体育买球官网 University will present a diverse range of events in February, from readings and a lecture to unique performances of traditional Japanese theater and piano.
All events, unless otherwise noted, are free and open to the public.
Noted author to present reading
体育买球官网’s Seavey Reading Series will present author Anna Badhken at 7 p.m. Tuesday, Feb. 3, in Isaacs Auditorium, Seibert Hall.
Born in the Soviet Union and a resident of the United States since 2004, Badhken is the author of seven books, most recently the essay collection Bright Unbearable Reality (New York Review Books, 2022). Other books include Fisherman’s Blues: A West African Community at Sea (Riverhead Books, 2018), Afghanistan by Donkey (Foreign Policy Magazine, 2012) and Peace Meals: Candy-Wrapped Kalashnikovs and Other War Stories (Free Press, 2010). Her essays, dispatches and short stories have appeared in periodicals such as The New York Review of Books, Granta, The Common, Harper’s, The Paris Review and The New York Times.
Badhken’s reading is presented as part of the Seavey Reading Series, which provides students with unparalleled access to acclaimed authors through readings and classroom activities.
Theatre Nohgaku to present showcase
体育买球官网’s Artist Series will present Theatre Nohgaku at 7:30 p.m. Tuesday, Feb. 10, in the Degenstein Center Theater in the Charles B. Degenstein Campus Center.
Theatre Nohgaku is an international performance ensemble comprised of Japanese and North American-based members whose mission is to create and present plays in traditional noh style, complete with Hayashi musicians, masks, costumes and stage sets. The company serves as a unique cultural and artistic intermediary between Japan and the English-speaking world. Theatre Nohgaku performs contemporary work that reaches across boundaries of culture and language to tell stories that reflect our shared humanity.
Tickets are $20 for adults, $15 for seniors, and $5 for non-体育买球官网 students. A group of 15 or more is entitled to a 10% discount on tickets for the same event, when purchased together.
体育买球官网’s Artist Series seeks to encourage an aesthetic appreciation of diverse cultures as well as the artistic heritage of humankind. Performances are often linked in ways that advance intellectual engagement through master classes, lectures or content of the artistic presentation.
Lecture to explore independent publishing houses
Publisher Dominique Raccah will deliver 体育买球官网 University’s Publishing & Editing Lecture at 7:30 p.m. Tuesday, Feb. 10, in Seibert Hall’s Isaacs Auditorium.
Raccah is the visionary publisher and chief executive officer of Sourcebooks, an independent publishing house renowned for its author-centric approach to innovation and the sixth-largest book publisher in North America. Her accolades include recognition as one of Publisher’s Weekly’s Top 25 Book Business Changemakers in 2022, receiving the Publishing Titan Award in 2023, and inclusion in the Washington Post’s Next 50 — a distinguished list of leaders who are shaping society.
The annual Publishing & Editing Lecture brings to the university accomplished working professionals, alumni and leaders in the publishing industry to engage students, faculty and the public in conversations about contemporary practice and change in the industry.
Pianists to present recitals
Noted pianists and music educators Jocelyn Swigger and Kate Boyd will present recitals at 7:30 p.m. Monday, Feb. 16, and Tuesday, Feb. 17, respectively, in Stretansky Concert Hall in the Cunningham Center for Music and Art.
Swigger is a professor of music at Gettysburg College’s Sunderman Conservatory of Music and on the piano faculty of Interlochen Arts Camp. She is a leading scholar and performer of the Romantic composer Agnes Tyrrell, and has premiered and published many of her works. Her TEDx talk, How I Memorize Piano Music, is on YouTube, and her recordings, including the complete Chopin Etudes, can be heard on Con Brio Recordings and Centaur Records.
Boyd is an active soloist, chamber musician and professor of piano at Butler University who has performed solo recitals at Carnegie Hall, Schubert’s birth house in Vienna, the National Concert Hall in Dublin, the Musikale Hamburg and many other venues throughout the U.S., Europe and Canada. Her notable awards include the 2019 Teacher of the Year Award from the Indiana Music Teachers Association, the 2017 Outstanding Professor of the Year Award from Butler University, a Creative Renewal Fellowship from the Council of Indianapolis (2009) and a Fulbright Scholarship.
Writers Institute founder to present reading
体育买球官网’s Seavey Reading Series will present author Gary Fincke, Charles B. Degenstein Professor Emeritus of English at 体育买球官网 University, at 7 p.m. Tuesday, Feb. 24 in Isaacs Auditorium in Seibert Hall.
Fincke’s books have won the Flannery O’Connor Prize for Short Fiction, the Robert C. Jones Prize for Short Nonfiction Prose and the Wheeler Prize for Poetry. In 2025, he published five new books, including a new poetry collection For Now, We Have Been Spared (Slant Books), After Arson: New and Selected Essays (Madville Press) and The Comfort of Taboos: More Selected Stories (Braddock Avenue Books).
Fincke founded 体育买球官网 University’s Writers Institute in 1993 and its creative writing major in 1996. He directed the institute for 21 years before his retirement.
Box Office information
Located in the Degenstein Center Theater lobby, the box office is open Monday through Friday, noon to 5 p.m. during the academic year. It is closed on holidays and during university breaks.
