Category Archives: Lecture

C-l-i-n-t-o-n S-c-h-o-o-l hosts program on The Rep production of “SPELLING BEE” today at noon

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Rep Spelling BeeThe Arkansas Repertory Theatre works in partnership with the Clinton School of Public Service to participate in the UACS’s Distinguished Speaker Series, hosting educational panel discussions on various Rep productions.

The 24th of these takes place today, Thursday, October 15 10 at 12 noon at Sturgis Hall in Clinton Presidential Park.  It focuses on the Rep’s upcoming production of the musical The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee

The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee is a Tony Award-winning look at the all-too-familiar world of adolescence, told with hilarity, catchy tunes, and surprising poignancy. The gloves are off in the take-no-prisoners, cold-blooded, dog-eat-dog world of competitive spelling as a menagerie of pre-pubescent misfits vies to decimate their young rivals on the cutthroat path to the national spelling bee championship. Hormones rage and pulses pound as our awkward adversaries engage in feats of prowess.

The winner will receive a shining trophy and a luxurious DC hotel room with a big screen TV. The loser – nothing but a broken heart, a pat on the back and a juice box. Join the Clinton School for a panel discussion about this production with moderator Bob Hupp, producing artistic director at the Arkansas Repertory Theater.

The play opens officially on Friday evening and runs through Sunday, November 8.

1897 UFO Sightings in Arkansas topic of Old State House Brown Bag Lecture today at noon

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On Thursday, October 15, at noon, at the Old State House Museum, Brian Irby of the Arkansas History Commission will tell the story of one of the first waves of UFO hysteria that swept through the nation for a Brown Bag Lunch Lecture.

Between 1896 and 1897, the country was in the grips of what was one of the first major panics created by sightings of strange objects in the sky. Less than a decade before the Wright Brothers would fly the first powered flight, newspapers around the country began reporting on sightings of an airship, spotted in the wild.

In April of that year, the unidentified flying object stories came to Arkansas. In April, railroad conductor Jim Hooton told the Arkansas Gazette that he had seen the airship while hunting and provided a sketch to the paper. Just a few weeks later, mounted deputies near Hot Springs said they “noticed a brilliant light high in the heavens,” and drew their Winchesters on a man they said was traveling in an airship.

Brian Irby has a BA and MA from the University of Central Arkansas. He has been on staff at the Arkansas History Commission since 2008 as an archival assistant where he works on educational programs.

Admission is free, and attendees are welcome to bring a sack lunch. Soft drinks and water are provided.

The Old State House Museum is an agency of the Department of Arkansas Heritage.

Legacy of Civil War topic of seminar at Old State House today

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cw-seminarThe Arkansas Civil War Sesquicentennial Commission and the Old State House Museum are sponsoring a seminar on the legacy of the Civil War on Saturday, October 10.

ACWSC Chairman Tom Dupree described it thus: “As we near the end of the commemoration of the 150th anniversary of the Civil War, we wanted to address the lingering influences of the war,” Dupree said. “Each of our speakers will look at different aspects of the war and how they continue to affect us today.”

Speakers at the “Legacy of Arkansas’s Civil War” will be:

•Dr. Elliott West – University of Arkansas at Fayetteville on “Arkansas: Where One War’s Edge Was Another War’s Center”

•Dr. Carl Moneyhon – University of Arkansas at Little Rock on “Conflicting Civil War Memories and Cultural Divides in Arkansas”

•Dr. Jeannie Whayne – University of Arkansas at Fayetteville on “The Civil War and the Burden of Arkansas History”

•Dr. Cherisse Jones-Branch – Arkansas State University on “’How Free is Free?’: African Americans in Post-Civil War Arkansas”

•Dr. Kelly Houston Jones – Austin Peay University on “Women After the War: Profiles of Change and Continuity”

•Dr. Tom DeBlack – Arkansas Tech University on “’What Is to Become of Us?’: The Postwar Lives of Major Figures in Civil War Arkansas”

For more information on this and other sesquicentennial events, visit http://www.arkansascivilwar150.com/events/.

Creative Class of 2015: Nikolai DiPippa

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ND_PhotoRecently, the Clinton School Speaker Series hosted its 1,000th speaker. Nikolai DiPippa has been involved with the program since its early days, joining the Clinton School in 2006.

His official title is Director of Public Programs. But what it means is that he is in charge of identifying, booking, and squiring the participants in the Clinton School Speaker Series.  This is a task that takes diplomacy, patience, organization, creativity, and charm.  It also takes long hours day-in and day-out.

In addition, DiPippa is executive producer and host of “Clinton School Presents” radio program on KUAR. In these programs, he conducts one-on-one interviews with some of the distinguished speakers at the Clinton School.

A Little Rock native, he studied at Catholic High and Hendrix College.  Humble and self-effacing, his varied interests have served him well in identifying and pursuing a wide-range of speakers for the Clinton School.

Past speakers from the Clinton School are available for viewing at the Speakers Series website, which also features information on upcoming events.

CALS announces cancellation of tonight’s Heiskell Lecture with Jonathan Karl

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Due to recent developments regarding the election of a new Speaker of the House, ABC News requires Jonathan Karl, ABC News’ chief White House correspondent,to be in Washington, D.C., and he is unable to present the Central Arkansas Library System’s (CALS)J.N. Heiskell Distinguished Lecture today.
In an email, Karl said, “The breaking news on the Capitol has forced me to be in Washington — I tried hard to avoid that but I was given no choice. In such a major breaking story, ABC News felt I must be there to report for World News Tonight and our other platforms.
“We are hopeful that we will be able to reschedule Mr. Karl’s presentation,” said CALS director Bobby Roberts. “We are very disappointed the lecture will not happen tonight. Journalists’ jobs are to cover current events, and important things are happening now in Washington, D.C.”

CANCELLED – Jonathan Karl will present the CALS J.N. Heiskell Distinguished Lecture

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jonathankarlJonathan Karl, ABC News’ chief White House correspondent, will present the Central Arkansas Library System’s (CALS) J.N. Heiskell Distinguished Lecture on Friday, October 9, at 6:30 p.m. in the Ron Robinson Theater, 100 River Market Ave.
 The event is free and open to the public. A reception will follow the program. Seating is general admission. Reservations are appreciated, but not required. RSVP at lellis@cals.org, or 918-3024.
Jonathan Karl, ABC News’ chief White House correspondent, covers the White House forWorld News Tonight, Nightline, and Good Morning America. Karl joined ABC News in January, 2004, and has also served as the network’s Senior Congressional Correspondent, Senior Foreign Affairs Correspondent, Senior National Security Correspondent, and Senior Political Correspondent.
Karl has covered political campaigns in virtually every state and has reported from more than 30 countries, including Iraq, Afghanistan, China, Pakistan, and Sudan. He traveled internationally with the President, Vice President, Secretary of State, and Secretary of Defense to cover topics such as three presidential elections, the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, the intelligence community, and Congressional reaction to the September 11 terrorist attacks.
Jonathan Karl’s extensive experience and political knowledge allow him to discuss foreign affairs, America’s role in the post-September 11 world, national politics, and current events with insight and expertise. Karl also elaborates on what he has learned as moderator and organizer of Sustaining Democracy, a series of panel discussions on America’s changing political landscape. In 2001, Karl won the National Press Foundation’s Everett McKinley Dirksen Award, the highest honor for Congressional reporting and in 2013 was awarded with a Walter Cronkite Excellence in Journalism award.
The Heiskell Distinguished Lecture is named for J.N. Heiskell, the longest-serving member of the Library’s Board of Trustees and editor of the Arkansas Gazette for more than seventy years. J.N. Heiskell was the longest-serving member of the Library’s Board of Trustees, serving from 1910-1972, and he served as President from 1950 until his death in 1972. Speakers and programs honor Heiskell’s commitment to excellence in journalism as well as his support of the library. Past speakers include Helen Thomas, Ernest Dumas, Walter Mears, David Pryor, Dexter Filkins, and John O’Hara.

Arkansas Sounds Gone By – a special Butler Center Legacies and Lunch today at noon

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arkansas_swingerToday at noon in the CALS Darragh Center, “Arkansas Sounds Gone By” will be a special musical Legacies & Lunch program.  It will showcase songs about Arkansas or written by people from the state, drawn from the Butler Center’s Ron Robinson Sheet Music Collection.

Musical guests – including David Austin, Bob Boyd, Susan Gele, Dent Gitchel, Richard Hunter, Herb Rule, Stephanie Smittle, George West, and others – will perform songs from the famous fiddle tune “Arkansas Traveler” to Arkansas native Floyd Cramer’s big hit “Last Date.” Vocalists will be accompanied by piano and fiddle.

Learn about the remarkable variety of songs from or about Arkansas, about the extraordinary music collection donated by Ron Robinson, and about the Tin Pan Alley songwriters who created songs about Arkansas without ever visiting the state.

Legacies & Lunch, the Butler Center’s monthly lecture series, is free, open to the public, and supported in part by the Arkansas Humanities Council. Programs are held from noon-1 p.m. on the first Wednesday of each month. Attendees are invited to bring a sack lunch; drinks and dessert are provided. For more information, contact 918-3033.