Dr. Jane Hooper, a historian and professor at Mason, spoke at a lecture and reception held in Mason Hall’s Meese Conference Room on Jan. 30.

Although the general public was invited, History and Art History students and professors made up a majority of the audience.

The lecture was organized by the Office of Global & International Strategies in order to add an extra layer of depth to the neighboring art exhibit, “Africans in India: From Slaves to Generals and Rulers.”

The Art and Design Building’s Fine Art Gallery springs into the semester with work by VCU professor and artist, Sonya Clark, in her exhibit “Black and White and Thread All Over.”

The exhibit will be shown until Feb. 21, in conjunction with the Department of African and African American Studies and in honor of Black History Month.

The Mason Players harken back to the vaudeville era with upcoming production of “The Merchant” by Titus Maccius Plautus.

Ed Gero, faculty director and adaptor of “The Merchant,” remembered this play from a previous production he did in high school.

Mason junior, Conor Kyle saw a problem growing in the theater community: theater was too expensive and inaccessible for struggling college students.

He wanted to start a theater company that does away with these problems, providing free theater to all presenting the work of any Mason student. He called it "Peasant Theater."

Kyle said, “Peasant Theater is a new student organization created by myself with the idea that we produce student written and directed stage work of any kind and that includes sketches, comedies and full length plays.”