Join us in exploring a world of arts & culture at MSU

In this feisty election season, the Michigan State University Museum presents a new exhibition with a political theme: No Holds Barred: Political Cartoons of the Gilded Age.

Among the most important developments in the popularization of the Gilded Age press (the late 19th Century) was the increasingly sophisticated use of visual ridicule -- political cartoons that informed, aroused, and pronounced on myriad contemporary issues, explains Samuel J. Thomas, MSU professor of history and the exhibition's curator.

Favorite targets included graft and fraud that then, as now, too often characterized political life, most often at the local and state levels, but also at times at the national level.

A new, eye-opening image of Africa will be on display at the Michigan State University Museum, featuring the photos of a group of sixth grade Malian students from two small villages 500 miles southwest of Timbuktu. Visual Griots, a project of the Academy for Educational Development, Washington, D.C., sent a team of Malian and U.S. photographers into the villages of Damy and Kouara to put cameras in the hand of youth, empower them to document their lives and help them better connect with their communities and the world.

Our Journeys/Our Stories presents 25 portraits and narratives of well-known Latino individuals - a Noble Prize-winning chemist, an astronaut, an athlete, an artist, a labor leader, to name a few - and their personal stories, photos, oral history interviews and dichos (traditional sayings) to illustrate and celebrate this contemporary anthology of Latino accomplishments.

Devised by the Sacred Heart Archive, a multi-disciplinary arts project, The Key Said Run and the Door Said Fly reinvents the folk tale of Mr. Fox using physical performance, traditional songs, and found objects. Incorporating a daring use of autobiography, The Key Said Run and the Door Said Fly investigates issues of sexual violence, and the body's capacity to remember. The ultimate result is a compelling picture of the relationship between freedom and fear.

Come join the Canadian Studies Center as they celebrate a traditional Thanksgiving in honor of the Canadian holiday. Please R.S.V.P. by Oct. 1st.

Age Rating: Contains strong language and is recommended for mature audiences. With more than twenty years as a stand-up, Louis C.K. is one of the most honest and respected comedic voices of his generation, finding success in television and film as well as the live stage. He will bring his comedy tour Hilarious to Wharton Center on October 9. As a stand-up, Louis has made the leap from stand-up clubs to theaters with his last national theater tour, Louis C.K.: Chewed Up. His first hour special, Louis C.K.: Shameless, premiered on HBO on January 13, 2007 to critical acclaim. As a filmmaker, Louis is best known for his cult classic Blaxploitation spoof, Pootie Tang, which he wrote and directed. Louis created and starred in HBO's first traditional sitcom, Lucky Louie, about the struggles of first time parenthood and he is currently co-creating a sitcom for CBS with Pamela Adlon who played his wife on Lucky Louie. The two will star in the comedy about a married couple who have been together too long and have too many children. Louis will also star in the new Ricky Gervais film, This Side of the Truth, alongside Jennifer Garner and Rob Lowe. He was recently seen in Welcome Home Roscoe Jenkins.

Liberalism remains a dominant framework within contemporary political philosophy. Not only do sexism, racism, and class-based hierarchies limit people's abilities to act on their desires, but they can also shape the very desires and preferences that people develop. I explore the phenomenon of "adaptive preferences" and consider whether a choice-based liberal theory can account for this problem. I illustrate my arguments through a brief discussion of women's choices about motherhood and sexuality. I conclude by offering several suggestions for how an alternative theory might better address the problems raised by preference adaptation in the context of oppression.

This interactive workshop is designed for K-16 teachers of German and offers an immersion setting that allows participants to maintain and expand their knowledge of German language, culture, and literature. In a hands-on approach, participants are familiarized with new techniques and materials for combining the teaching of literature and language in their classrooms. The workshop also provides a great avenue to network with other German teachers across levels and to share ideas and materials. To register, please contact Dr. Kraemer (kraemera@msu.edu) or go to www.msu.edu/~grmreach/teachers.html. SB-CEU approved.

As Canada's literary legend, Margaret Atwood is an internationally respected novelist. She's anticipated, explored and changed the popular preoccupations of our time. She writes about issues on a personal and worldly scale. The Sunday Times exclaims Atwood, one of the most inventive, enthralling and accomplished authors writing in English. Not to be missed!

Curated by educator and fabric artist Chris Worland, this exhibit of West African traditional and contemporary fabrics at the MSU Museum will include the work of three guest Artists-in-Residence (Kandioura Coulibaly and Boubacar Doumbia of Groupe Kasobane in Mali and American Janet Goldner) who will also participate February 2-16, 2009 in Worland's spring 2009 RCAH 291 Fabric Art Workshop and in several community outreach and engagement projects. Other linkages planned include gallery tours at the MSU Museum and RCAH workshop space for local community and school groups.

As a distinguished pioneer in integrative medecine, behavioral scientist Joan Borysenko is a world renowned expert in the mind/body connection. Her work has been foundational in an international health care revolution and continues to be. Her brilliance, humor and authenticity make her a compelling and inspiring speaker and writer.

Richard Dawkins is a British ethologist, evolutionary biologist and popular science writer. Dawkins first came to prominence with his 1976 book The Selfish Gene, which popularized the gene-centered view of evolution. He has since written several best-selling popular books, and appeared in a number of television and radio programs, concerning evolutionary biology, creationism, and religion. His most recent book The God Delusion was on the bestsellers list for almost a year.

The Chicago-based performance artist and women's studies theorist, Melissa Thompson, is teaching and performing with groups of students throughout the year.