Rhodes Magazine Fall 2014

THE MAGAZINE OF RHODES COLLEGE

FALL 2014

E U L A V THE THE OF S T R A L A g g n n i R i n n r E r a a ee L L g g LIB n n o o l l ee f f i i L L n n o o as ayyss E sEss

l THE RHODES VISION Rhodes College aspires to graduate students with a life-long passion for learning, a compassion for others, and the ability to translate academic study and personal concern into effective leadership and action in their communities and the world.

We will achieve our aspiration through four strategic imperatives: Student Access To attract and retain a talented, diverse student body and engage these students in a challenging, inclusive and culturally broadening college experience.

Student Learning To ensure our faculty and staff have the talent, the time, and the resources to inspire and involve our students in meaningful study, research, and service.

Student Engagement To enhance student opportunities for learning in Memphis.

Student Inspiration To provide a residential place of learning that inspires integrity and high achievement through its beauty, its emphasis on values, its Presbyterian history, and its heritage as a leader in the liberal arts and sciences.

Adopted by the Rhodes Board of Trustees January 17, 2003

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FALL 2014

VOLUME 21 • NUMBER 3

is published three times a year by Rhodes College 2000 N. Parkway Memphis, TN 38112 as a service to all alumni, students, parents, faculty, staff, and friends of the college.

Fall 2014— Volume 21, Number 3 EDITOR

Lynn Conlee GRAPHIC DESIGNERS

Larry Ahokas Bob Shatzer

PRODUCTION EDITORS

Jana Files ’78 Charlie Kenny Justin McGregor Ken Woodmansee STUDENT EDITOR

Caroline Ponseti ’15 COPY EDITOR

Anna Acerra CONTRIBUTORS

Shelley Choudhury ’15 John Churchill ’71 Emily Clark ’15 Dr. Cary Fowler ’71 Dr. Loretta Jackson-Hayes Dr. Tom McGowan Dr. John E. Murray Michelle Parks Joel Parsons ’07 Scott Samuelson Elisha Vego Rev. Dorothy Wells ’82

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A Message from the President

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Campus News

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Student Spotlight

Justin Fox Burks Jamie Harmon Corey Nolen

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Faculty Focus

Martha Shepard ’66

EDITOR EMERITUS

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Homecoming/Reunion Weekend

INFORMATION 901-843-3000

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Alumni News

CONTRIBUTING PHOTOGRAPHERS

ALUMNI OFFICE 1 (800) 264-LYNX ADMISSION OFFICE 1 (800) 844-LYNX

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Briefs on campus happenings

Class Notes, In Memoriam

The Honor Roll of Donors 2013-2014

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The Value of the Liberal Arts Contributors Lead by Example

By Lynn Conlee

No Magic or Mystery—Just Charity, Civility, and Integrity

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Success Story: The Bridge to Everywhere

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The Future of College: Not an Either/Or

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Equipped for Life with the Gift of Learning By the Rev. Dorothy Wells ’82

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The Liberal Arts and the Fate of American Democracy

By Scott Samuelson

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Success Story: Students Gain Via Co-Authorship

By Caroline Ponseti ’15

By John Churchill ’71

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Fleeing from the Liberal Arts?

Not So Fast

By Dr. John E. Murray

By Lynn Conlee

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Integrative Learning and the Value of Liberal Arts Education

By Dr. Tom McGowan

By Dr. Cary Fowler ’71

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Examining Life Under a Broader Scope

By Dr. Loretta Jackson-Hayes

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Richness in the Eye of the Beholder

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Success Story: Art Works

By Joel Parsons ’07

By Lynn Conlee

Defining Success the Liberal Arts Way

By Shelley Choudhury ’15 FALL 2014 • RHODE S

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A MESSAGE FROM THE PRESIDENT

Why the Liberal Arts Matter

“W

hy the Liberal Arts Matter” is the theme of a conference that will bring faculty from leading liberal arts colleges to Rhodes this fall. It is also the subject of a year-long set of conversations we are having on campus this year.

The long-standing debate in higher education about liberal arts vs. vocational/professional education has become a much more prominent topic in the media and among Washington policy makers. Many voices today call into question the relevance and utility of what we do, and this negative message has been very effective. While our overall enrollment, student profile, and prospective student interest in Rhodes is at an all-time high, across the country applications to liberal arts colleges are down significantly.

It is time to advance a more accurate narrative about how a residential liberal arts experience provides the best undergraduate education possible. The very thoughtful articles in this Rhodes magazine issue speak to the value and life-changing character of a liberal arts education.

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Students pose outside Palmer Hall, ca. 1929

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We have good data about the impact of the liberal arts at Rhodes and how it changes student lives, but nothing is as compelling as alumni testimony. I continue to be inspired by the experiences alumni share about how the Rhodes community transformed them and shaped their futures in ways they never could have imagined. The total impact of a liberal arts education cannot be quantified. As Dorothy Wells ’82 concludes in her essay, “the gift of a liberal arts education is priceless.”

I would love to hear about how the liberal arts at Rhodes made a difference in your life. Please email me your story at trouttw@rhodes.edu.

I look forward to hearing from you.

Summer Service Fellows outside Paul Barret, Jr. Library, ca. 2013

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CAMPUS NEWS LIZ DAGGETT

Mellon Innovation Grant Awarded Rhodes College has received a $600,000 grant from The Andrew

W. Mellon Foundation that will be used to hire top-tier, post-doctoral candidates who will help implement new, leading-edge teaching, technology, and research methodologies; establish a team of

faculty “Innovation Fellows” to develop new academic courses and research projects that connect the college with communities in

Memphis and throughout the Mid-South; and develop a cohort of

student “Engagement and Digital Scholarship Fellows,” who will work directly with both the post-doctoral candidates and current faculty to contribute to the work of the college in ways that complement their classroom education.

“We are extremely grateful to the Mellon Foundation for supporting our efforts to enhance and expand the liberal arts experience at

From left: Shane Watson ’14, Lara Johnson ’16, Emily Heine ’15 and Phoebe Driscoll ’15

Rhodes Students’ Films Selected for Indie Memphis Rhodes student Phoebe Driscoll '15 won the coveted Hometowner Award for her documentary Pharaohs of Memphis during the 17th Annual Indie Memphis Film Festival.

She was one of four Rhodes students who had films chosen as part of the juried event. In addition to Driscoll, Emily Heine ’15, and Lara Johnson ’16 each had films selected that they made in connection with last summer’s Rhodes Institute for Regional Studies. Shane Watson ’14 produced his film for his Art 114 course.

Rhodes,” says Elizabeth Thomas, associate professor of psychology, director of the urban studies program, and director of the Memphis Center at Rhodes. “We received the grant in large part because of

our successful track record establishing innovative, interdisciplinary offerings such as the Memphis Center, which was seeded with a

grant from the Mellon Foundation, and serves as a lively working

space where students and faculty collaborate on new and existing

projects and together build a community of engaged scholars who are interested in a wide variety of topics related to the human experience of Memphis and the Mid-South region. With this most recent gift, we will be able to build on our successes and incorporate new

methodologies and strategies that will greatly enhance the learning environment for both faculty and students for years to come."

The Mellon Innovation Fellows Steering Committee accepted

applications this fall for faculty Innovation Fellows. Rhodes faculty

Driscoll’s documentary, also done as part of Rhodes Institute of Regional Studies, is an up-close look at the community of dancers shaping a legacy of Jookin, a style of dance that originated in Memphis in the 1980s. The other three films are short form. Heine’s No One Sees You explores the complex tension between graffiti and public art in Memphis and the artists that no one sees. Johnson’s Geekland: Fan Culture in Memphis is about the struggles of being a geek/nerd/fan in the South. Watson’s How Will My Story be Told? brings awareness to the unjust murders of African Americans in the United States and the media representation of those who were murdered.

were invited to apply for funding to expand current classes, create new classes, or conduct research projects that “show promise of student, faculty, institutional, or community impact.”

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Campus News.indd 6

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11/3/14 4:55 PM

DR. GEOFF BAKEWELL

Rhodes Degree Pays Off In an article published this fall, Forbes listed Rhodes graduates as

24th in the nation for highest earnings at mid-career when compared with other liberal arts college graduates. Additionally, Rhodes is in

the top 100 of national colleges for earnings of its recent graduates, according to data compiled by PayScale.

“I find this list quite heartening,” wrote Forbes columnist Susan Adams.

“It’s borne out by a study released in January from the Association of American Colleges and Universities, which showed that by the time

liberal arts graduates are in their 50s, they earn at least $2,000 more than grads who majored in pre-professional subjects.”

Adams went on to say, “But most important, know that the skills you get while studying English, history or philosophy, of critical thinking,

of communicating clearly, of the world’s great literature and art, and of

America’s place in the trajectory of world civilization, will make your life

Search for Values in the (Rainbow) Light of Western History and Religion. For students in Dr. Geoff Bakewell’s summer Search class, at least some of the light was at the end of the rainbow.

richer and your appreciation of anything you do deeper and fuller.”

Invested in Finance Financially minded Rhodes students can now learn more tricks of the trade due to the formation of Rhodes’ newest campus group: Rhodes Organization of Investors.

Commerce and business majors Kendyl Smith ’15 and Megan Richards ’15 founded the club spring semester 2014 to bring realworld application to their studies of the business world. “Our mission is to bring our members the resources and knowledge they need to make smart investments,” says Maggie Butcher ’16, the organization’s marketing chair. rhodes.edu

This year, the group will host an investment contest where participants will make mock investments using Investopedia, an online financing resource. Butcher explains that one goal of the exercise is to encourage students to diversify their stocks. Each participant will begin with $100,000 to invest, and the student who has accumulated the most money at the end of the school year will win a cash prize.

societies, including the Financial Management Association and the Entrepreneurship Club, to cosponsor lectures, guest speakers, and networking events in order to expose the Rhodes community to the larger world of finance.

—Caroline Ponseti ’15

The Rhodes Organization of Investors also plans to partner with Rhodes’ other business-focused FALL 2014 • RHODE S

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CAMPUS NEWS JUSTIN FOX BURKS

Corbin Williams ’14 and Léerin Campbell ’15 in Bloody Bloody Andrew Jackson.

John Rone ’71

Theatre Awards Roll In John Rone ’71, director of college events and the Meeman Center at Rhodes, received the prestigious Eugart Yerian Award for Lifetime Service to Memphis Theatre during the 31st annual Ostrander Awards Aug. 24 at the Orpheum Theatre.

Over the years, Rone has appeared in numerous productions around town, including Theatre Memphis’ Inherit The Wind, Measure for Measure, and Hamlet. His Playhouse on the Square shows include A Wonderful Life and The Mousetrap. For Germantown Community Theatre, he has acted in Sherlock’s Last Case, The Foreigner, and The Woman in Black. In addition, he has directed a variety of plays from Shakespeare and Tennessee Williams to Nicky Silver and Terence McNally.

The Ostrander Awards honor the best in local live theater. Awards are given in a wide range of categories, including acting, directing, and back-stage contributions in both college and community divisions.

Also in August, Julia “Cookie” Ewing, professor of theatre and artistic director of 8

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Rhodes’ McCoy Theatre, was honored with a Gyneka Award presented at the Women’s Theatre Festival of Memphis. The threeday festival highlighted the contributions of women in theatre arts and showcased theatrical productions. A distinguished actress, director, and producer in the Memphis theater community, Ewing has worked with the McCoy Theatre for more than 35 years.

Additionally, McCoy Theatre was awarded several best-of awards at the Ostranders: Best Direction of a Musical: Jordan Nichols, Bloody Bloody Andrew Jackson Leading Actor in a Musical: Corbin Williams, Bloody Bloody Andrew Jackson Supporting Actress in a Musical: Léerin Campbell, Bloody Bloody Andrew Jackson Leading Actress in a Drama: Katie Marburger, Anton in Show Business Supporting Actress in a Drama: Madison Tallant, Anton in Show Business Costumes: Amie Eoff, Bloody Bloody Andrew Jackson Props: Kathy Haaga, Anton in Show Business Large Ensemble: Bloody Bloody Andrew Jackson Small Ensemble: Anton in Show Business rhodes.edu

Trustee in Residence Over the last several years, Rhodes has enjoyed steady increases in the number of students who

remain in Memphis in the summer for fellowship,

internship, and summer school experiences. This trend has also deepened the desire of more

Rhodes graduates to begin their respective careers in the city they’ve come to love. To assist in making sure Rhodes students and graduates have ample opportunities to contribute to and benefit from

Memphis, Rhodes Trustee Dan Hatzenbuehler

is serving as trustee in residence for our Career

Services and External Programs offices. A 1971

Rhodes graduate, Hatzenbuehler also received a law degree from Southern Methodist University.

He is currently chairman of the board of E. Ritter & Company. As trustee in residence, he will

work closely with Sandi George Tracy, director

of Career Services, and Dr. Russ Wigginton ’88, vice president of External Programs, to broaden connections with organizations in the Memphis

region and to be available

to consult with students about opportunities in the area.

From left: Sam Reid ’16, Shivam Patel ’15, and Daniel Morris ’16

E. Club Sparks Big Ideas With the motto “inspire.innovate.improve,” the Entrepreneurship Club (E. Club) opened last year to all Rhodes students with an interest in business or entrepreneurism, regardless of class year or major. Professor Steven Samaras approached Shivam Patel ’15 and a few other business and commerce students—Christine Lee ’14, Demitri Jerow ’14, Stanton Brown ’14, and Nathaniel Plemons ’17—to see if they would be interested in forming a club. They were soon backed financially by Rhodes alumna Eric Mathews ’02, who runs a Memphis-based start-up incubator called Start Co. Joe Barlia ’14, who was interning at Start Co. when the club was founded, quickly became part of the team, and Barlia and Patel spearheaded most of the club’s events last year. Bud Richey, associate vice president for External Programs, joined the team as a sponsor. “We want to be a part of the fast-growing entrepreneurial fever that is sweeping Memphis,” Shivam explains.

One such entrepreneurial example is an app called Pickle being developed by Evan Katz ’15. While studying in Ecuador in spring 2014, Katz befriended computer developer Morgan Steffya, who now heads Pickle’s tech team. The two hatched a plan to develop an app that would allow people to upload pictures of their outfits and gain feedback from their friends. Upon launching the app, however, it became apparent that people wanted to upload and gain feedback on a variety of different photos. “People really like to use it as a voting tool,” says Katz, “the goal being to guess which photo will be most popular with other users.”

Dan Hatzenbuehler ’71

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The team has continued to develop the app, which has gained interest from brands and market research firms hoping to collect data from college students. Just like E.club, the app is being developed with the help of Start Co. —Emily Clark ’15 FALL 2014 • RHODE S

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ysics h p a t e M f o n o i t s al Que The Fundament

ou can’t do ‘Y ,’ g in th o n to s ‘Philosophy lead s a h c u s s rk a m ot do any thing n n a c e w t a “ You hear re th d te sophy,’ . . . [G]ran o il h p rselves with it, h u it o w n r g e in c n o c e any th w if not philosophy, t h ig m , y h p o s o il with ph h us? ” ger do something wit Martin Heideg

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Contributors Lead by Example

By Lynn Conlee

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tudents in philosophy professor Kyle Grady’s existentialism class this fall were asked to discuss Martin Heidegger’s quote and to broaden its use of philosophy to the liberal arts—particularly in light of the critique being leveled in the ongoing national debate about the value of the humanities.

One student said, “I’m a chemistry major so, when my parents visited during Parent/Family Weekend, they asked why I was taking a philosophy class. I think that philosophy stretches my mind in ways chemistry doesn’t.”

Another commented, “If you are in premed, you have a defined track that you follow: pre-med, med school, doctor. But with majors like English or philosophy, you can go anywhere. I think those majors open possibilities rather than narrow them.”

Stretching the mind. Opening possibilities.

The students’ comments reflect those of the nine contributors in this issue of Rhodes magazine, each of whom graciously agreed to submit an essay responding to a quote about perceived deficiencies in the liberal arts, especially in today’s economic climate.

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We hear from alumni who, by their own examples, challenge the assumption that a liberal arts education does not make for a good career. Tell that to a lawyer turned Episcopal priest; the national secretary of Phi Beta Kappa; the founder of a global seed bank; or a young art major alumnus with his own small art space and a faculty position at his alma mater.

Defying the notion that a liberal arts education is the bastion of the elite, the Rhodes Student Government president writes about her road to Rhodes and the January 2015 lecturer for our Communities in Conversation series elaborates on his role teaching the liberal arts to working-class students.

And finally, three faculty weigh in on the important role that colleges like Rhodes can play in the lives of students who leave college prepared to go out into the world and become what Heidegger describes as thinking, meditative beings.

Collectively, the essays reaffirm the many qualities a residential liberal arts education provides. Or, to paraphrase Heidegger, they show what the liberal arts can do with us.

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The Atlantic

—a 16.8 percent ly re ti n e p u g in ng people are giv u o y e m ore than a little o s m r e is d t n b o e d n a No w lo t n s soaring stude lu p te ra nging to the t li n c e ll m y ti s lo re a rs e unemp d a uard academic le -g ld degree is a o t ts e r Y a . l g ra in e g b ra li u r o a c e y is d ting that a fouris s in ly d u lo d n a . status quo— merican’s future A g n u o y y r e v e nt in erica” worthy investme Are Failing Am “How Liberal

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Arts Colleges

Scott Gerber

No Magic or Mystery—Just Charity, Civility, and Integrity

By Dr. Cary Fowler ’71

H

ow much is this going to cost?

What kind of job is my child going to get with a major in [fill in the blank with the least sellable major you can imagine]? Is our investment in college going to “pay off?” These are questions college administrators field every day.

As the parent of both a high school and a college senior, believe me, I empathize with concerns about costs and outcomes! As an adult who will qualify for Medicare later this year, I also realize that returns on investment in education cannot strictly be measured by dollars. The proof and value of an individual’s education may not fully manifest itself in the first job out of college. Or the second.

We no longer live in a world in which a student leaves college and neatly slips into a job directly associated with a specific major and stays put forever. There are for-profit colleges that cater to this dream; 50 percent more students attend them than liberal arts colleges.

But in the world in which I live, society, the economy, and technology are not static. People change fields, jobs, and employers with some regularity over the course of a lifetime. According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, the average Baby Boomer has held 11 jobs by the age of 46. Fast-forward a generation and we find that the 10 jobs most in demand in 2010

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did not even exist six years earlier, according to Jeffrey Selingo, editor at large for the Chronicle of Higher Education. Moreover, 40 percent of college majors today weren’t around in 1990.

The take-home lesson is that students who narrowly structure their education to prepare for a specific slot in today’s volatile job market better have a crystal ball or else they could find themselves preparing for yesterday’s jobs.

How many important world problems or even garden-variety challenges in business, science, civic affairs, or day-to-day life can be solved or even understood within the confines of a single academic major? In my experience, zero. How can we expect great things from students who choose their college and major based solely on today’s job market and salary expectations? Can we anticipate success or even minimal security for those who confine their education to one particular subject, whether it’s math or music, physics or philosophy? Selingo predicts that students who make such choices “will in all likelihood, without a passion to motivate them, struggle in both school and career.” It is thus critical that students explore different disciplines while leaving room to pursue the subjects they really love. Parents and students alike should understand that a major is simply a starting point for introducing the knowledge, understanding, and skills needed in life.

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JUSTIN FOX BURKS

Dr. Cary Fowler ’71 and President William E. Troutt at commencement 2011.

When it “takes,” a liberal arts education helps prepare students for any and all professions and the broadest range of careers.

It provides them with the capacity to navigate change in the real world by honing critical-thinking skills, the ability to work in teams, and the ability to synthesize new material from disparate sources and “connect the dots.” It teaches how to learn and how to communicate orally and in writing—this alone is a ticket for success. And to be blunt, it also prepares young people to have a richer, less TV-dependent intellectual and social life. Not surprisingly, surveys indicate that employers view these kinds of skills as highly attractive and more important than a student’s particular major. (Case in point: all 2013 Rhodes grads in math and music, as well as physics and philosophy, were employed or in graduate school a year after graduating.)

The take-home lesson is that students who narrowly structure their education to prepare for a specific slot in today’s volatile job market better have a crystal ball or else they could find themselves preparing for yesterday’s jobs.

Students at Rhodes and similar liberal arts colleges are clearly faring well in the job market, and according to a study published by the Association of American Colleges and Universities, “students who pursue their major within the context of a broad liberal education substantially increase their likelihood of achieving long-term professional success.”

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There is no magic or mystery to this. Small liberal arts colleges are uniquely structured to bring out the best in students through deep mentoring relationships with faculty and experiential learning. They provide exposure to different disciplines and ways of thinking; offer undergraduate research opportunities; writing intensive courses; an emphasis on values, honor codes, and community service; and an important residential experience. Such colleges produce an inordinate number of graduates who are creative, confident, mature, and hardworking, who take responsibility, accept accountability, appreciate diversity, and are ready to engage the world with charity, civility, and integrity.

In a fast-changing world, such an education— which colleges such as Rhodes consciously aspire to offer—acts as a kind of personal insurance policy against obsolescence. In the words of Nannerl Keohane, it prepares young people for both “society and solitude.”

Our future civic, political, business, and scientific leaders could well benefit from this kind of educational experience. Perhaps it’s not for everyone, but it’s the kind of education I want for my children and they want for themselves.

Am I still nervous about costs and outcomes?

You bet. But part of my own education involved taking the blinders off and learning to adapt to reality and risk. We’ll manage.

Dr. Cary Fowler ’71 is a member of the Rhodes College Board of Trustees and the former executive director of the Global Crop Diversity Trust. He is currently its special advisor.

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The Bridge to Everywhere

SUCCESS STORY

By Lynn Conlee

The road to Freedom Preparatory Academy is rough. Abandoned buildings, a decrepit drive-in movie theater, and boarded up houses, sporadically interrupted by still-vibrant shopping centers and fastfood joints, line Highway 61 South. But on a residential street just to the west of the highway, tidy ranch houses with manicured lawns ring a brick school building with gleaming orange and blue doors that bear Freedom Prep’s logo—a bird in flight, a fitting symbol for the five-yearold charter school where the freedom to soar academically awaits each student.

Founded in 2009 by Roblin Webb ’99, Freedom Prep Charter Schools has grown from one location with 100 sixthgrade students at its start to more than 600 students on three separate campuses enrolled in kindergarten, first grade, and grades six through 10. By 2016, the college preparatory school network will offer grades kindergarten through 12 and graduate its first class.

Along with around 40 other teachers, the Rhodes alumni lead a student body that has reversed the achievement gap in both biology and English I and has seen its ninth-graders outperform both Shelby County Schools and the state’s public schools in biology (by 39 points and 23 points, respectively). Freedom Prep is the top performing public school in the entire state of Tennessee for reading and language arts growth and the top performing public middle school in the Whitehaven/Westwood area.

Both Webb and Boone point to the liberal arts education they received at Rhodes as the linchpin of any success they have had at Freedom Prep. And both say that

the broad range of disciplines to which they were exposed has equipped them to handle the equally broad set of challenges at the charter school.

“Rhodes prepared us with a liberal arts background in ways that encourage you to look at things differently, so that maybe we look at the traditional ways of teaching in different ways, too,” says Boone.

Just north of the school on Highway 61, the road is closed where a gleaming new bridge undergoes construction. For students in the blighted area that feeds Freedom Prep, the schools function as a different kind of bridge, one that will connect them to knowledge, confidence, and aspiration. And to the new “law” that Roblin Webb practices: the one that says they can—and will—attend college.

A team of alumni help guide students at Freedom Preparatory Academy. (L-R, back row) Lars Nelson ’09, Nora Boone ’99, and Phat Ho ’14; (middle row) Jamesha Hayes ’11, Aubrey Diaz Nelson ’08, and Roblin Webb ’99; (front row) Alana, Rhodes Class of 2032!!

LYNN CONLEE

“I saw education as a way to create an even playing field,” Webb recalls. “In Memphis, only 20 percent of adults have a college degree. In this area (the Westwood neighborhood where Freedom Prep is located), it’s only 10 percent. Both of my parents attended college. There was never any question for me, but that’s not the case for these kids. Our goal is to triple the number of college graduates in our neighborhood (from 10 percent to 30 percent).”

cluding Nora Boone ’99, the director of marketing and communications. Working in the classrooms are Jamesah Hayes ’11, eighth-grade social studies teacher and eighth-grade chair; Aubrey Diaz Nelson ’08, assistant head of school; Lars Nelson ’09, chief instruction officer; Phat Ho ’14, kindergarten teacher; and Tamra Patterson ’01, theater teacher.

To assist Webb in running the school, six Rhodes alumni hold various positions, in-

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.com g lo a t a c t h g u o th

dar y educan o c e ts s o p n a for the Americ s te fa factor y that le a ib s s a s o s p tu o ta s tw t e n r e a There aintain its curr m to it r fo is e manuel Kant ’s n m O I . e m it te c s e r y s n n a o c ti baristas that d n a s e v d Colleges to n la a s s tb ie e it d s s r e e c iv u n d pro e other is for U h T . y r o a ll unnecese m v e o m m e m r o t a fr s th e s g passa na l institution o ti c n u -f e r o m become leaner, hat matters. w n o ly n o s u c rk, and fo College� sar y coursewo ral Arts from e lmost) All Lib (A g in v o m e R r “The Case fo

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Matt Saccaro

The Future of College: Not an Either/Or

By John Churchill ’71

O

ne of the great take-aways from the Jim Jobes logic course I took in spring term 1970 was an awareness of informal fallacies. Formal fallacies are violations of the principles of deduction, but informal fallacies fail for various other reasons. Most people know about the ad hominem fallacy, which attacks the speaker rather than what she says. Or the slippery slope argument, which equates the fi rst step in some direction to arrival at a far, presumably undesirable, destination: “If you fib to keep from hurting someone’s feelings, next you’ll lie on your tax return.”

One of the most common informal fallacies is the fallacy of false alternatives.

It consists of reducing a broad range of possibilities to two extreme options: “He who is not with us is against us,” or “Today, you can be a hero or a coward; take your pick.” Too often, in our contemporary national conversation about the purpose and future of higher education in America, a particular fallacy of false alternatives is used to defi ne the options.

Note what raw versions of the familiar negative myths about liberal arts educa-

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tion are bundled in Matt Sacarro’s quote: “debt-slaves,” “baristas,” and the notion that liberal education is useless, the evidence being that we can quote Kant.

These distortions can, and should, be laid to rest. Phi Beta Kappa’s current National Arts & Sciences Initiative is dedicated to demonstrating that the arts and sciences expand opportunity, drive ingenuity and innovation, and are an investment both in the future of America and in the individual’s future prospects as a professional, a citizen, and a whole, flourishing human being. I invite readers to explore the Initiative at www.pbk.org.

The false alternative argument cited above begins by treating higher education as if it were all one thing. In fact, American higher education is a broad, highly various sector comprising institutions of widely different types and missions: small liberal arts colleges; large public, multipurpose institutions; research universities, both public and private; two-year institutions; for-profits; vocational schools of various sorts; and so on.

But it is common to hear blanket pronouncements that ignore this diversity, and suppose that all higher education has one aim, suffers from the same fl aws, and

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John Churchill ’71

greets the same range of options for the future. This is misleading. The future of small, residential, academically demanding liberal arts colleges and the future of other kinds of institutions will be shaped by different factors.

The fallacy of false alternatives adds a further mistake. In addition to lumping together everything called a “college” or a “university,” it also claims that this undifferentiated mass is headed for one of two starkly contrasting, exclusive, and exhausThe future of small, residential, tive outcomes: one of two sharply difacademically demanding liberal ferent things must arts colleges and the future of happen to every college or university.

other kinds of institutions will be shaped by different factors.

But clearly this is not true, and different institutions should and will choose different futures. “Focusing on what matters,” in a broad, long-range perspective, means for institutions like Rhodes, for example, focusing on the arts and sciences.

Moreover, in a democracy that embraces equality of opportunity, some element of liberal arts should be in everyone’s college experience, regardless of institutional type.

Everyone can profit from close engagement

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with reading about, writing about, and discussing things that matter. Everyone deserves engagement with the humanities, the social sciences, and the natural sciences and math. To reduce some sectors of higher education to narrowly conceived “practical” training is to forestall the emergence of extraordinary ability where its potential may exist, a policy that is as unfair as it is unwise.

If we want to talk sense about higher education in America, we have to acknowledge the many different kinds of institutions that exist, with their different purposes and different constituencies. The topic is complex, and simple pronouncements that reduce the issues to universally applied yes-or-no questions will seldom be true or useful. Another benefit that accrued to me from Jim Jobes’ course was a tolerance for complication. Some things are complicated, and denying it only makes them more so.

John Churchill, secretary of the Phi Beta Kappa Society, is a 1971 graduate of Rhodes College. He majored in philosophy, which turned out to be eminently practical.

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Equipped for Life With the Gift of Learning

I

By Rev. Dorothy Wells ’82

would love to say that, as a young high school student, I decided on a liberal arts college because I had some lofty goals about how the intriguing subjects that I would study would shape my life.

Unfortunately, that wouldn’t quite be true.

As an aspiring writer, I entered Rhodes College planning to graduate with a double major in English and media arts, hoping one day to be writing for a magazine and perhaps penning a book or two. And, yes, since I loved music, I thought that I might pursue that, too, just for fun. A liberal arts college seemed like a perfect choice for me, because, quite frankly, I expected that having to move beyond my comfort zone and to be exposed to subjects that I might otherwise not choose to pursue would help me as a writer.

What I got was more than I expected. The gift of my liberal arts education was the gift of learning, and it has been the gift that’s kept on giving throughout my life.

As one might have expected, I thrived in literature, languages, and music. I merely survived biology, calculus, and psychology.

In the end, I surrendered myself to the passion of making music and majored in vocal performance—not exactly the major that one might pursue if one were hoping to graduate from college and go on to a high-paying job.

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But along the liberal arts highway, I learned a few rather unexpected lessons about myself, and about the world. I wrestled with questions about justice as I studied the ethics of systems of economic distribution. In political science, I struggled with questions about how matters of national welfare were being addressed by our partisan party system. I began exploring my own capacity for ministry in the storied Pain, Suffering and Death course. And, I savored my first opportunity to give back to the community as a tutor in an inner-city after-school program, where the lessons that I learned were far more significant, no doubt, than any lessons that I was able to teach. I was challenged, encouraged, and empowered.

Truth be told, the first couple of years after undergraduate school were tough, economically. I didn’t walk out of college and into a great paying job. There wasn’t much left over after I paid the rent.

But I was able to do some performing— actually, quite a bit of performing—in concerts, recitals, and even a few operas. My second “day job” with a regional consulting firm, which I landed in large part because of my broad liberal arts background, not only supported me enough to be able to enjoy performing, but opened up some pretty fascinating vistas in and of itself. I entered law school, began a successful 18-year career

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JUSTIN FOX BURKS

Rev. Dorothy Wells ’82

as an attorney, and was fortunate yet again to follow my heart and calling to seminary and ordained ministry.

Had it not been for a liberal arts education, I might not otherwise have read (and appreciated) the likes of Solzhenitsyn, KüblerRoss, and Kant. I might not have pondered or wrestled with questions about the world as we know it. And I might not have been equipped and prepared to earn a law degree, translate my law practice into a corporate setting, work as a business leader—and then shift gears and go on to the vocation of ordained ministry. A liberal arts education equipped me for life, with all of its changes and iterations.

The one constant through all of these life changes is that I’m still writing. From a substantial body of published professional works that I wrote as an attorney, to the blog on spiritual life that I write today, I continue to pursue a love that first came in a high school classroom and that was fueled during my years at Rhodes.

For those who question the value of a liberal arts education in today’s world, I offer a different perspective: What is the value of the gift of an inquiring mind, a fluency in the language of many disciplines, and a passion for lifelong learning? From my point of view, the gift of a liberal arts education is priceless.

After 18 years practicing law, the Rev. Dorothy Wells enrolled in the seminary and is now the priest in charge at St. George’s Episcopal Church in Germantown, TN.

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The Atlantic

ss. There are la c r e p p u n a f ege o been the privil lore e v a h ts r a l ra e per class to exp lib p u e n th a f y, o ll e a n m ti io it re isu Trad st, it befits the le ir F . is y, to read Aristo th n r ta fo o s b n y d so a tu s re to ig , ven three b : to play Beetho fe li n a m ause their birth u c h e f b o , d s n d o o c o e g S r . e a ly the high nding tour of It a p x -e n ce, members o la ti a tp e in g rk a a im m n e a th n and tle, to go o ons in politics ti those si o p ip h rs e d lea lves. W hereas y se p u m c e c th o r to fo k is t thin righ reire the skills to u q re s s meet various p la c y e c ti th ra ll c e w to s w ri o a h on of the es ssed exclusively se s a re a luate outcom a v e s se to s w la o c h r e w o w st k n in the lo upper class mu e th in son genera lly a se re o is th , th s e d n m o (a tc y ina ll scribed ou on of va lues. F z ri o h a rivilege and t p s f in o a g rs a e rk m a e m th s r ed a and conside ra l arts get cod e b who li e th f o s d o e go arly from those le th c ), s n e e lv k o se sp m n e u te th goes ss can demarca la c r e p p u e th t ea lth possible. w d prestige, so tha n a re u is le eir rder to ma ke th o in rk Plumbers: o w to t s to u la m P h c a e “Why I T te.� just for the eli ’t n re a s ie it n nd the huma lson Liberal arts a Scott Samue

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The Liberal Arts and the Fate of American Democracy

By Scott Samuelson

I

n the democracy of ancient Athens and the republic of ancient Rome, freedom was only for the few.

Slaves, servants, and women had to toil so that free men could cultivate their minds, participate in the government, and enjoy the highest goods of human life—in short, so they could learn and practice the liberal arts.

Athenian and Roman citizens could devote themselves whole-heartedly to the liberal arts was precisely that the servile did the work necessary to sustain freedom. Part of the genius of the American educational system is that it mixes liberal and technical education. A just democracy requires that we all pitch in when it comes to the economy.

Our government takes inspiration from Athens and draws on the model of the Roman Republic, but we also inherit the Enlightenment ideal of freedom for all, even if our history has never quite lived up to it. My view—inspired by a long line of American thinkers going back to Thomas Jefferson—is that in a democratic republic the liberal arts should not be the exclusive privilege of the few. We should all have access to an education in thinking and judging for ourselves. The main goals of elementary and secondary education should center on cultivating the liberal arts, and citizens should have the opportunity to study the liberal arts in college without incurring onerous debt.

If anything, I’d like to see more real technical education in elementary and primary schools. There’s no reason that a person with a high school diploma shouldn’t be expected to know something and to do something. Furthermore, I’m grateful that our colleges and universities help their students get employable skills. But the dominant note of an education in a liberal democracy should be the cultivation of freedom, not of employability. We rightly want people to have gainful employment, but American citizens should do their work with a spirit of independence, creativity, and self-reliance.

I’m not saying that we shouldn’t have opportunities for job training in our educational institutions. The reason that ancient

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The powerful trends in education right now are all about standardization, rubrics, passing tests, and compliance, which read as forms of servility rather than freedom.

Insofar as the private goal of education is about jumping through the hoops necessary

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till its institutions glow with justice and its customs shine with beauty.”

Scott Samuelson

to get hired and the rationale for public education is about growing the economy, I worry that we’re striking a blasé Hobbesian bargain of giving up our freedom to big corporations and government agencies in return for the promise of security.

At the end of the Cold War, Francis Fukuyama famously declared that we’d reached “the end of history,” by which he meant that all peoples would eventually settle into liberal democracy. It’s not simply the authoritarian capitalism of China and the violent theocratic movements of the Middle East that challenge his thesis. It’s that we ourselves run the danger of becoming illiberal.

A century ago, when America was tilting toward inequality and empire, the great American philosopher William James said, “Nothing future is quite secure; states enough have inwardly rotted—and democracy as a whole may undergo self-poisoning.

But, on the other hand, democracy is a kind of religion, and we are bound not to admit its failure. Faiths and utopias are the noblest exercise of human reason, and no one with a spark of reason in him will sit down fatalistically before the croaker’s picture. The best of us are filled with the contrary vision of a democracy stumbling through every error

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In the decades following James’ stirring remarks, our country stumbled toward institutions and customs that glowed with a little more justice for workers, women, and black Americans. Twentieth-century America gave birth to a world-class public educational system that, for all its flaws, gave an astonishing number of people a distinctive liberal education. Unfortunately, for a few decades now we’ve been walking with misplaced confidence toward inequality and empire once again.

But we should refuse to “sit down fatalistically before the croaker’s picture.” As a new world order is taking shape, we have the opportunity to shine like never before as the country where, with the help of the liberal arts, citizens widely participate in the government, workers have a voice in an innovative economy, and the widest number of people enjoy the best of the human inheritance.

Scott Samuelson, the author of The Deepest Human Life: An Introduction to Philosophy for Everyone (University of Chicago Press, 2014), is giving the lecture “Suffering and Soul-Making: On the Deep Value of the Liberal Arts” on January 15, 2015, as part of Rhodes’ Communities in Conversation series.

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es New York Tim

n to ber u t e r ly g in s a ies may incre it n a m u h e h t , r y, when on ly s u n t n te e h c ig t t s y la e n e o h As m beg in n ing of t e h t t na mely, t he a : e e r g e e w ll o y c e d h t e t d a n ing wh opu lation at te p e h t f o n io t r o a m inuscu le p ea lt hy. w e h t f o e c in Their Worth� v pr o s Must Justify manitie

es, the Hu “In Tough Tim

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n Patricia Cohe

Defining Success the Liberal Arts Way

By Shelley Choudhury ’15

I

n a 2013 survey conducted for the Association of American Colleges and Universities (AACU), 93 percent of employers agreed that “a demonstrated capacity to think critically, communicate clearly, and solve complex problems is more important than [a candidate’s] undergraduate major.”

At Rhodes, a thorough and well-rounded education involves extensive work in the humanities—even for neuroscience majors like me—that produces students with just those qualities.

Now, numbers can be scary. I distinctly remember feeling a catch in my chest when I first glanced at the five-digit number representing private college tuition. I am from a middle-class background; I live in the suburbs.

My parents did not set aside $200,000 for four years of college. However, in the true nature of a future liberal arts-educated individual, I decided to set aside assumptions and investigate before I dismissed my dream.

I soon discovered that most liberal arts students are not dealing with such extreme college bills; in fact, after a combination of need- and merit-based aid, the average Rhodes student pays roughly half of the advertised

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cost. Furthermore, Rhodes commits almost $40 million in student grants and scholarships. Many of my fellow students have expressed that attending Rhodes was ultimately a more cost-effective alternative to several public universities. My story is not rare—it is the norm, dispelling the misconception that only the wealthiest individuals have access to a liberal arts education.

Though I am certainly no economics expert, it seems to me the claim that the humanities are not worth their cost only considers short-term gains. The humanities, contrary to popular belief, do lead to employment; more importantly, they prepare students to excel regardless of the field. The AACU reports that those majoring in the humanities actually earn an average of $2,000 more annually during peak earning years than graduates with professional degrees. In fact, a study of mid-career salaries for graduates of liberal arts colleges, released in September by PayScale, listed Rhodes as number 25 on the list of top-earners.

The New York Times article from which Cohen’s quote is taken implies that writing, selfexpression, and critical-analysis skills acquired from a liberal arts education are valued less than specific skill sets learned at other institutions. Rather than teaching one specific skill

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COREY NOLAN

set, which may or may not become irrelevant within a decade, the humanities require students to analyze situations, analyze people, analyze potential problems, and then ask the questions necessary to formulate solutions.

The humanities teach lifelong learning, which encourages students to be malleable. The world is unpredictable, so education should teach flexibility and endurance in addition to the writing and The simple truth is that critical-thinking skills the humanities equate to that are fundamental to tangible success in understanding, which is vastly the job market.

Shelley Choudhury ’15

underrated in society.

Furthermore, the humanities foster passion. The great leaders, inventors, and entrepreneurs of the world share passion as common ground. The humanities show us how to mold passion into meaningful action. My passion is medicine, and one day I would like to practice as a physician. After four years of a liberal arts education, I plan to enter medical school knowing more than biology and chemistry. Instead, I will enter with a wealth of knowledge spanning disciplines.

I have a better understanding of health care disparities and the importance of practicing solidarity from my Social Health, Faith, and Justice class. I have practice in viewing and appreciating differing perspectives from my first-year religious studies classes. I have knowledge about the neuroscience of stress

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and, furthermore, how stress affects healing in both mental and physical dimensions, from a psychology class. I have experience analyzing complex texts and writing persuasively from my English class. I have acquired a critical eye for generalized research claims from my neuroscience research experience. I have an understanding of the ways in which religious institutions shape health care from my religious studies internship. Finally, I know how to build community among my colleagues from my experience in Rhodes Singers.

I firmly believe all of these aspects of my education will contribute to my betterment as a physician. The simple truth is that the humanities equate to understanding, which is vastly underrated in society. An education immersed in the humanities will ensure that students excel in their chosen profession, while also demonstrating the mental capacity and understanding to face the world with open hearts, open minds, and a future full of possibilities.

Shelley Choudhury ’15, a Mount Juliet, TN, native, serves as president of the Rhodes Student Government, majors in neuroscience, is a Rhodes Diplomat, and a member of Alpha Omicron Pi sorority—among many other activities. For more on Shelley, go to rhodes.edu/shelley.

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Integrative Learning and the Value of Liberal Arts Education

By Dr. Tom McGowan

T

here is little new in the recent round of criticism directed toward liberal arts education.

For more than two centuries, liberal arts colleges have been criticized for being expensive and exclusive and for not providing students with specific, directly marketable jobs skills. As Wesleyan College President Michael Roth points out, such criticisms are longstanding and date back to the Colonial period, when Benjamin Franklin lampooned Harvard College for being little more than a finishing school for America’s wealthiest sons.

What makes contemporary expressions of such criticism so popular is that in the new leaner and meaner American economy, finding well-paying jobs straight out of college is more difficult than ever.

A liberal arts education is a proven, but often circuitous, path to a good career or profession. This is because liberal education is about more than simply landing a good job after graduation. It is about discovering your passion and developing your capacity to pursue and realize a life that is successful and meaningful. Liberal education’s conflating of success and meaning, however, does not play well in a society that discounts the value of meaning and is fearful of unemployment (and under-employment).

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Not unlike the journey of life itself, the liberal arts journey is indirect, textured, often difficult, but ultimately rewarding. Unlike elite Ivy League universities, which according to William Deresiewicz tend to produce overachieving conformists, liberal arts colleges strive to graduate independently minded students who are passionate about their ontological vocation. This term is used by philosopher Paulo Freire to describe an approach to learning that intentionally engages difficult questions and challenging experiences in order to stretch oneself and gain insight into one’s values and life purpose.

Some may snicker at such a lofty goal, especially when we know that down the road college grads will remember their social interactions far more clearly than the knowledge they were taught in the classroom. But this point underscores the fact that a residential liberal arts education is much more than a competition over knowledge attainment and GPA. Liberal arts students learn more than intellectual content; they learn how to learn as a way of being in the world. Building on the work of the Association of American Colleges and Universities, this process may be described as integrative learning, or learning that fosters students’ ability to internalize and develop the meaning of their experience

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COREY NOLAN

Dr. Tom McGowan

by integrating their intellectual and personal development.

Unlike the longstanding criticisms leveled against it, liberal arts education has changed in important ways over time, especially in the past few decades. Chief among these changes is the cultural shift from college as ivory tower to college as engaged community partner. Former Northeastern University President Richard Freeland believes that this decades-long trend toward community engagement constitutes a revolutionary, experimental moment in higher education.

While some may disagree with Freeland’s assessment, collaborative engagement with the broader community has indeed become the new normal in higher education. However, because the majority of liberal arts colleges are located outside of highly populated urban centers, the opportunities presented by community engagement are not available to many liberal arts students. Rhodes is distinct not only because it excels at providing an outstanding integrative, liberal arts education; it is distinct because it centers the Memphis community at the core of the integrative education it provides.

Preparing college students to become responsible citizens has long been considered a key function of higher education, for a democratic society cannot survive without an educated and involved citizenry. It is, therefore, not surprising that liberal arts colleges have grown to value and invest in collaborative partnerships with their

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surrounding communities. John Saltmarsh of the New England Resource Center for Higher Education aptly describes this development as a form of democratic engagement that directly contributes to the sustainability of our democracy. Community engagement provides college students with opportunities to put integrative learning into practice, and such practice fosters an integrative, democratic disposition—the ability to dialogue and interact with others in a manner that is open, ethical, and respectful of difference.

At Rhodes, faculty, administrators, students, and staff are reflecting on our academic program and institutional practice in order to more clearly articulate the nature of integrative education. This effort includes partnering with other colleges to reflect on the meaning of liberal education, securing external grants to support innovative pedagogy and integrative learning, and seeking closer alignment between the classroom and co-curricular student experiences.

A liberal arts education is perfectly imperfect. It is expensive and it does need to be more accessible and diverse. Despite these challenges, liberal arts education helps students grow beyond themselves through the integration of their intellectual and personal development. The student is the outcome of this collective effort.

Parents, policy makers, pundits, and ultimately students, can decide for themselves whether such an outcome is worth investing in.

Dr. Tom McGowan is chair of the Department of Anthropology and Sociology. He has written extensively on the topic of integrative education and is a member of Rhodes’ Community-Integrative Education Work Group.

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dard n a t S y l k e e T he W

h began ic h w , n io t a c eral arts edu b li d n a l a n te universia io t t s a t c o n v a r n g e e d n betw vent of the la d a The division e favor of the h t in h r it e w h t y r r u u f t d th cen g further an in t il t during the 19 y a d o t udents are, in is t , s s e e r t o a t m S d d n e a it rketable’ al arts, more a ties in the Un r e ‘m b o li t e s t h t c je in ven with ‘useless’ sub m o r f g e practih in t e vocational. E e m fl e “ , h t s d d r n o le lbanco’s w hat this will t e p o h e h [Andrew] De loyers. t p in m e ,” s e ic iv t m c o e n p h as eco impress pros t h ig m subjects suc t a h t achets c ould Care” d h n S a e ls W ia t y n h And W cal crede eral Arts?

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Joseph

Fleeing from the Liberal Arts?

Not So Fast

By Dr. John E. Murray

A

s much as I admire Joseph Epstein’s essays, including this otherwise superb one from 2012, he is really addressing a non-event here. Quantitatively, the liberal arts are fi ne. Data from the National Center for Education Statistics indicate that from 1995 to 2012 (most recent available) about two-fi fths of bachelor’s degrees were awarded in the liberal arts and sciences. No trend was visible, and the stability (between 37 and 39 percent) was remarkable. Trends in business degrees were actually slightly down, from 22 percent of all bachelor’s degrees in 1996 to 20 percent in 2012. There has been no fl ight from any field into business.

What follows is my own reading on the liberal arts, which I aim to carry into my section of Humanities 201 (the Search for Values in the Light of Western History and Religion). What we deeply know is fundamentally historical. Without the perspective that time provides for reading, thinking, and debating, the present is simply too immediate to allow us to distinguish the important from the ephemeral. Here is an example from the director of American studies at Columbia University Andrew Delbanco’s bête noire, economics. In the

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middle-third of the past century, most economists would have proposed that by far the most important economic writer of the time was John Maynard Keynes. There were good reasons to believe that was so, such as the consequences of the 1962 Kennedy tax cut. But by the time of the Carter era stagflation, Keynesian theory was in tatters. Understanding the succession of economic knowledge from new, to almost certainly true, to nearly useless, may provide some well-earned skepticism of scholarly fads.

The liberal arts are founded on the books that constitute the great Western tradition.

Little that we really need to know does not appear in the great books that we read in Search. Plenty of what makes economics useful can be found in Wealth of Nations, and much else besides. How to manage people in a large firm really is just an adaptation of The Prince, and if Machiavelli seems too harsh, one can leaven his suggestions with Immanuel Kant’s categorical imperative. The long-term problems of a family business have never been better described than in Buddenbrooks. In sum, the liberal arts confer perspective, and to the thoughtful recipient, the beginning of wisdom.

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JAMIE HARMON

Dr. John Murray

In my own college experience at Oberlin, I came to admire several faculty members who taught in the Conservatory of Music.

The conservatory model is a much better fit for liberal arts colleges than to mimic small research universities with better teaching.

The job of a conservatory is, literally, to conserve the beautiful and interesting music of the past. It encourages composition of new music, but primarily students attend to learn the repertoire. In a good liberal arts college, students should learn the repertoire of our tradition.

The main threat to the liberal arts does not come from vocational and otherwise marketable fields. On the day of this writing, in my Search class we discussed Martin Luther King’s “Letter from the Birmingham City Jail,” noting his repeated references to natural law, supported by quotations from great books. His persuasive power stemmed, in part, from the explicit placement of his argument in this tradition. King notes at one point that the real enemies of the nonviolent civil rights activists were not the racists with their fire hoses and German shepherds, but the moderates who professed sympathy, but then did nothing. They were, King says, alluding to Revelation 3:16, lukewarm.

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Just so, the most dangerous associates of the liberal arts are not HR departments in the business world, but those who claim to advocate for the liberal arts and then set syllabi that feature fleeting works of popular culture. These assignments miss the importance of the standard works. We do not set the tradition; it is already there, beyond our power to change (thankfully). We can acknowledge it by teaching our students its repertoire or we can choose to teach something less.

Of course these books are difficult, but they are not impossible. Of course only a small number of people become acquainted with them in each generation, but the books open to all who care to read them. A rigorous education, based on the traditional great books, teaches students great things— compassion for others in the human condition, the value of striving for greatness, the need for self-awareness, and humility in those efforts. Young people who take these lessons to heart will find them very useful indeed. Even in the job market.

Dr. John E. Murray is the J. R. Hyde III Professor of Political Economy at Rhodes College.

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Students Gain Via Co-authorship

SUCCESS STORY

By Caroline Ponseti ’15

In the publish or perish world of academia, it’s not uncommon for a Rhodes student to find scholarly research authored by her professor. But she can find even more familiar names among certain economics journals—those of her peers—thanks to the efforts of the Robert D. McCallum professor of economics Steven Caudill.

Thirteen students in Caudill’s three most recent senior seminar courses have had 14 papers accepted for publication in the very journals that they read for their own coursework. “These are not student journals,” Caudill explains. “These are journals that other PhD economists are publishing in.”

something to put on their résumé that sometimes the people interviewing them for jobs don’t even have,” he says.

Clapper now uses the data analysis skills she learned in her undergraduate research in her role as an assistant buyer for AutoZone. “Undergraduate research is one of the unique things that Rhodes has to offer,” she says. “It makes you marketable to graduate schools because they know you’re capable of doing high-level research, and it makes you marketable to employers because you’re a published economist, essentially.”

Both the students and Caudill benefit from their collaboration in senior seminar.

“I get research done that I might not have had time for otherwise,” he says. “The activity makes me work closely with students and makes it much easier for me to write letters of recommendation for them. I can talk about the quality of the work the student did. That’s a much stronger letter than just talking about a student’s grades and GPA.” Clapper agrees: “One of the benefits of Rhodes in general is having this unique relationship with your professors.”

JUSTIN FOX BURKS

Caudill, who shares co-authorship with his students, works closely with his senior seminar participants through several drafts of their research and adds his own professional touches to the final drafts. Julia Clapper ’12 collaborated with Caudill on her research on water quality in Ontario lakes. The research was published in a top-tier economics journal.

“Dr. Caudill’s mentorship during the whole research paper process was invaluable because we had never written a graduate-level research paper,” she says. “He required us to check in with him to make sure we were on the right course, and he would steer us back to the right direction.”

Caudill stresses the professional benefits that these students receive from being published as undergraduates. “Students learn what it is we professors do and get Dr. Steven Caudill and Julia Clapper ’12

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erce m m o orkers C w f ) o M t E n T rtme a matics (S p e e h t D a . m S . d ating new n r U a e g n e n i g r y e b e s n

titivenes og y, engi l e o p n m h o c c e t d , Science vation an o n n i ’s n o tries. i t s e” a u n d r n i u o w e e n he Futur t d r driv n o a f s d e n i a , compan w obs Now e J n d , s o d Beede i a o v e G a d : i D M , k E T ic

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Examining Life Under a Broader Scope

By Dr. Loretta Jackson-Hayes

W

hen I ponder the role of the sciences and the value of a science education within a liberal arts environment, my thoughts gravitate toward Leonardo da Vinci. By no means am I a da Vinci scholar. As any casual consumer of the arts, I am in great appreciation of his hundreds of contributions to the field. As a scientist, however, I am constantly in awe as I become more familiar with the advances he made for the sciences.

In a sense, da Vinci embraced the liberal arts model in that he did not see a divide between art and science. His insatiable curiosity mirrors the lifelong passion for learning that we attempt to ignite in our students. He was multifaceted—an artist, writer, engineer, and biologist, among many other titles. He imagined feats of engineering long before we developed the capabilities to fashion them into tangible forms.

His studies of human anatomy through the dissection of human corpses advised and advanced his ability to so brilliantly capture the nature of being human on paper, canvas, bronze, and stone.

What I believe ties his accomplishments to a liberal arts education is that much of

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his training came through apprenticeship.

Rhodes embraces the scholar-mentor model in which undergraduates work closely on research projects or creative activities under the apprenticeship of Rhodes professors, who are experts within their given disciplines. Rhodes strongly supports faculty scholarship and provides resources to faculty members for the purpose of involving students in real research projects and creative endeavors. The opportunity to work side-by-side at the bench with the scholar is the main aspect of a science education within the liberal arts environment that I believe sets apart such an educational experience from what a student might experience at a university.

There are likely greater numbers of opportunities to employ student researchers at universities simply due to more available funding. However, there is rarely the opportunity for an undergraduate student to work directly with the head of the lab or the principle investigator. More often, undergraduates are paired with a graduate student, postdoctoral fellow, or laboratory technician, and the student rarely interacts with the principal investigator. My research students and I sit down together to plan experiments. As a team, we work at

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JAMIE HARMON

Dr. Loretta Jackson-Hayes

the bench together to actually carry out the experiments. We gather and review the data together, and determine the next questions to address, together. After two to three years of direct mentoring, students develop the ability to interpret results on their own, describe how these findings advance the project, generate ideas for subsequent experiments, and plan experiments themselves—often offering creative and innovative ways to address the question at hand. Such student evolution is the direct result of the student experiencing the nurturing guidance of the scholar-mentor offered by a liberal arts education.

Research is of no value if it is not shared within the scientific community and repackaged in a form that can be consumed by a general audience, making the most important step in a science project the ability to communicate findings verbally or in written form. To this point, science students educated within a liberal arts environment have an advantage. Just as da Vinci’s study of human anatomy informed his painting and sculpture, study of writing and analyses of texts equip our science students to communicate their scientific findings as professionals in the field. Our students accompany us to

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regional, national, and international conferences, where we step back and allow the students to do the talking. My students have written portions of scientific articles that have been published by our research team. In these instances, the students and I exchange drafts of manuscripts until together we arrive at publishable versions. They are co-authors through contributing to both the experiments and the writing.

To innovate is to introduce change—something new and different. While it is true that STEM workers can indeed drive innovation, imagine how much more innovative a student or employee could be if the pool of knowledge from which they draw is wider and deeper. That occurs as the result of a liberal arts education.

Dr. Loretta Jackson-Hayes is an associate professor of chemistry. Her research focuses on genes that are involved in fungal cell wall metabolism. The fungal cell wall, which is composed of polysaccharides and glycoproteins, is essential for growth and metabolism of the fungus and is an excellent target for antifungal drugs.

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killed mans h it w y ll ia t n lot more pote a e k a m n a c s istor y degree.� lk h fo t , r u a o n y a e h is it m w “I pro an they might h t s e d a r t e h t rack Obama ufacturing or President Ba

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Richness in the Eye of the Beholder

By Joel Parsons ’07

C

harged with interrogating this quote from the president, I Google “Obama art history.” I click on the first result, a video from CNN, in which the quote is introduced by a gray-haired man in a dark and serious suit, standing in front of a bank of monitors in a digitally created nonspace. The camera cuts from this man to President Obama, who stands in shirtsleeves, his tie slightly loosened. His undershirt is visible through his buttondown under the intense light from what I assume is the work-day sun.

Behind him is a crowd of men and women in more casual clothing, some wearing sweatshirts that have the name of a union printed across them. Their presence creates a spectrum of skin tones. Each person was clearly vetted for visual effect, as were the president’s and the newscaster’s costumes, the size of their flag lapel pins, the shape of the microphones they speak into, and the angle of the light on their faces. The president makes the comment in question, immediately declares his love for art history, and says that he doesn’t want to get a bunch of angry emails from art historians. The crowd behind him laughs and the clip cuts off abruptly.

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A click away, I find a digitized copy of a handwritten note from President Obama, apologizing to an angry art history professor who emailed him to complain about his comments. The card on which the note is written is plain, undecorated save for two lines of text printed in a conservative, serif font in a shade of blue that is just on the vibrant side of navy: THE WHITE HOUSE, and under it in smaller letters, WASHINGTON. Its tasteful, minimal aesthetic pulls double duty, meant to convey both populist efficiency (note the absence of gold gilding) and stern superiority (you know where Washington is, right?). It sets up a productive contrast with the friendliness of the president’s own handwriting, particularly his looping signature, soft on the outside with a strong slash through the middle.

Like the video of the president’s speech, it is a screen-scale tour de force of political imagecraft, certainly produced with the full knowledge that it would be digitized and go viral, at least among a particular demographic. Below this image are more clickable headlines: “Daisy campaign ad that changed politics turns 50,” “Are stolen images of celebrities art?” “Cell phone images now used in the war on terror,” “Drone images reportedly show . . .” and on and on. There are links to

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JAMIE HARMON

Joel Parsons ’07

slideshows and videos, which contain within them more videos and are prefaced by commercials for movies or television shows.

Even when presented with a text, my research instincts are grounded in methodologies from art history 101, tools for visual analysis that I have employed frequently since the day I learned them in a first-year art history course here at Rhodes College. With a cursory visual analysis complete, I turn again to the quote, which I can see now as a product of its attendant images as much as a producer of them.

Will a skilled manufacturer or tradeswoman make a lot more money than a student of art history? Maybe. It’s possible. Who can know for sure? The answer is far less interesting and vital than the follow-up questions that closelooking can produce. At whom is this message of economic self-sufficiency via vocational training being directed? What image of America is painted by this message and the setting in which it is delivered, and who has access to that America? (Another relevant question might be, does a person who becomes an arts professional for the money harbor a greater misunderstanding of art or money? But that’s a question for another conversation.)

Stepping outside of this exercise and these questions, what we can say, for certain, is that our culture creates and deploys images at an

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increasing, and increasingly overwhelming, rate. Paychecks aside, more and more we are finding that images are a kind of currency.

And there is no field of study that better equips its students to process, unpack, dissect, navigate, analyze, deflate, create, and otherwise make sense and use of images than the study of visual art. As the onslaught of images grows, a skilled manufacturer, an academic, and a president will find that an eye honed in art history seminars and painting studios will serve her better every day.

In his apology note, President Obama said that art history, which we may understand as the fruit of this process of close-looking and analysis, has helped him in his own life to “take in a great deal of joy.” Replace joy with richness, understood in its broadest sense, and you’ll find a sentiment with which a great many artists, skilled manufacturers, art historians, and tradeswomen can agree.

Joel Parsons is the director of Clough-Hanson Gallery. He received an MFA in sculpture from the School of the Art Institute of Chicago. His work has been exhibited in Chicago, Atlanta, and Memphis as well as Turkey, South Africa, and India. He also runs a small alternative space devoted to queer art and performance called Beige.

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Art Works

SUCCESS STORY

By Lynn Conlee

JAMIE HARMON

Late in spring semester 2014, an outburst of cheerful exuberance erupted from one end of Palmer Hall. Ellie Skochdopole ’15, a Rhodes Student Associate in the Office of Communications, ran around exclaiming, “I got it! I got it!” Here’s why: “I had been in Paris the summer before and I wanted to top it. I wanted to spend the summer in Washington, D.C., with my sister. The Smithsonian was the biggest name there I could think of and it just happened that they needed a public affairs intern in the National Portrait Gallery there. I just shot for the stars,” she says.

In doing so, Skochdopole joined a growing list of exceptional art and art history majors who gain valuable experience while at Rhodes and go on to successful careers in the arts.

“We are bridging academic training with opportunities that get our students off campus and help them think about the possibilities of art careers,” says Dr. David McCarthy, professor of art. “It is very competitive for these positions, and the fact that our students are getting these internships and jobs is a testament to the quality of education that Rhodes offers.”

Among her many duties, Skochdopole handled all social media for the gallery and spearheaded the gallery’s participation in the Smithsonian Summer Showdown, a competition that challenged each division of the Smithsonian to submit one of its works that was its most iconic representation. The gallery’s submission of Gilbert Stuart’s portrait of

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President George Washington won in the category of art, but ultimately lost the competition to the National Zoo’s entry of Bao Bao, the giant panda.

Ellie Skochdopole ’15

The internship proved a turning point in Skochdopole’s thinking about her future.

“I didn’t really have a clear career track, but now I know I want to go into museum and art communications.”

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STUDENT SPOTLIGHT

The Class of 2018 JUSTIN FOX BURKS

The Class of 2018 assembles for Opening Convocation

T

he Student Spotlight this fall looks at the Class of 2018, 511 first-year students who boost Rhodes’ student population to around 2,025.

Join Rhodes magazine in extendng a warm welcome to our newest class.

— Lynn Conlee Fatiha Abdulahi – Cordova, TN Nick Abrams – Oakland, CA Emily Adams – New Orleans, LA Hannah Rose Adams – Atlanta, GA Lily Aguillard – Baton Rouge, LA Zaid Ahmad – Memphis, TN Sunya Ahmed – Chesterfield, MO Ben Aiken – Springfield, MO Christian Allen – Auburn, AL Reagan Alley – Nashville, TN Omar Altabbaa – Cordova, TN Jack Anastasi – Hopkinton, MA Jordan Ankersen – Mobile, AL 48

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Diana Azcarate – Memphis, TN Zaid Baba – Jackson, TN Lacey Ballard – Clinton, MS Reeta Bandyopadhyay – Hermitage, TN Corrina Banks – Alburtis, PA Taylor Barksdale – Memphis, TN Kristin Barnes – Little Rock, AR Drew Barry – Prosper, TX Britney Barthol – Cordova, TN Joey Bartholomew – Belleville, IL Alexandra Bartlett – Las Vegas, NV Rachel Bassett – West Palm Beach, FL Brandon Bates – Franklin, TN Gage Battles – Ozark, AR Tyler Beasom – Windermere, FL Campbell Beaver – Moraga, CA Frank Beiser – Bethesda, MD Elizabeth Bender – Fort Worth, TX Siobhan Bennett – Palos Park, IL Chris Bernardon – Madison, NJ Brad Bierdz – Millington, TN Tyler Bierschenk – Dallas, TX

Jack Bierwagen – Acton, MA Jennifer Bitterly – Simi Valley, CA Kathleen Blanck – Kansas City, MO Avery Blankenship – Clinton, NC Simon Boles – Fairhope, AL Will Bollinger – McLean, VA Dominik Booth – Lexington, KY Andre Boulay – Staten Island, NY Mattie Boyd – Jackson, TN Maggie Bradley – Memphis, TN Jeremy Breddan – Agoura Hills, CA Katie Brewster – Atlanta, GA Austin Bridgforth – Greenwood Village, CO Nora Brineman – Little Rock, AR Kathryn Brode – Plano, TX Austin Brown – Cordova, TN Ashley Bruneau – Rock Hill, SC Lizzy Brydon – Sugar Land, TX Emily Buddy – Covington, LA Olivia Burchett – Lexington, KY Raven Burks – Memphis, TN Erin Burman – Knoxville, TN

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Keyshawn Butts – Kennesaw, GA Conor Byrne – Bethesda, MD Jessica Cabrera – Dallas, TX Alexa Calomiris – Washington, DC Natalie Campbell – Washington, DC Claire Caprio – Starkville, MS Laura Cardona – Cordova, TN Caroline Cardwell – Germantown, TN Francis Carlota – Lakeland, TN Jessica Carr – Avondale Estates, GA Virginia Carr – Camden, AR Catrina Cattaneo – Spencer, MA Ashten Chambliss – Phoenix, AZ Alison Chang – Austin, TX Alexander Chavez – Austin, TX Baiza Cherinet – Riverdale, GA Bailey Choudhury – Mount Juliet, TN Tasnim Chowdhury – Nashville, TN Christine Chuang – Manhattan Beach, CA Shelton Clark – Nashville, TN Meredith Clement – Slidell, LA Karissa Coady – Watertown, MA Will Cobb – Jackson, TN Skyler Cochrane – Nashville, TN Julie Coen – Kingston, TN Miranda Colegrove – Lake Jackson, TX Carter Connelly – Rockville, MD Bridget Costello – Attleboro Falls, MA Matthew Coughlon – Scottsdale, AZ Rachel Coyle – Austin, TX Andrew Craig – Roswell, GA Micah Crawford – Memphis, TN Haley Cremerius – Memphis, TN Magaly Cruz – Memphis, TN Melissa Cuddington – Boulder, CO Thomas Cullom – Flora, MS Kendall Cunningham – Alexandria, VA Katrina Cymerman – Sherman Oaks, CA Matt Dale – North Wales, PA Kennedy Dalton – Goldsboro, NC Price Dalton – Houston, TX Peter Daniels – Nashua, NH Denzel Darby – Atlanta, GA Andrew DaRosa – Scarborough, ME Alec Davis – Greencastle, IN McKenna Davis – Westerville, OH Annie Deal – Jacksonville, IL Lauren deBlanc – Harvey, LA Erin Deery – Winter Park, FL Dominique DeFreece – Delhi, NY Hannah Delagi – Dallas, TX

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Robert DelBello – Fort Wayne, IN Nick DeMaris – Minneapolis, MN Colby Denesuk – Dallas, TX John Dewar – Beaver Dam, WI Chelsea Dezfuli – Cordova, TN Abel Diaz – Houston, TX Tina Dillas – Minot, ND Knox Dobbins – Houston, TX Conor Dorian – Alexandria, LA Jacob Dougherty – Salem, OR Caroline Downer – Natchez, MS Katie Drummond – Fairhope, AL Kendall Duke – Lewisville, TX Madisen Duke-Bruechert – Austin, TX Jack Dunavant – Memphis, TN Thy Duong – Memphis, TN Lilly Dupert – Lockhart, TX Garrett Durbin – Knoxville, TN Renn Eason – Eads, TN Laura Eckelkamp – Saint Louis, MO Kyle Edmiston – Flower Mound, TX Hope Elliott – Waterloo, IL Emily Ellison – Fleming Island, FL Reggie Eskridge – Memphis, TN Madeline Evans – New Orleans, LA Luke Fairbanks – Baton Rouge, LA Mac Farley – Mountain Brook, AL Max Farley – Murfreesboro, TN Rachel Farley – Glen Ellyn, IL Katherine Farmer – Houston, TX Klari Farzley – Little Rock, AR Ryan Fennelly – Montclair, NJ Nick Ferngren – Coral Springs, FL Davis Field – Saint Francisville, LA Blair Fisher – Atlanta, GA Evan Fitzpatrick – Metairie, LA Drew Flaherty – Memphis, TN Meredith Forman – Harlingen, TX Caroline Fowler – Anchorage, KY Caleb Fowler – Driftwood, TX Alexis Franklin – Lakeland, TN Spencer Franklin – Brentwood, TN Jillian Franks – Florissant, MO Ellie Fratt – Ashland, WI John Frey – Covington, LA Beth Friedman – Hartsdale, NY Keeley Frost – Hardwick, MA Alice Fugate – Atlanta, GA Katherine Gabrick – Saint Paul, MN Gabby Gafford – Dallas, TX Jared Gallagher – Cordova, TN

Dani Garcia – Memphis, TN Annalee Gardner – New Orleans, LA Anne Elizabeth Garrard – Jackson, TN Zach Gilbert – Fairfax Station, VA Jordan Giles – Shreveport, LA Allesondra Gilgan – Salem, OR John Gillenwater – Little Rock, AR Katie Gleason – Austin, TX Erin Gleeson – Franklin, TN David Glenn – Southlake, TX Olivia Glenn – Clarksville, TN Emma Goldman – Atlanta, GA Chris Goza – Overland Park, KS Andrew Green – Memphis, TN Hallie Green – Austin, TX Sarah Greenbaum – Little Rock, AR Levi Greenberg – Saint Louis, MO Dexter Griffin – Memphis, TN Nicole Gsell – Glen Ridge, NJ Alex Gulis – Dallas, TX Mary Gunning – Atlanta, GA Elizabeth Hale – Homewood, AL Chase Hanson – Waukee, IA Bri Hardeman – Austin, TX Tesa Hargis – Lewisville, TX Luke Harjo – Tulsa, OK Chris Harris – Atlanta, GA Emily Harrison – Birmingham, AL Ian Harrison – Nashville, TN Lamisa Hasan – Germantown, TN Caryn Hawkins – Gallatin, TN Katherine Hawkins – Nashville, TN Victoria Hawkins – College Grove, TN Ellery Hayden – Baton Rouge, LA Alexis Heard – Birmingham, AL Tazio Heller – Denver, CO Karina Henderson – Saint Louis, MO Angelle Henkelmann – Baton Rouge, LA Tianna Herman – Tamarac, FL Mark Herrington – Vestavia, AL Matthew Hobbs – Saint Petersburg, FL Joy Hocut – North Little Rock, AR Tori Holder – Dallas, TX Olivia Holmes – Boulder, CO Bailey Hooberry – Nashville, TN Eleanor Hook – Decatur, GA Helen Hope – Little Rock, AR Hannah Hornsey – Jonesborough, TN Mack House – Louisville, KY Alexandra Howard – Memphis, TN Joseph Howe – Charlotte, NC

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Lisa Hsi – Austin, TX Matthew Huber – Saint Peter, MN Hope Hudson – Memphis, TN Charlie Hughes – Jackson, TN Lily Huo – Sacramento, CA Caroline Ilnicky – Richmond, VA Casey Iskra – West Roxbury, MA Jessica Islas-Parker – Palatine, IL Doria Jackson – Saint Louis, MO Blake Jacobs – Woodstock, GA Lacey Jamerson – Little Rock, AR Phillip James – Houston, TX Aidan Jebson – Tampa, FL Samantha Jelinek – Medina, TN Grant Johannes – Huntsville, AL Grace John – Memphis, TN Roger Johnson – Birmingham, AL Sarah Johnson – Little Rock, AR Chandler Joiner – Franklin, TN Tabitha Joyner – Rossville, TN Jenna Kauffman – Cottage Grove, OR Bryce Keaton – Little Rock, AR Maddie Kellas – New York, NY Henry Kemp – Knoxville, TN Grace Kennedy – Castle Rock, CO Cailey Kesselring – Tulsa, OK Saad Khalid – Franklin, TN Turner Kim – Bethesda, MD Jesse Kirtchuk – Brooklyn, NY Addie Klemm – Fort Worth, TX Mitchell Koenig – Brentwood, TN Owen Koorbusch – Darien, CT Kristin Kuehner – Memphis, TN Daniel Kurtzer – Raleigh, NC Samantha Lamy – Southbury, CT Elizabeth Anne Land – Austin, TX Zoe Laulederkind – Milwaukee, WI Ben Laviana – Saint Louis, MO Han Le – Memphis, TN Olivia Lee – Mason, OH Liz Lewis – Draper, UT Kelsea Lewis – Memphis, TN Jenny Li – China ZiWei Li – China Zong Fang Li – China William Liebenson – Los Angeles, CA Betsy Limbaugh – Mountain Brook, AL Katarina Lindskog – Franklin, NH Courtney Link – Chesterfield, MO Jesse Linkhorn – Westerville, OH Ashley Litoff – Louisville, CO

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Allison Long – Springfield, IL Hayden Longley – Rock Spring, GA Jennifer Loome – Clinton, MS Emma Loss – Brooklyn, NY Kim Macharia – Marietta, GA Abby MacKay Zacker – Saint Charles, IL Taylor Majewski – Wichita Falls, TX Anna Maldonado – Boca Raton, FL Ariana Mancieri – Livermore, CA Swaneet Mand – Murphy, TX Kate Manning – Pennington, NJ Trey Mannion – Duluth, GA Anna Manoogian – Saint Louis, MO Emily Marcho – Fort Worth, TX Sean Mattheisen – Chandler, AZ Thomas Matthews – Raleigh, NC Cameron Maxwell – Southaven, MS Hannah Maxwell – Little Rock, AR Colton Mayo – Saint Petersburg, FL Siena Mazzetti – Austin, TX Maggie McCormack – New Orleans, LA Drew McCormick – Batesville, VA Kelly McGee – Houston, TX Matt McKeand – Franklin, TN Samuel McLain – Montgomery, AL Luke McNamara – Fallston, MD Bron McPherson – Kennett, MO Christopher Meadows – Chattanooga, TN Semaye Mengistu – Jackson, TN Jack Mercer – Houston, TX Emily Messmer – Saint Louis, MO Casey Middleton – Lexington, TN Luis Milburn – Stafford, VA Marc Miller – Rowlett, TX Max Miller – Calabasas, CA Sam Miller – Mansfield, OH Soraya Miri – Newburyport, MA Emily Mitchell – Mobile, AL Maggie Mitchell – Highlands Ranch, CO Thomas Mitchell – Knoxville, TN William Mitchell – Roland, AR Muna Mohamed – Memphis, TN Kyamran Mohammad – Fort Worth, TX Travis Monders – Salem, OR Dylan Monies – Covington, LA Reed Montgomery – Saint Louis, MO Joshua Moore – Memphis, TN Spencer Moore – Austin, TX Sarah Morris – Hartland, WI Joshua Morton – Fort Worth, TX Monica Moskiewicz – Chicago, IL

Amar Muhammad – Cordova, TN Molly Mulhern – Metairie, LA Tate Mulligan – McKinney, TX Emily Murphy – Canton, GA Maggie Myers – Germantown, TN Rachel Myers – Saint Louis, MO Casey Myers-Morgan – Dallas, TX Larissa Nash – Columbus, NJ Medora Neely – Dallas, TX Sarah Newbern – Little Rock, AR Lollie Newsome – Decatur, GA Michelle Ngo – Memphis, TN Andy Nguyen – Bossier City, LA Victoria Norris – Chattanooga, TN Will Notelovitz – Austin, TX Anesu Nyawata – Rockville, MD Sean O’Brien – Slidell, LA Elisabet Olsen – Califon, NJ Kat Olsen – Califon, NJ Shiriene Omid – San Jose, CA Aidan O’Reilly – Atlanta, GA Emily Orth – Dallas, TX Andrea Pajarillo – Grapevine, TX Natalie Palmer – Murfreesboro, TN Christopher Parish – Largo, FL Benton Parker – Madison, MS Wes Parker – Watkinsville, GA Callie Parsons – Chelmsford, MA Rutvi Patel – Saint Louis, MO Jack Patton – Vestavia, AL Margaret Payne – Saint Charles, MO Joey Penn – Overland Park, KS Ashley Peterson – Hilton Head Island, SC Mary Phan – Germantown, TN Sheridan Phelan – Collierville, TN Ryan Phillips – Peachtree City, GA Nicholas Pietrangelo – Collierville, TN Sales Pinckney – Savannah, GA Annie Pitner – Houston, TX Jack Plimpton – Pennington, NJ Ciara Pocino – Chesterfield, NJ Hannah Porter – New Orleans, LA Justin Powers – Cleveland, TN Natalie Prodanovich – Germantown, TN Montana Pugh – Phenix City, AL Liam Purcell – Texarkana, TX Samantha Quayle – Ballwin, MO Grant Ramey – Terrace Park, OH Lauren Randolph – Humboldt, TN Reem Rassoul – Germantown, TN Juliana Ratton – Austin, TX

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Alexandra Rawlings – Lakeville, CT Spencer Reaves – Rogers, AR Alisa Redding – McKinney, TX Samantha Regala – Naples, FL Will Reid – Davidson, NC Caroline Reilly – Marietta, GA Tommy Reingruber – Chevy Chase, MD Ryne Reynolds – Martin, TN Maddie Rhodes – Memphis, TN Barry Rich – Atlanta, GA Alexander Richards – Wake Forest, NC Alienor Richardson – Dallas, TX Patrick Richardson – Jackson, TN Natalie Richmond – Arlington, TN Claire Rickard – Montgomery, AL Noah Rinehart – Cordova, TN Maggie Rippeto – Houston, TX Riley Risher – Covington, LA Abby Ritter – Cape Girardeau, MO Blake Roberts – Metairie, LA Jessie Robinson – Oklahoma City, OK Lucy Robinson – Asheville, NC Mark Robinson – Saint Louis, MO Nick Rocha – Germantown, TN Sydney Rogers – Little Rock, AR Maja Roglic – North Andover, MA Aaron Romanowski – Nokesville, VA Kira Romeo – Clarksville, TN Sydney Roper – Hot Springs, AR Ben Rosenberg – Nashville, TN Ried Roshong – Huron, OH Sarah Rostamo – Irving, TX Mary Rowe – Ballwin, MO Frances Rowland – Indianapolis, IN Sarah Ryan – Niles, IL Warren Sams – Atlanta, GA Davis Samuel – Southlake, TX Kirsten Samuels – Bradenton, FL Merare Sanchez – Dallas, TX Madison Saner – Fort Worth, TX Nino Scalia – McLean, VA Natalie Scanlon – Erie, PA Hannah Schadey – Phoenix, AZ Tia Schlesinger – Metairie, LA Vienna Schmitter-Schrier – Soldotna, AK Henry Schopp – Canaan, CT Will Schultze – Grand Rapids, MI Katie Schuster – Little Rock, AR Garrett Scott – Tupelo, MS Ruth Scott – Leander, TX Jordan Sears – Bronxville, NY

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Maddie Seidel – Birmingham, AL Emma Selner – Denver, CO Gabbi Serrato – Boca Raton, FL Melanie Sevilla – Lakeland, TN Jessica Shainker – Atlanta, GA Ryan Shankle – Bay Minette, AL Laurel Sharp – Huntsville, AL Phoebe Sharp – Nashville, TN Mike Shearburn – Saint Louis, MO Don Shin – Collierville, TN Leon Shum – Germantown, TN Iqra Siddiq – Cordova, TN Maddie Smith – Chapel Hill, NC Patrick Smith – Merrimack, NH Prentiss Smith – Atlanta, GA John Snyder – San Rafael, CA Doug Solomon – New York, NY Anda Sommers – Minneapolis, MN Yi Song – China Tim Soper – Princeton, NJ Taylor Sorilla – La Mesa, CA Jacob Stansberry – Gretna, LA Margaret Stapleton – Sewanee, TN Jill Stark – Memphis, TN Zachary Stephens – Buffalo Grove, IL Alexander Stevens – Daphne, AL Alex Stickler – Grayslake, IL Merrill Stovroff – Atlanta, GA Tej Suber – Smyrna, GA Mattie Sullivan – Atlanta, GA Evan Sumner – Carmel, IN Qianhui Sun – China Cody Takkinen – Placentia, CA Quin Teachey – Germantown, TN Patrick Teagle – Fort Smith, AR Olivia Thomas – Baton Rouge, LA Sam Thomas – Germantown, TN Sam Thomasson – Hearne, TX Malik Thompson – Staten Island, NY Anya Tipton – New Orleans, LA Wesley Tolsdorf – Crestwood, KY Katie Tooley – Saint Louis, MO Elliott Tostrud – Coppell, TX Lauren Travis – Asheville, NC Taylor Treas – Germantown, TN Dulcie Trottier – Dunbarton, NH Beth Trueman – Memphis, TN Sawyer Tucker – Decatur, GA Madison Tucker – Pelham, AL Jessie Ustick – Houston, TX Ellie Valega – Houston, TX

William Vance – Atlanta, GA Grady Vaughan – Cordova, TN Mackenzie Vaughn – Franklin, TN Diana Vincent – Chapel Hill, NC Zain Virk – Germantown, TN Ben Voisine-Addis – Kennebunk, ME Mark Voitik – Apopka, FL Benjamin Wade – Sharon, TN Rahul Wadhwa – Trenton, NJ Chassidy Wallace – Memphis, TN Baobao Wang – China Xinzi Wang – China Mimi Washburn – Atlanta, GA Abby Watkins – Charlotte, NC Emily Watkins – Little Rock, AR Savannah Webb – Shreveport, LA Catherine Weddig – Libertyville, IL Cole Wendt – Zionsville, IN Nick Weng – Munford, TN Gillian Wenhold – Collegeville, PA Bonnie Whitehouse – Winchester, MA Taylor Wiggs – Millington, TN Georgie Wilkins – Winchester, VA Avery Willett – Fairfield, CT Elasha Williams – Carencro, LA Griffin Williams – Daphne, AL Laurie Williams – Dyersburg, TN Mac Williamson – Nesbit, MS Angela Wilson – Memphis, TN Jenny Wilson – Memphis, TN Murphy Wilt – Arlington, VA Adrian Winchester – Atlanta, GA Rachel Windmueller – Canonsburg, PA Anna Wohlbold – Brentwood, TN Alexandra Wolfe – Boise, ID Kevin Wolff – Briarcliff Manor, NY David Wolski – Colorado Springs, CO Morgan Woodrow – Charlottesville, VA Emily Wozena – Delafield, WI Kyanna Young – Memphis, TN Steven Yowan – Darien, CT Al Zaravar – Memphis, TN Emma ZeeAbrahamsen – Marietta, GA Rose Zeng – Memphis, TN Yui Zhao – China

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FACULTY FOCUS

New Faculty JUSTIN FOX BURKS

(Front row, from left) Dr. Leigh Pittenger, Yi Lu, Dr. Cynthia Ryder, Ashanté Reese, Dr. Jason Haberman; (second row) Dr. Melody Durrett, Dr. Amanda Dykema, Dr. Jamie Jirout, Dr. Bradley Onishi, Joel Parsons ’07; (third row) Dr. Yuanting Lu, Dr. Dana Horgen, Dr. Thilina Surasinghe, Dr. Hannah Barker, Dr. Ryan Johnson, Dr. Rebecca Tuvel; (fourth row) Dr. Benjamin Purkis, Dr. James Barker, Dr. Keith Veal, Dr. Zachary Casey, and Dr. Kelly Ann Dougherty

Hannah Barker joins the Department of History as assistant professor.

She received a PhD in history from Columbia University. While at Columbia, she was a teaching assistant in a variety of courses: The Early and Late Middle Ages, The Romans, Christianity, Ancient Egypt, and The Mongols.

a PhD in education, curriculum and instruction from the University of Minnesota. He has taught courses in the social and cultural foundations of education, curriculum theory, multicultural education, and practitioner research at Arizona State University and the University of Minnesota.

James Barker joins the Department of Religious Studies as assistant professor. He received a PhD in new testament and early Christianity from Vanderbilt University. Dr. Barker comes to Rhodes from Luther College, where he taught courses such as Christians, Jews, and Pagans in the GrecoRoman World; Introduction to Biblical Studies; The Making of the Bible; and Interrelations of the Gospels.

Kelly Ann Dougherty joins the Department of Biology as assistant professor. Dr. Dougherty received a PhD in cell and developmental biology from Thomas Jefferson University in Philadelphia, PA. Most recently she has been a research associate at the Center for Learning and Memory at the University of Texas at Austin. There she also taught courses in biology, neurobiology, and synaptic physiology and plasticity.

Zachary A. Casey joins the Department of Psychology as assistant professor of educational studies. He received

Melody Durrett joins the Department of Biology as assistant professor.

She received a PhD in biological sciences

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with a concentration in botany from the University of Alaska, Fairbanks. Most recently she has taught courses including Wetland Ecology, Flora of Alaska, and Fundamentals of Biology.

Amanda Dykema joins the Department of English as visiting assistant professor. Dr. Dykema received a PhD in English from the University of Maryland, College Park. Most recently at Maryland, she taught courses in American literature, world literature, and literature by women.

Jason Haberman joins the Department of Psychology as assistant professor. Dr. Haberman received a PhD in psychology from the University of California at Davis and did his postdoctoral training at Harvard University. He has taught courses such as Cognitive Neuroscience, Cognitive Psychology, Sensation and Perception, and Brain and Behavior. rhodes.edu

Dana Horgen joins the Department of Chemistry as assistant professor. She attended St. Olaf College, where she received a BA in chemistry, and Baylor University, where she received a PhD in organic chemistry. Most recently, Dr. Horgen has been a teaching assistant at Baylor for Organic Laboratory, Advanced Organic Laboratory, and Qualitative Analysis Laboratory.

Jamie Jirout joins the Department of Psychology as assistant professor.

Dr. Jirout received a PhD in psychology from Carnegie Mellon University.

Most recently, she was a research fellow at Temple University’s Spatial Intelligence and Learning Center in their Psychology Department.

Ryan Johnson joins the Department of History as assistant professor.

Dr. Johnson received his PhD in history from the University of Oxford. He comes to Rhodes from the University of Strathclyde, Glasgow, where he was an assistant professor in the history of science and medicine.

Yuanting Lu joins the Department of Mathematics and Computer Science as assistant professor. Dr. Lu received a PhD in mathematics from Florida State University. Dr. Lu comes to Rhodes from Mercer University, where he taught courses such as Introductory Statistics and Pre-calculus.

Yi Lu joins the Department of Modern Languages and Literature as instructor of Chinese. Ms. Lu is currently pursuing a PhD in media studies from the University of Texas at Ausrhodes.edu

tin and will graduate in Spring 2015.

There, she was a teaching assistant in the Department of Asian Studies.

Bradley Onishi joins the Search Program as assistant professor. Dr. Onishi received his PhD in religious studies from the University of California at Santa Barbara. He comes to Rhodes from Washington and Lee University, where he was a visiting assistant professor of religious studies.

Joel Parsons ʼ07 continues his work with the Department of Art and Art History in his new position as director of the Clough Hansen Gallery and assistant professor. He is an alumnus of Rhodes and received an MFA on a President’s Fellowship from the Sculpture Department at the School of the Art Institute of Chicago. His work has been exhibited in Chicago, Atlanta, and Memphis as well as Turkey, South Africa, and India.

Leigh Pittenger continues her work with the Department of Religious Studies in her new full-time position as assistant professor. Dr. Pittenger received a PhD in comparative literature and religion from Emory University.

Benjamin Purkis joins the Department of Mathematics and Computer Science as assistant professor. Dr. Purkis received a PhD in mathematics from the University of Colorado. While there, he taught a broad range of courses from the introductory level Quantitative Reasoning and Mathematical Skills to Calculus III. Ashanté Reese joins the Department of Anthropology and Sociol-

ogy as the William Randolph Hearst Teaching Fellow. Ms. Reese is currently pursuing a PhD in anthropology from American University.

Cynthia Ryder joins the Department of Biology as assistant professor.

Dr. Ryder received a PhD from Wake Forest University. Most recently, she was an undergraduate research mentor and taught courses in general biology and microbiology as well as molecular genetics and immunology at Lincoln Memorial University.

Thilina Surasinghe joins the Department of Biology as assistant professor. Dr. Surasinghe received a PhD in fisheries and wildlife biology from Clemson University in South Carolina.

Most recently he taught Organismal Biology, Vertebrate Zoology, General Biology, and non-major courses as a visiting assistant professor at Gustavus Adolphus College in Minnesota.

Rebecca Tuvel joins the Department of Philosophy as assistant professor. Dr. Tuvel received a PhD in philosophy from Vanderbilt University.

Most recently, she taught Introduction to Logic, the Philosophy of Consumption, and the Meaning of Life.

Keith Veal joins the Department of Political Science as assistant professor. Dr. Veal received a PhD in political science from the University of Michigan. Most recently, he has taught courses at the University of Michigan such as American Politics, Political Theory, and Contemporary Issues in American Politics.

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ALUMNI PERSPECTIVE

SUPPORT THE LIBERAL ARTS

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COREY NOLEN

s the essayists in this issue of Rhodes opportunities available to our students; to magazine have demonstrated, there share professional and career advice; and to is exceptional value in a residential increase the number of employment possibililiberal arts education. But for Rhodes Colties available to our new graduates and young lege to continue to thrive and remain one of alumni. There are many ways to become inthe top liberal arts colleges in volved including participating in the Studentthe nation, the support and Alumni Career Adviser Program, conducting participation of our commumock interviews, critiquing resumes, and nity members is crucial. How attending on-campus and out-of-town career can you help? networking events. To register to be a career First, talk up the libadvisor, contact Katherine Dunbar-Smith eral arts every chance you get. ’09 at dunbar-smithk@rhodes.edu. If you or Spread the word about the val- your company are able to provide summer ue of a residential liberal arts internships and shadow opportunities during education so that we recruit winter break, please contact Career Services at the finest high school students careers@rhodes.edu. to Rhodes. Should you meet Finally, continue to engage actively in a student who seems right for Rhodes, let us the liberal arts network by serving Rhodes know. Student recruitment is as simple as through a chapter leadership committee or as sending an email with the name of a student a member of the Alumni Association Execuyou would like to recommend (please include tive Board (AAEB). Rhodes chapters engage their high school, grade, and contact informa- members of the Rhodes community in their tion) to alumni@rhodes.edu. Also, the Alum- area through a variety of social and educani Relations Office coordinates phone calls tional events and through career networking to accepted students and their parents. These and student recruitment efforts. If you are calls give students the opportunity to ask their interested in joining your chapter leadership final questions while providing the insight team, contact Nicole Lazo ’05 at lazon@ they need to make an informed decision about rhodes.edu. The AAEB serves as an essential their futures. More importantly, the personal link between the college and our alumni, phone calls demonstrate to students and their and is charged with directing and coordinatparents the strength of the Rhodes communi- ing the affairs of the Alumni Association and ty. If you are interested, please contact Caitlin with representing and serving the needs of Dempsey ’12 at dempseyc@rhodes.edu. alumni. To nominate yourself, a friend, or Second, participate in the Rhodes career classmate, send an e-mail to me at network as a way to demonstrate the range pattersont@rhodes.edu. of job opportunities possible for liberal arts As 2014 winds down, I hope you will graduates. Lead by example! When they see reflect on the many ways in which you can your success, they will gain a broader unshare the message of the value of the liberal derstanding of the options at their disposal. arts at Rhodes.

More specifically, your assistance is needed to —Tracy Vezina Patterson ’84, P’17 expand the depth of internship and research 60

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Why I support the Campaign for Rhodes Elizabeth Roe Pearce ’91 Atlanta, Georgia Trustee Campaign Director, Coxe Curry and Associates Major: Business I made an initial gift to the Campaign for Rhodes to support something that is near and dear to my heart, which is Study Abroad. I really wanted to help create opportunities for students who might not otherwise have the chance to travel and see the world. But when I became a Rhodes Trustee, it became very important to me to make a demonstrative gift to support the college’s current renovations to the science facilities, even though that wasn’t “my thing.” I like the fact that the Campaign provides the flexibility to make a gift that addresses the current needs of the college, while being able to recognize that gift somewhere on campus that is personally meaningful. So as a part of my gift to support the sciences, I was able to name a space in Burrow Hall.

For more information on how to support the Campaign for Rhodes, contact Amanda Grebe Tamburrino ’98. (901) 843-3030, tamburrino@rhodes.edu

2000 North Parkway Memphis, TN 38112-1690 www.rhodes.edu

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BY ALL ACCOUNTS HOMECOMING/ REUNION WEEKEND WAS A SMASHING SUCCESS

Nor rain nor cold nor anything else could deter Lynx fans from a fun-packed Homecoming/Reunion Weekend. The Lynx football team took home the Orgill Trophy again, defeating Sewanee 40-22. Men’s and women’s soccer defeated Birmingham-Southern 1-0 and 4-2, respectively, and the field hockey team downed Sewanee 5-1. A valiant effort by the women’s volleyball squad fell short in their weekend matches against Millsaps and Birmingham-Southern, but an evening of reunion parties and renewed friendships capped a fabulous day. The weekend was a wrap Sunday afternoon with a performance by the Rhodes Singers. We can’t wait until next year!!!!!!