Lehigh Valley Charter High School for the Arts - The Lehigh Valley Charter High School for the Arts

Join us this summer for:

VENTURE ACADEMY 2016

LIFE IS A VENTURE, AN ADVENTURE FOR THE YOUNG OF MIND AND HEART

This series of guided explorations is designed to promote provocative ideas, images, and sensations for the curious adult seeking to cope with an increasingly complex, bewildering, exciting, wondrous, and interesting world.

A special opportunity to collaboratively explore the astounding strangeness of our global world, as well as many other unknown worlds, with a stimulating array of seasoned and highly qualified guides.

Participants will uncover a new Exploration/Adventure each week, including:

SESSION I: Thursday, July 7 from 6pm-8:30pm
“The Dead Still Speak: Understanding the Living by Exploring a Bethlehem Cemetery”

For this exploration there will be some small preliminary readings/discussion, then we will visit the Nisky Hill Cemetery in Bethlehem.  In the cemetery we will focus on how the monuments of the past advertised the lives or aspired-to lives of those buried, as well as how they speak to us today.  The cemetery will be a guided tour and an assignment for participants to isolate and gather specific types of information which we will discuss at the end of the tour.

Guide:  David Small, Professor of Archaeology Lehigh University; with special expertise in cultural anthropology, archaeological theory, archaeological digs, comparative mortuary/cemetery tradition.

SESSION II:  Tuesday, July 12 from 6pm-8:30pm
“Profound Changes Beneath the Middle Eastern Sand Dunes”

Most of our information about the Arabic World comes from short sound bites or media clips.  Let’s go beneath the surface and explore the tensions developing as the Arabic and Islamic World in the Middle East confronts the issues of women in the workplace, of international curricula in schools, and of secular influences in the culture.

Guide:  Roland Yoshida, Former Professor and Dean of the College of Education, Provost Emeritus of Lehigh University, has special expertise in the education theory of exceptional children and international education. He has recently served for fifteen months as an advisor to the Pre-University Education Division of the Qatar Foundation in Doha.  

SESSION III: Tuesday, July 19 from 6pm-8:30pm
“An Insider’s History of Bethlehem- through the Amazing Life of H.D. (Hilda Doolittle)”

Explore the history of the great city of Bethlehem, Pennsylvania, from the Moravian settlement to the rise of the steel industry, through the memoirs of H.D. (Hilda Doolittle), a pioneering feminist-and pacifist, and one of the most influential poets of the 20^th century.  This will be an interactive discussion and a walking tour.

Guide:  Seth Moglen, Associate Professor of English, Lehigh University;  is a scholar of 19th- and 20th-Century American Literature and American studies. He is currently at work on a book, “Bethlehem: American Utopia, American Tragedy,” which explores the 270-year history of one iconic American city.

SESSION IV:  Tuesday, July 26 from 6pm-8:30pm
“The Constructive Imagination in the Art of Invention: the Role of Creativity in the Art of Architecture”

This interactive exploration will demonstrate how the use of analogy, simulation and metaphor are used in the creative process. There will be examples from his design studios and workshops conducted at Lehigh and internationally. Possible walking tour of Viscardi’s constructions on the Lehigh campus.

Guide: Anthony Viscardi, Professor of Architecture & Art, Lehigh University, a nationally and internationally known scholar-teacher in the design and art of architecture.  Throughout his career in architectural practice and as a professor of architecture, Viscardi has continued to work as an artist and has had many solo and group exhibitions.

SESSION V:  Tuesday, August 2 from 6pm-8:30pm
“Moravian Lives through the Centuries”

Before there were blogs, Facebook or Internet searches how were our life stories told? Based on the Moravian tradition of writing a Lebenslauf (memoir) as a validation of one’s life to be shared with their community, we will interactively explore the oral and written practices of the past and discover possibilities for ourselves today.

Guide:  Frank Shipman is currently completing studies at Moravian Theological Seminary. He was the 2015 recipient of the Herman T. Frueauff Memorial Prize for his work and research in Moravian history. 

SESSION VI:  Tuesday, August 9 from 6pm-8:30pm
“A Pilgrim’s Guide to What You Need to Know about Religion Today”

Religions have decidedly not withered away under the laser-like scrutiny of rationality and scientific scrutiny.  In fact, ever since the new millennium and especially after the cataclysmic event of 9/11, it is clear that “religions” in all of their significantly positive and terrible forms have come roaring back into our global and internet connected world. So why do we do religion, where does it come from, where is it going, is it something we can’t live without, and do we need to get rid of it?  An interactive and comparative exploration of some of these issues along with discussion, some internet spelunking, and provocative short videos and/or power point.

Guide:  Norman Girardot, University Distinguished Professor Emeritus of Comparative Religion, Lehigh University, is an author and scholar with special expertise in Chinese religion, prehistoric religion, popular religion, outsider art and religion, and the strangeness of the human condition.

Dates and Times for the Explorations

Venture Academy is held from 6pm-8:30pm on the following dates.  Your Adventure Pass covers all six sessions.

SESSION #1:  Thursday, July 7 6pm-8:30pm  (*this is the only Thursday night)

SESSION #2:  Tuesday, July 12 6pm-8:30pm

SESSION #3:  Tuesday, July 19 6pm-8:30pm

SESSION #4:  Tuesday, July 26 6pm-8:30pm

SESSION #5:  Tuesday, August 2 6pm-8:30pm

SESSION #6:  Tuesday, August 9 6pm-8:30pm

CONCLUDING BONUS EVENT:  Participants will be invited to attend a free social gathering and special TED talk-style Venture Academy Talk (VAT) on August 16^th at 6pm.  This session will include a vibrant topic and guest speaker that will kick-off the VAT series of presentations, to begin in the fall of 2016.  This session will also serve as a way for participants to meet for discussion and feedback with the Academy guides and Charter Arts staff regarding the Venture Academy experience.  Refreshments will be served.

Registration

Open to adults, 18+.

ADVENTURE PASS (Single):   $125

COUPLE/BUDDY PASS (Two):  $95 each

Early Registration Discount:  $10 off if registered by May 31, 2016

‘One Session’ Pass: $45 each (early registration discount does not apply)

CLICK HERE TO DOWNLOAD REGISTRATION FORM

The above program is an adult enrichment workshop series, open to the community. Proceeds from the program benefit teachers’ salaries at the Lehigh Valley Charter High School for the Arts.