Weekly Bulletin

South Africa's Magnet Theatre visits campus for week-long residency

The Theater Department is hosting a week-long artistic residency by South Africa's Magnet Theatre from Jan. 27 to Feb. 3.
 
The company will stage four performances of its acclaimed show "Every Year, Every Day, I Am Walking" and also visit classes, give lectures and lead a workshop.
 
In conjunction with the residency, assistant professor of Theater Megan Lewis, a South African performance scholar, will give this year's Rand Lecture on Tuesday, Jan. 29 at 4 p.m. in the Rand Theater.

Poehler's Honors Faculty Lecture to examine modern archaeology in Pompeii

Eric Poehler, assistant professor of Classics, will speak on “The roles of innovation and imagination in the archaeology of Pompeii” on Wednesday, Feb. 6 at 6:30 p.m. in the Campus Center Auditorium. His talk is part of the Honors Faculty Lecture series.
 
His presentation will explore how archaeology in the 21st century is looking to reel in the past. With the ancient city of Pompeii and the monumental Quadriporticus building, as an example, the current methods used by archaeologists and those being imagined for the first time, will be examined.

Poehler is a classical archaeologist with 16

Nominations invited for Spotlight Scholars

The campus community is invited to submit nominations for the 2013 UMass Amherst Spotlight Scholars. Spotlight Scholars are individual faculty members who exemplify the quality, dedication and achievements of the UMass Amherst faculty. All full-time tenure- and non-tenure system faculty members are eligible to be nominated. Scholars receive a cash award of $500 and widespread publicity in campus communications.

The nomination form is available online at www.umass.edu/researchnext/spotlight-scholars. The Spotlight Scholar program is co-sponsored by the vice chancellors for Research and

Flags lowered for Uxbridge soldier

Gov. Deval L. Patrick has ordered that the U.S. and Commonwealths flag be lowered to half-staff at all state buildings from sunrise until sunset on Thursday, Jan. 24 in honor of Army National Guard Sgt. First Class Michael J. Squillaci of Uxbridge, who died Jan. 16.

Visiting Writers Series hosts Emily Barton, Melanie Rae Thon

The Visiting Writers Series will host authors Emily Barton and Melanie Rae Thon on Thursday, Jan. 31 at 8 p.m. in Memorial Hall.

Barton is the author of two novels, Brookland and The Testament of Yves Gundron, both named New York Times Notable Books of the Year. She has received grants from the Guggenheim Foundation, the National Endowment for the Arts, and the Sustainable Arts Foundation; she has also been awarded the Bard Fiction Prize and a residency at Yaddo.

Thon is the author of four novels and three collections of short stories, most recently, The Voice of the River and In This

UMCA exhibit works by photographer James Welling

“James Welling: Place/Life Studies,” an exhibition detailing the photographer’s work in New England from 1970 to 2010, will be on view Jan. 31 to May 5 at the University Museum of Contemporary Art.
 
A reception for the artist is being held Wednesday, Jan. 30 from 5-7 p.m.  At 5:30 p.m., Welling will discuss his work and career with Lorne Falk, visiting associate professor at Hampshire College and former dean of the School of the Museum of Fine Arts in Boston.
 
Included are Welling’s earliest experiments in photography, video and watercolor, all harking back to his formative years in

Flags lowered for Lynn soldier

Gov. Deval L. Patrick has ordered that the U.S. and Commonwealth flags be lowered to half-staff at all state buildings from sunrise until sunset on Friday, Jan. 18 in honor of U.S. Army Pfc. Antonio Syrakos of Lynn who died Jan. 10 at Ft. Campbell, Ky.

MSP Computer Replacement Program demonstrations

The deadline for faculty and librarians to apply for a computer through the Massachusetts Society of Professors Computer Replacement Program is Friday, Feb. 8.
 
Representatives from Apple and Lenovo will be on campus next week to introduce the program computers and to answer questions. A few demonstration computers will be available.
 
The Apple representative will be in 162-175 Campus Center from on Wednesday, Jan. 23 from 9-11 a.m .
 
The Lenovo representative will be in 174-176 Campus Center on Thursday, Jan. 24 from 1-3 p.m.
 
For additional information about the computer replacement

Doctoral oral exams for Jan. 28 to Feb. 1

The graduate dean invites all graduate faculty to attend the final oral examinations for the doctoral candidates scheduled as follows:

Seung-Yun Oh, Ph.D., Economics. Monday, Jan. 28, 11 a.m., 919 Thompson Hall. Dissertation: “Social Emulation, the Evolution of Gender Norms, and Intergenerational Transfers; Three Essays on the Economics of Social Interactions.” Nancy Folbre, chr.

Nitai Charan Giri, Ph.D., Chemistry. Wednesday, Jan. 30, 2 p.m., 702 Du Bois Library.

Historian Stephen Platt to discuss Taiping Civil War on Jan. 24

Historian Stephen R. Platt will offer rare glimpse into the Taiping Civil War on Thursday, Jan. 24 as part of a celebration of his book “Autumn in the Heavenly Kingdom: China, the West and the Epic Story of the Taiping Civil War,” which won McGill University’s 2012 Cundill Prize – called the world’s richest and most prestigious award for historical literature.
 
Platt’s talk, titled “Into the Storm: Some Windows into a Chinese Civil War,” begins at 4 p.m. in the Student Union’s Cape Cod Lounge. A reception will follow.
 
Published earlier this year by Alfred A.

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