Art, Dialogues, Music at Nobel Conference

The 40th annual Nobel Conference at Gustavus Adolphus College will include several free public events on Tuesday, October 5: a reception in the Hillstrom Museum of Art, panel discussions offering more perspectives and information on the Nobel Conference topic, and a concert featuring the Gustavus Choir, Mankato Children’s Chorus and the Gustavus Symphony Orchestra.

The Art at Nobel reception this year will highlight the exhibit Nexus: Paintings by Karl Momen by Swedish artist Karl Momen on display in the Hillstrom though November 10. The 6 p.m. reception will be held near the entrance to the museum.

Beginning at 6:30 p.m., the Dialogues at Nobel will include three concurrent discussion sessions focusing on the diagnosis and treatment of Alzheimer’s, aging and spirituality, and issues and healthcare policy that impact caring for elderly patients.

• Clinical Aspects of Alzheimer’s Disease: Assessment and Treatment will be led by Dr. Gabe Maletta, clinical professor in the departments of Psychiatry and Family Practice/Community Health at the University of Minnesota Medical School, in Lund Arena. The panel, scheduled for Lund Arena, will include four of the country’s foremost authorities on the disease, its diagnosis, and treatment.
• Aging and Spirituality will focus on the search for meaning among the aged. Dr. Mel Kimble, who will lead the session, taught courses on death and dying and on aging and the quest for meaning during a teaching career at Luther Seminary that spanned nearly 40 years. This session is scheduled for Alumni Hall in the Johnson Student Union.
• Caregiver and Health Care Policy Issues will explore the social integration of older adults in residential, long-term care. Two graduates of Gustavus, Dr. Joe Gaugler (1995) and the Rev. Dr. Michael Hendrickson (1964), who have made significant contributions to the fields of geriatrics and gerontology, will lead this session. Discussion, scheduled for the banquet rooms of the Jackson Campus Center, will also include the practical issues that arise in taking care of elderly patients and the planning of public policy for their care.

This year’s Music at Nobel concert features composer, and 1982 Gustavus alumnus, Steve Heitzeg’s On the Day You Were Born by the Gustavus Symphony Orchestra with narration by author/illustrator Debra Frasier. Other selections include Quick! We Have But a Second and Menotti’s The Death of the Bishop of Brindisi performed by the orchestra, the Gustavus Choir, Mankato Children’s Chorus, and soloists and Gustavus music faculty members Michael Jorgensen and Rebecca McConnaughey.

Overflow tickets for the Nobel Conference are also still available and guarantee seats in Lund Forum, with the possibility to move into the main arena if space permits. For more information, contact the Office of Public Relations, 507.933.7520, or e-mail publicrelations@gustavus.edu .