Cultural Opportunities

Lecture Series

The duPont Lectures, an endowed lectureship program, brings internationally known speakers to campus. The Student Forum, managed by members of the Order of Gownsmen, also brings noted lecturers to Sewanee.

Several other lecture series bring authors, historians, theologians, scientists, politicians, social scientists, activists, and others to campus throughout the year.

Sewanee Conference on Women

During the Sewanee Conference on Women, prominent women are brought to campus to talk about their fields of interest and expertise. A student and faculty committee organizes each year's program. Recent conference speakers have included women in medicine, law and politics, the arts, and environmental and social service agencies. The conference has also featured panel discussions about women and spirituality, dual-career relationships, women and power, and has sponsored concerts, films, and plays. Support for the conference comes from a broad spectrum of generous groups and individuals.

The Ayres Multicultural Center

At the Ayres Multicultural Center members of the community come together for quality programming and qctivities throughout the year that include concerts, lectures, and forums. One of the most popular is the Coffee House Series featuring jazz and other* rmusical artists. All Coffee House events are free, as are the coffee, tea, and pastries. The Multicultural Center thus offers stimulating and relaxing entertainment for students looking for a break from their studies or a change of pace from academic life.

Performing Arts Series

The Performing Arts Committee is a faculty and student organization that presents six or more plays, concerts, dance performances, and other arts events each year. Recent presentations have included Bela Fleck, New York Gilbert & Sullivan Players, Peter Schickele with the Lark String Quartet, Chanticleer, the Ahn Trio, and the Chaksampa Tibetan Dance and Opera.

Student Music Opportunities

The University Choir sings weekly for services in All Saints' Chapel and performs a number of special concerts during the year. The annual Festival of Lessons and Carols draws crowds from across the Southeast. The choir also tours the United States during the summers, with a trip to England every third or fourth summer.

Students have an opportunity to participate in the University Orchestra, which performs several times a year, sometimes with choral groups or in association with theatrical productions. Individual instruction in piano, organ, violin, cello, orchestral woodwinds and voice is also available.

In addition to the music offered through the Performing Arts Series, there are frequent musical productions by the Department of Music.

The Sewanee Popular Music Association brings musicians to the campus for concerts open to everyone. WUTS broadcasts the Best in Opera, Best in Jazz, and Classical Showcase series among others.

The Jessie Ball duPont Library has a collection of more than 8,000 records, tapes, and CDs, including all types of music, a complete collection of Shakespearean performances, and many other recordings of literary works, and over 10,200 video cassettes and DVDs.

International Students

Every year, the University welcomes many students from countries outside the United States. Arrangements are made to match international students with host families in the Sewanee area. Although most international students participate in a wide range of organizations, special clubs like the Organization for Cross Cultural Understanding (OCCU) sponsor social and educational events relevant to international issues. International students are also asked to share their views on world events during regular faculty/student discussions.

Films and Drama

The Sewanee Union Theatre has  aregular schedule of movies; various student organizations also sponsor a range of film showings.

Theatre Sewanee and Dionysus and Company produce a number of plays each year. A Shakespeare series, Gilbert and Sullivan productions every other year, and a Tennessee Williams festival complement other productions of the theatre department.

University Art Gallery

The art gallery is a popular source of ideas and culture in Sewanee, presenting exhibitions of contemporary art of interest to students, faculty, staff, and the surrounding community. Its idyllic location and  reputation as  a cultural center draws audiences from a larger population that includes Nashville, Huntsville, Chattanooga, Birmingham, and Atlanta.

Four or five major exhibitions a year feature solo and group shows of painting, sculpture, drawing, printmaking, lens- and time-based photography, and installations by living artists. For example the "Works on Paper I" Biennial was inaugurated in 2004 featuring works by internationally acclaimed printmakers; it was followed in 2006-2007 with the exhibit "Beyond Words." This exhibit perfectly captured the essence of artists' books where the traditional book evolves into a new medium where the message or meaning is conveyed through the integration of all its elements.

Below the gallery, the "Art Underground" offers temporary studio space for short-term artists-in-residence who give demonstrations and workshops in their specialized media, extending opportunities for further cultural enrichment. For a virtual tour of the gallery and its programs, please visit the gallery.

The Sewanee Review

The Sewanee Review, founded in 1892, is the oldest literary quarterly in continuous publication in the United States. Its subscribers include more than 1,500 libraries, with about 225 subscriptions sent abroad, along with several hundred bookstores.

During its first half-century The Sewanee Review was an academic journal devoted to the humanities. Since the editorship of Allen Tate (1944-46) the quarterly has been literary and critical, publishing short fiction, poetry, essays, and reviews.

The Aiken Taylor Prize in Modern American Poetry is awarded annually to a leading American poet recognizing the work of a distinguished career. Administered by The Sewanee Review, the prize is named in honor of the poet Conrad Aiken and his younger brother Dr. K.P.A.Taylor, who left a generous bequest to fund this prize and related activities.

The Sewanee Review annually awards four prizes for distinguished writing: the Lytle Prize for the best short story, the Spears Prize for the best essay, the Tate Prize for the best poem, and the Heilman Prize for the best book reviewing.

The Sewanee Theological Review

The Sewanee Theological Review is one of only two significant Anglican theological quarterlies in the United States. As an outreach publication of the seminary, it contributes to ongoing discussion of and reflection upon theological topics. Articles and reviews focus on questions that are a present and continuing concern for the church. Recent issues have included spirituality, preaching, ministry, moral questions (such as peace and war), the future of the church, and praying, among many others. Intended both for lay and academic audiences, STR publishes the work of some of today's best-known authors, including O.C. Edwards Jr., Walter Brueggemann, Rowan Williams, Loren B. Mead, Frank T. Griswold III, Ellen Charry, Horton Davies, N.T. Wright, Julia Gatta, Adela Yarbro Collins, John Polkinghorne, and Douglas John Hall. Poetry is also featured. Past contributors have included John Hollander, Richard Wilbur, X.J. Kennedy, Mona Van Duyn, Anthony Hecht, Margaret Gibson, Donald Justice, and Howard Nemerov.

Medieval Colloquium

The annual Sewanee Medieval Colloquium brings scholars to campus to discuss various issues of the Middle Ages. Attendees spend several days on campus, meet with faculty and student groups, and speak to classes.

Recent themes of the colloquium have included law, religion, and the role of women in medieval society. Guest lecturers have come from prominent national and international institutions of higher learning.

The colloquium is sponsored by the University and supported by grants from the duPont Lectures Committee and by individual and group sponsors or patrons. The Colloquium Committee also sponsors a series of papers on medieval subjects presented early in the spring term by members of the college faculty. On occasion, student papers are included in the series.

Sewanee Summer Music Festival

The Sewanee Summer Music Festival has achieved an enviable reputation among musicians internationally, both for its training opportunities and performances. The five-week program attracts about 250 students along with a staff from around the globe. The program is in conjunction with the department of music.

Most students are high school and college age. All participate in the orchestra and chamber music programs and study privately. In addition, classes are offered in theory, harmony, composition, and conducting. College credit is available for college students.

The program boasts three full symphony orchestras and a plethora of chamber groups. Weekend concerts take place throughout the session. A gala "mini-fest" concludes the summer's activities. During the final four days, nine concerts are presented by various organizations.

Sewanee Writers' Conference

The Sewanee Writers' Conference is a twelve-day program designed to bring together from all over the country and abroad talented apprentice writers of varying degrees of experience in fiction, poetry, and playwriting who work with writers of national and international reputation in a mentoring environment. The conference offers four fiction workshops, as well as two on poetry, and one in playwriting. In addition to being a member of a workshop (which meets for a minimum of ten hours), a participant has an hour-long individual conference with his or her manuscript reader. A full schedule of readings, craft lectures, panel discussions, and question-and-answer sessions afford other valuable opportunities, as does the chance to meet with editors, publishers, and agents, and other writers, in formal and informal settings. Numerous social events offer opportunities for writers to cultivate contacts with those who can help them in their pursuit of the craft of writing as a profession. It is held annually from mid to late July and draws more than 110 participants who are selected from a competitive admission process.

Sewanee Young Writers' Conference

The conference meets for two weeks each July and offers workshops in poetry, fiction, and sometimes playwriting for about 40 high school students. The workshops are taught by younger writers who are completing or have just published a first book. The conference also features lectures by faculty members from Sewanee's English department and readings by major writers; past writers have included Horton Foote, Ernest Gaines, Alice McDermott, Romulus Linney, Mark Jarman, Andrew Hudgins, Padgett Powell, and many others.

University Book & Supply Store

The University Book & Supply Store stocks all required textbooks. It also has a broad selection of books, periodicals, newspapers, notebooks, office supplies, Sewanee clothing, and personal items.

Language Clubs

Organizations which provide cultural and academic opportunities focused on a particular language include the Spanish Club, Le Cercle Français, Der Deutsche Verein, and the English Speaking Union.