This article is part of an ongoing series highlighting plans in the works for Dalhousie鈥檚 200th anniversary celebrations in 2018. For more information on Dal 200, visit聽.
Stage, song and celebrating scholarship 鈥斅爅ust a sampling of what the Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences (FASS) has in store for Dalhousie's bicentennial anniversary next year.
Frank Harvey, dean of FASS, says that faculty and staff have been working on a series of projects to mark Dal鈥檚 milestone year that will be engaging, inclusive, thoughtful and fun.
鈥淲e鈥檙e actively involved in organizing a number of exciting and inspiring performances, commissioned poems, community events, and academic seminars that will celebrate Dalhousie's legacy by highlighting the enduring value of a strong and vibrant liberal arts education,鈥� he says.
In 2018, FASS will feature its contributions to literature, languages, the performing arts, international development, social justice and philosophical thinking, and its strong commitments to research and teaching. The Faculty also aims to celebrate the significant contributions and achievements of its alumni, faculty and students.
Several FASS departments will be represented as part of Dalhousie鈥檚 celebrations. For example, the Fountain School of Performing Arts has a number of initiatives aimed at showcasing the creative spirit of Dal鈥檚 inaugural year, 1818:
- Students will be leading an original stage production of Frankenstein as part of the Fountain School鈥檚 annual season. The adaptation of Mary Shelley鈥檚 novel, which was published the same year 黑料吃瓜网was founded, will be a fresh and spectacular production featuring a specially commissioned script and music as well as enhanced stage production.
- A 鈥沦肠丑耻产别谤迟颈补诲别鈥� in celebration of luminary composer Franz Schubert, who completed his sixth symphony in 1818 and was central to a Viennese salon culture of artistic exploration that resonates down the centuries. The event will be an intimate evening of chamber music and poetry evoking the vibrant intellectual and artistic energies of 1818.
- A composition contest among Dal music students & alumni for a new Dal convocation composition which will be performed by a Symphony Brass Quintet at the Bicentennial Address in February 2018 and during convocation ceremonies that year.
With support from the Department of English and the Creative Writing Program, distinguished alumnus George Elliott Clarke 鈥� poet, novelist, scholar and currently Canada鈥檚 parliamentary poet laureate 鈥� has been invited to write a poem in honour of Dalhousie鈥檚 anniversary. A superb speaker, Clarke will read the poem at the Bicentennial Address in February. The poem will also be translated into various languages taught at Dalhousie.
And the Scholar-Citizen project will span several departments, showcasing the contributions of Dalhousie鈥檚 social scientists and philosophers to public policy and social development. These inclusive, community events will highlight experts in our departments of Sociology and Social Anthropology, Philosophy, and International Development Studies, and will focus on topics such as 鈥淪ocial Science for Social Justice,鈥� 鈥淧hilosophy and Feminist Bioethics,鈥� and 鈥淥ur Alumni Change the World.鈥�
Look for more details on these and other activities from the Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences as Dal鈥檚 200th approaches.