January
* "Larry Cat in Space," a playful and imaginative presentation about an inquisitive cat who takes a trip to the Moon, is the featured show at the MSUM Planetarium Sundays at 2 p.m. and Mondays at 7 p.m. from Jan. 11 through March 9. In the story, Larry Car smuggles himself on board the space plane, which takes him to space station Freedom. From there, he is taken aboard the Lunar Shuttle, and he eventually ends up on the Moon, earning about life in the lunar environment. General admission is $3; children 12 and under, senior citizens and Tri-College students are $1.50.The Planetarium is located on the MSUM campus in Bridges Hall, room 167 at 11th St. and 8th Ave. S. in Moorhead. Please use the south entrance to Bridges Hall.
* Spring semester classes begin Monday, Jan. 12.
* MSUM Pres. Edna Szymanski presents an honors program lecture on “MSUM and Leadership in the 21st Century” at 6 p.m. Tuesday, Jan. 13 in Science Lab Building 104.
* Martin Luther King Jr. holiday is Monday, Jan. 19. No classes.
* A Dean’s Lecture Series event on “Change Your Perspective on Life: Taking a Microbe-Centric View of the World” by Kathryn Wise from the Biosciences department starts at 2:30 p.m. Friday, Jan. 23 (location still pending).
* MSUM’s Cheryl Nelson Lossett Performing Arts Series features the Penderecki String Quartet at 7:30 p.m. Friday and Saturday, Jan. 30 and 31, on the Roland Dille Center for the Arts Gaede Stage. Two violinists, a violist and a cellist make up one of the most celebrated chamber groups of their generation. Two performances, one for the traditionalist and one for the modernist. For tickets, call the MSUM box office at 477-2171.
* Joe Rogers, Colorado’s former lieutenant governor, will present MSUM's "The Dream Alive" program as part of its Martin Luther King, Jr. holiday celebration from 1:30 p.m. to 3 p.m. Tuesday, Jan. 27 in Comstock Memorial Union on campus. In 2003, Rogers completed his history-making term as Colorado’s lieutenant governor, holding the distinction then of serving as America's youngest lieutenant governor and only the fourth African-American in U.S. history elected as a state's number two executive. He is now a national speaker, lecturer and attorney in Colorado (free)
* Bring your cross-country skis and enjoy an evening on a candlelight ski trail from 6 to 8:30 p.m. Saturday, Jan. 31 at MSUM’s Regional Science Center’s Interpretive Center and the adjacent Buffalo River State Park. A hot beverage and a fire to warm your fingers and toes will await your return. In case of poor weather or snow conditions, the event will be canceled. A Minnesota ski pass is required and can be purchased this evening. For more information on the trails, call (218)-498-2124. Meet at the Regional Science Center’s interpretive center or at Buffalo River State Park’s warming house located in the park’s picnic grounds.

February
* MSUM's Tom McGrath Visiting Writers Series kicks off the spring semester series with a "works-in-progress" reading by members of the university's MFA in Creative Writing Program faculty at 8 p.m. Thursday, Feb. 5th in room 101 of the student union. Scheduled to read: Kevin Carollo, Alan Davis, John Early, Lin Enger, Liz Severn, Thom Tammaro and Richhard Zinober. (free)
* Bring your cross-country skis and enjoy an evening on a candlelight ski trail from 6 to 8:30 p.m. Saturday, Feb. 7 at MSUM’s Regional Science Center’s Interpretive Center and the adjacent Buffalo River State Park. A hot beverage and a fire to warm your fingers and toes will await your return. In case of poor weather or snow conditions, event will be canceled. A Minnesota ski pass is required and can be purchased this evening. For more information on the trails, call (218)-498-2124. Meet at the Regional Science Center’s interpretive center or at Buffalo River State Park’s warming house located in the park’s picnic grounds.
* A Dean’s Lecture Series event on “Online Identity and Privacy” by Jean Kramer from Instructional Resources starts at 3 p.m. Monday, Feb. 9 in Livinngston Lord Library 208. The lecture will review several biographical search tools, examines the users’ dilemma between online disclosure and privacy invasions and suggests a multi-faceted approach to online identity management. (free)
* MSUM philosophy professor Ted Gracyk presents an honors program lecture on “The Song Remains the Same: Appropriations of Led Zeppelin” at 7 p.m. Tuesday, Feb. 10 in Science Lab Building 118 on campus. Gracyk is the author of “Rhythm and Noise: An Aesthetics of Rock,” “I Wanna Be Me” and “Listening to Popular Music: Or, How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love Led Zeppelin." (free)
* “Ladysmith Black Mombazo,” the Grammy-winning South African a cappella group that rose to fame for their work on Paul Simon’s Graceland recording, will be featured in MSUM’s Cheryl Nelson Lossett Performing Arts Series at 7:30 p.m. Thursday, Feb. 19 in the Roland Dille Center for the Arts Hasen Theatre. Masters of the South African a cappella form known as isicathamiya or mbube, their Zulu songs are ornamented by trills, yips, humming, and tra-la-las and punctuated by the rhythmic clicks that are particular to the language. For tickets, call the MSUM box office at 477-2171.
* MSUM Theatre presents the regional premiere of the “Compleat Female Stage Beauty” at 7:30 p.m. Wednesday through Saturday, Feb. 25-28, in the Roland Dille Center for the Arts Gaede Stage. In 1661, the life of Kynaston, the most famous portrayer of females on the London stage, was turned upside down when an unknown woman plays Desdemona at an illegal theatre. That’s when King Charles II changes the law to allow women to act. Does Kynaston ever take the stage again? For tickets, call the MSUM box office at 477-2271.

March
* Poet and children's book author Janice N. Harrington will read from her work at 8 p.m. Thursday, March 5 in MSUM's student union room101 as a feature of the university's Tom McGrath Writers Series and will also talk about the writer's craft at 4 p.m. that day in room 205 of the student union. Her children's books and poetry have garnered several awards, including being listed among Time magazine's top 10 children's books of 2007. She teaches creative writingf at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. (free)
* Spring break at MSUM: Monday, March 16 through Friday, March 20. No classes.
* An MSUM Deans’ Lecture Series event on “In Living Color: How Reading American Literatures Together Enriches the Literary Feast” by Hazel Retzlaff from the English department starts at 4 p.m. Thursday, March 26, location pending. (free)
* University of Arizona professor Charles Falco presents an honors program lecture on “The Science of Optics: The History of Art” at 7:30 p.m. Tuesday, March 31 in Science Lab Building 104 on campus. He’ll discuss recent discoveries demonstrating that optical instruments were in use––by artists, not scientists––nearly 200 years earlier than thought possible, which may account for the “photographic” reality portraits of the early 15th Century. (free)

April
* Nick Flynn, author of the award-winning "Another Bullshit Night in Suck City," which has been translated into 13 languages, will deliver the 17th annual Glasrud Lecture on "Bewilderment and Transformation" at 4 p.m. Tuesday, April 2 in room 101 of MSUM's student union. He'll also read from his work at 8 p.m. that evening (in the same room) as a feature of the Tom McGrath Visiting Writers Series. A poet and essayist, Flynn was artistic collaborator on the film "Darwin's Nighmare," nominated for an Academy Award for best feature documentary in 2006. (free)
* An MSUM Graduate Student Lecture on “A View of Women Administrators in Higher Education” by Rose Bakke, a Master of Liberal Arts graduate, starts at 3 p.m. Wednesday, April 8, location pending. (free)
* MSUM's 14th annual Unity Conference runs April 16-17, focusing on the history, current legislation and issues affecting the U.S. Latino population. This year's event focuses on media perceptions and portrayals of Latinos. For details, go to: www.mnstate.edu/unityconference2009.htm
* MSUM’s annual Student Academic Conference is scheduled Tuesday, April 21. No classes.
* MSUM Theatre presents the Tony Award-winning musical “The Producers” at 7:30 p.m. Wednesday through Saturday, April 22-25 in the Roland Dille Center for the Arts Hansen Theatre. After putting together another Broadway flop, down-on-his-luck producer Max Bialystock teams up with timid accountant Leo Bloom in a get-rich-quick scheme to put on the world's worst show. For tickets, call the MSUM box office at 477-2271.
* Kelsea Habecker, author of the poetry collection "Hollow Out," published by MSUM's New Rivers Press, will read from her work at 8 p.m. Thursday, April 23 in room 101 of the university's student union and talk on the writer's craft that day at 4 p.m. in the same room. She recently completed a memoir about the five years she spent teaching in a remote Inupiat Eskimo Village on the Arctic Ocean.

May
* The James Sewell Ballet, a Twin Cities ensemble of eight dancers that performs innovative works that explore the technical boundaries of ballet, will be on stage at MSUM’s Roland Dille Center for the Arts Hansen Theatre at 7:30 p.m. Saturday, May 2 as a feature of the university’s Cheryl Nelson Lossett Performing Arts Series. For tickets, call the MSUM box office at 477-2171.
* MSUM’s annual spring commencement is Friday, May 15.