Arts & Sciences Magazine Fall 2010

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U n i v e r s i t y of Miam i

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Read any good books lately?

A&S Faculty share their favorites

2010

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Read, Orange and Green: what A&S Faculty MEMBERS ARE reading College of Arts and Sciences Dean Leonidas G. Bachas Senior Associate Deans Angel Kaifer Daniel L. Pals Perri Lee Roberts Associate Deans Rita L. Deutsch Charles Mallery

Editorial Managing Editor Sara LaJeunesse Contributing Writers Ivette Yee Photographers Kathryn Wanless Jan Kratochvil Design and Illustration Christina Ullman Ullman Design

Advancement Assistant Dean for Development Holly Davis Director of Development Jeanne Luis Alumni Relations Linda Scott

Winter is around the corner. For booklovers living in south Florida, that means lounging on the patio—free from mosquitoes—with a great novel. For those living further north, it means leafing through a book by the warm glow of a fire. No matter where you live, you’ll surely come across something new and exciting to read this winter with our collection of faculty favorites.

Administrative Assistant, Development Kimberly Carter

Cover image and image this spread: DREAMSTIME.COM

Arts & Sciences is produced in the fall and spring by the College of Arts and Sciences at the University of Miami. Through the magazine we seek to increase awareness of the College’s activities by telling the stories of faculty, staff, students, and alumni. Send comments, requests for permission to reprint material, requests for extra copies, and change of address notification to: Arts & Sciences, College of Arts and Sciences, P.O. Box 248004, Coral Gables, FL 33124-4620; Phone: (305) 284-3874. All contents © 2010, University of Miami.

Reproduction in whole or in part without written permission is prohibited. Postmaster and others, please send change of address notification to College of Arts and Sciences, P.O. Box 248004, Coral Gables, FL 33124-4620. Telephone (305) 284-3874.

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features

20 | By offering more than 500 lectures a year to students, faculty members, and the community at large, the College of Arts and Sciences encourages intellectual growth.

departments 2 | Dean’s Message

26 | Tracking Hurricanes

4 | News Briefs

32 | Student Advice

U n i v e r s i ty o f Mia mi

Keep track of hurricane classmates by visiting our new facebook page.

Become our fan by visiting this link: www.facebook.com/UniversityofMiamiCollegeofArtsandSciences/

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SCIENCE | ART HISTORY | GEOGRAPHY | REGIONAL STUDIES | ART | CHEMISTRY | MODERN LANGUAGES | PHYSI C S | T H E AT R E A R T S | A N T H R O P O L O G Y | E N G L I S H | R E L I G I O U S S T U D I E S | L I T E R AT U R E | G E O L O G I C A L S C I E N C E S | C L A S S I C S | M AT H E M AT I C S | P S Y C H O L O G Y | I N T E R N AT I O N A L S T U D I E S | S O C I O L O G Y | B I O L O G Y | C O M P U T E R SCIENCE | ART HISTORY | GEOGRAPHY | REGIONAL STUDIES | ART | CHEMISTRY | MODERN LANGUAGES | PHYSI C S | T H E AT R E A R T S | A N T H R O P O L O G Y | E N G L I S H | R E L I G I O U S S T U D I E S | L I T E R AT U R E | G E O L O G I C A L S C I E N C E S | C L A S S I C S | M AT H E M AT I C S | P S Y C H O L O G Y | I N T E R N AT I O N A L S T U D I E S | S O C I O L O G Y | B I O L O G Y | C O M P U T E R SCIENCE | ART HISTORY | GEOGRAPHY | REGIONAL STUDIES | ART | CHEMISTRY | MODERN LANGUAGES | PHYSI C S | T H E AT R E A R T S | A N T H R O P O L O G Y | E N G L I S H | R E L I G I O U S S T U D I E S | L I T E R AT U R E | G E O L O G I C A L S C I E N C E S

DEAN’SMESSAGE n LEONIDAS G. BACHAS DEAN OF THE UM COLLEGE OF ARTS AND SCIENCES You joined the College of Arts and Sciences in July 2010.

What is your vision for the future of the College?

We are living in a rapidly changing and interconnected world— a world of accelerating technological, societal, and global complexity—defined by new relations among nations, people, cultures, and values. As disciplinary and national boundaries blur, an education in liberal arts becomes even more relevant.

By creating a lively and stimulating scholarly atmosphere, our College will be well-positioned to help promote the University as a leading research and educational institution. As the dean of

the College, I will encourage and invest in initiatives to promote creativity, strengthen our research activities, and enhance our faculty scholarly productivity. I will also promote a stimulating and challenging intellectual environment, employing integrative learning to educate and prepare our students for becoming tomorrow’s world leaders.

With today’s emphasis on college as career preparation, why study arts and sciences?

A liberal arts education not only promotes critical thinking, but also integrates principles from multiple disciplines among the arts and humanities and social and natural sciences. This integrative approach to learning empowers our students to excel in their chosen careers. As a major research university, we link faculty research and scholarship to our educational mission. Through their interactions with our dedicated faculty, our students learn how to integrate their classroom and laboratory/studio learning experiences with our wide range of curricular and co-curricular activities into a foundation that cultivates a life-long love for learning. This integrated approach to education is key for our current students and graduates, as studies have shown that a typical college graduate will hold five to six different careers during his/her lifetime.

You have said, “I value interdisciplinary activities as a major contributor to research, scholarship, and learning.” What does that mean?

“As the dean of the College, I will encourage and invest in initiatives that promote creativity and research among our faculty, as well as a stimulating and challenging intellectual environment that prepares our students for becoming tomorrow’s world leaders.” — Leonidas G. Bachas, Dean of the UM College of Arts and Sciences

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I believe that the University is doing a great job leveraging its research and scholarship to help address local and global challenges, enhancing the intellectual capital of the region and the nation. Some of these challenges are most effectively addressed through interdisciplinary activities. I believe that such activities— in addition to a strong disciplinary foundation—create a scholarly environment that enriches the education of both undergraduate and graduate students. Naturally, creativity and innovative ideas do not emanate only from interdisciplinary activities but also through traditional disciplinary scholarship.

HYSNCES UTER HYSNCES UTER HYSNCES

“Through their interactions with our dedicated faculty, our students cultivate a life-long love of learning.”

LEONIDAS G. BACHAS DEAN, COLLEGE OF ARTS & SCIENCES

What do you plan to do to keep graduates engaged in the college?

Undoubtedly, development efforts are important in sustaining academic excellence and cultivating relationships between current students and alumni. I will maintain open communication with our alumni, establish new ways to maintain an engaged connection, and encourage alumni to remain part of the life of the College.

What are your plans for promoting diversity at UM? I believe that a diverse college enhances the overall experience of all students and faculty by providing a plurality of perspectives,

ideals, and beliefs regarding education, culture, and society overall. The University actively participates in a global scholarly environment, and the College’s activities and initiatives should incorporate aspects of this multinational and multicultural perspective.

At the end of the week, managing one of the University’s largest academic units, what do you do to kick back?

I love playing sports and spending time with family and friends.

I have been playing competitive soccer since I was young, so coming to Miami allows me to enjoy this sport year-round. I also enjoy reading books.

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science | art history | geography | regional studies | Art | chemistry | modern languages | Physi c s | T h e at r e a r t s | A n t h r o p o l o g y | E n g l i s h | r e l i g i o u s s t u d i e s | L i t e r at u r e | G e o l o g i c a l s c i e n c e s | C l a s s i c s | m at h e m at i c s | P s y c h o l o g y | i n t e r n at i o n a l s t u d i e s | S o c i o l o g y | b i o l o g y | C o m p u t e r science | art history | geography | regional studies | Art | chemistry | modern languages | Physi c s | T h e at r e a r t s | A n t h r o p o l o g y | E n g l i s h | r e l i g i o u s s t u d i e s | L i t e r at u r e | G e o l o g i c a l s c i e n c e s | C l a s s i c s | m at h e m at i c s | P s y c h o l o g y | i n t e r n at i o n a l s t u d i e s | S o c i o l o g y | b i o l o g y | C o m p u t e r science | art history | geography | regional studies | Art | chemistry | modern languages | Physi c s | T h e at r e a r t s | A n t h r o p o l o g y | E n g l i s h | r e l i g i o u s s t u d i e s | L i t e r at u r e | G e o l o g i c a l s c i e n c e s

newsbriefs

“The annex is important because it will bring together under one roof researchers from different departments and campuses to examine the role of the nervous system and behavior in health and illness.”

PHILIP M. McCABE

n Advanced Imaging of the Brain A new facility will enable UM researchers to collaboratively probe the activities of the brain.

Determining how molecular changes in the nervous system relate to specific types of behavior remains a major challenge for neuroscience. The motivation to meet this challenge is great, as the acquired knowledge could help doctors better treat neurological diseases—in part, perhaps, by regenerating damaged brain or spinal-cord tissue.

A new building on campus, to be available in 2012, will allow UM scientists to make significant progress in that direction. The annex will be attached to the Cox Science Building and will serve as an interactive hub for researchers—faculty members, staff members, and students alike—whose studies on the brain, behavior, and health require the use of sophisticated image analyses.

“The annex is important because it will bring together under one roof researchers from different departments and campuses to examine the role of the nervous system and behavior in health and illness,” said Philip M. McCabe, a professor in the Department of Psychology and the director of UM’s Undergraduate Program in Neuroscience.

The annex will boast almost 38,000 square feet of workspace spread over three floors. It will feature a functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) core, which registers blood flow to different areas of the brain, thus allowing researchers to determine which areas are especially active during particular thoughts, activities, or disease states.

“For example, researchers will be able to image the brain while subjects are engaged in memory tasks,” said McCabe. “Such 4 FALL 2010

experiments could provide us with information that may one day help people who have memory impairments.” Similarly, he added, the fMRI Core Laboratory will allow scientists to study central-nervous-system processes such as attention, emotion, and language.

The annex also will house a variety of microscopes designed to examine cellular and molecular activities, including a unique new microscope designed to image molecules in living neural tissue, termed “isPIN” for in situ Protein Interactions. Developed by UM Professor of Biology Akira Chiba and collaborators, the isPIN will allow scientists to study for the first time how proteins bind and signal to each other, in the neural tissue of living organisms, to form complex networks.

“Imaging is crucial in biology,” said Kathryn T. Tosney, chair of the Department of Biology. “To study something effectively, you often need to see it, and as our research endeavors have become increasingly sophisticated our need to see ever smaller and more elusive things has also grown,” she said. “Researchers have gone from visualizing organs and cells to visualizing actual molecules.

And with isPIN, we can actually discern the activities of molecules in a living organism by using fluorescent components that change to particular colors under specific molecular conditions.”

Whether through the isPIN microscope, the fMRI core, or its other assets, the annex is intended to foster a collaborative environment—a goal also evidenced in its architectural structure. For example, rather than being composed entirely of individual faculty labs, it has abundant space designed for visiting collaborators from other UM campuses and other universities.

Thus, “the annex could help make our campus a crucial hub for future transformational research,” said Tosney.

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n making the grade STUDENT IS NAMED TO USA TODAY’S 2010 ALL-USA COLLEGE ACADEMIC FIRST TEAM

Matthew Sacino ’11 is one of 20 students in the United States to be named to the USA TODAY’s 2010 All-USA College Academic First Team. “I was in complete shock when I found out that I won,” said Sacino, who is pursuing a neurobiology major and chemistry minor.

“It is an honor to be grouped with such outstanding peers.”

The team of 20 was selected by a panel of judges from hundreds of students nominated by colleges and universities across the United States. The judges considered applicants’ grades, leadership abilities, extracurricular activities, and the extent to which they use their intellectual talents beyond the classroom.

Each of the scholarship winners received a $2,500 cash award. Sacino, who also received a Barry M. Goldwater Scholarship honorable mention last February, said he will use the money to help pay for his education. “I eventually hope to enter a joint M.D./ Ph.D. program and, later, to practice neurosurgery while also researching neurodegerative diseases,” he said. “My ultimate goal is to help reduce health disparities throughout the United States and abroad.”

According to Kefryn B. Reese, the director of prestigious awards and fellowships for the UM Office

of Academic Enhancement, what sets Matthew apart from his peers is not his impressive academic résumé, but his altruism, work ethic, and sense of responsibility.

In the summers of 2008 and 2009, Sacino was awarded the Lois Pope Undergraduate Fellowship to conduct neuro-regeneration research under the guidance of Vance Lemmon, a professor of neurological surgery, at UM’s Miami Project to CURE Paralysis. During his time there Sacino noticed that medical supplies were being wasted, and he decided to do something about it. Utilizing the relationships he’d built at the hospital, he created the Recovered Medical Supplies Initiative, which, to date, has been responsible for delivering seven palettes—almost 340 boxes—of medical supplies to developing nations.

Sacino also founded a physician mentors program at UM, which provides students with a chance to shadow doctors to gain realistic exposure to the job prior to entering medical school. In addition, he created and edits with Burjor K. Captain, an assistant professor of chemistry, the Undergraduate Research Newsletter, a forum for students to share their research, and he serves as the president of the Undergraduate Neuroscience Club.

“While the breadth of Matthew’s achievements is wide, his focus could not be more precise,” said Reese. “He aims to relieve the suffering of others through a combination of hard work, scientific discovery, and communication.”

(Left) Matthew Sacino ’11 is one of 20 students in the United States to be named to the USA TODAY’s 2010 All-USA College Academic First Team.

Photo: Jan Kratochvil

“My ultimate goal is to help reduce health disparities throughout the United States and abroad.” matthew s aci no ’11

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NEWSBRIEFS

C H E M I S T R Y | M AT H E M AT I C S | E N G L I S H | S O C I O L O G Y | I N T E R N AT I O N A L S T U D I E S

n TWO NEW NAMED PROFESSORSHIPS FILLED WELL-REGARDED ECOLOGIST AND POLITICAL SCIENTIST JOIN THE UM FACULTY

What do J. Albert C. Uy, an ecologist who studies biological diversity, and Ariel C. Armony, a political scientist who focuses on Latin America, have in common? Both have been appointed to prestigious new chaired professorships within the College of Arts and Sciences. According to Kathryn T. Tosney, chair of the Department of Biology, such prestigious positions are time-honored means of luring world-class professors to a university, where they can help catalyze the achievement of excellence in a crucial field.

PHOTO: COURTESY OF J. ALBERT C. UY

J. ALBERT C. UY, ARESTY CHAIR IN TROPICAL ECOLOGY

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y (pronounced “oo-y”) will join the faculty of the Department of Biology as the first Aresty Chair in Tropical Ecology, supported by a generous gift from alumni Jeffrey Aresty ’77 and Patricia (Pickton) Aresty ’76.

Uy researches the origin of biological species, with tropical birds as his study organisms. “I use a combination of observational, experimental, and molecular approaches to study populations that are on the verge of becoming new species,” he said. In particular, Uy focuses on the evolution of reproductive barriers—certain traits, such as plumage color, courtship songs, and overall physical appearance—that prevent individual animals from recognizing each other as potential mates and, thus, limiting the exchange of genes between populations. In essence, these barriers result in the creation of new species.

Uy will help expand the department’s tropical biology group by working to recruit new faculty members and graduate students who are conducting innovative research. He also aims to help bridge the gap between researchers who study at the level of the molecule and those who study the whole organism. “It is extremely exciting to be part of a growing group that truly embraces integrative biology,” he said.

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Tosney points out that the Aresty Chair in Tropical Ecology has two distinct objectives. Its purpose, she said, “is to foster excellence both in research and in education.”

In that spirit, Uy will teach an undergraduate field course in the Solomon Islands that focuses on island ecology, evolution, and conservation. “One of the most effective tools for inspiring young biologists is to provide them with hands-on experience and immersion in the field,” he said. “My field course will offer not only a rigorous academic curriculum, but also will provide a unique avenue for students to become directly involved with conservation initiatives in the South Pacific. As a result, students will be exposed both to theory and to applications.”

Uy was born and raised in the Philippines. He earned a bachelor’s degree in integrative biology at the University of California, Berkeley, in 1994 and a Ph.D. degree in biology at the University of Maryland in 2000.

He served as an assistant professor at San Francisco State University from 2002 to 2004 and then moved to Syracuse University where he now is an associate professor. Uy will assume his post at UM in January 2011.

“I am extremely excited to move to a place that is more like my childhood home in terms of the tropical climate and the diverse culture,” said Uy. “I hope Miami will be a sort of homecoming for me.”

ARIEL C. ARMONY, WEEKS CHAIR IN LATIN AMERICAN STUDIES

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n expert in Latin American politics, Armony is the Weeks Chair in Latin American Studies. He is also a professor in the Department of International Studies and the director of UM’s Center for Latin American Studies (CLAS). The newly established Weeks Chair is supported by a generous endowment from Marta S. Weeks, former chair of the University of Miami Board of Trustees and parent of alumna Leslie Anne Davies, B.S. ’85.

Born and raised in Buenos Aires, Armony notes that politics always has been dominant in his life. “Growing up through the second Perón era in the 1970s, the military dictatorship and the return of democracy to Argentina marked me both personally and intellectually,” he said.

To pursue his interest in politics, Armony attended college at the Universidad de Buenos Aires, where he earned a bachelor’s degree in philosophy and literature in 1989. He then completed a master’s degree in international affairs at Ohio University in 1992 and a Ph.D. degree in political science at the University of Pittsburgh in 1998. He published his first book, Argentina, the United States, and the Anti-Communist Crusade in Central America, 1977-1984, while pursuing his doctoral degree.

In 1998, Armony became an assistant professor of government at Colby College in Maine. There, he taught courses and conducted research on topics such as authoritarianism, democratization, citizen participation, and U.S.-Latin American relations. He also published numerous scholarly books and articles on Latin American themes, including the much-acclaimed book The Dubious Link: Civic Engagement and Democratization.

In 2006, Armony was appointed as the Audrey Wade Hittinger Katz and Sheldon Toby Katz Distinguished Teaching Associate Professor of Government at Colby College, as well as director of its Latin American Studies Program. From 2008 to 2009, he spent a sabbatical year at Nankai University in the People’s Republic of China as a Fulbright Scholar, where he taught courses on comparative politics, U.S. foreign policy, and globalization and social innovation. While in China he also researched and published several articles on China-Latin American relations.

In addition to being a Fulbright Scholar, Armony has been the

recipient of numerous other fellowships, grants, and awards from a variety of U.S. academic institutions and foundations, including the Mellon Foundation, the Rockefeller Foundation, the Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars, and the Kellogg Foundation.

Armony says that his goal as the director of CLAS is to help it become one of the nation’s top centers on Latin America and the Caribbean. “I envision a center that extends internationally, innovates constantly, and draws maximum benefits from collaboration across disciplines,” he said. “The center should serve as a connecting platform between the Americas, the vibrant and highly diverse Miami community, and the rest of the world.”

Armony says that he is excited about the move. “Miami is a gateway to Latin America, as well as a portal to the United States, not only for Latin Americans but increasingly for people from outside the hemisphere. There are few cities in the world that offer so many possibilities to experience a multicultural life.”

HENRY FONTE NAMED CHAIR OF THE DEPARTMENT OF THEATRE ARTS AND ARTISTIC DIRECTOR OF THE RING THEATRE Henry Fonte, a professor of theatre who emigrated from to Miami from Cuba as a boy and broke new ground in higher education when he started a college program that produces original works, has been named the new chair of the University of Miami College of Arts and Sciences’ Department of Theatre Arts, as well as artistic director of the Jerry Herman Ring Theatre.

Fonte previously was a professor of theatre at The Hartt School, the performing arts conservatory at the University of Hartford. He brings 30 years of experience to his new position, from acting in Off-Broadway and in regional theatres across the country, to writing, directing, and producing new works for the stage.

“I’m thrilled about this new challenge, and I think the job is a great match for me,” says Fonte.

ARTS | SCIENCES

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newsbriefs

philosophy | history | Psychology | Geology | Sociology | anthropology

n Secrets in Love and War UM professor receives National Endowment for the Humanities award to translate a Lebanese novel into English

Photo: courtesy of um department of english

Ryskamp fellowship awarded to um assistant professor of history social history of religion expert wins prestigious fellowship

By Ivette Yee

Martin Nesvig, an assistant professor of history, has been named one of 13 Charles A. Ryskamp Fellows in the United States. During his fellowship, Nesvig will work on his second book, tentatively titled Hucksters, Orgies, Peyote and the Devil, a study of the religious culture of Spaniards in indigenous cultural areas of rural western Mexico in the first century after Spanish-Indian contact.

“I was honored and delighted to receive this fellowship and I look forward to dedicating time to finishing my project on the historical sociology of religion in colonial Michoacán, Mexico,” Nesvig said.

Nesvig’s area of expertise is the social history of religion. He recently completed his first book, Ideology and Inquisition: The World of the Censors in Early Mexico. His previous honors include awards from the Mellon Foundation and National Endowment for the Humanities and a Fulbright fellowship. At UM, he teaches courses on colonial Latin America, the Inquisition, the Mexican Revolution, and the history of anarchism.

Ryskamp fellowships are named after Charles A. Ryskamp, a literary scholar, distinguished library and museum director, and long-serving trustee of the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation. Funded by the Mellon Foundation, Ryskamp fellowships are awarded each year to scholars who have advanced their fields, particularly the social sciences and humanities, and who have a carefully developed plan for new research.

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Christina E. Civantos has won a prestigious, yearlong research fellowship from the National Endowment for the Humanities (NEH) to translate into English the novel Majma’ ‘al-Asrar—literally, the gathering or collection of secrets—by renowned Lebanese author Elias Khoury. Originally published in 1994, the book depicts a love triangle enmeshed in secrets and set against the backdrop of various wars.

An associate professor of modern languages and literatures, Civantos is one of only three Floridians to have received a 2010 award from NEH, which is an independent grant-making agency of the U.S. government that supports research, education, preservation, and public programs in the humanities.

Civantos says she is excited not only to bring the novel to English speakers for their literary enjoyment but also to offer them a muchneeded window into the many facets of Arab culture and Arab creativity—an especially important contribution at a time of strained relations between the English-speaking world and Arab-Islamic cultures. Civantos’ critical introduction to the novel will help readers better understand its cultural context.

The book’s story, which primarily takes place during Lebanon’s civil war from 1975 to 1990, focuses on a group of Lebanese Christians: a grocery-store owner haunted by a family history of emigration, his best friend, and the young woman with whom they both are romantically involved. “As soon as I started reading, I wanted to know more about the quirky characters, their secrets, and what they might do next,” said Civantos. “I was impressed by the way the story led me through a meditation on the effects of war and violence on daily life and family relationships, while still maintaining a light tone.”

Translating a book from one language into another involves much more than just rewriting the text. “There are cultural concepts that surround given words or phrases, and it can be difficult to find a way to transfer these while maintaining the flow of the text,” according to Civantos. “In general, as a translator I am always trying to find a balance between transmitting exactly what was said and creating an English version of how it was said in Arabic, including the tone, the register, and the rhythm of the passage.”

Civantos’ academic research focuses on 19th and 20th-century Latin American and Arabic studies. She is particularly interested in issues surrounding migrations, Orientalism (Westerners’ perceptions of West Asian and North African cultures), and the politics of literacy. Her previous publications include Between Argentines and Arabs: Argentine Orientalism, Arab Immigrants, and the Writing of Identity and various articles in scholarly journals.

Civantos expects her translation of the Khoury novel, which she has tentatively titled The Box of Secrets, to be published in 2012.

(Above) Christina E. Civantos is one of only three Floridians to have received a 2010 award from the National Endowment for the Humanities.

Class Spotlight A feature highl ightin g innovative courses in the College

“Some of the greatest changes we will see in the decades ahead will come from the fields of genetics and genomics, and if we are not to create more problems than we solve, we have to take seriously the ethical, legal, and social implications of these advances.”

STE P HEN S A P P

Ethics and Genetics An interdisciplinary “Ethics and Genetics” course pushes students out of their comfort zones.

“Some of the greatest changes we will see in the decades ahead will come from the fields of genetics and genomics,” said Stephen Sapp, a professor of religious studies, “and if we are not to create more problems than we solve, we have to take seriously the ethical, legal, and social implications of these advances.”

This relationship between biology and ethics is the focus of a course, called “Ethics and Genetics,” that is co-taught by Sapp and Luis Glaser, a professor of biology and the special assistant to the president. Held each spring since 2003, the course covers topics such as public access to private genetic information, stemcell research, and the cultivation of genetically modified plants as sources of food.

“Throughout history, scientific progress and ethical values have been intertwined,” said Sapp. “Although the results of science most often improve our lives, they sometimes can be harmful if careful consideration is not given to their moral implications.”

Students are required to read a variety of journal articles as well as the book The Strongest Boy in the World: How Genetic Information Is Reshaping Our Lives by Phillip Reilly. The final assignment is a research paper on a topic of the students’ choosing.

Given its interdisciplinary content, the class draws students of diverse majors. Katherine Davis, a recent biology graduate who took the course last spring, said it was one of her favorites because it integrated scientific, medical, and societal issues. Now, as a medical student at Yale University, she intends to put the knowledge and skills she gained into practice.

“Not only did the topics of the Ethics and Genetics class help prepare me for Yale, but the style with which the course was taught also helped,” said Davis. “The professors emphasized self-directed learning and active participation over examinations, which is precisely the model that Yale follows.”

Sapp said that by focusing on critical thinking rather than memorization, the course pushes students out of their comfort zones and encourages them to think about their chosen fields of study from a different perspective. Quoting the philosopher, John Searle, he said, “The quest for knowledge and truth, as well as depth, insight, and originality, is not effortless, and it is certainly not comfortable.” arts | sciences

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newsbriefs

C h e m i s t r y | m at h e m at i c s | E n g l i s h | S o c i o l o g y | i n t e r n at i o n a l s t u d i e s

“Editing books helps disseminate researchers’ ideas to a wider audience.”

CHR I S COSNER

to summarize what is new in their field, said Kanet, who has edited more than 30 books. And an important bonus, Cosner noted, is that “editing books helps disseminate researchers’ ideas to a wider audience.”

Not only do faculty-edited books benefit readers, they also benefit the faculty members themselves and their contributors. When the editor selects contents of the chapters and the researchers who will write them, he or she helps to support the work of those scholars.

New MathematicAL FIELD

In their new book Spatial Ecology, Cantrell, Cosner, and Ruan explore the relationship between mathematics and ecology, focusing in particular on emerging challenges in this relatively new field.

For example, they investigate the role of space in structuring biological communities. According to CRC Press, the book’s publisher, it “will inspire readers to open up new areas of research in the mathematical theory of spatial ecology and its connections with evolutionary theory, epidemiology, and economics.”

n THE ROLE OF THE EDITOR UM faculty members play an important role by editing books.

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y editing books, faculty members are able to convey much more about a topic than they can when writing articles for scholarly journals, and they often reach a larger audience as well.

The books that faculty members edit typically address variations on a single theme. For example, Roger Kanet, a professor of international studies, will soon publish a book about Russian foreign policy whose 14 contributors live in 10 countries. Stephen Cantrell, a professor of mathematics, coedited Spatial Ecology with UM colleagues Chris Cosner and Shigui Ruan. “Editing this book allowed us to focus discussion about this topic,” Cantrell said.

Such activity is important “because it brings together the world’s experts” 10 FALL 2010

Russia Goes Its Own Way

After the collapse of the Soviet Union, expectations were high, both in Russia and the West, that a “new world order” was emerging in which Russia and the other former Soviet republics would join the Western community of nations.

Kanet’s new book considers why this has not quite occurred. Russian Foreign Policy in the 21st Century examines the influence of 1990s Western policies in “nationalizing” Russians’ views of their self-interests; the commitment of President Vladimir Putin to rebuilding Russia as a great power in its own right; and the deterioration of Russian relations with the European Union and the United States during the first decade of the 21st century.

n STUDENTS WIN SCHOLARSHIP TO STUDY ABROAD FIVE STUDENTS TRAVEL THE WORLD WITH THE HELP OF AN INTERNATIONAL SCHOLARSHIP

Five College of Arts and Sciences students have been awarded prestigious 2009-2010 Benjamin A. Gilman International Scholarships. The goal of the scholarship program is to prepare U.S. students to assume significant roles in an increasingly global economy and interdependent world.

One of the winners, Stephanie Ruiz, who is majoring in international studies, is using her scholarship to study Middle Eastern culture, politics, and economics in Istanbul, Turkey this fall. “Understanding these topics is necessary for a career in foreign policy and in intelligence, both of which I am interested in pursuing,” she said. Ruiz, who is taking courses at Koc University in Istanbul, said that she is learning about the ties between the Middle East and the West, and Turkey’s strategic role in balancing these regional powers. “As they say, Istanbul is where the East and the West come together,” she said.

Jenessy Rodriguez, an international studies/history major, already made use of her scholarship to study abroad. She spent the FALL 2010 semester taking courses at L’Institut Catholique in Paris, France. “I’m very passionate about French culture and literature, as well as the French language,” said Rodriguez. “During my trip, not only did I improve my French, but I also challenged myself to embrace new traditions and cultures.”

Also during her trip, Rodriguez completed an internship with the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO). In particular, she worked for a UNESCO-sponsored organization called Zonta International, which aims to stop violence against women and increase education for all. “The internship was such an amazing experience and really painted a picture of my future for me in the field of international relations,” she said.

Three other College of Arts and Sciences students also won a Benjamin A. Gilman International Scholarship in 20092010: Rafael Hernandez, a biology major, Aubrey Stutzman, an international studies major, and Carolyn Stull, a biology major.

Each of the Gilman scholarship winners received indepth guidance during the application process from the UM Office of International Education and Exchange Programs (IEEP). Two IEEP staff members have served on the national Gilman Scholarship selection panel, giving them first-hand expertise on what makes a Gilman candidate successful.

“Understanding the philosophy and mission of the Gilman Scholarship is key,” said Elyse M. Resnick, a UM assistant director of international education and exchange programs.

“We are able to help our students focus on what points should

College of Arts and Sciences students (left, Stephanie Ruiz; middle, Rafael Hernandez; right, Jenessy Rodriguez) have been awarded prestigious 2009-2010 Benjamin A. Gilman International Scholarships.

be emphasized, which really helps them to stand out at the national level. At least one UM student has won a Gilman scholarship every semester since spring 2008, and that gives us enormous satisfaction. These are top-notch students who wouldn’t have had an opportunity to study abroad without it.”

Gilman scholarships are given to exceptional students who have been traditionally underrepresented in study abroad, including students with high financial need, students in underrepresented fields such as the sciences and engineering, and students with diverse ethnic backgrounds.

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newsbriefs

philosophy | history | Psychology | biology | Sociology | classics | art history

n UM psychologist develops patient-reporting measure to aid cystic fibrosis patients

By E-veritas

In a move that signals a growing trend in health care of trusting patients to reliably describe their condition, University of Miami Professor of Psychology Alexandra L. Quittner has developed a quality-of-life measure that allows people with cystic fibrosis to report their symptoms instead of relying on the impressions of physicians or lessdirect physiological outcomes.

“Getting the medical community to accept and value a patient-reported outcome is a sea change in terms of health care,” said Quittner, who directs the Child Division in UM’s Department of Psychology. “We have depended mainly on physiological indicators and pulmonologists who ask their patients how they are doing.”

Cystic fibrosis, or CF, is an inherited chronic disease that affects the lungs and digestive systems of about 70,000 people worldwide, including 30,000 children and adults in the United States. There is no cure.

Quittner’s tool, called Cystic Fibrosis QuestionnaireRevised, is used all over the world by CF patients to report their symptoms. Using a four-point frequency and intensity scale, the tool measures such symptoms as the severity of a patient’s cough, mucus production, chest congestion, wheezing, and the ability to perform certain tasks like climbing stairs, walking, and running.

Last February, the Food and Drug Administration used the tool as the basis to approve a new inhaled antibiotic for CF patients, making it the first time that a patient-reported outcome had ever been used to approve a drug for a respiratory disease.

“There is such important work to be done at the intersection of behavior and medicine,” said Quittner.

“So much of medicine relates to behavior change, and yet health care providers have not been trained to change behavior. It’s been rewarding to bring psychological research to the medical community.”

12 FALL 2010

Photo: Kathryn wanless

bookmarks Child-Centered Practices for the Courtroom and Community How can early childhood professionals provide the best possible services to families in the child welfare system? A new guidebook written by Lynne F. Katz, a research assistant professor of psychology, and colleagues Judge Cindy S. Lederman and Joy D. Osofsky, a professor of pediatrics, psychiatry, and public health at Louisiana State University, introduces early childhood professionals to the coordinated, evidence-based practices used successfully in Miami’s juvenile court and child welfare community. The authors use a gripping case study of one young mother and her children to explain why effective, integrated services are needed to improve child and family outcomes. Then, the authors give practical tips and guidance about how to plan and implement a coordinated system of care, advance a more therapeutic approach to child welfare in the courtroom and community, and choose and implement an evidence-based parenting program to improve relationships between children and parents, among other tips.

n Three Miami Hurricanes to Research Brazil Three newly named Fulbright Scholars will apply their knowledge and skills while deepening their own life experiences.

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razil is famous for its lively culture—think samba, soccer, and supermodels—not to mention its economic prowess and natural beauty. But the country also is known for its poverty, tropical diseases, and immense oil reserves. Three UM Fulbright scholars—Douglas O. Fuller, an associate professor and chair of the Department of Geography and Regional Studies; John Twichell, a graduate student in the Department of International Studies; and Kristina Rosales, an undergraduate student—will research these important threats and opportunities.

Fuller plans to use his Fulbright award to conduct research on the influence of climate and climate change on vector-borne diseases, such as dengue fever, a life-threatening illness that is transmitted by mosquitoes. “As the planet warms, tropical diseases and their vectors may spread into northern latitudes,” Fuller said. “The recent outbreak of dengue fever in Key West, FL is an example.” Fuller’s goal is to develop an early-warning system for dengue fever outbreaks.

Based at the Federal University of Amazonas in Manaus, he will work with Brazilian scientists to model this vector-borne disease using satellite and climate data.

“This scholarship will also allow me to fulfill a lifelong dream,” said Fuller. “Although I lived in Brazil for a brief period in the 1980s, I never had the opportunity to travel to the Amazon,” he said. Based on his experiences there, he plans to develop a summer field course on the Amazon for UM undergraduates.

Twichell will use his Fulbright scholarship to investigate the political and economic factors behind Brazil’s oil development policy. “Oil reserves can contribute significantly to a country’s broad-scale development, including infrastructure, education, and health care,” said Twichell. “My work will compare Brazil’s relatively successful approach to developing its oil sector with the policies of other Latin American countries.”

“Being a Fulbright scholar is a great way to make longlasting working collaborations with other people.” doug O. fuller

As a Fulbright scholar, Kristina Rosales will focus on the crackcocaine epidemic that is affecting a large and growing population of young people in Rio de Janeiro’s favelas (slums). “I plan to work with two non-governmental organizations to construct a database that brings together into one place information from various studies on the topic of crack-cocaine abuse,” she said. “I hope the database will help local governments to develop some realistic solutions to the problem.”

Helping the people of Brazil is a common objective of these three members of the UM community—who are among the 15 American academics chosen for Brazil out of the 102 who applied in 2010—and not only during their tenure as Fulbright scholars, but also over the long term. Each individual plans to continue his or her work in the country in the future. “Being a Fulbright scholar is a great way to make longlasting working collaborations with other people,” Fuller observed.

These scholars’ intentions are in keeping with the general goals of the Fulbright program itself, which aims to promote bi-national cooperation and nurture open-minded and thoughtful leaders, both in the United States and abroad, who can work together to address mutual concerns and build mutual understanding.

(Opposite page, from left) Douglas O. Fuller, John Twichell, and Kristina Rosales received Fulbright Scholarships to study in Brazil.

A Reader’s Guide to Proust’s ‘In Search of Lost Time’

Corpus of Early Italian Paintings in North American Public Collections: The South

A new book written by David R. Ellison, a distinguished professor in the humanities and chair of the Department of Modern Languages and Literatures, analyzes Marcel Proust’s book A la Recherche du Temps Perdu (In Search of Lost Time). According to Ellison, Proust’s 3,000-page multifaceted novel is many things at once: a novel of education, a portrait of French society during the Third Republic, a masterful psychological analysis of love, a reflection on homosexuality, an essay on moral and aesthetic theory, and above all one of the great literary achievements of the 20th century. Focused both on large themes and on narrative and stylistic particularities, Ellison’s readings expand the reader’s understanding of a complex work and provide tools for further study of Proust.

Professor of Art and Art History and Senior Associate Dean Perri Lee Roberts has published a three-volume reference work on the Italian paintings created between 1250 and 1500 that are housed in art museums in Alabama, Arkansas, Florida, Georgia, Kentucky, Louisiana, North Carolina, South Carolina, Tennessee, Texas, and Puerto Rico. Roberts provides full information, bibliography, and scholarly commentary on each work of art, all of which are illustrated with full-page reproductions. Neatly packaged in a slipcase, the work was published by the Georgia Museum Art in 2009. It is a major accomplishment and an essential reference for scholars and connoisseurs interested in the history of medieval and Renaissance Italian painting.

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story by sara

lajeunesse

what A&S Faculty members are reading

inter is around the corner. For booklovers living in south Florida, that means lounging on the patio— free from mosquitoes—with a great novel. For those living further north, it means leafing through a book by the warm glow of a fire. No matter where you live, you’ll surely come across something new and exciting to read this winter with our collection of faculty favorites.

Mihoko Suzuki

Is there an obscure author that you would recommend? Why?

What is your favorite book and why?

I recommend a novel by Japanese writer, Minae Mizumura, The Real Novel, which is due out in English translation. It’s both a good read and serious literature that makes productive connections to the Victorian novels of Emily and Charlotte Bronte, and to their 20th century heirs, such as Jean Rhys.

Mihoko Suzuki is a professor of English and director of the Center for the Humanities. She traces her interest in Renaissance and early modern studies—the focus of her current research—to the book Queen Elizabeth and the Spanish Armada, which she read as a child.

My favorite book is George Eliot’s Middlemarch. It made a huge impact on me when I read it in college. It’s an amazingly rich and complex depiction of 19th century English society. It masterfully distills the contradictions between young people’s aspirations and the limits imposed by life lived and experience.

What types of books would you consider to be guilty pleasures?

Historical detective fiction, especially the series by C.J. Sansom, which features a hunchbacked lawyer confronting corruption and intrigue in Tudor England.

14 FALL 2010

Which childhood book was your favorite?

A book I read in third grade, Queen Elizabeth and the Spanish Armada. I trace the origin of my interest in Renaissance politics, and especially the place of women in it, to this book.

What book is currently on your nightstand?

Martha Nussbaum’s Not for Profit: Why Democracy Needs the Humanities.

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of his short stories that deals with the holiday season. It’s very irreverent and very funny.

Is there an obscure author that you would recommend? Why?

Casey Klofstad

Casey Klosftad is an assistant professor of political science. His research focuses on everyday conversations about politics and current events among citizens—what he calls “civic talk.” His new book Civic Talk: Peers, Politics, and the Future of Democracy will be in stores in December.

What types of books would you consider to be guilty pleasures?

Any post-apocalyptic novels, like Steven King’s The Stand, Margaret Atwood’s Orxy and Crake, and Cormac McCarthy’s The Road. Reading about how humanity would, or would not, move on after a major disaster is very intriguing to me.

Is there a book that you can’t wait to read over the holiday?

Holidays on Ice by David Sedaris. It is a great collection

I recently listened to the first book in The Strain trilogy

by Guillermo del Toro. He is known for his work in film, but is now moving into writing novels. The Strain trilogy is a vampire saga, but is much darker than Twilight or the other fluffier vampire novels and films out there today.

Which book taught you the most and what did it teach you?

I’d have to say Voice and Equality by Verba et al. The central thesis of this book is that not everyone participates in politics. This is a problem because the people that do participate are more advantaged than the rest of us.

Consequently, the “voice” heard by the government is not reflective of the general public’s preferences. This is a serious challenge to the strength of democracy that I am attempting to address in my own research.

What books are currently on your nightstand?

Why Evolution is True by Jerry A. Coyne and Why Empathy Matters by J.D. Trout.

John Fitzgerald

John Fitzgerald is the chair of the Department of Religious Studies. His choice for favorite author—George Eliot, whose writings often comprised various religious elements—reflects his interest in religion as a topic of research.

Who is your favorite author and why?

George Eliot (Mary Anne Evans) because of her realism as a novelist, her indebtedness to Greek literature, her deft use of religious themes, her knowledge of the academic study of religion, and her fascinating personal life.

Is there a book that you can’t wait to read over the holiday?

Barbara Burkhardt’s William Maxell: A Literary Life.

Is there an obscure author that you would recommend? Why? I enjoyed The Snow Geese, by William Fiennes, perhaps because one of the characters in the book is based on a friend of mine. For those who like novels dealing with the Deep South (where I grew up), I would recommend Two Letters Then Booger Den by Temple Davis.

Which childhood book was your favorite?

It depended on my age. Initially, it was Mother Goose fairy tales and nursery rhymes. Later, it was Zane Grey’s novels about the Old West, with Dr. Seuss’s books (The Cat in the Hat and Green Eggs and Ham) always a pleasant diversion.

As a teenager, I discovered C. S. Lewis’ Chronicles of Narnia and devoured them.

Regardless of age, however, comic books of all sorts were my uncontested favorite, and I collected them by the hundreds.

What book is currently on your nightstand?

Moshe Adler’s Economics for the Rest of Us. 16 FALL 2010

fa culty favorite b o o k s

Middlemarch by George Eliot Beloved by Toni Morrison Unaccustomed Earth by Jhumpa Lahiri Running in the Family by Michael Ondatjee Woman Warrior by Maxine Hong Kingston Scent of Apples by Bienvenido Santos

Robin Bachin

Robin Bachin is the Charlton W. Tebeau Associate Professor of History and director of the American Studies Program. As a scholar of American urban, immigration, and cultural history, it is no surprise that Bachin prizes author Toni Morrison—who writes about racism and slavery in the United States—above all other writers.

What is your favorite book?

Toni Morrison’s Beloved is my favorite book because of its immense power to evoke the emotional and psychological trauma of slavery’s legacy. Morrison so movingly portrays how the lead character, Sethe, is haunted by memories of her life in servitude, her efforts to shield her children from being victims of that life, and her tragic decision to take the life of her own daughter in an effort to protect her from the horrors of slavery. I don’t know of any other work of fiction that lays bare the physical brutality, emotional suffering, and loss of personal and familial identity under slavery in such an elegant and graceful manner.

Is there a book that you can’t wait to read over the holiday?

I’m looking forward to reading Chris Cleave’s Little Bee, a book about a British couple that encounters a young girl

from Nigeria on an African beach and who then leaves an indelible mark on their lives. It has received wonderful reviews and I’m anxious to read it.

Who is your favorite book character and why?

My favorite book character is Scout from Harper Lee’s To Kill a Mockingbird. I appreciate how Lee so poignantly weaves together Scout’s ability to confront the prejudices of her community, her appreciation of the strength of her father’s convictions, and her own sense of what it means to be a young girl who defies prescribed roles.

Which childhood book was your favorite?

James and the Giant Peach was my favorite childhood book because it is at once fanciful and frightful, with characters full of ingenuity that ultimately achieve redemption.

What books are currently on your nightstand?

Mandela’s Way: 15 Lessons on Life, Love, and Courage

by Richard Stengel; In Defense of Food by Michael Pollan; and Plenitude: The New Economics of True Wealth by Juliet Schor. arts | sciences

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Michael McCullough

Michael McCullough is a professor of psychology whose wide-ranging interests in book topics often mirror his interests in the human social behaviors—such as forgiveness, revenge, and gratitude—that are the focus of his research. He says he’d rather read a non-fiction book than a fiction one.

What is your favorite book and why?

This would probably be The Origins of Virtue: Human Instincts and the Evolution of Cooperation by Matt Ridley because it opened my eyes to the fact that evolution shaped humans’ moral instincts in profound ways, and that this is the direction in which I needed to focus my own research and thinking. I found the book in a used bookstore nine years ago, and I am still getting energy from it.

What types of books would you consider to be guilty pleasures?

Biographies/Memoirs. I recently read Scuse Me While I Kiss the Sky, which is David Henderson’s biography of Jimi Hendrix. Henderson thinks Jimi was murdered.

Is there an obscure author that you would recommend? Why? He’s not obscure by any means, but Richard Wrangham’s book Catching Fire: How Cooking Made Us Human is the best piece of book-length science writing that I’ve read in a long time. I read it cover to cover, wrote the author to congratulate him on it, and then read it a second time.

Is there a classic book that you did not like?

Wuthering Heights because I was a kid, and it was assigned reading when we were staying at my cousins’ farm. I had to read it while everybody else was out riding ATVs and fishing and having a great time.

What books are currently on your nightstand?

Revenge in the Cultures of Lowland South America by Beckerman and Valentine Brief Interviews with Hideous Men by David Foster Wallace Wisdom of the Hive: Social Physiology of Honey Bee Colonies by Thomas Seeley The Myth of American Exceptionalism by Godfrey Hodgson When You Are Engulfed in Flames by David Sedaris Atrevete (a Spanish textbook) by Heining-Boynton, Cowell, and Torres-Quiñones Learning to Live Together: Preventing Hatred and Violence in Child and Adolescent Development by Hamburg and Hamburg Uncorking the Past: The Quest for Wine, Beer, and Other Alcoholic Beverages

by Patrick McGovern

18 FALL 2010

f a c u lt y RE A D I N G L I ST o v e r t h e h o l iday

Holidays on Ice by David Sedaris Little Bee by Chris Cleave Brazil by Jesse Lee Kerchavel A Gate at the Stairs by Lorrie Moore William Maxwell: A Literary Life by Barbara Burkhardt

M. Evelina Galang

Evelina Galang is an associate professor of English and the director of the Creative Writing Program. In 2001, she was a Fulbright Senior Research Scholar in the Philippines, where she explored the stories of women who were forced into prostitution during World War II. Her findings are published in a collection of essays, titled Lola’s House: Women Living With War.

What is your favorite book and why?

My favorite books change with the season. I have about 50 favorite books depending on the tide...among them: Jhumpa Lahiri’s Unaccustomed Earth, Michael Ondatjee’s Running in the Family, Maxine Hong Kingston’s Woman Warrior, and Bienvenido Santos’s Scent of Apples.

These books transport me and inspire me to act.

Is there a book that you can’t wait to read over the holiday?

Yes. Jesse Lee Kerchavel’s Brazil and Lorrie Moore’s A Gate at the Stairs.

Who is your favorite book character and why?

Beverly Cleary’s Ramona the Pest. She’s bold and outspoken, and she doesn’t care what other people think of her. She speaks her mind.

Which childhood book was your favorite?

I’d say there are many, but the ones that come to mind are Little Women, Ramona the Pest, A Separate Peace, and The Island of the Blue Dolphin.

Which book taught you the most and what did it teach you?

As a child, Little Women taught me to be myself. arts | sciences

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20 FALL 2010

By offering more than 500 lectures a year to students, faculty members, and the community at large, the College of Arts and Sciences encourages intellectual growth.

story by sara

lajeunesse illustrations by christina ullman

Last November, Marjorie B. Garber, the William R. Kenan, Jr., Professor of English and a professor of visual and environmental studies at Harvard University, led a standing-room-only audience of UM students and faculty members, as well as local community members, on a journey through Shakespeare’s plays.

She gave several examples of how the writer has continued to influence society up to the present.

“After the Holocaust, The Merchant of Venice is not the same play it was before, even though not a word has changed,” she said. “And Othello has become an occasion for discussions of race in this country.”

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“UM is a place of formal and informal learning, a place where all people, no matter what their own level of formal education may be, can come and pursue intellectual growth.�

Angel kaifer college of arts & sciences senior associate dean and professor of chemistry

22 FALL 2010

Inspired by Garber’s insight, some audience members subsequently revisited the works of Shakespeare, this time reading them with an eye out for broader themes. Indeed, says Leonidas G. Bachas, dean of the College of Arts and Sciences, educating people about a subject and instilling in them the desire to learn more about it is a primary goal of the College’s public lectures.

With more than 500 such lectures a year hosted by the College’s 20 departments, attendees gain the opportunity to learn about virtually any topic. Recent talks have covered the role of climate change in transAtlantic relations, the rise of China as a superpower, the pain of social rejection, human sexuality during ancient times, and the population dynamics of coral-reef fishes, just to cite a few. Most lectures are free and open to the public. (For a calendar of upcoming lectures, go to: http://www.as.miami.edu/calendar).

Many of the College’s past public lectures are available as podcasts on the Web at http://www.as.miami.edu/podcasts/.

Students Sample New Ideas

A

ccording to Bachas, one goal of the College’s numerous public lectures is to convey the breadth of scholarly work, both at UM and elsewhere, to students. “By attending public lectures students are exposed to new ideas, some of which may supplement what they already are learning in their classes,” he said.

“But other ideas may be completely new to them and sometimes even life-changing.”

Not only do students learn from the content of a lecture, they also benefit from interacting with the lecturer. Sarah Ritcheson, a graduate student in the Department of English, attended one of the two more specialized lectures directed at faculty members and students that Garber gave in addition to her public lecture. Ritcheson said that Garber was quite open to answering questions from the audience. “And many of us responded,” she said. “In fact, when I myself asked her about the challenges of doing interdisciplinary work, she provided me with advice on the subject.”

Having attended many of the College’s public lectures, Ritcheson says she is grateful for her exposure to the wide range of stimulating speakers. “I have gleaned so much from these experiences,” she said.

“And my own interests have been enhanced or even shaped by them.”

When Mark H. Thiemens B.S. ’72, dean of the Division of Physical Sciences at the University of California at San Diego, came to UM to give the second annual Dr. Jimmie R. Nelson Lecture last April (which was established in 2009 with a bequest from the eponymous alumnus B.S. ’59), he also met with students. “Interacting with a visiting professor gives students a chance to learn more about his or her research and to ask about details of the professor’s papers, if they’ve read them,” said Thiemens. “It also gives students a chance to get feedback about their own work, which [at UM] was really excellent.”

Moreover, students can benefit from their interactions with visiting lecturers by forming connections that might be useful in their future careers. According to Thiemens, some of his meetings with students ultimately have led to collaborations.

Exploring New Avenues of Research

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ublic lectures are highly beneficial for faculty members as well, and professors in the Department of Mathematics, for example, had the opportunity last academic year to attend nearly 40 lectures just on mathematics alone. “It is important for our faculty

members to meet face-to-face with researchers at other institutions because it helps them to stay abreast of the latest developments,” said department chair Greg J. Galloway. It also gives them the opportunity to explore fresh ideas and work with new colleagues.

Richard M. Schoen, the Bass Professor of Humanities and Sciences at Stanford University, was one of these researchers last academic year, having delivered the second annual McKnightZame Distinguished Lecture (funded by UM alumnus Jeffry B. Fuqua A.B. ’67, M.S. ’70, Ph.D. ’72) in February. During that lecture Schoen introduced attendees, which included both undergraduate and graduate students, to some of geometry’s greatest unsolved mysteries, and he did so with a level of clarity that made the talk easily understandable by even the least mathematically inclined people. But while it is important for visiting professors to communicate about their research to a general audience, it also is important for them to speak with peers about the more technical aspects of their work. Thus Schoen also gave a separate and more specialized lecture that was attended mostly by faculty members, postdoctoral fellows, and graduate students.

Further, to maximize exposure to Schoen’s scholarship, Galloway organized a symposium to coincide with his visit. The symposium provided a forum for researchers at UM, as well as those that Galloway had invited from elsewhere in the United States and Europe, to brainstorm together on topics in the fields of geometric analysis and mathematical relativity.

“The symposium brought us all up to date on cutting-edge developments,” said Galloway. “The time between the talks was just as important as the talks themselves because it provided time for participants to discuss their work and to initiate new collaborations.

For example, I started a new collaboration with a researcher from the University of Vienna, which led to a recent paper about black holes in the journal Classical and Quantum Gravity.”

Galloway said that Schoen’s visit was particularly valuable to mathematics department faculty members because of the extent to which he interacted with them. “Like all great mathematicians, Dr. Schoen is a fountain of ideas,” he said. “In fact, visiting lecturers, in general, often inspire faculty members to explore new avenues in their own research.” arts | sciences

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Each week, upcoming lectures are posted on the Web at http://www.as.miami.edu/calendar.

Garber’s talk was one of dozens of public lectures each year that are hosted by the College’s newly created Center for the Humanities.

According to Mihoko Suzuki, a professor of English and the Center’s first director, the Center endeavors to bring dialogue and inquiry to the South Florida community in order to enrich its public intellectual culture. (To learn more about lectures hosted by the Center for the Humanities, go to: http://www.humanities.miami.edu/calendar/)

Home-Grown Resources

Enriching the Community

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hile the primary mission of the College of Arts and Sciences is to educate students and to create knowledge through the faculty’s endeavors, it also aims to serve the general community. “There is a notion that universities are ivory towers; that they are these guarded places staffed with academic elitists who are disconnected from the everyday world. But nothing could be further from the truth,” said Bachas. “In fact, UM’s [and other universities’] scholars are producing knowledge that is extremely practical, from understanding the biological principles that will underlie the next generation of life-changing vaccines to teasing apart the philosophical underpinnings of the social issues that will dominate future public discourses. And through our public lectures this knowledge is available to anyone with an interest in learning.”

Professor and Chair of the Department of Philosophy Harvey Siegel agrees. “Our faculty members pursue philosophical issues professionally, we teach philosophy, and we publish our ideas in scholarly journals. But we don’t own the issues,” he said. “Every reflective person grapples with philosophical issues from time to time, and as practicing philosophers, we understand that part of our jobs is to make what we know available and relevant.”

One way in which the department reaches out to the community is through its “Friends of Philosophy Dialogues,” in which distinguished philosophers—either UM faculty members or invited speakers— introduce an issue and then lead a conversation with audience members. Past dialogues have addressed such topics as whether— and if so how—we can distinguish the real from the merely illusory, whether the mind is reducible to the brain, what free will is and whether we really have it, and whether morality consists of objective truths or is just a matter of opinion. “These dialogues provide an opportunity for people outside the department and the University to learn about and to engage in spirited and informed discussions of fundamental philosophical issues,” said Siegel. (To view upcoming “Friends of Philosophy” events, go to: http://www.as.miami.edu/phi/ events/index.html) As a regular guest at UM’s public lectures, Rose Ellen Greene, a member of the University’s Board of Trustees, knows the benefits that can be gained by attending such talks. “Educating the public is among the many valuable roles that a great university like UM plays in its community,” said Greene, noting that one of the most impressive such events she has attended recently was the abovementioned talk on Shakespeare. “Dr. Garber’s lecture and the subsequent questions from the attendees were very stimulating and led to my greater knowledge and understanding.”

24 FALL 2010

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hile UM’s connections with researchers and academicians at other institutions are vast, not all public lectures held on campus each year are given by visitors; a great many are delivered by the University’s own experts. For example, Associate Professor of Anthropology Traci A. Ardren gave a talk last June in which she analyzed an exhibit of masterpieces, contained in the Lowe Art Museum’s permanent collection, from ancient Mexico through Panama.

“Many people in our south Florida community are fascinated by ancient cultures, especially those of their ancestors in Latin America,” said Ardren. “Yet accurate information about how these populations lived and what they valued is often difficult to find. The goal of my talk was to help attendees not only understand more about the cultures that created these fantastic works of art in the exhibit but also to help bridge the gap between our culture today and the Mesoamerican societies prior to European contact.”

In addition to giving talks about their research, UM scholars and writers also present their own writings. As part of a reading series hosted by the Creative Writing Program within the Department of English, Jane Alison, an associate professor of English, gave a public reading in March from her 2009 memoir The Sisters Antipodes. Alison’s book describes how her parents broke up and switched partners and children with another couple they met in Australia. And in April, as part of the Center for Latin American Studies’ lecture series, Joaquin Roy, a professor of international studies, presented a reading from his book The Cuban Revolution (1959-2009): Relations with Spain, the European Union, and the United States. Roy’s talk commemorated Spain’s 25-year (19852010) membership in the European Union. (To learn more about lectures hosted by the Creative Writing Program and the Center for Latin American Studies, go to http://www.as.miami.edu/english/ creativewriting/readingseries/calendar and http://www.as.miami. edu/clas/events/upcoming) Whether a person wants to learn about art, philosophy, geometry, Shakespeare, or any other topic within the arts and sciences, knowledge at UM is readily available. “In the spirit of Albert Einstein’s dictum that intellectual growth should commence at birth and cease only at death,” said Angel Kaifer, a senior associate dean at the College and professor of chemistry, “UM is a place of formal and informal learning, a place where all people, no matter what their own level of formal education may be, can come and pursue intellectual growth.”

“Educating the public is among the many valuable roles that a great university like UM plays in its community.�

Rose ellen greene member, um board of trustees

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trackinghurricanes

Class notes | alumni profiles

yourNews Let your classmates know what is going on in your life. Share news about yourself in a future issue of Arts & Sciences magazine. Send your information—including the year you graduated, degree, and major—to Linda Scott, Alumni Relations, P.O. Box 248004, Coral Gables, Florida 33124-4620 or via email to lscott@miami.edu.

40s

60s

Julia Arthur Lincoln, A.B. ’42, art, a respected portrait artist and retired teacher, died on March 20, 2010 in Cutler Bay, Florida.

After teaching for 35 years in Miami-area schools, including Ponce de Leon Senior High School and Deerborne School in Coral Gables, Lincoln switched her focus to art. She exhibited and sold her work throughout the United States.

Frances “Dolly” MacIntyre, A.B. ’60, was recognized with the 2010 Pioneer Award given

by Miami-Dade County mayor Carlos Alvarez.

The award acknowledges women who have shown leadership, creativity, and vision in addressing community issues in Miami-Dade County in the past 10 years. MacIntyre’s area of expertise is historic preservation. She is the founding president of the Dade Heritage Trust and a charter member of the Villagers.

She currently serves as chairwoman of the Coral Gables Historic Preservation Board. She resides in Coral Gables, Florida.

Roderick Charles Ball, A.B. ’49, history, died on June 25, 2010 at the home of his daughter and son-in-law in Montgomery, Alabama. An entrepreneur who was successful in numerous businesses in Miami, he loved to travel and was a fiercely loyal Hurricane to the end.

50s

Leon J. Hoffman, Ph.D., A.B. ’61, continues to enjoy his private practice of clinical psychology in Chicago. He specializes in individual and group psychotherapy (practice and consultation) and organizational consultation. A former cellist in the Miami Symphony, he remains a lifelong

Dagmar Renate Henney, B.S. ’54, physics, M.S. ’56, mathematics, member of Phi Beta Kappa, is a renowned mathematics scholar, professor, and author. She is the subject of a biographical paper by Rebekah Adamek and Józef H. Przytycki, titled Dagmar Renate Henney: The Woman, Pioneer, and Professor, in which she recalled her years at UM fondly.

Henney resides in Takoma Park, Maryland.

Peter Harvey, A.B. ’55, drama, is creating original 1967 stage designs for George Balanchine’s three-act abstract ballet, titled Jewels, which will be performed by the Germany-based Dresden Opera Ballet Company. The premier was June 20, 2010.

Harvey lives in New York City.

Shelly Frome, A.B. ’56, drama, has published a new book, titled The Art and Craft of Screenwriting. The book is hailed as a “valuable screenwriting tool...as thorough as it is honest and passionate” by The Review.

Frome lives in Litchfield, Connecticut.

26 FALL 2010

Josephine A. Johnson, M.A. ’67, drama, has established the Josephine Johnson Poetry Series at UM’s Otto G. Richter Library, the goal of which is to highlight British poetry performance, criticism, and research. Each year, the series will bring a British author or critic to the University. Award-winning young British poet Adam Foulds was the inaugural speaker. Johnson is the former chair of the UM Department of Communications. She lives in Coral Gables, Florida.

chamber-music cellist. In April 2010, he became the grandfather of Benjamin, the son of his daughter Rebecca Hoffman, A.B. ’92, English.

Both families live in Chicago, Illinois.

Peter L. Steiner, A.B. ’62, recently published his third novel The Terrorist. Before writing novels, he taught German at Dickinson College and then spent 25 years as a cartoonist for The New Yorker, which published hundreds of his cartoons, including the famous “On the Internet, nobody knows you’re a dog.” Steiner resides in Sharon, Connecticut.

Alan A. Jabbour, A.B. ’63, magna cum laude, English, and Karen Singer Jabbour, A.B. ’64, magna cum laude, English, published a new book, titled Decoration Day in the Mountains: Traditions of Cemetery Decoration in the Southern Appalachians. The couple has documented Decoration Day from North Carolina west to the Ozarks since 2004. Alan has published widely on folk music and folklore, and he is the former director of the American

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Folklife Center at the Library of Congress.

He and his wife, Karen, a photographer, have worked together for decades documenting grassroots culture in the American South.

The Jabbours reside in Washington, D. C. John D. Atlas, A.B. ’65, sociology, published a new book in June 2010, titled Seeds of Change: The Story of ACORN, America’s Most Controversial Antipoverty Community Organizing Group. The book was published by Vanderbilt University Press. Atlas is a lawyer, writer, and organizer, as well as the current president of the National Housing Institute, which publishes Shelterforce. He lives in Montclair, New Jersey.

Aida T. Levitan, Ph.D., A.B. ’69, was named chairperson of the Aetna Miami Advisory Council and to the commission that is studying the possible creation of a National Museum of the American Latino in Washington, D.C. Levitan is president of the consulting firm The Levitan Group and has more than 30 years of experience in marketing communications, specializing in Hispanic marketing and public relations. In 2004, she was the president of the Association of Hispanic Advertising Agencies.

An active community leader, Levitan serves on the Board of Trustees of the Miami Art Museum, the Spanish Cultural Center, and the Latin Chamber of Commerce of Miami. She is also president of ArtesMiami, Inc., which is dedicated to supporting and promoting Hispanic artists and cultural organizations. Levitan resides in Key Biscayne, Florida.

70s

Larry Zeiger, B.S. ’70, psychology, is the composer and lyricist for a new album Meetchu in Machu Picchu—The Music of Larry Zeiger.

He is also the composer and a co-author of the musical, titled Sweating Palms, and a coauthor of a soon-to-be-released book, titled Swapping Stories—A Pairing of Wine and Words. The artistic director of the Imperial Beach International Film Festival and the founder of the BestFest America Film Festival, Zeiger is a former San Diego Teacher-of-the-Year. He lives in San Diego, California.

Keep track of hurricane classmates by visiting our new facebook page.

Joseph A. Trunfio, M.S. ’71, Ph.D., ’72, psychology, joined Atlantic Health in Morristown, New Jersey in 1999 as its chief operating officer and has served as its president and chief executive officer since 2000. Under his leadership, Atlantic Health was named to Fortune Magazine’s 100 Best Places to Work in 2009 and 2010 as well as AARP’s #1 nationwide healthcare company at which to work for employees over 50. Trunfio resides in Boonton Township, New Jersey.

Sonia M. Burini, A.B. ’71, history, died in May 2010. A business administrator for Roma Fashion and a public relations executive for Franco B. men’s clothing store in Coral Gables, she was active in charity work and had a passion for cooking.

Madeleine (Kay) Bar-Sadeh, M.A. ’75, English, is an author, adventurist, success and motivation coach, and entrepreneur. She has appeared in Who’s Who of American Women and Who’s Who in the World. Her newest novel Living Serendipitously received rave reviews and made Amazon.com’s best-seller list, with an audio format forthcoming. Bar-Sadeh resides in Flat Rock, North Carolina.

Kenneth M. Klemow, B.S. ’75, cum laude, biology, a professor of biology at Wilkes University in Wilkes-Barre, Pennsylvania, received the Ecological Society of America’s 2010 Eugene P. Odum Award for Excellence in Ecology Education. The award, presented to an ecologist for outstanding work in education that has furthered ecological science through teaching, outreach, and student mentoring, recognizes Klemow as a top ecology educator in the United States. He was nominated for the award by May graduate Rachel Curtis. Founder of the Ecological Society’s Education Section in 1988, Klemow also was named associate director of the Wilkes Energy Institute and serves as curator of the University’s Rosenthal Herbarium. He lives in Kingston, Pennsylvania.

Classmates Timothy B. Bringardner, B.S. ‘77, biology, David Fritts, A.B. ’77, English, Vincent G. Pavese, B.B.A. ’77, and Robert J. Zimmer, B.B.A. ’77, reunited in Sea Isle

City, New Jersey in July 2009 for a weekend of fishing, gambling, and general catching up since their last gathering took place five years earlier. The group is planning their next reunion in Saint Augustine, Florida in June 2010.

Bringardner lives in Gettysburg, Pennsylvania; Fritts lives in Henderson, Kentucky; Pavese lives in Tampa, Florida; and Zimmer lives in Honeoye Falls, New York.

Joaquin Ruiz, B.S. ’77, chemistry, is the executive dean of the Colleges of Letters, Arts and Science, the dean of the College of Science, and a professor in the Department of Geosciences at the University of Arizona. He began serving his one-year term as president of the Geological Society of America (GSA) in July after serving as the 2009-2010 vice president.

At the GSA Annual Meeting in Denver, Colorado in October his presidential address was titled, “From the Core of the Earth to the Top of the Mountains: A Renaissance in Earth Sciences.”

Ruiz lives in Tucson, Arizona.

80s Bradley S. Feuer, B.S. ’80, chemistry, J.D. ’90, was designated a Fellow of the American College of Osteopathic Family Physicians (ACOFP) during its Annual Conclave of Fellows Award Ceremony on March 20, 2010. Fellows are recognized for their outstanding national and local service through teaching, authorship, research, or professional leadership and for their outstanding service in community and civic activities. A founding partner in the Florida office of the national firm of Brennan, arts | sciences

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Manna and Diamond, Feuer now has a private consulting practice in Lake Worth, Florida.

In his spare time, he serves as a lieutenant colonel in the Florida Highway Patrol Auxiliary and was appointed chief surgeon for the Florida Highway Patrol, where he volunteers to promote the health and wellbeing of all Florida state troopers. Feuer lives in Wellington, Florida.

Michael A. Lampert, A.B. ’80, of the West Palm Beach, Florida law firm Law Offices of Michael A. Lampert, P.A., was elected a Fellow of the American College of Tax Counsel by the college’s board of regents. College Fellows must “have demonstrated an exceptional degree of professional commitment to the practice of law.” A multi-year “Florida Super Lawyer in Tax Law,” Lampert has been an active speaker, teacher, and writer and has participated in professional seminars. He has chaired a broad range of committees for the tax section of the Florida Bar and the Palm Beach County Bar Association. He resides in West Palm Beach, Florida.

Karen Plave Goldstein, A.B. ’87, cum laude, English, was appointed to the Executive Board of Directors of The Literary Council of Montgomery County. Headquartered in Rockville, Maryland, the council is a nonprofit organization that is dedicated to helping adults learn to read, write, and speak English.

Goldstein and her husband and children live in Gaithersburg, Maryland.

90s Brian Wacter, B.S. ’90, computer science, an attorney with Fish & Richardson, a leading global law firm specializing in patent litigation, was promoted to principal in the firm’s patent group.

As principal, he will continue to focus his practice on computing, communications, and electrical engineering. He lives in Carlsbad, California.

Karl Newyear, B.S. ’91, marine science/ physics, honors program in marine and atmospheric science, completed a 3 ½-month winter season as the manager of the Summit Research Station in Greenland.

Located 300 miles north of the Arctic Circle atop the Greenland Ice Cap, he describes 28 FALL 2010

Class notes | alumni profiles

Wifredo Ferrer, A.B. ’87, summa cum laude, economics, first in his class at UM, was nominated by President Obama and confirmed by the Senate on April 22, 2010 as the United States Attorney for the Southern District of Florida. Ferrer was the chief of Miami-Dade County’s federal litigation section. He also was a federal prosecutor in Miami and the deputy chief of staff for U.S. Attorney General Janet Reno.

A Miami native, Ferrer, together with his family, made his home in Miami before moving to Washington, D.C.

the site as more remote from civilization in some ways than astronauts on the Space Shuttle. Newyear worked for 10 years planning oceanographic research cruises in the United States Antarctic Program, with 13 deployments to Antarctica and one to the Arctic, including four months aboard a ship intentionally frozen into Arctic Sea ice.

Newyear lives in Parker, Colorado.

Jorge A. Cruz, A.B. ’92, economics, is the director of planned giving at the Fort Lauderdale office of the American Lung Association of the Southeast, Inc. He lives in Hollywood, Florida.

Leyza F. Blanco, A.B. ’93, psychology, J.D. ’96, a lawyer specializing in bankruptcy and creditor/debtor rights with the firm GrayRobinson Attorneys at Law, was listed among this year’s Florida Super Lawyers. Only five percent of Florida attorneys are selected each year, making this a prestigious honor.

Blanco lives in Miami, Florida.

Benjamin T. Kurten, A.B. ’94, marine science affairs, was among the 38—or just five percent of Wisconsin-based attorneys—that were selected for inclusion by Wisconsin Super Lawyers magazine as top attorneys for 2009. Kurten, who specializes in immigration at Quarles & Brady LLP’s Milwaukee office, was selected for the Milwaukee and Madison section of the Rising Stars Edition 2009. He resides in Cedarburg, Wisconsin.

Jaret L. Davis, A.B. ’96, economics, J.D. ’99, was named among the South Florida Business Journal’s “40 Under 40” and was included as a “Rising Star” in the Florida Super Lawyers

2009 magazine. A shareholder in the Miami office Greenberg Traurig, P.A., he was listed in South Florida’s 100 Most Accomplished Blacks in Healthcare and Law, a directory published

by ICABA™ Media Holdings, LLC. Davis also is featured in the “Lumina 10 in Law.” The co-hiring shareholder of Greenberg Traurig’s Miami office, Davis is a member of the firm’s corporate and securities practice. He serves on the boards of directors of the Miami Children’s Hospital, the American Diabetes Association, and the University of Miami Law Alumni Association, the latter for which he is treasurer. He resides in Miami.

Hillary E. Feerick-Hillenbrand, M.A. ’96, English, a former graduate teaching assistant under Ronald Newman’s direction and a proud UM alumna, taught for eight years and is now a stay-at-home mom who tutors English, French, Spanish, and history.

She and her husband created a healthy role model for children, called Mitch Spinach, around whom they have published the first in a new children’s series, titled The Secret Life of Mitch Spinach. The family resides in Coral Springs, Florida.

Hans Christian de Salas-del Valle, A.B. ’97, Latin American studies, earned a M.A. degree in international policy and administration from Stanford University and a certificate in entrepreneurship at the Stanford Graduate School of Business. He is pursuing a career as an international affairs consultant and policy analyst specializing in East Asia and Latin America. He lives in Mountain View, California.

inMEMORIAM Zack R. Bowen, professor emeritus of English, passed away on April 8 from complications of Alzheimer’s disease. He was 75. Bowen was a member of the faculty of the Department of English from 1986 to 2007. Best known for his work on Irish literature, especially the author James Joyce, Bowen also co-founded UM’s Caribbean Writers Summer Institute with English professor Sandra Paquet and he taught a range of

Tania Melissa Paredes, A.B. ’97, psychology, was featured in Brickell Magazine’s Top 20 Professionals Under Forty. Paredes is a licensed clinical social worker and holds a diplomate designation.

Her practice focuses on client-centered counseling using a cognitive behavioral approach. She has practices in the Brickell area of Miami and in Cooper City in Broward County. She lives in Miami.

C. Read Sawczyn, A.B. ‘98, magna cum laude, marine science affairs, a lawyer specializing in banking with the firm GrayRobinson Attorneys at Law, was named a Florida Rising Star in this year’s Florida Super Lawyers magazine. Only five percent of Florida attorneys are selected each year, making this a prestigious honor. Sawczyn resides in Tampa, Florida.

00s Matthew Akel, A.B. ‘00, psychology, is an animal-care supervisor in the collections husbandry science department at the San Diego Zoo, where his biology minor serves him well. He supervises the Tiger River exhibit, the Ituri Forest exhibit, and off-exhibit primate areas. Akel is also the vice president of the San Diego Chapter of the American Association of Zoo Keepers (AAZK) and is a co-chair for the 2011 National AAZK Conference to be held in San Diego. He lives in San Diego, California.

Sonia Gallagher, A.B. ’00, psychology, an attorney and executive life coach, has developed a program to help lawyers to be better advocates, to become more fulfilled in their profession, and to reach higher levels of professional and personal success. Her company, Time for Life, LLC, has developed Success Roundtable for Lawyers, a program that blends training, mentorship, and group coaching. Gallagher resides in Boca Raton, Florida.

Carla (Morano) Harrison, B.S. ’04, chemistry, and her husband Ray D. Harrison, M.S.B.E. ’03, welcomed a baby ‘Cane to the family this year. Carla’s grandmother works at UM and her aunt is an undergraduate student at UM. The Harrison family lives in Miami.

courses, including “Literature and Science,” and “The Sixties.” Born in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, Bowen taught at the University of Delaware, the State University of New York (SUNY) at Binghamton, SUNY at Fredonia, and Temple University prior to being hired as the department chair at UM. He is survived by his wife Lindsey Tucker (also a professor in the Department of English) and six children.

Buoniconti ’93 Named to UM Board of Trustees Paralyzed former athlete commits his life to aiding other victims— and the community Marc Buoniconti ’93, a former linebacker for The Citadel, knew he was paralyzed as he lay on the ground just moments after a collision with an East Tennessee State tailback. Indeed, his neck was dislocated and his spinal cord severed. He was 19 years old.

The son of an NFL Hall of Fame middle linebacker who played for the Boston Patriots and Miami Dolphins, Buoniconti was born in Boston but raised in Miami from the age of three. He attended Columbus High School, an all-male Catholic school in Miami, and in the early 1980s he was offered a football scholarship to attend The Citadel, an all-male (until 1996) military college in South Carolina.

After his accident, which occurred in 1985, Buoniconti returned to Miami to receive care from renowned neurosurgeon Barth Green, chair of the Department of Neurological Surgery at UM’s Miller School of Medicine. “My family and I searched the world over to find the best place for me to receive treatment,” said Buoniconti, “and we ended up finding it in our own backyard.”

As he was being treated, he decided to finish his education by enrolling in the University of Miami as a psychology major. “UM was a breath of fresh air after all I had been through,” he said. “The University opened its arms to me.

It was a great experience and I learned a lot. I also didn’t mind that there were girls there!”

Today, Buoniconti is the president of the Miami Project to Cure Paralysis. A Center of Excellence within the School of Medicine, the project is home to an international team of more than 200 scientists, researchers, and clinicians who pursue innovative approaches to solving some of the challenges associated with spinal-cord injuries.

“The Miami Project is making exciting advances toward finding a cure for paralysis,” said Buoniconti, who oversees the organization’s day-to-day operations. “For example, our researchers now are able to regenerate healthy spinal-cord cells and then transplant them into injured spinal cords. They also are investigating hypothermia as a way of cooling down the body, since the inflammation surrounding a spinal-cord injury can be as damaging as the injury itself.”

Not only does Buoniconti help people with spinal-cord injuries, but he also serves the UM community at large. Last April, he was named a member of the Board of Trustees— “a real honor,” he said. Buoniconti will sit on the medical-affairs committee and on the committee that oversees the Rosenstiel School of Marine and Atmospheric Science.

“I’ve always had an interest in marine biology,” he noted. “I used to scuba dive, as well as water ski, surf, and boat.”

Although serving others is now second nature to Buoniconti, it wasn’t always that way.

He told a reporter for Sports Illustrated that he feels his injury is a sentence that he is serving for all of his misbehavior as a young person. “It took my injury to make me realize that what is most important in life is helping others,” he said. “It is the best feeling in the world to make a positive difference in a person’s life.” arts | sciences

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Class notes | alumni profiles

The Philosopher-President UM alumnus teaches, devours politics, spends time with his family, plays golf—and leads in the creation of a major academic institution.

In his 23 years as president of Quinnipiac University, John L. Lahey has transformed the school from a little-known college focusing on business and technical topics to a world-class institution. He added 20 graduate programs, established a law school, increased undergraduate enrollment by 210 percent, revamped the school’s athletics programs, and renovated the campus (in Hamden, Connecticut). Oh yes, and he is currently building a medical school, to be completed in 2013.

John L. Lahey has served as president of Quinnipiac University for 23 years.

“I love teaching and I enjoy how it connects me to students and faculty members.”

JOHN L. LAHEY ’73

On top of all that, Lahey (Ph.D. ’73) teaches an undergraduate philosophy course each year. “I love teaching and I enjoy how it connects me to students and faculty members,” he said. “It’s also a great way to find out what’s going on at the university, such as whether the classrooms are being cleaned, the bookstore is being stocked, and the registrar’s office is functioning smoothly.”

But what largely guides Lahey’s day-to-day agenda is the financial future of Quinnipiac— a $260-million-a-year university. “The biggest challenge for private universities now, given the state of the economy—and likely in the future as well—is generating enough income through tuition and endowments to operate them,” he said. “Private universities are not subsidized by the state the way public universities are, so we must continually strive to provide a valuable product in order to justify a higher tuition.”

Lahey himself was educated at private schools, having earned an undergraduate degree at the University of Dayton (Ohio) and his doctorate, in philosophy, at the University of Miami. “UM has a wonderful philosophy department,” he said, “and it is particularly strong in the fields of linguistic analysis and

30 FALL 2010

logic, both of which I studied as a graduate student.” He also taught two philosophy courses during that time. “The faculty treated me like a junior member of its team.

I even played tennis with some of them.”

Lahey also was close with a number of the other graduate students, and he maintains those friendships to this day.

Following completion of his graduate work at UM, Lahey became an assistant professor of philosophy at Southern Benedictine College in Cullman, Alabama. But he missed the northeast. “I grew up in New York City and wanted to return to my home state,” he said. So for the next 10 years he worked at Marist College in Poughkeepsie, New York, first as a professor and later as executive vice president for academic affairs.

Despite the demanding job at Quinnipiac, Lahey still makes time for his family and hobbies. He enjoys playing golf, particularly on the course behind his West Palm Beach vacation house, where he and his family— which includes his wife Judith and his sons Brent, a periodontist, and Robert, an investment banker—often spend holidays.

But wherever he happens to be, one interest is a virtual constant. “I’m a political junkie,” Lahey said, noting that his passion for politics led to his creation of the Quinnipiac University Poll, which regularly surveys residents nationwide about political races and other issues of public concern such as schools, taxes, transportation, municipal services, and the environment. The poll is renowned for its exactness and thoroughness, and its results are featured regularly in leading news outlets.

inMEMORIAM EDWARD J. GREEN, 53, passed away June 4, 2010 in his home in Coral Gables following a courageous five-year battle with cancer.

Green joined the faculty of the Department of Psychology at UM in 1989, and was promoted to associate professor in 1994. He was a popular teacher in both graduate and undergraduate courses dealing with psychobiology, behavioral and cognitive neuroscience, and neuroanatomy. His research focused on behavioral recovery from

Nathalie Guillaume, A.B. ’05, biology/ French, is a doctoral research fellow in the acupuncture and oriental medicine program at Bastyr University in Seattle, Washington.

While completing her M.S. degree at the Atlantic Institute of Oriental Medicine in Fort Lauderdale, Florida, she launched a post-traumatic-stress-disorder program in her native Haiti. The program, which was sponsored by Acupuncturists Without Borders, aimed to provide disaster relief after the devastating earthquake on January 12, 2010. Guillaume was president of the UM Ambassadors in 2004 and held numerous leadership positions on campus, including resident assistant and key member of the class ring committee.

Jesse H. Marks, A.B. ’05, political science, M.S.Ed. ’08, sport administration, was named assistant athletic director for major gifts at UM. Marks returned to UM after holding positions at Florida International University in Miami and Wake Forest University in Winston-

traumatic brain injury and stroke, including novel therapeutic strategies to enhance recovery. Green had a long-standing collaboration with the Miami Project to Cure Paralysis at the UM Miller School of Medicine, and his research was funded by the National Institutes of Health. He is survived by his wife Nora, son Nicholas, father Richard, brother Charles, and sister Suzanne.

Salem, North Carolina. He resides in North Miami Beach.

Catherine Cottrell, M.A. ’06, international studies, began work on a Ph.D. in cultural geography at the University of South Carolina this fall.

Alexandra “Lexi” Merolla, A.B. ’06, psychology, received her doctor of chiropractic degree from Palmer Chiropractic College Florida on March 26, 2010. She lives in Port Orange, Florida.

Lara Yael Polansky, B.S. ’07, summa cum laude, ecosystem science and policy/ biology, completed the first of two years as a Presidential Management Fellow with the United States Forest Service in the Region 5 Regional Office in Vallejo, California. From June to September 2010, Polansky completed a detail in the Forest Service’s Washington, D.C. office, where she led a team to complete the agency’s comprehensive, agency-wide

greenhouse-gas inventory as required by President Obama’s Executive Order 13514 “Federal Leadership in Environmental, Energy, and Economic Performance.” She lives in Berkeley, California.

Adam T. Bates, A.B. ’08, political science, was selected for the U.S. Department of State’s 2010 summer intensive Arabic language program. Unusual for football, Bates attended UM on an academic scholarship.

He chose the University of Michigan Law School from among the many top law schools at which he was accepted because of its willingness to allow him to pursue a concurrent M.A. in middle-eastern studies.

Bates lives in Ann Arbor, Michigan.

David A. Yeomans, B.S. ’09, meteorology, returned to UM for his master of science degree in meteorology/physical oceanography at UM’s Rosenstiel School of Marine and Atmospheric Science.

From Ring to Broadway Sarah Amengual B.F.A. ’10 does not waste time. On September 21, just

four months after graduating with a theatre-arts degree from UM, she began her new role as Maria in the Broadway production of West Side Story. “At first I was intimidated, but everyone I met was so nice and welcoming,” she said. “I am loving every minute of it.”

According to Bruce Miller, an associate professor of theatre arts, Amengual is the first graduating student who has jumped directly into a Broadway lead in his memory. “Sarah well represents the talent and training offered up here at UM,” he said.

Amengual, who now lives in New York City, said that her fondest memories of UM involve her classmates. Her graduating class included just nine students, and the group is very close. “I still see many of them whenever they are in New York,” she said.

Amengual, who starred in the Ring Theatre’s production of Rent last year, is focusing all of her energy on her role as Maria and trying not to think about what will come after the show ends. “Every actor has to be willing to fly by the seat of their pants and go where the winds blow, so I’ll just have to wait and see,” she said.

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UM’s “Best of the Best” Four students share their favorite UM study spots, restaurants, and hangouts.

STUDENTADVICE 1

K r y s t y n a A h l e r s | M e l v i n La K r i s t i n a As t o n e | R a c h e l l e W e i n e r

classes

What class would you recommend to an incoming student, regardless of his or her major?

Krystyna Ahlers: I recommend taking an acting class because they are fun, interesting, and informative. By studying the basics of acting techniques students will learn that acting is intellectual and challenging.

Melvin La: Musicology of Jazz. It is a fun and enjoyable class taught

by Professor Bergeron, who himself is a jazz musician.

Kristina Astone: I suggest taking an introduction to anthropology course. Since anthropology is the interdisciplinary study of humanity, the topics taught in the course will apply to many different courses of study in college.

2

events

What regularly occurring event would you recommend?

Krystyna Ahlers: I recommend that students get involved with a club sport. The challenging course work at UM can be stressful, but participating regularly in a club sport helps release that steam, plus it is a great social outlet.

Melvin La: International Week occurs during the spring semester every April. It features a different region of the world every night, for one week. Each night, free food, performances, and activities are offered on the UC patio. My personal favorite is Asia Night, which, in the past, has featured Taiko Drummers, Lion Dancers, and Sword and Fan Dancers, as well as food from India, China, and Thailand.

Kristina Astone: I would recommend going to UM’s athletic events, specifically football and baseball games, because they are packed with students, they build school spirit, and they’re FUN! 32 FALL 2010

3

place to study

Where is the best place to study on campus?

Krystyna Ahlers: My favorite place to study is the first floor of the library. The desks are huge and it is a study environment where you can focus. Plus its super close to Starbucks!

Melvin La: The library is the most common place that people study, and for good reason. There are plenty of computers and books, as well as free research assistance from the librarians. The stacks tower provides eight floors of quiet study area, while study rooms and the first floor provide plenty of space for group study.

Kristina Astone: The best place to study is at any of the outside tables located around campus because who wants to be cooped up inside all day when it’s 85 degrees and sunny? Additionally, they are usually in quiet areas, have umbrellas for shade, and are located near outlets so you can use your computer.

4

food

Where can you find the best food on campus?

Melvin La: The food court has the best selection of food on campus, including Chinese food, Cuban food, sandwiches, and sushi. You can try something different every day.

Kristina Astone: The “Rat” is the best place to eat on campus. It has many cheap and delicious menu items to choose from, plus it has an amazing view of the lake. Eating at the “Rat” is one of the experiences that makes the University of Miami “The U.” Rachelle Weiner: I like the salad bar in the food court. Everything is always fresh. It has a variety of healthy foods that can be mixed together to make interesting salads.

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hangout

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tourist attraction

What touristy thing would you recommend in the greater Miami area?

Krystyna Ahlers: I definitely recommend checking out the Everglades.

There are great trails there.

Melvin La: Of course, you haven’t visited Miami until you’ve visited South Beach. The beaches are world famous and there’s plenty to do, from great shopping to amazing restaurants.

Kristina Astone: I suggest going to Key Biscayne’s parks to grill up some burgers and hang out at the beach. You can also rent kayaks and canoes, go snorkeling, or play tennis.

7

advice for freshmen

What would be your most important piece of advice for an incoming freshman?

Krystyna Ahlers: Experience! Do as much as you can in these four years. This is your time to make mistakes. Discover who you are. Don’t be afraid to fall flat on your face—this is the time to do it. You are blessed to be at a school with limitless opportunities. Take advantage of them. Work hard, but don’t lose sight of what is most important: your happiness. Take care of yourself and cherish your friendships.

Melvin La: Balance is the key. Don’t be afraid to try new things, explore the city, and participate in new organizations or extracurricular activities. But it’s important to remember the main reason you’re in college, which is to go to class and earn that degree.

Kristina Astone: College is about exploring and having enough courage to try new things. If a class seems interesting to you, take it!

Otherwise, you might miss out on the journey that awaits you.

Rachelle Weiner:Take advantage of as many programs, events, clubs, etc. that you can. Always be yourself. Don’t stop yourself from trying something new because you think you will be judged. Dance silly.

What local UM hangout is the best?

ABOUT THE STUDENTS Krystyna Ahlers: I liked hanging out outside Sbarros on the swingy chairs or meeting friends at the “Rat.” It feels very UM, and I will always cherish my memories of bonding with friends there.

Krystyna Ahlers earned a double major in biology and theatre arts and a double minor in chemistry and psychology. She recently was cast in the films Well Done and Pretty Obsession.

Melvin La: My favorite hangout is the Rathskeller, UM’s studentrun restaurant. Located by the lake, it regularly features live bands, spoken word, and comedy acts, and it’s a great place to hang out after a long, hard day.

Melvin La earned a double major in biochemistry and microbiology and immunology. He also received minors in chemistry and biology.

Rachelle Weiner: I go to the Grove because there is always an eclectic mix of people who are all interested in having a good time.

I also like the Purdy Lounge in South Beach because it has fantastic DJs and a chill environment.

Kristina Astone graduated with a double major in psychology and anthropology and a minor in biology. Currently, she is working on a master of public health degree at Columbia University.

Rachelle Weiner is a theatre-arts major who plans to graduate in May 2011. This fall, she is studying acting at the Moscow Art Theatre in Russia.

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