The Women’s and Gender Studies program is sponsoring its next colloquium on Monday, January 28, 2008. It will be a roundtable discussion of the topic “Studying Nature and the Environment: Why Gender Matters.” The colloquium will be held from 3:30-5:00 p.m. at the UNL City Campus Union (room posted). Panelists include Dr. Donna Woudenberg and Dr. Patti Boehner of the UNL Drought Mitigation Center. This is the fourth event of the Women’s and Gender Studies 2007-2008 Colloquium Series dedicated to “Celebrating 30 Years of Women’s (and Gender) Studies at the University of Nebraska–Lincoln.”

The Sheldon Memorial Art Gallery welcomes all students and faculty to its College Nights this semester. The museum invites individual students, class groups and instructors to enjoy its offerings during this special opening during the evening. Sheldon’s permanent collection and special exhibitions will be available for guided tours or informal visits. Pizza and beverages will be offered. Hours will be from 5 to 7 p.m. (or, to 8 p.m. by request). Guided class or group tours must be scheduled two weeks in advance (call (402) 472-4524). No appointment is necessary for instructor-led tours.

The American composer, Irving Berlin, will be celebrated in an evening of song performed by the School of Music's Voice Faculty: Alisa Belflower, Kate Butler, Ariel Bybee, Kevin Hanrahan, Donna Harler-Smith, William Shomos and Therees Hibbard (Choral Faculty). Also performing are UNL's advanced vocal students and returning alumni. The Dean of the Hixson-Lied College of Fine and Performing Arts and pianist extraordinaire, Jack Oliva, will serve as accompanist for a range of both familiar and unfamiliar tunes, including "White Christmas," "Easter Parade," "Let Yourself Go," "God Bless America," and "Blue Skies"--to name only a few of Irving Berlin's hits. Irving Berlin is most well-known for his musicals for stage and screen: Annie Get Your Gun, Call Me Madam, Easter Parade, and Holiday Inn-which together reflect only a small fraction of his award-winning compositions. Berlin wrote the words and music to over three thousands songs. He had a gift for melodies that spoke to and stuck with the American public, who made him the composer with the most sheet music sales during the middle of the twentieth century. The celebrated composer, Jerome Kern, once explained, "Irving Berlin has no place in American music. He is American music." UNL's Coordinator of Musical Theatre Studies and host of this celebration, Alisa Belflower will guide the audience through the evening of song with colorful stories from Berlin's life and work. Come out to hear beautiful ballads of love won and lost, tunes that tug at the heart, and toe-tapping numbers to make your spirits dance. Tickets: General admission $5, student/senior $3, available at the door approx. one hour before the performance.