Stories this week at WFU

Contact: Cheryl Walker, walkercv@wfu.edu or 336-758-5237.

SOCIOLOGISTS TO DISCUSS SOCIAL INEQUALITIES IN DEEP SOUTH — In the wake of Hurricane Katrina, much attention has been given to socioeconomics in Louisiana, Mississippi and other parts of the Deep South. Two Wake Forest sociology professors, Angela Hattery and Earl Smith, will lead a discussion of “Social Stratification in the American South” at 3 p.m. Feb. 23 in Z. Smith Reynolds Library, Room 204. Hattery and Smith have twice led a summer course on the topic. In 2003 and 2005, they and their students traveled by bus from Atlanta to the Mississippi Delta through cities, towns and rural areas in five southern states and explored social and economic issues in the Deep South. The lecture is free and open to the public. Two Wake Forest students in the class, Josh Gattis and Kristen De La Cruz, will also take part in the discussion. Hattery is an associate professor of sociology. Smith is a professor of sociology and Rubin Professor of American Ethnic Studies.

Contact: Cheryl Walker, walkercv@wfu.edu or 336-758-5237.

COOKING UP CREATIVITY AT WAKE FOREST — During February and March, Wake Forest is hosting “COOK IT UP — A Creativity Forum,” an interactive series of events designed to inspire participants to think about creativity and what it means to be creative. The series, which is free and open to the public, consists of events featuring open discussions centered on the nature of creativity led by Wake Forest faculty. As part of their coursework, students taking a class in creativity and innovation plan and execute each event, deciding what food to serve and how to serve it, as well as what kind of decorations and furnishings should be used to create the setting. The next event, which will focus on the creative process and how mistakes and chance play into it, takes place at 6 p.m. Feb. 23 in the common area of Luter Residence Hall. Other events will take place at the same time and location March 2 and 16. For more information on “COOK IT UP,” call (336) 758-3383.

Contact: Maggie Barrett, barretmb@wfu.edu or 336-758-5237.

AUTHOR ZELDA LOCKHART FEATURED AT WRITERS READING SERIES — The Dillon Johnston Writers Reading Series at Wake Forest will feature author Zelda Lockhart at 4 p.m. Feb. 24. The reading will be held in DeTamble Auditorium in Tribble Hall and will be followed by a reception and book signing. The event is being held in partnership with Salem College. Lockhart is author of “Fifth Born,” which recently won a finalist award for debut fiction from the Zora Neale Hurston/Richard Wright Legacy Foundation. It was also featured by Barnes & Noble as one of their “Discover Great New Writers.” Her second novel, “Cold Running Creek,” was published by Simon & Schuster in August 2005, and “The Evolution,” her serial novella, appears in the archives of USAToday.com’s Open Book series. Lockhart is a graduate of Norfolk State and Old Dominion universities. For more information on Lockhart, visit www.zeldalockhart.com. The Dillon Johnston Writers Reading Series is sponsored by the English department. All readings are free and open to the public. For more information on the reading, contact John McNally at mcnalljr@wfu.edu or at (336) 758-3366.

Contact: Pam Barrett, barretpm@wfu.edu or 336-758-5237.

IT’S MAGIC: STUDENTS MAKE DREAMS A REALITY — This weekend, two Wake Forest seniors will not only see their dreams become reality, but they will also make theatre history. At 7:30 p.m. Feb. 24, Ben Whiting and Matt Gutschick, the creators of MagicMouth Productions, an educational, non-profit theatre company, will debut “Awakening,” one of the first theatre productions to incorporate magic and grand illusion. Gutschick said that watching Whiting perform street magic in Europe is what sparked the idea for the concept. “Awakening” is a coming-of-age story loosely based on Whiting’s life. Whiting plays more than a dozen different characters in the one-man show and incorporates monologues, magic tricks and David Copperfield-style grand illusions — including a death-defying escape — to encourage young and old alike that dreams are worth holding onto. Performances will also be held at 2:30 p.m. and 7:30 p.m. Feb. 25 and 2:30 p.m. Feb. 26. All performances will be held in Wake Forest’s MainStage Theatre in Scales Fine Arts Center. Tickets are $20; $10 for students and children 12 and under and are available at www.magicmouthproductions.com. Group discounts are also available. Interviews can be arranged. Television crews can tape the first five minutes of the production.

Contact: Pam Barrett, barretpm@wfu.edu or 336-758-5237.

RELIGION, THE ENVIRONMENT FOCUS OF WFU COURSE, LECTURES — At a time when many diverse religious groups are acknowledging the importance of addressing environmental crises like global warming and pollution, religious environmentalist and philosopher Roger Gottlieb is leading the course “Religion, Ecology and Religious Environmentalism” in the Wake Forest Divinity School. Gottlieb, a professor of philosophy at Worcester Polytechnic Institute in Massachusetts, is teaching the course for approximately 16 students in the Wake Forest Divinity School over three weekends during the spring semester 2006. He will also lead two free, public lectures at Wake Forest on Feb. 25 and March 25. The lectures will explore the intersection of religion, spiritual life, the Holocaust and the environmental crisis. Gottlieb said he will ask lecture participants “to consider how we have committed genocide and ecocide, and how, having done so, we can make sense of our belief in God or our spirituality.” The first lecture, scheduled for 10 a.m. Feb. 25, will focus on “Working Ourselves to Death: What the Holocaust Can Teach Us About the Environmental Crisis.” The free, public lecture will be held in the university’s Wingate Hall.

Contact: Jake McConnico, mcconnjn@wfu.edu or 336-758-5237.

‘INJUSTICE IN THE JUSTICE SYSTEM’: DARRYL HUNT — Wake Forest will host a panel discussion titled “Injustice in the Justice System,” featuring Darryl Hunt, the Winston-Salem native wrongfully convicted of the rape and murder of Deborah Sykes. Portions of the new HBO documentary about the Hunt case, “The Trials of Darryl Hunt,” will also be shown. The event, which is free and open to the public, will be held at 7 p.m. Feb. 27 in Annenberg Forum, Carswell Hall Room 111. The discussion will focus on the Hunt case and racism within the criminal justice system. Organizers have planned the event to provide an opportunity for members of the Winston-Salem community to have open discourse about the case and help promote racial healing within the community. Panel members will include Hunt, executive director of the Darryl Hunt Project for Freedom and Justice; Mark Rabil, Hunt’s defense attorney and currently assistant capital defender at the North Carolina Capital Defender Office; the Rev. Dr. Carlton Eversley, public information officer of the Darryl Hunt Defense Committee (DHDC) and pastor of Dellabrook Presbyterian Church; and the Rev. Dr. John Mendez, president of the DHDC and pastor of Emmanuel Baptist Church. The event is sponsored by Wake Forest groups, including Akoni, the Fellowship of Black Theologians and the Center for Urban Ministry at the Divinity School, the religion department and Visionaries of Integration Creating Equality (V.O.I.C.E.), a Wake Forest undergraduate group focused on raising awareness of inequality.

Contact: Cheryl Walker, walkercv@wfu.edu or 336-758-5237.

ARTWORK EXPLORES RESPONSES TO SOCIO-POLITICAL WORLD — The work of artists Edith Isaac-Rose, Elyse Defoor and DUZA (the artist’s working name) is as varied as the mediums they employ, but their messages are similar: how do we respond to the socio-political pressures the world imposes on us? The exhibit, which will be featured in Wake Forest’s Charlotte and Philip Hanes Art Gallery, opened Feb. 8 and will run until March 19. A guest artist discussion featuring DUZA will be held at 3 p.m. Feb. 28 and March 1. The exhibit and discussions are free and open to the public.

Contact: Pam Barrett, barretpm@wfu.edu or 336-758-5237.

I MUSICI OF ROME TO COMMEMORATE MOZART’S 250TH — The legendary Italian chamber orchestra I Musici of Rome will perform at Wake Forest at 7:30 p.m. Feb. 28 in Wait Chapel. One of the five concerts in the university’s Secrest Artists Series, the performance will feature an all-Mozart program in honor of the composer’s 250th birthday. Internationally acclaimed pianist Stephen Hough will perform as a guest soloist. A pre-performance talk will be given by Stewart Carter, professor of music at Wake Forest, at 6:40 p.m. in the Reynolda Hall Main Lounge. Tickets are $20 general admission and $12 for non-Wake Forest students and senior citizens and are available through the University Theatre Box Office at (336) 758-5295.
Lucio Buccarella, a member of the original ensemble who still performs in the orchestra, is available for phone interviews.

Contact: Pam Barrett, barretpm@wfu.edu or 336-758-5237.

NO SANDY BEACHES FOR SOME WFU STUDENTS THIS SPRING BREAK — Thirty-three Wake Forest students will break away from college spring break tradition, and instead of lounging at the beach, they will be sleeping on cots in a FEMA tent city outside the campus of Tulane University in New Orleans. The students, who are participating in a service trip through Wake Forest’s Volunteer Service Corps, will spend a week working on building projects, cleaning up debris and tutoring elementary-age students affected by Hurricane Katrina. “After my friend told me about her experience on a (Wake Forest) service trip to the Gulf coast over Christmas break, I really wanted to get involved too, and I thought this would be a great way to spend my spring break,” said Wake Forest junior Anne Wood. The students will leave from the Wake Forest campus at 8:30 a.m. March 4 and will travel in vans to New Orleans. They will return March 11. Interviews can be arranged.

Contact: Pam Barrett, barretpm@wfu.edu or 336-758-5237.

WAKE FOREST, OTHER BIG FOUR SCHOOLS WORK TO CAN HUNGER — From Feb. 1 to March 1, Wake Forest will participate with the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Duke University and North Carolina State University to collect canned food and money in an effort to eliminate hunger. Money and food collected by Wake Forest will benefit the Second Harvest Food Bank of Northwest North Carolina. Donations of food or cash will be collected at Wake Forest basketball games on Feb. 8, 11, 19 and 22. Monetary donations can be made at http://www.hungernwnc.org/donate-funds/donate-online.html. Each canned item or $1 donated earns the donor 1 point. For every 25 points accumulated, the donor’s name will be entered in a drawing for two season tickets to the 2006 Wake Forest Football season. The drawing will take place March 4. Entrants do not need to be present to win. The university with the highest amount of donations will be announced March 4 at the Wake Forest vs. N.C. State and the Carolina vs. Duke men’s basketball games. The student organizer for the event at Wake Forest is Richard L. Cox Jr., chief of staff for Wake Forest Student Government and chairman of the Screamin’ Demons student fan club. He is available for interviews.

Contact: Jake McConnico, mcconnjn@wfu.edu or 336-758-5237.