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Who’s
Who Among American College Students
The following 31 Wells College
students been selected for Who’s Who Among Students in American Universities
and Colleges. Each year, Who’s Who bestows this honor on outstanding
campus leaders for their scholastic and community achievements. Wells College
joins more than 2,300 institutions nationwide in nominating students to
Who’s
Who Among Students in American Universities and Colleges, which rewards
and recognizes individual academic excellence on a national level. With
the support of prominent educational institutions in all sections of the
country, this program is today a true reflection of the caliber of the
American college student.
List
of Wells students selected for Who’s Who Among Students in American
Universities and Colleges (PDF)
June, 2009
Wells
College Announces 2009 Commencement Speaker
President Emerita
of Ithaca College to address Wells graduates on May 23
Wells
College President Lisa Marsh Ryerson has announced that Dr. Peggy Ryan
Williams, recently retired president emerita of Ithaca College, will be
Wells’ 2009 commencement speaker. This year’s ceremony will take
place at the Aurora Inn on Saturday, May 23.
Dr. Peggy R. Williams served
as the first woman and seventh president of Ithaca College for eleven years
(1997-2008). Previously, she was president of Lyndon State College in Lyndonville,
Vt. As president of Ithaca College, her key accomplishments included developing
a campus master plan that included construction of one of the first 100
buildings in the world to achieve platinum LEED certification; leading
the largest fundraising campaign in the college’s history; increasing and
stabilizing their enrollment while improving the academic profile of the
student body; and adding new academic programs, including IC’s first doctoral
program.
“Peggy Williams is a higher
education leader who really understands the liberal arts, and as a long-time
friend and neighbor, she has a special understanding of and affection for
Wells,” said President Ryerson. “It is my great pleasure to welcome my
colleague Peggy Williams as our 2009 commencement speaker.”
Active in her communities,
Dr. Williams was a member of the NCAA Division III Presidents Council and
its subcommittee on Gender and Diversity Issues; served on the boards of
the Canada-U.S. Foundation for Educational Exchange (Fulbright) and the
American Council on Education, where she chaired the Commission on Women;
and currently serves on the boards of St. Michael's College (Vt.) and the
Tompkins Trust Company. In February, Williams received the American Council
on Education’s Donna Shavlik Award, given annually to an individual whose
leadership has demonstrated a sustained and continuing commitment to the
advancement of women. A dedicated athlete, she regularly participates in
Women Swimmin', a swim across Cayuga Lake to benefit Hospicare and Palliative
Care Services, and the AIDS Ride for Life.
Upon the conclusion of Dr.
Williams’ presidency at Ithaca College, their board of trustees endowed
a new discussion symposium in her honor. The Peggy R. Williams Difficult
Dialogues Symposium is designed to “explore intellectual diversity and
academic freedom through discussions by prominent global leaders who will
present on important, far-reaching topics.” In addition, Ithaca’s new administration
building has been named for her – the Peggy Ryan Williams Center – and
the Peggy R. Williams Award for Academic and Community Leadership is given
annually to students who show achievement in both academic and nonacademic
areas.
Williams holds a bachelor
of arts degree in psychology from St. Michael's College of the University
of Toronto; a master of education degree from the University of Vermont;
and a doctorate in administration, planning, and social policy from Harvard.
Wells College expects to
confer degrees on more than 100 students this spring. Weather permitting,
Commencement ceremonies will take place at 10:00 am at the Aurora Inn,
Main Street, on Saturday, May 23. Guests are asked to park on campus in
the Woods Lot; vans will make free runs to the Inn starting at 9:00 am.
Rain location is Phipps Auditorium; seating will be for graduates and their
ticketed guests only. The morning’s schedule is below:
-
7:30 – 9:00 am Stagecoach
rides for seniors and their families in front of Main Bldg
-
9:00 am Shuttles begin
from Woods Lot to Inn
-
10:00 am Commencement
ceremony
-
11:30 – 1:00 pm Light brunch
will be served in the College’s dining hall; cost is $8.25 per person
May, 2009
Wells
College Presents Annual Senior Art Exhibit
Five graduates display
paintings, sculpture, and book arts as part of senior thesis project
The
Wells College Art Department is pleased to present the annual spring senior
thesis exhibit featuring paintings, sculpture, and book arts by five Class
of 2009 graduates. The show opens Monday, May 11 in the String Room Gallery,
Main Building, and will run through May 25. The public is cordially invited
to view the free exhibit. An opening reception on May 11 from 6:00-8:00
p.m. will offer an opportunity to meet the student artists and a chance
to discuss their work; light refreshments will be served.
Katherine Arcate,
a native of Sleepy Hollow, N.Y., is the first Wells College student to
graduate with an Art of the Book major. Katherine, daughter of Jack and
Tina Arcate, helped design her own individualized major, which combines
aspects from the College’s existing Visual Arts major and the Book Arts
minor. Book Arts is the study of calligraphy, binding and printmaking.
However, the Visual Arts facet of the Art of the Book major is important,
Katherine says, because a foundation in painting and drawing is important
to all art majors. “The visual arts fundamentals have helped me work out
and conceive my ideas,” she said.
Katherine’s thesis is a rendition
of an eighteenth century version of “Little Red Riding Hood.” Creating
the book required carving linoleum for printing, shaping puppet cut-outs,
and binding several copies of the book. The book invites the viewer to
participate in the storytelling by using puppets to act out scenes. Katherine
believes people should play with books no matter their age and hopes to
encourage physical connections between art and viewer through play.
Alexandra Beck of
Carthage, N.Y. holds a concentration in studio art and a minor in Environmental
Studies. Alexandra’s senior thesis is themed around a series of stylized
European landscape paintings that incorporate text over the images. Alexandra’s
oil paintings depict various landscapes and seascapes that reflect her
interpretation of her experience abroad.
Having studied abroad in
Bath, England, during the spring of 2008, Alexandra hopes to continue a
master’s degree abroad, pursuing landscape architecture.
Marina Loew of Dryden,
N.Y. is a visual arts major with a concentration in studio art. Inspired
by a semester abroad in Florence, Italy, Marina’s thesis focuses on bird
flock formation, socialization, and interaction within space. Using different
types of wire and a pair of pliers, she has created a 3D menagerie of birds,
from crows and parrots to a life-sized ostrich. Her work is reminiscent
of the wire sculpture of artist Alexander Calder; it mimics the sketch-like
quality of his creations, while at the same time portraying her own unique
style. Many of Marina’s pieces hang in space, giving visitors the ability
to walk underneath the birds and admire them above, frozen in mid-flight.
After graduation Marina plans
on working in Washington, D.C., after which she will continue her passion
for art by going to graduate school in an as-yet-to-be-determined location
in the British Isles.
Robert LoMascolo of
Union Springs, N.Y. is a visual arts major and book arts minor. His thesis
was principally inspired by a trip that he took to Spain while at Wells.
During his visit to Valencia, he was deeply moved by the architecture of
Santiago Calatrava. Having always had an interest and fascination with
architecture, Calatrava's modern, white, sculptural edifices inspired Rob
to emulate the essence of the architectural forms in his own work.
"I wanted to create a sense
of dynamic rhythm and movement using cohesive elements, simplistic in form
and color, which would capture negative space and show the interplay of
light and shadow," he said.
Rob enjoys working in ceramics
because of the plasticity of the medium, allowing structures that are not
otherwise achievable. The sculptures, though often heavy and complex in
execution, produce a dramatic and seemingly gravity defiant effect. After
graduating from Wells, Rob hopes to pursue his M.F.A. at the University
of Alabama.
Jessica Stanton of
Union Springs, N.Y. is a visual art major with a concentration in studio
art. Jessica has loved art for as long as she can remember, and her time
spent at Wells has only increased that love. Wells has allowed her to explore
many different styles and techniques, which enabled her to find her own
voice in the art world. Texture and particularly color have always interested
her and that is what she has decided to focus her senior thesis on. Using
geometric design, Jessica explores how color and texture work with and
against each other. Jessica plans on continuing her painting while taking
time off, before looking at graduate schools.
Senior theses are the culminating
requirement of study at Wells College. Art seniors are expected to plan
and implement the entire exhibit, including the creation of the artwork
to be shown, hanging the pieces and preparing the gallery, coordinating
the reception, and promoting the show. Art professors William Roberts and
Ted Lossowski guide the students’ work in the studios and oversee the installation
of the show.
The String Room Gallery is
located in Main Building. Hours are Monday through Friday from 9:00 a.m.
to 5:00 p.m., Wednesday evenings from 7:00 p.m. to 9:00 p.m., and Saturday
and Sunday from 1:00 p.m. to 4:00 p.m. For more information about the senior
art show, please contact Professor Lossowski at 315/364-3344 and go to
www.wells.edu/stringroomgallery/
May, 2009
Wells
College Announces 2009 Alumnae Award Recipient
Wells woman honored
for her distinctive contributions in the field of virology
Carrie
Bolton, president of the Wells College Alumnae Association, has announced
the College’s 2009 Alumnae Award recipient. Dr. Dorothea “Thea” Smith
Sawicki, Class of 1966, of Toledo, Ohio will be recognized on Saturday,
May 30 during Wells’ annual Reunion Weekend.
The Wells College Alumnae
Award honors Wells women of high achievement in professions and careers,
in volunteer and community work, in service to their alma mater, or in
some combination of these endeavors.
After graduating from Wells
in 1966 with her degree in biology, Dr. Dorothea Sawicki earned a Ph.D.
in microbiology from Columbia University and conducted post-doctoral work
at the Sloan-Kettering Institute for Cancer Research from 1972-1977. For
over thirty years, she has taught at the University of Toledo College of
Medicine, formerly the Medical College of Ohio, where she held the positions
of assistant professor; associate professor; professor; director of the
molecular and cellular biology training program; and currently, professor
and director of the infection, immunity and transplantation track.
Dr. Sawicki is recognized
as an international authority on the replication of alphaviruses. Her research
has focused on the mechanisms used by alphaviruses and related groups of
animal and plant RNA viruses to control the synthesis of their viral RNA
genome. Alphaviruses are spread by mosquito bites and cause disease mainly
when they attack the brain, but can also produce severe joint pain. By
looking at how viral RNA synthesis is controlled in infected cells, her
studies could potentially lead to the development of new anti-viral agents
that target viral RNA synthesis. She also collaborates on the study of
coronaviruses with her husband, Dr. Stanley Sawicki, also a professor at
the University of Toledo. Coronaviruses cause such diseases as the common
cold and Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome (SARS) in humans.
According to Dr. Peter Palese,
professor of medicine and infectious diseases and chair of microbiology
at Mount Sinai School of Medicine, “Dr. Sawicki is one of the most prominent
RNA virologists in the country and she has been at the forefront of this
field for several decades.” Dr. Stuart Siddell of the University of Bristol
(England) concurs, stating that Dr. Sawicki is “acknowledged as a world
authority in her specialist research area.”
In addition to her work as
a teacher, advisor, and researcher, Dr. Sawicki sits on the scientific
advisory committees for the National Institute for Allergy & Infectious
Diseases, the National Institutes of Health, and the USDA. She serves the
virology community as secretary-treasurer of the American Society of Virology
(ASV), and has also served on the editorial boards of a number of scientific
journals, spoken at national and international conferences, and published
more than 40 articles.
Dr. Sawicki’s dedication
and hard work are substantiated by many of the awards she has won from
her colleagues and students. She has been the recipient of the Dean’s Award
for Teaching Excellence, the University of Toledo’s Women’s Commission
Award, and the Dean’s Award for Mentoring. She has also been an American
Red Cross Scientific Council honoree, chair of Division T for the American
Society for Microbiology, and chair of the program committee for the ASV.
The Wells College Alumnae
Award was established in 1968 as part of the Wells Centennial Celebration,
and is presented by the President of the College at a convocation ceremony
held during Reunion Weekend each spring.
For additional information
about Dorothea Smith Sawicki and the annual Alumnae Award at Wells College,
please contact Director of Publications & Media Relations Kelly Buck
at 315/364-3260.
May, 2009
Swine
Flu Alert
Dean of Students
Anne Lundquist shares the following information with Wells students, faculty
and staff
On Saturday, April 25, the
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) issued a Health Alert
for Swine Flu.
The attached
document summarizes the CDC information on the characteristics,
symptoms, precautions and treatments relative to the Swine Flu. You may
also get more information at www.cdc.gov.
We have reviewed the Wells College campus-wide Critical Incident Response
Plan and have an action plan in place to respond to a health-related emergency
and notify the community.
If you are concerned about
your risk or have symptoms associated with the Swine Flu, please contact
your physician, the Medical Center (315.364.3273), the Cayuga County Health
Department Swine Flu Hotline (315.253.1157) or the New York State Department
of Health (1-800-808-1987).
April, 2009
Spring
Choir Concert at Wells College
Annual spring performance
– “Music for Springtime”
The
Wells College choral ensembles, conducted by Professor of Music Crawford
Thoburn and accompanied by Russell Posegate, will present “Music for Springtime”
on Sunday afternoon, May 3. The concert will begin at 4:00 pm in Barler
Recital Hall. Admission is free, and the public is cordially invited to
attend.
The program will feature
a wide variety of great choral literature from the 16th century to the
present, sung by the three College ensembles. The Women's and Men's Ensembles
will each present selections from their own repertoires, and the two groups
will combine to perform works for mixed voices.
The women will sing music
by Benedetto Marcello, Felix Mendelssohn, Eugene Butler and Matyas Seiber,
while the men will perform works by Heinrich Schuetz, Mendelssohn and Richard
Rodgers. The mixed voice Concert Choir will sing music by Ludovico Viadana,
Tomas Luis de Victoria, Heinrich Schuetz, Orlando di Lasso, John Bennet,
Piotyr Ivanov, Elizabeth Poston, and George Frederick Handel, as well as
an Afro-American spiritual arranged by William Dawson and a Czech folksong
arranged by Morten J. Luvaas.
For more information about
the spring concert and musical offerings at Wells, please contact Professor
Thoburn at 315/364-3347
April, 2009
Wells
College Presents a Play on Women & War
“Valiant” examines
war from the perspective of affected women
The
Wells College Arts & Lecture Series welcomes playwright Lanna Joffrey
and “Valiant” to campus on Saturday evening, May 2. The play will be presented
in Phipps Auditorium, Macmillan Hall, at 7:30 pm. Prices are $10 for the
general public; $5 for students, seniors, children, and the Wells College
community; and free for Wells students with ID. Tickets are available at
the door the night of the show or from the box office the preceding week;
call 315/364-3456 to reserve seats.
Adapted by Lanna Joffrey
from Sally Hayton-Keeva’s book Valiant Women in War and Exile, the play
“Valiant” is a documentary theatre piece based on interviews with women
from Japan, Afghanistan, Northern Ireland, Russia, the United States, Armenia,
Hungary, El Salvador, and the Philippines. Whether victim, soldier, or
peacemaker, these women have fought, struggled, and survived. “Valiant”
explores the causes and consequences of war, and asks the question: “Can
we redeem ourselves?”
Assistant Professor of Theatre
Siouxsie Grady was instrumental in bringing “Valiant” to campus. “This
strong group of artists is sure to bring an insightful evening of theatre
to Wells College,” she said. “The impact of this powerful drama is especially
timely and I expect it will speak many in the audience.”
The cast, Tami Dixon, Lanna
Joffrey, and Sharahn LaRue, received a nomination for a 2006 New York Innovative
Theatre Award for Outstanding Ensemble; Joffrey earned a 2004 New York
International Fringe Festival Overall Excellence in Performance Award.
Each year, the Wells College
Arts & Lecture Series brings professional artists to campus to perform,
to speak on relevant issues, and to represent the disciplines of theatre,
music, and dance. Groups and individuals are selected annually by a committee
composed of Wells faculty, staff and students.
For more information about
“Valiant” and the Wells Arts & Lecture Series, please contact Rebecca
Cooper, Series Coordinator, at 315/364-3330. More information about “Valiant”
may be found at www.valiant.tamilla.com/.
April, 2009
Wells
College, Southern Cayuga Schools Strengthen Partnership
Collaborative approach
benefits district and college
Wells College and the Southern
Cayuga Central School District have enjoyed a special relationship for
years. To strengthen this long-standing relationship, the two schools established
in 2006 a formal partnership to enrich academic opportunity across disciplines,
encourage greater communication between the schools, and share important
resources and facilities.
The Wells/SCCS Partnership
has developed a Statement of Purpose which states in part that the two
schools are “committed to developing an open, collaborative relationship
that supports the development of both institutions and the individuals
who work and learn within them. Our goals are to develop opportunities
for personal and professional growth, reciprocal support, shared resources,
and joint community service. We believe that if we pool our assets, we
can enhance the education of our students and the lives of all within our
communities.”
Comprised of representatives
from Southern Cayuga high school and middle school, Emily Howland elementary
school, and Wells College, the Partnership is jointly led by Wells College
President Lisa Marsh Ryerson and SCCS Superintendent Mary Kay Worth. The
committee meets quarterly over the 10-month academic year.
According to Mary Kay Worth,
“This committee expresses the power of a true partnership and has steadily
grown in enthusiasm and commitment over the past three years. We keep finding
new ways to benefit our student populations, our community, and our faculty
and staff. Our collaboration on behalf of education in our community remains
strong.”
The Wells/SCCS partnership
has recently clarified its goals in an action plan that will guide its
work in the future. Some of the accomplishments already realized include
sharing resources such as facilities, athletics and academic spaces, conference
rooms, theatres, libraries and more. The Wells College String Room Gallery
hosted an art exhibition by SCCS students in January, and faculty from
Wells collaborated with SCCS in the use of the Floating Classroom. SCCS
faculty and staff enjoy discounts at Wells’ fitness center and free use
of materials at the College library. One of the most successful ventures
has been the after school foreign language program, where Wells College
students work with middle and elementary school students on foreign language
and cross cultural skills.
“This partnership with our
neighbors at Southern Cayuga brings our collective strengths to the table,”
said Wells President Lisa Marsh Ryerson. “It creates opportunities that
directly support the intellectual and physical development of the students
in both institutions, and it has been a delight to work with my colleagues
in the local school district.”
Future plans under discussion
include further development of resource sharing, creation of a logo to
promote the partnership, and other shared teaching and learning opportunities.
For more information about
the Wells/Southern Cayuga Partnership, please contact the Wells College
President’s Office at 315/364-3265 or the Southern Cayuga School District
Office at 315/364-7211. Learn more about both schools online at www.wells.edu
and www.southerncayuga.org.
SCCS is at the heart of southern
Cayuga County. The Southern Cayuga Central School District supports a full
pre-K–12 program offering two full-day preschool programs and many college
course offerings to its high school students. Technology resources are
evident throughout the school. Agriculture and FFA are strong suits while
athletics, music, art and drama thrive, allowing students to pursue individual
strengths and interest during and after school. The campus boasts
a pool, planetarium, observatory, and greenhouse used by students and community
members alike.
Wells College is a nationally
recognized private coeducational liberal arts college located in Aurora,
New York, on the eastern shore of Cayuga Lake. It was established in 1868
by Henry Wells, founder of the Wells Fargo and American Express Companies.
The College is known as an exceptional value, pairing top quality academic
programs with affordable tuition. Wells boasts small class sizes, an extensive
experiential learning program, and a wide range of off-campus study options.
The academic program allows students substantial freedom to create individually
unique educational experiences. Small, smart, and connected to the world
around it, Wells is currently strengthening its off-campus study offerings
and introducing new athletics programs.
April, 2009
Wells
College Celebrates Earth Day
Scientist Emeritus
from the Boyce Thompson Institute gives lecture on responsible resource
use
Dr.
A. Carl Leopold of the Boyce Thompson Institute at Cornell University will
give a lecture at Wells College in celebration of Earth Day. The free talk,
“‘The Land Ethic’ and the Aldo Leopold Legacy,” will take place on Wednesday,
April 22 at 4:30 pm in Stratton Hall 209. All are invited to attend.
Carl Leopold is the William
H. Crocker Scientist Emeritus at the Boyce Thompson Institute, a private
plant research institute affiliated with Cornell University; he joined
the Institute in 1977. Dr. Leopold has earned international recognition
in the fields of plant development and physiology, including groundbreaking
work on the drought tolerance of seeds. He has served as an officer or
on the governing boards of a number of scholarly societies, and he is a
Fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science. He is
a founding member of the Finger Lakes Land Trust; Greensprings, an organization
promoting earth-friendly burial; and the Tropical Forestry Initiative in
Costa Rica, which is engaged in returning land formerly cleared for agriculture
to tropical forest.
Dr. Leopold is the son of
Aldo Leopold (1887-1948), known as “the father of wildlife ecology” and
author of A Sand County Almanac. In “The Land Ethic,” a chapter
of the Almanac, Aldo Leopold delves into land conservation and the
state of harmony between man and the land, and details what has come to
be called the “ecological-evolutionary” approach to managing natural resources.
Dr. Carl Leopold’s lecture will focus on the theories and practices of
these well-known works.
The annual Earth Day lecture
is a small part of Wells’ ongoing environmental efforts to reduce the College’s
carbon footprint. In October, Wells President Lisa Marsh Ryerson signed
the American College and University Presidents Climate Commitment in October,
joining an ever-growing national movement in which institutions of higher
learning pledge to set a positive example in the fields of environmental
ethics and sustainability.
For more information about
Dr. Leopold’s Earth Day lecture at Wells College, please contact Professor
Thomas Vawter at 315/364-3269.
April, 2009
Wells
Presents Experimental Performance Piece
“Frames” explores
stereotypes by focusing audience attention
It is said “dancing is about
the feet;” “acting is all in the eyes;” “Italians talk with their hands.”
During the Wells Performing Arts Department’s presentation of Frames,
these stereotypes and perceptions are explored. Frames will be presented
at 7:00 pm on Friday, April 24, in the Art Exhibit Room, Macmillan Hall;
the show is free and the public is welcome.
Frames is an experimental
dance piece that takes a look at stereotypes and perceptions related to
culture, dance, and performance by focusing attention on only one
part of the body, hiding the rest of the actor. Students will be
acting out monologues and scenes from plays ranging from Shakespeare to
Rumors
to modern dance, all hidden behind walls and screens except for the highlighted
part of the body. Lecturer in Performing Arts Roberta Kolpakas will
oversee the student designers for Frames; Assistant Professor of Theatre
Siouxsie Grady will supervise the directorial and acting students.
“We like to provide an opportunity
for our students to act and design in a non-traditional setting,” says
Ms. Kolpakas about Wells’ recent experimental performance exhibitions.
“It provides the Performing Arts faculty with a chance to explore different
topics and share our explorations with the faculty, staff, students, and
the community in a creative manner. For example, with Frames,
we are exploring human communication – how much our body language is a
part of how we speak to each other. I’m excited to see the performance
to find out how well we can understand the monologues without many physical
or visual cues.”
For more information about
Frames
and other theatrical productions at Wells, please contact Ms. Kolpakas
or Professor Grady at 315/364-3232.
.
April, 2009
Spring
Weekend Celebration at Wells College
“Coney Island” festivities
include carnival games, live music, fireworks
The Wells College Programming
Board is pleased to announce Spring Weekend 2009: Coney Island.
On Saturday, April 25, Coney Island will take place on the
Wells College campus on Route 90 (Main Street) in the village of Aurora.
Admission is $5 general admission; $2 for seniors, children, and non-Wells
students. Coney Island is free for Wells students and employees.
Gates open at 11:00 am and
the fun runs until 3:00 pm on the front lawn of Main Building (inside the
Sommer Center in case of inclement weather). Special novelty activities
include a bounce house, carnival games, a photo booth, henna artist, and
a beer tasting (for those of age). The public is invited to bring a blanket
or lawn chair and enjoy vendor booths, dancing, craft tables, and more.
Beer, soft drinks, and food will be available for purchase. No recording
devices, coolers or outside food or beverages permitted.
Beginning at 7:00 pm, fans
are invited back for live music presented by three bands. The concert features
tunes by indie band Control Escape and classic rocker Dan Wolf, followed
by headliners Big Eyed Phish, a Dave Matthews tribute band. A brilliant
fireworks display over Cayuga Lake will cap off the festivities at 10:00
pm. Concert admission is included in the Spring Weekend entry fee.
Coney Island
will be held rain or shine. For more information, please contact Becca
Cooper, programming coordinator, at 315/364-3330.
April, 2009
Wells
College Hosts Poetry Reading
Christina Pugh returns
to read from her new book Restoration
The
Wells College Visiting Writer Series is pleased to welcome poet and author
Christina Pugh back to campus for a reading on Wednesday, April 15. Ms.
Pugh’s presentation will take place at 7:30 pm in the Art Exhibit Room,
Macmillan Hall; she will read from her latest book of poetry Restoration.
The free event will be followed by a reception with an opportunity to meet
the writer; light refreshments will be served.
Christina Pugh is the author
of two books of poetry: Restoration (Northwestern University Press
/ TriQuarterly Books, 2008) and Rotary (Word Press, 2004), which
received the Word Press First Book Prize. She has also published a chapbook,
Gardening
at Dusk (Wells College Press, 2002). She is currently completing two
book projects: Grains of the Voice, a collection of poems which
takes the sonnet’s volta as a formal principle guiding the construction
of contemplative free verse, and a book of literary criticism on ekphrasis
(poems about art) in twentieth-century American poetry.
Pugh received the Lucille
Medwick Memorial Award from the Poetry Society of America in 2008, a fellowship
in poetry from the Illinois Arts Council in 2007, and a faculty fellowship
from the Institute for the Humanities at the University of Illinois at
Chicago in 2007-2008. She has also been awarded the Grolier Poetry Prize,
the Ruth Lilly Poetry Fellowship from Poetry magazine, the Intro Journals
Award from the Associated Writing Programs, a Whiting Fellowship for the
Humanities, and residencies at the Ragdale and Ucross colonies. Her poetry
has appeared in The Atlantic Monthly, Poetry, TriQuarterly, Ploughshares,
and other publications, and has been anthologized in Poetry 180
(Random House, 2003).
In addition to her own poems,
Pugh has published numerous articles on poetry and poetics. Her criticism
has appeared most recently in Poetry, Verse, The Emily Dickinson Journal,
and in Originality, Imitation, Plagiarism (University of Michigan
Press, 2008). She is an assistant professor in the Program for Writers
at the University of Illinois at Chicago.
Ms. Pugh will also give a
poetry workshop and meet with writing classes during her time on the Wells
campus.
As part of the Wells College
Visiting Writer Series, poets and writers are invited to campus throughout
the academic year to meet with students, present writing workshops, and
read from their respective works.
For more information about
this and other readings at Wells, please contact Professor Bruce Bennett
at 315.364.3228.
April, 2009
Wells
College Hosts Director of the Democracy Imperative
Nancy Thomas to speak
on democracy and higher education
On Thursday, April 16, Nancy
Thomas, director of the University of New Hampshire’s The Democracy Imperative,
will visit the Wells College campus to give a presentation entitled “Deliberative
Democracy and Higher Education.“ Her talk will take place at 12:30 pm in
the Art Exhibit Room, Macmillan Hall. The event is free and the public
is invited to attend.
Nancy Thomas uses her experience
with leadership, conflict prevention, diversity, and ethics to assist universities
and schools with specialized programs and forums. In addition to her work
with The Democracy Imperative, Thomas has served as director of the Democracy
Project and the Religion and Public Life initiatives for the Society for
Values in Higher Education; director of Listening to Communities for the
American Council on Education; and senior associate at the New England
Resource Center for Higher Education. She has written many articles and
book chapters related to democracy, constitutional principles, and higher
education.
Dr. Thomas earned her A.B.
from St. Lawrence University, a Juris Doctorate from Case Western Reserve
University School of Law, and her Ed.D. from the Harvard Graduate School
of Education.
The Democracy Imperative-Mobilizing
Higher Education for Deliberative Democracy is a resource center and national
network of scholars and civic and campus leaders. This group attempts to
support and promote community dialogues about issues of social identity,
democracy, and civil liberty. The Democracy Imperative is sponsored by
the University of New Hampshire.
This lecture is part of Wells’
Inclusive and Intercultural Excellence Series, an annual year-long event.
The series aims to engage the greater Wells community in considering issues
of interculturalism and inclusiveness at the institutional, local, national,
and global levels. For the 2008-09 year, its theme is Transcending Boundaries
through Democratic Practice.
For more information about
this lecture and the Inclusive and Intercultural Excellence Series at Wells,
please contact Director of Institutional Diversity Stephen Gilchrist at
315/364-3463. More on The Democracy Imperative may be found at www.unh.edu/democracy/index.html.
April, 2009
Spring
Faculty Dance Concert at Wells College
“Dancing Room” is
alternative, informal studio performance
The
Wells College Performing Arts Department is pleased to present Dancing
Room, an informal studio concert conceived and directed by Robert D.
and Henrietta T. Campbell Professor of Dance Jeanne Goddard. Performances
are Monday, April 13 and Tuesday, April 14 at 7:00 pm in the Schwartz Athletic
Center dance studio. There is no admission charge and the public is warmly
invited to attend. Refreshments will be available before and after the
performance.
Dancing Room, performed
in the studio where Wells College students take their daily classes, places
the emphasis on community, on dance, and on creative process as a part
of the college experience. Professor Goddard says, “This room, this floor,
is an inclusive space, a familiar space, a comfortable space.” Audiences
will experience original dance works “up close and personal” and have an
opportunity to talk with the choreographers and the performers.
“When I was awarded the Campbell
professorship, I was both honored by the award and inspired,” said Goddard.
“I wanted to create a particular type of dance concert that would provide
for the Wells community an alternative to our more formal productions in
Phipps Auditorium.” This year’s concert will be the first in a series of
five.
Dancing Room showcases
both student and faculty choreography, including a number of premiers.
Guest artist Elizabeth Wilmot-Bishop’s tap class will perform, and students
from the Women Making Dance seminar, Sarah Clark ’11, Rebecca Danis ’10,
Catherine Marshall ’11, Khadeja Merenkov ’11, and Shannon Sass ’10, will
show “Where I Come From,” a suite of original dance studies on the theme
of character and place.
Professor Goddard will premier
“And so…,” a bittersweet quintet set to Max Bruch’s haunting “Kol Nidre”
that she describes as “a gift” for dancers Arianna Bickford ’12, Heather
Frost ’09, Eden Kostick ’10, Iivy Murphy ’09, and Tiffany Orellana ’09.
She will also restage her absurdist piece, “Those Ducks Aren’t Bobbing
for Golf Balls” with baritone Steven Stull and pianist Russell Posegate
performing the songs of Franz Schubert and Ralph Vaughan Williams. Mr.
Posegate and Mr. Stull will perform additional music on the program, and
Professor Goddard promises a choreographic tribute to her dog, Hazelnut.
Student members of the Wells
Dance Ensemble are: Ryan Addario ’10, Brittany Bouchard ’11, Megan Chamberlain
’08, Michelle Chase ’11, Sara Chiochetti ’11, Mary Gooding ’10, Janin Hendry
’08, Kostick, Marshall, Murphy, Orellana, Julia Swisher ’09, and Michaela
Wilson ’11.
For more information about
the Dancing Room concert, please contact Professor Goddard at 315/364-3213.
April, 2009
Wells
College Presents Absurdist Drama
Students will perform
a pair of one-act plays
The Wells College Theatre
Department presents Escurial and The Maids, two plays from
the Absurdist movement. Performances will take place on Friday and Saturday,
April 3 and 4, at 7:30 pm, with a Sunday matinee on April 5 at 2:00 pm
in Phipps Auditorium, Macmillan Hall. The show is free and the public is
warmly invited to attend.
Beginning Monday, March 30
and leading up to the weekend performances, Wells will host “Absurd Week,”
a series of events related to the Theatre of the Absurd. Each afternoon
at 2:30, there will be a featured presentation in the Art Exhibit Room,
Macmillan Hall. Faculty from various disciplines will lead round-table
discussions, lecture, or give visual presentations based on the Absurdist
movement and the specific plays being performed.
Absurd Week culminates with
two plays. The first performance, Michel De Ghelderode’s Escurial,
is a story in which a king and jester switch roles while waiting for the
queen’s death to be announced. Wells’ Technical Director and Facilities
Manager Joe DeForest will direct the play. “It has all the elements that
have always drawn me to theatre,” he says. “It is the consummate story,
complete with twists and turns, comedy and tragedy, and abundantly descriptive
to its scenic mien.”
The second performance is
Jean Genet’s The Maids. In this play, based on the true story of
Christine and Lea Papin, two sisters working as maids plot to murder their
mistress in 1933 France. “I’ve been interested in directing an absurdist
play for some time,” says director Siouxsie Grady, assistant professor
of theatre at Wells. “I am completely fascinated by the relationships and
characters in this play.”
In addition to the plays,
each program will feature a short original dance choreographed by Wells
students Eden Kostick ’10 and Arianna Bickford ’12. Scene and costume designs
by Roberta Kolpakas and lighting design by DeForest tie the pieces together.
Due to intense moments, adult themes, and strong language, the production
is recommended for ages 16 and up. Escurial and The Maids
are produced by special arrangement with Samuel French, Inc.
For more information about
these performances and other theatrical productions at Wells, please contact
Ms. Kolpakas or Professor Grady at 315/364-3232.
March, 2009
Wells
College Hosts Distinguished Literary Critic
M. H. Abrams will
speak on British poetry
IThe Wells College Visiting
Writer Series is pleased to announce that distinguished scholar and literary
critic M. H. Abrams will return to campus to give an informal lecture on
British poetry and the art of reading poetry aloud. The discussion will
be held on Thursday, April 2 at 4:45 pm in the Art Exhibit Room, Macmillan
Hall. The free event will be followed by a reception with an opportunity
to meet Abrams; light refreshments will be served.
M.H. Abrams is professor
emeritus of English at Cornell University, where he began teaching in 1945.
Abrams has earned widespread acclaim as the author of several books on
literary theory. Two are regarded as among the most important and influential
works of 20th century literary criticism: The Mirror and the Lamp: Romantic
Theory and the Critical Tradition received the 1954 Phi Beta Kappa
Christian Gauss Prize, and Natural Supernaturalism: Tradition and Evolution
in Romantic Literature was the recipient of the 1972 James Russell
Lowell Prize.
Abrams is also the founding
editor of the internationally successful Norton Anthology of English
Literature and The Glossary of Literary Terms.
A preeminent scholar of English
literature, Abrams is a Harvard alumnus, earning his A.B. in 1934, A.M.
in 1937, and Ph.D. in 1940. He was a Henry Fellow at Cambridge University
in 1934-35. His honors include the 1984 Award in Humanistic Studies from
the American Academy of Arts and Sciences, the 1987 Distinguished Scholar
Award from the Keats-Shelley Society, and the 1990 Award for Literature
from the American Academy and Institute of Arts and Letters.
The Wells College Visiting
Writer Series invites poets and writers to campus throughout the academic
year to meet with students, present writing workshops, and read from their
respective works.
For more information about
Dr. Abrams’ lecture, please contact Professor Catherine Burroughs at 315/364-3247.
March, 2009
Wells
College Inaugural Men’s Basketball Season Finishes with a Bang
The Express one step
away from NCAA tournament berth
In
what was one of the most remarkable seasons in recent Wells athletic history,
the inaugural men’s basketball season concluded on March 1, one game away
from a berth in the NCAA Division III men’s basketball tournament. Once
the dust had settled, the team finished the season with a 14-14 record.
Yet the real story is that
six freshmen and four juniors, representing four different states, came
together under Head Coach Joe Wojtylko to build a men’s basketball program
at Wells College. Due to fire code regulations that precluded them from
playing in their new home court this year, the team played 25 of their
28 games on the road; three home games were played without spectators.
Despite these challenges, ten players and one determined coach built in
one season a Wells basketball team that became one of the more competitive
programs in the conference.
The Express earned their
first win in program history on November 18, defeating Hilbert College
77-59. Although they would start 1-6, the Express found their stride and
ended the rest of the season 11-7, ultimately earning the No. 3 seed in
the conference tournament. After victories over SUNY Cobleskill and University
of Dallas, the Express fell to No. 1 SUNY IT 78-49 in the North Eastern
Athletic Conference tournament final game.
Among the lead players of
the year is two-time NEAC Player of the Week Darrell Bullock ’10 of Chicago.
Bullock’s 20.8 points per game (ppg) ranked him first in the conference
and 24th in the nation. Juan Paulino ‘11 of Bronx, NY averaged a double-double
(14.2 ppg, 14.6 rpg) for the season and was also named NEAC Player of the
Week in February.
Eight of the ten players
averaged over 16 minutes per game during the season. Five players averaged
over five points per game, with three averaging over ten points per game
(Bullock, Paulino, and freshman Greg Jones with 13.3 ppg).
The Express played such long-established
programs as Hobart, Hamilton, and Bates, defeating Hobart in the Regis
Holiday Tournament. They knocked off NEAC favorites D’Youville and
Keuka along the way, and although they watched another team walk off with
the conference championship, they finished their inaugural season with
heads held high, knowing every player there on Sunday would be back on
the court October 15 ready to write chapter two in the Wells College men’s
basketball history book.
Wells College is a National
Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) Division III member and joined the
North Eastern Athletic Conference (NEAC) in fall 2007. The College currently
offers the following intercollegiate teams — Women: field hockey, lacrosse,
soccer, softball, swimming, tennis, and cross country; a new basketball
program will be offered next winter at the club level and will elevate
to varsity the following year. Men: soccer, swimming, lacrosse, cross country,
and now basketball. A new mixed golf team will compete at the varsity level
this spring. The College continues to develop plans for additional sport
sponsorship that are inclusive of both men and women, and meet the needs
of college students today.
For more information about
Wells’ inaugural basketball season, please contact Sports Information Director
Aaron Bouyea via e-mail at abouyea@wells.edu.
Additional information about Wells athletics may be found at www.wells.edu/athletics.
March, 2009
Wells
College Continues Indigenous Women’s Speaker Series
Lecture features
Dartmouth College professor, tribal mentor
Dartmouth
College lecturer Vera Palmer will speak at Wells College on Monday, March
30. Her talk, “Kateri’s Way: Indigenous Politics of Mourning,” is the first
in Wells’ 2008-09 Indigenous Women’s Speaker Series. The free presentation
will begin at 12:30 pm in the Art Exhibit Room, Macmillan Hall; the public
is welcome to attend.
The lecture “Kateri’s Way:
Indigenous Politics of Mourning” focuses on the life of Kateri Tekakwitha
(1656-1680), a 17th century Iroquoian convert to Christianity. Kateri is
a candidate for canonization and may become the first American Indian female
saint. Palmer’s presentation reinforces Kateri’s cultural identity as a
Native by expanding notions of her indigenous life beyond Jesuit interpretations.
Vera Palmer is currently
a senior lecturer and tribal mentor in the Native American Studies Program
at Dartmouth College. While pursuing her master’s degree at Bryn Mawr College,
Palmer organized and led a Peace Studies Mission to several Anishinabe,
Diné, and Hopi communities to introduce students and faculty participants
to tribal leaders who work for justice and sovereignty. She also collaborated
with Bryn Mawr’s English and Philosophy departments to create and co-teach
the first Native American Literature course offered at that college. Before
leaving Philadelphia in 1995, she was awarded the Philadelphia Mayor’s
Commission Award—Women Who Make a Difference—for her activism on behalf
of the American Indian community.
Palmer is a recipient of
a Ford Foundation pre-doctoral fellowship and the Frances B. Allen Fellowship
at the D’Arcy McNickle Center for American Indian History at the Newberry
Library, Chicago. While teaching at Cornell University, she created the
Native American Indian Prisoners’ Support Program within two New York State
maximum security facilities. She received the Robinson-Appel Humanitarian
Award in recognition of her work on this project.
The Indigenous Women Speakers
Series was introduced last year as a way to augment Assistant Professor
of Women’s Studies Lisa Kahaleole Hall’s Indigenous Women’s Experiences
course, part of the College’s Women’s Studies and First Nations and Indigenous
Studies curriculum. The series aims to open discussion of relevant issues
to the broadest campus community. This talk is sponsored by the Women’s
Studies, Religion, and Sociology/Anthropology Departments and the Social
Science Colloquium.
For more information about
Vera Palmer’s talk and the Indigenous Women’s Speaker Series at Wells,
please call Assistant Professor Hall at 315.364.3272.
March, 2009
Wells
College Students Journey to Powershift 2009
Wells students join
forces with 10,000 other youth in Washington, D.C. to advocate for action
on climate, energy, economy
Twelve
Wells College students and two professors will join with others from Cornell
University, Ithaca College, Ithaca High School and the Alternative Community
School for Power Shift ’09 in Washington, D.C. this weekend. From
February 27 – March 2, more than 10,000 young leaders from across the country
will converge on the nation’s capital to demand that the President and
Congress pass a bold climate and energy policy that prioritizes renewable
energy, green job creation, and an aggressive cap on carbon emissions.
Wells’ participation is being
coordinated by seniors Tess Kahn, a history major from Woodstock, Vt.,
and international studies major Erin Hutton of Tampa, Fla.
“For Power Shift 2007, nearly
5,500 youth descended on Washington, D.C., entered the halls of Congress,
and rallied on the lawn of Capitol Hill to demand bold action on climate
change,” said Hutton. “Now, in the first 100 days of the Obama administration,
we’re ready to do it again with double that number. At Power Shift 2009,
we will work with our new government to demand swift action on climate
change.”
The Power Shift ’09 summit
kicks off this Friday, February 27 with a press conference featuring Nancy
Pelosi and youth leaders; it culminates on Monday, March 2 with a gathering
of thousands of youth on Capitol Hill. Musical guests include The Roots
and Santigold. The four-day summit will also feature a variety of seminars,
panels and workshops; a “green” career fair; legislative briefings and
activist trainings; and a day of action, where thousands of youth will
lobby their Congressional representatives on a number of issues, most particularly
the economy and the environment.
Currently, New York State
has the largest number of attendees — more than 900; about 1/5 of those
will be from colleges and universities in the Finger Lakes region. Wells’
contingent will be accompanied by Professors of Psychology Milene Morfei
and Deborah Gagnon.
“We are at a critical point
in our nation's history,” continues Hutton. “We have the chance to work
with our new leadership to build a new green economy and address our climate
crisis with the passage of bold climate and energy policies. We won’t allow
this moment to pass us by.”
Power Shift ’09 is organized
by the Energy Action Coalition, which has grown over the past four years
to include 50 national organizations, over 700 local groups and hundreds
of thousands of young people, all working together to successfully fight
for clean energy solutions and the creation of a new green economy.
For more information about
Wells’ participation in Power Shift ’09, please contact Professor Milene
Morfei at 315.364.3255. Additional information about Power Shift ’09 may
be found at: www.powershift09.org.
March, 2009
“SurfLand”
Art Exhibition Opens at Wells College
Photographs by Brooklyn
artist Joni Sternbach will be displayed
The
Wells College Visual Arts Department presents “SurfLand,” an exhibition
of tintype and digital photographs by Brooklyn artist Joni Sternbach. The
show, which focuses primarily on contemporary surfer culture, will be on
display in the String Room Gallery in Main Building from March 4 through
April 2. Admission is free and the public is cordially invited to view
the gallery. A reception on Wednesday, March 11 from 6:00-8:00 pm offers
an opportunity to meet the artist; light refreshments will be served.
“SurfLand” will feature photographs
by Joni Sternbach and a video piece co-created by Bruce Milne. All of the
works in this show have surfers as the subject and were shot using a 19th
century method known as the wet-plate process. The resulting image is a
one-of-a-kind photograph (tintype), as there is no negative; there are
ten tintype works in the exhibition. The other ten show images are archival
pigment prints (digital prints) modified from wet plate photographs. This
combination creates a tension between new and old media that offers a striking
contrast to modern methods of digital and electronic photography.
Photographer Joni Sternbach
has received numerous awards and recognition for her work, including 2007’s
Hardcover Monograph from Critical Mass; fellowships from the New York Foundation
for the Arts and its predecessor, Creative Artist Public Service; and residencies
with the Center for Land Use Interpretation in Wendover, Utah and with
Light Work at Syracuse University. Her work can be found in the collections
of the National Museum of American History at the Smithsonian, Houston’s
Museum of Fine Arts, the Saint Louis Art Museum, the Cleveland Museum of
Art, New York’s International Center of Photography, and Paris's Bibliothèque
nationale.
This exhibition was organized
by the artist and Wells’ Assistant Professor of Art History and String
Room Gallery Director William Ganis. “It’s great to have these compelling
images of summer beaches here to uplift us during mud season,” said Ganis.
“The artist photographs people from our day using a revitalized medium
– this results in a striking ambiguity whereby the subjects seem to be
both contemporary and from Victorian times.”
Ganis expands on these ideas
in an essay that accompanies the show.
The String Room Gallery is
located in Main Building. Hours are Monday through Friday from 9:00 a.m.
to 5:00 p.m., Thursday evenings from 7:00 p.m. to 9:00 p.m., and Saturday
and Sunday from 1:00 p.m. to 4:00 p.m. For more information about the show
at Wells, please contact String Room director William Ganis at 315/364-3465
and visit the Gallery’s
webpage.
March, 2009
Distinguished
Photographer to Lecture at Wells
Carrie Mae Weems
will speak on “Constructing History”
Wells
College has invited distinguished African-American photographer Carrie
Mae Weems to deliver this year’s Beckman Lecture. Weems will speak on “Constructing
History” on Wednesday, March 4. The lecture will begin at 4:45 pm in Macmillan
Hall’s Phipps Auditorium. The presentation is free and open to the public.
Weems has spent her professional
career examining issues of race and gender through photography, installation,
audio, and video. She has created a number of multimedia projects around
topics such as international humanitarian crises, U.S. traditions of education
for African Americans and Native Americans, racial and gender issues in
genetic research, family and personal identity, and the history of the
African diaspora.
“Despite the variety of my
explorations,” she says in her biography, “throughout it all, it has been
my contention that my responsibility as an artist is to work, to sing for
my supper, to make art, beautiful and powerful, that adds and reveals,
to beautify the mess of a messy world, to heal the sick and the helpless,
to shout bravely from the rooftops and storm-barricaded doors and voice
the specifics of our historic moment.”
Carrie Mae Weems has received
numerous awards and honors, including Women in Photography International’s
2005 Distinguished Photographer’s Award, the 1996 Alpert Award for Visual
Arts, and a 1994 Visual Arts Grant from the National Endowment for the
Arts. She has served as artist-in-residence at such institutions as Syracuse
University, Wellesley College, the Art Institute of Chicago, and the Rhode
Island School of Design. Her work has been displayed in one-person exhibitions
in many universities, at the Beacon Cultural Foundation, New York City’s
Museum of Modern Art, the Whitney Museum of American Art, and the National
Museum of Women in the Arts.
The Beckman Lecture Fund
was established in 1952 by three Wells alumnae. The Beckman sisters
endowed the fund “with sincere appreciation of the enduring character of
a Wells education.” They desired that Beckman lecturers “be distinguished
for creative work and the ability to teach. The lecturer should be an original
thinker, an artist in his or her field who can communicate easily and with
enthusiasm.”
For more information about
the Beckman Lecture and Carrie Mae Weems’ visit to campus, please contact
Kelly Buck Tehan, Director of Publications & Media Relations, at 315-364-3260
or email ktehan@wells.edu.
February, 2009
Lost
and Found at Wells College
Interdisciplinary
performance installation to be presented Feb. 27 - March 1
Wells
College is pleased to welcome the public to an interdisciplinary performance
work. The exhibit, Lost and Found, can be found in the String Room
Art Gallery from February 27–March 1. An opening reception will be held
on Friday, February 27 from 6:00–8:00 pm; the free live performance will
begin at 7:00 pm. A repeat performance will be presented at 7:00 pm on
Saturday, February 28. All are invited.
Lost and Found examines
the question “What don’t we go looking for?” It visually, interactively,
and aurally explores items and people that are lost to us, dance or talk
their way back, and are refused. The daytime exhibit features photography,
2-D and 3-D art, maps and collage. The evening performances also include
dance, theatre and music.
“I became intrigued with
items that are judged as ‘junk’ or ‘garbage’, but which are essentially
‘lost’,” says Assistant Professor of Theatre Siouxsie Grady. “What do we
discard—string, gum wrappers, people, gloves? When do we decide not to
look for them?”
Lost and Found is
the result of a collaboration between Grady and Professor of Dance Jeanne
Goddard. Contributing artists include Lecturer in Performing Arts Roberta
Kolpakas of Ithaca; interdisciplinary artists Robert Conlon of Sienna Heights
College and Caron Gonthier of New Hampshire; and Wells College students
from the Women Making Dance course: Sarah Clark ’11, Becca Danis
’10, Elsa Dial ’11, Cat Marshall ’11, Khadeja Merenkov ’11, and Shannon
Sass ’10. The score will include an original soundscape by local musician
Ethan MacCormick of Aurora and a sound design by Sarah Clark. Students
from the Production Practical course have also contributed many hours to
the design and execution of the exhibit.
The String Room Gallery is
located in Main Building. Hours are Monday through Friday from 9:00 am
to 5:00 pm, Wednesday evenings from 7:00 pm to 9:00 pm, and Saturday and
Sunday from 1:00 pm to 4:00 pm. For this show, the gallery will also be
open from 7:00-9:00 pm on February 27 and 28.
For more information about
Lost and Found, please contact Assistant Professor Grady at 315/364-3232
and visit http://www.wells.edu/stringroomgallery/exhibitions/lost/lost1.htm.
February, 2009
Wells
College Hosts Discussion by International Human Rights Activist
Georgian human rights
lawyer, Cornell fellow Anna Dolidze discusses Russian conflict
On
Monday, November 3, Wells College welcomes human rights activist Anna Dolidze,
who will give a talk on “International Human Rights and the Current Georgian/Russian
Conflict.” Her presentation will take place at 12:30 pm in the Art Exhibit
Room, Macmillan Hall. The event is free and will be followed by a reception
with an opportunity to meet the speaker.
Anna V. Dolidze is a human
rights lawyer and a visiting fellow at Cornell University Law School. Her
interests lie in human rights law, research and documentation, comparative
constitutional law, public international law, and rule of law reform in
transitional systems. She is an advisor on human rights and rule of law
issues to such organizations as Human Rights Watch, Russian Justice Initiative,
Open Society Institute, the United Nations, and others.
In 2007-2008, Ms. Dolidze
was a visiting fellow at the Harriman Institute of Columbia University
and Hauser Global Fellow at the New York University Law School. She is
the former president of the Georgian Young Lawyers Association (GYLA).
Established in 1994, GYLA is an influential non-profit organization in
Georgia that focuses on areas of rule of promotion, legal reform, developing
legal education, building civil society networks, and ensuring transparency
and accountability within the government.
Ms. Dolidze is currently
teaching the course “United Nations Simulation” at Wells College, and classes
at the Elmira Correctional Facility through the Bard Prison Initiative.
Ms. Dolidze’s husband is
writer, scholar, and peace and human rights activist Irakli Kakabadze.
Kakabadze is one of the leading contemporary Georgian writers, and is a
founding member and chairman of the Egalitarian Institute, a well-known
human rights advocacy organization in Georgia. He was also one of the leading
members of the student movement against Soviet domination in 1989-90; together
the group of writers and intellectuals founded the civic disobedience committee
that led to the Rose Revolution, a non-violent change of power in Georgia
in November 2003. He holds an M.S. in conflict resolution from George Mason
University, and now works at Cornell University as a visiting scholar through
Ithaca’s City of Asylum Project. Kakabadze gave a reading and talk on the
Wells campus in September.
This lecture is part of Wells’
new Inclusive and Intercultural Excellence Series, an annual year-long
event. The series aims to engage the greater Wells community in considering
issues of interculturalism and inclusiveness at the institutional, local,
national, and global levels. For the 2008-09 year, its theme is Transcending
Boundaries through Democratic Practice.
For more information about
this lecture and the Inclusive and Intercultural Excellence Series at Wells,
please contact Director of Institutional Diversity Stephen Gilchrist at
315/364-3463.
February, 2009
8th
Annual Gospel Workshop Weekend at Wells College
Community members
invited to join in uplifting workshop, concert
The
eighth annual Wells College Gospel Workshop and Concert Weekend will be
held February 20 and 21, 2009. The workshop is a two-day event in which
Wells College’s gospel choir Appointed and singers from the surrounding
communities come together to learn about and engage in singing this inspiring
genre of music. No auditions are required and the event is free and open
to the general public. Everyone is warmly invited to lift their voices
during this inspirational weekend event; singers are asked to register
by February 12 by calling 315-364-3330 or emailing rcooper@wells.edu.
The Gospel Workshop Weekend
is coordinated by the Department of Student Life and Appointed. Professional
gospel virtuosos L. Kirk Hatcher of Miami, Fla. and Ed “Chief” Menifee,
Jr. of Atlanta, Ga. have been invited once again to serve as choir director
and music director, respectively. On Thursday, February 19, Menifee will
also be teaching a free master class on piano accompaniment and gospel
music.
All rehearsals and the concert
will be held in Barler Recital Hall on the Wells campus. The weekend schedule
is as follows:
Thursday, February 19
Master class 12:30
p.m.
Friday, February 20
Rehearsal 7:00-9:00
p.m.
Saturday, February 21
Breakfast 8:00
a.m.
Rehearsal/workshop
9:00 a.m.-1:00 p.m.
Lunch
1:15 p.m.
Warm-up & group photo
5:30 p.m.
Concert 7:00
p.m.
Reception 8:30
p.m.
Participants must attend
both rehearsals. For more information, please contact Rebecca Cooper
at 315/364-3330 or email: rcooper@wells.edu; those who would like to sing
are requested to register with Rebecca by February 12.
February, 2009
BalletX
to Perform at Wells College
Innovative Philadelphia
dance company comes to Aurora February 19
The
Wells College Arts & Lecture Series Committee is pleased to bring Philadelphia’s
BalletX to campus on Thursday evening, February 19. The troupe, known for
its striking original choreography, will perform in Phipps Auditorium,
Macmillan Hall, at 7:30 p.m. Prices are $10 for the general public; $5
for students, seniors, children, and the Wells College community; and free
for Wells students with ID. Tickets are available at the door the night
of the show or from the box office the preceding week; call 315/364-3456
to reserve seats.
Philadelphia dance company
BalletX redefines ballet with a 21st century twist. While firmly rooted
in rigorous classical ballet training and technique, BalletX brings an
exciting contemporary sensibility to the art form, infusing its work with
a new vision of athleticism, emotion and intimacy.
The company’s founding co-artistic
directors Matthew Neenan and Christine Cox were longtime dancers for the
Pennsylvania Ballet. Seeking new outlets for creative expression, they
left the company in 2000 to rethink the classical tradition, explore uncharted
artistic horizons, and create a company focused on choreography.
The result is BalletX, which has won acclaim for its stylish, skillful
performances and dazzling original choreography.
BalletX debuted to critical
acclaim in 2005 at the Philadelphia Live Arts Festival. The company has
since performed at Philadelphia’s DanceBoom, Jacob’s Pillow Dance Festival,
and numerous other venues; it has also been named the resident dance company
of the Wilma Theatre in Philadelphia.
This performance at Wells
College will feature, among others, Neenan’s new “Steelworks,” a full company
production which experiments with movement, space, and direction. The piece
is set to music by emerging young composer Anna Clyne of London and New
York City. “Steelworks” premiered at the Wilma Theatre last November.
Each year, the Wells College
Arts & Lecture Series brings professional artists to campus to perform,
to speak on relevant issues, and to represent the disciplines of theatre,
music, and dance. Groups and individuals are selected annually by a committee
composed of Wells faculty, staff and students.
For more information about
the BalletX performance at Wells and the Wells Arts & Lecture Series,
please contact Rebecca Cooper, Series coordinator, at 315/364-3330 or visit
the College’s Web site: www.wells.edu. More information on BalletX may
be found at www.BalletX.org.
February, 2009
Mahalia
Jackson Tribute Concert at Wells College
Cory Walker and Russell
Posegate to perform
The
Performing Arts Department at Wells College is pleased to offer a tribute
to gospel great Mahalia Jackson. On Sunday, February 15, tenor Cory Walker
of Ithaca will perform songs by the legendary singer, accompanied on piano
by Wells music lecturer Russell Posegate, also of Ithaca. The free concert
will take place at 7:30 pm in Barler Recital Hall. The public is cordially
invited to attend.
Mahalia Jackson (1911-1972)
was an African-American gospel singer, widely regarded as the best in the
genre. Known as “the Queen of Gospel,” she was raised in New Orleans. The
performance will feature Jackson’s transcriptions of spirituals and gospel
classics such as “When the Saints Go Marching In,” “His Eye Is on the Sparrow,”
and “Elijah Rock.”
Cory Walker is a recent master’s
graduate from Ithaca College. He has been involved in summer theatre productions
in New England and has spent time with Opera Boston and the New England
Light Opera. Russell Posegate received his B.A. in music education and
M.M. in piano performance from Ithaca College. He performs regularly with
a variety of groups that play throughout Central New York.
For more information about
the performance, please contact Professor Posegate at 315/364-3343
February, 2009
Wells
College Joins Teach-In on Global Warming
National observance
takes place February 5
Wells
College is participating in the National Teach-In on Global Warming on
Thursday, February 5. Recognizing the importance of sustainability and
assuming individual responsibility, Wells joins with thousands of colleges,
universities, high schools, middle schools, faith groups, civic organizations
and businesses across the United States to engage in climate dialogue,
raise awareness about global warming, and encourage individuals to affect
change.
Professors Deborah Gagnon,
Milene Morfei, and Candace Collmer are spearheading Wells’ involvement.
“It is crucial for Wells
to be involved in this important national event,” said Gagnon, associate
professor of psychology. “We are galvanizing our campus community early
in the semester so that our momentum carries us through the spring and
into the future. We’re a small campus with the real ability to have a small
carbon footprint if we make strategic, conscientious decisions now. The
panel discussion we’ve planned will address the remarkable things we’re
already doing on campus and consider additional initiatives to which we
can commit.”
The National Teach-In coincides
with the first 100 days of the Obama administration. In addition to the
events listed below, Wells is sending a contingent to Washington, D.C.
in late February to the Power Shift meeting, which aims to affect policy
on energy issues at the federal level.
The schedule for National
Teach-In on Global Warming events on the Wells College campus is below.
All activities are free and the public is encouraged to attend.
Wednesday, February 4
Webcast: “Solutions for
the First 100 Days” followed by moderated discussion
4:30 pm, Stratton Hall 209
Thursday, February 5
-
Many faculty have committed
to focusing on global warming, and will hold discussions in their classrooms
about sustainability
-
Low carbon menus served in the
dining hall
-
Panel Discussion: “Are Our Feet
Too Big? How Wells is Tackling Its Carbon Footprint” 12:30 pm, Stratton
209. Moderator: Professor of Psychology Milene Morfei
-
Film Screening “Ecology and
Contemporary Art” 1:45 pm, Morgan Hall 21. Moderator: Assistant
Professor of Art History William Ganis
-
Art and the Environment
3:00 pm, Art Exhibit Room, Macmillan Hall. Moderator: Associate Professor
of Psychology Deb Gagnon
- Art Exhibit: “Black Birds
of Valdez” by Professor of Art William Roberts
- Improvisational Dance
by Professor of Dance Jeanne Goddard
- Poetry Reading: “poems
by Gary Snyder, American poet and environmentalist” by Professor of English
Bruce Bennett
-
· Panel Discussion: “Reducing
Our Carbon Footprint: Individual Responsibility and Public Policy”
4:40 pm, Stratton 209. Moderator: Professor of Biology Candace Collmer
“We specifically tried to get
as many faculty across the disciplines involved in this as possible – it’s
all interconnected, and individual responsibility is one of the big messages
of this day,” said Gagnon.
Please contact Professors
Deb Gagnon (315-364-3307 or dgagnon@wells.edu)
or Milene Morfei (315-364-3255 or mzmorfei@wells.edu)
to learn more about Wells College’s participation in the National Teach-In
on Global Warming. More about the National Teach-In in general may be found
at http://www.nationalteachin.org/index.php.
February, 2009
Wells
College Joins National Recyclemania
RecycleMania competition
kicks off with record-breaking number of participating schools
Wells
College has joined with more than 500 other colleges and universities across
the country for the friendly RecycleMania competition. RecycleMania pits
schools in an annual nationwide contest to see who can reduce, reuse, and
recycle the most campus waste.
“Last fall, President Ryerson
signed the climate commitment which ensures that Wells College moves towards
being a greener campus,” said senior Dana Spinnler of Houston, Texas. “We
heard about RecycleMania and thought it would be a good way for the Wells
community to support that commitment.”
Spinnler and Alexandra Beck,
a senior from Carthage, NY, are coordinating Wells’ participation in Recyclemania.
Over a 10-week period, from
January 18 to March 28, participating schools will compete in a variety
of recycling and waste prevention efforts. This year's 510 participating
schools, the most in the competition's history, represent all 50 states
and the District of Columbia. Wells joins three dozen other New York colleges
– the Empire State and California boast 37 participating schools each,
topped only by Pennsylvania with 48.
RecycleMania helps campus
recycling coordinators rally student, faculty, and staff participation
in recycling and waste prevention programs, while offering bragging rights
and special awards made out of recycled materials to the winning schools.
RecycleMania motivates campus communities to recycle more often. By framing
recycling in competitive terms, the effort taps the same intercollegiate
spirit that drives sports rivalries.
“RecycleMania is important
because even small communities like Wells can consume a large amount of
resources and produce much waste,” said Beck. “If we are able to change
lifestyles and behaviors within our own community, perhaps we can change
others’ thinking as well.”
Each week, the standings
are posted online, motivating campuses to work harder for the top prizes.
To view past years’ results or to see updated 2009 weekly rankings each
Friday afternoon, go to http://recyclemaniacs.org/results.asp.
The RecycleMania competition
is administered by the National Recycling Coalition, with program development
and planning by a steering committee made up of collegiate recycling managers
from participating universities. The competition is managed in conjunction
with NRC's College and University Recycling Council.
More about RecycleMania may
be found at www.recyclemaniacs.org.
Contact Wells’ Director of Campus Involvement Elly Ventura (315.364.3428
or eventura@wells.edu) to learn
more about the College’s participation.
January, 2009
Annual
Student Art Show Opens at Wells College
Work by more than
50 students to be featured
An
eclectic mix of art will be on display in Wells College’s String Room Gallery
from February 4 – 26. Artwork produced by students enrolled in studio art
classes during the fall 2008 semester will be shown. The annual student
art exhibition is free and the public is cordially invited to view the
show. An opening reception with refreshments on Wednesday, February 4 from
6:00 - 8:00 pm offers an opportunity to meet the student artists and view
and discuss their work.
More than 50 students are
exhibiting their work this winter. Media represented include ceramic pottery
and sculpture, paintings, drawings, prints, book arts, and digital images.
Professors of Art Theodore
Lossowski and William Roberts guided and instructed the students during
the fall semester. They oversaw the students’ work in the studios and collaborated
with String Room Gallery director William Ganis on the installation of
the show.
The String Room Gallery is
located in Main Building. Hours are Monday through Friday from 9:00 a.m.
to 5:00 p.m., Wednesday evenings from 7:00 p.m. to 9:00 p.m., and Saturday
and Sunday from 1:00 p.m. to 4:00 p.m. For more information about the student
art show, please contact Professor Lossowski at 315/364-3344 and go to
http://www.wells.edu/stringroomgallery/exhibitions/room/room1.htm.
January, 2009
Wells
College and Cayuga Lake Floating Classroom Collaborate on Programs
John Ben Snow Foundation
grants $10,000 for “Northern Cayuga Communities Outreach Initiative”
Wells
College and the Cayuga Lake Floating Classroom Project have been jointly
awarded a $10,000 grant from the John Ben Snow Foundation of Syracuse to
fund a collaborative outreach initiative on Cayuga Lake.
Wells has partnered with
the Floating Classroom Project since its inception in 2002. The two entities
are now working together on “Northern Cayuga Communities Outreach Initiative,”
a program that delivers quality educational programming opportunities to
schools throughout the Cayuga Lake watershed and vicinity, most specifically
at the northern end of Cayuga Lake.
For the past several years,
the Floating Classroom Project has offered a high level of service for
schools at the south end of the lake, nearer to Ithaca. Thanks to this
new funding, teachers at the north end have now also had the opportunity
to take advantage of the on-board activities available on the Project’s
vessel, the M/V Haendel.
“As an extension project
of the Cayuga Lake Watershed Intermunicipal Organization, it has always
been our mission to serve all of the communities around the lake,” said
Bill Foster, chair of the Floating Classroom Project, headquartered in
Ithaca. “This grant has provided an opportunity to jump-start our services
for schools and communities around the northern half of Cayuga Lake.”
Specifically, the Snow Foundation
monies have enabled the Project to move the M/V Haendel to the north
end of the lake for free introductory programs to schools in Cayuga and
Seneca Counties. The field trips feature a cruise on Cayuga Lake for ecological
monitoring, coupled with a visit to Wells’ lab facilities for a closer
look at lake biology and the creation of eco-mosaics, which combine art
and science.
Last fall, over 200 students
from Seneca Falls, Union Springs and Southern Cayuga middle and high schools,
Cayuga County BOCES, and Peachtown School got a chance to cruise Cayuga
Lake as a result of this important funding. “With programming already
established in South Seneca and other districts, the Floating Classroom
can now say it is hosting students from every community around Cayuga Lake,”
notes Foster.
The Northern Communities
Outreach Initiative will continue in 2009, with the Floating Classroom
hosting additional class trips, and working with school districts to secure
continued funding. At least one public cruise will be offered to
allow families and other residents to share the students’ experience, and
to ask their own questions.
The Cayuga Lake Watershed
Network (CLWN) was founded in 1998 in Ithaca and operated for several years
from Interlaken, NY; the organization moved its offices into Zabriskie
Hall on the Wells College campus last August. CLWN seeks to protect and
improve the ecological health, economic vitality, and overall beauty of
the watershed through education, communication, and leadership. The Cayuga
Lake watershed covers nearly 1,000 miles and is spread over seven counties:
Cayuga, Seneca, Tompkins, Cortland, Ontario, Schuyler, and Tioga.
For more information about
the Northern Cayuga Communities Outreach Initiative and the John Ben Snow
Foundation grant, please contact Director of Publications & Media Relations
Kelly Buck Tehan by calling 315.364.3260 or emailing ktehan@wells.edu.
Additional information about Wells College may be found at www.wells.edu.
Information on the Floating Classroom Project is online at www.floatingclassroom.cayugawatershed.org.
Inquiries may be made to Bill Foster via phone: 607.272.7256 or email:
floatingclassroom@cayugawatershed.org.
January, 2009
Wells
College Presents Faculty Piano Recital
Russell Posegate
of Ithaca to perform
The
Music Department at Wells College is pleased to offer an afternoon of piano
music. On Sunday, February 1, music lecturer Russell Posegate of Ithaca
will present a free concert at 4:00 pm in Barler Recital Hall. The public
is cordially invited to attend; the concert will wrap up before Super Bowl
kick-off!
The performance will feature
the Pastorale Sonata by Beethoven, Pictures at an Exhibition
by Modest Mussorgsky, and other works by Mozart and Chopin.
Russell Posegate received
his B.A. in music education and M.M. in piano performance from Ithaca College.
He performs regularly with a variety of groups that play throughout Central
New York. He recently served as piano accompanist for Professor Crawford
Thoburn’s 49th annual holiday choir concert.
For more information about
the performance, please contact Professor Posegate at 315/364-3343
January, 2009
Wells
College Announces New Management of Dorie’s
Coffeehouse to be
run by Aurora Inn, Inc.; new menu to feature fresh baked goods, paninis,
and late night munchies
In
order to create a more student-centered dining and gathering spot in the
village of Aurora, Wells College’s popular sandwich shop, Dorie’s, will
now be managed by Aurora Inn, Inc. Dorie’s closed its doors today
with an anticipated reopening in February 2009. During this time,
the Aurora Inn staff will transform Dorie’s into a coffeehouse and bakery
- a warm and comfortable place open late into the evenings where students,
faculty, staff and the community can gather to study, meet, and relax.
“As Wells continues to seek
ways to provide excellent food service to our students and the greater
community, we looked at different options and are pleased that Aurora Inn,
Inc. will manage Dorie’s,” said Ann Rollo, vice president for communications
and college relations. “Sodexo has managed and staffed Dorie’s for the
past two years, and we are grateful for their help during that time.”
The new Dorie’s will feature
made-to-order salads, homemade soups, panini sandwiches on fresh focaccia
bread, and pastries, cookies, cakes and pies by Aurora Inn pastry chef
Trina Myers. In addition to the new menu, improvements will be made
to décor, lighting and furniture to create a relaxed, cozy atmosphere
and will extend the hours of operation into the evening to better serve
Wells students. Dorie’s will be staffed primarily by Wells student workers.
Pleasant T. Rowland, Wells
Class of 1962, purchased Dorie’s – the former Mack’s Drugstore – in June
2001. After a million dollar renovation, she continued oversight of the
35-seat café until the summer of 2006, when, in a magnanimous gesture,
she gifted Dorie’s to Wells College.
For more information about
Dorie’s and Aurora Inn, Inc., please contact General Manager Sue Edinger
at 315/364-8814.
December, 2008
Wells
College and Aurora Inn Offer Winter Institute
Cancelled
ElderHostel-type
learning adventure combines education with vacation on the lake
Due
to less than optimal reservations, Winter Institute has been cancelled
for this year. Please check back this summer for more information and to
make your reservations for Winter Institute 2010!
This
January, Wells College and the Aurora Inn will present the first Winter
Institute. The series of three week-long learning adventures will combine
thought-provoking classroom discussion and exciting regional excursions
led by Wells faculty, with delicious meals and luxurious accommodations
provided by the Aurora Inn. Some spaces are still available, and a Winter
Institute get-away would make a wonderful holiday gift for the artist,
intellect, or adventurer in your family. Interested parties should call
315/364-8815 now to learn more and make reservations.deled after the educational
travel adventures offered by ElderHostel, Winter Institute features three
unique weeks of relaxed study in a peaceful lakeside setting:
Week One:
January 5 – 9
Experience New York’s
Cultural Legacy
Art and architecture of
the region with Professor William Ganis
Week Two:
January 12 – 16
The Most Precious Gift:
The Natural History of Lakes and Lake Districts
“Go green” with the environmental
program presented by Professor Thomas Vawter
Week Three:
January 19 – 22
Religion & Power:
An Examination of Religion’s Influence on Space, Community and Politics
Explore this timely topic
with Professor Sarah Malena
Details on each program are
available online at www.aurora-inn.com/winterinstitute.
Each program lasts four days, kicking off with a champagne welcome reception
at the chic E.B. Morgan House – where guests will be introduced to program
faculty – followed by a fireside dinner at the Aurora Inn. The following
days will be filled with thought-provoking classroom instruction, interactive
discussions, and field trips to cultural, historical and natural sites
in the region. Guests will be treated to award-winning cuisine and luxury
accommodations, all provided by the Aurora Inn and E.B. Morgan House.
It is recommended that guests
make reservations as soon as possible as space is limited for this inaugural
event; rooms will be filled on a first-come, first-served basis. Tuition
is $1,000 for single occupancy and $1,700 for double occupancy, including
all taxes and gratuities. Tuition includes registration, lectures and course
materials, transportation and admission for all cultural excursions, four
nights at the Aurora Inn or E.B. Morgan House, and all meals (provided
by the Aurora Inn with the exception one lunch and one dinner). Please
call 315/364-8815 for reservations, and visit www.aurora-inn.com/winterinstitute
for event details, schedules and information.
The College owns the historic
Aurora Inn and E.B. Morgan House, set on the shores of Cayuga Lake and
recently restored with understated elegance to appeal to today’s most discerning
guests. The 4-diamond properties offer 17 luxury guestrooms and waterfront
dining.
For more information about
Winter Institute, please contact Aurora Inn Sales and Marketing Director
Lauren Tillapaugh at 315/364-8815 or by email at ltillapaugh@aurora-inn.com,
and go online to www.aurora-inn.com.
December, 2008
49th
Annual Holiday Choir Concert at Wells College
Festive tradition
replete with evergreens and candlelight
All
are welcome to enjoy a long-standing holiday tradition at Wells College.
On Sunday, December 7, the Wells Choral Ensembles will present their annual
holiday concert at 7:30 pm in the Barler Recital Hall. Admission to the
concert is free, and the public is cordially invited to attend. Members
of the audience are invited to contribute an item of canned or packaged
food which will be donated to a local food pantry.
Pine trees and candlelight
will create a festive atmosphere for this seasonal program which will feature
holiday music as well as selections of a more general, wide ranging nature
by each of the three College singing groups. The women's and men's
ensembles will each present music from their particular repertoires and
then combine as the mixed voice concert choir. Traditional carols and folksongs
will be performed as well as works by composers Johann Sebastian Bach,
Eugene Butler, John Carter, Maurice Greene, Franz Joseph Haydn, Alessandro
Scarlatti, and Crawford R. Thoburn.
The Wells choral ensembles
are directed by Professor of Music Crawford R. Thoburn, and will be accompanied
in this concert by pianist Russell Posegate of Ithaca, lecturer in music
at Wells. The concert choir has concertized extensively throughout the
Northeast, and has been featured on national network radio and public television.
For more information about
the concert and music offerings at Wells College, please contact Professor
Thoburn at 315/364-3347.
November, 2008
Wassa
Afrika Dance Ensemble Performs at Wells
Touring West African
group performs traditional, contemporary African drumming and dancing
Wells
College is pleased to bring Isaac Kwasi Anim and the Wassa Afrika Dance
Ensemble to campus on Friday, November 21. The performance will take place
in Macmillan Hall’s Phipps Auditorium at 7:30 pm. Prices are $10 for the
general public, $5 for students, senior citizens and the Wells College
community; free for Wells students with ID. Tickets may be purchased at
the door the night of the performance.
Begun in Ghana and now based
in Rochester, NY, the Wassa Afrika Dance Ensemble tours internationally
and has grown to include, at times, up to 35 dancers who present traditional
indigenous Ghanian music and dances. They have participated in Ghana’s
National Festival of Arts, and the opening and closing ceremonies of the
Confederation of African Football’s Cup of Nations soccer tournament co-hosted
by Nigeria and Ghana.
Nana “Isaac” Kwasi Anim is
a highly trained traditional African dancer, drummer, instructor, performer,
choreographer and professional bamboo flute player. He was born in
Accra, Ghana, West Africa to a royal family where drumming and dancing
is common; he began dancing and drumming at the age of six. For many
years he trained and traveled with several dance troupes until forming
his own company, Wassa Afrika Dance Ensemble, in 1998. He has traveled
throughout West African countries, studying the dance and the culture common
in those areas.
In addition to performing,
Anim has taught traditional dance at Ghanian educational institutions and
community centers, and is a member of the Ghana Cultural Ballet and the
Dance Factory based at the National Theatre of Ghana.
For more information about
Wassa Afrika Dance Ensemble’s performance at Wells, please contact Rebecca
Cooper at 315/364-3330.
November, 2008
Art
Exhibit Opens At Wells College
Ceramic artist, photographer
join forces for dual exhibition
The
Wells College Art Department is pleased to announce the final exhibition
of the fall 2008 semester. SUNY-Oswego artists Julieve Jubin and Richard
Zakin join together to present “Repetitive Structures.” The show
opens in the String Room Gallery on Wednesday, November 12 and runs through
December 19; the public is cordially invited to view the free display.
The opening reception from 6:00 - 8:00 pm on November 12 offers an opportunity
to meet the artists; light refreshments will be served.
“Repetitive Structures” features
the ceramics of artist Richard Zakin and the pictures of photographer Julieve
Jubin. Former colleagues at the State University of New York at Oswego,
this is the first time the pair has exhibited together.
“I first met Richard Zakin
in 1975 at the New York State Craftsmen exhibition in Ithaca, NY,” said
Wells Professor of Art Theodore Lossowski. “Richard’s critique of my work
had a profound effect on me—he is an excellent ceramic artist, author and
teacher. He is considered to be the American guru of oxidation firing techniques,
and is a master of color and design. One of the most respected ceramic
artists in America, we are very fortunate to have him show at Wells.”
Richard Zakin earned a B.F.A.
in painting from Syracuse University and an M.F.A. from Alfred University
in ceramics. His key interests lie in exploring the nature of the ceramic
medium with concentrations on glaze application strategies, translucent
clay bodies, terra sigillatas (highly refined clay slips), colored clay,
clay bodies, and ceramic drawing and painting strategies.
In addition to ceramics,
Zakin has written a number of articles and four books on ceramic subjects.
He recently retired from teaching ceramics at Oswego. In his retirement,
he has revived a strong interest in drawing both on ceramic surfaces and
on paper, and has begun explorations in digital image making.
Julieve
Jubin, associate professor of art at SUNY-Oswego, received her M.F.A. from
Visual Studies Workshop in Rochester, NY. She is a photo-based artist working
with digital and experimental approaches to the photographic image. She
has been an artist-in-residence at The Banff Centre in the Canadian Rockies,
the Kimmel Harding Nelson in Nebraska, the Vermont Studio Center, and most
recently at camac centre d'art in Marnay sur Seine, France. Her work is
in the collection of the New York University Law School, the Peddler Foundation,
and several private collections. She has worked and taught at The Cooper
Union School of Art, the International Center of Photography, and Purdue
University.
“I have been using experimental
photographic approaches to explore challenging subject matter,” says Jubin
in her artist statement. “Currently, I’m exploring the theme of violence,
pain, and illness in society and how these conditions manifest in forms
of institutional practices such as war and modern medicine.”
Jubin photographs such common
objects and materials as hangers, beds, chairs, clothing, coal, glass,
and ammunition and makes them into large format photographic prints.
“Ms. Jubin’s photography
is captivating—the forms are recognizable and familiar, set in an ethereal
space,” said Lossowski. “Her work utilizes the craft skills of painting
and drawing while bridging the worlds of realism and abstraction. This
juxtaposition begins to reduce the dissimilarity between these disciplines
and helps to create a universal ideal. We are very pleased that Professor
Zakin introduced Ms. Jubin to us and that she has agreed to show her work
at Wells.”
The String Room Gallery is
located in Main Building. Hours are Monday through Friday from 9:00 a.m.
to 5:00 p.m., Tuesday – Thursday evenings from 7:00 p.m. to 9:00 p.m.,
and Saturday and Sunday from 1:00 p.m. to 4:00 p.m. For more information
about the show at Wells, please contact Professor Lossowski at 315/364-3344
or String Room Director William Ganis at 315/364-3465, and visit www.wells.edu/stringroomgallery/
November, 2008
Wells
College Hosts Poetry/Non-Fiction Reading
DeWitt Henry, founder,
editor of Ploughshares, reads, speaks on campus
The
Wells College Visiting Writer Series is pleased to announce that DeWitt
Henry, founder and editor of the well-known poetry journal Ploughshares,
will be on campus for a reading next week. On Monday, November 10 at 7:30
pm in the Art Exhibit Room, Macmillan Hall, Dr. Henry will read from his
latest book, Safe Suicide. The free event will be followed by a reception
with an opportunity to meet the writer; light refreshments will be served.
DeWitt Henry is the founding
editor of Ploughshares poetry journal. He served as the journal’s
executive director for its first twenty years; he has recently returned
as interim director and editor in chief.
Dr. Henry is also a prolific
writer, authoring Safe Suicide, a memoir-in-linked essays, and The
Marriage of Anna Maye Potts, winner of the inaugural Peter Taylor Prize
for the Novel in 2000. He has edited the anthologies Breaking into Print;
Sorrow’s Company: Writers on Loss and Grief; Fathering Daughters: Reflections
by Men (with James Alan McPherson); Other Sides of Silence: New
Fiction from Ploughshares; and The Ploughshares Reader: New Fiction
from the 80’s (winner of the Editors’ Book Award).
Dr. Henry received his A.B.
from Amherst College, his M.A. and Ph.D. from Harvard University, and an
M.F.A. from the University of Iowa. He is a professor of writing, literature,
and publishing at Emerson College in Boston. His childhood autobiography,
Sweet
Dreams: A Family History will be published in 2010 by Red Hen Press.
This reading and the Wells
College Visiting Writer Series are made possible in part by a grant from
the New York State Council on the Arts. Poets and writers are invited
to campus throughout the academic year to meet with students, present writing
workshops, and read from their respective works.
For more information about
this and other readings at Wells, please contact Professor Bruce Bennett
at 315.364.3228. Additional information about the author may be found at:
http://members.authorsguild.net/dewitthenry/.
November, 2008
Fall
Dance Concert Presented at Wells College
“Balancing Acts”
is collaborative student thesis choreographic work
The
Wells College Performing Arts program is pleased to present “Balancing
Acts,” a concert of original choreography by faculty and students. The
annual performance will take place on Friday, October 31 and Saturday,
November 1 at 7:30 pm in Phipps Auditorium, Macmillan Hall, on the Wells
College campus. Prices are $3.00 for students and children; $5.00 for seniors
and the Wells community; and $7.00 for the general public. Tickets are
available at the door or by calling the box office at 315-364-3456.
“Balancing Acts,” an exploration
of texture, asymmetry, flow, falling and rebounding, features senior student
thesis choreography by performing arts majors Iivy Murphy ’09 of Brooklyn,
NY and Tiffany Orellana ’09 of West Islip, NY, as well as new and repertory
work by faculty members Jeanne Goddard and Elizabeth Wilmot Bishop. Responding
to themes suggested by Ms. Murphy and Ms. Orellana, all of the dances on
the program explore in some way the maintaining, losing, and regaining
of balance, from the delicate poise of the dancer en pointe, to the physical
risk of dancing on ramps and pedestals, to the asymmetry of choreographic
and scenic design.
Murphy’s and Orellana’s quartet,
“Requiem,” has been developed collaboratively with elements of balance
and loss of balance, extreme level changes, risk-taking and kinesthetic
challenge. Its dark, agitated tonality is heightened by Clint Mansell’s
haunting “Lux Aeterna,” scored for strings. Dancers Brittany Bouchard ’11,
Sara Chiochetti ’11, Eden Kostick ’10, and Jennifer Miller ’12 perform
both on the stage floor and on a two-layer ramp that cuts across the space.
Wells’ guest artist in dance
Elizabeth Wilmot Bishop has restaged “Caged Fear,” her 1993 emotionally
charged reflection on abuse, identity, and transcendence, set to the music
of Mannheim Steamroller and performed by Chiochetti, Megan Claxton ’12,
Mary Gooding ’10, Catherine Marshall ’11, and Miller. In complete contrast,
Ms. Wilmot Bishop will premier “Moonlight Waltz,” a classical double pas
de deux set to Johann Strauss’ beloved waltz, “Wine, Women, and Song.”
Gooding and Kostick will perform en pointe, partnered by Mac Hopkins ’10
and Dmitry Liapitch ’10.
Professor of Dance Jeanne
Goddard’s newest work, “Assignations,” is a large group piece composed
of haiku-length sections, sometimes overlapping, and employing a variety
of scenic elements to explore the juxtaposition of motion and stillness,
delicacy and strength, distance and proximity. Steven Stull of Ithaca has
designed an ambient sound score for the piece, which will be augmented
by live sound effects provided by Allison Salvatore ’11. Dancers Eliza
Bassett-Wilson ’10, Arianna Bickford ’12, Bouchard, Chiochetti, Claxton,
Marshall, Miller, and Anastasia Zygarowicz ’11 will begin their performance
in the outer and inner lobbies of Phipps Auditorium, and make their way
through the auditorium, before reappearing on a stage subdivided by screens
and pedestals into a series of shifting environments.
Costume and scenic designs
for “Balancing Acts” are by Lecturer in Performing Arts Roberta Kolpakas,
with lighting design by Technical Director Joe DeForest.
For more information about
“Balancing Acts,” please contact Professor Goddard at 315/364-3213.
October, 2008
ACLU
Director to Speak at Wells College
Civil liberties expert
Barrie Gewanter speaks on student rights
Barrie
Gewanter, director of the Central New York chapter of the American Civil
Liberties Union (ACLU), will speak at Wells College on Thursday, October
30. Her talk, “Students’ Rights: They Don’t Disappear at the Schoolhouse
Door,” will take place at 12:20 pm in the Art Exhibit Room, Macmillan Hall.
The public is invited to hear the free presentation.
As director of the CNY chapter
of the ACLU, Ms. Barrie Gewanter is the local spokeswoman and contact point
for the ACLU throughout the region. She has been actively involved
with the ACLU since 1996, serving on staff and as a regional board member.
Ms. Gewanter describes herself
as “a professional who works for equality, civil liberties, and social
justice.” She holds a B.F.A. in theatrical stage management from Webster
University in St. Louis, Mo. and a master’s in sociology from Washington
University in St. Louis. She spent several years teaching college level
courses in sociology and women’s studies.
As the executive director
of the Central New York Council on Occupational Safety and Health from
1999-2002, Ms. Gewanter wrote and managed state and federal grants, worked
closely with labor unions, organized and presented at conferences, managed
outreach and fundraising events, and provided information and training
on workplace safety topics, OSHA regulations, and the workers compensation
system.
Ms. Gewanter has worked as
an advocate for women’s rights, gay and lesbian rights, voting rights,
workplace health and safety, solidarity with workers and unions, economic
justice, civil rights and civil liberties. She is the recipient of
the 2004 Peace Action of Central New York’s Peacemaker Award, and received
a Community Service Award from the Syracuse/Onondaga County Branch of NAACP
in May 2008.
For more information about
Barrie Gewanter’s lecture at Wells, please call Visiting Professor of Sociology
Christine Iacobucci at 315.364.3240.
October, 2008
Wells
College Hosts Jennifer Brice for Reading
Author of “Unlearning
to Fly” comes to Aurora; special dinner at Aurora Inn precedes reading
Wells
College is pleased to announce that Alaskan author Jennifer Brice will
be on campus this Monday, October 20 to host a discussion and give a reading
of her book Unlearning to Fly. The free event will take place at
7:30 pm in the Art Exhibit Room, Macmillan Hall. A reception will follow
with an opportunity to meet the writer; light refreshments will be served.
Jennifer Brice returns to
the Wells campus to discuss the often harrowing tales of her life in Alaska,
such as growing up during the oil boom, and learning how to be a pilot
and navigate the Alaskan skies. Her latest book is Unlearning to Fly,
essays recounting “deadly, near-deadly and occasionally comic encounters”
in Alaska. Her previous publications include The Last Settlers and
essays in such journals as the Gettysburg Review, Manoa, and
River Teeth.
She received her M.F.A. from
the University of Alaska Fairbanks, and now teaches English and creative
writing at Colgate University.
In addition to her reading
at Wells College, Ms. Brice will be the featured guest at the Aurora Inn’s
new “Intimate Conversations” dinner the same evening, beginning at 5:30
pm. The special event features a four-course dinner themed around Alaskan
delicacies and an up close and personal conversation with the author.
This unique event is open to all, and is an opportunity for the audience
to get to know Ms. Brice personally.
Set up as an intimate “fireside
chat”-style conversation, Ms. Brice and Wells College Professor of English
Bruce Bennett, who will serve as moderator, invite the audience to shape
the discussion with their comments and questions. The interactive
event includes a gourmet meal featuring fresh Alaskan seafood. There
will be a book signing following the event.
It is recommended that guests
make reservations as soon as possible as space is limited. Tickets
are $35.00 per person plus tax and gratuity. Please call the Aurora
Inn directly at 315.364.8888 and go to www.aurora-inn.com.
For more information about
Ms. Brice’s free Monday reading on campus, please contact Professor Bennett
at 315.364.3228.
October, 2008
Wells
College Pledges to Work Towards Climate Neutrality
President Lisa Marsh
Ryerson signs American College & University Presidents Climate Commitment
Wells
College President Lisa Marsh Ryerson today signed the American College
and University Presidents Climate Commitment during a ceremony attended
by College trustees, students, faculty, and staff.
In signing the Presidents
Climate Commitment, Wells becomes a leader in the effort to reduce global
warming emissions. The College also joins an expanding national movement
in which institutions of higher learning pledge to set a positive example
in the fields of environmental ethics and sustainability.
“Today, our nation and our
world face overwhelming evidence that the climate of the planet is changing,
and scientific consensus says that human beings are largely responsible
for that change,” said President Ryerson in her remarks. “Experts have
pointed to the devastating social, political, economic, and ecological
consequences of unchecked climate change. In signing the American College
and University Presidents Climate Commitment today, I acknowledge, on behalf
of Wells College, that something needs to be done—and that this something
can, and must, begin with us.”
To date, nearly 600 institutions
of higher education across the country have signed the agreement. After
pledging to the Climate Commitment, colleges and universities develop an
action plan to become carbon neutral over the course of two to three years.
President Ryerson will guide Wells College in the formulation and implementation
of such a plan.
“In signing the Climate Commitment,
I am pledging to lead Wells in the development of a comprehensive plan
for campus climate neutrality—meaning that the College will have no net
greenhouse emissions,” said President Ryerson. “We will complete that plan
within two years, and we will initiate actions during those two years of
planning in order to reduce greenhouse emissions in the short term. Finally,
we will make our plan, and our progress, available to the Association for
the Advancement of Sustainability in Higher Education, who will make both
available to the public.”
Wells College is already
on the road to climate neutrality. As part of ongoing environmental efforts,
the College has reduced the use of paper through strategic printing and
electronic filing of documents, instituted a single strain recycling system,
uses biodegradable and recyclable food containers in campus dining outlets,
and purchases a portion of its electricity from renewable sources. The
College has also submitted two national grant proposals for support in
implementing additional sustainability initiatives.
For more information about
Wells’ commitment to climate neutrality, please contact Director of Publications
and Media Relations Kelly Tehan by calling 315.364.3260. Additional information
about the American College and University Presidents Climate Commitment
may be found online at www.presidentsclimatecommitment.org/html/about.php.
October, 2008
Art
Exhibit Opens at Wells College
Mark Iwinski’s work
addresses losses in our natural and cultural history
The
Wells College Art Department is pleased to announce the second exhibition
of the 2008-09 academic year. “Terrains of Absence” by artist Mark Iwinski
will be on display in the String Room Gallery from October 8 through November
5. The exhibit is free and the public is cordially invited to view the
show. An opening reception to be held on Wednesday, October 8 from 6:00-8:00
pm offers an opportunity to meet the artist; light refreshments will be
served.
Mark Iwinski is an interdisciplinary
artist and educator who works with urban architectural history and environmental
concerns. He received his Bachelor of Fine Arts and Master of Fine Arts
in sculpture from the University of Wisconsin, Milwaukee. Growing up in
the 1960s in Milwaukee, he became aware of a dramatic shift in city planning
and the plague of urban renewal. He observed firsthand over the decades
the lost and changing fabric of the city and began to think about urban
architectural loss and renewal and its implications for the cultural heritage
and health of our cities. This fascination with the architectural history
of place resurfaces in “Terrains of Absence.”
“Iwinski's prints offer a
seductive beauty that stops us long enough to pose the question – ‘what
do we lose under the rhetoric of progress’?,” said Assistant Professor
of Art History and String Room Gallery Director William Ganis. “His sensual
colors and papers are ultimately betrayed by the effects of the chainsaw
and wrecking ball. This tension creates a powerful statement about the
ambiguities many of us feel when replacing the old with the new.”
“Terrains of Absence” features
two kinds of works: huge prints made from large tree stumps on paper; and
photographs that layer images of the same place, past and present. Each
series respectively deals with natural and cultural history; both suggest
absences in the landscape.
Iwinski’s prints and sculptures
have been exhibited nationally. His artist’s book Crosscuts has been part
of the recent internationally traveling exhibition Aracdia id est Artists’
Books, Nature and Landscape in 2007.
He has taught art at Cornell
University, Dartmouth College, Colby College, and the College of William
and Mary. Iwinski has been awarded grants from the Vermont Council for
the Arts and the Cornell Council for the Arts; he is the recipient of a
2006 Constance Saltonstall Foundation for the Arts grant for his printmaking
and site specific environmental work with old growth forests. This year,
he was awarded a New York Foundation for the Arts Fellowship in Photography
for his photo-performative series, This was now, which is planned for a
major exhibition in Ithaca in 2010; and some of which will be included
the Wells College exhibition. He currently lives and works in Durham, North
Carolina.
The String Room Gallery is
located in Main Building. Hours are Monday through Friday from 9:00 a.m.
to 5:00 p.m., Tuesday – Thursday evenings from 7:00 p.m. to 9:00 p.m.,
and Saturday and Sunday from 1:00 p.m. to 4:00 p.m. For more information
about the show at Wells, please contact Professor Ganis at 315/364-3465
and visit www.wells.edu/stringroomgallery..
September, 2008
Wells
Drama Department Presents Outdoor Theatre Festival
“A Fall Through Time”
features historical forms of theatre
The
Wells College Theatre Department presents A Fall Through Time, an
outdoor drama production. The performance will take place on Friday, October
3 at 5:00 pm in the amphitheatre adjacent to Macmillan Hall, weather permitting,
or in Phipps Auditorium in the case of rain. The show is free and the public
is warmly invited to attend.
The brainstorm of Lecturer
in Performing Arts Roberta Kolpakas and Assistant Professor of Theatre
Siouxsie Grady, A Fall Through Time is an outdoor festival presenting
scenes from plays written throughout the history of theatre, including
Medea
by Euripides from ancient Greece; the improvisational form of Commedia
D’ell Arte from the early Italian renaissance; dance in the style of
Isadora Duncan; and Dadaist performance art.
The production, under minimal
direction from the theatre department faculty, will feature several different
scenes and performances taking place simultaneously in different venues.
Afterwards, the student actors will come out in full costume along with
the student technical and design staff to mingle with attendees, share
refreshments, answer questions, and let the audience get a closer look
at their costumes. There is no formal seating in the amphitheatre; the
audience will be invited to wander from stage to stage while enjoying cider
and doughnuts.
The concept of A Fall
Through Time meets two goals — to provide students of history, art
history, and theatre history with a visual reference for what has been
or is being taught at Wells; and to offer the audience a showcase of abridged
theatrical productions that changed the world.
“We are trying to make all
the costumes as period as we can, which means French pannier dresses, Greek
chitons, and Commedia masks,” said Kolpakas. “It is rare that we get the
chance to see historical theatre done in its original form, and I think
it is worth reflecting on. Theatre has always filled a need in one
form or another, often acting as a social commentary or conscience. Sometimes
we need to look back to be able to see forward.”
A Fall Through Time
scenes were chosen and researched by students under the supervision and
direction of Assistant Professor Grady. The scenic and costume designs
were researched by Roberta Kolpakas and constructed by students in the
Production Practical class. Ms. Kolpakas is a relatively new addition
to the Wells faculty, returning for a second year as lecturer.
In addition to Wells College, she works as an artist and designer for such
theatre companies as Tri-Cities Opera, Binghamton University, and Salt
Lake Acting Company.
For more information about
A
Fall Through Time and other theatrical productions at Wells, please
contact Ms. Kolpakas at 315/364-3232
September, 2008
A
New Fire Engine for Aurora and Wells
Wells partners with
Village of Aurora to purchase quint fire truck
Recognizing the importance
of the “town-gown” relationship between Wells College and the village of
Aurora, the College and the Aurora-Ledyard Fire District have collaborated
to purchase a new fire truck.
“I am delighted that Wells
and the Aurora-Ledyard Fire District have joined together to take this
important step in fire prevention and safety,” said Wells College President
Lisa Marsh Ryerson. “So many in our community will benefit from this investment.”
The new multi-purpose vehicle,
known as a “quint” because it meets five essential firefighting needs (pump,
water tank, hoses, ground ladder, aerial ladder), was delivered to the
Aurora fire house late last spring. Local fire departments have been strained
in recent years due to a decrease in volunteers, budget cuts, and rising
equipment costs. The new quint helps ensure increased safety for fire personnel
and accessibility to blazes in taller buildings throughout southern Cayuga
County. Wells was a key contributor towards the purchase of the quint.
“The new quint gives us more
capabilities than we have ever had,” said Aurora Fire Chief Mark Bailey.
“It is also safer for our firefighters as well as the people we serve.”
Bailey and his crew are working with Wells to increase fire safety awareness
and recruit student volunteers.
September, 2008
Concert
at Wells Features Early Spanish Music
The renowned Baltimore
Consort joined by counter tenor José Lemos
The
Wells College Arts & Lecture Series Committee is pleased to present
the award-winning Baltimore Consort on Friday evening, September 26. The
concert, entitled “¡Cancionero! A Songbook for the King of Spain,”
features counter tenor José Lemos. The performance will take place
in Phipps Auditorium, Macmillan Hall, at 7:30 p.m. Prices are $6 for students,
senior citizens and the Wells College community, and $10 for the general
public; free for Wells students with ID. Tickets are available at the door
the night of the concert or from the box office the preceding week; call
315/364-3456 to reserve seats.
A virtuoso ensemble, the
Baltimore Consort specializes in the courtly and popular music of the 16th,
17th, and 18th centuries, as well as traditional music rooted to earlier
times. Their variety of instruments – lute, viol, flute, cittern, early
guitar, recorder, and more – and their lively performances have delighted
audiences on both sides of the Atlantic and earned them recognition as
Billboard
magazine’s 1993 “top classical crossover artist.”
The Baltimore Consort was
formed in 1980, and has toured widely in the U.S. and abroad, appearing
in concert halls, schools and festivals, as well as on syndicated radio
broadcasts on the BBC, CBC, Performance Today, and others. While in Aurora,
they will also offer a master class for Wells students.
The concert at Wells, “¡Cancionero!
A Songbook for the King of Spain,” features early Spanish music. Prior
to the final defeat of the Moors and expulsion of the Jews in 1492, Spain
was a land of three cultures. This story is told in anonymous works
in palace cancioneros (songbooks), music by the influential courtly composer
Juan del Encina, and in the books of the vihuelistas (early guitar players).
The Baltimore Consort, with counter tenor Jose Lemos, presents the stirring
and lively melodies from this turbulent period in Spain’s history.
Each year, the Wells College
Arts & Lecture Series brings professional artists to campus to perform,
to speak on relevant issues, and to represent the disciplines of theatre,
music, and dance. Groups and individuals are selected annually by a committee
composed of Wells faculty, staff and students.
For more information about
Baltimore Consort concert and the Wells Arts & Lecture Series, please
contact Rebecca Cooper, coordinator of the Arts & Lecture Series Committee,
at 315/364-3330. Additional information about the Baltimore Consort may
be found on their Web page: www.baltcons.com.
September, 2008
Wells
College Revives Peachtown Native American Festival
Education day celebrates
indigenous peoples and culture of central New York
Wells
College is pleased to announce that the Peachtown Native American Festival
will return to campus on Sunday, September 21. The formerly annual event
is making a comeback and will be held rain or shine on the front lawn of
Main Building from 11:00 a.m. - 6:00 p.m. on the beautiful Wells campus
in Aurora. The festival is free and the public is invited to join in the
fun.
In conjunction with the Native
American Homecoming Festival taking place at Tutelo Park in Ithaca the
day before, Wells is pleased to offer this important educational event
as an opportunity to honor the First Nations people of the area, increase
awareness and unity, and to recognize the past and present contributions
of Native American culture and the history of Aurora, or Deawendote: “village
of constant dawn.”
Chonodote, or “Peachtown,”
is another original name of Aurora, named after the Cayuga people’s 1,500-tree
peach orchard which was destroyed in 1779 during the Clinton-Sullivan campaign.
The first Peachtown festival took place on the Wells campus in 1998, the
first local celebration to recognize native culture in nearly 200 years.
The festival is purposely planned for the end of September in keeping with
Native American traditions, the timing of the fall harvest, and the approximate
date of the Clinton-Sullivan campaign’s destruction of the area.
This year, participants will
gather on the College’s front lawn for the festival, which will feature
dancing, demonstrations, crafts, food, music, and more. Confirmed vendors,
artists, and performers are listed below; more are expected on festival
day:
-
Dan Hill of the Cayuga Nation
will be the day’s master of ceremonies and will play traditional native
flute throughout the day
-
Sherri Waterman-Hopper of the
Beaver Clan organizes and dances with the Haudenosaunee Singers and Dancers,
a social, non-ceremonial dance group consisting primarily of members of
the Onondaga Nation
-
Mohawk Mike Tarbell will perform
bow and atlatl demonstrations, and sell his wares
-
Buffalo burgers, Indian tacos,
fried corn bread, and other authentic foods will be available for purchase
from Rhonda Powless of Iroquois Kitchen and Pam Ramsey of Happy Eating
Grounds
-
Southwest Collections by Sharon
Livingston include authentic handmade jewelry, art, wood furnishings, and
gifts
-
Distant Drums by Doug and Mickey
Sky Jones present pieces that respect Mother Earth and are themed around
sustainability
-
T Whirlwindhorse Native Creation
by Thea Whirlwindhorse, an Oglala Lakota of South Dakota, features traditional
beadwork, stone sculpture, and drawings
-
Mohawk artist Albert White’s
paintings depict the sensitivity and power in wildlife, people and the
land
-
Moccasins, beadwork, and jewelry
by Ann Green
-
Dave Green of Early Rising Sun
Studio will demonstrate his stone carving methods and sell his works
-
Rights for All Indigenous Nations,
Inc. (RAIN) is a non-profit educational/action-oriented organization that
works with and in support of the traditional native peoples for self-determination
and sovereignty
Featured artist and master of
ceremonies Dan Hill is best known for his recordings of Native American
flute music. Hill is an accomplished musician and live performer whose
credits include film and television appearances. He is a much sought-after
lecturer, storyteller and teacher, and has traveled extensively across
North America and beyond. Hill makes flutes and is a talented silversmith
who specializes in traditional Iroquois and exquisite original designs.
The Peachtown Native American
Festival is featured in partnership with the Tutelo Native American Homecoming
Festival taking place the day before, on Saturday, September 20, from 11:00
a.m. to 6:00 p.m. at Tutelo Park, Bostwick Road (off Route 13A), in Ithaca.
The weekend’s kick-off concert, featuring award-winning Native American
R & B band Corn Bred, will be held on Friday, September 19 at 9:00
pm at Pancho Villa Restaurant, 602 W. State St. in Ithaca. Call 607.272.2292
for details, or go to www.multicultural-resource.org.
For more information about
the Peachtown Native American Festival at Wells College, please call Director
of Campus Involvement Elly Ventura at 315.364.3428.
September, 2008
Wells
College Hosts Reading by Georgian Author
Georgian fiction
writer, human rights activist Irakli Kakabadze visits campus, discusses
life’s work
The
Wells College Visiting Writer Series welcomes Georgian fiction writer and
human rights activist Irakli Kakabadze, who will read from his work and
give a talk on “Polyphonic Blues: Democracy and Diversity Within Music,
Arts, and Life.” His presentation will take place on Thursday, September
11 at 7:30 pm in the Art Exhibit Room, Macmillan Hall. Kakabadze is writer-in-residence
at Ithaca’s City of Asylum Project. The event is free and will be followed
by a reception with an opportunity to meet the writer; light refreshments
will be served.
This reading is part of Wells’
new Inclusive and Intercultural Excellence Series, an annual year-long
event. The series aims to engage the greater Wells community in considering
issues of interculturalism and inclusiveness at the institutional, local,
national, and global levels. For the 2008-09 year, its theme is Transcending
Boundaries through Democratic Practice.
Born in Georgia (former Soviet
Union) in 1969, Irakli Kakabadze is one of the leading contemporary Georgian
writers. He is the author of five books and scores of short stories
and poems, and was one of the first in Georgia to write about the painful
issues of drugs and violence.
A writer, scholar, and peace
and human rights activist, Kakabadze is a founding member and chairman
of the Egalitarian Institute, a well-known human rights advocacy organization
in Georgia. By the age of 20, he was the youngest member of the National
Forum of Georgia, the leading national liberation movement. He was one
of the leading members of the student movement against Soviet domination
in 1989-90; together the group of writers and intellectuals founded the
civic disobedience committee that led to the Rose Revolution, a non-violent
change of power in Georgia in November 2003.
Kakabadze’s numerous articles
and stories have been published in Georgian, Russian and English newspapers
and magazines; his novel Allegro, or the Chronicle of One Year received
the 1990 Best Literary Debut by a Young Author Award from the Georgian
magazine Tsiskari; he was 21 years old. He has served as editor for George
Mason University’s journal of critical essays on peace studies, and was
an editor-in-chief from 2001-04 of the bilingual social science magazine
Peace Times in Tbilisi.
Kakabadze was arrested by
Georgian authorities four times in 2006 and forced to leave his home country.
A graduate of Tbilisi State University, he was an adjunct professor of
conflict resolution at the Georgian Institute of Public Affairs. He holds
an M.S. in conflict resolution from George Mason University, and now works
at Cornell University as a visiting scholar through Ithaca’s City of Asylum
Project.
Kakabadze has worked as a
correspondent for the Voice of America’s Georgian Service at the United
Nations, and as a language and culture instructor for the Foreign Service
Institute.
In 2007, he was awarded
the Hellman/Hammett Prize by Human Rights Watch for his work against authoritarian
government.
The Ithaca City of Asylum
(ICOA) Project is part of an international network of cities of refuge
that supports the freedom of expression and human rights of writers exiled
from their home countries. ICOA welcomes these writers to Ithaca for a
two-year period. During that time, the writer is employed part-time by
Cornell, which provides a living stipend, health insurance, and visa sponsorship.
ICOA provides housing, furnishings, and social support to the writer and
his or her family.
This reading and the Wells
College Visiting Writer Series are made possible in part by a grant from
the New York State Council on the Arts. Poets and writers are invited
to campus throughout the academic year to meet with students, present writing
workshops, and read from their works.
For more information about
this and other readings at Wells, please contact Professor Bruce Bennett
at 315/364-3228 and visit the College’s Web site: www.wells.edu. More on
the Ithaca City of Asylum Project can be found at http://cresp.cornell.edu/projects/ithaca_city_asylum.php
September, 2008
Senior
Political Analyst from Time Speaks at Wells
Mark Halperin provides
expert’s guide to the 2008 presidential election
The
Wells College Arts & Lecture Series Committee is pleased to bring Time’s
senior political analyst Mark Halperin to campus on Friday evening, September
5. Halperin, creator of Time’s online publication The Page: Politics
Up To The Minute, will speak on “Navigating the 2008 Presidential Election.”
The lecture will take place in Phipps Auditorium, Macmillan Hall, at 7:30
p.m. Prices are $6 for students, senior citizens and the Wells College
community, and $10 for the general public; free for Wells students with
ID. Tickets are available at the door the night of the lecture or from
the box office the preceding week; call 315/364-3456 to reserve seats.
Mark Halperin is an editor-at-large
and senior political analyst for Time. His talk at Wells, “Navigating
the 2008 Presidential Election,” provides a political expert’s guide to
the issues and debates facing voters in this year’s national election.
He will examine the candidates’ biographies, policies, political skills,
and presidential prospects, with sharp analysis and his trademark accessible,
often humorous style.
In addition to extensive
coverage in the media, Halperin has given lectures at such national organizations
as the YMCA and American Israel Public Affairs Committee. He is the author
of two books: The Undecided Voter’s Guide to the Next President
(Harper Perennial, 2007) and The Way to Win: Taking the White House
in 2008 (Random House, 2006).
Halperin is the creator of
Time’s
online publication The Page: Politics Up to The Minute. He also
founded and edited The Note on abcnews.com, which has been characterized
as the most influential daily tipsheet in American politics by such publications
as The New York Times, the Wall Street Journal,
and The New Yorker.
Prior to joining Time
in 2007, Halperin worked at ABC News for nearly 20 years, where he covered
five presidential elections and served as political director from November
1997 to April 2007. In that role, he was responsible for political reporting
and planning for the network’s television, radio, and Internet political
coverage. He also appeared regularly on ABC News TV and radio as a correspondent
and analyst, contributing commentary and reporting during election night
coverage, presidential inaugurations, and State of the Union speeches.
Halperin received his B.A.
from Harvard University, and resides in New York City.
Each year, the Wells College
Arts & Lecture Series brings professional artists to campus to perform,
to speak on relevant issues, and to represent the disciplines of theatre,
music, and dance. Groups and individuals are selected annually by a committee
composed of Wells faculty, staff and students.
For more information about
Mark Halperin’s lecture and the Wells Arts & Lecture Series, please
contact Rebecca Cooper, coordinator of the Arts & Lecture Series Committee,
at 315/364-3330 or visit the College’s Web site: www.wells.edu. More information
on Halperin and The Page may be found at http://thepage.time.com/
August, 2008
Art
Exhibit Opens
Lenticular prints
by NYC artist Mary Ann Strandell
The
Wells College Art Department is pleased to announce the first exhibition
of the 2008-09 academic year. “The Floating Bridge: A 3-D Print Installation,”
by New York City artist Mary Ann Strandell will be on display in the String
Room Gallery from September 3 through October 1. The exhibit is free and
the public is cordially invited to view the show. An opening reception
to be held on Wednesday, September 3 from 7:00-9:00 pm offers an opportunity
to meet the artist; light refreshments will be served.
Mary Ann Strandell is a recent
recipient of a Geraldine R. Dodge fellowship, and an Art Omi International
residency award. Ms. Strandell received her M.A. and M.F.A. from the University
of New Mexico after a fellowship at Tamarind Institute, and a B.F.A. from
the University of South Dakota cum laude. She has also studied abroad in
London and Ireland, and taken courses in psychology at Syracuse University.
Ms. Strandell’s artist statement
best describes “The Floating Bridge” exhibition: “…continues my interest
in historical interaction between Eastern and Western imagery layered in
a tsunami of OP-art patterning. The works have an attitude, which engage
cultural consumption and the collision of historic spaces. The graphic
and dream-like renderings are a parallax world alluding to present day
shifts of power and changing economic values. These works include drawings
on paper and Mylar and the optical media of 3-D lenticular prints, which
reveal layered information through a lens. Thus, the viewer is in a constant
state of looking and activating the image.”
Ms. Strandell shows her work
nationally and internationally. Her Manhattan venues include Bravin Lee
Projects, Michael Steinberg Fine Art, and Bitform Gallery. Look for her
upcoming exhibitions at Realform Project Space in Brooklyn, The Kansas
City Museum, The Bridge Art Fair in Miami, and Deborah Colton Fine Art
in Houston.
This is the first exhibition
curated by Wells’ Assistant Professor of Art History William Ganis. “We’re
excited to bring Ms. Strandell’s work to the Wells campus, especially since
few have seen prints like this—she fuses drawing, painting, printmaking,
photography and digital technologies to create pieces that simply transfix
viewers,” said Ganis. “The artist uses the lenticular print—basically,
a series of hundreds of tiny lenses—to create viewer-activated illusions,
spatial ambiguities and movements. Her show offers an opportunity to introduce
Wells students to new approaches and media that complement their studies
in studio practice, book arts and art history.”
The String Room Gallery is
located in Main Building. Hours are Monday through Friday from 9:00 a.m.
to 5:00 p.m., Tuesday – Thursday evenings from 7:00 p.m. to 9:00 p.m.,
and Saturday and Sunday from 1:00 p.m. to 4:00 p.m. For more information
about the show at Wells, please contact Professor Ganis at 315/364-3465.
August, 2008
Winter
Institute
In
partnership with the Aurora Inn, Wells
offers the first Winter Institute, a series of three, week-long learning
adventures that combine thought-provoking classroom discussion and exciting
regional excursions led by Wells faculty with delicious meals and luxurious
accommodations provided by the Aurora Inn. Modeled after the educational
travel adventures offered by ElderHostel, Winter
Institute features three weeks of relaxed study in a peaceful lakeside
setting: Full details are available HERE.
July, 2008
Wells
College Becomes Smoke-Free
New policy considers
health and wellness of constituents
In its continual effort to
promote the health and well-being of its community, Wells College becomes
a non-smoking campus today.
“Our discussion and research
led us to the conclusion that Wells College will be a healthier, more comfortable
living and working environment as a smoke-free campus,” said Wells President
Lisa Marsh Ryerson. “In doing so, we join many other colleges, universities,
hospitals and workplaces in recognizing the public health and safety benefits
of a smoke-free environment.”
Associate Dean of Students
for Residence Life Joel McCarthy attended the Central New York College
Tobacco Policy Summit at LeMoyne College in Syracuse earlier this spring.
Representatives from about 30 New York colleges and universities were present
to discuss campus tobacco and smoking polices, and to learn more about
national trends.
“Many schools currently do
not allow smoking in their residence halls or academic buildings, and more
and more campuses have begun implementing smoke-free and even tobacco-free
polices,” said McCarthy. “Cazenovia College, SUNY Upstate Medical University,
and Onondaga Community College have all recently implemented smoke-free
policies on their campuses, and Wells will become non-smoking this summer.
I attended the Tobacco Summit to explore ways to make this transition a
successful one for students, staff, and faculty alike.”
Wells College has a long-standing
commitment to health and wellness. The College offers “healthy lifestyles”
living options in its residence halls, boasts a state-of-the-art fitness
center, created the Coalition for a Sustainable Wells this year, and will
introduce a Sustainability Learning Community model in the 2008-09 academic
year; eight students selected to participate in the Learning Community
will focus on civic engagement, social responsibility, and the environment.
“Our new smoking policy reflects
the College’s commitment to wellness and its mission to ‘think critically,
reason wisely and act humanely’,” explains McCarthy. “Numerous programs
and resources will be available for students, faculty, and staff who wish
to quit smoking, and off-campus smoking areas will be identified for individuals
who choose to smoke.”
For more information about
Wells’ new non-smoking policy, please contact Director of Publications
& Media Relations Kelly Tehan by calling 315.364.3260 or emailing ktehan@wells.edu.
Map of smoke-free area (PDF)
July, 2008
Earlier Articles
in Wells College News:
Wells
College News Archive
Last updated 06/12/2009 |