Staff report

WATERVILLE -- Central Maine residents can take in many of the events scheduled at Colby College this weekend as the Waterville college plans a full slate of activitries for the 3,000 people expected for its Family Homecoming Weekend.

Vistors are expected from 33 states, and nations as far as Poland and Japan.
On Friday and Saturday, Colby's Slices of Life theater festival takes the audience to Africa. Presenting short pieces by the continent's premier playwrights, Colby's student directors invite you to travel across the Atlantic without ever leaving your seat (7:30 p.m., Strider Theater, Runnals Building).

Lectures include Nobel Laureate Robert F. Curl on the problems technology has introduced into society (Thursday, Oct. 16, 7 p.m., Room 1, Olin Science Center); University of California, San Diego, Professor Naomi Oreskes on the political history of climate change (Friday, Oct. 17, 4:30 p.m., Room 100, Lovejoy Building); Colby professors Robert Weisbrot (history) and Cal Mackenzie (government) on the 1960s and their new book The Liberal Hour (Saturday, Oct. 18, 10:45 a.m., Ostrove Auditorium, Diamond Building); and Professor Nikky G. Kaur Singh (religious studies) on the role of literature in religious understanding (Saturday, Oct. 18, 12:45 a.m., Room 100, Lovejoy Building).

The traditional Colby a cappella concerts will be held at the Waterville Opera House (Friday, Oct. 17, 7 and 9 p.m.). Tickets are $2 and must be purchased in advance.

Also, the Colby Craft Fair returns after a one-year hiatus. One of Maine's finest, the show features displays by more than 85 crafters in the field house of the Alfond Athletic Center (Saturday, Oct. 18, 10 a.m.-4 p.m.)

Other events, all on Saturday, include:

• State of the College conversation with President William D. Adams; 9:45 a.m., Given Auditorium, Bixler Art and Music Center

• DYNASTY Step Squad performance;10:45 a.m., Lower programming space, Cotter Union

• Woodsmen's Team demonstration;11 a.m., Woodsmen's area, Washington Street

• Field hockey vs. Connecticut College; 11 a.m., Bill Alfond Field

• Women's soccer vs. Connecticut College; 11 a.m., Soccer Field

• Dedication of Harold Alfond Stadium; 11:30 a.m., Harold Alfond Stadium

• Football vs. Hamilton College; noon, Seaverns Football Field, Harold Alfond Stadium

• Performance by the Colby Dancers and the Colby Step Team; 12:30 p.m., Given Auditorium, Bixler Art and Music Center

• Men's soccer vs. Connecticut College; 1:30 p.m., Soccer Field

• Colby Improv performance; 2 p.m., Given Auditorium, Bixler Art and Music Building

• Tour of the Colby College Museum of Art with Sharon Corwin, museum director; 2 p.m., Colby College Museum of Art

• Miller Library tower tours; 3-5 p.m., (weather permitting), meet on library steps

• Colby Improv performance; 4 p.m., Given Auditorium, Bixler Art and Music Center

• Music in My Soul: Performance by the Colby College Chorale; 4 p.m., Schupf Wing, Colby College Museum of Art

• Jazz Band performance; 6 p.m., Given Auditorium, Bixler Art and Music Center
For online details, go to www.colby.edu.