AET - UNCA
In House Productions
(1997 - present)

The Dedication of Robert Johnson’s “8 Views of Mt. Pisgah” . (April 4, 1997) Featuring Mel Blowers – University Librarian and Robert Johnson

The Installation of Chancellor James H. Mullen, Jr.. (October 6, 2000) Fifth Chancellor, The University of North Carolina Asheville

Stepping Down from the Ivory Tower: A University’s Responsibility to its Community (October 5, 2000) Academic Symposium Featuring Dr. Evan Dobelle – President Trinity College

Poet Laureate of the United States – Robert Pinsky (October 5, 2000)

Founders Day Dinner Honoring Wilma Dykeman, Distinguished Alumna (October 6, 2000)

Why Does it Matter What I Do?  Energy & the Environment. (October 13, 2000) Humanities 414 Lecture by Dr. Richard P. Maas – Director & Professor, Environmental Studies Department, UNCA

Why Does it Matter What I Do?  Human Health & the Environment. (October 2000) Humanities 414 Lecture by Dr. Richard P. Maas – Director & Professor, Environmental Studies Department, UNCA

A Blue Print for the Future: The 2000 Bond Referendum for North Carolina’s Community Colleges & Universities (October 2000) . Featuring Don Locke – Director, Asheville Graduate Center  ;  K. Ray Bailey – President, A-B Tech Community College ;  James H. Mullen, Jr. – Chancellor, UNC Asheville ; George Briggs – Executive Director, NC Arboretum.

The Legacy of Matthew Shepard – A Personal talk with Judy Shepard. (April 18, 2001) With moderated questions and answers, facilitated by Dr. Marcia Ghidina and Dr. Ken Betsalel

Second Annual Honorands Dinner (May 11, 2001). Featuring: Myra Janco Daniels, Adelaide Daniels Key, and John Hope Franklin.

Terror in the Stacks:  Preserving Library Collections . (XXXX)  Addresses Collections, Environment, Storage & Housing, Handling, Security, Disaster Planning & Response, and Conservation.  Written and produced by Lynn Savage and Kate Rehkopf.

Commencement 2001 (May 12, 2001). Commencement Address:  John Hope Franklin – James B. Duke Professor Emeritus of History, Duke University

The Economic Impact of the Middle Eastern Conflict (August 22, 2001). A panel discussion by Hani Abu-Dayyeh and Bob Deutsch. Moderated by Dr. Jeff Konz

The Humanities & Social Justice:  Teaching for the Public Good (September 14, 2001) Featuring: Wilma Dykeman

Founders Day Dinner (October 5, 2001). Honoring Dr. Zollie Stevenson – Recipient, Distinguished Alumnus Award

Groundbreaking Ceremony for the New Residence Hall in the Governors Village at UNC Asheville (October 5, 2001)

UNC Asheville Career Fair (October 23, 2001) Featuring Kerri Day Keller – Director, Career Center, UNC Asheville

Gamelan Kyai Tatit Ratri (Venerable Night Lightning) (February 19, 2002) Presented by The Arts & Ideas Program.  A gamelan is an orchestra of tuned metal percussion instruments characteristic of Java, Bali, Malaysia and other island cultures off the coast of Southeast Asia.

Mountain Echoes Storyfest (April 6, 2002). Featuring: Jamal Koram – Storyteller.  Koram, known as the Story Man, is a nationally acclaimed storyteller, educator, author, spirit drummer and singer with more than 20 years experience.

Commencement 2002 (May 18, 2002).  Commencement Address:  LeRoy T. Walker – Chancellor Emeritus of North Carolina Central University & President Emeritus of the U.S. Olympic Committee.

Live of the 4^th: City of Asheville Fireworks (July 4, 2002)

Vision for Peace and Justice in Israel and Palestine (September 10, 2002). Featuring: Father Elias Chacour, who chose nonviolence to break the cycle of violence and hatred in Israel and Palestine, establishing the Israeli Arabs civil rights movement.

All About Eve:  Gender & the Garden of Eden Tale (XXXX) A talk by Dr. Carol Meyers – The Mary Grace Wilson Professor in Religion at Duke University.

Air Quality in the Southern Appalachians:  Challenges & Opportunities (November 6, 2002). Featuring: Tom Elmore – Southern Appalachian Mountains Initiative.

P.B. Parris Visiting Writer – Marilyn Nelson. (XXXX) Nelson, current Poet Laureate of Connecticut, has published numerous books on poetry.  Since 1978, she has been professor of English at the University of Connecticut in Storrs.

Down Home:  400 Years of Jewish Life in North Carolina (February 4, 2003) Featuring:  Leonard Rogoff – Research Historian, Jewish Heritage Foundation of North Carolina.

Moving People in the Mountains: The Growing Challenge of Transportation (February 5, 2003). Featuring: Linda Giltz – Land-of-Sky Regional Council

Science Olympiad Regional Tournament (February 15, 2003). Featuring Judy Beck and Cathy Whitlock

Afghanistan (February 17, 2003). Featuring Professor Bill Forstchen – Department of History, Montreat College

A Special Performance by Magdalen Hsu-Li & Dale Fanning  (February 20, 2003) Magdalen Hus-Li is an Asian-American music artist, painter, poet, and speaker.  This passionate and unique multimedia artist digs deep to expose the cracks beneath the surface, breaking through the armor within herself and in others to connect, uplift, and inspire through music, art, and the five elements.  Dale Fanning of The Living Daylights plays percussion & drums.

The United States and Saudi Arabia (March 17, 2003). Featuring:  Professor Elmoiz Abunura – Director of Africana Studies, UNCA

Humanities 324, Racism & Slavery (March 7, 2003) Featuring: Dr. Dwight Mullen – Director of Diversity and Multicultural Affairs and Professor, Political Science, UNC Asheville

Mount Mitchell & the Black Mountains: An Environmental History of the Highest Peaks in Eastern America (April 7, 2003). Featuring:  Timothy Silver – Environmental Historian, Appalachian State University. 

Mark Twain:  Traveling… Twain’s travels across America and to countries around the world.  (April 23, 2003). Featuring: Veteran Actor Calvin Pritner in his one-man show.

Mark Twain:  Unlearning Racism (April 22, 2003). Featuring:  Veteran Actor Calvin Pritner in his one-man show.

Commencement 2003 (May 17, 2003).Commencement Address:  Frank Rhodes – President Emeritus of Cornell University

The Future of Peace, Development, and Democracy in Iraq (XXXX) Featuring Ken Schested – Co-pastor, Circle of Mercy and Elmoiz Abunura – Director, Africana Studies Program at UNCA. 

2003 Summer Nonproliferation Education Institute:  Why Study Nonproliferation?  (Summer 2003) Featuring: Dr. Clay Moltz – Center for Nonproliferation Studies, Monterey Institute of International Studies

Weapons of Mass Destruction, Nonproliferation and Disarmament: Prospects and Policy Options (Summer 2003) Featuring Dr. Randall Forsberg – Executive Director, Institute for Defense and Disarmament Studies, Cambridge.

Mechatronics Engineering Workshop:  Boe-Bot’s (Summer 2003). NC State Engineering Programs at UNC Asheville Featurning: Dr. Yusef Fahmy - Engineering, NC State University

 Noontime Concert and Talk with Dr. Robert Moog (September 3, 2003) Dr. Moog demonstrates the Theremin and the Minimoog Voyager and talks about how a musician learns to become a skilled player.

The West in the World:  An Unlikely Ascent 1500-2003 (September 8, 2003). Featuring Dr. William Spellman – Dean of Humanities, UNC Asheville

Founders Day 2003, Unveiling Patsy Reed’s Portrait (XXXX)

Reuter Center Dedication, Telling Our Story: Celebrating Our Past, Present and Future (September 13, 2003) Featuring:  James Hegglund, Ronald Manheimer, James H. Mullen, Molly C. Broad, and others.

Beyond the Miracle: Politics, Society & the Economy in Post-Apartheid South Africa (September 30, 2003) Featuring Dr. Mueni Wa Muiu – Visiting Assistant Professor of Political Science, UNCA

UNC Asheville and The Pisgah Astronomical Research Institute Launch - PARSEC: Pisgah Astronomical Research, Science & Education Center (October 20, 2003) Press Conference.

How Did The French Get To Be That Way? (November 3, 2003). Featuring Dr. William Kennedy – Professor of Comparative Literature, Cornell University

The Problem of Affordable Housing in Asheville: Myth or Reality (November 20, 2003)  Featuring Scott Dedman – Executive Director, Mountain Housing Opportunities.

The Life of Tsali, Cherokee Brave (XXXX)  Featuring Clayton Davis as part of Native American History Month

Affirmative Action: The Just Spoils of a Rightous War (February 6, 2004) Featuring Civil Rights legend Julian Bond, keynote speaker for Black History Month

Rwanda Builds its Future on a Fractured Past (February 11, 2004) Featuring Dr. Paul J. Magnarella

UNCA Launches National Environmental Modeling & Analysis Center NEMAC (February 23, 2004) Press Conference

Gaza: Searching the Remains (February 24, 2004) UNC Asheville student Jeremie Smith speaks about his experiences living and working at a human rights organization in the Gaza Strip from June to December 2003.

New Joint Bachelor of Science in Engineering Degree Program (March 22, 2004)  Press Conference featuring Chancellor James H. Mullen, Jr.

Gospel Fest 2004 (February 29, 2004)

Knots & Tangles (March 18, 2004) Third Annual Parsons’ Lecture, Featuring: Dr. John H. Conway – Professor of Mathematics, Princeton University

The North Korean Crisis: How it Began, Where is Stands, Future Prospects (March 25, 2004) Featuring Don Oberdorfer – Journalist-in-Residence at Johns Hopkins University’s Nitze School of Advanced International Studies in Washington, D.C.

Mountain Reflections on Brown v. Board of Education: 50 Years Later  (April 20, 2004) UNCA sponsors program on Asheville’s segregation and desegregation at the historic YMI Cultural Center in Downtown Asheville.  Featuring: Dwight Mullen, Jennie Eblen, Marian Boggs, George Ray, John Holt, Julia Ray, and others.

The Seventh Annual International Students’ Forum (April 8, 2004) Students from Croatia (Zelijo Mataic), France (Genevieve Grandadam), Egypt (May Wahdan), and Argentinia (Analia Giorgio) discusscustoms, religion, politics, economics, women’s rights and social mobility

The 20^th Economic Crystal Ball Seminar: A Toothless Recovery?  (April 15, 2004) Featuring:  Dr. David W. Berson – Vice President & Chief Economist at Fannie Mae and Dr. James F. Smith – Chief Economist at the Society of Industrial and Office Realtors, and Professor of Finance at the Kenan-Flagler School of Business, UNC Chapel Hill

UNCA Names New Athletics Director (April 27, 2004) Press Conference announcing Janet Cone.

UNC Asheville Announces New Craft Campus  (XXXX) Press Conference announcing craft campus to be located adjacent to Buncombe County’s former landfill, and methane from the capped landfill will serve as the campus primary energy source.

The Commitment Chronicles: The Power of Staying Together  (XXXX)  Featuring:  Cheryl McClary, Ph.D.  The Commitment Chronicles is McClary’s gift to every woman who seeks to create with her mate a strong relationship based on honesty, humor, mutual respect, intimacy and wholeness.

Ralph Nader 2004 (March 26, 2004) Presidential Candidate Ralph Nader visits UNC Asheville.

Commencement 2004 (May 8, 2004) Commencement Address:  Clifton R. Wharton, Jr. – Distinguished Educator, Corporate Leader and Diplomat

The Future of Weapons of Mass Destruction (June 13, 2004) Featuring:  Avner Cohen.  Considered the leading expert on Israel and the bomb, Cohen is the author of “The Nuclear Age as Moral History”, Israel and the Bomb”, and most recently, “The Last Israeli Taboo.”  He has held positions at the U.S. Institute of Peace and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology Defense and Arms Control Studies Program’s Project on Nuclear Arms Control in the Middle East. 

Our Changing Atmosphere: Stratospheric Ozone Depletion and Global Warming (September 9, 2004) S. Dexter Squibb Distinguished Lecture Series featuring Nobel Laureate Dr. F. Sherwood Rowland.  Rowland focuses on several important alterations in the chemical composition of Earth’s atmosphere and how these changes are likely to cause significant further changes in the coming decades.  He addresses how the world’s population is affecting ozone depletion and global warming by releasing gasses into the atmosphere.

Flashpoints & Shifting Sands: The Israeli/Palestinian Conflict in 2004 (September 13, 2004) Featuring:  Dr. Walter Ziffer – Theologian, and Ahmad Amara – UNCA College for Seniors

Hydrocarbons in Earth’s Atmosphere (September 10, 2004) Featuring:  Dr. F. Sherwood Rowland – 1995 Nobel Prize for Chemistry winner.  Rowland discusses his research on the hydrocarbon composition of cities around the world and its role in the creation of urban ozone.

Highsmith University Union Dedication (October 14, 2004) Keynote speaker – Molly Broad, President of the UNC University System

Gaining People, Losing Ground (September 22, 2004) Featuring Werner Fornos – President of the Population Institute since 1982.

US Foreign Policy: The Democratic & Republican Perspectives (October 11, 2004)  Featuring Mark Gibney, Linda Cornett, and Bill Forstchen

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  The Economy and the Presidential Election (October 27, 2004) Featuring Robert Tatum – Assistant Professor, UNCA Economics Department. Should we be concerned about job growth?  How much does the deficit matter?  Is inflation lurking beneath the surface?  Are we better off than we were four years ago?  Does it really matter who wins the election?

An Evening with Tito Amaya (Special guest Obligato) (October 29, 2004) 

Founders Day 2004 – Anderson Cooper (October 1, 2004). Featuring Anderson Cooper and Chancellor Mullen

Genocide in Darfur: Challenge and Response (November 3, 2004). UNCA hosts renowned scholar of Islam and Human Rights, Abdullahi an-Na’im, the Charles Howard Candler Professor of Law at Emory University Law School.

Nutrition for Maximal Performance, Men Athletes (XXXX) Featuring Dr. Richard Lewis – Director, UGA Clinical and Sports Nutrition Laboratory

Nutrition for Maximal Performance, Women Athletes (XXXX) Featuring Dr. Richard Lewis – Director, UGA Clinical and Sports Nutrition Laboratory

China: Challenges Ahead (February 7, 2005). China is increasingly influential globally, but continues to face obstacles at home.  As China’s record economic growth continues, the country must still contend with a growing gap between rich and poor, devastating pollution and resource shortages.  What strategies can China adopt to sustain its economy while meeting the needs of its people?  Featuring Marc Mullinax – Associate Professor, Department of Religion and Philosophy, Mars Hill College.

Dialogue on Death, Reducing Fear and Loathing in the Capital Punishment Debate (Feruary 15, 2005)  Featuring Janet Moore from the North Carolina Appellate Defender’s Office.

Return Migration (February 25, 2005)  Prolific cultural commentator and acclaimed author Bell Hooks gives the UNC Asheville Black History Month keynote address. 

The Cherokee Sacred Calendar of Natal Days (November 19, 2004) Featuring Raven Hail, an 83-year-old elder from the Cherokee Nation of Oklahoma.

Pilgrimage to Shikoku, Japan (March 15, 2005) Peter and Jasmin Gentling discuss their pilgrimage to Shinto/Buddhist shrines on the ancient pilgrim road around Shikoku, Japan – an island just off of Hiroshima.  Along the way they took beautiful photographs of people, shrines, inns and forests that they encountered.  During this brown bag lunch they share their slides and their eye witness accounts.

New Engineering Program with a Concentration in Mechatronics, (XXXX) Press Conference

An Evening with Pulitzer Prize Winning Poet and Writer, Maxine Kumin (April 1, 2003) A highly acclaimed author, Kumin has written 15 books of Poetry and several collections of essays, short stories and novels.  She was awarded the Pulitzer Prize in 1973.

8^th Annual International Forum – We Can Learn From Each Other, (April 14, 2005) Students from Croatia (Zelijo Mataic), France (Genevieve Grandadam), Indonesia (Tara Lucman), and Lebanon (Rabih Dahdouh) discusscustoms, religion, politics, economics, women’s rights and social mobility

Fuel Cells: The Future of Power is Happening Now (April 4, 2005), Featuring Tony Iacovelli, MD

21^st Economic Crystal Ball Seminar (April 25, 2005), Featuring:  Dr. David W. Berson – Vice President & Chief Economist at Fannie Mae and Dr. James F. Smith – Chief Economist at the Society of Industrial and Office Realtors, and Professor of Finance at the Kenan-Flagler School of Business, UNC Chapel Hill

Advertising Competition, Marketing Principles (Spring 2005), Students of Dennis Cole’s Promotion Management class, with limited video experience were charged with creating a 30 second Public Service Announcement based on their chosen topic.  Each group presents their finished PSA’s and explains their process to a panel of judges who choose the winner.

UNC Asheville Receives $3 Million Gift from Steve & Frosene Zeis (April 20, 2005) 

Immigration: Impact of Western North Carolina & the U.S., (May 10, 2005) Panel discussion featuring: Raleigh Bailey – Director, Center for New North Carolinians ; Milton Butterworth – Migrant Education Case Manager, Henderson County ; Susan Mims – Medical Director, Buncombe County Health Center ; Jerry Vehaun – Director, Emergency Services for Buncombe County ; Susan Kask – Chair, Economics Department, Warren Wilson College ; Gustavo Silva – WNC resident and advocate ; Moderator, Doug Mayer – Webcast Editor, Asheville Citizen-Times.

UNCA Announces its Sixth Chancellor (May 12, 2005), Dr. Anne Ponder

2005 Honorands Dinner (May 13, 2005), Featuring:  William Ivey Long – Broadway Costume Designer, Amanda Swimmer – Cherokee Potter, and Martha C. Nussbaum – Philosopher and Author

Commencement 2005 (May 14, 2005), Commencement Address:  Martha C. Nussbaum – Philosopher, Public Intellectual and Author

The 4^th Annual Strive Not to Drive Film Festival (2005)

NEMAC, National Environmental Modeling & Analysis Center, (XXXX) Press Conference featuring:  Congressman Charles Taylor

Iraq, Terrorism, Nuclear Dangers & Global Warming: Feeling Secure Yet?  (September 20, 2005) Ira Shorr, Field Director of Physicians for Social Responsibility, and political satirist leads a lively discussion on new directions for national security policy. 

Founders Day 2005: State of the University – Chancellor Anne Ponder, (September 29, 2005)

Success in Life: How to Guarantee It (September 29, 2005), Featuring Scott Love.  Love is an author, consultant, and motivational speaker based in Asheville.  He has personally consulted to companies in nearly every major city in the country and is a graduate of the United States Naval Academy.

Groundbreaking Ceremony for the Steve and Frosene Zeis Science & Multimedia Building (October 11, 2005)

Reforming the U.N.: How, Why and What is Being Proposed, (September 13, 2005) Featuring Cleve Mathews – retired journalist and Professor Emeritus at Syracuse University, C. Jerome Jones, Brig. General United States Air Force, and David Johnson, PhD Professor Emeritus at the University of Tennessee. 

So Much Growth Yet So Few Jobs: How Globalization Has Shaped This Recovery & Impacted Employment Throughout the Carolinas,  (October 11, 2005) A presentation by Mark Vitner, Senior Economist – Wachovia Corporation Sponsored by the World Affairs Council of Western North Carolina.

Uranium and U – Catherine Middlecamp (October 20, 2005) Eighth Annual S. Dexter Squibb Distinguished Chemistry Lecture Series.  Middlecamp is a Distinguished Faculty Associate and Director of the Chemistry Learning Center at the University of Wisconsin at Madison. 

Forest Watersheds: A Long-Term Perspective on Providing Clean and Abundant Water for the Southern Appalachian Region (November 7, 2005), James Vose, Project Leader, Coweeta Hydrological Laboratory

Lead: The Toxin That Won’t Go Away (November 9, 2005), A presentation by Linda Block, Coordinator of UNC Asheville’s Lead Poisoning Prevention Program

Sometimes Taking a Stand Means Taking a Seat – ASCORE, (November 6, 2006) The Center for Diversity Education celebrates its 10^th anniversary with an awards ceremony honoring former members of ASCORE.  Featuring James Ferguson II, Eugene Ellison, Dwight Mullen, Chancellor Ponder, and others.

 Joe Kimmel Donates $2 Million for N.C. Center for Health & Wellness, (November 16, 2005) Press Conference – This first major private gift to the Center was announced by Chancellor Anne Ponder at a public event.

HIV/AIDS Healthy Choices (January 26, 2006), Featuring Ronald J. Weatherford – Author and Health Advocate. Having lost friends and family to AIDS, Weatherford fires up audiences with messages that expose health disparities and promote healthy lifestyles and community partnerships.

The Current State of the Middle East (January 31, 2006). Featuring Sir Eldon Griffiths, a cabinet member during the Margaret Thatcher government of the United Kingdom.

Healing the Wounds of Racism (February 2, 2006). UNC Asheville celebrates Black History Month with keynote speaker Nontombi Naomi Tutu – Daughter of South African Archbishop Desmond Tutu.

Diversity in the Workplace: Finding a Common Ground Connecting the Liberal Arts to Career Choices (February 7, 2006), Featuring Tootsie Gloyne – Benefits Manager, Harrah’s Cherokee Casino ; Jacquelyn Hallum – Director of Health Careers & diversity MAHEC ; Kitty Hancock – Nurse Educator, VA Hospital ; Lewis Isaac – Training Coordinator, City of Asheville ;  Rosario Villareal – Small Business Owner, Business Services Association  ; Moderated by Don Locke – Director of Diversity & Multicultural, UNCA ; Patricia Digh – Author/Consultant and Co-founder of the Circle Project.

NCUR 20: National Conference on Undergraduate Research  (April 7, 2006) Featuring:  Dr. Virginia Derryberry – Director, UNCA Undergraduate Research Program and Dr. Mark Harvey – Associate Director, UNCA Undergraduate Research Program

The Accidental Empire: Israel & The Birth of the Settlements 1967-1977 (March 28, 2006), Featuring Gershom Gorenberg – Columnist & Associate Editor at The Jerusalem Report.

Steep Canyon Rangers (March 28, 2006), Lecture/Demonstration with Dan Pierce

Breaking Drivers License Codes  -  The 2006 Parsons Lecture, (March 30, 2006) Featuring Joseph Gallian – Professor of Mathematics at the University of Minnesota, Duluth, and President of the Mathematics Association of America. 

A Career in Science: Things I Wish I’d Known Before I Morphed into a Lab Rat (April 7, 2006) NCUR Plenary Session. Featuring Geraldine L. Richmond – Richard M. and Patricia H. Noyes Professor

The Sounds of Spanglish (April 7, 2006) NCUR Plenary Session.  Featuring Ilan Stavans – Lewis-Sebring Professor of Latin American and Latino Culture and Five-College 40^th Anniversary Distinguished Professor at Amherst College.

Global Pandemics (April 11, 2006), Featuring Christina Simeonsson – Director of the N.C. State Bureau of Epidemiology

The 9^th Annual International Forum: We Can Learn From Each Other, (April 19, 2006) Students from England (Chris Burn), Germany (Peter Haschke), Indonesia (Tara Lucman), and Turkey (Elif Unlu) discuss customs, religion, politics, economics, women’s rights, and social mobility. 

Rational Terrorists: How Terrorist Organizations Employ Economic Principles to Conduct Their Beastly Business (April 20, 2006), Featuring Jurgen Brauer – Economics Professor, Augusta State University.

Illegal Immigration: Looking for Common Ground (April 25, 2006), Featuring Mark Gibney – Belk Professor of Humanities and Professor of Political Science and Hiroshi Motomura – Kenan Distinguished Professor and Associate Dean for Faculty at UNC Chapel Hill’s School of Law.

The 5^th Annual Strive Not To Drive Film Festival  (2006)

Crystal Ball XXII: The New Fed Chair, What Can We Expect, (April 27, 2006), Featuring David W. Berson – Vice President and Chief Economist at Fannie Mae, James F. Smith – Chief Economist, Parsec Financial. The economic outlook focuses on inflation, employment, interest rates, the strength of the dollar and the housing market.  The financial outlook explores the implications of Federal Reserve policy for financial markets.  Various investments are addressed, with an emphasis on interest rates and the bond market. 

Second Annual Advertising Competition (Spring 2006).  Students of Dennis Cole’s Promotion Management class, with limited video experience were charged with creating a 30 second Public Service Announcement based on their chosen topic.  Each group presents their finished PSA’s and explains their process to a panel of judges who choose the winner.

Conversations with Bill:  2006 Honorands (May 12, 2006), Interviews with Doris Betts – Professor of Creative Writing, UNC Chapel Hill. James Ferguson – Noted Attorney and former president of ASCORE. Interviews conducted by William Massey – Vice Chancellor Alumni & Development.

Commencement 2006 (May 13, 2006), Commencement Address:  Anne Ponder, Ph.D. – Sixth Chancellor of the University of North Carolina Asheville

A Brief History of UNC Asheville 1927-2006 (Fall 2006)

The Installation of Anne Ponder (September 15, 2006). Sixth Chancellor of The University of North Carolina Asheville

The Struggle for Peace and Justice (September 26, 2006). Featuring Father Roy Bourgeois – An Aamerican priest in the Maryknoll order of the Roman Catholic Church and founder of the human rights group School of the Americas Watch.

High Technology Startup: The Path From Fundamental Science to Worldwide Commercialization (October 16, 2006). The Ninth Annual S. Dexter Squibb lecture series, featuring David J. Rakestraw – Founder and General Manager of Eksigent Technologies. 

Starting & Running a Global Business from Asheville (October 17, 2006). Featuring Paul J. Samuels – President/CEO Kimmel Worldwide Logistics

Leadership in Crisis: Lessons of the Roman Empire for America Today. (XXXX) Featuring Dr. J. Rufus Fears – David Ross Boyd Professor of Classics, The University of Oklahoma

The Shame of the Nation: The Restoration of Apartheid Schooling in America (November 8, 2006). Featuring National Book Award-winning Author Jonathan Kozol. Kozol’s passionate work over the past 40 years directly confronts the chilling effect of the virtual dismantling of Brown vs. the Board of Education.  He offers a humane, dramatic and head-on challenge to fulfill the educational promise made 50 years ago to all the youngest citizens of our nation.

Traditions of Life, Health, Wellness and Humor (November 10, 2006). Featuring Paula Nelson – Cherokee Performance Artist. Susan Leading Fox – Deputy Health Officer, Eastern Band of the Cherokee Nation. Jeff Bachar – Program Manager, Cherokee Choices ; Karen Walter – Tsalagi Kv Hnv i (Cherokee Life) ; Keith Ray – Chairman & Associate Professor, Health and Wellness, UNCA ; Kathie Garbe – Associate Professor, Health and Wellness, UNCA ; Melissa Himelein – Professor of Psychology, UNCA.

Global Jihad: Challenge and Response (November 14, 2006). Featuring Peter Probst – Institute for the Study of Political Violence and Terrorism and former CIA official.

December Commencement 2006 (December 16, 2006). Commencement Address:  Merritt W. Moseley, Jr. – Professor of Literature & Language and Recipient of the 2005 Alumni Distinguished Teaching Award

The Future of China – Leadership Asheville Forum (January 18, 2007). Featuring Steven Levine – Author, Professor Emeritus of Asian Studies, UNC Chapel Hill and Sarah Ann Smith – Adjunct Associate Professor in the Master of Liberal Arts program, UNC Asheville.

Bambooduh – Free Lunchtime Concert (January 24, 2007). Beginning his music career 10 years ago in Kauai, Hawaii, Bambooduh plays various string, wind, and percussion instruments of his own invention, which he builds from bamboo gourds and coconuts.  He plays these instruments into a looping machine to combine them into a full-band sound.

Haiti’s Children and the Right to Good Health (February 6, 2007). Sponsored by the World Affairs Council of Western North Carolina. Featuring Tom Plaut – Professor Emeritus of Sociology, Mars Hill College.

UNC Asheville Athletics Hall of Fame Ceremony 2007 (February 15, 2007) Inductees:  Jill Young Booth (Women’s Soccer 1993-1996), Danielle Meyer Harrison (Volleyball 1990-1993), Patrick Britz (Men’s Soccer 1987-1990), Mike Grace (Men’s Basketball 1970-1974), and Mickey Gibson (Men’s Basketball 1968-1970)

South Africa: Old Problems, Peaceful Transitions and New Challenges (February 20, 2007). Featuring:  Dr. Afaf Omer – Associate Professor, Sociology Department, UNCA

Remembering the Tuskegee Airmen (February 22, 2007), Featuring Leonard “Hawk” Hunter – Retired Technical Sergeant, U.S. Air Force.

Creative Careers – Career Interest Panel (March 1, 2007). Panel: Michael Darnell – Independent Contractor, 3D, Creative Writing, Gaming ; Angie Flynn-McIver – Producing Director, NC Stage ; Leslie Klingner – Associate Curator, Biltmore Estate ; David Papandrea – President, Machristdan Media Solution/Big Deal Events ; Moderators:  Rob Bowen and Don Diefenbach.

Can the United Nations Tackle Climate Change?  (March 14, 2007). Sponsored by the World Affairs Council of Western North Carolina. Featuring Lenny Bernstein – Bernstein & Associates

Blood Done Sign My Name (March 15, 2007). Featuring Author Timothy Tyson – Professor of African-American Studies, University of Wisconsin Madison, his father Rev. Vernon Tyson and Mary Williams – Gospel Vocalist

Annual Spring Symposium on Undergraduate Research (March 27, 2007). Keynote Speaker:  Asheville Mayor Terry Bellamy

Why Does the Leandro Case Mean for North Carolina Children? (2007).Featuring:  Judge Howard Manning Jr. – For over 12 years as a judge, Manning has presided over hundreds of civil and criminal cases in North Carolina.

The Evolution of Newton’s Universe (March 28, 2007). Featuring:  Dr. Donald Saari – UCI Distinguished Professor, University of California, Irvine

We Vote But Do We Elect Who We Really Want (March 29, 2007). 2007 Parsons Lecturer – Dr. Donald Saari – UCI Distinguished Professor, University of California, Irvine

The 10^th Annual International Forum – We Can Learn From Each Other. (April 18, 2007) Students from Britain (Chris Burn), Germany (Peter Haschke), Russia (Yana Volkova), and Turkey (Elif Unlu) discuss customs, religion, politics, economics, women’s rights, and social mobility.

Crystal Ball XXIII: Housing, Is the Worst Over? (April 26, 2007). Featuring noted economists David W. Berson – Vice President and Chief Economist at Fannie Mae, and James F. Smith – Chief Economist at Parsec Financial.

The 40^th Annual Juried Student Art Exhibition (Spring 2007). Juried by Greg Shelnutt – Director of Visual Arts, Visual Arts Faculty, North Carolina School of the Arts.

Commencement 2007 (May 12, 2007). Commencement Address:  Ernest J. Gaines – Award-winning novelist; professor of English and writer-in-residence, University of Louisiana at Lafayette. Donald Sultan – Asheville native; prominent contemporary artist, New York

Conversations with Bill: 2007 Honorands (May 12, 2007). Featuring Ernest J. Gaines – Professor of English and writer-in-residence at the University of Louisiana  and Donald Sultan – New York Artist and Asheville native. Hosted by William Massey and Wiley Cash

The State of Black Asheville Introduction & 1) Education (February 17, 2007). Welcome: Chancellor Anne Ponder, Mayor Terry Bellamy, Dr. Dwight Mullen. Panel: Al Whitesides, Gene Bell, Robert Logan, and Dolly Mullen. Moderator:  Don Locke

The State of Black Asheville 2) Health Care (February 17, 2007). Panel: Charles Blair, Sharon West, Marsha Stickford, Jim Pitts, Holly Jones. Moderator: Calvin Kelly

The State of Black Asheville 3) Law Enforcement (February 17, 2007). Panel: Van Duncan, Bill Hogan, Theodis Beck, Carl Mumpower, Jan Davis, Calvin Hill, Enita Okodiko, Jason Jackson. Moderator:  Mark Gibney.

The State of Black Asheville 4) Housing and Closing Session. (February 17, 2007) Panel:  Gene Bell, Isaac Coleman, Scott Dedman, Trina Boyd, Brownie Newman, Robin Cape   Moderator:  Jim Pitts

Advertising Competition (Spring 2007). Students of Dennis Cole’s Promotion Management class, with limited video experience were charged with creating a 30 second Public Service Announcement based on their chosen topic.  Each group presents their finished PSA’s and explains their process to a panel of judges who choose the winner.

The 14^th Century: An Age of Disasters – Constructing Identities, Groups, and Difference (September 24, 2007). Humanities 214 Lecture featuring Ann Dunn – Lecturer, Humanities Program

Chemical Education in the Global Environment (October 22, 2007). 10^th Annual S. Dexter Squibb Lecture featuring Dr. John C. Kotz – Distinguished Teaching Professor Emeritus at State of New York College at Oneonta.

UNC Tomorrow: Your Universities Are Listening (October 4, 2007). Community Listening Forum featuring Erskine Bowles – University of North Carolina President and Jim Phillips – UNC Board of Governors Chairman.

The Quest for Civil Rights Under the Constitution (September 17, 2007). Keynote Constitution Day address by James E. Ferguson II – Civil Rights Attorney and co-founder and president of the Charlotte law form of Ferguson, Stein, and Chambers

Dialogue on Immigration (September 27, 2007). Panel Discussion featuring Mark Gibney, Bill Haas, Carl Mumpower, and Jane Oaks

Escaping Poverty Traps: Strategy & Successful Examples (February 17, 2007). Featuring: Dr. Stephen C. Smith – Professor of Economics and International Affairs and Director of the Research Program in Poverty, Development, and Globalization at George Washington University.

Asheville City Council Candidates Forum 2007 (October 17, 2007). Public forum featuring Dwight Butner, Jan Davis, Bryan Freeborn, Elaine Lite, Brownie Newman, and Bill Russell

Annual University of North Carolina Asheville Boards Dinner (October 25, 2007). Featuring Former UNC Asheville Chancellors, David Brown, Sam Schuman, Patsy Reed, James Mullen, and current Chancellor Anne Ponder.

The Cliffs Communities Gifts $1 Million to UNC Asheville to Benefit the North Carolina Center for Health & Wellness  (XXXXX). Press Conference featuring Jim Anthony

3^rd Annual Diversity in the Workplace: Finding Common Ground (November 7, 2007) Featuring Brian Davis – Special events Assistant, The Grove Park Inn. Johnnie Grant – Publisher, The Urban News. Eric Howard – Social Worker, Randolph Learning Center. Hope Huskey – Cherokee Native American Business Development Center.  Sarah Numez – Consultant for non-profits & Special Events. Moderators: Deborah Miles, and Bryan Schaffer

Governor’s Tour of The Bill of Rights (November 9, 2007). Featuring North Carolina Supreme Court Justice Willis P. Whichard and The Right to a Jury Trial and Due Process

Thousand Kites – Theatre UNCA (November 14, 2007). World Premier Play exploring the effects of the prison-building explosion on inmates, guards, their families, and their communities.  Written by:  Donna Porterfield. Directed by Scott Walters and starring: Casey Morris, Charles B. Davis, III, Bridget Patterson, Skyler Goff, Sarah Erickson, Taylor Collins, and Rachel Williams

Bridges to Dreams:  A Solo Performance by Laura Facciponti (December 5, 2007. Stories with song and visual images sharing familial yarns and folk tales. 

December Commencement 2007 (December 15, 2007). Commencement Address:  K. Ray Bailey – President Emeritus, Asheville-Buncombe Technical Community College

Israel: The Lobby and The Media: A Look at the Public Image of Israel and the Challenges to the Jewish Community (February 7, 2008). A talk by J.J. Goldberg – An award-winning journalist, author and lecturer, who is editorial director of The Forward, the national newsweekly published in association with the legendary Jewish Daily Forward.

Careers in Food Nutrition & Wellness – Career Panel (February 12, 2008) Panel: Vicki Banks – Director of Benefits & Staffing Services, The Biltmore Company. Jessica Lane – Director of Volunteers & Special Events, The Health Adventure. Alphie Rodriquez – Diabetes Wellness Coordinator, YWCA. John Rushing – Professor of Food Science – North Caroling State University. Erika Villa – Co-Owner, Artisan Catering (Alumna).  Moderators:  Dominique Ennis and Amy Lanou.

Civil Rights: Constitutional Property to Constitutional People (February 27, 2008).  Featuring Robert P. Moses – Noted Civil Rights Leader and MacArthur Fellow.

2^nd Annual Women, Work and Leadership Career Interest Panel (March 12, 2008).  Featuring:  Kelly Hinz – Assistant Fire Marshal, City of Asheville Fire & Rescue Department, Maria Horton – Contractor, Showcase Exteriors, Gisa Smith – Learning and Development Manager, UPS, Sharon West – Director of Nursing Buncombe County Health Center, Alida Woods – Principal Dixon Elementary. Moderators:  Janet Cone – Director of Athletics, UNC Asheville. Alice Weldon – Interm Director of Women’s Studies Program and Associate Professor of Spanish, UNC Asheville

Lost Christianities (April 1, 2004). Featuring: Bart Ehrman – Chair, Department of Religious Studies, UNC Chapel Hill

The Truth Behind the Da Vinci Code (November 12, 2004). Featuring: Bart Ehrman – Chair, Department of Religious Studies, UNC Chapel Hill.  Ehrman reveals what we really know about Jesus, Mary Magdalene, and Constantine.

Negro Baseball Leagues:  Sounds & Voices of an Era (March 11, 2008). A celebration of the athletes who broke baseball’s color barrier.  Featuring:  Bryan Sinclair, Anita White-Carter, David Wilken & the UNCA Big Band, and Daniel Meyer.

A Town Meeting with Congressman Heath Shuler (March 26, 2008). Featuring Congressman Heath Shuler – of North Carolina’s 11^th Congressional District. Moderated by Joe McGuire – Board member, Leadership Asheville Forum and Attorney, McGuire, Wood & Bissette, P.A.

Brown v. Board of Education: Fifty Years Later (April 3, 2008).  Starring the award winning actor, Mike Wiley.  This one-man performance recounts the court case, decision, and consequences of the landmark ruling: “Brown vs. Board of Education”.  Wiley transforms himself into multiple characters, with audience participation, to speak about the ruling from different perspectives.

Mathematical Modeling in Biology: What is it? And how is it useful? (April 10, 2008).               Dr. Zeeman is the R Wells Johnson Professor of Mathematics at Bowdoin College and also works in the Department of Neurobiology and Behavior at Cornell University.  Zeeman describes some of the ways that math can be harnessed to dive into biological mysteries.  What happens when three species compete for the same resources? What's the best way to preserve a species? Why do diseases come in cycles?

2007 Athletics Hall of Fame Ceremony (February 21, 2008).  Opening remarks, Chancellor Anne Ponder; Master of Ceremonies, Brendan Harrington; Welcome, Janet Cone; Student-Athletes, Ashley Wrightenberry and Nicholas Thuell; Alma Mater, All Girls Staff; remarks, Randy McKinney.  Honoring Elissa Mount (Volleyball 1991-1994), Paul Allen (Men’s Basketball 1980-1984), and Dave Hart (Contributor 1993-present).

Crystal Ball XXIV - The Business and Financial Outlook through 2009:  Housing Is the Worst Over? (May 1, 2008).  The economic outlook focuses on inflation, employment, interest rates, the strength of the dollar and the housing market.  The financial outlook explores the implications of Federal Reserve policy for financial markets.  Various investments are addressed, with an emphasis on interest rates and the bond market.  Featuring David W. Berson Ph.D. – Chief Economist and Strategist for The PMI Group and James F. Smith, Ph.D. – Chief Economist at Parsec Financial.

The 11^th Annual International Forum – We Can Learn From Each Other.  (April 17, 2008) Students from Britain (Chris Burn), Russia (Yana Volkova), and South Korea (Kee Hwan Jang) discuss customs, religion, politics, economics, women’s rights, and social mobility.

Commencement May 2008 (May 10, 2008)   Commencement Address:  Dr. Johnnetta Betsch Cole – President emerita of Bennett College for Women in Greensboro and Spelman College in Atlanta.

Good Fortune – The Asian New Year (February 13, 2007)  Featuring:  Mandy Carter, Center for Diversity Education with special guest Linda Simthong, UNCA graduate and teacher licensure candidate.  Sponsored by: The Center for Diversity Education who works to increase the ways diversity is covered in the daily life of the classroom in grades K-12 and higher education.

The Tempest Project (April 9, 2008)  Conceived and directed by Laura Facciponti and Pamella O’Connor.  Theatre UNCA presents a one-hour experimental object theatre performance using sections of the famous play script, as well as the poetry of W.H. Auden’s The Sea and The Mirror in a performance utilizing puppetry, masks, and object theatre techniques to retell this magical story.

4^th Annual Department of Management Advertising Competition (April 21, 2008)  Students in Dennis Cole’s Promotion Management class with limited video experience created 30 second Public Service Announcements based on their chosen topics.  The groups present their finished PSA’s and explain their process to a panel of judges who choose the winner.  This years group included:  Mark a Wish Foundation, National Campus Energy Challenge, Recycling, Full Moon Farm, UNC Asheville Outdoors, and Locally Grown Food.  The judge were Trip Huxley – Senior Art Director, Market Connections;  Colleen Dieterly – Account Executive, Fairway Outdoor Advertising;  and Sim Cross – President and Founder, Biltmore Marketing.

UNC Asheville Conversations (May 9, 2008)  Bill Massey, Vice Chancellor for Alumni and Development interviews Dr. Johnnetta B. Cole, renowned educator and 2008 UNC Asheville Honorary Degree Recipient.  Dr. Cole has had a long and distinguished career focused on education, equality and social justice.  She holds a bachelor's degree from Oberlin College and earned master's and doctorate degrees in anthropology from Northwestern University.  Upon graduation, she launched a successful career as a college professor and administrator that spanned four decades.

Environmental Careers, Alumni Career Panel (November 3, 2008)  Featuring:  Jacqui Adams ’95 – Forestry Technician, Research;  Leigh Ann Conner ’01 – Teacher, Buncombe County Schools;  Chuck Cranford ’03 – Environmental Specialist, NC Department of Environmental and Natural Resources;  Jonathan Pullin ’90 – Principal Environmental Scientist, The Environmental Group of the Carolinas;  Maggie Ullman ’06 – Energy Coordinator, City of Asheville;  Brian Winslett ’03 – Founding Partner, Blue Ridge BioFuels.  Co-Moderators:  Bill Miller – Professor, Environmental Studies, UNC Asheville;  Kitti Reynolds – Associate Profesor, Environmental Studies, UNC Asheville.

From Commitment to Action: A Journey of Challenge and Collaboration in Diversity Work (November 21, 2008) Dr. Barcelo is a nationally-recognized leader in the field, with over thirty years of experience in equity and diversity in higher education.  As Vice President and Vice Provost, Dr. Barcelo provides leadership and strategic planning on issues relating to faculty, staff, and student equity and diversity across the University of Minnesota system.  She is responsible for developing and implementing a statewide strategic plan for equity and diversity consistent with the university's strategic positioning efforts.  Dr. Barcelo is a member of the President's Executive Team, and works closely with Office of the Senior Vice President and Provost and the Office of the Senior Vice President for System Academic Administration.

The Land of the Lightning Brothers (September 19, 2008) This multimedia presentation features authentic Aboriginal Dreamtime creation stories, slides of rock art, native percussion and the haunting music of the didjeridoo. One of the last living Wardaman Elders, Yidumduma Bill Harney, and his friend, honorary tribal member, famed storyteller and musician, Paul “Walking Stick” Taylor, share legends of their Australian home.

Universal Human Rights? (March 18, 2009) Sponsored by The World Affairs Council of Western North Carolina.  Featuring Dr. Mark Gibney, Belk Professor of Political Science, UNC Asheville.

The UNC Asheville Athletics Hall of Fame Ceremony (February 19, 2009) Including Brendan Harrington (Voice of the Bulldogs), Janet Cone - Director of Athletics, Chancellor Anne Ponder, highlights from the Big South Conference 25th Anniversary UNC Asheville's Best of the Best, a video salute to the 1984 NAIA Women's Basketball National Champions, Helen Carroll - Head Coach of the 1984 Bulldogs, Jack Brinkley - Sports Outreach, Roger Bower - President of the Bulldog Athletics Club, and student athletes Sara Marie Holland (Women's Soccer) and Reed Kreiser (Baseball).

Chekhov One-Act Plays (February 26, 2009) Presented by Theatre UNCA and The Department of Drama and directed by Laura Facciponti.  The Proposal - A nervous hypochondriac proposes marriage to his neighbor's daughter and encounters hilarious complications.  The Bear - A widow receives an unwelcome visit from an ungentlemanly landowner who insists on collecting a debt.

Crystal Ball XXV, The Business and Financial Outlook through 2010, The Economy: Is the Worst Over? (April 23, 2009)  The economic outlook focuses on inflation, employment, interest rates, the strength of the dollar and the housing market.  The financial outlook explores the implications of Federal Reserve policy for financial markets.  Various investments are addressed, with an emphasis on interest rates and the bond market.  Featuring David W. Berson Ph.D. – Chief Economist and Strategist for The PMI Group and James F. Smith, Ph.D. – Chief Economist at Parsec Financial.

A Conversation with Asheville's University: Health and Wellness in Our Community (Episode 1 Spring 2009)  Featuring: Chancellor Anne Ponder, Joe Damore, and Keith Ray.  Joe Damore has served as president and chief executive officer of Mission

A Conversation with Asheville’s University:  A Lifetime of Learning (Episode 2 Spring 2009) Featuring: Chancellor Anne Ponder, Sandra P. Byrd, and Virgil L. Smith.  Sandra Byrd is assistant provost for Graduate and Continuing Education, and associate professor of education at the University of North Carolina Asheville.  She coordinates post-secondary and adult education at UNC Asheville, including masters programs for-credit and non-credit education programs, certificates, and community-based leadership programs.  Virgil Smith is vice president for talent management for the Gannett Company, and Chairman of the Asheville Citizen-Times.  Throughout his career he has earned numerous professional and community awards including being named one of the top three managers in the Gannett Company.  He received the Asheville Area Chamber of Commerce Partners in Education “Volunteer of the Year Award”  for his work in establishing the Asheville—Buncombe Education Coalition, and recently was awarded the Ida B. Wells Award for Diversity and the Asheville-Buncombe Community Relations Lifetime Achievement Award.  He is a member of the UNC Asheville Board of Trustees.

A Conversation with Asheville’s University:  Climate, Technology and Our Environment (Episode 3 Spring 2009) Featuring: Chancellor Anne Ponder, David McConville, and Jim Fox.  David McConville is an award-winning media artist and researcher specializing in the history and development of dome-based display environments.  He is co-founder of The Elumenati, a full-service design and engineering firm in West Asheville specializing in immersive projection environments.  His firm has designed projects for clients ranging from art festivals to space agencies.  McConville, a UNC Asheville alumnus, also serves on the Board of Directors for the Buckminster Fuller Institute, helping to realize Fuller’s vision of a global network of Geoscope displays for visualizing Earth data.  Jim Fox is the director of UNC Asheville’s National Environmental Modeling and Analysis Center (NEMAC).  His is principal investigator for several collaborations that deal with utilizing environmental databases, spatial visualizations and other high-end technologies to create products for decision-making in complex situations.  One such project is a partnership with the U.S. Forest Service examining threats to our nations’ forests.  The center also is the local engagement site for the Renaissance Computing Institute for North Carolina, which works with Asheville and Buncombe County leaders on flood mitigation and land use issues.  The group also works with NOAA’s National Climatic Data Center to create education and outreach tools related to Climate Change topics.

A Conversation with Asheville’s University: The Changing Face of Retirement (Episode 4 Spring 2009) Featuring:  Chancellor Anne Ponder, Ronald J. Manheimer, and Imogene Radeker “Cissie” Stevens.  Ronald Manheimer is executive director of UNC Asheville’s North Carolina Center for Creative Retirement (NCCCR), an award-winning lifelong learning, leadership, research, and community service program.  He also serves as research associate professor of philosophy at the university.  Before becoming NCCCR’s first director in 1988, Manheimer was director of older adult education for The National Council on the Aging (NCOA) in Washington, D.C.  NCCCR’s goal is to encourage the development of an age-integrated society and to serve as a laboratory for exploring creative and productive roles for a new generation of retirement-aged people.  Cissie Stevens is former director of Community Leadership Programs at UNC Asheville and serves on the university’s Board of Trustees.  Although retired, she is an active volunteer in many community activities serving on the boards of Christ School for Boys, the Manna Food Bank and NC Blue Cross Blue Shield.

Commencement May 2009 (May 16, 2009)   Commencement Address:  Thomas "Les" Purce  – President, Evergreen State College in Olympia, Washington.

Beyond the Classroom:  Celebrating The 2009 Honorary Degree Recipients at UNC Asheville (May 15, 2009)  The Board of Trustees of The University of North Carolina Asheville and Chancellor Anne Ponder host this event that explores student life at UNC Asheville and celebrates T. Les Purce and Doc Watson as the 2009 Honorary Degree Recipients.

The UNC Asheville Department of Management and Accountancy: 2009 Television Advertising Competition (May 4, 2009) Public Service television advertisements produced by Management students as part of Promotion Management 357 course taught by Professor Jeff Foreman.  Commercials represent Riverlink, Asheville Green Works, Big Brothers Big Sisters, and The Asheville Humane Society.

A Conversation with Asheville's University:  The University's Role in North Carolina's Future (Episode 5 Summer 2009) Featuring Chancellor Anne Ponder and Bill Friday.  Bill Friday is one of North Carolina's most treasured native sons.  Friday served as

An Interview with T. Les Purce (May 16, 2009) Hosted by Bill Massey, Vice Chancellor for Alumni and Development, UNC Asheville.  Featuring Thomas Les Purce, 2009 Honorary Degree recipient, UNC Asheville.  Dr. Purce has served as president of Evergreen State College in Olympia, Wash., a nationally recognized public liberal arts institution, for nine years. Purce has also held top-ranking administrative roles at Washington State University and Idaho State University. He has been a civic leader as well. Purce was the first black elected official in Idaho, serving as city councilman and then mayor of Pocatello. He later served as director of Idaho’s departments of Administration and Health & Welfare. In the private sector, Purce was partner and CEO of Power Engineering Inc., a large electrical engineering firm in the Northwest.

Nagata Shachu:  Japanese Taiko Drumming (September 30, 2009) The thunderous sounds of Japanese taiko (tie-COE) drumming fill UNC Asheville's Lipinsky Auditorium as Nagata (nah-GAH-tah) Shachu (shah-CHOO) takes the stage.  Based in Toronto, Canada, this authentic Japanese ensemble has thrilled audiences across North America and Europe for more than 10 years with Japanese taiko drums, gongs, bells and bamboo flutes.  Critics have hailed Nagata Shachu's concerts as exhilarating, flawless and mesmerizing. Each performance features three to six musicians whose focus is to rejuvenate the ancient art form of taiko drumming with modern interpretations. The concerts are a feast for the eyes as well as the ears; the musicians play oversized drums through a series of choreographed movements that resemble synchronized martial arts.

Art, Eros and the Sixties, The Annual Arts and Ideas Lecture (October 7, 2009) Featuring Jonathan D. Katz, Asssociate Professor at the University at Buffalo, Honorary Research Faculty at the University of Manchester, Terra Visiting and Professor at the Courtauld Institute in London.  In the art world of the late 50s and 60s, before difference was particularized, specified, embodied, and made over into artistic identity, a single human capacity-Eros--was elevated to universal status and made ground for a global politic of social liberation. Invoked as solvent to the Cold War's containment culture and its multiple repressions, the liberatory potential of Eros as a mechanism of comprehensive social dissent turned precisely on its presumed communal and collective capacity to free the mind through a return to the body and its pleasures. As the most direct conduit to the liberatory potential of Eros, a huge percentage of art in all mediums within this narrow historical moment -in painting, film, theater, happenings, performance-turned on the seduction of Eros. For a few short years, a diverse group of artists, female and male, queer and straight, as different as Richard Hamilton, Lygia Clark, Franz West, Andy Warhol, Yoko Ono and Carolee Schneemann produced an art that, in politicizing the body while obfuscating its signs of differentiation, paradoxically engendered the very specific contemporary social categories like feminist and queer that now obscure Eros' formative and foundational role.

What Happens When Your Oppressors Are Next Door Neighbors: A Story of the Kurds and Kurdistan (October 5, 2009)  Featuring Kani Xulam, Founder and Director of American Kurdish Information Network, Washington, DC.  A World Affairs of Western North Carolina presentation.

Jerusalem Women Speak: Three Women, Three Faiths, One Shared Vision (October 14, 2009) Featuring Jala Basil Andoni and Ruth El-Raz.  Jerri Bird, the founder of Partners for Peace, initiated the Jerusalem Women Speak tours in 1998.  Tired of being told that the media were not interested in presenting the voices of Palestinian and Israeli peacemakers, she set out to show that a tour could both interest the media and galvanize support at the grassroots level. 

Re-Viewing Black Mountain College (October 10, 2009) Keynote Address by Dorothea Rockburne An alumna of Black Mountain College, Dorothea Rockburne is a highly influential contemporary artist. During the sixties she was involved in Judson Dance Theatre performances with artists such as Oldenburg and Rauschenberg. From 1965 (with the exhibition "E.A.T." at Leo Castelli) until today she has shown internationally. A recipient of a Guggenheim Fellowship and a NEA grant, she was inducted into the American Academy of Arts and Letters, Department of Art, in 2001.

Understanding Healthcare Reform 2009 (October 29, 2009) Moderated by David Hurand, WCQS News Director.  A panel of representatives from the Asheville community including consumers, physicians, hospitals, and the insurance companies identify proposed changes in health care policies and discuss implications for their different stakeholder groups.  Panelists field questions on topics including: health care costs, the insurance industry, implications for prevention and quality of care, and the question of universal coverage.

International Careers (November 10, 2009) Featuring: Bruce Ammerman, Foreign Service Officer (retired), US Department of State; Janet Schuhl, Regional Recruiter, Peace Corps; Princess Small, Former JET Program Participant, The Japan Exchange and Teaching Programme; Chuck Wood, Vice-President Human Resource Management & Administration, Volvo.  Co-Moderators: Sophie Mills, Professor and Chair, Department of Classics; and Katherine Zubko, Assistant Professor, Department of Religious Studies.

Obama's Foreign Policy: Nine Months Out (November 2, 2009)  A presentation of the World Affairs Council of Western North Carolina.  Panel discussion focusing on the first months of Barack Obama's administration.  Featuring Larry Wilson (The Middle East) Founder of Zayed University in the United Arab Emerites; Jim Lenburg (Asia) Emeritus Professor of History at Mars Hill College; Lucia Carter (EU) Chair of History Department at Mars Hill College; and Marshall McCallie (Africa) Former Ambassador to Namibia and deputy Chief of Mission in South Africa.  Moderated by George Peery, President of the World Affairs Council of Western North Carolina.

Diversity & Leadership in the Workplace (October 8, 2009) Featuring: Esteve Coll-Larrosa, Business Development/Marketing Manager, United Services Credit Union; Althea Gonzalez, Manager of Health Parity, WNC Interpreter Network, Buncombe County Medical Society; Ed Manning, Partner, Culture Quest; Bernadette Thompson, Independent Living Counselor, Vocational Rehabilitation/Independent Living Rehabilitation Program.  Co-Moderators: Jacquelyn Hallum, Director, Health Careers & Diversity Education; Bryan Schaffer, Associate Professor, Department of Management and Accountancy.