Johns Hopkins Gazette | November 28, 2005
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The newspaper of The Johns Hopkins University November 28, 2005 | Vol. 35 No. 12
 

Weekly Calendar

Colloquia | Discussion/Talks | Film/Video | Forum | Information Sessions | Lectures | Music | Open House | Reading | Religion | Seminars | Special Events | Theater |

 

A Look at Fairfield Porter

By Craig Hankin
Homewood Art Workshops


Fairfield Porter, 'Self-Portrait in the Studio,' 1968.

Artist and author Ted Leigh will give a slide talk titled "Material Witness: The Contribution of Fairfield Porter" at 5:30 p.m. on Tuesday, Nov. 29, in Room 101 of the Mattin Center's Ross Jones Building, Homewood campus. The event is sponsored by the Homewood Art Workshops and Homewood Arts Programs.

Porter (1907-1975) was a rarity: He was both a painter and an art critic of the first rank. An influential reviewer for ARTnews and The Nation, Porter developed a painterly realism, indebted to French Nabi artists Edouard Vuillard and Pierre Bonnard, during the ascendancy of American abstract art.

A Harvard-educated iconoclast drawn to painting and radical politics in the 1930s, Porter followed his instinct to paint what he saw for its own sake; he fiercely championed good painting regardless of style. He advocated for realists as diverse as Balthus and Isabel Bishop, and defended Robert Rauschenberg's "combine" paintings against conservative attacks. Porter was also a close friend and supporter of the New York School of Poets, including John Ashbery and James Schuyler.

A father of five who struggled to accept his bisexuality, Porter wrote letters that were an important vehicle for a man who was awkward in person. Privileged by wealth and culture but deprived emotionally when young, Porter grew in insight, openness and accomplishment until his death. He believed firmly in the necessity of attending to the "material facts" of art, poetry and life over the allure of ideas that can separate us from our experience.

Ted Leigh, a photographer and life coach who also teaches art at Villa Julie College in Stevenson, Md., is the author of Material Witness: The Selected Letters of Fairfield Porter (University of Michigan Press; 2005). Leigh studied with Porter at Amherst College in 1970, spent a year at the New York Studio School and in 1989 received his M.F.A. from Maryland Institute, College of Art. He has exhibited photographs, paintings and collages nationally and is currently represented in Baltimore by Resurgam Gallery.

 

Colloquia

Tues., Nov. 29, 4:15 p.m. "Synthetic Methods Development From Design," a Chemistry colloquium with Marisa Kozlowski, University of Pennsylvania; 233 Remsen. HW

Thurs., Dec. 1, 3 p.m. "The Young and the Restless: Scientific Academies in 17th-Century Italy," a History of Science, Medicine and Technology colloquium with Luciano Boschiero, KSAS; 3505 N. Charles St. HW

Thurs., Dec. 1, 3:30 p.m. "3-D Vortices in Protoplanetary Disks and Their Role in Star and Planetesimal Formation," a Physics and Astronomy colloquium with Philip Marcus, University of California, Berkeley; Schafler Auditorium, Bloomberg Center. HW

Fri., Dec. 2, 2 p.m. "Physics and Applications of Negatively Refracting Electromagnetic Materials," an APL colloquium with Steven Anlage, University of Maryland; Parsons Auditorium. APL

Fri., Dec. 2, 3 p.m. "On Arendt's Concept of 'Natality'," a Political Science colloquium with Terukazu Morikawa, KSAS; 366 Mergenthaler. HW

 

Discussion/Talks

Mon., Nov. 28, 6 p.m. "Pre-Health: Summer Programs," a Preprofessional Programs panel discussion. 162 Mattin Center. HW

Tues., Nov. 29, 5:30 p.m. "Material Witness: The Contribution of Fairfield Porter," an Arts Workshops and Homewood Arts Programs talk with Ted Leigh, Villa Julie College. (See story, "A Look at Fairfield Porter," above.) 101 Mattin Center. HW

Wed., Nov. 30, 5 to 7 p.m. "The Making of an Ink-Stained Wretch: Half a Century Pounding the Political Beat," a discussion with political reporter Jules Witcover, JHU Press; followed by book signing. Sponsored by the Friends of the Johns Hopkins Libraries and the JHU Press. Evergreen Carriage House.

 

Film/Video

Thurs., Dec. 1, 7:30 p.m. Screening of My Best Fiend and Werner Herzog Eats His Shoe, final installments of the Filmabend Series sponsored by the German Department. 311 Hodson. HW

 

Forum

Wed., Nov. 30, 6:30 to 9 p.m. First Fall CIO Forum — "The Role of Information Technology in Support of Organizational Change" with panel members Mike Koval, Long & Foster Real Estate Inc.; John McFadden, Loyola College; Jim White, Comcast; and Stephanie Reel, JHU/JHM. Sponsored by the Beta chapter of Alpha Iota Mu and SPSBE. Berman Auditorium, Downtown Center.

 

Information Sessions

Tues., Nov. 29, noon to 1 p.m. Information session for the Master of Science in Biotechnology and MBA dual degree program; an opportunity to meet prospective students, talk to advisers, submit an application and have a light lunch. Sponsored by Advanced Academic Programs. 134 Central Bldg. MCC

 

Lectures

Wed., Nov. 30, 4 p.m. "Barred Story: Little Dorrit and the Narratography of Closure," an English lecture by Garrett Stewart, University of Iowa; 323 Gilman. HW

Wed., Nov. 30, 7 p.m. "HIV/AIDS and Drug Addiction: Global and Local Perspectives," a Hopkin AIDS Alliance lecture and question and answer session with Kamiar Alaei, Harvard University, and Susan Sherman, SPH; in recognition of World AIDS Day. Co-sponsored by the Center for Social Concern. Mudd Auditorium. HW

Thurs., Dec. 1, 5:30 p.m. The Percy Graeme Turnbull Memorial Poetry Lecture by Alicia Ostriker. Sponsored by the Writing Seminars. Mudd Auditorium. HW

Fri., Dec. 2, 3 p.m. "Future of Criticism: Robert Musil as an Example," a German lecture by Tim Mehigan, University of Otago, New Zealand; 238 Gilman. HW

Mon., Dec. 5, 4:30 p.m. George Kempf Lecture--"Lie Theory for Differential Graded Lie Algebras" by Ezra Getzler, Northwestern University. Sponsored by Mathematics. 302 Krieger. HW

 

Music

Thurs., Dec. 1, and Fri., Dec. 2, 7:30 p.m. "Early Music: A Renaissance Christmas," a Peabody Renaissance Ensemble performance of Charpentier's Messe de Minuit and other works. Griswold Hall. Peabody

Fri., Dec. 2, 8 p.m. Fall concert of the Vocal Chords a cappella group; Schafler Auditorium, Bloomberg Center. HW

Sat., Dec. 3, 8 p.m. Hopkins Symphony Orchestra performs music by Brahms, Phillips and Enescu. $10 general admission, $8 for senior citizens, students and JHU affiliates; free to JHU students with ID. Shriver Hall Auditorium. HW

Sat., Dec. 3, 8 p.m. Fall concert of Octopodes, a co-ed a cappella group; Schafler Auditorium, Bloomberg Center. HW

Sun., Dec. 4, 3 p.m. "Lift Every Voice and Sing," a performance by the Peabody Children's Chorus. Free, but advance tickets required. Friedberg Hall. Peabody

Sun., Dec. 4, 5:30 p.m. Shriver Hall Concert Series presents the St. Lawrence String Quartet. $33 general admission, $17 for students, $8 student rush tickets. Shriver Hall Auditorium. HW

 

Open House

Fri., Dec. 2, 8 p.m. Friday Open House at the Maryland Space Grant Observatory; weather permitting. For weekly status, call 410-516-6525 or go to www.mdspacegrant.org/observatory.html. Bloomberg Center. HW

 

Reading

Fri., Dec. 2, 6 p.m. Reading by John Irwin, KSAS, from his latest book-length poem, As Long As It's Big. Sponsored by the Master of Arts in Writing Program. Reception is from 6 to 7 p.m.; reading and book signing to follow. 1717 Massachusetts Ave., NW, Washington, D.C. Bernstein-Offit Center.

 

Seminars

Mon., Nov. 28, 12:15 p.m. "The Politics and Practice of Surgical Sterilization in Costa Rica: An Ethnographic Case Study of the Challenges of Making a Reproductive Right," a Berman Bioethics Institute seminar with Gwynne Jenkins, SPH; W2015 SPH. EB

Mon., Nov. 28, 12:15 p.m. "Fishing for Functional, Non-Coding DNA," a Carnegie Institution Embryology seminar with Andrew McCallion, JHMI; 3520 San Martin Drive. HW

Mon., Nov. 28, 4 p.m. "Frontiers in Ocean Sciences: Looking Ahead to the Next 25 Years," an Earth and Planetary Sciences seminar with Margaret Leinen, National Science Foundation; Olin Auditorium. HW

Mon., Nov. 28, 5 p.m. "The Working Poor: Invisible in America," a Press and Public Policy seminar with David Shipler, author of the book by the same name. Sponsored by the Institute for Policy Studies. Reservations requested; ksottak@jhu.edu. Copies of Shipler's book will be available for purchase and signing. Great Hall, Levering. HW

Mon., Nov. 28, 5:30 p.m. "From Fortress to City-State: Tell Es-Sweyhat, Syria, in the Early Bronze Age," a Near Eastern Studies seminar with Richard Zettler, University of Pennsylvania; 123 Gilman. HW

Tues., Nov. 29, 10 a.m. "Epigenetic Regulation of Estrogen Receptor Alpha in Human Breast Cancer Cells," a Biochemistry and Molecular Biology thesis defense seminar with Julie Parson Blum; W3008 SPH. EB

Tues., Nov. 29, noon. "How to Write a Winning Animal Protocol," an Animal Care and Use Committee seminar with James Owiny, JHMI; 403 Ross. EB

Tues., Nov. 29, 12:15 p.m. "Youth Talent Beats AIDS: Taking Programs to Scale in Ethiopia and Madagascar," a Center for Communication Programs seminar with Peter Gottert, Health Communication Partnership; 310 Candler Bldg., 111 Market Place. EB

Tues., Nov. 29, 3 p.m. "Measuring Heterogeneous Distributions of Immobile Liquids in Soil and Bioreactor Landfills," a Geography and Environmental Engineering seminar with Paul Imhoff, University of Delaware; 234 Ames. HW

Tues., Nov. 29, 4 p.m. "A New Direction in Structural Condition Assessment and Nondestructive Evaluation," a Civil Engineering seminar with Chris Earls, University of Pittsburgh; 110 Maryland. HW

Tues., Nov. 29, 4 p.m. "The Past, Present and Future Wonder Woman," an Anthropology seminar with Stanford Carpenter, KSAS; 400 Macaulay. HW

Wed., Nov. 30, noon. "Without External Picturesquences, or, Why I Am Not a Patriot," a Political Science seminar with Steven Johnston, University of South Florida; 338 Mergenthaler. HW

Wed., Nov. 30, 12:15 p.m. "Taking Evidence-Based Practices in Children's Mental Health to Scale: Building a Science Base on Implementation Process and Outcome," a Mental Health seminar with Kimberly Eaton Hoagwood, Columbia University; B14B Hampton House. EB

Wed., Nov. 30, 1:30 p.m. "X-Ray and Solid-State NMR Measurements of Entropic Forces in Biological Membranes," a Biophysics and Biophysical Chemistry seminar with Horia Petrache, NICHD/NIH; 517 PCTB. EB

Wed., Nov. 30, 4 p.m. "Special Values of Rankin L-Functions Over Real Quadratic Fields and Applications," a Number Theory seminar with Alexandru Popa, Princeton University; 304 Krieger. HW

Wed., Nov. 30, 4 p.m. "Mechanisms of Damage Recognition and Incision in Human Nucleotide Excision Repair," a Pharmacology and Molecular Sciences seminar with Orlando Scharer, SUNY, Stony Brook; West Lecture Hall (ground floor), WBSB. EB

Thurs., Dec. 1, 11 a.m. "Polymer-Clay Nanocomposites: From Clay Dispersion Rheology to Flow-Induced Crystallization," a Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering seminar with James Oberhauser, University of Virginia; 110 Maryland. HW

Thurs., Dec. 1, noon. "Stem Cells for Cardiac Regeneration," a Cell Biology seminar with Eduardo Marban, SoM; Suite 2-200, 1830 Bldg. EB

Thurs., Dec. 1, 3 p.m. "Patterns, Universality and Computational Algorithms," an Applied Mathematics and Statistics seminar with Nigel Goldenfeld, University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign; 304 Whitehead. HW

Thurs., Dec. 1, 3 p.m. "Size Effects on the Deformation and Fatigue Behavior of Thin Metal Films," a Mechanical Engineering seminar with Oliver Kraft, Universitat Karlsruhe; 210 Hodson. HW

Thurs., Dec. 1, 4 p.m. "Mechanics of Bacterial Type IV Secretion," a Biology seminar with Peter Christie, UT-Houston Medical School; 100 Mudd. HW

Thurs., Dec. 1, 4 p.m. "Imaging Tissue Deformation Using Strain-Encoded Magnetic Resonance Imaging," an Electrical and Computer Engineering seminar with Ahmed Fahmy, WSE; 117 Barton. HW

Fri., Dec. 2, 10:30 a.m. "Compact E-Cash," an Information Security Institute seminar with Susan Hohenberger, MIT; 311 Hodson. HW

Fri., Dec. 2, 11:30 a.m. "An Examination of Depression's Association with Cardiovascular Health Behaviors and Disease Risk Among Urban Young Adults," a Health Policy and Management thesis defense seminar with Alyson Hall; 461 Hampton House. EB

Fri., Dec. 2, 2 p.m. "Effect of Hormonal Contraception on Natural History of HPV-16 Infection," a Molecular Microbiology and Immunology thesis defense seminar with Utaiwan Utaipat; W2017 SPH. EB

Mon., Dec. 5, 12:15 p.m. "Controlling Gene Expression by ATP Dependent Chromatin Remodeling Enzymes," a Carnegie Institution Embryology seminar with Carl Wu, NIH/NCI; 3520 San Martin Drive. HW

Mon., Dec. 5, 1 p.m. "Characterization of the Vall08met Cathechol-O-Methyltransferase (COMT) Polymorphism," an Environmental Health Sciences thesis defense seminar with Anne Elizabeth Doyle; W7023 SPH. EB

Mon., Dec. 5, 4 p.m. "Expression and Function of the PGD2/SOX9 Pathway in Embryonic and Pathologic Gonad," a Carnegie Institution Embryology seminar with Safia Malki; 3520 San Martin Drive. HW

Mon., Dec. 5, 4 p.m. "Multivariate Cue/Signal/Response Analysis of Cell Decision Processes," an Institute in Multiscale Modeling of Biological Interactions seminar with Douglas Lauffenburger, MIT; introductory remarks by President William R. Brody. Mudd Auditorium. HW

 

Special Events

Mon., Nov. 28, 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. Holiday Shopping at the School of Nursing, an international bazaar offering handmade jewelry, leather bags, scarves, hats, lotions from Nepal, Ecuador, Hong Kong, Mali, Guatemala and the Ten Thousand Villages Organizaton. (See "In Brief," in this issue.) Sponsored by IHO to support international and local organizations. Anne M. Pinkard Bldg. EB

Tues., Nov. 29, 11:30 a.m. to 1:30 p.m. Chili Cook-Off, proceeds to benefit United Way of Central Maryland. $10 entry fee for each item; $5 for lunch. 410-516-6060. Glass Pavilion, Levering. HW

Tues., Nov. 29, 8 p.m. The 2005 MSE Symposium, American Mass Media: Redefining the Democratic Landscape, presents Phyllis Schlafly, national leader of the conservative and pro-family movement on "Feminism vs. Conservatism." Shriver Hall Auditorium. Reception will follow the lecture in the Clipper Room. HW

Fri., Dec. 2, noon to 6 p.m. JHU Press Holiday Book Sale, holiday shoppers can browse a wide selection of new and recent publications from the JHU Press, have purchases signed by authors who will be present throughout the day, and enjoy refreshments. Homewood House. HW

Sat., Dec. 3, and Sun., Dec. 4, noon to 4 p.m. "Holiday Traditions," featuring live holiday music, decorations and light refreshments. Homewood House and Evergreen House.

Mon., Dec. 5, 5 p.m. "Homewood by Candlelight," seasonal decorations and music performed in the reception hall, period rooms lit by candlelight, and refreshments in the wine cellar. $6, free for JHU. Homewood House. HW

 

Theater

Fri., Dec. 2, Sat., Dec. 3, and Sun., Dec. 4, 8 p.m. Throat Culture fall 2005 sketch comedy show. $2 at the door. Arellano Theater, Levering. HW

Sun., Dec. 4, 2 p.m. Theatre Hopkins presents The Mistress of Riversdale, a one-woman dramatization by Cherie Weinert, with a musical introduction of the play by flutist Kateri Chambers. $10; to reserve tickets, call 410-516-7159 or e-mail thehop@jhu.edu. (See "In Brief," in this issue.) Centennial Hall, Gilman School, 5407 Roland Ave.

 

Workshops

Wed., Nov. 30, 12:15 p.m. Interviewing workshop, sponsored by SPH Career Services; W2017 SPH. EB

 
Colloquia | Discussion/Talks | Film/Video | Forum | Information Sessions | Lectures | Music | Open House | Reading | Religion | Seminars | Special Events | Theater |

 
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