NEWS

Aug. 17 lecture to trace storied lifetime of ancient ‘Dancing Shiva of Shivapuram’

Dr. Richard Davis, an associate professor of religion at Bard College in Annandale-on-Hudson, N.Y., will trace the life of a 10^th-century bronze statue of the Hindu god Shiva in a free public lecture Aug. 17 at UNC.

UNC’s Ackland Art Museum will present the lecture, "The Dancing Shiva of Shivapuram: Cult and Exhibition in the Life of an Indian Icon," at 3 p.m. in the Hanes Art Center Auditorium, near the Swain Visitors’ Lot off Cameron Avenue.

The statue, "Shiva Nataraja," meaning Lord of the Dance, is displayed in the Icon Centre in India. But museum patrons may see other images of Shiva that are part of the Ackland’s collection. Davis will discuss how the Shiva has been treated as both a symbol of spirituality and a work of art.

He also will trace the compelling history of "Shiva Nataraja," which was originally consecrated and paraded during festivals as a manifestation of the god, later buried to thwart potential theft, dug up by accident in 1951, surreptitiously duplicated, smuggled from India to the United States, sold to a prominent art collector for just under $1 million, exhibited at a museum in California, pursued by the Indian government as an illegally exported antiquity and finally repatriated to India.

The lecture is part of the Ackland’s Five Faiths Project, which uses works of art to teach about the world’s five major religions. The talk also is part of a Five Faiths Colloquy funded by the Henry Luce Foundation.

The museum, on South Columbia Street at Franklin Street, opens from 10 a.m.-5 p.m. Wednesdays through Saturdays and 1-5 p.m. Sundays. Admission is free. For more information, call 966-5736.

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History’s Coclanis co-writes book on economic history of the South

Twists and turns in Southern economic history are examined in a new essay collection co-written by Dr. Peter Coclanis, a UNC history professor, and Dr. David Carlton, an associate professor of history at Vanderbilt University.

Just out from the University of Virginia Press, "The South, the Nation, and the World: Perspectives on Southern Economic Development" says that the pre-Civil War plantation was as much a capitalist enterprise as many concurrent endeavors in the North. Therefore, the authors write, the economic difficulties that later befell the South did not result from a lack of business savvy.

Instead, it was the collapse of slavery after the war that left the South in need of economic restructuring, they explain, "and by Reconstruction, the emergent American economy had foreclosed options formerly available to Southern enterprise. forced to play catch-up, Southerners have had at best mixed success in the continuing struggle to create an economic life affording stable growth and broad opportunity to all the region’s people."

Coclanis specializes in the colonial, economic and business history of the United States. Most of his earlier research focused on the American South in the 18th and 19th centuries, but in recent years he has studied other areas and time periods, particularly Southeast Asia in the 19th and 20th centuries. His current project is on creation of integrated world markets for tropical and semi-tropical commodities, with a special emphasis on rice.

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Campus Y volunteers, service celebrated by Inter-Faith Council

To celebrate its 40^th anniversary, the local Inter-Faith Council for Social Service is recognizing a representative sample of 40 groups and individuals who have contributed to its success. Guess who’s on the list: the Campus Y, UNC’s largest student organization, which works to foster human rights and social justice.

"Since the founding of IFC, Campus Y members have worked in its community kitchen, cooking and serving meals; collected and sorted food for the food pantry; and offered homework help and enrichment to children served by the council," said Y director Virginia Carson. "Working with students from N.C. Hillel and other organizations, Y students also helped extend the hours of emergency services offered by IFC."

The Y, now with 800 members, has worked since its founding in 1859 to provide public service locally and across North Carolina, Carson said.

The council works to help individuals and families without adequate incomes, housing or benefits. In a recent letter to Carson, Natalie Ammarell, council president, and Chris Moran, its executive director, wrote: "We have reached this milestone due to the tremendous dedication and commitment of thousands of volunteers" and others. "On behalf of the thousands of individuals who have benefited from your involvement in and commitment to the IFC’s mission, we want to thank you and celebrate you as one of IFC’s ’40 at 40.’ "

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Contact: L.J. Toler, 962-8589, laura_toler@unc.edu