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stage play at to hold symposium on Jen to visit 3 Students 4 ILA 8 Gish MCI-Framingam liberal arts education BC Nov. 9-11
November 4, 2010 — vol. 19 no. 5
MANY SCARY RETURNS OF THE DAY
‘HEALTHY YOU’ Will Promote Wellness Program emphasizes individual choice, offers range of resources By Jack Dunn Director of News & Public Affairs
Children from the Gardner Pilot Academy in Allston got an early start on Halloween when they visited Boston College Oct. 29 for the Office of Residential Life’s annual “Haunted Heights” celebration. The kids worked on arts and crafts, played Halloween games and went trick-or-treating in the Mods. (Photo by Christopher Huang)
Retracing a Journey, 400 Years Later BC Jesuit’s film looks at a priest’s legendary travels through China By Melissa Beecher Staff Writer
At the beginning of his documentary, “Beyond Ricci: Celebrating 400 Years of the Chinese Catholic Church,” Assistant Professor of History Jeremy Clarke, SJ, holding a tripod, speaks directly to his audience. “This is not National Geographic. This is not Lonely Planet. Hopefully, one of those stations will want to pick it up because it’s a really interesting story. But this is two blokes, two Jesuits, Jim McDermott and myself, Jeremy Clarke, trying to tell you a story dealing with all the messiness of what it is to come do guerrilla filming in China.” Armed only with backpacks, a tripod and camera, Fathers Clarke and McDermott traveled throughout China retracing the steps of Jesuit missionary Matteo Ricci, an Italian priest from the 16th century who was one of the founding members of the Chinese Jesuit Catholic Mission. The documentary they created — and which was edited by 2010 alumnus Kristen Shaw — was shown this fall at Boston College, its first public screening in the United States. For Fr. Clarke, Fr. Ricci has been a historical fascination since he was a boy. Born and raised in Australia, Fr. Clarke studied Chinese language and culture at his Jesuit high school. Fr. Clarke focused his professional life on the study of China after his first trip there in 1985, culminating with a PhD in Asian and Pacific history from Australian National
University. Fr. Ricci “looms large in the history of East-West cultural exchange,” said Fr. Clarke. “Knowing that this year was the 400th anniversary of his death, I thought that this was an opportunity to both tell the story about him, but also use it as an occasion to celebrate the subsequent 400 years of the Chinese Catholic Church. “In many ways I see my professional role as being a bridge between the Chinese Catholic community and outside world – educating people about what is actually happening inside China and also assisting the Chinese Church where possible,” said Fr. Clarke. “Beyond Ricci” is the result of an exhaustive 30-day journey. Buoyed by beautiful shots of sprawling Chinese countryside and intimate details of city life, the film begins in Macau, a city in Southern China, and snakes through Zhaoqing, Nanchang, Jiuji-
ang, Nanjing, Hangzhou, Shanghai and ends in the Zhalan Cemetery in Beijing, where Fr. Ricci was buried in 1610. “Anyone who knows Chinese history, particularly the period from the 16th to 18th century, the period of great East-West cultural exchange, knows of the genuine place of the Jesuits. Classic example is the first translation of Confucian classics were by Jesuits,” said Fr. Clarke. “Even the most aggressive secularists would concede the important place of the Jesuits in this period.” The production was not without challenges: a tropical storm that prevented shots at one location, rental cars that broke down, hurried transitions from taxis to buses, nearmisses with train connections, and governmental and cultural sensitivities added to the drama. “The story became threefold: It became Fr. Ricci’s story, the story of Continued on page 5
Asst. Prof. Jeremy Clarke, SJ (History), during filming of “Beyond Ricci: Celebrating 400 Years of the Chinese Catholic Church.”
In an effort to encourage faculty and staff to live healthier lives, Boston College has joined peer schools from the Boston Consortium for Higher Education in a new initiative to improve the health and wellness of all BC employees while helping to control spiraling health care costs. The new health management initiative, called “HEALTHY YOU,” is designed to emphasize individual choice and responsibility through a voluntary program that focuses on wellness. It includes a range of resources to help faculty and staff avoid the risks that lead to an illness or ongoing health issue, and to improve management of a chronic illness. Through “HEALTHY YOU,” BC employees can: •learn about their well-being
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and any health-related issues by filling out a personal, confidential questionnaire administered through Harvard Pilgrim Health Care, which is turned into a report that can be shared with the employee’s doctor to help in planning health maintenance or treatment options. •participate in lifestyle coaching, also through Harvard Pilgrim, to identify long-term actions — such as losing weight or quitting smoking — that will promote healthier living. •receive outreach and resources from registered nurses and clinicians to help in managing diseases such as asthma, diabetes, coronary artery disease, congestive heart failure, or
chronic obstructive pulmonary disease. •have access to a variety of tools and resources from Harvard Pilgrim, including websites, informational sessions and on-site events. “Overall, our goal is to raise employee awareness of health issues, provide easier access to Continued on page 6
T H E N U M B E R S: Enrollment at BC
Communication, Biology and Finance Top Majors By Ed Hayward Staff Writer
Communication is the highest-enrolled Boston College major, while the natural sciences and studies focused on international issues have reached new heights of popularity with undergraduate students, according to new figures from the Office of Student Services. Overall, the top five majors are communication (895 students), economics (818), biology (773), finance (755) and English (666). The perennially popular premedical programs enroll 1,840 students, which is double the enrollment 10 years ago [see related story on page 4]. Biology and biochemistry (150 students) are at 25-year-high enrollment marks, well as Slavic and Eastern Languages and Literatures, with 53 students. The International Studies minor, with
201 students, is the largest minor enrollment ever recorded, according to Student Services. “The communication major has been among the most popular on campus for several years,” said Professor of Communication Lisa Cuklanz, the department chair. “Communication offers an appealing blend of required courses focusing on the theoretical, critical, and methodological aspects of the discipline along with electives that have specific applicability to various specialties within the field. A background in communication will be relevant to a very broad range of employment opportunities for our graduates.” Students’ reasons for choosing their majors and minors typically range from the quality of faculty and course offerings to career prospects following graduation. Russell Lauletta ’11 said she chose the communication major Continued on page 4
T he B oston C ollege
Chronicle november 4, 2010
A ROUND C AMPUS
Twenty-one Boston College sports teams received a perfect Graduation Success Rate score of 100, according to data released by the NCAA last week — the most teams with a perfect 100 score of any Division I intercollegiate athletics program in the country for the second consecutive year. In addition, BC football – with a score of 90 – was one of only six Football Bowl Subdivision (FBS) programs in the country to receive a score of 90 or better. The 21 BC teams that recorded a perfect 100 GSR score included men’s baseball, fencing, golf, sailing, skiing, swimming and tennis along with women’s basketball, cross country/track, rowing, fencing, field hockey, golf, ice hockey, lacrosse, sailing, skiing, soccer, softball, swimming and volleyball. The six FBS institutions receiving scores of 90 or better were Notre Dame (96), Duke (95), Northwestern (95), Rice (93), Navy (92) and BC (90). More information about the GSR report may be found at the NCAA’s website, http://www.ncaa.org.
Boston College undergraduates joined students, families and staff from the BC Campus School on Oct. 25 for the school’s annual Fun Run, Walk & Roll fundraiser. (Photo by Suzanne Camarata)
Bright idea Starting an initiative or project can be a bittersweet proposition for high school or college students: Yes, it’s something to be proud of, but what happens when they graduate and move on? Will what they created survive? Fortunately, in the case of Patrick Allen ’13, the project he founded with two classmates at Mayo High School in Minnesota is doing just fine. In fact, the trio’s venture has even won an international award. Three years ago, Allen joined with friends Ian Cameron and Tom Currier to raise money for solar panels at Mayo High. “Ian had this idea, and he and Tom have such dynamic personalities that I thought it was definitely worth trying,” says Allen. “I’m interested in entrepreneurship, so the project really appealed to me.” Their target was $45,000, and they tried both small and largescale fundraising, taking collections in coffee cans, applying for grants, holding a benefit event at a local sandwich shop and working with a local public utility. Allen says his confidence in their mission was bolstered by first-hand evidence of success in reaching out to the community: his mother’s non-profit, an annual walk to raise funds for breast cancer patient support. “I learned so much — about solar power, about fundraising, working with the political, business and other communities, set-
Christopher Huang
Patrick Allen ’13
ting up a non-profit,” says Allen. “One of the big lessons was that e-mails are not enough — you have to pick up the phone. We made hundreds and hundreds of calls.” After the solar panels were installed at Mayo, Allen and his cohorts asked themselves: “Why not extend this project to other schools?” They approached some local municipal officials, educators and business people about forming a nonprofit that would have a board of directors. The initiative, now known as the Minnesota Student Energy Project (MNSEP), has since installed solar panels at two additional schools — thanks in part to a $75,000 grant from the American Public Power Association — and plans are in the works for a fourth school.
Today, Allen says, the three schools’ solar panels generate close to 18 kilowatts of electricity, or enough to provide power for about three homes. But the project also generates educational value, he says: “Kids can do their own scientific research on solar power, for example, and business classes can analyze the rate of return on the panels.” The MNSEP this fall earned the Youth Award from the Association of Fundraising Professionals, a 30,000member group with chapters in 213 countries. “This is a great honor to have,” says Allen, who is contemplating a new initiative that involves public sector advertising. “But what really means the most to us is that the project is still going without us — we’re really no longer involved in anything more than an ‘alumni’ or resource role — and has a very bright future ahead of it.” —SS
Rite of passage Seven Jesuits who are students at the School of Theology and Ministry now have added the title of deacon to their credit. The seven — John Brown, SJ, Jeff Johnson, SJ, Joe Laramie, SJ, Joel Medina, SJ, Antoine Paumard, SJ, Aaron D. Pidel, SJ, and Alejandro Olayo Méndez, SJ — received the sacrament of Holy Orders on Oct. 8 at St. Ignatius Church, where they were ordained as deacons, enabling them to preach sermons, perform baptisms and witness marriages. Archbishop of Atlanta Wilton D. Gregory presided at the Mass and administered the ordination, with family and friends of the seven looking on as well as members of the STM and University communities. [See a slideshow of the event at http://bit.ly/9c3nxD] “The ordination was beautiful,” said Laramie, who was joined at the celebration by his parents, grandparents, godparents, sister and her future brother-in-law. “The music, having my family attend, along with brother Jesuits and fellow STM students — I was really able to pray during the Mass. I felt so grateful that God has called me to this life. As a deacon, I’m honored to serve the Church.” The new deacons, who hail from provinces across the country (Detroit, New Orleans, St. Louis) and from outside the US (France), represent a generation of Jesuits comfortable with using social media and incorporating pop culture into their preaching. Johnson, Laramie, Paumard, Mendez and Pidel are all active on Facebook. Pidel and Johnson are contributors to the Jesuit blog “Whososever Desires,” and Johnson wrote and co-produced “Xavier: Missionary and Saint,” a documentary film narrated by Liam Neeson. And Laramie managed to work a reference to Snooki, a character from the reality show “Jersey Shore,” into a recent homily about the Beatitudes. In addition to studying at STM, each deacon ministers at a nearby parish. Laramie, a Saint Louis University grad who joined the Jesuits in 2000, is assigned to St. Raphael Parish in Medford, where he gives the homily at the children’s Mass and is helping to prepare students for Confirmation. All of which, he says, is readying him for work in campus ministry following his graduation from STM. Johnson, who entered the Jesuits after serving five years in the US Navy, is assigned to St. Ignatius Parish, where he has already performed six baptisms. He plans to serve as a high school teacher or administrator after his graduation. In June, the deacons will be ordained as priests in their home provinces or country. —KS T he B oston C ollege
Chronicle ON Be sure to check out the Boston College Chronicle YouTube channel [www.youtube.com/bcchronicle] for video features on Boston College people, programs and events. New and upcoming videos include: •New Clues About the “Malaria” Mosquito: DeLuca Professor of Biology Marc A.T. Muskavitch discusses his latest malaria research, published in the journal Science. Muskavitch and an international team of researchers developed the first high-resolution microarray for a vector mosquito, finding 400,000 genes that can be used to learn more about the evolution and adaptation of the mosquito that transmits the deadly malaria parasite. •Bob Costas at BC: Award-winning sports journalist Bob Costas visited Boston College on Oct. 19, speaking at an informal luncheon with BC undergraduates, administrators, faculty and staff about careers and challenges in media. The Boston College
Chronicle Director of NEWS & Public Affairs
Jack Dunn Deputy Director of NEWS & Public AFFAIRS
Patricia Delaney Editor
Sean Smith Contributing Staff
Melissa Beecher Ed Hayward Reid Oslin Rosanne Pellegrini Kathleen Sullivan Eileen Woodward Photographers
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Gary Gilbert Lee Pellegrini 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 News & Public Affairs, 14 Mayflower Road, Chestnut Hill, MA 02467 (617)552-3350. 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 News & Public Affairs, 14 Mayflower Road, Chestnut Hill, MA 02467. Contact Chronicle via e-mail: chronicle@bc.edu. Electronic editions of the Boston College Chronicle are available via the World Wide Web at http://www.bc.edu/chronicle.
T he B oston C ollege
Chronicle november 4, 2010
By Reid Oslin Staff Writer
Members of the cast of “Top Girls” during their performance at Robsham Theater. Caitlin Berger ’11 (not shown) said she and her fellow cast members were thrilled at the chance to stage the play for inmates at MCI-Framingham and left “with a strong desire to return and work with the women again.” (Photo by Lee Pellegrini)
Not Your Typical Road Show
BC theater students find appreciative audience at women’s prison
lege-aged girls had come to put on a show for them.” Riggin was told by prison ChapIn addition to launching the lain Sister Maureen Clark, CSJ, that Robsham Theater Arts Center “the women will talk with her for (RTAC) fall season, a Boston Col- weeks about the show because they lege production of Caryl Churchill’s are touched by the simple fact that groundbreaking play “Top Girls” people care enough to come there. inaugurated a new BC outreach They often feel forgotten by society program to bring theatrical arts to and are moved that a group of stuwomen in MCI-Framingham, the dents will take time away from colstate’s only correctional facility for lege to perform a show for them.” female offenders. The MCI-Framingham outreach An RTAC-Theatre Department was spurred by a call from Sister collaboration, directed by Adjunct Clark to Associate Professor of TheAssistant Professor of Theatre Patri- atre Crystal Tiala, who chairs the cia Riggin and performed on cam- University Arts Council and heads pus last month, the 1982 play focus- the Arts and Social Responsibility es on the changing role of women in Project (ASRP). Sister Clark — who recent decades. knew that Tiala mentored a “TheOn Oct. 19, members of the all- ater of Hope” project developed by female BC cast performed the play’s a BC student advanced study grant second act in the prison chapel for winner— asked if Tiala could bring an audience of nearly 100 women, the project to the prison. who gave them a During summer standing ovation “I’m not sure what the stu- meetings, plans and then eagerly were developed talked with them dents initially expected, but based on what the about the produc- all came away with a deep women prisoners tion, their studies hoped to achieve sense of how fortunate they from the program. and backgrounds. “The perforIn addition to perare, how forgotten some mance was quite formances, a series amazing, especially members of society are, and of acting workshops since we had no how important it was to will be offered, Tiala scenery or standard said. “Some women props,” Riggin said. reach out to these women.” are interested in de“We were only al—Patricia Riggin veloping their conlowed to bring in a fidence, poise and few things and they speaking ability for had to be approved by the facility.” their future time in front of a parole Despite minimal staging, the au- board or in a job interview, while dience was “absolutely involved,” others are interested in the activshe said, laughing at the characters’ ity for enjoyment. Many of them playful taunts and riveted by the enjoy singing, which we intend to final scene. During a Q&A session include. afterwards, the inmates discussed “Though the logistics of takthe power struggles between the ing the program into a prison are characters and other themes in the challenging,” the effort has been play. met with enthusiasm from theater “Getting up on stage to perform students and colleagues, she said. in front of a room of inmates was “We have a dozen students who intimidating, but once I began act- have volunteered to participate and ing, it was just like any other show,” it is only a matter of time to get said Juliana Forsberg-Lary ’12. “The them through the proper orientawomen praised us for our perfor- tions so we can begin scheduling mances, our sincerity, our portrayals workshops.” of the characters, our accents. They Caitlin Berger ’11, who perwere shocked that a group of col- formed in “Top Girls” and has By Rosanne Pellegrini Staff Writer
worked with Tiala to launch the program, said the women “loved the show and really connected with the themes of feminism, sacrifice, dysfunctional family relationships and class struggles.” The cast, she said, left “with a strong desire to return and work with the women again.” This outreach experience, according to Tiala, “connects the students’ classroom studies to a practical application, using what they are most passionate about with people they might not normally encounter. They see first-hand the reality of the human condition in the most dire of circumstances, and they can experience what it means to provide a little dignity and kindness to people who might otherwise be forgotten or neglected.” Of the experience for “Top Girls” performers, Riggin said: “I’m not sure what the students initially expected, but all came away with a deep sense of how fortunate they are, how forgotten some members of society are, and how important it was to reach out to these women.“ Many cast members were “touched by how appreciative the women were, and were able to see education in a whole new light,” said ASRP student advisor Kasey Brown ’12. “Theater gives people the chance to communicate, to feel, to learn and to question. It encourages creativity and imagination, reflection and teamwork. In forming this new relationship with the prison, both students and the women in prison will be able to experience these things together, opening new channels of understanding.” Forsberg-Lary, who lauds Tiala for developing the program, added, “This was one of the most moving experiences of my education because it gave me a new perspective. I want to go back and perform again or participate in a workshop, because I care about bringing art to people who really need it, and I feel these women need it more than anyone I’ve met thus far.” For more information on the program, contact Tiala at tiala@bc.edu Contact Rosanne Pellegrini at rosanne.pellegrini@bc.edu
Army Col. Darlene MacIsaac Hinojosa, a 1986 graduate of the Connell School of Nursing, will be the featured speaker at the University’s 10th annual Veterans Remembrance Mass and Ceremony to be held on Veterans Day, Nov. 11. Col. Hinojosa, the first CSON graduate – and the first woman — to address the veterans’ gathering, is a nurse practitioner serving on active duty with the US Army Nurse Corps. In her current assignment, she is tracking the medical and outreach treatment of military reservists and national guardsmen who were injured while serving tours in Iraq and Afghanistan. The day’s events will begin with a 9:30 a.m. Mass in St. Ignatius Church, followed by a remembrance ceremony and roll call at the University’s Veterans Memorial Wall on the Bapst Library lawn. The Mass and ceremony are open to all alumni and the University community. The annual veterans’ remembrance event, which has drawn increased participation each year since its inception a decade ago, is co-sponsored by the Boston College Alumni Association, the Human Resources Department and BC’s Army ROTC unit. * * * Boston College’s Veterans Memorial Wall, which was formally dedicated on Veterans Day 2009, will have an additional name inscribed this year: Marine Corps Maj. John J. Canney Jr. ’38, who was killed in action in the battle at the Chosin Reservoir in Korea in 1950. “The school did not have a
Keith Lanpher
CSON Grad First Woman to Address Veterans Event
Army Col. Darlene MacIsaac Hinojosa ’86 will speak at BC on Veterans Day.
record of Korean War veterans,” says Paul Delaney ’66, co-chair of the Veterans Memorial Committee. “We have been collecting names. This is the seventh name of an alumnus who died on active duty during the Korean War that we have found.” Maj. Canney, a native of Cambridge, was executive officer of the 3rd Battalion, 5th Marines at the time of his death on Nov. 28, 1950 during the famous battle at the “Frozen Chosin.” He was awarded a Navy Cross posthumously for his gallantry in the action. Maj. Canney’s name will be added to the list of 209 other former Boston College students who lost their lives in the service of the nation during wartime on the sweeping 70-foot long memorial wall located on the Bapst Lawn near the main entrance to campus. Contact Reid Oslin at reid.oslin@ bc.edu
University Among Top 20 ‘Best Values’ in Private Colleges Kiplinger’s Personal Finance ranks Boston College 20th in its annual survey of the best values in private institutions, listing private liberal arts colleges and universities “that deliver a high-quality education at an affordable price.” The annual 100 rankings appear in the December 2010 issue of Kiplinger’s Personal Finance magazine, which will be on newsstands Nov. 9. They also are accessible via the web at http://www.kiplinger.com/links/college. Princeton, Yale, Cal Tech, Rice University and Duke were the top five “best values” among universities, according to Kiplinger’s, with Harvard, Penn, Columbia, Brown and Dartmouth rounding out the top 10. Others in the top 20 included MIT (11), Stanford (12), Johns Hopkins (16), Vanderbilt (18) and the University of Chicago (19). Top 100 “best values” also included Georgetown (24), Tufts (27), Southern California (28), Providence (39), Carnegie Mellon (47), Marquette (50), Fordham (57), Syracuse (63) and Loyola (Baltimore) (71). Selected from a pool of more than 600 private institutions provided by Peterson’s, schools on the Kiplinger’s list were ranked by academic quality and affordability, with quality accounting for two-thirds of the total. Because liberal arts colleges focus on undergraduates and universities include graduate students, Kiplinger’s divides the schools into two categories. The rankings factor in both the data and the results of Kiplinger’s reporting. —Office of News & Public Affairs
T he B oston C ollege
Chronicle november 4, 2010
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T H E N U M B E R S: Enrollment Trends, Tendencies and Trivia
Undergrad Majors Continued from page 1 because it offered the chance to study topics in a range of disciplines, linked by a common thread of communication studies. “The course offerings allowed me to take classes in business and art and psychology. With all my different interests, I could study in all these areas and still come out with a major,” said Lauletta, who is considering graduate study in either high school counseling or health communications. Economics chairman Professor James Anderson believes cyclical forces, as well as larger trends throughout the University, drive enrollment for his department. “The trend is that math and the scientific disciplines have been gaining students and within the social sciences we’ve benefitted from that,” said Anderson. “The cyclical component is that it’s been observed in the past that recessions induce people to study economics more. During the early ’80s, we had a bulge in enrollment. This time, we’ve had a bigger recession and perhaps that’s had a longer-lasting effect on our enrollment.” Carroll School of Management sophomore James Terranova chose economics in addition to finance because the discipline offered a strong grounding in economic theory, as well as a chance to look at broader trends in society. “I took my first economics course and I really enjoyed it,” said Terranova. “I like the societal aspects of the subject. I expected it to be much more focused on math and calculations, but there’s a sociological focus that gives you a broader picture than finance, which is much more focused on business applications.” Majors and minors with an international focus have emerged as attractive programs for students. While enrollment for the International Studies major (210 students) is limited and subject to approval, the IS minor, which has open enrollment, has grown to its record-breaking total of 201 students. Associate Professor of Economics Robert Murphy, director of the International Studies Program, said both the major and minor have seen enrollments climb steadily in the wake of the 9/11 terrorist attacks and subsequent wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. “I think the interest can be attributed to the increased visibility of international issues and concerns. The major was launched in the aftermath of 9/11 and in that time students’ awareness about the world around them and international affairs have really raised our profile,” said Murphy. “It is also attributable in part to the popularity of the study-abroad program. Not all of our majors and minors study abroad, but we have a large share who do.”
a lesser extent in the Carroll School of Management, and barely noticeable in the Lynch School of Education. But don’t assume the financial crisis of the past two years has fueled a In 1997, the BC freshman class rise of students taking on extra majors included 415 AHANA students, or to improve post-graduation prospects 19.1 percent of the class. Six years later, in a down economy, Hafner says: The AHANA students (607) comprised 27 uptick through the 30-percent plateau percent of the incoming Class of 2007, occurred several years ago. With the exception of undergraduand the percentage has largely stayed in ates studying education or foreign lanthe upper 20s since then. guage, where adding another major is Administrators say, however, that generally necessary, Hafner says he is for all the increase in AHANA stunot convinced that multiple majors are dents during the past decade — and the best way to pursue a college degree. the University’s desire for a diverse stuAccording to admissions personnel he’s dent body — BC has not significantly spoken to, some law or other graduate changed its recruiting or admissions schools look skeptically at undergrads methods. They cite as a major factor BC’s emerging presence among the with more than one major “because it nation’s elite universities, drawing in- worries them that such students have terest from the general college-age pop- not been very imaginative in shaping ulation, including AHANA students. their educations to their own distinctive passions. BC’s need-blind “I also worry when admission also I talk with undergrads plays a part in atwho are double-matracting AHANA joring and find their applicants. justifications are often Another exgrounded on myths, planation for the not facts. They will rise in AHANA assert that they ‘want students, adminto increase the chancistrators say, is es of getting a job,’ for the strengtheninstance, which they ing over time of assert with no evidence alumni and adthat unemployment missions networks rates among graduates that have helped Office of AHANA Student Programs Di- with only a single masteer potential ap- rector Ines Maturana Sendoya: growjor are higher than for plicants to BC. ing diversity a welcome challenge. double majors.” And for those who Hafner points out enroll, resources such as Options that BC’s rich array of interdisciplinThrough Education and others proary minors — statistics show that 35 vided through the Office of AHANA percent of all BC undergrads complete Student Programs (OASP) are often a minor — enables students to “sculpt instrumental in making the BC experitheir educations in highly imaginative ence a positive one. This success story makes its rounds and broad-ranging ways.”
•The Class of 2014 includes a record 714 AHANA students, which also is the highest percentage (30) for a freshman class in University history.
Communication Department chair Prof. Lisa Cuklanz says a background in communication “will be relevant to a very broad range of employment opportunities for our graduates.” (Photo by KC Cohen)
Students are looking beyond the US for their career prospects and seeking out a solid grounding in global issues, as well as languages, Murphy said. “Increasingly, students are seeking perspective. They want to be aware of more international issues and there’s a sense that can help students in their career goals, as well as their goals within the program.” Dan McNamara ’11 chose the International Studies minor to complement his economics major. McNamara, who plans to serve in
the US Navy, said the minor will give him a solid foundation in international issues. “I hope to serve in a foreign country and I think International Studies will give me a great background on issues ranging from international relations to developmental economics,” McNamara said. “What I really enjoy are the discussions in these classes, which are focused on issues we read about or see on the news every day.” Contact Ed Hayward at ed.hayward@bc.edu.
Symposium on Liberal Arts Nov. 13 Five prominent scholars will discuss the meaning, value and future of liberal arts education at an all-day symposium on Nov. 13 sponsored by the Institute for the Liberal Arts (ILA). “Old and New Territories: Remapping the Liberal Arts for the Twenty-first Century,” which is free and open to the public, will be held from 9 a.m.-5 p.m. in the Heights Room of Corcoran Commons. Speakers for the event will be: respected church historian Georgetown University Professor John O’Malley, SJ, author and editor of major works such as The First Jesuits; Pulitzer Prize-winning author Louis Menand, a professor of English and American literature and language at Harvard University and writer for the New Yorker; and New York University Graduate School of Arts and Sciences Dean Emerita Catharine Stimpson, author, journalist, novelist, lecturer and former MacArthur Foundation Fellows Program director. Also speaking will be Alan Ryan, Oxford University professor of politics and current lecturer at Princeton University, an expert in political theory, social science and liberalism, and Stanley Fish, Davidson-Kahn Distinguished University Professor at Florida International University, dean emeritus of the University of Illinois at Chicago College of Liberal Arts and Sciences. “This event should be seen as the start of a conversation on campus about how we can come up with a vision for liberal arts education in the 21st century,” said ILA Director and Rattigan Professor Mary Crane, who along with College of Arts and Sciences Dean David Quigley will open the event with a formal welcome at 9:15 a.m. “How can we innovate? How can we connect different disciplines? How can the liberal arts and professional education strengthen their connection?” The symposium will include a luncheon and reception; for reservations, e-mail susan.dunn@bc.edu. For other details, see the ILA website at http://www.bc.edu/centers/ila. —Sean Smith
on the alumni and admissions networks, of course, and further builds AHANA students’ interest in BC. The story also is being told to a younger audience nowadays, notes OASP Director Ines Maturana Sendoya. “We get requests to have local seventh and eighth-grade classes from Boston come see BC. It’s a lot more effective to plant the idea that they should consider college for their future if they know what a college looks like; it becomes something that’s real for them.” The growth in diversity, and the promise of more, presents a challenge for BC, Sendoya says. “We see these students at OASP a little, but they will spend far more time in classrooms, residence halls and other parts of the University. So it’s incumbent on all of us, all departments and offices, to think about our policies and programs and how these can make AHANA students’ experiences the best they can be.”
•A third of all undergraduate students completed two or three majors or concentrations. Vice Provost for Undergraduate Academic Affairs Donald Hafner says the percentage of graduating seniors with double or triple majors has risen significantly over the past decade, from the 25-28 percent range to 3034. The change has been most acute in the College of Arts and Sciences, to
•The number of students enrolled in BC pre-medical programs (currently at 1,840) has doubled in the past decade. Adjunct Associate Professor of Biology Robert Wolff, who directs the University’s Pre-Medical/Pre-Dental Program, credits the rise to BC’s “upward trajectory” as an institution: “We have an increasingly stronger caliber of students attending BC, and the University’s national profile continues to grow.” Wolff also cites the excellence of BC’s scientific facilities. “Seeing Merkert Hall and the renovated Higgins Hall really bulges a kid’s eyes out.” But the Pre-Medical Program is its own asset, Wolff notes. Where other universities are using full-time administrators to manage their programs, BC has found that its faculty-oriented advising approach — with a 10-toone student/professor ratio — works very well. “We not only have a great curriculum, but a very motivated group of faculty advisors involved,” he says. “As students go through the process, they receive all kinds of help with their decision-making. There’s a very good level of communication within our program: If a student is having trouble with a particular subject, I can call up the faculty advisor representing that department and say, ‘You need to help this student.’” —Sean Smith
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Affiliates Program Celebrates First Decade Participants praise initiative for opportunities to gain insight, build networks University, and to hear about the factors that go into their decisionmaking,” said Hill Kreaime of her Affiliates experience. “One of the most important things I learned was being open to new opportunities, and ways you can reinvent your job.” Hill Kreaime was inspired to create the $uccessful Start program, which sponsors events and activities that promote “financial literacy” for students in areas like budgeting, credit, debt management and small business start-ups.
to implement them,” said Holloway. “But Affiliates is not just a one-time presentation: It’s about For 10 years, the University Afcreating a conversation with colfiliates Program has given Boston leagues, which can last even after College employees like Senior Fithe program.” nancial Aid Associate Marsia Hill Ninety-five people have particiKreaime a unique insight into their pated in Affiliates during its first workplace — and the opportunity decade, and more than two-thirds to become all the more valuable a are still working at BC; others have resource to the University. left the University to pursue job or The Affiliates Program — career changes, but also for personal which will host a commemorative or family reasons, such as marriage, event for members and supporteducation and relocation. ers Nov. 17 — provides AHANA Career Center Associate Direcadministrators and staff with an tor Janet Costa Suzanne Camarata in-depth look at Bates has been BC through the involved with eyes of senior the program as a managers in the mentor — Hill University, who Kreaime was serve as mentors one of her profor the particitégés — as well pants. Working as a participant, with their menand values the tors, and serving time she spent as internships, atan Affiliate with tending monthly Employment professional deDevelopment velopment meetDirector Berings and other nard O’Kane. activities, Affili“It opens up ates learn about great opportunicommunications ties to connect strategies, aca“[The Affiliates Program] opens up great opportunities to connect with people you demic and student with people you might not normally encounter at BC, so you demight not noraffairs, financial velop a wider perspective of the University,” says Janet Costa Bates, mally encounter management, and at BC, so you deleft, with fellow program alumnus Marsia Hill Kreaime. other facets of runvelop a wider perning a major university. The program also has begun an spective of the University. I think The Affiliates Program was de- initiative to train students in these the way to look at Affiliates is that signed by the offices of Affirmative and other financial areas so they it’s a chance to meet people who Action (now the Office of Insti- can serve as peer mentors. can enable you to do your job tutional Diversity) and AHANA “When I thought about my better.” Student Programs with the Irish job, I realized I was spending a lot Associate Vice President for Institute, and is administered by of time having one-on-one conver- Human Resources Robert Lewis, the Office of Institutional Diver- sations with students about man- one of the program’s architects, sity and the Human Resources aging their finances. So I thought, said, “I am very proud to be associDepartment. ‘What if we could pull together ated with the Affiliates Program. I While the program offers the resources and create a program think it is among the best employpossibility of professional advance- that would deal with this issue on a ee development programs Boston ment, administrators say there is wider basis?’” College offers. There have been a very tangible benefit in any case Office for Institutional Diver- many very bright, hard-working for the participants, and for BC: sity Associate Director Sidney Hol- individuals who have been through Equipped with a deeper perspective loway, who heads the Affiliates the program and I would like to and broader view of the University, Program, says initiative and em- think that it played some part in Affiliates can put their manage- powerment — such as that shown their success at Boston College.” ment and leadership skills to work by Hill Kreaime — are important For information on the University in ways that improve or enhance outcomes of participating in Af- Affiliates Program, see http://www. BC’s academic and administrative filiates. bc.edu/offices/diversity/affiliates.html operations. “The program focuses on what Contact Sean Smith at sean. “It was fascinating to meet it means to be a manager, how you smith.1@bc.edu people from other parts of the make decisions and what you do By Sean Smith Chronicle Editor
Intercollegiate Council to Hold First Meeting at BC By Kathleen Sullivan Staff Writer
The Undergraduate Government of Boston College will host a day-long meeting on Nov. 14 of the Boston Intercollegiate Leadership Council, a group of student government leaders from Boston area colleges and universities. The theme of the conference is “Leaders Growing as One.” It marks the first time the BILC, which meets once a semester, has convened at BC. Created last year to foster a spirit of cooperation and communication among student government leaders in Greater Boston,
and as a vehicle for sharing ideas and discussing common problems, the BILC can become an effective tool in voicing the concerns of students, said David Thorpe ’13, UGBC’s Leadership Council Representative. “One of our main goals is to make the BILC a more cohesive group so that we can work together to represent our respective student bodies to other colleges and the city of Boston,” said Thorpe. “We hope to establish an executive board with two members from each college who will meet monthly so that communication continues in between conferences and we can work on in-
tercollegiate initiatives and events together.” Student government leaders from Tufts University, Boston University, Brandeis University, Bentley University, Harvard University, MIT, Emmanuel College, Northeastern University, Wellesley College and the University of Massachusetts-Boston are expected to attend. Vice President for Student Affairs Patrick Rombalski will offer welcoming remarks. Topics slated for discussion include social networking, transportation and housing, student political involvement and school spirit. Contact Kathleen Sullivan at kathleen.sullivan@bc.edu
Prof. Zygmunt Plater (Law) in a 1989 photo with BC Law students who helped research the Exxon Valdez oil spill.
Nov. 12 Symposium Looks at Legal Aspects of Oil Spill Twenty years ago, Law Professor Zygmunt Plater and his students provided legal insight into the Exxon Valdez oil spill for the State of Alaska Oil Spill Commission. This month, Plater will once again take the lead in exploring an environmental catastrophe that has dwarfed the Exxon spill: the BP Deepwater Horizon blowout in the Gulf of Mexico. The Environmental Affairs Law Review of Boston College will host “Learning from Disaster: Lessons for the Future from the Gulf of Mexico” on Nov. 12. The symposium will bring together heads of state, academics, legal experts in environmental law from across the nation and noted environmentalists. Speakers invited to the event include US Rep. Edward Markey (D-Mass.), chairman of the House Special Committee on Energy; Dr. Riki Ott, marine toxicologist and CNN commentator; David Buente, partner at Sidley & Austin in Washington DC; Holly Doremus, a law professor at University of CaliforniaBerkeley; oil spill research coordinator and University of Florida Levin Professor Alyson Flournoy; and University of Pennsylvania Professor Itzchak E. Kornfeld, an expert on offshore oil rig issues, among others. “As a White House staffer once said, ‘A disaster is a terrible thing to waste.’ The BP Deepwater Horizon blowout will be a doubly disastrous calamity if it doesn’t produce systemic changes for the future, as the 1989 wreck of the Exxon Valdez markedly failed to do,” said Plater. Plater vividly remembers returning to BC in 1989, after working as chair of the Exxon Valdez commis-
sion’s legal task force. He put out a call requesting five student research volunteers to work for six months for no pay and no credit. “I got more than 25. Their research reports shaped and reinforced the policy dimensions as well as legal dimensions of the Commission’s Final Report. The chairman, Walter Parker, asked me ‘What are you feeding those students? We got more input from the Boston College group 3,000 miles away than from any other non-governmental source!’” This summer another group of BC Law students, led by Greg Bradford ’11 and Greg O’Brien ’12, answered Plater’s request for student researchers to provide targeted research memoranda to the Presidential Commission on the Gulf Spill and Offshore Drilling. Those students, Plater and a team of environmentalists will be on hand next week. Environmental Affairs Law Review Editor Alana Van der Mude ’11 said the symposium provides a platform to re-direct the national focus back to the worst environmental disaster in American history. “Our aim is to define research and analysis that will be useful to Congress, state governments, local communities, and the presidential Gulf Commission to prevent future disasters,” said Van der Mude. For more information, or to register to attend the event, contact Alana Van der Mude, alana.vandermude@bc.edu, or at 617-4353245 or Kimberly Monty, kimberly. monty.1@bc.edu. —Melissa Beecher
In Search of Fr. Ricci Continued from page 1 Chinese Catholics and, ultimately, the story of Jim and me finding our way across China,” said Fr. Clarke. Honoring the legacy of the Jesuits was part of the project, says Fr. Clarke, but so too was honoring the legacy of what he called a “ministry of friendship.” “This is not an imposition of a foreign church, but a communication between people. Fr. Ricci’s story was huge, but he could only have done what he did as a result of the friendships with people like Xu Guangqi, a significant Chinese scholar who ended up the equivalent of prime minister who invited the church to Shanghai,” said Fr.
Clarke. Fr. Clarke said he was drawn to the story for many reasons, including the continued role of the Catholic Church in China, both historically and during the modern era. “These are people who are doing amazing stuff – dealing with AIDS patients, dealing with the rural poor, dealing with education and people asking existential questions at a time of economic crisis,” said Fr. Clarke. “So the Church, at the moment, is critically placed to reengage with a world that has struggled to exercise meaning.” Contact Melissa Beecher at melissa. beecher@bc.edu
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The Bookshelf Longing to Love: A Memoir of Desire, Relationships, and Spiritual Transformation [http://amzn.to/akg9iL], by Vice President for University Mission and Ministry Tim Muldoon, has drawn praise from America magazine as “a compelling portrait of...how longing and learning to love — and more than a little faith — can sustain two people devoted to each other, especially when, as often happens, things do not turn out quite as planned or imagined...Every young couple could benefit from the glimpse into the passions, the practicality and the piety required of marriage and family life that Muldoon offers.” A new reading of modern Middle Eastern history is proposed —and alternate solutions to the volatile region’s problems are suggested — by Assistant Professor of Slavic and Eastern Languages Franck Salameh in his new book Language, Memory, and Identity in the Middle East [http://bit. ly/by8yAl]. Salameh proposes bringing back to the fore of Middle East Studies the issue of language as a key factor in shaping (and misshaping) the region, with the hope of rediscovering a broader, more honest, and less ideologically tainted discussion on the Middle East. Language, Memory, and Identity in the Middle East has a special focus on Lebanon, a “Christian homeland,” because Lebanon has traditionally acted as the region’s template for change and a barometer gauging its problems and charting its progress. The above entries are excerpted from the “BC Bookmarks” blog, which includes notes on recent books by current Boston College faculty, administrators and staff. For more information, visit the blog at http://bcbookshelf.wordpress.com/.
Intl. Education Week Starts Nov. 15 More than 30 events — including an international fair, lectures, panel discussions, cultural events and exhibitions — will comprise Boston College’s celebration of International Education Week Nov. 15-19. International Education Week is a national initiative of the United States departments of State and Education to celebrate the benefits of international education and exchange worldwide, as well as promote programs that prepare Americans for a global environment and attract future leaders from abroad to study, learn, and exchange experiences in the US. Kicking off the BC celebration on Nov. 15 will be an international fair from 10-3 p.m., followed by an “International Tea” from 7-9 p.m., in the Lyons Hall Welch Dining Room. Also that day will be an opening reception from 4-6 p.m. in the O’Neill Library Level One Gallery, which will house an international photo exhibition. During International Education Week, members of the BC community can take part in activities such as workshops on salsa dancing and the Brazilian art of capoeira, a screening and discussion of “The Godfather” and an “International Trivia Night,” and enjoy international-themed meals in campus dining halls. Lectures and discussions on such topics as infant mortality in developing countries, living and working abroad, international entrepreneurship, social work in a
global context and sex trafficking in Southeast Asia also are on the International Education Week schedule at BC. [The list of events, times and locations will be available at http:// www.bc.edu/offices/odsd/intercultural/iew.html] A number of University offices, departments, programs, student organizations and intercultural clubs have collaborated to sponsor the Boston College International Education Week. —Office of News & Public Affairs
BC 15th Among Fulbright Producers Boston College continues to rank among the nation’s top producers of undergraduate Fulbright Award winners, according to the annual survey by the Chronicle of Higher Education. BC is 15th among US research institutions, with 16 student winners and 62 applicants for the coveted post-baccalaureate awards for 2010-11. A 17th BC student was awarded a Fulbright, but declined because of a prior work commitment. The University of MichiganAnn Arbor heads the list with 40 Fulbright winners, followed by Yale (31), Brown and Stanford (24 apiece) and University of Chicago (23). Other top Fulbright producers include Princeton (19), Columbia (18), Harvard and Tufts (17 apiece) and Duke (13). —Office of News & Public Affairs
(L-R) Panelists Barney Frank, Sheila Bair and Paul Volcker, and moderator Prof. Clifford Holderness (CSOM), at the Oct. 25 forum on financial reforms. (Photo by Lee Pellegrini)
BC Hosts Wall Street Reform Panel US Rep. Barney Frank (D-Mass.), Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. Chair Sheila Bair and Paul Volcker, chair of the federal Economic Recovery Board and former chair of the US Federal Reserve, assessed the impact of the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act at a forum Oct. 25 at Robsham Theater. Carroll School of Management Finance Professor Cliff Holderness, an expert on corporate finance and governance, served as moderator for the discussion, which was followed by a Q&A session with an audience of leading business and financial executives, economists, academics and students. The panelists said the new law will prevent the need for costly bailouts to prevent widespread damage to the financial system. “The system we had became an end itself instead of a means to an end,” Bair said. “This bill should reallocate resources back to the real economy.”
University Set to Roll Out ‘HEALTHY YOU’ Continued from page 1 health-related information and establish a closer working relationship with Harvard Pilgrim Health Care, BC’s health care provider,” said Associate Vice President for Human Resources Robert Lewis. “Health care premiums are increasing at an unsustainable rate, and will continue to increase unless steps are taken to effectively manage costs. ‘HEALTHY YOU’ is considered one of the best strategies to encourage employees to live healthier lives, which will help to reduce the overall health care costs for themselves and the University.” The “HEALTHY YOU” program was developed by the 15 Boston Consortium members, which include Northeastern, Tufts, Babson and Brandeis, among others, with participation by the state’s three largest health care providers: Blue Cross-Blue Shield, Harvard Pilgrim Health Care and Tufts Health Plan. Beginning with the University’s annual Health Fair held yesterday, the program will feature monthly on-campus health programs on topics ranging from nutrition to smoking cessation. Starting in February, employees will be able to have their biometric statistics taken on campus and evaluated for blood pressure, cholesterol, glucose levels and body mass index. Employees will then be asked to complete a voluntary and confidential health-risk questionnaire
on the Harvard Pilgrim website employees. that will be used to help them to Lewis said that with BC’s health identify and better manage their care costs now approaching $40 health issues. million annually, the onus is on all Individuals deemed at risk will BC employees to help reduce costs receive confidential advice and by maintaining active and healthy counseling from Harvard Pilgrim lifestyles. “The ‘HEALTHY medical professionals in weight YOU’ Program will provide each reduction, stress management, of us with the resources for makcholesterol reducing wise choices tion, fitness and exabout our health care ercise, among other “‘HEALTHY YOU’ and for taking simple programs. All other steps to live healthier is considered one of participants will lives,” said Lewis. the best strategies to “Taken collectively, have access to online wellness programs encourage employees over time, our actions and comprehensive can strengthen Boshealth information to live healthier lives.” ton College’s ability through Harvard —Robert Lewis to maintain quality, Pilgrim, as well as affordable health care on-campus health benefits.” fairs and monthly Citing the Jesuit health programs. They will also philosophy of cura personalis, or be encouraged to utilize exist- “care for the individual,” Lewis ing resources such as the Flynn said that “HEALTHY YOU” will Recreation Complex and Weight raise awareness among employees Watchers to improve their overall about healthy lifestyles and how wellness. to get the resources they need to As an incentive to employees best provide for their health and to participate in the confidential, wellness, while seeking to limit HIPAA-protected health ques- increases in health care costs. “We tionnaire beginning in February, feel that this strategy fits very well Boston College will offer employ- into BC’s mission,” said Lewis, ees a $100 gift card. The informa- “and that it will ultimately be of tion will then be aggregated with benefit to everyone in the Boston data from the other Boston Con- College community.” sortium schools, and an analysis Information on the “HEALTHY will be reported annually to the YOU” program is available through member institutions to help them the Human Resources website, http:// develop programs to best meet www.bc.edu/offices/hr/ (click on the the health and wellness needs of “HEALTHY YOU” icon) Contact Jack Dunn at jack. dunn@bc.edu
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WELCOME ADDITIONS Assistant Professor of Law Brian Galle is involved in several research projects, including a survey of potential federal policies to encourage states to prepare for recessions, an experiment to measure whether telling workers their after-tax hourly salary reduces the amount of overtime hours they work, and a series of papers studying the effects of state nonprofit law on donations and executive compensation at nonprofit firms. Galle has published in the Stanford, Michigan, Texas, Washington University, George Washington University, and Boston University law reviews, among other publications. Galle, who teaches Tax I, Tax II, Not-for-Profit Corporations, and a seminar on Law and Economic Analysis of the Public Sector, holds degrees from Harvard, Columbia Law and Georgetown Law Center. Assistant Professor of Chemistry Eranthie Weerapana is part of a team that uses an interdisciplinary approach to examine the role of posttranslational protein modifications in modulating protein activity in physiology and disease. She and her colleagues are researching areas that involve antibiotic drug development, bacterial pathogenesis and protein oxidation events associated with aging. Weerapana, who earned a doctorate from MIT and has been a Pfizer Postdoctoral Fellow at the Scripps Research Institute, has co-published her work in Nature Chemical Biology, Natural Protocols and the Journal of the American Chemical Society, among others. Graduate School of Social Work Assistant Professor Linnie Green Wright’s work focuses on intervention for low-income, African-American pre-school families. She is currently project manager for an NIH-funded study in New York City on how black families foster the social and academic success of young children in low-income communities; she intends to pilot her intervention program with Boston families. After graduating from Spelman College, she went on to earn a master’s in developmental psychology at Columbia University with a concentration on risk and resiliency, and a doctoral degree from New York University. Carroll School of Management Assistant Professor of Marketing Ashutos Patil, who teaches marketing research and marketing data analysis, has Silicon Valley programming and management experience. His research interests revolve around research methodology — studying level of artifacts caused due to common methods when using surveys — and identifying the influence of effect size and other relevant variables in the researcher’s ability to detect moderating effects in multiple regression, as well as how people self-regulate their behavior and how distinct regulatory foci lead to differences in price acceptance and persuasion. Patil earned a bachelor’s degree in mechanical engineering from the College of Engineering in Pune, India, an MBA from the Haas School at University of California-Berkeley and a PhD in marketing at the Georgia Tech College of Management. —Sean Smith Photos by Lee Pellegrini “Welcome Additions,” an occasional feature, profiles new faculty members at Boston College.
NOTA BENE Joseph T. and Patricia Vanderslice Millennium Professor of Chemistry and department chairman Amir H. Hoveyda last week traveled to Japan to receive the 2010 Yamada-Koga Prize, an international award given annually by the Chemical Society of Japan to an organic chemist who has had a major impact in the field of synthesis of optically active compounds. Hoveyda received the award last Friday at a one-day symposium in Tokyo, where he presented the award lecture and was joined by speakers from around the world. In addition to his speech in Tokyo, Hoveyda planned to make several other presentations throughout the country during his visit. Don Aucoin, an adjunct faculty member in the Communication Department who also teaches in the Woods College of Advancing Studies, has been named chief theater critic of The Boston Globe.
NEWSMAKERS A forum on financial reforms hosted by Boston College with speakers US Rep. Barney Frank (D-Mass.), FDIC Chair Sheila Bair and Paul Volcker, chair of the President’s Economic Recovery Board, was covered by the Boston Globe, Boston Herald, Reuters (via CNBC), Bloomberg News, Dow Jones News Service (via NASDAQ.com), Business Week, Fox Business News and TownHall.com. Kristoffer Munden ’11 was among a group of Boston-area students interviewed by CBS Evening News anchor Katie Couric in Burns Library about their views on the midterm elections.
University Historian Thomas O’Connor’s writing on Boston archbishops was cited in an article on Cardinal Humberto Medeiros in the Boston Irish Reporter. Monan Professor of Theology Lisa Sowle Cahill was one of three scholars asked to respond by America magazine to an essay that contends today’s ethical challenges call for new moral thinking.
PUBLICATIONS Visiting Asst. Prof. Nadia Smith (History) published “From Dundalk
of Nyssa’s Ep. 38” at the North American Patristics Society’s annual meeting. •Asst. Prof. Dominic F. Doyle and Prof. Richard Lennan, “Lived Hope in a Secular Age” at the Catholic Theological Society of America’s annual meeting. •Assoc. Prof. Thomas D. Stegman, SJ, “Is Wright Right about Righteousness?” at the annual international meeting of the Catholic Biblical Association. •Asst. Prof. Nancy Pineda-Madrid presented lectures at the annual meetings of the Catholic Theological Society of America and the Academy of Catholic Hispanic Theologians of the United States. Part-time faculty member Fang Lu (Slavic and Eastern Languages) chaired a panel “Chinese Literary and Cultural Studies” at the 2010 New York Conference on Asian Studies, where he presented “From Negative to Positive: Shifting Images of Chinese Women in English translations (1890s-1950s) of Chinese Literary Works.”
BC BRIEFING
WBZ-TV News interviewed Prof. Dennis Shirley (LSOE) about the effect of poor air quality on students and teachers at a number of Massachusetts schools.
Prof. Marc Landy (Political Science) discussed Charlie Baker’s Massachusetts gubernatorial campaign with the Boston Herald. Center on Wealth and Philanthropy Director Paul Schervish spoke with USA Today on a new report on women and charitable giving. Assoc. Research Prof. Richard Spinello (CSOM) and Law School Interim Dean George Brown offered comments to the Boston Herald regarding the Massachusetts State Ethics Commission.
to Dublin: Dorothy Macardle’s Narrative Journey on Radio Eireann” in The Irish Review.
TIME AND A HALF Asst. Prof. Georg Strasser (Economics) presented “On the Correlation Structure of Microstructure Noise: A Financial Economic Approach” and discussed another paper at the DGB Annual Meeting 2010, Hamburg, Germany. School of Theology and Ministry faculty made the following presentations: •Assoc. Prof. Khaled E. Anatolios, “Ousia, Hypostasis, and the Rules of Trinitarian Contemplation: Gregory
O bituar y
Carolyn Thomas, 83; Helped Develop GSSW Doctoral Program
A memorial service for Professor Carolyn Bierce Thomas, a long-time faculty member in the Graduate School of Social Work, will be held at 2 p.m. today in 2101 Commonwealth Avenue on the University’s Brighton Campus. Dr. Thomas, an expert on child welfare and children’s services, died on Oct. 23 after a long struggle with cancer. She was 83. A resident of Newton, Dr. Thomas taught at the Graduate School of Social Work for 20 years prior to her retirement in 1988 and helped to develop a doctoral studies program at the school. She became chair of the doctoral program in 1981 and continued in that role until her retirement. Her inspired teaching and dedication to clinical social work students was perpetuated by her gift to Boston College of the Dr. Carolyn B. Thomas Fellowship Fund – an endowed fund she established in 1989 to help clinical social work students complete their doctoral studies. She also set up equivalent endowment funds at The Ohio State University and Kent State University. Dr. Thomas’ research interests were in the area of child welfare and children’s services. In an interview last year, she reminisced about her career as a researcher and the tension between practice and research and her commitment to students.
She said she always responded to a student’s knock on her door, inevitably pulling herself away from a research agenda. Born in Akron, Ohio, Dr. Thomas attended Ohio State University where she received bachelor’s and master’s degrees in social work. She worked for many years at the Family and Children’s Service Agency of Greater St. Louis before joining the second class of doctoral students at Smith College School of Social Work, where she was awarded a doctor of social work degree. In 1989 she was the recipient of the Greatest Contribution to Social Work Education Award from the National Association of Social Work in recognition of her contributions to doctoral education in social work. Dr. Thomas was preceded in death by her mother, Alice B. Thomas, her father Carl J. Thomas, her sister June T. Rogers and her husband William B. Rogers. She is survived by several nieces and nephews. Burial will be in Ohio. In lieu of flowers, donations may be made to the American Cancer Society research fund or to The Dr. Carolyn B. Thomas Fellowship for Doctoral Studies in Social Work at the Graduate School of Social Work. —Office of News & Public Affairs
Fitzgibbon Professor of Philosophy Marina McCoy gave a lecture on “Ecofeminism and neo-Aristotelian concepts of nature” at the Society for Ancient Greek Philosophy Annual meeting at Fordham in New York City. Prof. Maxim D. Shrayer (Eastern and Slavic Languages) gave a reading from his book Yom Kippur in Amsterdam at Colby College. Assoc. Prof. Elizabeth Kensinger (Psychology) presented the talk “Emotion and Memory Changes in Aging” for an event organized by the Alumni Association. Send items to: people.chronicle@bc.edu
JOB LISTINGS 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 http://www.bc.edu/offices/hr: Resident in Football Athletic Training, Athletic Association, Sports Medicine Director, Irish Institute Research Associate, TIMSS (Trends in Mathematics & Science Study) Information Security Analyst, Information Technology, Policy and Security Associate Director, Carroll School of Management Undergraduate Advising Part Time General Maintenance, Facilities Management, Athletic Maintenance Web Developer, Office of Marketing Communications Senior Associate Director, Marketing and Communications Instructional Web Producer, Instr’l Design & eTeaching Svs
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LOOKING AHEAD ‘A Great Read About Things That Matter’ Acclaimed novelist Gish Jen to serve as writer-in-residence next week at Boston College Excerpt from Gish Jen’s World and Town
Celebrated author Gish Jen — hailed by critics and much-loved by readers — will be on campus next week as writer-in-residence during Fiction Days. Her acclaimed new novel released last month, World and Town, will be a centerpiece of her Boston College activities. From Nov. 9-11, in addition to working with students, she will participate in events including a reading from World and Town followed by a signing, a discussion about the book and a dialogue on Asian American Studies. “I am really looking forward to coming to BC,” Jen said. “I see this as a wonderful opportunity to talk to students and faculty in depth about writing, of course, first and foremost — I love to work with budding writers — but also ethnicity, and religion, and globalization, and post-9/11 America in general.” Jen also has authored the novels Typical American — which was short-listed for a National Book Critics’ Circle Award and featured in a PBS special on the American novel — Mona in the Promised Land, and The Love Wife, and a collection of stories, Who’s Irish? Her work has been published in The New Yorker, Atlantic Monthly, the New York Times, Los Angeles Times and New Republic, as well as in numerous textbooks and anthologies, including The Best American Short Stories of the Century, edited by John Updike. “I am a longtime admirer of Gish Jen,” said Professor of English Elizabeth Graver, who was awarded a grant from the Institute for the Liberal Arts to support Jen’s residency. “She is a brilliant writer who
BC SCENES
Photo: Kris Snibbe/Harvard News Office
By Rosanne Pellegrini Staff Writer
Then down the road the trailer halves rolled, one after the other, their private parts all in public. Did not a body have to wonder how intelligently designed we can be when none of us has so much as a wheel-like option? Well, never mind. The most intriguing part of all this, to Hattie’s mind, had nothing to with the brute grunting and heaving-ho — or even the dawning realization that he halves were headed toward her house. (Which was not intriguing, by the way — which was a shock!) It was rather when one of the trailer halves passed her on the road. For in the kitchen, as it rumbled by, was a blink of a girl, holding up the cabinets. Young — fourteen or fifteen, Hattie guessed — a teaskinned pipsqueak of a thing with a swingy black ponytail and a shockingpink jacket.
manages, with humor, intelligence, and agility, to explore some of the most pressing issues of our time, among them: How do we form communities? How do language and belief play out in a multicultural contemporary America? How might we think about ‘identity’ in complex, fluid ways? “Her fiction is at once accessible and very rich and provocative — a great read about things that matter,” Graver added. “I also know from personal experience that Gish is fabulous with students and colleagues — a vibrant speaker and wonderful listener and teacher.” World and Town — currently sixth on the Boston Globe bestseller list, and included in O Magazine’s “10 Books to Read” for October — is described by publisher Knopf
as “a world-sized novel set in a small New England town.” Protagonist Hattie Kong is starting over, relocating to a new town, two years after enduring the deaths of her husband and best friend. The book, according to Jen’s website [http:// www.gishjen.com/], “asks deep and absorbing questions about religion, home, America, what neighbors are, what love is, and, in the largest sense, what ‘worlds’ we make of the world.” [The Boston Globe and New York Times are scheduled to run reviews of World and Town this Sunday.] Fiction Days events are free and open to the public. In addition to ILA sponsorship, support is provided by the Lowell Lectures Humanities Series, Fiction Days and Asian American Studies. Events include:
Reading from World and Town, with book signing; Nov. 9 at 7 p.m., Yawkey Athletics Center, Murray Function Room. [http:// www.bc.edu/lowell] “Book Club” style discussion of World and Town; Nov. 10 from 4-5:30 p.m., McGuinn 121. Dialogue on Asian American Studies with Q&A; Jen and Associate Professor of English Min Song, Nov. 11, 4:45–6 p.m., Devlin 008. While on campus, Jen will teach a master class to students in Graver’s fiction workshop and respond to short stories written by three students. She also will speak to students in Song’s Introduction to Asian American Literature course and will have lunch with a group writing senior honors projects composed of their own short stories. Senior Kelly Connolly, an English major whose work will be critiqued by Jen, is “very excited to have this opportunity. [Graver’s class] is already such a gift, because Professor Graver is so talented and my classmates always have such constructive suggestions, but Gish Jen’s presence definitely takes the experience to another level. “From what I’ve read of her work so far, I’m impressed by how rich and nuanced it is; there’s so much to find in her writing, but it isn’t cluttered,” she added. Graver and Song are among scholars participating in a “Judicial Review” of World and Town on Art Fuse [http://artsfuse.org/], a website devoted to the culture of New England. Jen will respond to the reviewers and the public — including students in Graver’s courses — is invited to comment online. Contact Rosanne Pellegrini at rosanne.pellegrini@bc.edu
DATE & TIME Dan DiLeo of the Catholic Coalition on Climate Change will present “Catholic Perspectives on Climate Change,” a lecture on the Catholic Church’s teaching and message on climate change and environmental stewardship, on Nov. 5 at 3:30 p.m. in Devlin 010. E-mail envstudies@bc.edu.
The trio of Gabriela Diaz (violin), Kate Kayaian (cello) and Sayuri Miyamoto (piano) will perform works by Haydn, Mozart and Beethoven on Nov. 7 at 4 p.m. in Gargan Hall of Bapst Library. Author Esther Dischereit will give a multi-media presentation, “Before the High Holy Days the House was Full of Whisperings and Rustlings” — her project on the German city of Dülmen, honoring the city’s former Jewish inhabitants — on Nov. 15 at 4 p.m. in Cushing 212. Gasson Professor Thomas Buckley, SJ, will present the 2010 Gasson Lecture, “Mentoring and Jesuit Education: Thomas Jefferson, Ignatius Loyola and Us,” on Nov. 15 at 4:30 p.m. at 9 Lake Street, Room 100. A reception will follow. [For more on Fr. Buckley, see http://bit.ly/c1DBzn]
FIRE AND ICE Photos by Justin Knight
Boston College formally celebrated the arrival of the winter sports season Oct. 26 at Conte Forum with the first-ever “IceJam,” which included skill exhibitions by Eagle basketball and hockey teams. Sports broadcaster Bob Costas (shown above chatting with BC women’s basketball coach Sylvia Crawley) was the master of ceremonies for the event.
Asst. Prof. Regine Jean-Charles (Romance Languages and Literatures), above, will give a talk, “A New Literature of Trauma: Post Earthquake Haitian Writing,” on Nov. 16 at a time and location to be announced. The event is sponsored through the Works in Progress Lecture Series, which showcases research and writing by faculty in the African and African Diaspora Studies Program. See http://tinyurl.com/32bgucr. For more on Boston College campus events, see events.bc.edu or www. bc.edu/bcinfo.