Melba Joyce Salutes Our Jazz Elders For Global Weekends

Thursday, February 17 4:41 pm

Anyone who has listened to jazz — a uniquely American musical form that is fundamentally interpretive, improvisational and creative — will describe the way it seems to stimulate the mind. And in recent years, new scientific research has shown that improvisation really does activate the parts of the brain that enhance self-expression and lower inhibitions.

On Saturday, February 19, from 12:30 to 5 pm, the American Museum of Natural History will honor jazz’s trailblazing artists and musicians and highlight the ways jazz can stimulate and enhance the brain with a special Global Weekends event, Saluting Our Jazz Elders, which will feature performances by celebrated jazz vocalist Melba Joyce, New Amsterdam Music Association, Joey Morant, and McCollough Sons of Thunder, as well as conversations throughout the day with Robert O’Meally, co-founder of the Center for Jazz Studies at Columbia University about the connections between jazz, the brain, and education.

Looking Up in Central Park: Museum-Led Bird Walks Start in September

Thursday, August 26 4:01 pm

There’s no better way to celebrate fall than to observe bird migration on an eight-week series of walks through Central Park with Museum naturalists Stephen C. Quinn, Joseph DiCostanzo, and Harold Feinberg. Leading groups of up to 25 birders, these experienced tour guides teach participants to use field marks, habitat, behavior, and song to identify birds. Check out a video of a bird walk led by Stephen Quinn below.

Podcast: Looting of the Iraq Museum

Wednesday, April 21 11:13 am

Join Dr. Donny George Youkhanna, the former director general of the Iraq National Museum in Baghdad, as he shares his unique experience and perspectives on the current archeological and museum conditions in Iraq.

Dr. Youkhanna was instrumental in the recovery of thousands of Mesopotamian artworks and artifacts looted during the U.S. invasion in 2003. He was also President of the Iraq State Board of Antiquities and Heritage. In 2006, he was forced to leave Iraq and is now a visiting professor at the State University of New York, Stony Brook.

The Looting of the Iraq Museum: An Evening with Dr. Donny George Youkhanna was recorded at the American Museum of Natural History on Feburary 24, 2010.

Podcast: Download | RSS | iTunes (1 hr 24 mins, 77 MB)