There are tons of free (or mostly free) events happening on campus this month, many of them Halloween-themed. Here are a dozen you should check out.
WHAT: Film Screening: Less Commonly Taught Languages Film Series: “2 States” (2014)
WHEN: October 8th, 6-8 p.m.
WHERE: Lucy Ellis Lounge, 1080 Foreign Languages Building
ABOUT: This film tells the story about a romantic journey of a culturally opposite couple – Krish Malhotra and Ananya Swaminathan. They meet at the IIM-Ahmedabad College and during the program they fall in love. Complications arise after the program comes to an end and they decide to get married. Krish and Ananya belong to two different states of India. Krish, a North Indian Punjabi boy from Delhi, and Ananya, a Tamilian Brahmin from Chennai. They make a conscious decision: they won’t get married until their parents agree. Everything goes downhill when the parents meet. There is a cultural clash and the parents oppose the wedding. To convert their love story into a love marriage, the couple faces a tough battle in front of them. For it is easy to fight and rebel, but much harder to convince. Will Krish and Ananya’s love for each other sustain the battles? Will they manage to convince their parents and make it to their own wedding?
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WHAT: Film Screening: The Great War Film Series: What Price Glory? (1952)
WHEN: October 9th, 7-10 p.m.
WHERE: Auditorium, Krannert Art Museum, 500 E. Peabody Dr., Champaign
ABOUT: In 1918 France, Captain Flagg commands a disreputable company of Marines; his new top sergeant is his old friendly enemy, Quirt. The two men become rivals for the favors of fair innkeeper’s daughter Charmaine, but the rivalry goes into reverse when Charmaine proves to be angling for a husband. When the company is ordered to the front, this comedy interlude gives way to the grim realities of war.
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WHAT: 2014 Hispanic Heritage Day @ the Urbana Free Library
WHEN: October 11th, 2-4 p.m.
WHERE: The Urbana Free Library Children’s Department, 210 W Green St, Urbana
ABOUT: To celebrate Hispanic Heritage Month Celebration, a bilingual program will be presented at the Urbana Free Library. Come and explore the culture of Latin American through a bilingual presentation, games, music, traditional art & crafts, and storytelling in English-Spanish; English-Spanish-Quechua, and English Portuguese! This program is held in conjunction with the Urbana Free Library and the Center for Latin American and Caribbean Studies.
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WHAT: HARPSICHORD EXTRAVAGANZA with Concerto Urbano
WHEN: October 12th, 3 p.m.
WHERE: Smith Memorial Hall Recital Hall
ABOUT: How often to you get to see multiple harpsichords performing at once? I didn’t think so.
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WHAT: Lecture: Timothy Noah, journalist & author: “American Higher Education and Income Inequality”
WHEN: October 14th, 4 p.m.
WHERE: Knight Auditorium, Spurlock Museum, 600 S. Gregory St., Urbana
ABOUT: Nash is the author of The Great Divergence: America’s Growing Inequality Crisis and What We Can Do About It (2012). In The Great Divergence, Timothy Noah discusses the post-1979 expansion of income inequality in the United States. Here he will examine the specific ways that access to higher education affects, and doesn’t affect, income distribution in the U.S.
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WHAT: Lecture: “Untitled Landscape” featuring Kevin Haas, Professor in Printmaking, Department of Fine Arts, Washington State University
WHEN: October 14th, 5:30 p.m.
WHERE: Krannert Art Museum Auditorium, Lower Level, Room 62
ABOUT: The School of Art + Design Visitors’ Series presents a lecture by Kevin Haas, professor in Printmaking at Washington State University. Haas’ current interests are focused on 19th century printing, when design and printing were one in the same, and everyday visual experiences in the city. “Kevin Haas: Untitled Landscape” will begin in the KAM Auditorium at 5:30 pm. Doors open at 5.
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WHAT: Concert: Alash: Tuvan Throat Singing Ensemble
WHEN: October 19th, 2 p.m.
WHERE: Spurlock Museum, 600 S. Gregory, Urbana
ABOUT: ALASH are masters of Tuvan throat singing (xöömei), a remarkable technique for singing multiple pitches at the same time. One can find complex harmonies, western instruments, and contemporary song forms in Alash’s music, but its overall sound and spirit is decidedly Tuvan.
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WHAT: New Directions Lecture: “You Can’t Study these Things from Moscow:” Soviet Social Science and the Problem of Development in Soviet Central Asia
WHEN: October 20th, 4 p.m.
WHERE: 126 GSLIS
ABOUT: By the 1970s, Soviet planners were fretting that the industrialization of Central Asia launched in the 1950s was failing to bring the desired dividends to the Soviet economy or the local population. Locals tended to avoid the industrial labour force and seemed to shy away from educational opportunities, while agriculture remained labour intensive and resistant to mechanization. Economists, sociologists, and demographers tried to make sense of this situation and offer sound policy advice. In the process, they discovered the limits of their own fields and sought out new approaches to better understand the micro-processes inhibiting modernization. Examining the academic debates and bureaucratic struggles of these scholars will shed light on the interaction between government and scholarship under late socialism and the parallels between development thought there and in the west. It will also help us contextualize and historicize current debates about development in Central Asia. Artemy M. Kalinovsky is Assistant Professor of East European Studies at the University of Amsterdam and the author of A Long Goodbye: The Soviet Withdrawal from Afghanistan (Cambridge, Mass.: Harvard UP, 2011). He holds a PhD from the London School of Economics.
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WHAT: Stories from the Other Side
WHEN: October 25th, 7:30 p.m.
WHERE: Spurlock Museum, 600 S. Gregory, Urbana
ABOUT: This ghost story concert for Halloween will feature local favorite tellers Dan Keding, Kath Brinkmann, and Kim Sheahan, as well as tellers from UIUC faculty, staff, and students. All donations and admission fees will support the Museum’s educational programs. The concert features tales with adult themes or heightened fear factors. It is for adults only (age 16 and above). Don’t worry—everyone still gets candy.
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WHAT: Film Screening: Less Commonly Taught Languages Film Series: “Bongoland”
WHEN: October 29th, 6-8 p.m.
WHERE: Lucy Ellis Lounge, 1080 Foreign Languages Building
ABOUT: Juma, an illegal African immigrant in Minnesota, confronts the realities of life in America, with a low-paying job, problems with his girlfriend, and an over-extended credit card. He must decide whether to continue struggling in America or return home.
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WHAT: Sudden Sound Concert: Sanguivorous with Tatsuya Nakatani and Edward Wilkerson, Jr.
WHEN: October 30th, 7:30 p.m.
WHERE: Krannert Art Museum Gelvin Noel Gallery
ABOUT: Featuring Sanguivorous and accompaniment by Tatsuya Nakatani and Edward Wilkerson, Jr. Naoki Yoshimoto’s silent Japanese vampire movie Sanguivorous (“Kyuketsu”) with live musical accompaniment by percussionist Tatsuya Nakatani and saxophonist Edward Wilkerson, Jr. combines experimental filmmaking with a cutting-edge blend of sound art and progressive jazz.
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WHAT: UI Wind Symphony: Halloween Concert
WHEN: October 31st, 7:30 p.m.
WHERE: Krannert Center, Foellinger Great Hall
ABOUT: A preeminent ensemble in the world, the UI Wind Symphony premieres new works, travels to national and international events, and sets the standard for band performance and training. Expect frightful songs and spellbinding melodies at this concert held on the spookiest night of the year.
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We live near a major university and a community college. There are smart people that come here every week to talk to the general public about interesting topics. Here’s a sampling of the talks and events you can find in the not-so-ivy-covered buildings near you. These events are free and will fill your brain with yummy knowledge (and sometimes will fill your stomach with free eats).