DECEMBER 2023
Featured Event
Diversity, Coffee and Conversations
Tuesday, Dec. 5 | 8:30 a.m.-10 a.m. | Intercultural Diversity Center
(Educational Engagement)
Open to UA Students, Faculty, Staff & UA Systems
The Division of Diversity, Equity and Inclusion’s monthly Diversity, Coffee and Conversations program will highlight various holidays, customs and traditions in celebration of the 2023 holiday season. This program will have speakers focusing on holidays such as Hanukkah, Kwanzaa, and more. Participants will learn background information concerning the holiday, participate in activities, be exposed to demonstrations and additional ways to celebrate.
Breakfast will be provided. For more information, please contact the Intercultural Diversity Center at ua_idc@ua.edu.
Gender Affirming Clothing Free Store
Friday, Dec. 1 | 8 a.m.-4 p.m. | Intercultural Diversity Center
The Women and Gender Resource Center is partnering with the Queer Student Association to distribute donations collected during Trans Week of Awareness in November. Items will be available to UA students who need gender-affirming clothing.
The Master of Fine Arts Dance Concert: ‘Desire’
Dec. 1 | 5:30 p.m.-7 p.m. | Dance Theatre in the English Building
The University of Alabama Department of Theatre and Dance wraps up the semester with “Desire,” a dance concert of expressive and eclectic works choreographed and performed by MFA Dance candidates, who will share a diverse selection of solos and improvisations in this 60-minute concert. For one night only, experience a choreographic journey through loss, struggle, and sensuality. This concert serves as a medium for graduate students to exhibit and develop research for their Capstone projects, while providing them the opportunity to showcase their choreographic voices. It also represents an opportunity for these graduate choreographers to collaborate with master’s and doctoral students in the School of Music composition program, who have composed original scores for two of the solo works and who will also contribute live music for the improvisations. The dance works revolve around themes of desire and longing, exhibiting elements of each choreographer’s personal experiences and related research.
Third-year MFA candidate, Jordan A. Pope, is presenting her final Capstone project to end the concert. Pope says, “My Story, Her Story creates a cathartic journey, delving into my research to embody the feelings of loss and the rediscovery of my identity as a Black woman in the world of dance.” Each of the four choreographers will present a solo work with improvisations braided throughout as connective tissue to the evening. This will be followed by a talk-back with the choreographers immediately after the performance to engage in further dialogue about their creative process and resulting dances.
Visit the UA Theatre and Dance Department’s website for information on the current season.
Weekly BFSAA Hallowed Grounds Tour
Monday, Dec. 4 and 11 | 2:30 p.m.-3:30 p.m. | Gorgas House
Black Faculty and Staff Association Ambassadors hosts The Hallowed Grounds Tour, a walkthrough of campus that delves into Black history and the civil rights movement on campus. This tour is a product of Dr. Hilary Green’s research on the history of slavery at The University of Alabama. The tour is open to current students, alumni, faculty, staff, community members and potential students. The tour takes approximately 45 minutes to complete. RSVP to the event.
WGRC Candyland End-of-Semester Celebration
Monday, Dec. 4 | 5:30 p.m.-5 p.m. | 2408 Student Center
Students who participated in any programs offered by the Women and Gender Resource Center during the fall semester are invited to join the celebration.
Education Abroad: Study Abroad Pop-Up Advising
Tuesday, Dec. 5 | 1:30 p.m.-2:30 p.m. | Intercultural Diversity Center, 2100 Student Center
(Cultural Exploration/Educational Engagement)
Open to UA students
Education Abroad will host weekly pop-up advising sessions on studying abroad. The sessions are first-come, first-served walk-ins where students have the opportunity to meet one-on-one with an Education Abroad adviser. For more information, contact the Study Abroad office at studyabroad@ua.edu.
HallyUA Holiday Social
Wednesday, Dec. 6 | 6 p.m.-9 p.m. | 220 Farrah Hall
HallyUA, a K-Pop Dance cover group, and members of the broader UA community will come together to celebrate Korean culture and the end of this fall semester. Attendees will decorate Christmas cookies, compete in trivia games that recap Korean pop culture events that defined 2023, create holiday crafts, and socialize with fellow attendees. This event will promote mindfulness by allowing for a mid-Dead Week study and promote diversity, equity and inclusion by celebrating a different culture and style of music and media. RSVP to the event.
Adapted Athletics Wheelchair Basketball Powerade Power of Pink Tournament
Friday, Dec. 8 | 9 a.m.-8 p.m. | Stran-Hardin Arena
Saturday, Dec. 9 | 11 a.m. | Stran-Hardin Arena
UA’s Adapted Athletics program is hosting the Powerade Power of Pink wheelchair basketball tournament. Games will be held at 9 a.m., 12:30 p.m., 6:15 p.m. and Dec. 9 at 11 a.m. There will be games, giveaways, halftime entertainment and more. Ticket information
EveryWoman Book Club Winter Mixer
Wednesday, Dec. 13 | 5 p.m.-6 p.m. | Legend’s Bistro, Hotel Capstone
This is an opportunity to meet the book club members and hear about the Spring 2024 lineup of books. Attendees are invited to bring a wrapped paperback book ($20 limit) for the gift exchange. RSVP to Elester1@ua.edu.
Exhibition Explores Paul R. Jones’ Art Collecting in Thailand
Through Dec. 12 | Paul R. Jones Museum, downtown Tuscaloosa
The Paul R. Jones Museum presents “Thai Art in the Paul R. Jones Collection of American Art at The University of Alabama,” which explores Jones’ collection of art during his time as deputy director of the Peace Corps in Bangkok, Thailand. He already had begun collecting art in the 1960s, and while his focus had been and would continue to be on art by Black artists in America, he also collected art while overseas. While in Thailand, Jones acquired a variety of works including batiks, sculptural papier-mâché reliefs, paintings, and leather silhouettes like those used in shadow-puppet theater. Many of the works in this exhibition are unsigned and anonymous, probably produced specifically as souvenirs. Others, however, are signed and give clues about the artist’s origins, several from Chiang Mai, the second largest city in Thailand.
Image credit: Jindsena, Woman and Deer, 1971, cotton batik
Nyansapo Kente Robing Ceremony
Friday, Dec. 15 | 5 p.m.-7 p.m. | UA Student Center
The Black Faculty and Staff Association will host the Nyansapo Kente robing ceremony, which was started in the summer of 2016 to promote retention among undergraduate and graduate students of color and celebrate their academic accomplishments. Nyansapo is a Ghanaian symbol that means intelligence, ingenuity, and patience. Kente is a ceremonial cloth used to commemorate special occasions such as graduation. The RSVP deadline is Friday, Dec. 8. Visit the Black Faculty and Staff Association website for more information and to register.