Bryant University

Lecture: Zhuang Zedong, three-time world table tennis champion who in 1971 launched “Ping Pong diplomacy,” will speak about the pivotal role he played in the process and how sports can further international understanding on Friday at 7 p.m. as part of the university’s inauguration of its Confucius Institute.

Confucius Institutes have been established around the globe by China’s Ministry of Education. Bryant’s is the first in southern New England dedicated to the promotion of Chinese language and culture. It offers resources to benefit students, educators, individuals and businesses in Rhode Island and the region. Zhuang’s talk begins at 7 p.m. in the Chace Wellness Center gym. Afterward, Zhuang will participate in a table tennis demonstration.

The celebration includes the Golden Jasmine Chinese Film Festival. Tales of Rain and Magic, about a young girl’s coming of age, will be shown today at 6 p.m. (This film contains adult themes.) The documentary Across the Plateau will be shown Wednesday from 6-8 p.m. The films will be shown in Janikies Theatre.

All events are free and open to the public. Contact the Confucius Institute at (401) 232-6883 for additional information.

Community College of Rhode Island

Historic walks: Free walking tours of the historic Knight Estate, a former gentleman’s farm on the property of the college, will be held from noon to 4 p.m. each Wednesday in September and October. The tour offers an opportunity to visit one of the few intact farmscapes in Rhode Island dating from the mid-19th century. Participants should meet at the Knight Estate Visitors’ Center, in the cider mill on the property, 486 East Ave. The Knights made their fortune in the textile industry and are the creators of the Fruit of the Loom brand. For more information, call Preservation Coordinator Lynn M. Halmi at (401) 465-4591.

Chosen for master class: Amanda M. Santo, who teaches applied voice students, the opera workshop and voice classes at the college, will sing in Dublin, Ireland, this December in a master class with mezzo-soprano Bernadette Greevy sponsored by Dublin Opera Company. Santo recently auditioned in New York for opera singer Martina Arroyo, who offered her a place in her fall Opera Role Preparation Class on the spot. Santo will will perform with Arroyo’s foundation on Nov. 20.

New England Institute of Technology

Promoted: Barrington resident Cheryl Booker has been promoted to the position of training coordinator for the Center for Technology and Industry. Booker has been a member of the staff at the college since July 2000 and has served as the administration assistant for the Office of Career Services.

Providence College

Exhibit: The college is sponsoring an exhibit entitled “The Constitution and Rhode Island, the Independent State” in observance of Constitution Day, tomorrow through Sept. 23. The exhibit, which will be housed on the first floor of the college’s Phillips Memorial Library, spans the early U.S. Constitutional period, from the 1777 adoption of the Articles of Confederation to the ratification of the Constitution by Rhode Island on May 29, 1790. The exhibit includes photos and texts from the college’s archives that show not only national developments, but how and why the independent-minded state was the last to ratify the Constitution.

Constitution Day celebrations at Providence College were initiated in response to a new federal requirement. Inserted into a 2004 spending bill by Sen. Robert Byrd, the measure requires schools receiving federal money to implement an educational program pertaining to the Constitution on Constitution Day, which is celebrated on Sept. 17. This event is free and open to the public. In addition, the library has created a link to digital resources related to the U.S. Constitution and to pertinent Rhode Island documents at http://www.providence.edu/Library/.

Dance for children: The Department of Theatre, Dance and Film will offer “Dance for Children,” a nine-week dance-instruction program for boys and girls ages 4-12. The program will take place on the following Saturday mornings: Sept. 22, 29; Oct. 6, 13, 20, 27; Nov. 3, 10, and 17, on the college campus.

The schedule is as follows: ages 4 and 5, from 9:45 a.m. to 10:20 a.m. (Creative Dance); ages 6 through 8, from 10:30 a.m. to 11:15 a.m. (Creative Dance); and ages 9 through 12, from 11:15 a.m. to 12:15 p.m. (Jazz/Hip Hop).

The registration fee is $33; scholarships are available. For registration and scholarship information, contact Wendy Oliver, associate professor of dance, at (401) 865-2327.

Rhode Island School of Design

Appointed: The Rhode Island School of Design has announced the appointment of David Bogen as associate provost for academic affairs, effective Aug. 31. The role includes close involvement in all aspects of academic activity at RISD, with priorities including the Office of Public Engagement, the writing center, international programs, budgeting for Academic Affairs, and developing the academic use of digital technologies. With RISD at the beginning of a new planning cycle, Bogen will also work with Provost Jay Coogan on developing the academic plan that will chart RISD’s course for the next several years.

Roger Williams University

New governing body: The university has announced the election of 13 new trustees including noted leaders from business, education and the international community.

Discussion: With nearly 2 million adolescent shellfish planted in Rhode Island’s waters in the last year alone, aquaculture experts at the university are doing their part to reinvigorate the state’s dwindling oyster population. On Saturday the university will open its state-of-the-art Wet Lab to the public as part of Rhode Island’s 26th annual Coastweeks. The Roger Williams laboratory is home to the state’s only shellfish hatchery and other aquaculture research projects designed to help solve environmental problems. The events are free and open to the public, as space allows. Both will take place at the Marine and Natural Sciences Building on the university’s Bristol campus at One Old Ferry Road.

For more information, contact Professor Leavitt at (401) 450-2581 or dleavitt@rwu.edu or Steve Patterson, coordinator of the oyster gardening program, at (401) 254-3707 or oysters@rwu.edu.

University of Rhode Island

Summer Sale: The Coastal Institute Bookstore on the university’s Narragansett Bay Campus is holding an End of Summer Sale tomorrow and Wednesday from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. Customers may take 30 percent off everything in stock during the sale. The Coastal Institute Bookstore carries marine-oriented books and field guides, educational games and toys, gifts and jewelry, and Graduate School of Oceanography clothing. The bookstore is on the university’s Narragansett Bay Campus in the Coastal Institute Visitors Center, South Ferry Road, Narragansett (off Route 1A). Call the Office of Marine Programs for information or directions at (401) 874-6211.

Selected: President Robert L. Carothers has been selected the 2007 recipient of the Jeanne Clery Campus Safety Award for his efforts to reduce student alcohol abuse.

mjones@projo.com