NEWS

Professor to discuss interplay between state, religion in China

Dr. Richard Madsen, a sociology professor at the University of California, San Diego, will speak on "State and Religion in China and Taiwan" Monday (Oct. 20) at UNC. The free public lecture will explore the prospects for religious freedom in China and the role communism and the state play in controlling religion.

Madsen’s research focuses on Chinese culture, but he will use Taiwan as an example of a contrasting culture in his discussion. He wrote "China’s Catholics: Tragedy and Hope in an Emerging Civil Society" and other books on China. The lecture, at 7 p.m. in Gardner 08, will be sponsored by the Carolina Asia Center. For more information, call 843-0129.

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Outdoor drama conference to draw fans, professionals

Theater professionals and enthusiasts from across the country will gather in Chapel Hill for the 41^st annual Conference on Outdoor Drama Oct. 23-25. The conference, sponsored by UNC’s Institute of Outdoor Drama, will be at the Holiday Inn-Chapel Hill on Fordham Blvd.

The conference will offer 70 or more participants workshops and panel sessions on topics including marketing, amphitheater design, tourism trends, production changes, survival strategies, attendance development and newspaper coverage.

Tina Packer, the founder and artistic director of Shakespeare & Company in Lenox, Mass., will present this year’s Paul Green Seminar, named for the late UNC professor and outdoor drama playwright. Institute Director Scott Parker said the seminar, "Flying in the Face of Adversity," will cover "the remarkable tale of how the (Lenox) theater developed from scratch 23 years ago to become one of North
America’s largest and most admired outdoor Shakespeare festivals." Packer is considered "one of the country’s foremost experts on Shakespeare in the theater," Parker said.

Conference participants will attend the American premier performance of "A Prayer for Owen Meany" by the PlayMakers Repertory Company at UNC. The conference will conclude with the presentation of the Mark R. Sumner Award, the only national award to recognize the significant contribution of an individual to the outdoor drama movement.

The event is the only national conference devoted to outdoor drama, which began with "The Lost Colony" in Manteo in 1937. Now more than 120 theater companies in 37 states produced the summer outdoor plays. The institute, a public service of the university, provides information to the public about the dramas and advises theater companies on artistic, managerial and promotional matters.

For more information, call 962-1328 or visit http://www.unc.edu/depts/outdoor/conference/.

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Professor, survivor of 1979 violence to speak about her book and past

Dr. Sally Bermanzohn, a political science professor at Brooklyn College in New York, will speak about her book, "Through Survivors’ Eyes: From the Sixties to the Greensboro Massacre," on Oct. 27 at UNC.

The book is a memoir of a 1979 incident in which Ku Klux Klan members fired on protestors. Bermanzohn’s husband was permanently disabled and five of her close friends and co-workers were killed in the violence.

The free public lecture, at 7:30 p.m. in Dey Hall’s Toy Lounge, will be part of the Centering the South series presented by UNC’s Center for the Study of the American South. Cosponsors will be UNC’s history department and Sonja Haynes Stone Center for Black Culture and History. Light refreshments will be served. For more information, contact the Center for the Study of the American South at 962-5665.

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Joyce Clayton, director of the Upward Bound program at UNC, has received a Chair’s Award for Service from the Council for Opportunity in Education. The award recognizes individuals who have made significant contributions to the council.

A nonprofit organization established in 1981, the council is dedicated to furthering the expansion of educational opportunities across the United States by helping low-income Americans overcome class, social, academic and cultural barriers to higher education. The council works with colleges and universities to help such students enter college and graduate.

Clayton has directed Upward Bound at UNC since 1984. Funded by the U.S. Department of Education, the program for pre-college students seeks to generate the skills and motivation necessary for success in education beyond high school. The program offers enrichment activities after school, on Saturdays and during the summer.

"It is a rewarding program, because we have the opportunity to see them grow develop," Clayton said.

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