Appalachian State University

The Common Reading Program at Appalachian presents Elizabeth Rush, author of the 2020 selection “Rising: Dispatches from the New American Shore.” The book was a 2019 Pulitzer Prize Finalist in General Nonfiction. According to the Pulitzer Prize website, “Rising” is a “rigorously reported story about American vulnerability to rising seas, particularly disenfranchised people with limited access to the tools of rebuilding.”

Join us as Elizabeth M. Claffey shares about her artistic practice and her series, “Matrilinear” currently being exhibited at the Turchin Center. Elizabeth M. Claffey’s work is both cross-disciplinary in nature and aimed at starting conversations within the community. Presented via Zoom.

WIELS is a partnership between faculty members in the Leadership and Educational Studies at Appalachian State University and practicing educators. Our mandate is the development of an 'armoring process' that will equip women with pragmatic knowledge, skills, and dispositions that prepare them for success as educational leaders.

Rescheduled from April 3, 2020. Mr. Jose Minaya—CEO of Nuveen, a TIAA company—oversees all operating and investment activities for more than $970 billion in assets spanning the globe and covering equities, fixed income, real estate, private markets, natural resources, other alternatives and responsible investments. Mr. Minaya also chairs the Nuveen global investment committee and is a member of the firm’s executive committee.

The university is offering free COVID-19 tests for App State students, faculty and staff at a “pop-up” testing event. No appointments required but you will be asked for your Banner ID and other identifying information.

We open our festival featuring two solo piano sonatas, the unusual two-movement Op. 54 and the second sonata from Op. 31, the “Tempest” Sonata. The Serenade for Flute, Violin, and Viola was 26-year-old Beethoven's effort to create a real “crowd pleaser.” It did, earning him good money and lots of performances. Finally, how could we NOT give you the famous 5th Symphony? Well, we close with this very piece, but don't expect an orchestra...it's arranged for two intrepid pianists at two pianos!

The Center for Judaic, Holocaust, and Peace Studies invites the public to a talk by Dr. Henry (“Hank”) Greenspan on “Reflections from Fifty Years of Listening to Holocaust Survivors: Contrarian Views.” A prominent oral historian and accomplished playwright, Greenspan has developed much-noted new methodologies to interview and write about survivors. Presented online via Zoom.

Jacinda Townsend recently served as the Appalachian Writer in Residence at Berea College. She is the author of Saint Monkey (Norton, 2014), which is set in 1950s Eastern Kentucky and won the Janet Heidinger Kafka Prize and the James Fenimore Cooper Prize for historical fiction. Saint Monkey was also the 2015 Honor Book of the Black Caucus of the American Library Association. Link to Reading video to be posted Thursday, Oct. 8, at 12 p.m.

Recently, Netflix has created its own content, much of it dealing with race, gender and sexualities in increasingly complex ways. People are watching how identities are portrayed, (re)forming their own identities and thinking through the representations of others in ways that are unprecedented and, at times, surprising. Damiana Pyles will facilitate conversations that explore a range of Netflix's original series together in the spirit of mutual learning and understanding.

Envious machinations and evil intentions take hold in American Shakespeare Center’s “Othello,” live streaming in 3-camera cinema-quality, presented live from the stage of the Blackfriars Playhouse. Directed by celebrated ASC Artistic Director Ethan McSweeny, this stunningly relevant production of Shakespeare’s tragedy of racism and jealousy promises to bring audiences to the edge of their seats.

Mia Smith will first perform an excerpt from her performance, “Resilience,” which will be followed by an opportunity for respectful audience questions, comments and praise. The play centers on an African American woman trying to find the perfect therapist to cure her anxiety disorder. The play tackles race and anxiety, the strong Black woman syndrome, and the misconceptions about finding a therapist. Mia plays over 25 characters.

Open House is your opportunity to learn more about Appalachian. Meet faculty and current students, tour campus, and learn more about financial aid, scholarships, the admissions process, and what student life at Appalachian is really like.