Boston College Chronicle

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The Boston College

Chronicle Published by the Boston College Office of University Communications november 10, 2016 VOL. 24 no. 6

Civic Engagement Effort Doesn’t End with Election

INSIDE program 2 •Philosophy ranked as ‘Great Value’

By Sean Smith Chronicle Editor

•Seventeen profiles BC entrepreneur

•Photo: George Mitchell speaks at IEW launch

3 •Veterans Day ceremony is tomorrow

•Q&A: BCSSW Dean Gautam Yadama •Advancing Research and Scholarship Day

4 •Sienkiewicz explains the ‘other air force’

6 •BC unveils Connolly

Collection of Irish Music •Police Department seeks reaccreditation

Boston College students watched election coverage at an Election Night party in the Vanderslice Hall Cabaret Room, sponsored by the University’s Civic Engagement Initiative. For more on the initiative, see story at right. (Photo by Kaley Bent ‘19)

Turning the Page

They started out as professor and student. Six years later, they’re co-authors, and friends. By Sean Smith Chronicle Editor

When Connor Fitzmaurice ’10 transferred to Boston College prior to his junior year, he hoped he would find an environment that supported undergraduate research. Now, six years later, Fitzmaurice is the co-author of a book – based on his award-winning senior thesis funded in part by the University – on which he collaborated with a faculty member who became his mentor and friend, Associate Professor of Sociology Brian Gareau. It’s fair to say he found what he was looking for at BC, and more. “The people I met, like Brian,

were incredibly helpful and caring, and showed me all kinds of possibilities for what I could do,” says Fitzmaurice, a Freehold, NJ, native who is now a doctoral student at Boston University. “That made such a difference.” Publishing Organic Futures: Struggling for Sustainability on the Small Farm was a professionally and personally satisfying achievement for both Fitzmaurice and Gareau, and a testament to the formative character of liberal arts education. Fitzmaurice took a compelling contemporary subject of personal interest to him – the popularity of organic food – and made it the basis of a literally Continued on page 5

7 •Welcome Additions;

BC in the Media; Expert Opinion; Jobs

8 •Faculty and staff art show on display

•Robsham to stage ‘The Misanthrope’

Assoc. Prof. Brian Gareau (Sociology), left, and Connor Fitzmaurice ’10. The two co-authored a book based on Fitzmaurice’s senior thesis. (Photo by Gary Gilbert)

Election 2016 may be over, but there are still plenty of reasons to talk about it, according to organizers of Boston College’s Civic Engagement Initiative (CEI) – and they want BC students to take part in the conversation. This Monday, CEI and the Campus Activities Board will sponsor a panel discussion with Political Science faculty members Kay Schlozman, Marc Landy and David Hopkins, who will offer their assessments on the post-election landscape. The event will take place in the Vanderslice Hall Cabaret Room at 6 p.m. “Given how unprecedented this national election has been – in so many ways – it became evident that there really needed to be some postNov. 8 follow-up for students to help them process what’s gone on,” says Senior Associate Dean of Students Carole Hughes, who chairs the CEI, adding that more events are in the works for this semester. A program of the Student Af-

fairs division, the CEI aims to help students think about how they can make a difference in the civic life of their communities – both political and non-political – or on a larger scale. Administrators, faculty, staff and students assist in planning and organizing CEI events and activities, often in collaboration with other University offices and departments. Encouraging civic engagement is a worthy and appropriate endeavor for a university dedicated to the personal as well as intellectual formation of its undergraduates, say CEI representatives, especially at a time when the college-age generation is widely perceived as detached and uninvolved. “Jesuit education is about discernment – discovering who you are and what you can contribute to society,” says Hughes. “So part of that discernment should be to find your place in civic life and politics. I think many of our students come here with an openness to, and even some experience in, civic engagement. We want to build on that.” Continued on page 5

BC’s Global Math, Science Study Turns 20 Years Old By Ed Hayward Staff Writer

TIMSS, the longest running, large-scale assessment of mathematics and science education in the world, turns 20 this year. Administered by the TIMSS & PIRLS International Study Center at the Lynch School of Education, Trends in International Mathematics and Science Study measures student achievement in the fourth and eighth grades every four years, and also tracks changes in curriculum, instruction and other aspects of education in classrooms around the world. “It’s very significant – no one

else has a 20-year international trend study in education,” said Ina V.S. Mullis, who directs the study center with Michael O. Martin. “It’s really quite challenging in assessment to adhere to the adage, ‘If you want to measure change, don’t change the measure’ in a world that is constantly changing. You have to stay the same and change at the same time to stay relevant.” Nov. 29 will mark the release of TIMSS 2015, the fifth installment of the global assessment of nearly 600,000 students from 60 countries and regions. The center’s literacy study, PIRLS, will Continued on page 4

A NOTE ON THE CHRONICLE PUBLICATION SCHEDULE Chronicle will not publish on Nov. 24 due to the Thanksgiving holiday. Our last editions for the fall 2016 semester will be on Dec. 1 and 8. For news and updates on Boston College, go to www.bc.edu/bcnews.


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