Performances and Lectures at Williams Explore Magic

Media contact: Noelle Lemoine, communications assistant; tele: (413) 597-4277; email: [email protected]

WILLIAMSTOWN, Mass., Sept. 12, 2003 — As part of the Williams College Lecture Committee Series, “Magic or the Misfortunes of Virtue,” Keith Carter will present a slide lecture titled “Ordinary Magic” on Wednesday, Sept. 17, at 8 p.m. in Brooks Rogers Recital Hall. Lee Siegel will present a performance and lecture titled “Indra’s Net: On Indian Magic and Magicians” on Thursday, Sept. 25, at 8 p.m. in Brooks-Rogers Recital Hall. Free tickets for each event will be available for pick-up in Baxter Hall at noon two days in advance. Seating is limited.

Carter, described as “a poet of the ordinary” by the Los Angeles Times, is an internationally recognized photographer and educator. Carter’s haunting, enigmatic black-and-white photographs have been widely exhibited in Europe, the United States, and Latin America. They are included in numerous permanent collections, including those of the Art Institute of Chicago and the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art. “Ezekiel’s Horse” (University of Texas, 2000) is the most recent of eight published monographs of his work.

He holds the Walles Chair of Art at Lamar University in Beaumont, Texas. He is the recipient of two National Endowment for the Arts Regional Survey Grants and the Lange-Taylor Prize from The Center for Documentary Studies at Duke University. In 1998, he received Lamar University’s highest teaching honor, the University Professor Award, and was named the Lamar University Distinguished Lecturer.

Siegel is professor of religion at the University of Hawaii at Manoa and a member of the International Brotherhood of Magicians. He is the author of five nonfiction books and two novels. His best-known work, “Net of Magic: Wonders and Deceptions in India” (University of Chicago, 1991), follows India’s remarkable magical tradition from ancient Sanskrit texts to the modern slums of New Delhi. His most recent works are his two novels, “Love in a Dead Language” and “Love and Other Games of Chance.

***For building locations on the Williams campus, please consult the map outside the driveway entrance to the Security Office located in Hopkins Hall on Main Street (Rte. 2), next to the Thompson Memorial Chapel, or call the Office of Public Affairs (413) 597-4279. The map can also be found on the web at www.williams.edu/home/visitors/map/index.html

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Published September 12, 2003