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Category: Arts & Humanities

‘Barbie,’ a feminist film about toxic masculinity and gender equality, is marketed as politics-free pink fluff

MarketWatch

And yet 35% of the audience were men. What gives? “The current level of uncertainty and turbulence and anxiety accounts for part of that crossover among genders,” said Nancy Wong, a professor of consumer science at the University of Wisconsin-Madison. “People associate ‘Barbie’ with a more comfortable, simple and stable time in their lives.”

Muralist Kiba Freeman unveils new piece in downtown Madison as part of UW-Madison, City collaboration

Madison365

Chris Walker, director for the Division of the Arts at UW-Madison, spoke to the liveliness of the artistic work being done in the city, as well as the importance of stewardship in how we treat the earth. “Thank you for such a beautiful contribution to our city,” said Walker. “Earlier, someone said that the collaboration between our campus and our city can be challenging. Some of the work that the Division of the Arts is trying to do is to alleviate some of those barriers. Making this type of outcome the norm and more common, because of the brilliant work that is happening on our campus.”

Author Q&A: Book within a book supplies the mystery

Wisconsin State Journal

Q: I know you also work full time at UW-Madison. Did you take time off to finish “I Know What You Did?”

A: When I get excited about an idea, I take any possible time I can find to write. I do lunch hours, evenings and weekends. I do occasionally take myself on mini writing retreats. 

Rapper Yung Gravy will return to Summerfest to fill amphitheater vacancy after AJR’s exit

Milwaukee Journal Sentinel

The Milwaukee music festival said early Sunday that Yung Gravy, the rapper and University of Wisconsin-Madison alum who headlined Summerfest’s Generac Power Stage Friday night, will perform at the American Family Insurance Amphitheater at 7:30 p.m. July 6. Admission to the concert will be free with general admission to Summerfest.

Poem: Conditions for Retention

The New York Times

Anne Boyer is a poet and an essayist. Her memoir about cancer and care, “The Undying,” won a 2020 Pulitzer Prize for general nonfiction. Jennifer Nelson is the author of three books of poems: “Aim at the Centaur Stealing Your Wife” (Ugly Duckling Presse, 2015), “Civilization Makes Me Lonely” (Ahsahta Press, 2017) and most recently “Harm Eden” (Ugly Duckling Presse, 2021). They are also an assistant professor of early modern art at the University of Wisconsin-Madison and the author of two art history books,

Musical ‘Hadestown’ at Marcus Center sings an old song with a powerful American accent

Milwaukee Journal Sentinel

Noted: Directed and developed by Rachel Chavkin, the musical “Hadestown” has two important Wisconsin connections. University of Wisconsin alum André De Shields won a Tony for originating the show-stopping role of Hermes on Broadway. And in Mitchell’s 2010 concept album version of “Hadestown,” Orpheus was sung by Justin Vernon, aka Mr. Bon Iver.

Ben Chan, Matt Amodio, Aaron Rodgers and other ‘Jeopardy!’ winners with Wisconsin connections

Milwaukee Journal Sentinel

One of the biggest “Jeopardy!” winners of all time, Amodio, a native of Medina, Ohio, earned a master’s degree in artificial intelligence from the University of Wisconsin-Madison in 2017. He won 38 contests on the show in July through October of 2021, and returned in 2022 to play an exhibition match against fellow mega-winners Amy Schneider and Mattea Roach before bowing out in the semifinals in the 2022 Tournament of Champions.

Book pairs ancient knowledge with youth struggles

Indian Country Today

Carla Vigue is the director of tribal relations for the University of Wisconsin – Madison. Her work at the school includes building relationships with tribal nations, communities, and organizations. She was recently named an influential leader in the state.

Hilldale movie theater reopens for Wisconsin Film Festival

Wisconsin State Journal

Other showings of the 160 films scheduled for this year’s fest, which runs through April 20, will be on the UW-Madison campus. Venues are Shannon Hall in Memorial Union, 800 Langdon St.; the Chazen Museum of Art, 750 University Ave.; UW Cinematheque, 821 University Ave.; and The Marquee, on the second floor of Union South, 1308 Dayton St. UW-Madison students can receive a free ticket to any film with available seating by using their Wiscard at a box office location or at the door.

Video games as educational tools

Wisconsin Public Radio

The Field Day Lab in the Wisconsin Center for Education Research is creating online video games to be used as learning tools for students. We talk to Sarah Gagnon, creative director for the Field Day Lab in the Wisconsin Center for Education Research at the UW–Madison School of Education, about their latest games and how they work.

‘Science of reading,’ whole language,’ ‘balanced literacy’: How can Wisconsin resolve its ‘reading wars’ and teach kids to read?

Milwaukee Journal Sentinel

Quoted: On the other side of the debate is Mark Seidenberg, a psychology professor at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, one of the leading scientists cited by advocates for the science of reading. Seidenberg said there is a large volume of research that sheds light on how children learn to read and that supports the science of reading approach.

Can using such approaches raise the overall success of kids in becoming readers? “I think it’s huge,” Seidenberg said in an interview.

How The Bible Took Shape

Wisconsin Public Radio
How did the Christian and Jewish bibles take their present shape, and how can knowing their historical context help Jews and Christians (and others) think about each other’s scriptures differently? Charles Cohen, professor of history and religious studies at UW-Madison, will give us insights.

Summerfest 2023 in Milwaukee reveals headliner lineup, with more than 100 acts

Milwaukee Journal Sentinel

This year’s headliners, who will perform across at least seven stages at Maier Festival Park, range from singer-songwriter Noah Kahan (fresh off a sold-out Miller High Life Theatre show in February) to University of Wisconsin graduate and tongue-in-cheek rapper Yung Gravy to Oscar-winning hip-hop veterans Three 6 Mafia to indie rock royalty Fleet Foxes, The War on Drugs and Japanese Breakfast.

Jane Rotonda starts a new chapter as Wisconsin Book Festival director

The Capital Times

The key partnerships for the book festival are endless: the creative writing folks at UW between the Center for Humanities, between all the different cultural studies, programs, and all those specific sectors within the university, but also just in our community. Accessing all of those partnerships, and making myself available to all of those partnerships, all of that is another way to build diversity in the programming.

What’s it like to be a conductor? Wisconsin Chamber Orchestra fellowship helps reveal the answer

Wisconsin State Journal

For an orchestra conductor, raising the baton at the start of a concert is a tiny fraction of the job. “I’d say it’s about 5% of what we do,” says Andrew Sewell, music director for the Wisconsin Chamber Orchestra.

It’s that other 95% that Kelby Schnepel and Daewon Kang are learning as graduate students at the UW-Madison Mead Witter School of Music — and now as the first recipients of a new conducting fellowship with the WCO.

The Right Side of History

The New Yorker

The trouble started with a writer on deadline. James Sweet, who goes by Jim, is a white professor of African history at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, and the former president of the American Historical Association (A.H.A.). Every month, he was tasked with writing a column for Perspectives on History, a magazine put out by the association, which is mostly read by academics. Last summer, while he was on vacation in Ghana, he was struggling to come up with a column idea, and so he started looking around for inspiration.

‘Formless’ shakes up performing arts by blending art and activism

The Capital Times

“Formless” features a cohort of new performers every year and will premiere for the second time ever on at 7 p.m. Sunday at the Play Circle in the Memorial Union, 800 Langdon St.

“Formless” began as a collaboration between Social Justice Hub and several other student organizations. This year Social Justice Hub is partnering with WUDPAC to continue the event. The group of directors comprises students from both organizations. The UW-Madison Office of Inclusion and Diversity as an additional cosponsor and media coverage will be done by The Black Voice, a student-run publication “dedicated to the voices of Black students.”