Boston College Chronicle

NOVEMBER 21, 2019 VOL. 27 NO. 7

PUBLISHED BY THE BOSTON COLLEGE OFFICE OF UNIVERSITY COMMUNICATIONS

Formative Education a BC Hallmark

INSIDE 2x Around Headline Campus

A look at this holiday season’s xxxxx. campus festivities.

x Headline

Conference Sets Agenda for University-wide Effort

BY PHIL GLOUDEMANS STAFF WRITER

xxx.

x Headline xxxxx.

3 BC Latino Leaders

Faculty member, grad student, and alumnus among ‘Latino 30 Under 30.’

8 BC Research

Faculty member’s study shines light on Arab immigrant health.

BCSSW Research Program Receives $3.2m Grant from LEGO Foundation

BY ED HAYWARD STAFF WRITER

The LEGO Foundation has awarded a $3.2-million grant to the Boston College School of Social Work’s Research Program on Children and Adversity (RPCA), directed by Salem Professor in Global Practice Theresa Betancourt, as part of a global partnership with multiple organizations to apply parenting interventions in communities in Serbia, Gambia, Guatemala, Bhutan, and Rwanda.

In addition to RPCA’s work in Rwanda, the foundation’s Playful Parenting Initiative will support global non-governmental organizations UNICEF, Save the Children, and ChildFund in their work to implement the initiative that supports parents and caregivers as they advance children’s development through play.

Continued on page 4

Many key aspects of Boston College are undergirded by its Jesuit roots, especially its deep, long-term commitment to formative education. Last week’s two-day campus conference, “Formative Education: Mapping the Terrain,” served as the first-ever gathering for the multiple, and frequently collaborative, contributors to formation across the University—with a goal of integrating these efforts, regarded as a critical step toward solidifying leadership in the field.

Organized by Lynch School of Education and Human Development Professor Dennis Shirley and Associate Professor Cristiano Casalini, and co-sponsored by the Lynch School and BC’s Institute for the Liberal Arts (ILA), the Nov. 14 and 15 convening at Gasson Hall was kicked off by Lynch School Dean Stanton Wortham, whose school has made educating the whole child a differentiating principle of its approach to education.

“What makes BC’s commitment to for-

mative education so distinctive is its already well-developed cluster of activities and programs focused on formation, and the crosscampus synergies that have evolved over that last 20 years,” said Wortham, the Charles F. Donovan, S.J., dean. “We now have the opportunity to seize the historical moment to refocus education on the broader dimensions of life versus the exclusive drive for content knowledge.”

The day’s first panel—“Formative Education at Boston College,” moderated by ILA Director Mary Crane, with Provost and Dean of Faculties David Quigley, Student Affairs Vice President Joy Moore, and Jack Butler, S.J., the Haub Vice President for Mission and Ministry—brought together University leaders to consider formation at BC, and how it could be improved.

“We need to bring student voices to this discussion,” said Moore. “They have come to BC with a commitment to formative education; they’ve bought in, too. We should seek every opportunity to create more opportunities for dialogue with students, to engage with them to help them build mind,

Provost and Dean of Faculties David Quigley speaking at a panel discussion during last week’s campus conference on formative education. photo by lee pellegrini

body, and spirit, and to assist them in becoming strong self-advocates.”

Fr. Butler stressed the importance of universally defining formative education at BC, and reminded the audience that “formation is the job of students, while BC’s role is to

Continued on page 4

Formation at the Heart of Woods College Mission

BY ALIX HACKETT SPECIAL TO THE CHRONICLE

Taylor Bryan Turner ’23 doesn’t often tell people that she hasn’t graduated from college. As a professional who has worked to promote affordable housing for more than 10 years, it’s not a topic that comes up.

“I think people assume that I have a degree,” she said. “It’s something I’ve always been insecure about.”

When Turner first learned about the Woods College of Advancing Studies, which offers both undergraduate and graduate degree programs for students of all ages, she jumped at the opportunity to earn a diploma. What she didn’t anticipate was that her Woods experience would do more than challenge her academically—it

Continued on page 5

(L-R) Woods College of Advancing Studies faculty member Kristin Bullwinkel, students Missy DePillo '19 and Taylor Bryan Turner '23, faculty member Dustin Rutledge, and 2019 alumnus West Price-Ashby. photo by gary wayne gilbert

Official history, that which is published or otherwise viewed as authoritative, is noteworthy not only for what it recalls but what it doesn’t—events and details that are considered ‘inconvenient’ are often relegated to oblivion.

– burns visiting scholar in irish studies guy beiner, page 6

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November 21, 2019

Around Campus

As Always, Plenty of Things to See, Do on Campus in Holiday Season Santa Claus soon makes his annual descent from the North Pole to the Boston College campus—not by sleigh, but by special BC Police Department escort. He will celebrate the Dec. 3 Christmas tree lighting with BC revelers at the annual event officiated

by University President William P. Leahy, S.J., from 4-6:30 p.m. at the Plaza at O’Neill Library.

the direction of conductor John Finney.

Performances are Dec. 6 and 7 at 8 p.m., and Dec. 8 at 2 p.m., in Trinity Chapel on Newton Campus. Contact the Robsham Theater Box Office [www.bc.edu/tickets; ext.2-4002] for ticket information, prices and purchase. Contact concerts@bc.edu for more information.

Finney will raise his baton again on

The tree lighting once again features Dec. 10 at 4 p.m., when he conducts caroling and performances by student members of the University Chorale in groups, including the Heightsmen, Dyperformance at St. Mary’s Chapel, during namics, Bostonians, Acoustics, Liturgy Arts the Music at St. Mary’s Christmas Concert.

Group, BC Bells, BC Irish Dance and the Contact concerts@bc.edu for information.

Saint Columbkille School Choir. There •Also on Dec. 8, as part of its annual will be Campus Activities Board giveaways, holiday celebration, the McMullen MuChristmas games (including a “Twelve seum of Art will host festive activities Days of Christmas”-themed raffle) and throughout its hours of noon to 5 p.m. booths run by BC cultural clubs. BC DinVisitors of all ages are welcome to tour ing Services will be on hand with treats, the exhibitions, participate in arts and and hot chocolate will be available to warm crafts and storytelling activities, and enjoy the crowd. holiday-themed vocal performances, hot The weeks leading up to the holidays chocolate, and holiday treats. will feature numerous oth•At 3 p.m. that same er festive events, including day, the Boston College musical performances, an Bands Christmas Festival annual Advent-Christmas will be held at 300 HamMass, and other activities mond Pond Parkway. Percelebrating the season. formances by three bands, •The School of Theola visit with Santa, and an ogy and Ministry presents instrument petting zoo Advent Lessons and Carare all part of this familyols at St. Ignatius Church, friendly event, which also on Dec. 6 at 7 p.m. Conincludes a Christmas tact stmnews@bc.edu for carol sing-a-long with the information.

Symphonic Band, a swing•More music of the seaa-long to BC bOp!’s jazzy son will be performed that holiday renditions, and weekend when the Unia dance to excerpts from versity Chorale and Sym“The Nutcracker” perphotos by peter julian phony Orchestra present formed by the University their annual Christmas concerts under Wind Ensemble. Contact bands@bc.edu ASSOCIATE VICE PRESIDENT FOR UNIVERSITY COMMUNICATIONS

Jack Dunn SENIOR DIRECTOR FOR UNIVERSITY COMMUNICATIONS

CONTRIBUTING STAFF

Chronicle

PHOTOGRAPHERS

www.bc.edu/bcnews chronicle@bc.edu

Sean Smith

Lee Pellegrini Peter Julian

and unwrapped toys for kids ages six to 14 for donation to the Italian Home for Children. The Winter Wonderland cost is $15 for adults and $10 for children under 12; there is no charge for children under age three. Register at http://bit.ly/winterwonderland-2019.

•Gingerbread house-decorating workshops will be offered at the Connors Center in Dover from 10:30 a.m.-noon and 1-2:30 p.m. on Dec. 19. Prebuilt houses, candy adornments and hot chocolate will be provided. The cost is $35 per gingerbread house. RSVP to s.burton@bc.edu or call ext.2-9210.

For more information on these events and their sponsorship, see the University Calendar at events.bc.edu.

–Rosanne Pellegrini

More than 550 climbers participated in the first-ever Climb-A-Thon at the Margot Connell Recreation Center’s new rock climbing wall last month, scaling the equivalent of Mt. Everest to raise awareness for breast cancer. Teams followed four pink routes marked for the occasion and climbed a total of 29,238 feet. The event was hosted by Outdoor Adventures and the Office of Health Promotion, which provided pamphlets on the importance of selfexams for early cancer detection among college students. photo by peter julian

Christine Balquist Phil Gloudemans Ed Hayward Rosanne Pellegrini Kathleen Sullivan

Patricia Delaney EDITOR

for information.

•Campus Ministry’s Advent-Christmas Mass, an annual holiday tradition, will take place at 8 p.m. on Dec. 8 in St. Ignatius Church.

•The Alumni Association offers its popular seasonal celebration for alumni, their families, and friends: Winter Wonderland, on Dec. 14 from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m., at the Cadigan Alumni Center. Festivities will include photos with Santa and Mrs. Claus, cookie decorating and crafts, musical performances, visits with baby animals, plus rides around campus on a horse-drawn carriage or special Christmas train. Hot cocoa and cookies will be available, and additional snacks and lunch items may be purchased (cash only).

Attendees are encouraged to bring new

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Chronicle

November 21, 2019

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‘Latino 30 Under 30’ Includes Three from BC Three members of the Boston College community have been named to an annual honors list of individuals who have had a positive impact on the Massachusetts Latino community in fields such as business, sports, academia, community service, and the arts.

Included in the Latino 30 Under 30, compiled by El Mundo Boston—a Latino media outlet serving Boston and New England—this year are Boston College School of Social Work Assistant Professor María Piñeros-Leaño, Woods College of Advancing Studies graduate student Oscar Zepeda, and Antonelli Mejia, a 2014 Woods College graduate.

“The best and brightest the country has to offer come to Boston and this is where the future Latino leaders of America come of age,” El Mundo Boston said in a press release, noting the “concentration of elite colleges, universities, and global companies” in the area. “This list shines a light on those individuals who we should all keep an eye on.”

Piñeros-Leaño, a native of Colombia, researches the links between maternal mental health and child health. She is studying the role of maternal depression on the development of childhood obesity among minority groups, and working on culturally adapting interventions for Latinx populations. She is also a co-principal investigator in a transnational study between the

Asst. Prof. María Piñeros-Leaño (BCSSW), Woods College of Advancing Studies alumnus Antonelli Mejia, and current Woods graduate student Oscar Zepeda. photo of piñeros-leaño by lee pellegrini

United States and Mexico that explores the repercussions of acculturation on the body weight of mothers and children.

Having launched successful programs in Illinois with immigrant mothers and Latinx families, Piñeros-Leaño is collaborating with East Boston-based social service agencies to create interventions that will improve the mental health of children and families who experienced high levels of trauma from their migration experiences.

She hopes to extend similar services to other predominantly Latinx communities elsewhere in Massachusetts, and abroad.

Zepeda came to the U.S. from Mexico in 2013 to enroll at Merrimack College,

and is pursuing a master’s degree in applied economics at the Woods College. He is also director of business development for Boston College’s Graduate Intrapreneurship/Entrepreneurship Association.

While at Merrimack, Zepeda and his father founded OMZE Group, which seeks to aid small- and medium-sized Latino businesses in achieving their international market objectives. Earlier this year, OMZE—of which he is vice president and COO—launched its own brand, Real Zepeda Tequila, which it is seeking to distribute throughout Massachusetts and New England.

Reflecting his desire to promote en-

trepreneurship and business development in Boston’s Latino community, Zepeda serves on the board of directors for the Veronica Robles Cultural Center in East Boston, where he teaches a marketing class to young Latinos; his students put their classroom studies to use by running a food truck business.

Mejia, who spent most of his childhood in the Dominican Republic before his family emigrated to Boston, has paved a career path in education, working in public and charter school systems while supporting students and families—particularly those who are recent immigrants and facing language barriers and other challenges in their transition to the U.S. He is a fellow in Boston College’s Lynch Leadership Academy, which seeks to develop a powerful and sustainable network of highly effective leaders at schools, within systems, and in communities, and dramatically increase the opportunities and outcomes for all students.

He has collaborated with nonprofit organizations such as Educators for Excellence, where he co-authored a research document proposing policy recommendations to support students’ social and emotional well-being. He was one of three U.S. educators selected for the Univision “Nuestro Maestroto” campaign, through which he was able to tell his story and inspire other Latinos to be educational leaders.

–University Communications

Psychologist Explores Brain’s Threat Assessment and Response to the foot, and recorded vlPAG activity as the rats heard each of the tones. The recordings revealed two distinct groups of vlPAG neurons. Both groups responded most to the tone that signaled danger, less to the tone that signaled uncertainty, and least to the tone that signaled safety.

But McDannald notes that the groups of neurons responded at different times.

One was most active at the start of the tone. The activity of this group depended upon the degree of threat, and not upon whether the rat showed a fear response.

The second group of neurons increased its activity over the course of each tone. The activity of this group mainly reflected the degree of threat, but also represented the

BY SEAN SMITH CHRONICLE EDITOR

Lying awake in bed at night, you hear a strange sound somewhere in the house.

Working in the yard, you suddenly happen upon a snake. Sitting at your desk, you glance to your right and see a spider crawling on the wall.

Your brain is all set to handle these kinds of rude surprises: The amygdala and prefrontal cortex estimate the size of the threat, and relay this information to the ventrolateral periaqueductal gray (vlPAG), which then triggers a fear response, such as freezing in place or bolting to a safe distance.

But the vlPAG may play a bigger role in how an individual responds to threats, according to Assistant Professor of Psychology Michael McDannald: Some studies suggest that, instead of simply generating a fear response, the vlPAG may also be involved in assessing the degree of threat.

This expanded view of vlPAG neural activity could have significant implications for treating people who experience acute levels of fear and anxiety, he says—those who feel compelled to search their house for whatever it was that went bump in the night, for example, or who can’t bring themselves to go back in the room where the spider was.

“If the vlPAG helps to signal the size of a threat, rather than simply generating a fear response, this points to a broader

Michael McDannald

photo by peter julian

neural network for threat estimation,” explained McDannald. “This is important because people with anxiety disorders tend to overestimate threats, and many treatments for anxiety target the brain regions involved in threat estimation.”

McDannald and doctorate candidate Kristina Wright explored this hypothesis about vlPAG neural activity in a recent experiment, results of which they published in the online journal eLife.

In the experiment, McDannald and Wright trained rats to associate three different 10-second tones with different probabilities of receiving a mild electric shock

rat’s fear response to a lesser extent.

The amygdala is generally regarded as a key node of dysfunction in stress and anxiety disorders, McDannald says, but the findings from the experiment mark the vlPAG as another crucial site in what is known as “the fear circuit” in the neural network.

“There are still questions to answer,” said McDannald. “We are now looking at how the vlPAG work with the rest of the brain to signal threat. A complete understanding of the brain’s threat estimation circuit will lead to better therapies for maladaptive fear and anxiety.”

McDannald and Wright’s paper is available at elifesciences.org/articles/45013.

Webster Woods Vote Likely Dec. 2 The Newton City Council is expected to deliberate this coming Monday, Nov. 25, and vote Dec. 2 on whether to authorize seizure by eminent domain of 17 acres of Boston College property located at 300 Hammond Pond Parkway in Newton.

The University acquired a 24-acre parcel of land from Congregation Mishkan Tefila for $20 million in 2016, including the 17 acres that is a part of Webster Woods.

In September, Newton Mayor Ruthanne Fuller announced that she would seek to seize the 17-acre parcel by eminent domain. Earlier this month, the city’s Community Preservation Committee approved

the mayor’s request for $15.7 million to fund the seizure. The city council also must give its approval for the proposed taking through a vote of two-thirds of its membership.

Boston College has communicated its position that the eminent domain seizure is an extreme and ill-advised measure that will burden Newton taxpayers and weaken relations between BC and the city.

Newton residents supportive of BC’s position are welcome to attend the City Council meetings, and encouraged to contact Newton City Hall at 617-796-1210 or citycouncil@newtonma.gov.

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November 21, 2019

Forum Shows Commitment to Formative Education Continued from page 1

facilitate it,” often through the creation of “labs” for soft-skill development. He also noted the sobering reality that the Jesuit legacy at the heart of formative education will need to “live on through our students and faculty, since there are so few Jesuits left” to carry it forward.

Quigley said BC needs to reinforce its ongoing commitment to the intentional integration of resources that reflect the Jesuit tradition and to a liberal arts education, citing the Schiller Institute for Integrated Science and Society and the recently launched Prison Education Program at MCI Shirley as prime examples of that allegiance.

The day’s second panel, “Focusing on Undergraduate and Graduate Formation,” was moderated by Meghan Sweeney, an associate professor of the practice in the Theology Department and the Cooney Family director of the PULSE Program for service learning. Joining her were Amy LaCombe, the associate dean for undergraduate curriculum at the Carroll School of Management; Center for Student Formation Executive Director Mike Sacco; and Filippa Anzalone, professor and associate dean for library and technology services at BC Law School. Serving as the respondent was Burt Howell, executive director of Intersections, a program that helps faculty and staff explore the Jesuit and Catholic mission of Boston College.

The purpose of formative education is “not a cookie-cutter” process, Sacco declared, but a means to help students to “lis-

ten to their authentic voices” and to “make a habit of reflection.” He also underscored the importance of “carving out structured spaces and models to examine their lives, and then recalibrate” as needed, and noted the lack of publicly available campus venues for organized formation activities.

Other events included the screening of two videos produced by the Office of University Communications that visually capture BC’s leadership in formative education, and an evening lecture by James Arthur, director of the Jubilee Centre for Character and Virtues at Birmingham University’s School of Education (UK).

Day two of the conference featured two panels, a roundtable, and a presentation

by Michelle Dillon, dean of the College of Liberal Arts and professor of sociology at the University of New Hampshire, and author of Postsecular Catholicism: Relevance and Renewal.

The morning panel, “Historical, Theological, and Philosophical Perspectives on Formation,” moderated by School of Theology and Ministry Professor Thomas Groome, included Philosophy faculty members Associate Professor Jeffrey Bloechl and Associate Professor of the Practice Mary Troxell, and Christopher Higgins, an associate professor in the Lynch School’s Teacher Education, Special Education, Curriculum & Instruction department.

The afternoon panel, “Formation Today: Mapping the Terrain,” was moderated

by Scott Seider, a Lynch School associate

(L-R) BC deans Gregory Kalscheur, S.J., Gautam Yadama, Stanton Wortham, Thomas Stegman, S.J., and Susan Gennaro at the formative education conference. photo by peter julian

professor of Applied Developmental & Educational Psychology. Joining him were Boisi Professor of Education and Public Policy and Education Research Henry Braun, STM Associate Professor of the Practice Theresa O’Keefe, and Larry Ludlow, professor and chair of the Lynch School’s Measurement, Evaluation, Statistics & Assessment department.

Concluding the conference was a discussion of “The Future of Formation; Our Next Steps,” chaired by Morrissey College of Arts and Sciences Dean Gregory Kalscheur, S.J. Discussants included Wortham and fellow BC deans Susan Gennaro (Connell School of Nursing), Gautam Yadama

(School of Social Work), and Thomas Stegman, S.J. (STM).

Fr. Kalscheur said “ongoing faculty formation will be necessary to sustain formative education for our students,” and “faculty must strive for integration as well” if BC’s formative education initiative will thrive in the future.

Wortham said BC is in a “position of strength,” given the “enormous number of formation activities already underway,” but he noted that the University must “take advantage of the synergies” on campus, and do “a better job of connecting if we hope to improve what we’re doing.”

Grant Will Support Research on Children and Adversity Continued from page 1

“The generous support provided by LEGO Foundation will enable RPCA to conduct robust implementation research on the structure, impact, and influencing factors around parenting interventions, and most importantly, bring these learnings and work to scale to reach even more families facing extreme poverty,” said Betancourt.

“We will further be able to understand the factors that contribute to a program’s success, for who and in which contexts, in the hopes of yielding the most positive impact.”

The Playful Parenting partnership will directly benefit 200,000 families over the next three years. The LEGO Foundation and their partners will work to ensure that playful parenting interventions and learning through play initiatives translate into significant and lasting benefits for the children, families, and their communities.

“The LEGO Foundation aims to build a future in which learning through play empowers all children to become creative, engaged, lifelong learners,” said Sarah Bouchie, head of global programmes at the LEGO Foundation. “Primary caregivers are fundamental to this aim, as they are critical to their children’s development.

We are proud to partner with UNICEF, ChildFund International, RPCA at the Boston College School of Social Work, and Save the Children on this important initiative to help parents across the world

Salem Professor in Global Practice Theresa Betancourt: LEGO Foundation grant will support “robust implementation research.” photo by gary wayne gilbert

incorporate playful learning in their daily lives.”

The purpose of the RPCA is to improve lives of vulnerable children and families in low-resource settings through research and translation of evidence-based practices.

The program works with its partners to strengthen communities through research, training, capacity building, and using implementation science to inform programs and policy, and helps empower local communities to sustain life-improving programs independently.

As part of its role in the partnership, the RPCA will develop Sugira Muryango, a father-engaged, playful parenting homevisiting intervention for families facing extreme poverty in Rwanda. In collaboration with both the national and local Rwandan government as well as local non-profit FXB Rwanda, RPCA will expand their intervention efforts while building the programmatic infrastructure needed to help ensure sustainability of the intervention.

Over the last five years, the RPCA has developed and tested the effectiveness of Sugira Muryango, which directly engages male and female caregivers and prioritizes promoting early childhood development and reducing violence, in vulnerable families with children up to the age of three years old. The results of this intervention demonstrate its impact on early childhood development and parenting: statistically significant increases in parent-child interactions, more positive parenting, increased engagement of male caregivers, less violence against children and mothers, child development improvements, maternal and

parental mental health improvements, help seeking for child health problems, and greater play and stimulation in the home.

The Playful Parenting Initiative grant will allow RPCA to reach families living in extreme poverty in Nyanza, Ngoma, and Rubavu districts of Rwanda, affecting more than 10,000 children and more than 14,300 parents. In addition to reaching nearly 10 times more children than a recently completed effectiveness trial, this expansion study will enable the RPCA to pilot an updated curriculum encompassing families with infants up to six months old.

Other partners will undertake similar programs in other parts of the world. UNICEF will work in Serbia and Gambia, Save the Children in Bhutan, and ChildFund in Guatemala.

While ample evidence confirms the benefits of playful parenting programs, such efforts have rarely expanded beyond the local level. The LEGO Foundation, by way of its Playful Parenting Initiative, is investing in bringing programs to scale and developing learning to help ensure sustainability and continued expansion.

To learn more about the Research Program on Children and Adversity, see www.bc.edu/content/bc-web/schools/ssw/ sites/rpca.html and follow the program on https://twitter.com/RPCAlab.

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November 21, 2019

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Woods College Exemplifies Virtues of Formation Continued from page 1

would deepen her relationship with herself and others, expand her vision for the future, and push her to rethink her life’s purpose.

“You will find yourself here,” she said.

“Maybe not immediately, but in a couple of months, maybe a year, you will feel inspired and encouraged.”

Boston College has long been a leader in formative education, offering a host of programs to help students engage in self-reflection and begin to integrate their academic, personal, and spiritual lives. At Woods College, despite the fact that many students are enrolled part-time and don’t live on campus, the focus on formation is strong.

“Boston College has a longstanding tradition of leadership in this area, and we’re proud to share in that tradition,” said Woods College Dean Karen Muncaster.

“We’re committed to caring for our students’ intellectual and professional development, but also to helping and challenging them to lead meaningful, purposeful lives, and to be their best selves.”

West Price-Ashby ’19 grew up in the shadow of BC’s Chestnut Hill campus, and enrolled at Woods in 2015 after beginning his studies at Bunker Hill Community College in Boston. Right away, he was struck by the interest that Woods professors showed not just in his academic work, but in his personal journey. Outside of class, he found himself opening up to peers and faculty members in a way he never expected.

“Woods gave me more confidence, and it allowed me to share my stories with people and start to recognize certain situations within myself,” he said. “I’ve grown in all areas.”

In particular, Price-Ashby, a school counselor at YMCA of Greater Boston, credits Woods Associate Dean of Enrollment Management and Student Engagement Claudia Pouravelis with helping him to articulate his goal of working in youth education.

“She didn’t see me as a number, or even as just a student,” he said. “She saw me as an individual who has something to look forward to.”

In keeping with its mission to make

Snapshot Ministry Expo

The School of Theology and Ministry held a “Ministry Expo” this fall, at which STM alumni including Sarah Smith Clancy (photo near left) and Rabbi Shulamit Izen shared insights about their work in such fields as campus ministry, youth ministry, health care, parish ministry, and higher education.

PHOTOS BY JUSTIN KNIGHT

a Boston College education accessible to non-traditional students, the Woods College is quick to embrace opportunities to reflect the University’s signature focus on formation. A prime example is the school’s Manresa Experience, a yearlong program launched in 2017 to help undergraduates discern their vocation, explore their faith, and connect with the BC community.

members in Los Angeles.

“Going through the Manresa Experience Retreat truly changed my life,” DePillo said. “Having time to reflect and think about my life, I realized how I can lead by example.”

Back on campus, DePillo and other Manresa Experience Scholars led classroom discussions based on the book. Judge James Menno ’77, JD ’86, “You will find yourself here,” who served for more says Woods College student than two decades as an associate justice of the Taylor Bryan Turner ’23.

Massachusetts Probate “Maybe not immediately, and Family Court, but in a couple of months, has taught courses at Woods for 17 years. maybe a year, you will feel He was amazed by inspired and encouraged.” one such session held in his Law and Morality class.

“Hands went flying up,” he recalled. “People who had never photo by gary wayne gilbert opened their mouths “Student formation programs have a in my class were sharing left and right. We vital place in adult education,” said Pourav- could have gone on all night.” elis. “The Woods Manresa Experience is Despite busy lives working full-time or one of the many ways we help our students caring for family members, many Woods engage with the Boston College mission of students enjoy spending time on campus graduating ethical and well-rounded leadoutside of class. They regularly attend ers.” hockey games and football tailgates, and Each year, the Manresa Experience— chat with professors at faculty barbecues. named for the pivotal discernment experiMany have developed strong bonds with ence of Jesuit founder St. Ignatius Loyola classmates and staff, describing them as in Manresa, Spain—brings students family. together through events and classroom “There’s a never-ending sense of comdiscussions centered on a common text. munity,” said DePillo. “It allows you to For selected scholars, the program offers an take your guard down and just be yourself.” off-campus retreat and leadership opportuCompared to the stereotypical “night nities in the classroom. school” experience—going to class and This year’s speaker was BC alumnus and then leaving immediately—Woods stands Trustee Steve Pemberton, whose best-selling out with its emphasis on educating the memoir A Chance in the World chronicles whole person, she said. his inspiring rise from orphan to executive “I feel like Woods kind of breaks that and advocate for the disenfranchised. stigma of ‘night school,’” she said. “You do Being nominated as a Manresa Experithe night program but you also have all ence Scholar was a turning point for Missy these other activities. I’m able to be on a DePillo ’19, who enrolled at Woods after a club basketball team—they’re not able to semester at Salem State. She and the other do that in a lot of schools.” scholars spent a weekend retreat last seAs a Manresa Experience Faculty Menmester, deep in conversation about Tattoos tor, Woods instructor Dustin Rutledge— on the Heart by Greg Boyle, S.J., in which who also is an adjunct faculty member in he describes his work helping former gang the Morrissey College of Arts and Sciences

English Department—has regular conversations with students about their passions, career goals, and the role of spirituality in their lives. There’s no agenda to the sessions—if a student is grappling with a personal dilemma, Rutledge is happy to spend the entire hour listening.

He sees the impact of these meetings, as well as conversations held during retreats, on his students’ performance in the classroom and in their overall wellbeing. He recalled one student in particular who began participating regularly in class after processing a difficult professional rejection during a Manresa Experience Retreat.

“Through the reflection in the program she was able to see everything she was doing well already and take some pride in that,” he said. “That was nice for me to see.”

Thanks to her Woods experience, DePillo now feels confident in her plans for the future. Menno’s class awakened her interest in criminal justice, while the Manresa Experience convinced her of her desire for a moral career that serves others. She also hopes to fuel her interest in technology by pursuing a master’s degree in the school’s Cybersecurity Policy and Governance program.

Conversations with peers and mentors helped her discern what mattered most to her, she said.

“I want to lead by example; that’s how I want to flourish in my career,” she said.

For Turner, studying at Woods has opened up a world of possibilities. She sees a potential future career in the mental health sphere and is considering pursuing a master’s degree once she graduates.

“I still don’t know exactly what I want to be ‘when I grow up,’ but that’s OK,” she said. “As a Woods student I can learn and feel inspired just as I would if I were 18 or 19 years old—opening my mind to new things and broadening my horizons.”

Read the full version of this story at on.bc.edu/WoodsCollege_formation –Alix Hackett is a senior digital content writer in the Office of University Communications

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November 21, 2019

A History of Remembering and Forgetting Burns Scholar’s work on ‘social forgetting’ earns trio of honors

BY SEAN SMITH CHRONICLE EDITOR

It’s been a memorable year for Burns Visiting Scholar in Irish Studies Guy Beiner— which seems appropriate for a specialist in the historical study of remembering and forgetting.

A professor of history at Ben-Gurion University of the Negev in Israel, Beiner came to Boston College this fall as the 2019-20 Burns Scholar, the latest in a long line of distinguished academics, writers, artists, journalists, librarians, and notable public figures to have held the appointment. Burns Scholars teach courses, offer public lectures, and use the University’s John J. Burns Library in their ongoing research, writing, and creative endeavors related to Irish history, art, and culture.

Since arriving at BC, Beiner has seen his 2018 book, Forgetful Remembrance: Social Forgetting and Vernacular Historiography of a Rebellion in Ulster, selected for three major awards in the field of history-related research: the American Historical Association George L. Mosse Prize for “an outstanding major work of extraordinary scholarly distinction, creativity, and originality” in the intellectual and cultural history of Europe since 1500; the Katharine Briggs Award for a distinguished contribution to folklore studies; and the National University of Ireland Irish Historical Research Prize, which recognizes the best new work of Irish historical research.

Forgetful Remembrance also was previously listed as a Times Literary Supplement book of the year and received an honorable mention for the American Conference for Irish Studies Donnelly Prize for Books in History and Social Sciences.

The acclaim for Forgetful Remembrance, along with the honor of holding the Burns Chair, represents the latest milestone for Beiner, an Israeli native who earned his doctorate from the National University of Ireland-University College Dublin and was a Government of Ireland Research Fellow at Trinity College Dublin. His academic and research experiences in Ireland, marked by his use of folklore and other less conventional sources, shaped Beiner’s interest in how popular conceptions of national and local history are shaped not only by collective memory but also what he calls “social forgetting.” Although rooted in the Irish experience, Beiner finds his body of work is relevant in other historical and contemporary contexts, such as the controversy over Confederate monuments.

“When it comes to history, it can be argued that memory is the exception, and forgetting is the norm,” explained Beiner, who is teaching a course this fall on history and memory related to “Bloody Sunday,” the 1972 killings of protestors in Northern

Ireland by the British Army. “Official history, that which is published or otherwise viewed as authoritative, is noteworthy not only for what it recalls but what it doesn’t—events and details that are considered ‘inconvenient’ are often relegated to oblivion. Other kinds of vernacular history persist, however—like oral history or folklore—in which such details can be shared and maintained informally.

folklore, according to Beiner. Less conventional sources for such a “vernacular historiography” included a 19th-century local best-selling novel, Betsy Gray, that was set during the rebellion and drew in part on family stories and reminiscences the author had gathered from residents of County Down. Antiquarians documented oral traditions about the United Irishmen and recollections of the rebellion also appeared

Burns Visiting Scholar in Irish Studies Guy Beiner: “When it comes to history, it can be argued that memory is the exception, and forgetting is the norm.” photo by peter julian

“The outcome is therefore a complex form of social forgetting, consisting of public silence alongside private remembrance.”

In Forgetful Remembrance, Beiner uses the 1798 rebellion in Ireland’s Ulster province to illustrate the dynamics of social forgetting. The uprising, which sought to separate Ireland from British rule and also took place in locations that would later be part of the Irish Republic, was marked by an unusual alliance, called the Society of United Irishmen, between Catholic and Protestant rebels—notably Presbyterians who felt marginalized by the Anglican establishment; in addition, France’s revolutionary government mustered troops to send in support of the United Irishmen, although ultimately the French involvement proved to be far smaller than envisioned. The rebellion had its successes but was quashed within a short time, paving the way for the Act of Union that formally created the United Kingdom of Britain and Ireland.

Over time, as political affiliations changed in Northern Ireland, Protestant communities, largely Unionist and loyalist, scrubbed away any official commemoration or record of their role in a republican rebellion—including the severe repression authorities exacted against the insurgent Presbyterians, especially in the Ulster counties of Antrim and Down, Beiner notes.

Whereas the uprising was fervently and publicly recalled by nationalists in the south of Ireland, in the north the whole episode seemed to be “forgotten.”

Yet the memory of “Ninety-Eight” persisted in Northern Irish oral history, personal memoirs, historical fiction, and

in folk songs and ballads such as “Henry Joy” and “General Munro.”

“Social forgetting, as I define it, is not total amnesia: It’s more akin to when a judge instructs a jury to disregard certain inadmissible testimony,” said Beiner. “Officially, the jurors are expected to discount that information, but since it’s been brought to their attention, in all likelihood they will still keep it in their minds. The memory is essentially retained under a façade of forgetting.”

Depending on specific circumstances and contexts, social remembering can be employed for political purposes, he said.

The recent removal of Confederate and Francoist imagery from public spaces in, respectively, the U.S. and Spain are touted as a means to address injustices or heal longstanding divisions. Yet these acts of “de-commemorating” do not entirely efface such controversial memories, according to Beiner; paradoxically, the resulting attention keeps them alive.

Ireland serves as an excellent case study for social memory, Beiner said, partly because of its well-documented, rich collections of folklore, as he discovered early on in his academic career while doing research on the 1798 rebellion in the west of Ireland—which he subsequently published in an earlier prize-winning book, Remembering the Year of the French: Irish Folk History and Social Memory.

During the course of his field interviews in the Castlebar area of County Mayo, Beiner incidentally stumbled on a more recent example of public forgetting/private remembrance, as residents told of Central European Jews seeking refuge from Nazism who had immigrated to the west of Ireland before the outbreak of World War II and set up successful businesses. The refugees did not remain in Ireland for very long after the war, yet lingering memories of this remarkable episode—barely mentioned in the histories of Ireland—live on in communities that hosted them.

“What made this even more interesting was when the debate about immigration and refugees in Europe boiled over a few years ago, and one argument you heard was, ‘Ireland hasn’t had any prior experience with refugees,’” said Beiner. “But there are places in western Ireland that know this is not quite true, and insist on recalling positive experiences in which immigrants contributed significantly to the local economy and cultural life.”

This coming spring, Beiner will teach a seminar, Commemoration Fever: Heritage, Remembrance, and Forgetting in Contemporary Ireland, and will present the annual Burns Visiting Scholar Lecture on Feb. 18.

Retired U.S. Army Colonel Brian J. Cummins '82 saluted a candle honoring Boston College alumni who fought in World War II, at the University’s annual Veterans Remembrance Mass and Ceremony held Nov. 11. photo by peter julian

Chronicle

November 21, 2019

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WELCOME ADDITIONS An Introduction to New Faculty at Boston College Anjum Biswas

Lecturer in Computer Science, Morrissey College of Arts and Sciences DEGREES: Thapar Institute of Engineering and Technology (BE); University of California-Irvine (MS) WHAT SHE STUDIES: Computer system design; computer architecture.

WHAT SHE’S TEACHING: Computer Science 1; Computer Organization; Computer Architecture.

You’ve volunteered your computer skills quite a lot—why do you feel community service is important?

“Yes, I have helped some non-profit organizations. I feel it’s important to keep the motivation of being charitable alive in my life. It is very easy to be selfish and always think of oneself, but if we think of skills as resources to share with others, it gives life a whole new meaningful dimension. Computer skills are in demand and not everyone can afford to have professional help. I volunteered my time and skills and actually, in the end, I myself learned a lot from the whole experience.”

Nick Block

Assistant Professor of the Practice of German Studies, Morrissey College of Arts and Science DEGREES: College of William and Mary (BA); University of Michigan (PhD) WHAT HE STUDIES: German-Jewish studies, Yiddish literature, contemporary German-Jewish-Muslim relations, Orientalism.

WHAT HE’S TEACHING: Elementary German I and II, Intermediate German I and II, Literature of Migration: Diaspora, Exile and Homecoming, Representing the Holocaust.

Your current book project, Schlepping Culture: The Jewish Renaissance between German and Yiddish, 1880-1940, details the transnational cultural transfers between German and Yiddish modernism as a result of mass migration. What are some compelling examples of the ways in which both German- and Yiddish-speaking Jews were taking Jewish culture in new directions in the early 20th century?

“From Sigmund Freud’s psychology to Franz Kafka’s short stories, German-Jewish cultural production takes a turn in the early 20th century, when otherwise secular Jewish thinkers, authors, and artists started to thematize Jewish concerns in their works.

My research points to the mass westward migration of Yiddish-speaking Jews from Eastern Europe starting in the 1880s as a catalyst for Jewish renaissance. In the visual arts, Russian Jewish art students in Munich brought Art Nouveau into Zionist iconography. In New York, you have Yiddish theaters that replaced German-Jewish theaters. Little known are the stories I bring

out of both German Jews and German nonJews acting on the Yiddish stage. In the Nazi period, German-Jewish theater could only perform Jewish-authored works and thus needed Yiddish plays in German translation.

Yiddish culture and German-Jewish culture are linked in this period in ways that counter notions of class-based antinomies between the groups that could not be overcome.”

Larisa Kovalenko

Assistant Professor of Marketing, Carroll School of Management DEGREES: Pyatigorsk State University, Russia (BA); Sabanci University, Turkey (MBA); Texas A&M University (MS, PhD) WHAT SHE STUDIES: Brand management, brand valuation, IP protection of brands and product innovation; managerial responses to negative events affecting the brand; financial implications of firms’ branding decisions and marketing actions.

WHAT SHE’S TEACHING: Applied Marketing Management

Pilar Opazo

Assistant Professor of the Practice of Management and Organization, Carroll School of Management DEGREES: Catholic University of Chile (BA); Columbia University (MA, PhD) WHAT SHE STUDIES: Organizational theory, innovation studies, negotiation and qualitative methods.

WHAT SHE’S TEACHING: Managing People and Organizations and Negotiations.

You published the book Appetite for Innovation, which examined innovation in an avant-garde restaurant in Spain. What can we learn about new ways to run companies or manage employees by looking at the culinary arts?

“For many avant-garde restaurants, innovation is at the core of the organization’s business model. Successful models for organizing avant-garde restaurants include specific structures and processes to systematically encourage radical innovation such as: building a specialized language for innovating; being open and willing and to share the organizations’ knowledge; cultivating and nurturing a network of relationships over time; and, most importantly, having a clear vision that allows all the organization’s members to continuously seek out radical change. These are extreme models of innovation. But there are many practices that contemporary organizations can learn from the culinary arts and apply in their own work.”

–Ed Hayward, Rosanne Pellegrini, Sean Smith photos by peter julian

SCHEDULE NOTE: Due to the Thanksgiving break, the next edition of Boston College Chronicle will be published on Thursday, Dec. 12. This will be the final issue of the fall semester.

Martin Jarmond, left, with Michaela “Mikey” Hoag and Jay Hoag. photo by gretchen ertl

William V. Campbell Director of Athletics Martin Jarmond joined members of the Hoag and Campbell families last week to recognize their support for new, state-of-the-art facilities for University student-athletes. Through the generosity of the two families, Athletics is now home to the William V. Campbell Field and the Hoag Strength and Conditioning Center, both located in the Fish Field House. Campbell Field, made possible by the family of the late William “Bill” V. Campbell, H ’12, is the primary indoor practice area for football. The AstroTurf field is also used by other varsity programs, intramural sports, and club sports for practice and indoor training. The Hoag Strength and Conditioning Center, made possible by University Trustee Michaela “Mikey” Murphy Hoag ’86 and Jay Hoag, P ’14, is a 10,000-square-foot facility utilized by the football team.

BC in the Media Prof. Kent Greenfield (Law) provided

analysis of the Trump impeachment inquiry and discussed the next steps in an interview with New England Cable News’ “Primary Source.” Prof. Heather Cox Richardson (History), writing in The Guardian (UK), described the impeachment hearings as a battle between oligarchy and democracy.

In a Q&A with Le Monde, Prof. Jonathan Laurence (Political Science) analyzed the debates on Islam that shake France and assessed how politicians have been managing the issue for three decades.

Asst. Prof. Oliver Wunsch (Art History) wrote a piece for The Burlington Magazine

on the identity of a sitter in the early Toulouse-Lautrec painting “Black Countess,” and on the role of black women in 19thcentury French painting.

Prof. Emeritus John Dacey (LSOEHD) recently launched a podcast on “New Solutions to the Anxiety Epidemic,” available at anxcalm.com, to accompany his new book, Why Don’t You Just Relax?

Jobs The following are among the most recent positions posted by the Department of Human Resources. For more information on employment opportunities at Boston College, see www.bc.edu/offices/hr: Research Associate, Center for Retirement Research, Academic Affairs/Provost Assistant Director, Advising Operations, Academic Affairs/Provost Residential Life Administrator, Student Affairs/Residential Life Senior Integrated Security System Technician, Dining and Catering/Auxiliary/ Public Safety Assistant Director, Strategic Sourcing, Financial/Budget Development Assistant, University Advancement Content Development Specialist, Academic Affairs/Provost Senior Records Specialist, Advancement Housing Assignments Specialist, Student Affairs/Residential Life Assistant Director, Facilities and Operations, Athletics Director, Alumni Regional Engagement, Advancement

Assoc. Prof. David Hopkins (Political Geographic Information Systems ReScience) offered comments to The Boston search Consultant, Information TechnolGlobe on the Medicare for All plan released ogy by presidential hopeful Elizabeth Warren.

Housing Assignments Specialist, Student Affairs/Residential Life The flooding in Venice prompted Prof.

Post-Doctoral Research Fellow, AcademMin Hyoung Song (English) to write a piece for The Washington Post reflecting on ic Affairs/Provost a course on climate change he taught in Report Writer, University Advancement the city in 2016.

Senior Writer/Editor, Academic Affairs/ Provost Law Library Assistant, Academic Affairs/ Provost

Chronicle

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November 21, 2019

BC Research

Raising Questions About Immigrant Health Connell School of Nursing researcher finds exception to ‘immigrant health paradox’ phenomenon

BY KATHLEEN SULLIVAN STAFF WRITER

First-generation immigrants to the United States from Latin America, South America, and Asia have been shown to have better health outcomes and behaviors than second- and third-generation immigrants—a phenomenon known as the “immigrant health paradox.” But a study led by Connell School of Nursing Assistant Professor Nadia Abuelezam found little evidence of this trend among immigrants from Arabicspeaking countries in the Middle East and North Africa (MENA).

Abuelezam and researchers Abdul M. El-Sayed, MD, of the University of Michigan Medical School in Ann Arbor and Sandro Galea, MD, of the Boston University School of Public Health used data from the California Health Interview Survey to study health behaviors and health outcomes across three Arab American immigrant generations living in California.

The researchers were able to isolate a total of 1,425 individuals with Arabic heritage or Arabic language use, with 923 representing first-generation Arab American immigrants, 413 representing second-generation (born in the U.S. to immigrant parents), and 89 in the third- (born in the U.S. to U.S.-born parents with immigrant heritage) or fourth-generation category.

The health behaviors examined included flu vaccination rates, history of smoking, alcohol and soda consumption, suicidal

“Our analysis points to a need to intentionally collect ethnicity and racial data on Arab immigrants in order to better understand their health.”

–Nadia Abuelezam

photo by lee pellegrini

thoughts, and number of sexual partners.

Health outcomes studied included diabetes, hypertension, heart disease, and obesity.

“Unlike research done among Asian and Latino immigrants to the United States, we found that first-generation Arab immigrants had poor health profiles when compared to second- or third-generation Arab immigrants,” said Abuelezam, lead author of the study, published in the American Journal of Public Health.

In Abuelezam’s analysis, the odds of developing conditions like diabetes, hypertension, and heart disease did not differ across immigrant generations for Arab Americans.

The researchers did see high-risk behaviors, like binge drinking and alcohol consumption, become more prevalent for secondgeneration immigrants when compared to first-generation immigrants, suggesting that acculturation is taking place for these Arab immigrants despite strict cultural and religious prohibition in some Arab com-

BC Scenes

‘First-Gen’ Celebration PHOTOS BY LEE PELLEGRINI AND PETER JULIAN

The Learning to Learn Program and Alumni Relations held a celebration for first-generation Boston College students, alumni, faculty, and staff on Nov. 8 in the Cadigan Alumni Center. The event included a discussion in which panelists (L-R) Michael Gaines ‘91, Peter Alvarez ‘06, Angela Zhang ‘20, and Arivee Rozier-Byrd ‘05 talked about their experiences as the first in their families to attend college.

munities. In addition, the risk for obesity increased with each subsequent immigrant generation.

“To our knowledge, this is the first study conducted to understand the differences in health risks and behaviors among different immigrant generations of Arab immigrants in the United States,” said Abuelezam, who is an epidemiologist.

According to Abuelezam, little is known about the health of Arab immigrants, in large part due to the inability to identify this group using standard racial surveys.

Immigrants from MENA who speak Arabic are deemed “white” according to governmental racial categories, making them indistinguishable from other white residents in large surveys and databases.

“Our analysis points to a need to intentionally collect ethnicity and racial data on Arab immigrants in order to better understand their health,” said Abuelezam.

She suggested that this immigrant group may be especially vulnerable because Arabs or Arab Americans often came from tumultuous and violent conditions in their home countries and face stigma and discrimination in U.S. due to post-9/11 media portrayals.

“Our analysis shows that Arab Americans are a unique sub-group of the general immigrant population in the U.S.,” she said, “and that further study will be needed to better understand the health needs and the dynamics that shape this growing minority population.”