September
19, 2003
The
Plan for 2010’s Innovation Fund Supports New Ideas
Mount Holyoke’s
2010 Innovation Fund is paving the way for a new era of curricular
and cocurricular advances. Made possible by a generous grant from
the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation, the $40,000 fund has been distributed
to support projects that stimulate thinking about the academic,
cocurricular, and administrative goals of The Plan for Mount
Holyoke 2010.
President Joanne V. Creighton recently announced the recipients
of the Innovation Fund grants for 2003–2004 and thanked
the Academic Priorities Committee for its excellent job soliciting
proposals. “The proposals submitted for these funds represent
creative and exciting work,” Creighton said, “that
will launch The Plan for 2010 well.”
Innovation
Unveiled
Here are summaries of the 2003–2004 proposals that received
funding:
To build on The
Plan for 2003’s core goals of increasing students’
engagement with the world and emphasizing analytical writing skills,
Martha Ackmann, senior lecturer in women’s studies, proposed
“Conversations about Journalism.” This series of talks
among Mount Holyoke and Five College faculty, as well as with
select educators nationwide, will explore ways to define journalism
and communications for a possible new curricular initiative.
“The Balancing
Act: Maintaining an Active Research Program at a Small Liberal
Arts College” was submitted by Sarah Bacon, assistant professor
of biological sciences, and Sharon Stranford, Clare Boothe Luce
Assistant Professor of Biological Sciences. This faculty seminar
will target issues of particular concern to junior science faculty
as they establish and maintain experimental research programs
in the sciences.
George Cobb, Robert
L. Rooke Professor of Mathematics and Statistics, requested funding
to support faculty discussions on ways in which faculty teaching
is recognized, rewarded, and publicized. Among the outcomes envisioned
is a strong message to potential students and their parents that
Mount Holyoke’s rhetoric about the value of good teaching
is backed by substance.
Jim Coleman, professor
of dance, proposed a one-day Arts Retreat aimed toward improving
cooperation and enhancing collaborative possibilities for the
arts at MHC. Invited participants will include
all MHC arts faculty, student representatives from each of the
seven arts-related programs, and other interested faculty from
outside the arts.
A student/faculty
seminar in architectural studies will be offered thanks to a proposal
by Michael Davis, professor of art. Codirected by Karen Koehler,
visiting associate professor of art, this two-credit seminar will
bring selected students and faculty from across the disciplines
to investigate the built environment through design practice,
architectural history, theory, and science.
Frank DeToma, Professor
of Biological Sciences on the Alumnae Foundation, proposed a two-day
retreat for biology faculty. Among the aims of the retreat, which
was held in May, was exploring the development of more curricular
connections among biology and mathematics, computer science, and
the other sciences.
A proposal by Marianne
Doezema, director of the art museum, focuses on The Plan for
2010’s attention to landscape as one of the College’s
important assets. To further the commission of an outdoor sculpture
funded by the museum, the Innovation Fund will finance the honorarium
and travel expenses for artists selected to examine the site and
present their work to the MHC community.
The Innovation Fund
will allow Rose Flachs and Charles Flachs, associate professors
of dance, to visit the National Ballet School of Cuba. Their research
and fieldwork will shape a future January Term course on the pedagogy
of Cuban ballet.
A faculty seminar
to explore the enterprise of educational studies from interdisciplinary
perspectives was proposed by Sandy Lawrence, associate professor
of psychology and education, and Lenore Carlisle, visiting assistant
professor of psychology and education. The project’s long-range
goal is to generate a detailed rationale and overview of an interdepartmental
major and minor in educational studies.
In keeping with The
Plan for 2010’s goal to build Mount Holyoke’s
visibility through “maximum use of the Web in marketing
the College and promoting its distinctive strengths,” the
Office of Communications proposed an audio component for the MHC
Web site. Audio files of interviews will be strategically embedded
throughout the site to target prospective students and other audiences.
The CAUSE Program
(Creating Awareness and Unity for Social Equality), a student-run
organization, requested a grant to fund a Diversity and Leadership
Odyssey trip for January 2004. As last year, a select group of
ten students and two staff members will team up with Habitat for
Humanity to build and repair houses. A January Term class component
on diversity, race, gender, and advanced leadership will enhance
the 2004 fieldwork.
Mary Jo Salter, Emily
Dickinson Senior Lecturer in the Humanities, proposed staging
her play in progress about the historical moment when young John
Milton visited the aged, blind Galileo, who was under house arrest
in Florence after his conviction by the Inquisition. To present
this story of the dramatic intersection of art and science, political
and scientific revolution, and blindness and seeing, Salter will
collaborate with Holger Teschke, visiting professor of theatre
arts, and Jim Coleman, professor of dance.
A faculty seminar
on Puerto Rican studies is the result of a proposal by Preston
Smith, associate professor of politics. Since many community-based
learning (CBL) classes involve the Puerto Rican citizens of neighboring
Holyoke, the seminar aims to help CBL faculty educate students
about Puerto Rican history and culture in Holyoke, in the United
States, and on the island.
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