The Near Eastern & Balkan Ensemble of Yale University’s Department of Music performs musics of West Asia and Southeast Europe, featuring sacred and secular styles from countries such as Bosnia, Bulgaria, Macedonia, Lebanon, and Syria. Students in the group interpret diverse repertoire through characteristic approaches to ornamentation, improvisation, and meter (including additive aksak meters like 7/8 and 11/8) on their own instruments and voice parts, as well as on traditional regional instruments (particularly on Balkan drums and tambura string instruments).

What is “America”? What does it look like? Where can it be found? What does “America” mean and for whom? Join us on the Mezzanine at the Beinecke on April 17 at 4:00 pm for a panel that celebrates the publication of MAGNUM AMERICA/USA, an ambitious new book that juxtaposes historical commentary with eight decades of vivid photographs in the archive of the renowned Magnum Photography collective, founded in the wake of World War II, to offer potential answers to those questions.

Imagine a world in which similarity is the foundation of everything. That idea, inspired by the writings of cultural theorist Walther Benjamin (1892–1940) and Yale Professor Paul North, is the basis for the new exhibition in the Cushing Rotunda: A Cosmos of Similarity. Showcasing lesser-known works from the founding collection of the Medical Historical Library, this captivating new display charts a rich intellectual history in which mathematics, theology, natural philosophy, art, and medicine intertwine.

Book Bunk in Nairobi, Kenya is reimagining and renovating public libraries into sites of heritage, public art, and learning. Join Book Bunk’s Co-founder Wanjiru Koinange for an inspiring discussion on how Kenya’s colonial-era libraries are being transformed into vibrant, inclusive spaces for creativity, knowledge, and community.

Learn more about the speaker:

Beinecke Library welcomes all to a special display of materials from Yale Library collections related to Roger Sherman, America 250, Connecticut, New Haven, and Yale History on Sherman’s birthday. The display will be on Saturday, April 19, from 12 noon to 4pm in the Beinecke Library reading room, 121 Wall Street.