UMM Preview
Play in a Day
Meinengens, UMM’s student theatre group, will perform a play with only one day’s preparation on Saturday, Feb. 18, at 10 p.m. in the Student Center’s Edson Auditorium. Free and open to all.
Book Group
Join other avid readers in the Morris Book Group on Monday, Feb. 20, at 5 p.m. to read and discuss The Help by Kathryn Stockett. Next month the group will read Round Ireland with a Fridge by Tony Hawks and will meet on March 12. Meetings are held in the Briggs Library McGinnis Room.
Soul Food Dinner
The Black Student Union will provide a dinner of tasty Soul Foods on Monday, Feb. 20, at 6 p.m. in the Student Center’s Oyate Hall. Tickets available.
Pride of the Prairie Farmers Market
Local farmers and merchants will offer local and organic foods, homemade goods, and other products for sale on Tuesday, Feb. 21, from 1 until 5 p.m. in the Student Center.
Pride of the Prairie Spring Local Foods Mardi Gras Dinner
The Mardi Gras Dinner features a locally sourced Mardi Gras menu created from foods grown on the prairie and across Minnesota on Tuesday, Feb. 21, from 4:45 until 7 p.m. in the Food Service Building. Dinner choices include Cajun walleye, chicken jambalaya with wild rice and Andouille sausage, vegetarian jambalaya, red beans and rice, and more. Your dining experience will be accompanied by locally grown music from the prairie. Off-campus students, and on-campus students may use their meal plans. Children under 5 eat free. Tickets are available from the Morris Area Chamber of Commerce, the UMM Information Center/Higbies, and at the door.
Morris Listening Session
A public “listening session” is being organized for local area residents to gather and discuss how to improve the quality of life in the Stevens County region on Tuesday, Feb. 21, at 6:30 p.m. Co-sponsored by the Center for Small Towns and Clean up the River Environment (CURE) in collaboration with InCommons, the session will take the form of an “open space” meeting where attendees set the agenda and lead the discussion. For those not partaking of the local foods meal on campus, a free meal catered by Bello Cucina will be served at 5 p.m. at WROC in advance of the listening session. The event is free, but preregistration is required by calling 1-877-269-2873 or emailing cure@cureriver.org by Feb. 18. Contact the Center for Small Towns at 320-589-6451 for more information.
February Soup and Substance Discussion on Religious Tolerance
The monthly Soup & Substance discussion will be held on Tuesday, Feb. 21, at 6:30 p.m. in the Student Center’s Alumni Room in Oyate Hall. The February gathering will address the issue of Religious Tolerance. Participants will ponder such questions as, how well do UMM and the Morris community tolerate varying religious beliefs, or those who are not religious? Does UMM provide accommodations for those who have specific practices or need particular religious holidays off? What about other employers in Morris? What is, or should be, the role of religion at a public, liberal arts college? Soup & Substance pairs a delicious free meal with a meaningful discussion. For more information, contact student organizer Maria Fleck at fleck049@morris.umn.edu or 320-589-6276.
Jane Addams Meeting
Everyone is invited to join Jane Addams, a community building project between UMM students, Morris community members, and the Hispanic community in and around Morris, on Tuesday, Feb. 21, at 6:30 p.m. in Imholte Hall 111. Language circles in both languages are used to promote the bonding of the community.
Black History Month Movie: The Help
The Women of Color Association presents The Help on Wednesday, Feb. 22, at 7 p.m. in Edson Auditorium. The film is an inspirational, courageous and empowering story about very different, extraordinary women in the 1960s South who build an unlikely friendship around a secret writing project — one that breaks society’s rules and puts them all at risk. Free and open to all.
Asking the Big Questions
Asking the Big Questions will tackle the topic of Minnesota Politics on Thursday, Feb. 23, at 7 p.m. in the Briggs Library McGinnis Room. Can’t tell Hubert Humphrey from Eugene McCarthy or decipher the acronym DFL? Let UMM political science professor Roger Rose shed some light on the institutions and people of Minnesota’s political landscape past and present. Non-partisan snacks and refreshments will be served starting at 6:30 p.m. Everyone is welcome. Contact Peter Bremer at pbremer@morris.umn.edu for more information.
Mixed Student Recital
Enjoy a mixed student recital by UMM’s supremely talented student musicians on Thursday, Feb. 23, at 7:30 p.m. in the HFA Recital Hall. No admission charge.
Open Mic Night
Have your say or share your talents at this open mic opportunity on Thursday, Feb. 23, at 9:30 p.m. in the Student Center’s Turtle Mountain Café.
Play: No Place Called Home
The Theatre Discipline presents No Place Called Home on Friday, Feb. 24, at 7:30 p.m. in the Humanities-Fine Arts Black Box Theatre. This new play was written and is performed by former Minnesotan, now New York City actress, playwright, and improv artist Kim Schultz, with amazing live music by Amikaeyla Gaston, and directed by Sarah Cameron Sunde. The play was developed from interviews conducted by a delegation of American artists traveling to Syria, Jordan, and Lebanon with Intersections International, a NYC based NGO to interview some of the four million displaced Iraqis living in exile. No Place Called Home is that unexpected story—a true story about an American woman and an Iraqi man, a story about one refugee out of 4 million, a story that isn’t supposed to be a love story. Tickets are available.
CAC Films: Mean Girls
The Campus Activities Council will screen Mean Girls, a film which depicts how female high school social cliques operate and the effect they can have on girls, on Friday, Feb. 24, at 9:30 p.m. in Edson Auditorium.