Bangere "Purna" Purnaprajna 
"Indian Classical Music: The Art of Improvisation" 

November 11, 7:30 -9:00 p.m.

Hall Center Conference Hall

*Reception to follow     

 The Hall Center is pleased to announce an evening of discussion and music with Bangere "Purna" Purnaprajna, Professor of Mathematics. Purna will present "Indian Classical Music and the Art of Improvisation," commenting on Indian classical music and exploring some crucial concepts that differentiate it from Western classical music. Likening classical music to a syntax, Purna will demonstrate how, by stretching the boundaries of this syntax, one can incorporate melodies and rhythms of a variety of world music, due to the heavily improvisational nature of the genre.

Dave Tell, Communications  

November 11, 12:00 - 1:30 p.m.

Hall Center Conference Hall  

Please join us for the next presentation in the Hall Center's 2011-2012 Resident Fellows Seminar series. Dave Tell is spending his time in residence at the Hall Center working on "Confessional Crises: Public Confession and the Politics of Authenticity," which examines the political consequences of labeling a text a "confession." 

The RSVP date for this event has passed. If you would like to attend but still have not responded, please contact the Hall Center at hallcenter@ku.edu or 785-864-4798. Attendance is still possible but lunch may not be available.  Open to faculty and graduate students.  

Idéa Cafe at the Commons

Jake Wagner 

Associate Professor of Urban Planning & Design, UMKC  

"Disasters as Design Moment: Does Urban Design Make Sense After Disasters?" 

November 9, 12:30 p.m. 

The Commons, Spooner Hall

 

What can we learn about cities and urban design after a disaster? Professor Wagner will address some of the challenges of rebuilding cities in the wake of major disasters through examples including New Orleans after Hurricane Katrina and the recovery of Joplin, MO after the May 2011 Tornado.

 The deadline for this event has passed. To see if attendance is still possible, contact Emily Ryan at thecommons@ku.edu.  

Walter Kretchik, History, Western Illinois University

"US Army Doctrine and the 'Last War' Myth"
 November 11, 3:30 - 5:00.m.

Hall Center Seminar Room 

The historical adage "armies prepare to fight the last war" is accepted as both fact and warning: by replicating the past, future doom awaits. Historian Walter E. Kretchik explores that notion by analyzing over two centuries of U.S. Army doctrine, the intellectual basis for preparing, organizing, training, equipping, and operating the service during peacetime and war. Kretchik posits that inquiry into service doctrine from its origins in 1779 until contemporary times indicates that the proverb is more myth than reality. Dr. Kretchik joined the faculty of the Department of History, Western Illinois University, in 2003. He was previously Assistant Professor of History, Bilkent University, Ankara, Turkey, and taught for five years within the Combat Studies Institute, United States Army Command and General Staff College. He holds a Ph.D. in History from the University of Kansas and is a graduate of the United States Army Command and General Staff College and the Advanced Military Studies Program, School of Advanced Military Studies. He retired as a lieutenant colonel (infantry) from the United States Army in 1999 after over twenty-two years of regular army service.

Open to faculty, graduate students, and staff only.

 Upcoming Seminars 

Nov 8 Early Modern Seminar Sally Cornelison  

"From Florence to Lawrence: Vasari's Christ Carrying the Cross at the Spencer Museum of Art" 

Nov 10 Nature & Culture Seminar  Neil Oatsvall  

"Tree Versus Lives: Reckoning Military Success and the Ecological Effects of Chemical Defoliation During the Vietnam War"