Aquinas College :: Humanities

Cultural Events

The Humanities Program provides us with an opportunity to study the achievements of past cultures and to consider, in the main, the highpoints of their artistic, societal, and cultural achievements. We benefit by studying the record of past cultural successes and failures and can trace the evidence of our forebears' struggles to understand their place in the universe down through the ages to our own moment in time.

The humanities focuses on the art, literature, architecture, and the social and religious activities of the peoples that created our Western tradition. All of our present-day institutions are built on the foundations that we will spend the next two semesters examining. Though not the only source of our intellectual, political, and social vitality, we are strongly connected to a relentless, western cultural flow that is featured in our syllabus.

To better understand our dependence on the humanistic legacy of the past, it is appropriate for all of us to experience the richness of our present culture and to reflect on its connections to the humanistic traditions of the past. In addition to in-class activity, Humanities students are expected to attend three campus or community cultural events with Humanities-related content.

For each chosen event, students will:

arrive on time and stay until the end of the event;
write a 250-300 word written response to the event.

The written response should (1) provide the name of the event and where and when it took place; (2) a description of the highlights of the performance/presentation; and (3) a statement on how material presented relates to our study of the Humanities (for example, you might comment on how a work of art, music, or literature reflects that specific characteristics of a period we have studied).

Finally, the written response must be submitted to your instructor within two class meeting days from the date of the event. There are several starting points - generally in the West Michigan area - that can serve to provide us with at least three cultural experiences during the course of this semester.

The following is the Cultural Events Calendar for the 2009 Fall Semester:

Date/Time	Event	Location/Additional Information
Sept. 5- Jan. 3	"Leonardo da Vinci: Machines in Motion"	Grand Rapids Public Museum 272 Pearl St. NW $8 Mon. - Sat. 9 a.m.- 5 p.m.
Sept. 17- 20	The Pigeon Creek Shakespeare Company William Shakespeare's "The Winter's Tale"	The Dog Story Theater 1115 Taylor NW (just south of Plainfield and Leonard) Thurs.- Sat. 8 p.m., Sun. 3 p.m. $6 for Students $12 General Admission
Sept. 18- Oct. 4	"The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee"	The Grand Rapids Civic Theatre Wed.-Sat 7:30 p.m. Sun 2 p.m. $16
Sept. 24-26, Oct. 1-3	The Actors' Theatre presents: "TopDog/Underdog"	Spectrum Theater 160 Fountain St. NE 8 p.m. Individual tickets $22 with second ticket $10 on Thursdays and $2 students discount on full-price tickets Special Pricing: For each performance, a limited number of tickets are released between 5pm and 6pm for $10. You must come in person to the box office to purchase your $10 ticket. Tickets are only available for the day of the performance. Tickets are sold first come, first served based on availability.
Sept. 25-27, Oct. 2-4	Balanchine's "Prodigal Son" Grand Rapids Ballet Company	Royce Auditorium, St. Cecelia Music Center Thurs. 7:30 p.m., Fr.i 8 p.m.
Oct 1 & 2	Rising Star Violinist Michi Wiancko Plays Mozart Grand Rapids Symphony Mozart: Violin Concerto No. 5 and Beetoven: Symphony No. 8	Royce Auditorium, St. Cecelia Music Center Thurs. 7:30 p.m., Fri 8 p.m. $5 with Student Passport
Oct. 1-3, 8-10	"Sun, Stand Thou Still" a play by Steven Gridley	Aquinas College Performing Arts Center Tickets & Showtimes T.B.A.
Oct. 2- Nov. 7	Grand Valley Shakespeare Festival Presents: William Shakespeare's "Romeo and Juliet"	7:30 p.m. Students $6 in advance, $7 at the door http://www.gvsu.edu/cms3/assets/13DDAC08-D7D9-CC75-17F64D27B29ED4BF/09/Festival%20Events.pdf
Oct. 2- Jan. 3 (2010)	"American Impressionism: Paintings from The Phillips Collection"	Grand Rapids Art Museum 101 Monroe Center Tues.- Thurs.& Sat. 10 a.m. - 5 p.m. Fri. 10 a.m. - 9 p.m. Sunday 12 p.m. - 5 p.m Closed Mondays Students with I.D. $7 General Admission $8
Oct. 2- Jan. 10	"James McNeill Whistler and the Romance of Great Cities"	Grand Rapids Art Museum 101 Monroe Center Tues.- Thurs., & Sat. 10 a.m. - 5 p.m. Fri. 10 a.m. - 9 p.m. Sunday 12 p.m. - 5 p.m Closed Mondays Students with I.D. $7 General Admission $8
Oct. 9- Jan. 3	"Henry Moore: Master Printmaker"	Frederik Meijer Gardens & Sculpture Park 1000 East Beltline Avenue NE $9 for students with I.D. Mon.-Sat. F, S: 9 a.m.–5 p.m. Tues. 9 a.m.–9 p.m. Sun. 12 pm–5 pm
Oct. 11	Fall Choral Concert The Aquinas College Chorus, Chamber Choir and Valenti Handbell Ensemble.	Kretschmer Recital Hall, Art and Music Center at Aquinas College 3 p.m. Free!
Oct. 20	Sculptor Beverly Pepper & Pulitzer Prize winning poet Jorie Graham	Frederik Meijer Gardens & Sculpture Park 7 p.m.
Oct. 17& 18	Renaissance Faire	GVSU Cook Carillon Tower Free!
Oct. 23-24	"Cosi Fan Tutte" Opera Grand Rapids	DeVos Performance Hall Curtain at 7:30 p.m. $20-94
Oct. 30-Nov. 1	"Jack 'the Ripper'" Grand Rapids Ballet Company	DeVos Performance Hall Sat. & Sun 7:30 p.m. Sun 2 p.m.
Nov. 13	Los Gatos, a Latin Jazz Quintet	Bethlehem Church, 250 Commerce Street SW 7 p.m. Free, with a suggested donation of $10. Proceeds go to benefit theGrand Rapids Coalition to End Homelessness
Nov. 6&7	"Rising Sun, Rising Moon" By Randy Wyatt	Aquinas College Performing Arts Center Tickets & Showtimes TBA
Nov. 13-15, 19-21	Theatre at Grand Valley and Heritage Theatre Group Present: "RENT"	Fri. & Sat. 7:30 p.m. Sun. 2 p.m. Students $6 in advance, $7 at door
Nov. 18	"New Dimensions - Percussion Plus" Steve Anzivino, director	Kretschmer Recital Hall, Art and Music Center at Aquinas College 7:30 p.m. Free!
Nov. 20	Deeply Rooted Dance Theatre of Chicago Present: Traditions of African-American dance, theater and music	Peter Martin Wege Theatre 7:30 p.m. Tickets & prices available Sept. 25
Nov. 20-Dec. 20	Rodgers and Hammerstein's "Cinderella"	The Grand Rapids Civic Theatre Wed. -Sat. 7:30 p.m. Sun. 2 p.m. $16
Dec. 3-5, Dec. 10-12	The Actors' Theatre presents: "Frozen"	Spectrum Theater 160 Fountain St. NE 8 p.m. Individual tickets $22 with second ticket $10 on Thursdays and $2 students discount on full-price tickets
Dec. 3-6	"A Room With a View" Adapted from the E.M. Forster novel by Christina Calvit	The Aquinas College Performing Arts Center Tickets & Showtimes TBA
Dec. 6	"A Service of Lessons and Carols: Scripture and Song: telling the ancient story of the Savior's Birth"	Mayflower Congregational Church of Christ 2345 Robinson Rd. SE 3 p.m. Free!
Dec. 7	"Double A’Peal: A Joint Christmas Concert" The Valenti Handbell Ensemble & Calvin College Handbell Ensemble	Kretschmer Recital Hall, Art and Music Center at Aquinas College 7:30 p.m. Free!

You are free to individually choose at least three activities from the following area institutions:

Grand Rapids Web links to Cultural Institutions:

Grand Rapids Public Museum http://www.grmuseum.org
Grand Rapids Art Museum http://www.gramonline.org
The Urban Institute for Contemporary Art http://www.uica.org
Gerald R. Ford Museum http://www.ford.utexas.edu
Frederick Meijer Botanical Gardens and Sculpture Park http://www.meijergardens.org
Grand Rapids Civic Theater http://www.grct.org
Grand Rapids Symphony http://www.grsymphony.org
Opera Grand Rapids http://www.operagr.com
General State Weblinks to Cultural Institutions: Michigan Ring! On-line http://199.190.91.5/michigan.htm
Arts & Entertainment United Way Links Page http://www.srvyouth.org