West Chester University will focus on healthy minds and bodies at its annual University Festival, which is scheduled to begin tomorrow with a lecture by author and columnist Jane Brody.
Brody, whose books include You Can Fight Cancer and Win and Jane Brody's Nutrition Book, will talk about staying fit and healthy over time. The free lecture will begin at 8 p.m. in the Sykes Union Theater on Rosedale Avenue. Seating is limited; reserved tickets are required by calling 610-436-2266.
The theme of this year's festival is "The Public's Health: Challenges on the Road to Wellness." The festival will continue Tuesday with lectures by teachers and guest speakers. The free presentations, which will begin at 9:15 a.m. and continue to 3:45 p.m., will cover such topics as art therapy, alternative medicine, a healthy diet and the health-care economy.
The Student Activities Council will set up a wellness obstacle course that will run from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. in the Academic Quad. Musical entertainment, planned during the lunchtime break, will feature the Ragtime Jazz Ensemble and the college gospel choir and string orchestra.
The music of Pulitzer Prize-winning composer Samuel Barber will be celebrated this month at West Chester University. Barber, a West Chester native, earned a Pulitzer Prize for his full-length opera Vanessa in 1958 and for his Piano Concerto No. 1 in 1963. Barbara Heyman, who wrote the biography Samuel Barber: The Composer and His Music, will discuss his life at 2 p.m. Saturday at Swope Hall Auditorium on University Avenue. Admission is free. West Chester historians Martha Carson-Gentry and Paul Rodebaugh will be the featured speakers for a free presentation planned for 2 p.m. Oct. 24 in Swope Hall Auditorium. For information, call 610-436-2639.
The artwork of Philadelphia photographers Mark Fields and Robert Asman are on display through Wednesday at West Chester's McKinney Gallery, Church and Sharpless Streets. About two dozen black-and-white and color photographs are included in the exhibit. For information, call 610-436-2755.
DCCC
Delaware County Community College will offer the noncredit courses Basic Guide to Investments and Beginning Spanish at the Exton Center in Whiteland Business Park, off Springdale Drive. The weekly courses begin Tuesday. For information about costs and registration, call 610-359-5025.
Immaculata College
