Honors College to Host Star Party, Arkansas Premiere of Documentary 'The City Dark'

Photo Submitted

Filmmaker Ian Cheney takes in a bright night sky in this still from his latest documentary, The City Dark (Photo courtesy Wicked Delicate Films).

FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. – In a world that never sleeps, where city lights shine from dusk to dawn, the stars are disappearing from view. What do we lose when we lose the night?

To understand how light pollution affects people and the planet, the University of Arkansas Honors College is bringing award-winning filmmaker Ian Cheney and dark sky advocate Connie Walker to Northwest Arkansas March 11-12 to lead a preview discussion and star party and to present the Arkansas premiere of Cheney’s latest film The City Dark, recently selected as a New York Times Critics’ Pick. Both events are free and open to the public:

• Star Party and Dark Sky Discussion, 7:30-10:30 p.m. Sunday, March 11, Hog Haus restaurant, 430 W. Dickson St.  Connie Walker and Ian Cheney will lead an informal discussion on light pollution and why it matters. Seating is limited. At nightfall, around 8:30 p.m., the Honors College will partner with the Student Astronomical Society to host a star party on the corner of Dickson and West streets in front of the Walton Arts Center. Multiple telescopes will offer a closer look at Jupiter, Mars, and the spectacularly colored Orion Nebula, which will then be visible in the night sky. Walker will demonstrate how to participate in the “GLOBE at Night” light pollution awareness campaign; attendees are encouraged to bring their smart phones and smart pads in order to log their observations at the star party. Walker also will use a sky quality meter to measure the level of light pollution in downtown Fayetteville.

• Arkansas Premiere of The City Dark Monday, March 12, 5:30 p.m.,Verizon Ballroom, University of Arkansas Union. The Honors College will present The City Dark, winner of the Grand Jury Prize at the Environmental Film Fest at Yale and the Jury Prize for Best Score/Music at the 2011 South by Southwest Film Festival. Cheney’s latest film explores the myriad implications of a globe glittering with lights — including increased breast cancer rates from exposure to light at night and a generation of kids without a glimpse of the universe above. Both Cheney and Walker will answer questions after the screening. The Stadium Drive parking garage next to the Union is free of charge after 5 p.m.

Cheney is a documentary filmmaker, public speaker and environmental advocate based in Brooklyn, N.Y. His previous films include the Peabody-award-winning King Corn (2007), The Greening of Southie (2008), Big River (2009) and Truck Farm (2010). A contributing blogger for The Huffington Post and a video op-ed contributor for The New York Times, Cheney has appeared on Good Morning America, NPR, CNN, MSNBC, and in The New Yorker, The New York Times, The Washington Post, and Men's Journal. Cheney is also a co-founder and board member for FoodCorps, an AmeriCorps farm-to-school program aimed at improving school nutrition. He travels widely to teach and speak about the human relationship to the natural world.

Walker trained as an astronomer and is now a science education specialist at the National Optical Astronomy Observatory. She directs GLOBE at Night, a citizen-science campaign to track light pollution around the world. Walker conducts professional development for educators, develops curricula and kits for informal and formal science education programs and convenes conference sessions and workshops on hands-on science and research for students and teachers. She serves on the board of directors for the Astronomical Society of the Pacific and the International Dark-Sky Association. In 2011 Walker received the International Dark-Sky Association’s Hoag-Robinson Award for bringing dark skies awareness to the public.

These events are the first in a new series, Honors College Invites, developed by the Honors College to bring thinkers and doers to Northwest Arkansas to meet with students, faculty and the general public.