Vincent Roscigno, a sociology professor at The Ohio State University, will lecture on “Legitimation, the State and Racial/Ethnic Inequality: The Trail of Tears and the Wounded Knee Massacre” at 3:30 p.m. Feb. 23 in Room 207 of the Noble Research Center at OSU.

Roscigno’s visit is part of a two-day 2012 Sociology Graduate Student Association Research Symposium hosted by the OSU Sociology Graduate Student Association. Now in its 12th year, more than 200 students and faculty are expected to attend.

The symposium is from 10 a.m. until 4:30 p.m. Roscigno is the symposium’s keynote speaker at 3:20 p.m. on Feb. 24 in Room 236 of Human Sciences. His talk is titled “Play, Problems, and Promise in the Sociological Sandbox.”

“Dr. Roscigno has done considerable research in social movements and inequality and stratification. Since both areas are concentrations within the Ph.D. program at Oklahoma State University our graduate group thought he would be an ideal speaker,” said Kristin Waldo, a Bartlesville, Okla., graduate student and president of the OSU Sociology Graduate Student Association.

The symposium and both lectures are free and open to the public. For more information, phone (405) 747-8823 or email This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it or This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it . The Feb. 23 lecture is made possible through funding provided by the Social Sciences Seminar Series in the College of Arts and Sciences.             

The OSU Department of Theatre will perform at the 44th annual Kennedy Center American College Theater Festival on Feb. 22 in Norman. A scene from the OSU 2011 production, Lone Star/Laundry and Bourbon, will be presented at the festival’s regional festival, which takes place Feb. 21 to 25.
 
“Regional festivals celebrate the finest artistic achievements and each of the regional festivals bring productions, workshops and guest artists from throughout the nation to augment and support the educational efforts of our students,” said J. Kevin Doolen, theater professor and department head. “I am pleased that the festival’s regional committee selected a scene from our production as exemplary of the artistic achievements here at OSU.”
 
Doolen, theater professor and department head, directed the production. Designers included visiting professor Donald Childs, scenery and lighting; and clinical professors Daniel Archibald, sound, and Rana Webber, costumes. OSU graduate students Elizabeth Tabish, of Stillwater, Okla., and Scott Venters, of Edmond, Okla., will compete in the Irene Ryan Acting competition, which provides scholarships to outstanding student performers.
 
Region 6 is comprised of universities from Arkansas, Louisiana, Missouri, New Mexico, Oklahoma and Texas. The University of Oklahoma is this year’s regional host. The OSU Department of Theatre is one of 24 departments in the College of Arts and Sciences.