Events

In October 1998, university student Matthew Shepard was targeted for his sexuality. He was kidnapped, severely beaten, tied to a fence and left to die in a lonely field. Twenty years after that terrible event, we perform Craig Hella Johnson’s bold and transcendent work, which incorporates a variety of musical styles and texts, including passages from Matthew’s personal journal. This is the first time this work will be performed in Canada.

Jack Halberstam is Professor of Gender Studies and English at Columbia University. He is the author of several books, including: Trans: A Quick and Quirky Guide to Gender Variability (U of California Press, 2018); Gaga Feminism: Sex, Gender, and the End of Normal (Beacon Press, 2012); The Queer Art of Failure (Duke UP, 2011); In A Queer Time and Place (NYU Press, 2005) Skin Shows: Gothic Horror and the Technology of Monsters (Duke UP, 1995); Female Masculinity (Duke UP, 1998).

Our experiences, in work and life alike, challenge us to grow and evolve. This process allows us to realize the quintessential goal of education: to change ourselves. In this presentation, Dr. Edward Burger (Mathematics) and Victoria Star Varner (Fine Arts) will not only share two such personal journeys – one within the world of art and the other within the world of mathematics – but also challenge the audience to find the bridges that connect these two different stories. 

Gamelan is the traditional ensemble music of Java and Bali in Indonesia, made up predominantly of percussive instruments.  It is taught without notation, which means the students have to memorize their parts.  Directed by artist-in-residence I Dewa Made Suparta, the group plays both traditional Balinese music and modern compositions.

While the term “empire” has come to have strong political connotations, an archaic use of the word simply means to hold absolute power over something or someone. Few who listen to or participate in music could deny its empire!

The final report of the Truth and Reconciliation Commission of Canada (TRC) offered chilling evidence that Canada’s history has not been as heroic as we might have wished in this 151 years since Confederation. The 94 Calls to Action proposed in its final report, along with the recently-accepted United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples (UNDRIP) propose some serious changes to how archaeology and heritage is “done” in Canada. Are we as a society ready for the full implications of what they might mean?

Join Doug Peers, Dean of Arts, University of Waterloo, and a panel of professors with expertise in economics, philosophy, and human-computer interaction for a discussion about what we need to know and do to ensure artificial intelligence serves humanity for the good of everyone.

This is a concert about storytelling.  Surprisingly, Rossini's Barber of Seville is not a story about a rabbit masquerading as a barber but a love story complete with disguises and mistaken identity and love triumphs in the end.  The overture was written for a different opera actually, "Aureliano in Palmira". Rossini borrowed it as he had run out of time.

The UWaterloo Jazz Ensemble consists of approximately 20 jazz aficionados playing standard and non-standard jazz instruments.  Directed by Michael Wood, this ensemble will play a wide selection of popular jazz music.  this concert will feature the music of Sonny Rollins, Ralph Towner, Joe Sealy, Leonard Bernstein and Rodgers & Hart.

Six different Instrumental Chamber Ensemble groups of three to five members will play a lovely selection of classical music.