Summer 2008 Back to Simonsays
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Summer 2008 Back to Simonsays
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A Look Back
Forty-seven B.A. graduates and 98 A.A. graduates received their degrees on a beautiful morning in May. Keynote speaker Blenda J. Wilson, a champion of educational opportunity, urged graduates to take Simon's Rock values into the world; President Leon Botstein reminded graduates and guests how urgently the world needs Rockers' passion and talent. A special "Commencement Highlights" edition of Notes will be published this summer. Check back to www.simons-rock.edu to download it. A Look Forward Kendrick is getting greener. The dorm, built in 1967, got an overhaul this summer, from finishes to (environmental) footprint. Students will return to find modern bathrooms, an entirely new interior layout, and updated room fixtures. That's the "wow" factor; less obvious are the many ways in which the building has become energy-smart. "We built a new roof and skylight that improved insulation and ventilation, and replaced the entire heating system with a new, state-of-the-art, 95%-plus efficient gas boiler," says director of physical plant Steve Carignan. Other changes that will reduce Kendrick's energy consumption and lessen its environmental impact include:
On the Same Page By the time first-year students converge on campus next month, they'll already have read the first book of their college careers. Book One, the shared summer reading program inaugurated in 2005, offers first-year students the opportunity not just to read and discuss an important contemporary work, but also to encounter the book's author in person. Books are chosen based on excellence and their suitability for sparking interdisciplinary conversations about the intersection of cultures. Discussion takes place during the Writing and Thinking Workshop and beyond, as well as in the Early College Teaching Seminar. This summer, students are reading Saidiya Hartman's 2007 book Lose Your Mother: A Journey Along the Atlantic Slave Route, which The New York Times calls it a "thought-provoking meditation on the corrosive legacy of slavery." Research for the book took Hartman, a professor of English and comparative literature and women's and gender studies at Columbia University, to Ghana, where she found more gaps than answers. So she fills in what she calls the "non-history" of the slave with imaginative reconstruction of particular slaves' lives—turning a history that's often as abstract as it is horrible into something felt and real. Hartman will be addressing the Simon's Rock community on August 18 at 7pm in the McConnell Theater. All are invited to attend. 
The Year Ahead
Two new on-campus Signature Programs launch this year, drawing nationally and internationally recognized scholars, activists, and artists to Simon's Rock, and providing students with expanded opportunities for creative and scholarly engagement. Both are designed to build bridges—between academic work and the larger world, and among various disciplines. Beginning in the fall semester, the Social Science Junior Fellows Signature Program will begin its inaugural year. It's designed to give selected third-year students in the Division of Social Studies experience conducting significant work in the social sciences, and exposure to scholars in the field. At its core is the Proseminar in Social Scientific Inquiry, a two-semester seminar that integrates lectures, symposia, readings, discussions, excursions, and scholarly writing. By the end of the seminar, students will have presented to or attended a conference, or have secured publication for their work. In the spring, the Bridges Signature Program, organized through the Division of Arts, will sponsor multi-week residencies at Simon's Rock for interdisciplinary artists (chosen by faculty for their ability to forge links among disciplines). During their stay on campus, Bridges artists will visit Arts Division classes related to their field to guest teach; they'll also contribute to a new Bridges Seminar in the Arts for B.A. students. And they'll give a presentation or performance, open to the Simon's Rock community and the public, to demonstrate the substance of their art. An exciting line-up of artists kicks off in January 2009.Faculty Farewells Two beloved faculty members with long service to the College retired this spring. Mathematics professor Allen Altman taught at Simon's Rock for more than two decades, while art history, social science, and women's studies professor Barbara Resnik spent just under 20 years with the College. 
At Commencement, the senior class honored Altman with the Dr. John A. Glover award, recognizing his knowledge of subject, love of learning, excellence in teaching, and dedication to students. "I tried to be very interactive with students when I taught. The nice thing about smaller classes is you get to know the students and how to communicate with them," Altman explains. The community he's gotten to know, he's gotten to love: "I just want people to know how much I love Simon's Rock," he says. Simon's Rock isn't his only passion. An avid bird watcher, Altman plans to travel in retirement—his sights are on spotting species of birds he doesn't encounter here at home.
Honored at CannesThe film version of Emmanuel Dongala's critically acclaimed novel about child soldiers and civil war in West Africa, Johnny Mad Dog, won the 2008 Prize of Hope at the Cannes Film Festival in May. The book, written in French and released in English in 2005, draws on Dongala's own experience fleeing the Congo Republic in 1997 during a brutal regional conflict. Since arriving in the United States, Dongala, a chemistry professor as well as a novelist, has been a faculty member at Simon's Rock. "The novel moved me enormously," the film's director, Jean-Stephane Sauvaire, told reporters with France 24 and Reuters. Sauvaire's film closely follows Dongala's book, telling the story of two teenagers in an unnamed country in war-torn West Africa: Johnny, the ruthless child soldier of the book's title, and Laokole, an academically promising girl trying to escape the region and save herself and her family. Distribution of Johnny Mad Dog is still in the works. Watch a clip of the film.
Finally, Just for Fun Whether you're headed to Beijing for the Olympics, or simply plan to tune in from home, you'll want to know how to properly pronounce the capital city that's hosting this summer's games. John Weinstein, professor of Chinese, Asian studies, and theater, shows you how at Two Chinese Characters. Back to Top |
Once a practicing lawyer, Resnick found her way to campus when she was seized with a desire to teach. Here, she brought together her expertise in law, graphic design, and printmaking to teach classes such as The First Amendment and Graphic Art and Social Protest. "I wanted to foster interdisciplinary and inter-divisional challenges," Resnik says. "I also wanted to instill the importance of public and political responsibilities." Her students are evidence of her success. She says she's proud to have taught alumni like Ally Shandell, Loren Alikhan, and Sarah Parady—all of whom are clerking for federal judges. In retirement, Resnik has no plans of slowing down. This fall, with election season in full swing, she will work on electoral protection and the presidential campaign, as well as teaching a class at the College.