The Boston College
Chronicle Published by the Boston College Office of University Communications february 2, 2017 VOL. 24 no. 10
INSIDE Award winner to 2 •Tony speak on campus •TIAA CEO relishes his visit to BC •A busy semester break for the Career Center releases 3 •University letter on Trump order •Alumna is keynote speaker at MLK dinner
Ibero-American Conference of Theology Feb. 6-10
University to Host Groundbreaking Theological Forum By Kathleen Sullivan Staff Writer
Boston College will host a historic meeting next week of more than 40 theologians from Latin America, Spain and the US to discuss ways to unite both the practice and theology of the Church to complement Pope Francis’ vision of a poor church for the poor. According to organizers, the Ibe-
ro-American Conference of Theology is the first-of-its-kind gathering of Hispanic theologians in the US and scholars from Latin America and Spain, who will address three key topics: globalization, social and economic exclusion, and the challenge of interculturality or the integration of different cultures living in the same place. The conference – which takes place Feb. 6-10 at the BC Connors
•Ex-Eagle Matt Ryan in Super Bowl spotlight
“What I came away with was a sense of debate as a great equalizer.We were in this place unlike any we’d ever been, and with people whose lives were very different than ours. But once you’re in a debate, all that matters is the rhetorical back-and-forth.”
cellular 4 •Researching pathways to disease
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–Sean MacDonald (left) with fellow Fulton Debating Society members (L-R) Harrison Kenner, Jenna Bilak, Naveen Senthilkumar and Kelvin Lin during their visit to MCI-Norfolk.
•BCSSW dean assisting clean-water project
Sisters 6 •Latin-American Exchange Program at BC
Center in Dover, Mass. – is being attended by two papal delegates, Cardinal Baltazar Enrique Porras Cardozo of the Pontifical Commission for Latin America and Bishop Raúl Biord Castillo, SDB, who together will present the group’s work to Pope Francis. “The theologians will be reflecting on the contribution of Latin American theology to Pope Francis’ reforms,” said School of Theology
TOUGH QUESTIONS
and Ministry Visiting Associate Professor Rafael Luciani, one of the conference organizers. According to Luciani, Pope Francis believes in a ministry and theology that follows Argentine liberation theology, or so-called theology of the people, which places great emphasis on the lives of the poor. “He sees that the Church – both the pastoral and the academic – must be in the Continued on page 5
BC Senior Wins Churchill Scholarship By Jack Dunn Associate Vice President of University Communications
Morrissey College of Arts and Sciences senior Jesse L. Mu has won a coveted Winston Churchill Scholarship for graduate study in the United Kingdom at the University of Cambridge, the Churchill Foun-
For these Fulton Debating Society students, going up against a team of prison inmates was, in some ways, like any other debate. Except that it wasn’t. •Fr. Costantino settles in as St. Ignatius pastor Additions; 7 •Welcome BC in the Media; Quote/ Unquote; Jobs
•Photo: Connell School marks 70th birthday goes up on 8 •Curtain Robsham spring slate •Photos: MLK Unity Breakfast; ‘Art After Dark’
By Sean Smith Chronicle Editor
The five Boston College Fulton Debating Society members had emptied their pockets, put their valuables into secured lockers, passed through metal detectors, and entered what to senior Naveen Senthilkumar seemed like “an air lock” – a small chamber with another door in front of them. “And then the big metal door behind us clanked shut, and we couldn’t hear anything,” recalled Senthilkumar. Up until then, the impending visit to the Massachusetts Correctional Institution at Norfolk had seemed like “just another debate” to Senthilkumar and his Fulton teammates. But by the time the BC undergraduates, along with Director of Debate John Katsu-
las, entered this passageway, the fact that they were in a mediumsecurity prison suddenly “seemed very real,” he said. Yet within a matter of minutes, the BC visitors were in the prison auditorium and things seemed familiar again: At the front of the room was a podium and tables, one for the Fulton team and the other for their opponents that day – a team of MCI-Norfolk prisoners that had invited the students to come debate them, and now warmly greeted their guests. Just like any other debate. On this day, Dec. 3, the Fulton Debating Society would lose narrowly to the Norfolk Prison Debating Society on the question of whether the US should impose a carbon tax on greenhouse gas emissions. But the outcome of the event went well beyond points for
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analysis, reasoning, rebuttal and other elements of debate. For the Norfolk prisoners, it represented the revival of a hallowed tradition that began in 1933, but also a much-needed intellectual and social activity. The BC students, meanwhile, found themselves contemplating questions of crime, punishment and redemption, while gaining added appreciation for their extracurricular interest. “What I came away with was a sense of debate as a great equalizer,” said Sean MacDonald ’17. “We were in this place unlike any we’d ever been, and with people whose lives were very different than ours. But once you’re in a debate, all that matters is the rhetorical back-and-forth.” “Contestation doesn’t require Continued on page 4
Jesse Mu ’17
dation has announced. Mu, a member of the Gabelli Presidential Scholars Program who majors in computer science and minors in mathematics, is the first Boston College student to win the prestigious award since Elizabeth O’Day in 2006. Churchill Scholarships are awarded to the nation’s top students in science, mathematics and engineering, and provide a year of graduate study at the University of Cambridge, based at Churchill College. A total Continued on page 6
“Our goal is to empower students to lead self-directed, meaningful professional lives. So the earlier we can work with them, within the overall context of the BC mission, the more beneficial it is to everyone.” –Associate Vice President for Student Affairs and Career Services Joseph Du Pont, page 2
T he B oston C ollege
Chronicle february 2, 2017
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A ROUND
C AMPUS
‘GOOD USE OF MY TIME’ Saying he always welcomes the opportunity to spend time with college students, TIAA CEO Roger Ferguson spoke for nearly an hour last week with first-year MBA students inside a packed Fulton 130. “I’m really glad I came – it was a good use of my time,” he said afterwards. “I thought the students’ Q&A showed an awful lot of sophistication and understanding of the current situation with the markets and economy.” Ferguson’s talk touched on several topics, including the need for action to prevent a retirement crisis and the lack of trust towards the financial services industry.
thing we did but in some sense it was the most colorful. I was really concerned that if people went to ATMs and there wasn’t enough money, then you’d start to get a run on the bank. I’m proud how it worked out – to the best of my knowledge there was only one ATM in the entire country that ran out of $20 bills.” Ferguson identified four key traits to being an effective leader: expertise, empathy, vision and fortitude. “Fortitude is important because the path is never straight – there will always be the thing that blows you off course. I think people want a leader who uses that expertise to
TIAA CEO Roger Ferguson during his talk with Carroll Graduate School of Management students last week. (Photo by Lee Pellegrini)
“If people don’t trust financial services firms, how are they going to achieve the financial elements of their dreams?” he told the audience. “We always put our participant’s interests first; it’s our first value and I expect that we’ll continue to live up to those values.” Ferguson also spoke of managing crisis as a leader, recalling how on 9/11 he was the only Federal Reserve governor in Washington, DC, and had the responsibility of keeping the finance world from grinding to a halt. Ferguson described how his team issued a short statement to inspire confidence and then made sure there was “ample liquidity” to support the entire US economy for several days, working with central banks around the world, letting all checks clear on the Fed balance sheet, and ensuring ATMs had ample amounts of currency. “It wasn’t the most important
not panic at the moment of challenge or crisis, and continues to lead with calm confidence while making adjustments that are wise. Leaders need to be shock absorbers, not shock amplifiers.” Approximately five million people have $1 trillion invested with TIAA, which counts Boston College among its longtime clients. “TIAA has been a tremendous partner with the University,” said Vice President for Human Resources David Trainor. “The opportunity to have Roger here at Boston College is something that we jumped at and we’re really thrilled that he could come. When Roger often goes out to universities across the country, he tries to spend some time with students to get a sense as to what’s important to them, but also to share some of the important messages about financial literacy and the importance of a good education.” –Sean Hennessey
Associate Vice President of UNIVERSITY COMMUNICATIONs Jack Dunn Deputy Director of NEWS & Public AFFAIRS Patricia Delaney Editor Sean Smith
Contributing Staff Melissa Beecher Ed Hayward Sean Hennessey Rosanne Pellegrini Kathleen Sullivan Siobhan Sullivan Photographers Gary Gilbert Lee Pellegrini
Tony Award-winning theater and opera director Diane Paulus (in photo) will give a campus talk next week on the arts as a force for social, political and personal change. Paulus, the artistic director of Harvard University’s American Repertory Theater (ART) since 2008, will touch on issues such as “How does what we’re doing in the theater fit into the issues of our time, the necessity of what it means to be alive? How does what we’re doing engage people as citizens more fully in the world we live in?” Sponsored by the Theatre Department, “The Arts & Engaged Citizenship: Theater as a Civic Space,” will take place Feb. 9 at 8 p.m. in the Robsham Theater Arts Center. A question-and-answer session will follow with playwright and arts educator Monan Professor in Theatre Arts Sheri Wilner. The event is free and open to the public. “Diane Paulus is at the fore-
front of the future of theater in America,” said Theatre Department Chair and Associate Professor Crystal Tiala. “Her work breaks away from traditional models of theater, making a fresh and exciting experience for the audience.” Paulus’s name, event organizers note, has become synonymous with ART’s mission to “expand the boundaries of theater,” with her innovative directing choices. She directed the groundbreaking Tony-nominated 2016 musical, “Waitress,” the first Broadway show to have an all-female creative team. Susan Lepides Renowned for her vibrant re-imaginings of such classics as “Pippin,” “Porgy and Bess” and “Hair” – all of which won Tony Awards for best musical revival – Paulus also embraces new works. Her work at ART has included the world premiere of “In the Body of the World,” written and performed by Eve Ensler, and “Witness Uganda,” a musical inspired by the true story of American aid workers in
Eastern Africa. Paulus challenges actors, audiences and producers to rethink what they know as the “normal” theater-going experience. “Think about theater not just as two hours of traffic on a stage, but also what happens before, during and after [the show] because that is all a part of the audience’s experience,” she said in a 2014 TEDxBroadway talk. “It is as important as the actual theater event itself.” In 2014 Paulus was on Variety’s New York Impact List and named to Time magazine’s annual list of the 100 most influential people in the world. Her many professional honors include a Drama Desk Award and an Outer Critics Circle Award for her direction of the musical “Pippin,” as well as the Drama League’s Founders Award for Excellence in Directing, which honors the best practitioners on and off-Broadway. For questions about the lecture, e-mail Tiala at tiala@ bc.edu or Theatre Department Administrative Assistant JulieAnne Whitney at whitneju@ bc.edu. –University Communications
FULL CALENDAR FOR CAREER CTR. Although classes were not in session during winter break, many Boston College students still pursued their education. Career education, that is. More than 600 BC students, 225 alumni and hundreds of employers participated in three Career Center-sponsored events over the course of the break: the Regional Career and Internship Fair, Endeavor, and a winter “job-shadow” program. “Our goal is to empower students to lead self-directed, meaningful professional lives,” said Associate Vice President for Student Affairs and Career Services Joseph Du Pont. “So the earlier we can work with them, within the overall context of the BC mission, the more beneficial it is to everyone.” The job-shadow program, which has been an event at Boston College for some time, was “bigger than ever this year,” said Du Pont, noting that more than 250 students participated across all schools
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in 25 states. Endeavor, a program designed for sophomores pursing degrees in the liberal arts, was held for the second time and saw an increase in attendance as well. Based on student response from Endeavor’s pilot class last year, significant changes were made to the program including the addition of Endeavor Fellows – student leaders who helped peer-coach students. Director of Career Education and Strategy Rachel Greenberg said the Endeavor Fellows provided an additional layer of support and guidance to the sophomore participants. “Students and staff alike commented on how the involvement of so many in Endeavor helped spread the message that to prepare students for their careers beyond BC it is truly is a campus-wide effort.” Du Pont says the Career Center is aiming to expand outreach and partnerships University-wide.
With the number of student visits to the center office up 22 percent from last year, the Career Center made the intentional decision to be much more “outward facing so students, faculty and the BC community view us as valuable partners,” Du Pont said. Meanwhile, the center plans to introduce two new apps to help students connect with the office for appointments, career advice, and to review job postings, and just launched the Eagle Intern Fellowship Program, which provides financial support to BC undergrads working with organizations unable to provide a salary. “We see our primary role as bringing together members of the Boston College career community to support the personal and professional formation of our students,” said Du Pont. “When we view our work through that lens, there are so many possibilities to explore.” –Siobhan Sullivan
The Boston College Chronicle (USPS 009491), the internal newspaper for faculty and staff, is published biweekly from September to May by Boston College, with editorial offices at the Office of University Communications, 3 Lake Street, Brighton, MA 02135 (617)5523350. Distributed free to faculty and staff offices and other locations on campus. Periodicals postage paid at Boston, MA and additional mailing offices. POSTMASTER: send address changes to The Boston College Chronicle, Office of University Communications, 3 Lake Street, Brighton, MA 02135.
A flipbook edition of Chronicle is available via e-mail. Send requests to chronicle@bc.edu.
T he B oston C ollege
Chronicle february 2, 2017
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Super Bowl Bound
BC Senior Leaders Address Trump Order on Immigration
Former BC star QB Matt Ryan still inspires, on and off the field sey. “You always hope you play well enough that it could happen but I never really sat there and thought about having my name up there with them. For me, I was more focused on just getting to start. Get the starting job and then after that you improve and help our team win games. “Looking back now, it’s surreal to think that tomorrow it will go up there and hopefully I will be able to bring back family
By Ed Hayward Staff Writer
the field. A 2007 game against Virginia Tech, where Ryan orchestrated a comeback victory by throwing for two touchdowns in the final two minutes, was called the quarterback’s “Heisman moment” by broadcasters, Cameron recalled. “Afterwards, he was graciously and patiently speaking with a media mob when wide receivers coach Ryan Day appeared,” Cameron said. “Ryan had an
John Quakenbos
Former Boston College quarterback Matt Ryan ’07 is used to the spotlight, but it’s grown a lot brighter since he led the Atlanta Falcons to their Super Bowl appearance this Sunday against the New England Patriots. In 2007, Ryan capped his accomplished BC career with a record-setting final season that put him in the running for the Heisman Trophy and catapulted him to the third-overall pick in the 2008 NFL draft, which made him BC’s highest draft pick ever in any sport. His achievements at the Heights only burnished the nickname he earned as a topflight high school quarterback in Pennsylvania: Matty Ice. Boston College Associate Athletics Director for Football Barry Gallup said Ryan is among the best he’s seen at BC in his 37 years as a coach at the Heights. “I’m not saying he’s perfect – none of us are perfect – but he’s Matt Ryan ’07 during his visit to campus last fall, when his jersey was retired. everything you would expect an members and show them at one emergency appendectomy the All-American quarterback to be,” point I was pretty good here. It is day before, then checked himself Gallup told the Boston Herald. “I a really nice way for BC to honor out of the hospital against docreally think character is one of me and I am humbled to be here tors’ orders to fly to the game. the reasons he’s as successful as he to celebrate that this weekend.” Upon spotting Ryan Day, Matt has been. He wasn’t a five-star reIt was in a study hall for stu- said, ‘Why are you all talking to cruit coming out of high school.” dent athletes that Ryan met BC me? That man is the real hero of Ryan’s devotion to his alma women’s basketball captain Sarah this game.’” mater still runs deep. Marshall ’07. The two married Ryan was a student in the “Boston College is an amazing in 2011. Carroll School of Management place,” Ryan said last summer, “Some of my favorite memo- for two years, before switching when Director of Athletics Brad ries have nothing to do with foot- his major to communication. Bates announced BC would re- ball,” Ryan said last fall. “There “With the career I’m in there tire Ryan’s number 12 jersey. “I are a lot of good times that I had could not have been a better am very fortunate to have had so here with teammates and friends. major to prepare you for all of many great memories during my I met my wife here. That is prob- the things playing quarterback college years at BC.” ably the most important thing in the NFL [requires] and all the True to form, Ryan was hum- that happened during my five things it asks of you off the field. bled by the decision to add his years here.” My degree prepared me for that.” jersey to a very exclusive list of Ryan, who earned his bachHe said he’s constantly former Eagles, elor’s degree amazed by the connections he including 1984 “Some of my favorite memories in commu- makes with former teammates, Heisman Tro- have nothing to do with football. nication, has classmates and other BC alumni. phy-winning returned to “The network that BC proThere are a lot of good times quarterback campus to talk vides you is huge,” Ryan said in Doug Flutie that I had here with teammates about more 2014. “You don’t realize it while ’85 and offenthan just foot- you’re here. You’re isolated on and friends. I met my wife sive lineman ball, joining campus and it’s an unbelievable Mike Ruth here. That is probably the most his wife as the experience…It’s everywhere. I ’86. important thing that happened speakers at the think that is one of the unique “We prac2014 Brennan things about going to a place like during my five years here.” tice a lot in the S y m p o s i u m Boston College. Wherever you stadium and I in Leadership go, people are impressed about remember in summer condition- and Ethics, sponsored by Carroll the school that you came from. ing and doing all those kinds of School of Management’s Win- I think it says a lot about you if things and in the corner of the ston Center. you graduated from Boston Colend zone on that left-hand side Chris Cameron, who served as lege. It’s pretty cool to be a part you would see those names and the director of communications of that network.” jerseys retired up top,” Ryan said in athletics during Ryan’s career while on campus for the Nov. at BC, said Ryan’s on-field heroContact Ed Hayward at 19 ceremony to retire his jer- ics were matched by modesty off ed.hayward@bc.edu
University President William P. Leahy, SJ, Executive Vice President Micheal Lochhead and Provost and Dean of Faculties David Quigley challenged President Trump’s executive order on immigration in a letter to the University Community. The letter, which was sent via e-mail to faculty, staff and students and posted on the Boston College website Sunday, said Trump’s directive – which temporarily suspended entry to the United States by citizens of seven Muslim-majority countries and halted the US Refugee Admissions Program – “has already had disturbing effects on individuals and families.” In addition, the three administrators said, the executive order “undermines a key strength of our higher education system, as it turns away talented faculty and students who seek to immigrate to the United States. For decades, colleges and universities in America have benefited from such individuals, and our nation has enjoyed the fruits of having the world’s greatest post-secondary education system.” The letter also said Trump’s directive ran contrary to Amer-
ica’s legacy as a place of refuge and an open, non-discriminatory society, and conflicted with BC’s religious and educational heritage, beliefs and values. “The Judeo-Christian faith tradition emphasizes the necessity of caring for strangers and those in need,” the administrators wrote, adding that BC had been founded to educate the children and “like our nation, has gained so much from the presence and contributions of faculty, students, and staff born in other countries.” Fr. Leahy, Lochhead and Quigley said the Office of International Students and Scholars, along with Student Affairs and University Mission and Ministry personnel, would work with members of the BC community affected by the executive order. “We ask all members of the University community to be especially mindful of those among us who are most vulnerable as a result of this Executive Order, and to join us in reaffirming our core values of respect, welcome, and compassion for all.” Read the full text of the letter at http://bit.ly/immigration-statement
Forry Is Guest Speaker for Feb. 15 Martin Luther King Jr. Banquet
Massachusetts State Senator and four years later was appointed Linda Dorcena Forry ’97 will be chair of the Joint Committee on the featured speaker at the 35th an- Community Development and nual Martin Luther King Jr. Schol- Small Business. arship Banquet that will take place In 2013, Forry won the DemoFeb. 15 at 5:30 p.m. cratic nomination in a in the Corcoran Comspecial primary to sucmons Heights Room. ceed State Sen. Jack Highlighting the Hart, then went on to event will be the previctory that fall in the sentation of the Marfinal election. tin Luther King Jr. Forry is a board Scholarship, which member for the Boys honors a Boston Coland Girls of Dorcheslege junior whose ter, Milton Library life and work reflects Linda Dorcena Forry Foundation, Friends King’s philosophy. for Children, and College Bound This year’s scholarship can- Dorchester, and served on the didates are Leah Bacon, George advisory council for the Boston Boateng, Solina Jean-Louis, Ako- Foundation Haiti Relief and Resua Opokua-Achampong and Me- construction Fund. lissa Wanyoike. She has made numerous apThe daughter of Haitian im- pearances at Boston College events, migrants, Forry is a Democrat rep- including a panel discussion last fall resenting the 1st Suffolk District. on “The Labor Movement: From After graduating from the Car- Yesterday to Today” held in Robroll School of Management, Forry sham Theater and the Winston served as a legislative aide and act- Center for Leadership and Ethics ing chief of staff for Massachusetts “Lunch with a Leader” series. Representative Charlotte Golar For reservations and questions Richie and, in 1999, became direc- about the King Scholarship Bantor of the City of Boston Depart- quet, send e-mail before Feb. 8 to ment of Neighborhood Develop- mlkjr@bc.edu. ment. She won election to the state –University Communications House of Representative in 2005,
T he B oston C ollege
Chronicle february 2, 2017
CELLULAR PATHWAYS BC chemist’s research may hold clues to cancer and neurodegenerative diseases
New clues to the cellular damage that results from age-related increases in oxidative stress are revealed in studies by Associate Professor of Chemistry Eranthie Weerapana. The research, funded by grants from the National Institutes of Health, advances her exploration of how cellular pathways and proteins contribute to cancer and neurodegenerative diseases. “One of the major areas of focus of my research group is to understand the effects of oxidative stress on biological systems,” said Weerapana. “There are many diseases that are characterized by increased oxidative stress, including cancer and many neurodegenerative diseases associated with aging, such as Alzheimer’s and Parkinson’s.” Weerapana tries to identify the proteins that are damaged due to the increase in oxidative stress and the potential pathological consequences. “In many of these diseases, cells produce reactive oxygen species,” said Weerapana. “These are highly reactive radicals that can damage DNA and proteins in the cell with downstream functional consequences. Our goal is to understand what bio-molecules are affected; specifically, our interests lie in understanding how oxidative stress affects proteins and their downstream functions.” In a study published in the journal Cell Chemical Biology, Weerapana and colleagues from the University of Massachusetts Medical School reported the identification of two proteins with direct links to longevity in C. elegans, a microscopic worm and model organism commonly used by researchers in the field of aging. The team focused on proteins containing cysteine – an amino acid that can be compromised by oxidation – with the goal of identifying and subsequently silencing cysteine-containing proteins with effects on the lifespan of the worm, Weerapana said. The worm model employed by the team has been genetically modified to silence, or “knockdown,” an insulin receptor, which has been shown in earlier studies to increase longevity in the organism. By analyzing the proteomes of wild-type and knockdown worms, the team hoped to identify other proteins that mediate lifespan extension. “Knocking down the insulin receptor activates pathways that
Lee Pellegrini
By Ed Hayward Staff Writer
Eranthie Weerapana
increase lifespan,” said Weerapana. “So we wanted to identify downstream protein activities that could be targeted to further increase longevity in these worms.” The team used a method called cysteine-reactivity profiling to identify 40 proteins that are differentially regulated in the wildtype and mutant worms. They showed that knocking down two proteins – known as LBP-3 and K02D7.1 – caused significant increases in the lifespan of these worms. LBP-3 knockdown accounted for a 23 percent increase and K02D7.1 knockdown accounted for a 36 percent increase in longevity. The findings demonstrate that cysteine-reactivity profiling can be used alongside traditional methods like genomics and transcriptomics to identify proteins that regulate longevity in C. elegans – a crucial, early step in research that ultimately seeks to combat age-related diseases in humans. Future studies would try to pinpoint how the manipulation of these particular cellular pathways increases longevity, Weerapana said. The report, “Global CysteineReactivity Profiling During Impaired Insulin/IGF-1 Signaling in C. elegans Identifies Uncharacterized Mediators of Longevity,” was co-authored by Weerapana, BC researchers Julianne Martell and Daniel W. Bak, and UMass Medical School researchers Yonghak Seo, Samuel F. Kingsley, and Heidi A. Tissenbaum. In addition to the NIH, The Smith Family Foundation funded Weerapana’s work on the project. Read more at http://bit.ly/weerapana-cellular-pathways Contact Ed Hayward at ed.hayward@bc.edu
Students Debate Team of Inmates Continued from page 1 a degree,” said junior Harrison Kenner. “Anyone can participate in debate and find it rewarding – it’s a passionate, unique experience. I’ll definitely remember this particular debate and speak highly of it in the future.” It began last summer with a hand-written note to Katsulas, an invitation from one of the inmates to the Fulton team to come debate at the prison. Katsulas, who as a college undergraduate had been part of a team that debated prisoners in MCI-Walpole, felt such an event would be mutually beneficial. “For the prisoners, it’s an outlet to improve their communication skills,” he said. “For the students, this is definitely a window on a kind of life they had never seen and could never imagine.” The Norfolk debate program also had a distinguished pedigree. Over the three decades following its creation, the Norfolk Prison Debating Society competed on the academic circuit against students from Harvard, MIT, Princeton and even defeated Oxford University in 1959. The Norfolk team – among its members was Malcolm Little, later to be known as Malcolm X – compiled a 144-8 record by 1966. But such activities fell by the wayside as prisons adopted a more restrictive management philosophy. MCI-Norfolk Director of Treatment Bruce Pires said the prison where he worked previously had established a popular debate program, and when he transferred to Norfolk two years ago he found a groundswell of support (including from inmates he’d known at his previous stop) for restarting the prison’s hallowed team. “From what I’d seen, debate was something from which everyone could learn – not just the team, but other prisoners and even prison officials,” he said. “I knew what it meant to the guys here, with all the tradition and history, so it just seemed like a good idea.” Once the debate program was revived, the Norfolk team wanted to test its mettle against outside competition, and found that Fulton most closely matched its favored style of debate. After receiving the invitation, Katsulas contacted the Fulton students and they agreed to accept. The Fulton team – which argued against the carbon tax – prepared for the visit to Norfolk much as it would any debate, but also received some important instructions: Wear casual attire (but no sneakers). If you’re female, dress modestly. Don’t take
too much with you, since you’ll have to store it. And don’t ask the prisoners about why they’re there. As it turned out, the interaction with the inmates was brief and limited, but very hospitable. The Norfolk team presented Katsulas and the students with a signed poster commemorating the event, and thanked them warmly for coming. “They were very nice,” said Senthilkumar. “They could have been our neighbors.” Once the debate was in progress, it was apparent that the Nor-
Senthilkumar, who added that the experience had given him a new insight into the need for policies for criminal reform. “I thought, ‘What they did shouldn’t change my impression,’ but it was hard to accept that. Hopefully, there is a chance to redeem themselves, and so programs like debate are very valuable because they encourage inmates to use their intellectual and interactive skills.” “Some of them had committed these unforgivable crimes when they were young, many years ago,” said Jenna Bilak ’19.
Lee Pellegrini
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Director of Debate John Katsulas (right) talks with Fulton Debating Society members (L-R) Jenna Bilak, Sean MacDonald and Harrison Kenner. The visit to MCI-Norfolk, said Katsulas, was for the students “a window on a kind of life they had never seen and could never imagine.”
folk team’s debate style differed from that of Fulton – BC’s was policy-oriented, while Norfolk relied more on rhetoric and empathy with the audience, which consisted of other inmates as well as some prison officials (one Norfolk debater came to the podium wearing a surgical mask to underscore concerns about emissions). But the BC visitors were nonetheless impressed by the inmates’ preparation, especially given their limited access to information sources and reliance on family members and friends to supply them with research material. “They did an excellent job connecting with the crowd,” said MacDonald. “Their presentations created a visceral audience response, and that can mean a lot.” So after the result was announced – Norfolk over Fulton by a mere 0.6 points – the Fulton debaters were quick to congratulate their opponents. “When I shook hands with them, I asked if they were interested in having a debate next year,” said Kenner. But once back at BC, the students had a different kind of debate, one that took place inside themselves: How to reconcile the intelligent, well-spoken, engaging men on the Norfolk team with the violent crimes for which they were imprisoned? “I struggled with that,” said
“Are they that same person now? It’s hard to say, of course – I only got to know them as my opponents.” “Whatever their crimes, they are people in the end,” said sophomore Kelvin Lin. “Their crimes don’t detract from that.” Katsulas and the students hope there could be a regular – maybe an annual – Norfolk-Fulton debate. They also would like to assist the inmates with their research, perhaps even serve as volunteer judges at their debates. Pires said he also hopes for a continuing relationship between the two teams – and that he understands the students’ conflicting emotions. “The reality is that all the men here were still convicted of crimes, and one-third of them are in here for the rest of their lives,” he said. “Some, however, will be back out in the community. The guys who are involved in the debate program are exceptionally smart, they study very hard and apply themselves. It’s something they don’t take for granted. “That can be a big revelation for students: They see how these men are making the most of every moment, and perhaps this encourages them to take their education more seriously.” Contact Sean Smith at sean.smith@bc.edu
T he B oston C ollege
Chronicle february 2, 2017
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Shared Resource, Shared Responsibility
Yadama aiding project that could be model for community water systems By Sean Smith Chronicle Editor
The water crisis in Flint, Mich., has been cited as a failure of local, state and federal authorities to protect the public good. Boston College School of Social Work Dean Gautam Yadama says the Flint saga represents the daily plight faced by many people around the world who lack regular access to clean water. “There were problems in the authorities’ oversight of the quality of Flint’s water system,” Yadama explains, “and Flint’s residents could hold accountable those authorities in which they placed their trust. Once there was evidence of a crisis, the city, state and EPA sprang into action to deliver better water and assess the problems. A recent study showed significant improvement in Flint’s water quality, which suggests
gram. First is whether Mission Bhagiratha can fulfill the task of supplying clean drinking water to all the habitations: Rather than piping it directly to each household in a community, water will made available to the residents via a central source. “The second question is, how do we ensure that there is adequate water being supplied and if it is clean and safe?” says Yadama, who became BCSSW dean last summer. “In Flint and across the US, there are regulatory bodies and offices charged with continuous monitoring of the supply and quality of water. In the case of rural Telangana, we have to focus on empowering communities and strengthening local institutions, so that members of each community are able to oversee the operation and upkeep of the water system, as well as monitor
Christopher Soldt/MTS
the intervention had an impact. “People in lower-income, resource-poor areas of the world have little, if any, means to protect the quality of their water supply, let alone any supply. In many rural communities, there is no authority to implement or enforce regulations to safeguard quality, no industry to provide maintenance of the system, no trained professionals to gauge the impacts of water use. This has tremendous far-reaching consequences.” In such communities, the solution is to design strong social organizations to oversee both the supply and quality of the water, says Yadama – and he is part of an innovative initiative aiming to do precisely that. Yadama is among a group of experts convened by Indian think tank Center for Economic and Social Studies to advise on an impact study of Mission Bhagiratha, a program with a goal to provide treated drinking water to more than 24,000 habitations – the equivalent of approximately 4,919,007 rural households – in India’s southern state of Telangana. The project is in its initial implementation phase. According to Yadama, there are two central questions to this pro-
to overcome social dilemmas and improve wellbeing. “One question is, can we glean something from these processes that can be used elsewhere?” he says. “Providing robust information on social and community organizations is a key component of social work. But there also is a great opportunity in these sustainable interventions for other disciplines, such as environmental science, biology and public health: Studies show that the work done on improving nutritional outcomes in resource-poor areas is undermined by water and sanitation issues, which are environmental. So having different kinds of expertise involved can only increase the effectiveness of programs like Mission Bhagiratha.” Yadama hopes to interest other BC researchers in taking part in the study, and believes there can also be
“If a key resource – like water – is a shared one, then communities have to be mobilized to govern water as a shared resource. In the absence of a local or state authority, the physical investments to provide critical services must be maintained by social or civic organizations.”
whether the water meets standards for healthy consumption. “If a key resource – like water – is a shared one, then communities have to be mobilized to govern water as a shared resource. In the absence of a local or state authority, the physical investments to provide critical services must be maintained by social or civic organizations. This study will offer evidence and a guideline for preparing communities to be these front-line institutions.” A dean of a social work school might seem an unlikely choice to aid a clean-water project, but the Mission Bhagiratha study dovetails with Yadama’s interdisciplinary research on how communities self-govern and collectively provide essential public goods and vital commonpool resources for their livelihoods, and how such enterprises can be supported by government and nongovernmental organizations that engage and collaborate with these communities. For Yadama – who has studied the social and environmental challenges of the rural poor in South Asia and China – these social and ecological interactions influence the sustained implementation of household and community interventions
–BCSSW Dean Gautam Yadama
roles for graduate and undergraduate students – for example, utilizing skills in GIS (geographic information systems) to look for patterns across habitations in water supply and quality that could help in finetuning the project. “BC’s mission is to train students to address the great issues confronting humanity, especially those in need,” he says. “We want them to have a front-row seat to examine complex problems and the challenges of intervention, and to be meaningfully engaged.” Boston College and other universities “belong to a very special class of institutions,” Yadama adds. “They are centers of learning, knowledge and contemplation, but are increasingly called upon to leverage their resources to intervene in urgent matters of human concern. Today’s most pressing challenges are at the intersections of poverty, environment, population wellbeing, health, and sustainable development. “If universities are to matter for our societies, then we must generate systematic knowledge that matters to the most vulnerable in our midst. We have to put equal emphasis on translation of knowledge for societal impact.”
Rafael Luciani, left, and Felix Palazzi are among the co-organizers of the Ibero-American Conference of Theology. (Photo by Gary Gilbert)
Theological Conference Continued from page 1 midst of the poor, serving them and being committed to their struggles and hopes, which is a very Latin American theology. “This theological perspective, assumed by Pope Francis, has met with resistance in Europe and opposition in the US,” continued Luciani, who noted that more than 65 percent of Catholics live in the Global South. A highlight of the conference will be a public forum on Feb. 8 at 5:30 p.m. in Robsham Theater featuring University of Notre Dame John Cardinal O’Hara Professor of Theology Gustavo Gutiérrez, OP, the founder of liberation theology, and Juan Carlos Scannone, SJ, a seminary instructor of Jorge Bergoglio (Pope Francis) and founder of the philosophy of liberation. The panel discussion, titled “Present and Future of an Ibero-American Theology in Times of Globalization, Interculturality, and Exclusion,” will be moderated by STM Professor Thomas Groome, director of the Church in the 21st Century Center. The panelists will highlight some of the insights from the gathering of theologians and illuminate how Latin American liberation theology shapes Pope Francis’ teachings and pastoral actions, as well as discuss the current process of Church reforms. Luciani added, “This is not a new theology, but a way of doing theology in dialogue with other cultures and people, from the reality of the excluded in every society and with a respect for differences and identity. It is about integrating diversity instead of separating people and cultures.” The conference will conclude on Feb. 10 with a Mass at 6:20 p.m. at St. Ignatius Church. Local members of Hispanic religious and social groups have been invited to the Mass, which will be celebrated in Spanish by Cardinal Porras. The outreach involves different people and organizations, some Catholic ,others not, who are all working on behalf of the Hispanic community and immigrants in Boston. Other conference organizers are STM Visiting Associate Professor Felix Palazzi, Carlos Maria Galli of
the Pontifical Catholic University of Argentina and Fr. Scannone, a professor emeritus at the Jesuit Seminary of San Miguel in Argentina. In addition to Luciani and Palazzi, BC theologians participating in the conference are Flatley Professor of Catholic Theology Robert Goizueta and STM Associate Professor Nancy Pineda-Madrid and Assistant Professor Hosffman Ospino. Cardinal Sean O’Malley, OFM, Cap., archbishop of Boston, will also meet with the conference participants. Luciani says it is most appropriate that Boston College, and in particular the School of Theology and Ministry, takes on the pivotal role of hosting this international theological discussion. “As a Jesuit university, Boston College is committed to building bridges,” said Luciani. “STM is a place of many cultures and a place where people work together to respond to Pope Francis’s call to action.” Added STM Dean Thomas Stegman, SJ: “The School of Theology and Ministry is delighted to be a co-sponsor of this important gathering of so many top theologians in the field. This is theology being done in service to the Church. To host such an illustrious group of scholars is a real feather in Boston College’s hat.” Luciani says he sees evidence of the interest in this topic from his own teaching. This past fall, he and Palazzi taught an online course in Spanish through STM titled Theological and Social Aspects of the Pontificate of Francis. The course attracted more than 3,000 students. An upcoming course, Apocalypse - Terror or Hope for Humanity?, taught by Palazzi, will address the current climate of fear in the lives of Hispanic communities in the US. The Ibero-American Conference of Theology is co-sponsored by the School of Theology and Ministry, Office of the President, Institute for the Liberal Arts, and Theology Department. See http://bit.ly/iberoamerican-theology for more details. Contact Kathleen Sullivan at kathleen.sullivan@bc.edu
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New St. Ignatius Pastor Relishes BC-Parish Ties
rector of the Jesuit Community and president of Canisius High School in Buffalo. From 2006-13, he was pastor of New York City’s St. Francis Xavier Church, where he oversaw a $13.5M restoration and renovation of the more than 120-year-old church’s interior. The monumental project involved the restoration of more than 40 murals and stained glass, conservation of dozens of statues, and reconfiguration of the altar to accommodate Vatican II guidelines and accessibility issues. The restoration project was honored with the New York Landmarks Conservancy’s Lucy G. Moses Preservation Award and the Victorian Society of New York’s Interior Restoration Preservation Award.
Joseph Costantino, SJ, halfway through his first year as pastor of St. Ignatius Church, has high praise for the spirit of sharing between Boston College and his parish, which is part of the Archdiocese of Boston. The church hosts of a number of University special events and liturgies, including a weekly Mass for students, faculty and staff from the School of Theology and Ministry. Boston College students not only attend Mass at St. Ignatius, but some serve as catechists in the parish’s religious education program. The University also provides St. Ignatius’ parish office with technical resources, including WiFi and email. In addition, Fr. Costantino and Associate Vice President of Mission and Ministry Fr. Tony Penna have decided to bring together their respective RCIA (Rite of Christian Initiation of Adults) programs. “I’m so excited about this,” said Fr. Costantino. “We are networking two different apostolates.” Fr. Costantino, who is also a member of the Jesuit community at BC, began his post at St. Ignatius last June 1, succeeding Robert VerEecke, SJ, who served as pastor for 27 years. He came to St. Ignatius having earned many accolades for his collaborative leadership style. In a letter to St. Ignatius parishioners, Jesuit USA Northeast Provincial John Cecero, SJ, said, “I believe Fr. Costantino is the right Jesuit to guide St. Ignatius in the years ahead.” “It’s a vibrant parish, with a lot of committed parishioners,” said Fr. Costantino of St. Ignatius. “It’s an intentional parish. People come from all over, not necessarily from the geographical boundaries. They like the music, the Jesuit preaching. It’s a destination parish.” He added that he appreciates the generational diversity in the parish. “We have ‘lifers,’ but also students who have only just arrived and will only be here for a little bit of time.” Fr. Costantino added that BC alumni who want to be married at St. Ignatius or have their child baptized there are always welcome. Fr. Costantino arrived at St. Ignatius fresh off his first-ever sabbatical, during which he served as a spiritual advisor on pilgrimages to Cuba and on the Camino and conducted a retreat and gave the Commencement address for The Lewis College in the Philippines. Previously, he served as both
Gary Gilbert
By Kathleen Sullivan Staff Writer
Joseph Costantino, SJ
A Brooklyn native, Fr. Costantino graduated from New York University in 1977. Upon graduation, he entered the Society of Jesus and was ordained in 1987. He has served as a philosophy instructor at Canisius College in Buffalo, and was a retreat and spiritual director, and later the executive director, at St. Ignatius Retreat House in New York City. He also served for seven years as vocation director for the Jesuits. He holds a master of arts in philosophy degree from Fordham University, and both a master of divinity degree and licentiate in systematic theology from the Weston Jesuit School of Theology (now the School of Theology and Ministry). He has served on a number of boards and committees related to the internal governance of the Society of Jesus. He was a member of the first advisory board of the Ignatian Volunteer Corps, which provides service opportunities for retirees to work among those in need. He also served on the boards of trustees for Canisius College and Loyola High School in New York City. He is a member of the board of trustees of St. Peter’s University in New Jersey. Contact Kathleen Sullivan at kathleen.sullivan@bc.edu
Woods College Hosts Women Religious A leadership program for 36 Latin American women religious hosted recently by the Woods College of Advancing Studies was, according to one participant, “a gift from God.” The program, held last month, was arranged by and funded through Catholic Extension via a grant from the Conrad N. Hilton Foundation, in partnership with Boston College, as part of the USLatin American Sisters Exchange Program. Since its founding in 1905, Catholic Extension has contributed more than $500 million ($1.2 billion in today’s dollars) to poor mission dioceses throughout the US. The women religious are missionaries from Latin America who arrived in 2014 for the five-year program and are now serving poor, Hispanic immigrant communities in 12 US dioceses. As part of the program, BC and other higher education partners are providing forcredit courses that can be applied toward a future degree. Following the program, the participants will return to their home communities to help evangelize those on the margins, and raise awareness about religious life in their respective communities. For Sister Margarita Morales of Chiapas, Mexico, from the Disciples of Jesus the Good Shepard, the opportunity to network and broaden her education was “a gift from God.” Sister Morales, interviewed during the Woods College program, said, “I really enjoy being with my fellow sisters from all over the United States and Latin America. Taking the course and learning all these things together and collaborating with one another has given me confidence, skills and tools to be able to use when we return to our communities. “There’s one phrase that reso-
nates with me – knowledge takes away fear and leads you towards compassion.” In addition to attending classes and participating in discussions and team-building exercises, Sister Morales and her fellow women religious attended a BC basketball game and even had a chance to
the Charleston, SC, diocese. “But here, we are learning about leadership, intercultural skills, marketing, management, and how to request funding – loans – for the big projects. “We feel much empowered. You can’t be a good pastor or religious leader without tools. And I have found these tools in these courses.”
A session at the recent US-Latin American Sisters Exchange Program that took place at the Woods College of Advancing Studies. (Photo by Gary Gilbert)
frolic in a short-lived snowfall. Sister Maria Teresa DeLoera of Catholic Teachers of Sacred Heart of Jesus in Aguas Calientes, Mexico, echoed Sister Morales’ “gift from God” assessment of the program. “It has been marvelous because of the people I’ve met, the friendliness, the warmth – I feel that I’ve been part of a family. People were just ready to welcome me and embrace me within their own family. God has given us a tremendous gift, the snow – because where I come from, there is no snow, so this has been a blessing. “I’m better ready to serve my community once we are finished.” Sisters Morales and DeLoera said the courses they had taken at Woods College were a valuable supplement to their previous training, and would serve them well. “I’ve taken many classes in religious education, so they have been of a pastoral nature – theology, Christianity, how to be a good pastor in your church,” explained Sister Morales, who is currently working in
Sister DeLoera, who has a degree in social work, said the coursework added a further dimension beyond the practical and pragmatic. “It’s helping me learn the American mentality, and part of that is the ability and the drive to dream and dream big, to have a vision,” said Sister DeLoera, who is now stationed in Little Rock, Ark. “To have these tools that I can use to achieve these goals is very exciting.” Faculty members who taught in the Woods College program said they were equally impressed by the initiative and its participants. “I’m grateful for this wonderful opportunity to reconnect with Boston College, and to see what BC is doing to make this world a better place,” said Lauren Bent ’03, MA ’04, an associate professor of higher education at Regis College. “These sisters have inspired me. It has been a wonderful privilege to spend time with them and learn with them and from them. It’s been wonderful to be part of this experience.” –University Communications
Mu Wins Churchill Scholarship for Year of Study Continued from page 1 of 15 students were selected for the scholarship this year, joining a list of 500 recipients who have won the award since its inception in 1963. The award follows Mu’s 2016 Barry M. Goldwater Scholarship, which is considered the premier undergraduate science fellowship in the United States. Mu, a resident of Omaha, Neb., said he was honored to receive the Churchill Scholarship and excited for the prospect of studying in the United Kingdom this fall. “This award would not have been possible without the incredible mentors I’ve met at BC and beyond, who have encouraged me to develop my interests by seeking out unique opportunities throughout college,” said Mu. “We’ve made a lot of progress in so-called ‘Natural Language
Processing’ (NLP) technologies recently – think Siri or Amazon Echo – but there’s still a lot of work to do before we have computers that can truly communicate with humans,” he said. “I’m excited by the potentially world-changing applications of these technologies, and a master’s at Cambridge University should provide important skills that will help me join this effort.” Sergio Alvarez, chair of BC’s Computer Science Department, praised Mu as an exceptional student who is clearly deserving of the prestigious academic honors he has received. “Jesse Mu is one of the department’s very best students,” said Alvarez. “I was lucky that his path brought him to my Artificial Intelligence (AI) course last year. Jesse is on a mission to contribute
to a fundamental understanding of human language acquisition and understanding by computational means – including AI – together with techniques from phylogenetics and developmental psychology.” Professor of Chemistry Mary Roberts, who serves as campus coordinator for student fellowships in the sciences, offered similar praise. “The Churchill Foundation looks for amazing candidates who have done ‘more than can be expected of graduates,’” said Roberts. “Clearly, he is an exceptionally bright, articulate and motivated young man who is completely engaged in his chosen field of study. That’s the something extra the Churchill committee wants.” [Read more of this story at http:// bit.ly/mu-churchill]
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BOSTON COLLEGE IN THE MEDIA An introduction to new faculty members at Boston College
J. Fredrik Haeffner
Assistant Professor of the Practice of Chemistry Morrissey College of Arts and Sciences DEGREES: Royal Institute of Technology, Sweden (MS, PhD) WHAT HE STUDIES: Chemical reactivity and selectivity involving organic and organo-metallic reactions, enzyme and small molecule catalysis; use of data and computer modeling to design and optimize catalysts for a variety of reactions. WHAT HE TEACHES: Physical Chemistry; Advanced Topics in Biochemistry; Computational Chemistry: Model, Method, and Mechanism What impact has computational chemistry had on the discipline? “I tell my students that computational chemistry is not a very new discipline of science and the theory it is based on dates back to the beginning of the last century. The enormous increase in computer speed over the last few decades has turned it into a very desirable tool among chemists, biologists, and material scientists for increased understanding and design of drugs, catalysts, and materials.”
Min Zhao
Associate Professor of Marketing Carroll School of Management DEGREES: Beijing Foreign Studies University (BA, MA); University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill (PhD) WHAT SHE STUDIES: Consumer behavior, financial decisions WHAT SHE’S TEACHING: Marketing Principles; Consumer Behavior and Marketing Management Give us an idea of your research interest. “My primary research focuses on decisions over time that pertains to consumers’ financial decisions, such as saving or donation, task completion and new product adoption. I research behavioral tools to help consumers adopt an actionoriented mindset and stay committed to their long-term goals in these domains.”
Prof. Heather Cox Richardson (History) discussed opportunities and challenges facing the Trump Administration, during a panel moderated by National Public Radio’s Tom Ashbrook at the JFK Library that was made available at WBUR.org. Prof. Jonathan Laurence (Political Science) provided commentary on the Trump inauguration for French television news network BFM. In a piece for TheConversation. com, Carroll School Galligan Professor Sandra Waddock applied her research on how to affect large system change to the situation now facing progressives in the new administration. Many Americans continue to earn during retirement, according to
research by Prof. Joseph Quinn (Economics) – conducted with PhD alumni Kevin Cahill and Michael Giandrea – highlighted in a Dow Jones Marketwatch look at improvements to Norway’s retirement system. For decades, the unemployment rate has been one of the basic barometers of the American economy. While no single metric is infallible, the rate does a solid job, said Assoc. Prof. Robert Murphy (Economics), a former White House adviser, in an interview with CNN Money. In a feature available on iTunes, Prof. Sharlene Hesse-Biber (Sociology) discussed her research as part of an award-winning film on the lives of women and men who carry a BRCA genetic mutation that places them at a high risk
QUOTE/UNQUOTE
Mark Thatcher
Assistant Professor of the Practice of Classics Morrissey College of Arts and Sciences DEGREES: Northwestern University (BA); Brown University (PhD) WHAT HE STUDIES: Greek history; Greek and Roman historiography; ethnicity, identity and cross-cultural interactions. WHAT HE’S TEACHING: Greek History; Greeks and Barbarians; Multiculturalism in the Roman Empire; Drama and Society in Ancient Greece. Your teaching and research involves, among other things, multiculturalism in Ancient Greece as well as in the Roman Empire. Do you find parallels between the discussions about various issues regarding multiculturalism today in the US and Europe with those in the Ancient World? “The ancient Mediterranean was a globalized world, full of people who migrated and crossed cultural boundaries. Both Greeks and Romans learned much from their neighbors, like the Etruscans and the Egyptians. But how to relate to other peoples was controversial then, just as it is today. Athens, the birthplace of democracy, also invented the idea of the barbarian. Even as they declared freedom at home, they stereotyped and discriminated against outsiders. By contrast, the Romans had an ideal of inclusion that allowed people from the provinces – even former slaves – to gain citizenship and become Roman, but they didn’t always live up to that ideal. Since we deal with many of these same issues today, looking at how Greeks and Romans handled them gives us a sense of historical perspective: we may not always agree with their solutions, but the debates that we read in ancient sources are deeply relevant today.”
–Ed Hayward, Sean Hennessey, Sean Smith Photos by Lee Pellegrini and Tony Rinaldo
The history of political elites instrumentalizing poor people is as long as the history of poverty itself, wrote Asst. Prof. Eric Weiskott (English) in an essay for the Times Literary Supplement that related contemporary discourse around poverty to the similar themes of a medieval poem. An Ohio Catholic school has expanded its mission and admissions by making a faith-centered education available to a more diverse group of students, with the help of a support network developed by BC’s City Connects program, led by Lynch School of Education Kearns Professor Mary Walsh, the Springfield News-Sun reported. Slate magazine noted that the rise of “franken-” as a prefix to characterize human efforts to interfere with nature can be traced back to the use in 1992 of “frankenfood” in a letter penned by Prof. Paul Lewis (English) to the New York Times.
JOBS
“A theater like this, open a few nights a week and during the weekend, would have a multiplier effect, and bring vitality to the streets.” –Edward Chazen, senior lecturer in business law and society at the Carroll School of Management’s Corcoran Center for Real Estate and Urban Action, interviewed by The Boston Globe concerning a project to revitalize the Everett Square Theater in Hyde Park as part of his Field Projects in Real Estate class. [Read the Globe story at http://bit.ly/chazen-theatre-project]
The Boston College Association of Retired Faculty recently announced its winners of 2016-17 grants for research-related activities and projects:
Languages/Jewish Studies) for travel to Madrid to research “Conversion to and from Judaism in Medieval Spain.”
•Vera Lee (Romance Languages •Rosemarie Bodenheimer (Eng- and Literatures) to support work lish) for transcribwith a cartoonist in ing Gothic German a graphic RIEFING writing letters into modern novel. German as part of the research toward a fictive mem- •Jean Mooney (LSOE) to forward oir with the working title Mendels- the design and implementation of sohn & Co. an after-school engineering club for fourth, fifth and sixth-grade •Matilda Bruckner (Romance boys at St. Columbkille PartnerLanguages and Literatures) for ship School in Brighton. travel to Durham, England, to attend the colloquium of the So- •Marian Brown St. Onge (Inciété Internationale pour l’étude ternational Programs) for travel du Théâtre Médiéval. to Oxford University to attend a conference on American and Eu•Dwayne Carpenter (Romance ropean biography.
BC B
Connell School of Nursing 1954 alumna Joan Nickel chatted with Cara Hughes – who will be a freshman at CSON this fall – at the school’s 70th anniversary celebration on Jan. 27. (Photo by Rose Lincoln)
of developing breast and other cancers.
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: Assistant Director of Field Education, Academic Affairs/Provost Associate Dean, School of Social Work Senior Associate Director, Alumni Chapters, University Advancement Research Associate, Academic Affairs/Provost Service Center Representative, Academic Affairs/Provost Manager, Data Center Operations, Information Technology Lead Project Manager, Information Technology Senior/Prospect Management Analyst, University Advancement Health and Safety Program Manager, Academic Affairs/Provost Data and Visualization Librarian, Academic Affairs/Provost Associate Director of Capital Projects, Facilities/Trades Assistant Dean, Academic & Student Services, Law School Food Service Worker, Dining & Catering
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Tony Award winner Diane Paulus to speak on campus Feb. 9 – see page 2
The theme of gender parity continues this semester at the Robsham Theater Arts Center through the array of productions selected this academic year by the Theatre Department, including a production of 2016-17 Monan Professor in Theater Arts Sheri Wilner’s “Kingdom City.” The appointment of the awardwinning playwright and arts educator as Monan Professor prompted deliberate consideration of gender representation, according to Theatre Department Chair and Associate Professor Crystal Tiala, as evidenced in the female playwrights, directors and roles showcased this season. A recent study by the New York City-based Dramatist Guild, where Wilner directs the Fellows Program, showed a pattern of gender disparity in the national theater scene. “There is a real serious bias in the United States that women don’t produce comparable work to men,” Tiala noted. Keeping with the season’s theme, Wilner developed and is teaching the course Contemporary Female Playwrights, which exposes students to diverse female-written work and includes guest lectures from Boston theater professionals –including playwrights, dramaturgs and literary managers – on the roots, manifestations and con-
BC SCENES
Lee Pellegrini
Robsham Keeps Spotlight on Gender Parity for Spring Schedule
Grace Fucci ’17, left, director of the upcoming student production of “Eurydice,” conferring with Qingan Zhang ’17, the set designer for the show.
sequences of gender disparity on stage. Following last month’s staging of “What Every Girl Should Know,” the spring production schedule continues Feb. 16-19 with Sarah Ruhl’s “Eurydice,” which will be directed by Grace Fucci ’17 and performed in the Bonn Studio Theater. It provides a new look at the classic, malecentric Greek myth Orpheus, with a focus on the heroine’s agency independent from the men in her life. According to Fucci, this marks the first time in her experience that Robsham has featured two
female-written student workshops directed by women with female leads (Cassie Chapados ’17 directed “What Every Girl Should Know”). Wilner’s “Kingdom City,” which features a boundary-pushing female lead, will be presented March 22-26 in the Bonn Studio Theater, directed by Associate Professor of Theatre John Houchin. The play, inspired by a real event in Fulton, Mo., follows a female theater director’s struggle to produce a provocative play in a conservative Midwest town. The celebrated Andrew Lloyd Webber musical “Evita,” the story
of controversial Argentinian leader Eva Peron, will be staged April 26-30 on the Mainstage under the direction of Paul Daigneault ’87, founder and producing artistic director of Boston’s SpeakEasy Stage Company and 2011-12 Monan Professor. With a score that fuses haunting chorales with exuberant Latin, pop and jazz influences, “Evita” creates an arresting theatrical portrait and adds historical and political layers to the Robsham season’s broader gender discussion, according to organizers. Concluding the season on April 29, during the annual Arts Festival, is “Now & Then,” a collection of new, short plays by alumni playwrights, directed by Professor of Theatre Scott T. Cummings. The original works, which will be show-
cased in the Bonn Studio Theater, include “Twenty-Three” by Emily Dendinger ’05; “Tiny Chairs for Plastic Dolls” by Emma Stanton ’06; “An Appeal” by Patricia Noonan ’07; “A Single Night of a Lifetime” by Jeff Augustin ’08, and “Scratch Until” by Patrick ’08 and Daniel Lazour ’13. “Now & Then” will be presented at 2 p.m. and 5 p.m.; admission is free, no ticket required. Theatre Department productions run at 7:30 p.m. on weekdays and Saturdays, and at 2 p.m. on Sundays. Ticket prices (including service fee) are $17 for adults; $12 for students with valid ID; $12 for seniors, and $12 for BC faculty/ staff (one ticket per BCID.) For tickets, see bc.edu/tickets. –University Communications
Chambers Lecture Series: Dr. Bennet Omalu Feb. 9, 6 p.m. Gasson 100
Dr. Omalu – whose efforts to raise awareness of the risk of chronic brain damage among athletes was chronicled in the book and film Concussion – talks about his journey from humble beginnings in war-torn Nigeria to a successful, and controversial, career as a forensic pathologist and neuropathologist. For information, e-mail Winston.Center@bc.edu.
MORNING AND NIGHT Boston College hosted its annual Martin Luther King Jr. Unity Breakfast on Jan. 19 in the Heights Room of Corcoran Commons (left). Highlighting the event was a keynote address by TamyFee Meneide ’05 (below left), a member of the Executive Task Force of the Multicultural Coalition on Aging and former clinical research diversity coordinator for the Harvard Aging Brain Study at Massachusetts General Hospital. (Photos by Julia Hopkins)
A week later, the McMullen Museum of Art sponsored a special student opening for its new “Rafael Soriano: The Artist as Mystic” exhibition. The event was held as part of McMullen’s “Art After Dark” series, a late-night program for undergraduate and graduate students. (Photos by Frank Curran)