Arts & Culture
![Barbie-mania has people talking barbie dolls grouped together](https://www-s3-live.kent.edu/s3fs-root/s3fs-public/styles/1_5_2_thumbnail/public/dolls-3857137_1920.jpg?VersionId=pxPXCds4os1HYZRT161YZR3EkLrKxG7R&h=e5aec6c8&itok=HRbH5faX)
Lydia Rose, Ph.D., director of Public Relations for the Islamic Society of Akron and Kent and an associate professor of sociology at Kent State University, shares her perspectives on the resurgence of Barbie’s influence on our culture today.
![Kent State alumnus Preston Mitchum is a member of the cast of Summer House: Martha's Vineyard. Kent State alumnus Preston Mitchum is a member of the cast of Summer House: Martha's Vineyard.](https://www-s3-live.kent.edu/s3fs-root/s3fs-public/styles/1_5_2_thumbnail/public/summer%20house.jpg?VersionId=_1ogQUdWf1cnxPBFFTvu8.htMQo34wo6&itok=xBfUeScl)
When he was a student at Kent State University, Preston Mitchum, BA ‘08, was heavily involved in student government and other organizations and recalls taking part in a considerable number of campus protests.
![Sound production student Sound production student](https://www-s3-live.kent.edu/s3fs-root/s3fs-public/styles/1_5_2_thumbnail/public/women%20in%20film.jpg?VersionId=Biy43HgTZClbXNW2.4sLYQQnSwwfxOQN&itok=Dn1T7-Xe)
Kent State Media and Journalism assistant professor talks to WFMJ Youngstown’s “21 News at 5” about the opportunities for women in the film industry today, following the record-breaking success of woman-directed Barbie movie.
![School of Music Percussion Camp 2023 School of Music Percussion Camp 2023](https://www-s3-live.kent.edu/s3fs-root/s3fs-public/styles/1_5_2_thumbnail/public/Screenshot%202023-06-26%20at%2011.17.31%20AM.png?VersionId=KqbSTuBhDQH9NCZiNwZnBp81077xVNZf&itok=AL5RldNw)
High school students come to Kent State each summer for the School of Music's Percussion Camp.
![Farnaz Fatemi, Poet Laureate Fellow, of Santa Cruz County, California, in partnership with Kent State University's Wick Poetry Center and several local Santa Cruz County organizations, will produce a series of nine monthly pop-up teen poetry workshops. Farnaz Fatemi, Poet Laureate Fellow, of Santa Cruz County, California, in partnership with Kent State University's Wick Poetry Center and several local Santa Cruz County organizations, will produce a series of nine monthly pop-up teen poetry workshops.](https://www-s3-live.kent.edu/s3fs-root/s3fs-public/styles/1_5_2_thumbnail/public/farnaz%20fatemi.jpg?VersionId=hIErK2ZZZSOX.IHTqhRHN51GZUo2xtel&itok=WmXpjAsE)
Farnaz Fatemi, poet laureate of Santa Cruz County, California, was awarded a $50,000 fellowship from the Academy of American Poets that she will use in partnership with Kent State University's Wick Poetry Center to produce a series of teen poetry workshops. Fatemi is an Iranian-American poet and writer and the author of "Sister Tongue," published in 2022 by the Kent State University Press. She was the winner of the 2021 Stan and Tom Wick Poetry Prize, awarded annually by the Wick Poetry Center for a poet's first book of poems.
![Kent Blossom Music Festival opens its summer 2023 season Kent Blossom Music Festival](https://www-s3-live.kent.edu/s3fs-root/s3fs-public/styles/1_5_2_thumbnail/public/KBMF%20.jpeg?VersionId=1YTMy3nR_Uu8DO74LKnsxZOC4c3YjhVf&itok=A8B21_oL)
For five decades, the Kent Blossom Music Festival has nurtured young artists from all over the globe, giving them the opportunity to grow as musicians and collaborate with some of the world’s most talented musicians and teachers. With 12 performances on the calendar, the 2023 season of the Kent Blossom Music Festival runs through Aug. 6.
![Kent Blossom Art Intensives 2023 Kent Blossom Art Intensives 2023](https://www-s3-live.kent.edu/s3fs-root/s3fs-public/styles/1_5_2_thumbnail/public/351315352_628568165878005_5039629228011947888_n.jpg?VersionId=V5E8zzL2WU2_PMf4aiBQc.koIOU4D_iX&itok=S0D18Vl6)
The Kent Blossom Art Intensives welcome students and artists to campus to create art and learn from artists from around the world.
![Summer Fashion Academy 2023 Summer Fashion Academy 2023](https://www-s3-live.kent.edu/s3fs-root/s3fs-public/styles/1_5_2_thumbnail/public/Screenshot%202023-06-26%20at%2010.14.57%20AM.png?VersionId=f9XyKnJ46gjUqtt1sHTZaqJLMuYMLAU2&itok=2wAYdoDI)
Every summer, Kent State hosts an immersive experience in fashion for high school students.
!['A Funny Thing' at Porthouse A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum at Porthouse Theatre](https://www-s3-live.kent.edu/s3fs-root/s3fs-public/styles/1_5_2_thumbnail/public/forum%20hero.jpg?VersionId=mBnO6Z30rH9sURr3QH6wdksYH676TNo5&itok=He56VpVa)
Kent State University’s Porthouse Theatre has kicked off the 2023 season with Broadway classic, “A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum,” which runs through June 24. This Stephen Sondheim, Broadway classic merges the energy and wit of vaudevillian performance with the 2,000-year-old comedies of Roman playwright Platus.
Kent State University observed Juneteenth this weekend with a Juneteenth Jubilee.