Campus Calendar

Soul man

George Duke, a Grammy-winning pioneer, has kept some impressive musical company during his career. He produced, recorded, and performed with Miles Davis, Shuggie Otis, Dizzy Gillespie,and Earth, Wind & Fire; he even joined Frank Zappa's "Mothers of Invention" for a while. In "George Duke: Restore Your Soul" at Berklee on Thursday, Duke will perform selections from his 30 albums, plus select covers offering a history of soul music with the help of a Berklee faculty backup band. 8:15 p.m. $30, $22.50 seniors. Berklee Performance Center, 136 Massachusetts Ave. 617-747-2261. berkleebpc.com

Shoghaken Ensemble Clark University's Strassler Family Center for Holocaust and Genocide Studies presents the Shoghaken Ensemble, an internationally celebrated Armenian folk music and dance company. In 2002, cellist Yo-Yo Ma invited the eight-member group to perform at the Smithsonian Folk Festival in Washington, D.C. Clark University's Thursday presentation will showcase Armenian music, song, and dance - sounds ranging from the frenetic energy of dances to lullabies that make it seem as if the wind itself is weeping. 7:30 p.m. Free. Clark University, Higgins University Center, Tilton Hall, 950 Main St., Worcester. 508-793-8897. clarku.edu. Can't make it to the free show in Worcester? Shoghaken Ensemble plays the Somerville Theatre on Friday at 8 p.m. for $28.

"Building the New Climate Movement" Lecture "After 20 years of inaction, the race is finally underway," wrote author and activist Bill McKibben in The Washington Post. "Global warming has a huge head start; the sprint to catch up is the story of our time." McKibben will present the 2008 Carolyn Wilson Lecture "Building the New Climate Movement" on Thursday at Wellesley. 8 p.m. Free. Wellesley College, Alumnae Hall Auditorium, Wellesley. wellesley.edu/publicaffairs

"Semele" with Boston Baroque Girl falls for God. Girl tricks God. Girl dies. Handel's "Semele," the classic tragedy of a mere mortal falling for a god, is retold by Opera Boston. Stage director Sam Helfrich gives the Semele-falls-for-Jupiter myth a contemporary setting to highlight "how complicated and imperfect human emotions are." Martin Pearlman conducts the Boston Baroque period-instrument orchestra and chorus. Fri and Tue 7:30 p.m., Sun 3 p.m. $29-$114. Emerson College, Cutler Majestic Theatre, 219 Tremont St. 800-233-3123. maj.org

Reading from "Ireland's Magdalen Laundries" Ireland has a dirty historical secret. For years, some segments of the Catholic Church imprisoned so-called "undesirables" (single moms, illegitimate children, promiscuous women, etc.) in workhouses called Magdalen Laundries. Turn of the century barbarism? Hardly. The last laundry closed in 1996. Yes. A decade ago. Tuesday night, Boston College English professor James Smith reads from "Ireland's Magdalen Laundries and the Nation's Architecture of Containment." The vice consul for the Consulate General of Ireland in Boston, Marianne Bolger, will introduce Smith. Tue 7-9 .m. Free. Boston College, Gasson Hall 305, Chestnut Hill. 617-552-4576. bc.edu

Send your campus events to celcik@comcast.net.