With the COVID-19 pandemic, entertainment has been radically changed. In-person concerts have rarely been held, movie theaters are just reopening after months of being shuttered, and movies and television shows cannot shoot with a full cast.
Although it may seem bleak, the world has shown innovations in providing content for the people who need something to take their mind off this new, bizarre, and sanitized world.
The University’s Center for the Arts is also adapting to this new method of providing safe and enjoyable amusement for the campus community. They will be offering virtual lectures, film screenings, and art demonstrations for the fall 2020 semester for your consideration.
The University will continue its popular Tuesday Night Record Club series with some classic albums. It’s like a book club, but instead of discussing the book of the week, it’s a discussion on classic albums. This semester, the albums being discussed are Bruce Springsteen’s 1980 success, The River, on Sept. 29, Stevie Wonder’s Songs in the Key of Life on Oct. 13, Joni Mitchell’s melancholic Blue, and lastly, John Lennon and Yoko Ono’s Double Fantasy on Dec. 8. These discussions are free and open to the public and will be held via the Zoom app. Registration is required.
The Center for the Arts will also be introducing a Tuesday Night World Music Record Club. Hosted by Assistant Professor of Music and Theatre Arts Meghan Hynson and sponsored by the Institute for Global Understanding, the pilot discussion will feature Angelique Kidjo’s Celia on Oct. 20. Please register beforehand via the Center for the Arts website.
If you’re more into books, the Center for the Arts will also be hosting a Tuesday Night Book Club series. Hosted by Professor of English and Popular Music Ken Womack, Ph.D. and Associate Dean for the School of Humanities and Social Sciences Michael Thomas, there are three events held this semester. The first Book Club will feature a discussion of Madeline Miller’s Circe on Oct. 27, Clare Beams’ The Illness Lesson on Nov. 17, and Amor Towles’ A Gentleman in Moscow on Dec. 15. These discussions will also be held via Zoom.
The ArtNow: Art, Performance, Technology series will also be held virtually. On Sept. 18, the Artnow Art + Feminism Wikipedia Edit-A-Thon will take place, starting at 8 a.m. Wikipedia was the seventh most-visited website in 2015, and features exclusively white authors. Hosted by the Interactive Digital Media Lab and co-sponsored by the Guggenheim Library and Program in Gender and Intersectionality Studies (PGIS) program, this is an all-day itinerary based event, focusing on contributing and editing to Wikipedia to include stories of marginalized groups back into history. See the full list of scheduled activities on the Center for the Arts’ website.
The second ArtNow demonstration will focus on the upcoming election, but with a remix. It’s named Electro Electro 2020. Multimedia artist and Assistant Professor of Art and Design Mike Richison will have an elaborate setup with multiple screens, speakers, campaign quotes from both sides of the aisle, drum machines, mixers, and actual Diebold Accuvote booths. He will be making politically satirical beats, and showing the susceptibility these machines are to hacking.
The World Cinema Series will also be making a digital debut. There is only film slated for this semester; Juliano Ribeiro Selgado’s 2014 documentary Salt of the Earth on Sept. 24.
This documentary is about the work of his father, Sebastian. Instead of watching the film together and a succeeding discussion, Professors Randall Abate, J.D. and Mark Ludak, MFA, ask to watch it prior, and a Zoom discussion will take place.
All of that and more can be found by visiting the Center for the Arts’ website. This season is filled with great entertainment and designed to keep the university students, faculty, and community safe.
IMAGE TAKEN from Rolling Stone
IMAGE TAKEN from Monmouth University
