If you think that a night at the movies should offer something a bit more thought-provoking and artistic than the usual Hollywood fare, check out the KSC Film Society’s picks for May:

Wendy and Lucy
May 1–7
2008, USA, directed by Kelly Reichardt, rated R, 80 minutes, 35mm print.

Dillinger is Dead
May 8–14
1969, Italy, directed by Marco Ferreri, not rated, 90 minutes, 35mm print

Timecrimes
May 15–21
2008, Spain, directed by Nacho Vigalondo, rated R, 92 minutes, 35mm print.

I Love You, Man
May 22–28
2009, USA, directed by John Hamburg, 110 minutes, rated R, 35mm print.

Che, Part I
May 29–June 42009, USA/Spain/France, directed by Steven Soderbergh, rated R, 126 minutes, 35mm print. In English and Spanish with English subtitles.

The Putnam Arts Lecture Hall is in the east wing of Brickyard Pond and is equipped for films up to 70-mm format and for Dolby Digital Sound. Show times are Friday through Thursday at 7 & 9 p.m. with matinees on Saturday & Sunday at 2 p.m.

Ticket prices are $4 for adults; $3 for students, KSC staff, and alumni; $3.50 for matinees; $3 for children 12 and under; and $2 for KSC students with valid ID. Visit the Putnam Schedule page for descriptions of each film and a more complete schedule. Or call 603-358-2160 for information about showings.

Friends and family of a former Keene State College journalism student will hold a brief dedication ceremony at the Media Arts Center on Saturday, May 16 at 1 p.m. Silas River Bennett (Sy) died May 27, 2008 after a difficult and courageous battle against lung cancer. He was 29 years old and a junior at Keene State, a good friend, son, brother and a talented journalist. A hand-made wooden park bench will be placed in the Media Arts Center in his memory. Everyone is welcome to attend.

Well over 900 students will graduate from KSC this centennial year. The ceremony will begin at 1 p.m. on Fiske Quad, Saturday, May 9, so come on over and cheer these new graduates on in the next phase of their adventure. On Friday, May 8, Spring Honors Convocation will be held from 4-6 p.m., in the Redfern Arts Center on Brickyard Pond to recognize those students who have excelled in scholarship and leadership. Good energy and good wishes to them all!

More information.

Have you attended Grayson Lectures in the past? This year, Dr. Lauret Savoy, professor of Geology and Environmental Studies at Mount Holyoke College, will present “Alien Land Ethic: The Distance Between,” on Monday, April 27, at 6 p.m. in the Thorne-Sagendorph Art Gallery Conference Room. Dr. Savoy is one of eight women scientists nationwide featured on the National Science Foundation’s award-winning CD-ROM, Telling Our Stories: Women in Science. She will discuss how the intertwinings of human history and geologic-natural history contribute to stories we tell of land’s origin and history, and to stories we tell of ourselves in the land and of relational identity.

Come back to campus on the 27th and let us know what you thought of the lecture. If you’ve attended others in the Grayson series, tell us about your favorite. We’d love to hear.

More information.

Be a part of history on April 15 as we celebrate the 100th anniversary of the founding of Keene Normal School. Everyone is invited! Please join current students, faculty, staff, alumni, parents, and the community.

Keene State College Campus
Wed., April 15
We’ll supply the food, fun, festivities, and fireworks!
Free and Open to the Public

The schedule for the evening is as follows:

7:30 p.m. Centennial proclamation reaches Central Square in Keene. The proclamation, issued that morning by Gov. Lynch, will be relayed by runners and walkers all the way from Concord to Keene.
7:45 p.m. Centennial proclamation enters campus at the Appian Gateway on Main Street. Please help us hand it along Appian Way to the stage outside the Student Center.
8 p.m. Music, cheering, dancing, special remarks, and the biggest birthday cake you’ve ever seen!
8:15 p.m. Fireworks, viewed from the Oya Hill plaza outside the Zorn Dining Commons.
You can also visit our Centennial Relay Page on KSC100 to share your good wishes and monitor the progress of the centennial proclamation as it’s hand-carried from Concord to Keene on April 15.

The hot sounds of New Orleans street music will rock the Redfern when the Hot 8 Brass Band performs Wednesday, February 11, at 7:30 p.m. The Hot 8 plays the traditional Second Line parades, hosted each Sunday afternoon in the Big Easy by the Social Aid and Pleasure Clubs.

The Hot 8 will also lead a free and public lecture/demonstration in the Redfern on the music of the Second Line bands on February 11 at 2 p.m.

In addition, there will be a free showing of the Spike Lee documentary, When the Levees Broke, in which the band figures prominently in the relief work on behalf of the victims of Hurricane Katrina. The film will be shown at the Redfern’s Putnam Art Lecture Hall in two parts (each is two hours long). Part one will be seen Monday, February 9, at 7 p.m., and part two will be seen Tuesday, February 10, at 7 p.m. Donations for the St. Bernard Project, a relief program to support the residents of New Orleans’s Lower Ninth Ward, are encouraged and will be collected at the door.

More information.

Do you eat meat? Where does it come from? Where does it really come from? You’d be surprised. Michael Pollan made some amazing discoveries about the real ingredients and costs of our food in his book The Omnivore’s Dilemma.

Join KSC professors William Stroup and Mark Timney in the Mountain View Room, Student Center, at 4 p.m. on Monday, February 2, for a panel presentation and discussion on the use of animal flesh as food, and other ideas raised in Pollan’s book. The event is free and open to the public — and there will be refreshments. Just make sure you eat them before you find out what’s in them.

More info.