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May 3,
2002
Front-Page
News
Benfey on the Bayou
Chris Benfey, MHC professor of English and codirector of the Weissman
Center for Leadership, delivered the keynote address on April
18 at a celebration in New Orleans in honor of the African American
chemical engineer Norbert Rillieux. Rillieux invented the Multiple-Effect
Evaporator Under Vacuum, patented in 1843, which revolutionized
the sugar industry. The event, cosponsored by the American Chemical
Society and host Dillard University, made public the National
Historic Chemical Landmark designation of Rillieux’s native
city of New Orleans. Benfey included a chapter on Rillieux in
his book Degas in New Orleans (New York: Knopf, 1997), in which
he announced his discovery that Rillieux was a first cousin of
Edgar Degas’s mother. Closer to home, the May 5 issue of
the New York Times Book Review will feature Benfey’s
review of Alec Wilkinson’s book My Mentor: A Young Man’s
Friendship with William Maxwell. And on April 13, Frank Delaney
of the BBC’s weekly show Poetry Please came to the
Emily Dickinson Homestead in Amherst to interview Benfey regarding
aspects of Emily Dickinson’s life and work as part of a show
on Dickinson and Robert Frost. Delaney is a former BBC news correspondent
who now hosts the popular poetry show. Though the air date for
the Benfey interview has not been established, Poetry Please
is available online at http://www.bbc.co.uk/radio4/arts/poetryplease.shtml.
Beating around
the Bush Vincent Ferraro, MHC’s Ruth C. Lawson Professor
and chair of politics and chair of international relations, was
tapped by Springfield television channel 22’s news show to
discuss his thoughts about speculation that the Bush administration
plans to invade Iraq and overthrow Saddam Hussein.
ARDently! Julia
Kastein, a reporter from ARD, the German public radio and broadcasting
corporation, came to MHC’s German table April 16 and interviewed
Cornelius Partsch, assistant professor of German studies, and
Kati Reusche, a teaching assistant on exchange from the University
of Leipzig, about being/working at a women’s college. The
interview was part of a daylong series of conversations between
the journalist and members of the community, including Donal O’Shea,
dean of faculty; Diane Anci, dean of admission; Peter Carini,
director of archives and special collections, Chris Benfey and
Karen Remmler, codirectors of the Weissman Center for Leadership;
and senior Katherine Kaiser. The program will be aired in the
Saarland, one of ARD’s regional subsidiaries, May 16. This
coverage appears to reflect a growing interest in Germany in the
possible role of single-sex institutions in public education.
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