Lawrence University News http://blogs.lawrence.edu/news/ en-us Copyright 2008 Tue, 01 Jul 2008 13:18:31 -0600 http://www.sixapart.com/movabletype/ http://blogs.law.harvard.edu/tech/rss Lawrence University's Performing Arts Series Celebrates 100th Anniversary APPLETON, WIS. -- Lawrence University will celebrate a musical milestone in the coming year -- the 100th anniversary of its Artists Series concert program. First staged in 1908, the Artist Series has brought a litany of luminaries to the stage of the Lawrence Memorial Chapel, including violinist Isaac Stern, pianist Vladimir Horowitz and cellist Yo-Yo Ma. The 2008-09 line-up promises to kick-off the series' second century in similar style. The Guarneri String Quartet opens the season Friday, Oct. 24 in one of its final performances. Founded in 1964, the acclaimed quartet is retiring at the end of the upcoming season. One of the world's most revered string ensembles, the Guarneri Quartet is noted for its interpretations of 18th- and 19th-century standards and award-winning recordings of Beethoven's middle-period quartets. Grammy Award-winning baritone Dale Duesing performs Saturday, Feb. 7. A 1967 Lawrence graduate, Duesing's international career spans five decades of performances with the New York Philharmonic, the Berlin Philharmonic and the BBC Symphony Orchestra, among others. Opernwelt magazine named Duesing its "Singer of the Year" in 1994 and Le Monde de la Musique magazine called him "a singer who changed opera in the 20th century." The Percussion Group Cincinnati showcases its talents Friday, March 6. Formed in 1979, the trio of University of Cincinnati College-Conservatory of Music professors has attracted new works from composers worldwide and is best known for its expertise in the music of John Cage. Recent performances include a world premiere with the Singapore Chinese Instrument Orchestra and a tour of Japan, Edgar Meyer, described by one music critic as "quite simply, the best bassist alive," closes the series Friday, April 17. Meyer's unique blend of classical and folk music have earned him a loyal following and three Grammy awards, including two in 2002 as producer and performer for "Perpetual Motion," which was named best classical crossover album. His collaborations range from violinist Joshua Bell to the bluegrass and folk groups Bela Fleck and Nickel Creek. Innovators Ingrid Jensen and Brad Mehldau headline the younger Jazz Series side of Lawrence's performing arts program. The Grammy award-winning vocal quartet New York Voices flash Brazilian, R & B, classical and pop influences in their jazz-rooted vocals Friday, Nov. 7 in the first of two Jazz Celebration Weekend concerts. Jensen melds her fiery trumpet with the Lawrence Faculty Jazz Trio and the Lawrence University Jazz Ensemble Saturday, Nov. 8 in the second half of Jazz Celebration Weekend. Jensen received the "Best Newcomer Award" at the 1995 Cork Jazz Festival in Ireland and won the Carmine Caruso International Jazz Solo Trumpet competition that same year. Jazz-pop crossover singer Jackie Allen and her quintet perform "A Starry Night" with the Lawrence University Chamber Orchestra Saturday, Feb. 21. Allen's versatility, range and infectious enthusiasm have made her a fan favorite around the world. Recent appearances include the Beijing International Music Festival, where she was the only jazz headliner. The Brad Mehldau Trio brings its adventurous, expressive style to the Lawrence Chapel in a series-ending concert Saturday, May 2. A pianist and composer, Mehldau has released more than a dozen recordings and has collaborated with such jazz greats as Joshua Redman, Michael Brecker and Pat Metheny. In 2006, he was named the 13th recipient of the prestigious Miles Davis Award, which recognizes artists whose body of work has contributed significantly to the renewal of the genre. Season subscriptions to either the artist, jazz or a "favorite 4" series that allows subscribers to select any combination of four concerts from either series, are available through August 25, with discounts available to senior citizens and students. Contact the Lawrence Box Office at 920-832-6749. Single-concert tickets go on sale Sept. 29. Additional information, including ticket prices, seating charts and ways to order is available at www.lawrence.edu/news/performingartsseries/. ]]> http://blogs.lawrence.edu/news/2008/07/lawrence_universitys_performin_1.html http://blogs.lawrence.edu/news/2008/07/lawrence_universitys_performin_1.html Tue, 01 Jul 2008 13:18:31 -0600 Kathy Privatt Appointed to Lawrence University Endowed Professorship APPLETON, WIS. -- Kathy Privatt, associate professor of theatre arts at Lawrence University, has been named the college's James G. and Ethel M. Barber Professor of Theatre and Drama. Appointments to endowed professorships recognize academic distinction through teaching excellence and/or scholarly achievement.
Privatt
A member of the Lawrence theatre department since 1999, Privatt has directed nine main stage productions, including 2005's "Language of Angels," which was chosen as a "showcase production" for the regional competition of the American College Theater Festival in Normal, Ill. Sixteen student actors under Privatt's direction have qualified for the ACTF's Irene Ryan Irene Acting Scholarship Competition. She has served as a guest director for Appleton's Attic Theatre and worked with the Memorial Presbyterian Church on a series of "reader's theatre" productions. Privatt also has been involved as an actor for several years with a state-wide crisis intervention training program for law enforcement officers. The program is a joint venture of the Appleton Police Department and the local chapter of the National Alliance on Mental Illness (NAMI). In announcing the appointment, Lawrence President Jill Beck commented on Privatt's great devotion to the performing arts and her success in using theatre to help students develop the qualities of liberally educated persons. "Professor Privatt's passion for theatre has energized a similar passion in her students," said Beck. "She stands as an inspirational model for all who know her." Privatt's scholarship includes the art theatre movement and corporate funding on Broadway. Her essay "'Modern Medicis:' Disney On Broadway" was included in the 2007 book "Angels in the American Theatre." Her current research focuses on the Alexander Technique, an educational model designed to improve everyday use of the body in movement. Privatt is pursuing teacher certification in the technique with plans to develop courses in it for Lawrence actors, musicians, athletes, and others interested in physical dysfunction. She earned her bachelor's degree magna cum laude in theatre and speech at Central Missouri State University and her Ph.D. in theatre from the University of Nebraska. The Barber Professorship was established in 1985 by Ethel Barber, a 1934 graduate of Milwaukee-Downer College, and recognizes her lifelong interest in and support of the performing arts and higher education. She was the first woman to earn a Ph.D. in the department of interpretation from Northwestern University's School of Speech and enjoyed a successful career as a director of radio and theatre productions and as a lecturer. Barber served as a member of the Lawrence University Board of Trustees from 1968 to 1988 and was awarded an honorary Doctor of Fine Arts degree by Lawrence in 1985. ]]> http://blogs.lawrence.edu/news/2008/07/kathy_privatt_appointed_to_law_1.html http://blogs.lawrence.edu/news/2008/07/kathy_privatt_appointed_to_law_1.html Tue, 01 Jul 2008 10:04:05 -0600 Six Lawrence University Alumni Honored for Achievement, Service at Annual Reunion Celebration APPLETON, WIS. -- Bob Spoo's latest return to his hometown of Appleton will be as one of the honored guests at Lawrence University's annual Reunion Weekend Celebration June 20-22. A 1975 graduate of Appleton East High School, Spoo will be recognized with a distinguished achievement award Saturday, June 15 during the Reunion Convocation at 10:30 a.m. in the Lawrence Memorial Chapel. He will be one of six alumni honored for career achievements, contributions to the betterment of society or volunteer service to Lawrence. More than 900 alumni and guests from 43 states and six countries, including destinations as distant as Australia and Kenya, are expected to return to campus to participate in the weekend-long festivities.
Spoo
Spoo, professor of intellectual property, law and literature at the University of Tulsa and John Holdridge, director of the American Civil Liberties Union Capital Punishment Program, each will receive the Lucia R. Briggs Distinguished Achievement Award. Named in honor of the second president of Milwaukee-Downer College, the Briggs award recognizes alumni of more than 15 years for outstanding contributions to, and achievements in, a career field. A 1979 Phi Beta Kappa graduate of Lawrence who worked as a student counselor in the admissions office after graduating, Spoo has enjoyed a career that has taken him full circle, from academia to law and back to higher education again. A recognized scholar of Irish author James Joyce and co-editor of the preeminent literary journal James Joyce Quarterly for more than 10 years, Spoo was a tenured English professor at the University of Tulsa before embarking on a legal career. After earning his law degree in 2000 at Yale Law School, where he was the executive editor of the Yale Law Journal, Spoo joined a California law firm where he distinguished himself in copyright issues and intellectual property law. His interests in helping artists and authors legally protect their original work grew out of his own experiences writing and editing materials about Joyce, Ezra Pound and other authors. In addition to dozens of record companies and filmmakers, Spoo has shared his expertise on copyright infringement with the National Library of Ireland, the government of Vietnam, numerous software technology companies and at conferences around the world. Spoo recently left his position as an associate at Howard Rice Nemerovski Candady Falk & Rabkin law firm in San Francisco to return to the University of Tulsa.
Holdridge
Holdridge, a 1977 Lawrence graduate, has spent much of his career at the forefront of the fight against the use of capital punishment in the United States. Through the ACLU's Capital Punishment Program, Holdridge advocates for the reform of the death penalty process and the protection of capital defendants' rights. A graduate of New York University School of Law, Holdridge, who lives in Dunham, N.C., spent time as a public defender in Connecticut's Capital Defense and Trial Services Unit and more than a decade as director of the Mississippi and Louisiana Capital Trial Assistance Project in New Orleans. Among the clients he represented were Larry Maxwell, who faced a triple capital murder indictment but was later freed and Michael Ray Graham, who was exonerated after spending nearly 14 years on death row. Holdridge successively co-argued the seminal case of State v. Peart, in which the Louisiana Supreme Court recognized that indigent defendants have a pretrial right to effective counsel and that the heavy caseload of the New Orleans indigent defender system violated that right. The National Legal Aid & Defender Association honored Holdridge in 2001 with its Life in the Balance Achievement Award for his efforts in "representing not only the poorest clients but the poorest lawyers." Farnham Jarrard, Bristol, Va., and Judy Sutherland, Evanston, Ill., each will receive the George B. Walter Service to Society Award. Named in honor of Walter '36, beloved former faculty member and dean of men at Lawrence who believed strongly that every individual can and should make a positive difference in the world, the award recognizes alumni who best exemplify the ideals of a liberal education through socially useful service in their community, the nation or the world.
Jarrard
Jarrard, a 1958 Lawrence graduate, made his name in the steel industry and left his mark in community service. He entered the steel business shortly after graduation and eventually rose to president and CEO of Allied Structural Steel in Hammond, Ind. He later spent 16 years as senior vice president of Bristol Steel and Iron Works, Inc. His contributions to the industry were recognized with an honorary lifetime directorship in the American Institute of Steel Construction, one of only 11 such appointments awarded in the organization's 87-year history. After moving to Bristol, Jarrard immersed himself in his new community, serving as an agent for positive change and spearheading several successful economic development initiatives. His lengthy public service includes 12 years on the Bristol town council, including eight as mayor. He also served as chair of the Bristol Utilities Board of Directors, guiding efforts that led Bristol to become the first municipal utility in the country to build and operate its own fiber optics network to provide telephone, cable and data services. Jarrard has been a member of the Board of Trustees of Bristol's Virginia Intermont College, co-chaired a nonprofit foundation to restore Bristol's historic train depot and led the fight to reestablish passenger rail service between southwestern Virginia and Washington, D.C. The director of Bristol's Paramount Center for the Arts has hailed Jarrard as "an ideal citizen, involved and interested in all aspects of the community."
Sutherland
Sutherland, also a 1958 Lawrence graduate, is a former student of Walter, the man her award honors. While studying for her master's degree in counseling psychology, Sutherland took an art therapy class at Chicago's Adler School of Professional Psychology that ignited her life's work as an educator, registered art therapist and administrator. She joined the Adler school as a teacher and with encouragement from the administration, soon was entrusted with the task of developing the school's master's degree program in art therapy and overseeing the appropriate professional accreditation. Based on the Adlerian framework that includes respect for each individual, an optimistic and collaborative approach to helping others and a commitment to advancing society through social involvement and support for the marginalized and underrepresented, the program Sutherland created was approved by the American Art Therapy Association in 1993. She served as director of the master's program in art therapy until her retirement in 2006, nearly doubling its enrollment during her tenure. Sutherland, who has called making art "a form of prayer," has been a frequent presenter at Adlerian conventions and workshops around the country, focusing on using art and psychodrama in psychotherapeutic work with dreams.
Noonan
Jo Noonan, Atlanta, Ga., will be presented the Gertrude B. Jupp Outstanding Service Award. The award honors Jupp, a 1918 graduate of Milwaukee-Downer College, who was named M-D Alumna of the Year in 1964 for her long volunteer service to the college. It recognizes Lawrence and Milwaukee-Downer alumni of more than 15 years who have provided outstanding service to the college. A 1978 graduate, Noonan has been an actively engaged volunteer, serving the college in a variety of capacities for the past 30 years. She was a member of the Lawrence University Alumni Association for six years, including two as board president (2003-05). She served as class secretary for the Class of 1978 and as a member of the Alumni Advisory Working Group. She has been active in alumni event planning for the Atlanta region and is current chair of her 30th reunion steering committee.
Tie Shue
Steve Tie Shue, Minneapolis, Minn., will receive the Marshall B. Hulbert Young Alumni Service Award, which recognizes a Lawrence alumnus or alumna of 15 years or less, who has provided significant service to the college. This award honors Hulbert '26, known to many as "Mr. Lawrence," who served the university in many significant capacities for 54 years. The youngest person ever to receive the Hulbert Award, Tie Shue was the president of his graduating class in 2004 and has remained a leader among his classmates since leaving Lawrence. He served four years on the LUAA board of directors, beginning when he was still a student and ending in 2007 as vice president. He also served as chair of his class' 5th reunion steering committee, was a four-year member of the Viking gift committee and is active as a regional event volunteer. ]]> http://blogs.lawrence.edu/news/2008/06/six_alumni_honored_for_achieve_1.html http://blogs.lawrence.edu/news/2008/06/six_alumni_honored_for_achieve_1.html Wed, 18 Jun 2008 16:18:31 -0600 Lawrence University Commencement Brings Honors for Four Faculty Members APPLETON, WIS. -- Four members of the Lawrence University faculty were honored for teaching excellence, scholarship or creative activity Sunday, June 15 at the college's 159th commencement.
Sturm
Fred Sturm, director of jazz studies and Kimberly-Clark Professor of Music, became the first faculty member to receive all three of Lawrence's teaching honors given at commencement when he was presented the Award for Excellence in Creative Activity. Established in 2006, the award recognizes outstanding creative work for advancing Lawrence's mission. Sturm had previously been honored with the college's Young Teacher Award (1983) and the Award for Excellence in Teaching (2005). A 1973 Lawrence graduate, Sturm has established himself as one of the country's leading composers and jazz educators. His most recent major composition, "Migrations," was premiered last August by Grammy Award-winning vocalist Bobby McFerrin at the Schleswig-Holstein Musik Festival in Hamburg, Germany. He also served as the musical director for the Baseball Music Project, a touring symphonic tribute to baseball music that has been performed by major orchestras around the country as well as last month at the Performing Arts Center in Appleton. His many honors include a Grammy nomination and the ASCAP/IAJE Commission In Honor of Quincy Jones, a prize granted annually to one established jazz composer of international prominence. "Your creative achievements have been a source of joy and inspiration for everyone in the Lawrence community," Lawrence Provost David Burrows said in presenting Sturm his award. "Your work as a composer, arranger, performer and producer has resulted in music that delights us." Sturm first joined the Lawrence faculty in 1977, leaving in 1991 to teach at the Eastman School of Music in New York. He returned to the Lawrence conservatory of music in 2002. In addition to a bachelor's degree from Lawrence, Sturm earned a master's degree from Eastman School of Music.
Cohen
Paul Cohen, professor of history and the Patricia Hamar Boldt Chair in Liberal Studies, received Lawrence's Award for Excellence in Teaching, given annually for outstanding performance in the teaching process, including the quest to ensure students reach their full development as individuals, human beings and future leaders of society. A specialist in modern Europe and intellectual history, Cohen joined the Lawrence faculty in 1985. He was recognized with the college's Freshman Studies Teaching Award in 1999. That same year he introduced the courses "Film as History" and "History as Film" that explored how film can serve as a source of historical interpretation. His recent scholarship has focused on the portrayal of masculinity in American films after World War II, particularly cinematic representations of manhood that deviate from the Hollywood stereotypes. "You expect much of your students and clearly have high standards," Burrows said of Cohen. "Time and again, students comment that you have helped them develop their intellectual abilities beyond what they thought they could achieve. You are one of the professors whom students remember with fondness and gratitude, years after graduating." Cohen is the author of two books, "Freedom's Moment: An Essay on the French Idea of Liberty from Rousseau to Foucault" and "Piety and Politics: Catholic Revival and the Generation of 1905-1914 in France." He graduated Phi Beta Kappa from Clark University and earned his Ph.D. in history from the University of Chicago.
Goldgar
Bertrand Goldgar, professor of English and the John N. Bergstrom Professor of Humanities, was presented the college's Award for Excellence in Scholarship, which recognizes a faculty member who has demonstrated sustained scholarly excellence for a number of years and whose work exemplifies the ideals of the teacher-scholar. He previously was recognized with the Award for Excellence in Teaching in 1976. One of the world's leading scholars on author Henry Fielding, Goldgar is an internationally recognized expert on 18th-century political satire. A member of the Lawrence faculty for 51 years, Goldgar has served as a contributing editor to a landmark multi-volume edition of the works of Jonathan Swift. His volume, "Swift's English Political Writing, 1711-1714," covers Swift's literary engagement in the politics of early 18th-century London. "You are a literary historian with a deep belief in the fulfillment that results from immersion in great literature" said Burrows in presenting Goldgar his award. "You have set for yourself the goal of providing the knowledge and historical context necessary for the modern reader to understand and appreciate the art of 18th-century writers." Goldgar, the author of two books and five scholarly editions, earned a bachelor's degree from Vanderbilt University and his Ph.D. from Princeton University.
Pickett
Megan Pickett, associate professor of physics, received the Lawrence's Young Teacher Award in recognition of demonstrated excellence in the classroom and the promise of continued growth. Pickett joined the Lawrence physics department in 2006 after six years on the faculty at Purdue University. An astrophysicist who spent four years as a research associate at NASA's Ames Research Center in California, Pickett's research focuses on the formation of solar systems. She has been the recipient of four research grants through the NASA Planetary Geology and Geophysics Program totaling more than $500,000. "Your passion for science is joined with a tremendous capacity for creativity," Burrows said of Pickett. "In an era when problems of science education are a national concern, it is heartening to know that you are helping make Lawrence a leader in addressing those problems." Pickett earned a bachelor's degree in physics from Cornell University and a Ph.D. in astrophysics from Indiana University. ]]> http://blogs.lawrence.edu/news/2008/06/lawrence_university_commenceme.html http://blogs.lawrence.edu/news/2008/06/lawrence_university_commenceme.html Sun, 15 Jun 2008 12:23:01 -0600 Lawrence University Awards Honorary Degrees to Lt. Governor, Arts Curator at 159th Commencement APPLETON, WIS. -- Wisconsin's lieutenant governor and a renowned New York City contemporary arts curator will be awarded honorary degrees Sunday, June 15 by Lawrence University at the college's 159th commencement. Graduation exercises begin at 10:30 a.m. on the Main Hall green.
Lawton
Heiss
In recognition of professional achievements and civic contributions, Barbara Lawton, Wisconsin's first elected female lieutenant governor, will receive an honorary doctor of laws. Alanna Heiss, founder and director of P.S. 1 Contemporary Art Center in New York, will receive an honorary doctor of humane letters. Lawton and Heiss are 1987 and 1966 Lawrence graduates, respectively. Lawrence is expected to confer 295 bachelor of arts and/or music degrees to 285 seniors from 32 states and 14 foreign countries. In addition to honorary doctorates, Lawrence also will recognize John Brandenberger, Alice G. Chapman Professor of Physics and David Cook, Philetus E. Sawyer Professor of Science, for 83 years of combined teaching service with honorary master's degrees. David Ross, a social sciences teacher at Madison West High School, and Kathy Sager, an English teacher at New Berlin Eisenhower High School, will receive Lawrence's annual Outstanding Teaching in Wisconsin Award. Associate Professor of Statistics Joy Jordan presents the address "Connect, Listen, and Be Kind" at a baccalaureate service Saturday, June 14 at 11 a.m. in the Lawrence Memorial Chapel. The baccalaureate service and commencement ceremony are free and open to the public. During commencement, Lawton and Heiss will join President Jill Beck, Lawrence Board of Trustees Chair Harry Jansen Kraemer Jr. and student Melanie Heindl, a senior from Kaukauna, in addressing the graduates. Since the age of 16, when she campaigned door-to-door on behalf of Senator Eugene McCarthy's 1968 presidential bid, Lawton has been active in civic engagement and public service. She made state history in 2002 by becoming the first woman elected lieutenant governor in Wisconsin. She was re-elected in 2006. Throughout her career, Lawton has been a strong advocate of opportunities for women, economic development and promotion of the arts. She was instrumental in the creation of Wisconsin Women = Prosperity, a nationally recognized economic development initiative between the public and private sectors designed to empower women to make their best contributions in corporate, political and civic life. In 1999, the Wisconsin chapter of NOW honored Lawton with its Feminist of the Year Award. In 2007, she authored a resolution to combat global warming and promote the development of renewable energy and fuel-efficient technologies that was passed by the National Lieutenant Governor's Association last summer. As a member of the National Leadership Council for the American Association of Colleges and Universities, she promotes the value of liberal arts education as a national resource for economic creativity and democratic vitality. Lawton serves as the current chair of the 15-member Wisconsin Arts Board and has led efforts to develop strong arts and cultural programming in all areas of the state. She also was instrumental in helping to pass legislation that provides tax incentives to the film and video game industry in Wisconsin. A native of Milwaukee, Lawton spent 30 years living in Green Bay, where she was one of the founders of the Greater Green Bay Area Community Foundation, the Education Resource Foundation and the Green Bay Multicultural Center. The Fort Howard Foundation recognized her efforts in 1985 with its Humanitarian Award. In addition to earning a bachelor's degree summa cum laude in Spanish from Lawrence, Lawton earned a master's degree in Spanish from the University of Wisconsin-Madison. Heiss, once New York City's first female parole officer for male offenders, is widely recognized as one of the visionary founders of the alternative space movement in the United States and one of the most influential curators in the world. She has been instrumental in advancing the careers of thousands of artists through the use of nontraditional exhibition spaces. A one-time aspiring concert pianist, after earning a degree in music from Lawrence, the Louisville, Ky., native spent several years in London before moving to New York City in 1970. Recognizing the city's world-wide appeal to contemporary artists, she set out to provide invigorating alternatives beyond galleries and museums to showcase their work. A year later she organized her first exhibition in unused spaces beneath the Brooklyn Bridge. She founded the Institute for Art and Urban Resources in 1971 and focused on turning abandoned and underutilized New York City buildings into artists' studios and exhibition spaces. In 1976, she transformed a deserted, decaying public school in Queens into the P.S. 1 Contemporary Art Center, which the New York Times once described as "a place in touch with developments around the world and able to bring them here in record time." With 125,000 square feet of exhibition space, it is the largest contemporary art institution in the United States and among the largest in the world. Heiss also converted a double-decker clock tower atop a 13-story building near city hall into the Clocktower Gallery, turning it into one of New York City's most distinctive spaces for innovative exhibitions. During her career, Heiss has organized or curated more than 700 exhibitions in New York and abroad, edited three books, wrote a fourth and contributed dozens of articles and essays for art catalogs and anthologies. Her efforts on behalf of contemporary art have been recognized with honors from around the world, including the Mayor's Award for Contributions to the Artistic Viability of New York City, France's prestigious Chevalier des Arts et des Lettres in the legion d'Honneur, membership in the Royal Order of the Polar Star for contributions to promoting the arts in Sweden and the Skowhegan Award for Outstanding Work in the Arts from the Skowhegan School of Painting and Sculpture in Maine. ]]> http://blogs.lawrence.edu/news/2008/06/lawrence_university_awards_hon_1.html http://blogs.lawrence.edu/news/2008/06/lawrence_university_awards_hon_1.html Fri, 13 Jun 2008 16:51:16 -0600 Two State Teachers Recognized as "Outstanding Educators" by Lawrence University at Commencement APPLETON, WIS. -- David Ross, a social sciences teacher at Madison West High School and Kathy Sager, an English teacher at New Berlin Eisenhower High School, will be recognized Sunday, June 15 with Lawrence University's Outstanding Teaching in Wisconsin Award during the college's 159th commencement. Both will receive a certificate, a citation and a monetary award. Ross and Sager are the 49th and 50th Wisconsin teachers honored for education excellence by Lawrence since the program began in 1985. Nominated by Lawrence seniors, recipients are selected on their abilities to communicate effectively, create a sense of excitement in the classroom, motivate their students to pursue academic excellence while showing a genuine concern for them in, as well as outside, the classroom.
David Ross
Ross, a Madison native and 1980 graduate of West High School, returned to his alma mater in 1993. He teaches a philosophy and a social issues class for seniors and also has taught U.S. history and Western civilization courses. He serves as an advisor to the Amnesty International Club and the Young Democrats and is a member of West's scholarship committee. He previous was awarded two outstanding teacher citations by the University of Chicago based on nominations by his former students. Senior Jeanette Devereaux-Weber praised Ross for his engaging and respectful style in nominating him for Lawrence's award. "Knowledge, in Mr. Ross' classroom, was not something to be passively attained," wrote Devereaux-Weber. "He was not content to let anyone lay low, but encouraged every opinion. He always expected a sort of nobility from his students. The students some dubbed 'lazy' or 'uninvolved' were involved in Mr. Ross' classes." Ross holds a bachelor's degree in history from UW-Madison and is currently completing a master's degree in curriculum and instruction at UW-Madison.
Kathy Sager
Sager began her teaching career in 1977 and joined the Eisenhower faculty the following year. She has taught courses on British and American literature, freshmen honors English and senior advanced placement literature and composition. She has served as a forensics judge and been active in the student-faculty acting troupe. Senior Leila Sahar, who nominated Sager for the award, credited her former teacher for sparking her own interest in pursuing English as a major at Lawrence. "Mrs. Sager has always been a very challenging teacher who expects a lot out of her students, however she provides every student with the tools they need to succeed," Sahar wrote in her nomination letter. "She pushes them to rise to a higher level of both writing and literary analysis." A 30-year member of the National Council of Teachers of English, Sager earned her bachelor's degree in education at UW-Milwaukee and holds a master's degree in English from Aurora University.]]> http://blogs.lawrence.edu/news/2008/06/two_state_teachers_recognized_1.html http://blogs.lawrence.edu/news/2008/06/two_state_teachers_recognized_1.html Thu, 12 Jun 2008 09:16:11 -0600 Physics Pillars: Retiring Professors Brandenberger, Cook Honored at Lawrence Commencement APPLETON, WIS. -- Scientists David Cook and John Brandenberger arrived on the Lawrence University campus within three years of each other. And for the past 40 years, they have been synonymous with physics and physics education at Lawrence. Now they're ready to take a collective curtain call, having successfully transformed their department into a nationally-recognized model of undergraduate physics education.
Cook
Brandenberger
Cook, Philetus E. Sawyer Professor of Science and Brandenberger, Alice G. Chapman Professor of Physics, will have their combined 83 years of teaching service recognized with professor emeritus status Sunday, June 15 as retiring faculty at Lawrence's 159th commencement. They each will receive honorary master of arts degrees, ad eundem, as part of the graduation ceremonies that begin at 10:30 a.m. on the Main Hall green. After joining the faculty in the mid-1960s -- Cook in 1965, Brandenberger in 1968 -- the two soon forged a friendship and partnership as the architects of an innovative initiative based on the concept of "signature programs" designed to make Lawrence distinctive. After four decades, they depart with pride in knowing "mission accomplished." "The initial motivation was the desire to work with larger numbers of students. In order to attract more students, we needed to have something that was unusual, something that wasn't available at many places, if any," said Cook. "We sought some funding and ended up getting more than we might have dreamed possible. That allowed us to move quickly in creating a couple of exciting programs that we used to attract larger numbers of good students." With the support of nearly $2 million in grants from national foundations, private businesses and other sources, Brandenberger and Cook parlayed vision, enthusiasm, innovation and their respective research interests in laser spectroscopy and computational physics into two high-tech laboratories that became the foundation of the department's signature programs. The ensuing result produced a dramatic spike in student interest and national recognition -- collectively and individually -- along the way. Of the nearly 600 colleges and universities in the country that award undergraduate degrees in physics, only six percent of them graduate five or more physics majors a year. Lawrence will graduate 14 physics majors this year, an all-time high and a projected-record 17 next year. In 1998, Lawrence was showcased as a "case study" on undergraduate physics education at the national "Physics Revitalization Conference: Building Undergraduate Physics Programs for the 21st Century" in Arlington, Va. Through their collective efforts, Lawrence's physics program also was profiled in the book "Academic Excellence," and was included in the Physics Today article, "Why Many Undergraduate Physics Programs Are Good but Few Are Great." After working collaboratively for so long, it's not surprising that they are members of each other's mutual admiration society. "It would be difficult to find a more conscientious colleague, with such high standards," Brandenberger said of Cook. "The dedication, conscientiousness, the giving of extra time to the program and to the students are all David Cook hallmarks." "John is a fabulous colleague. We work well together," Cook echoed. "John steadfastly encouraged my efforts in the computational direction and did yeoman's service in editing and commenting on the proposals that I had written to the foundations that provided funding." Both point to their interactions and relationships with students as highlights of their storied careers. "We like to think that we made a difference in the lives of a fair number of students, and in my mind, that's the most important thing that we've accomplished," said Cook, a long-time area church organist who often taught a class on the physics of music. "When certain students were here, we were mentors for them. But in many cases, those students have gone on to significant careers of their own. The tables were turned and those students have come back and been mentors for us." "That role reversal has been very important," added Brandenberger, a model train aficionado when he's not in his "laser palace" lab. "Seeing students leave Lawrence, develop very impressive careers and after 20 or 25 years get back together with them and be on the receiving end, living through them, savoring their successes, is very special. What better way to have spent a career, to have spent a life, than to feel you have played some role in shaping their success." Brandenberger has enjoyed an award-filled 40-year teaching career that began after earning his Ph.D. at Brown University. He was presented Lawrence's Excellence in Teaching Award in 1995 and was the initial recipient in 2006 of the college's new Excellence in Scholarship or Creativity Award. He became the first -- and only -- physicist in Lawrence history to be elected a Fellow of the American Physical Society. He was awarded a Fulbright Fellowship for research at the Institute of Electronic Structure and Lasers in Greece and was recognized by his undergraduate alma mater, Carleton College, with its distinguished alumni achievement award in 2001. Along the way he served stints as a visiting professor at such prestigious universities as Harvard, Oxford and M.I.T. Cook's important contributions to the study of physics have earned him his share of honors as well, most notably his 2007 election as vice president of the American Association of Physics Teachers, a four-year appointment to the executive board that will see him serve as the association's president in 2010. The AAPT is the world's leading organization for physics educators with more than 12,000 members in 30 countries. While leading the development and incorporation of computers into the physics curriculum, Cook wrote two textbooks "The Theory of the Electromagnetic Field," one of the first to introduce computer-based numerical approaches alongside traditional approaches and "Computation and Problem Solving in Undergraduate Physics." In 1990, Cook, too, was recognized with the college's Excellence in Teaching Award. "I thought I would be here two or three years and then move on," said Cook, who earned his doctorate in physics from Harvard in 1965 and started at Lawrence the following fall. "But I discovered that Lawrence is a very special place, partly because the academic program is strong, but mostly because of the relationships among the people -- students, faculty, administrators and even the relationship with the town." While both will maintain offices on campus in retirement and still occasionally teach a class, having been at the center of the action for so long, a sense of melancholy about turning over the keys to the store is understandable. "It is difficult to distance ourselves," Brandenberger admitted as he looks to his soon-to-be professor emeritus status. "We were workaholics for so many years and took pride in what emerged as the result of that work. It's going to be hard to completely pass it on to our younger colleagues." ]]> http://blogs.lawrence.edu/news/2008/06/physics_pillars_retiring_profe_1.html http://blogs.lawrence.edu/news/2008/06/physics_pillars_retiring_profe_1.html Thu, 12 Jun 2008 08:56:25 -0600 Lawrence University Freshman Wins State Piano Competition APPLETON -- Lawrence University freshman Amy Lauters earned first-place honors at the annual Wisconsin Music Teachers Association Badger Collegiate Piano Competition May 17 at the University of Wisconsin-Madison. This was the second year in a row a Lawrence pianist has won the WMTA Badger competition. A piano performance major from Manhattan, Kan., Lauters received $200 for her winning performance, which included Haydn's "Sonata No. 60," Chopin's "Nocturne," Ravel's "Jeux d'Eau," and "Vast Antique Cubes" by Joan Tower. This was the second competition win this spring for Lauters. In March, she was named one of five winners of the state-wide Neale-Silva Young Artists Competition sponsored by Wisconsin Public Radio. She is a student in the piano studio of associate professor of music Anthony Padilla. Lauters also will compete in the upcoming PianoArts Competition June 19-24 in Milwaukee. She will be one of 10 national semifinalists vying for an $8,000 first-place prize. Participants in the WMTA competition, which is open to students attending any college or university in Wisconsin, are required to play a solo recital of between 20 and 30 minutes in length. The program must include at least three selections from one of five historical periods: Baroque, Classical, Romantic, Impressionistic and Contemporary. ]]> http://blogs.lawrence.edu/news/2008/05/lawrence_university_freshman_w.html http://blogs.lawrence.edu/news/2008/05/lawrence_university_freshman_w.html Wed, 21 May 2008 08:36:53 -0600 Lawrence University Senior Art Exhibition Opens May 23 at Wriston Galleries APPLETON, WIS. -- Fifteen Lawrence University art majors will showcase their creativity in the 2008 Senior Art Exhibition at the Lawrence Wriston Art Center, 613 E. College Ave., Appleton. The exhibition, in the Leech, Hoffmaster and Kohler galleries, opens Friday, May 23 at 6 p.m. with a reception with the student artists and runs through August 1. The multimedia exhibition will include animation, ceramics, painting, performance, photography, prints, and sculpture works varying in size from 3" x 5" to 15 feet. The students whose work will be featured are Anne Aaker, Kristena Easter, Megan Fonstad, Jessica Holz, Davis Hudson, Jessica Justmann, Hillary Krueger, Emily Leininger, Kelly Mulcahy, Nick Olson, Natasha Quesnell-Theno, Erik Jon Rinard, Ashlee Thatcher, Sara Wexler and Kelly Shaw Willman. The Wriston Art Center galleries are free and open to the public Tuesday-Friday from 10 a.m. - 4 p.m. and Saturday-Sunday from noon - 4 p.m. The galleries are closed on Mondays. For more information on the exhibition, call 920-832-6890 or visit www.lawrence.edu/news/wriston.]]> http://blogs.lawrence.edu/news/2008/05/lawrence_university_senior_art.html http://blogs.lawrence.edu/news/2008/05/lawrence_university_senior_art.html Fri, 16 May 2008 16:40:14 -0600 Lawrence University Jazz Series Wraps Season with Matt Wilson's Arts and Crafts APPLETON, WIS. -- Award-winning drummer Matt Wilson and his quartet Arts and Crafts bring their imaginative, quirky brand of jazz to the stage of the Lawrence Memorial Chapel, 510 E. College Ave., Appleton, Friday, May 23 at 8 p.m. The concert is the finale of the 2007-08 Lawrence Jazz Series. Tickets, at $20-22 for adults, $17-19 for seniors and $15-17 for students, are available through the Lawrence Box Office, 920-832-6749. Wilson also will conduct a master class Saturday, May 24 from 10 a.m. to 12 noon in Shattuck Hall, Room 46. The master class is free and open to the public. Lauded by the New York Times as "one of the best drummers of his generation," Wilson began his career with some cookware, a five-gallon bucket and a pair of drumsticks. From those humble beginnings he has emerged as one of the most sought-after drummers in New York City and worldwide. The winner of four consecutive "Rising Star Drummer" awards this decade in Downbeat magazine's International Critics Poll, Wilson also garnered prominent mentions in Downbeat's Jazz Artist and Composer categories. He earned nominations in 2004 and 2006 for the Jazz Journalists Association "Jazz Drummer of the Year" award. "Not only is Matt Wilson an extraordinarily gifted drummer, he is an all-around percussion guru," said Dane Richeson, professor of music and director of percussion studies at Lawrence, who toured with Wilson in Portugal in the mid-1990s. "He plays the drums like he's conducting an orchestra." Wilson can be heard as leader and sideman on more than 160 records with performers such as Dewey Redman, Lee Konitz, Wynton Marsalis, Pat Metheny and Brad Mehldau, among others. His recordings include the acclaimed 2004 album "Wake Up!" and 2007's "Scenic Route," his most recent recording with Arts and Crafts. Formed in 2000, the Arts and Crafts group features the creative talents of Terell Stafford, trumpet; Larry Goldings, piano; and Dennis Irwin, bass. The quartet has performed at Carnegie Hall, Chicago's Symphony Center and the Newport and San Francisco jazz festivals. They conducted a European tour in 2006. ]]> http://blogs.lawrence.edu/news/2008/05/lawrence_university_jazz_serie.html http://blogs.lawrence.edu/news/2008/05/lawrence_university_jazz_serie.html Fri, 16 May 2008 11:41:12 -0600 ABC News Anchor Terry Moran Discusses 2008 Presidential Campaign at Lawrence University APPLETON, WIS. -- ABC News' "Nightline" co-anchor Terry Moran shares his perspective on the 2008 race for the White House Thursday, May 22 as the featured speaker at Lawrence University's annual Honors Convocation. A 1982 graduate of Lawrence, Moran presents "The Republic of Noise: Civic Intelligence and the Campaign of 2008" at 11:10 a.m. in the Lawrence Memorial Chapel, 510 E. College Ave., Appleton. Moran also will conduct a question-and-answer session at 2 p.m. in Riverview Lounge of the Lawrence Memorial Union. Both events are free and open to the public. During a journalism career spanning more than 20 years, Moran has covered many of the nation's most famous, and infamous, stories. Before succeeding Ted Koppel in November, 2005 and moving into "Nightline's" anchor chair, which he shares with Martin Bashir and Cynthia McFadden, Moran spent six years as ABC News' Chief White House correspondent and 15 months as anchor of "World News Tonight Sunday." A member of the ABC News team since 1997, Moran has covered the trial of the Unabomber, Theodore Kaczynski, the civil disturbances that erupted in Miami over the seizure of six-year-old Elian Gonzalez by federal agents, Vice President Al Gore's presidential campaign in 2000 and the terrorist attacks of Sept. 11, 2001. In the fall of 2003, he traveled to Baghdad to report on the U.S.-led occupation of Iraq and the insurgency against it that followed. Moran began his career writing for the New Republic magazine. He also worked as a reporter and later assistant managing editor of Legal Times. Prior to joining ABC News, he spent several years as a correspondent and anchor for Court TV, covering such high-profile cases as the murder trial of O.J. Simpson, the confirmation debates of U.S. Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas and the trial of Los Angeles brothers Erik and Lyle Menendez for the shotgun murders of their parents. In 1999, Moran was recognized with the Thurgood Marshall Journalism Award by the Death Penalty Information Center for his reporting on former death-row inmates who were freed when evidence subsequently exonerated them. Moran earned a bachelor's degree in English from Lawrence and was honored in 2003 with the college's Lucia R. Briggs Distinguished Achievement Award. http://blogs.lawrence.edu/news/2008/05/abc_news_anchor_terry_moran_di.html http://blogs.lawrence.edu/news/2008/05/abc_news_anchor_terry_moran_di.html Tue, 13 May 2008 15:10:36 -0600 Third Lawrence University Student Awarded Fulbright Fellowship to Teach Abroad APPLETON, WIS. -- Ever since returning from a 2006 study-abroad program in Vienna, Lawrence University senior Katie Gladych has been thinking about how she could return to Austria. The Austrian-American Educational Commission provided the answer. Gladych became the third Lawrence student this spring to be named a 2008-09 Fulbright Scholar to teach English abroad. She was awarded a $15,400 fellowship for an assistant teaching position at a preparatory school in Vienna beginning Oct. 1 following a week of orientation. Gladych could be assigned students anywhere from fifth through 12th grade. A German and government major from Evanston, Ill., Gladych made her first trip to Europe in the fall of 2006, spending four months on the Institute for the International Education of Students program in Vienna. "That was such a wonderful experience, it really motivated me to look for opportunities to go back," said Gladych, who will also facilitate cultural exchanges while on her fellowship. Earlier this spring, Gladych spent 10 days in Berlin, exploring the German city's rich history and architecture through daily walking tours as part of a class. Vienna's own rich history was a siren call when she applied for the Fulbright Fellowship. "I didn't have the time to fully explore everything I wanted to when I was there the first time," said Gladych, who started out as a music major at Lawrence. "I really wanted to go back to learn more about the city and its people. Plus, Vienna has such a great music history, I'm excited about exploring some possible singing opportunities while I'm there." Gladych, who serves as a German tutor in the Center for Teaching and Learning and has participated in Lawrence's Model U.N. and mock trial team programs, says she's excited about the opportunities the fellowship will offer. "I'm looking forward to increasing my knowledge of Austrian society," said Gladych, the fourth German major in the past three years to be awarded a Fulbright Fellowship. "Being totally immersed in German will certainly help my fluency. And I hope to meet a lot of interesting people." While her career ambitions are still fluid, Gladych says she might explore the possibility of pursuing a master's degree in German or political science at the University of Vienna while on her fellowship or investigate internship opportunities with the United Nations office in Vienna. Created by Congress in 1946 to foster mutual understanding among nations through educational and cultural exchanges, the Fulbright Program is the U.S. government's premier scholarship program. Since its founding, it has supported opportunities for nearly 280,000 American students, scholars and other professionals in more than 155 countries. Fulbright alumni have become heads of state, judges, ambassadors, CEOs, university presidents, professors and teachers. Thirty-six Fulbright alumni have earned Nobel Prizes. ]]> http://blogs.lawrence.edu/news/2008/05/third_lawrence_university_stud.html http://blogs.lawrence.edu/news/2008/05/third_lawrence_university_stud.html Wed, 07 May 2008 16:51:21 -0600 Lawrence Theatre Arts Department presents "The Knight from Olmedo" APPLETON -- Mixing humor and danger, the Lawrence University Theatre Arts Department presents five performances of "The Knight from Olmedo," a tragicomedy by the great Spanish playwright Lope de Vega. The production culminates the theatre department's year-long celebration of Spanish playwrights. The play will be performed May 14-17 at 8 p.m. and May 18 at 3 p.m. in Stansbury Theatre of the Lawrence Music-Drama Center, 420 E. College Ave., Appleton. Tickets, at $10 for adults, $5 for students and senior citizens, are available through the Lawrence University Box Office, 920-832-6749. Following the romantic quests of two men pursuing the same woman, the play explores themes of family honor, the power of attraction, the supernatural and respect for authority. The turbulent love affairs and lighthearted comedy are entwined with more dangerous, sinister and supernatural elements throughout the story. "DeVega gives us a wide-open theatricality that is different from the English language tradition we get from Shakespeare," said director Timothy X. Troy, associate professor of theatre arts and J. Thomas and Julie Esch Hurvis Professor of Theatre and Drama. "There is a palpable sense of celebration and discovery as each character discovers the limits of his or her own desire." Regarded as the greatest playwright of Spain's Golden Age, the prolific de Vega is known to have penned more than 700 plays during his lifetime. He influenced the tradition of Spanish playwriting by mixing humor and tragedy with a strong commitment to tradition.]]> http://blogs.lawrence.edu/news/2008/05/lawrence_theatre_arts_departme.html http://blogs.lawrence.edu/news/2008/05/lawrence_theatre_arts_departme.html Wed, 07 May 2008 08:25:20 -0600 Lawrence University Student Positioned to Determine Democratic Presidential Nominee APPLETON, WIS. -- As the fight for the Democratic Party's presidential nomination drags on, a Lawrence University senior could wind up playing a significant role in determining the party's eventual candidate. When Leila Sahar found out she had been hand-picked by party Chairman Howard Dean to serve on the normally obscure Credentials Committee, she was surprised and excited. "The appointment came completely out of the blue," said Sahar, 22, an English major from New Berlin, Wis., who worked as an intern for the Democratic National Committee the past two summers. "It sounded like a great opportunity to be a part of the process and have a chance to experience the convention from an insider's perspective. I had no idea it would wind up being such a big deal." Sahar is the only college student among the 25 people Dean appointed to the Credentials Committee, a 186-member body that could decide whether the contested delegates from Florida and Michigan get seated at August's national convention in Denver. While Barack Obama is opposed to those two states' delegates being recognized, Hillary Clinton argues they should be seated based on the primary results. "As the primaries have unfolded and neither candidate has been able to lock up the nomination, I began to realize this is a pretty important seat Gov. Dean has put me in," said Sahar, who joins such political veterans as the mayor of Baltimore, a Montana state senator and the former chairman of the Florida Democratic Party on the committee. "I was a little bit intimidated when I realized who some of the other appointees were, but I like to think Gov. Dean put me on the committee for a reason, not just to sit there, but to contribute," said Sahar. "I want to play a role in whatever decision is made and will be honored to be a part of that decision." "Howard Dean could not have picked a more thoughtful student. Leila will be up to the task," said Arnold Shober, assistant professor of government at Lawrence. "If both Clinton and Obama stay in the race until the convention, Leila's contributions to the credential committee's decision will have a lasting impact on the outcome of the presidential election and the party's future nominating contests." Her appointment to the Credentials Committee could be traced to making a good first impression. Sahar, who is of Arab-American descent with relatives living in Jordan, Lebanon and Palestine, first met Dean at an interns' luncheon when he sought her out for a discussion on Mideast politics after learning of her background from a colleague. "I expected it to be a breezy conversation, but we really got into some meaty discussions. He really listened to what I had to say," recalled Sahar. "He mentioned I seemed so level-headed considering how personal the subject was for me. He even offered to write me a letter of recommendation for law school, which he did." Sahar, who cast her first presidential vote in the 2004 Wisconsin primary, thinks the issue may be resolved before the convention, but is prepared to make her voice heard if it isn't. "We have two very good candidates, but I don't want my decision to be based on my personal preference. My decision will be based on the process and what's best for the party." Sahar's appointment of the Credentials Committee coincides with a year-long commitment on behalf of Lawrence President Jill Beck to get the student body more engaged in the political process and participatory democracy. As part of the effort to raise political awareness, Lawrence launched MyElection Decision.org, an interactive, Web site designed to allow users to see which candidate's positions best match their own in an unbiased format. To date more than 9,500 participants have completed a series of questionnaires based on candidates' issue statements. ]]> http://blogs.lawrence.edu/news/2008/05/lawrence_university_student_po.html http://blogs.lawrence.edu/news/2008/05/lawrence_university_student_po.html Thu, 01 May 2008 09:15:12 -0600 Harvard Historian Discusses Hidden Story of Colonial Needlepoint in Lawrence University Address APPLETON, WIS. -- A Pulitzer Prize-winning historian explores the stories behind a well-known 18th-century Puritan embroidery in a Lawrence University Phi Beta Kappa lecture. Laurel Thatcher Ulrich, 300th Anniversary University Professor at Harvard University, presents "The First, Second and Last Scenes of Mortality: A Textile Mystery," Thursday, May 1 at 7 p.m. in Youngchild Hall 121. Ulrich also will conduct a question-and-answer session Friday, May 2 at 10 a.m. in Main Hall Strange Commons. Both events are free and open to the public. A specialist in early American social history, women's history and material culture, Ulrich will discuss a needlework stitched in 1783 by Prudence Punderson of Connecticut before her marriage that depicts three scenes of mortality: infancy, womanhood and death. Ulrich will challenge the conventional thinking that Punderson's work merely reflected typical New England Puritan obsession with death, arguing the work is "a dynamic portrayal of political and personal conflict in an age of revolution." Ulrich, whose research focuses on the hidden lives of ordinary women who have enjoyed extraordinary lives, is the author of four books, including "Good Wives: Image and Reality in the Lives of Women in Early New England, 1650-1750" and "A Midwife's Tale: The Life of Martha Ballard," which earned her the 1991 Pulitzer Prize for history and became the basis of a PBS documentary. Her most recent work, "Well-behaved Women Seldom Make History," was published in 2007. ]]> http://blogs.lawrence.edu/news/2008/04/harvard_historian_discusses_hi.html http://blogs.lawrence.edu/news/2008/04/harvard_historian_discusses_hi.html Mon, 28 Apr 2008 16:58:25 -0600 Musical Extravaganza "Carmina Burana" Performed May 4 at Lawrence University APPLETON -- Five choirs comprising nearly 250 voices will join three guest soloists and the Lawrence Symphony Orchestra under the direction of David E. Becker in a performance of Carl Orff's "Carmina Burana" Sunday, May 4 at 8 p.m. in the Lawrence Memorial Chapel, 510 E. College Ave., Appleton. Tickets, at $10 for adults and $5 for senior citizens and students, are available at the Lawrence Box Office, 920-832-6749. Headlining the concert are guest artists Stephen King, baritione, Steven Paul Spears, tenor and Tamara Wilson, soprano. The chorus will include Lawrence's Concert Choir, Cantala women's choir and Viking Chorale, as well as 35 members of the Lawrence Academy of Music Girl Choir chosen by audition and the 75-member, community-based White Heron Chorale. A scenic cantata in five movements, "Carmina Burana" is based on 24 secular medieval poems written in Latin and old forms of German and French. The poems discuss topics ranging from drinking and gambling to the joys of spring. Orff's musical setting is a popular work on orchestral programs and is often heard in films and commercials. King, an award-winning singer, has performed engagements from China to Italy and throughout the United States. Highly regarded as a vocal teacher, he holds positions at the Shepherd School of Music of Rice University, the Houston Grand Opera Studio and the Aspen Music Festival. Spears, assistant professor of music in Lawrence's voice department since 2004, has sung roles in concerts, opera companies and festivals across the United States including the Aspen Music Festival, the Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center and the Julliard Opera Theater. Wilson, hailed for her voice of "steely beauty and great power" by the Houston Chronicle, won the 2005 Houston Grand Opera Eleanor McCollum Competition and was a finalist in the 2004 Metropolitan Opera National Council Auditions. She currently performs with the Houston Grand Opera. The White Heron Chorale, Lawrence Concert Choir and Viking Chorale are all led by Richard Bjella, director of choral studies at Lawrence. Phillip Swan, associate director of choral studies at Lawrence, conducts Cantala. Karen Bruno is the coordinator of the Academy of Music Girl Choir program. ]]> http://blogs.lawrence.edu/news/2008/04/musical_extravaganza_carmina_b.html http://blogs.lawrence.edu/news/2008/04/musical_extravaganza_carmina_b.html Wed, 23 Apr 2008 14:13:17 -0600 Lawrence University's Peacock Awarded Fulbright Grant to Teach English in Germany APPLETON, WIS. -- Lawrence University senior Katie Peacock had barely returned from a recent 10-day field study trip to Germany when she found out she will be heading back there, this time for a 10-month stay. Peacock became the second Lawrence student this spring, and the eighth since 2001, to be named a 2008-09 Fulbright Scholar. She was awarded a $11,250 fellowship plus round-trip air fair that will send her to Germany in early September, where she will spend 10 months as a secondary school English teaching assistant. Peacock's specific destination is yet to be determined. A German and linguistics major at Lawrence, Peacock spent 10 days in Berlin during last month's spring break as part of a class on the German city. The field study explored Berlin's rich history and architecture through extensive daily walking tours. Shortly after returning to campus, she was notified she had been awarded a Fulbright Fellowship. "I was estastic," said Peacock of Bennington, Vt., after learning she had been named a Fulbright Scholar. "I love languages and wanted to teach and this seemed like a great opportunity to do that. Plus, it was a chance for me to go back to Germany." For Peacock, the difference between ecstasy and agony was literally only a matter of hours. When she first explored the Fulbright last October, she discovered the on-campus application deadline was the next day. With the help of some gentle pleading, she received a short extension, but still had to write essays, collect faculty recommendations and track down transcripts in the span of a weekend. "It was wild and I was freaking out a little bit, but everything worked out in the end," said Peacock, who was inspired to apply for the fellowship by two Lawrence classmates who earned Fulbright fellowships to Germany in 2006 and 2007. Her teaching assistantship will be Peacock's fourth trip to Germany since 2004. In addition to the recent spring break visit, Peacock participated in a 16-week study-abroad program in Berlin in the fall of 2006 and spent a month at a language institute in Tubingen in southern Germany the summer following her high school graduation. Following her fellowship, Peacock hopes to pursue additional language study in graduate school. "I eventually want to teach middle school or high school and help young people learn to love language as much as I do," said Peacock, who is currently tutoring an Appleton seventh-grade student in German twice a week. "I want to see that transformation that takes place when someone learns a new language." Created by Congress in 1946 to foster mutual understanding among nations through educational and cultural exchanges, the Fulbright Program is the U.S. government's premier scholarship program. Since its founding, it has supported opportunities for nearly 280,000 American students, scholars and other professionals in more than 155 countries. Fulbright alumni have become heads of state, judges, ambassadors, CEOs, university presidents, professors and teachers. Thirty-six Fulbright alumni have earned Nobel Prizes. ]]> http://blogs.lawrence.edu/news/2008/04/lawrence_universitys_peacock_a.html http://blogs.lawrence.edu/news/2008/04/lawrence_universitys_peacock_a.html Wed, 23 Apr 2008 08:35:24 -0600 Lawrence University's Dabney Awarded Fulbright Grant to Teach English in Taiwan APPLETON, WIS. -- For the third year in a row, a Lawrence University student has been awarded a Fulbright Fellowship to teach English abroad. Nicki Dabney, a senior from Silver Spring, Md., has been named a 2008-09 Fulbright Scholar and awarded a $15,500 fellowship. Beginning August 1, Dabney will spend 11 months in Taiwan, teaching English and serving as a cultural advisor at either an elementary or middle school in Gaoxiong, a port city of 1.5 million people in southwest Taiwan. She is the seventh Lawrence student named a Fulbright Scholar since 2001 by the J. William Fulbright Foreign Scholarship Board. Dabney, who will graduate in June with a bachelor's degree in East Asian studies, government and Chinese language and literature, spent a semester in Beijing in the fall of 2006 while on the Associated Colleges in China study-abroad program. Her experiences with daily Chinese life on that program prompted her to look for an opportunity to return to the Far East. "I wanted to go back to either mainland China or a Chinese-speaking region to improve my language skills," said Dabney, who is fluent in Mandarin. "I applied for the Fulbright Fellowship thinking it would be a great way to combine my language and teaching skills. It worked out perfect. It's going to be a good challenge, but I'm excited and looking forward to it." For the past four months, Dabney has been teaching Chinese to students at Green Bay's Aldo Leopold Elementary School. She also serves as an English as a Second Language tutor for Japanese students participating in the Waseda program, a study-abroad partnership between Lawrence and Waseda University in Tokyo, Japan that brings 15-20 Waseda students to Lawrence for a year of thematic and language study. She spent last summer as an intern for the China Program at the Carter Center in Atlanta, Ga., translating Chinese articles, writing media reports and analyzing Chinese news articles. When her Fulbright appointment ends, Dabney hopes to pursue graduate studies in Asian languages and cultures. "I eventually want to put my language skills to use in anything that improves cooperation between the United States and China and promotes cross-cultural exchange and understanding," Dabney said. Created by Congress in 1946 to foster mutual understanding among nations through educational and cultural exchanges, the Fulbright Program has become the U.S. government's premier scholarship program. Since its founding, the Fulbright Program has supported study, research and teaching opportunities for nearly 280,000 American students, scholars and other professionals in more than 155 countries. Fulbright alumni have become heads of state, judges, ambassadors, CEOs, university presidents, professors and teachers. Thirty-six Fulbright alumni have earned Nobel Prizes.]]> http://blogs.lawrence.edu/news/2008/04/lawrence_universitys_dabney_aw.html http://blogs.lawrence.edu/news/2008/04/lawrence_universitys_dabney_aw.html Fri, 18 Apr 2008 09:13:03 -0600 Male Circumcision as Public Health Tool Focus of Lawrence University Biomedical Ethics Talk APPLETON, WIS. -- The evidence for male circumcision as an effective health promotion and the questions raised by implementing a circumcision policy will be examined in Lawrence University's Edward F. Mielke Lecture Series in Biomedical Ethics. Robert Bailey, professor of epidemiology at the University of Illinois at Chicago School of Public Health, presents "Male Circumcision: Genital Mutilation or Sound Public Health" Wednesday, April 23 at 7 p.m. in Lawrence's Wriston Art Center auditorium. The event is free and open to the public. According to Bailey, approximately 4,000 men and 4,500 women are infected with HIV in sub-Saharan Africa every day. While an effective vaccine against new infections is years away, male circumcision has been likened to a vaccine, proving about 60% effective in preventing new HIV infections in adult heterosexual men. Circumcision also has been found to protect against urinary tract infections, some sexually transmitted diseases, penile cancer and cervical cancer in female partners of circumcised men. Three clinical trials have produced compelling results and the World Health Organization and several UN agencies have recommended male circumcision be made widely available in regions it is not widely practiced and HIV prevalence is high. Bailey will discuss several important questions raised by moving from research findings to policy implementation, including: will circumcision be acceptable to people in communities where it is not commonly practiced or will those who do get circumcised be stigmatized or discriminated against?; if circumcision is promoted as an effective HIV prevention measure, will men engage in higher risk sexual behaviors than they did before they were circumcised?; and will men use circumcision as an excuse not to use condoms, making it more difficult for women to negotiate safe sex? The author or co-author of six books, Bailey serves as a consultant on matters relating to national and international health and disease prevention for the World Health Organization, UNAIDS and UNICEF, among others. A specialist on issues of peoples' health in Africa, he is leading efforts with the Kenya Ministry of Health funded by the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation to provide circumcision and counseling services for HIV prevention in western Kenya. Bailey's appearance is supported by the Edward F. Mielke Lectureship in Ethics in Medicine, Science and Society. The lectureship was established in 1985 by the Mielke Family Foundation in memory of Dr. Edward F. Mielke, a leading member of the Appleton medical community and the founder of the Appleton Medical Center. ]]> http://blogs.lawrence.edu/news/2008/04/male_circumcision_as_public_he.html http://blogs.lawrence.edu/news/2008/04/male_circumcision_as_public_he.html Wed, 16 Apr 2008 16:29:47 -0600 Lawrence University Molecular Biologist Awarded Fulbright Fellowship APPLETON, WIS. -- A Lawrence University molecular biologist has been awarded a $25,000 grant by the Fulbright Scholar Program to conduct research at the Karolinska Institutet outside Stockholm, Sweden. Elizabeth De Stasio, associate professor of biology and Raymond H. Herzog Professor in Science at Lawrence, conducts research on muscle function, deftly manipulating pieces of DNA in C. elegans -- tiny worms about as long as the thickness of a dime. She will spend six months beginning next January investigating the role a protein called DAF-19 plays in regulating the function of various genes that in turn affect nerve function and maintenance. The loss of connections between nerves -- synapses -- is believed to be a contributing factor in cognitive decline associated with Alzheimer's disease. De Stasio's research at the Karolinska Institutet will focus on the effects of mutant DAF-19 on synaptic protein expression. The study will determine if C. elegans could be successfully used as a model system for studying Alzheimer's disease-like decline. "While a great deal has been learned from studying Alzheimer's disease in humans, much of the evidence is necessarily correlative in nature," said De Stasio, who conducted research in Uppsula, Sweden as a graduate student. "Only by also using model organisms for research can causation be determined fully. "It was recently discovered that, just like human Alzheimer's patients, DAF-19 mutant animals that reach advanced stages of adulthood also have strongly reduced levels of synaptic proteins. It remains to be seen whether these worms have problems similar to those of Alzheimer's patients. One goal of my fellowship research will be to determine whether animals missing the DAF-19 protein have age-related defects in learning and memory relative to normal animals." A 1983 summa cum laude graduate of Lawrence, De Stasio has previously collaborated with 2002 Nobel Prize winner H. Robert Horvitz on research into the ways nerves and muscles communicate. She joined the Lawrence biology department in 1992 under the auspices of a $700,000 grant from the Howard Hughes Medical Institute to establish the college's first program in molecular biology. A recipient of Lawrence's Outstanding Young Teacher award in 1996, she earned her Ph.D. from Brown University. De Stasio was awarded her Fulbright Fellowship through the Council for International Exchange of Scholars (CIES), which administers the Fulbright Scholar Program for U.S. faculty and professionals. She was selected from research proposals submitted in disciplines ranging from the sciences to the fine arts. Established in 1946, the Fulbright Scholar Program provides grants for teaching and research positions in more than 120 countries worldwide. Fulbright grants are generally awarded for six-month periods. ]]> http://blogs.lawrence.edu/news/2008/04/lawrence_university_molecular.html http://blogs.lawrence.edu/news/2008/04/lawrence_university_molecular.html Wed, 16 Apr 2008 16:21:51 -0600 Lawrence University Quizbowl Team Places 8th at National Championships APPLETON -- Considering Lawrence University's quizbowl team didn't even exist six months ago, reaching the finals of the National Academic Quiz Tournaments' (NAQT) Intercollegiate Championship, was cause for celebration. Competing April 11-12 in the nation's largest, most prestigious quizbowl event for college students at Washington University in St. Louis, Lawrence's four-person team finished eighth out of 32 teams. "Everyone contributed and we reached our goal," said freshman Greg Peterson, Park Ridge, Ill., who organized the team late last fall and led the team to the tournament hoping to reach the eight-team championship bracket. "For a school that hasn't competed in a national quizbowl tournament before, to place eighth out of 32 is something to be proud of." Lawrence cruised through the eight-team preliminary bracket, posting a 6-1 record, suffering its only loss to eventual overall champion Carleton College. Swarthmore College and Brandeis University were among the teams Lawrence defeated in advancing to the championship bracket. In the finals, Lawrence lost to Western Ontario (240-190), Dartmouth (250-245), Truman State (285-230) and MIT (225-210) before rallying from an 85-point deficit to stun Cornell University 260-220. The team closed the championship round with a 245-190 loss to Princeton to finish 1-5 in the playoffs, 7-6 overall and eighth for the tournament. "We just couldn't seem to keep firing on all cylinders for a full match," said Peterson of the finals. "The Cornell match was great, though. At one point, we were down -5 to 80." Sophomore Michael Schreiber and freshmen Richard Wanerman and Emily Koenig joined Peterson in representing Lawrence, which finished the tournament ahead of teams from Carnegie Mellon, Grinnell, Harvard, Stanford and Washington University, among others. Peterson finished the tournament first individually among 134 Division II players with an average of 66.67 points per game.]]> http://blogs.lawrence.edu/news/2008/04/lawrence_university_quizbowl_t.html http://blogs.lawrence.edu/news/2008/04/lawrence_university_quizbowl_t.html Tue, 15 Apr 2008 09:22:26 -0600 Narrative, Ideological Conventions of French Opera Examined in Lawrence Address APPLETON, WIS. -- Music historian Susan McClary presents "The Dragon Cart: The Femme-Fatale in 17th-Century French Opera" Wednesday, April 16 at 6 p.m. in Lawrence University's Harper Hall. A reception with the speaker will follow the presentation, which is free and open to the public. McClary, professor of musicology at UCLA, will discuss two operas -- Jean-Baptiste Lully's "Armide" and Marc-Antoine Charpentier's "Medee" -- in which sorceresses literally fly away at the end of the work, rather than be held accountable by society for their crimes. The talk will examine the conditions that allowed those works to defy the usual narrative and ideological conventions of the time, where plot tensions typically were resolved and the social order was restored. A scholar of cultural criticism and critical theory of music, McClary has written widely on feminism and gender issues. In her 1991 book "Feminine Endings," she examines cultural constructions of gender, sexuality and the body in musical works ranging from early 17th-century opera to the songs of Madonna. She also is the author of "Conventional Wisdom," an exploration of the ways shared musical practices transmit social knowledge. McClary, who earned her Ph.D. at Harvard University, was a 1995 recipient of the prestigious $500,000 MacArthur Fellowship, the so-called "genius grant" and is a former chair of the board of directors for the American Council of Learned Societies. Her appearance is supported by the William A. Chaney Lectureship in the Humanities. http://blogs.lawrence.edu/news/2008/04/narrative_ideological_conventi.html http://blogs.lawrence.edu/news/2008/04/narrative_ideological_conventi.html Tue, 15 Apr 2008 08:03:53 -0600 Lawrence University Student Musical Productions Presents "Cabaret" APPLETON, WIS. -- In an edgy portrayal of blossoming romance in the seedy nightlife of late-1920s Berlin, Lawrence University Student Musical Productions presents the Tony award-winning musical "Cabaret." The musical will be performed April 17-19 at 8 p.m. in Cloak Theatre of the Lawrence Music-Drama Center, 420 E. College Ave., Appleton. Tickets, at $10 for adults and $5 for students and senior citizens, are available at the Lawrence University Box Office, 920-832-6749. Set at the dawn of Hitler's rise to power, the musical reveals a tumultuous political atmosphere and the decadence of Berlin's Kit Kat Klub cabaret. The growing influence of the Nazi regime is viewed through the eyes of a young American writer, Cliff Bradshaw, whose love affair with one of the show's dancers, Sally Bowles, becomes increasingly threatened. Directed by senior David Hanzal, the production features sophomore Chad Bay as Bradshaw, senior Danielle Cartun as Bowles and sophomore Nikko Benson as the emcee, the Kit Kat Klub's master of ceremonies of the Kit Kat Klub. The original 1966 version of "Carabet" was honored with 10 Tony Awards, including best musical and best composer and lyricist. ]]> http://blogs.lawrence.edu/news/2008/04/lawrence_university_student_mu.html http://blogs.lawrence.edu/news/2008/04/lawrence_university_student_mu.html Fri, 11 Apr 2008 17:00:44 -0600 Lawrence University Science Presentation Takes 3-D Look at the Solar System APPLETON, WIS. -- With the help of special 3-D glasses, planetary scientist Nick Schneider offers a unique look at the solar system in a slide-illustrated address at Lawrence University. Schneider, associate professor of astrophysical and planetary sciences at the University of Colorado, presents "The Solar System in 3-D and the Latest News from Saturn" Monday, April 14 at 7 p.m. in Youngchild Hall 121. The event is free and open to the public. Through a special collection of three-dimensional images, Schneider will reveal the inner workings of the major planets and most of their moons in our solar system, providing the sensation of actually visiting these distant objects. Schneider also will discuss the latest discoveries of Saturn, its rings and moons made by the Cassini spacecraft, which is currently orbiting the planet. Schneider, whose research focuses on the escaping atmospheres of planets and moons, is a member of Colorado's Laboratory for Atmospheric and Space Physics and the author of the astronomy textbook "The Cosmic Perspective." A native of Appleton, he is the son of Lawrence professor emeritus of English Ben Schneider. His visit is sponsored by the Shapley Lectureship program of the American Astronomical Society. The lecture series honors Harlow Shapley, a pioneering American astronomer whose research helped place our solar system within the context of the galaxy and the universe.]]> http://blogs.lawrence.edu/news/2008/04/lawrence_university_science_pr.html http://blogs.lawrence.edu/news/2008/04/lawrence_university_science_pr.html Fri, 11 Apr 2008 10:32:09 -0600 Lawrence University Artist Series Presents American Brass Quintet APPLETON, WIS. -- The American Brass Quintet, one of the country's oldest and most distinguished brass chamber ensembles, brings its breathtaking sound to the stage of the Lawrence Memorial Chapel, 510 E. College Ave., Appleton, Saturday, April 19 at 8 p.m. in the final concert of the 2007-08 Lawrence University Artist Series. Tickets, at $20-22 for adults, $17-19 for seniors, and $15-17 for students, are available through the Lawrence Box Office, 920-832-6749. In addition to their concert, members of the quintet will conduct a pair of master classes on Saturday from 12:30 -1:40 p.m. and Sunday from 10 a.m. - 12 noon. Both will be held in the Chapel and are free and open to the public. Hailed as the "Rolls Royce of brass quintets" by the Baltimore Sun, the American Brass Quintet has commissioned a prolific number of chamber brass works, premiered more than 100 pieces and recorded more than 50 albums since its founding in 1960. Their latest CD, "Jewels," is a compilation of the ensemble's favorite repertoire from earlier decades to more recent compositions. "For nearly five decades, the American Brass Quintet has been famous for their unparalleled virtuosity and incredible musicianship," said Jeff Stannard, associate dean of the Lawrence conservatory of music and trumpet player with the Lawrence Brass. "They have commissioned, performed and recorded more music than any brass quintet in the world. This concert is sure to showcase their immense talents and range." Internationally recognized as one of the premiere chamber music ensembles of this generation, the American Brass Quintet has performed in all 50 states as well as throughout the world, filling concert halls in Europe, Central and South America, the Middle East, Asia, and Australia. The ensemble maintains a residency at both The Julliard School and the Aspen Music Festival and School. ]]> http://blogs.lawrence.edu/news/2008/04/lawrence_university_artist_ser_1.html http://blogs.lawrence.edu/news/2008/04/lawrence_university_artist_ser_1.html Fri, 11 Apr 2008 10:17:00 -0600 Lawrence University Hosts Poets Lyn Hejinian, Ilya Kutik for Reading, Q & A APPLETON, WIS. -- Award winning American poet Lyn Hejinian and Russian poet Ilya Kutik will give a reading of their respective works Tuesday, April 15 at 7:30 p.m. in Lawrence University's Wriston Art Center auditorium. A reception and book signing will follow the reading. Prior to their reading, Hejinian and Kutik will conduct a question-and-answer session Monday, April 14 at 4:30 p.m. in Main Hall 216. Both events are free and open to the public. Hejinian is the author of more than a dozen books of poetry, including her autobiographical collection "My Life," "The Fatalist," "A Border Comedy" and "The Cold of Poetry" as well as numerous books of essays and two volumes of translations of works by Russian poet Arkadii Dragomoshchenko. A professor of English at the University of California-Berkeley, Hejinian is a fellow of the Academy of American Poets and was elected a chancellor of the academy in 2006. Her numerous honors and awards include a National Endowment for the Arts Translation Fellowship. Kutik, one of the founders of the Russian poetic movement known as "meta-realism," teaches Russian literature at Northwestern University. He has published five volumes of poetry and translations, including "The Death of Tragedy," "Odysseus' Bow" and the "Pentathlon of the Senses." He also has written three books of essays and criticism. His most recent book, "Epic," is scheduled for publication this spring in Moscow. Hejinian's and Kutik's appearance are supported by the Mia T. Paul Poetry Fund and the Stevens Lectureship Fund.]]> http://blogs.lawrence.edu/news/2008/04/lawrence_university_hosts_poet.html http://blogs.lawrence.edu/news/2008/04/lawrence_university_hosts_poet.html Tue, 08 Apr 2008 17:15:46 -0600 Revived Quizbowl Team Earns Lawrence University Ticket to National Championships APPLETON, WIS. -- Lawrence University freshman Greg Peterson knows his history. And his literature, science and fine arts. Peterson has put all that knowledge to good use as the driving force behind a revival of Lawrence's once-dominant college quizbowl team. Looking to return Lawrence to national prominence in the world of questions-and-answers competition, Peterson is off to a great start. After organizing a team last fall, he already has Lawrence heading to the National Academic Quiz Tournaments' (NAQT) Intercollegiate Championship, the nation's largest, most prestigious quizbowl event for college students. Lawrence will be among 32 teams from around the country competing April 11-12 at the national tournament hosted by Washington University in St. Louis. Lawrence's four-person team will match wits against teams from such Ivy League powerhouses as Harvard, Cornell, Princeton and Dartmouth universities, as well as brainiacs from Swarthmore and MIT. As a fledgling program, Peterson and his teammates will participate in NAQT's Division II tournament, which is reserved for undergraduate students on teams in either their first or second year of existence and who have not previously qualified for the national tournament. "We won't be considered 'national champions' if we win because we're competing in Division II," said Peterson of Park Ridge, Ill. "But we could say we're the best 'new' quizbowl team in the country." The current NAQT competition is a stepchild of the once-popular television program known as the "GE College Bowl," which was sponsored by General Electric and ran on national television from 1959-70. Originally hosted by Allen Ludden, the show was televised weekly on Saturdays and Sundays, pitting college teams from around the country. During the 1964-65 season, Lawrence was a five-time winner on the program -- the maximum number of appearances allowed -- returning to campus from New York City to a hero's welcome after earning a silver trophy, $10,500 in scholarship money and national recognition. "I knew that Lawrence had done well on the old GE College Bowl program, but I couldn't figure out why no one had competed since then," said Peterson. "There was a buzzer system in place to practice and there was talent available on campus, but for some reason they just weren't being put together. Liberal arts colleges like Lawrence are perfect for quizbowl. The game covers so many different categories that you need well-rounded players who can answer questions on everything from biochemistry to Russian literature to prime-time TV." Peterson was an obvious choice to restart Lawrence's efforts on the college quizbowl circuit. He participated in Illinois' "Scholastic Bowl" for two years in high school and last summer reached the finals of the teen tournament on the popular television show "Jeopardy!." Despite racking up an impressive two-day total of $38,600, he missed winning the teen tournament title by an agonizing $1. Shortly after arriving on campus last September, he went searching for fellow students who shared his passion for the game. In October, Peterson represented Lawrence as a team of one at a tournament in Chicago, placing sixth all by himself out of 24 teams. With the subsequent additions of fellow freshmen Richard Wanerman, Emily Koenig and Catherine Albright, Lawrence competed in four more tournaments between November and early March, finishing first in three of them. A five-way tie for first among 14 teams at a sectional tournament in early February at the University of Chicago earned Lawrence a ticket to the nationals in St. Louis. Due to a conflict, Albright won't be able to participate at the national tournament. Sophomore Michael Schreiber will join Peterson, Wanerman and Koenig in representing Lawrence. At nationals, the 32-team field will be divided into four pools of eight teams. The top two finishing teams in each pool will advance to the championship bracket. "Some of the really strong schools from our region you would expect to be there, like Northwestern and the University of Chicago, won't be there because Lawrence took their spot," Peterson said with just a hint of gloating. Quizbowl tournaments typically feature head-to-head competitions between two teams of four members each. "A 10-point "toss-up" question opens play, with the first team to answer correctly given the opportunity to answer a 30-point, multiple-part bonus question. A total of 20 toss-up questions are asked per game. "My goal for the national tournament is to get into the championship bracket," said Peterson. "Knowing that we'll be competing against teams from Stanford, Cornell and Dartmouth, it will be tough, but I think we can do it."]]> http://blogs.lawrence.edu/news/2008/04/revived_quizbowl_team_earns_la.html http://blogs.lawrence.edu/news/2008/04/revived_quizbowl_team_earns_la.html Tue, 08 Apr 2008 14:15:18 -0600 Criminal Justice Professor Discusses Radical Islam in Address at Lawrence University APPLETON, WIS. -- Harvey Kushner, professor of criminal justice and security administration at Long Island University, delivers the address "Radical Islam and What To Do About It" Wednesday, April 9 at 7:30 p.m. in Youngchild Hall, 121. The event is free and open to the public. An internationally recognized authority on terrorism and security matters, Kushner has lectured throughout the world, addressing governmental agencies, corporate entities and university think tanks, among them the FBI Academy's Behavioral Science Unit, the United Nations Congress in Vienna, Austria, and the U.S. Naval War College. He also has served as an trainer and advisor to the FBI, the Federal Aviation Administration and the U.S. Customs and Borders agency. During a 30-year career, Kushner has served as an expert witness in several high-profile court cases involving international terrorism, including a civil litigation suit arising from the 1993 bombing of the World Trade Center. He is the author of the 2004 book "Holy War on the Home Front: The Secret Islamist Terrorist Network in the United States" and the "Encyclopedia of Terrorism," which was recognized with the American Library Association's Best Reference Award. He earned a bachelor's degree in political science from Queens College and a Ph.D. in political science from New York University. Kushner's appearance is sponsored by the Viking Conservatives student organization. ]]> http://blogs.lawrence.edu/news/2008/04/criminal_justice_professor_dis_1.html http://blogs.lawrence.edu/news/2008/04/criminal_justice_professor_dis_1.html Mon, 07 Apr 2008 10:12:05 -0600 Mosaic of Cultures: Lawrence University Hosts 13th Annual International Cabaret APPLETON, WIS. -- For the first time in its history, members of Lawrence International will stage two performances of its annual cabaret show celebrating music, dance and cuisine from around the world. "Mosaic of Cultures," the theme for this year's event, will be performed Saturday, April 12 at 6:30 p.m. with an encore performance Sunday, April 13 at 3 p.m. Both will be staged in Stansbury Theatre, 420 E. College Ave., Appleton. Following Sunday's performance, a dinner featuring native dishes from Africa and the sub-continent will be served in Lucinda's in Colman Hall. Tickets, at $10 for the performance and $15 for the performance and dinner, are available through the Lawrence Box Office, 920-832-6749. Children six and under are free. "The cabaret is a wonderful opportunity for our international students to share a piece of their native culture with the Lawrence and Fox Valley communities. They always perform with great passion and enthusiasm," said Tim Schmidt, coordinator of international student services. More than 80 students from nearly 50 countries will entertain with a variety of performances. Cabaret favorites such as traditional African dances, the Dominican Republic's merengue and the Middle East's belly dance return. Also scheduled are two violin performances, Chinese singing and dancing, steel pan percussion from Jamaica and a fashion show showcasing traditional dress from around the world. ]]> http://blogs.lawrence.edu/news/2008/04/mosaic_of_cultures_lawrence_un.html http://blogs.lawrence.edu/news/2008/04/mosaic_of_cultures_lawrence_un.html Mon, 07 Apr 2008 10:04:41 -0600 Microsoft Executive Named Dean of Lawrence University's Conservatory of Music APPLETON, WIS. -- Lawrence University has announced the appointment of Brian Pertl as dean of its conservatory of music. As the chief academic and administrative officer of the conservatory, Pertl will be responsible for the educational mission, curricular planning and development for the bachelor of music program, budget planning, recruitment and retention of faculty and faculty-administration relations. He will join the Lawrence administration July 1. Pertl comes to Lawrence from Microsoft Corporation, where he has been the media acquisitions manager since 1998, overseeing a team of 40 employees, contractors and vendors and managing a $5 million budget. He first joined Microsoft in 1992 as an ethnomusicologist to select, caption and license music for the company's Encarta World Atlas product. In addition to his management duties at Microsoft, Pertl serves as a state music scholar for the Smithsonian Institution's Museum on Main Street traveling exhibit "New Harmonies: Celebrating American Roots Music." He also has been a lecturer for Washington state's "Inquiring Mind Lecture Series" for the past 16 years, delivering more than 300 talks on a wide variety of subjects at venues throughout the state. "Brian is not only a passionate scholar of music but a strong advocate of the liberal arts and of the importance of interactions across disciplines," said Lawrence President Jill Beck in announcing Pertl's appointment. "His creativity, vision and leadership will help enhance the position of Lawrence as a nationally prominent institution in the fields of music and music education." A native of Salt Lake City, Pertl, 45, is a 1986 graduate of Lawrence, where he earned a bachelor of music degree in performance and a bachelor of arts degree in English. He also holds a master's degree in ethnomusicology from Wesleyan University and has completed extensive additional coursework and research toward a doctorate degree in ethnomusicology at the University of Washington.]]> http://blogs.lawrence.edu/news/2008/04/microsoft_executive_named_dean.html http://blogs.lawrence.edu/news/2008/04/microsoft_executive_named_dean.html Thu, 03 Apr 2008 15:05:42 -0600 Renowned Theologian Martin Marty Discusses "Dilemmas of Fundamentalisms" at Lawrence University APPLETON, WIS. -- One of the world's most prominent theologians examines the dilemma created between fundamentalism and constructive religious practice, particularly in the Middle East, in an address at Lawrence University. Martin Marty, professor emeritus at the University of Chicago Divinity School, presents "The Dilemmas of Fundamentalisms" Wednesday April 9 at 7 p.m. in the Lawrence Memorial Chapel. A question-and-answer session will follow the address. Free and open to the public, the program is a presentation of the Wisconsin Academy of Sciences, Arts and Letters' Academy Evening series. An ordained Lutheran pastor, Marty served parishes in suburban Chicago for a decade before joining the University of Chicago faculty in 1963, teaching for 35 years in the Divinity School. When he retired in 1998, the Divinity School's Advanced Study of Religion, which he founded and first directed, was renamed the Martin Marty Center in his honor. The center is the major conference and program arm of the Divinity School, with a focus on public religion. Marty has written more than 50 books, including "Righteous Empire," for which he won the National Book Award; the three-volume "Modern American Religion," 2005's "When Faiths Collide" and the forthcoming "World Christianity: A Global History," slated for publication later this year. In addition, he is the author of more than 5,000 book chapters, forewords, essays and scholarly articles. During his distinguished career, Marty has been a member of two U.S. Presidential Commissions and received the prestigious National Humanities Medal in 1997 from President Clinton. He also has been the awarded the Medal of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences, the Distinguished Service Medal of the Association of Theological Schools and been recognized with 75 honorary doctorate degrees. He is a former president of the American Academy of Religion, the American Society of Church History, and the American Catholic Historical Association. ]]> http://blogs.lawrence.edu/news/2008/04/renowned_theologian_martin_mar.html http://blogs.lawrence.edu/news/2008/04/renowned_theologian_martin_mar.html Wed, 02 Apr 2008 14:47:36 -0600 Seven Lawrence University Musicians Share Top Honors in WPR-Sponsored Music Competition APPLETON, WIS. -- Lawrence University student musicians accounted for four of the five winners at the 13th annual Neale-Silva Young Artists competition held March 16 in Madison. Pianists Amy Lauters, Will Martin and Michael Smith along with the string quartet of Danielle Simandl, violin, Katie Ekberg, violin, Sarah Bellmore, viola, and Max Hero, cello, shared top honors with clarinetist Brian Viliunas of Milwaukee in the state competition sponsored by Wisconsin Public Radio. Simandl also advanced to the finals as a soloist. This was the eighth time in the past 10 years that Lawrence students have won or shared top honors in the Neale-Silva event. The competition is open to instrumentalists and vocal performers 17-26 years of age who are either from Wisconsin or attend a Wisconsin college. This year's competition attracted 26 soloists and ensembles, with 14 of those (11 soloists and three ensembles) advancing to the finals. Lauters, Martin, Smith and the members of the string quartet will reprise their winning performances Wednesday, April 30 at 7 p.m. in the Wisconsin Union Theater. The concert will be broadcast live statewide on the NPR News and Classical Music Network of WPR. In addition to the radio broadcast, all seven winners received $400 for their first-place performances. For the April 30 concert, Lauters, a freshman from Manhattan, Kan., will perform Haydn's "Piano Sonata in C major, no. 60," Chopin's "Nocturne" and Ravel's "Jeux D'eau." Smith, a sophomore from Davis, Calif., will play Schumann's "Sonata no. 3 in f minor, op. 14" and "Fantasia" from J.S. Bach's "Chromatic Fantasy and Fugue." Martin, a sophomore from Floosmoor, Ill., will perform Gershwin's "Rhapsody in Blue." Bellmore, a senior from Appleton, Ekberg, a junior from New Hope, Minn., Hero, a freshman from Wauwatosa and Simandl, a junior from Marquette, Mich., will perform Shostakovich's "String Quartet no. 8." Lauters and Martin are students in the piano studio of Associate Professor of Music Anthony Padilla. Smith studies with Associate Professor of Music Michael Kim. Assistant Professor of Music Wen-Lei Gu serves as chamber coach of the string quartet. The Neale-Silva Young Artists' Competition was established to recognize young Wisconsin performers of classical music who demonstrate an exceptionally high level of artistry. It is supported by a grant from the estate of the late University of Wisconsin Madison professor Eduardo Neale-Silva, a classical music enthusiast who was born in Talca, Chile and came to the United States in 1925. ]]> http://blogs.lawrence.edu/news/2008/03/seven_lawrence_university_musi.html http://blogs.lawrence.edu/news/2008/03/seven_lawrence_university_musi.html Tue, 25 Mar 2008 10:23:47 -0600 Battling Biases: Lawrence University Senior Awarded $25,000 Fellowship to Study Ethnic Discrimination APPLETON, WIS. -- Growing up in Lima, Peru, Lawrence University senior Valeria Rojas experienced the sting of discrimination firsthand. Even though she was born and raised there, she was a "mestiza" -- a person of mixed ethnicity -- and her darker skin made her a target of childhood taunts. "I grew up in a society where open discrimination against the indigenous people or anyone without European features was more the rule than the exception," says Rojas. Her childhood experiences have motivated her as an adult to combat stereotypes and discrimination. As one of the 50 national recipients of a $25,000 fellowship from the Thomas J. Watson Foundation announced March 14 by the Rhode Island-based foundation, Rojas will have an opportunity to pursue her passion. She will embark on a year-long examination of ethnic discrimination and social exclusion throughout South America. Rojas was one of 50 seniors from 23 states and five foreign countries awarded a Watson Fellowship, which supports a year of independent travel and exploration outside the United States on a topic of the student's choosing. Nearly 1,000 students from up to 50 selective private liberal arts colleges and universities apply for the Watson Fellowship each year. This year's award-winners were selected from among 175 finalists. "The awards are long-term investments in people, not research," said Rosemary Macedo, the executive director of the Watson Fellowship Program. "We look for people likely to lead or innovate in the future and give them extraordinary independence in pursuing their interests. They must have passion, creativity and a feasible plan. The Watson Fellowship affords an unequalled opportunity for global experiential learning." Beginning in August, Rojas' project will take her to Argentina, Chile, Bolivia and Ecuador to study the historically prominent indigenous communities of the Mapuches, Aymaras and Quechuas, spending approximately four months living in each community. She intends to explore the issue of discrimination and social exclusion from three perspectives: the indigenous people themselves, the government and civil society. "I want to learn more about these native communities by immersing myself in them and experiencing their cultures every day," said Rojas, 22, who is majoring in economics and government with a minor in anthropology at Lawrence. "I want to learn more about their rich, cultural past, the current social situation and their future aspirations. I want to know what they think about the ethnic discrimination and social exclusion they face. By living with them, I will be able to observe how discrimination affects their self-esteem and attitude toward the rest of society." Part of her stay in each community also will involve working as a volunteer with local and regional non-governmental organizations and government institutions dedicated to promoting the development of the indigenous communities. She already has made arrangements to work with the Chilean National Commission for Indigenous Development (CONADI) and the Bilingual Intercultural Education Training for the Andean Countries Program (PROEIB) in Bolivia. At the end of her "wanderjahr," Rojas hopes to share her experiences with as many people as possible, especially other mestizos like herself. "The ethnic discrimination and social exclusion experienced daily in Latin America is something I cannot tolerate and I feel like it has become my duty to help in a struggle that divides entire populations," said Rojas, who intends to pursue graduate studies in international development following her fellowship. "I want to promote a change in attitude among Latin Americans. I'm not trying to be a savior, but someone has to start breaking down the stereotypes and make people stop to think about their opinions and what those opinions are based on. The Watson fellowship offers me the unique opportunity to help make that happen." "Vale's project grows out of her academic work at Lawrence, her personal experiences and her passionate devotion to social justice," said Tim Spurgin, associate professor and Bonnie Glidden Buchanan Professor of English, who serves as Lawrence's campus liaison to the Watson program. "Her project will definitely be challenging, but there's no doubt of her ability to succeed with it." Rojas is the 66th Lawrence student awarded a Watson Fellowship since the program's inception in 1969. It was established by the children of Thomas J. Watson, Sr., the founder of International Business Machines Corp., and his wife, Jeannette, to honor their parents' long- standing interest in education and world affairs. Watson Fellows are selected on the basis of the nominee's character, academic record, leadership potential, willingness to delve into another culture and the personal significance of the project proposal. Since its founding, nearly 2,500 fellowships have been awarded.]]> http://blogs.lawrence.edu/news/2008/03/battling_biases_lawrence_unive.html http://blogs.lawrence.edu/news/2008/03/battling_biases_lawrence_unive.html Mon, 17 Mar 2008 07:53:12 -0600 Chicago Artist Brad Killam Featured in Latest Lawrence University Exhibition APPLETON, WIS. -- Art found in natural and everyday objects and the history of art education at Lawrence University will be explored in a new exhibition at Lawrence's Wriston Art Center Galleries. The exhibition runs March 21 - May 4. Chicago artist Brad Killam will deliver the exhibition's opening lecture Friday, April 4 at 6 p.m. A reception will follow the address, which is free and open to the public. Killam's installation of sculptures made from objects found outside the art studio will be exhibited in both the Hoffmaster and Kohler galleries. His works focus on finding the aesthetic qualities of art in ordinary materials and studying the transformation of a functional object into something that causes viewers to regard it as artistically interesting. A graduate of Illinois State University and the University of Illinois-Chicago, where he earned his master's of fine arts degree, Killam has exhibited internationally and been the recipient of grants from several art foundations, including the Danish Contemporary Art Foundation. He currently is an assistant professor of art at the College of DuPage in suburban Chicago. The Leech Gallery will feature a research presentation by senior Katherine Elchert that traces the history and development of Lawrence's art education program from the time of the Milwaukee Downer College art program to the present. An art history and history double major, Elchert's exhibition is her senior project for the history department. Wriston Art Center hours are Tuesday-Friday from 10 a.m. - 4 p.m., Saturday-Sunday from noon - 4 p.m. The gallery is closed Mondays. For more information, call 920-832-6621 or visit http://www.lawrence.edu/news/wriston/.]]> http://blogs.lawrence.edu/news/2008/03/chicago_artist_brad_killam_fea.html http://blogs.lawrence.edu/news/2008/03/chicago_artist_brad_killam_fea.html Thu, 13 Mar 2008 16:20:17 -0600 Lawrence University Wind Ensemble Performing at Regional Conference APPLETON, WIS. -- The Lawrence University Wind Ensemble will be among a select group of featured performers March 13-15 at the College Band Directors National Association North Central Division Professional Conference at the University of Nebraska at Omaha. Under the direction of Andrew Mast, assistant professor and director of bands, the Lawrence Wind Ensemble was one of six college ensembles in the 10-state region invited to perform at the conference. The invitations were based on audition tapes of live performance recordings from the 2006-07 academic year. "The selection is done by peers who know and understand the difficulties and challenges of the repertoire," said Mast. "It is always a special honor to be recognized by one's colleagues and peers. "The north central region is among, if not the, strongest region in the nation for college and university bands," Mast added. "I'd compare it to winning the ACC title in college basketball versus winning the Patriot League. We are simply in a part of the country with more and better ensembles, so earning a conference invitation against that level of competition is very gratifying." The Lawrence Wind Ensemble will perform on Saturday afternoon in the Strauss Performing Arts Center, the last of the six invited ensembles to do so. The hour-long program will include "Early Light" by Carolyn Bremer, Yo Goto's "Lachrymae," "Sunan Dances" by Dorothy Chang, "Frenzy" by Andrew Boysen and "Prevailing Wings" a work written by former Lawrence faculty member Rodney Rogers in 1983 for Bob Levy and the wind ensemble. "Getting to perform on the last day of the conference in a marquee time slot was like icing on the cake," said Mast. Putting together the program for the conference proved to be both a joy and a challenge. "I attempted to represent the widest possible swath of wind band repertoire I could in an hour program," Mast said. "There is variety in the composers' gender, ethnic background and style. I also wanted to present a unified journey from the beginning to the end of the program that takes listeners and performers through the entire gamut of emotions -- joy, celebration, mourning, passion, vigor." Joining Lawrence as audition-selected performers at the conference will be the Drake University Wind Symphony, the Northwestern University Symphonic Band, the University of St. Thomas Symphonic Wind Ensemble, the UW-Eau Claire Wind Symphony and the Western Illinois University Symphonic Wind Ensemble. "I am extraordinarily proud of the students and the hard work they have put into this program," said Mast. "It has been an honor and a pleasure to prepare for the conference and I'm looking forward to showcasing Lawrence and our talented students." The College Band Directors National Association began its existence as a committee of the Music Educators National Conference in the 1930s and assumed its current organizational name in 1947. Members of the CBDNA are dedicated to the teaching, performance, study and cultivation of music, with particular focus on the wind band medium. http://blogs.lawrence.edu/news/2008/03/lawrence_university_wind_ensem.html http://blogs.lawrence.edu/news/2008/03/lawrence_university_wind_ensem.html Fri, 07 Mar 2008 13:28:14 -0600 Lawrence University Receives American College Theatre Festival Recognition for "Blood Wedding" APPLETON, WIS. -- Lawrence University's recent production of "Blood Wedding" drew accolades from the American College Theatre Festival for the cast, production staff, musicians and director. Juniors Brune Macary, Lyon, France, and Cara Wantland, McAllen, Texas, earned invitations to the 2009 Irene Ryan Acting Scholarship Competition for their individual performances, while the ACTF issued Certificates of Merit for the ensemble, the music design, and the production's director, Annette Thornton. Macary and Wantland will vie for a $500 scholarship in the Ryan competition next January in Saginaw, Mich., at the ACTF's five-state regional competition. Winners at the eight regional competitions advance to the national auditions at the Kennedy Center in Washington, D.C. in April, 2009. In Lawrence's production of Spanish playwright Federico Garcia Lorca's tale of love, passion and betrayal, Macary played the role of the wedding bride, an unhappy young woman tormented by the presence of a former lover on the night of her arranged marriage. Wantland portrayed Death, an eerie and morbid personification of the force that drives two men to their ends. In awarding an ensemble (cast and production staff) certificate of merit, Roger Held, chair of the theatre department at Michigan Tech University and an ACTF respondent, wrote "the movement of actors whether in a scene or executing a scene shift was perfect, effortless and economical. They created a mental realm and moment-to-moment focus that kept the audience transfixed." In his certificate for music design, Held cited the 10 student musicians for providing "a unified musical voice that, with so many participants, could easily have degenerated into chaos. The collaborative and