UB Undergraduate Academies- Spotlight on the Weekly Themes
This blog provides Undergraduate Academies' students with more information related to our weekly programming themes. Each week we highlight a different theme through our activities. This blog provides background on the theme and on how students can get involved in related activities.
UB’s Undergraduate Academies are communities of common interests that focus on three broad issues: Civic Engagement, Global Perspectives and Research Exploration. Learn more at http://academy.buffalo.edu
Body decoration is a form of expression and creativity. Sometimes body modification can be extreme and change a person permanently. Every culture has some way of decorating the body. Tattoos, piercings, make up and even the clothes we wear are some of the ways Americans do this.
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Scarification involves scratching, etching, or some sort of superficial cutting or incision as a permanent body modification, etching designs, pictures, or words into the skin.
Tattoo: A tattoo is a marking made by inserting indelible ink into the layers of skin to change the pigment for decorative or other reasons. Tattooing has been practiced worldwide. The Ainu, the indigenous people of Japan, traditionally wore facial tattoos. Today one can find Berbers of Tamazgha (North Africa), Maori of New Zealand, and Atayal of Taiwan with facial tattoos. Tattooing was widespread among Polynesian peoples and among certain tribal groups in the Taiwan, Philippines, Borneo, Mentawai Islands, Africa, North America, South America, Mesoamerica, Europe, Japan, Cambodia, New Zealand and Micronesia. Despite some taboos surrounding tattooing, the art continues to be popular in many parts of the world.
Henna: Lawsonia inermis, produces a burgundy dye molecule, lawsone. This molecule has an affinity for bonding with protein, and thus has been used to dye skin, hair, fingernails, leather, silk and wool.
An initiative of the U.S. Departments of State and Education, International Education Week (IEW) is part of an effort to promote international understanding and build support for international educational exchange. International Education Week is celebrated at UB to share the richness of other cultures, expose members of the UB and Buffalo communities to the diverse perspectives of those cultures and, hopefully, increase community members’ cross-cultural awareness, curiosity and knowledge. IEW is celebrated at UB through performances, lectures, presentations, films, displays and exhibitions.
(Found at http://wings.buffalo.edu/intlservices/special_events.html)
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International Student and Scholar Services:
The International Student and Scholar Services (ISSS) provides many programs for UB’s international students. They give information on applying for Visas, tax information and knowledge on living in Buffalo. Workshops and programs are hosted to promote cultural awareness to all of UB’s population.
For a complete list of events during International Education Week, please visit:
Buffalo’s economy history has hit both ends of the spectrum. This City was at one point of the richest in the country. Now, Detroit and Cleveland are the only US cities that are poorer than Buffalo. Since the steel industry left in the 1980s, an air of depression has been felt in this city until very recently. Currently, a motivated youth force has been trying its hardest to revitalize Buffalo.
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Buffalo First: Buffalo First is a 501 (c)(3) nonprofit organization comprised of local independent businesses, organizations and concerned citizens working to build a more local, green and fair economy for all. We do this by educating consumers, businesses and policy makers.
Bidwell Farmer’s Market The Elmwood-Bidwell Farmers Market is considered by many to be the best market of its type in Western New York. In fact, Artvoice recognized the market in its most recent "Best of Buffalo" issue and, judging from the ever-increasing crowds, it's a sentiment shared by many.
Block Club Magazine Block Club is based in the beautiful, surprising, historic, thought-provoking and all-around incredible city of Buffalo, NY. The company formed in early 2007 with Block Club Magazine, a locally supported bi-monthly publication which celebrates the many wonderful people, organizations and businesses which help to make Western New York such a great place to live, work and play. In two short years, Block Club has expanded to offer graphic and web design services for small to medium businesses in the Western New York area (and beyond). We are located in The Neighborhood Collective, a special multi-unit space in the heart of the Elmwood Village, which is shared by a handful of creative businesses. In everything we do, Block Club strives to be fresh, young, original and fun.
The Buffalo Fine Arts Academy, founded in 1862, is the governing body of the Albright-Knox Art Gallery. A major event in the life of the Academy occurred with the construction of the Albright Art Gallery, a generous gift from Buffalo entrepreneur and philanthropist John J. Albright. Intended to serve first as the Fine Arts Pavilion of the Pan-American Exposition in 1901, it was completed too late for that purpose in 1905. Additional galleries are located in Clifton Hall, which is connected to the main Gallery by an underground pedestrian link. Today, the Albright-Knox Art Gallery enjoys a worldwide reputation as an outstanding center of modern art. Thomas Hoving, art historian and former director of the Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, recently said that "the Albright-Knox Art Gallery should be on everyone's list to see, for it's an overwhelming art experience. Small, intimate, and seductive, the museum has one of the most thumping modern and contemporary collections in the world." The Gallery's collection is especially rich in post-war American and European art, acquired mostly through the generosity of its patron, the late Seymour H. Knox, Jr. Abstract expressionism, pop art, and art of the 1970s through the end of the century are well represented by exceptional examples by artists such as Gorky, Pollock, Warhol, and Johns. In addition, the Gallery visitor will find that the permanent collection offers a panorama of art through the centuries. Impressionism and Post-Impressionism are well represented by such leading French artists of the nineteenth century as Gauguin and van Gogh. Cubism, surrealism, constructivism, and other trends of the revolutionary twenties and thirties are documented by a large selection of significant works by Picasso, Braque, Matisse, Derain, Miró, Mondrian, Rodchenko, and others.
Other Resources: Undergraduate Academies Websites: http://academy.buffalo.edu/ Our Social Networking Site: http://ubacademies.ning.com/ It’s not your typical Facebook updates! Twitter: Stay informed on UA activities from your phone or computer with Twitter: http://twitter.com/UBAcademies
Life Perspectives: THE SOLOIST/RENT: October 25-31 The arts can help shed social issues in a new light. Literary works, music and the fine arts can expose problems that people might many not be aware of. The Soloist and Rent both touch upon topics that negatively impact different people.
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Race: an arbitrary classification of modern humans, sometimes, esp. formerly, based on any or a combination of various physical characteristics, as skin color, facial form, or eye shape, and now frequently based on such genetic markers as blood groups.
Urbanism: the way of life of people who live in a large city.
Prejudice: any preconceived opinion or feeling, either favorable or unfavorable
Gender: sexual identity, especially in relation to society or culture
Substance Abuse: pathological use of alcohol or drugs, characterized by daily intoxication, inability to reduce consumption, and impairment in social or occupational functioning; broadly, alcohol or drug addiction
Poverty: the state or condition of having little or no money, goods, or means of support; condition of being poor; indigence.
Materialism: preoccupation with or emphasis on material objects, comforts, and considerations, with a disinterest in or rejection of spiritual, intellectual, or cultural values
Information on Speakers: Rajendra Ramoon Maharaj: Rajendra Ramoon Maharaj is the director and choreographer for the production of RENT at UB, and is also the Artistic Director of the Rebel Theater. His profession credits include being a former Associate Artistic Director of Syracuse Stage and work at the Actors Theatre of Louisville, Alabama Shakespeare Festival, Prince Musical Theatre, Arkansas Repertory Theatre, Atlanta’s Theater of the Stars and Amas Musical Theatre in NYC.
Nathan R. Matthews Nathan R. Matthews is the Director of Musical Theatre at UB. As Riverside Opera Ensemble’s founding Producing Artistic Director in NYC, he has helmed events that included the participation of Leonard Bernstein, Rosemary Harris, and Harolyn Blackwell. On Broadway he was Music Associate for Children and Art, the Stephen Sondheim 75th birthday gala, and he served as Mark Hamill’s keyboard coach for Amadeus, directed by Sir Peter Hall. He has served on the music staff of the Santa Fe Opera.
Undergraduate Academies Websites: http://academy.buffalo.edu/ Our Social Networking Site: http://ubacademies.ning.com/ It’s not your typical Facebook updates! Twitter: Stay informed on UA activities from your phone or computer with Twitter: http://twitter.com/UBAcademies
Join the Undergraduate Academies this week as we focus on celebrating the International Day of Peace on September 21, 2009. We will learn about the history of the day and create our own visual display of our commitment to peace.
