Gatherings of Scholars

The Department of Economics and the Allen Memorial Art Museum are hosting symposia this week that have atracted presenters and participants from Oberlin and from across the country.

Religion, Ritual, and Performance in the Renaissance

The museum’s scholarly symposium, Religion, Ritual, and Performance in the Renaissance, takes place Thursday, April 25, and Friday, April 26, and includes lectures, musical performances, and a public reception. Alumnus Laurence Kanter ’76, chief curator and Lionel Goldfrank III Curator of European Art at the Yale University Art Gallery, will give the keynote address, “On Connoisseurship.” Presenters include George Bent ’85, Sidney Gause Childress Professor in the Arts at Washington & Lee University; William Hood, Mildred C. Jay Professor of Art Emeritus; Oberlin faculty members from the art, English, history and musicology departments; and Oberlin students selected via a competitive process.

All events take place in the museum’s King Sculpture Court and are free and open to the public. The symposium is held in conjunction with the AMAM’s yearlong focus on the theme of “Religion, Ritual, and Performance.” Multiple exhibitions relating to the theme from cultures around the world have been on view at the museum since August 2012 and will continue until summer 2013. Read more about the symposium.

Learning and Labor Economics

On Friday, April 26, and Saturday, April 27, the country’s top labor economists, including several generations of alumni, will come together for Learning and Labor Economics, a conference marking three milestones — the 100th anniversary of the economics major at Oberlin, the 70th anniversary of the graduation of Albert Rees ’43, one of the college’s foremost alumni and donors; and the 50th year of Professor Hirschel Kasper’s teaching at Oberlin.

The conference features a keynote address by Alan B. Kreuger, chair of President Barack Obama’s Council of Economic Advisers and a member of the Cabinet. Presenters include Joshua Angrist ’82, Ford Professor of Economics at MIT; Orly Ashenfelter, professor of economics and director of the Industrial Relations Section at Princeton University; and Daniel Rees ’86, professor of economics at the University of Colorado, Denver.

All panels and talks are free and open to the public. Friday’s events take place in the Science Center’s Craig Lecture Hall, and Saturday’s events take place in the A.J. Lewis Center’s Hallock Auditorium.