Collages, sculptures, video and audio tapes filled McClendon Tower in the West-Edens Link Sunday, where over $1,500 in prizes were awarded to student entries during the closing reception for the Race, Sex and God competition's weekend festival.
The exhibit was part of the Beyond the Comfort Zone initiative, launched this year to foster intellectual and emotional dialogue on campus through events ranging from film screenings to guest speakers and artistic competitions.
The competition guidelines, which were intentionally open-ended, attracted eight final entries in both visual and audio mediums. The planning committee awarded three $250 third place awards, one $300 second place award, and one $500 first place award.
"The committee was blown away by the extraordinary creativity and depth of all of the projects," said Elizabeth Kiss, director of the Kenan Institute for Ethics and a member of the planning committee.
The first prize went to a project submitted by Round Table selective living house entitled Race, Sex and God: Five Majors' Perspectives. The entry consisted of three-dimensional artistic representations of approaches to the competition topics from different disciplines��Public Policy Studies, English, Biological Anthropology and Anatomy, Computer Science and a Program II in Decision Theory.
"When I heard about [the competition] the first thing I thought of was how my academic major dealt with race, sex and God," said Adam Hartstone-Rose, the project leader. "I would argue that every major deals with these issues on some level."
Hartstone-Rose, a senior, brought the idea of entering the competition to his house council and Round Table worked collaboratively on the project.
"It took about 150 man-hours to put all this together," said Hartstone-Rose of the final product. He noted that although only eight members of Round Table formally entered the competition, the project involved work and encouragement from the entire group.
"It was so wonderful to get the support of our dorm and it brought us together as a community," said Kelly Mulvey, a second year graduate student in the Masters of Arts in Teaching program and former member of Round Table. "It was just a great experience."
Yesterday's final ceremonies began with a sermon at the 11 a.m. Duke Chapel service by Reverend Regina Henderson, director of the Church and Society Servant-Leadership Initiative and a planning committee member.
"We dare not talk about sex or that four letter word, race, in the sanctuary of God!" Henderson joked with the congregation. "But I am convinced that it is time to do so," she said. Henderson concluded the sermon by encouraging congregation members to attend the competition awards ceremony and view the exhibits.
"The best part of the competition was the creative part... any one of these projects is a triumph," said Leon Dunkley, director of the Mary Lou Williams Center for Black Culture, after the awards ceremony. "What is here is the beginning of a very rich conversation."
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