CTI presented Exploding Canons: Violins of Hope, Courage and Music

Monday, April 16, 2012, 5:15 – 8:30 p.m. at UNC Charlotte Center City – Uptown

Local academic experts and music educators reflected on 18 special violins and their extraordinary histories related to the Holocaust, considering their structure, their pasts and their power. The community engaged with CTI for a reception and panel discussion, and then viewed the instruments and met the visionaries who brought the “Violins of Hope” exhibition to life.

Charlotte Teachers Institute unwrapped the secrets and complexities of mummies in its “Exploding Canons: Mysteries of Mummies of the World” at Discovery Place on Thursday, Jan. 26, 2012, from 6 to 10 p.m.

This installment of CTI’s “Exploding Canons” discussion series focused on Discovery Place’s highly popular Mummies of the World exhibition, the largest collection of real mummies and related artifacts ever assembled. (Click HERE to view Discovery Place’s “Mummies of the World” info and video.)

read more »

Charlotte Teachers Institute (CTI) and its partners presented “Exploding Canons: The Changing Landscapes of Political Conventions” on Friday, Oct. 14 at the UNC Charlotte Center City in Uptown Charlotte. With this installment of its multidisciplinary speakers series, CTI invited the Charlotte community to take an unconventional look at political conventions.

Sponsored by the John S. and James L. Knight Foundation, the program featured five faculty members representing diverse academic disciplines from Davidson College, UNC Charlotte and Charlotte Mecklenburg Schools (CMS). Speakers offered their individual perspectives on various aspects of political conventions, as well as the Democratic National Convention to be held inCharlotte in September 2012.

CTI’s Exploding Canons events present unique forums for the public to hear insights from faculty experts related to a common topic. “It’s an opportunity for the public to learn about interesting people and what they study – to hear from experts in a variety of fields,” CTI Director Scott Gartlan explained. “The general theme of the event is loosely centered around the DNC coming to Charlotte in 2012, but each panelist is encouraged to develop a talk that is engaging and reflects their own personal expertise and area of research.” For the first time, this Exploding Canons panel showcased a CMS teacher who is also a CTI Fellow and Steering Committee Member: Jeff Joyce of Hough High School.

Exploding Canons: The Changing Landscapes of Political Conventions began with a catered reception in the Center City Atrium at 5:30 pm.

The event was followed by a panel discussion from 6:30 to 8:00 pm in the Center City Auditorium. Featured topics and discussion leaders included:

From Candidate to Nominee: The Rules Behind the 2012 Presidential Nominations, Josh Putnam, visiting assistant professor of Political Science, Davidson College

Charlotte: The (Un)Conventional City, Heather Smith, associate professor of geography and earth studies and Urban Institute faculty research associate, UNC Charlotte

Political Socialization: Find Ourselves in Film, Jeff Joyce, social studies department chair and AP government teacher, W. A. Hough High School

Beyond Citizens-in-the-Making: Changing Understandings of Youth Political Identities, Jessica Taft, assistant professor of sociology, Davidson College

Time to Come Together: How Convention Spaces Shape Unity and Dissent, Dan Grano, associate professor of communication studies, UNC Charlotte

Mary Newsom, associate director of the UNC Charlotte Urban Institute and former editorial board member and columnist for The Charlotte Observer, served as moderator for the panel discussion

Gartlan predicts this Exploding Canons program will launch new partnerships leading up to the national conventions and provide valuable openings to address civics literacy in the public schools and throughout the Charlotte community. CTI’s community partners for this Exploding Canons event included the UNC Charlotte Urban Institute, UNC Charlotte Center City, the UNC Charlotte Forty Niner Democracy Experience, and Kids Voting Mecklenburg. The Exploding Canons speakers series leverages the partnerships among CTI to offer educators and the public collaborative educational opportunities that highlight university and college faculty, explore diverse topics in an interdisciplinary manner, and encourage community conversation.

This special event was free and open to the public.

To view more photos, visit the Charlotte Teachers Institute Facebook page.

To view videos of panelists speaking, visit the new Charlotte Teachers Institute Youtube page.

Bechtler Museum of Modern Art, Site of the 2010 Exploding Canons events

Exploding Canons: The Planets in Outer Space and Beyond

October 22, 2010

CHARLOTTE – Oct. 22, 2010 – The Charlotte Teachers Institute (CTI), in partnership with area cultural organizations and community foundation support, presented the second installment of its groundbreaking discussion series, Exploding Canons, with a multimedia presentation of “The Planets in Outer Space and Beyond,” Friday, Oct. 22. About 225 people attended this interdisciplinary event at the Bechtler Museum of Modern Art. Faculty members from Winthrop University, Davidson College and UNC Charlotte, along with WDAV’s program director, participated in a stimulating panel discussion examining new ways of looking at outer space.

“We were pleased to present a full evening of planetary exploration,” said CTI Director Molly Shaw. “Stellar speakers from a variety of disciplines guided our audience through uncharted intellectual territory, and the evening culminated in a live performance of Gustav Holst’s The Planets by the Charlotte Symphony.”

The evening’s full schedule of events began with a reception in the lobby of the Bechtler Museum, featuring a planetarium show hosted by Discovery Place. The interactive panel discussion followed, highlighting a variety of topics and expert leaders:

• Spiritual Connections with the Heavens — Indigenous Star and Planetary Lore, Richard Chacon, associate professor of anthropology at Winthrop University
• Vagabond Stars — The Planets of Early Greek Thought, Keyne Cheshire, associate professor of classics at Davidson College
• From Mythology to Hollywood — The Inspiration and Impact of Holst’s “The Planets,” Frank Dominguez, program director, WDAV
• Picturesque Planets — The Science Behind Planetary Images, Susan Trammell, associate professor of physics and optical science at UNC Charlotte.

The reception and panel discussion were free and open to the public, and CTI and the Charlotte Symphony provided 150 free tickets to Charlotte Mecklenburg Schools teachers for the symphony’s Holst concert at the Knight Theater following the Exploding Canons discussion.

This encore Exploding Canons event was sponsored by the Arts & Science Council, the Imago Mundi Endowment Fund, and the Chancellor’s Diversity Challenge Fund at UNC Charlotte, and was made possible by community partnerships with the Bechtler Museum of Modern Art, the Charlotte Symphony, Discovery Place and WDAV.

Attendees enjoying the reception

The audience of the panel discussion

Richard Chacon’s presentation on Spiritual Connections with the Heavens

Keyne Cheshire’s presentation: Vagabond Stars — The Planets of Early Greek Thought

Frank Dominguez shares the life story of inspirational composer Gustov Holtz.

Susan Trammell provides fantastic imagery of the planets within the solar system.

The panel answers questions asked by the audience.