The final weeks of the fall semester are packed with speakers, art exhibitions, musical performances and more. A complete list of all events can be found at roanoke.edu/events.
Events are free, non-ticketed and open to the public unless otherwise noted.
November Coffee Shop Talk – Dr. Chris Lee, Associate Professor, MCSP, and Christina Lee: “Deaf Dogs Rock: Can One Puppy Change the Lives of Thousands?”
Thursday, November 1, 8:00 p.m., Mill Mountain Coffee and Tea Salem
In 2010 the Lees adopted deaf puppy Nitro from the Salem Animal Shelter. Little did they know, the adoption would be the start of a journey that currently has them overseeing a national non-profit organization dedicated to the care of deaf dogs and their families. In this conversation, they will talk about how simple life decisions can lead to the joy of finding vocation and the challenges of working with a community of deaf dog supporters that now has grown to over 60,000 on Facebook.
Muslim Matters: What Muslims Want
Wednesday, November 7, 7:00 p.m., Wortmann Ballroom
Dr. John L. Esposito is University Professor, Professor of Religion and International Affairs and Islamic Studies, and Founding Director of the Prince Alwaleed bin Talal Center for Muslim-Christian Understanding, as well as the Bridge Initiative: Protecting Pluralism – Ending Islamophobia at Georgetown University. Esposito has served as consultant to the U.S. Department of State, been a member of the Economic Forum’s Council of 100 Leaders, a Senior Scientist for the Gallup Center for Muslim Studies, and an ambassador for the UN Alliance of Civilizations. His more than 55 books include: What Everyone Needs to Know about Islam, Shariah: What Everyone Needs to Know, The Future of Islam, and Who Speaks for Islam? What a Billion Muslims Really Think (with Dalia Mogahed).
Constitution Day Lecture: Tom Coyle: Making a Difference: How One Citizen Changed the Constitution
Monday, November 12, 7:30 p.m. to 9:00 p.m., Wortmann Ballroom
Roanoke College alum Tom Coyle ’76 will give a Constitutional Day address entitled “Making a Difference: How One Citizen Changed the Constitution.” Coyle is a retired Special Agent of the United States Naval Criminal Investigation Service (NCIS) and a nationally recognized inside threat expert. His lecture will focus on how one committed and dedicated citizen can change the Constitution. The talk will draw upon Coyle’s interviews with Gregory Watson, who is considered the “Father” of the 27th Amendment to the Constitution.
Theatre Roanoke College presents “Our Town” by Thornton Wilder
November 14 – 17, 7:30 PM to 9:30 p.m., Olin Hall Theater
Tickets $7 Adults/$5 Senior Citizens and Non-RC StudentsContact Olin Box Office for tickets: Monday – Friday 1 – 4 p.m., 540-375-2333
or order online at roanoke.edu/events
Join us for our fall production of “Our Town!”
Winner of the 1938 Pulitzer Prize for Drama, Thornton Wilder’s Our Town is a classic of the American stage that is as timely now as it was in 1938. The residents of Grover’s Corners live quiet, mundane lives, but as we get to know them, we come to ask, “Does anyone ever realize life while they live it… every, every minute?” Wilder hoped that we would and described Our Town as “an attempt to find a value above all price for the smallest events in our daily life.”
The Results of the 2018 Elections: Noah Goldberg and Peter Beinart
Wednesday, November 14, 7:30 p.m., Bast Center
Complimentary tickets are required and are available at roanoke.edu/events and at the Colket Center information desk.
The Fowler Program will offer a post-election discussion of leadership with an exchange of views by two of the nation’s most talented and lively political speakers: Jonah Goldberg and Peter Beinart.
Peter Beinart is associate professor of journalism and political science at the City University of New York. He is also a contributor to The Atlantic, a Senior Columnist at The Forward, a CNN political commentator, and a fellow at the Foundation for Middle East Peace.
Beinart graduated from Yale University, winning a Rhodes scholarship for graduate study at Oxford University. Beinart served as the editor of the magazine The New Republic from 1999 to 2006 and is the author of three books: “The Good Fight,” “The Icarus Syndrome,” and “The Crisis of Zionism.”
Beinart has also written for The New York Times, The Wall Street Journal, The Financial Times, The Boston Globe, The Atlantic, among several other publications.
Jonah Goldberg guides you to appreciate the essential nature of politics by examining the underpinnings of liberal and conservative ideologies, economic policy and the changing role of modern-day media.
As senior editor of The National Review, Jonah firmly established himself as a prominent analyst with the publication of two New York Times best-selling books, including “Liberal Fascism: The Secret History of the American Left from Mussolini to the Politics of Meaning.”
Named one of the top 50 political commentators in America by The Atlantic magazine, Goldberg’s informed and thoughtful perspectives spark indispensable dialogue and debate. Whether discussing the intellectual history of the left or the hazards posed by political clichés, he scrutinizes prevailing opinions and generates new insights.
Roanoke College Acappella Choir and Oriana Singers: Lessons & Carols XXXIV
Sunday, November 25, 4:00 p.m. and 6:00 p.m., St. Andrews Catholic Church, 631 N. Jefferson St., Roanoke, VA
For the 34th year, the RC Acappella Choir and Oriana Singers will present this unofficial opening to the Christmas season in the Roanoke Valley. The choirs will sing arrangements of favorite carols and new compositions and will lead the congregation in the singing of the Advent and Christmas Carols.
St. Andrew’s Kelly Wheelbarger will be the organist. An offering will be taken to support local charities.
America’s Original Sin: Racism, White Privilege and the Bridge to a New America: Ivies, Incorporated of the Roanoke Valley presents Jim Wallis
Thursday, November 29, 2018, 7:30 p.m. to 9:30 p.m., Colket Center Ballroom
General Admission $25. A limited number of free tickets will be made available to Roanoke College Faculty/Staff/Students. Tickets available at Colket Center front desk and at roanoke.edu/events.
This inaugural community forum, presented by Ivies, Incorporated of the Roanoke Valley, along with Roanoke College’s Office of Community Programs and Office of Multicultural Affairs, is open to the public, including the interdenominational church community, and political, civic, service and social organizations that represent a diversity of race, ethnicity, gender, age and economic status.
Jim Wallis is a best-selling author, public theologian, national preacher, social activist and international commentator on ethics and public life. His latest book, America’s Original Sin: Racism, White Privilege, and the Bridge to a New America was released in January 2016. Wallis has written 11 previous books, including The (Un)Common Good and The New York Times best-sellers God’s Politics and The Great Awakening. Wallis also teaches at Georgetown University and has taught at Harvard University. He served on President Barack Obama’s first Advisory Council on Faith-based and Neighborhood Partnerships, and as the chair of the World Economic Forum’s Global Agenda Council.
Wallis’ book, America’s Original Sin, will be available for purchase at the event.
Ivies Incorporated of the Roanoke Valley is a 501(c)(3) that serves as the philanthropic arm of the Beta Chi Omega Chapter of Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority, Inc.
Art Exhibition October 26 – December 2
Opening Reception: Saturday, October 27, 6:00 p.m.
Artist Lecture (Leigh Ann Beavers): Saturday, October 27, 6:30 p.m., Olin Gallery
Olin Gallery- Leigh Ann Beavers: Inattention Correction (Whitehorn) – Inattention Correction (Whitethorn), is an ongoing, mixed-media project centered around a small, ubiquitous tree—the whitethorn—found in Irish hedgerows and gardens. Through a varied series of creative inquiry, Beavers explores the whitethorn’s color, form, and context. Her work underscores the simple observation that this is just one of 8.7 million species in the world. In her statement, she notes, “My work is a quiet signal of distress, asking viewers to notice the other life around them.” Leigh Ann Beavers teaches drawing and printmaking at Washington and Lee University in Lexington Virginia.
Smoyer Gallery–Sam Van Aken: Open Orchard – New York-based artist, Sam van Aken, returns to Roanoke College to elaborate on The Tree of Forty Fruit project currently housed in the courtyard outside of Olin Hall Gallery. Created through the process of grafting, the Tree of Forty Fruit is a single grafted tree with the capacity to grow over 40 different varieties of stone fruit including peach, plum, apricot, nectarine, cherry and almond. In Smoyer Gallery, a series of botanical drawings of threatened heirloom species will display fruit varieties that are preserved through the project. The prints from Sam van Aken’s Seed Packet Grafts which are “grafted” together by way of collage will also be included in the exhibition.
Kandinsky Trio Concert Series:
Saturday, December 1, 7:30 p.m., Olin Hall Theater
Tickets: $20 Adults/$12 Seniors and Non-RC students. Contact Olin Box Office Monday – Friday, 1 – 4 p.m. and one-hour before the event at 540-375-2333 or available at roanoke.edu/events.
Acclaimed tenor and popular collaborator with the Kandinskys, Brian Thorsett, a will honor our series again with a performance of Monteverdi’s beautiful and innovative II combattimento di Tancredi e Clorinda. Assisting will be violinist John Irrera, called “moving and hypnotic” by the Santa Barbara Daily Sound, and violist Molly Wilkens-Reed, winner of the Israel Dorman Memorial Award in Strings given by Peabody Conservatory in 2018.
RC Jazz and Wind Ensemble Joint Concert
Thursday, December 6, 7:30 p.m., Olin Hall Theater
The Roanoke College Jazz & Wind Ensemble will perform jointly under the direction of Dr. Marc LaChance.
December Coffee Shop Talk – Dr. Julia Sienkewicz, Assistant Professor, Fine Arts: “Visions of Virginia: Benjamin Henry Latrobe’s Immigrant Watercolors”
Thursday, December 6, 8:00 p.m., Mill Mountain Coffee and Tea
This talk, drawn from Dr. Sienkewicz’s forthcoming book Epic Landscapes: Benjamin Henry Latrobe and the Art of Watercolor, analyzes watercolors made by Benjamin Henry Latrobe, who later designed the U.S. Capitol, during his first years in the United States. Produced during Latrobe’s Virginia residency between 1796 and 1799, these images assess the Virginian landscape. Through them, Latrobe remembers his European homeland, imagines his future self at home in the United States, and meditates over the social “convulsions” of the “Age of Revolutions” as he experienced it.
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-Submitted by Roanoke College Public Relations Department
