November Highlights

The Renaissance Society
“All the Pretty Corpses”
Sunday, Nov. 13 - Friday, Dec. 23
10 a.m. - 5 p.m. Tuesday - Friday and noon — 5 p.m. Saturday and Sunday, Cobb Hall, 5811 S. Ellis Ave., Fourth Floor
http://renaissancesociety.org, 702-8670

The Renaissance Society will present a group exhibition that includes works by Jeremy Blake, Ellen Cantor, John Espinosa, Jay Heikes, Kacy Maddux, Sterling Ruby, Steven Shearer and Tony Tasset. Curated by Hamza Walker, Associate Curator of the Renaissance Society, the exhibition reflects on mysticism, anger, mourning, horror, aggression, angst, and apocalypse in the forms of text on walls, drawings, sculpture and video, showcasing a latent gothic impulse in contemporary America. A reception will be held from 4 to 7 p.m., Sunday, Nov. 13, featuring a discussion with the artists and curator Walker.

	The Anchiskhati Ensemble from the Republic of Georgia

Rockefeller Memorial Chapel
Sacred and Folk Music from the Republic of Georgia
Anchiskhati Ensemble
8 p.m., Saturday, Nov. 5
5850 S. Woodlawn Ave. 702-7059

Sacred and folk music styles of Georgia are closely intertwined, and Anchiskhati Church’s choir sings them both boldly. The Anchiskhati singers are strongly committed to the authenticity of their singing, gathering material from archival recordings and traveling around Georgia to study the many regional variations in the local music. There also will be a special guest performance by the University’s Russian choir, Golosa. Tickets are available at the door or by calling (773) 702-7059. Cost is $15 for general admission, and $8 for senior citizens and students.

	James Schamus

Doc Films
Sneak preview and Q&A with James Schamus, co-president of Focus Features.
Co-sponsored by the Presidential Fellows in the Arts Program and Doc Films.
9 p.m. Thursday, Nov. 17
Max Palevsky Cinema, Ida Noyes Hall, 1212 E. 59th St.
Doc Films Hotline: 702-8575, http://docfilms.uchicago.edu

For more than 15 years, James Schamus has been a major independent writer-producer of more than 100 films, first as co-founder of Good Machine, a New York independent production company, and since 2002, as co-president of Focus Features, a division of Universal Pictures. He has partnered with Ang Lee on each of his films, including such pictures as The Wedding Banquet (1993), Sense and Sensibility (1995), The Ice Storm (1997), the Oscar-winning Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon (2000) and The Hulk (2003). In addition to his work in the film industry, Schamus teaches film theory and history at Columbia University in New York. Admission is $5 for students with valid ID, $15 for others.

	John Hope Franklin

The Divisions of the Humanities and Social Sciences
Discussion and book signing with John Hope Franklin, the John M. Manly Professor Emeritus in History
7:30 p.m. Tuesday, Nov. 15
Breasted Hall, Oriental Institute, 1155 E. 58th St.
702-7423

Professor Franklin’s newly-published autobiography, Mirrors to America, traces his life from segregated Oklahoma before World War I and education at Harvard through his path-breaking academic career at the University of Chicago and his leadership in the struggle for civil rights in America, most recently as Chairman of President Bill Clinton’s Initiative on Race. Franklin will be introduced by Provost Richard Saller and then will be on hand to discuss his life and experiences, answer questions and sign copies of his new book. Free.