Arts & Culture

Students of capstone course Sexual Assault Education Theater will perform an entirely student-written play about sexual assault at 5th Avenue Cinema this afternoon.

The skits have a special twist: audience participation.

After watching the onstage situations unfold, audience members will have the opportunity to actually stop the scene in medias res and stand in for one of the performers, thus changing how the situation plays out.

The philosophy of Cornel Pewewardy, associate professor and director of the Indigenous Nations Study Program at Portland State, goes a little something like this:

“My life’s purpose is to continue a warrior tradition framed from the teachings of warrior-leaders, peace-chiefs/philosophers, warrior-professors, culturally responsive colleagues, students, and all the young people of all colors who will inherit the earth with the four-legged winged ones and water beings.”

Oven occupied by your holiday turkey? Never fear—no-bake cookies are here!

These peanut butter chocolate snowball cookies are a fun winter treat that you can throw together in no time. Their rich, fudgy texture is sure to win over any Grinch this season. And with no baking necessary, you can use your oven for other endeavors, like making more pies!

More than 50 years after her death, Marilyn Monroe remains one of the most celebrated Hollywood personalities.

This weekend, Portland State students will have a chance to see the iconic pinup model onscreen at 5th Avenue Cinema’s showing of director John Huston’s 1961 western romance, The Misfits.

Set in the dusty Nevada countryside, The Misfits is about the rugged rebound of newly divorced Roslyn Taber (Monroe). Having left her neglectful husband in Reno, she and her friend Isabelle Steers (Thelma Ritter) fall in with a posse of cowboys who make their living ranging the mountains in pursuit of free-running mustangs.

It’s too easy to take language for granted—not just what we say but the way our language defines us as individuals, as a people and as a nation.

Today, Patricia Wetzel, professor of Japanese at Portland State, will deliver a lecture titled “It’s not about you: language clutter on the Japanese landscape?” which will examine the cultural impact of Japanese language on Japanese society.

Although Dwight Schrute from NBC’s The Office is a pretty socially awkward guy, he’s got one thing right for sure: Beets are awesome. These heart shaped bulb-like roots have a distinct and earthy taste that pairs wonderfully with other vegetables.

This recipe for a crisp corn and beet salad makes for a sweet dish that’s rich in color and perfect for holiday dining. Plus, these dark red delicious roots are full of antioxidants, packed with vitamins and high in fiber. Serve it up hot or cold as a side dish, or on top of your favorite poultry as a unique slaw.

When I finally found his office in the sadistic maze that is the fourth floor of Neuberger Hall, associate professor of English Paul Collins greeted me with a handshake and a warm smile. He had recently returned from an engagement and wasted no time before speaking with me.

“Let’s see, when did I start writing?” Collins asked himself, laughing. “I’ve been writing books since high school, but as far as actually getting paid to write, that really started later for me.”

Paul Collins is an accomplished author and has been an associate professor at Portland State since 2006. His seven novels have been translated into 10 languages, and he has written freelance articles for The New York Times, Slate and New Scientist. His work in creative nonfiction earned him the Guggenheim Fellowship for Nonfiction in 2009.

Portland State’s Confucius Institute will welcome professor Galal Walker when he delivers a lecture titled “Learning Cycles, Instructional Cycles and the Confucian Pleasure” Wednesday, Nov. 23.

Walker, a professor of Chinese Linguistics and the director of East Asian languages at Ohio State University, has spent his career arguing for the importance of culture in foreign language-learning curricula.

“It seems very difficult for them to conceptualize a sense of Chinese-ness that’s a locally defined Chinese-ness,” said Sharon Carstens as she explained the cultural plight of ethnic Chinese in Malaysia.

This plight is the focus of her colleague Dr. Alison Groppe, assistant professor of Chinese literature at the University of Oregon. Groppe will visit Portland State Tuesday, Nov. 22, to deliver a lecture, titled “Not Made in China: Identity & Home in Sinophone Malaysian Fiction,” about Chinese fiction written in the Southeast Asian country of Malaysia.

“Looking at the literature that is based on their local culture is something that’s very interesting,” Carstens said.

Portland State’s art scene is becoming known for its Art and Social Practice Master of Fine Arts program, in which artists are encouraged to interact with their community.

Harrell Fletcher, assistant professor of art at PSU and fellow of the Institute for Sustainable Solutions, will present “Art, Society and Sustainability,” a seminar to be held Wednesday, Nov. 23, that will explore the intersection between these three subjects while showcasing Fletcher’s work.