This article is from the archives of the UB Reporter.
News

Briefs

Published: March 29, 2012

  • Lecture to honor Plesur

    Milton Plesur was a beloved teacher, author and scholar of popular culture and the American presidency, whose humor captivated his students.

    In fact, Plesur was such a popular teacher that the undergraduate Student Association named its annual teaching award after him.

    To mark the 25th anniversary of the death of its renowned faculty member, the Department of History will present the inaugural Plesur Alumni Lecture on March 30.

    The lecture, to be given by Steven Ross, chair of the Department of History at the University of Southern California, is on Plesur’s favorite subject: American movies.

    Ross will discuss “Hollywood Left and Right: How Movie Stars Shaped American Politics” at 4 p.m. in the Screening Room in the Center for the Arts, North Campus.

    A panel discussion featuring UB history faculty discussing the nature, value and importance of teaching will precede the lecture at 3 p.m.

    Ross has written extensively in the areas of working-class history, social history and film history. His op-ed pieces have appeared in numerous national publications, and his work on movie stars and politics has led to appearances on national television news shows.

    His latest book, “Hollywood Left and Right: How Movie Stars Shaped American Politics,” received a Pulitzer Prize nomination and a Film Scholars Award from the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences.

  • MFA students to exhibit work

    “Drag Bar,” an exhibition of work by seven first-year MFA students from the Department of Visual Studies will open with a public reception from 5-7 p.m. April 5 in the Second Floor Gallery of the UB Art Gallery, Center for the Arts, North Campus.

    A performance by exhibitor Anthony DiMezza that investigates the motivation and participation of Irish-Americans during the American Civil War will begin at 6 p.m.

    The exhibition, which is free and open to the public, will be on view in the Second Floor Gallery through April 28.

    It will feature a variety of mediums and styles, including performance, printmaking, painting, drawing, sculpture and photography. In addition to DiMezza, artists whose work is featured in the exhibition are Alexander Derwick, Luke Dougherty, David Leighty, Ruby Merritt, Byron Rich and Gary Sczerbaniewicz.

  • Queer artists to visit UB

    Internationally acclaimed artists Ryan Trecartin and Lizzie Fitch will visit UB next month to deliver the second lecture in the Leslie Lohman Queer Art Lecture Series.

    The lecture, part of a four-part series featuring the world’s most significant queer contemporary artists addressing the relationship between their work and their sexuality, will take place at 4 p.m. April 12 in the Screening Room, 112 Center for the Arts, North Campus.

    The series is sponsored by the Department of Visual Studies in partnership with the Leslie Lohman Museum of Gay and Lesbian Art in New York City.

    In conjunction with the lecture, a screening of the duo’s film series “Any Ever,” the subject of a major exhibition at the MoMa PS1 last summer, will be held from 1-5 p.m. April 6 in the Screening Room.

    Both events are free and open to the public.

    Trecartin and Fitch, acclaimed one of the most innovative collaborative teams working with video and installation today, seamlessly meld the overheated immediacy of our Internet-linked world with dissident politics—including copious drag and a strong bias against unchecked capitalism.

    Their work has been seen at MAMA, Rotterdam, Pays-Bas; MoMA PS1, New York; Musée d’Art Moderne de la Ville de Paris; New Galerie de France; and Cour Carrée du Louvre, Paris.

  • Sculpture exhibition to open

    “Dystopic Antics,” and exhibition of sculpture created by students in the Department of Visual Studies, will open in the department gallery April 5 with a reception from 5-7 p.m.

    The exhibition will be on view in the basement gallery, B45 Center for the Arts, from April 2-13.

  • Flags at half-mast honor fallen soldier

    Gov. Andrew M. Cuomo has directed that flags on state government buildings—including those at UB—be flown at half-mast on April 2 in honor of a Fort Drum soldier who died in Paktika province, Afghanistan, on March 26.

    Staff Sgt. William R. Wilson III died from wounds from small arms fire. He was a member of the 2nd Battalion, 28th Infantry Regiment of the 172nd Infantry Brigade, based in Grafenwoehr, Germany. Wilson was from Getzville.

    Cuomo has ordered that flags on all state buildings be lowered to half-mast in honor of and tribute to New York service members who are killed in action or die in a combat zone.