Reenacting the Civil War home front online, a nationally acclaimed memoir, the link between hopelessness and heart disease, and theatre behind-the-scenes will be featured during the annual Hope College Winter Happening on Saturday, Jan. 23.

Winter Happening will feature multiple seminars in two blocks in the morning, a luncheon with musical entertainment and a home men's basketball game. Open to the general public, the event is sponsored by the college's office of public and community relations.

The morning will feature six seminars, three at 9:30 a.m. and three at 11 a.m.

The 9:30 a.m. seminars are:  "The Valley Sim: New Forms of Storytelling in a Digital Age," "Hopelessness and Heart Disease: How Our Thoughts and Attitude Can Impact Our Health," and "Mennonite in a Little Black Dress."  The 11 a.m. seminars are "Who Is It? Voice Quality and Speaker Identification," "New Applications of Nuclear Science to Address Environmental and Forensic Questions," and "A Lot to Do for Hope Theatre's 'Much Ado about Nothing.'"

° "The Valley Sim: New Forms of Storytelling in a Digital Age" will highlight a course that has students draw upon the Valley of the Shadow digital archive to role-play online the residents of two communities on opposite sides of the Civil War, and will explore the project's implications for 21st-century forms of participatory learning and storytelling.  The seminar will be presented by Dr. Christian Spielvogel, associate professor of communication, who has developed the course through support from the National Endowment for the Humanities.

° "Hopelessness and Heart Disease: How Our Thoughts and Attitude Can Impact Our Health" will consider the relationship between hopelessness and recovery after a heart disease event, including suggestions for the prevention and treatment of hopelessness in individuals with heart disease.  The seminar will be presented by Dr. Susan Dunn, associate professor of nursing and chairperson of the department, whose research on the topic won the 2008 "New Investigator Award" presented by the American Association of Cardiovascular and Pulmonary Rehabilitation.

° "Mennonite in a Little Black Dress" will feature author Dr. Rhoda Janzen, associate professor of English, who will discuss her humorous memoir about returning home to the conservative religious community in which she was raised and will consider how one's community of origin shapes one's response to life's challenges.  Janzen's book has been highlighted in publications ranging from "The New York Times" to "Entertainment Weekly," and is on "Publishers Weekly's" Top 100 Books of the Year 2009.

° "Who Is It? Voice Quality and Speaker Identification" will examine how listeners form mental pictures of speakers based on the sound of their voice, and will also explore whether or not such perceptions are accurate.  The seminar will be presented by Dr. Sonja Trent-Brown, assistant professor of psychology, whose research is in the areas of perception and psychoacoustics, and explores speech perception and the acoustic correlates that give rise to perceptual interpretations.

° "New Applications of Nuclear Science to Address Environmental and Forensic Questions" will review the expansion of nuclear science and its use at Hope as a research and educational tool in examining topics ranging from lake sediments, to proteins, to auto glass to sand dunes. The seminar will be presented by Dr. Graham Peaslee, professor of chemistry and the geological and environmental sciences and chairperson of the department of chemistry, who with Dr. Paul DeYoung of the physics faculty co-leads the Hope College Nuclear Group.

° "A Lot to Do for Hope Theatre's 'Much Ado about Nothing'" will offer an inside look at the preparations for the college's March production of Shakespeare's play, sharing the research and renderings of the designers, the director's dramaturgical approach and other insights into how the play goes from the page to the stage.  The seminar will be presented by Daina Robins, professor of theatre and chairperson of the department, and Michelle Bombe, professor of theatre, director of theatre and resident costume designer.

Copies of "Mennonite in a Little Black Dress" and "A Century of Science: Excellence at Hope College" will be sold during on-site registration for Winter Happening, which will take place at the Haworth Inn and Conference Center on Saturday, Jan. 23, from 9 a.m. to 11 a.m.  Janzen will be available to sign her book immediately following her presentation, and Valerie Van Heest, who edited and designed "A Century of Science: Excellence at HopeCollege," will be available to sign copies of the historical book during registration.

The luncheon begins at 12:30 p.m. at the Haworth Inn and Conference Center ballroom, and costs $12 per person. Highlights will include a musical presentation by Luminescence, Hope's female a cappella group. Reservations for the luncheon are required.

The men's basketball team will host AdrianCollege at 3 p.m. at the DeVos Fieldhouse.  Tickets are $6 respectively, and a limited number of general admission tickets will be available for persons attending other Winter Happening events.

In addition, Lehrer Dance will be performing on Friday and Saturday, Jan. 22 and 23, at 8 p.m. at the Knickerbocker Theatre.  Ticket information is available through the ticket office in the main lobby of the DeVos Fieldhouse, which is open weekdays from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. and may be called at (616) 395-7890.

Also during the weekend, the gallery of the De Pree Art Center is featuring the traveling exhibition "Captured Light: The Contemporary Katagami Works of Jennifer Falck Linssen."  The exhibition runs from Friday, Jan. 15, through Friday, Feb. 12, and the regular gallery hours are Mondays through Saturday from 10 a.m. until 5 p.m.; and Sundays from 1 p.m. until 5 p.m. Admission is free.

In addition to being required for the luncheon, advance registration is recommended for the seminars. Additional information may be obtained by calling the college's office of public and community relations at (616) 395-7860 or online at www.hope.edu/pr/10WinterHappening.html

The Haworth Inn and Conference Center is located at 225 College Ave., facing College Avenue between Ninth and 10th streets.