Students

Category: Students

Welcome Class of 2020: Andy Wang an atypical typical Lawrence freshman

A photo of Lawrence University student Yuhan (Andy) Wang.
Yuhan (Andy) Wang ’20

Andy Wang’s college application looks impressively similar to most members of Lawrence’s class of 2020: high grade point average, challenging set of classes, participation in a theatre production, co-president of Model United Nations, a bevy of volunteer/community service projects, published author, charitable foundation founder.

Wait. Published author? Charitable foundation founder??

Okay, maybe Wang’s application has a few atypical highlights.

Charles Dickens was 24 when his first novel was published. Wang had his first book published at the age of 18.

Wang is one of approximately 380 freshmen arriving in Appleton for the start of new student orientation activities Sept. 6. Classes for Lawrence’s 168th academic year begin Sept. 12.

A native of Shenyang, China, a city of eight million people 500 miles northeast of Beijing, Wang chronicled his experiences as an international student attending high school in the state of Washington in the 2015 book “High School Encounter — Seattle.”

“I experienced a significant culture shock when I first came to the United States and writing became my therapy, a way of self-meditation and a process to explore my own identity,” said Wang, who applied to Lawrence on a recommendation from a family friend. He visited campus last spring and embraced the many opportunities he learned Lawrence could offer.

Wang said Chinese culture — where ranking of all things is rampant among young people and anyone or anything considered “the best” is overvalued —  contributed to his confusion in his adopted hometown of Burien, Wash.

“Nobody told me how to satisfy myself, so I used all kinds of activities to fill up my time,” Wang said. “Yet, the more activities in which I participated, the deeper the confusion grew. I was always trying to display to everyone the best version of myself, but I felt lost inside.

A phot of the cover of Lawrence University student Yuhan (Andy) Wang book "High School Encounter — Seattle."As time passed and I wrote my weekly thoughts, I discovered a deeper understanding of myself and this new world around me.”

A blog Wang started evolved into his book, which was published by the largest national book store in China. He then decided to donate all book sale proceeds to assist other students. In June, 2015, the “Andy Reading Fund” was born. Driven by the belief that nothing is more powerful than an educated mind, Wang established the charity to provide educational books and resources to rural students around the world.

“A friend told me recently that she found my book in a library of a small, distant town. I was really quite surprised by that,” said Wang, who wrote an article earlier this year for international students struggling in the culture gap that was carried by several leading Chinese media outlets and led to numerous interviews.

“I never turn down any chance to advocate for the reading fund, raise people’s attention on this topic and help students in need,” said Wang, an only child whose parents both work in the financial sector in China.

In little more than a year, he has raised more than $7,500 for the Andy Reading Fund, much of it from the sale of his book. He has used the funds to make donations to three elementary schools in rural China as well as send learning materials to 52 students at the Chinyaradzo Children’s Home in Harare, Zimbabwe. An anonymous gift provided support for winter coats and new shoes for students at the Zuoguyida Elementary School in Meigu, China.

“Among all the students we’ve sponsored, I remember Ying the most,” said Wang. “She was a young girl in the poorer Liangshan area who received funding to attend high school. Her family could not afford to support her for high school, so she was very moved when she received tuition from the Andy Reading Fund. She kept repeating through her tears ‘I am so, so lucky.’”

“The things that form the backbone of Andy’s story — curiosity, innovation, resilience, care for others — form the core of what we look for beyond all Lawrentians’ academic profiles.”
— Ken
Anselment, dean of admissions and financial aid.

A photo of Lawrence University student Yuhan (Andy) Wang at talks to a woman at The Chinyaradzo Children’s Home in Harare, Zimbabwe.
The Chinyaradzo Children’s Home in Harare, Zimbabwe, was one of the beneficiaries of the Andy Reading Fund.

This summer, Wang launched a new initiative to recruit 100 student representatives to sponsor 100 students in need, providing a variety of resources, including the Andy Reading Fund website in both Chinese and English, updates on social media, marketing materials and fundraising guidance.

“Each representative will be asked to raise tuition for one student within a year,” Wang explained. “This project can offer more students an opportunity to do something to help the less fortunate and influence the people around them.”

As he prepares to embark on the college chapter of his life, Wang is looking forward to spreading the gospel of the Andy Reading Fund at Lawrence.

“It’s always a bit scary to come to a new place,” said Wang, who is mulling everything from international relations and gender studies to economics, psychology and mathematics as potential majors. “I still remember how hard I was trembling the first day at my high school in Seattle. But I’m ready to be a part of the Lawrence community.”

Ken Anselment, dean of admissions and financial aid, calls Wang’s story “extraordinary.”

“The things that form the backbone of Andy’s story — curiosity, innovation, resilience, care for others — form the core of what we look for beyond all Lawrentians’ academic profiles,” said Anselment.

Wang and all of this year’s new students were drawn from a school-record applicant pool of more than 3,500 — a 16 percent increase over the previous year. In addition to freshmen, Lawrence also welcomes 25 transfer students and eight visiting exchange students from Tokyo’s Waseda University and from the Netherlands.

Putting the class of 2020 under the magnifying glass reveals:

Geographically, they hail from 32 states, plus Washington, D.C. Thirteen percent of the freshmen are citizens of 23 foreign countries.

Wisconsin, Illinois and Minnesota were the top three Lawrentian-producing states. While Wisconsin once accounted for 50 percent of new students, this year only one-quarter of Lawrence freshmen are home grown.

A photo of Lawrence University students on Freshmen move-in day.
Freshmen move-in day is an annual rite of passage. This year’s happens Sept. 6.

• 23 percent of the freshmen identify as domestic students of color.

• With 19 students, China is sending more freshmen to Lawrence this fall than all but four states (Wisconsin, Illinois, Minnesota and California). Vietnam accounted for the second-most international students with nine.

Academically, one quarter of the freshmen ranked in the top five percent of their graduating high school classes.

The average ACT score was 28 among all students and 29 among those who submitted test scores for consideration for admission. Lawrence has been test optional since 2006.

“The folks around here get tired of hearing me say this,” said Anselment, “much as it takes a village to raise a child, it takes a university to enroll a student. I’m grateful that the members of the Lawrence community — and those who support us — devote such great energy in helping us enroll students from all over the world who will thrive here. I’m especially grateful for the tireless work of our admissions and financial aid team’s outstanding effort this year.”

“And as we welcome the class of 2016,” Anselment added “we’re already in high gear working on 2017 and beyond.”

About Lawrence University
Founded in 1847, Lawrence University uniquely integrates a college of liberal arts and sciences with a nationally recognized conservatory of music, both devoted exclusively to undergraduate education. It was selected for inclusion in the book “Colleges That Change Lives: 40 Schools That Will Change the Way You Think About College.”  Engaged learning, the development of multiple interests and community outreach are central to the Lawrence experience. Lawrence draws its 1,500 students from nearly every state and more than 50 countries.

Lawrence celebrates 167th commencement, honors novelist Lan Samantha Chang

Lan Samantha Chang knew she wanted to be a writer since she was four years old.

The Appleton native who followed her dream and became an award-winning novelist returns to her hometown to be recognized for her literary achievements as the recipient of an honorary Doctor of Humane Letters degree from Lawrence University Sunday, June 12 at the college’s 167th commencement.

Lan Samantha Chang will receive an honorary degree from Lawrence and serve as the principal speaker at the college's 167th commencement June 12. Photo by Tom Jorgensen.
Lan Samantha Chang will receive an honorary degree from Lawrence and serve as the principal speaker at the college’s 167th commencement June 12. Photo by Tom Jorgensen.

Chang, 51, who has directed the prestigious Iowa Writers’ Workshop at the University of Iowa for the past 10 years, also will be the featured commencement speaker.

Lawrence is expected to award 364 bachelor degrees to 350 students from 32 states, the District of Columbia and 19 countries. A live webcast of the commencement ceremony will be available at http://go.lawrence.edu/lugrad16.

A baccalaureate service will be conducted Saturday, June 11 at 11 a.m. in the Lawrence Memorial Chapel. Benjamin Tilghman ’99, assistant professor of art history, presents “What Makes Us Unique Also Binds Us Together: Empathy, Curiosity and the Liberal Arts.” The baccalaureate service and commencement exercise are both free and open to the public.

Four retiring faculty members — John Dreher, Merton Finkler, Nicholas Maravolo and Patricia Vilches — will each be recognized with an honorary master of arts degree, ad eundem, as part of the ceremonies. Vilches will be honored in absentia.

In addition to Chang, Lawrence President Mark Burstein, Board of Trustees Chair Susan Stillman Kane ’72 and senior Kevin Marin of Queens, N.Y., also will address the graduates.

Commencement_mortar-board_newsblogWhile Chang was burying herself in books as a child, dreaming about some kind of artistic future, her parents, who emigrated from China more than 65 years ago and had witnessed the horrors of a world war, had their hearts set on her pursuing a career in medicine, which they viewed as something stable.

“When I applied to Yale, I wrote in my application that I wanted to be a dermatologist mostly because it’s the only kind of doctor I had ever been to,” said Chang of her initial efforts to mollify her parents. “I started taking science classes and instantly realized that I did not want to pursue that path. It was very stressful because I was too chicken to talk to my parents about the decision. It was a year or two before I was able to tell them I didn’t want to be a doctor and I had to come up with a backup plan. So I told them I wanted to be a lawyer.”

After earning a degree in East Asian Studies at Yale, Chang attended the Kennedy School of Government at Harvard University, where she earned a master’s degree in public administration.

“I realized that I didn’t want to pursue that direction either,” said Chang. “It was really just a question of coming to face the fact that I had never wanted to do anything else except write fiction and it would be pointless to keep trying to do other things.”Chang-Book_newsblog

Applying to, and getting accepted to, the Iowa’s Writers’ Workshop was the launching pad for her long-dreamt-about career as a writer.

After earning a master of fine arts degree at the University of Iowa, she taught creative writing at Stanford University as Jones Lecturer in Fiction, in Warren Wilson College’s MFA program for writers and at Harvard University as Briggs-Copland Lecturer in Creative Writing.

She returned to the Writers’ Workshop in 2006 as its director while also teaching English as the May Brodbeck Professor of Liberal Arts and Sciences.

“I feel honored to be leading the workshop and proud that the program is still very strong.”

Chang’s connection to the Iowa Writers’ Workshop goes back to when she was in the eighth grade at Appleton’s Einstein Middle School. A grant enabled the Appleton Area School District to have a young poet, Monroe Lerner, who was a graduate of the Writers’ Workshop, spend a year working with students in the district on creative writing.

“It seems to me our society would be strongest if as many people as possible were given the time to read widely, think broadly and try to understand the human experience before they went out into the world. It can always benefit our society if as many people as possible study liberal arts.”
         — Lan Samantha Chang

 

Commencement_hug_newsblog“I was deeply interested in reading and writing and didn’t have an outlet for it, so every week for a year I got to meet with Monroe Lerner,” said Chang, a 1983 graduate of Appleton West High School. “It was a phenomenal experience for me…probably the most important writing experience I had until after college because he took me seriously and he introduced me to a lot of good books. He put the idea of going to Iowa in my head when I was in eighth grade.”

One of only three Chinese families living in Appleton while Chang was growing up, she was inspired by her experiences as an Asian American to write two novels and a collection of short stories about the merging of Chinese and American culture and the dynamics of family and wealth in times of hardship. Her works include 1998’s “Hunger: A Novella and Stories,” 2004’s “Inheritance” and “All is Forgotten, Nothing is Lost” in 2010.

“Inheritance” received the 2005 PEN Open Book Award while “Hunger” was the winner of the Southern Review Fiction Prize and named a finalist for a Los Angeles Times Book Award. Her work has been selected twice (1994, 1996) for inclusion in the yearly anthology “The Best American Short Stories.”

In addition to her accomplishments, her deep connections to Lawrence made Chang a natural for an honorary degree and invitation to deliver the commencement address. Her mother earned a bachelor of music degree in piano pedagogy from Lawrence, while her father was an associate professor of engineering at the former Institute of Paper Chemistry, which had a long affiliation with Lawrence

“Receiving an honorary degree from Lawrence means a great deal to me,” said Chang, “because when I was growing up, Lawrence was the center of intellectual life in Appleton. It is a greatly respected university. I have vivid memories of being at the conservatory during my mother’s recitals and meeting her professors.”

In part because of her exposure to Lawrence as a youth, Chang holds liberal arts education in high regard.Commencement_selfie_newsblog

“It seems to me our society would be strongest if as many people as possible were given the time to read widely, think broadly and try to understand the human experience before they went out into the world,” said Chang, who admits she wanted “to stretch my wings and leave Appleton” and didn’t consider attending Lawrence when the time came. “I think that the liberal arts education always has benefits to any person, regardless of what they eventually do to make a living. It can always benefit our society if as many people as possible study liberal arts.”

Chang’s 93-year-old father still lives in Appleton. He is looking forward to seeing his daughter deliver her first commencement address.

“I think he’s probably more excited about this than anybody in my family. One of the reasons I’m so excited about it is because my dad is so excited about it. Of course, it makes me nervous because I know that he’ll be there. I want to do a good job.”

About Lawrence University
Founded in 1847, Lawrence University uniquely integrates a college of liberal arts and sciences with a nationally recognized conservatory of music, both devoted exclusively to undergraduate education. It was selected for inclusion in the book “Colleges That Change Lives: 40 Schools That Will Change the Way You Think About College” and Fiske’s Guide to Colleges 2016. Engaged learning, the development of multiple interests and community outreach are central to the Lawrence experience. Lawrence draws its 1,500 students from nearly every state and more than 50 countries.

 

 

 

 

Wriston Art Center features Lawrence senior studio art majors

Senior-Art-Show_2016_newsblog2
Abigail Kosberg: “I am Dophie Doltz,” acrylic paint and thread on cotton fabric

Eight Lawrence University art majors will have their creative work featured in the annual senior major exhibition opening Friday, May 27 in the Wriston Art Center galleries.

The exhibition, which is free and open to the public, runs through July 3. A reception with the student artists at 6 p.m. opens the exhibition.

Works in the exhibition include photography, ceramics, sculpture, textiles, paintings, installation and performance art.

The seniors whose work will be featured are:
• Oumou Cisse, Washington D.C.
• Tess Gundersen, Santa Fe, N.M.
• Liam Hoy, Chicago, Ill.
• Abigail Kosberg, Wildwood, Ill.
• Brandin Kreuder, Burlington
• Isabella Schleisner, Greenville
• Laura Udelson, San Francisco, Calif.
• Austin Wellner, Green Bay

LU-Senior-Art-Show_newsblog1
Brandin Kreuder: “Paddled Box,” ceramic

The Wriston Art Center galleries are free and open to the public Tuesday-Friday 10 a.m. – 4 p.m.; Saturday-Sunday noon – 4 p.m.; closed Mondays. For more information on the exhibition, 920-832-6890.

About Lawrence University
Founded in 1847, Lawrence University uniquely integrates a college of liberal arts and sciences with a nationally recognized conservatory of music, both devoted exclusively to undergraduate education. It was selected for inclusion in the book “Colleges That Change Lives: 40 Schools That Will Change the Way You Think About College” and Fiske’s Guide to Colleges 2016. Engaged learning, the development of multiple interests and community outreach are central to the Lawrence experience. Lawrence draws its 1,500 students from nearly every state and more than 50 countries.

Annual Honors Convocation features philosophy professor John Dreher

John-Dreher_honors-convo_newsblog
John Dreher

John Dreher, Lee Claflin-Robert S. Ingraham Professor of Philosophy at Lawrence University, discusses the motivation of modern day spin doctors in the college’s annual Honors Convocation.

Dreher presents “21st Century Merchants of Doubt: Where Is Plato When We Need Him?” Tuesday, May 24 at 11:10 a.m in the Lawrence Memorial Chapel. The event is free and open to the public and also will be webcast live.

The Honors Convocation publicly recognizes students and faculty recipients of awards and prizes for excellence in the arts, humanities, sciences, social sciences, languages and music as well as demonstrated excellence in athletics and service to others.

Dreher was chosen as the 2016 speaker as the recipient of Lawrence’s annual Faculty Convocation Award, which honors a faculty member for distinguished professional work. He is the seventh faculty member so honored.

In their 2010 book “Merchants of Doubt,” historians Naomi Oreskes and Eric Conway detail how a group of high-level scientists with extensive political connections, effectively organized campaigns designed to mislead the public and deny well-established scientific truths on issues ranging from the connections between smoking and lung cancer to links tying coal emissions to acid rain.

Dreher will discuss how Plato challenged similar “doubt merchants” of his day nearly 2,500 years ago and how the same factors that drove those ancient sellers of doubts motivate today’s spin doctors, the motivation of modern day spin doctors in the college’s annual Honors Convocation.namely their view of the place of individuals within society.

A member of the Lawrence faculty since 1963, Dreher is a two-time recipient of the college’s Babcock Award “for outstanding service to students,” the University Award for Excellence in Teaching and the Freshman Studies Teaching award. He served as the chair of Lawrence’s philosophy department most years from 1968- 2011 and directed the college’s signature Freshman Studies program on three occasions (1982–83; 1986–87; 1993–95).

A native of New Jersey, Dreher’s scholarship interests include environmental ethics, applied ethics and the history of philosophy.

He earned a bachelor’s degree in English from St. Peter’s College, a master’s degree in philosophy from Fordham University and a Ph.D. in philosophy from the University of Chicago.

About Lawrence University
Founded in 1847, Lawrence University uniquely integrates a college of liberal arts and sciences with a nationally recognized conservatory of music, both devoted exclusively to undergraduate education. It was selected for inclusion in the book “Colleges That Change Lives: 40 Schools That Will Change the Way You Think About College” and Fiske’s Guide to Colleges 2016. Engaged learning, the development of multiple interests and community outreach are central to the Lawrence experience. Lawrence draws its 1,500 students from nearly every state and more than 50 countries.

Meghan Murphy awarded critical language scholarship to study in Taiwan

Don’t blame Meghan Murphy if she isn’t 100 percent focused during the upcoming Spring Term final exams.

Meghan-Murphy_headshot_newsblog
Meghan Murphy ’18

The Lawrence University sophomore will have good reason for a little mind wandering. She needs to be in Tainan, Taiwan by June 8 — the final day of exams — as a recipient of a U.S. Department of State Critical Language Scholarship (CLS) to study Chinese.

Murphy, a double degree candidate pursuing majors in religious studies and violin performance, will spend eight weeks living with a host family in Tianan, a city of nearly two million on the the island’s southwest coast during the program.

The CLS program includes four hours a day of personalized, intensive language study as well as various activities and excursions designed to expand students’ understanding of the history, politics, culture and daily life of their host country. The scholarship covers all the program’s expenses and includes a $960 stipend.

Selected from more than 5,700 applications nationally, Murphy was among 560 U.S. undergraduate and graduate students awarded one of the state department’s critical language scholarships.

Murphy has been to mainland China three times previously, but this will be her first trip to Taiwan. She went to China with her family when she was 11 years old and spent a year in Beijing during a gap year before coming to Lawrence.

“Studying abroad gives you a lot of different perspectives and helps you mature,” said Murphy, a home-school graduate who lives in Milwaukee. “I had already taken four years of Chinese at UW-Milwaukee during high school so China was the logical place to go for a gap year before coming to Lawrence.”

“I’m excited about this trip particularly because Taiwan is a place I haven’t been before,” added Murphy, who took her first Chinese language lessons when she was 10. “Because of all the conflict between China and Taiwan and my experience becoming familiar with the Chinese perspective while living in China, I’m very interested in learning the Taiwanese side of the story.”

Meghan-Murphy_newsblog_1
Meghan Murphy spent 18 days in China last December as part of Lawrence’s “Sustainable China” initiative.

Murphy’s most recent trip to China was last December as part of Lawrence’s 18-day multi-disciplinary initiative “Sustainable China: Integrating Culture, Conservation and Commerce.” She was one of 12 students to participate in that program.

“I hope to continue applying what I learned on the Sustainable China trip particularly in relation to the intersection of religion beliefs and environmental awareness,” said Murphy.

Jason Brozek, Stephen Edward Scarff Professor of International Affairs and associate professor of government at Lawrence, who led the December “Sustainable China” trip, called Meghan “a terrific student with exactly the kind of broad, diverse interests we encourage Lawrentians to develop.”

“I had the pleasure of working with her over the course of several months as part of the Sustainable China traveling classroom and the critical language scholarship will be an excellent springboard for her future success,” said Brozek.

While her critical language scholarship may complicate the final weeks of Murphy’s Spring term, it’s a trade-off she’s more than willing to make.

“I’m always looking to experience new perspectives, so going somewhere new, having a host family to live with, and taking language classes is a spectacular opportunity.”

The CLS, a program of the U.S. Department of State, Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs, was launched in 2006 to increase opportunities for American students to study critical-need languages overseas and expand the number of Americans studying and mastering critical-need languages, including Arabic, Chinese, Indonesian Japanese, Korean, Persian, Russian, Indic (Bangla/Bengali, Hindi, Punjabi and Urdu) and Turkic (Turkish and Azerbaijani).

About Lawrence University
Founded in 1847, Lawrence University uniquely integrates a college of liberal arts and sciences with a nationally recognized conservatory of music, both devoted exclusively to undergraduate education. It was selected for inclusion in the book “Colleges That Change Lives: 40 Schools That Will Change the Way You Think About College” and Fiske’s Guide to Colleges 2016. Engaged learning, the development of multiple interests and community outreach are central to the Lawrence experience. Lawrence draws its 1,500 students from nearly every state and more than 50 countries.

Cultural ambassadors: Hayley Cardinal, Kirstin Edwards heading to Germany as Fulbright grant recipients

A pair of Lawrence University seniors will spend the majority of their first post-graduation year as English language teaching assistants and cultural ambassadors, courtesy of the United States Department of State and the J. William Fulbright Foreign Scholarship Board.

Edwards-and-Cardinal_newsblog
Seniors Kirstin Edwards (l.) and Hayley Cardinal will spend 10 months in Germany on a Fulbright grant beginning in September.

Hayley Cardinal, a German and linguistics major from Lombard, Ill., and Kirstin Edwards, a German and physics major from Whitefish Bay, have been awarded 2016-2017 Fulbright U.S. Student grants to Germany. The Fulbright Program is the flagship international educational exchange program of the United States.

Both will travel to Germany in September, where they will spend 10 months working in a school as a teacher’s aide. Cardinal knows she will be in the capital city of Berlin, while Edwards’ final destination is still to be determined, although she knows it will be somewhere in the central state of Hessen.

It will be a return trip for Cardinal, who spent a semester in Berlin a year ago on a study-abroad program.

“Berlin was my first choice, which I was not expecting to get,” said Cardinal, who spent a month in Germany as a high school junior on a student-exchange program. “I’m super excited to go back.”

Cardinal applied for a Fulbright grant after realizing it was a perfect combination of several of her passions.

“I love German and linguistics and working with students,” said Cardinal, who first started studying German as a high school freshman. “Helping students learn English will be ideal as far as potential career fields I’ve been considering. I’m interested in speech therapy, working with high school or younger students, helping with speech problems they struggle with or possibly going into English as a Second Language.”

Hayley Cardinal '16
Hayley Cardinal ’16

Ruth Lunt, associate professor of German and Cardinal’s advisor, called her a “perfect choice” for the Fulbright program.

“Her linguistics training and knowledge of both English and German give her an advantage when it comes to explaining aspects of English to German speakers,” said Lunt. “She also has shown a deep understanding of German culture. Hayley is one of the most intellectually curious, highly motivated and intelligent students I have had the pleasure of working with. She is creative, energetic and has taken the time to explore and think about what she really wants to do.”

Perhaps being part prescient, Cardinal studied Arabic this year, knowing Germany has accepted a large number of Syrian refugees.

“I really hope to work with a volunteer program where I can help teach English to refugees, which would go hand-in-hand with what I’m doing with my Fulbright,” said Cardinal, a three-time conference champion on the Lawrence women’s swimming team and a hurdler on the women’s track team. “I think it’s an important part of current German culture and helping these refugees to succeed is really important. It’s not easy to integrate thousands of these people into the country, so I’d like to help in any way I can.”

Edwards also participated in a student exchange program in high school, during which she spent time on a farm in the state of Hessen, has gotten a taste of what it’s like to teach a language as a German tutor at Lawrence.

She spent last summer in the Netherlands working with Lawrence graduate Jennifer Herek in her optics laboratory at Twente University. Her time there inspired her to apply for the Fulbright.

“I worked in the Netherlands and really enjoyed working with an international group,” said Edwards, who often took the train across the border to venture about in Germany. “I saw a lot of value in that sort of international exchange and felt I would benefit from a more immersive experience in Germany.”

Alison Guenther-Pal, assistant professor of German, was nearly as happy for her advisee as Edwards was for herself.

“I’m thrilled that Kirstin earned the Fulbright, not only because she is such a deserving candidate, but also because she was not able to spend a lengthy period of time in Germany as an undergraduate,” said Guenther-Pal. “As a diligent, thoughtful and multi-interested person, Kirstin will be a wonderful representative of Lawrence abroad.”

Kirstin Edwards '16
Kirstin Edwards ’16

While improving her German is important, Edwards is excited about the opportunities the Fulbright grant will present.

“Teaching will be a very valuable experience, especially with students who are interested in learning about the United States,” said Edwards, a three-year starter on Lawrence’s women’s soccer team. “I’m looking forward to learning from them about their own culture, too.  Spending 10 months in a single place that is foreign to me will be exciting. Maybe not always in positive ways, but I’m sure that there will be plenty of new experiences every day.”

Edwards hopes to pursue a graduate degree in geophysics, possibly at a German university, after her Fulbright program.

Cardinal and Edwards are the 24th and 25th Lawrence students since 2008 to be awarded Fulbright grants. Nine of those were student fellowships to Germany.

The Fulbright Program is designed to build relations between the people of the United States and the people of other countries that are needed to solve global challenges. Celebrating the 70th anniversary of its establishment in 1946, the program operates in more than 160 countries worldwide. Fulbright recipients are among more than 50,000 individuals participating in U.S. Department of State exchange programs each year.

About Lawrence University
Founded in 1847, Lawrence University uniquely integrates a college of liberal arts and sciences with a nationally recognized conservatory of music, both devoted exclusively to undergraduate education. It was selected for inclusion in the book “Colleges That Change Lives: 40 Schools That Will Change the Way You Think About College” and Fiske’s Guide to Colleges 2016. Engaged learning, the development of multiple interests and community outreach are central to the Lawrence experience. Lawrence draws its 1,500 students from nearly every state and more than 50 countries.

 

 

 

Environmental law professor discusses renewable energy strategies, challenges in presentation

Integrating cleaner energy into the existing infrastructure and strategies for new facilities to incorporate renewable energy will be explored in a Lawrence University science hall/economics colloquium.

Elizabeth Wilson
Elizabeth Wilson

Elizabeth Wilson, professor of energy and environmental policy and law at the University of Minnesota, presents “Remaking Energy: Creating Sustainable Electricity Systems” Monday, May 16 at 4:30 p.m. in the Wriston Art Center auditorium. The talk is free and open to the public.

Wilson’s research focuses on the implementation of energy and environmental policies and laws. She studies how institutions support and thwart energy system transitions, focusing on the interplay between technology innovation, policy creation and institutional decision making.

Her most recent research has examined how energy policy stakeholders view the opportunities and challenges of decision-making within Regional Transmission Organizations and creating smart grids. RTOs currently manage the transmission planning, electricity markets and grid operations for more than 70 percent of North America.

Wilson was awarded a 2015 an Andrew Carnegie Fellowship that will support research in Denmark, Germany and Spain of their energy systems, which include high levels of renewable resources as well as nuclear policies and electric grid architectures different than the United States.

She is the co-author of the 2015 book “Smart Grid (R)Evolution: Electric Power Struggles” and the 2014 book “Energy Law and Policy.”

A former employee of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, Wilson spent a year as a visiting scholar in China at Beijing’s Tsinghua University and also has worked in Belgium, Burundi and Tanzania. She earned a Ph.D. from Carnegie Mellon University in engineering and public policy.

About Lawrence University
Founded in 1847, Lawrence University uniquely integrates a college of liberal arts and sciences with a nationally recognized conservatory of music, both devoted exclusively to undergraduate education. It was selected for inclusion in the book “Colleges That Change Lives: 40 Schools That Will Change the Way You Think About College” and Fiske’s Guide to Colleges 2016. Engaged learning, the development of multiple interests and community outreach are central to the Lawrence experience. Lawrence draws its 1,500 students from nearly every state and more than 50 countries.

Annual Harrison Symposium highlights student research in the humanities, social sciences

Twenty-eight presentations on topics ranging from the performance of Indonesian shadow puppetry to the role of churches in the lives of North Korean refugees will be addressed Saturday, May 14 during Lawrence University’s 19th annual Richard A. Harrison Symposium.Harrison Symposium 2016_newsblog

The symposium highlights exceptional student research in the humanities and social sciences, beginning at 9:15 a.m. in various locations throughout Main Hall. A complete schedule of presentations, times and locations can be found here.

The symposium features series of 20-minute presentations arranged by topic or field. Each series is moderated by a Lawrence faculty member and includes a 10-minute question-and-answer session following the presentations. Symposium participants present their work in the format used for professional meetings of humanities and social sciences scholars.

First conducted in 1996, the symposium honors former Lawrence Dean of the Faculty Richard Harrison, who died unexpectedly the following year. The symposium was renamed in his honor to recognize his vision of highlighting excellent student scholarship.

About Lawrence University
Founded in 1847, Lawrence University uniquely integrates a college of liberal arts and sciences with a nationally recognized conservatory of music, both devoted exclusively to undergraduate education. It was selected for inclusion in the book “Colleges That Change Lives: 40 Schools That Will Change the Way You Think About College” and Fiske’s Guide to Colleges 2016. Engaged learning, the development of multiple interests and community outreach are central to the Lawrence experience. Lawrence draws its 1,500 students from nearly every state and more than 50 countries.

Lawrence Theatre Arts department presents David Ives’ “The Liar”

The consequences of the lies we tell are unraveled in Lawrence University Theatre Arts department’s production of David Ives’ comedy “The Liar.”

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Junior Maddie Scanlan (left) plays Clarice, the already-married love interest of a young lawyer, while Junior Isabel Hemley (left) portrays Lucrece, her best friend, in four performances of “The Liar.” PHOTO: Ken Cobb

Four performances of “The Liar” will be staged in Stansbury Theater May 12-14 with an 8 p.m. show each night and an additional 3 p.m. matinee on Saturday, May 14. Tickets, at $15 for adults, $8 for students/seniors, are available through the Lawrence Box Office, 920-832-6749.

Popular French Renaissance playwright Pierre Corneille wrote this comedy in 1643 in the midst of a more tragic series of plays. Described as “a series of breathtakingly intricate lies,” the story centers around Dorante, a young lawyer who comes to the big city in search of romance. He meets Clarice and immediately falls for her, unaware that she is already secretly engaged to his friend Alcippe. In his efforts to woo her, he invents a tale of his amazing military feats, unleashing a web of falsehood that ensnares all of the characters, sparking mishaps, mistaken identities and lie upon lie.

The production is based on Ives’ “translaptation” from 17th-century French to English of Corneille’s original play. Ives considered “The Liar” “one of the world’s great comedies.”

“I felt as if some lost Shakespeare festival comedy on the order of ‘Twelfth Night’ or ‘Much Ado About Nothing’ had been found,” Ives has said.

As a social satire, Ives liked the way the play’s lies are woven into the fabric of things, revealing how lies can feed love and actually create happiness.

He preserved the rhyming in the play’s original verse, but introduced changes that intersect with current audiences in the same way audiences identified with the original.

“We’ve taken that a step further and are using haute couture and installation art to look at ways that history is reflected in today’s visual aesthetics,” said director Kathy Privatt, James G. and Ethel M. Barber Professor of Theatre and Drama and associate professor of theatre arts. “There will be some ‘visual lies’ to go with the lies in the story, such as a wig that isn’t made of hair.”

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Kathy Privatt directs “The Liar.”

Somewhat serendipitously, the timing of the production, according to Privatt, turned out perfectly.

“After choosing the play, I opened the local newspaper to a story about an organization that gives an award for best lie of the year,” said Privatt. “Then the political debate season rolled around and the various fact-checking websites lit up. Suddenly, a piece that lets us examine ways we lie to each other and ourselves seems very appropriate.”

Freshman Marco Mazzetta from Wheeling, Ill. plays Dorante, while Maddie Scanlan, a junior from St. Paul, Minn., portrays Clarice. Senior Matt Johnson from Elmhurst, Ill., plays Geronte, Dorante’s father and Zoey Lin, a junior from Nanjing, China, portrays Cliton, Dorante’s servant.

Junior Isabel Hemley from Grafton and Madison junior Tony Harth portray Clarice’s friend Lucrece and her fiancé Alcippe, respectively. Junior Lauren Abdulm from New York City, plays Isabelle and Sabine, maids to Clarice and Lucrece. Sophomore Rory Coleman from St. Paul, Minn., plays Philiste, Alcippe’s best friend.

About Lawrence University
Founded in 1847, Lawrence University uniquely integrates a college of liberal arts and sciences with a nationally recognized conservatory of music, both devoted exclusively to undergraduate education. It was selected for inclusion in the book “Colleges That Change Lives: 40 Schools That Will Change the Way You Think About College” and Fiske’s Guide to Colleges 2016. Engaged learning, the development of multiple interests and community outreach are central to the Lawrence experience. Lawrence draws its 1,500 students from nearly every state and more than 50 countries.

Civic Life Project community film screening May 3 in Warch Campus Center

 Jamie DeMotts began experimenting with filmmaking when she was 11 years old.Civic-Life-Project-logo_newsblog

Without any editing software, the Lawrence University senior from St. Cloud, Minn., had to settle for manipulating an old JVC tape camera, recording over old footage to shoot new scenes.

With the help of “real” equipment and some valuable guidance from Lawrence faculty, DeMotts’ skills as a filmmaker have blossomed. One of her latest efforts, “Brown Water,” which she made with classmates Taylor Dodson and Hugo Espinosa, will be one of four documentaries shown Tuesday, May 3 at 6 p.m. in the Warch Campus Center at the fourth community screening of Lawrence University’s Civic Life Project.

The screening is free and open to the public, but advance registration is requested at http://go.lawrence.edu/qdfw or by calling 920-832-7019.

“Filmmaking is a fantastic way to communicate stories,” said DeMotts, a self-designed environmental studies and film studies major. “Thanks to online videos, anyone can be a filmmaker. It’s a great way to express yourself and find your voice. I think everyone should be a filmmaker.”

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A scene from “Brown Water.”

Finding one’s voice is an important part of the mission of the Civic Life Project, which was created by award-winning filmmaker Catherine Tatge, and her husband, Dominique Lasseur. The CLP was launched at Lawrence in 2012 as an innovative educational tool to challenge students to learn about democracy in a unique way, discover more about the community in which they live and and find their own individual voice through the creation of a documentary video.

The ecologically-focused “Brown Water” explores the interaction between dairy farming and groundwater quality.

“People have heard about environmental problems so many times that it’s important to keep thinking of ways to represent them in a way that hits a target audience,” DeMotts explained of her team’s inspiration for film.

Other films featured at screening will be:

  • “Breaking the Silence: Unseen Racism” An examination of how racism goes unseen in a college town like Appleton.
  • “A Generation On Change” A local transgender student fights for not only her rights, but also for the rights of other transgender youths in the Fox Valley.
  • “Mental Health in the Prison System” A look at the value and use of mental health diagnosis and treatment in the Wisconsin criminal justice system.
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A scene from “Breaking the Silence: Unseen Racism.”

The topics for the documentaries grew out of conversations Tatge conducted with numerous community leaders to identify issues of concern in the Fox Cities. Three-member teams of Lawrence students then shared the roles of writer, editor, producer, director and videographer in creating the documentaries.

Students will lead brief, round-table discussions related to the issues following the screening of each film.

About Lawrence University
Founded in 1847, Lawrence University uniquely integrates a college of liberal arts and sciences with a nationally recognized conservatory of music, both devoted exclusively to undergraduate education. It was selected for inclusion in the book “Colleges That Change Lives: 40 Schools That Will Change the Way You Think About College” and Fiske’s Guide to Colleges 2016. Engaged learning, the development of multiple interests and community outreach are central to the Lawrence experience. Lawrence draws its 1,500 students from nearly every state and more than 50 countries.