Coming Up at Mars Hill University

Monday, March 27
Blood Drive
9:00 a.m. – 1:00 p.m.
Blue Lounge (Wren Student Union). Sponsored by the MHU sophomore class.

Monday, March 27
Emerging Leaders and Emotional Intelligence
Lecture/presentation by Steve Miller, Ph.D.
7:00 p.m. at Day Hall, Room 303
Stephen P. Miller is president of GenSpan, Inc. in Asheville, North Carolina and co-founder of the Family Enterprise Center at UNC-Chapel Hill’s Kenan-Flagler Business School, where he serves as adjunct assistant professor of strategy and entrepreneurship. Steve works with family-owned businesses to help them develop world-class, sustainable enterprises. He draws on his 35 years of experience as the top non-family executive of the Vanderbilt/Cecil family-owned Biltmore Estate in Asheville, NC, where he played a key role in making Biltmore the most visited historic home in the United States, with over one million visitors each year. Steve’s approach is to work with family business leaders to create and employ business and governance strategies that align business, family, and ownership goals. Sponsored by the MHU Department of Business and the Ethics Across the Curriculum Initiative

Tuesday, March 28
Crossroads Chapel Service
11:00 a.m. at Broyhill Chapel
Rev. Teijo Munnich will speak at the Crossroads service in Broyhill Chapel. She is founder and Dharma teacher for the Zen Center of Asheville, Dharma teacher for Charlotte Zen Meditation Society, and abbess of Great Tree Zen Women’s Temple in Alexander, N.C.

Tuesday, March 28
Celebration of Scholarly and Creative Achievements
3:00 p.m. at Ramsey Center for Regional Studies (Renfro Library)
The purpose of this annual celebration is to acknowledge original publications and works of art completed by MHU faculty and staff during the calendar year 2016.

Tuesday, March 28
ForWarn, A National Satellite-Based Forest Disturbance Detection System, and Other Uses of Phenology and Remote Sensing Data for Large-Scale Vegetation Monitoring
7:00 p.m. in Room 202 of Ferguson Math & Science Center/Wall Science Building
Presentation by William “Bill” Hargrove, Ph.D., Eastern Forest Environmental Threat Assessment Center (USDA-Forest Service). Near-real-time satellite images can alter scientists and managers about environmental changes and potential threat. Hargrove and his colleagues have developed tools to detect disturbances to vegetation caused by wildfires, weather events, disease and pest outbreaks, or human activities. Their tools are linked to seasonal models of vegetative growth—consider the spring bud-burst on trees and leaf colors in autumn. Aberrations from seasonal norms are detected at local, regional, and continent-wide scales. Recent applications of ForWarn include monitoring an outbreak of tent caterpillars in NC’s Roanoke River Basin, understanding the effect of urban areas on local phenology, mapping the start of the agricultural growing season across the continental US. Part of the Sigma Xi: The Scientific Society, University of North Carolina-Asheville Chapter Intercollegiate Presentation Series. For additional information contact Scott Pearson at 828 689-1402, spearson@mhu.edu.

Monday, April 3
Songwriting Workshop with Kyle Matthews
6:30 p.m. at Broyhill Chapel
Kyle Matthews is a Christian artist, singer-songwriter, and ordained minister serving a congregation in Greenville, S.C. He spent two decades working as a recording artist and staff songwriter for BMG and Universal Publishing companies in Nashville, Tenn., during which time his songs were recorded by over 70 major artists of different genres and won the Dove, Stellar, GMA, and numerous ASCAP and BMI awards. His song “We Fall Down,” recorded most notably on a multi-platinum release by Donnie McClurkin, won numerous music industry awards, including the Dove Award for Traditional Gospel Song of the Year, the Stellar award for Song of the Year, and ASCAP’s 2002 Christian Song of the Year.
The workshop is free to students and $10 for faculty, staff and community members. This workshop is theologically and faith based. Please email dalexander@mhu.edu by March 29 if you plan to attend.

Tuesday, April 4
Crossroads Chapel Service
11:00 a.m. at Broyhill Chapel
Kyle Matthews will lead the Crossroads service. Matthews is a Christian artist, singer-songwriter, and ordained minister serving a congregation in Greenville, S.C. He spent two decades working as a recording artist and staff songwriter for BMG and Universal Publishing companies in Nashville, Tenn., during which time his songs were recorded by over 70 major artists of different genres and won the Dove, Stellar, GMA, and numerous ASCAP and BMI awards. His song “We Fall Down,” recorded most notably on a multi-platinum release by Donnie McClurkin, won numerous music industry awards, including the Dove Award for Traditional Gospel Song of the Year, the Stellar award for Song of the Year, and ASCAP’s 2002 Christian Song of the Year.

Wednesday, April 5
A Whole New Paradigm: Human Nature and Politics in the XXIst Century
7:00 p.m. at Belk Auditorium (Wren Student Union)
Pi Sigma Alpha (political honor society) is sponsoring Dr. Bill Kreml, professor emeritus of political science at the University of South Carolina, to speak from the perspective of political psychology. He will close with Q&A from interested students.

Friday, April 7
David Holt and the Lightning Bolts
7:00 p.m. at Moore Auditorium
Part of the Presidential Lecture and Performance Series. Tickets are $15 in advance, $20 at the door. A limited number of VIP (front, center seating) tickets are available for $25. For information, call (828) 689-1571 or email hfurgiuele@mhu.edu.

Ongoing

Context, Pretext, Subtext: Words in Art, Art in Words
Exhibit runs through April 21
Weizenblatt Gallery (Moore Fine Arts Building)
“Context, Pretext, Subtext: Words in Art, Art in Words” is an exhibit curated by two Mars Hill University professors, Kenn Kotara (art) and Eric Steineger (English). An exhibit that explores the situation, purpose, and meaning in language intended to inform and confound. This exhibit showcases contemporary artists — painters, poets, performers, and sculptors of art — and their take on text. For anyone interested in taking a deeper look at words, this exhibition examines the textual perspective of artists and their intentions. Participating artists: Tina Barr, Dusty Benedict, Caleb Beissert, Michael Boyko, Ian M Cage, Hooman Haghbin, Kristy Higby, Constance Humphries, Kenn Kotara, Leslie Rowland, and Eric Steineger.

Shelter on the Mountain: Barns and Building Traditions of the Southern Highlands
Exhibit runs through May 28 at the Rural Heritage Museum
This exhibition presents an overview of the unique built environment created by the peoples who have, over many thousands of years, inhabited the mountains, valleys, buffalo trails, and river basins of the Southern Appalachians. The exhibition features an introductory film, a large log-pulling sled, broad axes and other log-shaping tools, tobacco planters, 27 large informational panels, and over 70 photographs, many never seen before.
Museum hours are Tuesday through Sunday from 11 a.m. to 5 p.m., and by appointment.

The Fight for Bluff: A Community’s Effort to Preserve Its Mountain
Exhibit runs through July 28
Liston B. Ramsey Center for Regional Studies (inside Renfro Library)
The exhibit looks at the history behind the proposed cut of Bluff Mountain in the late 1990s and the public response to the National Forest Service’s proposal. It examines how the two sides were able to come to an agreement that drastically reduced the size of the proposed timber harvest. The exhibit was researched, written, and designed by history students who are a part of the Public History Concentration and were enrolled in the HIS 255: Archival Management/Museum Studies course in the Fall of 2016.
Hours are Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays from 1 to 4 p.m.; Tuesdays and Thursdays from 9 to 11 a.m.; and by appointment.

Upcoming

SLAM / David LaMotte
April 12
The Student Liberal Arts Mosaic (SLAM) is a showcase of student research, performance, and creativity. Classes are suspended for the day and students lead presentations of their work for audiences of their fellow students, faculty, staff, and the surrounding community. The plenary speaker for SLAM 2017 is David LaMotte, an award winning singer-songwriter, speaker, and writer. His topic will be “Worldchanging 101: Challenging the Myth of Powerlessness.”

President Trump’s First 100 Days: Perspectives from the Left and Right
April 25, 7:30 p.m.
Part of the Presidential Lecture and Performance Series. Featuring a moderated discussion between Rick Glazier of the NC Justice Center and John Hood of the John William Pope Foundation.

Bailey Mountain Cloggers Spring Concert
April 28-30
Far From the Railroads: Stories of Mars Hill University and Classic Folktales from Around the World

Spring Commencement
May 13, 9:30 a.m.
Graduation speaker: Walter Ziffer, Holocaust survivor and retired Mars Hill University religion professor. Limited public access due to seating availability, but the commencement ceremony will be streamed live on the MHU website.