Kent State University Libraries and Media Services was selected from a pool of more than 270 applicants to serve as a pilot site for “Looking at: Jazz, America’s Art Form,” a six-part film discussion series. The library is one of 50 institutions nationwide selected to participate in the pilot program organized by Re:New Media in partnership with the American Library Association and Jazz at Lincoln Center. The project is supported by a major grant from the National Endowment for the Humanities.

“Looking at: Jazz” explores the cultural and social history of jazz as it developed as an art form in the United States. The series will open with a guest lecture on Thursday, Feb. 1, by Dr. Jeanne Houck, series curator, and Dr. Krin Gabbard, a series consultant and professor at Stony Brook University.

 The series will include the opening lecture and six film screenings on the following dates:

Thursday, Feb. 1: Opening Lecture

Kent Campus, University Auditorium

Wednesday, Feb. 7: New Orleans and the Origins of Jazz

Stark Campus, Main Hall Auditorium

Wednesday, Feb. 21: The Jazz Age and Harlem as a Center for Jazz

Trumbull Campus, 117 Technology Building

Wednesday, March 7: The Jazz Vocalists

Kent Campus, University Auditorium

Wednesday, March 21: The Swing Era

Stark Campus, Main Hall Auditorium

Wednesday, April 4: Jazz Innovators: Bebop, Hard Bop, Cool and More

Trumbull Campus, 117 Technology Building

Wednesday, April 18: Latin Jazz and Jazz as an International Music

Kent Campus, University Auditorium.

Kent State University’s presentation of “Looking At: Jazz  ” at the university’s Kent, Stark and Trumbull Campuses is intended to highlight the strengths that exist across the entire university system, while also reaching out to the communities that surround Kent State’s campuses. Through the discussion of music, and specifically jazz, as a social, cultural and historical phenomenon, audiences will have the opportunity to look closely at a wide array of everyday issues through an art form that often embodies deep personal significance. Discussions will be led by members of Kent State’s faculty in music, history and journalism and mass communication, as well as guests with expertise in American studies, comparative literature and political science.

For more information, contact Daniel Boomhower, 330-672-1667

Rachel Wenger, 330-672-8046, rwenger@kent.edu

For details visit www.library.kent.edu/lookingatjazz or contact Daniel Boomhower, Library for the Performing Arts at dboomhow@kent.edu.

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