The first of these will be Saturday, featuring the Concert Band in Boone Family Theatre.

The band is open to anyone, whether or not they are a music major, without an audition. Dr. Dan Harbaugh, associate director of bands, said he has enjoyed getting to work with the students in the band. Moreover, he said that even though it is an open group, it doesn’t miss out on anything because of that.

“I don’t think it loses anything from the prestige,” Harbaugh said. “It’s just a group of hard-working people that love to make music.”

The concert will begin with five smaller ensemble performances, featuring students across disciplines, including strings, woodwinds and percussion. From there, the band will perform three pieces together.

Continuing on campus, the Wind Ensemble will perform on Sunday. This concert is in preparation for their performance at the College Band Directors National Association Southwest Division Conference. This conference, in which the ensemble was selected to perform, is meant to highlight bands in the region alongside other research and presentations from scholars in the field. 

After their show on Sunday, the Wind Ensemble will also go on its annual tour, further preparing them for the CBDNA Conference. 

For Laura Evans, junior French horn player, this will be her third tour with the Wind Ensemble, but it will be her first time playing at a conference like this.

“It’ll be cool to play at a conference,” Evans, junior music education major, said. “I know for me it’s more real once we actually start doing it.”

That start will come this Monday, immediately following the concert on campus. The ensemble will perform at four high schools in the course of three days, with each of the performances being free to the public. The full calendar of performances is available on the ACU Bands website – https://acu.edu/academics/arts-humanities-social-sciences/music/events/.

Their tour will conclude with a 2 p.m. performance at the conference on the campus of the University of North Texas.

But to kick things off, both bands will perform in Abilene at Boone Family Theatre. The Concert Band will perform at 7:30 p.m. on Saturday, and the Wind Ensemble will perform at 3:00 p.m. the next day.

“Most importantly, just to see the relationships that they form with each other, the friendships that last far beyond here, to me that’s the most important and most impressive thing that we do,” Harbaugh said.

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The show this year is This Random World: The Myth of Serendipity. Written by Steven Dietz, the play, according to the department, asks the serious question of how often we travel parallel paths through the world without noticing.

The show is under the direction of Ashton Taylor, senior theatre education major from Las Cruces, New Mexico. He said this position has allowed him to test the skills he’s learned in classes and to get to experience leading others at his same level.

“My philosophy when it comes to leadership, which is also my philosophy when it comes to directing, is that my job isn’t to have every answer,” Taylor said. “It’s to kind of guide us to find the right answer, but it’s also to take in the good ideas when someone else has it.”

One of the things that Taylor has focused on while preparing this show is collaborating with the actors to tell this story in the most effective way possible. Taylor began rehearsals by getting insight from the actors about their interpretations of the play and discussing how they wanted to convey their message to the audience.

“I help guide the actors in an effective, honest performance rather than me just micromanaging them moving them around,” Taylor said.

The Producer of the show is Professor Dawne Swearingen-Meeks, Chair of the Department of Theatre. In this role, Taylor said she has been a consistent supporter and mentor to him, ensuring that the show runs as smoothly as possible.

“She helps me when I’m like, ‘Hey, I need more help with this technical element,’” Taylor said. “I can just go to her, and she’s like boom, let’s figure this out.”

This performance is being shown in what is called “found theatre,” meaning it isn’t being presented in a traditional theatrical space. This setting poses a unique and rewarding challenge for both the actors and those working on the technical aspects of the show. 

“That small intimate space in found theatre space really makes us bring to the forefront the performances,” Taylor said.

While rehearsals have been held on campus in the Williams Performing Arts Center, Taylor emphasized his appreciation for Seven and One Books and their support of the show.

Beyond just offering a unique opportunity to the student who directs, the tradition of having a student-directed show also has a valuable impact on the other students involved. Kendall Ganster, senior acting major, has known Ashton long before starting to work on this show. After transferring during her sophomore year, she quickly became friends with Ashton and has enjoyed getting to work with him now as a director.

“I think it’s cool having someone that is like my age as a director because it makes it a little bit less intimidating,” Ganster said. “Overall, it’s been a really fun, great experience. I’ll definitely remember it forever.”

Additionally, this experience has also been valuable to students who are newer to the Department of Theatre. Christy McBride, freshman musical theatre major, is in her first acting role as a college student and said that this has been a great experience to see what the department is like. 

“I definitely think it’s preparing me for bigger shows,” McBride said. “Ashton is a great director. He really cares about trying to seek the truth in the words and the meaning in the script and really trying to display that as best he can.”

The show will take place on Feb. 8 at 7:30 p.m. Tickets are available now on the ACU Theatre website and will also be available at the door on Sunday. 

“I think this play specifically does such a good job of connecting people through its themes and through its characters,” Taylor said. “And in a world that feels so polarized sometimes, I think we could all use some connection.”

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The event centers around an intercultural project developed by Robert Green called “Boundless: A U.S.-China Collaborative Exhibition,” which showcases Chinese artists Zhai You, Gao Yun, Fan Lei, Shao Lian, Wang Ping, and Wei Dong. 

Green, chair of the Department of Art and Design, sparked the idea over two years ago through conversations with Chinese artist Sheng Dongqiao about shared Chinese landscape influences that had inspired them.

“I was motivated to reach out to him because our paintings were indebted to traditional Chinese landscape painting styles that date back to the 18th century and beyond,” Green said. “It seemed to us that as we were in dialogue with one another, so, too, were our works.”

In addition, Bonny Leibowitz, a Dallas-area artist, Hollie Brown, adjunct instructor of art and design, Kenny Jones, art and design professor, Polly Jones, a local artist and alumna, and Green will have art featured in the “Boundless” project alongside the Chinese artists.

A smaller exhibition titled “Boundless: Origins” will also feature Green and Chinese artist Sheng Dongqiao in the Brown Library. Green and Sheng have worked closely for the past to plan the events.

“The greatest benefit of this exhibition is that it appears in China and America,” Green said. “Though it will speak differently in each setting, it will amplify the importance of cross-cultural dialogues and creative initiatives on both sides of the Pacific.”

Chen Chunmei, minister-counselor for cultural affairs at the Chinese Embassy in Washington, will also attend the opening on Saturday.

“We were also convinced that having the artists attend the exhibition, come to the opening reception, sit for a public dialogue with local audiences and include interactive elements were necessary to promote mutual understanding and respect,” Green said.

Students can witness global dialogue aligning with the university’s Christ-centered mission of service and leadership. The events are free and public. 

Dialogue between artists occurs 6:30-7:30 p.m. Thursday at The Grace Museum, followed by Hanqiu Xu’s piano recital at 8 p.m. in Williams Performing Arts Center Recital Hall.

On Saturday, the Shore Gallery opening runs from 10 a.m. to noon with poetry from Steven Moore, professor of language and literature, music by alumnus Ryan Chu, and remarks by Green and Zhai You, vice president of Jiangsu Chinese Painting Society. The day will close with live collaborative painting at 2-4 p.m. at The Grace Museum.

For more information, see the university’s website here.

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The exhibit includes five Dead Sea Scroll fragments, a letter from C.S. Lewis to pupils, a Riena Bible, one of the first editions of the Bible completely translated to Spanish and other items of the Christian faith. The artifacts range in date, with the oldest dating from the first century BC to the newest one from the mid-20th century.

Each of the artifacts tells an important story about history, said Dr. James Wiser the dean of Library Services and Educational Technology. This includes a “He” Bible currently on display, a first edition copy of the King James version that includes a mistake.

“In Ruth 3:15 it refers to Ruth as a he instead of a she,” said Wiser, “and after it was realized there was that error, King James stopped the printing and put the people who made the error in prison.”

The exhibit is part of a traveling museum to build excitement for a future museum in Dallas called the Christian Hall of Fame. The goal of the exhibit is for people to be inspired by heroes of the faith, said Andrew Stimer, the owner of the artifacts.

“I hope that people are inspired by the examples and moved by the stories,” said Stimer, “These are stories that are being lost, really, if we don’t hold on to them. Stories of faithfulness and devotion, sacrifice, extraordinary ventures that people went on for the cause of Christ.”

The display is open from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. every weekday until it will be moved out over Spring break.

“Go see it,” said Dr. Wiser. “Because this is probably a once-in-a-lifetime thing for students, faculty and staff here at ACU. It’s very rare that this much value is on display.”

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“From a more emotional standpoint I think Ordinary Days stands out because it is about relationships,” said cast member Ashton Taylor in an email. “The characters are people you know, or maybe even you.”  

Ordinary Days premiered on Saturday at Seven in One Books. Set in New York City, the musical follows four main characters: Claire, Jason, Warren, and Deb. 

Taylor, junior theatre education major from Las Cruces, New Mexico, portrayed Jason, the boyfriend of Claire.  

According to the Department of Theatre’s website: “With hope and soaring songs, Ordinary Days shows how the smallest acts can sometimes have the most profound effects on your life.” 

“It’s a story about fighting for what matters to you,” Taylor wrote. “It’s a story about finding your place in the world.”

Zola Feasel, senior musical theatre major from Ranch, Colorado, also said the beauty in Ordinary Days lies within its simplicity. Feasel portrayed Claire. 

“It does not need dance numbers, crazy dramatic moments or a grand set to have a profound impact on the audience and the actors involved in the performance,” Feasel wrote in an email. “This sounds cliche; however, this show is so beautiful because it highlights the life, joy, sadness and connection in the ‘ordinary.’” 

The writer’s notes of Adam Gwon, playwriter, composer and lyricist for Ordinary Days, can be found on Concord Theatricals’ website. 

In Gwon’s notes, he said he intended for the musical to tell a story that encourages the audience’s engagement. It was designed to pull viewers into the search for human connection. 

“Ordinary Days tells the stories of four people struggling to connect,” Gwon wrote. “It’s made up of pieces that, like its characters, reveal themselves to be part of a much bigger story than we might have first imagined.” 

The plot follows Jason and Claire as they face relationship issues and have just moved in together. Simultaneously, Warren pursues his artistic dreams and Deb, a grad student, loses a prized possession. 

“Jason and Claire never actually meet Deb and Warren, yet their lives are forever impacted by their actions,” Feasel wrote. “They live in a city of millions of people and yet the four keep crossing paths.” 

Even though the pairs do not meet, their actions continuously affect each other. The plot’s repeated crossover between storylines is what calls on the audience to look deeper into the simplicity of daily life, Feasel said.  

Taylor and Feasel said they loved and appreciated the opportunity as a whole.  

“It has been such a joy to work on a show that forces us to open our eyes to the beauty of the most ordinary things in our lives,” Feasel wrote. 

The student director of Ordinary Days was Collin Mitten, junior theatre major from Katy. Feasel said the student-directed aspect of the show went smoothly and was a positive experience all around – the cast and crew were able to balance professionalism and enjoyment. 

The student-direct aspect has allowed the cast and production teams to connect in new ways. 

“There are moments when we’ve broken down with laughter and then will explore new moments as peers while we still maintain a deep respect for our student director, Collin,” Feasel wrote. “It’s been a lovely process.” 

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― Nelson Mandela

As of 2013, there were an estimated 133,000 prisoners institutionalized in private prisons. There are times in life when you must question the motives of individuals who seek to make profit off of government decreed punishment. American Prison, written by investigative journalist Shane Bauer, is an expose on the private prison system-a written record of his undercover experience as a prison guard in a Louisiana correctional facility. During his time as a CO, Bauer observed the dehumanization of prisoners and a severe lack of regard for their wellbeing. What makes this account so fascinating, is that Bauer was once a prisoner himself in Iran for hiking too close to the border. For two years, he was subjected to a criminal’s lifestyle-solitary confinement & egregious living conditions. If anyone can speak on the harrowing experience of prison, it would be him.

In the process of his undercover work and outside research, Bauer identified that racism was still a very prevalent part of private prison success. When the Thirteenth Amendment was first passed, it seemingly ended the centuries long practice of slavery. What we fail to notice in the verbiage, Bauer notes, is the phrase,”except for punishment of a crime.” Essentially, as long as Black men were convicted, slavery could continue to be a justifiable oppression.

From the roots of this systematic injustice came the private prison–an institution where individuals could benefit richly from the incarceration of so-called criminals. At the beginning of this creation, it made sense to convict anyone and everyone who could be tried as guilty, because it would result in a paycheck from the government to take care of their needs while incarcerated. What resulted from this, comments Bauer, is a modern day system that pockets the money for personal gain, while providing prisoners with the absolute bare minimum (sometimes even less than this) for survival. American’s sense of justice was found in the dollar bill, and served with the accumulation of it. 

The infamous Stanford Prison Experiment came to life in that Louisiana prison. Bauer, once a prisoner himself, observed his behavior becoming crueler and inhumane towards the prisoners. His coworkers expressed an interest only in themselves, and even spoke of their incarcerated counterparts like they were cattle-incapable of humanity. At one point, Bauer poses the question, “Are the soldiers of Abu Ghraib, or even Auschwitz guards and ISIS hostage-takers, inherently different from you and me?” To Bauer, there was no obvious distinction. Shouldn’t that terrify us?

The nucleus of this message is written in the way America views punishment. Private-for-profit prisons, in Bauer’s experience, do not have a prisoner’s best interest at heart. There is nothing humane about a correctional facility that profits off the suffering of its convicts. The margin for dissent here is about as slim as a moral crevice can be–the prisoners at Winn Correctional Facility were subjected to borderline torture ( locked in isolation for weeks as a game for prison guards, denied basic rights like food, water, and decent healthcare, etc). The list goes on until it begins to sound more like oppression than it does correction. 

At the end of his lengthy expose, Bauer discusses a visit he took to CCA’s corporate headquarters after he left Winn. After purchasing a single share in the company so he could attend a meeting with majority shareholders, Bauer’s resolve crumpled in a sense. He asks us, “How many times have such meetings been held in American History? How many times have men, be they private prison executives or convict lessees, gotten together to…sit in company headquarters or legislative offices, far from their prisons or labor camps, [to] craft stories that soothe their consciences?” For hours, he watched solders speak of their atrocities like they were desserts,  sweet on the tongue and easy to digest. There was nothing humane about it.

There is something to be feared about monopolizing on the correction of convicts. It is not inherently bad, in a sense, but its modern execution remains largely focused on viewing human beings as a resource that can be bought and sold like shares on the stock market. Give Bauer’s American Prison a read and understand for yourself what it actually means to be human capital.

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This past week I’ve had the privilege of reading Nick Carr’s novel about the internet’s scientific effects on the brain. The nucleus of his work was just as I suspected: the digital network is literally rewiring our neuropathways to allow us less of an attention span and more of a self-centered focus. It’s hard to ignore science when you find yourself as the lab rat in a grand social experiment you never willingly took part in. Carr also spoke on Artificial Intelligence and its increasing humanization. He brought up a fascinating study held in the latter half of the 20th century that sought to test the limits of ELIZA, an early computer language program. The test subjects were given therapy sessions by the program, which would respond with open-ended questions after a human response. The results were just as terrifying as you would imagine–ELIZA actually helped the test subjects. This is just a small chunk of what Carr explores in his research novel but is a prime example of the rapid evolution of the digital ecosystem.

After reading The Shallows, I thought it beneficial to watch a buzzing documentary on Netflix, satirically named The Social Dilemma. Jeff Orlowski, the director of the documentary, compiled together a series of interviews from ex-employees of large corporations such as Google, Facebook, and Twitter. Most of these workers have quit their jobs because of ethical concerns. They have watched their companies express an attitude of dehumanization towards their users, specifically with how they utilize inhumane addiction tactics that are designed to profit off of the attention of each individual. The Social Dilemma reveals many other terrifying secrets about the effects of social media on the brain, self-confidence, politics, and society’s progression as a whole. At one point, former President of Pinterest, Tim Keller, was asked what he believed would be the most prevalent consequence of this digital area. He was cited saying that in his opinion, he believed civil war was becoming an increasing possibility. For our sake, let’s hope he’s wrong on this account. 

So what does this mean for us? This is not new information. In fact, I’d say we’ve been hearing these statements ever since the internet was created in the ’60s. The issue now is that the negative effects of social media are no longer contained to their platforms. Both Carr and Orlowski expressed concern in their respective works, not because simply using social media would affect its user, but because it has bled into tangible society. Polarization of politics, racism, social movements—all of these elements are exacerbated by an increasing reliance on digital platforms for information. Orlowski’s documentary mentions an MIT study led by three scholars that found fake news travels at a rate of six times faster than accurate information does on Twitter. How do we navigate a world where social media is considered a primary source of knowledge? The answer, as Carr and Orlowski comment, is in our ability to discern truth. How can we solve real-world issues if we cannot accurately and unanimously sift through fact and fiction? 

If you’re interested in learning how to do this for yourself, take some time to look at these works for yourself. I will warn you though–it will not coddle your misconceptions about the social network. Perhaps, if we take off the rose-colored glasses we’ve looked through for so long, we can see how that is a very good thing.

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Kate Bowler’s Everything Happens for a Reason: And Other Lies I’ve Loved is something beautifully raw. Think of the memoir as a sorrowful, and somewhat satirical, depiction of dying—all of the fears, unmet dreams, and the people Kate Bowler found herself forced to leave behind.

In 2015, Bowler was just thirty-five when she was diagnosed with Stage IV Colon Cancer. She was at what some would describe as the prime of her life–happily married with a young son and excelling in her career. In spite of her previous belief in Prosperity Gospel (or some version of it), Bowler still found herself diagnosed with a fatal cancer, given a mere few months to live.

By now you’re probably able to connect the memoir’s title to its content, centered around the mantra “Everything happens for a reason.” Bowler essentially destroys this narrative in her book, commenting that if everything truly did happen for a reason, then what did she do to deserve cancer? What did her son do to watch her waste away? What sin did her friends, family and acquaintances commit in order to deserve such a punishment as losing a loved one? There is no “reason” per say that life is hard–believing so would mean believing the world follows a system of consequence. Assigning such moral values to an ambiguous life is a merely a byproduct of human projection (Though of course, God is an exemption from this rule), Bowler’s perspective on these inevitable truths paired with her traumatic experience with cancer is what makes this work so alluring, and so worth the read.

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Rarely in modern literature do I find authors who risk their platforms for the sake of controversial writing. Margaret Atwood is one among the few, a wolf in women’s clothing.

The Testaments, sister to The Handmaid’s Tale and Atwood’s latest work, is evidence of her willingness to incite the masses, specifically ones belonging to western religious communities. The story is set in a religious extremist version of the United States, now named Gilead, the preface to America’s destruction being a deconstruction of “traditional” moral values and a staggeringly low fertility rate.

The totalitarian state is built upon a system where women are intentionally oppressed through positions of servitude: wife, aunt, Martha, and handmaid. Organized rape is condoned and justified through biblical pretext, the story of Rachel presenting her maid Bilhah to Jacob as a childbearing vessel.

The Bible has become an incendiary device, one only accessible to high-ranking men. As a result, Scripture becomes misconstrued and warped to represent the misogynistic values of Gilead – a culture where corrupt men control the biblical narrative, and subsequently, control the women who rank below them. So why endure such a disturbed, seemingly blasphemous work?

I can’t think of a better time than now to remind ourselves that humans will always transcend the limitations put upon them. The protagonists of the story endure horrific hardship because of radicalized Christianity, and yet, they endure.

The stories of these women transverse, three unlikely people woven into a life that is not so much lived as it is spent fearing their own death, a testament to human resilience and the power of love. Many of us can see ourselves through these characters: the blind follower, the morally ambiguous, the prodigal daughter. The Testaments proves it isn’t who you are, but what you allow to be taken from you, that matters. And, as Atwood suggests in her writing, women don’t give anything willingly.

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The student-led dance production titled One Night Only sold out on tickets for the show on Feb. 29.

Students get a unique opportunity to show their talent on the stage through the expression of dance at a sold-out show.

Lily Balogh, freshman English major from Abilene and member of ACU theater, was the main coordinator for the night of dance. One Night Only included 22 students and 18 dance pieces. The pieces spanned many genres of dance, such as, Ballet, Jazz, Modern, Contemporary, Hip Hop, Tap and Slam Poetry.

This is the second time Balogh has coordinated the event.

“It was exciting to present choreography as it’s own entity and not as just a part of the musical theater scheme,” Balogh said.

Balogh said dance has not had an opportunity to shine in Abilene until she brought the One Night Only act to the stage, comparing Abilene to a “footloose town.” Balogh said she is excited for the opportunity to showcase students’ dance talent.

The Saturday showing sold out because of the support from the Abilene community. Because of this reaction, Balogh decided to open up the Friday night dress rehearsal as a pre-screening. The pre-screening will began at 7:30 p.m. in the Fulks Auditorium and tickets were sold at the door for $5 dollars.

Corban Gililland, junior theatre major from Abilene and dance captain, and LJ Brodie, junior theatre major from Mesquite and assistant choreographer, had the opportunity to choreograph their own dance numbers for the show. Each danced in 8 out of the 18 numbers.

When talking about the night and how he feels, Gililland said it is like your “heart and soul put on the stage.”

“Sometimes you don’t need words to say what’s on your heart and on your mind and just gotta dance it out,” Brodie said.

This show brought together both the ACU and Abilene communities to watch a variety of unique choreographed dances.

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