Life News (Arts & Humanities)

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Nearly a century after being composed, printed and performed, more than 22,000 pieces of sheet music are receiving new electronic life.

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Perhaps one day the American slave ship Creole will become as famous as the Spanish ship Amistad, and Madison Washington, the African-American slave who led the rebellion on the Creole, will be as well known as Cinque, the African slave who led the revolt on the Amistad.

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Lippold Haken's continuum fingerboard -- a new breed among electronic instruments -- was born not so much out of necessity as from the inventor's passion for music and penchant for electronics tinkering.

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An Arkansas writer's first novel offers a story of self-discovery that includes the usual ingredients: dysfunctional family, amputation, blue horses of death, and a yellow elixir called "the Stuff."

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1- Verdict still out on Philly cops; 2- Sports psychologist on parental sports violence; 3- Students create videos highlighting best of Philly for GOP; 4- Political protestors' rights and police regulations at the RNC.

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Looking for a way to escape the summer heat with your children? Visit local art galleries or museums, said Toni Nordan, curator of the UAB Visual Arts Gallery.

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The perfect off-the-beaten-track destination for patriots and music-lovers alike might be the Sousa Archives for Band Research at the University of Illinois.

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To halt the decline in ticket sales, many metropolitan orchestras in recent years have been exploring new strategies for reaching out to their communities.

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There's still a vital group of Southern writers hard at work, producing remarkable stuff, but they're no longer linked by common perspective. If anything binds them now, it's more fundamental -- a connection to the land, the South, and how they carry it with them, says Sidney Burris, a poet and professor at the University of Arkansas.

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"Jerry Maguire" and "Independence Day" were big blockbusters for movie stars Cuba Gooding Jr. and Will Smith; but look closely at the characters portrayed by the African-American actors and you'll see that stereotypes persist, according to two scholars who have written a book about race and media.

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Film director Oliver Stone is often questioned about the historical accuracy of his cinematic interpretations. He faces his critics and responds to them in "Oliver Stone's USA: Film History and Controversy," compiled and edited by Robert Toplin.

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Tennessee Williams' "Stairs to the Roof," produced only once, in 1947 at the Pasadena Playhouse, has just been published for the first time as part of a New Directions series featuring unknown early plays by Williams.

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For much of the American middle class, the instrument of choice was the piano, according to one of 15 authors who contributed to the new book "Piano Roles: Three Hundred Years of Life With the Piano" (Yale University Press).

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A building is so much more than bricks and mortar, says a UAB Department of Art and Art History professor.

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1. there's plenty of jobs for this year's grads, but they still need a plan to get the job they want, 2. School uniforms might have a positive impact on Philly's schools but more is needed.

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Opera is experiencing a resurgence of sorts thanks to a new and younger audience, says Rachel Mathes, D.M.A., director of the UAB Opera Program.

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Combine the literary talents of two renowned chemists with a passion for theater and the result is "Oxygen," a two-act play by Stanford's Carl Djerassi and Cornell's Roald Hoffmann, destined for a workshop production at Eureka Theatre Company in San Francisco.

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The University of Georgia Libraries has launched the Georgia Writers Hall of Fame, a program to recognize past and present Georgia writers for their contributions to the state's literary heritage.

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Over the past few years, millions of dollars have been spent by consumers on "natural music," says a UAB music professor; the recognition of music's calming effects is nothing new.

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Humor in the New Yorker style -- irreverent cartoons coupled with witty punch lines -- has left a lasting mark on America's funny bone, the impact of which is explored in a new book on the magazine's early years.

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A $150,000 grant to a Saint Joseph's University scholar to direct the publication of an online edition of "The Collected Letters of Thomas and Jane Welsh Carlyle" has been awarded by The National Endowment for the Humanities.

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Martha Haarbauer, UAB theatre instructor and author of "Seasoned Theatre: A Guide to Creating and Maintaining a Senior Adult Theatre," discovered it wasn't a simple task to start a senior adult theatre group when she was approached 17 years ago.

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The interdisciplinary conference "Oscar Wilde: The Man, His Writings, His World," will take place at Hofstra University, April 27 to 29; speakers include Merlin Holland, Wilde's grandson and the author of "The Wilde Album."

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Boston University has won a $750,000 grant from the Henry Luce Foundation to establish the International Center for East Asian Archaeology and Cultural History; the Center's focus will include Central Asia, Siberia, Korea, Japan, China, and mainland Southeast Asia.

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1. This winter's snow should keep the Philadelphia area from experiencing water restrictions this summer. 2. Instead of rushing out and spending on new annuals and perennials, home owners should take care of plants they already have, says horticulture professor.

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In addition to serving as a treasure trove for Renaissance music scholars, a new book doubles as a fact-packed read for anyone interested in the music, art and cultural history that dominated the courts of northern and western Europe in the 16th century.

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When 60 scholars from around the world arrive in mid-April at the University of Illinois. it's likely they'll know who once wrote, "The real voyage of discovery consists not in seeking new landscapes, but in having new eyes."

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A geography professor at the University of Illinois has written and provided illustrations for one of the first reviews of indigenous African maps, hoping to dispel some of the major myths about mapmaking in sub-Saharan Africa.

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The latest project by installation artist Nobuho Nagasawa is set in the plaza of the new National Government Center in downtown Saitama, Japan; her "site-specific" installations are part history, part poetry, and undeniably stunning.

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Victorian writer Thomas Carlyle and his wife, diarist and correspondent Jane Welsh Carlyle, greatly influenced 19th century intellectual life; that influence will be the subject of a conference in Philadelphia, April 6-8.

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An international colloquium, "Berlioz: Past, Present, Future," at Smith College is the first in a series of events around the world designed to honor Berlioz on the 200th anniversary of his birth.

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Poet Bridget Meeds will spend two hours every morning of the business week, from March 27 to April 21, in Cornell's Wilson Lab with physicists and other lab employees as the laboratory's first-ever poet in residence.

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Vanderbilt University will host a historic, large-scale gathering of prose and poetry writers April 6-8 to examine the state of Southern literature; "A Millennial Gathering of the Writers of the New South" will feature 46 of the top names in modern Southern writing.

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The Night Inspector, written by Frederick Busch, a Colgate University professor of literature, has been nominated by the National Book Critics' Circle as the best book of fiction for 1999.

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Throw your lens cap away, suggests a University of Alabama at Birmingham photography professor; replace it with a skylight or ultraviolet filter that screws directly onto the lens.

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Thanks to a gift from Tokyo's Habuki Kimono School to the University of Illinois, an art and design professor's students will soon be learning all they ever wanted to know about the cultural and historical significance of the kimono.

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Edward Elgar's "Gerontius," a meditation on the afterlife that describes the journey of a man's soul after it leaves the earthly realm, will take place on April 1 at the University of Illinois.

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The 1990s are barely behind us, but already the art of the 20th century's final decade has been chronicled in a second edition of Jonathan Fineberg's "Art Since 1940: Strategies of Being."

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"The Tempest," as produced by the University of Georgia's Interactive Peformance Laboratory, will push the boundaries of live theater by combining actors and digitally-created characters using motion capture technology.

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Johns Hopkins University has conveyed to the government of the Republic of Turkey the university's portion of the Gold Koran, a rare manuscript of Islamic scripture written in gold.

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George Washington probably did not excel in oratory, concludes Stephen Lucas, University of Wisconsin-Madison communication arts professor and author of "The Quotable George Washington."

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As many young blacks view the Bible as having little relevance to their lives, a new publication has been designed to strengthen younger generations' understanding of the link between black history and scriptures.

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"No Arms," a sculpture by artist Linda Vanderkolk, continuing lecturer and design foundations coordinator at Purdue University, is made entirely from toy guns and wire in the image of an adolescent boy.

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African-Americans' contributions to Chicago's rich heritage of commercial art and industrial design are the focus of a new symposium, hosted by UIC and the DuSable Museum (2-5-00).

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1. AOL-Time Warner deal may further blur the line between news and advertising. 2. Zero tolerance policies make kids feel unsafe in school. 3. Sports psychologist compares the impact of Flyers tragedies and Charlotte Hornets.

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Louisiana State University features experts who can discuss the history of Mardi Gras and the colorful Cajun traditions and folklore. Reporters coming to Louisiana to cover Mardi Gras on March 7 may want to consider doing stories on the state's unique culture.

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A new book by a North Carolina State University historian sheds new light on William Hannibal Thomas and his significant influence on the nation's racial debate. Thomas published a scathing attack in 1901 titled The American Negro and drew fire from prominent African-American reformers for turning against his own race. They called him "Black Judas."

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A new book about arts education offers an innovative approach to halt the marginalization of the humanities in American schools. It also offers new incentive -- neglecting the arts can contribute to student apathy and violence.

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Attendance at religious services is declining in the United States and many other industrialized nations, according to a University of Michigan study in the Feb. 2000 American Sociological Review.

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A Colgate University music professor's composition will have its world premiere by the Syracuse Symphony Orchestra.