Boston College Chronicle

The Boston College

Chronicle Published by the Boston College Office of News & Public Affairs april 11, 2013 VOL. 21 no. 15

•Sesquicentennial ‘tour’ comes to BC, page 2

•Acoustics to celebrate 20th year, page 2 •Week of appreciation for grad students, page 2 •Controversy on condoms roils campus, page 3 •Boisi to be honored at Wall Street dinner, page 3

By Ed Hayward Staff Writer

Boston College sophomore Maria Asdourian, a biology major whose research interests focus on the neurobiology of Alzheimer’s disease, has been awarded a Barry M. Goldwater Scholarship, considered the premier undergraduate award in the sciences.

Goldwater Scholarships are awarded on the basis of academic merit to the country’s most promising college students in math, science and engineering. This year, 271 sophomores and juniors were

Maria Asdourian ’15

selected from among 1,107 nominees. Many Goldwater Scholars go on to earn prestigious postgraduate fellowships, including Rhodes, Marshall and Churchill

A DAY OF SPECIAL VISITORS Gary Gilbert

•News & Public Affairs welcomes new hires, page 3

BC Sophomore Awarded Goldwater Scholarship Ed Hayward

INSIDE

•Asian Pacific Heritage Month, page 4

•BC to hold Sustainability Fairs, page 4 •Blum, Deese are Fulbright Specialists, page 5 •Catholic Schools Foundation honors BC, page 5 •Fr. Leahy’s letter to the University community, page 6 •Colleagues give Altbach a scholarly send-off, page 7

On April 2, Boston College hosted two distinguished guests in the space of barely an hour: Above, Massachusetts Governor Deval Patrick presented “The Politics and Policies of Inclusion” in Robsham Theater, sponsored by the Graduate School of Social Work; over on Newton Campus, retired US Supreme Court Justice Sandra Day O’Connor took part in a symposium, “Law Schools and the Education of Democratic Citizens,” held as part of the University’s Sesquicentennial celebration.

Lee Pellegrini

•BC co-sponsors forum on James Q. Wilson, page 7 •Digital humanities conference, page 8

scholarships, and many others.

“I am grateful for this opportunity,” said Asdourian, a Burlington, Mass., native. “There are so many phenomenal science, math and engineering students throughout the country. It’s an honor to be a part of this group of Goldwater scholars.”

Asdourian said she was home for the Easter break when she found out she had received the prize, which provides scholarship assistance for two years.

“I think I screamed,” Asdourian said. “My mom was home and she thought there was some-

New BC Initiative Seeks to Advance Catholic Higher Ed

By Kathleen Sullivan Staff Writer

University Mission and Ministry is launching a new initiative, the Boston College Roundtable: Advancing the Mission of Catholic Higher Education, a series of gatherings where scholars from Catholic colleges and universities discuss the mission of American Catholic higher education through the lens of their academic disciplines.

The first roundtable, which will convene this weekend at the Connors Family Retreat and Conference Center, will focus on the theme “The Role of Charism and Hospi-

In a year of milestones for Boston College — 150th birthday, 100 years at Chestnut Hill — its smallest academic unit, the German Studies Department, has achieved one for itself.

This spring, at least five German Studies students have received Fulbright grants, bringing to 100 the total number of students in the department who have earned the

QUOTE:

tality in Catholic Colleges and Universities.” Three additional roundtables are planned over the next 24 months, on topics such as science and the person and the transcendent value of the liberal arts. Three or four scholars will present papers at each roundtable and the proceedings will be published in a journal.

“We are excited about this initiative,” said Lisa Hastings, interim director of Mission and Ministry’s Office of Faculty Outreach and Program Assessment, which is organizing the roundtables. “We are pleased that these scholars, representing not only theology and philosophy, but Continued on page 4

German Studies Department Hits the 100 Fulbrights Mark

By Sean Smith Chronicle Editor

•BC Arts Festival prepares for 15th year, page 8

thing wrong. But it was such a surprise. Both of my parents were so happy. It was nice to be home to share it with them.”

Asdourian attributes her interest in biological research, specifically in Alzheimer’s, to the difficult experience of watching her grandfather succumb to the disease.

“He always looked lost in his own thoughts and it was hard to see that,” said Asdourian. “But there were areas of cognition where he was fine – like playing backgammon or counting out Continued on page 4

prestigious post-baccalaureate studyabroad scholarships.

While that total encompasses the period dating back to the mid1980s, department chairman Professor Michael Resler notes that the past 15 years or so have seen a significant surge in annual German Studies Fulbright awards — including an unprecedented 13 in 2007 alone.

These would be enviable achievements for most any department, let Continued on page 5

“In his modest way, Michael Resler will insist he has played only a minor role in the success of our Fulbright applicants to Germany. But in fact, Michael enjoys national renown — or maybe I should say national envy — for what he has helped our students accomplish over the decades.”

—Vice Provost Donald Hafner, page 5

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Two decades for the ‘Stix’

#WeAreBC150 comes to Conte

Boston College’s “Walk Across Campus” program — part of the University’s HEALTHY YOU wellness initiative — continues to grow in popularity, with more than 1,200 employees (on 67 teams) signing up for this semester. Participants showed up at Brighton Campus on April 1 to celebrate the beginning of the spring program, which lasts until May 31.

For more information, see www.bc.edu/healthy-you.

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HEALTHY TURNOUT FOR ‘WALK ACROSS CAMPUS’

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tennial on the Road initiative has been incredible,” said Joy Moore ’81, H’10, director of stewardship and donor relations in University Advancement.

“Not only have we had record attendance at these regional events, but the feedback we are getting about the experience is overwhelmingly positive. Alumni are so pleased to have the opportunity to gather as ‘men and women for others’ to rally around our 150th anniversary in such a meaningful way.”

Another positive element to Saturday’s Sesquicentennial on the Road event, organizers note, is that it coincides with the National Day of Service, which has united Boston College alumni across the country for the past eight years to perform various tasks in support of their communities. Last year, more than 200 grads — representing 30 local alumni chapters from Maine to Hawaii — took part.

After Saturday, the celebration tour moves on to four more sites: San Francisco, New York, Dublin and Chicago. To learn more, see www.bc.edu/dayofservice or www. bc.edu/150ontheroad.

—Melissa Beecher

away on ’70s rock, ’80s pop, ’90s jams and millennial miscellany,” he said.

The ensemble has arranged the works of artists such as Lady Gaga, The Who, Carrie Underwood, Aerosmith, Jason Mraz, The Beatles, Justin Timberlake, Alanis Morissette, Adele and Usher, among many others.

The Acoustics have eight studio albums to their credit — including their most recent, “Sounds from a Stairwell,” released in 2011 — and will be

bringing out another, “How to Play Checkers,” this year.

Anticipating his final performances this weekend, Johnson said, “Auditioning for the Acoustics during my freshman year was the best decision I made in my four years at BC. They are family to me and I could not ask for a better group of people with which to have spent the majority of my four years.

“I have gotten to know a number of the alumni and am thrilled that there are 70 alumni returning, representing all 20 years of Acoustics’ existence. It will be a bittersweet show, leaving a group of people I love dearly. But as they say, when one door closes, another opens, and I can’t wait to be a part of the alumni ranks!”

For more on the Acoustics, see www.thebostoncollegeacoustics. com.

—Rosanne Pellegrini CA ND M U O P

With two successful stops already in its rearview mirror, Sesquicentennial on the Road, #WeAreBC150, will come to campus this Saturday for a day of service in celebration of Boston College’s 150th birthday.

The goal of the seven-city Sesquicentennial on the Road tour — which has already held popular gatherings in Miami and Los Angeles — is simple: Have alumni pack 150,000 meals for hungry families in honor of the Jesuit philosophy of homines pro aliis (“men and women for others”). Each event is familyfriendly and offers Eagles a chance to reconnect while they serve. In partnership with Catholic Relief Services and Stop Hunger Now, each Sesquicentennial on the Road event is a Helping Hands service project site.

More than 65,600 meals have already been sent to hungry families and more than 800 alumni have registered for the event this Saturday. In fact, Sesquicentennial on the Road organizers say the event, which takes place in Conte Forum, has generated so much interest that it will be split into two sessions, one each in the morning and afternoon.

“The response to the Sesquicen-

members, a number which continues to grow each semester.”

Since the group’s beginnings in 1993, its fun, quirky and theatrical performance style has made it a fan favorite. The “Stix” — as the group is known informally — prides itself on “the diversity of our repertoire, wailing

AR

Boston College alumni and family members helped pack meals for the needy at a recent Sesquicentennial on the Road event in Miami.

Self-described as “a group rich in weird traditions and family values, in love with one another and with the music we make together,” the Boston College Acoustics celebrate the two-decade mark with a 20th Anniversary Alumni Show this Saturday.

The free, public event, at 6 p.m. in Devlin 008, features an alumni reunion and farewell to the four senior members of the spirited a cappella ensemble.

Some 70 alumni will return to campus “from literally around the world,” according to Acoustics President Matthew Johnson ’13, who looks forward to welcoming the ex-Acoustics back to campus for several weekend events. They will perform in a concert on Friday, take the stage with the current group on Saturday afternoon, and attend the Saturday night show.

“The buzz among Acoustics alumni has been considerable,” Johnson said. “We heard back from nearly 90 percent of all alumni. We have been blessed by the contributions of almost 150

Showing grad students the love Boston College graduate students attended a TEDTalks-style symposium, took part in volunteer and community service activities, and enjoyed a few special treats during an “Appreciation Week” April 2-7 that was organized by the Graduate Student Association, University Libraries, BC Recreation and the Office of Graduate Student Life.

This was the second year BC held an appreciation week for graduate students — the National Association of Graduate-Professional Students has designated the first full week of April to recognize the contributions and importance of graduate students in the US — according to Office of Graduate Student Life Director R. Darrell Peterson, who added that an expanded calendar of events is already planned for next year.

“Our goal is to celebrate and honor the teaching assistants, research assistants, graduate residence hall staff, graduate student leaders and all graduate association leaders and all students pursuing graduate and professional degrees at Boston College,” he said. “Graduate students comprise a third of the total student enrollment at BC, and we wanted to show our love and appreciation for graduate students and all the wonderful gifts and talents that they bring to the campus community.”

The week — which included

promotions such as free membership at the Flynn Recreation Complex and a “Grad Night Out” discount at a local coffee shop, as well as an ice cream social at Murray House, the University’s graduate student center — featured a talk by Academic Advising Center Director Akua Sarr, “Diversity and Career: Breaking the Glass Ceiling,” sponsored by the Graduate AHANA Student Association.

Another event was “Grad Talks,” a symposium inspired by TEDTalks — a foundation-sponsored series devoted to “ideas worth spreading” — at which students made presentations on a topic that fired them with passion, such as academic research, an experience abroad, or a lesson from a life-altering event.

Finishing out the week was the annual “Grads Give Back” weekend of service, which gave graduate students the opportunity to help out at several area non-profits. BC volunteers worked on beautification and landscaping projects at Franklin Park Zoo, Cristo Rey High School, Matthew 25 (which provides food and housing relief to the needy) and the Chestnut Hill Reservoir, and provided assistance to the AllstonBrighton Food Pantry and the Boston Area Rape Crisis Center “Walk for Change.”

—Sean Smith

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 Rosanne Pellegrini Kathleen Sullivan Michael Maloney Photographers

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.

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University Addresses Dispute Over Condom Distribution Boston College is engaged in a controversy over condom distribution on the BC campus that has caught the attention of the University community and several national media outlets.

The issue involves an unrecognized student group called BC Students for Sexual Health (BCSSH), which has led an effort to make condoms readily available to students on campus. The group has clashed with administrators from Student Affairs who say public distribution of condoms is in conflict with Catholic values and the University’s code of conduct.

In an interview with the Boston Globe, BCSSH chairwoman Elizabeth Jakanowski ’13 said she sees distribution of contraceptives on and off campus to be within the group’s rights and in accordance with BC’s Jesuit mission. “We see it as very intrinsic of being a Jesuit that we provide these resources and affirm the whole person,” said Jakanowski.

Dean of Students Paul Chebator said in an interview that while

students are free to choose to possess condoms, their public distribution on campus is in conflict with BC’s Jesuit, Catholic mission.

The issue surfaced after Chebator and Director of Residential Life George Arey sent a letter to students living in BC dorm rooms, which the group designated as “Safe Sites,” advising them that condom distribution from their rooms violates University policy. “We call your attention to the BC Student Guide which indicates that BC students have ‘The responsibility to respect the values and traditions of Boston College as a Jesuit, Catholic institution,’” the letter said. “The distribution of condoms is not congruent with our values and traditions.”

Upon receipt of the letter, students from BCSSH launched a media campaign in which they claimed that they “were never directly asked to stop distributing condoms,” a contention that Chebator and Arey reject. “In every meeting, students were told that distributing condoms in residence halls on campus was

against University policy and that they needed to stop distributing condoms if they wanted to continue working with the University,” said Chebator. “When the students did not respond to our repeated warnings, we issued them a letter of warning on March 15.”

Boston College contends that there are certain commitments that it is called to uphold as a Jesuit, Catholic university. “Students who choose to enroll at BC are asked to be respectful of these commitments,” said University Spokesman Jack Dunn.

“They are free to disagree with them, but they are asked to be respectful of them and to adhere to the code of conduct that governs all students.”

Administrators at Catholic colleges and universities such as Georgetown, Holy Cross and Notre Dame said that BC’s policies mirror their own and demonstrate a collective commitment to Catholic values.

Student critics of BCSSH, who have launched an online petition and letter campaign, believe the group demonstrates a lack of respect for

The Office of News & Public Affairs recently welcomed two new staff members, both of them Boston College alumni: Associate Director Sean Hennessey ’87, MBA ’03 and Video Producer Sean Casey ’12.

Hennessey, who holds a degree in English as well as an MBA from the University, comes to NPA with more than two decades of experience in television news that includes one Emmy Award and nominations for two others. He spent the last six years as a news reporter at WCBSTV in New York City, and a contributor to the CBS Evening News, “CBS Up to the Minute,” the “CBS Early Show” and CNN. Prior to WCBS, Hennessey was news reporter and anchor at WHDH-TV in Boston for almost 11 years, and at WRPI-TV in Providence from 1994-96; he also worked as a reporter/anchor at stations in Columbus, Ohio; Charlotte, NC; Roanoke, Va., and Sioux City, Ia., among other places.

As associate director at NPA, Hennessey will oversee the office’s daily promotion of faculty experts in the media with a focus on national TV outlets. He will also serve as the NPA office liaison to the Carroll School of Management.

The co-owner and production director for 40 Shades Media, Casey was a video and multimedia producer at Northeastern University, where among other projects he created videos for the Bouvé College of Health Sciences School of Pharmacy and the Office of Marketing and Communications.

Photos by Lee Pellegrini

Hennessey, Casey Join News & Public Affairs

Sean Hennessey

Sean Casey

While at BC, where he majored in Film Studies, Casey was creator, founder and executive producer for student programming on BCTV and produced and created several videos for the University.

Casey will create and produce videos for NPA and University Advancement — his position is shared by both offices — that will be available via the newly designed Boston College YouTube channel and other social media channels.

“Sean Hennessey brings a unique

understanding of broadcast television to complement the office’s ongoing efforts to promote faculty expertise in the media,” said News & Public Affairs Director Jack Dunn.

“Sean Casey has a proven track record of film production that will enable the University to promote its accomplishments and distinctive mission through this essential medium. His addition will help the Office of News & Public Affairs and University Advancement to tell their stories in the most compelling way.”

BC YouTube Channel Revamped Boston College has unveiled a newly redesigned YouTube channel [www.youtube.com/bostoncollege] that will offer videos produced by the Office of News & Public Affairs and Office of Marketing Communications.

The channel also features links to videos produced through the Alumni Association, BC Arts Festival, Athletics, Campus Recreation, the Career Center, the Center for Retirement Research, Center for Work & Family, the Church in the 21st Century Center, Graduate School of Social Work, Irish Music Center, Law School, Lynch School of Education, Office of International Programs and Office of Student Services.

To contact site administrators, send email to social@bc.edu.

BC’s Catholic identity and school policies.

“It’s not just a matter of Catholic teaching,” said Ethan Mack ’15 in an interview with the National Catholic Register. “It is a privilege for any of us to live on campus, and they are using that privilege to violate school policy, which conforms to Church teaching. You can’t ask for the privilege of living on private property, and then flagrantly violate the policies of that property.”

Currently, leaders from BCSSH, Campus Ministry and University Mission and Ministry are meeting in the hope of reaching an understanding that has eluded students and administrators in years past. Administrators say that they hope through honest and constructive dialogue, both sides can attempt to gain a better understanding of their respective concerns, and that the issue can be appropriately resolved.

Clough Professor of History James O’Toole said such controversial discussions among students and administrators are not uncommon

and have a longstanding history at BC and other Catholic colleges and universities.

“During the Vietnam War era, there was considerable debate on college campuses, including this one, about the presence of ROTC,” said O’Toole. “For a Catholic institution like BC, the dilemma was this: Did ROTC — even though it provided financial aid to students and thus enabled them to attend school — constitute something that ran contrary to Catholic teachings on war and peace?

“Later, when the Church in the 21st Century initiative began, one of its key ideas was that universities are the places where the Church does its thinking. Catholic universities are places to explore the roles and responsibilities of the various members of the Church, and where the views of lay people on compelling issues of the day can or should be taken into account. No matter the issue, the discussion itself is valuable.”

—Office of News & Public Affairs

Boisi Guest of Honor at 25th Wall Street Dinner Finance executive and longtime Boston College supporter Geoffrey T. Boisi ’69 will be honored at the 25th annual Boston College Wall Street Council Tribute Dinner, to be held April 25 at the Waldorf Astoria in New York City.

Boisi will be presented with the President’s Medal for Excellence in recognition of his exceptional career, as well as his personal and professional contributions to society.

The chairman and CEO of Roundtable Investment Partners, LLC, Boisi is a founding member of the Boston College Wall Street Council, a network of more than 1,700 alumni, parents and friends who work in and represent the financial community in New York. Through its annual dinners, the council has raised more than $18 million for the Presidential Scholars Program, an honors program that combines rigorous course work, community service, international experience and internships.

Since its inception, more than 250 Presidential Scholars have attended BC, earning some of the most prestigious academic awards, including Fulbright grants and Rhodes, Marshall, Truman, Beckman, and Goldwater scholarships, among many others.

A 27-year member of the Board of Trustees, Boisi served as its chairman from 1993 to 1996 and is now a trustee associate.

He and his wife Rene Isacco Boisi ’69 endowed the Boisi Center for Religion and American Public Life at BC. Boisi co-founded MENTOR/National Mentoring Partnership, a leader in connecting America’s young people with caring adult mentors. He also serves on a number of civic, educational and religious boards. His honors include the American Red Cross of Greater New York’s Humanitarian Award, the Cancer Research Institute’s Oliver R. Grace Award for Distinguished Service in Advancing Cancer Research, and the National Catholic Educational Association’s Elizabeth Seton Award.

—Kathleen Sullivan

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Continued from page 1 jelly beans. I just felt sad and independent research, using the frustrated that he was written off sensitive technique of x-ray difwhile still here.” fraction, has revealed previously In addition to better under- unsuspected changes in periphstanding the pathology of Al- eral myelin structure that bear zheimer’s, she is particularly in- similarities to cuprizone-induced terested in whether the brain’s defects found in the central nerability to adapt and “re-wire” vous system. itself holds secrets that could one Kirschner wrote in his nomiday lead to therapies to combat nation letter, “Maria is precisely Alzheimer’s and other neurologi- the kind of exceptional student cal diseases. who would truly Asdourian, “Growing up, the most benefit from the who plans to opportunities (a earn an MD/ important thing was to Goldwater ScholPhD after gradube of service to others and arship) would ation, has been provide – not to be welcoming to the only for the enan undergraduate researcher in the couragement it people in your life.” lab of Professor will give her in —Maria Asdourian ’15 her of Biology Danlaboratory iel A. Kirschner, research and ina structural neutended career, but robiologist who also for the netstudies the molecular organiza- working opportunities with peers tion of Alzheimer’s disease pro- and scientists that will be affordteins and diseases of nerve myelin ed to her through this honor.” in the peripheral and central nerAsdourian credited her father vous systems.

Avo, an architect, and her mothKirschner, who nominated er Esther, a chiropractor, with Asdourian for the scholarship, setting examples that inspired her said she devoured scientific ar- work ethic and instilled a desire ticles he suggested she read and to help others. later established herself as a quick “Growing up, the most imstudy in the lab despite having no portant thing was to be of service bench experience prior to arriv- to others and to be welcoming ing at the University. to the people in your life. Those Among the many undergrad- were constant messages,” she said uates who have worked in his lab of her parents, who emigrated throughout the years, Kirschner from Lebanon to the US, where said Asdourian “has uniquely Maria was born. demonstrated an unusual talent Contact Ed Hayward at for and exceptional passion about ed.hayward@bc.edu neurobiological research.” Her

Sustainability Fairs Start Today Boston College’s sustainability practices and activities will be in the spotlight during the latter part of April, with a trio of Sustainability Fairs on campus today, April 18 and 29.

Today’s event will take place from 11:30 a.m.-1:30 p.m. on Lower Campus in Corcoran Commons Plaza (inside on the second floor of Corcoran Commons if raining). The April 18 fair will be held in the Stuart Hall Lounge on Newton Campus from 11:30 a.m.-1:30 p.m., while the April 29 fair — which is co-sponsored with the BC Outdoor Club — is on Stokes Hall Lawn from 11 a.m.-3 p.m.

Organizers say the Sustainability Fairs will highlight the work of the University’s Office of Sustainability and other similarly focused groups that are contributing to the events, including the Office of Parking and Transportation, Information Technology Services, Procurement Services, Facilities Services, BC Grounds, Athletics, Waste Management, BClean, Dining Services, Office of Residential Life, the Environmental Studies Program, and various BC student eco-groups.

In addition to exhibits and displays about campus sustainability, Facilities Services and the Office of Engineering and Energy Management will give away free refillable water bottles and LED light bulbs. Healthy and sustainable snack options will also be available.

See the Office of Sustainability website at www.bc.edu/sustainability.

—Office of News & Public Affairs

‘DECADE OF DISCOVERY’

The Boston College community gathered to celebrate the start of Asian Pacific American Heritage Month on April 3 in the Yawkey Center Murray Room, where chef, restaurateur and author Ming Tsai spoke (at right). Upcoming events include a charity and service initiative cook-off this Sunday in the Higgins Atrium, with donations going to Second Harvest Asia. For more information, see the Office of AHANA Student Programs website at www.bc.edu/ahana.

Photos by Lee Pellegrini

BC Set to Inaugurate Roundtable Initiative Continued from page 1 also disciplines such as political science, physics, biology and economics, have made the commitment to this series.

“Our hope is to advance the conversation about mission, identity, and the Catholic intellectual tradition through the eyes of scholars across academic fields so we can examine what difference a faith-based education makes in the contemporary context,” she added.

The idea for The Boston College Roundtable came from conversations between University President William P. Leahy, SJ, and Vice President for University Mission and Ministry Jack Butler, SJ. Woods College of Advancing Studies Interim Dean Rev. James Burns, IVD, then-director of faculty outreach and program assessment, implemented the idea and recruited the roundtable participants.

The scholars presenting papers at the April 12-14 roundtable are: University Professor of English Paul Mariani (“Charism and the Literary Imagination”); Providence College Theology Department Chairwoman Aurelie A. Hagstrom (“The Role of Charism and Hospitality in the Academy”), and Georgetown University Theology Professor and Georgetown College Dean Chester Gillis (“Welcoming the Religiously Other to a Catholic University”).

In addition to Mariani, other Boston College faculty members participating in the roundtable are: College of Arts and Sciences Dean and History Professor David Quigley, Theology Professor Rev. Mi-

Lee Pellegrini

Asdourian Earns Goldwater

DeLuca Professor Marc Muskavitch, a participant at this weekend’s Boston College Roundtable: “I hope that the sharing among colleagues of perspectives on mission during these roundtables will enrich my understanding of that mission and its realization, and do the same for my colleagues.”

chael Himes and DeLuca Professor of Biology Marc Muskavitch.

“Working to understand and help realize more fully the mission of Boston College has been an important part of my life as a member of the BC community,” said Muskavitch. “I hope that the sharing among colleagues of perspectives on mission during these roundtables will enrich my understanding of that mission and its realization, and do the same for my colleagues.”

Additional roundtable participants are: Eileen Botting, University of Notre Dame associate professor of political science; John C. Cavadini, University of Notre Dame professor of theology; John D. Cunningham, SJ, Loyola University Chicago associate professor of physics; Marian Diaz, University

of Dayton religious studies lecturer; Kevin Hughes, Villanova University associate professor of theology and religious studies; William C. Mattison III, The Catholic University of America associate professor of moral theology; Amata Miller, IHM, St. Catherine University professor of economics; Thomas G. Plante, Santa Clara University Augustin Cardinal Bea, SJ, university professor and adjunct clinical professor of psychiatry and behavioral sciences at Stanford University School of Medicine; Katarina Schuth, OSF, St. Thomas (Minn.)

Endowed Chair for the Social Scientific Study of Religion, and William Werpehowski, Villanova University professor of Christian ethics.

Monsignor Melchor Jose Sanchez De Toca y Alameda, secretary of the Pontifical Council for Culture, will attend the roundtable as an observer. Also serving as observers will be Fr. Burns, Hastings, Vice Provost for Faculties Patricia DeLeeuw, Church in the 21st Century Center Director Erik Goldschmidt, Intersections Program Director Burton Howell, Roche Center for Catholic Education fellow Michael James, College of Arts and Sciences Senior Associate Dean and Law Associate Professor Gregory Kalscheur, SJ, Faculty Outreach and Program Assessment Assistant Director Timothy Muldoon, and School of Theology and Ministry Associate Director of Spiritual Formation Barbara Quinn, RSCJ. The University Mission and Ministry website is www.bc.edu/mission.

Contact Kathleen Sullivan at kathleen.sullivan@bc.edu

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Lee Pellegrini

Two Boston College faculty members will have the opportunity to share their expertise internationally through the United States Fulbright Program.

Law School Associate Professor E. Joan Blum and Professor of Political Science David A. Deese are on the Fulbright Program’s national roster of Fulbright Specialists, which promotes linkages between US academics and professionals and their counterparts at host institutions overseas, and awards grants in select disciplines for short-term collaborative projects in more than 100 countries.

Blum, in fact, will shortly depart for a Fulbright Specialist project at the University of Sarajevo, where during the next month she will consult with curriculum planners on expanding experiential learning opportunities for students, and make presentations to, and hold discussions with, faculty at the university.

She also will lead a daily twoweek intensive demonstration course, Introduction to US Advisory Practice, which will provide an introduction to the US legal system and to legal problem solving through a simulation in which students act as

Frank Curran

Two Faculty Members on Roster of Fulbright Specialists

E. Joan Blum

David Deese

practicing business lawyers.

The project will enrich Blum’s already considerable experience with the nascent Bosnian legal system.

In 2009 and 2011, she conducted training programs on legal analysis and writing on behalf of the US Department of Justice Office of Overseas Prosecutorial Development, Assistance and Training for judges and legal officers of the War Crimes section of the State Court of Bosnia and Herzegovina. During 2012, she was an in-house consultant on legal analysis and writing to the State Court, and conducted training pro-

grams on judicial writing and drafting appeals in war crimes cases.

“In Bosnia, as in most of Europe, legal education is more an academic discipline and less practice oriented, although they are beginning to incorporate some more practical experiences, such as moot court,” said Blum, who joined the faculty in 1985. “Last fall, I spoke with the dean of Sarajevo University Law School about the possibility of my working with law faculty to develop courses that, through experiential learning in the context of simulations, promote values associated with

rule of law, including reflection, professional identity, and professional responsibility, in addition to teaching lawyering skills.

“I’m particularly excited to embark on this project, because my primary teaching at BC introduces the work of practicing lawyers and orients our first-year students to the materials and methods of the law,” she said. “Next fall, I will also be teaching Introduction to the Legal System of the United States to our LLM students. I am enthused about the synergy of teaching similar material to three very different groups of students — our first-year JD students, our international LLM students, and law students in Bosnia — and how I can use that synergy to benefit all three groups.”

Deese, whose research focuses on the international dimensions of political economic reform in developing, resource-based states and the Middle East region in particular, was gratified by his selection as a Fulbright Specialist.

“It is indeed exciting to broaden my mission, and to serve as a scholarly resource for universities and research centers from Indonesia to South Africa, Russia, or China,” he

5

said.

The author of The International Political Economy of Trade; Globalization: Causes and Effects; Economic Freedom: Causes and Consequences; and World Trade Politics: Power, Principles, and Leadership, Deese also studies leadership of international bargaining and negotiations and the interaction of economics and security in US foreign policy.

In addition to his research activities, Deese’s academic training and professional career focuses significantly on cross-cultural education, exchanges and program development. At BC, he helped create summer study programs on the European Union in Belgium and in Kuwait, which evolved into a BC-American University of Kuwait partnership. He also has served as an external reviewer for BC foreign study programs in South America, the Middle East, Australia and Europe.

For more information about the Fulbright Specialist Program, see www.cies.org/specialists.

—Office of News & Public Affairs; intern Meghan Dunn ’15 contributed to this report

Lee Pellegrini

It’s 100 Fulbrights (and Counting) for German Studies

Continued from page 1 alone one with three full-time and three part-time faculty members and 34 combined majors and minors. In this case, small isn’t simply beautiful — it’s effective, according to Resler.

“Because of our size, we’re able to give students lots of face time and mentoring,” he said. “It’s the students, of course, who ultimately deserve the credit for the Fulbrights and other accomplishments: They are talented, intelligent, hard-working, and committed to getting the most out of their education.”

The success of German Studies on the Fulbrights front has been self-sustaining, he added. “Word gets around the BC student grapevine that, if you want to be wellprepared for rigorous academics, take German.

“At the same time, Fulbright grants have taken on increasing importance for students interested in graduate education. They know how critical it is to gain proficiency in a language, and that Fulbrights launch you into so many potential opportunities.”

Caroline Kita, a 2004 alumna who majored in history and minored in German Studies, can readily attest to the difference a Fulbright — and BC’s German Studies faculty — can make. Her Fulbright project in Vienna, on Austrian-Jewish poet Siegfried Lipiner and his intellectual exchange with composer Gustav Mahler, evolved

Michael Resler

into the dissertation for her doctoral degree in German studies, which she received from Duke in 2011. Currently a visiting assistant professor at the College of the Holy Cross, Kita will join Washington University in St. Louis as an assistant professor of German this fall.

“My fondest memories of German Studies at BC were the professors,” said Kita. “[Associate Professor] Rachel Freudenberg was my first teacher, and she truly fostered my love of the language and made it fun. I never would have even considered applying for the Fulbright without the encouragement of Michael Resler, who remains an inspiration to me as a teacher and mentor to this day. Having a professor recognize your potential and reach out to you can have an enormous impact on how you approach your studies.”

“The question is, ‘How didn’t

the Fulbright year affect my life,’” said Heather Broberg ’03, a teaching assistant at a German gymnasium in her Fulbright year, now an admissions and recruitment staff member in the Washington Semester Program. “Without my Fulbright experience, I would have never worked at the Germany Embassy in Washington, DC, which I had the opportunity to do as a US national. I even got to meet Chancellor Angela Merkel and shake her hand. My Fulbright experience has afforded me many opportunities both personal and professional.”

John McQuade ’09, who taught economics and English during his Fulbright year in Germany, also affirms the care and attention of German Studies faculty: He remembers sending a draft of his Fulbright application to Resler at 2 a.m. one night, and getting a response a halfhour later.

“An overlooked benefit of studying another language and culture is how it trains your brain to accept one input, put it in context, digest and translate the thoughts communicated, and respond concisely and coherently,” said McQuade, now assistant vice president at Bessemer Trust. “The broad nature and flexibility of the liberal arts education I received at Boston College, in particular the German Studies Department, provided me with the groundwork I needed to succeed both in my Fulbright experience

and professional career.”

Vice Provost for Undergraduate Academic Affairs Donald Hafner said, “In his modest way, Michael Resler will insist he has played only a minor role in the success of our Fulbright applicants to Germany. But in fact, Michael enjoys national renown — or maybe I should say national envy — for what he has helped our students accomplish over the decades. And when occasionally our applicants

to Germany have not been successful, they still have been rewarded with all the encouragement and guidance that Michael lavishes on his students, even years after they graduate.

“Knowing Michael, he’ll pause for a day or so to celebrate this 100 — and the day after, he’ll start working on the next 100.”

Contact Sean Smith at sean.smith@bc.edu

Foundation Honors BC The Catholic Schools Foundation honored University President William P. Leahy, SJ, and Boston College’s extensive partnerships with Catholic schools, at the foundation’s recent 23rd annual Inner-City Scholarship Fund gala.

The annual event supports financial aid to as many as 5,000 students across grades K-12 in Boston’s Catholic schools. The foundation estimates it will award $6.5 million in scholarships, $1 million in program grants to schools and another $500,000 in donorspecified initiatives.

Catholic Schools Foundation Executive Director Michael R. Reardon praised Fr. Leahy for his leadership and vision, which have helped to

shape BC’s initiatives on behalf of Catholic schools.

Among the speakers at the celebration was BC sophomore Jonathan Pierre, who also attended St. Columbkille and BC High with scholarship aid from the foundation.

Boston College, through efforts led by the Lynch School of Education, collaborates with Catholic schools through a multi-tiered strategy that provides services for students, program grants, strategic planning, leadership development, and professional development and graduate school courses for educators.

Read more on the University’s work with Catholic schools at http://bit.ly/Ybel9B. —Ed Hayward

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Fr. Leahy Provides Annual Update on University Affairs Since 2009, President William P. Leahy, SJ, has provided an annual update about Boston College to admininistrators, faculty, staff, students, alumni and friends of the University. The following letter was sent to the University community on April 11.

Dear Members of the Boston College Community: As we mark the 150th anniversary of Boston College’s founding in April, 1863, I write to provide an update on Sesquicentennial events as well as note some significant advances in the areas of facilities, personnel, finances, academics, and fundraising.

The Sesquicentennial We launched our Sesquicentennial celebration in September with a Mass at Fenway Park attended by approximately 20,000 alumni, students, parents, and friends. In his homily, Fr. Michael Himes, professor of theology, suggested that what unites us with God is our humanity, and what makes us more human and more like God is helping others to become more human. That conviction, he proposed, lies at the heart of Jesuit education, which he described as a gift only fully realized when given away to others.

In the fall semester, the University hosted two Sesquicentennial symposia: “Education and its Role in Democratic Societies,” and “Religion and the Liberal Aims of Higher Education.” It also presented the first Sesquicentennial Medal to Harvard University President Drew Faust, in recognition of her commitment to scholarship and the liberal arts.

On March 21-22, the University convened an academic gathering focused on “Migration: Past, Present and Future,” which included a naturalization ceremony and resulting citizenship for 94 immigrants from 42 countries. One of these new American citizens was a Boston College freshman originally from Bhutan whose family now lives in Concord, NH. It was a momentous day not only for those who were granted citizenship, but also for Boston College, whose own history is rooted in the immigrant experience.

Another well-received event was the Sesquicentennial Concert on March 23 at Symphony Hall in Boston, which featured performances by the University Chorale, the Boston College Symphony Orchestra, BC bOp!, and the University Wind Ensemble, as well as narration of Aaron Copland’s “A Lincoln Portrait” by actor Chris O’Donnell ’92. On April 2, retired Supreme Court Justice Sandra Day O’Connor participated in a panel discussion at the Boston College Law School symposium, “Law Schools and the Education

of Democratic Citizens,” in which she encouraged students to become more engaged in the civic process.

Particularly impressive among our 150th anniversary activities has been the willingness of Boston College students to volunteer 150 minutes of community service through the Eagle Volunteers program, and the response of our alumni to the goal of preparing 150,000 meals for distribution by Catholic Relief Services in Africa. At our seven-city “150 On the Road” events in Los Angeles and Miami, BC alumni and parent volunteers packed more than 65,000 meals to be shipped to Burkina Faso in West Africa. Similar programs will be held in Boston (April 13), San Francisco (April 20), New York (April 27), Dublin (May 4), and Chicago (June 15).

Facilities Stokes Hall, featuring 36 new classrooms and offices for faculty in the departments of classics, English, history, philosophy, and theology, opened on schedule in January and has been a powerful affirmation of Boston College’s longstanding commitment to liberal arts education.

Renovation of St. Mary’s Hall began in January with the move of the Boston College Jesuit Community to 2000 Commonwealth Avenue, an apartment building owned by Boston College. When completed in December, 2014, this project will result in remodeled living quarters for the Jesuit Community and 24,000 square feet of academic space for the Computer Science and Communication departments and the Woods College of Advancing Studies.

Personnel Brad Bates, named director of athletics in October, has hosted a series of meetings and listening sessions with fans and alumni around the country as he familiarizes himself with our athletics program and sets his goals for the future. In addition, the announcement of a new vice president for student affairs should be made before the end of the academic year.

Finances At its March meeting, the Board of Trustees set tuition at $44,870, part of an overall increase in tuition, room, board and fees of 3.6 percent. The board also increased need-based financial aid for undergraduates by 7.9 percent, to $97 million, with overall student aid reaching $152 million.

Boston College is one of only 21 private institutions of higher education in the United States with a policy of accepting undergraduate applicants on a need-blind basis and

In the fall semester, the University hosted two Sesquicentennial symposia: “Education and its Role in Democratic Societies,” and “Religion and the Liberal Aims of Higher Education.” It also presented the first Sesquicentennial Medal to Harvard University President Drew Faust [shown with Fr. Leahy in photo], in recognition of her commitment to scholarship and the liberal arts.

Photo by Lee Pellegrini

also meeting their full demonstrated financial need. While we are proud of this distinction, maintaining this commitment in the future will require a major increase in support for financial aid the endowment.

The University continues to pursue operational efficiencies to reduce costs and redirect savings to fund strategic academic initiatives, an effort led by Executive Vice President Pat Keating, Financial Vice President and Treasurer Peter McKenzie, Provost and Dean of Faculties Bert Garza, and Vice President for Human Resources Leo Sullivan. Since 2009, the University has achieved approximately $20 million in budget reductions and savings through focused attention on health care, energy, printing, and use of facilities.

Academics This year Boston College added a supplemental essay to the undergraduate admission process in an effort to attract the most serious and committed students. The result has been not only a smaller applicant pool (25,000 applicants, which is more in line with our principal competitors) but also what Admission Director John Mahoney calls the best-suited and most academically talented group of potential BC freshmen in our history.

The undergraduate core curriculum, last reviewed in 1991, has been the subject of comprehensive study this academic year. A team of faculty and academic administrators, led

by Institute for the Liberal Arts Director Mary Crane, College of Arts and Sciences Dean David Quigley, Carroll School of Management Dean Andy Boynton, and Biology Chairman Tom Chiles, continues to work with the consulting firm Continuum on core renewal. They have sought and obtained extensive comments from members of the campus community, and hope to present results from their consultation and deliberations in the next six to eight weeks.

Again this year Boston College faculty and students have excelled in and out of the classroom, and I offer

the following as examples: •Assistant Professors of Mathematics Joshua Greene and David Treumann won prestigious 2013 Sloan Research Fellowships, bringing to six the number of Sloan Fellowships won by BC faculty in the past two years.

•Lynch School of Education Associate Professor Michael Barnett was named the 2012 Massachusetts Professor of the Year by the Carnegie Foundation for the Advancement of Teaching and the Council for Advancement and Support of Education.

•Economics Professor Uzi Segal was elected a Fellow of the Econometric Society, the world’s leading learned society for economists.

•Professor Lawrence Scott, holder of the Vanderslice Family Chair in Chemistry, was named a Fellow of the American Chemical Society.

•McCarthy Professor of Systematic Theology Richard Gaillardetz was named president-elect of the Catholic Theological Society of America.

•Assistant Professor of Mathematics J. Elisenda Grigsby received a CAREER award, the National Science Foundation’s most distinguished prize for junior faculty, in support of her work in low-dimensional topology.

•Professor of Russian, English and Jewish Studies Maxim D. Shrayer was awarded a Guggenheim Fellowship to support research on Holocaust studies.

•Aditya Ashok ’12, who won a Truman Scholarship for public service as a junior, was named a recipient of the prestigious George C. Marshall Scholarship for graduate study in the United Kingdom.

•Sophomore Maria Asdourian, who conducts Alzheimer’s research in the lab of Professor Dan Kirschner, was awarded a Goldwater Scholarship, considered the premier undergraduate award in the sciences.

•BC junior and Presidential Scholar Brooke Loughrin was named the first-ever US Youth Observer to the United Nations by the US State Department and the United Nations Association.

•Graduate students Jennifer Patey of the Connell School of Nursing and Caitlin Partyka of the Graduate School of Social Work were named 2012-13 Albert Schweitzer Fellows, to address global health issues.

•Boston College student-athletes ranked second in the Atlantic Coast Conference Academic Honor Roll, behind Duke University, with 369 BC students registering a GPA of 3.0 or better.

•Boston College students received 18 Fulbright Scholarships in 2012, the 13th highest among colleges and universities in the United States.

•Boston College ranked sixth among medium-sized schools with 36 undergraduate alumni serving in the Peace Corps this year. A total of 752 BC graduates have volunteered their service since the agency was founded in 1961.

•In 2012, 47 Boston College graduates also served in the Jesuit Volunteer Corps.

Fundraising All of the activities and accomplishments I have cited in this letter have benefitted from funds raised through our “Light the World” campaign. I am pleased to report that in January we reached the $1 billion mark, a record-setting accomplishment for the University.

Nonetheless, we realize we have much work to do, and need the help of all alumni and friends of Boston College to reach our campaign goal of $1.5 billion and continue striving to enhance our mission and meet our institutional goals.

The Jesuits who established our University had great vision and faith. As we celebrate our Sesquicentennial, I am frequently reminded how immensely Boston College has benefited and continues to benefit from the dedication, talent, and commitment of faculty, staff, students, alumni, and friends. Because of such efforts and generosity, our University is able to advance in academic excellence and reputation, remain faithful to its Jesuit, Catholic heritage and values, and stand as a beacon of light and hope in our day.

May God continue to bless and guide us in our work as stewards of this noble endeavor.

Sincerely, William P. Leahy, SJ President

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Assistant Professor of Theology Andrew Prevot joined the Boston College faculty in January, after receiving his doctorate in systematic theology from the University of Notre Dame, where he also earned a master’s degree. His research interests include prayer and spirituality, phenomenology and theology, and questions of identity, and he is currently teaching Introduction to Christian Theology, Part 2, and The Mystery of God. Among other honors, Prevot received a Fund for Theological Education doctoral fellowship, a University of Notre Dame Presidential Fellowship, and awards for excellence in philosophy, community service, academics and extracurricular involvement at Colorado College, where he earned his bachelor’s degree. His publications include reviews in Catholic Books Review.

Associate Professor of Theology Brian Robinette, who formerly taught at Saint Louis University — where he earned honors in teaching humanities and mentoring — won awards from the College Theology Society and Catholic Press Association in 2010 for his book Grammars of Resurrection: A Christian Theology of Presence and Absence. He pursues research in theological aesthetics, mystical theology, hermeneutics, and theologies of creation, among other areas; he teaches Introduction to Christian Theology I & II, Spiritual Exercises for Philosophers and Theologians, Love and the Human Condition, God and Creation, Christology, and Theology in a Secular Age. Robinette received his doctorate from the University of Notre Dame, his master’s degree from St. John’s University (Minn.) and his bachelor’s degree from Belmont University (Tenn.).

Burcu Bulgurcu, an instructor in information systems in the Carroll School of Management, researches behavioral and organizational aspects of information privacy and security, with the aim of understanding technology users’ perceptions and their vulnerabilities to security threats and invasions of privacy. She holds bachelor’s and master’s degrees from Middle East Technical University in Turkey, and master’s and doctoral degrees from the University of British Columbia Sauder School of Business. Bulgurcu’s publications include the co-written article “Information Security Policy Compliance: An Empirical Study of Rationality-based Beliefs and Information Security Awareness” in Management Information Systems Quarterly.

—Sean Smith Photos by Lee Pellegrini This is the last in the series for 2012-13 of “Welcome Additions,” which profiles new faculty members at Boston College.

Conference a Tribute to Wilson Boston College co-hosted a conference last week in honor of the late James Q. Wilson, a highly respected scholar and writer who was the first Senior Fellow at the University’s Clough Center for the Study of Constitutional Democracy. Wilson died last year at the age of 80.

“Thinking About Politics: A Conference Dedicated to Explaining and Perpetuating the Political Insights of James Q. Wilson” began April 4 with an afternoon panel discussion at Harvard University, followed by a full day of panels on April 5 in the Heights Room of Corcoran Commons.

Panel topics included “Parties and Organized Interests,” “Crime and Policing,” “Bureaucracy and Regulation,” “From Political Science to Policy Analysis” and “Character and Culture.”

Boston College speakers and discussants were O’Neill Professor of American Politics R. Shep Melnick, Professor of Political Science Marc Landy, and Martha Bayles, a faculty member in the College of Arts and Sciences Honors Program. Other distinguished participants included William Kristol, editor of The Weekly Standard; Second Circuit Court of Appeals Judge Robert A. Katzmann; David R. Mayhew, researcher on party politics and American government; and Lawrence Mead, whose work is viewed as instrumental to the American welfare reforms of the 1990s.

For more on the conference, see jqwilson.org/multimedia/thinkingabout-politics.

—Office of News & Public Affairs

Education Week and the MetroWest Daily News featured a Lynch School of Education project, led by Center for the Study of Testing, Evaluation, and Educational Policy Senior Research Associate Damian Bebell, to evaluate Natick Public Schools’ laptop program.

Adj. Lect. Greg Stoller (CSOM) discussed the ongoing evolution of the business plan on the nationally syndicated radio program “Something You Should Know” with Mike Carruthers.

Mario Powell, SJ ’03, a student at the School of Theology and Ministry, published an essay in the Jesuit Post reflecting on Martin Luther King, Jr. on the 45th anniversary of his assassination.

quoted regarding men and work-life balance by the Toronto Globe and Mail.

BC BRIEFING

Adjunct Professor of the Humanities Mary Joe Hughes published The Move Beyond Form: Creative Undoing in Literature and the Arts Since 1960.

Over the past year, the work-family discussion has been injected with a massive shot of adrenaline, wrote Center for Work and Family Executive Director Brad Harrington in the Huffington Post. He also was

Higher Education Symposium a Fond Send-off to BC’s Altbach A who’s who of international higher education scholars and officials convened on campus last week to pay tribute to the career of retiring J. Donald Monan, SJ, Professor of Higher Education Philip G. Altbach, founding director of the Center for International Higher Education.

A daylong symposium, “At the Forefront of Higher Education,” included remarks by Fr. Monan — who is University chancellor and namesake of the chair held by Altbach — Provost and Dean of Faculties Cutberto Garza and Lynch School of Education Interim Dean Maureen Kenny.

Sessions examined the dramatic changes and future trends in global higher education and featured leading experts from the US, as well as China, India, the Netherlands, and Russia. Representatives from the World Bank, African Development Bank, the Association of International Education Administrators, the Council for Higher Education and the American Council on Education also attended.

The event focused on many of the issues Altbach has researched and written about during the course of a 50-plus year career that saw him author or edit nearly 50 books on topics ranging from higher education to India’s publishing industry to student activism. Altbach has taught at BC since 1994.

CIHE Associate Director and Lynch School Lecturer Laura E. Rumbley said Altbach had not only helped to define the discipline throughout the course of his career, but also to connect a global community of scholars, administrators, policy experts and government officials in order to bring best practices to higher education institu-

Lee Pellegrini

WELCOME ADDITIONS

Newsmakers

A personal take on the evolution of social media by Carroll School of Management MBA student Greg Scandariato ’04 was published by a Forbes blog that partners with “worldclass institutes of higher education” to garner perspectives on the marketplace. The blog is working with CSOM Assoc. Prof. Gerald Kane’s Social Media for Managers course, which includes a student blog highlighted with Scandariato’s piece.

Prof. Kent Greenfield (Law) offered his view in American Prospect on how oral arguments over Prop 8 and DOMA hint that the Supreme Court may strike down the two laws in question, though not in the name of marriage equality.

Publications

Prof. Emeritus Harvey D. Egan, SJ (Theology), published “The Mystical Theology of Karl Rahner” in The Way.

Honors/Appointments Prof. Udayan Mohanty (Chemistry) was elected a Fellow of The Royal Society of Chemistry, the largest organization in Europe for advancing the chemical sciences. Supported by a worldwide network of members and an international publishing business, the society’s activities span education, conferences, science policy and the promotion of chemistry to the public.

Time and a Half

Monan Professor Philip Altbach at last week’s symposium.

tions throughout the world. Many in that network were in attendance last Friday.

“Not only are these individuals key players in research, policymaking and analysis in higher education around the world, they are all part of a global network of expertise that Philip Altbach has helped to cultivate and convene over many years, in a wide variety of contexts,” Rumbley said. All “feel a deep sense of friendship and affection for Phil, given his approachability, generosity, candor, and consistent presence as a colleague who can be counted on to produce timely, high-quality scholarship and commentary.”

Altbach, who will continue to be active at BC as a research professor and as a leader of CIHE, said he was honored by the event, but even more thrilled to see colleagues in his field assembled for a worldclass academic conference.

“It was a great event and gratifying to see colleagues from around the world here at BC discussing the most pressing issues of the day, but also getting a chance to connect with one another. It was a great day for the field and a great day for BC and the Lynch School.”

—Ed Hayward

Prof. Jorge Garcia (Philosophy) offered a two-day workshop, “Ethics across the College, at Emmanuel College”; presented “The Ethics & Mores of Race” in the American Society for Value Inquiry’s session at the American Philosophical Association meeting in New Orleans; joined a panel discussion for humanities postdoctoral fellows in the annual Ford Fellows Conference at the National Academy of Sciences center in Irvine, Calif.; and spoke on virtue ethics at Rutgers’s Institute for Diversity in Philosophy.

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/: Head Librarian, Social Work Library Manager, Human Resources Service Center Administrative Assistant, Boston College Law School Advancement Associate Director, Diversity and Inclusion, Office of Institutional Diversity Assistant Director, Football Operations, Athletics Department Senior Associate Director, Development, BC Law Advancement

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LOOKING AHEAD Arts Festival Looking to Create a Fun Time for All

By Rosanne Pellegrini Staff Writer

Celebrating its 15th anniversary this year, the Boston College Arts Festival honors the University’s Sesquicentennial and pays tribute to the BC motto with the theme “Ever to Create.”

Some 1,000 BC students, faculty and administrators participate in the festival, which takes place April 25-27 this year and will include more than 80 events, most of them free and all open to the public. The festival will showcase artists with diverse talents and highlights performing, visual and literary arts programs and features daily events, exhibThe 15th annual Boston College Arts Festival will feature campus performers and ensembles, as well as an appearance by this year’s Alumni Arts Achievement Award winner, author Robert Polito ’73 (below right).

its, demonstrations (including some with audience participation), music and dance showcases.

The geography of the Arts Festival will be a little different this year, organizers note.

The festival’s traditional hub, the Plaza at O’Neill Library, last year underwent a dramatic refurbishment that included the introduction of green space. According to

organizers, “the greening” of the plaza allows for a larger and more streamlined main performance tent, which will run parallel to O’Neill Library.

In addition, the Art Tent will be larger and located in a new venue: on Stokes Lawn, which also will be the site of children’s activities and crafts sales. The tent will include a small stage for more intimate performances and receptions.

A highlight of the festival will be the presentation of the Alumni Arts Achievement Award to Robert Polito ’73, a distinguished fiction writer, poet, biographer and

critic known primarily for his work in the film noir and crime fiction genres. Polito, who received the National Book Critics Circle Award and Edgar Award for Savage Art: A Biography of Jim Thompson, will participate in “Inside the BC Studio,” a careerrelated discussion (modeled after Bravo’s “Inside the Actor’s Studio”) with Professor of English and American Studies Director Carlo Rotella on April 25 at 3 p.m.

“We couldn’t be more proud of our 2013 Alumni Award recipient,” said Associate Professor of Theatre Crystal Tiala, chair

Conference Showcases Digital Humanities Irish journalist, literary critic and political commentator Fintan O’Toole will be the keynote speaker at an April 20 conference in Higgins Hall that will explore how recent trends in James Joyce scholarship show the promise of digital technology’s role in the humanities.

Sponsored by the Institute for the Liberal Arts, “Joyce and the Digital Humanities” also will feature talks by Adjunct Associate Professor of English Joseph Nugent, who designed the iPhone app JoyceWays; University of Tulsa English Professor Sean Latham, editor of the James Joyce Quarterly; and broadcast journalist Ed Mulhall, who planned and coordinated Radio Telefis Eireann’s Bloomsday centenary coverage in 2004.

In addition to delivering the keynote, “Digital Humanities Tomorrow,” O’Toole will present the app based on his project and related book “A History of Ireland in 100 Objects” that uses various artifacts to illustrate key events and periods in Irish history.

The event also will include a roundtable discussion with Northeastern University English faculty members Ryan Cordell and Patrick Mullen and University of Buffalo Professor Joe Valente. A reception will follow with a performance by Ciaran Nagle of The Three Irish Tenors and readings of Joyce by actor Cathal Stephens, and an introduction by WGBH-FM radio announcer Brian O’Donovan.

“Joyce has always been particularly suitable for the digital humanities, because his texts are

so multi-layered and full of ‘links’ to people, places, literary references and so on,” said Nugent, who will give a presentation on his soon-to-belaunched “Digital Dubliners” project [digitaldubliners.com].

“Joyce himself was fascinated by technology — movies, photography, radio, even the idea of television, which was just beginning when he died.

So it’s very appropriate for us to gather and see how the innovations that have emerged through Joyce scholarship are leading the way for the digital humanities.”

“Joyce and the Digital Humanities” is free and open to the public but requires registration. See http://www. bc.edu/content/bc/centers/ila/ events/joyce.html.

—Sean Smith

of the University’s Arts Council, which organizes the festival.

“Robert Polito has built a distinguished career at the intersection of poetry and scholarly literary and cultural studies.”

Another accomplished alumnus, acclaimed photographer and 2005 Alumni Arts Achievement Award winner James Balog ’74, will return to campus for a screening and discussion of his award-winning documentary “Chasing Ice” on April 25. The event will begin at 7 p.m. with a reception and book signing at the McMullen Museum of Art, followed by the film and discussion in Devlin 008. The event is free, but registration is required [see www.bc.edu/arts].

Activities for children and families will be offered on April 27 from noon to 5 p.m., including arts and crafts, children’s story hour, an instrument petting zoo and a performance of “Beauty and the Beast” by students in BC Theatre Department faculty member Luke Jorgensen’s Theatre for Youth class.

Other notable festival events and activities include: •A production of the contemporary musical comedy “Avenue Q,” which features puppet performers, in Robsham Theater. Professional puppeteers Brad Shur and Roxie Myrhum have collaborated with students

throughout the academic year in preparation for this presentation of puppet theater. To purchase tickets, see www.bc.edu/ robsham.

•Performances by student a cappella groups whose members prepared for the festival through sessions with the Boston-based professional groups Five O’Clock Shadow and Fermata Town.

•Dance showcases featuring BC faculty and student choreographers and a variety of genres that include salsa, Bollywood, Irish, modern, step and hip-hop.

•Social justice programming under the auspices of BC’s Arts and Social Responsibility Project.

Through BC’s Center for Student Formation, a program titled “Stories of Transformation,” will present BC student actors’ depictions of other students’ campus retreat experiences.

•“New Programming: BC Underground,” a collaborative arts event that features what organizers describe as “underrepresented” campus artists: rappers, break dancers, DJs and electronic music artists.

Information on Arts Festival events, activities, times and locations is available at www.bc.edu/ artsfestival.

Contact Rosanne Pellegrini at rosanne.pellegrini@bc.edu