Fall Frieze Lectures, “Ideas That Changed Everything,” with Augustana College. Celebrate our 150th year with other ideas that had big impacts on their time. Join us at 2 pm, Thursday, Oct. 20, 27, Nov. 3, and Nov. 10 at our Downtown Library for free presentations by Augustana College professors.The speaker schedule has changed since our last email, so please read on! Dr. Paul Olsen, of the Augustana English Department, will kick off our series on October 20 by discussing the great “truths” of American icon William Styron, best known for Sophie’s Choice. The New York Times 2006... Read More

The century of the French Moderns brought in  turbulent change and innovation, not only in the art world, but also in society, literature, and politics. The 2018 Frieze Lecture series, presented by the Rock Island Public Library and Augustana College, will ponder some of those changes with a look at other “Modern Lives” in France and beyond. The 21st annual lecture partnership takes its thematic cue from an community wide celebration of all things French as part of the Figge Museum exhibition, French Moderns: Monet to Matisse, 1850-1950. The series of four lectures by Augustana... Read More

Rock Islanders were busy founding a new City in 1841, but that wasn’t the only notable event of that year. The 2016 Frieze Lecture Series discussion theme celebrates “1841: The Year That Rock Island Began,” with a lecture Nov. 1 by Dr. Kelly Daniels, associate professor of English. Daniels will speak on “A Punch of Literary Humor,” which covers the 1841 birth of the British humor magazine named Punch, and all that has meant for for satire and humor in writing through National Lampoon, The Onion, and beyond. Daniels helps lead Augustana’s creative writing program... Read More