Events & Activities

Performing arts students produce Elon’s first all-Black show

Undergraduates in the Department of Performing Arts responded to the racial violence and protests of 2020 by creating Elon’s first all-Black show.

Nearly 30 performers and crew spent the summer choosing pieces that simultaneously spoke to the pain and joy of being a Black American. Performing arts faculty approved their production, and “The Moment” — a cabaret-style show of songs, dances, scenes, monologues and poetry — was filmed around campus in August.

Director Kamal Lado ’21 wanted a space where they and fellow Black performers could express themselves outside the traditionally limited roles mainstream theater offers, calling it “a love letter to Blackness from Black folks.” Members of Elon’s Master of Arts in Interactive Media program edited the film, which streamed online at ElonPerformingArts.com in October.

Third Leading Women in Audio Conference focuses on ‘growth through adversity’

Held in February, the third annual Leading Women in Audio Conference addressed industry change, both in professional terms and pandemic challenges.

The female-led, virtual conference covered an array of topics in the music industry, ranging from audio mastering, live sound mixing and songwriting to practical skills like job searching and adapting to COVID-19. Panelists and session leaders spoke from a variety of professional experiences and global locations.

The variety of sessions and the virtual medium gave the conference its largest attendance yet, continuing growth seen from its first year. Attendees were from 13 universities and included more than 40 high school students from the Alamance-Burlington School System, Weaver Academy in Greensboro and schools in other states.

Center for the Study of Religion, Culture & Society hosts ‘Religion at the Borders’

The Elon Center for the Study of Religion, Culture and Society hosted “Religion at the Borders” Feb. 11-13, the third installation in the center’s biennial On the Edge symposium series. The event focused on modern and pre-modern border spaces across various disciplines.

Panels and lectures involved Elon faculty and 11 scholars from three countries and a range of disciplines. Leah Sarat of Arizona State University gave the keynote lecture, “The Terror of ‘Safety’: Christianity, Immigrant Policing, and Detention at the Nation’s Edge,” examining the perspectives of a detention facility chaplain and a Mexican detainee at the U.S.-Mexico border.

The symposium was accompanied by the Sierra Club’s “Lens on the Border” photography exhibit. Striking images of people, landscapes and wildlife at the U.S.-Mexico border were displayed in several buildings in the Lambert Academic Village. Elon faculty are collaborating with participants for papers and articles stemming from the conference.

Phi Beta Kappa inducts 55 new members

Fifty-five Elon University students were inducted into Phi Beta Kappa during an April 16 dinner and ceremony.

New inductees of the nation’s oldest and most prestigious honor society heard remarks from President Connie Ledoux Book and an address by Charles Irons, the William J. Story Sr. Professor of History and chair of the Department of History and Geography.

Phi Beta Kappa has established chapters at 286 colleges and universities in the United States, representing only 10 percent of the nation’s institutions of higher learning. Each year, the top 10 percent of arts and sciences graduates at these institutions are selected for membership. Elon’s Eta Chapter of North Carolina was installed on April 13, 2010.