ARTS

Cervantes celebration April 11-12

By Jodie Mocciaro
University Communications student-intern

The 400th anniversary of the publication of “Don Quixote” by author Miguel de Cervantes will be observed in a two-day interdisciplinary celebration on April 11 and 12 sponsored by the College of Arts and Humanities.

The publication anniversary of “Don Quixote,” Cervantes’ literary masterpiece, will be celebrated Monday and Tuesday, April 11 and12, with several presentations and displays. All events are free.

The April 11 events are:

• “Cervantes and the Visual Art of Spain,” an exhibit of artwork on loan from the Fresno Metropolitan Museum of Art and the Fresno Art Museum. The pieces, selected by Art and Design professor Dr. Gina Strumwasser, will be displayed in the President’s Gallery in the Thomas Administration Building.  The opening reception will be at 4 p.m.
• Dr. Richard Mann from San Francisco State University will deliver a lecture “El Greco:  Synthesizing Divergent Cultural Traditions” at 3 p.m. in the Alice Peters Auditorium in the University Business Center.
• “Music for the Golden Age of Spain” will be performed at 8 p.m. in the Music building Concert Hall.  Performers are the Fresno State Chamber Singers directed by Dr. Anna Hamre; the Clendenin Brass Quintet directed by Dr. Michael Caldwell, and Dr. Cory Whitehead, guitar, accompanying Prof. Helene Joseph-Weil, mezzo-soprano. Dr. Ted Bergman, professor of Foreign Languages and Literatures, will deliver the opening remarks “Don Quixote:  Beyond Time, Space, and Imagination.”

On April 12, the day-long Cervantes Symposium will be held in the University Business Center. Presenters include professors and graduate students of Hispanic Literature from throughout the country who specialize in Spain's Golden Age, the time period in which Cervantes wrote "Don Quixote." The schedule is as follows:

• 9:30 a.m. - 10:30 a.m.  “(De)construction of the Ridiculous and the Sublime in Don Quixote,”      hosted by Dr. Ted Bergman. Guest speakers:  María José Casado Santos from the Universidad de Navarra and UC Santa Barbara; Silvia Mejía, graduate student, Fresno State.

• 10:30 a.m. -12 p.m.  “Text and Metatex in Don Quixote” hosted by Dr. Ted Bergman. Guest speakers: Eduardo Olid Guerrero, graduate student UC Davis, Dr. Francisco J. Martín, CSU San Marcos, Dr. Héctor Mario Cavallari, Mills College

• 1:30 p.m. - 3 p.m. “Don Quixote, Sancho Panza, and Family” hosted by Dr. Honora Chapman. Guest speakers: Adrián Pérez-Boluda, graduate student UC Davis, Dr. Christina H. Lee, UC Berkeley, Dr. Don Miller, CSU Chico.

• 3 p.m. - 4:30 p.m. “The Intertextuality and Reception of Don Quixote” hosted by Dr. Saúl Jiménez Sandoval. Guest speakers: Dr. Antonio Arreguín-Bermúdez, CSU Chico, Dr. Kevin B. Fagan, CSU San Luis Obispo, Javier H. Venturi, University of Massachusetts

At 8 p.m., keynote speaker Dr. Alban K. Forcione, the Alma Schapiro Humanities professor at Columbia University, will speak in the Music Building Concert Hall.  The title of his talk is “An Introduction to Cervantes’ Don Quixote: Individuality and the Novilistic Vision of the Human Being”  Following his talk,the Department of Theatre Arts and Dance will present “Cervantes Through the Looking Glass” directed by Edward EmanuEl featuring guest artist, specialist in Commedia dell’arte, Albert Ash, accompanied by faculty guitarist, Dr. Corey Whitehead.

The Henry Madden Library will feature an exhibit of Cervantes’ works and other books relating to Don Quixote in the first-floor lobby collection display through April 15.

For more information, contact Dr. Jose Diaz at 8-3056.