Employee Wellness Program to Host Film Screening

The Employee Wellness Program is hosting a free screening of “2001: A Space Odyssey” in the Texas A&M University-Commerce Planetarium in April.

The 1968 film, directed by Stanley Kubrick, is a story of evolution. The film stars Keir Dullea as Dr. Dave Bowman, Gary Lockwood as Dr. Frank Poole, and William Sylvester as Dr. Heywood R. Floyd, among many others. The plot involves someone or something nudging evolution in the distant past by placing a monolith on Earth and possibly elsewhere in the universe. Evolution enables humankind to reach the moon's surface, where another monolith is found that signals the other distributed monolith placers. This kick starts a race between computers (HAL) and humankind (Bowman) to reach the monolith placer first. The winner will achieve the next step in evolution.

The Employee Wellness Program will show the film as a follow-up to its Spring 2016 installment of the employee book club. The program invites faculty and staff to register for the book club and participate each fall, spring and summer semester. Copies of the selected text are provided, and faculty and staff are invited to register online and sign a promissory note for participation. Each book club event involves a two-hour discussion about the book with refreshments offered. The book club portion of the “2001: A Space Odyssey” text will take place April 7 from 2-4 p.m. in the Alumni Center.

“The purpose of our Employee Book Club is to engage in thoughtful discussion of a novel or nonfiction work, develop intellectual and social wellness and provide faculty and staff an opportunity to meet and mingle with others on campus,” said Moira Johnson, employee wellness administrator. “This time, we've added a film screening because this novel and film were developed concurrently by Arthur C. Clarke and Stanley Kubrick and are both considered artistic masterpieces of the 21st century! We want to demonstrate different interpretations of this enigmatic sci-fi that explores the interplay of human evolution, technology and man's quest for answers.”

The free screening will take place on April 14 at 5:30 p.m. in the A&M-Commerce Planetarium. Seating is first-come, first-serve, with no reservations being taken. Doors will open at 5 p.m.

To learn more about visit the Employee Wellness Program.