Former Ambassador Ken Adelman to Speak on Shakespeare @ SUU

“THE MYSTERIES OF HAMLET”

WHAT:              The intrigue surrounding Prince Hamlet, William Shakespeare’s most enigmatic character, will be explored in a special Convocations presentation, “The Mysteries of Hamlet” featuring former United States Ambassador Ken Adelman, the current vice president of Movers and Shakespeares, discussing the classic tragedy.

WHO:               Convocations Lecture Series, Southern Utah University, Department of Academic Affairs

WHEN:             Friday, September 21, 2012

TIME:               Noon

WHERE:           Sterling Church Auditorium, Sharwan Smith Center, Southern Utah University

INFO:               Visit: www.suu.edu/convocatoins

PRICES:           Free and the General Public is encouraged to attend.

FORMER AMBASSADOR KEN ADELMAN UNRAVELS “THE MYSTERIES OF HAMLET” AS PART OF SUU’S “THUNDERBARD PROJECT” 

Southern Utah University, Cedar City, Utah: The intrigue surrounding Prince Hamlet, William Shakespeare’s most enigmatic character, will be explored in a special Convocations presentation on September 21^st at noon. “The Mysteries of Hamlet” features former United States Ambassador Ken Adelman, the current vice president of Movers and Shakespeares, discussing the classic tragedy. The program will be moderated Dr. Don Weingust, director of SUU’s Center for Shakespeare Studies. The event will be held in the Sterling Church Auditorium within the Sharwan Smith Center on the campus of Southern Utah University. This Thunderbard Project event is free and open to the public.

Ken Adelman is currently vice president of Movers and Shakespeares, which conducts executive training through leadership lessons from William Shakespeare. He began teaching Shakespeare in 1977 at Georgetown University, and later with honors students at George Washington University. He and his wife, Carol, have been coming to the Utah Shakespeare Festival for nearly the past 25 years, bringing a group of 50 with them each year. Ken recently joined the USF Board. During the Reagan Administration, Ken was an Ambassador to the United Nations, and then Director of the U.S. Arms Control and Disarmament Agency, accompanying President Reagan on his superpower summits with Mikhail Gorbachev. Among other activities, he is now executive director of the Aspen Institute’s “Arts & Ideas” series. Adelman was a philosophy major at Grinnell College and then attended Georgetown University, where he received a Masters in Foreign Service Studies and later a Doctorate in Political Theory. He is the author of five books including co-author of Shakespeare in Charge: The Bard’s Guide to Leading and Succeeding on the Business Stage and hundreds of articles. While living in Africa from 1972 to 1975, Adelman translated for Mohammed Ali during “The Rumble in the Jungle” heavyweight fight in Zaire, and as a member of the Zaire River Expedition down the Congo River on the 100^th anniversary of Stanley’s exploration.  

Remarking about Ambassador Adelman’s appearance, Dr. Weingust said that, “It’s a privilege and an honor to have Ambassador Adelman participate in the ThunderBard Project. We at SUU and the Utah Shakespeare Festival are grateful for the commitment he and his wife Carol have shown to Shakespeare in Cedar City and beyond, and are very pleased that he will have the chance to visit with our students and members of the community.”

The ThunderBard Project brings together new SUU students along with SUU faculty, staff and members of the Utah Shakespeare Festival in a common play-reading and play-going experience. Students will read William Shakespeare’s Hamlet and see it live at the Tony-Award winning Utah Shakespeare Festival. In addition, there are workshops to provide students with insight into the text.    

Sponsored by SUU’s Department of Academic Affairs, the Convocations Lecture Series presents an array of remarkable leaders, thinkers and innovators whose invaluable contributions challenge and stimulate the minds of SUU’s faculty, staff, students and the general public. Recent speakers include United States Senator Harry Reid, playwright Susan Merson, visual artist Rick Berry and CNN’s Hero of the Year, Anuradha Koirala.

For more information about CSS and the Shakespeare Studies minor, contact SUU’s College of Performing and Visual Arts at (435) 865-8562 or email studyshakespeare@suu.edu or visitwww.suu.edu/pva/css for details. For more information about the Thunderbard Project, please visit www.suu.edu/ThunderBard.