Pianists Etsuko Kimura Pederson and Paul Krejci will give a piano recital Aug. 7 on the University of Alaska Fairbanks campus.

Pianists Etsuko Kimura Pederson and Paul Krejci will use music to highlight the connections between cultures and universities during a piano recital Aug. 7 on the University of Alaska Fairbanks campus.

Pederson and Krejci, both students in the music department at UAF, will perform original modern music for two pianos. The recital will echo a May performance held at Japan’s Tohoku University to honor the 15-year anniversary of the partnership between Tohoku and UAF.

The free recital will begin at 7 p.m. Saturday, Aug. 7 in the Davis Concert Hall.

“The piano recital is an opportunity to share what we’ve learned in part from our studies here,” Pederson said. “There has been little opportunity for music students to represent UAF in Asia and we are proud to do that.”

Both Krejci and Pederson have master’s degrees in musical performance from UAF. After receiving his degree, Krejci began working on completion of an interdisciplinary doctorate degree in ethnomusicology. He also teaches Alaska Native music at UAF and was born and raised in Fairbanks.

Since graduating, Pederson has continued to study music at UAF. She is native to Sendai, Japan, and has lived in Fairbanks since her marriage.

ADDITIONAL CONTACTS: Michelle Bartlett, Summer Sessions & Lifelong Learning director, at 907-474-6624, 907-474-7021 or via e-mail at [email protected].

ON THE WEB: www.uaf.edu/summer/special-events/concerts/

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Photo courtesy of Richard Dawkins
Richard Dawkins will speak at UAF Thursday, July 15.

Author and scientist Richard Dawkins will speak at the University of Alaska Fairbanks Thursday, July 15 at 7 p.m. in the Davis Concert Hall on the UAF campus.

Dawkins’ lecture, “Is Religion a Darwinian Adaptation? Or is it Intelligently Designed?” is free and open to the public. A book sale and signing will follow in the Great Hall.

The lecture will also be available via live webcast. Visit www.uafnews.com/webcasts on the day of the lecture for the link.

Dawkins’ lecture is sponsored by the UAF Socratic Society, College of Liberal Arts and Summer Sessions & Lifelong Learning.

MEDIA CONTACT: Marmian Grimes, UAF public information officer, at 907-474-7902 or via e-mail at [email protected].

ON THE WEB: www.uafnews.com/webcasts

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Map courtesy of Ben Potter

Marmian Grimes
907-474-7902
6/28/10

A team of researchers, including several at the University of Alaska Fairbanks, have found what looks to be the first well-supported demonstration of an ancient language connection between people in remote Asia and North America.

Their work is chronicled in “The Dene-Yeniseian Connection,” a publication of the Anthropological Papers of the University of Alaska. In the book, lead author Edward Vajda of Western Washington University details his hypothesis that the Ket language of Central Siberia is related to the North American Na-Dene language family, which includes Tlingit, Gwich’in, Dena’ina, Koyukon, Navajo, Carrier, Hupa, Apache and about 45 other languages. Ket is the sole survivor of an earlier language family called “Yeniseian.”

The two language groups are separated by thousands of miles of land and an ocean, yet have similarities that indicate they came from the same roots. For scientists, these similarities are convincing evidence that these populations started out in the same area speaking the same language and then migrated via the Bering Sea land bridge.

Vajda’s hypothesis is backed by an international group of scholars, including UAF archaeologist Ben Potter and UAF linguist James Kari, who both served as editors of the 369-page volume.

“What has taken place in the last three years with the publication of these articles is unprecedented as an initial academic presentation of a long-distant language relationship,” Kari said.

Vajda first announced his hypothesis at a UAF symposium in 2008. Vajda has examined the similarities between the Ket language, currently spoken by a small, isolated group of people in central Siberia, and the North America Na-Dene languages.

Vajda found more than 100 shared cognates that are related by interconnected sound changes, as well as several verbal affixes that mark tense and aspect, and some shared pronouns. Cognates are words with a common etymological origin. For English speakers, it is similar to hearing the sameness of the English word ‘father’ and the Latin ‘pater’.

The results emphasize the importance of studying disappearing languages for what they can reveal about human prehistory, Vajda said. “The clearest lesson from comparing Yeniseian and Na-Dene is that effort spent documenting the world’s disappearing languages now can have vital impact on the future. Who would have imagined the ancient words Native American and Siberian boarding-school children were punished for speaking a few decades ago could wield a power vast enough to reunite entire continents?”

“The Dene-Yeniseian Connection” is a joint publication of the UAF anthropology department and the Alaska Native Language Center. With the publication of the 369-page book, linguistics specialists all over the world will have a chance to carefully examine the hypothesis and the supporting data.

ADDITIONAL CONTACTS: Jim Kari, professor emeritus of linguistics, at 907-479-8860 or via e-mail at [email protected]. Ben Potter, assistant professor of anthropology, at 907-474-7567 or via e-mail at [email protected]. Edward Vajda, professor of linguistics at Western Washington University, 360-650-4856 or via e-mail at [email protected].

NOTE TO EDITORS: A PDF copy of an overview of the findings in the journal is available by contacting Grimes.

ON THE WEB: To order copies of “The Dene-Yeniseian Connection” visit the UAF anthropology department online at http://www.uaf.edu/anthro/apua/.

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Dozens of local students spent the first part of June exploring art during the 2010 University of Alaska Fairbanks Visual Art Academy. Pieces from the sculpture and 3-D design class, as well as other works from the academy, will be on display in the Student Art Gallery on the UAF campus starting Wednesday, June 16.

In this slideshow, students Ryan Burke, Corbin Cairn, Daphne Dewey, Ryder Hartley, Jared Post and Yuri Robb work on their projects during Kate Schroeder’s sculpture and 3-D design class. Students made life-sized casts of themselves, stuffed them and carved faces to be attached to the forms. Later in the week, students used braided metal to create 3-D wire sculptures. This is the sixth year the UAF art department has conducted the Visual Art Academy. Eighty-five students between the ages of 12 and 18 are part of this year’s sessions.

Shelbie Umphenour
907-474-2417
5/27/10

The University of Alaska Fairbanks art department will hold a silent art auction Friday, May 28 from 6-8 p.m. in the UAF art gallery in the Fine Arts Complex.

The auction will feature ceramics created and donated specifically for this event. All proceeds will benefit the Tom Rohr Memorial Scholarship fund.

For more information on the auction, contact the UAF art department at 907-474-7530 or [email protected].

MEDIA CONTACT: Shelbie Umphenour, public information officer, at 907-474-2417 or via e-mail at [email protected].

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By Jeff Richardson, Fairbanks Daily News-Miner
FAIRBANKS — As a data specialist at the University of Alaska Fairbanks, Ian Olson crunches plenty of numbers. But even he was stunned when he saw the surge in Alaska Native graduates this year.

“It’s awesome,” said Olson, the director of planning, analysis and institutional research at UAF. “This is an all-time high and very significant.”

Read more …

Marmian Grimes
907-474-7902
5/18/10

The University of Alaska Fairbanks Summer Visual Art Academy is now accepting applications for its 2010 session, which runs June 7th – 18th.

The academy provides visual artists in grades 6-12 a chance to work with professional artists in a variety of media including animation, printmaking, metalsmithing, and costume and fashion design, among many others. Classes will be held on the UAF campus and participants can select either full-day or half-day enrollment.

The deadline for registration is May 28th. For more information, call the UAF art department at 907-474-7530.

MEDIA CONTACT: Marmian Grimes, UAF public information officer, at 907-474-7902 or via e-mail at [email protected].

ON THE WEB: www.uaf.edu/art/artacademy

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Marmian Grimes
907-474-7902
5/14/10

Members of the University of Alaska Fairbanks Journalism Department have, for the second year in a row, claimed the Alaska Press Club’s prestigious Public Service Award.
The statewide journalism organization awarded the 2009 honor to the UAF journalism department’s coverage of the Alaska Stryker Brigade stationed in Iraq and to the Skagway News for its coverage of the high cost of medevac flights. UAF journalism student and 2010 graduate Molly Dischner worked at the Skagway News during the summer and wrote the medevac stories.
Members of the UAF journalism department accepted the awards at the Alaska Press Club’s annual awards banquet in Anchorage last weekend. UAF professor Brian O’Donoghue and his students won the 2008 public service award as well. The Public Service Award is one of a handful of Alaska Press Club awards that are open to all media outlets in the state.
UAF students, publications, websites and alumni won multiple awards, in addition to the Public Service Award. Judges in several categories praised the high quality of the work by the UAF journalism department.

Gary Cohn, the Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist who judged the Public Service Award said that the UAF journalism department is to be congratulated for its “creativity, determination and excellent work” in covering soldiers living and working in Iraq.

“We were not surprised to see so many fine entries from the UAF journalism school,” wrote Kelley Benham, a judge from the St. Petersburg Times.

ON THE WEB: Visit the College of Liberal Arts Facebook note for a full list of UAF-affiliated winners.

NOTE TO EDITORS: For the list of all Alaska Press Club award winners, visit http://www.alaskapressclub.org/images/uploads/apc_2010_winners.pdf.

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Shelbie Umphenour
907-474-2417
5/6/10

The University of Alaska Fairbanks will host a free film festival Saturday, May 8 at 7 p.m. in the Salisbury Theatre on the UAF campus.

The festival will feature more than 15 films produced by UAF students and affiliates.

The student film festival is open to the public and will include work in animation, drama, documentary and experimental film. Some films warrant an R rating due to language and may not be appropriate for children.

MEDIA CONTACT: Shelbie Umphenour, CLA information officer, at 907-474-2417 or [email protected]. Marmian Grimes, UAF public information officer, at 907-474-7902 or [email protected].

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Marmian Grimes
907-474-7902
4/29/10

University of Alaska Fairbanks professor Eduardo Wilner will give a free public lecture Wednesday, May 5 at 7 p.m. in Schaible Auditorium on the UAF campus.

Wilner’s lecture will explore author and scientist Richard Dawkins’ contributions to modern evolutionary biology, including his theories on extended phenotypes, selfish genes and evolving memes. A question-and-answer session will follow the presentation.

Wilner’s lecture is sponsored by The Socratic Society, a UAF student group that will host Dawkins in Fairbanks in July. The group is sponsoring lectures in preparation for Dawkins’ visit and July 15 lecture at UAF.

MEDIA CONTACT: Marmian Grimes, UAF public information officer, at 907-474-7902 or via e-mail at [email protected].

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