What's happening at Penn State? Here's a look at some of the cultural events taking place at the University this weekend and next week:
Events
"Blind Date with a Book" — Through Feb. 29, various Penn State Libraries locations, University Park campus. Visitors to the Libraries can pick up wrapped books for reading dates. Free.
Celebration of Black Lives — 6:30 p.m., Feb. 21, HUB-Robeson Center's Heritage Hall, University Park. The Black Graduate Student Association will host a banquet, "Celebration of Black Lives," with Dominican-American entrepreneur and investor John Henry as speaker. The theme is "self-determination." Free.
IFC/Panhellenic Dance Marathon — Feb. 21-23, Bryce Jordan Center, University Park campus. Students engage in a 46-hour dance marathon to help children with pediatric cancer. Free.
Cafe Laura Theme Dinner: El Mercado: Street Food Elevated — Feb. 25, Cafe Laura, Mateer Building, University Park campus. Students in HM 430 Advanced Food Production and Service Management prepare a series of themed dinners throughout the semester to be served in the student-run Cafe Laura restaurant. Reservations required.
Cafe Laura Theme Dinner: A Blast from Your Past: Childhood Food Recreated — Feb. 26, Cafe Laura, Mateer Building, University Park campus. Students in HM 430 Advanced Food Production and Service Management prepare a series of themed dinners throughout the semester to be served in the student-run Cafe Laura restaurant. Reservations required.
Cafe Laura Theme Dinner: From New York to Paris: Fly Back to When Fine Dining Took Off — Feb. 27, Cafe Laura, Mateer Building, University Park campus. Students in HM 430 Advanced Food Production and Service Management prepare a series of themed dinners throughout the semester to be served in the student-run Cafe Laura restaurant. Reservations required.
Performances
"The Lucky Boy" — Through Feb. 22, Penn State Downtown Theatre, State College. Penn State Centre Stage presents an adaptation by Kirsten Childs of the Brothers Grimm fairy tale "The Devil with Three Golden Hairs."
"Prehistoric Aquarium Adventure" — 7:30 p.m., Feb. 20, Eisenhower Auditorium, University Park campus. This multimedia family show features a giant theatrical aquarium and explores the "unknown" ocean depths, unlocking the mystery of "the dinosaurs of the deep." The show will feature a large-scale cast of creatures brought to life by sophisticated design, theatrical presentation and puppet mastery.
"Angels in America, Millennium Approaches" — Feb. 25-March 5, Playhouse Theatre, University Park campus. Penn State Centre Stage presents the Tony Kushner production as it celebrates its 25th anniversary.
Apollo's Fire — 7:30 p.m., Feb. 27, Schwab Auditorium, University Park campus. Apollo's Fire, the Cleveland Baroque Orchestra, will perform Antonio Vivaldi's concertos.
Lectures
Ashtekar Frontiers of Science Lectures: Kateryna Makova — 11 a.m., Feb. 22, 101 Thomas Building, University Park campus. Kateryna Makova, Francis R. and Helen M. Pentz Professor of Biology, will present "Predicting mutation and disease occurrence from DNA and omics data." Free.
EarthTalks: Richard Alley — 4 p.m., Feb. 24, 112 Walker Building, University Park campus. Richard Alley, Evan Pugh University Professor of Geosciences, will discuss how human-caused global warming is affecting ice sheets and impacting coastal communities. Free.
Monica Blake — 6:30 p.m., Feb. 25, Flex Theater, HUB-Robeson Center, University Park campus. Retired Tennessee police officer Monica Blake will discuss her experience surviving a violent sexual assault from an off-duty police officer in this talk sponsored by Penn State's Gender Equity Center and Centre Safe. Free.
"A Revolutionary Dissent: How the Founding Generation Created the Freedom of Speech" — 6 p.m., Feb. 26, Carnegie Cinema, Carnegie Building, University Park campus. Stephen D. Solomon, the Marjorie Deane Professor of Journalism at New York University, will discuss the First Amendment. Free.
"Seeking vision: The journey of a legally blind physicist and filmmaker" — 3 p.m., Feb. 27, Memorial Lounge, Pasquerilla Spiritual Center, University Park campus. Aziza Baccouche, president and CEO of Aziza Productions, will talk about about her work producing science-based films. The lecture is part of Penn State's Black History Month celebration. Free.
Keeanga-Yamahtta Taylor — 6 p.m., Feb. 27, Foster Auditorium, Paterno Library, University Park campus. Keeanga-Yamahtta Taylor, professor of African-American studies at Princeton University and author of "Race for Profit: How Banks and the Real Estate Industry Undermine Black Homeownership," will appear as part of the Africana Research Center's lectures examining the impacts of racism. Free.
"A Conversation with Michael Giarrusso" — 7 p.m., Feb. 27, 73 Willard Building, University Park campus. Michael Giarusso, the global sports editor of the Associated Press, will be the featured guest of the John Curley Center for Sports Journalism's Conversation Series. Free.
Exhibits
"Please Touch: Revitalizing Scenic Models Through Play" — Through Feb. 22, Woskob Family Gallery, 146 S. Allen St., State College. Viewers are encouraged to touch design sets created by Michael Schweikardt, a third-year master of fine arts candidate in theater. Free.
"A Return to Order and Disorder" — Through Feb. 27, Borland Project Space, Borland Building, University Park campus. The exhibit by art education doctoral candidate Sue Uhlig makes visible the objects people find valuable and the collections they form. Free.
"Cosmologies" — Through March 3, Art Alley, HUB-Robeson Galleries, HUB-Robeson Center, University park campus. An exhibition of large-scale drawings inspired by systems, steamfitter’s drawings, flight routes and electrical networks. Free.
"On/Of Paper: Work by the Faculty of Architecture at Penn State" — Through March 6, Willard Rouse Gallery, Stuckeman Family Building, University Park campus. The exhibit highlights Penn State architecture faculty members' work and the importance of drawing and paperwork in their endeavors. Free.
"Still Here" — Through March 22, HUB Gallery, HUB-Robeson Center, University Park campus. Curated by Larry Ossei-Mensah, Kiara Ventura and Dexter Wimberly, "Still Here" explores stories of migration, displacement and survival by eight artists that represent a spectrum of the African Diaspora. Free.
"Illuminating Illusions" — Through April 19, HUB-Robeson Center, University Park campus. The exhibition showcases a selection of objects and illusion examples that illustrate relevance to current day culture, scientific discovery, or both. Free.
"Ideas! Ideas! Ideas!" — Through May 3, first floor wall case, HUB-Robeson Center, University Park campus. An exhibit by Miami-based artist Jim Drain using dazzling camoflage patterns to simultaneously mask and amplify the exhibit space. Free.
"Women's Work" — Through May 8, Earth and Mineral Sciences Museum and Art Gallery, University Park campus. The museum presents Pennsylvania's early- to mid-20th-century industrial history recorded on canvas and paper by women artists. Free.
"African Brilliance: A Diplomat's Sixty Years of Collecting" — Through May 24, Palmer Museum of Art, University Park campus. A presentation of a wide-ranging selection of African art from the collection of Ambassador Allen Davis featuring art from West, Central and East Africa. Free.
"Grounded: Environments in Flux" — Through May 31, Palmer Museum of Art, University Park campus. To commemorate the 50th anniversary of Earth Day, the Palmer is showcasing a select group of works by contemporary artists to celebrate the poetry and power of nature, as well as the prosaic reality of environmental degradation resulting from modern interventions. Free.
"Drawing on a Legacy: Highlights from the John Driscoll American Drawings Collection" — Through June 7, Palmer Museum of Art, University Park campus. The exhibition spotlights 30 watercolors and drawings from a diverse group of 19th-century American artists. Free.