Journalist, actor and comedian Nancy Giles presents keynote at Peace Studies Conference

09/13/2007

Journalist, actor and comedian Nancy Giles presents the keynote presentation for the 20^th annual Peace Studies Conference at 8 p.m. Sept. 17 at Petters Auditorium, Benedicta Arts Center of the College of Saint Benedict.           

Giles’ presentation will focus on how the fine arts serve as a force for social change with a specific emphasis on gender and diversity, and caps a day of events on the CSB campus. Her speech is free and open to the public.           

A self-described “six-foot, one-inch black woman who’s not model thin,” Giles has made her mark dismantling misconceptions about race, feminism and sexism. “White people,” she jokes, “have nothing to fear.”

Giles, a native of Queens, N.Y., graduated from Oberlin College and spent three years with Chicago’s esteemed Second City improv group. She won a Theater World Award for the off-Broadway musical, Mayor, and has been a regular in television shows such as China Beach, Delta and the cult favorite, Fox After Breakfast.

She gives social commentaries on CBS Sunday Morning, and is the writer and performer of the one-woman shows Notes of a Negro Neurotic and Black Comedy: The Wacky Side of Racism. Giles has also worked in radio in New York and Philadelphia.

The conference opening and welcome is at 1 p.m. in the BAC’s Gorecki Family Theater, with comments from Rita Knuesel, provost at the College of Saint Benedict/Saint John’s University, and Ron Pagnucco, chair of the peace studies department at CSB/SJU. There will also be a vocal performance by Judith Kniss and JohnMark Freilmayer, students at Saint John’s School of Theology∙Seminary.           

The purpose of the conference is to explain the relationship between the fine arts and making peace in today’s world. 

Other conference presentations include:

• Botticelli, a one-act play by Terrance McNally, is presented at 12:45 p.m., 2:20 p.m. and 5:15 p.m. in the BAC Courtyard (entrance near the BAC box office);
• “Images of Peace in Roman Catholic Art,” with Fr. Nathanael Hauser, OSB, a member of Saint John’s Abbey and an expert in the study and painting of icons, is at 1:30 p.m. at BAC room A-108;
• A session, “Professional Music and Drama Therapy,” is at 1:30 p.m. at the BAC’s Colman Theater. The session is presented by Roberta Kagin, Augsburg Music Therapy Program, and Sarah Egbers Paper, a drama therapist and 1997 CSB alumna;
• The Wall, a one-act play set at the Vietnam Veterans Memorial in Washington, D.C., is presented by the Troupe Theater, a community theater group from St. Cloud, at 2:40 p.m. at the Gorecki Family Theater;
• Haunting Images:  How I Cope with War Memory in My Art, is presented at 2:40 p.m. at BAC Room A-108 by Br. Simon-Hoa Phan, OSB, assistant professor of art at CSB/SJU. Phan, a native of Vietnam, celebrates his heritage and addresses topics that result from the Vietnam conflict in his paintings and films;
• A musical performance of “Im Silberwald” (“In the Silver Forest”) is presented at 4:10 p.m. at the Instrumental Rehearsal Hall (BAC lower level). The performance features Brian Campbell, associate professor of music at CSB/SJU, on clarinet, and SJU senior Charlie McCarron on the glass harmonica;
• A poetry reading by Sarah Fox is at 4:10 p.m. at the Darnall Amphitheater. Fox is the publisher of Fuori Editions and teaches poetry and creative writing in schools and literary centers throughout Minnesota, Her reading is sponsored by the Literary Arts Institute at CSB;
•  “Reflection and Meditation Using the Arts” is offered by CSB Campus Ministry at 7 p.m. at Alumnae Hall, Haehn Campus Center.
• The Siege of Tripoli: An Historical Naval Sonata for the Pianoforte, is performed at 7:30 p.m. at the Haehn Campus Center lobby. The piece, composed by Benjamin Carr, will be performed by Edward Turley, associate professor of music at CSB/SJU, and narrated by Carolyn Finley, professor of music at CSB/SJU, and will be followed by Giles’ presentation.

In addition to the events, a student art exhibit opens at 10 a.m. in the Art Wing of the BAC. Three student videos will also be shown beginning at 10 a.m. at assorted locations around the BAC and other campus venues.