| The
Arts and Humanities
UAlbany is a vibrant center of learning for the arts and humanities as well as a major presenter of the visual and performing arts. UAlbany has long played a role in developing the Capital Region and New York State as a cultural and creative crossroads. Explore these highlights and scroll down to see more.
Learn more:
College of Arts and
Sciences >
 Department
of Classics
Department
of History
Department of Languages, Literatures, and Cultures
Department
of Music
Department
of Theatre
Office of Undergraduate
Studies >
Performing Arts Center >
University Art Museum >
New York State Writers Institute
>
University-wide >
College
of Arts and Sciences
Seminar for Czech Teachers, U.S. Information Agency
Randall Craig devised and co-taught seminars for Czech teachers of all levels on American literature and culture, with a special emphasis on integrating cultural studies materials into classes in language and literature. Contact: Randall Craig
The
Humanities Institute for Lifelong Learning/Bethlehem
Central School District, OASOS Programs and Public Libraries and Museums
Faculty teach courses and deliver lectures in various community settings.
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Department of Classics
Archaeological Field School
This is an eight week program designed to teach students the basics of archaeological field work, laboratory processing, and artifact analysis. The field school will be conducted at the Pethick site, a prehistoric Native American site that dates to approximately between 1,500 B.C. and AD 1500. Excavations at the Pethick site are a cooperative endeavor between the Department of Anthropology and the New York State Museum. This course is intended for students planning a career in archaeology; however, students who are not planning on future archaeological work will also find the course a rewarding experience, and are encouraged to attend. Contact: Sean Rafferty
Archaeological
Projects in Cyprus
In the spring of 1970, the first Albany archaeological
expedition arrived in Cyprus under the leadership
of classics professor John Overbeck. Stuart Swiny
joined the team since he was already working on
the island. Since then, a long list of UAlbany
faculty members have visited, researched, and
written scholarly works on Cyprus. Contact: Stuart Swiny
 Archaeological Research in Albany and Viminacium, Yugoslavia
Through excavations in Yugoslavia, UAlbany classics professor Michael Werner sheds new light on Roman history, while in Albany, he works to stay a step ahead of construction projects that might destroy valuable artifacts of the city’s rich past. Werner was named Albany’s official archaeologist by Mayor Jennings and he views his position as community service. Werner and others have helped recover artifacts and historical evidence from the early settlement that became the city of Albany. He also leads a team of researchers and student archaeologists at the ancient Roman Legionary Base at Viminacium, on the Danube River in Yugoslavia. The Roman military base dates back to A.D. 33 as a Roman encampment and may, have been used by subsequent military forces, including the fifth century’s Attila the Hun. Contact: Michael Werner
The Institute of Cypriot Studies
For more than 30 years, the University at Albany has nurtured its relationship with the island nation of Cyprus. This mutually beneficial friendship has been marked by the exchange of scholars, by archaeological excavations by UAlbany students at sites such as the village of Pyrgos, and by enrollment of Cypriot students in graduate and undergraduate education. Now this relationship is taking a new twist involving the government of Cyprus, the University of Cyprus, and Cyprus College. This collaboration will focus on a variety of issues, particularly those that promote academic initiatives and economic development. The Provost’s office will continue to promote graduate fellowships and exchanges between UAlbany and the University of Cyprus, which has sent many talented graduate students in the fields of education and public affairs to UAlbany. In March, the Provost is travelling to Cyprus with D’Elia and Biggs to sign an articulation agreement with Cyprus College in the fields of economics, accounting, math, and computer science. The mutually beneficial links between the University at Albany and Cyprus span the range from ancient civilizations to emerging high technologies. Building on this strong base, both the number and diversity of these links will continue to grow and evolve. Contact: Classics Department
Institute for Mesoamerican Studies (IMS)
The Institute is a non-profit educational research institute dedicated to the study and dissemination of knowledge concerning the peoples and cultures of Mesoamerica (Mexico and northern Central America). IMS serves to organize and coordinate the work of the Mesoamericanist faculty at UAlbany. We have the largest number of full-time Mesoamericanists of any institution north of Mexico, and our members are among the most active and prominent scholars in the field of Mesoamerican anthropology. The primary activities of IMS are research and publication. Contact: John Justeson
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Department of History
Researching
New York: Perspectives on Empire State History
Participants from among local historians, public historians, and archivists from the Capital District, and other locations in the state, take part in this annual conference. Contacts: Richard Hamm or Susan McCormick
Talking
History
Drs. Gerald Zahavi and Susan McCormick host and produce a weekly one-hour radio program, "Talking History," broadcast locally on WRPI and archived at the Web site: http://talkinghistory.org, accessible via link from the Department of History Web site. The web site is recognized by USA Today and other news organizations as a teaching and learning resource. The radio show enjoys a broad listening audience across the state and nation. Contact: Gerald Zahavi or Susan McCormick
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Department of Languages, Literatures, and Cultures
Faculty Outreach
LLC faculty regularly engage a variety of community activities including: making community presentations on relevant topics such as the Hudson-Champlain Tricentennial exhibit and talk at the Guilderland Library, Spring 2009, offering teach-outs (university professors give of their time to teach a class in local schools), providing translation and/or interpretation services for schools, medical practices/hospitals, courts, credentialing, teaching international dance classes, and participating in community organizations. Contact: Janna Harton
Francophone Day
Each spring this LLC-University in the High Schools collaborative event brings in high school students interested in all things French. Students get a tour the campus in French and then participate in cultural activities, games and presentations from French-speaking countries around the world. Contact: Janna Harton
French Studies Program — Community Service
for French majors. Students help in various activities
of the Franco-American Federation of New York,
a non-profit that serves the Franco-American population
dispersed throughout the region, to increase community
awareness of the French contribution to the history
and culture of our state. Community service consists
of working as a teacher's aide in an after school
program for children ages four to eight, helping
to produce a monthly newsletter, planning activities,
preparation of press releases, maintenance of
web page. One student per semester contributes
100 hours of service to assist the Franco-American
Federation, an organization whose membership totals
200. Contact: Janna Harton
International Film Festival
The Department of Languages, Literatures and Cultures offers a wide selection of foreign language films (with English subtitles) in many languages, from Arabic to Zulu, and in many settings, from Russia to Argentina, free and open to the public weeknights throughout the fall and spring semesters at the uptown campus as posted at http://www.albany.edu/llc/NewsandEvents.htm and at the University at Albany web calendar. Films range from classics to cutting edge avant-garde. Festival themes vary from semester to semester and have included: "Cinema Without Borders: The Multiple Faces of Globalization", "Global Giggles" (humor across cultures), "City Scope" (exploring international urban centers through film), German-Turkish films, and "Jewish-German Lives in Post-Wende German Cinema."
Olympiada of Spoken Russian
Each spring over 100 high school students converge on the Campus Center to compete in their knowledge of spoken Russian, Russian culture, and reading, with LLC's Russian faculty, staff and students hosting the event. Winners of this regional competition are invited to a summer program in Russia and go on to compete nationally and internationally. Contact: Janna Harton
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Department of Music
Ensemble
Groups
Opportunities for participation in various performance ensembles in the Department of Music are available to community members. For the community at large, the Department's sponsorship of many concerts by its ensembles, faculty, students, and guest artists each semester are the main vehicle for outreach. Concerts are held as often as four to seven times a month depending on the season. The series includes collaborative programs with other groups. Contact: Albin Zak
Faculty Performances
Faculty of the Music Department perform in various
settings and locations. Pianist Findlay Cockrell
has given community recitals as far away as Barbados
and Russia and also plays locally. Professor Kirk
Smith, conductor of the University/Community Symphony
Orchestra and University/Community Concert Band,
has also done extensive guest conducting-e.g.,
in Maryland, Iowa, Nevada, Mexico, among other
places. Additionally, he has been guest conductor
at Georgia State College and the New York State
School Music Association Summer Conference.
University
Chamber Singers
The Chamber Singers is a select group of dedicated students from a variety of majors and backgrounds, coming together to sing and entertain. Under the direction of Dr. David Griggs-Janower, Director of Choral Music, the University Chamber Singers are accomplished performers of A Cappella music, with a repertory which spans the centuries and the world. The group is very active both at the University and in the community, performing several times monthly. In addition to regular concerts, the University Chamber Singers perform at campus events, area retirement centers, church services, and business and civic events. Contact: David Griggs-Janower
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Department of Theatre
Annual
Performances
The Department of Theatre annually offers 3-4 major productions each season as well as our Plays in Process new play development. The repertoire varies from Greek and Roman classics to Shakespeare to contemporary drama and comedy. Auditions for Theatre Department productions are open to the general public. For more information go to: For more information go to: http://www.albany.edu/theatre/ Contact: J. Kevin Doolan
Costume and Prop Exchange
The Department of Theatre’s Costume and Prop Shops exchange costumes and props stored in stock with other theatres and educational institutions in a mutual effort to enhance the production values of all the work done at the cooperating institutions. Contact: J. Kevin Doolan
Faculty
Outreach
Faculty members of the Department of Theatre provide academic, artistic and dramaturgical expertise to theatres and organizations locally and nationally. Examples include local work at Capital Repertory Theatre, Stageworks Hudson, and Siena College and national work at New York University's Tisch Department of Dramatic Writing, the Hangar Theatre, the Des Moines Metro Opera, Northern Stage Company, and Glimmerglass Opera. Contact: J. Kevin Doolan
National and International Organization Affiliation
Members of the Department of Theatre are involved with the United States Institute for Theatre Technology, Inc. (USITT) and the Kennedy Center American College Theatre Festival (KCACTF). Both organizations have national reputations as well as local regional sections. Faculty and students have attended both conventions as presenters, award recipients, and competitors. Contact: J. Kevin Doolan
Office
of Undergraduate Studies
Internships (UNI 390)
Approximately 300 students university-wide participate in an extensive general internship program with for-profit, not-for-profit and government organizations each year. Through this program, advanced students learn how to effectively apply their studies to work in relevant professional settings of their choosing. They provide meaningful assistance while earning credit through an academic component. Internship experiences been conducted in a wide variety of fields, including the arts, the environment, government, and healthcare. Contact: Sue Faerman
Performing
Arts Center
Performing Arts Center - Professional Performances
The Performing Arts Center hosts professional touring artists each season. Drawn from a wide variety of performing arts, offerings have ranged from Shakespeare with a contemporary twist to stand-up comedy, from Big Bands to professional classical music, from dance companies to family entertainment. Tickets to these performances are available to the general public and group sale discounts are available. Contact: Kim Engel
Performing Arts Center - Performances for High School Student Groups
Each season, the Performing Arts Center hosts professional touring artists for performances, residencies and outreach. Once or twice per season, these artists present weekday morning matinee performances that are specifically for high school groups. Area secondary students are bused to campus to see the shows and often stay afterwards for campus tours, visits to the Art Museum, presentations by the Admissions office, etc. Tickets to the performances are nominally priced with teacher and adult chaperones attending for free. Study guides and other materials are provided to teachers to prepare the students for the experience. Contact: Kim Engel
Performing Arts Center - Rental Program
The Performing Arts Center's (PAC) Rental Program allows community organizations to use its facilities for their events at very reasonable rates. PAC facilities are appropriate for a wide range of events, from simple lectures and receptions to full-scale ballets and other productions. The numerous musical, dance, theater and local groups that rent PAC spaces include the Albany Symphony Orchestra, Albany Pro Musica, Capital Region Center for Arts in Education, Empire State Youth Orchestra; the Albany Berkshire Ballet, California Theatre Center, the National Theatre, American Theatre Arts for Youth and various local organizations. The PAC houses five theaters (plus a sixth - Page Hall - on the downtown campus), a dance studio, drafting facilities, scenery and costume shops, dressing facilities, an digital arts studio and a music library. Many of the PAC's classrooms are equipped with grand pianos and the latest technology in audio equipment. There are also separate choral and instrumental rehearsal rooms, teaching studios and a large number of practice rooms. Contact: Cathy Baker
University
Art Museum
The University at Albany Art Museum serves audiences by presenting exhibitions that reflect the diversity and innovation found in the best of contemporary visual culture, and providing opportunities for deeper understanding of art through tours, lectures, and publications.
The museum plays a leadership role in the arts community in the region and is one of the most visible cultural presenters on campus. The museum organizes six to eight exhibitions annually that explore and illuminate contemporary art and societal issues. Exhibitions and related lectures form the core of the museum’s public outreach. 13,000 visitors attend exhibitions, receptions, events, and public lectures annually. Additionally, the museum has curatorial responsibility for some 3,000 works of art in the University at Albany Collections; it organizes campus-wide installations and temporary museum exhibitions of art from the collection.
Exhibitions
The museum presents a dynamic program of six to eight changing exhibitions of contemporary art in all media each year. Exhibitions feature the work of emerging artists, as well as those who have received regional, national, or international recognition. Its exhibitions engage both campus and regional audiences and contribute to a dynamic learning environment at the University at Albany. This exhibition program is supported by a range of educational programs and activities.
Collections
The Fine Art Collection of the University at Albany reflects over 30 years of late-Modern and contemporary art and includes 3,000 works of art with emphasis on works on paper. The museum provides access to the collection through exhibitions in public areas of the campus, museum exhibitions, loans to other museums, and an on-line image database.
Programs
The museum provides context for the artwork on view through exhibition tours, artist and curatorial talks. The museum’s Art & Culture Talks program features nationally known artists, writers, and scholars, bringing together established voices and new perspectives in the visual arts. All events are free and open to the public.
Publications
Exhibitions are accompanied by illustrated brochures and exhibition catalogs that extend the life of museum exhibitions. Publications are broadly distributed to other museums, artists, curators, critics in the field, in addition to being available on site and on-line through the museum website. Major catalogs are made available through libraries, book stores, and national distributors.
Media
Audiences are reached through a mailing list of over 3,000 people, e-mailings, the museum website, targeted advertising, and placement in local, regional, and national media outlets. Museum exhibitions receive major feature articles and reviews in the Times Union, Schenectady Gazette, and alternative newspaper, Metroland as well as coverage on local radio, television, and in national and international art periodicals. These stories reach a broad general audience and inform readers about programs and events in association with exhibits. In addition, the museum is listed regularly in regional calendar listings.
Advisory,
consultant, and other community roles
The professional staff of the museum serves on not-for-profit boards and advisory committees for a range of local art organizations. Staff members regularly serve as jurors and guest curators for exhibitions and programs and are active in community events.
Partnerships
We partner with the Albany Institute of History & Art and other regional venues in hosting the annual Mohawk Hudson Regional juried exhibition that includes 30-80 regional artists. Our on-campus collaborations with the NYS Writers Institute, CHATS, Fence Magazine, and the Art Department help us reach broader and more diverse off-campus audiences. The museum partners with the Capital Region Center for Arts in Education targeting specific exhibitions that serve the needs of teachers and school children.
New
York State Writers Institute
In 1983, Pulitzer Prize-winning novelist William Kennedy founded the Writers Institute at Albany. Less than a year later legislation was passed and signed into law creating the New York State Writers Institute. It was charged with conducting a broad range of cultural and educational literary activities. The Institute has a mandate to provide "a milieu for established and aspiring writers to work together to increase the freedom of the artistic imagination" and "to encourage the development of writing skills at all levels of education throughout the state." Hosted by the University at Albany, but broadly independent of its operations, the Institute draws upon and complements existing programs in imaginative writing and the allied arts to help provide the broadest possible educational base for students of writing and the literary community statewide. Its programming receives strong support from the Capital area's literary community drawing audiences from eastern and southern New England, New York City and a large part of central and eastern New York State. Programs and activities are described below.
Authors Theatre
Designed to bring dramaturgy and audience response into the creative process Authors Theatre explores the literary dimension of plays in progress rather than finished work. The focused audience-author interaction contributes to the shaping of dramatic work at the same time that it demystifies the creative process. Contact: Langdon Brown
Classic Film Series
This is a weekly movie-house screening of domestic and international films of distinction. The series includes a number of rare films from archives and private collections and film festivals devoted to the work of particular directors, producers, and screenwriters, along with workshops and discussions with the artists. Contact: Mark Koplik
Classic Video Series
The video series features rarely aired programs and programs from the history of television that highlight video selections for their significance as cultural artifacts and for their uncommon production values. Contact: Donald Faulkner
FENCE and FENCE Books
The Writers Institute is the home of the literary journal FENCE and Fence Books. FENCE offers opportunities for both program collaboration with the Institute and hands-on experience in journal and book publicatoin for University students. Contact: Rebecca Wolff
Institute Archives
Extensive media archives are maintained that include more than 2,500 hours of audio and video recordings documenting readings, lectures, seminars, panel discussions, and interviews with the nearly 800 writers that have appeared since 1984. Contact: Suzanne Lance
New York State Summer Writers Institute
The Institute has been located in Saratoga Springs since 1988, and is cosponsored with the office of the Dean for Special Programs with Skidmore College. It consists of two- and four-week workshops in fiction, playwriting and screenwriting, poetry, editing and translation, which may be taken for college credit. Nightly readings by faculty and regular visiting writers are free and open to the public. Contact: Robert Boyers
New York State Summer Young Writers Institute
This statewide writing workshop for New York State high school students is held each summer at Skidmore College. For one week in July, student writers are tutored by professional writers to produce work in poetry, prose, and creative nonfiction. Selected students' work is published in a bound anthology and on the Internet. Admission to the Young Writer's Institute is limited, competitive and open to high school students (grades 9 to 11) in New York State. Contact: Suzanne Lance
Residencies/Awards
Each semester the Institute sponsors residencies of varying lengths by authors who have distinguished themselves for their writing and their teaching. Free community workshops are offered with these residencies as well as writing and literature courses for academic credit. New York State Author/Poet Awards: By special mandate in 1985, the Institute was selected by the New York State Legislature to award both the Edith Wharton Citation of Merit for Fiction Writers (State Author) and the Walt Whitman Citation of Merit for Poets (State Poet) every two years. The Governor awards each citation upon the recommendation of two advisory panels of distinguished authors convened under the aegis of the Institute. Contact: Donald Faulkner
Special Symposia and Conferences
Recently the Writer's Institute convened a symposium on the Craft of Nonfiction, which included 37 of the country's most noted nonfiction writers who assembled for a three-day series of presentations and panel discussions. Other conferences and symposia have included: Hispanic Women Writers; Women Playwrights; Writing and the Holocaust; The Birth of Black Cinema; The World, The Word, and the Future; Women, Multiculturalism, and the Avant Garde; African-American Autobiography; The Business of Writing; and in 1999, The Annual Associated Writing Programs Conference in Albany. Contact: Donald Faulkner
Visiting Writers Series
The series is the heart of the Institute's programming. Each year the Institute brings between 30 and 35 novelists, poets, playwrights, screenwriters, and non-fiction writers to Albany from all over the world. In addition to reading from their work and conducting craft seminars, the visiting writers may discuss contemporary issues and literary culture. Nearly 500 artists have visited the Institute since 1984 holding among them six Nobel Prizes, among many distinctive awards. The seminars are free and open to the public, and draw audiences from eastern and southern New England, New York City, and a large part of central and western New York State. Contact: Donald Faulkner
Writers Online
Writers Online was founded in 1996. It is the Institute's electronic magazine of reviews, interviews, and feature articles on the writers and books shaping contemporary literature, as well as selected transcripts of conference events, seminars, and readings taken from the continually expanding Institute archives. Writers Online is part of the Institute's expanding website. Contact: Suzanne Lance
Writing Fellows Program
This unique program, in short, a post-doc for MFAs, provides an opportunity for published writers to enhance theirwork in a master-apprentice mentoring program with renowned authors. Contact: Donald Faulkner
University-wide
Theme Semesters
The University periodically offers theme semesters to the campus and Capital Region community to feature and explore topics of wide interest from China to Shakespeare. Faculty, students, staff and community members from many fields of interest share their knowledge and broaden public awareness and understanding. These semester-long programs have featured lectures, art exhibits, performances, events, field trips and more. Highlights follow:
- Hudson River: Mount Marcy to Manhattan Theme Semester, Fall 2009, will commemorate the 400th anniversary of the European exploration of the Hudson-Champlain region. Faculty, guest presenters, and students will trace the many consequences of the historic voyages by Henry Hudson from the south and Samuel de Champlain from the north. Lectures, events, tours, performances, and more will present a panoramic and longitudinal view of the dynamic life of the Hudson River and the Hudson-Champlain corridor -- from its pre-Colonial past to the present. The perspectives of scholars, artists and observers will help reveal the region’s many facets and our relationships to it. Contact: Miriam Trementozzi, President’s Office.
- China Semester, offered in Fall 2007, provided the opportunity to learn and experience more about China and all things Chinese including geography, food, film, history, art, politics, theater, music, literature, dance, sports. Contact: William Hedberg, Provost’s Office.
- The Architecture at Albany Semester, offered 2006/07, explored and celebrated a year of architecture at the University's architecturally significant campus and at sites throughout the historic Capital Region. Contact: Mary Valentis, English Department.
- The Humanitech Semester, held Spring 2003, explored the interface of humanities, art, and science in an age of technology through classes, conferences, special events, exhibits, a film series, special alumni outreach, a faculty seminar open to the public and area educational and medical institutions. The Technology Play Project, the semester's signature event, was recognized by the New York Times Magazine as "one of the most innovative ideas of 2003." The play project was a collaborative effort by the University at Albany, Capital Repertory Theatre Company, and Apple Computer.
- Albany Heritage, held Fall/Spring 2001-02, commemorated the 350th Anniversary of the founding of Beverwyck, the City of Albany’s predecessor. The University played a major coordinating role with the community to build on each other’s offerings and jointly promote them under the Albany Heritage banner. Contact: Miriam Trementozzi, President’s Office.
- The Irish Semester, offered Fall 1999, focused on the many rich, cultural contributions Ireland has made to the Capital Region and country. Among the wide range of events were an address by Ireland's foremost cultural critic, Fintan O'Toole, and a talk by acclaimed author Frank McCourt. Contact: Donald Faulkner, New York State Writers Institute.
- The Shakespeare Semester, held Fall 1998, celebrated the work of William Shakespeare through 30 events including performances by an international theater company and a C-SPAN rebroadcast of a Richard III Mock Trial. Contact: Langdon Brown, Department of Theatre
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