We’ve made it to April, which means the end of the semester is just around the corner, the sun is shining and there are plenty of fun events to freshen up your calendar. Here are 10 of our favorite ways to spend a day this month.
1. Join a Great Works seminar.
Two new seminars kick off this month. Each consists of four consecutive weekly meetings at the Fox Center for Humanistic Inquiry and attendees should reserve their spot online.
“Opening of the American Mind? Public Thinking in 21st-Century America Great Works Seminar” meets at 6 p.m. on Mondays, starting April 3. This series will examine the relationship between intellectual life and the public sphere, the connection between academic humanities and the larger social world, and what it means for society to have a “healthy” or “sick” culture of thought.
On Tuesdays, discuss “Atlanta’s New Deal Housing” at 6 p.m., beginning April 4. Atlanta was the site of both the first “slum clearance” project in the U.S. and of America’s first completed, racially segregated, federally funded public housing. This seminar will examine the economic, political, racial and spatial context that made Atlanta the birthplace of American public housing.
2. Catch a new movie.
Skip streaming on your couch and head to a film screening on campus.
At 7 p.m. on Tuesday, April 4, Nigerian writer and director C. J. Obasi will introduce his new film, “Mami Wata” at the Michael C. Carlos Museum before its debut in Georgia. The movie uses powerful narrative deploys monochromatic black-and-white cinematography, and a hypnotic score in a folk-futurist style, transporting the viewer to an otherworldly place. Obasi depicts a battle between opportunistic militants promising technological progress, and a matriarchal spiritual order living in fragile harmony with the ocean as the threats of modern life wash up on its shores.
April marks the end of Emory Cinematheque’s “Camp Vibes, Queer Feelings” series, with screenings on April 5, 12 and 19 at 7:30 p.m. in White Hall, Room 208. This month, you can catch films like “Addams Family Values,” “But I’m a Cheerleader” and more. Check out the Emory Cinematheque website for a full schedule.
3. Learn from an expert.
The third annual National Public Health Week Indigenous Scholar guest lecture takes place on Wednesday, April 5, at 3 p.m. Hear from Lance Frye, the former — and first-ever — surgeon general for the Muscogee Nation, as he speaks on “Reflections from a Tribal Surgeon General.” The lecture takes place in the R. Randall Rollins Building, Margaret H. Rollins Room, and online. The event is free but registration is required.
Artist Michael Cade offers insight on “Nurse Practitioner to Painter: Entering Wellness Through Art and Creativity,” at noon on Monday, April 10, in the Emory Nursing Learning Center. This free, informal conversation exemplifies the impact, capacity and creativity that nurses possess inside and outside of the health care arena.
At 4 p.m. on Monday, April 10, head to Woodruff Library (Room 215) for “Reflections on Language Reclamation and Indigenous Language Work,” a special guest lecture with Wesley Leonard, associate professor of ethnic studies, UC Riverside, and co-chair of Natives4Linguistics. The free event explores the Indigenous language revitalization that centers community needs, well-being and goals while also addressing underlying causes like colonialism, racism and hegemony of dominant language ideologies.
Later in April, Mohamed Abdelaziz of Egypt’s Ministry of Antiquities gives a lecture titled “Digital Archaeology in Egypt: New Methods for Documentation Through the Use of Three-Dimensional Technology.” The lecture will explore recent work on projects including an underwater photogrammetry project to develop a photorealistic rendering of the archaeological site of the lighthouse of Alexandria and more. The event, which will be held entirely virtually, takes place at 7:30 p.m. on Thursday, April 20.
4. Join the climate conversation.
Earth Day is April 22, but you don’t need to wait that long to make a difference. Join this semester’s final session of Community Conversations: Emory Talks Climate Action on Thursday, April 6, at 2 p.m. in the Goizueta Foundation Center, Rooms W525 and W531. All faculty, staff and students are invited to give their input on Emory’s new climate action plan.
5. Rethink Greek tragedy.
Check out “Britney Approximately: A Pop Greek Tragedy,” a new play with original pop music about motherhood, isolation and power. Written and directed by Megan Tabaque, with original music by Willa Barnett, Prerit Chaudhary, Ama Ofosu and Drew Paryzer, it’s presented by arrangement with the playwright as a workshop production. The play mixes Eurpides’ “Medea” with a loose retelling of the Britney Spears conservatorship court battle and asks: What does our treatment of celebrity say about us? The play is free to students, $15 for general admission and runs from April 6-16 at the Mary Gray Munroe Theater.
6. Cheer on the Eagles.
Spring sports are approaching the season’s end, but there are still plenty of chances to cheer for the Eagles at home.
The women’s tennis team steps up against Georgia Gwinnett at 3 p.m. on Friday, April 7, and the men’s tennis team faces Georgia Gwinnett at 2 p.m. on Sunday, April 9.
The Oxford men’s tennis team competes against Coastal Alabama South at 4 p.m. on Thursday, April 13, and Gadsden State Community College at 4 p.m. on Friday, April 14.
Emory softball goes to bat against Washington at 4 p.m. on Friday, April 14, and at 1 p.m. and 3 p.m. on Saturday, April 15.
The baseball team competes against Mississippi University for Women in a double-header at noon and 3 p.m. on Saturday, April 15, then again at 1 p.m. on Sunday, April 16.
All Emory Athletics events are free and a full schedule for the Atlanta campus and Oxford campus can be found online.
7. Attend a reading.
Need a new book? Head to a reading on campus!
Oxford College hosts New York Times bestselling author Sam Kean on Wednesday, April 12, for a lecture and book signing. Kean’s book, “The Icepick Surgeon,” weaves together history, ethics, science and medicine as he explores common — and uncommon — scientific knowledge. The free event will be at 6:30 p.m. in Williams Hall Auditorium.
On Sunday, April 16, novelist Chitra Banerjee Divakaruni delivers the Sheth Lecture in Indian Studies, and will be discussing and reading from her new book, “Independence.” Set during the partition of India in 1947, the novel centers on three sisters caught up in events beyond their control, their unbreakable bond and their struggle against powerful odds. The book is available for purchase at the Michael C. Carlos Museum Bookshop. The event is held in Ackerman Hall and online at 4 p.m.
8. Attend a concert.
The Emory Chamber Music Society of Atlanta and the Michael C. Carlos Museum host the Cooke Noontime Series with Emory’s Young Artists in the Carlos Museum’s Ackerman Hall on Friday, April 14. The noon event is free and open to the public, and highlights some of the most outstanding undergraduate talents from the Department of Music. The concert is free and open to the public.
The Schwartz Center for Performing Arts closes its 20th-anniversary season with a performance by Béla Fleck, Edgar Meyer and Zakir Hussain, with Rakesh Chaurasia at 8 p.m. on Thursday, April 20, in Emerson Concert Hall. The highly acclaimed, genre-bending trio collaborates with Indian flutist Rakesh Chaurasia for this powerful performance.
At 8 p.m. on Saturday, April 22, and 4 p.m. on Sunday, April 23, the Emory University Symphony Orchestra and University Chorus perform Carl Orff’s iconic Carmina Burana along with the premiere of a new orchestral work by Sofia Rocha, winner of the second-annual SCPA Composer Commission Project. Both performances are free and take place at Emerson Concert Hall in the Schwartz Center.
9. Get creative.
Tap into your right brain and head to the Michael C. Carlos Museum for one of their creative events.
Children ages 3-6 are invited to attend “Artful Stories: Shaped by Her Hands” with an accompanying adult at 10 a.m. on Saturday, April 15. Children will hear the story “Shaped by Her Hands” and learn how Maria Martinez revived an ancient art form used by the Tewa people and developed her own new style of pottery. Then, families will head down to the studio to make their own clay creation. The event is free but registration is required.
Friday, April 21, is the semester’s last “Student Studio: Make Your Mark,” being held in the Tate Room. Inspired by the exhibit “A Very Incomplete Self-Portrait: Tom Dorsey’s Chicago Portfolio,” students are invited to respond creatively using a variety of art materials, photos, written statements and more to form their own incomplete self-portrait. The program is free to Emory students.
10. Celebrate a semester well done.
Regular session classes end on April 24 — take time to celebrate how far you’ve come and look back on everything you learned this semester. Whether it’s a run or walk through Lullwater Preserve, soaking up sunshine on the Quad with friends or sipping your favorite latte from Kaldi’s Coffee, treat yourself to some down time before the semester wraps up.