The Boston College
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Chronicle Published by the Boston College Office of News & Public Affairs
INSIDE:
BC tradition: 3 New ‘Mile 21’
book comes 5 Mariani’s to silver screen
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13th annual BC Arts Festival APRIL 14, 2011 VOL. 19 NO. 15
COMMENCEMENT 2011
US Transportation Chief to Receive Degree Senior VP McIntyre also among this year’s honorary recipients
tee, the Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence and House Appropriations Committee. He was a member of the Republican Main Street Partnership and organized bipartisan retreats for members of Congress.
BY THE OFFICE OF NEWS & PUBLIC AFFAIRS
United States Secretary of Transportation Ray LaHood will address the Boston College Class of 2011 at the 135th Commencement Exercises on May 23. University President William P. Leahy, SJ, will present LaHood with an honorary Doctor of Public Administration degree at the ceremony, which begins at 10 a.m. in Alumni Stadium (In the event of severe weather, Conte Forum will be the location). In addition, Boston College will present honorary degrees to: New Balance Athletic Shoe Inc. Chairman James S. Davis and Vice Chairman Anne M. Davis — who is managing trustee of the New Balance Charitable Foundation (Doctor of Business Administration); Senior Vice President James P. McIntyre ’57, MA ’61, PhD ’67 (Doctor of Science in Education); and Trustee Associate Sylvia Q. Simmons MEd’62, PhD’90 (Doctor of Humane Letters). Ray LaHood was named the
SJC Chief Justice to Speak at Law Commencement United States Secretary of Transportation Ray LaHood will address this year’s graduating class at Commencement on May 23.
16th US secretary of transportation by President Barack Obama on Jan. 23, 2009, heading an agency with more than 55,000 employees and a $70 billion budget that oversees air, maritime and surface transportation missions. During his term, Secretary LaHood has launched initiatives to spur high-speed intercity passenger rail service, strengthen commercial bus and driver safety, and establish consumer protections for airline passengers. LaHood has also led the federal government’s efforts to combat distracted driving, asking Americans to put down mobile
phones and devices while behind the wheel. Earlier this month, he announced a safety campaign to overhaul and upgrade America’s oil and gas pipeline network and make more information available about potential hazards. He provides daily Department of Transportation news and updates through his Fast Lane blog [fastlane.dot.gov]. A native of Peoria, Ill., graduate of Bradley University and onetime junior high school teacher, LaHood was a seven-term Republican congressman from 1995-2009, serving on the House Transportation and Infrastructure Commit-
Christopher Sheridan ’12, a Presidential Scholar from Baltimore with both a scientific and artistic appreciation for the human brain, has won a Barry M. Goldwater Scholarship, considered the premier undergraduate fellowship in the sciences. Sheridan, who majors in biochemistry and philosophy, is the 12th Boston College student in the last 14 years to receive a Goldwater, awarded to the nation’s most promising undergraduates in math and science. The one- and two-year scholarships cover the cost of tuition, fees, books, and room and board up to a maximum of $7,500 per year. Many Goldwater Scholars go on to receive Rhodes Scholarships, Marshall Awards and other prestigious fellowships. “It’s very rewarding to see this kind of appreciation for the work you do,” said Sheridan. “It can be easy to lose sight of what you’re striving for, but to receive a unique and prestigious honor
Sean Smith
Junior Earns Goldwater Scholarship BY SEAN SMITH CHRONICLE EDITOR
Anne M. Davis, vice chairman of New Balance Athletic Shoe Inc. and managing trustee of the New Balance Charitable Foundation, is the architect and guardian of a corporate culture and value system that is a model for industries Continued on page 4
Christopher Sheridan ’12
like this represents a great opportunity, and is truly humbling.” Sheridan’s interest in the brain crosses disciplines, continually fostering conversations and experiences that have enriched his life. It’s led him to personal exchanges with leading scholars in both the natural and social sciences. Last summer, after having been selected as a Sophomore Scholar by the Chemistry Department,
Sheridan completed a German language immersion program at Munich’s Goethe Institute — thereby strengthening his ability to do research in science and philosophy. But Sheridan — equally at home writing poetry as he is contributing to BC’s undergraduate research journal Elements, for which he serves as a senior editor — doesn’t regard these and his other activities as purely academic. He sees this scientifichumanistic approach as integral to a future career in medicine and research, most likely focused on the emerging field of neuroimaging. “It’s extraordinarily important that doctors never treat people like mere constellations of cells,” he explains. “Our scientific understanding of disease, and the human body, is advancing so rapidly. The danger is that this makes it easy to see patients in overly definitive terms, as a collection of symptoms or biological problems X, Y and Z, rather than Continued on page 4
Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court Chief Justice Roderick L. Ireland will give the Commencement Address at the 2011 Boston College Law School Commencement on May 27 at 10:30 a.m. on BC’s Newton Campus. A jurist for more than three decades, Ireland became the first African-American to serve on the Supreme Judicial Court when he was appointed in 1997, and last December became the court’s first AfricanAmerican chief justice. He is an expert in juvenile law and authored Massachusetts Juvenile Law, a volume of the Massachusetts Practice Series. He has received several awards for his
Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court Chief Justice Roderick L. Ireland.
work with youths. “Chief Justice Ireland has had a long and celebrated career in public service, including over 33 years as a judge in the Continued on page 4
Catholic Social Teaching Expert Is New Law Dean BY JACK DUNN DIRECTOR OF NEWS & PUBLIC AFFAIRS
The University has named Notre Dame Law School Professor Vincent D. Rougeau, a national expert on Catholic social teaching and the role of moral and religious values in law making and public policy, as dean of Boston College Law School, effective July 1. Rougeau has been a distinguished professor of contracts, real estate law and Catholic social thought at Notre Dame for the past 12 years. His current academic research focuses on global migration and multicultural citizenship, with a special emphasis on the challenges posed by religious pluralism. His book, Christians in the American Empire: Faith and Citizenship in the New World Order, explores the philosophical and theological underpinnings of Catholic social teaching as they relate to various aspects of American law. Provost and Dean of Facul-
Vincent D. Rougeau
ties Cutberto Garza, who chaired the search committee, praised Rougeau as a leader with the skills and experience to advance BC Law. “From the outset, the Law School community, the search committee and I agreed that our shared goal was to find the best dean to lead Boston College Law School,” said Garza. “I am delighted that Professor Rougeau has been named the next dean and know that his tenure will be marked by many sucContinued on page 3
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On the list Ever been to the “First Fridays Open Studios” in the South End or attended a concert at the New England Conservatory? Both are entries on the “Arts Bucket List,” a challenge issued by the Boston College Arts Council to all BC undergrads. “Time flies by too quickly at BC,” reads the list. “Be sure to take advantage of the arts and culture opportunities with Boston College and the greater Boston community.” Part promotion, part contest, the “Arts Bucket List” (a “bucket list” refers to goals one aspires to complete before “kicking the bucket”) is the brainchild of Associate Professor of Theatre and BC Arts Council Chair Crystal Tiala, Arts Council Program Administrator and Arts Festival Director Cathi Ianno, and their students. “Each year we sit down with students at the end of the year and talk about what we have done and what we can do better,” said
photos or other proof of attendance and submit it to become a member of the “Bucket of Fame,” which can be found online at www.bc.edu/artsbucketlist. Tiala and Ianno worked with designers in the Media Technology Services department to create the envelope. “This year, we handed out 2,000 buckets,” said Tiala. “If anything, it is a motivator for students to engage with opportunities here on campus, but also explore all that Boston has to offer.” And for overachievers, the council has formed an “Advanced Arts Bucket List” that includes, among other things, visiting Salem to see the House of Seven Gables and attending a broadcast from the Metropolitan Opera in Fenway Park. “This is a way that we hope to promote the idea for students to get out and enjoy the rich culture that is around us,” said Tiala. “We hope to plant the seed in their minds that there is so much more out there.” —MB
Tiala. “This idea of a ‘bucket list’ came up organically when students suggested that there were more arts-related things on campus and in the city that they wish they had time to do.” The campaign that resulted asks students to complete a list of arts-related tasks within their four years as BC undergrads. Participants are asked to fill an envelope (shaped, fittingly, as a bucket) with tickets, programs,
A PEACEFUL PRESENCE
Fr. Himes a must-read A recently launched weekly series of spiritual reflections prepared by Theology Professor Rev. Michael Himes and sponsored by the Boston College Alumni Association has become a popular on-line destination for those seeking guidance and prayer throughout the Lenten season. More than 13,500 unique page views of “Reflections” were recorded during the first three weeks of the traditional period of prayer and spiritual preparation that started on Ash Wednesday. In addition to the many views of the “Reflections” website [www.bc.edu/ reflections], the average reader has spent more than three-and-a-half minutes onsite – a lengthy stopover in today’s “fastclick” Internet universe. Theology Professor Rev. Michael “This is something that we have Himes at the April 3 Laetare Sunday wanted to do for a while,” says Associate breakfast. (Photo by Frank Curran) Director for Alumni Relations Jean Chisser. “You can find thousands of sites on the Internet that offer spiritual reflections, but we wanted to make this something that is unique to Boston College. So many people think the world of Fr. Himes, that we asked him to be our inaugural author.” Chisser says the numeric results have far exceeded her expectations. “This is a gift to Boston College alumni.” Many priests and parish leaders also use the reflections, which are updated each Friday leading up to Easter, as a basis for homilies and spiritual discussions, Chisser notes. “We have received very positive feedback for this program and we plan to offer a similar one during Advent,” she says. —RO T he B oston C ollege
Chronicle ON
Since March 22, the School of Theology and Ministry has hosted a nine-foot statue of Mohandas Gandhi, on loan from the Peace Abbey, an interfaith non-profit center for peace and nonviolence in Sherborn, Mass. The school has held several events to celebrate Gandhi’s presence and a Lenten commitment to peace and nonviolence, including a screening of the film “Gandhi,” music and interfaith readings, and a Gandhi-themed liturgy in the STM chapel. The statue will remain at STM until tomorrow. (Photo by Lee Pellegrini)
Linking up In a tough, competitive job market, nothing can be more comforting then hearing from others who have successfully found – or forged — their own paths. The Boston College Career Center established the RealJobs Blog last year to do just that. The blog, available via the main page of the Career Center website [http://www.bc.edu/careers], connects current students with alumni in successful careers and has found a devoted following online. “We really try to get alumni back to campus whenever we can to allow current students as much face-to-face interaction as possible,” said Career Center Associate Director Janet Costa Bates. “Our alumni are so amazing and students really learn a tremendous amount from them. “This was a way to create a conversation virtually, so alumni from all different industries all over the world can share what
worked, or what didn’t work for them,” Bates said. “We didn’t know how it would work out, but after the first submissions were given, I found myself sitting in front of the computer, reading the entries with this stupid grin across my face. The stories are really, really great.” RealJobs follows 20 alums through a typical workweek. Entries are as diverse as the authors. This year they include an entrepreneur of a startup company in San Francisco, a member of the United States Olympic Committee, a founder of a women’s health education program in Cambodia, a partner at a prestigious New York City law firm and a family physician in Virginia. Patricia McLaughlin Carey writes: “I graduated from Boston College in 1982 in what everyone said was the worst economy since the Great Depression. Sound familiar? I remember wondering whether I would ever get a real job and who in the world would hire me.”
Today, Carey is the vice president for college relations at Connecticut College and helps walk students through her week – staff meetings, planning sessions, even snapping photos of her office and coworkers. “Borrowing some of our alumni’s expertise in their given fields can help our current students get a better understanding of a job or position they may be interested in, or learn about a position they never knew existed,” said Bates. The blog came together organically – Bates asked alumni she knew or some who were recommended to her from coworkers to contribute. Next year, she has already started reaching out to alumni to participate. RealJobs Blog supplements the Career Center’s already successful departmental blog, at http://bccareer. wordpress.com. To become a contributor to the blog or to recommend an alumnus, email Janet Costa Bates at janet.bates@bc.edu. —MB
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: •FISTS at Boston College: The undergraduate student group Females Incorporating Sisterhood Through Step (FISTS) promotes unity, excellence, discipline and friendship through step and service — at Boston College and beyond. •Community Safety Day: Organized by the Boston College Police Department, this event featured an up-close look at emergency services, crime prevention and both personal and property safety tips. 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
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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BC’s ‘Mile 21’ at Its Starting Line for Monday Collaborative effort by students and administrators seeks to build University tradition for Marathon BY MELISSA BEECHER STAFF WRITER
There’s no shortage of memorable spots along the Boston Marathon route: the starting line in Hopkinton, the “scream tunnel” in Wellesley, the dips and climbs of Heartbreak Hill and the din of cheering along Kenmore and Copley squares. If student leaders and University administrators have their way, Boston College will be the site of another storied tradition of Marathon Monday: “Mile 21.” Designed to be a comprehensive daylong program, “Mile 21” aims to organize the robust BC cheering section at the Heights and position students and alumni in front of the Commonwealth Avenue Gate to create a “golden mile” into Boston. The Office of Residential Life, Student Affairs, Undergraduate Government of Boston College, the Residence Hall Association, the Office of the Dean for Student Development, Student Programs Office, Athletics, Quality of Student Life Committee, Office of Vice President for Student Affairs, Dining Services and BC Police Department have all played a role and lent their support to providing positive Patriots Day activities. “This student-run initiative is working to create a cultural change on campus and get students involved in what can be a phenomenal event for not only BC, but for Boston,” said Office of Residential Life Director George Arey. “It is a great opportunity to change BC into an involvement
culture instead of a spectator culture on Marathon Monday.” The effort started when a group of students met with Arey and brainstormed ways to change the attitudes on campus toward Patriots Day from simply having a day off from classes to establishing a larger meaning of community. “I can’t think of a day that has bigger meaning in the context of BC and the larger Boston community,” said student organizer Justin Pike ’11. “The value of a new tradition is not just to get students participating, but highlighting the efforts of the runners – our peers, who, by Mile 21, are about to complete a truly admirable undertaking.” To that end, two film crews – one student, one professional – have created videos about Mile 21 and the athletes who run on behalf of the Boston College Campus School, which serves students ages 3-21 with multiple disabilities including complex health care needs. This year, 350 students are running to raise money for the school and other charities. “When runners on the route come over that last rise of Heartbreak Hill, the first thing they see is BC and know that the end is in sight. We want that image to be a truly memorable one,” said Pike. The most conspicuous representation of the day will be a large inflatable arch reading “The Heartbreak is Over” raised by the Commonwealth Avenue Gate. A number of panoramic photos will be taken of the spectators under the arch, including seniors, alumni
“Mile 21” co-organizers Justin Pike ’11, Matthew McCluskey ’11 and Katrina Lutfy ’12 discuss plans for the program’s debut on Marathon Monday. (Photo by Lee Pellegrini)
and the entire cheering section. Along with Pike, students who have led the “Mile 21” effort include Katrina Lutfy ’12 and seniors Matt McCluskey, Cliff Baratta and Will Rush. The festivities will start at 6 a.m. with the Campus School runner sendoff outside Campion Hall. The Campus School Pep Rally will follow at 10:30 a.m., along with a barbeque outside Corcoran Commons. Starting at noon, “Mile 21” giveaways and entertainment are planed outside the main gate of campus. Giveaways and events will continue throughout the day (see the “Mile 21” website, www. bcmile21.com, for more). “The Boston Marathon is one event that literally happens on our doorstep,” said Arey. “This group of student leaders has tirelessly worked across departments to establish ‘Mile 21’ as the next great Boston College tradition.” Contact Melissa Beecher at melissa.beecher@bc.edu
Rougeau Is Choice as New Law Dean Continued from page 1 cesses. His academic background, scholarship and experiences make him uniquely suited for the Law School and Boston College.” In accepting the position, Rougeau said he was eager to assume a leadership role in a Jesuit, Catholic environment that was so important to his own development as a teacher and a scholar, and one that would enable him to continue to be engaged in issues of social and economic justice. “I am thrilled to be joining the Boston College community and I look forward to participating in the mission of this extraordinary university and law school,” said Rougeau. “I have long admired the Boston College Law School faculty and feel very honored by the opportunity to serve as their dean.” While at Notre Dame Law School, Rougeau also served as dean for academic affairs for three years, and as a member of the law school’s appointments committee, including three terms as commit-
tee chair. “In this role, I was thoroughly familiar with the strategies that must be employed to recruit and retain the best possible faculty,” said Rougeau. “I am also personally aware of the challenges and opportunities a meaningful commitment to diversity presents to a law faculty.” Rougeau also has a longstanding interest in bank regulation, particularly as it relates to the protection of consumers. Much of his early teaching and writing focused on ways in which the law might check predatory behavior in the marketplace, as well as government regulation and intervention in financial markets. A graduate of Brown University where he majored in international relations, Rougeau received his law degree from Harvard Law School. He worked as an assistant and then associate professor of law at Loyola University of Chicago School of Law, before joining the faculty at Notre Dame Law School. He has also served
as a fellow at the Kroc Institute for International Peace Studies at the University of Notre Dame, and as a senior fellow at the Contextual Theology Centre at the Royal Foundation of St. Catherine in London. The author of a book and several book chapters, his latest work, titled Cosmopolitan Democracy, Religious Citizens, and Global Multiculturalism, is a part of an ongoing project called Contending Modernities, which will likely result in a conference next year. “Any successful search outcome is the result of the efforts of many,” said Garza. “I would like to thank the members of the search committee and all who assisted in the process. I am also thankful to Interim Dean George Brown and the Law School faculty, students, staff and alumni, whose commitment and dedication to their school and University have been evident throughout this process.” Contact Jack Dunn at jack. dunn@bc.edu
Marathoner Appreciates BC Boost He’ll be fighting fatigue by then, but count John Farrow among the Boston Marathon runners who looks forward to passing by Boston College on Monday. Farrow, a lawyer from Albuquerque, was so impressed with the reception he got at the Heights on last year’s Marathon Day, he sent an e-mail recently to Chronicle addressed to “BC Students” expressing appreciation for their support: “You were absolutely nuts! I like that 20-plus miles into a marathon — you really picked me up. Don’t ever change!” In a follow-up e-mail interview, Farrow said that while Wellesley College students tend to get most of the attention for their cheering (“They are fun,” he acknowledges. “There was a good Elvis impersonator there”), the BC students’ enthusiasm is a welcome sight by that juncture of the marathon. Given that he was fighting the heat of the day and a painful hip, Farrow said he really needed a boost as he crested Heartbreak Hill. “The crowds were getting noisy, high-fiving everyone, really yelling, jumping up and down, even running out into the street and screaming, some were in costume slapping people on the back...I just started laughing and it made me forget about my hip.” Farrow wound up finishing in a little over three hours and 56 minutes and qualified for the 60-64 year-old division in this year’s marathon, which will be his third in Boston. He’s lately been struggling with a hamstring injury and sinus infection, but aims to “do the best I can and enjoy how fortunate I am to still be able to be a part of this great event.” —Sean Smith
April 16 ‘BC Race to Educate’ Will Benefit St. Columbkille School In the spirit of the upcoming Boston Marathon and in celebration of the University’s ongoing partnership with the St. Columbkille School, members of the Boston College community are invited to participate in the inaugural “BC Race to Educate” – a 5-kilometer road race for runners and walkers to be held this Saturday to benefit the Brighton school. Saturday’s race events will start with a children’s 1K “Fun Run” at 9:30 a.m., followed at 10 a.m. by the 5K event for all ages. The start and finish line will be at the Yawkey Center, with the race course winding through campus and the adjoining Chestnut Hill neighborhood along Commonwealth Avenue. Among the sponsors of the benefit race are Boston College’s men’s and women’s varsity ice hockey teams. Players from both teams participate in a highly acclaimed student mentoring program at St. Columbkille and will work as volunteers at Saturday’s race.
“Our players seem to really enjoy the mentoring process at St. Columbkille,” said BC assistant hockey coach Mike Cavanaugh, who is overseeing Saturday’s event. “It has been great for them.” Cavanaugh, who says the event is aiming to generate as much as $20,000 for St. Columbkille, hopes to see even more BC students sign up to participate in Saturday’s fund-raiser. “The money is going to a great cause. Students here have been afforded the opportunity for a great education that puts them in the position to attend a school like BC. It’s all about giving back and appreciating the terrific opportunities that have been afforded to us in our lives.” Runners and walkers can register for the race on-line at http:// bcracetoeducate.com or at Alumni Stadium starting at 8 a.m. on Saturday. The first 400 people to register will receive a race t-shirt with a special logo designed by St. Columbkille students. —Reid Oslin
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COMMENCEMENT 2011
Transportation Secretary LaHood to Speak at Graduation Continued from page 1
Law School to Honor Ireland
Anne M. Davis and James S. Davis
worldwide. In her business role as the officer responsible for the recruitment, training, compensation, benefits administration and corporate policy for business operations in over 70 countries, she has helped guide the company through periods of double-digit growth. Her innovative and progressive management techniques — which feature manufacturing teams, employee involvement and cross-functional management teams — have produced one of the industry’s most highly motivated and goal-oriented work forces. As overseer of New Balance’s social responsibility program, corporate contributions and community service functions, she has been an integral factor in the company’s widely acknowledged leadership in philanthropic pursuits. Davis is a graduate of Boston’s Emmanuel College where she majored in languages. She and her husband James – also receiving an honorary degree from BC this year – are the parents of two children, including daughter Kassia who graduated from BC in 2010. Few business entrepreneurs have done as much to encourage healthy lifestyles for Americans as James S. Davis, chairman of New Balance Athletic Shoe Inc., a Boston-based footwear and athletic apparel manufacturer. Davis bought the firm on Boston Marathon day in 1972 when
the company’s six-person work force was turning out just 30 pairs of running shoes a day. Since that time, New Balance has developed into one of the world’s leading manufacturers of running gear, with $2 billion in sales projected for 2011, and is the largest private company in the sporting goods industry. Once located in a small facility in the Allston section of Boston, the company now includes five US plants — two in Massachusetts and three in Maine — and more than 5,000 employees around the globe. In addition, Davis has made great strides in the race to improve the well being of all American citizens, especially children. New Balance has joined First Lady Michelle Obama in her efforts to end childhood obesity and to promote healthy lifestyles for children and families, and earlier this year, the foundation made a $7 million gift to Boston’s Children’s Hospital to establish the New Balance Foundation Center for Childhood Obesity Prevention, Clinical Research and Care. During a career spanning more than a half-century, Boston College Senior Vice President James P. McIntyre has played a unique role in the advancement of Boston College from a commuter school to a preeminent national university. McIntyre received his undergraduate degree from BC in 1957 after attending classes at night. Af-
James P. McIntyre
Sylvia Q. Simmons
ter a stint in the Army, McIntyre returned in 1959 to work in the admissions office and earn his master’s degree and a PhD in higher education and administration. In 1968, he became BC’s first lay vice president of student affairs. In 1976, he was named vice president for university relations, overseeing the Alumni Association, Communications and Development offices. In 1986, he was named senior vice president. His 43 consecutive years of service as vice president are unmatched in Jesuit higher education. There are few areas of the University that do not bear the imprint of McIntyre’s dedication. He helped to establish BC’s financial aid program, direct its first major capital campaign and host two acclaimed finance conferences. The Newton Campus, the Flynn Recreation Complex, O’Neill Library, Conte Forum, the renovated Alumni Stadium, Merkert Chemistry Center — as well as several of the University’s largest donations — all involved his efforts, helping to earn him the label of “BC’s troubleshooter” and, as one newspaper headline called him, “Mr. BC.” McIntyre met Monica Flatley while working in the admissions office and they married in 1962. All six of their children – James Jr., Peter, David, Mary, Karalyn and Ann – are graduates of Boston College.
education and ensuring access to education for the underserved, is the retired president of the American Student Assistance Corporation, an organization that insures and administers educational loans and supports college access services. She also is a co-founder of the Higher Education Information Center, now serving as a model nationwide. In 1966, Simmons was named registrar of the BC School of Management, becoming the University’s first female African-American administrator. Her affiliation with the University includes service as a trustee (1990-98), trustee associate (1998-present) and founding member of the Council for Women of Boston College. In 1998, the Sylvia Q. Simmons MEd ’62, PhD ’90 Scholarship Fund was established to provide financial assistance for African-American students. Simmons’ service in higher education has included senior administration positions at Harvard and Radcliffe colleges, the University of Massachusetts, and more recently, the Public and Private Higher Education subcommittee of Massachusetts Governor Deval Patrick’s Commonwealth Readiness Project, for which a group of educators and business and community leaders were charged with developing a 10year strategic plan for the future of education in Massachusetts. For information on Commencement, see http://www.bc.edu/commencement
Sylvia Q. Simmons, whose life work has been dedicated to
Continued from page 1 Massachusetts Juvenile Court, the Court of Appeals, and the Supreme Judicial Court,” said BC Law Interim Dean George Brown. “I’m very pleased that he has accepted our invitation to address our 2011 graduating class.” A native of Springfield, Ireland began his legal career in 1969 as a Neighborhood Legal Services attorney, then worked with the Roxbury Defenders Committee as chief attorney, deputy director and executive director. He was assistant secretary and chief legal counsel for the Massachusetts Executive Office of Administration and Finance, and chair of the Massachusetts Board of Appeals on Motor Vehicle Liability Policies and Bond. Ireland served on the state Juvenile Court from 1977-90 and as associate justice on the Massachusetts Appeals Court from 1990-97. He holds a bachelor’s degree from Lincoln University, a juris doctorate from Columbia Law School, master of laws degree from Harvard Law School, and a PhD in law, policy and society from Northeastern University. Ireland has been an adjunct faculty member at Northeastern University since 1978, and on the faculty of the Appellate Judges Seminar at New York University Law School since 2001. More information on the Boston College Law School Commencement is available at the school’s website, www. bc.edu/law. —Law School Marketing and Communications Director Nathaniel Kenyon
Goldwater Scholar Combines Scientific and Humanistic Concerns Continued from page 1 appreciate them as people with geneticists more tractable targets distinct characteristics and needs. — and, ultimately, leading to “I want to stake out a position more effective therapies.” in-between. I felt I should ground Sheridan’s faculty mentors are myself thoroughly in the chemis- impressed with his devotion to try of the brain, but a well-rounded acatrain to think like a “Chris uses his first- demic and personal philosopher as well development. “Chris — to keep the ques- rate intellect to serve uses his first-rate inteltions framed in hu- an exemplary thought- lect to serve an exemman terms, rather plary thoughtfulness than cells and mol- fulness about the re- about the responsibilecules. sponsibilities that come ities that come with “With a focus on unusual talent,” says neuroimaging, asking with unusual talent.” College of Arts and these questions can —Mark O’Connor Sciences Honors Prohelp us to learn more gram Director Mark about major psyO’Connor. chiatric disorders, to more thor“This starts with his willingoughly translate detailed clinical ness to engage so well the ‘two descriptions of classically ‘men- cultures’ of science and the hutal’ diseases with biological and manities: Whether it is doing chemical targets in the live brain, research in a lab, analyzing an giving molecular biologists and abstract piece of 20th century phi-
losophy, a verb declension in German, or a 19th century painting, nothing human, nothing humane, is alien to Chris Sheridan. “His commitment to all these areas of intellectual inquiry, above all his concern for what such inquiry can mean for improving the quality of life both materially and spiritually, inspires the research he does into complex brain functions — and makes him a worthy recipient of such a prestigious award as a Goldwater.” Assistant Professor of Chemistry Jianmin Gao, in whose lab Sheridan has served, notes that Sheridan has taken the initiative to learn more about neuroimaging by reaching out to Psychology faculty at BC, and experts at Harvard and MIT: “He is constantly thinking about innovative ideas on how to advance this field. It is
quite admirable for a college student to have such ambition and determination.” Sheridan displayed those qualities from the beginning at BC. When he took the class Philosophy of Biology as a freshman, he hit upon “a crazy idea” to interview leading neuroscientists and philosophers about their work. Although unable to land a grant to fund this project, Sheridan went ahead and did it anyway, and wound up corresponding with luminaries such as John R. Searle, a prominent UCal-Berkeley scholar on the philosophy of mind and language, and Johns Hopkins researcher Solomon Snyder, who studies the nature and role of neurotransmitters. Sheridan is quick to credit the support and commitment his parents Talia and Michael have given
him. Michael Sheridan ’71, in fact, stands as a role model in more than a few ways: as a doctor, and as a co-founder of BC’s acclaimed PULSE Program, which combines academics, service and faith-related reflection and discussion — all of which Christopher Sheridan values. “I’ve never seen my education in purely career terms, as in ‘I’m going to be a lawyer’ or ‘I’m going to be a doctor,’” says Sheridan, who envisions earning a joint MD-PhD degree. “For me, it’s a matter of what set of credentials will enable me to ask and answer the questions that get me up in the morning, and to put as many of the skills and interests I have into meaningful service for my community.” Contact Sean Smith at sean. smith@bc.edu
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From Book to the Big Screen With the premiere of ‘The Broken Tower’ on Friday, BC’s Mariani realizes unlikely dream BY ROSANNE PELLEGRINI STAFF WRITER
University Professor of English Paul Mariani was prescient when his biography of American poet Hart Crane, The Broken Tower: The Life of Hart Crane, was published in 1999, the year of his subject’s 100th birthday. “I did think that it might make a good movie, if only one could find the right producer, director and actor to play Hart Crane.” But as time passed he turned his attention to other projects, “and the idea that someone would make a movie of Crane’s life was forgotten.” A dozen years later, Mariani’s book is the inspiration and basis for a biopic directed by and starring acclaimed Golden Globe Awardwinning actor James Franco, who will be on campus tomorrow for a premiere screening of “The Broken Tower” for BC undergraduates. Mariani’s critically hailed biography came to Franco’s attention when he read Hart Crane’s poetry; an introduction by writer and literary critic Harold Bloom lauded it as the best source for understanding the poet. An accomplished poet himself, Mariani says of his book: “I knew by the time I was 28 that I wanted to write a biography of Hart Crane, the brilliant and obscure late American Romantic who killed himself at the age of 32. But it was not until I was 55 that I seriously began researching and writing [his] life, attempting to make the poet more accessible to a larger audience. “Many American poets have acknowledged the impact of Crane’s work on their own. But how to explain the man’s life: his critical brilliance and creativity and vision flashing in bold outline against his erotic antics and his Dionysian addiction to booze?” adds Mariani, who has published five biographies of poets over the past 30 years, and is working on his sixth. When the film prospect arose, he “was warned from the get-go
that most projects like this soon went down in Icarian flames, and so not to get my hopes up. But James proved from the beginning to be a man of his word, who I came to admire and respect. To say I have enjoyed working with James would be an understatement. I consider him truly a friend.” Mariani — who has a small speaking part in the film as photographer-artist Alfred Stieglitz — recalls a day spent together in New York in August 2009, “going over sites in Greenwich Village and mid-town Manhattan and Brooklyn’s Columbia Heights and lower Broadway, walking the Brooklyn Bridge and touring the old sub-
believed in the visionary powers of the poetic imagination to change for the better those who took the time to listen to what the poet had to offer. Certainly, that is what Hart wanted, and it is what I believe James has given us in the film. “I hope the audience will come away with the sense of a poet doomed almost from the start in spite of his visionary aspirations,” he adds. “Like many young people today, his parents had one plan for him, while he had another. His father wanted him to work in his candy business.” Hart’s father was the inventor of Life Savers, Mariani notes, “which patent he sold early on for a pittance, and which is dou-
Archive Strengthens BC’s Resources on ‘The Troubles’ BY SEAN SMITH CHRONICLE EDITOR
University Professor of English Paul Mariani, whose book on Hart Crane was adapted by James Franco for a film premiering on campus tomorrow. (Photo by Gary Wayne Gilbert)
ways and the Woolworth Building and so much more, suggesting ways of looking at these landmarks of New York. Consider what the poet Robert Lowell once said: that Hart Crane somehow managed to get New York into the very matrix of his epic poem, ‘The Bridge.’” Of Franco’s acting — including his portrayal of the young Allen Ginsberg in “Howl,” and powerful, Oscar-nominated role as mountain climber Aron Ralston in “127 Hours” — Mariani describes him as “entering the very soul of another human being.” While Mariani hopes the film inspires a new generation of readers of his book, “even more, I would hope the book and the film would turn the attention of serious readers of poetry back to the words of a young, tragic poet — like [John] Keats or [Percy Bysshe] Shelley or [Gerard Manley] Hopkins — who
bly ironic when you consider that Hart drowned at sea while several lifesavers bobbed idly on the sea’s surface.” The BC student audience will have the opportunity to hear firsthand from Franco and Mariani, when they discuss the film, Crane’s life and poetic reputation during a Q&A session following the Robsham Theater screening. Mariani also hopes the audience recognizes “the seriousness with which James has rendered this feature-length film. I have worked closely with James and I have been struck again and again at how deeply [he] has grasped the very soul of this complex, obscure, but necessary poet of the American religious experience.” A Q&A with University Professor of English Paul Mariani — which was the basis for this article — is available via online Chronicle [www.bc.edu/ chronicle]
Panel Discussion on ‘God-Talk in America’ April 28 How do Americans — most of whom consider religion a private, not public, matter — talk about God? How is it that one of the most religiously diverse countries in the world has so little history of religious violence? These questions will be the focus of an April 28 event that will bring together history and theology scholars and the creative minds behind the PBS television series “God in America” which aired to critical acclaim last fall. “Lingua Sacra: Negotiating God-Talk in America” will be held at 4 p.m. in Cushing 001. The panel will feature “God in America” series director/writer/producer David Belton and writer/producer/director Sarah Colt, School of
Thomas Hachey, left, and Robert O’Neill flank Aaro Suonio, left, and Tauno Nieminen, members of the International Commission on Decommissioning who presented the commission’s papers to Boston College. (Photo by Gary Gilbert)
Theology and Ministry Dean Mark Massa, SJ, Associate Professor of History Cynthia Lynn Lyerly and Harvard University doctoral candidate Rachel Gordan. Boisi Center for Religion and American Public Life Associate Director Erik Owens, an adjunct assistant professor of theology and international studies, will serve as moderator. Panelists will discuss how what we say about God — and how we say it — reveals much about our national character, principles and beliefs. Both Fr. Massa and Lyerly were interviewed for the “God in America” series, a joint project of PBS’s “Frontline” and “The American Experience.” The landmark series explored the intersection of religion and public
life in America, from the first European settlements to the election of Barack Obama. Lyerly and Fr. Massa contributed to the series’ sections on 19th and early 20th century America, commenting on the religious divide that arose after Charles Darwin’s publication of The Origin of Species. Fr. Massa also was interviewed about religious prejudice and anti-Catholicism in New York public schools in the 1800s, while Lyerly spoke on the Civil War and slavery. “Negotiating God-Talk in America,” which is free and open to the public, is sponsored by the School of Theology and Ministry, the Boisi Center for Religion and American Public Life and the Office of Marketing Communications. —Kathleen Sullivan
Boston College will be the repository for an archive of documents that chronicle the decommissioning of Northern Ireland’s paramilitary groups — widely regarded as one of the most crucial steps on the road to peace in that troubled region. The documents are from the Independent International Commission on Decommissioning (IICD), appointed in 1997 to oversee the process of putting “beyond use” weapons used by combatants involved in the violence and aggression that marked the three decades of sectarian conflict in Northern Ireland known as “The Troubles.” Over the next decade, as the 1998 Good Friday Agreement was being implemented, the IICD worked with the Provisional Irish Republican Army, Loyalist Volunteer Force, Ulster Volunteer Force, Ulster Defense Association and other paramilitary organizations in Northern Ireland to verify that their weapons — including rifles, machine guns, explosives and missiles — were destroyed. The commission’s voluminous documents from this undertaking — which include both Commission deliberations, as well as a few personal notebooks kept by IICD members — will now be housed in the Special Collections of Boston College’s John J. Burns Library. The decision to donate the materials was approved by the Irish Minister for Justice Alan Shatter, the British Secretary of State for Northern Ireland Owen Peterson and Director of the Northern Ireland Office Hilary Jackson. The collection will be curated over time, and possibly digitized so that the documents may eventually be available, at least in part, on the Internet for scholars everywhere. University Professor of History Thomas Hachey, executive director of the Boston College Center for Irish Programs, worked closely with Sean Aylward, secretary general of Ireland’s Department of Justice, Equality and Law Reform, to help secure the archive. Hachey described the documents as an incredibly valuable collection for future studies on
the era of “The Troubles.” “What the contents of the archive will reveal are the subtle nuances in the recorded deliberations that reflect the personal dispositions, reasoning and strategic maneuvers of the various participants during the negotiations.” The real significance of the commission’s accomplishment “lies in the fact that the 1998 Good Friday Agreement, as well as the subsequent sustainability of the Northern Ireland Assembly and power sharing Executive,” said Hachey, “would have been fatally compromised without the IICD’s contribution to the peace process.” Under Irish and British law, the archive could be inaccessible for a period of 30 years, a provision that comports with the embargo on government archives in much of the world at present, Hachey said. There will, however, be periodic review that may grant earlier access if approved by the appropriate Anglo-Irish authorities. Given the controversy that would ensue over locating the archive in Dublin or Belfast, Hachey explained, Boston College represented a logical alternative, given its ties to Ireland and Northern Ireland: the Center’s Irish Studies Program faculty exchange program with Queens University Belfast; the Irish Institute’s federally funded executive leadership program for participants from North and South as part of the Department of State’s peace and reconciliation program; and the multiple initiatives in Northern Ireland overseen by the BC-Ireland office in Dublin. In addition, Hachey said, Burns Library is recognized as having the most diverse and comprehensive holdings relating to Northern Ireland in the Western Hemisphere. These include the Center for Irish Programs’ oral history archive of Irish Republican Army and Ulster Volunteer Force participants; private papers of various Northern Irish poets and writers; the Bobby Hanvey photograph archive on “The Troubles”; the William Van Vorris papers; the William F. Stout papers; the Canon Rogers pamphlets on Northern Ireland; and the new Ulster Movement Archive.
T he B oston C ollege
Chronicle APRIL 14, 2011
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BY REID OSLIN STAFF WRITER
Three members of the Boston College Jesuit Community opened their hearts – and their memories — to a University audience on March 31 for a personal, insightful, and often poignant discussion about their vocations as members of the Society of Jesus. University President William P. Leahy, SJ, Vice President for University Mission and Ministry Jack Butler, SJ, and scholastic Jeremy Zipple ’00, a student in BC’s School of Theology and Ministry (STM), offered their unique perspectives on their lives as Jesuits. They described how their individual journeys to the order began, whether by answering a life-long call to serve God, searching for the right opportunity to share a family’s love and concern for others — or, in one case, through a chance meeting with a BC Jesuit priest. “The priesthood to me is about mission,” Fr. Leahy said during the hour-long panel discussion sponsored by the Church in the 21st Century Center, STM, the Theology Department, Alumni Association and Center for Ignatian Spirituality. “It’s about serving. It’s about trying to respond to God’s call.” That call came early in his life, he said: “Some of my earliest memories were thinking about being a
Justin Knight
Three Jesuits Talk About ‘Answering the Call’
(L-R) University President William P. Leahy, SJ, Vice President for University Mission and Ministry Jack Butler, SJ, and scholastic Jeremy Zipple ’00, a student in BC’s School of Theology and Ministry, at the March 31 panel discussion “Three Jesuits: Who Do They Say They Are? Personal Perspectives.”
priest. When I was in high school return home and contemplate his – I went to a public high school – I decision for a month. “There was didn’t even know how to become no big pressure,” he said. “It was all a priest, so I went off to college.” about what was in my heart. After a year at Jesuit-run Creigh“At the end of the month, I ton University, the went back to “The priesthood to young Iowa native Creighton and made a decision: “I went through me is about mission. knew I was not gothe application It’s about serving. It’s ing to return there process. I was as a sophomore. I about trying to respond accepted in July would either go to and entered a to God’s call.” be a diocesan priest month later. In in the Diocese of all of the time —William P. Leahy, SJ Des Moines or I since, I have alwould follow up in ways had this this new interest in the Jesuits. abiding desire to be a Jesuit priest.” There was a desire – a sense of Fr. Butler compared his initial calling.” interest in the Jesuits to “the way Fr. Leahy said that a Jesuit men- that people fall in love and get tor at Creighton counseled him to married.”
Said Fr. Butler, “I fell in love first with the concept of the God that I saw working in people’s lives. My own family – my grandmothers in particular – had all sorts of love in them. They never worried about themselves. Quite honestly – through selfishness – I wanted that. I wanted to be empowered to love others.” As intrigued as he was by the thought of being a religious, Fr. Butler said he resisted the idea. But long conversations with the New England Province’s James Kane, SJ, convinced him he had “found a home” in the society. “To be a Jesuit priest is to meet people where they are,” said Fr. Butler, who has worked in a hospital psychiatric ward, as a prison chaplain, and as a vocations counselor among many other assignments. “I have had some bad days [as a priest], but I have had far more good days.” Zipple recalled his 1995 visit to BC, while he was weighing an offer to enroll as a Presidential Scholar, and how he happened to sit at a table with Vice President and Special Assistant to the President William B. Neenan, SJ. “I just remember thinking ‘This guy is not like any other priest I had met before,’” said Zipple, who has written, produced and directed documentary films for National Geographic Television. “He had this breadth of knowledge; he was
an economist – which is something I was thinking of studying; and he had just a wonderful sense of humor. Bill was the first Jesuit I had ever met and I think he is still a model for what attracted me to the society. “The Jesuits I have met are incredibly talented in their academic disciplines and normal, happy, joyful people,” he said. “Yet, they are also men of faith. That model of a priest appeals to me.” The presentation, which drew an overflow audience of more than 200 to the Heights Room in Corcoran Commons, was moderated by Michael Broughton, SJ, director of the Boston College Center for Ignatian Spirituality. Contact Reid Oslin at reid.oslin@ bc.edu
BCPD Auction Is April 30 The Boston College Police Department will hold its annual auction of abandoned property on April 30 in the Walsh Hall Function Room. Items can be previewed from 8:30-9 a.m.; the auction will run from 9 a.m. until completion. All sales are cash only. Proceeds will be donated to the Boston College Campus School and other charities.
BY ED HAYWARD STAFF WRITER
For more than 50 years, what today is known as the Institute for Scientific Research has quietly gone about its business of helping a range of government and academic institutions better understand the space “between the surface of the earth and the center of the sun,” says ISR Director Patricia Doherty. With a 60-person staff featuring some of the leading researchers in their fields, the institute focuses on events in space – like solar flares, geomagnetic storms and hurricanelike outbursts on the surface of the sun – and their impact on the technologies earth-bound humans rely upon on to forecast weather, navigate, and communicate, among other tasks. But for most of its existence, the institute has been largely invisible to the rest of BC — until now. This semester, nearly 40 ISR staffers are relocating from offices and labs at a downsizing Hanscom Air Force Base in Bedford to new workspace in Kenny Cottle Library on the Newton Campus. In addition, ISR experts are teaching courses and offering some of BC’s most accomplished undergraduate scientists unique opportunities to conduct research at the institute, said Doherty. “For the first time in the history of ISR, we’ll actually all be together,” said Doherty, who works at the ISR offices in St. Clem-
Katherine C. Cohen
Institute for Scientific Research Opening Its Doors to BC Community
“One of our goals is to increase our presence in the academic community so more students can be involved in our work and to enable more interaction with faculty,” says ISR Director Patricia Doherty. ent’s Hall. “That’s exciting, and we thank [Provost and Dean of Faculties Cutberto Garza] for the opportunity to be together by renovating space at Kenny Cottle Library.” Bringing ISR staff to Newton Campus will give the institute a chance to “open our doors to the University community,” said Doherty, adding that ISR was originally formed to administer a large research grant and, unlike other types of centers and institutes, never integrated into BC’s undergraduate programming. “With our move to the Newton Campus,” she said, “one of our goals is to increase our presence in the academic community so more
students can be involved in our work and to enable more interaction with faculty.” One of the most prolific grantwinning units on campus, the institute brings in between $5 million and $7 million each year, receiving contracts to conduct research into the evolution of ionospheric structures, which Doherty describes as the space environment that starts at about 200 kilometers and extends out to interstellar space. Conditions in this region are crucial to the world’s fleet of satellites and the technology they support, such as global positioning systems and air traffic navigation. ISR funders have included the Air Force Office of Scientific Research, Office for Naval Research, the Naval Research Laboratory, NASA, the Federal Aviation Administration and the National Science Foundation, as well as private industry. In 1954, a BC math professor, Rene Marcou, formed the Ionospheric Research Laboratory to support a $5,000 grant to map the ionosphere and define its effect on radio waves, work that continues to this day, says Doherty. In the 1960s and 70s, the unit was called the Space Data Analysis Laboratory; in the late 1980s it was the Institute for Space Research, before giving way to the ISR label in the 1990s. The institute’s current research initiatives stretch across the globe, including senior physicist Cesar Valladares’ project to design and
deploy a network of ground-based scientific sensors across South America that provide measurements of the low-latitude upper atmospheric regions where many of the key physics questions of the ionosphere remain unsolved. In addition, Doherty and ISR team members Endawoke Yizengaw Kassie and Charles Carrano are working closely with several African universities to create a similar network on that continent and to provide training in the use of satellite navigation for scientific exploration and for practical applications with societal benefits such as navigation, precision farming, mapping and surveying, and emergency location services. ISR researchers hold leadership positions with some of the top scientific organizations in the world, including the Institute of Navigation, where Doherty serves as vice president, the International Union of Radio Scientists, the International Astronomical Union —where ISR senior scientist Dave Webb served as president for three years — and the American Geophysical Union, where senior physicist Sunanda Basu sits on the board of directors. Several ISR staff members are also recipients of prestigious awards from Air Force sponsors, including senior physicists Frank Marcos, Bill Burke and Santimay Basu. ISR scientists have published more than 50 papers a year in peer reviewed scientific journals. As ISR expands it role on cam-
pus, some of these experts will be interacting more with students, particularly in the classroom. For the past two years, Research Astronomer Tom Kuchar has taught an astronomy class to students in the Department of Earth and Environmental Sciences. There are also pending proposals for an undergraduate course on space weather and for a graduate level space physics course, Doherty says. “We’ve been interacting with Pat and scientists at ISR in a few ways over the last couple of years, and we look forward to building on those interactions,” said Earth and Environmental Sciences Department Chair Associate Professor Gail Kineke. “We share interests scientifically in the broad areas of the geosciences and the research and expertise of the scientists at ISR is a good complement to some of the activities in the department.” This year, ISR launched the Marconi Scholarship Program, named after the pioneering radio wave researcher. Two undergraduates are currently conducting research through the program and two additional students are expected to join in the work. “We welcome the opportunity to connect with students and our colleagues on the faculty,” says Doherty, “and we now have the chance to open the institute up more and make those connections.” Contact Ed Hayward at ed.hayward@bc.edu
T he B oston C ollege
Chronicle APRIL 14, 2011
BY KATHLEEN SULLIVAN STAFF WRITER
School of Theology and Ministry Professor of Historical Theology Khaled Anatolios has been selected as one of only seven Henry Luce III Fellows in Theology for 2011-2012. The Henry Luce III Fellows in Theology program supports the research of leading scholars in theological studies whose projects offer significant and innovative contributions to the church and the general public. “I was thrilled to get the phone call that I had been awarded this fellowship,” said Anatolios. “I love teaching, but this fellowship will afford me the opportunity to conduct serious and rigorous scholarship that can be shared with other scholars.” The Luce fellows engage in year-long research and then gather at the annual Luce Fellow Conference, where they will present their findings for publication and discuss with current and past Luce Fellows how their work may impact the life of the church and the broader society. Anatolios’ project, Deification Through the Cross: An Eastern Christian Soteriology, will entail the development of a manuscript about the meaning of the cross in Eastern Christianity. “Many modern scholars contend that Eastern Christians downplay the significance of the cross in favor of the resurrection and Western Christians do the reverse,” said Anatolios. “I believe that characterization distorts the reality.” Anatolios, an Eastern Christian, says he will write a comprehensive treatment of soteriology — the doctrine of salvation through Christ — that will demonstrate that the main historical currents of Eastern soteriology bear central reference to the salvific value of
Lee Pellegrini
STM Faculty Member Earns Luce Fellowship
Khaled Anatolios
the cross. “Khaled’s richly deserved selection as a Luce Fellow offers a quite distinguished recognition of a remarkable academic career, and a mark of approval for STM’s esteemed faculty,” said STM Dean Rev. Mark Massa, SJ. “I couldn’t be happier.” Anatolios’ teaching and research interests are early Christian theology (Greek fathers, Augustine, Patristic Exegesis), contemporary Trinitarian theology and Christology, Eastern Christianity and Moslem-Christian Dialogue. He is the author of the forthcoming Retrieving Nicaea: The Development and Meaning of Trinitarian Doctrine; Athanasius: The Coherence of his Thought, and the Athanasius volume of the Routledge Early Church Fathers series. He also is the editor of the forthcoming The Trinity in the Life of the Church. Anatolios is on the steering committee of the Boston Colloquy in Historical Theology and a member of the board of directors of the Pappas Patristic Institute at the Holy Cross Greek Orthodox School of Theology. He earned bachelor’s and master’s degrees from the University of Toronto and a doctorate in systematic theology from Boston College. Contact Kathleen Sullivan at kathleen.sullivan@bc.edu
Nuclear Issues On Agenda for Arms Control Forum Leading arms control experts will offer their views on the North Korean, Pakistani and Iranian nuclear controversies, and the prospects for an international treaty prohibiting production of fissile material, at a conference taking place at Boston College tomorrow. Sponsored by the Political Science Association, the conference “The Obama Administration and the Future of Nuclear Arms Control” will include a keynote address by Marcie Berman Ries, the deputy assistant secretary of state for nuclear strategy. Other speakers include: Christopher Hill, dean of the University of Denver Korbel School of International Studies; New York Times Washington correspondent David Sanger; Ollie Heinonen, senior fellow at the Harvard University Belfer Center; Ploughshares Fund President Joseph Cirincione; Princeton University Professor Frank von Hippell, co-chairman of the International Panel on Fissile Materials; Hudson Institute Senior Fellow Christopher Ford; and Michael Guhin, senior negotiator at the State Department International Security and NonProliferation Bureau. Vice Provost for Undergraduate Academic Affairs Donald Hafner will provide opening remarks at the conference, which begins at 10 a.m. in the Fulton Hall Honors Library. BC Political Science faculty members Timothy Crawford, Jennifer Erickson and Robert Ross will moderate the conference’s three panel discussions. The event is free and open to the public, but non-BC guests must register in advance by e-mail to ratners@bc.edu. For more information e-mail ratzl@bc.edu or ratners@bc.edu. —Office of News & Public Affairs
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NEWSMAKERS Prof. Marc Landy (Political Science) discussed President Obama’s approach to the threat of a federal government shutdown with Fox News Boston and the Christian Science Monitor. Prof. James Mahalik (LSOE) was interviewed by WBUR-FM about research suggesting popular culture’s emphasis on masculinity is leading men to lead unhealthier lives. Prof. Peter Skerry (Political Science) offered his views to Voice of America on efforts by lawmakers in more than a dozen US states try to ban the Islamic religious and civil code known as Sharia. CBS “Sunday Morning” interviewed Sloan Center on Aging & Work Research Director Jacquelyn James on a center study showing that older unemployed workers are having more trouble finding work, as companies favor less-experienced, cheaper candidates. Center on Wealth and Philanthropy Director Prof. Paul Schervish (Sociology) and Associate Director Robert Kenny discussed their study of the attitudes of the super rich — previewed in the April issue of The Atlantic — on National Public Radio’s “On Point.”
Thomas P. O’Neill Professor of American Politics Shep Melnick joined Rosemary O’Neill — daughter of the late Thomas P. O’Neill and a former State Department political officer — and Raymond Schroth, SJ, biographer of late Boston College Law School Dean and Congressman Robert Drinan, SJ, for a lecture, “Reclaiming Politics as Service,” on April 6. (Photo by Caitlin Cunningham)
The Jakarta Post reported on a talk by Prof. James Morris (Theology) on Indonesia’s need for wise politicians to encourage Indonesians to refrain from committing acts of religious intolerance.
BC BRIEFING
Assoc. Prof. Jonathan Laurence (Political Science) published a piece in Foreign Policy on the danger posed by European leaders’ attacks on “multiculturalism.”
PUBLICATIONS Asst. Prof. Seung-A Annie Jin (Communication) published the following journal articles: “The impact of 3D virtual haptics in marketing” in Psychology & Marketing; “The influence of regulatory fit and interactivity on brand satisfaction and trust in e-health marketing inside 3D virtual worlds (Second Life)” in CyberPsychology, Be-
NOTA BENE The American Conference for Irish Studies (ACIS) has awarded Adjunct Associate Professor of History Robert Savage the James S. Donnelly Sr. Prize for Best Book in History and Social Sciences, in recognition of his 2010 work A Loss of Innocence? Television and Irish Society, 1960-72. ACIS praised the book — which explores how television helped facilitate the modernization of Ireland in the 1960s, while undermining its longstanding conservative political, cultural and social consensus — for “meticulous use of historical archives, careful engagement with secondary sources, and interviews with key leading figures.” A Loss of Innocence “is particularly impressive in its scope that traces the effects of the same medium in the very different, but connected contexts of both northern and southern states as well as in its interdisciplinary appeal.” The award was presented during the 2011 ACIS international meeting, held March 30-April 2 at The University of Wisconsin, Madison. A multidisciplinary scholarly organization, ACIS has some 800 members in the United States, Ireland, Canada and other countries. Louise McMahon Ahearn Professor of Social Work James Lubben has been selected as a Fellow of the American Academy of Social Work and Social Welfare (AASWSW). Lubben is a leading scholar in social gerontology and pursues research examining social support networks among older populations. He developed the Lubben Social Network Scale, an abbreviated measure designed for both research and clinical use among older populations that has used for studies in Asia, Australia, Europe and North America. In addition to chairing the Graduate School of Social Work doctoral program, he is director of the Boston College Institute on Aging, and director of the Hartford Doctoral Fellows Program. Lubben will be formally inducted into the AASWSW — an honorific society of distinguished scholars and practitioners dedicated to achieving excellence in the field of social work and social welfare — on May 6 in Washington, DC.
havior, & Social Networking; “I feel present. Therefore, I experience flow: A structural equation modeling approach to flow and presence in electronic games” in Journal of Broadcasting & Electronic Media; and “I feel more connected to the physically ideal mini me than the mirror-image mini me” in CyberPsychology, Behavior, & Social Networking. Assoc. Prof. Kevin Ohi (English) published Henry James and the Queerness of Style. “Exile and the Unburdening of Guilt,” by Prof. Maxim D. Shrayer (Slavic and Eastern Languages), was reprinted in Short Story Criticism.
TIME AND A HALF Founders Professor in Theology James F. Keenan, SJ, gave the 11th Annual Portman Lecture at the University of San Diego, “Teaching ‘HIV/AIDS and Ethics’ at American Universities Today.” Neenan Professor of Economics James Anderson presented “Terms of Trade and Global Efficiency Effects of Free Trade Agreements, 1990-2002” to invited seminars at Nottingham University and Oxford University, and presented the 2011 Nottingham Lectures in International Economics based on the forthcoming Annual Review of Economics article “The Gravity Model.”
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: Events Manager, Center for Corporate Citizenship Director, Annual Capital Projects, Facilities Management Housing Assignments Specialist, Residential Life Assistant Manager, Residential Life Associate Vice President, Residential Life Associate Director, Classes & Reunions, Law School - Alumni and Development Web Developer, Office of Marketing Communications Research Technician, Biology Department
T he B oston C ollege
Chronicle APRIL 14, 2011
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the artistic accomplishments of BC students and faculty. Hogan’s public appearances More than 1,000 Boston College during the festival will include a students, faculty and administrators Q&A following a screening of “The will display their artistic talents and Town” on April 28 at 7 p.m. in interests at the University’s 13th an- Devlin 008, and a panel discussion nual Arts Festival April 28-30. — sponsored by the Lowell LecThe festival, which last year drew tures Humanities Series — on April more than 16,500 BC alumni and 29 at 7 p.m. in Devlin 008. The area residents, includes over 80 panel, “Chuck Hogan’s Prince of events — most of them free — that Thieves and ‘The Town’: A Boston showcase performing, visual and Crime Story as Novel and Movie,” literary arts programs. Professional also includes English professors artists, many of them alumni, also Carlo Rotella and Chris Wilson. will take part. Activities for families with chilEach afternoon, music, dance dren of all ages will be offered on Doug Levy and theater events fill April 30 from noon O’Neill Plaza, the festo 5 p.m.: a parade tival’s hub; each eveled by BC’s Marchning there are several ing Band, arts and featured events. In adcrafts, story hours dition, art exhibitions for children and and demonstrations are teens, and an origiopen all afternoon, with nal theater producexhibitions continuing tion — most apinto the evening; there propriate for 5th to also are daily literary 8th graders — on Chuck Hogan ’89 (Prince of readings. Thieves) will make several bullying, written This year’s special appearances at the festival. by Theatre Departguest is best-selling author Chuck ment faculty member Luke JorHogan, a 1989 BC alumnus whose gensen and presented by students in novel Prince of Thieves was adapted his Creative Dramatics class. for the film “The Town,” directed This year’s festival, according to by and starring Ben Affleck. Ho- organizers, features a greater infugan will be presented with the an- sion of professional mentors beyond nual Boston College Arts Council BC faculty and staff members. They Alumni Award for Distinguished include artists, among them alumni, Achievement from University Presi- who have been on campus this dent William P. Leahy, SJ, at an spring to work with students in arts awards celebration and public various genres, including a cappella, reception on April 29 from 4-6:30 dance, improv theater and fashion. p.m. in O’Neill Plaza. Awards will Some mentors will return to take also be presented in recognition of part in the festival. The goal of this
DATE & TIME
BY ROSANNE PELLEGRINI STAFF WRITER
BC SCENES
Frank Curran
Lee Pellegrini
Song, dance and many other forms of artistic expression will be on display at the BC Arts Festival.
The annual Black Family Weekend will take place tonight through Sunday, featuring a panel discussion on “Transformative Leadership,” a 40th anniversary celebration of the Black Student Forum and a talk on black leadership by Georgetown University Professor of Sociology Michael Eric Dyson, and other events. See http://www.bc.edu/clubs/ bsf/38th.html for more details.
initiative — dubbed the “Road to the Festival,” which has included workshops, master classes and other programs — is to enhance students’ creative preparation not only for the festival, which showcases this work, but for their ongoing artistic growth and development. Examples of “Road to the Festival” this semester included a workshop on choreography for performance led by Betsi Graves Akerstein ’04, founder and director of Boston’s Urbanity Dance company; English faculty member and “slam poet” Susan Roberts’ sessions with student poets; and Boston-based
WALKING INTO THE FUTURE Photo by Caitlin Cunningham
Kimberly O’Neill ’13 takes visiting high school student Kiara Matier on a tour of Boston College as part of “A Day in the Life of a College Student,” co-organized by BC senior Elizabeth Yuan with the Big Sister Association of Greater Boston. The event matched BC students with high school-age “Little Sisters” and their “Big Sisters” — including Erin Hayes (left) — to talk about college life.
rock band Five O’Clock Shadow’s mentoring of student a cappella groups BC Dynamics and BEATS. The festival is organized by the Arts Council and sponsored with the offices of the President, the Provost and Dean of Faculties, and the Institute for the Liberal Arts. For more information, including event locations and updates, see the festival website http://www. bc.edu/artsfestival or call ext.2ARTS(2787). Note that the schedule is subject to change. Events with admission fees are indicated. Contact Rosanne Pellegrini at rosanne.pellegrini@bc.edu
A Weekend of Joyce A talk by the co-editor of a controversial new edition of Finnegan’s Wake will highlight a weekend of James Joyce celebrations April 16 and 17 at Boston College, including the University’s annual “Bloomsday-in-April” event that brings to life Joyce’s legendary book Ulysses. Danis Rose — who collaborated with John O’Hanlon to produce the new Finnegan’s Wake — will speak at BC on April 16 at 2 p.m., as part of the Boston Joyce Forum “Joyce, Gender and History.” The Rose-O’Hanlon edition generated a debate when it was released last year in Ireland over alterations in spelling, punctuation, syntax, placing of phrases and other aspects to “facilitate a smooth reading of the book’s allusive density and essential fabric,” according to Rose and O’Hanlon. For information on other events at the forum, see http://joycegenderandhistory.wordpress.com. The program for April 17’s “Bloomsday-in-April” includes “Joycean Moments,” dramatizations and readings from Ulysses and A Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man and songs from Joyce’s works — with introductions by WGBH-FM host Brian O’Donovan — and a series of workshops on how to read Joyce, and a “relay reading” of Ulysses. The afternoon ends with a screening of “Faithful Departed,” a documentary on Joyce’s Dublin based on the collection of period photographs by William Lawrence, creating a photographic impression of Dublin on June 16, 1904 — “Bloomsday,” the day on which Ulysses takes place. For more on “Bloomsday-in-April,” see http://bloomsdayinapril.wordpress.com. Both the Joyce Scholars Forum and “Bloomsday-in-April” will take place at Connolly House (300 Hammond Street), the location of Boston College’s Center for Irish Programs. —Sean Smith
Legendary documentarian Frederick Wiseman, above, will screen his 2006 film “State Legislature” and lead a discussion afterwards on Saturday at 10 a.m. in Cushing 001. See http://www.bc.edu/centers/ cloughcenter/events.html. Brita Meng Outzen
BC Gets Ready to Show Its Artistic Side
Lee Pellegrini
13th Annual Arts Festival April 28-30
LOOKING AHEAD
The Irish Studies and American Studies program will sponsor the lecture “Baseball and the Business of American Innocence” on April 19 at 4:30 p.m. in Connolly House. Email joan.reilly@bc.edu. Natalie Jeremijenko, an artist who works at the intersection of contemporary art, biochemistry, physics, neuroscience, and engineering, will give a workshop on April 26 at 2 p.m. To sign up (the location will be announced upon RSVP), e-mail hakel@bc.edu; more information available at http://www. bc.edu/sustainbc. The Heinz Bluhm Annual Lecture series will host a talk, “Totalitarian Art: What it is, by Comparison with Islamic Art,” by Brandeis Professor and former Iraqi dissident Kanan Makiya on April 27 at 4:30 p.m. in Devlin 008. E-mail kevin. newmark@bc.edu. For more on Boston College campus events, see events.bc.edu or www. bc.edu/bcinfo.