What’s Happening This Weekend, Homecoming Edition

Alumni, family, friends, and other visitors will flock to campus this weekend for the college’s homecoming. From theater productions and concerts to symposia and research celebrations, the Events Calendar is brimming with events that showcase the unique way in which the campus community celebrates this yearly tradition.

Read on to learn more about some of the weekend’s most buzzed-about events. A complete listing of weekend events can be seen on the Events Calendar.

Wedding Band

 

October 1-3, 7:30 p.m.

October 4, 2 p.m.

Hall Auditorium

 

A play by Alice Childress, Wedding Band tells the story of a secret interracial relationship between an African American woman, Julia, and her German American suitor, Herman, set in South Carolina during the first world war and an influenza outbreak. Directed by Justin Emeka ’95, assistant professor of theater and Africana studies, the play will challenge audiences to think about race, privilege, community, and feminism. Tickets are $8 and can be purchased through Central Ticket Office.

Learn more about Wedding Band in this Q&A with Tiffany Ames, a third-year Africana studies major who portrays Fanny Johnson, Julia’s landlady, in the play.

Celebration of Undergraduate Research

 

October 2, 12 p.m.

Science Center

 

Presented by the Office of Undergraduate Research and the Center for Learning, Education, and Research, this annual event gives students the opportunity to discuss research they conducted this past summer on campus and at various sites around the country. This year’s celebration features 90 students representing 35 programs and departments in the college and conservatory.

The celebration begins with a poster session from12-1:20 p.m. in the Bent Corridor. Oral presentations will be held in three sessions at 1:30, 3, and 4:30 p.m. in various rooms. A reception will follow at 5:50 p.m. in Perlik Commons. The event will close with the keynote *Activism Meets Scholarship: The Long Road to Marriage Equality in Rowan County* from Bernadette Barton ’88, also in Perlik Commons.

Breaking News: Reimagining Journalism for a Digital Age

 

October 2-4

Various times and locations

 

Breaking News: Reimagining Journalism for a Digital Age is a three-day symposium hosted by the Oberlin Review that will explore what it means to be a young journalist. The symposium features a keynote from Director of Culture Coverage at Fusion Dodai Stewart, a panel with recent alumni working in journalism, and a screening of the documentary Below the Fold: The Pulitzer That Defined Latino Journalism. See the Events Calendar for more information on each of the below events.

• Shifting Out of Neutral: Journalism As Activism with Dodai Stewart, October 2, 7:30 p.m., Craig Lecture Hall
• Panel: Recent OC Alumni in Journalism, October 3, 2:30 p.m., Hallock Auditorium
• Screening of Below the Fold: The Pulitzer That Defined Latino Journalism, October 4, 7:30 p.m., Wilder 101

Contemporary Music Ensemble conducted by Timothy Weiss

 

October 2, 8 p.m.

Warner Concert Hall

 

The Contemporary Music Ensemble, conducted by Timothy Weiss, will perform a program that includes Meanwhile: Incidental Music to Imaginary Puppet Plays, the 2007 composition by Stephen Hartke, professor of composition and chair of the Department of Composition, that earned him a Grammy Award in 2013. There is no admission charge.

“Horace Silver: Song For My Father & Other Matters Pertaining to the Heart”

 

October 2-3, 8 p.m.

 

Warner Main

 

Dance Diaspora’s seasonal show, “Horace Silver: Song For My Father & Other Matters Pertaining to the Heart” focuses on fatherhood and healing from wounds, among other themes. The performance will juxtapose the joyful mood of jazz musician Horace Silver’s music with visual representations of harsh realities of society for people of color, says Artistic Director and Choreographer Adenike Sharpley.

The performance is part of the Oberlin Alumni Association of African Ancestry (OA4) Reunion, which takes place October 2-4. Tickets for the performance are $5 in advance, $7 at the door and can be purchased through Central Ticket Office.

The Autumn Blues Workshop

 

October 2-4

Various times and locations

 

Presented by the Oberlin Swing Society, the Autumn Blues Workshop is a culmination of lessons, dancing, and live music. The event features guest instructors Mike Grosser, Ruth Hoffman, John Joven, and Megan Morrison, who will teach beginner and intermediate dance workshops. The featured event is the dance beginning at 9 p.m. on Saturday, October 3, in Hales Gymnasium, which will feature live music from John Henry and the Rainmakers.

All are welcome to participate. Registration is required. Registration and ticket information can be found on this webpage. See the Events Calendar for all related events.

Field Hockey Fire-Up Tailgate and Game

 

October 3, 10 a.m.

Austin E. Knowlton Athletics Complex

 

Wake up with coffee and baked goods and get fired up before the field hockey team takes the field at 11 a.m. Under the direction of new coach Tiffany Saunders, the team will look for its first victory of the season versus the College of Wooster.

Football Tailgate and Game

 

October 3, 1:30 p.m.

Austin E. Knowlton Athletics Complex

 

More than 2,000 people filled the stadium for last year’s homecoming football game, the first ever played at the Austin E. Knowlton Athletics Complex. The Yeomen will face the Allegheny College Gators, who dropped their homecoming game to Kenyon College last weekend. Kickoff is at 3 p.m.

Recognition Ceremony for Yeworkwha Belachew

 

October 3, 4:30 p.m.

Lewis House

 

This event will recognize and celebrate the service of Yeworkwha Belachew (YB), who has worked for the college for more than 35 years, most recently as Ombudsperson. YB is responsible for pioneering and mentoring the Oberlin College Dialogue Center (OCDC), which provides mediation and facilitation services conducted through a multipartial perspective. The OCDC will be renamed to the Yeworkwha Belachew Center for Dialogue at Oberlin College at this ceremony.

Oberlin Orchestra conducted by Raphael Jiménez

 

October 3, 8 p.m.

Finney Chapel

 

The Oberlin Orchestra, conducted by Raphael Jiménez, will perform works by Alberto Ginastera and Dmitri Shostakovich. There is no admission charge.