STATE COLLEGE, PA – Today Schlow Centre Region Library announced their next event series “RU Curious?” in partnership with Penn State’s Office of Government and Community Relations, which will host three community events designed to connect the State College community with Penn State research so that they can showcase their work in a variety of fields. 

The event series kicks off at 4 p.m., April 4 at the Eric J. Barron Innovation Hub at 123 S Burrowes St. in downtown State College. 

"We are very excited to bring RU Curious? to our community this semester,” said Karen Lambert, Adult Services Librarian at Schlow Centre Region Library. “A new format and variety of times will allow for increased engagement from a wider range of our community. Teens and adults will be able to hear in laymen's terms about current Penn State Research, and why it's important." 

The first RU Curious? event takes place outside of the library with a tour of the new Eric J. Barron Innovation Hub in downtown State College. The Innovation Hub is home to a variety of community resources, tools, and ideas, along with the Invent Penn State Happy Valley LaunchBox.  

From meeting spaces to industrial fabrication equipment, a tour of the building offers a peek into innovation, inventions, and entrepreneurship happening in the community.  

"Penn State Office of Government and Community Relations is delighted to collaborate with Schlow Library to bring the latest cutting-edge research to the community,” said Charima Young, Assistant Vice President for Local Government and Community Relations. “Our researchers' passion, innovation, and dedication are always demonstrated during the Research Unplugged series. This town-gown effort is designed to spark your curiosity and inspire you to dig deeper into the subject matters you love the most! We look forward to hosting you and your family!" 

RU Curious? returns to Schlow Library for an interview with Dr. Amara Solari, Professor of Art History and Anthropology, that blends art history and archaeology.  The interview will be conducted by Micaela Wiehe, a graduate student in the History department. 

Solari is an art historian who studies objects created by Maya artists used during the Catholic conversion campaigns of the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries in the Yucatán Peninsula.  Although her research is informed by archaeological investigations, Amara’s own studies are based on methods commonly used in art history, such as close looking, archival inquiries, and material characterization. In her most recent project, Amara is researching 25 churches that were constructed by Maya stonemasons and subsequently painted by Maya muralists to identify moments of Indigenous agency during Spanish colonization.

The free event will be in the Schlow Library Community Room at 10:30 a.m., Saturday, April 15. Light refreshments will be provided for attendees. 

One additional event, at the Pasto Agricultural Museum, is still in the planning stages.  For updates on all Schlow Library events, please visit schlowlibrary.org.