Milestones
News briefs about the accomplishments, awards, and transitions of Mount Holyoke faculty, staff, students, and alumnae.
February 2012
Alumna Elected Treasurer of Massachusetts Bar Foundation
Janet Aserkoff ’65, managing partner of New Boston Fund's affiliated law firm Rappaport, Aserkoff & Gelles, has been elected treasurer of the Massachusetts Bar Foundation (MBF), one of the state’s leading legal charities and the philanthropic partner of the Massachusetts Bar Association. Aserkoff has been a fellow and member of the MBF for the past 32 years. In recognition of her support of the organization, she received the MBF President's Award in 2009 and was elected trustee in 2010. Aserkoff's career has spanned more than 40 years, during which she has developed an expertise in real estate law and acted as general counsel for New Boston Fund.
Askeroff served on the MHC Board of Trustees from 2006 to 2011, chairing the Annual Fund's first million-dollar annual campaign in 1976 and serving on the Alumnae Association's Board of Directors. She is also a recipient of the Alumnae Association’s Medal of Honor.
January 2012
Tian Hui Ng to Conduct at Transient Glory
Tian Hui Ng, MHC’s director of orchestral activities, has been selected as one of eight conductors nationwide to participate in the Transient Glory Symposium presented by the Carnegie Hall Choral Institute and the Young People’s Chorus of New York City, scheduled for February 15-18 in New York City. At the symposium Ng will work with Joan Tower, a performer, conductor, educator, and composer, on "Can I," which she composed during her 70th birthday celebrations. Ng will conduct "Can I" twice in Transient Glory Symposium concerts on Friday, February 17, at the 92nd Street Y, and again on Saturday, February 18, at Carnegie Hall’s Zankel Hall. Ng has conducted premieres of music by Colin Britt, Curt Cacioppo, Zhangyi Chen, Reena Esmail, and Americ Goh, and other young composers from around the world. Known for his versatility as a composer, he has written music for animation, dance, film, and theatre, as well as for choir and orchestra.
Novel Earns Alumna Literary Award
Holly Thompson ’81 has been awarded the Asian/Pacific American Librarians Association 2012 Young Adult Literature award for her novel Orchards. Thompson, a longtime resident of Japan, teaches creative writing at Yokohama University. Orchards is published by Delacorte Books for Young Readers. Orchards, which is written in verse, is the story of a young Asian American girl who, following the death of a friend, is sent to live with her grandmother in Japan. The book explores cross-cultural experiences between Japan and America, and trauma and healing in young people. The Asian/Pacific American Awards for Literature honor and recognize individual works of exceptional literary and artistic merit about Asian/Pacific Americans and their heritage.
Dickinson’s Dog Subject of Alumna’s New Book
Marty Figley FP’03 has written a new children’s book about Emily Dickinson. Emily and Carlo, published by Charlesbridge, tells the story of 19-year-old Dickinson and Carlo, the black Newfoundland dog that was her companion for 16 years. Carlo featured in several of Dickinson’s poems. Figley has written many books for children based on historical events from America’s past and the young people who experienced them.
Anci Elected to Admission Assembly
Diane Anci, dean of admission and interim vice president for enrollment, will shortly begin serving as a regionally elected representative to the National Guidance and Admission Assembly for the New England Regional Assembly. Her term will officially start at the New England regional forum on February 1. The Guidance and Admission Assembly considers issues and actions related to providing educational opportunities for all students at crucial transition points in their lives.
Law Professor Twila Perry ’70 Receives Award
Twila Perry ’70, professor and Alexander T. Waugh Scholar at Rutgers University School of Law in Newark, has received the 2012 Clyde Ferguson Award. One of the highest honors bestowed by the Association of American Law Schools, the award is given to “an outstanding law teacher, who in the course of his or her career has achieved excellence in the areas of public service, teaching, and scholarship.” The award honors the late C. Clyde Ferguson, who taught at Harvard Law School and was the first tenured African American professor at Rutgers law. Perry is the first African American woman to gain tenure at the Rutgers law school.
Student Earns Award at Research Conference
Natasha Naidoo ’12, a double major in biology and geography, received a $50 award for her interdisciplinary research presentation at the 2011 Annual Biomedical Research Conference for Minority Students, held November 9-12 in St. Louis, Missouri. She presented her poster “Stressed to Death: The Role of daf-2 RNAi in Stress Recovery.” More than 2,100 students attended the conference.
Sven Aas Featured in Journal
Sven Aas, LITS Web team lead, has just published an article on website emergency response communication in LINK: The Journal of Higher Education Web Professionals. His article, “Pragmatic Emergency Preparedness,” provides Web professionals with an easy-to-follow guide for making rapid, broad changes on their websites so institutions can distribute urgent messages quickly. The article builds on a poster he presented at the HighEdWeb 2011 Conference in Austin, Texas, last October, where he also won a Best in Track Award for a separate presentation, “Swingin’ with Sinatra: Small Apps Fast.”
December 2011
Professor Featured at National Academy of Sciences Meeting
Becky Wai-Ling Packard, professor of psychology and education and codirector of the Weissman Center for Leadership and the Liberal Arts, spoke at a major summit sponsored by the National Academy of Sciences on December 15 in Washington, D.C. The event, Community Colleges in the Evolving STEM Education Landscape, featured presentations and discussions of science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) education in community colleges and how two- and four-year institutions of higher education might offer new opportunities for students and institutions. Packard discussed effective outreach and mentoring in four-year STEM degrees via community college pathways. The summit took place at the Carnegie Institution for Science, which cohosted the event. Click here to view see videos of the event.
Professor Emeritus Releases New Album
Allen Bonde, composer and professor emeritus of music, just released Sound Spectrum, a new album of original compositions. The CD features works for piano, soprano, and orchestra drawn from Bonde’s personal experiences, including Rose Window, which is a musical representation of the rose window in Mount Holyoke’s Abbey Memorial Chapel. He is joined in several of the works by his daughter, Mara Bonde ’91, a soprano, and by his wife, Maria Bonde, on piano. Bonde taught at Mount Holyoke from 1971 until his retirement in 2009.
Professor Receives APA Grant for Website Project
Professor of Philosophy Thomas Wartenberg received a grant from the American Philosophical Association for his website, “What’s the Big Idea?,” which he is building in collaboration with videographer Julie Akeret. The $5,000 grant supports their project, which is designed to teach philosophy to middle-school children through the use of movie clips. The first video will be on bullying, and the website will be live in January 2012.
Video Contest Winners Chosen
The Five College Student Coordinating Board, comprising the presidents of each campus student government organization and selected representatives, recently gathered at Five Colleges, Inc. to choose the winners of the 2011 Sixty-Second Video Contest. Entrants were challenged to produce a 60-second video depicting life on campus and in the consortium. The contest provided an opportunity for all undergraduate students in the consortium to share what makes their campus unique.
The Student Coordinating Board offered five $200 prizes, one each for the best video from each campus, and an additional $300 prize for the best overall video. Winners were announced December 9. They are: Ben Goldsmith, Hampshire College winner and Best of Show winner; Camilla Pohle-Anderson, Mount Holyoke winner; Matt Hartzler, Amherst College winner; Michelle Anderer, Smith College winner; and Adrian Atwood and Emily Felder, UMass Amherst winners. Mount Holyoke students submitted the greatest number of entries with six short videos in all.
The Five College Student Coordinating Board plans to make this contest an annual event; members hope to eventually host a film festival so that more members of the community can enjoy the student videos. Click here to view this year's winning entries.
CBL Coordinator Tapped for Special Commission
Alan Bloomgarden, coordinator of the Community-Based Learning Program at Mount Holyoke College, has been appointed to the Special Commission on Civic Engagement and Learning by Governor Deval Patrick. Bloomgarden was tapped for his expertise in curriculum development with an emphasis on civic learning. He will serve on the commission with leaders in education and public service investigating civic engagement and learning from kindergarten through higher education in the state of Massachusetts.
Alumna Receives Honorary Degree from McGill
Sheila Barshay Goldbloom ’47 gave the fall commencement address and received an honorary doctor of laws degree from McGill University November 23. Goldbloom, who received her master of social work degree at McGill and taught at the university until 1992, was cited for her dedication to improving the lives of those around her. Since retiring, she has helped found several community groups with a focus on improving the living conditions of the most vulnerable seniors. Goldbloom received an honorary doctor of humane letters from Mount Holyoke College in 2010.
Alumna Publishes Inspirational Memoir
MHC alumna Sally Everett '65 was a single parent and successful attorney when she was diagnosed with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) in 1993. Everett's COPD was caused by Alpha-1, a genetic abnormality often overlooked by physicians. Her doctor told her she had, at most, ten years to live. Yet, 18 years later, not only is she alive and healthy, she is determined to help find a cure for Alpha-1. Everett has just written An Alpha-1 COPD Love Story about her living with COPD and Alpha-1 and falling in love with a man she would have never met if not for their diagnoses.
November 2011
Music Professors Release New Album
Music professors Linda Laderach and Larry Schipull have just released an album of contemplative music for the winter season, I Wonder as I Wander, featuring guest artist and lecturer Cheryl Cobb. “The music was recorded in Abbey Memorial Chapel using the Fisk and Skinner organs, and the new Bösendorfer piano,” said Laderach. The album artwork comes from the archives at Mount Holyoke, including a winter view from Ham-McGregor Dining Hall toward the Holyoke Range, and pictures of the front and back of the chapel. CDs can be purchased from Schipull and Laderach or through CDBaby.com.
Ackmann Speaks at Business Conference
Martha Ackmann, senior lecturer in gender studies, was a guest speaker at the Empowering Women in Business Conference November 16 at Nichols College in Dudley, Massachusetts. Ackmann, author of Curveball and The Mercury 13, joined CBS reporter Laurie Kirby to share insights for success in business and networking with the attendees. The conference goal was to provide strategies to empower women to prosper in business and entrepreneurship.
Wartenberg Receives Award for Teaching Children Philosophy
Philosophy professor Thomas Wartenberg has been chosen to receive the 2011 APA/PDC Prize for Excellence and Innovation in Philosophy Programs for his Teaching Children Philosophy program. The American Philosophical Association (APA) and the Philosophy Documentation Center (PDC) award this prize to honor philosophy departments, research centers, institutes, societies, and other organizations that develop successful and excellent programs promoting research and public understanding of philosophy. Wartenberg will be honored at an upcoming Eastern Division meeting and, in addition, Mount Holyoke students will receive a full year’s access to electronic philosophy resources courtesy of the PDC.
Alumna’s Play Wins at Festival
A play by Carol Verburg ’70, Spin, or Twilight of the Bohemians, was one of four winners at the 2011 Ashland New Plays Festival October 19-23. More than 200 submissions were entered into the popular Oregon festival. Verburg has written several plays and books and is the founder of the independent publishing house Boom-Books, based in San Francisco. She says a highlight of the festival came on the last day when she and the lead actress of her play, Brandy Carson (aka, Carol Barr Brandebury ’56), discovered they were both MHC alumnae.
Gail Holt Receives Distinguished Service Award
Gail Holt, senior associate director of Student Financial Services, received this year’s Charles Jack Sheehan Distinguished Service Award from the Massachusetts Association of Student Financial Aid Administrators (MASFAA). Holt was cited for her outstanding service and dedication to her work, both at Mount Holyoke College and within MASFAA. She has been a member of the association for 16 years. This award was named in honor of Jack Sheehan, one of the most respected financial aid administrators in the United States, who served as president of MASFAA in 1983-1984.
MHC’s Samba Gadjigo Accepted into Prestigious FORUM
French professor Samba Gadjigo’s documentary Sembene! has been selected to be in the International Documentary Festival Amsterdam’s cofinance market, FORUM, November 21-23. At this market, filmmakers and producers present their documentary projects to commissioning editors from international television stations and other financiers, with the aim of financing their projects.
Sembene! tells the story of the father of African cinema, Ousmane Sembene. Gadjigo’s film is produced by Andrea Meditch (Man on Wire, Grizzly Man) and edited by Alison Ellwood (Enron, Gonzo). It has received two awards from the Sundance Documentary Fund.
Ruby Maddox-Fisher Named Finalist for Real Food Awards
Ruby Maddox-Fisher, coordinator at the Miller Worley Center for the Environment, has been named a finalist in the first annual Real Food Awards. Maddox-Fisher is being recognized for her role in starting a student garden at Mount Holyoke College. She also works with Gardening the Community, an organization she cofounded to help inner-city youth. The Real Food Awards are sponsored by Real Food Challenge, an organization that aims to shift at least 20 percent—or $1 billion—of university food purchasing from conventional to “real” sources by 2020 through student-led campaigns. The voting period will close on November 9 and winners will be announced November 18. To vote, visit Real Food Challenge.
October 2011
Professor Lois Brown Takes Part in Civil War Symposium
Lois Brown, Elizabeth Small Professor of English, led a group session at the October 15 Civil War Symposium at the UMass Isenberg School of Management. Her session, A Civil War of Words, dealt with heroism and sacrifice in the literary work of writers living during the war. Sponsored by the Five College Learning in Retirement program, the symposium featured speakers from around the country discussing the sesquicentennial anniversary of the Civil War and its impact on the nation.
Ellis Wins 2011 Best Nonfiction Book Award
Joseph J. Ellis, Professor of History on the Ford Foundation, has been named the winner of the 2011 Best Nonfiction Book Award by the Massachusetts Center for the Book for his most recent work, First Family: Abigail and John Adams. The book, based on some 1,200 letters Abigail and John wrote to each other during their 59 years of marriage, earned stellar reviews from many of the country's leading publications.
Ellis was honored October 20 during a ceremony at the Massachusetts State House.
Alum DJ Saucy Lady Releases Debut Album
Boston’s own DJ Saucy Lady—aka Noe Carmichael ’00—has just released her debut vocal album, Diversify, along with her first music video, “City Lights.” Produced by Yukihiro “U-Key” Kanesaka at Komugiko Studios, the album is a mix of disco, hip-hop, house, Afro-beat, and bossa nova, reflecting Carmichael’s diverse musical influences. Singer-songwriter Carmichael balances her growing music career with a full-time job at an e-commerce company, and in her free time she is also collaborating with other Boston DJs to build a music and entertainment booking agency.
Professor Receives Honorary Doctorate
Professor of Russian Studies Stephen Jones recently received an honorary doctorate from Ivane Javakhishvili Tbilisi State University (TSU), the oldest institution of higher education in the country of Georgia. Jones was awarded this doctorate for his “outstanding efforts in developing political science and regional studies—teaching, research, internationalization, and expertise” at TSU, according to the university. The award ceremony was followed by a lecture by TSU professor Neil Macfarlane. Natalie Sabanadze ’97, senior political advisor to the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe, discussed and responded to the honorary degree lecture.
Jiyad Publishes New Book on Anti-Women Sentiment
Mohammed Jiyad, senior lecturer in Arabic, has published a new book, Anti-Women Sentiment in Arabic Literature: The Case of an Eleventh Century I.C. Manuscript. Jiyad is the author of several books, including a three-part language series that introduces people to Arabic language and culture. In Anti-Women Sentiment, Jiyad explores what he calls “fabricated” sayings attributed to the Prophet and the many out-of-context interpretations of verses from the Qur’an that incorrectly claim women are morally and mentally inferior to men. He shows how these texts contradict the Qur’an and unfairly deny women equal rights in their communities.
Alumnae Make Super Lawyers List
Four Mount Holyoke alumnae have been named 2011 Top Women Super Lawyers: of Hughes Hubbard & Reed LLP and Bernice Leber ’75 of Arent Fox LLP made the top 50 New York list. Toni Wise ’71 of Greenberg Traurig and Teresa Renaker ’86 of Lewis Feinberg Lee Renaker & Jackson P.C. made the top 50 Northern California list. The selection process incorporated independent research and peer nominations and evaluations collected by Super Lawyers, a rating service of outstanding lawyers from more than 70 practice areas in the United States who have attained a high degree of peer recognition and professional achievement.
September 2011
Professor Emeritus Publishes New Book
The University of Pennsylvania Press has just published Flora’s Empire: British Gardens in India, the latest book by Professor Emeritus of History Eugenia W. Herbert. In this book, which is the newest volume in the Penn Studies in Landscape Architecture series, Herbert writes that more than nostalgia or homesickness lay at the root of "garden imperialism." Drawing on period illustrations and personal accounts, Flora’s Empire traces the significance of gardens in the long history of British relations with India. Herbert is the author of several books, including Twilight on the Zambezi: Late Colonialism in Central Africa.
Alum Receives Prestigious Mass Media Fellowship
This past summer, Kelly Hogan ’92 received a prestigious 2011 Mass Media Science & Engineering Fellowship from the American Association for the Advancement of Science, a Washington, D.C.-based organization. Hogan was one of only ten fellows selected, all of whom are graduate and postgraduate science, engineering, and mathematics students. Started in 1974, the program gives students the opportunity to work in a newsroom and report on science news, which helps them establish strong working rapport and confidence talking with journalists. For ten weeks, from June through August, Hogan wrote for the Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel in Wisconsin, covering a variety of topics, such as the links between exercise and improved memory, infant mortality, and gold nanoparticles.
As a scientist herself, Hogan is grateful for the experience of relating journalism to laboratory work. Speaking with both researchers and patients gave her new perspectives on scientific work that she had not considered before. "I returned to the lab renewed in many ways, understanding more than ever the privilege it is to do science and the immense responsibility I have to do it correctly and ethically," she says.
Cory Ventres-Pake ’13 Receives Competitive Fellowship
Twenty-first Century Scholar Cory Ventres-Pake ’13 has been awarded a competitive Environmental Protection Agency Greater Research Opportunities Fellowship for Undergraduate Environmental Study. The fellowship, given to only 40 students nationwide annually, recognizes student leadership and the potential for growth in the field of environmental studies. Each student receives $19,700 each year for two years and $9,500 to support a summer internship. Ventres-Pake, an economics major, is interested in the relationship between poverty and environmental degradation. She plans to study poverty mitigation strategies that are socially and environmentally sustainable.
“I believe that if we address poverty and the consequent lack of opportunities, the condition of our natural environment will also improve,” said Ventres-Pake, who recently returned from spending the summer in Peru working with an organization that supports women and children. “[National Fellowships and Graduate School Advisor] Liz Mandeville and others in the Career Development Center were extremely helpful during the application process—their advice was invaluable.”
MHC a Top Contributor to Teach for America
With 14 graduating seniors accepted by the Teach for America program this year, Mount Holyoke College is one of the top contributors to the program from among small colleges in the country. This year was Teach for America’s most competitive: Nearly 48,000 individuals applied, and 11 percent were accepted. The incoming corps of 5,200 new teachers will enter the nation’s highest-need schools this fall. This year’s corps is also the largest in Teach for America’s history: In the upcoming school year, 9,300 first- and second-year corps members will reach 600,000 students in 43 regions across 34 states and the District of Columbia.
Teach for America is the national corps of outstanding recent college graduates who commit to teach for two years in urban and rural public schools and become lifelong leaders in expanding educational opportunity.
Peterson Takes Part in Sotheby’s Lecture and Book Signing
David B. Truman Professor of Asian Studies Indira Peterson will deliver a brief lecture and participate in a book signing for her new book, The Great Temple of Thanjavur: One Thousand Years, 1010-2010, at Sotheby’s in New York. The event, which is free and open to the public, will take place from 4 to 5 pm on Saturday, September 10. Peterson will be joined by her coauthor, architectural historian George Mitchell. The pair’s book provides the first comprehensive account of the Thanjavur temple’s storied history and includes over 150 photos. The lecture and book signing are part of New York’s Discover Asia Week.
August 2011
Billings to be Honored by Mass. Historical Society
Talcott Greenhouse Manager Russell Billings will receive the Massachusetts Horticultural Society’s Silver Medal at the society’s Honorary Awards Dinner on September 8.
Billings is being recognized for the high quality of his displays at the College’s annual Spring Flower Show.
“Not only do his forced bulbs provide beauty in the early spring, but they offer inspiration to gardeners who are planning their own displays in their home gardens,” said D. Scott Birney, who chaired the honorary awards committee. “The displays are always creative and timely. In mid-March when each of us is anxious for the arrival of spring, the bulb show always gives visitors a much-needed lift.”
According to the Massachusetts Horticultural Society’s website, the silver medal is awarded to individuals or institutions for “meritorious horticultural accomplishments in the horticulture industry, or for noteworthy service to the society.”
Billings is one of ten individuals who will be honored at the society’s September awards dinner. His fellow recipients include Smith College conservatory staff members Rob Nicholson, Nathan Saxe, and Steve Sojkowski, and Wesley R. Autio, professor of pomology at the University of Massachusetts, Amherst, meaning the Five Colleges—and the Pioneer Valley—will be well represented at this year’s celebration.
Grass Roots Efforts at Mount Holyoke Support Tornado Relief
Responding to the tornado that swept the area earlier this summer, members of the Mount Holyoke community collected more than $2000 in food and merchandise to aid the efforts of the Catholic Charities Agency in Springfield and other western Massachusetts communities and participated in a raffle to raise money for the Red Cross. According to Debra LaBonte of Financial Services, one of the organizers of the drive, more than 100 people made donations of clothes, food, appliances, toiletries, and other materials. Among those organizing the effort were Sven Aas and Debra Morrissey in LITS, and Lorraine Lacasse of Financial Services.
In a related effort, Cindy LePage of Student Financial Services and her husband raised $2600 for the American Red Cross by putting together a raffle supported by numerous local businesses. PIP Printing donated the ticket printing. BWP Electric in Granby donated approximately $400 in prizes and solicited other companies to donate. Prize donations and ticket sales came from Dockside Restaurant, Lorilil Jewelers, Nuvo Bank, FieldEddy Insurance, Quicky's, Digrigoli Salon, and other local businesses.
June 2011
Student Earns Gold Medal at Research Symposium
Caitlin Connor ’12, a double major in anthropology and political science, won the Rustum Roy Emerging Scientist Gold Medal at the International Society for the Study of Subtle Energies and Energy Medicine Conference Research Symposium on June 24 in Westminister, Colorado. She presented her study in a 20-minute talk titled, “Dowsing: Anchoring in Time.” More than 180 scientists attended the conference. Connor is currently doing a summer internship in the anthropology department at the University of Arizona.
Equestrian Team Members Compete in Ragnar Relay
Members of the Mount Holyoke equestrian teams collaborated to compete in the 2011 Ragnar Relay race across New York State. The May 13-14 relay began at the site of the 1969 Woodstock Music Festival in Bethel and ended in Westchester County, spanning a total of 196.9 miles. Of the 214 registered teams, 182 finished.
The Mount Holyoke “Pony Express” squad, whose roster drew members from the Dressage, English, and Western Riding Teams, included Mary Beth Lee '11, Amanda Ross '11, Sarah Zabek '11, Mackenzie Cameron '11, Meredith Baker '11, Allison O'Neill '13, Ella Pittman '14, Nell Maynard '14, Lindsay Sceats '11, Liz Tripp '11, Anne Tucker '12, and Chetana Daniels '11.
The MHC team finished the challenging course in just over 32 hours.
MHC Roosevelt Chapter Receives Multiple Honors
The Mount Holyoke Chapter of the Roosevelt Campus Network, a national student public policy organization with over 8,000 members, earned an impressive list of honors for the 2010-2011 academic year.
Chapter members Ashley McCollum ’12, Katie Silvius ’11, Mia Przyborowski ’11, and Lydia D. Bowers ’12 authored policy pieces that will be printed in national Roosevelt journals. Silvius and Przyborowski’s piece, which explores the overuse of medication to treat mental illness, was also nominated for Policy Piece of the Year, a distinction given to one article from each of the six Roosevelt publications.
In addition, Tatiana Eldore ’13 was recognized for her contribution to the Roosevelt network with a nomination for the Rising Star Leadership Award.
Along with these accomplishments, Jenna Ruddock ’13, Sarah Chase ’12, and Lydia D. Bowers worked on the recent Roosevelt initiative, the Budget for Millennial America.
Finally, the Mount Holyoke chapter was nominated as the best chapter in the Roosevelt Campus Network. This latest nomination comes just one year after the MHC delegation won for best new chapter. The winning chapter will be announced in August at the network’s annual conference.
Penn, Meadows Named ACLS Fellows
Michael Penn, associate professor of religion, and Elizabeth Meadows, visiting assistant professor of English, have been selected as 2011 fellows by the American Council of Learned Societies (ACLS).
According to its website, ACLS is “the preeminent representative of American scholarship in the humanities and related social sciences.” Since 1957, more than 9,200 scholars have held ACLS fellowships and grants. In 2011, awards totaling nearly $15 million were given to more than 350 scholars worldwide.
Penn received a Frederick Burkhardt Residential Fellowship for Recently Tenured Scholars. The awards program supports tenured academics who want to pursue long-term, ambitious projects. The fellowship supports a year of residence at any of the national residential research centers participating in the program. Penn will be at the National Humanities Center in North Carolina for the 2012-2013 academic year, where he will research Syriac Christian reactions to the rise of Islam.
Meadows was selected for the ACLS New Faculty Fellows Program, which allows recent humanities Ph.D.s to take two-year positions at U.S. universities and colleges where their particular research and teaching expertise augment departmental offerings.
May 2011
MHC’s Gail Holt Named Outstanding State Representative
Only one year into her two-year term, Gail Holt, senior associate director of Student Financial Services, has been named Outstanding State Representative by the Eastern Association of Student Financial Aid Administrators (EASFAA). This honor is given to one state representative in recognition of outstanding service and support for the goals and objectives of EASFAA at the state level. EASFAA is an organization of financial aid administrators from 13 states, including Puerto Rico, across the eastern region of the United States. Holt represents approximately 650 financial aid administrators from Massachusetts.
Said Holt, “I feel like I’ve been able to improve resources for students through the connections I’ve made being part of EASFAA.”
Gadjigo Discusses Film and Fiction in Brazil
Professor of French Samba Gadjigo recently gave two lectures in Sao Paulo at the invitation of Brazil’s main trade union, Central Única dos Trabalhadores (Unified Workers’ Central), and the Pontifical Catholic University. On April 29, he spoke at a trade union seminar about the work of African filmmaker Ousmane Sembène, who was the subject of several biographies and a documentary (currently in the works) by Gadjigo. On May 1, he discussed alternative voices in African film and fiction and the connections between Africans and Brazilians at the university.
“The union was interested in knowing more about my work on Sembène and on the representation of the working class in film and fiction,” said Gadjigo. He added that his lecture at Pontifical Catholic University was a “real affirmation of the centuries-long dialogue” between Africa and Brazil, a nation, he said, that has become home to a large number of people from the African diaspora.
Gross FP ’11 Is Published in National Magazine
Laura Gross FP ’11 is sharing her moving story of working as an “euthanasia technician” in an animal shelter with readers of Spirituality & Health magazine. Her article, “The Job That’s Not on My Resume,” was published in the May-June 2011 issue. It’s her first small (500-word) piece to appear in a national magazine.
Last fall, Gross celebrated another literary debut, with the release of her first collection of poetry, Spring’s Third Day. You can read more about the collection here.
Peterson to Deliver Second Annual Indian Studies Lecture
David B. Truman Professor of Asian Studies and Five College Fortieth Anniversary Professor Indira Peterson is delivering the second annual Indian Studies Lecture at University of California at Davis on May 5. Her lecture, “The Lovesick Lady and the Wandering Kuravanji Fortune-teller: Representing Women in an Indian Dance-Drama Genre,” will address representation of women in the eighteenth-century Indian literary-musical genre known as Kuravanji.
April 2011
Student Takes Second Place at Glascock Contest
Melissa Yang ’11, one of six student contestants, placed second at this year’s 88th Annual Kathryn Irene Glascock ’22 Intercollegiate Poetry Competition. Each year, half a dozen undergraduate poets are invited from colleges around the country to read their poetry before an audience and a panel of judges. This year’s judges were Harvard professor and literary critic Stephen Burt, award-winning poet Jeffrey Harrison, and University of Pittsburgh assistant professor Dawn Lundy Martin. The Glascock contest began in 1923 with a gift from the parents of Kathryn Irene Glascock, an aspiring poet who died shortly after graduation.
MHC Receives Grant from Newman’s Own Foundation
Mount Holyoke College has received a $70,000 grant from Newman’s Own Foundation to install an ISDN line on campus. This enhanced broadcast-quality phone line will allow the digital transmission of voice and data to support The Academic Minute, a daily radio series produced by WAMC/Northeast Public Radio and hosted by President Lynn Pasquerella. Launched in July 2010, The Academic Minute features professors from top institutions across the country explaining their research and discoveries in a variety of fields. Mount Holyoke faculty are often featured on the program.
Since its founding in 1982, all profits from the sale of Newman’s Own products have funded Newman’s Own Foundation, which has given more than $300 million to charities around the world. Newman’s Own Foundation is already a supporter of The Academic Minute, having awarded WAMC/Northeast Public Radio a grant for the show in August 2010.
Wartenberg Organizes Philosophy for Children Conference
Philosophy professor Thomas E. Wartenberg has organized a conference on philosophy for children April 20 and 21. The Mini-Conference on Philosophy for Children will be held in conjunction with the 2011 meetings of the Pacific Division of the American Philosophical Association in San Diego and will focus on the impact of pre-college philosophy instruction. Participants will include scholars from around the globe. This conference is sponsored by the Pacific Division of the American Philosophical Association, the Squire Family Foundation, Mount Holyoke College, the Northwest Center for Philosophy for Children, and the Committee on Pre-College Instruction in Philosophy of the American Philosophical Association.
Wartenberg has been teaching philosophy to children for years and has also taught his methods to MHC students, bringing them into Springfield elementary schools to work with second graders.
Stephen Jones Hosts Educators from Republic of Georgia
Professor of Russian Studies Stephen Jones hosted a group of Georgian educators who visited the United States through the Open World program April 1-9. The organization enables emerging leaders from Russia and other Eurasian countries to experience American democracy and civil society in action. During the group’s stay, the delegation heard from local experts and government representatives who talked about various aspects of educational systems in the U.S. and Massachusetts, including school outreach and accreditation. The educators also met with Mount Holyoke Interim Vice President for Enrollment and College Relations Diane Anci, and took a tour of the Massachusetts State House with State Senator Stan Rosenberg of Amherst.
President Pasquerella Praises New Book on Frances Perkins
President Lynn Pasquerella wrote a recommendation for the recently published book, A Promise to All Generations: Stories and Essays about Social Security and Frances Perkins, edited by Christopher Breiseth and Kirstin Downey (Frances Perkins Center, 2011). A quote from Pasquerella's recommendation appears on the back cover of the book: "This remarkable collection of essays presents a stunning portrait of how one woman's commitment to social justice transformed the lives of generations of workers."
Frances Perkins graduated from Mount Holyoke College with the class of 1902 and went on to become the secretary of labor under Franklin D. Roosevelt and the first woman appointed to the U.S. Cabinet.
March 2011
Professor Gudmundson's Book Celebrates Twenty-fifth Anniversary
The twenty-fifth anniversary edition of Costa Rica Before Coffee by Professor of Latin American Studies and History Lowell Gudmundson has just been released by State Open University Press (EUNED) in Costa Rica. Gudmundson wrote a new preface for this edition. The book was first published in English in 1986 by Louisiana State University Press. Five years later the Spanish version was released by Editorial Costa Rica, making this the twentieth anniversary of the Spanish-language edition as well.
Kris Bergbom Receives Social Justice Award
Kris Bergbom, assistant director of operations in the student programs office, has been selected to receive the Outstanding Social Justice Educator, Mentor, or Trainer Award by the American College Personnel Association (ACPA) Commission for Social Justice Educators. ACPA is a leading international student affairs association based in Washington, D.C. at the National Center for Public Policy and Higher Education. This award is given annually and recognizes an individual who is personally committed to social justice education and/or activism and is an outstanding educator, trainer, or mentor to other professionals or students in the area of social activism. This award recognizes individuals who have shown leadership over five years on broader initiatives of diversity and multiculturalism on their campuses.
MHC Students Win Awards for Print Artwork
Two students have won awards at the 2011 Arches Seventh Biennial Student Print Exhibition: Rebecca Batchie FP '11 received a Jurors' Commendation for her woodcut and Rebecca Jackson FP '11 won a Gamblin prize for her print. Juried by the Executive Board of the Boston Printmakers, this year's show includes nearly 200 student works from 20 New England colleges and art schools. For many of these students, this is their first opportunitiy to professionally exhibit their work. It is also an opportunity for the New England art public to see the broad scope of printmaking produced at these schools.
Mount Holyoke students are well represented at the exhibition, which opened February 27 and will be on view until April 10 at the Danforth Museum of Art in Framingham. Along with Batchie and Jackson, Fran Bozzelli '11, Vera Fomenkov '11, Aviva Galaski '11, Michelle Kroll '11, Natalie Kulikowski '11, Quynh Le '12, Yaelim Lee '12, Nika Meyers '11, Cohl Miller '11, Lauren Ricke '11, Elizabeth Tallmadge '13, and Katie Viechnicki '11 all have prints in the show.
February 2011
Paus and Christiansen Argue for Capital Controls
Mount Holyoke professors Eva Paus and Jens Christiansen were two of the more than 250 economists who signed a letter urging the Obama administration to reform United States trade rules that restrict the use of capital controls. Other signatories of the letter, which was delivered to the U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner, and U.S. Trade Representative Ron Kirk, included Nobel laureate Joseph Stiglitz.
The United States currently has trade or investment agreements with 52 countries that restrict the use of capital controls, and allow private foreign investors the right to sue governments that violate these restrictions.
The letter argues that U.S. trade treaties are inconsistent with the emerging consensus in the economics profession and among international financial institutions that capital controls are a legitimate tool to help stem financial crisis.
January 2011
See Handiwork by Hachiyanagi and Ginsberg
A pair of installations in handmade paper by Mount Holyoke art faculty will be on view at Open Square (Mill 4) in Holyoke, Massachusetts, February 4-April 11, 2011.
Rie Hachiyanagi's "Paper City: Trace" will be on display in the fourth-floor gallery, while Tatiana Ginsberg's "La Perouse's Last Letters" will be housed in the second-floor gallery.
An opening reception for both installations will be held on February 4 from 5 to 7 pm. Directions and further information at opensquare.com.
Professor Jiyad Publishes The Voices of Arab Women
Five College Senior Lecturer in Arabic Mohammed Jiyad has just published The Voices of Arab Women: A Media Content-Based Reader for Arabic Language and Culture Proficiency, the fifth addition to his Arabic language series. The book includes an introduction by Jiyad (in English) of his in-depth study of women's social status in Islam, particularly on the rights they are granted in the Qur'an.
"The remaining material is written by Arab women who live in the Arab world or the diaspora," says Jiyad, who gathered the writings from numerous sources, including interviews, blogs, and the media. "They discuss Arab women's goals, aspirations, political identity, religious practices, marriage, divorce, child rearing, education, war, occupation, and opinions regarding world issues."
Brienza '03 Publishes Article on Sociology and Comics
Alumna Casey Brienza's lifelong interest in comics is paying off in her academic career: She just published an article, "Producing Comics Culture: A Sociological Approach to the Study of Comics," in the Journal of Graphic Novels and Comics. Brienza, a Ph.D. candidate in the Department of Sociology at the University of Cambridge, has been writing and researching comic books and the transnational publishing industry between Japan and the United States since she was a student at Mount Holyoke. In her current article, she analyzes the "production of culture" approach to studying art and literature in comic books, and discusses its strengths and limitations in the field of sociology.
