Cultural Programs

Elon University will present a second concert with this summer's Eastern Music Festival on Monday, July 13, when guest conductor Chelsea Tipton leads EMF's two student orchestras in a lively pops concert on the lawn Under the Oaks. The music begins at 7:30 p.m.

Jeffrey D. Clark, whose career has taken him to theatre companies in Massachusetts, Missouri and North Carolina, has been named the new executive director of cultural and special programs at Elon University.

Academic leader and celebrated scholar Hanna Holborn Gray discussed the historical evolution of universities and the role of foundational liberal arts studies in the annual James P. Elder lecture on April 16.

Presidential Medal of Freedom honoree Hanna Holborn Gray, who served as president of the University Chicago and as provost and acting president at Yale University, will give the James P. Elder Lecture at 6:30 p.m., Thursday, April 16 in Whitley Auditorium. Gray's talk is titled "Education and Utopia."

Anderson Cooper, CNN news anchor and host of “Anderson Cooper 360°” will appear at Elon University on April 7, 2009, conducting a question-and-answer discussion with students at 2 p.m. and delivering a special lecture at 4 p.m. in Koury Center’s Alumni Gym. Tickets for the lecture are sold out, however the Box Office is distributing 400 tickets for closed circuit TV viewing in McCrary Theatre.

Former U.S. Secretary of State Madeleine K. Albright will be the featured speaker during Elon University's Spring Convocation for Honors at 4 p.m. on Tuesday, March 31, in Alumni Gym. Tickets are still available for the general public and for students, faculty and staff.

Barbara Bancroft, the final Voices of Discovery speaker for the 2008-09 academic year, comes to campus March 30 for an evening discussion on health care advancements and how the public has been flooded with confusing, complex information about new medical products and services. Bancroft is known for her sense of humor in presentations that summarize and interpret that new information.

Nancy Knowlton, a renowned expert on coral reefs, visits Elon University this month as the 2008-2009 Voices of Discovery series continues with a talk on the impact of climate change on the planet's reef systems. Knowlton's lecture on Feb. 18 is free and open to the public starting at 7:30 p.m. in McCrary Theatre.

Vikram Potdar, a teenage piano extraordinaire from Chapel Hill, will perform selections from composers such as Bach, Chopin and Liszt on Jan. 22 in a Whitley Auditorium concert co-sponsored by the Office of Cultural and Special Programs and the Department of Music.