June 10, 2017 “Story in the Public Square”

Music and art, like storytelling, are distinctively human creations. Guest Joseph “Butch” Rovan works in both media to tell stories, challenge assumptions, and explore our humanity.

Joseph Butch Rovan is the faculty director of the Brown Arts Initiative (BAI), a new program at Brown University that supports forward-thinking and cutting-edge artists – including those whose work responds to contemporary issues and creates awareness of them.

In addition to directing the BAI, Rovan is a composer, media artist and performer on the faculty of the Department of Music at Brown University. He also co-directs the MEME (Multimedia & Electronic Music Experiments) program in Computer Music. Before joining academia, he was a member of a Southern California rock band.

“Story in the Public Square” airs on Rhode Island PBS in Rhode Island and southern Massachusetts on Sundays at 11 a.m. and is rebroadcast Thursdays at 7:30 p.m. An audio version of the program airs Saturdays at 8:30 a.m. & 10:30 p.m. ET and Sundays at 1:30 p.m. ET on SiriusXM’s popular P.O.T.U.S. (Politics of the United States), channel 124.

Story in the Public Square is a partnership between the Pell Center and The Providence Journal. The initiative aims to study, celebrate, and tell stories that matter.