Maxwell town hall meetings

The search for a new dean of the Maxwell School of Citizenship and Public Affairs continues this weekend with town hall meetings open to the public. On Thursday and Friday, meetings will be held for Maxwell faculty, staff and students — one for each group on each day. An additional meeting will be held for the Syracuse University community on Friday afternoon.

People will be able to give their input on the dean search process during the meetings. The current dean, James Steinberg, announced on Sept. 1 that he would be stepping down at the end of the 2015-16 academic year.

 

BLADES for ART opening

La Casita Cultural Center on the Near Westside will debut its latest art installation this Friday at its building on Otisco Street. Pieces of cotton muslin that were printed on using hand-carved woodblocks and an industrial steamroller will be on display, according to the event’s Facebook page.

To create the pieces, community members and youth partnered with Syracuse University printmaking students under the guidance of SU professor Holly Greenberg. The designs are supposed to bring attention to the street violence the youth and community face in Syracuse, according to the Facebook page. La Casita was founded in 2011.

 

World-record-setting bocce tournament

A local bocce league, Turbo Bocce, will be attempting to set the Guinness World Record for the longest marathon bocce match this weekend. Teams will be playing for 30 straight hours in the Ukrainian National Home on Tipperary Hill.

Turbo Bocce will also have two parties to celebrate the achievement — one Saturday night and one on Sunday when they set the record. Turbo Bocce is open to the public with free admission. The current bocce marathon record is 24 hours and 29 minutes and belongs to the Sons & Daughters of Italy Upper Keys Lodge, according to the Guinness World Records website.

 

Wallpaper gallery opening

A new gallery show at the Rodger Mack Gallery in the Shaffer Art Building will open on Thursday, with an opening celebration to take place at 5:15 p.m. The exhibit, “Big Will and Friends,” will display wallpaper in a variety of forms.

The display will explore how wallpaper impacts the understanding of space and social relations, according to the event’s page on the School of Architecture’s website. The gallery is a collaboration between Jonathan Louie, an assistant professor in the School of Architecture, and Stephen Zaima, a professor in the College of Visual and Performing Arts. The exhibit will run until Feb. 18.

 

Discussion about hate speech in France

Middlebury College professor Erik Bleich will discuss his paper, “How France Handles Hate Speech: Judicial Decision-Making in the French High Court,” on Friday in Eggers Hall. Bleich will discuss the rising punishment of hate speech in France, according to the event’s page on the Maxwell School’s website.

Recent terrorist attacks have magnified the issue of balancing free speech and racist speech in France. Bleich will also discuss how the judicial process deals with hate speech directed toward minorities versus hate speech directed toward majority populations.

Published on January 20, 2016 at 10:05 pm

Contact Delaney: dovanwey@syr.edu