NIU and the College of Lake County will begin this fall to offer a bachelor’s degree completion program for registered nurses who live and work nearby.
The partnership between CLC and NIU’s College of Health and Human Sciences provides affordable public tuition during troubled financial times.
“We’re very excited because up to this point we’ve not had any public university access for B.S. degree completion. Our only access has been through private schools, which in this economy is costly,” said Deborah Jezuit, director of nursing education at CLC.
“I taught at NIU for six years, from 1998 to 2004. I’m familiar with the program. I know all the people in the program. I’ve been asking them to come out here since I came out here five years ago, and it’s finally coming to fruition. I’m hoping the master’s program is coming next.”
Brigid Lusk, chair of the NIU School of Nursing and Health Studies, said public universities have “a duty” to open doors to four-year degrees.
“There has been an indicated need for RN-to-BS degree completion programs in the northeastern part of the state. We want to make available our degree programs throughout our area of the state. That’s a responsibility of a public school,” Lusk said. “We are currently just finishing a series of contract courses for one of the local hospitals in that area, and this, I think, will serve a broader need. This location is further afield than we have gone before.”
Classes will take place at the University Center of Lake County in Grayslake, conveniently located next to CLC. The schedule calls for two courses taught back-to-back from 4 to 10 p.m. one evening each week.
RNs admitted to NIU will receive 32 semester hours of credit for their previous nursing work. NIU will provide 24 semester hours of face-to-face coursework that meets the requirements for the bachelor of science degree in nursing.
The first group of students should finish the program in the spring of 2011.
“Our county has a lot of older nurses. Sometimes, on-ground courses are more palatable to them. They’re not comfortable in an online environment,” Jezuit said. “This will be nice for that person who really wants that face-to-face interaction. All of our other partnerships are either exclusively online or half online.”
Students can complete remaining coursework required for the baccalaureate degree with approved transfer credit from CLC or another accredited college or university. Non-nursing coursework is not considered a pre-requisite to the upper-division nursing courses NIU will provide; students can complete those credits at any time.
Current and former College of Lake County students who are fully qualified for admission into this program will enjoy enrollment preference for half of the course/cohort capacity.
An NIU academic adviser will meet with students on-site at the beginning of the program and remain available by phone and e-mail through the duration of the program.
The new partnership should improve health care for Lake County – “Better-educated nurses have been shown to make a difference in quality and health care outcomes for patients,” Lusk said – and provide avenues to career advancement for nurses.
“Most B.S.N. programs are for individuals who want to take on leadership roles or advance in nursing higher than bedside nursing,” Jezuit said. “This will give more people the opportunity to complete their degrees and capitalize on that. There will be more movement for them in the nursing profession.”
CLC’s nursing program is housed in the Biological and Health Sciences Division. For more information, visit http://www.clcillinois.edu/credit/programs/nur.asp or call (847) 543-2043.
The NIU School of Nursing and Health Studies is housed in the College of Health and Human Sciences. For more information, visit http://www.niu.edu/offcampusacademics/nursing/ or call (815) 753-6556.
A unique partnership of 18 private and public Illinois colleges and universities, the University Center of Lake County offers select bachelor’s and graduate degrees as well as professional development opportunities. For more information, visit http://www.ucenter.org/ or call (847) 665-4000.
Students who enroll in NIU’s nationally respected Professional Sales Program had better not be camera-shy.
Ever since Rick Ridnour joined the program 20 years ago, he has required students to participate in videotaped role-playing exercises that simulate the interaction between salespersons and customers.
No other tool, he says, better teaches students about the dynamics of that complex communication.
“It can be very stressful, but it’s a great exercise in creative problem-solving, critical thinking and communication skills,” says Ridnour, who has won numerous teaching awards, including the Presidential Teaching Professor in 2004. “In many ways it is the embodiment of the NIU College of Business motto: ‘Where the classroom meets the business world.’ ”
Ridnour will discuss the importance of that practice Wednesday, March 18, when he presents a Presidential Teaching Professor Seminar in the Heritage Room of the Holmes Student Center.
Wednesday’s session begins with refreshments at 11:30 a.m., followed by the noon presentation and a question-and-answer session. Sponsors are the Office of the Provost and the Faculty Development and Instructional Design Center.
“The recipients of that award are our most outstanding teachers, and these sessions provide an opportunity for anyone who teaches students to learn about their methods and improve their own instruction and engagement with students,” Vice Provost Earl “Gip” Seaver says. “Every one of these sessions offers something that others can incorporate into their own teaching.”
Ridnour was a pioneer in the use of video cameras in the classroom, introducing them when they were still relatively large, quiet expensive and hardly the common household item they are today.
Back then, Ridnour set up a desk and chairs in the front of the classroom, pointed the camera at two students, one playing the part of salesperson and the other playing a customer. The duo acted out an initial sales meeting, with the salesperson attempting to close the sale or, at the very least, secure a second meeting. Along with the unblinking eye of the camera, classmates also looked on and later critiqued the performance.
The interactions, while staged, often create some very real stage fright for students, he says. But they also teach useful lessons – about sales and about themselves.
The point of the exercise remains the same today, but the technology has advanced by quantum leaps. The Professional Sales Program now has a mock office, separate from the classroom, with three remotely controlled cameras to monitor the transaction.
Instead of being recorded on video tape, the sessions now can be stored on a hard drive or recorded to DVD, allowing for easier and faster playback and review of the sessions. Ridnour plays each DVD privately for the featured students and again in front of the class.
The sales program’s facilities, incorporated into Barsema Hall during its construction, have helped cement the program’s reputation as one of the top business-to-business sales programs in the country. However, Ridnour says the lessons learned from the sessions could benefit students in nearly every discipline.
“At some point in life everybody interviews for jobs, scholarships, raises, etc., and those sessions aren’t unlike what our students go through in the sales program,” he says. “My objective is to teach students not just that they can make a sale, but to convince them that they can be assertive and creative, and that they can create value in a 20-minute meeting. The skills they learn in this process are transferable to many different situations, not just sales.”
NIU’s College of Liberal Arts and Sciences is seeking 50 outstanding alumni to help celebrate its golden anniversary.
The college turns 50 at the start of the 2009-2010 academic year. A series of events will be held throughout the year to acknowledge the milestone and focus on the important role the university’s largest college plays in advancing NIU’s mission.
The kickoff event is scheduled for September, when 50 CLAS alumni will be recognized for their achievements.
“We want to honor alumni with outstanding accomplishments, either professionally or through involvement in civic, cultural or service activities,” Dean Christopher McCord says.
“Ideally, alumni representing each department, division and center will be represented,” he adds. “We also hope to recognize graduates from each of the five decades of the college’s history, so nominations of alumni of all ages and stages in life are welcome.”
Anyone can submit a nomination. See www.niu.edu/clas for the nomination form, which includes the criteria. All nomination materials must be received by Friday, March 27.
Two members of the famed NIU Liberace Jazztet will travel next week to Washington, D.C., to participate in the 2009 Betty Carter’s Jazz Ahead Residency Program at the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts.
Guitarist Larry Brown and drummer Clif Wallace, both of whom are graduate students in the NIU School of Music’s jazz studies program, will enjoy two weeks of daily workshops and rehearsals with established jazz artists.
Program organizers identify outstanding and emerging jazz artists in their mid-teens and 20s and bring them together under the tutelage of experienced artist-instructors who coach and counsel them, helping to polish their performance, composing and arranging skills.
“Jazz Ahead” culminates in three concerts on the Kennedy Center Millennium Stage set for live broadcast over the Internet.
“I am truly proud of both of these talented young men,” said Ron Carter, director of jazz studies at NIU, “and excited about the notoriety this prestigious selection brings to NIU.”
Brown is a third-generation guitarist, following in the footsteps of his father and grandfather. The graduate of Southern Illinois University-Edwardsville picked up the instrument 22 years ago at the tender age of 4.
“I grew up listening to all types of music, but I didn’t start playing jazz until I got to college. As a kid, I always liked it but I never got into playing it,” said Brown, a native of Venice, Ill., about five minutes from Gateway Arch in St. Louis. “It sounded hard, and I liked the way it sounded. It was different. I like the way it makes me feel when I play it.”
The guitarist for the legendary NIU Jazz Ensemble hopes his Washington, D.C., experience will connect “musically and socially” with musicians from around the world.
Scheduled to graduate this May, he hopes to perform and tour professionally for a while and then teach. Brown already gives private lessons through NIU’s Community School of the Arts and is co-director of the All-University Jazz Band.
“It’s great to be recognized, but I’m taking it all in stride. I’m just look forward to playing. Playing is what I love to do, by whatever means I can do it,” he said. “I just want to get to know some people who are playing the music I love and sharing that musical experience.”
Wallace, a native of Fort Wayne, Ind., began drumming about 15 years ago. After earning his bachelor’s degree at North Carolina Central University, he came to NIU for the “opportunity to be around Ron Carter.”
“Jazz is the American music. I like that,” Wallace said. “I play all styles of music, but playing jazz has really opened me up to listening to everything else.”
Like Brown, he teaches private lessons through the Community School and leads a jazz combo in the School of Music.
Similarly, Wallace also is eager for the networking avenues paved at “Jazz Ahead.” He already knows a handful of musicians who gig in and around the nation’s capitol, where he played professionally before coming to NIU. He also has family there.
“This program is going to be good. I have a couple friends who’ve made it before, and they’ve told me good things about it,” said Wallace, who will complete his master’s in jazz performance in 2010. “You’re dealing with professional musicians who play more often. The people who run this program are always out there on the scene. These people get to hear you.
Brown and Wallace’s two-week residency will include:
For more information, visit www.kennedy-center.org/programs/jazz/jazzahead.
Axel Meyer died Saturday, March 7, at his daughter’s home in Vero Beach, Fla., where he had gone during his struggle with cancer. He was 83.
Meyer is survived by his wife, Cecile, daughters Carla and Linda, son Frederick, sister Greta Rudolph and grandchildren Nicholas Ryan, Madeline Meyer and Sarah Meyer.
He was born March 3, 1926, in Copenhagen, Denmark, and immigrated to New York City in 1930 with his parents Anna and Fred and sisters Greta and Ellen.
Meyer served in the U.S. Navy in the Pacific during World War II. He received his bachelor of science degrees from City College of New York, in both mechanical and electrical engineering; his master of science in physics from Georgia Tech in Atlanta; and a doctorate in physics from Illinois Institute of Technology in Chicago.
He was a professor of physics at the University of Florida from 1955 to 1959; a researcher at the Oak Ridge National Laboratory from 1960 to 1967; and a professor of physics at NIU for 26 years.
Meyer’s body of scientific work, as described by lifetime collaborator Hughie Young, was significant in developing the theory of the behavior of liquid metals.
Together they produced more than 32 research publications in physics journals of international standing, along with numerous presentations at international conferences. Their research played an important role in developing a solution to the mysteries of liquid metals. One important paper provided explanation of experimental observations regarding the unique thermodynamic properties of lithium.
Following retirement, Meyer continued teaching “Physics in Society” to students in the NIU Lifetime Learning Institute.
He supported numerous international scientific organizations including Sigma Pi Sigma, American Physical Society, the Bulletin of Atomic Scientists, the Center for Defense Information, Council for a Livable World, Institute for Policy Studies, Nuclear Energy & Resource Service, Sigma Xi, and Union of Concerned Scientists. He was a fellow of the Institute for Physics (British).
Meyer met his wife, Cele, in New York City. They married in 1950. The two had 58 years together, dedicated to raising three children and supporting causes they believed in. He took great pleasure in helping students understand the important role of physics in society and was a leader in exposing and opposing the dangers of nuclear technology, both for weapons and for power generation. He was a proponent of renewable energy sources and conservation. He lived simply and could be seen riding his bike to work year-round.
Meyer was a co-founder with his wife of the DeKalb Interfaith Network for Peace and Justice, and served in many roles over the past 25 years. He was an ardent peace activist, and for the past seven years could be seen Fridays carrying his rainbow flag at the weekly peace vigil on the corner of First Street and Lincoln Highway.
HE was a dedicated member of the Unitarian Universalist Fellowship of DeKalb, having helped to found a similar fellowship in Gainesville, Fla.
A memorial service will be held at the DeKalb Unitarian Universalist Fellowship in June.
In lieu of flowers, the family welcomes donations “In memory of Dr. Axel Meyer” to the Nuclear Energy Information Service (www.neis.org). Meyer was grateful to the NEIS for its leadership in limiting the use of nuclear power in Illinois.
The Roles and Purposes Dimension is exploring how well NIU communicates to first-year students the value a college degree provides in terms of personal growth, community engagement and preparation for future employment.
The committee members also are reviewing how well NIU encourages first-year students to investigate their motivation for seeking a higher education – and how well NIU communicates its rationale for required competencies and courses from general education to the more specifically focused areas of study (majors).
The committee members are in the process of collecting information from individuals, offices and programs across campus that interact with first-year students (course/program descriptions and related materials, publications, brochures, Web site pages and/or anecdotal evidence).
The committee members will:
For additional information about, to participate in, or to provide information for the Roles and Purposes Dimension, contact co-chairs Cindy Henderson (chenderson@niu.edu) or Julie Schaid (jschaid@niu.edu).
NIU’s Foundations of Excellence Task Force is pleased to announced that James Ciesla, a professor in the School of Nursing and Health Studies, and Patrice Whiteside, from Human Resources Operations, are two of the $50 cash prize winners in the faculty/staff survey drawing.
The faculty/staff survey is part of a campus-wide self-study. The survey asks your opinion about how well faculty, graduate assistants, Supportive Professional Staff and Operating Staff are doing to make the first year of college a good foundation for the success of NIU students.
Every person’s opinion makes a difference. You, too, might win one of the randomly selected $50 cash prizes (a total of 20) or the $1,000 additional pay. The survey closes Friday, March 27.
The spring issue of “Spectrum” is now online.
“Spectrum” is a newsletter for faculty published every fall and spring by NIU’s Faculty Development and Instructional Design Center. This issue includes stories on microteaching, audio feedback, online tutorials and more.
Beginning Tuesday, March 17, area residents who become members of the Lifelong Learning Institute at NIU could take a number of interesting study group sessions.
The spring term continues through May 7. Members can choose to take part in as many study groups as they wish.
Established in 2001, the LLI is open to those who are 50 and older who want to have engaging learning experiences and create new friendships. The study groups are led by members and some current and retired NIU faculty.
The study groups are held in the Holmes Student Center and include the following topics:
Tuesdays
To be included on a mailing list for upcoming programs or to register for the current spring program, contact the College of Liberal Arts and Sciences External Programming at (815) 753-5200, online at http://www.LLI.niu.edu or in person in Room 152 of the Monat Building, 148 N. Third St.
On the menu at Ellington’s this week: Nuestra Inspiracion is scheduled for today. Athena’s Place takes over Thursday.
Continuing this semester is the option to enjoy wine with your meal. One red and one white wine choice will be available with meal service. Wine will be selected for the menu based on wine-and-food pairings made by the students. Wine selections will range from $4.50 to $6.50 per glass.
Nuestra Inspiracion features chorizo a la llama or flatbread with tomato vinaigrette for starters, chicken kabob with remeso sauce or tortilla Espanola for entrees and pineapple ice cream or churros with chocolate sauce for dessert. Both entrees are served with traditional Spanish baked rice.
Athena’s Place features avgolemono soup or Greek salad for starters, chicken oreganata or Mediterranean lasagna for entrees and Greek-style yogurt with honey and walnuts or baklava for dessert. Each table also will be served tzatziki with pita pieces.
Seating is from 11 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. with service until 1 p.m. The cost is $9 per person. Ellington’s is located on the main floor of the Holmes Student Center. Call (815) 753-1763 or visit www.ellingtons.niu.edu to make reservations.
NIU’s Xi Delta chapter of Sigma Tau Delta, the English Honor Society, will host its annual “In Translation” event at 7 p.m. Tuesday, March 17, in Reavis Hall 211.
All are invited to join with faculty and students from the departments of English and Foreign Languages and Literatures for an evening of poetry readings. Poems will be read in their original languages and then in English translations. A number of languages will be represented, from Thai to German to Turkish and more.
Refreshments will be served.
WNIJ (89.5 FM) will conduct its Spring Membership Campaign from Friday, March 20, through Friday, March 27.
During this time, listeners are encouraged to become members by making financial pledges of support toward the public radio programming they value. Of special concern this season is the station’s need to replace a storm-damaged antenna, which affects reception in the outlying areas of WNIJ’s broadcast range.
The daily schedule on WNIJ (89.5 FM) features nationally renowned NPR News programs such as “Morning Edition,” “All Things Considered,” “The Diane Rehm Show” and “Fresh Air.” Popular weekend programs include “Car Talk,” “Wait Wait, Don’t Tell Me,” “A Prairie Home Companion” and “The Saturday Blues.”
Throughout the campaign dates, radio hosts will direct listeners to call a dedicated “Pledge Line” staffed by volunteers. The radio station Web site also is quipped to receive secure pledges online at www.wnij.org.
89.5-WNIJ is a service of Northern Public Radio, the broadcast service of NIU.
NIU’s Holmes Student Center Gallery will be home to the art of the late Steve Thiel the week of March 23 to March 27.
The exhibition will host some of Thiel’s more recent paintings and photographs. At 6:30 p.m. Thursday, March 26, a group of family and friends will host a reception that will include selected readings of his poetry. The reception and reading are open to the public.
Thiel, who died Jan. 13, first came to NIU as a business student but changed his major to art in order to satisfy his creative bent, philosophical disposition and artistic output. He wrote, painted and photographed, trying to capture the ephemeral qualities of his surroundings. People, places and nature were his favorite subjects in photography; in painting, he delved deeper into physics and philosophy.
As a means of supporting himself as an artist, Thiel worked at NIU’s Information Technology Services. It burgeoned into a career that spanned more than 27 years – all of it with NIU Information at (815) 753-1000. He was the unofficial “voice of NIU,” literally and figuratively as he guided callers around the university.
Call (815) 753-5803 for more information.
NIU’s Civic Leadership Academy will host a workshop Thursday, March 26, titled “Understanding Your Government’s Finances.”
This workshop is designed to give participants a critical understanding of the processes, policies and politics that surround governmental budgeting and finance. A public budget is about policy choices – how much money, how to raise it, how to spend it and how to account for it. Because budgets are about choices, they reflect the priorities and values of those who shape them.
After this introductory survey of public budgeting and financial management, participants will leave with a full appreciation of the ideas, concepts and techniques important to leadership’s understanding of budgets and financial management.
Brian Caputo, director of finance for the City of Aurora, is the presenter.
Registration and more information about CLA and its upcoming workshops is available online.
The Presidential Commission on the Status of Minorities is accepting nominations for the 2009 Deacon Davis Diversity Award.
Created in 2004, the award recognizes NIU students, faculty, staff, academic units, offices, programs or organizations for significant contributions made to the improvement of the status of minorities on campus. Nomination forms and complete information regarding the nomination process are available online at www.niu.edu/pcsm/.
Nominations must be received by Friday, March 27, and should be accompanied by a letter of support from someone other than the nominator. The Deacon Davis Diversity Award is a non-monetary award that will be presented Wednesday, April 15, during the annual PCSM Spring Banquet.
Gregory Schraw, professor of educational psychology at the University of Nevada-Las Vegas, is the keynote speaker at the 2009 Graduate Student Research Conference on Education, Learning & Human Development.
Schraw will address “Six Characteristics of Effective Learners” at 1 p.m. Saturday, March 28, in the Capitol Room South of the Holmes Student Center.
A reception for Schraw will be held at 7 p.m. Friday, March 27, at Tapalaluna, 226 E. Lincoln Hwy.
The Graduate Student Research Conference takes place from 8:30 a.m. to 3:30 p.m. and includes three research paper sessions, a poster fair, workshops and other events, including a breakfast discussion with Professor Eduardo Vidal-Abarca of the Universtiy of Valencia (Spain). Pre-registration is required for attendance, but is free for NIU students, faculty and staff.
Register online by Friday, March 20. The event is co-sponsored by the Graduate Colloquium Committee, the College of Education and the Department of Leadership, Educational Psychology and Foundations. Call (815) 753-4404 for more information.
Volunteers are needed Saturday, April 4, to serve as project judges for the Region V IJAS Science Fair.
The judging of the high school and junior high projects lasts from 8:30 a.m. to 1 p.m. with lunch included. Contact Mark Pietrowski at (815) 753-1456 or via e-mail at pietrowski@niu.edu to obtain a form to become a judge.
NIU is engaged in recertification of its athletics program. A campus-wide committee has undertaken a self-study to ensure the integrity of its athletics operations, and the final draft of the self-study will be posted on or about Wednesday, April 1.
As part of the certification process, three public forums will be held to give members of the campus community the opportunity to comment on the self-study. All students, faculty, staff, alumni and interested parties are welcome to attend the forums. Those who cannot attend the forums but would like to comment are encouraged to submit feedback online.
Forums will be held:
For Thursday’s forums, parking is available in Lot 35 free of charge to the public.
For further details, contact Tom Krepel at (815) 752-8362 or via e-mail at krepel@niu.edu.
Join the Lifelong Learning Institute in a fascinating and picturesque trip Friday, April 24, through regional and national history: A professional tour guide will take participants on a day-long tour of the Illinois-Michigan Canal National Heritage Corridor.
The opening of the 100 mile-long canal in 1848, from Chicago to LaSalle-Peru, linked the Gulf of Mexico with the Great Lakes and launched Chicago on its greatest period of growth. While eventually superseded by the Sanitary and Ship Canal, a rediscovery of the old canal and the communities along it has resulted in an impressive array of restored buildings, landscapes and historic sites.
Participants will go to the St. James of the Sag Church in Lemont, the headquarters of the I&M Canal at Lockport. Members will visit the marvelously restored Gaylord Building along with a small museum devoted to the canal as well as the Public Landing Restaurant, where they will have lunch. Afterward, they will continue on a driving tour of Lockport and the Joliet Museum, featuring a replica lock used on the I&M and a Route 66 Experience Exhibit.
The trip will depart from the Normal Road entrance of the Holmes Student Center at 8:15 a.m. and return at approximately 6:30 p.m. Fee includes professional guide, lunch, entrance fees and transportation.
The field trip is open to everyone in the community, while LLI members, NIU Cardinal & Black Alumni members and University Women’s Club members are eligible for a discounted rate.
For more information or to register for the field trip, contact the College of Liberal Arts and Sciences External Programming at (815) 753-5200, online at http://www.LLI.niu.edu or in person in Room 152 of the Monat Building, 148 N. Third St.
A minimum of 25 registrants is needed by Friday, April 10, to offer this trip.
NIU’s Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender Resource Center invites members of the campus community to participate in the awards and contests that recognize leadership and achievement related to the LGBT community.
The awards include the Ally Awards, LGBT Essay Contest, Eychaner Award for Outstanding Contributions on behalf of the LGBT Community and recognition of graduating LGBT students.
Information and nomination or submission forms are available online. Deadlines range from Wednesday, March 18, to Tuesday, March 31. Award recipients will be recognized at the annual end of year Award Dinner during LGBT Awareness Month in April.
For more information, contact the LGBT Resource Center at lgbt@niu.edu or (815) 753-5428.
The Macalester African Music Ensemble will perform at 8 p.m. Thursday, March 19, in the NIU Boutell Memorial Concert Hall.
Directed by Sowah Mensah, ethnomusicologist, composer and a master drummer from Ghana, the Macalester African Music Ensemble performs traditional African music primarily from Ghana, but also from Nigeria, Zimbabwe, Guinea, Gambia, Kenya and Tanzania.
Founded in 1987, members of the group sing and perform with a variety of African instruments including xylophones, marimbas, flutes, horns and an assortment of drums and gourds. They have been invited to give performances in major cities including New Orleans, Chicago, Seattle, Milwaukee, Madison, Santa Barbara, Ann Arbor, Iowa City, St. Louis and more.
This free performance at NIU is sponsored by the NIU Center for Black Studies, the Division of International Programs and the Department of Anthropology. For more information, contact Jui-Ching Wang at jcwang@niu.edu or (815) 753-7979.
The concert is open to the public and the building is accessible to all.
NIU’s School of Music is training a young singers’ chorus for the spring Opera Workshop production of “Hansel and Gretel.”
Singers from DeKalb, Sycamore, Malta, Somonauk and Rockford have been rehearsing together each Wednesday night to prepare for the March performances at NIU. Bringing together young talent for the university production was the idea of directors Lucia Matos, James Tucker and Mary Lynn Doherty, all NIU School of Music faculty members.
Composed by Engelbert Humperdinck in 1893, “Hansel and Gretel” promises to be a wonderful collaboration involving the NIU Philharmonic, NIU voice students and the children’s chorus.
The opera, a perennial favorite for family audiences, features exquisite music to retell the well-known folk tale by the Brothers Grimm, complete with a magical forest and the Gingerbread Witch.
Performances with full orchestra are scheduled for 7 p.m. Friday, March 27, and 3 p.m. Sunday, March 29, in Boutell Memorial Concert Hall. The opera will be conducted by Matos and staged by Tucker, faculty co-directors of the NIU Opera Workshop.
Tickets are available for purchase in advance by calling (815) 753-1551 or can be purchased at the door at both performances. Tickets are $10 for adults, $7 for non-NIU students ages 12 and older and $5 for children age 11 and younger. General seating is available for both performances.
Learn to make beautiful eggs, which can be given as gifts, kept as family heirlooms or treasured as springtime decorations.
The NIU Community School of the Arts is offering a two-day workshop to create Pysanky Easter Eggs. The class meets from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Saturday, March 28, and Sunday, March 29, in the Visual Arts Building. The workshop is for anyone ages 15 through adult.
Egg decorating is a skill that has been handed down through many generations, usually from mother to daughter. Pysanky are Ukrainian/Polish Easter eggs, decorated using beeswax and dyes applied in layers.
Students learn to decorate eggs using two different styles of Pysanky: the Polish drop/pull folk style and the Ukrainian method, which uses the delrin kista tool. Both use hot wax applied to the egg surface and color dye baths. The fee includes the cost of materials.
Instructor Billie Giese is an associate professor of drawing in the NIU School of Art.
For registration forms or information about this and other programs of the NIU Community School of the Arts, visit www.niu.edu/extprograms or call (815) 753-1450.
Richard Carwardine, Rhodes Professor of American History at St. Catherine College and incoming president of Corpus Christi College at Oxford University, will speak Monday, April 6, at NIU.
Carwardine is the author of “Abraham Lincoln: A Life of Purpose and Power” and the winner of the 2004 Lincoln Prize. In 2008, he was elected to the Order of Lincoln by the State of Illinois.
His lecture begins at 7:30 p.m. in the Lincoln Room of the Holmes Student Center.
The event is hosted by the University Honors Program. It is sponsored by a grant from the
Abraham Lincoln Illinois Bicentennial Commission and endorsed by the Illinois Library System Director’s Organization.
For more information, visit http://www.lincolnread2009.org.