Notices
Department of Politics Fellowships
The politics department is pleased to announce the awarding of the following three fellowships:

Lawson Fellowship: Stipend $5,000. For a student who holds or is a candidate for a degree from Mount Holyoke, preferably pursuing advanced study in international politics.

Ellis Fellowship: Stipend $2,000. For a student who holds or is a candidate for a degree from Mount Holyoke, preferably for graduate work. The work in international relations may be taken preferably abroad, or at Mount Holyoke, or elsewhere in this country.

Morgan Fellowship: Stipend $1,500. For a student who holds or is a candidate for a degree from Mount Holyoke, preferably for attending law school or for graduate study in political science involving a special interest in the theory, development, values, and adaptability of the U.S. Constitution.

The deadline for submissions to the politics department is February 14. For more information visit the Politics Department Web site.

Fellowship Awards
Each year the Alumnae Association of Mount Holyoke College awards fellowships to selected candidates. If you already hold a bachelor's degree from Mount Holyoke College or will be eligible to receive one in May 2007, you are qualified to apply. Fellowship amounts range from $1,000 to $3,000, with one award of $7,500. The deadline is February 14, 2007. A brochure and application can be found on the Alumnae Association's Web site. For more information or to request a brochure and application by mail, please email Carrie Purcell or call 413-538-2188.

Preliminary Auditions for Suzan-Lori Parks 365 Project
Suzan-Lori Parks, the first black woman playwright to win a Pulitzer Prize, has written 365 short plays that will be performed across the country during the next year. Mount Holyoke and New World Theatre of U. Mass are producing two weeks of these plays from February 18 to March 4 of 2007.

We are looking for actors who might be interested in performing in these short pieces. Suzan-Lori Parks is one of the United States most celebrated playwrights, the author of Venus; The America Play and Top Dog/Underdog (for which she won a McArthur Award).

We are holding preliminary auditions to see who might be interested in participating and if we can assemble most of the cast for these plays before we start rehearsing next semester.

Her plays especially concern African-American life in the United States and we are encouraging students and actors of color to audition as well as the rest of the theatre community.

Please come and see what these interesting short pieces are about--even if you don’t have a lot of theatre experience but have always wanted to try out. We will be reading from a number of the short plays and you do not need to do any preparation other than maybe finding out who Suzan-Lori Parks is.

Community Breakfasts
Thursday, February 15
Thursday, April 26

Math Department Seeks Problem-Solving Enthusiasts!
The Department of Mathematics and Statistics is seeking students interested in participating in weekly problem-solving strategy sessions.  Students who wish to take "the Putnam" may find these problem-solving sessions especially helpful, but these sessions are for all students who want to attend.

The William Lowell Putnam Mathematics Competition is a notoriously challenging annual math contest held on the first Saturday of each December. In 2005, seven Mount Holyoke students were among the 3545 participants from 500 colleges and universities in the U.S. and Canada.

What makes the Putnam special is that it creates a unique opportunity for mathematics students to bond together as a community. To prepare for the competition, the Department of Mathematics and Statistics will hold weekly problem sessions that bring students together (over food) to discuss problem-solving techniques. This represents an excellent opportunity for students who are just starting out in math to get to talk about difficult mathematics with senior majors.

On the day of the competition, students will be treated to donuts and juice before the three-hour morning session at 10 am. Mount Holyoke students are lucky--students on the west coast have to rise even earlier for their start time at 8 am, while students studying abroad in Budapest don't get to start their exams until 7 pm. During the lunch break, students will head over to the Village Commons for lunch together, courtesy of the department. Then they will go back for another three-hour session in the afternoon.  Usually, the most common score among all test-takers is 0, so scoring any points is an achievement.  Last year, Mount Holyoke's Putnam team earned a rank of 105; Sixuan Chen '06 tied for an individual rank of 219 with a score of 31. Other students with positive scores were Ha Le '05 and Julienne Vasselli '09. Students interested in more information should contact:  Jessica Sidman.