February Highlights

	The god Amun caught in the embrace of his devotee Amuniridis. From Karnak, Egypt. ca. 720 BC.

Oriental Institute Museum
Lecture: “Love and Sex in Ancient Egypt”
2 p.m., Sunday, Feb. 11
Breasted Hall, 1155 E. 58th St.
http://oi.uchicago.edu

Get ready for Valentine’s Day with a special look at love in the land of the pharaohs. Join Egyptologist Emily Teeter, Oriental Institute Research Associate and Curator of the Joseph and Mary Grimshaw Egyptian Gallery, for insider’s information on the ancient Egyptians, including their marriage and divorce customs, and their attitudes toward adultery and homosexuality. Following the lecture, participants will be able to choose a sentiment to be inscribed in ancient Egyptian hieroglyphs that could be given to a valentine. This event is free.

	Barbara Ehrenreich

International House
Global Voices Authors Night Series and the Co-op Seminary Bookstore present: Barbara Ehrenreich
6 p.m. Friday, Feb 9
1414 E. 59th St., Assembly Hall.
http://ihouse.uchicago.edu

Barbara Ehrenreich, author of The New York Times Bestseller Nickel and Dimed, will read from her book Dancing in the Streets: A History of Collective Joy. In the acclaimed Blood Rites, Ehrenreich delved into the origins of our species’ attraction to war. Here, she explores the opposite impulse, one that has been so effectively suppressed that we lack even a term for it: the desire for collective joy, historically expressed in ecstatic revels of feasting, costuming and dancing. Ehrenreich uncovers the origins of communal celebration in human biology and culture. Original and deeply optimistic, “Dancing in the Streets” concludes that we are innately social beings, impelled to share our joy and therefore able to envision, even create, a more peaceable future. Ehrenreich graduated from Reed College in 1963 with a degree in Physics and she received a Ph.D. in cell biology from Rockefeller University in 1968. This event is free and open to the public.

Court Theatre
Uncle Vanya
Through Sunday, Feb. 11
Museum of Contemporary Art, 220 E. Chicago Ave.
http://www.courttheatre.org

Forget everything you think you know about Chekhov; Court Theatre artistic director Charles Newell’s bold and unexpected take on Uncle Vanya reveals riotously funny moments that highlight and pierce the play’s powerful desolation. The play focuses on Chekhov’s often-overlooked comic brilliance and results in a delicate combination of laughter and tears. This production continues Court’s partnership with the Museum of Contemporary Art, spanning more than three years. Call (773) 753-4472 to purchase tickets.

	Saint Paul Chamber Orchestra

University of Chicago Presents
Artists-in-Residence: Saint Paul Chamber Orchestra
3 p.m. Sunday Feb. 11
Mandel Hall, 1131 E. 57th St.
http://chicagopresents.uchicago.edu

The only full-time, professional chamber orchestra in the country, the Saint Paul Chamber Orchestra continues in its second year of a 3-year residency at the University of Chicago. Concertmaster Steven Copes and principal violist Sabine Thatcher team up for Mozart’s glorious Sinfonia Concertante, the last of his double concertos. Other works include the Shostakovich Chamber Symphony, one of Shostakovich’s most frequently performed works; and Fiddlers, written by Finnish Romantic-Modern composer Einojuhani Rautavaara. Fiddlers is based on dance tunes transcribed by 18th-century Finnish fiddler Samuel Rinda-Nickola. Tickets cost $35 or $11 for students with valid ID. For tickets call (773) 702-8068.