Boston College Chronicle

The Boston College

Chronicle Published by the Boston College Office of News & Public Affairs february 2, 2012 Vol. 20 no. 10

Relocations Are Beginning of BC’s New Alumni Center

INSIDE •Aponavicius story now a book, page 2

By Reid Oslin Staff Writer

•David Neiman lives on via YouTube, page 2 •Tech partnership for BC, Newton, page 3

BC hockey players Erin Kickham, left, and Jackie Young make a friend during the team’s weekly skate in Newton with special needs children. (Photos by Justin Knight)

•New look for MLK event, page 3 •Biologists ID protein in diseases, page 3 •Fr. Vicini: priest, MD, theologian, page 5

•Q&A: CSON Dean Susan Gennaro, page 5 •New BCPD officers and sergeants, page 6 •Black History Month at BC, page 6 •Nota Bene: Goizueta honored, page 7 •Robsham spring schedule, page 8 •‘Rural Ireland’ at the McMullen, page 8

Good Sports

Every week, the BC women’s hockey team takes to the ice in Newton for a special purpose

By Reid Oslin Staff Writer

companionship with older children and adults who take advantage of the weekly evening of exercise and fun.

Last year, the team brought the Beanpot championship trophy to the rink for their young friends to see. Former BC goaltender Molly Schaus ’11, who took part in the Newton skating program as an undergraduate, was a member of the silver medal-winning Team USA in the 2010 Winter Olympic Games. She brought her medal to the Fessenden skating session – much to the delight of the youngsters and their parents.

“They are just a great group of young ladies,” says John Geraci of Newton, the parent of a nineyear-old boy who is legally blind Continued on page 4

Without even putting a puck in a net, the Boston College women’s hockey team scores some big points with special needs children and adults in Newton every week.

For the past seven winters, team members have taken part in a weekly Thursday night skating event for the special needs community sponsored by the Newton Parks and Recreation Department and held at the Fessenden School in West Newton.

“This program would not be possible without the Boston College women’s hockey team,” says Mark Kelly, the department’s director of special needs. “They have helped us expand this program from about 10 kids to more than 35 each week. We are so appreciative of all that they do.

“We can’t say enough about BC and BC athletics. These young women not only fit in all of their studies, their practices and their games, they find the time to come over here every Thursday night to generously share their time and talent.”

The dozen or so BC skaters, who with other volunteers attend the session each week, pair up with youngsters to teach fundamentals to beginners as well as Dru Burns offers some encourageengage in conversation and on-ice ment to a novice skater.

QUOTE:

University Advancement’s 175 staff members will relocate this month as Boston College takes initial steps toward the opening of a new Alumni Center on the Brighton Campus.

Advancement employees currently housed in More Hall will move into the newly renovated and re-constructed facility at 2121 Commonwealth Avenue starting on Feb. 13. Employees from the 1280 Boylston Street building are scheduled to follow later that week and Alumni House staff will begin their relocation during the week of Feb. 20.

In addition to bringing all Advancement staff together under one roof, the new Alumni Center will also serve as a “home away from home” for the University’s more than 162,000 graduates.

Once the employee move is complete, alumni will be welcomed to the new center for volunteer meetings, seminars, alumni and parent receptions, or to catch up on the latest Boston College news and publications, check e-mail or enjoy a social visit.

“It will be a game-changer to have such a wonderful space dedicated to the mission of advancing Boston College,” says James Husson, senior vice president for University Advancement. “The Alumni Center will only strengthen the relationship our alumni, parents, and friends enjoy with Boston College and facilitate our community efforts to make BC an ever-greater University.”

The centerpiece of the Alumni Center is a sun-lit, 3000-squarefoot, three-story atrium that will provide an informal gathering space for alumni and staff. The Continued on page 4

GSSW, Capstone Launch Social Innovation Effort

By Sean Smith Chronicle Editor

A collaboration between the Graduate School of Social Work and the University’s Capstone Program aims to foster interest in the growing field of social innovation, particularly for Boston College students considering social justice and social responsibility as focal points of their post-college lives.

The GSSW-Capstone partnership, known as the Social Innovation Symposium (SIS), formally began with a forum last night in the Heights Room of Corcoran Commons featuring three entrepreneurs working to bring social innovation to the non-profit, forprofit and public sectors.

SIS organizers say the collaboration, besides offering students a means to reflect on a volunteer-tocareer transition in social justice, also has the potential to inspire more cross-disciplinary initiatives

among BC schools, departments and faculty.

The SIS, supported by funding from the Institute for the Liberal Arts, represents a confluence of academic, professional and formational interests reflective of BC’s Jesuit, Catholic mission.

GSSW Assistant Professor Stephanie Berzin and Associate Professor Marcie Pitt-Catsouphes are founders of the school’s Social Innovation Program and Collaborative, which promotes social innovation as a new model in which to train social workers at a time of decreased public funding and resources. Their SIS co-organizer Associate Professor of Theology Fr. James Weiss directs the Capstone Program, which offers seminars in vocational discernment to seniors and second-semester juniors.

“One of the challenges we face is, how do students carry with them the values and experiences they Continued on page 4

“We’re all dealing with different challenges. Our students said they each strive to become better adults leaving BC than when they arrived. We found that to be incredibly powerful.”

— Yvonne McBarnett, on the theme for BC’s Black History Month celebration (page 6)

T he B oston C ollege

Chronicle february 2, 2012

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The storybook collegiate football career of former Boston College kicker Steve Aponavicius is the subject of a newly-published book that chronicles the tale of how a walk-on kicker — who had never played a game of organized football until arriving at BC — went on to become the Eagles’ all-time leading scorer.

Written by M.B. Roberts, Aponavicius: From BC Superfan to Walk-On Kicking Phenomenon, tells the story of the Easton, Pa., native who had played only high school soccer before enrolling in BC’s Carroll School of Management in September of 2005. Like many of his freshman classmates, Aponavicius expected to watch the Eagles’ football games from the Alumni Stadium student section.

But a few days before the season opener, graduate assistant coach Jay Civetti (now head coach at Tufts University) watched Aponavicius leisurely kicking field goals during a late afternoon workout in the stadium. Civetti persuaded the BC coaching staff to let the unknown freshman try out for the varsity team and Aponavicius impressed then-head coach Tom O’Brien with his leg strength and accuracy.

Two weeks later, Steve was invited to join the team.

After a year of practice with the BC team, Aponavicius finally got his chance to play, making his game debut on Oct. 12, 2006 on one of college football’s biggest stages: an ESPN Thursday Night Football game against the nationally-ranked Virginia Tech Hokies. “Sid Vicious” — as he was called by coaches and teammates who had difficulty pronouncing

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Walk-on Story Has Legs

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Strike Up the Band for a Green BC Steve Aponavicius early in his BC football career.

his Lithuanian family name — was perfect on the night, booting two field goals and two extra points in BC’s stunning 22-3 victory over the surprised Hokies. “Welcome to college football,” exclaimed ESPN announcer Chris Fowler who was calling the game on national TV. Aponavicius’ kicking career had its ups and downs, but he went on to score 290 career points for BC, 28 more than any other player in the school’s century-plus football history.

Roberts, a Virginia Tech graduate, says she was watching the national television broadcast of Aponavicius’ inaugural game appearance and was intrigued by the story, but never dreamed that she would someday write a book about him. “I had almost forgotten the kicker from BC with the hard-topronounce last name,” she says.

“But in 2010, I was introduced to Steve’s brother-in-law Brian Reidy, who told me the whole story.

“It has all the elements of an

inspirational story and then some,” says Roberts, the author of 17 books, most of them featuring sports-related subjects. “There’s the hard-to believe aspect: The chance meeting [with Civetti]; the instant success; the struggle; the inconsistency; more success. And his family story is incredibly compelling. Plus, Steve is a wonderful person and the ideal subject.”

While handling the BC placekicking chores for four seasons, Aponavicius completed his undergraduate degree and went on to study for an MBA in the Carroll Graduate School of Management.

Today, he works for JP Morgan Chase in Southern California. “It’s been an adjustment for him not to be playing football,” notes Roberts, “but he is glued to the TV whenever BC is playing.”

—Reid Oslin [Read the 2006 Chronicle story about Steve Aponavicius’ game against Virginia Tech at http://bit.ly/ whrKnH]

Despite winter’s chill, efforts to reduce energy consumption on campus are heating up.

This semester, the “Get Green” campaign to keep conservation top of mind with the University community has rolled out the latest entry in its popular “green mustache” poster series: the Screaming Eagles Marching Band.

The band is an apt representative of the campaign spirit, according to organizers in the Office of News & Public Affairs, which oversees the awareness effort. Just as every note played by each band member is important to the overall sound, every effort to cut even a small amount of energy use contributes to overall savings; discipline is required to keep the band in step and in tune, as consistency is needed in efforts to conserve, and, above all, the BC Band provides each outstanding performance “unplugged.”

Also underway are the 2012 NRG Games, a five-week competition that challenges students to reduce their residence halls’ electricity consumption compared to a baseline use from this year, with prizes for the community with the greatest savings. The games, which began January 30, will continue through March 3, and there will be weekly updates online at www.bc.edu/ sustainability, where users can track

YouTube Preserves a BC Professor’s Legacy

consumption in real time through a new Energy Dashboard.

“This kind of event reflects BC’s long term commitment to encourage personal responsibility for energy use and conservation among students, faculty and staff,” said Energy Manager John MacDonald, “and also highlights Facilities Services’ continued goal of reducing the growing energy and electrical costs that impact the cost of overall operations.

“Energy conservation is a ‘win/ win’ situation: we reduce our carbon footprint and in doing so, save on costs,” he said. “But we can’t be successful without the support of the entire campus community.”

Tips for conserving energy on a daily basis can be found at www. bc.edu/green.

—Office of News & Public Affairs 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

When he passed away from cancer in 2004, Professor of Theology David Neiman left quite a legacy — one that continues to grow, and garner “likes,” each day.

For the past three years, Neiman has gained legions of followers and new students via YouTube; videos of his lectures have been viewed more than 330,000 times and attracted almost 1,300 subscribers. His daughter, Becky Neiman, works to preserve her father’s work through a website [www.drdavidneiman.com] and the Neiman YouTube channel [www.youtube.com/DrDavidNeiman].

David Neiman made history when in 1966 he became the first Jewish scholar appointed to teach religion at Boston College. A story published in the Boston Globe at that time reported that his appointment was a first for any Catholic university in the nation.

David Neiman became a re-

nowned scholar, speaker and writer.

His book credits include The Book of Job, Domestic Relations in Antiquity and articles in the Encyclopedia Judaica. While teaching generations of BC students over three decades, he established the Institute of Biblical Archeology and conducted 10 archeological expeditions to Israel.

Growing up, Becky Neiman knew her father was a teacher, but it wasn’t until she sat in on one of his classes while attending Boston College that she realized the passion he brought to his subject.

“He was always just our dad,” said Neiman, who eventually transferred to the New School of Social Research. “I don’t think many children really think about the work lives of their parents. When I saw him at work, it was a transformative

moment. He made a really complex subject accessible and I remember watching him, like it was a performance.”

Becky Neiman would continue

watching her father’s lectures through the lens of a camera, taping them for posterity. Those tapes would later become digital files that populated Neiman’s YouTube channel.

Becky Neiman says the irony of David Neiman’s online popularity is that her dad was the same man that once banished a television from his home, calling it a “waste of time.”

A writer, director, editor and founder of Midnight Shadow Productions in Los Angeles, Becky Nei-

man has spent countless off-hours cataloguing lectures, transferring them to digital files and editing them. She finds it heartwarming and surprising to see a new generation of students discover her father’s work through social media.

The least likely audience? A group of die-hard video gamers who wanted to learn the history of a particular storyline in Egypt. The discussion of Major League Gaming referenced Neiman’s work and YouTube page and started spirited discussions on Neiman’s research.

“I don’t think he knew, or could have known that his work would live on in this way. I know that he would love the idea of continuing to inspire people with the subjects he dedicated his life to,” Neiman said.

—Melissa Beecher

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.

T he B oston C ollege

Chronicle february 2, 2012

By Ed Hayward Staff Writer

Lee Pellegrini

BC, Newton Establish Tech Collaborative MLK Ceremony Expands Format for 30th Anniversary University President William P. Leahy, SJ, joined Newton Mayor Setti Warren last week to announce a new three-year, $300,000 initiative to help upgrade computers and other educational technology in the Newton Public Schools.

Fr. Leahy joined Warren, a 1993 BC graduate, Newton Superintendent of Schools David Fleischman and Lynch School of Education Interim Dean Maureen E. Kenny at the Countryside Elementary School in Newton Newton Mayor Setti Warren and Countryside Elementary School Principal Emily look on as University President William P. Leahy, SJ, speaks during a Highlands to unveil the Boston Ostrower Jan. 23 ceremony unveiling the Boston College-Newton Technology Collaborative.

College-Newton Technology Collaborative. last Catholic elementary school Principal Emily Ostrower said “The Boston College-Newton in Brighton. City Connects in Countryside, the city’s largest elTechnology Collaborative deep- Catholic Schools and the Ur- ementary school, has struggled to ens Boston College’s partnership ban Catholic Teacher Corps are keep pace with changes in eduwith the City of Newton and among the programs that serve cational technology, relying on the Newton Public Schools,” Fr. Catholic schools in Boston. a limited number of computers Leahy said. “Through the Lynch In its first year, the Boston and other technology purchased School of Education, BC provides College-Newton Technology years ago. dozens of student teachers and Collaborative will fund the pur“Educational technology is graduate students chase of 81 Apple transformative,” said Ostrower. each year, as well The $300,000 initiative Mac Books, a dozen “Some of our laptops are older as faculty expertise.

ELMO digital visual than the students who attend our will help upgrade comThis new collaboraprojectors, a dozen school.” tive draws on those puters and other educa- flat screen televisions The Lynch School has develstrengths and will and a dozen media oped a long-standing partnership tional technology in the play an important carts for elementary with the Newton Public Schools, role in providing Newton Public Schools. schools in the great- said Kenny. During the past five Newton students est need of updated years, 680 BC students have with the benefits of technology. worked as student teachers and today’s educational technology.”

Following the announce- counselors in Newton. Veteran Newton School Committee ment, Countryside second grade city teachers are eligible to take Chair Claire Sokoloff, committee teacher Michelle Powers, a 1995 classes tuition-free at the Lynch members Angela Pitter-Wright BC graduate, and graduate stu- School in return for mentoring and Margie Ross Decter, and dent teacher Rebecca Finkelstein BC students. In addition, Lynch Board of Aldermen members MA’12, demonstrated a writing School faculty have worked with Cheryl Lappin and Brian Yates lesson using technology similar to the school system on program ’71 joined Warren, who called what will be purchased through development and research. the partnership between BC and the grant.

Contact Ed Hayward at ed.hayward@bc.edu the city crucial to ensuring all students benefit from today’s educational technology.

“Education is the bedrock of our community, and Boston Colcovery could lead to the devellege understands how important

By Ed Hayward opment of drugs that target the it is that our students have access Staff Writer protein in order to block the to technology in the classroom,” mechanism that advances the Biology professors Marc-Jan Warren said. “I am so pleased two diseases.

Gubbels and Gabor Marth have that Boston College is willing to “The mechanism of microidentified a protein that plays strengthen our partnership by neme secretion, which is required a pivotal role in the spread of continuing to improve the learnfor host cell invasion, is a valthe deadly diseases toxoplasmoing that takes place in our classid drug target,” said Gubbels. sis and malaria, and also shown rooms with the resources needed.”

“Since neither microneme secreits function could be genetically The technology collaboration nor invasion itself are curblocked to halt the progress of tive is the latest entry into BC’s rently targeted by any anti-malarthe parasite-borne illnesses. broad slate of university-school ia drugs, a potentially new class The protein, identified as ventures. BC maintains multiple of anti-malaria reagents can be DOC2.1, supports the secretion partnerships with the Boston developed.

The high incidence of of microneme organelles, which Public Schools that provide supdrug resistance against malaria is are crucial to the mobility of the port personnel, student teacha big problem, so new drugs are two parasitic protozoa that cause ers, graduate assistants, faculty experts, student volunteers, SAT the diseases, Gubbels, Marth urgently needed.”

Gubbels said researchers in his tutors, grant funding and in-kind and researchers from the Harlab obtained a temperature-sensivard School of Public Health, services to more than two dozen tive mutant of the parasite ToxoChildren’s Hospital Boston and BPS schools. plasma gondii, which displayed University of Oxford reported BC’s ongoing commitment to a mobility defect preventing it recently in the journal Science. the St. Columbkille Partnership from host cell invasion. Marth, The researchers said the disSchool has helped to save the

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One of the University’s major be aware of — what it was all about, annual campus events, the Martin and what it accomplished,” said Luther King Jr. Scholarship Cer- Assistant Director of Alumni Affinemony, will have a different format ity Programs Eva Maynard, who is this year in celebration of its 30th chair of the scholarship ceremony. anniversary when it takes place on “We don’t simply want to memoriFeb. 10. alize Dr. King, but to honor his life The event, which traditionally and work by having a conversation has been an evening banquet in the about where we are along the path Welch Dining Room of Lyons of civil rights and social justice, and Hall, will instead be held in Rob- what needs to be done.” sham Theater at 4 p.m., with a The afternoon panel discussion keynote address by Harvard Law will introduce that theme, and OgleSchool Jesse Climenko Professor tree will “continue the thought” in Charles J. Ogletree, followed by the his keynote, said Maynard. The presentation of the Martin Luther founding director of the Charles King Jr. Scholarship, and a recep- Hamilton Institute for Race and tion.

Justice, Ogletree has researched and Preceding the ceremony at written on numerous topics related Robsham will be a 2 p.m. panel to civil rights and social justice. He discussion in the Murray Room is the author of All Deliberate Speed: of Yawkey Center that Reflections on the First Halfincludes former scholarCentury of Brown v. Board ship winners and finalof Education and in 2003 ists and members of the was selected by Savoy magaMartin Luther King Jr. zine as one of “The 100 Memorial Committee.

Most Influential Blacks in Among the participants America.” will be Boston College But Maynard affirmed Law School Dean Vinthe importance of the Law Dean Rougeau: cent Rougeau and Uni- will be on panel event’s primary purpose: versity Trustee Darcel the presentation of the Clark ’83, who won the first King King Scholarship, which is given to Scholarship. a BC junior who reflects King’s phiOrganizers say the ceremony’s losophy in his or her life and work. changed format has a two-fold pur“Every year, the MLK Commitpose: to commemorate the King tee faces the task of choosing a winScholarship’s three decades at BC, ner from among several outstanding while offering an opportunity for candidates who represent the very the University community to reflect best of Boston College, in academon the state of civil rights and social ics, service and spirituality. We look justice more than 40 years after forward to honoring these young King’s assassination. people and their achievements.”

“The civil rights movement is —Sean Smith associated with an era long ago, so Black History Month people may forget — or not even at BC, page 6

Biologists Find Key Protein in Parasite-Borne Diseases a computational biologist, sequenced the parasite’s genome and identified 33 possible sites in the genome responsible for the defect. Lab work isolated a single mutation in the DOC2.1 gene that was associated with a microneme secretion defect responsible for the mobility defect.

Co-author Manoj Duraisingh, of the Harvard School of Public Health, generated a mutant of the malaria parasite Plasmodium falciparum in which DOC2.1 expression could be shut off. Furthermore, he demonstrated the protein was also crucial to microneme secretion in the parasite.

Gubbels said the findings reinforce the dramatic advances made possible by complete genome sequencing and computational biology, which are Marth’s areas of expertise. These

approaches bypass the need for the difficult and time-consuming task of mapping causative mutations by genetic crosses as used in model organisms.

“The re-sequencing method will permit the study of eukaryotic pathogens by forward genetics, which has shown its power in studies of model organisms, such as yeast and fruit flies,” said Gubbels. “To date, many of these pathogens have limited experimental and genetic accessibility, but this roadblock can now be lifted.”

Added Marth, “We are now working with a number of research teams to gain insight into other critical pathogenic pathways, and already see promising initial results.”

Contact Ed Hayward at ed.hayward@bc.edu

T he B oston C ollege

Chronicle february 2, 2012

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“It’s an hour of our time, but it makes the children’s week. That is so worth it.”

—Taylor Wasylk

Not Just a Skating Party

BC women’s hockey players enjoy their weekly skate time at the Fessenden School in Newton with special needs children: (Photo above) Jackie Young, left, and Erin Kickham; (upper right) Melissa Bizzari; (bottom right) Kate Leary, left, and Jessica Martino.

Photos by Justin Knight

Continued from page 1 and has Asperger’s syndrome, but who delights in his weekly skating opportunity. “I know it takes a lot of time to play hockey at the college level. And it’s not just the hour they spend here on the ice – it’s the travelling to and from the rink, too. It’s very nice of them to do it.”

Many of the young skaters also attend BC women’s hockey games to cheer on their new onice friends. “Tommy and I went to some games last year,” Geraci says, “and one of the girls who had been skating with him waved and called out to him as she came off the ice. It was just a great moment. His interests are not very athletically inclined, but for him to go to a game and to pay attention – even a little bit – because he knows who is playing, is just a wonderful thing.”

The skate night at Fessenden

is “the highlight of the week” for sophomore Amanda Movsessian, a hockey forward from Woburn.

“It’s a really nice experience. We teach some of the younger kids how to skate – ‘left foot out, right foot out’ – but for some of the older ones, it’s more conversation, engaging with them. We have inside jokes, secret handshakes – it’s all a lot of fun.”

“I come every Thursday,” says freshman Erin Kickham of Needham. “I love seeing these kids. It makes them feel so involved. If I can put a smile on their faces every week, it’s something I definitely want to do.”

Adds sophomore Taylor Wasylk of Port Huron, Mich.: “It’s an hour of our time, but it makes the children’s week. That is so worth it.”

Contact Reid Oslin at reid.oslin@bc.edu

Social Innovation Is GSSW-Capstone Focus

Associate Vice President of Advancement Brenda Ricard recently led a tour of the new Alumni Center and its atrium on the Brighton Campus. The newly renovated building is the site of the former Chancery building of the Archdiocese of Boston. (Photo by Lee Pellegrini)

Advancement to Relocate Continued from page 1 atrium can also accommodate up to 200 people for special events or meetings.

The Alumni Center will provide open workspaces for 175 employees throughout the three above-ground stories. The building also includes four conference rooms, a larger boardroom, and ample record storage areas. Its renovated lower level includes a student calling center, training and project rooms, and additional storage space. Lighting and HVAC units for the entire building are computer-controlled to maximize energy efficiency.

Originally constructed by the Archdiocese of Boston as its Chancery in 1962, the building housing the new Alumni Center

was acquired by Boston College in 2007. During a yearlong project, the main building was gutted and completely renovated, a wing that had originally served as a convent was razed, and the new atrium/office extension was constructed.

Interior décor and landscaping will be fully completed by the end of the academic year in anticipation of a public open house to welcome alumni, parents, and friends to this new visitor center in the fall.

ARC/Architectural Resources Cambridge, a firm specializing in educational facilities, designed the new building. Lee Kennedy Co. Inc. of Quincy was principal contractor for the project.

Continued from page 1 have gathered at BC?” says Fr. Weiss. “Students are inspired with the vision of social justice and human rights, but often struggle integrating it into their career plans, because doing so seems financially risky. Is it possible to make a real difference in society and yet also make a comfortable living?

“Social innovation brings a desperately needed perspective for students during this time of transition and reflection, and we’re delighted to have it be part of Capstone.”

Says Berzin: “We have been looking for opportunities to extend our work in social innovation to the larger University community, and Capstone made sense for a couple of reasons. Capstone is designed to help students connect what they have learned while at Boston College to their future — especially in the area of social responsibility and citizenship, which are components of social innovation.”

Capstone’s 25 faculty, representing the four undergraduate schools and various disciplines, was another factor, Berzin adds.

“We want students — and everyone else — to realize that social innovation is not the province of social work or social services. The hope is that faculty in Capstone might share the concepts of social innovation beyond the program, with other students and with their colleagues as well.

“In this way, social innovation

can be a part of the campus conversation, not only in an academic context but perhaps that of student formation as well.”

Last night’s event in the Heights Room centered around three entrepreneurs in social innovation: Earl Phalen, CEO of Reach Out

his particular enterprise, then responded to questions from the audience.

To advance the collaboration’s progress, Berzin and Fr. Weiss say, during the next several weeks MSW students will help Capstone classes integrate the content of the

Stephanie Berzin and Fr. James Weiss are among the co-organizers of the Social Innovation Symposium. (Photo by Lee Pellegrini)

and Read, which utilizes pediatricians and hospitals to encourage reading, especially in low-income families, and founder of Summer Advantage USA, which seeks to give children summer learning experiences; Jim Laughlin, director of communications for the Life Is Good Kids Foundation, the charitable arm of a for-profit company that incorporates social responsibility into its central business philosophy; and Eric Schwarz, co-founder and CEO of Citizen Schools, which seeks to extend and improve learning time at the middle-school level.

Each of the speakers discussed

Feb. 1 symposium into their classroom learning, and offer potential avenues for further exploration.

At the end of the academic year, there will be an assessment of the SIS and its next steps.

“We hope to show that social innovation offers a way to think beyond the old model of social services,” says Fr. Weiss. “You can make a difference through your profession, or you can take a place in the community and pursue success through volunteerism and philanthropy — and there are many ways to accomplish this.”

Contact Sean Smith at sean.smith@bc.edu

T he B oston C ollege

Chronicle february 2, 2012

Fr. Vicini brings his background as doctor and moral theologian to study of bioethics

Q&A

Caitlin Cunningham

A Unique Perspective

A FEW MINUTES WITH...

Susan Gennaro

By Kathleen Sullivan Staff Writer

He is a doctor, priest and moral theologian whose medical training and practice have enriched his understanding and study of bioethics.

With this background, School of Theology and Ministry Associate Professor Andrea Vicini, SJ, is uniquely equipped to study the complex, and often controversial, ethical issues that have emerged in the wake of technological and scientific advances in health and medicine.

His research interests include fundamental moral theology, theological bioethics, biotechnologies, reproductive technologies, end-oflife issues, medical ethics, genetics and environmental issues. He has taught in Italy, Albania, Mexico, Chad and France, and authored the book Human Genetics and the Common Good.

“Fr. Vicini is one of the few specialists in medical ethics who is both a physician and a theologian. His broad international background gives him keen insight into the importance of the social and cultural contexts of medical practice,” said University Chair in Human Rights and International Justice David Hollenbach, SJ. “BC and its students will benefit greatly through his presence.”

“Part of the task and responsibility of reflecting theologically on [ethical] issues,” said Fr. Vicini, who joined the STM faculty last fall, “is that you need to combine different elements that are relevant for theological thinking. First is the tradition — theological insight from other theologians in the past and the present. Second is the magisterial, or official, teaching.

The other is the experience of the people. This way the universal and the particular are given consideration.”

When dealing with the end of life, he says, the Christian tradition is to see it as a process and to consider the patient’s consciousness, identity and network of relationships. Ethical challenges, however, arise from the interaction of new technologies and end-of-life issues, such as functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI), which can be used to determine if braininjured patients previously thought to be in a vegetative state may, in fact, be reclassified as being in a minimally conscious state.

The technology is still very

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“I was attracted to the Jesuit commitment to help people in need in various frontiers around the world through education, social justice work and interactions between scientists and other religions and cultures.”

—Andrea Vicini, SJ

primitive, but the concept raises issues such as possibility of recovery, access to quality rehabilitative care and family support, according to Fr. Vicini, whose article on this topic will be published later this year in The Journal of the Society of Christian Ethics.

Another emerging field of interest for Fr. Vicini is oncofertility, which looks at preserving the fertility of cancer patients. “Advances in cancer treatment for children and young adults have the positive result of recovery but also the negative result of infertility. Technology is available now that can be used to preserve fertility and restore, not only the patients’ health, but their wholeness.” He wrote on the topic of ovarian tissue transplantation for the journal Theological Studies.

A native of Italy who earned his medical degree from the University of Bologna, Fr. Vicini was born with a physical deformity affecting his left hand. He wanted to become a doctor “to help people, to heal and cure. The experience of disability in my life has helped me feel close to people in need.”

He was drawn to pediatric practice in particular, he said, because of its holistic nature and opportunity to build relationships with patients and their families. “You get to witness the healing power of medicine in a special way.”

Discernment led Fr. Vicini to join the Society of Jesus in 1987.

“I was attracted to the Jesuit commitment to help people in need in various frontiers around the world through education, social justice work and interactions between scientists and other religions and cultures.” He was ordained a priest in 1996.

Fr. Vicini first came to Boston College to pursue doctoral studies in theological ethics. “I looked around and the best program I

found around the world was here and, I must say, I was right! It was a wonderful experience with a great group of colleagues and a great group of students. Boston College, in theological ethics, has the largest and most internationally known group of faculty. We had gatherings every other Friday where faculty and students would present papers and continue on with the conversation from the classroom.

The quality and the passion of the faculty and their interest in helping students flourish are wonderful.”

He earned his PhD in theological studies in 2000.

Fr. Vicini returned to BC in 2009 to serve a term as Gasson Professor, then stayed on as a visiting professor in the Theology Department and joined STM this academic year.

“Andrea helps us at BC understand the present and appreciate the future of bioethics,” said Founders Professor in Theology James F. Keenan, SJ. “His insights and opinions are so rich in part because he is so connected globally. His expertise on various issues related to genetics, new technologies and research, as well as visions for the future depends on his many contacts throughout Europe.”

At STM, Fr. Vicini teaches Fundamental Moral Theology, Theological Bioethics and Human Sexuality. He is already looking ahead to other courses he would like to teach on topics such as global and public health, human genetics and biotechnologies, Catholic health care and sustainability.

“I love being here and working with my former mentors, now my colleagues,” added Fr. Vicini. “I enjoy seeing the students grow and find their place in the world.”

Contact Kathleen Sullivan at kathleen.sullivan@bc.edu

A one-time NICU [neonatal intensive care unit] nurse, Connell School of Nursing Dean and Professor Susan Gennaro is leading a study to identify patterns in pregnant women who deliver early. At the same time, she’s busy directing a team of faculty devoted to educating and mentoring the next generation of nurse leaders to provide care in an ever-changing world.

Recently, she spoke with Kathleen Sullivan of the Chronicle. [The full interview is available via online Chronicle at www.bc.edu/chronicle] You’re an award-winning nurse researcher known internationally for your work in perinatal nursing. What is your current research about?

I am the principal investigator of a grant funded by the National Institute of NursGary Gilbert ing Research looking at developing a risk pattern for women more likely to deliver preterm, so that we can do some screening that would make a difference.

In this country, about 50 percent of women who go into preterm labor don’t deliver early. One of the things we were interested in was, could we get some information that would tell us who would deliver early and who would not? Then maybe we could treat prematurity differently.

The problem is we still don’t really know what starts labor. And if you don’t know what starts labor, it’s really hard to know what starts preterm labor.

We are collecting data on early [before 34 weeks] preterm deliveries at sites in New York and Texas. We are following two groups: women who come in with preterm labor — we follow them to see what happens to them — and women who have normal, healthy pregnancies with no risk factors and deliver preterm.

We are trying to see if the predictors for who has preterm babies are the same.

Is it stress, diet, smoking, cytokines (proteins involved in your immune system)?

There is an emphasis at the Connell School on global health care. How do you define global health care and why is it so critical to BC nursing students’ formation?

Having nurses who are well-educated, global citizens who can provide health care in a global context is a strategic aim the faculty feels very strongly about. There’s a lot of migration in the world. So if you are working in health care you very likely will be caring for someone who is from a different country. You need to know something about their health beliefs and practices because what we think about health and illness is to a certain extent socially constructed.

How is a Boston College-educated and trained nurse different from other nurses?

I look at the [Connell School of Nursing] mission statement every day when I walk in through the front door and it speaks to the BC nurse being scientifically based and technically competent, but it also speaks to caring for the whole person. There are values of Jesuit education that have to do with teaching people how to discern.

I was fortunate enough to do a Halftime retreat a little while back and I was really proud of the questions people were asking, like “Where do I put myself in the world?” At BC, there is the notion of educating a student to be a critical thinker and an informed, educated human being who is able to be a leader, a researcher, a person who has the critical skills to adapt to the world and to help change the world.

For people outside the health care field, what would you describe as the biggest change to nursing practice over the past 10 to 20 years?

The ideas of “what a nurse is” and “what a nurse does” have so radically changed.

Patients have so radically changed. Twenty years ago, the people who are in ICU right now would have been dead, and the people on the floors would have been in ICU. We are sending people home who never would have been sent home. When I was taking care of people in the ICU 20 years ago, I thought they were really sick.

But now they’re really, really sick.

Nurses have done a huge amount of research and are helping people think about their health behaviors. We are living longer, but living longer means living with chronic disease, like cancer, diabetes and heart disease. Doing research on how you stay the healthiest is very different than it was 20 years when we didn’t have as much of this. Seventy percent of the disease burden in the world is with chronic diseases.

More at www.bc.edu/chronicle

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Chronicle february 2, 2012

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Boston College Police Dept. Welcomes Two New Officers...

By Reid Oslin Staff Writer

A recent Carroll School of Management graduate and a former municipal police dispatcher are the two newest members of the Boston College Police Department.

Robert Connor, who earned a marketing degree from CSOM last May after also serving four years as a student intern for BCPD’s Detective Bureau, and Jennifer Scanlon, a 911 operator and police dispatcher in the town of Natick since 2005, have joined the University’s police force as patrol officers on the midnight to 8 a.m. shift.

University Director of Public Safety and Chief of Police John King says the two new officers were hired after a series of interviews with campus police officials and a panel of Student Affairs administrators and student leaders. “We wanted to reinforce the importance of who we serve,” King said of the second tier of interviews. “We ask ‘Are these candidates the right fit for a campus environment?’ In the case of both Bobby and Jen, we felt that this was the case.

“We watched Bobby develop over a period of years,” said King.

“He’s a very mature young man and he certainly understands the mission of the department with regard to community service.

“Jen is someone with experience and knowledge of how to deal with the public, with crisis-type situations, and who impressed us as a mature individual who would serve well in a community policing role in a campus environment.

Carroll School of Management graduate Robert Connor and former Natick police dispatcher Jennifer Scanlon are the newest members of the Boston College Police Department. (Photo by Lee Pellegrini)

Her commitment to community service and community policing are the benchmarks that we really look for.”

Connor, a Needham native, says his desire to go into law enforcement reaches back to his childhood. “Even when I was a kid playing ‘Cops and Robbers’ I always wanted to be the ‘Cop.’ It’s something that has always been a passion of mine. I’m a person who likes to help other people. I have to be out and about, doing something active, something that is constantly changing. I have done a lot of service trips and a lot of community service in my life, and found that I really like it.

“I also like solving problems,” Connor adds, “and law enforcement encompasses all of that.”

As one of five children in a Natick family, Scanlon says she got

an early taste of her future career: “We always had to make sure that there was order in the house,” she laughs. After taking classes at Massachusetts Bay Community College and Regis College and assisting with the Regis campus police force, Scanlon was hired by the Natick Police to handle incoming emergency calls.

“I got a lot of interesting calls over the years,” she says. “But I always wanted to be on the ‘other side’ of those calls – the one who was going out and helping people.

When you are just on the phone, the help you can offer may be pretty limited. I like the fact the BC is really like a town or small city.

You have lots of different types of people all in one place.”

Connor and Scanlon will spend their first few months on the BC force working with experienced of-

BC Celebrates Black History Month This year’s Black History Month celebration at Boston College — which began yesterday with an opening ceremony highlighted by a lecture from Nikki Johnson Houston, author of From Homeless to Lawyer — will showcase music, dance and culture, as well as issues of concern to the AfricanAmerican community.

The celebration continues today at 4:30 p.m. with “A Celebration of Soul,” dedicated to the food and music of soul and featuring a number of African-American organizations from BC. The event, which will be held at Corcoran Commons, is sponsored by Dining Services.

The theme for Black History Month is “I Strive,” which stands for “Success, Tenacity, Respect, Individuality, Victory and Education,” said organizer Yvonne McBarnett, an academic counselor in the Office of AHANA Student Programs.

“When we started talking to students about this year’s theme they had a great idea,” she explained. “They told us that they believed ‘I Strive’ would be meaningful because it doesn’t matter where you start out in life. We’re all dealing with different challenges. Our students said they each strive to become better adults leaving BC than when they arrived.

We found that to be incredibly powerful.”

Other Black History Month events at BC: Feb. 9: “Homosexuality in the African-American Culture,” a panel discussion on cultural stereotypes and discrimination. 6 p.m., Walsh Hall Function Room.

Feb. 10: The 30th Martin Luther King Jr. Scholarship Award Ceremony [see page 3].

Feb. 25: “Mali Music Concert,” a program of contemporary gospel music with guest artists, 6 p.m., Flynn Recreation Com-

plex. Tickets are $20 and can be reserved by emailing pierrerb@ bc.edu or dicksosa@bc.edu. The Multi-Cultural Christian Fellowship, Office of AHANA Student Services, the Undergraduate Government of Boston College, African and African Diaspora Studies, Black Faculty, Staff and Administrators Association and Black Student Forum will sponsor the event.

On a date still to be determined will be “Lovers Lounge,” a “Dating Game Show”-style event that brings the community together for a fun night of entertainment.

The Black History Month celebration will conclude on March 1 with a closing ceremony at 6 p.m. in the Murray Room of the Yawkey Center, with a fashion show and live entertainment provided by BC student groups.

For more information on Black History Month at Boston College, see http://bit.ly/zC8c7l.

—Melissa Beecher

ficers, says Sgt. Laurene Spiess, who heads up the department’s training program [see related story]. “Each week they will get more responsibility. It started off very basic – acclimation, policies, paperwork and getting acquainted with department members.

“Towards the end, they will handle calls themselves with the field training officer just assisting,” Spiess says. “They never work by themselves at this point. A senior officer will respond to each call with them in case they need guidance. That’s just to help them – you don’t want to set them up to fail.”

Scanlon says she is excited at the

prospect of reaching her goal. “The academy was just a foundation – it’s nothing compared to what you will learn by doing it. There are certain things that you are mandated to do [as a police officer], but there are certain things you are allowed to make decisions on. I think one of the biggest things they can teach you is how to make those decisions.”

Adds Connor: “They told us that learning does not stop when you graduate from the academy.

In law enforcement, you are always learning something new.”

Contact Reid Oslin at reid.oslin@bc.edu

(L-R) Laurene Spiess, Carl Mascioli and Jeffrey Postell have earned their stripes at BCPD. (Photo by Lee Pellegrini)

...and Three New Sergeants The Boston College Police Department recently welcomed three new sergeants, two of whom will handle newly created assignments in the department.

Jeffrey Postell has been appointed sergeant for Community Policing and Laurene Spiess has been named sergeant for Accreditation and Training – both new positions – while Carl Mascioli was promoted to patrol sergeant, where he will help supervise BCPD’s overnight shift.

University Director of Public Safety and Chief of Police praised the three new sergeants. “Jeff Postell is a very enthusiastic, very creative young man who will be working with student groups. Laurene Spiess is also committed to community policing.

Her primary assignment will be to help shepherd our department though its quest for accreditation. She’s very bright, eager and committed to Boston College.

“A long-time member of our force, Carl Mascioli previously served as an administrative officer,” King added. “In that role we got a chance to see some of his organizational skills and got a sense of his commitment to the department’s mission and what we are both accomplishing and building for the future.”

King said the trio of new sergeants was selected after a series of interviews with University police officials and representatives from the Office of Student Affairs.

Postell joined the Boston College police force in 2009 after serving as a captain of campus police at Lesley University and as a patrol officer and assistant chief of police for the Murphy, NC, Police Department. At BC, he has been instrumental in launching several community service projects involving department members as well as BCPD’s new Facebook page.

A firefighter and emergency medical technician prior to joining BCPD in 1996, Spiess has worked as a sexual assault investigator, CPR instructor, Rape Aggression Defense instructor and crime prevention officer.

Mascioli, a member of BCPD since 1988, is also a certified EMT. He previously served as a campus police officer at Babson College and was an auxiliary police officer in the town of Wayland. In addition to his patrol supervisor duties, he teaches defensive tactics and is the firearms instructor for BCPD. —Reid Oslin

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Chronicle february 2, 2012

WELCOME ADDITIONS Graduate School of Social Work Assistant Professor Christina Matz-Costa has been affiliated with Boston College since 2001, when she joined Media Technology Services as a graduate assistant. Her primary area of interest at BC, however, is aging-related and quality of employment issues: She has served in several capacities at The Sloan Work and Family Research Network and The Sloan Center on Aging & Work, where last year she was named a senior research associate. Matz-Costa, who holds master’s and doctoral degrees from GSSW, was the recipient of a Hartford Doctoral Fellowship in Geriatric Social Work. She has co-published articles in Community, Work & Family and Journal of Social Service Research, among others.

Assistant Professor of Mathematics Joshua Greene joined the Boston College faculty last year after serving for two years as a National Science Foundation Postdoctoral Research Fellow at Columbia University. A specialist in low-dimensional topology, Greene has published articles in the journals Discrete Mathematics and American Mathematical Monthly. He earned his doctoral degree from Princeton University and a master’s of science from the University of Chicago, and won the Morgan Prize for Outstanding Research by an Undergraduate for work he undertook as a student at Harvey Mudd College.

Terri LaCoursiere Zucchero, a board certified family nurse practitioner, joined the Connell School of Nursing last fall as a clinical instructor. The focus of her research and teaching is on health promotion and primary care for vulnerable populations, including the homeless and inner city and rural families. Her clinical position is with Boston Health Care for the Homeless. She teaches advanced practice nursing in the Connell School’s Family Nurse Practitioner Program, as well as courses on Advanced Pathophysiology and Community Health. She earned a bachelor of science in nursing from The Catholic University of America and a master’s in nursing from Emory University. A doctoral candidate at the University of Hawaii, her dissertation is on “The Stories of Homeless Street Youth: A Narrative Inquiry of Time Perspective.”

—Sean Smith and Kathleen Sullivan Photos by Lee Pellegrini “Welcome Additions,” an occasional feature, profiles new faculty members at Boston College.

Fr. Himes to Speak on Church Sacraments at Feb. 16 C21 Event The Church in the 21st Century Center will present “Catholics: Why We Are a Sacramental People” with Theology Professor Fr. Michael Himes on Feb. 16 at 4:30 p.m. in Gasson 100. In C21’s premiere spring semester event, Fr. Himes will talk about the great sacraments of the Church, which parallel the pivotal moments in our earthly pilgrimage, and how they represent the climactic celebration of the sacramentality of life. Co-sponsors are the Theology Department and Alumni Association. See www.bc.edu/church21 for more information.

Deadline Is Feb. 16 for Student Leadership Award Nominations The Student Programs Office is seeking nominations for the annual Student Leadership Awards, which honor student contributions to co-curricular life at Boston College, exemplary student leadership through service, and a demonstrated commitment to student formation by an advisor. Nomination forms are available at www.bc.edu/ offices/studentprograms/programs/lacdescription.html, and must be submitted no later than 5 p.m. on Feb. 16.

The Student Leadership Awards will be presented on April 30.

—Office of News & Public Affairs

Newsmakers Following the recent public tiff between President Obama and Arizona Gov. Jan Brewer, Prof. Marc Landy (Political Science), co-author of the book Presidential Greatness, was interviewed by USAToday.com about civility in politics and presidencies past and present.

publican presidential candidate Mitt Romney’s tax returns.

While progressives disagree with conservatives over the Supreme Court’s decision in Citizens United v FEC, there is a lot of disagreement among them about what to do,

BC BRIEFING

Staying active late in life, experts say, confers physical and mental benefits and leads to greater happiness. But a new study led by Jacquelyn James, Elyssa Besen, Christina Matz-Costa and Marcie Pitt-Catsouphes of The Sloan Center on Aging & Work — and cited by Time.com, SmartMoney.com and USA Today — draws a distinction between those who are merely involved in an activity and those who are engaged.

Boston Magazine interviewed Assoc.

Prof. Natasha Sarkisian (Sociology), co-author of the new book Nuclear Family Values, Extended Family Lives, about her research on unmarried adults for an article on the increased numbers and high satisfaction levels of singles in America.

Prof. Ray Madoff (Law) offered her views to WGBH-TV’s “Greater Boston” on the debate over tax fairness, revived by the recent release of Re-

wrote Prof. Kent Greenfield (Law) in the Huffington Post.

Assoc. Prof. C. Shawn McGuffey (Sociology) was interviewed for WCVB-TV’s “Chronicle” about the growing mixed race population in the US. Prof. Maxim D. Shrayer (Slavic and Eastern Languages and Literatures) was interviewed by Crimean TV/ Simferopol about his research on Ilya Selvinsky and the Holocaust in the Crimea.

Publications Prof. Maxim D. Shrayer (Slavic and Eastern Languages and Literatures) published “Jewish-Russian Poets Bearing Witness to the Shoah, 1941-1946: Textual Evidence and Preliminary Conclusions” in Studies

NOTA BENE Margaret O’Brien Flatley Professor of Theology Roberto S. Goizueta has been named winner of the 2012 Yves Congar Award for Theological Excellence, which recognizes the contributions of contemporary theologians working, writing, and teaching in light of tradition and moving the tradition forward in meeting the challenges of today.

Goizueta received the award — named for Cardinal Yves Congar (1904-1995) — at a Jan. 13 event at Barry University in Miami Shores, Fla., where he delivered a presentation titled “Against the Pursuit of Happiness: The Preferential Option for the Poor and the Denial of Death.”

Goizueta, past president of the Catholic Theological Society of America and the Academy of Catholic Hispanic Theologians of the United States, is the author of Christ Our Companion: Toward a Theological Aesthetics of Liberation and Caminemos con Jesús: Toward a Hispanic/Latino Theology of Accompaniment, which was honored by the Catholic Press Association.

—Kathleen Sullivan The Boston College Chief Executives’ Club of Boston has been named the No. 1 regional speaking venue for the nation’s top women business executives in a study by Weber Shandwick, a leading global public relations agency.

Weber Shandwick based its rankings on speaking engagements involving the “50 Most Powerful Women in Business” as determined by Fortune magazine. In recent months, the Chief Executives’ Club of Boston — which operates in association with the Carroll School of Management — has hosted PepsiCo CEO Indra K. Nooyi and DuPont CEO Ellen Kullman among its keynote speakers. The Chief Executives’ Club of Boston is tied with the Detroit Economic Club at the top of the Weber Shandwick ratings.

The club also has been designated the nation’s No. 1 CEO speaking forum by Best Practices in Corporate Communications group of Washington, DC, and the No. 2 CEO speakers club in the world in a 2010 analysis released by Weber Shandwick.

—Reid Oslin

in Slavic Languages and Literatures.

7

Founders Professor in Theology James F. Keenan, SJ, published “Bernard Häring’s Influence on American Catholic Moral Theology” in Journal of Moral Theology, and the entries “Conscience,” “Contrition,” “Double Effect, Principle of,” “Habit” and “Subsidiarity” in Dictionary of Scripture and Ethics.

Prof. Emeritus Harvey D. Egan, SJ (Theology), published several entries in the four-volume Encyclopedia of Christian Civilization, and an article commemorating the centenary of Evelyn Underhill’s Mysticism in The Way. Prof. Solomon Friedberg (Mathematics) has published “Schur polynomials and the Yang-Baxter equation” in Communications in Mathematical Physics and “Eisenstein series, crystals and ice” in the Notices of the American Mathematical Society. His book Weyl Group Multiple Dirichlet Series: Type A Combinatorial Theory was chosen as Volume 175 in the series Annals of Mathematics Studies, Princeton University Press.

Honors/Appointments Prof. Jeffrey Cohen (CSOM) was the recipient of the 2012 Notable Contribution to Auditing Literature presented by the American Accounting Association. He was also appointed an editor at Auditing: A Journal of Practice and Theory.

Time and a Half Prof. Zhijie Xiao (Economics) chaired a session at the Tsinghua International Conference in Econometrics in Beijing.

JOBS The following are among the most recent positions posted by the Department of Human Resources. For more information on employment opportunities at Boston College, see www.bc.edu/offices/hr/: Assistant Director, Office of Health Promotion, Alcohol and Drug Education Assistant or Associate Director, School Development Operations Lieutenant, BC Police Department Program Director, Urban Catholic Teachers Corps Assistant Director, Research Integrity & Compliance Fiscal and Grant Officer, Lynch School of Education Executive Director, Academic Budget, Policy & Planning, Office of the Academic VP/Dean Of Faculties Associate Director/Post-award Administration, Office of Sponsored Programs

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Chronicle february 2, 2012

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LOOKING AHEAD Days in the Lives

McMullen exhibition shows artists’ interest in 19th, 20th century rural Ireland

By Rosanne Pellegrini Staff Writer

The lives of 19th-century Irish country people — how they worshipped, mourned, conducted business, arranged their homes, and educated and entertained themselves — will be the subject of a new McMullen Museum of Art exhibition opening Feb. 11.

“Rural Ireland: The Inside Story,” which will run through June 3, is an exclusive exhibition that introduces American viewers to many recently discovered genre paintings of 19th-century rural interiors. It also offers new visual evidence about the varied lives of a politically marginalized population.

Inspired by recent scholarship, “Rural Ireland” reveals that artists working in 19th and early 20thcentury Ireland frequently turned to the lives of the country’s rural poor for subject matter — thus challenging assumptions that artists working in Ireland painted only the “big houses” and landscapes of an Anglo-Irish elite society.

Although the works on display reveal poverty and deprivation during the Famine era, they convey aesthetic pleasures, spiritual satisfactions, and tenants’ negotiations with a growing consumer economy.

The museum will hold a free opening celebration for the Boston College community and general

Detail of Frederic William Burton’s “The Aran Fisherman’s Drowned Child,” part of the “Rural Ireland” exhibition at the McMullen Museum of Art.

public on Feb. 13 from 7-9 p.m.

The exhibition comprises outstanding works of art from such lenders as the National Gallery of Ireland, the Crawford Art Gallery, Cork, the National Library of Ireland, the Ulster Museum, the National Gallery of Scotland, as well as from a range of smaller public and private collections in Ireland, the United Kingdom and the United States.

“The McMullen Museum is pleased to present this examination of paintings, many recently discovered, and of newly-collected artifacts from Irish rural life,” said McMullen Museum Director and Professor of Art History Nancy Netzer. “The exhibition tells the ‘inside story’ of Ireland’s country people through its selection of out-

BC SCENES

standing genre interiors, most never displayed in North America.”

Organized by the McMullen Museum in collaboration with BC’s Irish Studies Program faculty and the John J. Burns Library of Rare Books and Special Collections at Boston College, “Rural Ireland: The Inside Story” is cocurated by Irish Studies faculty member Vera Kreilkamp and McMullen Exhibition Designer Diana Larsen, in consultation with English Professor Marjorie Howes and Adjunct Associate Professor Joseph Nugent — both Irish Studies faculty members — and Irish art historian Claudia Kinmonth.

“We hope to convey the Irish tenant’s aesthetic sensibility, a delight in display and color, as well

as in the creation of ingenious household objects from limited resources such as driftwood, turf, or straw,” says Kreilkamp, editor of an accompanying exhibition catalogue that includes essays contributed by 14 international and local scholars, several BC faculty members among them. “‘Rural Ireland’ offers powerful visual evidence that contests dark and even racist accounts by visitors and British government officials about ‘uncivilized’ Irish country people living in hovels.”

“Rural Ireland” also displays many examples of the household objects visible in the paintings — furniture, cooking utensils, baskets, and ceramics — as well as archaeological shards excavated from Famine cabins and works from the Burns Library.

In addition to the Feb. 13 public event, the McMullen Museum will host lectures by University College Dublin Professor Angela Bourke (March 12) and Irish art historian Claudia Kinmonth (March 21). See events.bc.edu for more information.

The exhibition has been underwritten by Boston College, the Patrons of the McMullen Museum, and Culture Ireland, with additional support from Eileen and Brian Burns.

For directions, parking and information on public programs and tours, see www.bc.edu/artmuseum or call ext.2-8100.

Contact Rosanne Pellegrini at rosanne.pellegrini@bc.edu

Photos by Caitlin Cunningham

Some 2,000 prospective Boston College students came to campus Jan. 22 for Admitted Eagle Day. Office of Admission staff and volunteers from the Student Admission Program helped guide the visitors to various sites and events organized for the day.

The Martin Luther King Jr. Memorial Gathering, held Jan. 23 in Gasson 100, featured a performance by the United Voices of Freedom, a joint musical effort comprised of Against the Current, the Liturgy Arts Group, the Voices of Imani and other Boston College campus singers. Conducting the group was Rashad McPhearson, a composer and musician who serves as minister of music for the Bethel AME Church in Jamaica Plain.

‘Doubt’ Opens Robsham’s Spring Season The Theatre Department continues the Robsham Theater Arts Center 30th anniversary season this semester, beginning with John Patrick Shanley’s Pulitzer Prize-winning play “Doubt, A Parable,” which opened yesterday. Directed by Associate Professor of Theatre John Houchin, “Doubt” will be performed through Feb. 5.

The play, set in 1964 in a Catholic elementary school in the Bronx, revolves around the principal’s suspicions about the parish priest’s relationship with a schoolboy.

One of the most powerful and riveting American dramas of the 21st century, according to play organizers, it engages audiences on numerous levels, provokes emotional responses and triggers thought about difficult moral questions.

Comic playwright Aristophanes’ war-of-the-sexes masterpiece “Lysistrata” will be staged from Feb. 23-25. This Theatre Department workshop production is directed

by Alex Lucci ’12.

To celebrate the long tradition of dance at the Robsham, on March 30 and 31 the Theatre Department will present “Rising Up,” featuring faculty choreographers and student dancers, with artistic direction by Adjunct Assistant Professor of Theatre Sun Ho Kim, a professional dancer who is founder and director of his own performance ensemble. The show will showcase a variety of movement and dance genres, including jazz, tap, modern and ballet.

The season ends April 2629 during the BC Arts Festival with Shakespeare’s classic comedy “A Midsummer Night’s Dream,” directed by Adjunct Associate Professor of Theatre Luke Jorgensen.

Instead of its original Greek setting, Jorgensen’s rendition will take place in colonial-era India and performed in Bollywood-style with bright colors, acrobats and dance numbers.

For ticket prices, times and other information on these productions, see www.bc.edu/ theatre or call the Robsham Theater Arts Center Box Office at ext.2-4002.

—Rosanne Pellegrini