PROGRAM REGISTRATION: Enter Southern Oregon University’s conference residence, Cox Hall, through the sliding doors off the parking lot. At registration you’ll meet your Group Leader, who will be your expert guide for the week, and the Conference Assistant, who will give you your room keys. Settle into your room and relax from your journey here while your fellow participants arrive. At registration, you’ll receive a packet of information to prepare you for the week, including a detailed schedule of events and important information about the week. Come to the evening’s orientation refreshed and ready for your adventures!
ORIENTATION: Get to know what this exciting week has in store! Meet back in the registration room to get to know your fellow Road Scholars and program staff during an informative overview of the program. Learn about the in-depth classes and fascinating field trips you’ll be experiencing this week and prepare for Monday morning’s first glimpse of the Oregon Shakespeare Festival campus. Come prepared with your questions about any of the fun events this week.
CAMPUS EXCURSION: Orient yourself to Cox Hall, Cascade Dining Hall with its new dining service where you will eat many of your delicious meals, Schneider Museum of Art, Hannon Library, and the Stevenson Union. Cox Hall is conveniently located adjacent to Siskiyou Boulevard with easy access to campus attractions, coffee shops, eateries, and a gourmet grocery store.Dinner: Enjoy a delicious catered dinner and conversation with your fellow Road Scholars in our meeting room in Cox Hall. Continue your orientation to the week’s programming over a scrumptious dessert.Evening: INTRODUCTION TO ASHLAND, OREGON: Tucked between the Cascade and Siskiyou Mountains, you’ll find this unique epicenter of culture in the small community of Ashland. Tonight you’ll prepare yourself for the week while you learn that Ashland is not only home to the nationally-renowned Oregon Shakespeare Festival, but also boasts a wealth of art galleries, restaurants, chocolate shops, a cabaret theatre, and a spirit of community that will happily welcome you. Nearby, discover excellent wineries, the Britt Music Festivals, and scenic mountain ranges. Experience the culture, history and overall essence of this unique Southern Oregon town.Lodging: Cox HallMeals Included: Dinner
THEATRE REFLECTIONS: These core classes of the program will be taught daily by an Oregon Shakespeare Festival actor who will be your guide for the week’s performances, lead review discussions, and introduce you to several actors straight off the OSF stages.Lunch: Head over again to Cascade Dining Hall for a refreshing lunch before the afternoon’s activities.Afternoon: AFTERNOON FREE TIME: Explore the wonders of Southern Oregon or take in another show on your own at the Oregon Shakespeare Festival. Stroll through the beautiful parks of Ashland, visit the many galleries and shops downtown, sample your way through a handful of the 88 wineries in this up-and-coming wine region, or indulge in the sweets offered at Dagoba Chocolate in Ashland and Harry & David in Medford. Spend an afternoon in neighboring Jacksonville to enjoy the charming character of this old gold-rush mining town registered as a National Historic Landmark.Dinner: Tonight dinner will be on your own, to take advantage of more than 80 restaurants in Ashland. You’ll find everything from sushi or traditional pub fare to fine dining in downtown Ashland.Evening: Named after the OSF founder Angus Bowmer, this theatre opened in 1970 to extend the OSF season by offering an indoor venue. By design, you’ll find there’s no bad seat in the house. Tonight you will be seeing Two Trains Running. African-American life in the ‘60s is the backdrop for August Wilson’s production of a turning point in American history. NOTE: Some sexuality and repeated use of a racial epithet.Lodging: Cox HallMeals Included: Breakfast, Lunch
THEATRE REFLECTIONS: After a coffee break, explore more of the week’s performance themes as you meet again with your OSF actor instructor. Relive the highlights from the play you watched yesterday, learn about the themes and setting of the play you will see today, and meet one of the many talented OSF actors.Lunch: Head over again to Cascade Dining Hall for a refreshing lunch before the afternoon’s activities.Afternoon: Formerly the New Theatre, renamed this year after the late OSF Development Director Peter D. Thomas, this theatre offers an intimacy and versatility in seating arrangements unique to each show. Today you will be seeing King Lear, a contemporary staging of this riveting tragedy that is considered by many to be Shakespeare’s greatest play. NOTE: Contains some violence and sexuality.Dinner: Enjoy more great dinner options at the Cascade Dining Hall for a delightful meal.Evening: CLASS: AUGUST WILSON AND THE BLACK ARTS MOVEMENTWhy do August Wilson’s plays resound so strongly with theatre patrons? Explore themes in his writing that relate to his own life and the history of the African-American experience. Learn about the man behind the words within the context of the Black Arts Movement. The volatile political climate of the 1960’s was also a time of extreme revolution in the Theater, in general, and the African American Theater, in particular. Join us as we look again at those significant theater people and events which helped shape the theater experience today. Come investigate anew the artistic and revolutionary vibrancy of the 60’s Black Arts Movement and the life and words of the prolific playwright August Wilson.Lodging: Cox HallMeals Included: Breakfast, Lunch, Dinner
THEATRE REFLECTIONS: After a coffee break, return to the classroom for today’s discussion of the Oregon Shakespeare Festival plays. Each year, almost 400,000 theatre patrons travel to Ashland to watch these award-winning shows. In this intimate class setting, review yesterday’s performance, meet yet another special guest, and get ready for today’s production with your OSF guide.Lunch: Head over again to Cascade Dining Hall for a refreshing lunch before the afternoon’s activities.Afternoon: CLASS: ACTOR'S LIFEThe Oregon Shakespeare Festival company includes about 100 actors each year. Meet one of these talented professionals and learn about the life of an actor in an intimate setting. Come prepared with the questions you’ve always wanted to ask a performer!CLASS: THE BUSINESS OF ACTINGBefore auditioning for a single role or for an acting company, there are many factors to consider. There are head shots and resumes to take and compile. Making websites and choosing the right agents and planning the best audition piece for the role are some aspects of the business of acting. Budgeting one's life for jobs that are not always ongoing is a factor in taking a part in a play. Managing one's TV and film career while working in theater is another challenge for the dedicated "multitasking" actor. These are some aspects of "The Business of Acting" that we will share with Road Scholars.Dinner: Gather for your last dinner together as a group over a pleasant, catered meal in our private meeting room. Share your thoughts about this week’s program with your new Road Scholar friends and highlight your favorite experiences.Evening: Named after the OSF founder Angus Bowmer, this theatre opened in 1970 to extend the OSF season by offering an indoor venue. By design, you’ll find there’s no bad seat in the house. Tonight you will be seeing My Fair Lady. This exquisite musical, by Lerner & Loewe, is creatively crafted for the love of literacy and language.Lodging: Cox HallMeals Included: Breakfast, Lunch, Dinner
THEATRE REFLECTIONS: After a coffee break, gather again in the classroom. Today you’ll meet for the last time with the group and go over the week’s performances, meet with a guest actor, and wrap up the week’s themes. Prepare for next season with a review of the 2014 performances.Lunch: Choose a delicious boxed lunch to enjoy in the classroom, eat outside on the SOU campus, or take on the road as you return home.Afternoon: Please check-out of Cox Hall by 1:00 PM. Hope you enjoyed the program!Meals Included: Breakfast, Lunch
With an average snowfall of 44 feet, not all entrances are open year round. Roads can close from October to July. Rim Drive is typically open by the beginning of July. This 33 mile drive has spectacular viewpoints.
For the latest road, weather, and trail information please call (541)594-3000. Current conditions at the park, including web cams, road and facility status can be found on the "Current Conditions" page of their website.For additional information, visit: www.nps.gov/crla
For decades Jacksonville, which had become the county seat, flourished as the commercial and cultural center of Southern Oregon. It wasn’t until 1884, when the railroad was routed through the neighboring town of Medford, did the prestige of Jacksonville begin to wane. As residents and businesses moved away to those communities along the rail lines, Jacksonville settled into a new role-that of an agricultural center.
The combination of the County Seat being moved to Medford in 1927, the Great Depression and World War II had serious economic impact on Jacksonville. But never a community to give in, residents and business leaders sought to preserve the heritage of Southern Oregon’s first town. Although no longer a boom town, Jacksonville discovered a new way to lure those with the pioneer spirit, capturing it’s colorful past and inviting a new generation of explorers to experience it.
The Britt Festival in Jacksonville is a must see when visiting this unique town. The festival began in 1963 with its first summer outdoor concert. Britt exclusively offered classical music until 1978 when they started to incorporate other world-class artists. With an array of performances, including the Classical Festival in the beginning of August, you won’t want to miss these wonderful outdoor concerts.
In 1966, Jacksonville was designated a National Historic Landmark. Over 100 buildings in Jacksonville are on the National Register of Historic Places.
The information provided above is from www.jacksonvilleor.us. Call 541-899-1231 or visit the website for additional information.For additional information, visit: www.jacksonvilleor.us
The development of today's park began in 1914 with the hiring of John McLaren (also designer of San Francisco's Golden Gate Park) as landscape architect. Lithia Park embodies the distinctive characteristics of park design in the tradition of Frederick Law Olmsted. McLaren's landscape plan for Lithia Park was organic in layout, following the natural canyon of the water course. The plantings were naturalistic to the extent that native alders, oaks, conifers and madrones were incorporated, but other plants, such as willows, maples, sycamores, and numerous ornamental varieties were introduced and selected for hardiness, form and color. Once within the Park, the visitor can walk along the trail on the east side of Ashland Creek to the Park headquarters and obtain a map showing the location of both historic and more modern park features including a trail guide to the most significant trees throughout the Park.
Lithia Park is located at 59 Winburn Way in downtown Ashland and is open to the public. Trail guides and other booklets about the park can be obtained from the park office of Ashland Parks and Rec. Dept., open Monday-Friday 8:00 AM to 5:00 PM.For additional information, visit: www.nps.gov/nr/travel/ashland/lit.htm
The Rogue Valley Region of Southern Oregon has three distinct subregions for grapes: the Rogue River subregion along Interstate 5 from Ashland to Grants Pass, the growing area of the state with the steepest elevation; the westernmost Illinois Valley, at a high elevation and more heavily influenced by the marine climate of the Pacific Ocean; the smaller Applegate Valley, locus for part of the Southern route of the Oregon Trail, further inland and sheltered from Pacific marine air.
The Rogue Valley is the most elevated, warm and dry wine growing region in Oregon. Chardonnay, Riesling, Gewürztraminer, and Pinot Gris are grown in all parts of the Rogue. The inland subregions of the Rogue, including the Applegate Valley, have a dry and warm climate suitable for production of the best Bordelaise varieties such as Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot, Semillon and Cabernet franc. The Illinois subregion is noted for its high quality Burgundian varieties Pinot Noir, Pinot Gris, Merlot and Chardonnay.For additional information, visit: www.winesoforegon.com/rogue-valley-wineries-vineyards.htm
For additional information, visit: www.sou.edu/sma/