KINGSTON, R.I. – March 4, 2011 – The University of Rhode Island’s Center for Humanities will bring together the talents and expertise of students and faculty alike with a two-day Spring Humanities Festival on the Kingston campus March 10 and 11.

The festival will showcase a wide variety of topics at URI, including an illustrated reading from English Professor Mary Cappello on Thursday, March 10 in Swan Auditorium at 7:30 p.m. titled Swallowed and Saved: The Chevalier Jackson Foreign Body Collection and the Art is has Inspired. Cappello, whose recently-released book Swallow has received praise from several media outlets, including the New York Times, the Los Angeles Times and Salon.com.

Day Two of the festival will by held in Lippitt Hall from 10 a.m. until 5 p.m. on March 11. The schedule includes lectures from Philosophy Professor William Krieger and English professors Martha Rojas and Carolyn Betensky. Krieger, the co-director of Israel Coast Explorations, a project that brings students to Israel to study Akko’s Hellenistic harbor, will present on underwater archaeology.

“We wanted to bring together the humanities and the arts in a way that celebrated the wide array of talents and expertise we have on campus,” said Karen de Bruin, director of the festival and French professor.

Mixed in throughout day two of the festival will be artistic presentations and performances from undergraduate and graduate students. Among the performances will be a song by English major Rebecca Renna, who will perform a conversation from Harper Lee’s classic To Kill A Mockingbird set to music by current pop star Taylor Swift.

There will be student presentations in poetry slam, existentialism, music, photography, languages and more.

“This is a campus that is rich in talent in a wide variety of areas,” de Bruin said. “This is a way to showcase just how much the University has to offer.”

All events in the festival are free and open to the public. For complete details and times of the events, visit www.uri.edu/artsci/cfh/events.shtml.

The Center for Humanities was established at URI in 1994 and is designed to foster intellectual exchange and independent inquiry, analysis and interpretation of the humanities in research, teaching and learning. Other sponsors of the festival include the Office of the Provost, the Office of the President, the College of Arts and Sciences and the URI Honors Program.

The first URI Spring Humanities Festival will be held on the Kingston campus Thursday, March 10 and Friday, March 11.

Photo by URI student Samuel Morrissey (’11)