Announcements
International Collaboration Brings Whistler's Art Legacy to Augustana
Augustana College will celebrate the opening of the new Centre for Whistler Criticism with a lecture and dedication honoring legendary artist James McNeill Whistler on Tuesday, April 7 at 7:30 p.m. in Bergendoff Hall of Fine Arts (3701 7th Avenue). The event is free and open to the public.
Dr. Nigel Thorp, an internationally acclaimed scholar of Whistler's art and art theory, will present a lecture titled "Whistler and the Poetry of Sight." His lecture will explore Whistler's view of the poetic values of art, which the general public of Victorian England, the American-born Whistler's chosen home, found so difficult to understand. Whistler (1834-1903) achieved recognition as an artist of international stature during his lifetime. He was a radical thinker, whose defense of formal aesthetic values laid the foundation for the modern art movement in England.
Thorp is the former director of the Centre for Whistler Studies at the University of Glasgow, Scotland, and director and editor for the Whistler Correspondence project at the Paul Mellon Centre for Studies in British Art, London. Dr. Thorp also has generously shared his expertise and databases towards establishing the Augustana center.
Following the lecture, Augustana President Steven Bahls will dedicate the Centre for Whistler Criticism in Augustana's Department of Art History. The interdisciplinary center will construct an international digital archive of the complete collection of Whistler's lifetime criticism, which included reviews by such notables as Henry James, Oscar Wilde and Charles Baudelaire. The collection will include a catalogue of all of Whistler's own hand-noted scrapbooks, as well as two of Whistler's original catalogues that have been donated from the Special Collections at the Glasgow University Library. The center will be under the direction of Dr. Catherine Carter Goebel, professor and chair of the Department of Art History at Augustana College.
Donald Kraybill Convocation Presentation.
"Amish Grace: Writing the Story of a Tragedy."
Nationally recognized for his scholarship on Anabaptist groups, Kraybill is the author or editor of more than 20 books and dozens of professional articles. His books have been translated into six different languages. His latest book, Amish Grace: How Forgiveness Transcended Tragedy (co-authored by Steven Nolt and David Weaver-Zercher) explores the Nickel Mine shootings that killed five Amish school children and how the Amish community responded to this horrific event. Kraybill's research on Anabaptist groups has been featured in magazines, newspapers, and on radio and television programs across the United States and in many foreign countries. He has served as a consultant for various projects related to Amish and other Anabaptist groups. The National Endowment for the Humanities and various private foundations have supported his research projects. Kraybill is the editor of the Johns Hopkins University Press series Young Center Books in Anabaptist and Pietist Studies. Donald B. Kraybill received his Ph.D. in sociology from Temple University. He served as chair of the sociology and social work department at Elizabethtown College from 1979 to 1985 and directed the Young Center from 1989 to 1996. He was provost of Messiah College (Pa.) from 1996 to 2002, and then returned to Elizabethtown College in 2003.
Partners for Educational Progress: Faculty Exchange Program: Tanzania
As some of you may recall, in the year 2000, representatives from the then ELCA Division for Higher Education and Schools and Dr. Shoonie Hartwig initiated a process to form an alliance with Tumaini University in Tanzania for the overall purpose of faculty development. Since that time, the following has happened:
- In 2005 a small group of faculty from colleges and universities related to the ELCA journeyed to Tanzania to participate in an HIV/AIDS and Gender Symposium with faculty from the four campuses of Tumaini University.
- In Fall 2007 four Tumaini University faculty came to the U.S. to spend six weeks on the campuses of Augustana Rock Island, Carthage, Gustavus and St. Olaf.
- In Fall 2008 three Tumaini University faculty came to the U.S. to spend six weeks on the campuses of Carthage, Luther and St. Olaf.
It was reported that these exchanges were very well received by all involved. It is now time for U.S. faculty to consider a journey to Tanzania to spend time at Tumaini University. Rather than a six-week stay, it will be three weeks in January 2010. The Invitation for Proposals can be read HERE . Please note that the deadline for submission is Wednesday, April 15, 2009. Submissions are to be sent via email to both Dr. Hartwig mamashoonie@gmail.com and to Marilyn Olson at marilyn.olson@elca.org
A flyer about Tumaini University can be read HERE, which has grown from four to six campus sites in Tanzania, and a summary document prepared last month regarding the Fall 2008 campus visits. It will provide some helpful background information.
The ELCA is hopeful that they will be able to utilize some ELCA/VE Hunger Funds to help support some of the travel expenses of our U.S. faculty. We realize that these are difficult economic times, but trust that we can move forward with hope and anticipation of what an experience like this can bring to the enrichment of our faculty and classrooms. Please do not hesitate to contact Marilyn Olson with any questions.
Reception with Ric Burns
The Institute for Leadership and Service and the Dean's Office have joined forces to make Ric Burns' visit to Augustana possible. As some of you may know, Steve Warren was lucky enough to work with Ric on his new documentary, Tecumseh's Vision, which premieres on April 20, 2009. This film is epidode 2 in a film series presented by WGBH and the American Experience entitled We Shall Remain: A Native History of America. The first film in the series, After the Mayflower, will premiere on April 13, 2009. For more on the series, please follow this link to a recent review by the Boston Globe: http://www.boston.com/ae/tv/articles/2009/03/29/neither_nobles_nor_savages/
Augustana will be hosting a post-premiere screening of the film, followed by a reception with Ric, on Thursday, April 23rd at 7:30 p.m. in Olin Auditorium. Following the screening, there should be plenty of time for Ric to take questions and to discuss the film with members of the audience. For more information on Ric's career as a documentary filmmaker, please check out the following link: http://www.ricburns.com/flash.html
Please share this message with folks who might be interested in watching the film and listening to Ric describe his work as a filmmaker. Please contact Steve Warren if you have any questions about his visit. Also see http://www.augustana.edu/x12335.xml
Sabbatical Leave Grants and Summer Research Grants
Recipients Announced
The Faculty Research Committee is pleased to announce the receipients of this year's Sabbatical Leave Grants and Summer Research Grants.
Kristy Nabhan-Warren (Sabbatical)
Lendol Calder (Sabbatical)
Molly Todd (Summer Research Stipend)
Randall Hall (Summer Research Stipend)
Readings by Iowa Teaching Fellows Dora Malech and Jason T. Lewis
Wednesday, April 15, 2009
6:00 PM - Wilson Center
Dora Malech earned an M.F.A. in poetry at the Iowa Writers' Workshop in 2005 and has taught in New Zealand and Iowa, and at Augustana. Her poems have appeared, or are forthcoming, in The New Yorker, Poetry, The Yale Review, The Yale Anthology of Younger American Poetry, American Letters & Commentary, Best New Poets, Best New Zealand Poems, Denver Quarterly, LIT, Post Road, and elsewhere. Her first book of poems, Shore Ordered Ocean, will be published by Waywiser Press in Spring 2010.
Jason T. Lewis earned his M.F.A. in fiction at Iowa Writers' Workshop and has been teaching in Iowa and at Augustana. Jason is working on his first novel, The Fourteenth Colony. His short story Demonstration appeared in the Spring/Summer 2008 issue of Yamassee. As a musician, Jason has toured and recorded with his band Star City and his solo album is forthcoming this year.
Register NOW for the 2009 Celebration of Learning!!
...the Augustana College student research symposium.
Click here for more information and to register online!
Augustana Historical Society Spring Meeting
April 21, 2009
7:00 PM
The spring meeting of the Augustana Historical Society will be held on April 21, 2009 at 7:00 PM in the Wilson Center. Dr. Stephen Warren will present "John Henry Hauberg, Meskwaki Powwows, and Community Survival in the Industrial Midwest." Light refreshments will be served.
Next Division Meeting
Thursday, April 30, 2009
10:30 - 11:30 AM
All meetings will take place in the following rooms:
Fine and Performing Arts
Bergendoff Room 12
Language and Literature
Old Main 124
Natural Science
Science Building 102
History, Philosophy and Religion
Old Main 332
Social Sciences
Old Main 122
FALL CONNECTION SERVICE DAY
August 22, 2009
YOUR HELP IS NEEDED
Even though it seems a long way off, Fall Connection planning is underway. We are excited about the new students coming to Augustana and the learning and growth that will happen over their next four years. As you may know, last year we began to include opportunities to participate in community service projects as part of Fall Connection. During their first weekend on campus, a number of first-year students and faculty took part in projects ranging from Habitat for Humanity to Living Lands and Waters to Painting with a Purpose.
This year, we're hoping to expand those opportunities for participation and include even more members of the Augustana community. Here is an opportunity to share our Quad Cities community with them. There are plenty of possibilities for these first-year students to engage in the community "outside the bubble," and this is your chance to share some of the places YOU have found valuable in the QCA. Please take a moment to answer these FOUR questions to assist in planning for Fall Connection Service Day Saturday, August 22, 2009 from 9:00 AM - 1:00 PM.
http://freyaold.augustana.edu:8080/survey/entry.jsp?id=1238792296650