Henry Real Bird to conduct public workshop in Cheyenne

In conjunction with Wyoming's Poetry Out Loud state competiton, guest judge Henry Real Bird will be facilitating a public workshop on Sunday, March 3, at the Laramie County Library, from 1:30 to 4:00 p.m., in the Cottonwood Room on the main floor.

Henry's theme for the workshop, "Shadow of Home" will "take participants beyond reflection and past the stars, sending our thoughts in search of rhyme, exploring realms of dreaming in sound and tunes of a life."

This workshop is free and open to the public.

Students can expand their horizons at UW International Night

From a UW press release:

Students can experience cultures from around the world during International Night Friday, Nov. 16, at 8 p.m. the University of Wyoming Union lower level.

International Night will educate students through culturally diverse games, performances and information booths. Activities begin in the Skylight Lounge and will continue to the Union Gardens at 8:30 p.m. for an International Game PlayStation competition.  At 9 p.m., song and dance performances will start in the Skylight Lounge. Pizza will be served after the performances.

Additionally, the movie “The Bourne Legacy,” starring Jeremy Renner, Rachel Weisz and Edward Norton, will be shown in the Wyoming Union Family Room at 6:30, 9, and 11:30 p.m.

Friday Night Fever and the International Student Association sponsor this event. For more information, visit www.uwyo.edu/cac. Individuals needing assistance to attend should call the Campus Activities Center at (307) 766-6340.

Linwood Tall Bull presents "Native Plants and Medicinal Uses" Nov. 10 at Washakie Museum

At the Washakie Museum and Cultural Center in Worland. 

Author Brian Leung visits UW to speak about his novel based on 1885 "Chinese Massacre" in Rock Springs

From a UW press release:

Acclaimed author Brian Leung will visit the University of Wyoming Wednesday, Oct. 24, and Thursday, Oct. 25, for a reading of his work and campus visits.

His campus visit is sponsored by the UW MFA Program in Creative Writing, University Libraries, American Heritage Center and Multicultural Affairs.

Leung will give a free public reading at 7 p.m. Oct. 25, in William Robertson Coe Library, Room 506. A book sale and signing of his latest novel “Take Me Home” follows his presentation. A reception also is planned.

The book presents a fictionalized version of the “Chinese Massacre”-- the riot and killings of Chinese miners -- that occurred in Rock Springs in 1885. Leung conducted much of the research for his novel at the UW American Heritage Center and Coe Library.

Interested students and staff can meet with Leung Oct. 24, in the Wyoming Union’s Rainbow Resource Center (RRC) and the Multicultural Resource Center (MRC). The RRC will host an hour-long reception at 10:30 a.m. From noon- 1 p.m., the MRC will have a question-and-answer luncheon with Leung about his latest novel.

He also will visit with writing students in the MFA Program in Creative Writing at noon Oct. 25.

Leung was born and raised in California’s San Diego County -- a somewhat unlikely location, given that his mother was born in Battleground, Wash., and his father escaped from China in 1949. By coincidence, as a teenager in 1980, Leung took a train trip to visit relatives in Rock Springs -- the very town at the core of his “Take Me Home” novel, which won the Willa Award for Historical Fiction.

Leung’s other works of fiction, nonfiction and poetry have appeared in multiple magazines and reviews. His “World Famous Love Acts” won the Asian American Literary Award in 2005 and the Mary McCarthy Award for Short Fiction in 2002. He also has published another novel, “Lost Men.”

Leung’s short fiction, poetry and creative nonfiction have appeared in Indiana Review, Runes, Crazyhorse, The Connecticut Review, Gulf Stream, Mid-American Review and numerous other publications. Leung recently was the recipient of the Lambda Literary Foundation Mid-Career Novelist Award.

Since 2000, he has taught in Cincinnati and Los Angeles, and currently is a University of Louisville associate professor. Leung earned his bachelor’s and master’s degrees from California State University, and an M.F.A from Indiana University.

More information about Leung can be found at http://www.readbrianleung.com/.

For more information about his campus visit, call the MFA Program in Creative Writing at (307) 766-6453.

Photo: Brian Leung

Carlos Mellizo's "Faces from the Hispanic World" exhibit opens Oct. 5 at at UNC Michener Gallery

From a UW press release:

A selection of pencil sketches by Carlos Mellizo, University of Wyoming professor emeritus of philosophy, will be displayed this month in the University of Northern Colorado Mari Michener Gallery, at the north entrance of the James A. Michener Library.

His works, “Faces from the Hispanic World,” will be displayed as part of Hispanic Heritage Month. Photographs from the Gabe & Jody Lopez collection “Beets, Baseball and Beyond” also will be exhibited.

The opening reception for the event will be from 4-7 p.m. Friday, Oct. 5. UNC Professor Emeritus Alfonso Rodriguez will read from his poetry collections and refreshments will be served.

Born in Madrid, Spain, Mellizo has published widely in Spain and Latin America, and has received numerous academic awards for his teaching, research and creative work. Painting and drawing are two of his favorite hobbies.

Photo: This is among the Carlos Mellizo pencil sketches that can be seen this month at the University of Northern Colorado’s James A. Michener Library. (Carlos Mellizo)

"Bilingual Music & Stories: De Colores" Oct. 8 in Jackson with Jose Luis Orozco

"Bilingual Music & Stories: De Colores" with Jose Luis Orozco
Monday, Oct. 8, 6-7 p.m.
Jackson Elementary School Commons, 155 N. Jean St.
Free!

José-Luis Orozco, bilingual educator, children's author and recording artist, will give parents important demonstrations of how to use music, rhythm, games and songs to develop and nurture language and literacy skills, as well as promote cultural diversity and positive self-esteem. This highly interactive workshop brings the rich heritage of the Spanish-speaking world to children and parents. This program will feature stories and songs in Spanish and English.

Born in Mexico City, Orozco grew fond of music at a young age, learning many songs from his paternal grandmother. At age 8, he became a member of the Mexico City Boy's Choir, and traveled the world visiting 32 countries in Europe, the Caribbean, Central and South America. During his tour around the world, he gained the cultural knowledge he now shares with children through his books and recordings.

See more of Orozco and his music and stories at www.joseluisorozco.com or at www.facebook.com/MiJoseLuisOrozco. To learn more about Spanish and bilingual programs at the library, contact the library’s Latino Programs Coordinator, Pati Rocha, 733-2164 ext. 237, procha@tclib.org.

"Developing Multicultural Literacy" Oct. 3 at UW

October is Wyoming Archives Month

Wyoming State Achives, our sister agency in State Parks and Cultural Resources, is celebrating Archives Month in October. They invite you to explore the agency's extensive historical and cultural resources. FMI: http://wyoarchives.state.wy.us/ 

Tuvan Throat Singers return to Meeteetse

Huun Huur Tu Tuvan Throat Singers

           

                

The Park County Arts Council in Cody 

presents Huun Huur Tu Tuvan Throat

Singers on...

Thursday September 27, 2012

7:00pm

Meeteetse School  Auditorium                                    

2107 Idaho St.

Meeteetse, WY

General admission:   Limited Seating

$15 Adult  $12 Senior/Student/Children

Available on-line at

www.parkcountyartsconcil.org

Or at the Meeteetse Visitors Center

 2005 Warren St. in Meeteetse, 307-868-2454

Or Cody Country Chamber of Commerce,

836 Sheridan Ave. in Cody 307-587-2297

or Powell Valley Chamber of Commerce

111 Day St. in Powell  307-754-3494

Lodging and 2-Ticket Packages starting at $74:  Call 1-800-393-2639

Tuvans return to Meeteetse

Tuva, a central Asian republic nestled between Siberia and Mongolia is the home of the world’s original horsemen.  As musicians, Tuvans not only transform the sounds of the natural world into music through imitation, they make sonic “maps” of physical landscapes which may be expressed in texted songs, throat-singing, whistling, or other types of vocal production.  After more than 20 successful US tours and as veterans of performances in nearly every European country, Huun Huur Tu has emerged as the foremost international representative of Tuva’s remarkable musical culture.  These four talented gentlemen will transport you half way around the world, to another place and time with their incredible music and vocals.  You may notice an incredible similarity in the landscape their music reveals and that we know in Wyoming. 

“The Tuvans will ride into your brain and leave

hoofprints up and down your spine.”

                                                            -San Francisco Bay Guadian

The Park County Arts Council proudly brings the return of Huun Huur Tu to the Meeteetse School Gym for a performance on Thursday September 27^th at 7:00pm.  Tickets are $15 Adult and $12 Senior (65 and up) and Students (children or with valid Student ID).  Tickets are available on-line at www.parkcountyartscouncil.org

or at the visitors Center in Meeteetse or the Chamber of Commerces in Cody and Powell.  Seating is limited.

This group of talented musicians and throat singers performed in Meeteetse in 2007 to a record crowd.  Audience members still talk of this experience and have insisted on a return performance.  If you missed them, this is your chance to hear a music form so familiar and yet so rooted in a culture far away.  Steve Schrepferman, Director of the Park County Arts Council, says “During their stay in 2007, Huun Huur  Tu showed us pictures of Tuva that were so similar to the landscape and lifestyles of Wyoming.  Their horse culture and way of life has so many ties to our cowboy west it is surprising.  It also establishes ties to a distant place, one that you might not expect to find such similarity.”

Social justice film series and cultural workshops highlight Lincoln Community Center activities

The Wyoming Cultural Trust Fund newsletter features happenings about the WCTF and its grant recipients. Here's news on events at the Lincoln Community Center in Laramie:

Keep your eyes open…there are some new events that will be occurring at the Lincoln Community Center in Laramie this year with a Cultural Program Series under development. The Wyoming Cultural Trust is pleased to help with the development of these new community programs which will be exploring language and culture through cooking and cultural workshops, a social justice film series and continued work with the informal citizen group of the West Side League of Neighbors to protect and preserve the Laramie West Side’s cultural history and personal narratives.

If you’re on the road, traveling through or near Laramie, plan on stopping by and seeing the wonderful work which has already occurred in the rehabilitation of the old Lincoln School on South Cedar Street! The mission of the Lincoln Community Center is to be a social, cultural, education, recreational and healthcare resource for the neighborhood, city and county. A large share of their efforts is aimed at providing programming, services and a conduit for services to people with low incomes or limited opportunities.

For more information about upcoming programs and events, contact Paul Weaver, Executive Director, 307-742-2556 or laramielcc@gmail.com. 

Flores De Colores dance troupe brings back awards from Las Vegas competition



This display ad from Cheyenne dance troupe Flores De Colores recently appeared in the Wyoming Tribune-Eagle. The group won a number of awards at a dance competition in Las Vegas. Flores De Colores is on the Wyoming Arts Council artist roster.

Cheyenne NAACP dinner features dramatic presentation of "Manservant York" of the Lewis & Clark expedition

17th annual Cinco de Mayo Fiesta May 5 at Forum 619 in Cheyenne

One of the vendor tables at Cinco De Mayo Fiesta 2010

The Cinco De Mayo Celebration is presented by the Cinco De Mayo Hispanos Unidos Committee. The 17th annual Cinco De Mayo Fiesta will be held on Saturday, May 5, at the Forum 619 on South Greeley Highway in Cheyenne. It will be from noon to 5:00 pm and is FREE to the public. The fiesta consists of vendors, live entertainment, food, kid carnival and a car show! We also recognize our Cinco de Mayo king and queen, high school students displaying involvement and a positive image for Hispanics. FMI: Contact Linda at 307-635-4369 or by email at ljlovato@bresnan.net.

Casper College Multicultural Film Festival features India's "Hum Tum" and "Amu"

“Exploring India” is the theme for the 2012 Casper College Multicultural Film Festival, which will show two films: “Hum Tum” and “Amu.”

The first film, “Hum Tum” will be shown on Friday, April 27, and according to Erich Frankland “is a modern Bollywood romance.” “This 2004 film is a refreshing look at the eternal battle of the sexes and the trials and tribulations of 'every man' and 'every woman' and their attempts to understand each other,” said Frankland, film festival director and political science instructor.

“Hum Tum” was directed by Kunal Kohli and features major Bollywood stars Saif Ali Khan, Rani Mukerji, and Kirron Kher. The post-film discussion will be led by Dr. Joseph Campbell, English instructor at Casper College.

The second film, “Amu” was released in 2005 and “received a number of international film honors including at the Berlin Film Festival, the Toronto Film Festival, and the American Film Institute Film Festival. It also won two National Film Awards in India,” said Frankland. The film features Konkona Sensharma as a young Indian-American who returns to India to visit her family, and in the process learns more than she anticipated about the nature and problems of the country. The film also starred Ankur Khanna and Brinda Karat, and was directed by Shonali Bose.

“Amu” will be shown on Friday May 4 with the post-film discussion to be led by David Zoby, English instructor and director of Casper College's Honors Program.

“India's growing economic, political, and cultural importance make it a logical choice for the 2012 festival. It is a country of multiplicities: cultures, languages, regions, castes, etc. As the world's largest democracy India continues to wrestle with these multiplicities as it modernizes and urbanizes, and fully enters the increasingly globalized world. India also has made a growing cinematic splash with "Bollywood" alone responsible for the production of over 800 feature-length films a year, compared to Hollywood's less than 600,” said Frankland.

The 2012 Multicultural Film Festival “Exploring India,” is sponsored by the Casper Committee on Foreign Relations, the Casper College Political Science Department, the Casper College International Studies Program, the Casper College Honors Program, and Casper College.

Both films will begin at 7 p.m. in Wheeler Auditorium, Room 103 of the Wold Physical Science Center on the Casper College campus. The showings are free and open to the public.

"Celebrate India Week" March 26-31 at UW

India's culture and history will be showcased at the University of Wyoming during "Celebrate India" March 26-31, sponsored by the Indian students' organization, Milaap. All events are free.

"Food and refreshments will be served at all the events," says Pooja Saraff, Milaap president. "Come and experience what makes India so special."

The schedule:

Monday, March 26, 7-8 p.m. -- Documentary on India, "Incredible Innovation," Wyoming Union Central Ballroom.

Tuesday, March 27, 12:15-1:15 p.m. -- Panel discussion on "Steps Toward a Caste Free India," Wyoming Union West Ballroom.

Wednesday, March 28, 7:30-10:30 p.m. -- Bollywood Movie Night, Wyoming Union Family Room.

Saturday, March 31, 5-6 p.m. -- Workshops will be held on wearing Indian costumes, cricket, Bollywood dancing and singing, and henna tattoos. Zesty Indian appetizers will be served. Bollywood Dance and Dandiya Night is from 6-11 p.m., Wyoming Union Ballroom. The event includes a workshop from "Mudra Dance School," followed by a Bollywood night after party.

Photo: Bollywood Dance and Dandiya Night are among events during "Celebrate India" March 26-31, at the University of Wyoming.

"Make It Plain" exhibit in Gallery 234 focuses on African-American views of history and religion

From a UW press release:

An African-American view of history and religion will be featured in Felicia Follum's exhibition "Make it Plain," March 19-April 2 in Gallery 234, room 004 in the lower level of the University of Wyoming Union.

A reception for the exhibition is scheduled Wednesday, March 28, from 6-8 p.m. Admission to both events is free and open to the public.

The exhibition promotes looking at American history through the lens of all different cultural groups involved, as well as investigating the ways we persecute members of society today.

This exhibition will be shown in conjunction with the Shepard Symposium for Social Justice , March 28-31.

African Awareness Week Feb. 13-18 at UW

From a UW press release:

Ghana's representative to the United Nations will be the keynote speaker at the University of Wyoming symposium, "Africa in the 21st Century," from 5:30-7:30 p.m. Thursday, Feb. 16, at the Wyoming Union West Ballroom. The presentation is part of African Awareness Week 2012.

William Azumah Awinador-Kanyirige, minister/deputy permanent representative of Ghana to the U.N., has been invited by the Wyoming African Student Association (WASA). His talk will be among the many African Awareness Week activities Monday, Feb. 13-Saturday, Feb. 18.

"This event will provide the opportunity for Wyoming to experience the history, culture, cuisine and music of Africa," says Nike Kabwar, WASA president. WASA's mission is to create a strong bond among Africans, increase the number of African students at UW and create awareness about African culture at the university and in Wyoming, Kabwar says.

African Awareness Week 2012 events scheduled are:

Monday, Feb. 13 -- African countries presentation at the breezeway tables, Wyoming Union.

Tuesday, Feb. 14, 7:30-9 p.m. -- African music by Zouk Love Soiree, Wyoming Union West Ballroom.

Wednesday, Feb. 15, 11 a.m.-1 p.m. -- African drumming workshop, Wyoming Union Skylight Lounge.

Thursday, Feb. 16, 5:30-7:30 p.m. -- Symposium "Africa in the 21st Century" by keynote speaker William Awinador-Kanyirige, Wyoming Union West Ballroom.

Friday, Feb. 17, 7:30 p.m. -- Free movie "Goodbye Bafana" in the Wyoming Union Family Room, sponsored by Friday Night Fever.

Saturday, Feb. 18, 4:30-6:30 p.m. -- African cultural programs, College of Education auditorium.

Saturday, Feb. 18, 7-8:30 p.m. -- African supper, Washakie dining center. The event is free, but tickets are required and may be obtained at the Wyoming Union information desk Feb. 14-15, beginning at 11 a.m.

Photo: African drummers will perform from 11 a.m.-1 p.m. Wednesday, Feb. 15, in the Wyoming Union Skylight Lounge. (WASA Photo)

Klezmania, Breslov Bar Band and Y-Love featured at Jackson Hole Jewish Music Fest

From JH Weekly: The 3rd Annual Jackson Hole Jewish Music Festival presents Klezmania (pictured above) at 5 p.m., Sunday, in the Sundance Room at Snake River Lodge and Spa in Teton Village. Breslov Bar Band (Feb. 19) and Y-Love (Feb. 26) will perform at the same time and location. Tickets for the concerts are $20/advance, $25/door, $100/sponsorship, and free for children under twelve. Available at JHJMF.org/Tickets. 

UW's Susan Dewey co-editor of Super Girls, Gangstas, Freeters and Xenomaniacs: Gender and Modernity in Global Youth

From a UW press release:

A timely collection of essays that explores how modern youth around the world are forging new identities is the focus of a new book written by University of Wyoming cultural anthropologist Susan Dewey.

An assistant professor in the UW Gender and Women Studies Program, Dewey is the co-editor of "Super Girls, Gangstas, Freeters and Xenomaniacs: Gender and Modernity in Global Youth."  The book will be published by the Syracuse University Press in May.

The book portrays how rapidly changing economic, communication and media environments influence how today's youth define themselves. The book gives ethnographic detail that explores how young women and men in diverse societies negotiate a place -- suspended between the present and the future -- for themselves.

"My co-editor and I undertook this project after we decided that a book focused upon youth in Africa, Asia and Oceania was long overdue, particularly considering that youth constitute a majority in many countries in these geographical areas," Dewey says.

Dewey teaches the Introduction to Women's Studies course and a methods course. She is now teaching a course on sex work and sex trafficking, and also teaches a gender and global change course.

Her current research involves an ethnographic study in a homeless shelter in Denver, Colo. The study is designed to engage law enforcement officers and social service providers about their perceptions of what constitutes force and coercion within prostitution.

Dewey also is the author of "Policing Pleasure: Sex Work, Policy and the State in Global Perspective"; "Neon Wasteland: On Love, Motherhood and Sex Work in a Rust Belt Town"; "Hollow Bodies: Institutional Responses to Sex Trafficking in Armenia, Bosnia and India"; and "Making Miss India Miss World: Constructing Gender, Power, and the Nation in Post-liberalization India."

Dewey joined the UW faculty in 2010. She received a bachelor's degree (1999) at Stony Brook University; and received master's (2002) and doctorate degrees (2004) at Syracuse University.

Photo: Susan Dewey, an assistant professor of gender and women studies at UW, co-edited a new book that portrays how rapidly changing economic, communication and media environments influence how today's youth define themselves. (Lorrie McNamee Photo)

UW's African-American and Diaspora Studies launches new speaker series named for Liz Byrd

Wyoming State Sen. Harriet Elizabeth "Liz" Byrd (left) looks on as Gov. Mike Sullivan signs the legislation establishing the Martin Luther King, Jr./Equality Day holiday in 1990. Sen. Byrd worked for almost a decade to get the legislation enacted. 

From a University of Wyoming press release:

To recognize her many contributions to Wyoming, both as an educator and legislator, UW African American and Diaspora Studies (AADS) recently created the Harriet Elizabeth "Liz" Byrd Speaker Series. AADS is working to raise $25,000 to endow the series, which will bring minority educators and speakers to UW and serve to honor the woman who sponsored legislation that, in 1990, established Martin Luther King, Jr./Wyoming Equality Day as a state holiday.

Liz Byrd in the classroom

"I can't think of a better person to represent the University of Wyoming," says AADS Director Tracey O. Patton. "She's emblematic of what we all hope to accomplish in life. I think every person on this planet would like to affect positive change for the world. Very few of us get to do that but she did. She has made lives better in the state of Wyoming."

http://www.uwyo.edu/profiles/extras/liz-byrd.html