July brings food for thought with contemplative events, as well as food for growing and eating with opportunities for gaining gardening experience and for celebrating summer produce at the Tomato Festival.
Here are 10 campus activities to consider adding to your calendar, all of which are free:
1. Invite friends and family to the Carlos Museum at free-entry times.
The Michael C. Carlos Museum is always free if you are faculty member, staff member or student here at Emory. You can also bring your family and friends for free on Thursdays in July. There is no charge on July 5, 12, 19 and 25 from 1 p.m. until museum closing time at 4 p.m. Don’t miss the current exhibition “Divine Felines: Cats of Ancient Egypt,” featuring cats and lions and even dogs and jackals in ancient Egyptian mythology, kingship and everyday life.
2. Dig this on-the-job learning about gardening.
Emory’s Educational Gardens welcome all levels of experience: come to plant, harvest, water and more. Gardens are planted throughout the campus, including near the Cox Hall Bridge, at the Candler School of Theology, Rollins School of Public Health, School of Medicine, adjacent to Kaldi’s Coffee at the Depot, and near the tennis courts. It’s a free physical activity and learning opportunity. Tools will be supplied. Come help with the Theology Garden on Friday, July 6, at 5 p.m. or email gardens@emory.edu with questions about other times to volunteer or if you would like to join the gardens mailing list.
3. Hear a series of talks on different aspects of prayer.
Candler School of Theology experts continue the series “Prayer in Word, Tradition, and Practice” each Sunday in July. These talks are from 9:45 a.m. to 10:30 a.m. in Glenn Memorial United Methodist Church’s Ward Fellowship Hall. This month the topics include prayers as song, the wealth and poverty of prayer and protesting prayer.
4. Watch an uplifting, informative documentary.
“Summer in the Forest” sheds light on disabilities in this look at the creation of a commune called L’Arche at the edge of a forest near Paris. The free and public showing is Tuesday, July 10, at 7 p.m. It will be at the Candler School of Theology in Room 102. Popcorn and soda will be served. For more information, contact Alice Cameron at 404-727-8860.
5. Get help navigating higher education or secondary education for your child.
Emory Worklife Resource Center hosts its very popular annual July workshops, providing information on college and secondary schools. “The College Admission Process: A Planning Workshop for High School Students & Their Parents” is July 10. “A Guide to Paying for College: Savings, Loans, Grants, Scholarships & Financial Aid” is July 19. “Understanding K-12 School Options in Metro Atlanta” is July 24. All are held at noon in the Oxford Presentation Room of the Oxford Road Building. They are all free and open to the public, but seating is limited and these sessions are well-attended.
6. Have a theater experience with new plays.
“4:48 x 2018” is Emory’s fourth-annual speed-writing challenge, bringing together four Atlanta playwrights who will write new plays inspired by the book “I Contain Multitudes” by Ed Yong — and they will do it in only 48 hours. Results will be revealed on Saturday, July 14, at 4 p.m. in the Theater Lab of the Schwartz Center for Performing Arts. The free, public event is sponsored by the Center for the Study of Human Health and Theater Emory.
7. Catch a theology exhibit concluding this month.
The exhibition "Expressions and Encounters: Experiencing the Histories and Theologies of African Christianity in the Collections of Pitts Theology Library" will end on July 20. Learn about the variety of sources currently held at Pitts Theology Library that may be used in analyzing and telling the histories and theologies of Christian communities across Africa. The exhibition includes manuscripts, photographs, books and artifacts, including a Coptic triptych. The exhibit is free; see the link for hours.
8. Keep on walking.
The two walking groups for faculty and staff will conclude the last Wednesday in July, so take advantage of free exercise and the opportunity to meet colleagues throughout the university. Meet Me @ the Tunnel and Meet Me @ the Quad are both on Wednesdays. Quad walkers meet in front of the Candler library at 7:30 a.m. if you prefer walking in the morning and outdoors. Tunnel walkers meet at the entrance to the tunnel at Emory University Hospital at noon if you prefer mid-day and indoors. These activities are free.
9. Celebrate tomatoes at the Emory Farmers Market.
This month is the Emory Farmers Market Tomato Festival. Come to the July 17 market to taste and purchase a variety of these summer treats, in season now for peak taste and freshness. Hours are 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. The Office of Sustainability Initiatives (OSI) will have a limited number of small pots to start seeds and to decorate. There will also be tomato-themed trivia and sustainability swag giveaways. Emory Dining will cook lunch items based on the tomato theme. In addition, there will be an interactive display that demonstrates the foods popular in many people’s diets that are reliant on pollinators for fruition. Want to learn more about healthy, sustainable eating? Sign up for a staff tour of the farmers market at 11:45 a.m. on July 17 or July 31.
10. Learn about the history of teaching medicine.
Drawn from the Woodruff Health Sciences Center Library’s collections, including the Emory School of Medicine records, the “History of Teaching Medicine at Emory" exhibit lets you learn about intriguing aspects like how professors obtained cadavers in early years and how the Atlanta Medical College building was saved during the 1864 Battle of Atlanta when hospital staff dressed as sick and wounded to convince the Union army that it was an active hospital. The exhibit is located in the Woodruff Health Sciences Library and is free and open to the public. Check the hours here.