Mozart Performance and Talk Begins Spring Program

Mozart and an American town populated entirely by Satmar Hasidic Jews are the topics for the Schemel Forum’s spring collaborative programs.
Julliard-trained pianist Richard Kogan, M.D., professor of psychiatry at Weill Cornell Medical College and artistic director of the Weill Cornell Music and Medicine Program; and David N. Myers, Ph.D., distinguished professor of history, Sady and Ludwig Kahn Chair in Jewish History, and director of the Luskin Center for History and Policy at UCLA; will lead University of Scranton Schemel Forum Collaborative Programs on Mar. 29 and Apr. 27.
Julliard-trained pianist Richard Kogan, M.D., professor of psychiatry at Weill Cornell Medical College and artistic director of the Weill Cornell Music and Medicine Program; and David N. Myers, Ph.D., distinguished professor of history, Sady and Ludwig Kahn Chair in Jewish History, and director of the Luskin Center for History and Policy at UCLA; will lead University of Scranton Schemel Forum Collaborative Programs on Mar. 29 and Apr. 27.

Two engaging Collaborative Programs are on tap for The University of Scranton’s Schemel Forum this spring.

On Wednesday, Mar. 29, the Schemel Forum will partner with Geisinger Commonwealth School of Medicine to present “Mozart: The Mind and Music of a Genius,” featuring Richard Kogan, M.D., professor of psychiatry at Weill Cornell Medical College and artistic director of the Weill Cornell Music and Medicine Program. The program will begin at 5:30 p.m. in WVIA Public Media Studios’ Sordoni Theater, with a reception to follow. Admission is $35 per person.

At the program, Dr. Kogan, a Julliard-trained pianist and Harvard-trained psychiatrist, will explore the mystery of creative genius through an examination of the life, mind and music of Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart (1756-1791). To illustrate his points, Dr. Kogan will perform some of Mozart's most sublime musical compositions on the piano.

Then, on Thursday, Apr. 27, the Schemel Forum, the Theology and Religious Students Department and the Weinberg Judaic Studies Institute will co-present “Only in America? Religion, State, and a Hasidic Town in Rural New York,” featuring David N. Myers, Ph.D., distinguished professor of history, Sady and Ludwig Kahn Chair in Jewish History, and director of the Luskin Center for History and Policy at UCLA. The event will take place at 7:30 p.m. in the Pearn Auditorium of Brennan Hall. Admission is $15 per person.

At the program, Dr. Myers will discuss the remarkable case of Kiryas Joel, a town in New York state populated entirely by Satmar Hasidic Jews. What, Myers will ask, does this town of religiously observant Jews tell us about the "wall of separation" between religion and state of which Thomas Jefferson spoke? And, has that Jeffersonian ideal given way to a new vision of religious liberties as the paramount constitutional right?

To register for the programs, contact Brooke Leonard at 570-941-4740 or brooke.leonard@scranton.edu. Or, to pay online, visit the Schemel Forum’s webpage (scranton.edu/schemelforum)

Listen to a Sondra Myers, director of the Schemel Forum, discuss the spring season at a WVIA interview with Erika Funke.

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