BGSU Zoom News

Monday, September 25, 2017

NCFMR celebrates 10th anniversary | John Scofield highlights Orchard Guitar Festival

Wendy Manning (left) and Susan Brown

BGSU CELEBRATES NCFMR’S 10TH ANNIVERSARY
CENTER KNOWN FOR FAMILY AND MARRIAGE RESEARCH, DISSEMINATION AND TRAINING

For 10 years, Bowling Green State University has been at the forefront of setting the nation’s agenda for family and marriage research. Under the umbrella of the National Center for Family and Marriage Research (NCFMR) at BGSU, research into topics such as “gray divorce” and same-sex marriages has helped boost the University’s recognition as a resource for these important societal issues.

In July 2007, the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services requested proposals to create a national center for marriage research. The invitation caught the attention of the University, specifically some of the faculty affiliated with the Center for Family and Demographic Research (CFDR). BGSU’s Dr. Susan Brown, professor of research excellence and chair of the Department of Sociology, and Distinguished Research Professor Dr. Wendy Manning tackled the proposal, receiving assistance from CFDR staff and student and seeking input from across campus to help envision a plan that would make the proposal competitive.

The proposal was submitted in August and on Sept. 25, 2007, BGSU learned it would become the site for the sole federally funded marriage center in the U.S.

“While the CFDR promotes research at BGSU, the NCFMR gave us an opportunity to broaden our scope,” Manning said. “This decision was important because it provided an infusion of resources, gave us the opportunity to be the national center for the whole country on this topic, and to help set the agenda.”

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JAZZ GUITAR GREAT JOHN SCOFIELD HEADLINES ORCHARD GUITAR FESTIVAL

Legendary guitarist John Scofield’s jazz lineage can be traced back to the 1970s to the likes of Miles Davis and Charles Mingus. He’s recorded more than 30 albums and collaborated and played with contemporary stars such as Pat Metheny, Medeski, Martin & Wood, Mavis Staples, Government Mule, Phil Lesh and Herbie Hancock.

Scofield will headline the Orchard Guitar Festival, which takes place Friday and Saturday (Sept. 29-30) at Bowling Green State University.

Scofield has been touring with the recently formed jazz super group Hudson in support of their self-titled album released in June.

“We all live in the Hudson Valley area of New York and mainly it’s four guys who really wanted to play together,” Scofield said. “Jack DeJohnette, one of the legends of jazz drumming — they’re all legends, all the guys in the band — John Medeski on keyboards, Larry Grenadier on bass, and we played a bunch of tunes kind of associated with Woodstock Music Festival, from the late ’60s. They’re some old rock tunes, but we turned them into jazz tunes. It’s been fun playing with those guys.”

Scofield is looking forward to taking a break from the tour and sharing stories and lessons with students of BGSU’s College of Musical Arts during a master class before performing a free concert at Kobacker Hall with faculty members Ariel Kasler (piano/keyboard), Jeff Halsey (bass) and Dan Piccolo (drums).

DONAHUE TO DISCUSS, PERFORM ‘BANNED MUSIC’

Matthew Donahue

Not only have controversial books been banned throughout history, but also music. In commemoration of Banned Books Week and the 50th anniversary of the William T. Jerome Library at Bowling Green State University, the Friends of the Library will present “Popular Music Controversies and Banned Popular Music: The Ascent from Low Culture to High Culture,” a talk by Dr. Matthew Donahue, lecturer in the Department of Popular Culture.

The event begins at 1 p.m. Thursday (Sept. 28) in the Pallister Conference Room at the library. Admission is free.

Donahue will cover some of the more memorable moments in popular music history, many of which have resulted in musicians and their music being banned. He will highlight some of the controversies surrounding rock and roll music and its various subgenres from the 1950s to the present and examine how certain popular music styles have gone from being labeled as “low culture” and being banned or controversial to being celebrated and embraced by so-called “high culture” institutions such as museums and universities.

Donahue teaches a variety of courses related to popular music and culture, and is also a recognized musician, artist, filmmaker, and writer. He has written books such as “Taking It to the Streets: An Art Car Experience” and “I’ll Take You There: An Oral and Photographic History of The Hines Farm Blues Club.”