Spartan gifts, in words and music

Posted on December 17, 2019

organaments on a tree

UNC Greensboro has plenty to offer music and book lovers. This year, stuff the stockings with gifts created by talented UNCG faculty and alumni, or pick up tickets to a University Concert and Lecture Series performance. And, for Spartan gear, remember the Pop Up Shop.

album cover with field landscape

“Steve Haines and the Third Floor Orchestra” (Justin Time Records)
A new album by School of Music bassist Steve Haines draws on influences from the jazz, classical, and Celtic traditions. Haines has interpreted the work of multiple composers from his homeland of Canada with pieces from Neil Young, Gordon Lightfoot, Leonard Cohen, and Kim Mitchell. The album features Becca Stevens on vocals, UNCG Associate Professor of Music Chad Eby on soprano saxophone, and Joey Calderazzo on piano.

book cover with dance

“Staging Brazil” (Wesleyan University Press)
Assistant Professor of Dance Ana Paula Höfling’s study examines the two main styles of capoeira within discourses of race and nation in mid-twentieth century Brazil. “Staging Brazil” reveals capoeira’s place in 1960s and ’70s folkloric shows and looks into the globalization of the Afro-Brazilian combat game that is now practiced throughout the world.

woman in fancy dress

Renée Fleming (at UNCG)
One of the most acclaimed singers of our time will sing at UNCG Auditorium Feb. 26. Buy tickets for yourself and your loved ones, and consider a VIP pass that includes premium tickets for the performance, plus an invitation to a post-performance reception with the artist. Purchase tickets for the University Concert and Lecture Series event here.


album cover

“Songs of Our Native Daughters” (Smithsonian Folkways)
UNCG alumna Rhiannon Giddens joins Amythyst Kiah, Leyla McCalla, and Allison Russell on an album included on many “Best of 2019” lists. But that’s only one of the many gift choices available from the outstanding Greensboro-grown artist. During a Q&A at UNCG last year, Giddens and Francesco Turrisi previewed a song from another acclaimed album, “’There Is No Other” (Nonesuch Records), about strong African and Islamic influences on current music in American. The song “I’m on My Way” on that album has received a Grammy Award nomination for Best American Roots Performance.

book cover with basketball

“The Walk-On” (RCG Publishing)A Spartan basketball coming-of-age story by alumnus Ross Cavins that follows the journey of an underdog. “For those of us who were there when UNCG joined the Division I ranks and first experienced the sweet success of March Madness, it’s a must-read,” says former UNCG Associate Director of Athletics Ty Buckner.

book cover with smoke

“Writing Your Name on Glass” (Bull City Press)
Jim Whiteside, a graduate of UNCG’s MFA Program in Creative Writing, explores love and poetics of the queer South. These dynamic poems address identity, place, desire, and the act of reassembling broken pieces.


book cover with girl with leukemia

“No Match for Her” (self-published)
In this memoir, Associate Professor of Interior Architecture Travis Hicks traces the story of facing his 12-year-old daughter’s fight against an aggressive blood cancer. Inspired by her journey, the father changed his physical habits, becoming a long-distance runner and restoring his own health as he stood by his daughter during the fight of her life.

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“Mirror, Mirror: The Prints of Alison Saar”
For the art-lovers in your life, pick up this exquisite catalogue with text by Weatherspoon Art Museum director Nancy Doll. Alison Saar is known not only for her powerful sculptures—she is also a master of the art of printmaking. In both forms, she employs a personal vocabulary informed by history, race, and mythology. Saar’s works narrate stories of the African American experience, moving effortlessly from the personal to the political. The exhibition is open at the Weatherspoon through Feb. 23. See hours here.

literary magazine cover

The Greensboro Review (UNCG Department of English)
Give a subscription to UNCG’s The Greensboro Review, a literary journal with a long, distinguished history. Read the best in new fiction, poetry, and nonfiction edited by students and faculty in the MFA Program in Creative Writing.


book cover with olive trees

“The Archaeology of Medieval Islamic Frontiers” (University Press of Colorado)
A new book edited by Associate Professor of History A. Asa Eger discusses frontier or border regions of medieval Islamic entities, including those in the Magreb, the Mediterranean, Egypt, Nubia, and the Caucasus. The material draws from archaeological and documentary evidence, highlighting the significance of the regions in new sociopolitical, cultural, and economic practices within the Islamic world.

a book cover

“When I Go Back to My Home Country”: A Remembrance of Archie Ammons” (R.A. Fountain)
Alumna Emily Herring Wilson’s book about the celebrated poet A.R. Ammons is part autobiography and part introduction to Ammons’ poetry. It’s also a moving memoir of their 30-year friendship.

Compiled by Susan Kirby-Smith, University Communications

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