Drip Hypothesis
• Read more at the Darwin's Evolving Legacy website

The 44th Annual Women's Symposium: Don't forget to register for this year's Symposium, "Women and the Monetary Truth," which takes place Feb. 25. The event will include three interest sessions that will examine women's roles in money management on a personal and global scale, and will feature financial expert and author Glinda Bridgforth. Registration is free for SMU faculty, staff and students. For more information, visit the Women's Symposium website.

Ash Wednesday service: SMU's Office of the Chaplain and Religious Life and Perkins School of Theology will sponsor an ecumenical Ash Wednesday service at 12:05 p.m. Feb. 25 in Perkins Chapel. The entire SMU community is invited to attend.

Life-and-death medicine: The Maguire Center for Ethics and Public Responsibility and the Student Health Law Association present Shelly Carlin and "Access to Investigational Drugs" 12:15-1:15 p.m. Feb. 25 in 207 Florence Hall. Carlin, a health care attorney who specializes in biomedical research, law and regulation, will discuss the issue of whether a dying patient for whom conventional treatments were ineffective should have the right to obtain drugs that are still being tested for safety. The event is free and open to all. No RSVP needed; lunch will be provided.

Stop stressing: The SMU Health Center hosts a Brown Bag Presentation on Mindfulness noon-1 p.m. Feb. 26, 205 Memorial Health Center. Students, faculty and staff can learn about the psychological and physiological effects of stress and learn how to mitigate stress through straightforward mindfulness techniques. Faculty and staff earn one Wellpower Mind credit for attending. For more information, contact David Young.

Frontier stories: Clyde A. Milner II and Carol O'Connor, both of Arkansas State University, will discuss their 12-year journey in researching and writing their new book, As Big As the West: The Pioneer Life of Granville Stuart, at 6:30 p.m. Feb. 26 in McCord Auditorium, Dallas Hall. A reception precedes the event at 6 p.m. Presented by the Clements Center for Southwest Studies, Dedman College. Register online.

Gilbert Lecture Series: The Department of English in Dedman College welcomes Greg Williamson of Johns Hopkins University for "Poetry Reading: A Most Marvelous Piece of Luck" at 6:30 p.m. Feb. 26 in the DeGolyer Library. A reception precedes the event at 6 p.m. in the Texana Room. For more information, contact Leslie Reid, 214-768-2946.

Ballet at lunchtime: Join the students in the Meadows Division of Dance for their Spring 2009 Brown Bag Dance Series. Students will present lunchtime performances of 10-15 original short ballet, modern and jazz works. The series runs March 2-6 with performances at noon Monday, Wednesday and Friday and at 12:30 p.m. Tuesday and Thursday. All performances will be held in the Bob Hope Lobby, Owen Arts Center. The event is free and open to the public. For more information, call 214-768-2718.

Interdisciplinary Dialogue Event: The Center for the Study of Latino/a Christianity and Religions at Perkins School of Theology presents "The Role of Latinas in Religion and Religious Life" March 3 in the Faculty Dining Room, Umphrey Lee Center. The dialogue, moderated by Jeannie Treviño-Teddlie and Awilda Gonzalez-Tejera, will explore the roles Latinas have played as clergy and laity in various religious traditions. The event is free; those attending are welcome to arrive at 6:30 p.m. for a light dinner before the discussion at 7-8:30 p.m. For more information, contact Jeannie Trevino at 214-768-2768; to register, contact Rachel Lamb.

In McFarlin Auditorium:

Feb. 27: Quick and The Dallas Morning News present the documentary "America, The Beautiful" at 7:30 p.m.

Feb. 28: VCXel Entertainment presents Indian comics Sugar Sammy, Jazz Mann and Dan Nainan in "Vindaloo Vandals: Don't Mess With the Curry" at 8 p.m. For tickets, call 469-867-4589.

Compiled by Theresa Nelson ('09).

Glinda Bridgforth, financial expert and author of Girl, Make Your Money Grow! A Sister's Guide to Protecting Your Future and Enriching Your Life, is the keynote speaker in SMU's 44th Annual Women's Symposium Feb. 25, 2009.

Bridgforth, renowned as a featured coach in the "Oprah's Debt Diet" series on "The Oprah Winfrey Show," has written 4 books on money and credit management. She speaks on a variety of personal financial issues, including building wealth, clearing debt, setting financial goals, dealing with money insecurities, cultural aspects of money habits and the emotional issues behind spending. She is the founder of Bridgforth Financial & Associates LLC, a consulting firm that offers "a holistic approach to financial management."

The 2009 Symposium further explores its theme, "Women and the Monetary Truth," with 3 interest sessions that will examine women's roles in money management on a personal and global scale.

"When we set out - in March 2008 - to find a theme for our 44th Symposium, we had no idea how relevant this would become," says Karen Click, director of SMU's Women's Center for Gender and Pride Initiatives. "From our keynote speaker to our workshops and topical tables, we will be looking at many different aspects of women and money. What do women need to know about money? What haven't we learned, and what can we share with each other?"

"I look forward to having that intimate space to ask of other women around me, how are you managing this? What should I be doing?" Click adds.

Created in 1966 as part of SMU's 50th anniversary celebration, the Women's Symposium is the longest continuously running program of its type in the nation. The annual event brings together women and men of all ages and ethnic backgrounds to explore topics of national interest.

SMU faculty, staff and students may attend the Symposium free of charge. Register online or find more information at the Women's Symposium website.

Former Dominican priest and National Medal of Science winner Francisco Ayala will speak on the science and history of Darwin's theory of evolution at 5 p.m. Feb. 20 in the Hughes-Trigg Student Center Ballroom.

Ayala is an acclaimed evolutionary biologist at the University of California-Irvine and the author of Darwin's Gift to Science and Religion. His talk is part of the series "Darwin's Evolving Legacy: Celebrating Ideas That Shape Our World."

• Visit SMU's "Darwin's Evolving Legacy" website

Black History Month: SMU is celebrating Black History Month through March 2, 2009. This week's activities focus on African American Leadership and Human Rights. Events include:

Feb. 16-Feb 21: Black History Museum Exhibit sponsored by the Black Law Students Association, Underwood Law Library basement. Free.
• Feb. 18: "Food Chain: Standing on My Sister's Shoulder," sponsored by the Women's Center and SAMSA, noon, Women's Center. Free. RSVP to Karen Click.
• Feb. 21: Community Service Day with Group Excellence, sponsored by the Association of Black Students, 8:30 a.m. carpool from flagpole on Bishop Blvd.

Faculty recital: Christopher Anderson, associate professor of sacred music, presents an organ recital featuring the music of Max Reger and Gyorgy Ligeti at 8 p.m. Feb. 16 in Caruth Auditorium, Owen Arts Center. For more information, call 214-768-2502.

Clements Center Brown Bag Lecture: Clements Center Fellow David Narrett discusses the issue posed by Mexican General Manuel Mier y Terán (right) of the extent to which the U.S. government allowed its own citizens to take military action against Spanish Florida and Texas in "Adventurism Toward the Spanish Gulf and Mexico," at noon Feb. 18 in the Texana Room, DeGolyer Library. For more information, contact the Clements Center at 214-768-3684.

All that glitters: Ellen Buie Niewyk, curator of the Jerry Bywaters Collection on Art of the Southwest in SMU's Hamon Arts Library, will demonstrate various techniques used by the Etruscans to make jewelry in "Taking the Mystery Out of Ancient Metal Techniques," 6 p.m. Feb. 19 in the Meadows Museum. The group will meet in the exhibition "From the Temple and the Tomb"'; the demonstration will take place in the Dr. Bob Smith Auditorium. For more information, call 214-768-4677.

South American winds: The Meadows Wind Ensemble offers an evening of Latin sounds as they present "A Night in Buenos Aires," including John Mackey's Redline Tango, Michael Gandolfi's Vientos y Tangos, H. Owen Reed's Mass, two works by Astor Piazzolla and Michael Daugherty's Red Cape Tango from his Metropolis Symphony. The concert takes place at 8 p.m. Feb. 19-20 in Caruth Auditorium, Owen Arts Center. Tickets are $7 each for SMU faculty, staff and students. For more information, call 214-768-2787 (214-SMU-ARTS).

Etruscan exchange: University Distinguished Professor of Art History Greg Warden will discuss "The Etruscans in Context" at 12:15 p.m. Feb. 20 in the Jake and Nancy Harmon Galleries, Meadows Museum. The event is free with regular paid admission to the Museum. For more information, call the Meadows Museum at 214-768-4677.

Spring Break Canyonlands Backpacking Trip: SMU Outdoor Adventures is organizing spring break excursion to Canyonlands National Park, Utah, scheduled for March 7-13, 2009. The cost of the trip is $249 per person for faculty, staff and students. The price includes transportation, permits and entry frees, food-in-field, camping and equipment. The deadline to sign up is Feb. 20, and the full payment is required at the time of registration. For more information call 214-768-9918 or visit the OAC office located on the bottom floor of the Dedman Center for Lifetime Sports.

Dance fever: The SMU Program Council presents the 4th annual Raas Rave and Bhangra Blitz intercollegiate Indian dance competition at 7 p.m. Feb. 21 in McFarlin Auditorium. Ten teams from colleges and universities across the country will compete in one of two dance categories for more than $6,000 and a bid to the first ever Raas Nationals. The event will be hosted by Paul Varghese, the Dallas Observer's 2007 "Best Stand-up Comic in Dallas." Tickets are $10 in advance and $15 at the door. Visit the website for more information and to purchase tickets.

In McFarlin Auditorium:

Feb. 19-20: TITAS presents Forever Tango (bottom right) at 8 p.m. Order tickets online or contact the TITAS box office at 214-528-5576.

Compiled by Theresa Nelson ('09).

The turbulent and sometimes violent political history of Central Africa takes center stage during SMU's 2009 Stanton Sharp Lectures on Africa. The event, presented by the Clements Department of History in SMU's Dedman College, takes place Feb. 16-17 in McCord Auditorium, Dallas Hall.

• David Newbury, Gwendolen Carter Professor of African Studies at Smith College, speaks on contemporary violence in the Congo and its roots in unresolved issues of decolonization in "The Deferred Violence of Decolonization: The Case of the Congo" Feb. 16. Newbury's recent research focuses on the historical roots to violence in Central Africa during the 1990s, tracing both its historical effects and the efforts by local individuals to rebuild functioning communities. His books include Vers le Passé du Zaire: Méthodes Historiques and The Lands Beyond the Mists: Essays on Identity and Authority in Precolonial Congo and Rwanda.

• Catharine Newbury, Five College Professor of Government and African Studies and professor of government at Smith College, explores parallels and contrasts in two cases of violent political transition in "Discourse and Delegitimation: Comparing Rwanda 1959 and 1991" Feb. 17. An expert in multiple aspects of Central African political processes, her research interests include ethnicity and the state in Africa, democratization, the politics of peasants and women, and the politics of violence in Francophone Central Africa. She is the author of The Cohesion of Oppression: Clientship and Ethnicity in Rwanda.

Each event begins with a reception at 6 p.m., followed by the lecture at 6:30 p.m. Both lectures are free and open to the public. For more information, visit the Sharp Lectures homepage or contact the Clements Department of History, 214-768-2967.

SMU's Maguire Center for Ethics and Public Responsibility is cosponsoring an appearance by Pulitzer Prize-winning historian James McPherson 11:30 a.m.-1:30 p.m. Feb. 12, 2009, the 200th anniversary of Abraham Lincoln's birthday.

McPherson, the author of Tried By War: Abraham Lincoln as Commander in Chief, will speak and sign his book at a luncheon at the Rosewood Crescent Hotel, 400 Crescent Court, Dallas. McPherson will discuss the strategy and wit that led to Lincoln's recognition as one of the greatest presidents and commanders-in-chief of all time, despite his lack of prior military experience.

Tried By War was published in October 2008. McPherson's Pulitzer-winning work, Battle Cry of Freedom: The Civil War Era, was published in 1998.

The luncheon is cosponsored by the State Bar of Texas, the World Affairs Council of Dallas/Fort Worth and PricewaterhouseCoopers. For more information, visit the Maguire Center website.

A collaboration between the Dallas Theater Center (DTC) and the Division of Theatre in SMU's Meadows School of the Arts brings to life a collection of 15th-century mystery plays based on the Book of Genesis that were among the first ever written in the English language.

Adam and Eve, Cain and Abel, Noah and other Biblical characters are part of In the Beginning, which features Meadows Theatre students performing with Dallas Theater Center actors in a co-production directed by DTC Artistic Director Kevin Moriarty. The show's original run has been extended, and performances are scheduled for Feb. 10-15 and Feb. 17-22, 2009.

In addition to playing the Biblical characters in text taken directly from the first 10 chapters of the Bible, the cast portrays real-life members of the Dallas community sharing insights into Genesis.

All performances are held in the DTC's Kalita Humphreys Theatre, 3636 Turtle Creek Blvd. The show is performed without an intermission and contains partial nudity. Ticket prices are $16-$60; discounts for SMU faculty, staff and students are available. Purchase tickets online or, for the SMU discount, call the Dallas Theater Center at 214-522-8499.

• Read more and watch a video from The Dallas Morning News

(Above, clockwise from left, Dallas actor Cedric Neal, senior Marcus Stimac and M.F.A. candidate Abbey Siegworth in the DTC production of In the Beginning. Photo by Brandon Thibodeaux.)

Charles Robert Darwin, author of the groundbreaking scientific classic On the Origin of Species, was born in 1809 in the small market town of Shrewsbury, England. SMU is celebrating the anniversary year of his birth with events, panel discussions and lectures, including the following on his birth date, Feb. 12:

• A birthday cake reception from 4-5 p.m. in the Dallas Hall Reading Room. SMU faculty and graduate students will give testimonies on how Darwin's legacy has affected their particular field or research. Refreshments will be provided.
• A seminar by Fred Grinnell, professor of cell biology at UT-Southwestern Medical Center, on "Everyday Practice of Science: Where Intuition and Passion Meet Objectivity and Logic" at 5 p.m. in McCord Auditorium, 306 Dallas Hall. The seminar will be followed by a signing of his new book with the same title.
• A screening of the original 1960 film version of "Inherit the Wind" starring Spencer Tracy, Fredric March and Gene Kelly, presented by the Department of Cinema and Television in Meadows School of Arts. The movie - based on the real-life case in which William Jennings Bryan and Clarence Darrow argued the case for and against a science teacher accused of the crime of teaching evolution - begins at 5:30 p.m. in Room 3531, Greer Garson Theatre.

• Visit SMU's website for "Darwin's Evolving Legacy"
• Find Darwin's complete works online

SMU will host a number of information and networking fairs in February 2009. Remind your students and colleagues to visit these events:

• Career and Internship Fair Prep Day, 1-7 p.m. Feb. 11, Hughes-Trigg Student Center lower level - Students learn how to polish a résumé, work a career fair and speed-network with prospective employers in preparation for the Spring 2009 Career and Internship Fair Feb. 19 - RSVP required for speed-networking event
• Education Abroad Fair, 11 a.m.-1 p.m. Feb. 13, Hughes-Trigg Student Center Commons - Learn more about new destinations and other additions to SMU's study-abroad programs
• Research Day 2009, 2-5 p.m Feb. 17, Hughes-Trigg Ballroom West - More than 80 graduate students from Dedman College and the Lyle School of Engineering will present their research
• Spring 2009 Career and Internship Fair, noon-4 p.m. Feb. 19, Hughes-Trigg Student Center lower level - SMU students and alumni are invited to meet more than 80 employers from a variety of industries in the largest career event of the semester

As part of its Black History Month celebration, SMU will host a variety of activities, most of which are free or inexpensive and open to the public.

"Education is Freedom" is the theme for the week of Feb. 9. Events include:

• an African American History Quiz Bowl, sponsored by Black Men Emerging, at 7 p.m. Feb 10 in the Hughes-Trigg Student Center Ballroom
• a community discussion of "The State of Black American Success," sponsored by the Association of Black Students, at 7 p.m. Feb. 11 in the Hughes-Trigg Forum
• performances of The Vagina Monologues, sponsored by Women's Interest Network, to raise money and awareness to end violence against women and girls with a spotlight on women of the Democratic Republic of Congo - at 7 p.m. Feb. 12 and Feb. 13 in the Hughes-Trigg Student Center, tickets $5 for students, $10 for non-students

More events are scheduled throughout the month of February. For more information, contact Student Activities and Multicultural Student Affairs at 214-768-4583 or Ke'Ana Hardy.

• Read more from SMU News

Fact and fiction: Novelist Matthew Pearl (The Dante Club, The Poe Shadow) discusses the process of turning real life into fiction for a popular audience at 4 p.m. Feb. 9 in McCord Auditorium, 306 Dallas Hall. Books will be available for purchase courtesy of the SMU Bookstore. Presented by the University Honors Program and the Gartner Honors Lecture Series. For more information, contact David Doyle.

Love is in the air: The Hughes-Trigg Student Center presents its annual Valentine's Vendor Fair 10 a.m.-4 p.m. Feb. 12 in the Commons and Crossing. Shop for a loved one (or for yourself) among gifts ranging from jewelry, cosmetics and fashion to flowers, candy, candles and more. For more information, contact Mariana Sullivan, 214-768-4498.

Well versed: History Professor Joan Shelley Rubin of the University of Rochester, author of Songs of Ourselves: The Uses of Poetry in America and The Making of Middlebrow Culture, speaks on "Poetry in Practice: American Readers and the Uses of Verse, 1880-1950" Feb. 12 in DeGolyer Library. A reception begins at 6 p.m. in the Texana Room, with the lecture at 6:30 p.m. in the Stanley Marcus Reading Room. Presented by the Gilbert Lecture Series of the Department of English, Dedman College.

Honoring Ebby: Dallas real estate pioneer Ebby Halliday will be honored on the publication of her new biography, Ebby Halliday: The First Lady of Real Estate, with a reception 2-4 p.m. Feb. 15 in DeGolyer Library. Books will be available for purchase. RSVP to Betty Friedrich, 214-768-3231.

In McFarlin Auditorium:

Feb. 13: TITAS presents soul singer Bettye LaVette, who performed at the 2008 Kennedy Center Honors and at the Lincoln Memorial Concert during President Obama's inaugural celebration, at 8 p.m. Order tickets online or contact the TITAS box office at 214-528-5576.

SMU students will share their love for the University's Education Abroad program at the SMU Staff Association's annual Valentine Luncheon. The event is scheduled for noon Feb. 12, 2009 in Room 100, Laura Lee Blanton Student Services Building.

The menu includes sesame grilled pork chops and pistachio cheesecake; vegetarian options are available by request. Cost is $12 per person, and the deadline to reserve a place is 5 p.m. Friday, Feb. 6.

To RSVP or to reserve a table for 8, e-mail the Staff Association. Send checks payable to SMU Staff Association to SMUSA VP for Programming Denton Bricker, Box 152, Campus.

University of Iowa junior Shonn Greene and Dallas Cowboys icon Calvin Hill will be honored at SMU's Doak Walker Awards banquet beginning at 7 p.m. Feb. 6, 2009 at the Hilton Anatole Hotel.

Greene (top right) will receive the 2008 Doak Walker Award, given each year to the nation's premier running back for his accomplishments on the field, achievement in the classroom and citizenship in the community. Hill (bottom right) will receive the 2008 PricewaterhouseCoopers Doak Walker Legends Award, presented to former running backs who excelled at the collegiate level and have distinguished themselves as leaders in their communities.

During the 2008 season, Greene ranked second nationally in rushing with 1,729 yards. The Hawkeye single-season rushing leader, he rushed for more than 100 yards in all twelve of Iowa's games in 2008, as well as for 17 touchdowns. Iowa defeated South Carolina 31-10 in the 2009 Outback Bowl Jan. 1; Greene picked up 121 yards and 3 touchdowns to take the game MVP Award.

As a college running back, Hill led Yale to Ivy League championships in 1967 and '68. A four-time Pro Bowl selection who played 12 seasons in the NFL, he was named NFL Rookie of the Year and won All-Pro honors as a first-round draft pick for the Dallas Cowboys in 1969. In 1972, he became the first Cowboy running back to rush for over 1,000 yards in a season. Since his retirement from football, Hill has served as vice president of the Baltimore Orioles and helped establish the Calvin Hill Day Care Center at Yale. Currently he is a player-development consultant with the Dallas Cowboys. His son, Grant, plays professional basketball with the Phoenix Suns.

The presentation banquet will be hosted by Lee Corso, Chris Fowler and Kirk Herbstreit, co-hosts of "ESPN College Gameday." For more information, contact the Office of Program Services, 214-768-4314.

(Originally published Jan. 30, 2009.)

It's not a stretch to imagine there might not have been an SMU-in-Taos without Fred Wendorf. The renowned archaeologist's early-career excavations in New Mexico unearthed the remnants of a log fort established by U.S. soldiers in 1852 to protect Taos-area settlers from roaming Apache and Comanche Indians. Wendorf reconstructed Fort Burgwin's structures based on sketches of the original log buildings.

In addition, Wendorf, SMU's Henderson-Morrison Professor Emeritus of Prehistory, served as leader of the Combined Prehistoric Expedition to Egypt from 1962-2000. His expeditions produced most of what is known about the Stone Age prehistory of northeastern Africa. And in 2001, he gave more than 6 million ancient Nile Valley artifacts he had collected to the British Museum in London.

Wendorf's career contributions and new book will be spotlighted at a Feb. 5 reception, book signing and lecture at SMU's DeGolyer Library. The reception begins at 6 p.m. in the Texana Room. The lecture and book-signing for Desert Days: My Life as a Field Archaeologist will follow at 6:30 p.m. in the Stanley Marcus Reading Room. Both are free and open to the public. Desert Days has been published by SMU Press in cooperation with the William P. Clements Center for Southwest Studies.

Register online for the reception and book signing, or call 214-768-3231.

• Read more from SMU News

Volunteer meet-up: SMU's 44th Annual Women's Symposium is looking for volunteers - learn more about how you can help at a Volunteer Mixer 5 p.m. Feb. 4 in the Women's Center, 3rd floor, Hughes-Trigg Student Center. For more information, contact Karen Click, 214-768-4796

Interdisciplinary Dialogue: Jill De Temple, assistant professor of religious studies, will moderate a discussion of the intersection of Latino Protestant religious identities and political action in "Latino Protestants, Evangelicals, and Pentecostals" Feb. 4 in the Umphrey Lee Center faculty dining room. Dinner is at 6:30 pm; discussion is scheduled for 7-8:30 p.m. To register, contact Carolyn Douglas.

Ancient treasures: SMU's Meadows Museum celebrates the opening of "From the Temple and the Tomb: Etruscan Treasures from Tuscany" and "New Light on the Etruscans: Fifteen Years of Excavation at Poggio Colla" with a reception for faculty and staff 4:30-6 p.m. Feb. 5 in the Museum. A special lecture by University Distinguished Professor of Art History Greg Warden, "New Evidence for Etruscan Ritual: The Excavations at the Sanctuary of Poggio Colla," will follow at 6 p.m. For more information, call 214-768-4677. (Left, bronze statuette of a warrior ca. 550 B.C.E. Florence, National Museum of Archaeology.)

(Originally published Jan. 22, 2009.)

SMU's Meadows Museum honors the 15th anniversary of University Distinguished Professor of Art History P. Gregory Warden's groundbreaking archaeological excavation in Poggio Colla, Italy with an exhibition dedicated to the ancestors of Rome: the Etruscans.

"From the Temple and the Tomb: Etruscan Treasures From Tuscany" is the most comprehensive exhibition of Etruscan art ever undertaken in the United States, with more than 400 objects spanning the 9th through 2nd centuries B.C. "New Light on the Etruscans: Fifteen Years of Excavation at Poggio Colla" will offer a look into the rare and dramatic finds from this important Etruscan site, including almost 100 objects from its sanctuary and from a habitation and center of ceramic production discovered in a field below its acropolis.

Both exhibitions will run from Jan. 25 to May 17. An opening reception for SMU faculty and staff is scheduled for 4:30-6 p.m. Feb. 5.

The shows join the Dallas Museum of Art's blockbuster King Tut exhibit "Tutankhamun and the Golden Age of the Pharaohs" as part of a citywide celebration of ancient civilizations of the Mediterranean.

Featured in "From the Temple and the Tomb" are an entire temple pediment - the terracotta decoration for the front of an Etruscan temple - and objects from Etruscan tombs, including sarcophagi, ash urns, guardian figures, and gold, silver, bronze, ivory and ceramic objects that were deposited in the tombs of the wealthy. Also featured are several pieces of gold jewelry, created using techniques so advanced that they are difficult to reproduce today.

"From the Temple and the Tomb" is organized by the Meadows Museum in association with the Florence Archaeological Museum, Italy, the Italian Ministry of Culture, the Soprintendenza of Archaeology for Tuscany, and Centro Promozioni e Servizidi Arezzo. It was funded by a gift from The Meadows Foundation.

(Top right, gold diadem, late 4th century B.C., from Populonia. Bottom right, clay "canopic" urn with throne, 6th c. B.C. Florence, National Archaeological Museum.)

(UPDATED Jan. 30, 2009 with new date for Clements Center Brown Bag Lecture - rescheduled due to weather-related delay.)

Shared border, common interests: Clements Center Fellow Miguel Ángel González Quiroga discusses perception vs. reality in the history of border race relations in a Clements Center Brown Bag Lecture, "Conflict and Commonality in the Texas-Mexico Border Region, 1830-1880," rescheduled for noon Mar. 3 in the Texana Room, DeGolyer Library. Bring your lunch. <Right, the Disturnell Map of 1847, from the General Records of the U.S. Government, RG 11.)

Voices from death row: Six former inmates who were absolved of crimes for which they received death sentences are the subjects of "The Exonerated," a 2005 film starring Susan Sarandon, Aidan Quinn and Danny Glover. SMU Leadership and Community Involvement presents a screening at 7 p.m. Jan. 30 in the Hughes-Trigg Commons as part of its Social Justice Film Series. Kerry Max Cook, author of Chasing Justice and one of the men portrayed in the film, will answer questions following the screening. Refreshments will be served. Presented in partnership with SMU's Human Rights Program, Amnesty International, Students for a Better Society and Central University Libraries.

Daily devotions: Sixty prayer books dating from the 13th through the 20th centuries are the highlights of "Books for Devotion: Private Prayer and Piety Through Eight Centuries," Feb. 2-May 1 in the Elizabeth Perkins Prothro Galleries, Bridwell Library. The exhibition includes manuscript psalters, breviaries, and Books of Hours from the late Middle Ages, early printed manuals for personal devotion in various languages, illuminated manuscripts for Muslim prayer, and a variety of modern publications designed for individual Christian prayer. Free and open to the public during regular library hours.

Evolutionary psychologist David Buss says the very different ways that men and women pursue each other today stem from thousands of years of human evolution. Buss will speak on "Strategies of Human Mating" at 5 p.m. Jan. 26 in the Hughes-Trigg Student Center Ballroom.

Buss, head of the Individual Differences and Evolutionary Psychology program at UT-Austin, will discuss how jealousy, dating and mating are products of evolutionary needs. He is the author of such books as Sex, Power, Conflict: Evolutionary and Feminist Perspectives and The Dangerous Passion: Why Jealousy Is As Necessary As Love and Sex.

The event is free and open to the public. For more information, contact Pia Vogel, 214-786-1790.

• Visit the website for "Darwin's Evolving Legacy: Celebrating Ideas That Shape Our World"

SMU will provide a venue for a group of young singers whose high school musical was canceled last month amid controversy over the play's content. Cast members from Rent: School Edition - which was scheduled to open this month at Rowlett High School - will instead perform songs from the play at 3 p.m. and 7 p.m. Jan. 31 in SMU's Caruth Auditorium, Owen Arts Center.

The play, an adaptation of the Broadway hit Rent, follows a group of friends living the Bohemian lifestyle in New York City. It addresses topics such as drug use, homosexuality and HIV. Opponents to the school production have said the play's content is immoral, glamorizes stealing and promotes defying authority. Some said the play was not appropriate for a public school setting.

Rowlett High School theater director Brandon Tijerina canceled the production, saying he did not want his students subjected to the pressure and drama that was unfolding off-stage.

Victoria Snee and Tony Zazza, co-hosts of the morning show on KDMX-FM (102.9), surprised the students on the air Jan. 19 with news that they could perform at SMU. Snee's coworker, Josh Hart, helped arranged the move to Caruth Auditorium after hearing of the cancellation. Students are expected to perform about 12 songs.

The performances are free. Suggested donations of $5 will benefit DIFFA (Design Industries Foundation Fighting AIDS) Dallas. For tickets, e-mail your contact information, the number of tickets requested and the preferred show time to Tony Zazza at KDMX-FM.

• Read more from The Dallas Morning News

The next General Faculty Meeting takes place Jan. 21 in the Hughes-Trigg Student Center Theater. A reception will begin at 3 p.m. in the the theater foyer, with the meeting scheduled to start at 4 p.m.

Provost Paul Ludden will deliver his annual Spring Faculty Address. President R. Gerald Turner will make introductions and comments.

SMU's celebration of Martin Luther King Jr. Week 2009 continues with the annual Unity Walk on Bishop Boulevard at 5:30 p.m. Jan. 21. The walk begins in front of the Owen Arts Center and ends in the Hughes-Trigg Student Center Commons.

SMU's Meadows School of the Arts and the Offices of the Chaplain and Leadership and Community Involvement cosponsor "Living the Dream: Education, Economics and Equality" at 7 p.m. Jan. 22 in the Isabel & Comer Cottrell Student Union Building Grand Lounge at Paul Quinn College, 3837 Simpson Stuart Rd., Dallas.

The week culminates with a Unity Mixer at 8 p.m. Jan. 23 in the Hughes-Trigg Varsity. Join the SMU community for food, fun and fellowship.

All events are sponsored by SMU Student Activities and Multicultural Student Affairs (SAMSA) and Paul Quinn College Student Affairs, unless otherwise noted. For more information, visit SMU News. (Above, Dr. King's 1966 speech in SMU's McFarlin Auditorium.)

• Hear Dr. King's 1966 speech at SMU
• Download Dr. King's speech to your iPod
• Read the Daily Campus account of the speech
• Read excerpts from the speech

Still on campus? Here's a guide to Hilltop dining options available during Winter Break. Look under the link below to learn more.

Mark your calendars now: The next General Faculty Meeting is scheduled for Jan. 21, 2009, in the Hughes-Trigg Student Center (the day after Spring 2009 classes begin). A reception will take place before the meeting. Additional details will be posted in January in the SMU Forum.

As the days dwindle down to a precious few...a handful of important dates at a glance:

• Dec. 18: President R. Gerald Turner's All-University Party, 3:30-5 p.m., Umphrey Lee Center Ballroom

• Dec. 22-26: Christmas/Winter Break (University closed)

• Jan. 1-2: New Year's Day Holiday (University closed)

• Jan. 19: Martin Luther King Jr. Day (University closed)

• Jan. 20: First day of Spring Term 2009

• Jan. 21: Spring 2009 General Faculty Meeting

The end of 2008 (and beginning of 2009) at a glance:

• Dec. 13: Last day of term and official date for conferral of degrees
• Dec. 13: December Graduation Ceremony, 7 p.m., Moody Coliseum
• Dec. 13: Guildhall Cohort 9 Graduation with commencement speaker Ken Levine (creator of BioShock), 2:30 p.m., Crum Auditorium, Collins Executive Education Center
• Dec. 22-26: University holidays
• Jan. 1-2: University holidays

Pay it forward: SMU's Central University Libraries continue the 2008 Food for Fines drive through Dec. 15. Every donation of a can or package of non-perishable food for the North Texas Food Bank equals a $2 credit toward outstanding library fines for SMU faculty, staff and students. The waiver applies to materials from Fondren Library Center, Hamon Arts Library, and the ISEM Reading Room - drop off food donations at any of these libraries.

Celebrate the season: SMU President R. Gerald Turner hosts the 2008 All-University Holiday Party at 3:30-5 p.m. Dec. 18 in the Umphrey Lee Ballroom.

In McFarlin Auditorium:

Dec. 13-14: Dallas Metropolitan Ballet presents The Night Before Christmas at 7:30 p.m. Saturday and 2 p.m. Saturday-Sunday. Buy tickets online, or call 214-631-ARTS (2787) or 817-467-ARTS (2787).

The Student Foundation's 2008 Celebration of Lights begins at 7 p.m. Dec. 7 on the University's main quad. More than 100,000 decorative lights will fill the trees, luminarias will line the sidewalks, and SMU President R. Gerald Turner will follow a decades-old tradition of reading the Christmas story from the New Testament. A reception in the Hughes-Trigg Student Center Ballroom will follow the lighting of the SMU Christmas tree.

Fall 2008 finals and the holiday break are almost here - important end-of-term dates at a glance:

• Dec. 5: Last day of instruction, last exam day for December graduate degree candidates
• Dec. 8-13: Fall 2008 finals
• Dec. 13: Last day of term and official date for conferral of degrees
• Dec. 13: December Graduation Ceremony, 7 p.m., Moody Coliseum
• Dec. 13: Guildhall Cohort 9 Graduation with commencement speaker Ken Levine (BioShock), 2:30 p.m., Crum Auditorium, Collins Executive Education Center

Honoring Will Finnin: Vice President of Student Affairs Lori White hosts a reception honoring retiring SMU Chaplain Will Finnin 4-6 p.m. Dec. 8 in the Taubman Atrium, Owen Arts Center. Remarks at 4:15.

Holiday happening: The SMU Staff Association presents its 2008 Holiday Luncheon beginning at 11:30 a.m. Dec. 11 in Taubman Atrium, Owen Arts Center. The event will include a canned food drive to benefit the North Texas Food Bank. Lunch is $13 per person; RSVP to the Staff Association by Dec. 8.

In McFarlin Auditorium:

Dec. 6: Contemporary Ballet Dallas (bottom right) presents Boogie Woogie Christmas Carol at 7:30 p.m. Buy tickets online or call 214-821-2066.

Dec. 13-14: Dallas Metropolitan Ballet presents The Night Before Christmas at 7:30 p.m. Saturday and 2 p.m. Saturday-Sunday. Buy tickets online, or call 214-631-ARTS (2787) or 817-467-ARTS (2787).

SMU welcomes December with some of its most beloved annual traditions. Save the dates for these events:

• On Dec. 4, SMU's Perkins School of Theology offers its traditional Service of Nine Lessons and Carols in Perkins Chapel at two different times: 4 p.m and 8 p.m. Originating in 1888 at the cathedral of Truro in Cornwall, England, the service is the retelling through scripture and song of the story of redemption through Jesus Christ. Three compositions within this year's service were written by Suzanne Byrd, a Perkins Master of Sacred Music student, and Perkins alumni John Thornburg and Paul Caldwell.

• The Student Foundation's 2008 Celebration of Lights begins at 6:30 p.m. Dec. 7 on the University's main quad. More than 100,000 decorative lights will fill the trees, luminarias will line the sidewalks, and SMU President R. Gerald Turner will follow a decades-old tradition of reading the Christmas story from the New Testament. A reception in the Hughes-Trigg Student Center Ballroom will follow the lighting of the SMU Christmas tree.

• The University presents its 2008 December Graduation Ceremony at 7 p.m. Dec. 13 in Moody Coliseum. Faculty members will assemble for procession no later than 6:30 p.m. in Classroom One of the Dedman Center for Lifetime Sports. Prior to the ceremony, a faculty reception will begin at 5:45 p.m. in Classroom One of the Dedman Center for Lifetime Sports. RSVP online.

The SMU Forum is taking a break for the holiday and will return after Thanksgiving. Your news, calendar and For the Record items will be saved for upcoming issues. Keep sending your Forum news to Kathleen Tibbetts, 214-768-7672.

Turkey Day treats: SMU Catering is accepting Thanksgiving orders for cakes, pies, cookies and breads through Nov. 21. Make your choices from the 2008 menu and order form (PDF format), and follow the directions for placing your order in person or by mail, phone or fax. All prices include tax. Baked goods are for pick-up only and will be available Nov. 24-25 from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. in Umphrey Lee Center. Visa, MasterCard and checks (payable to SMU Catering) are accepted.

Sharing is caring: In response to the 29-million-meal gap for people living at or below the federal poverty level, the "Close the Gap" food drive intiative cosponsored by Meadows School of the Arts and SMU-in-Legacy continues through Nov. 24, 2008. Drop off items for the North Texas Food Bank in the campus collection boxes, or contribute through the online grocery cart.

Lasting impression: The Meadows Museum's groundbreaking exhibition "From Manet to Miró" closes Dec. 2, 2008. See it soon - visit the website for museum hours. (Left, Head of a Peasant Woman by Vincent Van Gogh; pencil, conté crayon and black chalk on paper; 1884. Photograph by José Loren, courtesy of The Abelló Collection.)

Live united: SMU's 2008 United Way campaign is now under way. Make a donation with Express Ca$h at the Hughes-Trigg Mane Desk, or contribute online and check your department's progress.

Will sing for food: The 160-voice Resounding Harmony choir, directed by Timothy Seelig, will team up with the Meadows Chorale and Meadows Concert Choir for a benefit concernt at 8 p.m. Nov. 24 in Caruth Auditorium, Owen Arts Center. The choirs will donate at least 50 percent of concert proceeds to the North Texas Food Bank and Crossroads Community Services. Tickets are $25 per person, available at www.resoundingharmony.org or through Sandy Huneke at 817-913-9978.

Tate Series continues: The 2008-09 Tate Distinguished Lecture Series continues Dec. 2 with Philippe de Montebello, the longest-serving director of New York City's Metropolitan Museum of Art. Find more information at the Tate Distinguished Lecture Series website.

We gather together: The SMU Faculty Club presents "Favorites from Presidents and Royalty" prepared by SMU Executive Chef Tim Schaub, as well as holiday music by pianist Bill Greene, at its 2008 Holiday Party 4-6 p.m. Dec. 3. Please bring two canned food items for the North Texas Food Bank. Faculty Club members are welcome to bring a guest. RSVP by Dec. 1 to Dee Powell, 214-768-3012.

Save the date: The 2008 Staff Association Holiday Luncheon takes place at 11:30 a.m. Dec. 11 in the Taubman Atrium, Owen Arts Center. Watch your e-mail or the Staff Association website for reservations information.

In McFarlin Auditorium:

Nov. 21: TITAS presents two legendary acts - The Blind Boys of Alabama and The Preservation Hall Jazz Band - in the Dallas debut of Down by the Riverside at 8 p.m. Order tickets online or contact the TITAS box office at 214-528-5576.

Nov. 23: Congregation Nishmat Am presents comedian Howie Mandel at 7 p.m. Order tickets online or contact Ticketmaster at 214-373-8000.

Former CIA operative Valerie Plame Wilson, a central figure in an investigation into criminal exposure of covert government agents, will give SMU's 11th annual Louise B. Raggio Endowed Lecture in Women's Studies. The lecture will take place at 7:30 p.m. Nov. 18 in the Hughes-Trigg Student Center Theater.

During her career with the U.S. Central Intelligence Agency, Wilson was an operations officer working on weapons of mass destruction. She found herself at the center of a political storm in 2003 when her covert identity was revealed in a syndicated newspaper column. Her outing as a spy led to the political scandal and U.S. Department of Justice investigation known as "the Plame affair." She is the author of Fair Game: My Life as a Spy, My Betrayal by the White House, published in 2007 by Simon & Schuster.

The Raggio Endowed Lecture Series was established to bring "role models of vision and achievement" to SMU to speak on gender and women's issues. It gives students and the larger community an opportunity to hear and interact with nationally renowned speakers in the area of women's studies.

Lecture tickets are $10 each, payable by Visa, MasterCard, Discover or check. Complete a downloadable order form (PDF format) or contact SMU Program Services at 8-1384.

• Visit the Raggio Endowed Lecture Series website

The Meadows Theatre 2008-09 season continues with a new production of one of William Shakespeare's most popular works. Twelfth Night, directed by Associate Professor Michael Connolly, runs Nov. 19-23 in the Greer Garson Theatre, Owen Arts Center.

Written in 1601 and named for the Christmas season's Twelfth Night holiday (also known as Epiphany), the play uses the story of shipwrecked twins and a sudden love triangle to explore issues of misguided passion and mistaken identity.

Twelfth Night "is one of the few Shakespearean plays never to have gone out of fashion and always to appear right for the present moment," writes Connolly in his Director's Notes. "Perhaps [its] enduring appeal ... lies in the way in which the play encourages those who perform it and the audiences who come to see it to investigate personally and profoundly the space between those who love and the breath that separates 'lips that love' and life from death."

Performances begin at 8 p.m. Wednesday-Saturday and at 2 p.m. Saturday-Sunday. Tickets are $7 each for SMU faculty, staff and students. For more information, contact the Meadows Ticket Office, 8-2787 (8-ARTS).

(Left, M.F.A. candidates Sandy Deitz as Olivia, Matt Tallman as Orsino and Abbey Siegworth as Viola/Cesario. Photograph by Linda Blase.)

Tuition benefits applications due: The deadline for submitting Spring 2009 tuition benefits applications is Nov. 18. Find forms, schedules and a downloadable Tuition Benefits Handbook at SMU's Human Resources website.

Stamping out hunger: In recognition of National Hunger and Homelessness Month, SMU's Office of Leadership and Community Involvement partners with the North Texas Food Bank and the Resounding Harmony chorus to present the 1996 film "Hidden in America" starring Beau and Jeff Bridges and Frances McDormand. Bring two nonperishable food items for the Food Bank and be entered in a drawing for two tickets to the Resounding Harmony benefit concert Nov. 24 in SMU's Caruth Auditorium. Food items collected will be donated to the SMU Helps Close the Gap campaign, sponsored by Meadows School of the Arts and SMU-in-Legacy.

Fall Dance Concert continues: The 2008 Meadows Fall Dance Concert continues with masterworks by renowned choreographers Alvin Ailey, Donald McKayle and Eleo Pomare set to music ranging from Ralph Vaughan Williams to John Coltrane. Performances take place Nov. 13-16 at 8 p.m. Thursday-Saturday and 2 p.m. Sunday in the Bob Hope Theatre, Owen Arts Center. Tickets are $7 for SMU students, faculty and staff. Buy tickets online or contact the Meadows Ticket Office, 8-2787 (8-ARTS).

Is image everything? How important is image at SMU, and how do image and stereotypes influence our daily lives? Join the Ethics Design Team of SMU's Maguire Center for Ethics and Public Responsibility to discuss the ethics of image and the public personae of college students at 7:30 p.m. Nov. 17 in the Hughes-Trigg Student Center Ballroom.

Will sing for food: The 160-voice Resounding Harmony choir, directed by Timothy Seelig, presents its inaugural concert to benefit the North Texas Food Bank and Crossroads Community Services. The show begins at 7:30 p.m. Nov. 17 at St. Andrew United Methodist Church in Plano. The concert is part of a 3-week campaign organized by SMU's Meadows School of the Arts and SMU-in-Legacy to raise funds and food supplies in partnership with the Food Bank's 3-year "Close the Gap" initiative. Tickets are $25 per person and are available at www.resoundingharmony.org or through Sandy Huneke at 817-913-9978.

"Great" expectations: SMU hosts a special screening of a new documentary by Dallas-based AMS Pictures. "The Real Great Debaters of Wiley College" begins at 7 p.m. Nov. 17 in the Hughes-Trigg Student Center Theater. Inspired by the Hollywood film "The Great Debaters," the documentary tells the true story of Wiley College's 1935 debate team and their defeat of the reigning national champions. The screening is co-sponsored by SMU's Division of Cinema-Television, the Association of Black Students, Program Council Films, Student Filmmakers Association, and Ben Voth, Director of Forensics. Admission is free.

The element of fire: SMU's Meadows Symphony Orchestra presents the U.S. premiere of The Intercourse of Fire and Water (Yi1) for cello and orchestra as part of its latest program, "The Elements: Fire," at 8 p.m. Nov. 21 and 3 p.m. Nov. 23 in Caruth Auditorium. The piece - written by "Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon" composer Tan Dun - will feature guest soloist Andrés Díaz, international recording artist and Meadows faculty member. Also on the program are Haydn's Fire Symphony and Liszt's symphonic poem Prometheus. Tickets are $7 each for SMU faculty, staff and students. For more information, contact the Meadows Ticket Office, 8-2787 (8-ARTS).

In McFarlin Auditorium:
• Nov. 14-15: TITAS presents the Dallas debut of Les Grands Ballets Canadiens de Montréal at 8 p.m. Friday and Saturday. For tickets, call TITAS at 214-528-5576.

Gen. Wesley K. Clark (Ret.), former Supreme Allied Commander, Europe, will deliver the keynote address in the "The Future of Conflict: Military Roles and Missions," Nov. 13-14 at SMU. The symposium is the inaugural event in the Program on National Security and Defense at the John G. Tower Center for Political Studies in SMU's Dedman College of Humanities and Sciences.

The opening discussion Nov. 13 begins with a 7:30 p.m. reception at the Collins Executive Education Center and will address how the military is relating to the changing nature of conflict. Texas State Rep. Dan Branch, chair of the Tower Center's Board of Directors, will introduce a panel of flag officers including Maj. Gen. Robert H. Scales Jr. (Ret.); Rear Adm. William R. Burke, director of Navy Quadrennial Defense Review; Brig. Gen. Mark Clark, U.S. Marine Corps; Maj. Gen. Charles J. Dunlap Jr., Deputy Judge Advocate General, Headquarters U.S. Air Force; Maj. Gen. David Fastabend, U.S. Army; Rear Adm. Brian Salerno, U.S. Coast Guard; and Lt. Gen. John R. Wood, Deputy Commander, Joint Forces Command. Lee Cullum, journalist and Tower Center senior fellow, and Tower Center acting director Seyom Brown will lead the discussion.

Panel discussions Nov. 14 at the Meadows Museum's Smith Auditorium include the Emergent Geopolitics of Conflict, Technological Change and Its Military Implications, and Military Roles and Missions.

Gen. Clark will speak at a luncheon at 12:30 p.m. Nov. 14 in the Umphrey Lee Ballroom. Reservations are required, and registration begins at noon. SMU students, faculty and staff may attend at no charge with SMU IDs.

Reservations also are required for the panel discussions, which are free of charge.

To RSVP or for more information, e-mail the Tower Center or call 8-3954. Find a complete program and reservation form at the Tower Center website.

Students, alumni, faculty and staff celebrate SMU's 2008 Homecoming, "Rolling Out the Red Carpet," this week through Nov. 9.

Events include picnics, open houses, tailgate parties on The Boulevard and the 76th annual Pigskin Revue, presented by the Mustang Band, at 8:15 p.m. Nov. 7 in McFarlin Auditorium. The Homecoming game against Memphis begins at 2 p.m. Nov. 8 in Ford Stadium.

The University honored 5 leaders in business, technology and community service with SMU's 2008 Distinguished Alumni Award Nov. 6. The 2008 DAA Award recipients are Darrell Lafitte ('54), Malcolm Morris ('68), Gary Pittman ('53), and Richard Ware ('68). Richie Butler ('93) received the 2008 Emerging Leader Award, which recognizes an outstanding alumnus or alumna who has graduated within the last 15 years.

• Learn more about SMU's Distinguished Alumni Awards
• More Homecoming information from the SMU Student Foundation

Eugene Robinson, associate editor and columnist for The Washington Post, will deliver the 9th annual Sammons Lecture in Media Ethics at 8 p.m. Nov. 13 in Caruth Auditorium, Owen Arts Center. The lecture is presented by the Division of Journalism in SMU's Meadows School of the Arts.

In the week following the presidential election, Robinson will offer his perspective on the close connections between politics and culture, and the way major trends are shaping not only society but neighborhoods and families.

Robinson has worked at the Post for 28 years, serving as city hall reporter, city editor, foreign correspondent in Buenos Aires and London, foreign editor, and assistant managing editor in charge of the paper's award-winning style section. A member of the National Association of Black Journalists, Robinson was a Nieman Fellow in Journalism at Harvard and has received numerous awards for his work.

Admission is free; tickets are required. Contact the Meadows Ticket Office, 8-2787 (8-ARTS).

• Read Eugene Robinson's Washington Post column

In response to 2008's turbulent markets and ensuing concerns over retirement security, SMU's Department of Human Resources will host "Market Volatility and Its Impact on You: Reassessing vs. Reacting in Response to Your Finances" 3-4:30 p.m. Nov. 11 in the Collins Executive Education Center.

In addition, SMU faculty and staff members are encouraged to speak with representatives from their investment companies for detailed information about how their individual plans have been affected:

TIAA CREF: 1-800-842-2776
Fidelity: 1-800-343-0860
Vanguard: 1-800-523-1188

Dr. Barbara Forrest, a leading expert on the intelligent design movement, will speak at SMU Nov. 11 on "Why Texans Shouldn't Let Creationists Mess With Science Education."

Forrest's free lecture is scheduled for 6 p.m. Nov. 11 in the Hughes-Trigg Student Center Ballroom. It follows an afternoon workshop presented by SMU faculty for Dallas-area teachers, "Teaching Evolution in Texas Schools," 1-5:30 p.m. on the lower level of the Hughes-Trigg Student Center. Teachers are eligible to earn continuing education credit through participation.

Forrest is co-author of Creationism's Trojan Horse: The Wedge of Intelligent Design. She served as an expert witness in the 2005 landmark federal legal battle over intelligent design, Kitzmiller et al. v. Dover Area School District.

Both the lecture and workshop are sponsored by SMU's Annette Caldwell Simmons School of Education and Human Development, Center for Teaching Excellence, and departments of Anthropology, Biology and Philosophy within Dedman College of Humanities and Sciences. Forrest's lecture is co-sponsored by the Texas Freedom Network Education Fund.

Registration for the teacher workshop is available online. Register online for Dr. Forrest's lecture; seating is limited.

For your health: Flu shots are now available every Wednesday in the Memorial Health Center, 9-11 a.m. and 1:30=3:30 p.m., while supplies last. No appointment is necessary.

Faculty Club Distinguished Luncheon: Political Science Professors Cal Jillson, Dennis Simon and Harold Stanley offer their analysis of the 2008 presidential election at noon Nov. 12 in the Faculty Club. Cost is $12 for Faculty Club members, $15 for nonmembers. RSVP by Nov. 7 to Dee Powell, 8-3012,

Hamilton Visiting Scholar in Geophysics: Noted geophysicist Richard W. Carlson of the Department of Terrestrial Magnetism, Carnegie Institution for Science, will lecture on "A History of Earth Formation" at 7 p.m. Nov. 12 in the Crum Auditorium, Collins Executive Education Center. The lecture is presented by the Roy M. Huffington Department of Earth Sciences in SMU's Dedman College of Humanities and Sciences.

Learning to lead: Hunt Oil CEO and SMU trustee Ray L. Hunt will share his insights with students in President R. Gerald Turner's 2008 Leadership Summit at 5 p.m. Nov. 12 in the Hughes-Trigg Student Center Forum.

Levine Endowed Lecture: Zev Garber, professor of Jewish studies at Los Angeles Valley College, will speak on "Faith After Auschwitz: Jewish and Christian Responses to the Holocaust" at 7:30 pm Nov. 12 in McCord Auditorium, Dallas Hall.

Into the wild: Author Deanne Stillman will discuss the storied history and current plight of the Western wild horse - as well as her latest book, Mustang: The Saga of the Wild Horse in the American West - Nov. 13 in DeGolyer Library. Reception at 6 p.m., lecture and book signing at 6:30 p.m. Sponsored by SMU's Clements Center for Southwest Studies and DeGolyer Library. The event is free; registration is required. Register online or contact Ruth Ann Elmore, 8-3684.

Perkins Interdisciplinary Dialogue: Associate Professor of History of Christianity Edwin Sylvest will moderate a conversation on how La Guadalupe plays a central role in the emergence and practice of Latino Catholic religiosity. "Nuestra Señora de Guadalupe: Mother of God, Mother of the Americas, Our Cosmic Mother" is scheduled for Nov. 13 in the Umphrey Lee Faculty Dining Room. Light dinner at 6:30 p.m., discussion follows 7-8:30 p.m. To register, contact Carolyn Douglas.

Got talent? The SMU Staff Association presents its 9th annual talent show noon-1:30 p.m. Nov. 14 in the Hughes-Trigg Student Center Ballroom. An art and photography exhibit will open at 11:30 a.m. in the prefunction area. The show is free; lunch is $12 per person. RSVP for lunch by Nov. 7; submit payment to Nancy Skochdopole, 100E Blanton Student Services Building.

The 2008 Meadows Fall Dance Concert celebrates the legacy of African-American dance with masterworks by three renowned choreographers set to music ranging from Ralph Vaughan Williams to John Coltrane - and supported by a grant from the National Endowment for the Arts. Performances take place Nov. 6-9 and Nov. 13-16 at 8 p.m. Thursday-Saturday and 2 p.m. Sunday in the Bob Hope Theatre, Owen Arts Center.

The program begins with the legendary Alvin Ailey's romantic 1972 ballet, The Lark Ascending (top right), set to Vaughan Williams' symphonic poem of the same name.

Songs of the Disinherited (bottom right) by Donald McKayle is presented with the help of a grant from the American Masterpieces: Dance-College Component initiative of the National Endowment for the Arts. The work's four sections encompass the African-American experience from slavery and the Depression to a contemporary affirmation of African-American heritage.

The concert closes with Eleo Pomare's Las Desenamoradas. The work, inspired by Federico Garcia Lorca's The House of Bernarda Alba, features a Coltrane jazz score and a choreographic style influenced by the paintings of 17th-century Spanish artist Diego Velázquez.

Tickets are $7 each for SMU students, faculty and staff. Buy tickets online or contact the Meadows Ticket Office, 8-2787 (8-ARTS).

Alumnus, author, former administrator and English professor emeritus Marsh Terry has lived SMU history. He'll recount his experiences during 2008 Homecoming Week.

Terry and fellow SMU professor emeritus Darwin Payne will discuss the new edition of Terry's book From High on the Hilltop: A History of SMU at 6:30 p.m. Nov. 6 in DeGolyer Library. A reception will precede the reading at 6 p.m.

The event is hosted by DeGolyer Library and the Department of English in SMU's Dedman College of Humanities and Sciences.

Admission is free; RSVP is required. Register online or contact Betty Friedrich in DeGolyer Library, 8-3231.

Volatile markets and the destabilization of several large financial institutions have created concern over retirement savings, credit availability and other money issues. In response, SMU's Department of Human Resources will host "Market Volatility and Its Impact on You: Reassessing vs. Reacting in Response to Your Finances" 3-4:30 p.m. Nov. 11 in the Collins Executive Education Center.

In addition, SMU faculty and staff members are encouraged to speak with representatives from their investment companies for detailed information about how their individual plans have been affected:

TIAA CREF: 1-800-842-2776
Fidelity: 1-800-343-0860
Vanguard: 1-800-523-1188

However, he added, "we are committed to a diversified, long-term investment strategy that has served the University well over many years. The endowment's assets are invested in several asset classes, diverse markets, and multiple strategies that help to protect its value and enhance its return in various financial environments and economic conditions.

"This approach has allowed SMU to maintain stable operations in the past, and we anticipate that being the case in the future."

>> Read the full text of President Turner's memo

Five leaders in business, technology and community service have been named to receive SMU's 2008 Distinguished Alumni Award, the highest honor the university bestows upon its graduates. The banquet and ceremony will begin at 7 p.m. Nov. 6 in the Khmer Pavilion of the Hilton Anatole Hotel, 2201 Stemmons Freeway.

The 2008 DAA Award recipients are:

• Darrell Lafitte ('54), SMU All-America football player turned banker
• Malcolm Morris ('68), Millennium Water Alliance founder and chair
• Gary Pittman ('53), Texas Instruments researcher and co-inventor of the light-emitting diode (LED)
• Richard Ware ('68), president of Amarillo National Bank, one of the largest family-owned banks in the country

Richie Butler ('93, right) will receive the 2008 Emerging Leader Award, which recognizes an outstanding alumnus or alumna who has graduated within the last 15 years. Butler helped create Unity Estates, a planned community of 285 single-family homes in South Dallas sponsored by the 70-member African American Pastors' Coalition. He also founded the church community Union Cathedral, which he currently serves as the senior pastor.

The DAA Awards are a traditional highlight of SMU's annual Homecoming celebration. The 2008 Homecoming, "Rolling Out the Red Carpet," takes place Nov. 2-9. The Homecoming game against Memphis begins at 2 p.m. Nov. 8 in Ford Stadium.

• Learn more about SMU's Distinguished Alumni Awards
• More Homecoming information from the SMU Student Foundation

It's not too late to participate in the scary fun during Halloween on the Hilltop:

• Outdoor Adventures offers Midnight Cosmic Climbing, 11 p.m.-1 a.m. Oct. 30, in the Dedman Center for Lifetime Sports. Come for the late-night rock climbing - stay for the lights, prizes and DJ'ed music. Costumes are encouraged (must be harness-compatible). Contact David Chambers, 8-4822.

• SMU Child Care and Preschool holds its annual Halloween Parade beginning at 10 a.m. Oct. 31. Come out to Bishop Boulevard to see the costumes and treat the tricksters.

• Wear your biggest hair and scariest sweats to '80s-themed Group X classes all day Oct. 31 at Dedman Center - including the Cardio Bosu Booty Bounce, Heavy Metal Spinning and a "Step Into the '80s" version of Radical Abs. All Dedman Center members and guests are invited; no Group X pass is required. Costumes are encouraged. Contact Brook Jimenez, 8-4824.

• Students, faculty, and staff are invited to celebrate the departed with Mexican food, music and hot chocolate at a Dia de los Muertos celebration 11 a.m. Oct. 31, 153 Heroy Hall.

• The Hegi Family Career Development Center invites students, faculty and staff for a Haunted Open House 11 a.m.-3 p.m. Oct. 31 at their offices in the Hughes-Trigg Student Center. The festivities feature haunted tours, treats, contests and prizes.

• Meadows Opera Theatre celebrates the spooky side with performances of eerie scenes from Die Fledermaus, Lucia di Lammermoor and Fiddler on the Roof in an Opera Free For All at 1 p.m. Oct. 31 in the Taubman Atrium, Owen Arts Center.

The Big iDea: Student teams that received grants in the 2007-08 Big iDeas competition will report on the progress of their projects and explain their research findings in the Big iDeas Fall Symposium, 10-11:30 a.m. Nov. 4 in the Hughes-Trigg Student Center Forum. A brief reception will follow.

Godbey Lecture Series: Altshuler Distinguished Teaching Professor Melissa Barden Dowling, director of SMU's Classical Studies Program, examines the achievements of the men known as the Five Good Emperors and how they balanced the great issues of their times in the Godbey Lecture Series' Boshell Foundation Lecture, "The Good Emperors and the Golden Age of the Roman Empire." The series begins Nov. 4 and continues on consecutive Tuesdays, with the third lecture scheduled for Thursday, Nov. 13. All lectures begin at 11 a.m. with lunch at noon at Maggiano's NorthPark Center. Cost is $156 for Godbey Lecture Series members and $186 for nonmembers. Register online or contact the Godbey Lecture Series, 8-2532.

World premiere winds: The Meadows Wind Ensemble welcomes acclaimed contemporary percussion ensemble NEXUS for the world premiere of Eric Ewazen's Concerto for Percussion and Wind Ensemble - composed on commission for the MWE, NEXUS and MWE Director Jack Delaney (top right) - in "The Beat of Different Drummers!" at 8 p.m. Nov. 4 in Caruth Auditorium, Owen Arts Center. Tickets are $7 for SMU faculty, staff and students. Contact the Meadows Ticket Office, 8-2787 (8-ARTS).

Clements Center Brown Bag Lecture: Kelly Donahue-Wallace, chair of the Departments of Art Education and Art History at the University of North Texas, discusses the global influences found in objects from well-to-do colonial homes in "A caballo entre dos mundos: Material Culture in Spanish Colonial Texas." The lecture begins at noon Nov. 5 in the Texana Room, DeGolyer Library. Bring your lunch. (Bottom right, Spaniard and his Mexican Indian Wife and their Child, from a series on mixed race marriages in Mexico. Oil on canvas by Miguel Cabrera, 1695-1768, Museo de America, Madrid, Spain/The Bridgeman Art Library.)

Inside baseball: Baseball Hall of Famer, former American League and National League MVP and former American League manager of the year Frank Robinson will address the Guaranty Bank SMU Athletic Forum Nov. 5 at the Hilton Anatole Hotel, 2201 Stemmons Freeway. The luncheon and talk last from noon to 1:30 p.m. For more information, contact Suzy Brack, 8-4314.

Jazz hands: The Varsity in SMU's Hughes-Trigg Student Center becomes a jazz club for a free performance by electro-acoustic jam band JamPact at 8 p.m. Nov. 5. The band - a collaboration among Meadows Dean José Bowen (piano) and music faculty members Kim Corbet (trombone and synth), Buddy Mohamed (bass), Jamal Mohamed (drums) and Akira Sato (trumpet) - performs "an improvisational mix of jazz, funk and world music." Appetizers and coffee drinks will be served during the concert. For more information, contact Mariana Sullivan, 8-1951.

Celebrate the scary season with Halloween fun, SMU style:

• Create a lantern and compete for prizes at a pumpkin carving contest 4-8 p.m. Oct. 28 by The Falls, Dedman Center for Lifetime Sports. Bring a pumpkin and any supplies you need. Carved pumpkins will be displayed at The Falls through Halloween; Dedman Center visitors can vote for their favorites through Oct. 30. Contact Lindsey Keller, 8-8816.

• Thrill to the cheesy magic of "B Movies Shot in Big D" 7-10 p.m. Oct. 29-30 in McCord Auditorium, Dallas Hall. Each will be introduced by a faculty member from the Division of Cinema-Television in SMU's Meadows School of the Arts. Wednesday screenings include Logan's Run and The Amazing Transparent Man (both introduced by Rick Worland). Thursday shows are Gas!, or, It Became Necessary to Destroy the World in Order to Save It (introduced by Kevin Heffernan) and Mars Needs Women (introduced by Sean Griffin). Presented by Fondren Library Center and Friends of the SMU Libraries. Admission is free and open to the public. Contact Lisa Wall, 8-4397.

• Outdoor Adventures offers Midnight Cosmic Climbing, 11 p.m.-1 a.m. Oct. 30, in the Dedman Center for Lifetime Sports. Come for the late-night rock climbing - stay for the lights, prizes and DJ'ed music. Costumes are encouraged (must be harness-compatible). Contact David Chambers, 8-4822.

• SMU Child Care and Preschool holds its annual Halloween Parade beginning at 10 a.m. Oct. 31. Come out to Bishop Boulevard to see the costumes and treat the tricksters.

• Wear your biggest hair and scariest sweats to '80s-themed Group X classes all day Oct. 31 at Dedman Center - including the Cardio Bosu Booty Bounce, Heavy Metal Spinning and a "Step Into the '80s" version of Radical Abs. All Dedman Center members and guests are invited; no Group X pass is required. Costumes are encouraged. Contact Brook Jimenez, 8-4824.

• Students, faculty, and staff are invited to celebrate the departed with Mexican food, music and hot chocolate at a Dia de los Muertos celebration 11 a.m. Oct. 31, 153 Heroy Hall.

• The Hegi Family Career Development Center invites students, faculty and staff for a Haunted Open House 11 a.m.-3 p.m. Oct. 31 at their offices in the Hughes-Trigg Student Center. The festivities feature haunted tours, treats, contests and prizes.

• Meadows Opera Theatre celebrates the spooky side with performances of eerie scenes from Die Fledermaus, Lucia di Lammermoor and Fiddler on the Roof in an Opera Free For All at 1 p.m. Oct. 31 in the Taubman Atrium, Owen Arts Center.

Bringing Bach to life: SMU's Meadows Chorale performs Johann Sebastian Bach's setting of The Magnificat, led by internationally known conductor and scholar Fiora Contino, at 2 p.m. Oct. 26 in Perkins Chapel. For more information, call 8-1951.

I am a camera: Visiting Artist and recent Guggenheim Fellow Marco Breuer, who specializes in making "camera-less photographs," exhibits his work in "Marco Breuer: Principles of Extraction" Oct. 27-Dec. 6 in the Pollock Gallery, Hughes-Trigg Student Center. Breuer will lecture on his work at 6:30 p.m. Nov. 6 in the Dr. Bob Smith Auditorium, Meadows Museum.

Leading by example: Sewell Automotive Companies Chair Carl Sewell, chair of the SMU Board of Trustees, will share his insights with students in President R. Gerald Turner's Fall 2008 Leadership Summit at 5 p.m. Oct. 29 in the Hughes-Trigg Student Center Forum.

Gilbert Lecture Series: Joycelyn Moody, Sue E. Denman Chair of American Literature at UT-San Antonio and author of Sentimental Confessions: Spiritual Narratives of Nineteenth-Century African American Women, speaks on "Re-mapping Sex, Texts and Work: Black Women Writers and the Slave Trade" Oct. 29 in DeGolyer Library. Reception at 6 p.m. in the Texana Room, lecture at 6:30 p.m. in the Stanley Marcus Reading Room.

Gilbert Lecture Series: Writer David McGlynn - whose first story collection, The End of the Straight and Narrow, has just been published by SMU Press - will participate in a conversation on "Flirting with Disaster - Turning Obsession Into Fiction" at 3 p.m. Oct. 30 in the Texana Room, DeGolyer Library. Cosponsored by SMU Press.

University community members can learn more about journaling as a mental health and coping tool through "The Magic of Journaling." The brown-bag presentation takes place noon-12:50 p.m. Oct. 24 in the Counseling and Psychiatric Services office, Room 205, Memorial Health Center.

The session is open to SMU students, faculty and staff members. Faculty and staff earn 1 Wellpower credit for attending. Bring your lunch.

Got talent? The SMU Staff Association is looking for actors, artists, singers, dancers, comedians, magicians, poets, photographers and more for the 9th annual Staff Association talent show, "Spotlight on Talent."

The show will go on from noon to 1:30 p.m. Nov. 14 in the Hughes-Trigg Student Center Ballroom; lunch will be provided for all performers. Rehearsal is scheduled for 9 a.m.-1 p.m. Nov. 10 in the Hughes-Trigg Theater.

The entry deadline is Oct. 24. To enter, contact Gretchen Voight, 8-2037.

(Above, Tiffany Khim, JoAnn Gonzales and Cchea Nugent - also known as The Replacement Band - accept a standing ovation for their musical clowning to Trans-Siberian Orchestra's Wizards in Winter in the Staff Association's 2007 show.)

Elemental music: Guest conductor Nicolás Pasquet of the Liszt Hochschule in Weimar, Germany, leads the Meadows Symphony Orchestra in "The Elements: Water" - a program featuring Mendelssohn's Hebrides Overture, Debussy's La Mer and Premiere Rhapsody, Weber's Concertino for Clarinet and Orchestra, and Smetana's The Moldau. The program debuts at 8 p.m. Oct. 17 and repeats Oct. 19 at 3 p.m. in Caruth Auditorium, Owen Arts Center. Tickets are $7 each for faculty, staff and students. For more information, contact the Meadows Ticket Office, 8-2787 (8-ARTS).

Election reflection: SMU Political Science Professors Cal Jillson, Dennis Simon and Harold Stanley will survey the political landscape and analyze the 2008 primary and general election campaigns in "Road to the White House 2008," presented by SMU's Godbey Lecture Series. The series begins Oct. 20 and repeats on consecutive Mondays through Nov. 10. Lecture at 11 a.m., lunch at noon each day at Maggiano's North Park Center. Cost is $163 for members, $193 for nonmembers. Register online or call 8-2532.

Darwin Year preview: Earth Sciences Professor Louis Jacobs will discuss his fossil research in places ranging from St. Bart's to Seymour Island, Antarctica, in the Godbey Lecture Series' "Islands and Life" - a preview of SMU's 2009 event "Darwin's Evolving Legacy." The program takes place Oct. 22 in the Texana Room, DeGolyer Library. A 5:30 p.m. wine reception precedes the 6 p.m. lecture. Tickets are $45 for members and $70 for nonmembers. Register online or call 8-2532. (Top right, Seymour Island as photographed by graduate student researcher and blogger Chris Strganac.)

Make a racket: The Stanford Championships tennis tournament comes to SMU Oct. 22-Oct. 26 in the Turpin Tennis Center. Eight legendary names in men's tennis, including Boris Becker, Jim Courier and Mark Philippoussis, compete for the title and $150,000 in prize money. In addition, Anna Kournikova will compete in Mixed Doubles matches. Tickets are available at www.ChampionsSeriesTennis.com or call 877-332-TIXX (8499).

Coming of age: The Hughes-Trigg Student Center celebrates its 21st birthday with a "responsible celebration" Oct. 23. Stop by the Student Center for cake, fun and games.

M.L.S. information session: Learn more about SMU's Master of Liberal Studies program at an information session 6-7:30 p.m. Oct. 23 in Human Resources Training Room #208, Expressway Tower, 6116 N. Central Expy. Refreshments will be provided. RSVP to the M.L.S. program.

In McFarlin Auditorium:

Meadows Theatre continues its 2008-09 season with a new production of Oscar Wilde's hugely successful 1895 comedy of love, blackmail and political corruption. An Ideal Husband opens at 8 p.m. Oct. 15 in the Bob Hope Theatre, Owen Arts Center.

The story revolves around a prominent politician whose youthful mistake is threatened with exposure by an aristocratic blackmailer. Social expectations and a Victorian sense of public and private honor contrast with the realities of human imperfection in a play renowned for its wit and insight. The production is directed by Assistant Professor of Theatre James Crawford.

The production runs through Oct. 19 with performances at 8 p.m. Wednesday-Saturday and at 2 p.m. Saturday and Sunday. Tickets are $7 each for faculty, staff and students. Buy tickets online or contact the Meadows Ticket Office, 8-2787 (8-ARTS).

Above, senior Johnard Washington (center) plays Lord Goring, with (clockwise from left) senior Jennifer St. Angelo as Lady Chiltern, senior Olivia Williamson as Mrs. Cheveley and M.F.A. candidate Cheryl Lowber as Mabel Chiltern. Photography by Linda Blase.

Award-winning actress and comedian Lily Tomlin, in Dallas to advocate that the city's lone elephant be moved to a sanctuary in Tennessee, will speak to SMU students at 5:15 p.m. Oct. 15 in Room 133 of Fondren Science Building.

Tomlin, who has repeatedly spoken out on behalf of Jenny, works with Concerned Citizens for Jenny to advocate that the aging elephant be allowed to retire to The Elephant Sanctuary in Hohenwald, Tennessee. The sanctuary is a 2,700-acre habitat that specializes in the rehabilitation and healing of troubled and ailing elephants like Jenny.

During her 40-year career, Tomlin has won two Tonys, two Peabodys, six Emmys, a Grammy, the Drama Desk and Outer Critics Circle awards, plus the Mark Twain Prize for American humor.

• Read more from SMU News

SMU hosts its 4th and final debate watch event for the 3rd presidential debate between John McCain and Barack Obama 7-10:30 p.m. Oct. 15 in O'Donnell Lecture and Recital Hall, Owen Arts Center.

Faculty experts will talk about what to expect beginning at 7 p.m., with live debate-watching to follow 8-9:30 p.m. SMU Forensics will sponsor a campus debate on the issues from 9:30-10:30 p.m. The evening will end with audience balloting on the results of the TV and campus debates.

The debate-watching events are part of an initiative by Meadows School of the Arts and its Division of Corporate Communications and Public Affairs to enhance SMU's speech and debate programs.

SMU is part of the national DebateWatch 2008 program, a voter education initiative of the Commission on Presidential Debates.

Attendance records will be provided to interested instructors. For more information, contact Director of Forensics Ben Voth.

• Learn more about Presidential Debates at SMU
• Visit SMU's Election 2008 Experts site

SMU's 2008 Health and Wellness Week will feature an enhanced emphasis on education about benefits and wellness choices, while keeping fun in the mix with prizes, giveaways and healthy food offerings.

Health and Wellness Week runs Oct. 13-17, with most educational sessions and other events taking place in the Hughes-Trigg Student Center Oct. 15-16. Read more.

The SMU Staff Association presents the 2008 Loretta O'Reilly Hawkins Award at its 8th annual Staff Recognition Ceremony Oct. 14 in the Hughes-Trigg Student Center Theater. A reception will be held at 10 a.m., with the ceremony starting at 10:30 a.m.

The event also honors the following staff members who celebrate their 25th SMU anniversaries this year:

• Leon Bennett, Legal Affairs
• Lydia Dale, Student Activities
• Jane Elder, Bridwell Library
• Paul Golden, Earth Sciences
• Patricia LaSalle, Public Affairs
• Lisa Montes, Legal Clinics
• Carleen Naugle, Meadows School of the Arts/Dean's Office
• Dee Powell, Cox School of Business/Dean's Office
• Sherry Reinwald, Enrollment Services/Financial Aid
• Joe Roberts, Biological Sciences
• Rhonda Rompola, Women's Basketball
• Jim Stillson, Men's Swimming and Diving
• Billie Katherine Stovall, Central University Libraries

SMU community members can earn one Wellpower Point for attending.

• Visit the Staff Association online

Break for fall: Fall Break 2008 is Oct. 13-14. No classes will be held; University offices will remain open.

Perkins Interdisciplinary Dialogue: The growth of the U.S. Latino Muslim community is the subject of "Latinos and Islam: A Conversation on a Dimension of Latino Religious Pluralism," moderated by TCU's Hjamil A. Martinez-Vazquez, 6:30-8:30 p.m. Oct. 14 in Umphrey Lee Center. Presented by The Center for the Study of Latino/a Christianity and Religions in SMU's Perkins School of Theology.

Clements Center Brown Bag Lecture: Robert H. and Nancy Dedman Professor of History and Clements Center Director David Weber will discuss "The Risky Business of Editing Historical Documents: Letters from the U.S.-Mexico Boundary Survey, 1849-1854" at noon Oct. 15 in the Texana Room, DeGolyer Library. Bring your lunch. (Right, an image from George Clinton Gardner's personal letters courtesy of SMU's DeGolyer Library.)

Gilbert Lecture Series: University of Nevada-Reno Professor Scott Casper, author of Constructing American Lives: Biography and Culture in Nineteenth-Century America and Sarah Johnson's Mount Vernon: The Forgotten History of an American Shrine discusses "The Selling of the President - 19th-Century Style" Oct. 16 in DeGolyer Library. Reception at 6 p.m. in the Texana Room, lecture at 6:30 p.m. in the Stanley Marcus Reading Room.

SMU hosts its third debate watch event for the second presidential debate between John McCain and Barack Obama 7-10:30 p.m. Oct. 7 in O'Donnell Lecture and Recital Hall, Owen Arts Center.

Faculty experts will talk about what to expect beginning at 7 p.m., with live debate-watching to follow 8-9:30 p.m. SMU Forensics will sponsor a campus debate on the issues from 9:30-10:30 p.m. The evening will end with audience balloting on the results of the TV and campus debates.

The debate-watching events are part of an initiative by Meadows School of the Arts and its Division of Corporate Communications and Public Affairs to enhance SMU's speech and debate programs. The program will be repeated for the 4th presidential debate between McCain and Obama on Oct. 15.

SMU is part of the national DebateWatch 2008 program, a voter education initiative of the Commission on Presidential Debates.

Attendance records will be provided to interested instructors. For more information, contact Director of Forensics Ben Voth.

• Learn more about Presidential Debates at SMU
• Visit SMU's Election 2008 Experts site

(Originally published Sept. 30, 2008.)

SMU will present an evening of events surrounding the vice presidential debate between Joe Biden and Sarah Palin. The debate watch takes place 7-10:30 p.m. Oct. 2 in O'Donnell Lecture and Recital Hall, Owen Arts Center.

The event is part of an initiative by Meadows School of the Arts and its Division of Corporate Communications and Public Affairs to enhance SMU's speech and debate programs.

Prior to the debate, beginning at 7 p.m., faculty experts will explain what to expect during the event. Live debate-watching takes place 8-9:30 p.m., followed by a campus debate on the issues sponsored by SMU Forensics from 9:30-10:30 p.m. The evening will end with audience balloting on the results of the TV and campus debates.

SMU is part of the national DebateWatch 2008 program, a voter education initiative of the Commission on Presidential Debates.

The program will be repeated for the two remaining presidential debates between John McCain and Barack Obama on Oct. 7 and Oct. 15. Attendance records will be provided to interested instructors. For more information, contact Director of Forensics Ben Voth.

• Learn more about Presidential Debates at SMU
• Visit SMU's Election 2008 Experts site

Musician, composer and producer Quincy Jones - the most Grammy-nominated artist of all time - will discuss his more than 50 years in the entertainment industry in SMU's 2008-09 Tate Distinguished Lecture Series Oct. 7. The lecture takes place at 8 p.m. in McFarlin Auditorium.

Jones' career has spanned six decades and taken him through roles ranging from musician to producer to executive. He won his first Grammy Award in 1963 for his Count Basie arrangement of "I Can't Stop Loving You." He also was producer and conductor of the "We Are The World" recording, which became the best-selling single of all time. In 1997, Jones formed the Quincy Jones Media Group, whose feature film projects in development include adaptations of the Ralph Ellison novel Juneteenth and David Halberstam's chronicle of the early civil rights movement, The Children.

In addition, Jones will participate in the Turner Construction/Wachovia Student Forum at 4:30 p.m. in the Hughes-Trigg Student Center. Doors open at 4 p.m., and the entire SMU community is invited.

Learn more about this season's Tate lecturers and the Student Forum series for the community at smu.edu/tate.

Fast times: The Meadows Wind Ensemble presents "A Short Ride to Motown!" at 8 p.m. Oct. 3 in Caruth Auditorium. Tickets are $7 for SMU faculty, staff and students. For more information, contact the Meadows Ticket Office, 8-2787 (8-ARTS).

Art and Soul 2008: SMU's Perkins School of Theology hosts the Grammy Award-winning a cappella group Sweet Honey in the Rock (top right) at 7:30 p.m Oct. 3 in The Majestic Theatre in downtown Dallas. The concert is part of Art & Soul 2008, a quadrennial program made possible by the Claudia and Taylor Robinson Lectureship at Perkins School of Theology. Tickets are $20-$45 and are available from www.ticketmaster.com and at any Ticketmaster outlet, or by calling 214-373-8000.

Find your strengths: SMU Cox Executive Education and External Affairs welcome career success expert and 2007-08 Tate Distinguished Lecturer Marcus Buckingham (bottom right) for a special presentation to the SMU community. "The Truth About You" takes place at 4:30 p.m. Oct. 6 in McFarlin Auditorium, and special ticket pricing is available for SMU students, faculty and staff. For more information, call 8-4174.

Culture and revolt: Dedman College's Graduate Program in Religious Studies presents David N. Hempton, Alonzo L. McDonald Family Professor of Evangelical Theological Studies at Harvard Divinity School, in the 2008 Tate-Willson Lectures. Hempton will speak on "Culture Wars: George Eliot and Fundamentalism" at 7 p.m. Oct. 6 and "Artists in Revolt: Vincent van Gogh and James Baldwin" at 11:30 a.m. Oct. 7 at Highland Park United Methodist Church, Room 120. The lectures are free and open to the public.

About the journey: SMU hosts producer Morgan Atkinson in a screening of his film "Soul Searching: The Journey of Thomas Merton" at 7 p.m. Oct. 8 in the Hughes-Trigg Student Center Forum. The event is free and open to the public; donations will be accepted. Sponsored by the Office of the Chaplain and Religious Life, Catholic Campus Ministry, Pax Christi and the Maria Kannan Zen Center.

Pollster, author and lecturer John Zogby challenges conventional wisdom about the United States as isolated from the world, politically fragmented and preoccupied with material pleasure in his new book, The Way We'll Be: The Zogby Report on the Transformation of the American Dream. He will discuss his findings in SMU's ExxonMobil Lecture Series on Ethics in Advertising at 8 p.m. Oct. 1 in Caruth Auditorium, Owen Arts Center.

Zogby used thousands of polls conducted by his firm, Zogby International, to examine "the American dream in transition." He writes that this transition is defined by four "meta-movements":

• living with limits as consumers and citizens
• embracing diversity of views and ways of life
• looking inward to find spiritual comfort
• demanding authenticity from leaders, the media and institutions

The lecture will follow a 7 p.m. pre-reception and will be followed by a 9 p.m. reception, both in Taubman Atrium. The event is sponsored by SMU's Temerlin Advertising Institute in the Meadows School of the Arts and by the World Affairs Council of Dallas-Fort Worth. Admission is free; tickets are required. For more information, contact the Meadows Ticket Office, 8-2787 (8-ARTS).

The SMU community is invited to meet director Justin Malone and producer Robert Curlin at SMU's Dallas-area premiere of their new documentary film, "Undocumented." The event begins at 7 p.m. Oct. 1 in McCord Auditorium, Dallas Hall.

Malone and Curlin sent cameras to more than 25 American cities over a period of 4 months and came back with 320 hours of footage. The resulting film is a behind-the-scenes look into the world of illegal immigration that seeks to put human faces on the issues and fears arising from U.S. border security.

The movie will be followed by a Q&A with the filmmakers. Refreshments will be served. The screening is free and open to the public and is sponsored by SMU's Central University Libraries and Friends of the SMU Libraries.

• See the trailer for "Undocumented" at Vimeo

The Varsity in SMU's Hughes-Trigg Student Center will be transformed into a jazz club for a free performance by electro-acoustic jam band JamPact at 8 p.m. Oct. 1, 2008.

The band, a collaboration among Meadows Dean José Bowen and music faculty members from SMU's Meadows School of the Arts, performs "an improvisational mix of jazz, funk and world music." All performance pieces are world-premiere originals.

Appetizers and hot and cold coffee drinks will be served tableside during the concert. The Café Jazz series will continue with another JamPact performance at 8 p.m. Nov. 5. For more information, contact Mariana Sullivan at 8-1951.

Above, JamPact, left to right: Kim Corbet (trombone and synth), Meadows Dean José Bowen (piano), Buddy Mohamed (bass), Akiro Sato (trumpet) and Jamal Mohamed (drums).

U.S. Ambassador to China Clark T. Randt Jr. will share his insights on the 21st-century People's Republic in SMU's 2008-09 Tate Distinguished Lecture Series Sept. 30. The lecture takes place at 8 p.m. in McFarlin Auditorium.

Randt, the longest-serving U.S. ambassador to the People's Republic of China, was confirmed by the U.S. Senate on July 11, 2001. A lawyer fluent in Mandarin, Randt has lived and worked in Asia for more than 30 years. He was a resident of Beijing from 1982 through 1984, when he served as First Secretary and Commercial Attache at the U.S. Embassy. He also lived in Hong Kong for 18 years, most recently as a partner with the international law firm of Shearman & Sterling as head of the firm's substantial China practice. He is a member of the New York and Hong Kong bars and is a recognized expert on Chinese law.

In addition, Randt will participate in the Turner Construction/Wachovia Student Forum at 4:30 p.m. in the Hughes-Trigg Student Center. Doors open at 4 p.m., and the entire SMU community is invited.

Learn more about this season's Tate lecturers and the Student Forum series for the community at smu.edu/tate.

Meadows Theatre opened its 2008-09 season with an exploration of the human tragedy of the 1994 Rwanda genocide. The Overwhelming runs through Sept. 28 at 8 p.m. Friday-Saturday and 2 p.m. Saturday and Sunday in the Margo Jones Theatre, Owen Arts Center.

The drama centers on American professor Jack Exley, who takes his family to Rwanda in 1994 to seek his college classmate, Joseph Gasana - a Tutsi doctor who treats children with AIDS. But once the family arrives, they are not only unable to find Joseph, they are unable to find anyone who will even admit to having known him. As the Exleys become drawn into the tension and terror building to the genocidal war, they face overwhelming risks, betrayals and life-and-death decisions.

Written by award-winning playwright J.T. Rogers, The Overwhelming had its world premiere at the National Theatre of Great Britain and its American premiere in fall 2007 at New York's Roundabout Theatre Company. SMU is presenting the play's first Dallas performance, directed by Stan Wojewodski, Distinguished Professor of Directing.

The production Tickets are $7 for SMU faculty, staff and students. For more information, contact the Meadows Ticket Office, 8-2787 (8-ARTS).

(Right, M.F.A. candidate Matt Tallman as Jack Exley and junior Erik Carter as Samuel Mizinga, photographed by Linda Blase.)

Godbey Lecture Series: Psychology Professors George Holden and Buck Hampson join Law Lecturer Jessica Dixon, director of SMU's W.W. Caruth Jr. Child Advocacy Clinic, for a discussion of the issues involved in the FLDS Compound raid and its aftermath. "Big House on the Prairie" is scheduled for three consecutive Mondays beginning Sept. 29 at Maggiano's in NorthPark Center. Lecture at 11 a.m., lunch at noon. Register online or call 8-2532.

Art and Soul 2008: SMU's Perkins School of Theology hosts the Grammy Award-winning a cappella group Sweet Honey in the Rock (right) at 7:30 p.m in The Majestic Theatre in downtown Dallas. The concert is part of Art & Soul 2008, a quadrennial program made possible by the Claudia and Taylor Robinson Lectureship at Perkins School of Theology. Tickets are $20-$45 and are available from www.ticketmaster.com and at any Ticketmaster outlet, or by calling 214-373-8000.

For more than 30 years, SMU moms, dads, students and siblings have participated in the University's Family Weekend, celebrating longstanding traditions and launching new ones. This year, the Student Foundation plans an "SMU Safari" for Sept. 19-21

The weekend will include a luncheon co-sponsored by the Mothers' Club, barbecue co-sponsored by the Dads' Club, departmental open houses, student talent show and tailgating on the Boulevard before kickoff in the "Battle for the Iron Skillet" against TCU.

• Find a schedule at the Student Foundation website

SMU welcomes Lisa Webb, the University's new associate vice president for student affairs and dean of student life, with a reception 4-6 p.m. Sept. 23 in the Umphrey Lee Center Ballroom. Webb, the former associate dean of students and director of multicultural affairs at Lewis and Clark College in Portland, Oregon, began her SMU duties Sept. 1.

In McFarlin Auditorium:

• Sept. 26: TITAS presents comedienne and actress Wanda Sykes (right) at 8 p.m. For ticket information, call 214-528-5576.

Five years of fun and games: The Guildhall at SMU celebrates its 5th anniversary with a block party for the general public and game-industry professionals noon-3 p.m. Sept. 20 at SMU-in-Legacy. Faculty, staff, students and alumni are invited for fun, food and games for all ages (plus a bounce house and slide for the kids).

Collegium da Vinci Public Lecture: Dramatic images from the Hubble Space Telescope shine when Mario Livio, senior astrophysicist of the Space Telescope Science Institute, presents "The World According to the Hubble Space Telescope" in Collegium da Vinci's 2008 Allman Family Public Lecture. The event begins at 7:30 p.m. Sept. 21 in Crum Auditorium, Collins Executive Education Center. Admission is free. RSVP to 8-1177 or collegium@smu.edu.

Maguire Public Scholar Lecture: Can American religion develop a realistic appreciation of politics on its own terms? Robin Lovin, SMU's Maguire Chair in Ethics, discusses "Politics in Religious Perspective: Temptation, Tool or Task" at noon Sept. 24 in the Umphrey Lee Center Ballroom. The event begins with a reception at 11:30 a.m. and is free and open to the public. RSVP to Jo Ann Gonzales, 8-4255.

Former White House Chiefs of Staff Andrew Card and Mack McLarty will discuss the challenges facing the next President at 6 p.m. Sept. 18 in the Crum Auditorium, Collins Executive Education Center. The summit is hosted by SMU's Tower Center for Political Studies.

McLarty and Card helped usher in the Bill Clinton and George W. Bush administrations and will share their observations until 7:15 p.m. The summit will be preceded by a reception at 5:30 p.m.

The event is free and open to the entire University community. For more information, contact the Tower Center at 8-3665.

Meadows Museum presents an exhibition spanning the history of modern and contemporary drawing, starting with Goya and ending with Lucien Freud. From Manet to Miró, which runs Sept. 14-Dec. 2, features 65 drawings by some of the most important artists of the last two centuries, including Manet, Degas, Dalí and Miró.

The drawings are from the extensive holdings of one of Spain's most important private collections, that of Juan Abelló and his wife, Anna Gamazo. The Meadows exhibition will mark the first time the Abelló collection, ranked among the top 200 in the world, has been shown in the United States.

The selection of works highlighted in the exhibition covers the epic period of avant-garde movements from roughly Post-Impressionism to Surrealism. Spanish artists from this period are represented by Juan Gris, Miró, Julio González, Dalí, Óscar Domínguez and others.

The Museum will hold an opening reception for SMU faculty and staff 4:30-7:30 p.m. Sept. 17.

• More at the Meadows Museum site

(Right, Flattery by Juan Gris, 1908, pencil, color pencil and watercolor on paper. Photograph by José Loren, courtesy of The Abelló Collection.)

Foreign policy and national security will be up for discussion as James A. Baker III and Sam Nunn open SMU's 2008-09 Tate Lecture Series season Sept. 16. Baker, former U.S. Secretary of State under George H.W. Bush, and Nunn, former U.S. senator and chair of the U.S. Senate Committee on Armed Forces, will participate in a talk moderated by news analyst, former White House adviser and longtime Tate Series favorite David Gergen.

The lecture is sold out. All SMU community members are invited to attend the Turner Construction/Wachovia Student Forum with the Tate speakers at 4:30 p.m. on lecture day in the Hughes-Trigg Student Center. Doors open at 4 p.m.

Learn more about this season's Tate lecturers and the Tate Student Forum series for the community at smu.edu/tate.

We, the people: SMU celebrates Constitution Day Sept. 17 in the Hughes-Trigg Student Center Commons. Stop by during the day to view a copy of the United States' founding document - with cake, punch and a reading of the Preamble at 12:30 p.m.

Brown Bag Lecture: Clements Center Fellow Raphael Folsom will lecture on "This Weeping Land: The Making, Destruction and Rebirth of the Yaqui Mission Towns, 1533-1810," at noon Sept. 17 in the Texana Room, DeGolyer Library. Bring your lunch.

Faculty Club Distinguished Luncheon: Dedman College Dean Cordelia Candelaria will offer "Dedman College Perspectives" at noon Sept. 17 in the Umphrey Lee Center Ballroom. Cost is $12 for Faculty Club members, $15 for nonmembers. RSVP to Dee Powell, 8-3012.

Immigration conversation: In honor of SMU's 2008 Common Reading Experience, The Devil's Highway, the Fondren Library Center presents the documentary "Crossing Arizona" at 7 p.m. Sept. 17 in McCord Auditorium, Dallas Hall. Professors Ben Johnson, History, and Harold Stanley, Political Science, will discuss the film immediately following the screening. The screening is free and open to the public; refreshments will be served. Sponsored by Central University Libraries and Friends of the SMU Libraries.

Gilbert Lecture Series: TCU's Addie Levy Professor of Literature, Linda Hughes, discusses "Navigating the Material(ity) of Victorian Print Culture" Sept. 18 in DeGolyer Library. The evening begins with a 6 p.m. reception in the Texana Room, followed by a 6:30 lecture in the Stanley Marcus Reading Room.

Bring the kids: SMU celebrates Family Weekend 2008, "SMU Safari," Sept. 19-21 at points across campus - including Ford Stadium, where SMU plays TCU at 7 p.m. in the State Farm DFW Duel Battle for the Iron Skillet. Learn more at the Student Foundation website.

Fun and games: The Guildhall at SMU celebrates its 5th anniversary with a block party for the general public and game-industry professionals noon-3 p.m. Sept. 20 at SMU-in-Legacy. Faculty, staff, students and alumni are invited for fun, food and games for all ages (plus a bounce house and slide for the kids).

Last days of "Genius": Make plans now to see "Jack Kilby: The Eye of Genius," an exhibition of photography by the Texas Instruments engineer and Nobel Prize laureate, at Meadows Museum. The exhibition closes Sept. 21.

Huffington memorial service: SMU will hold a campuswide memorial service for the Honorable Roy M. Huffington ('38) of Houston, a longtime benefactor, at 10:30 a.m. Sept. 8 in Perkins Chapel. For more information, contact Suzy Brack in Program Services.

A "Welcome" exhibition: Twenty-eight recently acquired manuscripts, printed books and important fragments dating from 1459 to 1786 are the star attractions of "Welcome Additions: Bridwell Library's Recent Acquisitions in Context" (right). The new additions will be exhibited "in context" alongside closely related treasures from the Library's Special Collections. The exhibition runs from Sept. 8 to Dec. 12 in Bridwell's Elizabeth Perkins Prothro Galleries. For more information, call 8-3483.

Learning to lead: Students can pick up tips and techniques to enhance their leadership skills at the Fall 2008 Crain Leadership Institute, noon-4:30 p.m. Sept. 13 in the Hughes-Trigg Student Center. The Institute is sponsored by LEAD (Leadership Education, Activities and Development). The Institute is open to current and prospective student leaders and to students from outside the SMU campus. Participants can register online or contact SMU's Office of Leadership and Involvement.

A day without labor: SMU celebrates Labor Day Sept. 1. University offices will be closed, and no classes will be held.

Take it outside: The Faculty Club will host a Welcome Back BBQ 11:30 a.m.-1:30 p.m. Sept. 3 at the SMU Faculty Club. The cost is $5; members may use their free membership lunch pass. RSVP by Sept. 1 to Dee Powell, 8-3012.

Common Reading author to speak: Author Luis Alberto Urrea (The Devil's Highway) will give SMU's first 2008-09 Gartner Honors Lecture at 4 p.m. Sept. 8 in the Hughes-Trigg Student Center Theater. The entire SMU community and the general public are welcome.

How political is the U.S. Supreme Court, and how will this closely divided body be affected by the 2008 presidential election? SMU's Joseph Kobylka, Altshuler Distinguished Teaching Professor and associate professor of political science, will examine the interconnectedness of the Court and other American political institutions in the first event of the 2008-09 Godbey Lecture Series.

"The Supreme Court and Presidential Elections" is scheduled for three Mondays - Sept. 8, 15 and 22 - at Maggiano's in NorthPark Center. Each lecture begins at 11 a.m., with lunch to be served at noon.

Other fall events in this year's series include:

• "Modern China and the Imperial Legacy," Sept. 16 and 23 and Oct. 7
• "Big House on the Prairie," Sept. 29 and Oct. 6 and 13
• "Road to the White House 2008," Oct. 20 and 27, and Nov. 3 and 10
• "The Good Emperors and the Golden Age of the Roman Empire," Nov. 4, 11, 13 and 18

• Register online for the Supreme Court lectures.
• Learn more about the 2008-09 Godbey Lecture Series.
• Visit the Godbey Lecture Series home page.

SMU President R. Gerald Turner will address the University faculty at the Fall General Faculty Meeting Aug. 27 in the Hughes-Trigg Student Center. The 4 p.m. meeting in the Hughes-Trigg Theater will be preceded by a reception beginning at 3 p.m. in the Theater foyer.

Newly tenured faculty will receive their regalia, and Provost Paul Ludden will announce the recipient of the 2007-08 University Scholar/Teacher of the Year Award.

As students begin to arrive on the Hilltop, the entire campus is gearing up for the Fall 2008 semester. Keep track of some important dates and times with this handy back-to-school calendar:

• Mustang Corral: Aug. 21-23
• Common Reading discussion: Aug. 24, 2:15-3:15 p.m. in residence halls
• Convocation: Aug. 24, 5:30 p.m. (address by Dedman College Dean Cordelia Candelaria)
• President's Picnic: Aug. 24, 6:30-8 p.m.
• First day of class: Aug. 25
• General Faculty Meeting: Aug. 27 in the Hughes-Trigg Theater (reception at 3 p.m., meeting at 4 p.m.)
• Labor Day: Sept. 1 (University offices closed)
• First Faculty Senate meeting of 2008-09: Sept. 3, 3:10-5 p.m, Hughes-Trigg Student Center
• Family Weekend: Sept. 19-20
• Fall Break: Oct. 13-14
• Homecoming Weekend: Nov. 7-8
• Thanksgiving: Nov. 27-28 (University offices closed, no classes Nov. 26)

Visit the SMU calendar to keep an eye on upcoming events and learn how to submit events.

SMU's New Student Programs and Division of Enrollment Services invite the entire University community for ice cream and community bonding at the 3rd annual AARO Kick-Off Celebration in the Hughes-Trigg Student Center Commons, 1-2 p.m. June 26.

The event also kicks off the 2008-09 academic year as SMU welcome hundreds of new students through its Academic Advising, Registration and Orientation programs. The festivities will open with brief remarks by members of the SMU administration and AARO staff at 1:15 p.m.

A taste of Taos: The 2008 SMU-in-Taos Cultural Institute offers its annual "education vacations" July 17-20. Learn more about this year's summer weekend courses, taught by SMU faculty at the University's Northern New Mexico campus, at the Cultural Institute website. (Right, a Taos image by Mandy Dake, a student in the Cultural Institute's popular Digital Photography course.)

Faculty Exhibition held over: SMU Libraries' 2008 Faculty Recognition Exhibition has been held over through June 2. See your colleagues' work in Fondren Library Center.

Summer camps and courses: SMU offers a variety of summer programs for students of all ages. Visit their websites to learn more and register online:

• Summer youth programs at SMU-in-Legacy in computer animation, LEGO technology, digital photography and more
• Creative and performing arts classes in Meadows Community Education
• Sports camps run by SMU Athletics head coaches and staff, featuring discounts for SMU faculty and staff members
• SMU Summer Term for college students

SMU Informal Courses has new offerings starting weekly during summer 2008. Take advantage of One-Day Web Sales on the first Friday of each month to receive discounts for online registration for selected courses.

Summer enchantment: The 2008 SMU-in-Taos Cultural Institute takes place July 17-20, and the registration deadline is approaching. Find course information and online registration at the Cultural Institute website.

Popular recognition: SMU Libraries' 2008 Faculty Recognition Exhibition has been held over through June 2. See your colleagues' work in Fondren Library Center.

Celebrating art: SMU's Meadows Museum hosts a faculty/staff wine and cheese reception honoring "Gerardo Rueda: Monumental Sculpture from the Collection of IVAM," three pieces created by the prominent Spanish sculptor on loan from the Modern Art Museum in Valencia, Spain; and Art Professor Barnaby Fitzgerald's "Eve" and "Cartoon of Eve," two works inspired by the current exhibition "Fernando Gallego and His Workshop: The Altarpiece from Ciudad Rodrigo." The festivities take place 5:30-7:30 p.m. May 28, with remarks at 6:30, in Meadows Museum. The event is free; RSVP is required. Contact Museum Events, 8-4771.

Memorial Day weekend will be more than just a work holiday: Texas shoppers will also get a break from state and local sales and use taxes on purchases of some energy-saving products. The 2008 Energy Star sales tax holiday begins at 12:01 a.m. Saturday, May 24, and ends at 11:59 p.m. Monday, May 26 (Memorial Day).

Qualifying products will display the Energy Star logo (left), which may appear on the appliance, the packaging or the Energy Guide label. Energy Star is a joint program of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency and the U.S. Department of Energy. A product that earns the Energy Star has met strict energy efficiency guidelines set by these two federal agencies.

There is no limit on the number of qualifying items one can purchase during the sales tax holiday, and an exemption certificate is not required, says Michael Vangeli, P.E., SMU's associate director of energy management. Planning new purchases around the tax holiday "will help save people money and energy," he adds.

Find more information at the Texas Comptroller of Public Accounts website.

In appreciation: Only a few days left to visit the 2008 Faculty Recognition Exhibition - the show of work continues through May 19. See it now in Fondren Library Center.

Fun and games: Make plans now for the 2008 Staff Appreciation Day and President's Picnic - this year's celebration takes place 11:30 a.m.-1 p.m. May 22. Watch the SMU Forum for location and more information.

Commencement Countdown 2008:

• May 16: Baccalaureate
• May 17: Faculty Breakfast and Distinguished University Citizen Awards presentation
• May 17: Commencement
• May 17: School and departmental diploma ceremonies

With temperatures expected to remain in the 70s and low 80s all week, take advantage of the moderate weather and join the 2008 SMU Faculty/Staff Golf Scramble May 16 at Stevens Park Golf Club in Kessler Park, Oak Cliff (right). The $31 entry covers greens fees, cart, after-round beverages and door prizes.

The four-person scramble will have randomly assigned teams; participants must meet at the course by 12:45 p.m. on the day. Golfers of all skill levels are welcome. To participate, e-mail your name and average score by 3 p.m. May 15 to Jack Harper in Recreational Sports or call 8-3367.

SMU observes its 93rd Commencement May 16-17 with events for students, faculty, alumni and the entire community.

Dr. Allen Weinstein, the noted historian who oversees the nation's presidential libraries, will speak at the all-University ceremony at 9:30 a.m. May 17 in Moody Coliseum. The University expects to award nearly 2,000 undergraduate, graduate and professional degrees.

Some major events at a glance:

• May 16-17 - Class of 1958 golden reunion
• May 16 - Baccalaureate and Rotunda Recessional
• May 17 - Faculty Breakfast and Distinguished University Citizen Awards presentation
• May 17 - All-University Commencement
• May 17 - School diploma presentations

Find more information at the Registrar's Commencement 2008 website.

• Read more about the 2008 Commencement speaker.

Save the date: Make plans now for the 2008 Staff Appreciation Day and President's Picnic - the annual celebration takes place 11:30 a.m.-1 p.m. May 22. Watch the SMU Forum for location and more information.

Dinner with Friends: The Friends of the SMU Libraries will hold their Annual Dinner and Meeting at 6 p.m. May 12 at Popolo's Café. The featured speaker is Will Clarke, author of The Worthy: A Ghost's Story and Lord Vishnu's Love Handles. For more information, contact Amy Carver, 8-3225.

Commencement Countdown 2008:

• May 16: Baccalaureate
• May 17: Faculty Breakfast and Distinguished University Citizen Awards presentation
• May 17: Commencement
• May 17: School and departmental diploma ceremonies

Douglas Brinkley, presidential historian and best-selling editor of The Reagan Diaries, visits the Hilltop May 6. His appearance closes the 2007-08 season of SMU's Willis M. Tate Distinguished Lecture Series.

A fellow at Baker Institute and professor of history at Rice University, Brinkley specializes in presidential and 20th century history, with more than 30 books to his credit. The Reagan Diaries, published in 2007, was ranked No. 1 on The New York Times bestseller list for nonfiction. He expects to complete the editing of additional volumes of President Ronald Reagan's diaries in 2008.

Brinkley is the official historian for CBS News and a contributing editor for Vanity Fair, The Los Angeles Times Book Review and American Heritage. His 2006 work, The Great Deluge: Hurricane Katrina, New Orleans and the Mississippi Gulf Coast, received the 2007 Robert F. Kennedy Book Award.

The author will answer questions from SMU community members and local high school students in the Turner Construction Student Forum at 4:30 p.m. May 6 in the Hughes-Trigg Student Center Ballroom. Learn more at smu.edu/tate.

The Tate Series' 2008-09 season will be announced at Brinkley's lecture. Watch SMU Forum for more information after the announcement.

Celebrating excellence: SMU's Dedman College of Humanities and Sciences honors outstanding achievers - including 2008 Distinguished Graduate Robert W. Haley, M.D. at the annual Dedman Celebration 7-9 p.m. May 7 in Dallas Hall.

Libraries' leading lights: The SMU Libraries honor indispensable associates as nominated by the SMU community at the 2008 Outstanding Library Staff Awards ceremony and reception, 1:30 p.m. May 9 in the Texana Room, DeGolyer Library. All SMU community members are invited to attend.

Commencement Countdown 2008:

• May 16: Baccalaureate
• May 17: Faculty Breakfast and Distinguished University Citizen Awards presentation
• May 17: Commencement
• May 17: School and departmental diploma ceremonies

The spirit and heritage of American journalism is captured in a series of five new postage stamps to make their public debut at SMU.

At 10 a.m. April 29 in the Hughes-Trigg Commons, representatives from the U.S. Postal Service will unveil the 2008 American Journalist Series. Depicted on the stamps will be Martha Gellhorn, John Hersey, George Polk, Ruben Salazar and Eric Sevareid.

Local journalists participating in the ceremony will include John McCaa, ABC Channel 8; Tracy Rowlett, CBS Channel 11; Ken Kalthoff, NBC Channel 5; Clarice Tinsley, Fox 4 News; Bob Ray Sanders, assistant editor, Fort Worth Star-Telegram; and Miguel Amante, Telemundo News Channel 39. The event is free and open to the public.

Dr. Sally Ride, the United States' first woman in space, has partnered with the SMU School of Engineering and ExxonMobil to bring the Sally Ride Science Festival to the Hilltop April 26.

The festival is designed to encourage more young women to pursue higher education and careers in math, science and engineering. Featured events include workshops for students, parents and teachers led by local scientists and engineers; a street fair with booths, activities, food and music; and a keynote speech by Ride herself.

Advance registration is required; the $18 fee includes all the day's activities, plus lunch. Register online at the Sally Ride Science Fair website. For more information, visit the School of Engineering website.

• Hear Ride's interview on KERA's "Think" or download it to your iPod (37 min.).

We go together: The Student Foundation pays homage to the carnival scene in "Grease" with its theme for Mane Event 2008. The entire SMU community can enjoy the food, midway games and festivities at this annual celebration of the last day of class, 3-7 p.m. April 25 on the Main Quad. Get a sneak preview from a student organizer.

Paintings to pixels: Law Professor Bill Bridge will speak on "From the Cave to the iPod" in the Faculty Club's "Last Lecture" wine and cheese reception at 4 p.m. April 29 in the SMU Faculty Club. RSVP by April 25 to Dee Powell, 8-3012.

Meadows at the Meyerson: SMU's Meadows School of the Arts will present its 15th annual benefit concert at 7:30 p.m. April 29 in the Morton H. Meyerson Symphony Center, 2301 Flora St. Under the direction of conductor Paul Phillips, the Meadows Symphony will perform Tchaikovsky's Capriccio Italien, Emmanuel Chabrier's Espana and Manuel de Falla's First and Second Suites from The Three-Cornered Hat. Meadows Artist in Residence Chee-Yun will join the orchestra for a performance of Tchaikovsky's Violin Concerto. This year's honoree is arts patron and philanthropist Nancy Hamon. Tickets range from $6 to $100 and are available from the Meadows Ticket Office, 8-2787 (8-ARTS).

In McFarlin Auditorium:

• April 30: Dashboard Confessional will perform with special guest Five Times August in the Program Council's 2008 Code Red Concert at 8 p.m. Admission is free. For more information, call 8-4400.
• May 1: TITAS presents the East Village Opera Company (right) at 8 p.m. For ticket information, call 214-528-5576.

Meadows Theatre ends its 2007-08 season with a timely update of a timeless classic. The Meadows production of Molière's satire Tartuffe opens April 23 in the Greer Garson Theatre, Owen Arts Center.

Originally subtitled The Hypocrite and debuting in 1669 - 5 years after Molière completed his first version - Tartuffe tells the story of a con artist who wins the trust of a wealthy man by pretending to be a paragon of religious virtue. The Meadows version has been updated by 300 years, with the title character taking on the persona of a hippie guru.

Tartuffe would become the most popular and profitable of all Molière's plays, but its tweaking of religious hypocrisy and the French upper class led to its suppression by both church and secular authorities. It has since become the most frequently performed play in the French language.

The production is directed by Michael Connolly, associate professor and head of acting in the Meadows Theatre Division. Tickets are $7 each for faculty, staff and students. For more information, contact the Meadows Ticket Office, 8-2787 (8-ARTS). (Right, M.F.A. candidates Matt Tallman and Clay Bunker as Orgon and Tartuffe, with senior Emily Ernst as Elmire.)

SMU celebrates the coming end of the 2007-08 academic year by honoring some of its most distinguished faculty, staff and student citizens. The University's Honors Day Convocation and Awards Extravaganza take place on the afternoon and evening of April 21.

Willard Spiegelman, SMU's Duwain E. Hughes Jr. Distinguished Professor of English, will speak on "Success and Obedience: A List of Suggestions and Advice" at the 11th annual Honors Day Convocation at 5:30 p.m. in McFarlin Auditorium. The ceremony celebrates academic achievement at the University and department levels. A reception follows the Convocation in the Grand Ballroom, Umphrey Lee Center.

The University presents several awards for excellence - including its highest honor, the "M" Award - at the Awards Extravaganza at 7:30 p.m. in the Hughes-Trigg Student Center Theater. Winners will be listed in SMU Forum after they are announced at the ceremony.

Earth Week continues: SMU's Earth Week activities continue April 21-22 in the Hughes-Trigg Student Center. Pick up a free low-flow showerhead (while supplies last), gather information, and sign up for volunteer opportunities. In addition, you can hear VP for Student Affairs Christine Casey answer questions on SMU's earth-friendly policies and plans at 12:15 p.m. on Earth Day, April 22.

Underground art: The Meadows Underground Project presents a two-part mini-festival bridging classical, jazz and pop music, produced by Alessio Bax and featuring Bax, Dan Tepfer and the Dan Tepfer Trio, Gabriel Kahane, Chee-Yun, Andrés Díaz and others. "The Art of Improvisation" begins at 8 p.m. April 19 in the O'Donnell Recital Hall, featuring Kahane's songs and the Dan Tepfer Trio's improvisations. "Old and New Narratives" takes place at 7 p.m. April 20 in Caruth Auditorium and features Ravel's Mother Goose Suite, as well as Kahane's celebrated Craigslistlieder - a song cycle based on odd personal posts from Craig's List. Both venues are in Owen Arts Center, and both events are free.

We go together: The Student Foundation pays homage to the carnival scene in "Grease" with its theme for Mane Event 2008. The entire SMU community can enjoy the food, midway games and festivities at this annual celebration of the last day of class, 3-7 p.m. April 25 on the Main Quad. Get a sneak preview from a student organizer.

Greatest hits: The Meadows Dance Ensemble presents its biennial "Best of Meadows Dance" at 8 p.m. April 25-26 and 2 p.m. April 27 in the Bob Hope Theatre, Owen Arts Center. The concert will feature the most outstanding original student choreography from the fall and spring Brown Bag concerts and the senior-level showcase. Tickets are $7 for SMU faculty, staff and students. For more information, contact the Meadows Ticket Office, 8-2787 (8-ARTS).

In McFarlin Auditorium:

• April 18-19: TITAS presents the Aspen Santa Fe Ballet at 8 p.m. both nights. For ticket information, call 214-528-5576.

SMU's Division of Corporate Communications and Public Affairs celebrates diversity with three events April 15-17, 2008:

• Johnny C. Taylor, president and CEO of Black Web Enterprises Inc., discusses "Diversity, Leadership and Communication in the 21st Century" 6-7:30 p.m. April 15 in Meadows Museum.
• Martin J. Medhurst, Distinguished Professor of Rhetoric and Communication at Baylor University, speaks on "George W. Bush at Goree Island: American Slavery and the Rhetoric of Redemption" 6:30-8:30 p.m. April 16 in the Hughes-Trigg Student Center Forum.
• SMU's Lori White, vice president for student affairs, and Anthony Tillman, director of retention and strategic planning, present "Not Far Over the Rainbow: The Future of Diversity of SMU" 7:30-9:30 p.m. April 17 in Meadows Museum.

The presentations are part of "Communicating Excellence: Celebrating Diversity in the Communication Arts, Disciplines and Professions," a 3-day series highlighting "SMU's commitment to collaboration, interdisciplinarity, and the power of the word to enlighten, educate and transform people and places." For more information, contact Rebecca Hewitt, 8-1574.

SMU's Central University Libraries celebrate 2008 National Library Week, April 13-19, with an all-campus cookout. Stop by the Fondren Library West Courtyard 11 a.m.-2 p.m. April 16-17 for free food, fun and frisbees.

In addition, Library Enrichment and Development (LEAD) has created a short presentation on the history of SMU's libraries. Watch it on the plasma TV in the Fondren Library Center Information Commons, or see it online.

• Watch the 2008 National Library Week announcement starring Julie Andrews.

Screenwriter and producer James V. Hart ('69) will become the second distinguished SMU alumnus to be honored at the annual Ring Ceremony, which begins at 2 p.m. April 13 in McFarlin Auditorium. At the ceremony, SMU Young Alumni Programs and Development will present Hart with an SMU ring. Hart follows last year's inaugural honoree, Dr. Jim Caswell ('63, '66, '70).

Hart has spent more than three decades producing, directing and writing films, including "Hook," "Bram Stoker's Dracula," "Contact," "Sahara," "Muppet Treasure Island," "The Last Mimzy" and "August Rush." He has been a part of the Sundance Film Festival and Austin Film Festival and is a professor in Columbia University's graduate program. He will speak about his accomplishments and his time at SMU during the ceremony.

The SMU ring is a tradition dating back to 1924. At this year's fifth annual Ring Ceremony, more than 400 family members and friends will watch students receive their rings.

Young Alumni Programs and Development is headed by Director Andrew Snow, who created the Ring Ceremony five years ago. The department also holds events for Dallas-area alumni throughout the year.

SMU observes 2008 Earth Week April 14-22 with events and activities ranging from residence hall recycling competitions to student leadership training.

Campus sustainability activist Rachel Barge will offer a training session for student environmental leaders 5-7 p.m. April 16 in 153 Heroy Hall. As an undergraduate at the University of California-Berkeley, Barge co-created The Green Initiative Fund (TGIF), a student fee program that raises $200,000 annually for Berkeley campus sustainability projects including clean energy and transportation, energy efficiency, water conservation, and recycling and composting programs.

The University will participate in two public outreach events 8 a.m.-noon April 19. They include a tree planting at Richland College's TXU Urban Tree Farm, 12800 Abrams Rd., and a clean-up excursion on White Rock Lake, 1152 N. Buckner Blvd.

On Earth Day, April 22, Vice President for Student Affairs Christine Casey will speak about SMU's earth-friendly policies and plans, followed by a Q&A session, 12:15-1 p.m. in the Hughes-Trigg Commons.

The Rev. Dr. Joseph Lowery, renowned civil rights activist and former president of the Southern Christian Leadership Conference (SCLC), will receive SMU's Cooper Peace and Justice Fellowship during a lecture at 7 p.m. April 20 in McCord Auditorium, Dallas Hall. A reception will precede the lecture at 6 p.m. on Dallas Hall's third floor.

Called "the dean of the civil rights movement" by the NAACP, Lowery was a cofounder, with Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., of the SCLC and served as its president and CEO from 1977 to 1998. His previous awards include the Martin Luther King Jr. Center Peace Award and the National Urban League's Whitney M. Young Jr. Lifetime Achievement Award. In addition, he has received honorary doctorates from Dillard University, Morehouse College, Alabama State University and the University of Alabama.

The Cooper Peace and Justice Fellowship was established in 1992 to recognize the faithful service on behalf of issues of peace and justice by SMU Associate Chaplain Robert O. Cooper upon his retirement from the University. The Cooper Fellowship is sponsored by SMU's Office of the Chaplain, in collaboration with the University's Human Rights Education and Ethnic Studies programs and the Dallas Peace Center.

The William K. McElvaney Award in Social Justice will be awarded to an SMU student actively involved in human rights and social justice issues, to be announced at the lecture. The event is free and open to the public. For more information, contact the Office of the Chaplain, 8-4502.

Art for a cause: SMU will help raise money for refugees of ethnic and political violence as it hosts Art For Darfur 6-9 p.m. April 12 in the Taubman Atrium, Owen Arts Center. The event features a silent art auction with live music and a "Tents of Hope" community art project. Tickets are $5 for students, $10 general admission, $10 to participate in the tent painting. All proceeds benefit the International Rescue Committee's humanitarian work in Darfur and Eastern Chad.

A walk to remember: SMU Panhellenic holds its 2008 Relay For Life April 11-12 on Bishop Boulevard. Festivities begin at 6 p.m. April 11. All proceeds benefit the American Cancer Society.

Ready for some football? NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell speaks in the Guaranty Bank SMU Athletic Forum noon-1:30 p.m. April 16 at the Hilton Anatole Hotel. Individual tickets are $60 and can be ordered online.

Renaissance musicians: SMU's Brown Bag World Music Series presents Renaissance and Celtic music by Cantiga at noon April 16 in the Bob Hope Lobby, Owen Arts Center. Bring your lunch.

The romance of France: The Faculty Club presents a special dinner featuring Professor Emeritus Maurice Elton speaking on "My Love Affair With France." The event begins at 6 p.m. April 17 in the SMU Faculty Club. Cost is $25 for members; $30 for non-members. RSVP by April 14 to Dee Powell, 8-3012

Greek tragedy: The Meadows Opera Theatre presents Henry Purcell's Dido and Aeneas - including the rarely performed original Prologue and Epilogue - at 8 p.m. April 18 in the Margo Jones Theatre, Owen Arts Center. Admission is free.

In McFarlin Auditorium:

• April 18-19: TITAS presents the Aspen Santa Fe Ballet (bottom right) at 8 p.m. both nights. For ticket information, call 214-528-5576.

SMU's 2008 New Visions, New Voices Festival presents three new plays written and directed by undergraduate theatre students in Meadows School of the Arts. The festival runs April 9-13 in the Margo Jones Theatre, Owen Arts Center.

This year's productions include Darwin's Cousin, a play about eugenics; Panacea, a tragicomedy about a family dealing with their mother's death; and The Smoking Section, which deals with characters finding happiness in spite of painful losses. The festival is produced by Gretchen Smith, associate professor and head of theatre studies.

Showtimes are 8 p.m. Wednesday-Saturday and 2 p.m. Saturday and Sunday. Tickets are $7 each for SMU faculty, staff and students. For more information, contact the Meadows Ticket Office, 8-2787 (8-ARTS).

Energy development on Native American lands is the focus of the 2007-08 Annual Public Symposium presented by SMU's Clements Center for Southwest Studies. The event is cosponsored by the School for Advanced Research on the Human Experience, Santa Fe, and takes place 8:30 a.m.-5 p.m. April 12 in McCord Auditorium, Dallas Hall.

Native American lands make up a large percentage of the Southwest's total acreage, and on them are found much of the nation's oil, coal, and uranium resources. In addition, regional weather patterns have enabled native people to take advantage of solar and wind power as effective sources of energy. Presentations will document histories of resource extraction and energy development as episodes of exploitation, paternalism, and dependency, as well as show how energy development has enabled many Indians to break from these patterns and empower themselves socially, economically and politically.

Secondary school teachers and community college professors may earn up to seven CEU hours of continuing education credit for attendance. Register online or contact the Center for Southwest Studies, 8-3684.

Judaica Lecture: Serge Frolov, Nate and Anne Levine Endowed Chair in Jewish Studies in SMU's Department of Religious Studies, speaks on "Pillar of Smoke: Religious Responses to the Holocaust" at 2 p.m. April 6 in Bridwell Library. For more information, call 8-3483.

Birthday song: The Meadows Wind Ensemble honors Professor Simon Sargon with a 70th-birthday concert featuring commissioned pieces written by Sargon for the Wind Ensemble - including the world premiere of a new overture. The concert takes place at 3 p.m. April 6 in Caruth Auditorium; tickets are $7 for SMU faculty, staff and students. For more information, contact the Meadows Ticket Office, 8-2787 (8-ARTS).

True colors: Master of Fine Arts candidates show their work in the 2008 M.F.A. Qualifying Exhibition, April 7-19 in Pollock Gallery, Hughes-Trigg Student Center.

Perkins Public Lecture: SMU's Perkins School of Theology presents "Xenophobia and Xenophilia: Toward a Theology of Migration," a public lecture by Luis Rivera-Pagan, Henry White Luce Emeritus Professor of Ecumenics at Princeton Theological Seminary and visiting professor in Perkins, at 7 p.m. April 7 in Perkins Chapel. For more information, contact David Maldonado.

Sellers' market: SMU's vendors will meet the campus community at the 2008 SMU Purchasing Vendor Fair 11 a.m.-2 p.m. April 8 in the Hughes-Trigg Ballroom. Festivities include food, games and prizes. For more information, contact SMU Purchasing, 8-3239.

Hesburgh Lecture: John Gaffney, professor of anthropology at the University of Notre Dame, discusses "Lost in Translation? Bringing American Ideals to the Middle East" at 7 p.m. April 8 in Room 131, Dedman Life Sciences Building. Cosponsored by SMU's Department of Anthropology and Human Rights Education Program, with the Notre Dame Club of Dallas. For more information, contact Van Kemper.

Brand excitement: Veteran ad man and SMU alumnus Hal Curtis will be interviewed by Krys Boyd of KERA's "Think" program discussing "Brand Heroism: Advertising As a Force for Good" in the 2008 ExxonMobil Lecture Series. The April 10 lecture begins at 8 p.m. in Caruth Auditorium, with a coffee and chocolate reception at 9 p.m. in the Owen Arts Center lobby. Sponsored by SMU's Temerlin Advertising Institute and Maguire Center for Ethics and Public Responsibility. Admission is free; tickets are required. For more information, contact the Meadows Ticket Office, 8-2787 (8-ARTS).

SMU's Catholic Campus Ministry commemorates 75 years on the Hilltop with a special Mass to be celebrated by Dallas Bishop Kevin Farrell at 7 p.m. April 3 in Perkins Chapel - and featuring music written especially for the occasion by an SMU student.

Junior composition major Timothy Roy (right) devoted more than a year to writing Missa SMU for 24 voices, two soloists, a string orchestra, brass, organ and timpani. The President's Scholar earned local fame as composer of the music for Neiman Marcus' 100th anniversary celebration last fall.

• Read more from Texas Catholic.
• Listen to Roy's compositions for Neiman Marcus.

Two national speakers will visit SMU April 2 and 3:

• Jessica Valenti, founder of Feministing.com, will present a vision of feminism that debunks myths and focuses on its larger relationship to human rights in "Full Frontal Feminism" at 7 p.m. April 2 in the Hughes-Trigg Ballroom West. The lecture is sponsored by SMU's Women's Interest Network. For more information, contact Maria Walker, 8-4412.

• Former U.S. Attorney General John Ashcroft will speak on his time in the Bush Administration, including the creation of the USA PATRIOT Act, in the 2008 Harold Simmons Lecture at 7 p.m. April 3 in the Hughes-Trigg Theater. Sponsored by Campus Conservatives and the SMU Program Council. For more information, contact Andrew Davis, 205-572-2166, or Katy Rose, 8-4400.

Faculty and staff members can get a closer look at a major new Meadows Museum exhibition at a wine-and-cheese reception celebrating "Fernando Gallego and His Workshop: The Altarpiece From Ciudad Rodrigo," on display through July 27, 2008. Festivities take place 4:30-6:30 p.m. April 1 in the Museum's Gene and Jerry Jones Great Hall.

For the first time in the United States, researchers have undertaken an extensive study of a 15th-century Spanish cathedral altarpiece - and in the process unlocked 500 years of secrets. Their findings, along with the entire group of paintings that comprise the altarpiece, are now on view at the Museum.

Also appearing is "Apocalypse: Images from the Book of Revelation," an exhibition featuring biblical images from SMU's Bridwell Library Special Collections. "Apocalypse" runs through June 22. Read more.

(Right, an excerpt from the altarpiece's St. John the Evangelist panel, as painted and as revealed by infrared reflectography.)

Screen legend Mickey Rooney will visit the Hilltop March 29 for a 70th-anniversary screening of "Boys Town" at 3:15 p.m. in the Hughes-Trigg Student Center Theater. Tickets are $8.50 each and available online at the AFI Dallas website (scroll down to "Boys Town" in the B section of the Film Guide).

In this MGM classic, Rooney plays a tough delinquent named Whitey Marsh who finds a mentor in Father Edward Flanagan, the founder of the Nebraska "town" run for and by troubled teens. "Boys Town" received an Academy Award nomination for Best Picture of 1938, and the late Spencer Tracy won his second consecutive Oscar for his performance as Flanagan. More information is available at the movie's official website.

The screening is part of the American Film Institute Dallas International Film Festival, which runs through April 6. Rooney received an AFI Dallas Star Award for his career achievements at the event's opening celebration Thursday. Other 2008 recipients included actresses Helen Hunt and Charlize Theron, film executive Todd Wagner and animation director Chris Wedge. Actor Jack Lemmon received the award posthumously.

Also attending the screening will be Father Steve Boes, the current national executive director of Boys Town. The organization, which celebrated its 90th anniversary in December 2007, serves at-risk boys and girls in 14 locations nationwide. The home campus near Omaha remains one of Nebraska's top tourist attractions. (Right, Tracy and Rooney in a scene from the film.)

Three leaders in science, medicine and technology will discuss how the United States can stay a leader in these disciplines. Ralph J. Cicerone, Harvey V. Fineberg and Charles M. Vest will speak on "Rising Above the Gathering Storm: Saving U.S. Science and Technology Leadership" April 1 in SMU's 2007-08 Tate Distinguished Lecture Series.

Ralph J. Cicerone is president of the National Academy of Sciences and chair of the National Research Council. He has received a number of awards for his research in atmospheric chemistry and climate change. Harvey V. Fineberg is president of the Institute of Medicine. He has devoted most of his academic career to the fields of health policy and medical decision making. Charles M. Vest is president of the National Academy of Engineering. He chaired the President's Advisory Committee on the Redesign of the Space Station and serves on the President's Committee of Advisors on Science and Technology.

Cicerone, Fineberg and Vest will answer questions from SMU community members and local high school students in the Turner Construction Student Forum at 4:30 p.m. April 1 in the Hughes-Trigg Student Center Ballroom. Learn more at smu.edu/tate.

The Meadows Dance Ensemble at SMU's Meadows School of the Arts will perform works by Martha Graham and Twyla Tharp in its 2008 Spring Dance Concert, April 2-6 in the Bob Hope Theatre, Owen Arts Center.

The featured dances will be Lamentation (left), a solo masterwork by Graham, and Octet, Tharp's critically acclaimed 1991 piece for four men and four women. Lamentation, considered by many to be Graham's most famous solo work, was first performed in New York by Graham herself in 1930. The eight Octet dancers were trained by guest artist Shawn Stevens, a former Twyla Tharp company member who premiered the work in New York. Read more.

SMU's School of Engineering will induct three outstanding alumni into its Hall of Leaders during a celebration beginning at 6:30 p.m. March 28 in the Hamon Atrium, Dallas Museum of Art.

The 2008 honorees are Aart de Geus ('85), chairman, CEO and co-founder of Silicon Valley electronic design automation company Synopsys; Karen Livesay Shuford ('70), Dallas civic leader, volunteer and charitable trust consultant for the Bank of America Private Client Group; and Richard Ru-Gin Chang ('85), founder, president, CEO and executive director of Semiconductor Manufacturing International Corporation in Shanghai.

For more information, contact Alan Bordelon, 8-4136.

As part of a week of events highlighting HIV/AIDS awareness, sections of the NAMES Project AIDS Memorial Quilt - the 54-ton handmade tapestry that memorializes more than 90,000 individuals lost to AIDS - will be on display March 31-April 4, 2008 in the Hughes-Trigg Student Center Commons. Visitors may view the quilt from 10 a.m.-6 p.m.

The AIDS Memorial Quilt began in 1987 with a single 3 x 6-foot panel created in San Francisco. Today, it is composed of more than 47,000 panels, each one commemorating the life of someone who has died of AIDS.

"The Quilt is something everyone should experience at least once in their life. It is both beautiful and heartbreaking," says Ali Martin Scoufield, chair of SMU's Diversity Action Team.

HIV/AIDS Awareness Week is sponsored by SMU's Women's Center, SPECTRUM, MAPS, Affirming Religious Communities, Diversity Action Team and Peer Educators, with AIDS Arms Inc. and the Dallas Resource Center. For more information about HIV/AIDS Awareness Week, contact Maria Walker or Jakin Vela. For information about display of the AIDS Memorial Quilt, contact Ali Martin Scoufield, 8-2245. (Right, an AIDS Memorial Quilt block that includes a section from Texas Children's Hospital.)

Honor your colleagues: The Office of the Provost seeks nominations of outstanding teaching faculty, tenured and tenure-track, for a number of external teaching awards ranging from $5,000 to $200,000. Those submitting a candidate's name should include a letter giving the rationale and indicating willingness to be a formal nominator if the person becomes the SMU nominee for an award. Please include names of three additional references for the nominee. Each nomination should be endorsed by the nominee's department chair; chairs may endorse more than one nominee. Please send nominations to the Office of National Fellowships, Office of the Provost, by April 20, 2008. Watch the SMU Forum for additional information.

From Russia with love: Pianist Andrey Ponochevny, winner of the International Tchaikovsky Competition, and mezzo soprano Marina Khankhalaeva, soloist of Buriatiya State Opera and Ballet Theatre, are featured performers in SMU's 2008 Russian Festival beginning at 2 p.m. March 29 in the Meadows Museum. The program includes music and songs of Scriabin, Rachmaninov, Tchaikovsky, Prokofiev, Gavrilin, Bizet and Rossini. Tickets are $10-$20; admission is free for SMU students and children under 12. For more information, visit the Russian American Center website.

Interdisciplinary Dialogue: SMU's Perkins School of Theology hosts "Religious Borders, Educational Borders: Cultural Practices and Spiritual Spaces, the Case of Latino Youth" 6:30-8:30 p.m. April 1 in 207 Kirby Hall. Featured speakers include Hector Rivera, assistant professor in the Annette Caldwell Simmons School of Education and Human Development, and Harold Recinos, professor of church and society in Perkins School of Theology. For more information, contact Hector Rivera, 8-2917.

Drumming it up: The Meadows Percussion Ensemble performs with guest artists the Meadows World Music Ensemble at 8 p.m. April 1 in Caruth Auditorium, Owen Arts Center. Admission is free.

D founder speaks: D Magazine founder and owner Wick Allison speaks in the next Faculty Club Distinguished Luncheon at noon April 2 in the SMU Faculty Club. Price is $12 for Faculty Club members, $15 for nonmembers. RSVP by March 28 to Dee Powell, 8-3012.

From pews to bleachers: To commemorate the first day of 2008 baseball season, Perkins Associate Professor of Christian Worship Mark Stamm leads a baseball-themed Opening Day service at 11:30 a.m. April 2 in Perkins Chapel.

Art & Soul: The Perkins School of Theology's 2008 Art & Soul program presents the Choir of King's College Cambridge (top right) April 3 at the Cathedral Shrine of Our Lady of Guadalupe, 2215 Ross Avenue. Doors open at 7 p.m. for the 7:30 p.m. performance. Tickets are $28 and available online from Ticketmaster.

A song for you: The Meadows Opera Theatre performs scenes from opera and musical theatre in "Opera Free For All" at 1 p.m. April 4 in the Taubman Atrium. Bring your lunch.

In McFarlin Auditorium:

• March 29: Dancers, poets and musicians from Algeria, Bosnia, Iran, Pakistan, Tajikistan and Syria present A Mystical Journey - Sufi Music and Other Expressions of Devotion from the Muslim World at 2 p.m. For ticket information, e-mail Golden Jubilee USA. (Bottom right, performer Salman Ahmad, photographed by Aziz Ladha.)
• April 4: The SMU Program Council presents the 2008 edition of Sing Song, featuring student teams performing musical numbers and skits they create themselves. The show begins at 7 p.m.; for more information, call 8-4400.

His Excellency Andreas Kakouris, ambassador of the Republic of Cyprus to the United States, will visit SMU March 26 to discuss "Human Conflict and Cultural Violence: The Case of Cyprus." Panelists include Annemarie Weyl Carr, University Distinguished Professor of Art History; P. Gregory Warden, University Distinguished Teaching Professor of Art History; and Rick Halperin, director of SMU's Human Rights Education Program.

The lecture begins at 4 p.m. in Smith Auditorium, Meadows Museum, and will be followed by a reception from 5:30-6:30 p.m. in the museum's Jones Hall. The event is free and open to the public and is sponsored by SMU's Maguire Center for Ethics and Public Responsibility, John Goodwin Tower Center for Political Studies, Division of Art History and Perkins School of Theology. For more information, contact Terri Gwinn, 8-2162.

Cali Lewis and Neal Campbell, the host and producer/editor of the popular gadget podcast GeekBrief TV, will share their Netcasting knowledge with the University community at 1 p.m. March 26 in the Hughes-Trigg Ballroom East. The event is open to anyone who is interested in podcasting or producing media for the Net.

The event is sponsored by the SMU Mac User Group and is part of 2008 MacWeek @ SMU. Refreshments will be served, and a prize drawing will follow the presentation. For more information, contact Ian Aberle.

The discussion begun in the "Big Questions, Worthy Dreams" conference continues March 26 with SMU's first follow-up event, "The University as a Mentoring Environment: Life of the Mind and Life of the Spirit." The brown-bag panel discussion will be led by Marva McGrew, Hegi Family Career Development Center; Frank Santoni, Catholic Campus Ministry; and Matthew Wilson, Department of Political Science.

The event is scheduled for noon-1 p.m. in the Hughes-Trigg Student Center, Atrium A-B (3rd floor). Bring your lunch; drinks will be provided.

Art holiday: The University may be closed March 21, but Meadows Museum will be open for the Good Friday holiday. The Museum is closed on Easter Sunday, March 23, and will resume regular hours March 25. Admission is free for SMU community members and their guests.

Teaching today's students: The Annette Caldwell Simmons School of Education and the Office of Student Affairs presents a lecture by Jean Twenge, associate professor of psychology at San Diego State University and author of Generation Me: Why Today's Young Americans Are More Confident, Assertive, Entitled - and More Miserable Than Ever Before. "The Psychology of Today's College Student: Generation Me in the Classroom" is scheduled for 2-4 p.m. March 24 in the Hughes-Trigg Theater. RSVP to Troy Behrens in SMU's Hegi Family Career Development Center.

Faculty talent: Faculty artists from SMU's Division of Music - including Andrés Díaz (cello), Chee-Yun Kim (violin), Paul Garner (clarinet), Carol Leone (piano) and Kara Welch (flute) - will perform Oliver Messiaen's Quartet for the End of Time and George Crumb's Vox Balaenae (Voice of the Whales) in a Faculty Chamber Music Recital 8 p.m. March 25 in Caruth Auditorium, Owen Arts Center. Admission is free.

Nate and Ann Levine Lecture: Amy-Jill Levine, Vanderbilt University, discusses "Jesus and Judaism" at 7:30 p.m. March 27 in McCord Auditorium, Dallas Hall. For more information, call the Department of Religious Studies at 8-2099.

Concerto champs: The Meadows Symphony Orchestra presents its 2008 "New Talent" show, featuring winners of the annual Meadows Concerto Competition, at 8 p.m. March 28 and 3 p.m. March 30 in Caruth Auditorium, Owen Arts Center. Tickets are $7 for SMU faculty, staff and students.

In McFarlin Auditorium:

• March 20: TITAS presents the theatrical gymnastics of Aeros at 8 p.m. For tickets, call 214-528-5576.
• March 28: TITAS presents Grammy Award-winning jazz vocalist Dianne Reeves (bottom right) at 8 p.m. For tickets, call 214-528-5576.

Global Connections, SMU's international organization for students, celebrates the many cultures and more than 90 countries represented on campus with International Night Mar. 19.

Set for 6 to 9 p.m. in the Hughes-Trigg Student Center ballrooms, the event includes food from Dallas' ethnic restaurants and professional performers from Turkey, Spain, Argentina and China. SMU's international students also have been invited to perform and provide cultural displays about their home countries.

"The entire campus community is invited to International Night to celebrate and learn more about the incredible diversity at this University," says Kellen Correia, assistant director at SMU's International Center, noting that last year's event drew more than 100 students, faculty and staff members.

The $5 admission price covers food, drinks and entertainment. For more information, contact the International Center at 8-4475.

Dates to learn: The 2008 Staff Development Day, sponsored by the SMU Staff Association, is scheduled for Mar. 13. This year's Risk Assist Fair takes place Mar. 14. Register online now for the Risk Assist Fair, and watch the SMU Forum for additional information on both events.

Judaica Lecture: Nils Roemer, professor of Jewish studies at the University of Texas at Dallas, discusses "Jewish Messianism on Trial: German and Jewish Debates on Redemption" at 2 p.m. Mar. 9 in the Bridwell Library.

Future forward: Provost Paul Ludden will discuss "The Future as SMU's New Provost" in a Faculty Club Distinguished Luncheon at noon Mar. 19 in the SMU Faculty Club. The cost is $12 for Faculty Club members, $15 for nonmembers. RSVP by Mar. 14 to Dee Powell, 8-3012.

Clements Center Brown Bag Lecture: Clements Center Fellow Joaquín Rivaya-Martínez discusses "Captivity, Slavery and Adoption Among the Comanche Indians, 1700-1875" at noon Mar. 19 in the Texana Room, DeGolyer Library. Bring your lunch.

Scott-Hawkins Lecture: John Sullivan (right, at left in photo), professor in the Graduate Program in Colonial History at the Universidad Autónoma de Zacatecas, will speak on "Reviving the Historic Nahuatl (Aztec) Language of Mexico" Mar. 19 in DeGolyer Library. A reception begins at 6:30 p.m., with the lecture to follow at 7 p.m. For more information, contact Sharron Pierson, 8-2984.

A limited number of faculty and staff tickets are still available to hear former British Prime Minister Tony Blair's address to the Hart Global Leaders Forum at 11 a.m. Mar. 6 in McFarlin Auditorium. Present your SMU ID at the Hughes-Trigg Student Center Mane Desk - one ticket per ID, while they last.

The Hart Global Leaders Forum offers area high school students the opportunity to interact with national and international leaders in government, business, science and the media.

ABC News anchor and reporter Bob Woodruff, who was seriously injured while reporting on the war in Iraq, will visit campus Mar. 4 with his wife, Lee Woodruff. The Woodruffs will speak in SMU's 2007-08 Tate Distinguished Lecture Series.

Bob Woodruff joined ABC News in 1996 and has covered major stories throughout the country and the world for the network. He became co-anchor of ABC's "World News Tonight" in December 2005. On Jan. 29, 2006, while reporting on U.S. and Iraqi security forces, Woodruff suffered traumatic brain injury from a roadside bomb that struck his vehicle near Taji, Iraq. Since then, he has returned to work at ABC News and currently is undergoing outpatient rehabilitation in the New York area. In February 2007, Bob and Lee Woodruff released In an Instant: A Family's Journey of Love and Healing, a personal memoir about Bob's recovery from the attack and the medical and family support that helped him heal.

The Woodruffs will answer questions from SMU community members and local high school students in the Turner Construction Student Forum at 4:30 p.m. Mar. 4 in the Hughes-Trigg Student Center Ballroom. Limited seating may be available; faculty and staff members are encouraged to come to the Ballroom and wait to be seated. Learn more at smu.edu/tate.

SMU faculty and staff members will have the opportunity to see former British Prime Minister Tony Blair during his visit to SMU Mar. 5-6. Free tickets are available for Blair's address in the Hart Global Leaders Forum at 11 a.m. Mar. 6 in McFarlin Auditorium. Present your SMU ID at the Hughes-Trigg Student Center Mane Desk (one ticket per ID, limited availability).

The Hart Global Leaders Forum offers area high school students the opportunity to interact with national and international leaders in government, business, science and the media.

Blair will be at SMU to accept the Medal of Freedom from SMU's John Goodwin Tower Center for Political Studies during formal ceremonies at 8:30 p.m. Mar. 5 in McFarlin Auditorium. The Center, which educates undergraduates in international relations, comparative politics and political institutions, presents the Medal of Freedom every two years to an individual "who has furthered the cause of freedom throughout the world."

The Medal of Freedom presentation is sold out; SMU students may have access to limited seating. Students should come to the McFarlin Auditorium basement at 7:30 p.m. with SMU ID (no backpacks, please). Seats will be allocated on a first come, first served basis. Find more information at the Tate Distinguished Lecture Series home page.

International award-winning pianist and SMU faculty member Alessio Bax will perform in the Meadows School of the Arts' 2007-08 Distinguished Artist Recital Series Mar. 1. The performance begins at 8 p.m. in Caruth Auditorium, Owen Arts Center.

First-prize winner of both the renowned Leeds and Hamamatsu international competitions, Bax has played with major orchestras from London to Tokyo to Dallas and with significant music festivals worldwide. His concert program features Bach's "Air" from Orchestral Suite No. 3 in D Major and "Siciliano" from his Sonata for Flute and Harpsichord; Beethoven's Sonata in F Minor, Op. 57 ("Appassionata") and Brahms' Four Ballades, Op. 10 and Variations on a Theme of Paganini, Op. 35, Book 1.

A student of Joaquín Achúcarro, SMU's Joel Estes Tate Professor of Piano, Bax received his Artist Certificate (1996) and Master of Music degree in piano performance (1998) from the University.

Tickets are $7 for SMU faculty, staff and students. For more information, contact the Meadows Ticket Office, 8-2787 (8-ARTS).

Just a reminder: SMU's 2008 Spring Break takes place Mar. 10-15. Keep an eye on the SMU Forum for campus hours and activities information.

Lone Star finale: The Meadows Museum' dual exhibitions "Jerry Bywaters: Interpreter of the Southwest" and "Jerry Bywaters: Lone Star Printmaker" close Mar. 2. Make plans to visit now; hours and additional information are available at the Meadows Museum website. (Top right, a section of Jerry Bywaters' Dallas County Courthouse, 1936.)

Dates to learn: The 2008 Staff Development Day, sponsored by the SMU Staff Association, is scheduled for Mar. 13. This year's Risk Assist Fair takes place Mar. 14. Register online now for the Risk Assist Fair, and watch the SMU Forum for additional information on both events.

White House honors: SMU has become a Certifying Organization for the President's Volunteer Service Award, a national program recognizing Americans who have shown a sustained commitment to volunteer service. Nominate an SMU student, faculty or staff member by Mar. 6; for more information, visit the Leadership and Community Involvement awards page.

Voices carry: SMU's Meadows Chorale will perform great works of the choral repertoire at 3 p.m. Mar. 2 in Caruth Auditorium, Owen Arts Center. Tickets are $7 for SMU faculty, staff and students; contact the Meadows Ticket Office, 8-2787 (8-ARTS).

Access and equity: SMU's 2008 Spring Higher Education Symposium, "Prisms of Diversity: Affirmative Action, Access, Inclusion and Equity," takes place Mar. 4-6 at the Radisson Hotel Central, 6060 N. Central Expy. For more information, call SMU Institutional Access and Equity, 8-3601.

Interdisciplinary Dialogue: SMU's Perkins School of Theology hosts "Latinos, Religion and Politics" 6:30-8:30 p.m. Mar. 4 in 207 Kirby Hall. The event will be moderated by Tony Cortese, professor of sociology in Dedman College. For more information, contact Tony Cortese, 8-2917.

World rhythms: West African dancer, drummer and musician Moussa Diabate (bottom right) performs with his group Jelykunda at noon Mar. 5 in the Bob Hope Theatre lobby, Owen Arts Center. The free concert is part of SMU's Brown Bag World Music Series.

Broadway showcase: The Meadows Opera Theatre and Division of Theatre present 14 Meadows singing actors performing Broadway selections in "A Musical Theatre Showcase with Kimberly Grigsby" at 1 p.m. Mar. 7 in the Taubman Atrium, Owen Arts Center. The performance is the culmination of a two-week workshop with acclaimed Broadway music director/conductor Kimberly Grigsby ('91), currently music director for Spring Awakening, the 2007 Tony Award winner for Best Musical. The performance is free; bring your lunch.

As U.S. citizens contemplate the possibility of electing their first woman president in 2008, SMU's 43rd Women's Symposium will explore the new status of women as leaders on campus and in society with its Feb. 28 event, "The Time Is Now."

"The time is now to talk about all the ways in which women are advancing, in every arena," says Women's Symposium Coordinator Karen Click.

Eleanor Clift (right), contributing editor for Newsweek and co-author of Madam President: Shattering the Last Glass Ceiling, will deliver the Emmie V. Baine Lecture during lunch, which begins at 12:25 p.m. A 3 p.m. interest session, "Madam President: An SMU Model," brings together the University's past and present women student body leaders to discuss their experiences.

With Senator Hillary Clinton continuing a historic run for the White House, Symposium planners brought a heightened sense of the political climate to this year's event, Click says. "We were well aware of this turning point when we put together this year's event - in fact, that's how we came up with our theme," she says. "The unprecedented success of her campaign gives us a platform to speak broadly about women who are shattering glass ceilings everywhere."

Created in 1966 as part of the University's 50th anniversary celebration, the Women's Symposium is the longest continuously running program of its kind in the nation. It features nationally recognized speakers as well as seminars on topics of national interest and workshops conducted by students, community leaders, and SMU faculty and staff.

Symposium registration is free for SMU faculty, staff and students; the deadline is Feb. 22. Register online at the Women's Symposium website.

Meadows Theatre presents an award-winning play from a groundbreaking and controversial writer with its production of Trouble in Mind, running Feb. 27-Mar. 2 in the Greer Garson Theatre, Owen Arts Center.

Written in the 1950s by African-American playwright, actress and novelist Alice Childress, the play revolves around the character of Wiletta Mayer, a black actress of a certain age who has spent her career playing stereotypes. As the curtain rises on her first day of rehearsal for "Chaos in Belleville," a Broadway-bound play that tackles the harsh truths of racism in America, her insistence on her dignity may cost her the work she desperately needs.

Trouble in Mind was a smash hit off-Broadway in 1955, making Childress the first female winner of an Obie Award for best off-Broadway play of the year. The play was slated for a move to Broadway, which was canceled when Childress refused the producers' request to brighten its ending for a commercial audience.

Tickets are $7 for SMU students, faculty and staff. For more information, call the Meadows Ticket Office at 8-2787 (8-ARTS) or visit the Meadows website. (Right, M.F.A. candidate Ginneh J. Thomas as Wiletta, senior Sky King as Al Manners and sophomore Ozioma Akagha as Millie Davis.)

Final weekend for film festival: SMU's 2008 Japanese Film Festival concludes Feb. 22-23 with screenings of Shinobi: Heart Under Blade (right) on Friday and Whisper of the Heart on Saturday. Both are in Japanese with English subtitles and begin at 6:30 p.m. in McCord Auditorium, Dallas Hall. Admission is free. Learn more about the films at the SMU Japan Club website.

Jam session: Electro-acoustic jazz group JamPact, featuring Meadows Dean José Bowen and other faculty members, offers a free performance at 8 p.m. Feb. 23 in the Bob Hope Theatre, Owen Arts Center. For more information, contact the Division of Music, 8-2880.

Extreme homebuilding: SMU students and community members will participate in a Habitat for Humanity Blitz Build 8:30 a.m.-4 p.m. Feb. 23-24.

Gotta dance: The Meadows Division of Dance presents its Spring 2008 Brown Bag Dance Series noon-1 p.m Feb. 25-29 in the Owen Arts Center lobby. Bring your lunch for free performances of original ballet, modern and jazz works choreographed by students.

Who's that girl? The Gartner Honors Lecture Series continues Feb. 25 with "Iconicity and Advertising: Shanghai, Mukden, Tianjin and the Modern Girl Icon." Tani E. Barlow, University of Washington, will discuss the central role of generic "modern girl" images in Chinese advertising of the 1920s and '30s at 3:30 p.m. in the Texana Room, DeGolyer Library.

New frontiers: SMU's Clements Center for Southwest Studies hosts Stanford history professor Alberto Camarillo, author of Not White, Not Black: Mexicans and Racial/Ethnic Borderlands in American Cities. Camarillo will speak on "Cities of Color: The New Racial Frontier in California's Minority-Majority Cities" Feb. 26 in DeGolyer Library. Reception at 6 p.m., lecture at 6:30 p.m. with a booksigning to follow.

All that jazz: The Meadows Jazz Orchestra, led by Akira Sato, gives a free concert at 8 p.m. Feb. 26 in the Bob Hope Theatre, Owen Arts Center. For more information, call 8-2787 (8-ARTS).

Join the Club: The SMU Faculty Club presents a Clubhouse Luncheon with Tinsley Silcox, Central University Libraries director of public services, who will discuss "Preserving the Heritage of African-American Filmmakers." Lunch begins at noon Feb. 27 in the Faculty Club; cost is $5. RSVP by Feb. 26 to Dee Powell, 8-3012.

The entire SMU community is invited to a ribbon-cutting ceremony that will officially open the new Crum Basketball Center. The ceremony begins at 11:45 a.m. on the Center's east practice court; afterward, lunch will be served on the west practice court. The Center is located at Binkley Avenue and Dublin Street, just east of Moody Coliseum.

The University broke ground for the Crum Basketball Center in December 2006 to create a dedicated, state-of-the art space where SMU men's and women's basketball programs can practice and train. It includes separate full-size practice courts for each program, locker rooms and lounges, training and rehabilitation areas, coaches' offices, meeting areas and film editing rooms. The teams began practicing in the new facilities in December 2007.

Learn more about the Center and find construction photos and other artwork at the SMU Athletics website.

How will NASA handle a medical emergency during a manned mission to Mars? That's the question 1,000 Dallas-area middle school students will work to answer when they visit the SMU campus Feb. 16 to take part in Visioneering 2008. Read more.

A popular new program for SMU students has become an innovative professional development opportunity for SMU employees. The Office of Human Resources will offer an introduction to StrengthsQuest among its Spring 2008 Professional Development Workshops. Read more.

Meadows theatre students have taken the lead in bringing Broadway to SMU with their new production of Urinetown: The Musical, to be performed Feb. 16 at 8 p.m. and Feb. 17 at 2 p.m. and 8 p.m. in the Margo Jones Theatre, Owen Arts Center.

A Tony Award-winning hit on Broadway, Urinetown is the story of a city where the water shortage caused by a 20-year drought has resulted in a government ban on private toilets. All citizens must pay crippling fees to use public toilets controlled by a corrupt corporation, or risk being sent to "Urinetown" - never to return. The staging is entirely student-driven, with theatre majors serving as directors, designers, choreographers, producers and actors. Four students from the Division of Music will provide live accompaniment.

Tickets are free and available on a first-come, first-served basis at the theatre door one hour before each show. For more information, call Bryan Lewis at 214-663-6761.

Civil Rights Pilgrimage: SMU's 2008 Spring Break Civil Rights Pilgrimage takes place Mar. 7-15. Students, faculty and staff members are welcome; the cost of $350 includes travel, museum fees and lodging (based on 4-per-room occupancy). Space is limited; for information and reservations, contact the Chaplain's Office, 8-4502.

Culture klatsch: The SMU Faculty Club presents Mel Fugate, management and organizations expert in the Cox School of Business, speaking on "Institutional Cultures" in the Clubhouse Lunch Series at noon Feb. 20 in the Faculty Club. Cost is $5; RSVP by Feb. 15 to Dee Powell, 8-3012.

Legend and legacy: SMU History Professor Tom Stone discusses the national tragedy that became the ultimate murder mystery in "The Legend of the JFK Assassination" at 3:30 p.m. Feb. 20 in the Texana Room, DeGolyer Library. The presentation is part of the 2007-08 Gartner Honors Lecture Series. (Top right, an official portrait of John F. Kennedy from a memorial folio in the Stanley Marcus Collection, used with permission of SMU's DeGolyer Library.)

Japanese dreams: SMU's 2008 Japanese Film Festival opens Feb. 15-16 with screenings of Swing Girls on Friday and Millennium Actress on Saturday. The festival continues Feb. 22-23 with Shinobi: Heart Under Blade (bottom right) and Whisper of the Heart. All films are in Japanese with English subtitles and begin at 6:30 p.m. in McCord Auditorium, Dallas Hall. Admission is free. Presented by the SMU Japan Club, Meadows School of the Arts, the Japan-America Society of Dallas/Fort Worth, and the SMU Japanese Program; sponsored by SMU's Tower Center for Political Studies and the SMU Japan Club. Learn more about this year's festival films at the SMU Japan Club website.

A soldier's story: The Meadows Wind Ensemble performs Igor Stravinsky's Histoire du soldat - and works by Piazzolla, Joplin, Sousa and Strauss from the genres that inspired it - at 8 p.m. Feb. 22 in Caruth Auditorium, Owen Arts Center. Tickets are $7 for SMU faculty, staff and students; contact the Meadows Ticket Office, 8-2787 (8-ARTS).

University of Arkansas junior Darren McFadden will receive the 2007 Doak Walker Award at a 7 p.m. presentation banquet Feb. 15 at the Hilton Anatole Hotel. In 2007, McFadden earned 20 touchdowns rushing, receiving and passing and led the Southeastern Conference with 1,725 rushing yards - setting the Arkansas single-season and career rushing records. McFadden also was the 2006 recipient of the award and is its second two-time recipient.

Marcus Allen, former USC and NFL great, will receive the 2007 PricewaterhouseCoopers Doak Walker Legends Award. During his senior year with the Trojans, Allen earned the 1981 Heisman Trophy and became the first player in NCAA history to rush for more than 2,000 yards (2,342 total). An NFL and Super Bowl MVP, he played for 16 seasons with the Oakland (now Los Angeles) Raiders and Kansas City Chiefs and is a member of the College and Pro Football Halls of Fame. Allen and his wife, Kathryn, serve as spokespeople for Ronald McDonald Children's Charities.

The presentation banquet will be hosted by Lee Corso, Chris Fowler and Kirk Herbstreit, co-hosts of "ESPN College Gameday." For more information, contact the Office of Program Services, 8-4314.

This week, SMU faculty and staff will participate in a conference on creating mentoring environments for students. Sharon Daloz Parks, director of leadership for the New Commons of the Whidbey Institute, is keynote speaker for "Big Questions, Worthy Dreams: Mentoring Young People in Their Search for Meaning, Purpose and Faith." The two-day conference features faculty sessions Feb. 14 (faculty may choose to attend a morning or afternoon session) and a staff session 10 a.m.-3:30 p.m. Feb. 15 (lunch included). This free event is sponsored by the Office of the Chaplain and Religious Life; registration is required. For more information, contact Judy Henneberger, 8-4502.

Eleanor Clift, contributing editor for Newsweek and co-author of Madam President: Shattering the Last Glass Ceiling, will deliver the Emmie V. Baine Lecture in SMU's 43rd annual Women's Symposium Feb. 28.

Created in 1966 as part of the University's 50th anniversary celebration, the Women's Symposium is the longest continuously running program of its kind in the nation. The program features nationally recognized speakers as well as seminars on topics of national interest and workshops conducted by students, community leaders, and SMU faculty and staff.

Symposium registration is free for SMU faculty, staff and students; the deadline is Feb. 22. Register online at the Women's Symposium website.

Honor our authors: Reminder: SMU's Godbey Lecture Series of Dedman College is accepting nominations for its 28th annual Authors' Awards through Feb. 15. The awards will be presented to three SMU faculty members who had outstanding books published during 2007. For more information or to make a nomination, contact Dorothy Friedlander, 8-3399.

Civil Rights Pilgrimage: SMU's 2008 Spring Break Civil Rights Pilgrimage takes place Mar. 7-15. Students, faculty and staff members are welcome; the cost of $350 includes travel, museum fees and lodging (based on 4-per-room occupancy). Space is limited; for information and reservations, contact the Chaplain's Office, 8-4502.

Judaica Lecture Series: Associate Professor of Old Testament Roy Heller speaks on "The Politics of Pointing: Learning and Teaching Hebrew in Colonial America" at 2 p.m. Feb. 10 in Bridwell Library.

Gilbert Lecture Series: Mark Oppenheimer, author of Thirteen and a Day and coordinator of the Yale Journalism Initiative, speaks on "How Studying Oratory and Rhetoric Makes Us Better Citizens" Feb. 11 in DeGolyer Library. A reception will take place at 6 p.m. in the Texana Room, with a lecture following at 6:30 p.m in the Stanley Marcus Reading Room.

Clements Center Brown Bag Lecture: Clements Center Fellow Julia María Schiavone Camacho speaks on "Crossing Boundaries, In Between Homelands: Expulsion, Diasporic Identities and Memory of the Mexican Chinese, 1910-1980s" at noon Feb. 13 in the Texana Room, DeGolyer Library. Bring your lunch. (Top right, a Mexican Chinese family photo.)

Big in Japan: SMU's 2008 Japanese Film Festival opens Feb. 15-16 with screenings of Swing Girls (bottom right) on Friday and Millennium Actress on Saturday. The festival continues Feb. 22-23 with Shinobi: Heart Under Blade and Whisper of the Heart. All films are in Japanese with English subtitles and begin at 6:30 p.m. in McCord Auditorium, Dallas Hall. Admission is free. Presented by the SMU Japan Club, Meadows School of the Arts, the Japan-America Society of Dallas/Fort Worth, and the SMU Japanese Program; sponsored by SMU's Tower Center for Political Studies and the SMU Japan Club. Learn more about this year's festival films at the SMU Japan Club website.

Award-winning actor Martin Sheen will visit the Hilltop Feb. 5 to speak in SMU's 2007-08 Tate Distinguished Lecture Series. Gary Cogill, film critic for WFAA-TV, will be the interviewer. Actor and director Michael Douglas, who was previously scheduled to appear, is unable to attend due to unforeseen professional obligations.

An actor and human rights activist for more than 40 years, Sheen is perhaps best known as President Josiah Bartlet in "The West Wing." The series ran from 1999-2006 on NBC, and Sheen received five Emmy nominations for Outstanding Lead Actor in a Drama Series, the Golden Globe for Best Performance by an Actor in a TV Drama and two Screen Actors Guild (SAG) Awards for Outstanding Performance by a Male Actor in a Drama Series. He also has portrayed President John F. Kennedy in the miniseries Kennedy and Attorney General Robert F. Kennedy in the television special The Missiles of October. His most recent films include Martin Scorsese's The Departed, which won the Academy Award for best picture of 2006; and Bobby, written and directed by his son, Emilio Estevez.

Sheen will answer questions from SMU community members and local high school students in the Turner Construction Student Forum at 4:30 p.m. Feb. 5 in the Hughes-Trigg Student Center Ballroom. Tickets, which are free, are required for this event and are available at the Hughes-Trigg Mane Desk (limit one per SMU ID). Learn more at smu.edu/tate.

High school teachers and community college professors will explore new ways to teach history when SMU's William P. Clements Department of History hosts the 2008 Stanton Sharp Teaching Symposium Feb. 9 in Dallas Hall. The symposium offers discussions with some of SMU's most distinguished history professors, who will talk about new scholarship and research materials in their areas of expertise and ways of presenting them to students.

Topics will include the American and Russian Revolutions, the Vietnam War, Native Americans in the 20th century, Mexicans in American history, Americans from Africa, Egypt in the age of Tutankhamen, approaches to teaching Nazi Germany and the Holocaust, and using the World Wide Web to teach U.S. cultural history.

The $15 registration fee ($7.50 for graduate students) includes lunch. Teachers may earn continuing education credit if enrolled in each of the three sessions. Find more information and an online registration form at the History Department website.

Sojourn for truth: SMU's 2008 Spring Break Civil Rights Pilgrimage takes place Mar. 7-15. Students, faculty and staff members will travel to historic civil rights sites in Mississippi, Alabama, Tennessee and Arkansas, with a stop in New Orleans for a first-hand look at Hurricane Katrina damage and recovery. The cost of $350 includes travel, museum fees and lodging (based on 4-per-room occupancy). Space is limited; for information and reservations, contact the Chaplain's Office, 8-4502.

Interdisciplinary Dialogue: SMU's Perkins School of Theology hosts "Religious Borders in the Spanish Middle Ages and the Colonial New World" 6:30-8:30 p.m. in 207 Kirby Hall. The event will be moderated by Jessica Boon, assistant professor of church history, and Pamela Patton, associate professor of art history. For more information, contact Jessica Boon, 8-1980.

Words and music: The Meadows Symphony Orchestra and Meadows Opera Theatre join forces to present popular excerpts from favorite operas in an "Opera Gala" at 8 p.m. Feb. 8 and 3 p.m. Feb. 10 in Caruth Auditorium. Tickets are $7 for SMU faculty, staff and students. Contact the Meadows Ticket Office, 8-2787 (8-ARTS).

Heart to heart: The SMU Staff Association hosts its annual Valentine's Day luncheon noon-1:30 p.m. Feb. 12 in the Umphrey Lee Ballroom. The cost is $12 per person. RSVP by Feb. 6 to Liz Berry, 8-2506.

The future of education: SMU Education Dean David Chard discusses "The Future of SMU's School of Education" in the Faculty Club Distinguished Luncheon Series at noon Feb. 13 in the SMU Faculty Club. The cost is $12 for Faculty Club members, $15 for nonmembers. RSVP by Feb. 8 to Dee Powell, 8-3012.

In McFarlin Auditorium:

• Feb. 8-9: TITAS presents New York City's Cedar Lake Contemporary Ballet (left) at 8 p.m. For ticket information, call 214-528-5576. Watch clips of Cedar Lake in action at YouTube.

SMU's Spring 2008 Career Fair takes place Feb. 13 - and students who want to make the most of it can start preparing this week. Career Fair Prep Day is scheduled for 9:30 a.m.-6 p.m. Jan. 31 in the lower level of Hughes-Trigg Student Center. Students can get their résumés reviewed by employers, learn how to polish their professional images, participate in an employer Q&A, and get tips on how to make the most of their career fair experience.

Students also may participate in a Speed Networking session 4-6 p.m. Advance registration is required only for this event; students may RSVP online.

Career Fair Prep Day is presented by SMU's Hegi Family Career Development Center and the Cox School of Business' B.B.A. Career Services. For more information, visit the Career Center website.

Internationally acclaimed cellist, recording artist and Meadows Associate Professor Andrés Díaz will perform in the Meadows School of the Arts' 2007-08 Distinguished Artist Recital Series Feb. 2. The performance begins at 8 p.m. in Caruth Auditorium, Owen Arts Center.

Since winning First Prize in the 1986 Naumburg International Cello Competition, the most prestigious cello competition in the world, Díaz has established an international performing and recording career. He has appeared with major orchestras from South America to the Soviet Union to Japan to New Zealand and has performed in such venues as Carnegie Hall, the Library of Congress and the Spoleto Festival. His award-winning recordings include a CD featuring the works of Martinu, Lutoslawski and Rachmaninoff that won the 2003 Classical Recording Foundation Award - and, according to the Wall Street Journal, is a top pick on Yo-Yo Ma's iPod.

Tickets are $7 for faculty and staff. For more information, contact the Meadows Ticket Office, 8-2787 (8-ARTS). Read more about Díaz in SMU Research magazine.

(Originally published Jan. 23, 2008.)

An SMU theatre student's response to the genocide in Darfur will be showcased for an international audience of artists and peacemakers at the California Institute of the Arts' "Arts in the One World" Festival Jan. 24-27 in Valencia, California. The Meadows School of the Arts students who will stage and perform it offered a special fundraising performance Jan. 23 in the Taubman Atrium, Owen Arts Center, with proceeds going toward the students' California travel expenses.

Locust was written by SMU theatre studies graduate Marlon Meikle ('07 ) and originally produced in Meadows' 2007 "New Visions, New Voices" festival, which features new works written, directed and performed by SMU students.

"Locust is a reflex, an involuntary and inborn response to Darfur and to the ever repeating cycle of genocide that has scarred the face of human history," Meikle says. To prepare for the play, the artistic team read extensively about Darfur, met with members of the International Refugee Committee and Amnesty International, watched documentary footage from refugee camps in Eastern Chad and spoke with anyone they could from Northern and Western Africa, including Gabe, one of the "lost boys" from Sudan now living in Dallas.

Gretchen Smith, theatre professor and producer of the "New Visions, New Voices" festival, will accompany the group, which will consist of Locust's graduate designers Lois Catanzaro (lighting), Jeffrey Franks (set) and Jennafer Collins (costumes); undergraduate actors Meghean Warren, Zach Gamble, McLean Krieger, Christin Siems, Brigham Mosley, Jennifer St. Angelo, Frederick Beckley, and Melissa Paige Wright; and Marlon Meikle and senior Amelia Johnson, the production's director.

• Read more from SMU News.

MLK Week continues: SMU's MLK Week wraps up with a Unity Mixer at 6 p.m. Jan. 25 in the Hughes-Trigg Varsity and MLK Kids Day at 5 p.m. Jan. 26 in the Hughes-Trigg Student Center Theater. MLK Week is sponsored by Student Activities & Multicultural Student Affairs (SAMSA). For more information, contact Ke'ana Hardy, 8-4583.

Perkins Ministers Week: SMU's Perkins School of Theology celebrates the centennial of the birth of former professor Albert Cook Outler with its 2008 Ministers Week Jan. 28-30, which will explore the influential scholar's work and legacy in Wesley studies, Protestant theology and the ecumenical movement. Learn more at the Perkins School of Theology website.

Church history: A new exhibition traces the role of Methodism in American southern culture and society from the colonial era to the beginning of World War II, through materials ranging from letters, diaries and pamphlets to figurines and photographs. Methodism in the American South runs Jan. 28-July 11 in the Elizabeth Perkins Prothro Galleries, Bridwell Library. For more information or to schedule a tour, contact James McMillin, 8-4364.

Cut and color: Visiting artist Leonard Stokes exhibits works incorporating pop, classical and Asian elements. Leonard Stokes: Collages runs Jan. 28-Mar. 15 in the Mildred Hawn Gallery, Hamon Arts Library.

Making the connection: SMU faculty and staff can participate in a conference on creating mentoring environments for students. Sharon Daloz Parks, director of leadership for the New Commons of the Whidbey Institute, is keynote speaker for "Big Questions, Worthy Dreams: Mentoring Young People in Their Search for Meaning, Purpose and Faith." The two-day conference features faculty sessions Feb. 14 (faculty may choose to attend a morning or afternoon session) and a staff session 10 a.m.-3:30 p.m. Feb. 15 (lunch included). Sponsored by the Office of the Chaplain and Religious Life. The conference is free; registration is required. RSVP to Judy Henneberger, 8-4502.

In McFarlin Auditorium:

• Feb. 3: TITAS presents the Monterey Jazz Festival 50th Anniversary Tour at 8 p.m. For tickets, call 214-528-5576.

Central University Libraries will host the grand opening of the Norwick Center for Digital Services Thursday, Jan. 24. There will be an open house from 1-5 p.m., and all members of the SMU community are welcome to tour the facilities.

The Center for Digital Services features the new Student Multimedia Center, a 40-seat screening room, and library digital projects space. The Student Multimedia Center features 12 individual creation stations with 24-inch iMacs, two group projects rooms with professional Power Mac editing stations and dual 23-inch monitors, and two group practice rooms with 20-inch iMac computers, video projectors and installed cameras so that students may practice and record classroom presentations.

The open house will feature tours and demonstrations, refreshments, gifts, a drawing for an iPod Nano, and a free gift to the first 75 students.

The new Norwick Center for Digital Services is located in the Fondren Library Information Commons Area. For more information, please contact Robert Walker or Tyeson Seale.

Brain vacations: Registration is now open for the 2008 SMU-in-Taos Cultural Institute, scheduled for July 17-20 at SMU's Fort Burgwin campus in northern New Mexico. The weekend courses include history, anthropology, art and art history, botany, earth sciences, digital photography and mountain sports. For more information, contact Allison Curran, 8-8267 (8-TAOS). (Top right, Taos' Santuario de Chimayo.)

An executive exhibition: "Hail to the Chief: Presidential Libraries" is now on display in Fondren Library Center. For more information, contact Cynthia Ruppi.

Dance for a cause: Seniors in the SMU Division of Dance produce and perform their own choreography in "Common Thread" at 8 p.m. Jan. 19 and at 2 p.m. and 8 p.m. Jan. 20 in the Margo Jones Theatre. The concerts are free; donations are encouraged and will benefit Bryan's House, Dallas' only special-care facility for children and teenagers with HIV/AIDS and their families. For more information, call the Division of Dance at 8-2718.

Dare to dream: SMU celebrates the life and legacy of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. with MLK Week 2008, scheduled for Jan. 21-26. Events include an MLK Day of Service, a birthday party in the Hughes-Trigg Student Center, SMU's annual Unity Walk and an MLK Kids Day sponsored by the Association of Black Students. MLK Week is sponsored by Student Activities & Multicultural Student Affairs (SAMSA). For more information, contact Ke'ana Hardy, 8-4583.

Paper magic: Werner "Wynn" Kramarsky's affection for the abstract, the geometric and the minimalist is showcased in a new exhibition featuring the Kramarsky family's gift to SMU's Pollock Works on Paper Study Collection. "The Sarah-Ann and Werner H. Kramarsky Gift of Contemporary Drawings" runs Jan. 22-Mar. 22 in the Pollock Gallery, Hughes-Trigg Student Center. Learn more about Wynn Kramarsky at The Brooklyn Rail. (Bottom right, Oaxaca - It's Going to Rain by George Mead Moore, graphite on paper, 1998.)