Crossing oceans for music
(10/22/2008) Visiting associate professor Noriko Kawai is one of only two pianists in the world to have played "The Book of Elements" in its entirety. The solo piano in five volumes was written between 1997 and 2002 by University professor James Dillon.

About face
(10/8/2008) A University of Minnesota researcher is tracking the changing faces of outdoor recreation. In a recent survey, adults under 35 reported fewer recreation hours than those between the ages of 35 and 54.

A last hurrah
(10/7/2008) Fall at the Minnesota Landscape Arboretum

A flying start for the arts
(9/26/2008) A little kindling can start a great fire, and that's what the University's new Imagine Fund is poised to do for faculty in the arts, humanities, and design. The systemwide fund will spur the work of approximately half those faculty, with payoffs one can only imagine.

Art to Z: Scholarly and cultural events Scrabble
(9/23/2008) Scholarly and cultural events at the U this fall are some of the richest and most enlightening in the Twin Cities, but not everyone knows they're invited. To help solve that problem, the Office for Scholarly and Cultural Affairs asked University Relations' marketing department to help bring these events together under one theme. Out of their work emerged a concept: Art to Z.

From the recesses of their minds
(9/17/2008) The Voice to Vision project captures on film and in art the horrific experiences of genocide survivors who have never before told their stories. Through October 2, the Katherine E. Nash Gallery will exhibit a collection of artwork from the project and host a series of related panel discussions.

From smoke and rubble
(9/11/2008) University of Minnesota professor Doug Geers composes music for a 9/11-inspired opera. It opens in New York City Septermber 12 and runs for three weeks.

Never too late
(8/26/2008) Mary Nagan got her B.F.A. from the University of Minnesota in 2000--at age 82. And last year, she opened an online store called Mary Jane's Handmade to sell the aprons she makes with designs from the 1950s.

Exhibit focuses on U.S. presidents
(8/20/2008) A new exhibit of Associated Press photos at the Humphrey Museum and Forum captures U.S. presidents past and present in both historic and playful moments.

The genesis of an Olympic dream
(8/12/2008) It all started with an innocent question, back in 1908: When would China host the Olympics? The current exhibit at Elmer L. Andersen Library offers a look at the YMCA's role in sports and the Olympic movement in China.

Finnish or not, here we come...
(7/21/2008) This weekend (July 23 to 27), the University of Minnesota, Duluth is celebrating "FinnFest 2008" with a textile exhibition and a ceremony to award Tarja Halonen, president of Finland, with an honorary degree. Proceeds from the festival support scholarships for UMD students of Finnish heritage.

Educational benefits of social networking sites
(7/9/2008) When you hear about children and Web sites such as Facebook and MySpace, you might think of forums for risky behavior and wasting time. But University of Minnesota researcher Christine Greenhow has discovered that there are concrete intellectual benefits of social networking on the World Wide Web.

Blank walls do not talk
(7/1/2008) Since 1934, the Weisman or its predecessor, Northrop Auditorium's Little Gallery, has encouraged faculty, staff, and students to rent original artwork and print reproductions--artwork that might otherwise sit in the Weisman's basement. More than 800 pieces are in circulation and about 300 framed, ready-to-hang original artworks are available for rent at the Weisman store, including prints, one-of-a-kind watercolor and oil paintings, and photographs.

Cheering the hero and booing the bad guys
(6/20/2008) Vaudeville-style theatre rules on the Minnesota Centennial Showboat. This summer, The Count of Monte Cristo and eight crowd-pleasing olios mark the showboat's 50th anniversary season.

Outdoor summer fun at the U
(6/17/2008) There's a million things to do at the UMTC campus this summer, but you'll never have time for that many. In the spirit of the season, why not stick to the outdoors? This list of outdoor summer suggestions will help get you started.

Upper Great Lakes fish boil
(6/11/2008) The fish boil--boiling fish, potatoes, and onions together in a large pot--is the Great Lakes' answer to the New England clambake. The University of Minnesota Sea Grant has some tips to help you prepare this tasty tradition.

Language program opens university study to international students
(6/11/2008) The Minnesota English Language Program at the College of Continuing Education works with foreign universities, schools, and businesses to tailor intensive courses for specific groups of students.

Split Rock Arts Program celebrates 25 years
(6/3/2008) 2008 marks the 25th anniversary of the College of Continuing Education's Split Rock Arts Program, a nationally respected series of summer workshops in writing and the arts.

The poetics of cinema
(6/3/2008) Hisham Bizri, U professor of film, creates his own films, which he calls "visual poems," that create a balance between technical skill and visceral intuition to reflect his Arab/Muslim upbringing and his Anglo/American culture.

Of trees and anniversaries
(6/2/2008) The Minnesota Landscape Arboretum's summer exhibit, "Treeology," is a playful tribute to trees. It is also the cornerstone of the Arboretum's yearlong celebration of two anniversaries--the centennial of the Horticultural Research Center and 50 years as a public display garden.

Art of the New Deal
(5/23/2008) The work of more than 60 Great Depression-era artists is the subject of the Weisman Art Museum's new exhibition, "By the People, for the People: New Deal Art at the Weisman," which runs through July 27.

A very expensive tape measure
(5/14/2008) A body scanner in the Department of Design, Housing, and Apparel has opened doors for the University of Minnesota to conduct cutting-edge research and change the way apparel is designed.

Iron Man takes physics for a ride
(5/2/2008) As Iron Man soars at the box office, the U's James Kakalios ponders the physics of the superhero's suit--and says another U professor is making one of its features a reality.

Musical sights
(4/30/2008) A picture may be worth a thousand words. But for students in the University of Minnesota's College of Liberal Arts music classes, they are also worth a thousand notes.

Book reviews spring 2008
(4/25/2008) Gayla Marty reviews The Florist's Daughter, The Truth About Garden Remedies, and Earthworms of the Great Lakes in this Spring 2008 edition of Book Reviews.

The art and the artist
(4/23/2008) Arnold Newman photographed many of the icons of 20th-century art, science, and politics, including John F. Kennedy, Marilyn Monroe, and Georgia O'Keeffe. Earlier this year, Newman's son, Eric, a neuroscience professor at the U, approached the Weisman Art Museum to donate 40 of his late father's famous portraits.

Ruby red slippers and Yellow Brick Road, with a twist
(4/16/2008) The University Theatre and Dance explores the universal themes of courage, intelligence, love, and the importance of home in its version of "The Wiz," a 1975 Broadway musical adapted from L. Frank Baum's The Wonderful Wizard of Oz.

In search of the perfect human
(3/17/2008) Through May 4, the U's Center for Holocaust and Genocide Studies and the Science Museum of Minnesota are sponsoring an exhibit, "Deadly Medicine: Creating the Master Race," and a series of public lectures that explore eugenics and the Holocaust.

Summer fun for youth
(2/19/2008) The University of Minnesota offers and hosts one of the most comprehensive line-ups of summer camps for youth in Minnesota.

New chances to hear Holocaust memorial oratorio
(2/12/2008) The Holocaust memorial oratorio To Be Certain of the Dawn, composed by U grad Stephen Paulus with text by U professor Michael Dennis Browne, gets new performances and a recording.

Studio arts on memory lane
(2/6/2008) Artwork from University of Minnesota, Morris, studio art faculty--those who have made contributions to the studio art program over the past 47 years--is on exhibit through Friday, March 14, in the Humanities Fine Arts Gallery on the Morris campus.

Pastry chefs, born and bread
(2/1/2008) In their new book, Zoë François and U adjunct professor Jeff Hertzberg show us how to bring such things as boules, rye bread, brioche, bagels, and apricot pastries into our daily lives in less time than the average American spends taking a shower.

Maps of the body
(1/22/2008) The U's Owen H. Wangensteen Historical Library of Biology and Medicine has in its collection hundreds of anatomical atlases dating from the 1400s to the 20th century. The collection reveals not only medical ideas about the body, but also the philosophies of the anatomists and the times they lived in.

Bridging languages, bridging cultures
(1/9/2008) Pui-Fong Kan, a University of Minnesota Ph.D. candidate, is studying the relationship between language acquisition and culture, especially in bilingual children.

Delving deeper
(1/8/2008) The U's the Borchert Map Library--with its more than 350,000 sheet maps, 9,600 atlases, and 415,000 aerial photos--is the place to go for the histories of towns, neighborhoods, and individual properties, as well as for information about wetlands, lakes, and streams that have been altered or destroyed by urban growth.

Book reviews winter 2008
(1/4/2008) Three books with connections to the U, on notable historical moments, trolley days, and weird Minnesota.

Garden of Iron Mirrors reflects past and present
(12/21/2007) The new Education Sciences Building on the Twin Cities campus is a window into the past and present, whether you're inside looking through its many windows or outside admiring the banks of the Mississippi through the Garden of Iron Mirrors public sculpture.

Behind the scenes and on stage
(12/14/2007) He's been in the theatre business for 30 years but his ideas are still attention grabbing and fresh. U professor Michael Sommers was recently named a USA Ford Fellow for his work behind the scenes and on stage.

A day for music makers
(12/11/2007) Since 2005, the University has hosted a daylong instrumental conducting symposium for band conductors and music educators. Creativity, collaboration, and personal renewal is the goal.

Jack be nimble
(12/5/2007) Jack Zipes recently won an award for his book, Why Fairy Tales Stick. The University professor of German has a way of not only motivating children to question the traditional stories they've been told but challenging conventional wisdom about the role of folklore in our lives.

Show me the Moebius
(11/30/2007) How do you turn a plane inside out? One of the hottest videos on YouTube, produced by University of Minnesota mathematicians Douglas Arnold and Jonathan Rogness, transforms math into a visual treat.

Extreme film
(11/30/2007) University of Minnesota, Duluth alumnus J.J. Kelley is an environmental educator, an extreme adventurer, and as of September 2007, a production coordinator at National Geographic Television.

Art without reservation
(11/30/2007) A new exhibit at the Weisman Art Museum, which features Native American artists from west of the Mississippi, blends traditional materials or styles with the contemporary, creating a new kind of showcase of Native art.

Beyond blue eyes
(11/21/2007) With few children available for domestic adoption in Scandinavia, couples are turning to Asia or Central and South America. U professor Monika Zagar's research focuses on the new generation of Nordic citizens--a group that doesn't look anything like its predecessors.

Putting America on the map
(11/20/2007) The U's James Ford Bell Library has a 1507 Waldseemüller map--the first drawing to portray the world as a globe and also the first to label the "New World" as "America."

New information on Wikipedia
(11/16/2007) Some ongoing University of Minnesota research has revealed some interesting facts about Wikipedia that may fly in the face of some commonly held perceptions and perhaps misconceptions. A relatively small number of people are making the bulk of the contributions to the site, and for the most part, Wikipedia is very resistant to vandalism.

Astrid at 100
(11/9/2007) On Wednesday, November 14, the U will host a conference on Sweden's best known writer, Astrid Lindgren, creator of Pippi Longstocking.

The revolution will be digitized
(11/7/2007) Since 1997, the Visual Resources Center on the Twin Cities campus has transformed more than 50,000 of the art history department's approximately 300,000 slides into high-resolution digital images. The center is also training graduate students to digitize and catalog images from 18 other College of Liberal Arts disciplines.

Crossing the lines
(11/6/2007) Scholars from all walks of academia will put their heads together and their ideas in print, thanks to a grant to the U from the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation.

Food for thought--and conversation
(10/10/2007) The College of Continuing Education's Headliners series on the Twin Cities campus in St. Paul has spawned the "Roseville Headliners Salon," a group that gathers for potluck, conversation, and to attend the monthly event.