Boston College Chronicle

The Boston College

Chronicle Published by the Boston College Office of University Communications FEBRUARY 27, 2018 VOL. 25 NO. 12

University Revamping Continuing Ed Programs

INSIDE It to the Heights 2 •Sing to mark 14th year

BY ED HAYWARD STAFF WRITER

•’Holy City’ exhibit comes to STM hall mulls BC’s 3 •Town global engagement •Jarmond to speak at Laetare Sunday event •Update on graduate student unionization •Photo: A gift for Pope Francis study looks at 4 •Moorman early indicators of adult cognitive function

•Symposium on migrants set for March 22

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•Damascus expert Sajdi earns Radcliffe fellowship •BC remains among top US Fulbright producers •Wang an APS fellow •Photo: Budd receives Nelson award

Additions; BC in 7 •Welcome the Media; Quote/Unquote; Jobs

•Analytics-based ranking puts BC in top 10 about ‘Stop 8 •Talking Making Sense’ •Photos: Arts enliven campus in winter

Boston College Olympians (L-R) Haley Skarupa ‘16, Cayla Barnes ‘22, Kali Flanagan ‘19, Megan Keller ‘19 and Emily Pfalzer ‘15 celebrated the US women’s hockey team’s gold medal last week. (Photo courtesy Kali Flanagan)

CSOM Minor Open to All Schools

BY SEAN SMITH CHRONICLE EDITOR

This fall, the Carroll School of Management will introduce a management minor that will be open to all Boston College undergraduates.

Students will have a choice of five course sequences: Accounting for Banking and Consulting; Finance; Marketing; Management and Leadership; and Managing for Social Impact and the Public Good. The first three sequences are

based on the Carroll School’s largest concentrations, while the latter two are existing minors.

Carroll School administrators said the management minor offers a formal structure for students from BC’s other undergraduate schools who enroll in CSOM courses – 843 members of the Class of 2017 took at least one Carroll School course during their years at BC. The minor could also suggest a potential career path for undergraduates who are undecided Continued on page 4

Boston College is taking a new approach to continuing education, through a new slate of courses and workshops offered through Boston College Continuing Education (BCCE), which was established last year in the Office of the Provost.

The inaugural programs have been developed in partnership with the School of Social Work and the Law School to create and implement continuing education, professional development, and online programming for alumni, practitioners in various fields and the general public.

“Our renewed focus on continuing education emphasizes aligning the needs and interests of our alumni, professional communities, and the public with the

QUOTE:

Continued on page 6

Beckman Foundation to Fund Undergrad Fellowships

BY ED HAYWARD STAFF WRITER

Boston College is one of a dozen colleges and universities selected to receive a 2018 Beckman Scholars Program Award, which will fund six undergraduate research fellowBC scientist, colleagues trace existence of moths and ships during the next three years. butterflies to 50 million years before flowers emerged The $156,000 grant from

BY ED HAYWARD the Arnold and Mabel Beckman STAFF WRITER Foundation will support two Beckman Scholars a year for the next Visiting a colleague in Gerthree years. The Beckman Scholars many in 2012, Paul K. Strother, program provides an in-depth unan Earth and Environmental Scidergraduate research experience for ences research professor at the exceptionally talented students at Weston Observatory, was examinfour-year colleges and universities ing soil samples for pollen, spores, in the US. pieces of plants and insect legs “The selection of BC to receive – organic debris that might otherthe Beckman Scholars Program is wise have been considered “pond a very big deal,” said Assistant scum” when it was trapped in Professor of Biology Laura Anne sediment during cataclysmic earth Gary Wayne Gilbert Lowery, who joined with AssoPaul K. Strother events 200 million years ago.

The slides of rock samples studies the origin and early evo- ciate Professor of Chemistry Jeff drilled in the German country- lution of land plants. What he Byers as a co-principal investigator side included some material that saw were features similar to those on the grant application to the foundation. “It is considered to be looked familiar to Strother, who Continued on page 6

Jurassic Moths

expertise of Boston College’s acclaimed faculty,” said Provost and Dean of Faculties David Quigley.

“We are eager to launch these new initiatives and look forward to future courses, workshops and certificate programs that offer participants an academic experience that is rewarding, both professionally and personally.”

A central focus of the new initiative is to provide a variety of lifelong learning opportunities to alumni and the community, said Director of Continuing Education Patricia Tyler.

“This new initiative allows us to provide educational offerings to alumni so they can reconnect with BC – perhaps in different ways than in the past – engage with BC faculty in these two schools, and continue to feel a part of

a very prestigious undergraduate honor. It is a great honor both for BC as an institution, as well as for the six students who will receive significant financial and career benefit from this program.”

Beckman Scholars conduct research under the guidance of faculty mentors who have been selected for their excellence in mentoring undergraduate researchers. The projects will all be highly interdisciplinary and address problems of significant social importance, which is in line with the theme for the program. In addition, Beckman Scholars will be given the opportunity to participate in professional or scientific meetings and attend the annual Beckman Scholars Symposium in Irvine, Calif. Scholars receive a stipend for research and funding for supplies and travel.

Selection of the scholars will be determined by the Beckman Scholars steering committee, which is Continued on page 6

“Everything I do is global, and I feel there are lots of other faculty who could say much the same thing, but they may not identify as ‘globally engaged.’

BC needs to better articulate exactly what ‘global’ means and how it relates to what we do as faculty.”

–Associate Professor of History Franziska Seraphim, page 3

T he B oston C ollege

Chronicle FEBRUARY 27, 2018

2

A ROUND

C AMPUS

‘ONE OF OUR FAVORITE EVENTS’ nity: Center for Ignatian Spirituality Pastoral Minister Donald MacMillan, SJ, Ramesh Richards, SJ, and Ignatius Idoko, SJ. After listening to their critiques, audience members will decide the final winner.

In addition to these competitors, the audience will be treated to musical performances by Sing it to the Heights 2017 winner Tonye Ikoli ’20, the Boston College Acoustics a capella group, and students from St. Columbkille.

“Sing it to the Heights is one of our favorite events of the year,” said St. Columbkille Head

A choir of students from St. Columbkille Partnership School performed at last year’s Sing It to the Heights concert. (Photo by Yiting Chen)

“Sing It to the Heights supports a sensational cause,” said Shelby Johnson, a graduate assistant in the Office of Student Involvement. “An event like this epitomizes how Boston College is a campus of men and women for others.”

Performers confirmed to compete on the Robsham Theater Arts Center stage include Molly Cahill ’20, Esther Chung ’18, Savanah Freitas ’20, Michael Lyons ’21, Madeleine McCullough ’20, Patrick McGrath ’20, Nina Mojares ’21, Daniel Paulos ’19, Stavros Piperis ’19 and Christopher Sundaram ’21.

The student competitors will be judged by a panel of three members of BC’s Jesuit Commu-

of School William Gartside. “In addition to the funds raised, the event gives our students an opportunity to not only showcase their own musical talents, but also to see firsthand the passionate and talented BC students who bring joy to the community through their performances.”

Sing It to the Heights is sponsored by the Emerging Leader Program, Robsham Theater, the Office of Governmental and Community Affairs, and the Office of the Vice President for Student Affairs.

Tickets can be purchased at the Robsham box office or online at www.bc.edu/robsham.

–Christine Balquist

ASSOCIATE VICE PRESIDENT FOR UNIVERSITY COMMUNICATIONS Jack Dunn DEPUTY DIRECTOR OF UNIVERSITY COMMUNICATIONS Patricia Delaney EDITOR Sean Smith

CONTRIBUTING STAFF Phil Gloudemans Ed Hayward Rosanne Pellegrini Kathleen Sullivan PHOTOGRAPHERS Gary Gilbert Peter Julian Lee Pellegrini

In the aftermath of the 2015 shootings that left nine people dead after Bible study in Mother Emanuel African Methodist Episcopal Church in Charleston, SC, a group of artists turned to the familiar tools of their craft as a way to pay tribute to the victims, encourage healing, and provoke thoughtful discourse.

Now the fruits of their labors are on display at Boston College.

The artists exhibited “The Holy City: Art of Love, Unity and Resurrection,” a collection of more than 60 original works – including quilts, dolls, paintings, and pottery – in a pop-up gallery in Charleston nearly a year after the tragedy. According to the organizers, visitors from 15 countries viewed the exhibition, many of them visibly moved and tearful.

Sixteen quilts and two framed illustrations from that exhibit are currently on display at the Theology and Ministry Library on the Brighton Campus through April 20. “The Holy City” exhibit at BC coincides with Black History Month and the Season of NonViolence.

Speaking at the Feb. 8 opening, exhibit co-curator Catherine Lamkin, a 1977 alumna and resident of Charleston, recalled the day of the mass shooting and the extreme sorrow that followed. Lamkin knew four of the Emanuel Nine, as the victims are often called. Her daughter’s close friends lost a mother and grandmother to the violence.

Lamkin is a master art quilter whose work has been exhibited by the African-American Civil War Museum and the Historical Society in Washington, DC, the San Francisco Museum of the African Diaspora, and the American Folk Art Museum in New York City.

Working on this exhibit and watching visitors respond to it, said Lamkin, showed her that “art heals.”

Many of the quilts in “The Holy City” exhibit strike themes of forgiveness, healing, and sorrow. The Emanuel Nine are

The Boston College

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

Photos by Lee Pellegrini

Ten talented student vocalists are set to take part in the 14th annual Sing it to the Heights Competition, Boston College’s “American Idol”-inspired singing contest on Thursday, March 1, at 7 p.m. in Robsham Theater.

Tickets for this popular event are $10 each and all proceeds are gifted to the St. Columbkille Partnership School, a Catholic elementary school in Brighton operated by St. Columbkille Parish, the Archdiocese of Boston and Boston College. Last year’s Sing It to the Heights raised approximately $6,200 to support the school’s music program.

ART THAT HEALS

Catherine Lamkin ’77 (above) spoke at the opening for “The Holy City: Art of Love, Unity and Resurrection” exhibit on display at the Theology and Ministry Library.

represented on several quilts as hearts, doves, and crosses.

Lamkin’s quilt, “Sweet Hour of Prayer: Praying for Peace,” incorporates the colors of Mother Emanuel church, purple and gold. Each of the victims’ names is stitched onto the quilt along with a cross and hands clasped in prayer. The Emanuel Nine are represented by small shells sewn onto the fabric.

Tooreah (Cookie) Washington, the exhibit’s co-curator, has two quilts in the BC exhibit: “Black Madonna” and “Grieving for the Holy City.” In the latter, nine peace medals are suspended from the top of the quilt, along with the words “hope.” In the waters depicted at the bottom of the quilt are “former things that will have passed away.” Sewn into the waters are beads that spell out words such as “prejudice,” “hate,” and “bitterness.”

Lamkin called a quilt titled “And the Angels Cried” by Aisha Lumumba a favorite. The quilt

is set on swirls of green and blue and features three angels with bowed heads and closed eyes.

The artist sewed clear beads on each of the angels’ faces to represent their tears.

The works in “The Holy City” exhibit were created by members of the Passages Artist Collective, an assembly of fine artists working in diverse media to tell the stories of the global African diaspora. Their works, sometimes mournful, sometimes celebratory, sometimes defiant and often hopeful, provoke the viewer to deep thought and spiritual awakening about shared history and humanity.

The presentation of “The Holy City” at Boston College is sponsored by Boston College Libraries, School of Theology and Ministry, and the Thea Bowman AHANA and Intercultural Center. For more information, see library.bc.edu/exhibits/2018/ Jan/holy-city-art-love.

–Kathleen 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 27, 2018

Members of the University community gathered at a town hall event last Thursday to discuss how Boston College can increase its global presence and impact – and what obstacles lie in the way of achieving that goal.

The Committee for Global Engagement (CGE) sponsored the event, held in Devlin Hall, as part of its efforts to broaden the campus conversation about challenges and opportunities for BC’s international activities and programs. BC included a commitment to build on its international engagement as part of its 10-year Strategic Plan, citing the Jesuit, Catholic liberal arts tradition and its legacy of promoting a worldwide perspective.

Since its formation last fall by University President William P. Leahy, SJ, the committee has met with more than 200 administrators, faculty, staff and students, encompassing some 50 different academic and administrative units, as it assesses the scope of BC’s current international activities, identifies the best avenues for growth, and determines the resources and structures necessary to fulfill these opportunities.

“It’s been encouraging and exciting to find out what people are doing at BC in regard to global engagement,” Alberto Godenzi, special assistant to the president and the CGE co-chair, told the audience. “But there are many more voices to be heard, and we want to hear from you.”

Godenzi, who was joined at the forum by CGE co-chair Associate Professor of Political Science Jennifer Erickson, CGE graduate student representative Edward Choi and Hélène Bernot Ullerö, program administrator in the Office of the Vice Provost for Research, explained that the committee will assemble a vision, strategy and structure for global engagement at BC, along with an implementation plan, that will be presented to the University’s senior leadership this fall.

In her remarks, Erickson said the committee found a high degree of international activity among BC faculty on an individual or department-level basis, but uncoordinated: Faculty and departments are often unaware of research or other academic work their colleagues are undertaking. Faculty also cited a need for more funding and support services to aid in promoting interdisciplinary, international collaborations.

During the comment period, faculty attending the town hall affirmed that global perspectives are an important facet of their teaching and research, and expressed concern about a lack of coordination and

Lee Pellegrini

BY SEAN SMITH CHRONICLE EDITOR

Committe for Global Engagement Co-chair Jennifer Erickson leads a discussion at last Thursday’s town hall as (background, L-R) CGE Co-chair Alberto Godenzi and members Hélène Bernot Ullerö and Edward Choi look on.

resources. They endorsed the suggestion Erickson floated of a database that would detail internationaloriented activity.

“Everything I do is global, and I feel there are lots of other faculty who could say much the same thing, but they may not identify as ‘globally engaged,’” said Associate Professor of History Franziska Seraphim. “BC needs to better articulate exactly what ‘global’ means and how it relates to what we do as faculty.”

Other faculty at the forum, and some international students, said BC needs to more aggressively promote itself, and its distinctive character, at the international level.

Godenzi agreed with the need for more resources, and said it could be addressed through external fundraising. “We don’t want this to be a lose/win situation, where we have to take from one area to strengthen another.”

Choi gave an overview of students’ involvement in, and perceptions of, international activity, and how study-abroad experiences can be more accessible and successful for undergraduates.

About 50 percent of BC undergrads study abroad, Choi said, which is well above the national average but slightly less than peer institutions. Students spoke of feeling too pressured to fulfill core cur-

riculum commitments to consider going abroad, and the “silo” nature of study-abroad experiences – “no meaningful reflection or followup.” Others, according to Choi, cited financial concerns or skeptical family attitudes.

Ullerö discussed the increased population of international students and scholars at BC – at its highest in University history – and the task of “internationalizing learning” as a step towards global engagement. CGE members and town hall participants talked about the importance of integrating international students into the University community, and the programs and services that accomplish this.

Near the end of the forum, Godenzi reflected on the topics and comments aired, and what these augur for the global engagement initiative.

“Global engagement requires a cultural change, and a cultural change takes time as well as effort.

It’s a challenging task, but an exciting one, and we have so many experts on campus to help make it happen. I have yet to meet anyone at BC who’s not excited about this.”

Another CGE-sponsored town hall will take place April 24 at 3 p.m. in Devlin 221. For more about the global engagement initiative, go to www.bc.edu/global.

Pope Francis was presented with a copy of the C21 Resources on Conscience – the cover of which was illustrated with his photo – by Prof. of the Practice Fr. Liam Bergin (Theology), left, and Church in the 21st Century Center Director Thomas Groome earlier this month at the Vatican.

Martin Jarmond, the William V. Campbell Director of Athletics at Boston College, will be the guest speaker at the University’s 67th annual celebration of Laetare Sunday on March 11 in Conte Forum.

Laetare Sunday marks the mid-point of Lent, and this annual event is the Alumni Association’s oldest tradition. The event will begin at 9:30 a.m. with Mass, at which University President William P. Leahy, SJ, will preside, followed by brunch.

Jarmond joined BC Athletics last June after eight years at The Ohio State University, where he was deputy director of athletics; he also served as athletics director for development. Besides overseeing BC’s 31 varsity teams, Jarmond has focused on student-athletes’ quality of life.

In addition to creating a roundthe-clock “fueling station” for student-athletes, he established a program for first generation student-athletes, providing them with the necessary support to thrive and start a foundation for life after college.

Last fall, Jarmond founded the first fan council at Boston College to focus on the atmosphere and experience at football games; following its success, BC began a winter fan council for games and events at Conte Forum and Kelley Rink. He is

Boston College Athletics

Jarmond Keynote Speaker BC’s Global Engagement the Topic at University Community Town Hall for Laetare Sunday Event

3

Martin Jarmond

currently formulating the first athletics strategic five-year plan in BC history.

A native of Fayetteville, NC, Jarmond graduated from the University of North Carolina at Wilmington, where he was a two-time captain of the basketball team and earned All-CAA Academic honors. He holds an MBA and a master’s degree in sports administration from Ohio University.

SportsBusiness Daily Journal recognized Jarmond’s contributions to intercollegiate athletics by naming him to its prestigious Forty Under 40, Class of 2017.

For more information on Laetare Sunday, see www.bc.edu/ laetare.

–University Communications

Trainor Provides Update on Graduate Student Unionization The Boston College Graduate Union-UAW has withdrawn its petition to unionize graduate students at Boston College, and the National Labor Relations Board has revoked the September 2017 election results through which the NLRB had certified the union as the exclusive bargaining agent for BC graduate students, Vice President for Human Resources David Trainor reported earlier this month in a letter to the University community.

As a result, the United Auto Workers’ efforts to unionize BC graduate students have ended, Trainor said. “As of today, there is no action pending before the NLRB related to Boston College and our graduate students and there is no legally certified bargaining representative for graduate students at Boston College.”

Trainor said Boston College reaffirmed its “appreciation for the ongoing and important contributions of graduate students

to the success of the University,” and said the University will continue “to review the benefits we provide to our graduate students and to care for them as valued members of the BC community.”

Trainor’s letter comes almost a year after the UAW filed a petition with the NLRB to represent Boston College’s graduate research and teaching assistants as employees. Boston College objected, saying that unionization would irreparably alter the special mentoring relationship between faculty and their graduate student researchers and assistants; and that, as a faith-based educational institution, BC should be exempt from NLRB jurisdiction, based on a longstanding Supreme Court ruling.

To read Trainor’s letter, and for more information about the graduate student unionization, go to www.bc.edu/bc-web/sites/ unionization.html.

–University Communications

T he B oston C ollege

Chronicle FEBRUARY 27, 2018

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BY ROSANNE PELLEGRINI STAFF WRITER

Social factors in childhood and adolescence, including socioeconomic status, which influence later-life cognitive function are the focus of current research

by Associate Professor of Sociology Sara Moorman, aided by a $715,854 grant from the National Institute on Aging.

Brain imaging findings by neuropsychologists – which show that Alzheimer’s disease starts as early as middle adulthood, decades before there is any sign of cognitive impairment – spurred Moorman’s work with colleague Emily Greenfield, a Rutgers University associate professor of social work. The pair will examine

Alzheimer’s.”

During the 2017-2020 grant period, the study also will test whether these social factors have a stronger influence on the cognitive function of older adults who are at genetic risk for cognitive impairment.

“It has already become very clear to us that policy for childhood education and childhood health today is policy for dementia tomorrow. Rural kids, kids who grew up poor, and kids who went to low-quality schools continue to be behind their peers cognitively over 50 years later.

“Investments in programs like Medicaid and Head Start are investments that will still be paying off when these children grow to be older adults,” Moorman said.

“It has already become very clear to us that policy for childhood education and childhood health today is policy for dementia tomorrow.”

–Sara Moorman

Peter Julian

early social factors such as high school quality and family stressors as predictors for later adulthood cognition.

“Better understanding childhood socioeconomic status (SES) as a potential risk or protective factor for later life cognitive health is essential for furthering early detection, prevention, and treatment strategies,” Moorman explained.

“Our grant looks at the relationships between early-life factors, particularly socioeconomic status in one’s family of origin, and cognitive function in one’s 60s and 70s. We have a fantastic dataset of 10,000 people who began participating in a longitudinal study when they were in high school, and now they are in their 70s.”

Schools are a major context in which young people experience SES, Moorman said.

“We know what their cognitive function is like now, and we also know what their high schools were like – for example, student-teacher ratio and average teacher salary – what their parents did for a living, and how well they did in school. We also have genetic data on their risk for

In addition to early-life predictors of adult cognitive functioning, Moorman’s major areas of research are end-of-life medical decision-making, and negative psychological experiences in personal relationships.

A social gerontologist and expert in quantitative and survey methods, Moorman holds a joint appointment with the Boston College Institute on Aging. Her 2017 paper, “Mechanisms Linking Neighborhood Age Composition to Health,” won the 2016 Matilda White Riley Early Stage Investigator Honors from the National Institutes of Health.

A fellow of the Gerontological Society of America, she is a member-at-large of its Behavioral and Social Sciences Section Executive Committee, and an editorial board member of the journals The Gerontologist, Journals of Gerontology: Social Sciences, and Research on Aging.

At BC, she teaches Sociology of Health and Illness; Aging and Society; Survey Methodology and Topics in Multivariate Statistics.

Contact Rosanne Pellegrini at rosanne.pellegrini@bc.edu

lege lives, the CSOM administrators added.

“The creation of this minor codifies some things that have been in place for a while,” said Carroll School Associate Dean Ethan Sullivan. “But in a way, the real motivation was the University’s Strategic Plan announced last year. The first strategic direction specifically calls for BC to leverage the strengths of its undergraduate curriculum, and to integrate the liberal arts with professional disciplines as a means of fostering discernment among our students.

“This is a way of opening up students’ perspectives, helping them to see the different avenues where they may take their interests and talents, so they don’t have to pigeonhole themselves.”

Sullivan said the idea for the minor grew out of efforts aimed at making the Carroll School curriculum more accessible to undergraduates across fields of study – such as the Summer Management Catalyst Program – while also raising the number of arts and sciences electives for CSOM students.

“We’re always thinking of how to build more, and better, bridges in and out of the Carroll School,” he said. “The school is part of a larger university, after all, and we want our students to experience as much of it as possible.”

Sullivan noted that the Management and Leadership concentration has long existed as a minor for non-CSOM students; the Managing for Social Impact

Lee Pellegrini

Grant to Aid Study of Early New CSOM Minor Available Across BC from page 1 Predictors of Cognitive Function Continued or uncertain about their post-colchosen major.”

Carroll School of Managaement Associate Dean Ethan Sullivan

and the Public Good concentration, created two years ago, also has been available as a minor to undergraduates in other schools.

“These two concentrations were useful for Carroll School undergraduates exploring areas like human resources or social innovation, for example, and particularly those who are interested in entrepreneurship.

“But given the interest that students from the other schools have shown in these sequences of courses as a minor, we felt that the finance, marketing and accounting concentrations could also be beneficial to non-CSOM undergraduates. So now they have an opportunity to come out of BC with a quantifiable certification in management that enhances their

Sullivan gave some examples of how the minor could be utilized: A Lynch School of Education student foreseeing a career in educational administration might strengthen his or her credentials with a grounding in budget and finance. Courses on marketing principles and marketing research could be useful for a fine arts major.

Connell School of Nursing undergraduates would be able to augment their clinical skills through studies in management and leadership.

“The possibilities are endless,” he said. “What students come to understand is that finance, marketing, accounting and other facets of business and management aren’t simply about numbers and dollar signs: They are disciplines that help in analyzing situations, asking questions and devising solutions. And it’s exciting to see the connections you can find between those disciplines and others, whether education, medicine, the arts and humanities, natural sciences or social sciences.”

Sullivan expressed gratitude to department chairs and faculty members in the Carroll School and other undergraduate schools for their help in formulating the minor. He also noted that current juniors will be able to count previous coursework towards the minor, if it meets the criteria.

Contact Sean Smith at sean.smith@bc.edu

Symposium Will Look at How Migrants Influence Development and Innovation Approximately 200 religious, academic, political, and community leaders will gather at Boston College on March 22 for a daylong program that will examine migrants’ extraordinary impact on social development and innovation.

The seminar, “Contributions of Migrants to Development and Social Innovation in Boston,” cosponsored by the School of Theology and Ministry and the Scalabrini Centers for Migration in Boston, will also be an opportunity to explore the challenges and best practices to protect and promote the integration of Boston’s immigrant community.

The migration seminar will be held in Yawkey Athletics Center, Murray Room, from 3-8 p.m.

“One key commitment that has defined the character of the United States of America from its early days is the embrace of immigrants from around the world in

their families,” said STM Associate Professor of Hispanic Ministry and Religious Education Hosffman Ospino, who is organizing the event.

“Boston College plays a major role in the city of Boston as an intellectual center that facilitates important conversations like this one. Our commitment to highlighting the gifts of the immigrant community is reflected in the presence of many students, faculty, and administrators who are immigrants as well as in the various programs and initiatives that aim at enhancing the gifts of this community for the good of church, country and the world.”

BC School of Social Work Associate Professor of the Practice Westy Egmont, director of BC’s Immigrant Integration Lab, will also participate in the seminar, which will be opened by Boston Archbishop Cardinal Sean P. O’Malley, OFM Cap.

Participants will include Bela Hovy, chief of the Migration Section for the United Nations; City of Everett Mayor Carlo DeMaria; Alejandra St. Guillen, director of the Boston Mayor’s Office of Immigrant Advancement; Alvaro Lima, director of Research for the City of Boston Planning & Development Agency; Scalabrini International Migration Network Executive Director Fr. Leonir Chiarello; Center for Migration Studies Executive Director Donald Kerwin, and Rev. Volmar Scaravelli of the Brazilian American Center (BRACE).

In addition, Boston-based consuls of the Group of Latin America and Caribbean Countries will discuss the challenges and ways to address the advancement of Boston immigrants.

For more information, see bc.edu/migration.

–Phil Gloudemans and Kathleen Sullivan

T he B oston C ollege

Chronicle FEBRUARY 27, 2018

Reconstructing Damascus

Fellowship enables History professor to continue exploring her academic, and personal, interest in one of the world’s oldest cities

BY SEAN SMITH CHRONICLE EDITOR

Nouveau Literacy in the 18th-Century Ottoman Levant, recounts the story of Shihab al-Din Ahmad Ibn Budayr, a barber who recorded events that took place in Damascus during his lifetime.

Sajdi uses the phrase “nouveau literacy” to describe the proliferation of histories written by commoners, whose reporting on the cost of food and other necessities, natural disasters, street battles, even community scandals and gossip offers a glimpse of everyday life that provides a context for, and a

“I want to break down the barrier between word and image and show how words are evocative of pictures.”

–Dana Sajdi

Lee Pellegrini

Nowadays, the public perception of Damascus is filtered through the devastating topography of Syria’s relentless civil war, says Associate Professor of History Dana Sajdi.

But Sajdi has a very different view of Damascus, a place she visited often as a child (she grew up in the Palestinian territories and Jordan, and studied in Egypt).

She sees a city with a rich, layered, cosmopolitan history that spans centuries ­– it is one of the world’s most enduringly, continuously inhabited cities – and an impressive, if sometimes complicated, legacy of culture and architecture.

An expert in the history, societies, and cultures of the pre-modern Eastern Mediterranean (the Levant, Egypt, and Turkey), Sajdi has in recent years devoted much of her scholarly work to reconstructing Damascus’ past through exploring the lives and writings of its citizens, scholars and commoners alike.

Having been named a fellow at the Radcliffe Institute for Advanced Study at Harvard University for the 2018-19 academic year, Sajdi will now have the opportunity to focus on her current project in an environment she feels will be both challenging and supportive.

“At Radcliffe, there are not just academics, but artists, journalists, scientists and many other people at the top of their respective fields,” said Sajdi, who joined Boston College in 2008 and teaches various courses on Islamic history.

“Excellence means being able to communicate in clear prose without having to revert to a specialized, academic language. At the institute, when I engage with others outside my field, I will be challenged to uphold that standard.

“While I’m personally very honored at being selected,” she added, “I also feel this fellowship reflects very well on my department and colleagues.”

In her current project, “Cityscaping Damascus,” Sajdi is trying to identify an uninterrupted tradition of prose (non-pictorial) topographies of the city between the 12th and 20th centuries. It is a tradition of portrayals of Damascus that she compares to the those of Dutch paintings of Amsterdam and Delft and Venetian city views.

She will use these prose portrayals to write a history of Damascus for both academic and lay audiences.

“I want to bring out the intertextual nature of the tradition – to

show how the different texts speak to one another,” she explained.

“I pay attention to how certain scholars, through their words and descriptions, exert their power over the city and the way it is represented. At the same time, I want to break down the barrier between word and image and show how words are evocative of pictures.

“Over time, you can see both the harmony and tension that’s arisen as one traces the various perspectives. It’s evident, for example, how some authors have to con-

front Damascus’ Christian past, because even though by the 12th century Christians had become a minority, their churches are part of the city’s landscape. This speaks to the diverse, pluralistic character of Damascus, as a cosmopolitan city, which was a center of high culture and a node of international commerce – something that needs to be recalled in this age.”

Sajdi’s past research has examined unusual authors whose works illuminate Eastern Mediterranean society from less conventional perspectives. She has examined how the production of texts by new authors reflects larger social and political transformations. Her 2013 book, The Barber of Damascus:

contrast to, the writings of scholars – typically considered “authoritative” sources for history.

Her past fellowships include a year at the Agha Khan Program for Islamic Architecture at MIT, and at the Koc University Research Center for Anatolian Civilizations in Istanbul, and the Wissenschaftskolleg zu Berlin. In 2013, she was awarded an Exploratory Technology Grant from BC for the Human Geography Project, which involves mapping out global diasporic communities and individuals in the medieval and early modern periods.

Contact Sean Smith at sean.smith@bc.edu

Trustee Associate Wayne Budd ’63 was presented with the inaugural David S. Nelson Distinguished Alumni Award on Friday at “Still Black,” sponsored by the Thea Bowman AHANA and Intercultural Center and Black History Month Committee. (Photo by Lee Pellegrini)

BC Stays Among Top US Fulbright Producers With 17 student awards, Boston College is once again among the nation’s top 20 Fulbright-producing research institutions, according to the 2017-18 tally by the Chronicle of Higher Education.

BC’s 17 Fulbright awards from an applicant pool of 56 raise the total number of Fulbrights won

by Boston College students to 250 since 2006.

Fulbright awards support a post-baccalaureate year abroad to study, teach English or conduct research. Recipients are chosen for their academic merit and leadership potential — with the opportunity to exchange ideas and contribute to finding solutions to shared international concerns. The Fulbright US Student Program operates in more than 140 countries throughout the world.

“Seventeen recent alumni are currently advancing international understanding as Fulbright scholars this academic year,” said Provost and Dean of Faculties David Quigley. “It’s wonderful to know that these young women and men are employing their Boston College education to teach and research in a range of settings around the globe, doing their part to ‘light the world’ at a particularly challenging time for international relations.”

“Special congratulations go to the students and alumni of Boston College who received grants this year; they are doing amazing

5

work as researchers and teachers in countries around the world, and it is always a highlight of my year to see so many of our students excel as Fulbright scholars,” said Associate Professor of the Practice of Political Science Paul Christensen, director of the Boston College student Fulbright program.

“The fact that Boston College is once again among the top Fulbright producing research universities is a testament first and foremost to the quality of our students, to their inventiveness, breadth of interests, and hard work,” Christensen said.

“The success of Boston College is also the result of the dedication of the Fulbright advising staff, and my fellow advisors. The Fulbright program relies a great deal on the support that our students receive from their professors and mentors who read drafts of proposals, write letters of recommendation, assess language skills, and participate every year in the campus interview process.

“Finally, the continued support of the administration of the University, particularly the Office of the Provost and the Office of University Fellowships, is key to the ongoing success of the Fulbright program here at BC.” Read the Chronicle of Higher Education story at www.chronicle. com/article/Top-Producers-of-Fulbright/242557.

—University Communications

Wang Elected an APS Fellow Professor of Physics Ziqiang Wang has been elected a 2017 Fellow of the American Physical Society in the organization’s division of condensed matter physics.

Election as a fellow is a selective honor, a recognition by peers of exceptional contributions to physics through outstanding research, important applications, leadership or service, or contributions to education. Fellowship is limited to no more than one half of one percent of the more than 50,000 APS members, who include physicists in academia, national laboratories, and industry in the United States and throughout the world.

The organization recognized Wang “for contributions to the understanding of strongly correlated electron systems, particularly the role of local disorder due to doping, and for his successful collaborations with experimental groups to apply his ideas to novel materials.”

Wang works with transition metal oxides, chemical compounds called chalcogenides, and pnictides – known as the nitrogen family in the periodic table.

“It is a prestigious recognition by Professor Wang’s peers of his outstanding contributions to physics,” said Ferris Professor of Physics and Department Chairman Michael Naughton, also an APS fellow.

Six BC Physics faculty members – close to a third of the department – have now been named APS fellows: Wang, Naughton, Professor Kris Kempa, Distinguished Research Professor Gabor Kalman, Rourke Professor Kevin Bedell and Professor David Broido.

The American Physical Society is a non-profit membership organization working to advance and diffuse the knowledge of physics through its outstanding research journals, scientific meetings, and education, outreach, advocacy, and international activities.

–Ed Hayward

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Chronicle FEBRUARY 27, 2018

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New Direction for BC’s Continuing Ed. Programs

Paul K. Strother: “The consensus has been that insects followed flowers. But that would be 50 million years later than what the wings were saying.

It was odd to say the least, that there would be butterflies before there were flowers.”

(Photo by Gary Wayne Gilbert)

Continued from page 1

the University,” said Tyler, who joined BC last year. “This is also an opportunity to reach out to practitioners in these fields and the public, so that the community can experience the wonderful faculty we have at BC.” BCCE faculty will be drawn from the ranks of the University’s degree programs, as well as experts working in various fields, Tyler said.

The programs presented in collaboration with the School of Social Work offer continuing education units (CEUs) that count toward renewal of licensure for participants, but are not for college credit.

Law School’s three-week Summer Institute Foundations of US Law and Practice. “Insights” will provide a primer on the US legal system for international students, educators, and practitioners who will spend one week on campus.

The accelerated, in-depth format will allow opportunities for greater participation.

“The ‘Insights’ program is an exciting new venture for us and we also hope to work with the Law School to develop programs like ‘Insights’ on other compelling topics,” said Director of Strategic Initiatives and Organizational Effectiveness Carolyn Bargoot, who is spearheading the

“Our renewed focus on continuing education emphasizes aligning the needs and interests of our alumni, professional communities, and the public with the expertise of Boston College’s acclaimed faculty.”

–David Quigley

Gary Wayne Gilbert

With the School of Social Work, BCCE has unveiled two new post-graduate certificate programs for experienced clinicians: Advanced Clinical Practice for Adults and Advanced Clinical Practice for Children, Youth, and Families. For each program, participants will complete eight six-hour courses, including three required core courses and five electives. Each certificate will deliver 48 CEUs. In addition, the collaboration with the School of Social Work offers a series of topical workshops three times a year that will allow participants to earn CEUs to maintain licensure.

BCCE is also launching two programs developed with the Law School. The first is a series of self-directed online courses focused on current topics in the legal profession, beginning with ethics. The goal is to offer approximately six online courses a year that will allow participants to gain Continuing Legal Education (CLE) credits in states where ongoing CLEs are required to maintain licensure.

The second program, “Insights: US Legal System,” is an intensive one-week program developed along the lines of BC

continuing education initiative for the Office of the Provost.

Expanding continuing education offerings into other BC schools and colleges will take place in collaboration with deans and faculty as BCCE identifies demand from alumni or the public in specific subjects or professional development requirements, Bargoot said.

“We’re excited to partner with the School of Social Work and Boston College Law School and we hope to collaborate with other schools in the future,” said Bargoot. “The Connell School of Nursing and the School of Theology and Ministry have their own continuing education departments within their schools.

We hope in the future to collaborate with them on programming where it makes sense. In addition, we plan to develop interdisciplinary conferences and varied programming for alumni and the public, and we’re open to new ideas for programs from schools and faculty who would like to partner with us.”

For more information about BCCE, go to http://bit.ly/bccontinuing-education.

Contact Ed Hayward at ed.hayward@bc.edu

Moths, Butterflies Came Before Flowers Continued from page 1

found in insect wings.

The wrinkle was that these types of moths and butterflies – known as Lepidoptera – were long thought to have evolved 50 to 70 million years later, during the Cretaceous period when the first flowering plants emerged as their prime food source.

“The consensus has been that insects followed flowers,” said Strother, a co-author of “A Triassic-Jurassic window into the evolution of Lepidoptera,” a new report published recently in Science Advances. “But that would be 50 million years later than what the wings were saying. It was odd to say the least, that there would be butterflies before there were flowers.”

Five years later, Strother and colleagues from natural history museums in Germany and a university in the Netherlands have developed a scientific case showing the Lepidoptera evolved earlier than previously established – emerging during the Jurassic period.

Absent flowers, the researchers report, primitive moths and butterflies, known as the Glossata, developed the physical attributes – namely the sucking proboscis – to find nutrition by drawing off water droplets from the tips of immature gymnosperm seeds.

“What we’ve found is that these butterflies and moths with mouth parts were feeding on pollen droplets of gymnosperm seeds – from conifers related to pines, seed plants without fruits and flowers. They were feeding off the cone-borne seeds – mainly as a source of water,” said Strother.

Even Charles Darwin called the mysterious evolution of flowering plants “an abominable mystery.” Scientists have reckoned that flowering plants preceded the insects that fed off of them.

But researchers have gradually started to piece together evidence that moths and butterflies existed earlier than the Cretaceous period, which began 145 million

years ago.

The team’s findings shed new light on the classic example of coevolution: the evolutionary interplay between pollenating insects – flies, bees, wasps, butterflies and moths – and angiosperms, or flowers, Strother said.

“Our discovery does not change this, but instead, it demonstrates that the Glossata – which gave rise to the Lepidoptera – evolved earlier by a feeding adaptation to the gymnospermous ovules, or the pollen droplets,” said Strother. “These insects later transferred their feeding preference onto angiosperms, and, as a result, ended up co-evolving with flowers where they function to transfer pollen as they feed on nectar.”

Developing a clearer picture of insect evolution had proved elusive because much of what is learned from ancient rock, soil

and fossils comes from earth once covered by oceans, said Strother.

Moths and butterflies lived over land masses. In addition, their delicate features were prone to deterioration prior to fossilization.

The project required linking a range of evidence, akin to a scientific detective story, said Strother.

“This is the old-fashioned science of discovery,” said Strother.

“We’re looking at this microscopic world of things that lived hundreds of millions of years ago and we don’t know what they are. The challenge is: can we figure out what they are? Part of it is piecing together the tree of life, or the evolution of organisms through time. It is more like a puzzle or a mystery.”

Read more at http://bit.ly/ strother-moths

Beckman Scholars Program Continued from page 1 composed of Byers, Lowery, Louise and James Vanderslice and Family Professor of Chemistry James Morken and Associate Professor of Biology Michelle Meyer.

“Beginning this year, students will spend two summers and a full academic year working on a research project with a faculty mentor,” said Byers.

While BC has been selected as a Beckman Scholars Program in the past, Byers said, “the application process is extremely competitive. BC’s latest proposal included connections to the new Schiller Institute for Integrated Science and Society and placed an emphasis on highly interdisciplinary projects, as well as projects with significant social significance.”

In addition, the University will sponsor programs in conjunction with the Beckman program. The Beckman Scholars Ideas Challenge is an event where BC students are given the opportunity

to work with BC faculty to devise solutions to grand challenges in chemistry and biology. The Beckman Scholars Symposium Series is run by the Beckman Scholars, who select leaders in chemistry and biology to deliver lectures about their research to BC students and faculty.

“These added events are very different from BC’s earlier approach to the Beckman Scholars,” said Byers. “We’ve really tried to reimagine how the Beckman Scholars fit into the broader arena of BC’s commitment to cuttingedge research and its importance to society. We believe inclusion of these events was a major factor in BC’s selection as a host institution for Beckman Scholars.”

In addition to BC, other institutions receiving a 2018 Beckman Scholars Program Award include Amherst College, Barnard College, Case Western Reserve University and College of William and Mary.

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BOSTON COLLEGE IN THE MEDIA An introduction to new faculty members at Boston College Curtis Chan

Assistant Professor of Management and Organization Carroll School of Management DEGREES: Harvard University (BA, MA, PhD) WHAT HE STUDIES: How people’s work experiences and interpretations shape workplace gender inequality, organizational surveillance dynamics, and workers’ cultural fit, especially in imbalanced occupations and organizations.

WHAT HE’S TEACHING: Organizational Behavior What led you to focus on how employees interpret and experience the work they do? “After college, I went into management consulting, and though I enjoyed my time in the occupation, I found myself searching for meaning in my own work. Through much experience – and much sense-making – I came to understand that I could turn a recurring puzzle of my life into a scholarly endeavor. I could examine the way that people interpreted, experienced, and sought meaning from their work, occupations, and organizations – and I could do so through the study of organizations and work, by entering a doctoral program about organizational studies. I aspire to have my research benefit both organizations and the people who work in them.”

Barton T. Geger, SJ

Assistant Professor of the Practice School of Theology and Ministry Research Scholar, Institute for Advanced Jesuit Studies DEGREES: Saint Louis University (MA); Heythrop College, University of London (MTh); Weston Jesuit School of Theology (STL); Universidad Pontificia Comillas, Madrid (STD) WHAT HE STUDIES: Ignatian and Jesuit spirituality; early Jesuit history and texts; discernment of spirits; discernment of God’s will; Camino de Santiago.

WHAT HE’S TEACHING: The Spiritual Exercises of St. Ignatius Loyola; The Constitutions of the Society of Jesus; Ancient Wisdom for Discerning the Spirits.

You’re the general editor of Studies in the Spirituality of Jesuits journal, a product of the Seminar on Jesuit Spirituality. Can you explain what that is about?

“Studies in the Spirituality of Jesuits is a peer-reviewed, quarterly monograph series published by the Jesuit Conference of Canada and the United States. It was founded in 1969 to provide a forum for Jesuits and others to publish research on the spirituality, history, and ‘way of proceeding’ of St. Ignatius Loyola and the Jesuit order. The Seminar of Jesuit Spirituality is a team of eight Jesuit scholars from the US and Canada that deliberates subjects in need of research, identifies appropriate writers, and reviews independent submissions. [The journal is free to download at ejournals.bc.edu/ojs/index.php/jesuit]”

Andrés Castro Samayoa

Assistant Professor Educational Leadership and Higher Education Department Lynch School of Education DEGREES: Harvard University (AB); Cambridge University (M.Phil); University of Pennsylvania (PhD) WHAT HE STUDIES: Framing and use of social identities in higher education research and policy; culturally responsive practices within Minority Serving Institutions; diversifying the teaching profession at both the K–12 and postsecondary levels.

WHAT HE’S TEACHING: Organizations and Administration in Higher Education and Diversity in Higher Education What can higher education learn from Minority Serving Institutions? “Within the US higher education landscape, Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCUs), Tribal Colleges and Universities (TCUs), Asian American Native American Pacific Islander Serving Institutions (AANAPISIs), and Hispanic Serving Institutions (HPIs) serve a critical role in educating the nation’s students of color. They disproportionately confer more degrees to black, Latinx, AAPI, and indigenous students than their institutional counterparts. The work I conduct, alongside colleagues within these institutions and their students, identifies the types of practices that both affirm students’ experiences and provide them with the academic resources that ensure their ability to finish their degrees.”

Lewis Tseng

Assistant Professor of Computer Science Morrissey College of Arts and Sciences DEGREES: University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign (BC, PhD) WHAT HE STUDIES: Distributed computing/systems; faulttolerant computing; Bitcoin; blockchain-based systems; cybersecurity issues in distributed systems; applications in intelligent traffic systems.

WHAT HE’S TEACHING: Distributed Systems; Algorithms; Readings in Computer Science.

One of your research interests is Bitcoin: What is it about Bitcoin (or so-called cryptocurrency in general) that seems to capture media and public attention? What are the biggest misconceptions about Bitcoin/cryptocurrency that have emerged? “I think it’s because people in general like the idea of decentralized mechanisms. Also, it seems to solve important problems like security, privacy, and data storage (in the form of distributed ledgers).

But almost all claims about Bitcoin/Blockchain/Concurrency are false or misleading, such as that Blockchain is secure, scalable, provides privacy, and that data stored on it is immutable. Thus, one of my research projects is trying to understand the fundamental properties and limitations of Blockchain-based systems.”

–Ed Hayward, Kathleen Sullivan, Phil Gloudemans and Sean Smith Photos by Gary Wayne Gilbert and Lee Pellegrini

The Boston Globe ran a story on Campus Insights, a market research company focused on “Gen Z” and millennials founded by Carroll School of Management senior Riley Soward and his brother, and recently acquired by Harvard Student Agencies, the world’s largest student-run company.

Political ideology is a unique predictor of shopping behavior, independent of socioeconomic status and income, according to a new report co-authored by Asst. Prof.

Nailya Ordabayeva (CSOM) in

the Journal of Consumer Research, and featured by Pacific Standard Magazine.

a reality check on the threat level posed by evolving digital technologies.

Church doctrine must be life-giving, not oppressive, said Joseph Professor of Catholic Systematic Theology Richard Gaillardetz, who discussed challenges facing the Catholic Church in a Q&A with Crux.com.

NBC Olympics coverage included a spotlight on Korean pop, or “Kpop,” that featured international star Eric Nam ’11.

In a piece for Sloan Management Review, Prof. Gerald Kane (CSOM) wrote that research data suggest many corporate leaders may need

QUOTE/UNQUOTE “In the past several years, the

debate concerning providing free tuition to post-secondary education has gathered energy in a number of countries.

This has been a surprise to many since most economists and higher education policy analysts agree that free tuition is neither affordable in the age of massification nor is it good public policy as it provides unnecessary subsidies to those who can afford to pay.”

Lynch School of Education Research Professor Philip Altbach, in a piece for University World News discussing the impact of political currents of the past year on higher education in 2018 and beyond. Read the full text at http://bit.ly/altbach-2018.

BC Is 9th in New Ranking System Based on Analytics Boston College finished ninth in a new college ranking system proposed as an alternative method to established surveys such as those published by US News & World Report and Forbes.

In a recent guest column at the website e-Literate that discussed the issue of transparency in usage of data for college rankings, MetaMetrics Research Engineer Steve Lattanzio noted that newly released datasets like the College Scorecard offer the potential for new analytics about colleges. Leveraging the data, however, “can be challenging,” he wrote, and thus call into question rankings’ objectivity.

Lattanzio described how he and his colleagues used artificial intelligence (AI) methods to sort through the raw data – such as SAT scores, admission rates, earnings and loan repayment rates – and “remove decision points that allow ratings to become subjective.”

BC finished between University of Chicago (eighth) and Notre Dame in the AI-engineered rankings. Duke was first, followed by Stanford, Vanderbilt, Cornell and Brown.

Others in the top 20 included Virginia (seventh), Southern California (12th), MIT (15th), Penn (18th) and Carnegie Mellon (20th).

Lattanzio cautioned that this should not be considered “the proper method for ranking these institutions” but simply “an alternative we present that might be similar enough to other rankings to validate them, or different enough to invalidate them or this ranking.”

He added, “It is also possible that ranking colleges is an exercise in futility.“ To read more, including an explanation of the AI method, see http://bit.ly/AI-college-rankings.

–University Communications

Assoc. Prof. of the Practice Paul Christensen (Political Science) offered comments to the Huffington Post on Ksenia Sobchak – known to many as the “Paris Hilton of Russia” – who is a candidate in the country’s presidential elections next month, when she officially hopes to unseat Vladimir Putin.

It’s not about a single year of earnings but rather about the accumulation of wealth over time, wrote Assoc. Prof. Gil Manzon (CSOM), in an op-ed on US wealth inequality that appeared in “The Conversation.”

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: Assistant Director, Student Organizations, Student Affairs/ Residential Life Director, Church in the 21st Century Center Assistant Director of Biology Labs, Academic Affairs/Provost Campus Minister, University Mission and Ministry Associate Registrar, Academic Affairs/Provost Assistant Editor, Academic Affairs/Provost Network Technician, Information Technology Senior Philanthropic Advisor, University Advancement Development Assistant, University Advancement Broadcast Engineer, ACC Network Production Director, Internal Audit Program Manager, Academic Affairs/Provost Resident Director, Student Affairs/Residential Life Staff Nurse, Student Affairs/Resiential Life Strategic Sourcing Officer, Financial/Budget Administrative Assistant, Academic Affairs/Provost Case Manager, Student Affairs/ Residential Life Director, International vancement

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T he B oston C ollege

Chronicle FEBRUARY 27, 2018

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EVENTS.BC.EDU Concerts, lectures, exhibits, workshops and more

A Unique ‘Sense’ of Art

BY ROSANNE PELLEGRINI STAFF WRITER

Jonathan Demme’s iconic and frenetic 1984 concert film, “Stop Making Sense,” which captured a live performance by the band Talking Heads, made a strong impression on Assistant Professor of Studio Art Hartmut Austen, then a middle school student.

The visual arts and drawing had spurred his interest that year, and “Stop Making Sense” added to the inspirations he derived from pop culture, history, music and literature. His emerging passion for the arts would become his profession.

Austen’s abstract paintings and drawings are rooted in the real but emphasize structure, tactility and the visceral over representation, according to his faculty profile. He has exhibited widely in the US and Germany, where he studied with H.J. Diehl at Hochschule der Künste (University of the Arts) in Berlin. As a member of the Telegraph Art Collective, he has worked and exhibited with artists of diverse disciplinary backgrounds.

Now a colorful exhibition of his works titled “1984: Stop Making Sense,” is on display in the O’Neill Library Level Three gallery through April 30.

Austen created the exhibition “by revisiting and interrogating some of his earlier documented drawings from 1984, and in a

short, frenzied period, produced new work based on some of his ‘old ideas,’” according to the exhibition statement. The project was an opportunity to see if the works and methods he employed as an artist had changed over time.

Uniform in size, they are displayed unframed to highlight their material character and the experimental nature of their creation, Austen explains. Most of

BC studio art professor Hartmut Austen takes name, and inspiration, from classic concert film for new exhibition

and fluid.”

The students’ contributions, Austen notes, “were very important for the success of the project and I am grateful to them for their input.”

Displayed closely together in a sequence similar to the film structure, viewers see them in quick succession to experience the “contrast of imagery, color, form, attitude and energy,” as well as

Hartmut Austen (left) and Lucas Mockler ’18, who assisted Austen with some of the artwork on display in the “1984: Stop Making Sense” exhibition at the O’Neill Library Level Three gallery. (Photo by Lee Pellegrini)

the pieces were created with assistance from studio art students Sara Chung ’20 and Lucas Mockler ’18.

“I first watched ‘Stop Making Sense’ when I was 12 or 13,” said Mockler, whose parents “were big into Talking Heads. When Hartmut introduced me to the project I was very excited because I knew their work and had an idea of what he wanted to do.” Mockler describes his experience working on the exhibition as “very open

recurring elements. Some have New England motifs that reflect Austen’s move to Boston and link the project to the present.

Austen emphasizes that viewers should not analyze the works for direct clues or interpretations of the concert film; an important aspect of the display, he adds, is that more than half of the images are re-creations of drawings he did in 1984.

“These works of art are trying to capture a personal experience

BC SCENES

within a context of visual art, music and theatrics. Ambition and exaggeration, a visual investigation of my own drawings within a context of iconic music and visuals that carries so much emotion, invention and weirdness despite being carefully plotted.”

Viewers, he hopes, will “bring their own observations and thoughts based on what they see.

The non-linear frieze of images may be read from either side, or from the inside out.

Of the film “Stop Making Sense,” Austen says, it is “visually and emotionally powerful and always will be. It’s timeless, and in that sense, as fresh and important to me.”

Same as it ever was. *** Austen has launched a series of informal Friday afternoon discussions, the Currents Conversation Series, which feature faculty and guests who address current art topics.

“Currents is intended to complement and enhance our regular curriculum with a more flexible and dynamic form of learning and mentoring, benefiting not only our students but also creating more visibility for BC Studio Art within the Boston art and educational community,” Austen said.

The series began earlier this month with sculptor and filmmaker Fritz Horstman, who explores the principals of human

culture within and in tension with the natural world.

These spring semester events, which focus both on ideas and practical questions relating to building viable contemporary art practices, are open to all members of the University community and the public.

The series is funded by a Teaching, Advising, and Mentoring Expense Grant grant from the Office of the Provost and Dean of Faculties. Additional funds were provided by the Institute for the Liberal Arts. The following events take place at 4:30 p.m. in Devlin 413, unless otherwise indicated.

March 2: Gallery Tour guided

by Austen during First Fridays at the SoWa Galleries and artist studios. Meet at 5 p.m. at Howard Yezerski Gallery, 460 Harrison Ave., Suite A16, Boston.

March 23: Boston artist Sonia Almeida, whose paintings make rich associations to the history of painting and question the nature of visual perception.

April 6: TBA April 20: Corina Reynolds of New York City, co-founder of Small Editions, an artist book studio that publishes and supports the creation of new contemporary artists’ books.

For more information on the Currents series, contact Austen at hartmut.austen@bc.edu Contact Rosanne Pellegrini at rosanne.pellegrini@bc.edu

ARTS COME ALIVE IN DEAD OF WINTER

Recent campus arts events at Boston College included BC bOp!’s “In the Name of Love” concert (left); “New Voices 2018,” featuring original plays by BC undergraduates, at Robsham Theater (center); and the Organization of Latin American Affairs show “Revelations, which included a performance by Sarah Clavijo ’18.

Peter Julian

Lee Pellegrini

Yiting Chen