university convocation

Tag: university convocation

Science “evangelist” Ainissa Ramirez delivers “Technology’s Unexpected Consequences” convocation

Self-proclaimed science “evangelist” Ainissa Ramirez preaches a gospel focused on the importance of improving the public’s understanding of science.

Ainissa Ramirez
Ainissa Ramirez considers herself a science “evangelist.”

Ramirez shares her message in the Lawrence University convocation “Technology’s Unexpected Consequences” Tuesday, April 3 at 11:10 a.m. in the Lawrence Memorial Chapel. She will conduct a question-and-answer-session following her remarks. Both events are free and open to the public.

Through books, TED Talks, online videos and the podcast “Science Underground,” Ramirez makes her case for science education reform, arguing for greater emphasis on problem solving and critical thinking rather than memorization.

According to Ramirez, “STEM is like a training camp for key skills like encouraging curiosity and patience and making friends with failure. Most of the jobs of the 21st century will require people to be comfortable with science and math, not only the content and information, but the mindset that comes from these fields, such as trial-and-error and the skill of asking good questions.”

Ramirez, who earned a bachelor’s degree at Brown University and a Ph.D. at Stanford University, spent eight years on the faculty at Yale University, where she taught mechanical engineering and materials science and created a science lecture series for kids called “Science Saturdays.” She also spent time as a visiting professor at MIT.

Named one of the world’s 100 Top Young Innovators by Technology Review for her contributions to transforming technology, Ramirez holds six patents and is the author of co-author of three books, including “Save Our Science: How to Inspire a New Generation of Scientists.” Her most recent book, 2013’s “Newton’s Football: The Science Behind America’s Game,” uses football as a model to examine science topics ranging from chaos theory to concussions, in an entertaining,  big-think way.

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

University convocation celebrates the international contributions of Lawrence cellist Janet Anthony

The third installment of Lawrence University’s 2016-17 convocation series will celebrate the musical and educational career of Professor of Music Janet Anthony in a rare evening presentation.

A Head shot of Lawrence University cello professor Janet Anthony.
Janet Anthony

Anthony presents “Adventures in Music Making: 20 Years of Cross-Cultural Exchange in Haiti” Friday, Jan. 6 at 7 p.m. in the Lawrence Memorial Chapel. The event, free and open to the public, also will be available via a live webcast.

The program will feature performances of Haitian music, including two works composed by non-degree seeking students at Lawrence, by the Lawrence University Cello Ensemble and the Lawrence Symphony Chamber Orchestra as well as remarks by 2011 Lawrence graduate Carolyn Armstrong Desrosiers, Lawrence jazz studies program director Jose Encarnacion and Haitian journalist Fritz Valescot,

Anthony, the George and Marjorie Olsen Chandler Professor of Music, was chosen as the co-recipient of Lawrence’s annual Faculty Convocation Award, which honors a faculty member for distinguished professional work. She is the eighth faculty member so honored.

A cellist who joined the Lawrence conservatory of music faculty in 1984, Anthony has been making annual trips to Haiti since 1996 to conduct, perform and teach at music schools there.

Since making her first trip, more than 50 Lawrence students and faculty colleagues have accompanied her to teach in some of the many music programs with which she has been involved. Anthony also has assisted in bringing key Haitian music teachers and students to the United States for short-term professional development.

Following the devastating 2010 earthquake that devastated parts of the country, Anthony helped organized a benefit concert in Appleton for Haiti and collected needed supplies for the survivors, including gently used instruments. She has since performed numerous memorial concerts in Haiti, including one in 2011 on the one-year anniversary of the earthquake.

Anthony is the co-founder and current president of Building Leaders Using Music Education (BLUME)-Haiti, a Fox Cities-based nonprofit organization that works with Haitian and International partners to develop and support music education for youth and young adults in Haiti.

A photo of Lawrence University cello professor Janet Anthony playing her cello.Desrosiers, an Appleton native who has made multiple trips to Haiti with Anthony, co-produced and co-directed a documentary film — “Kenbe La” — which explores the transformational power of music programs in Haiti.

An active soloist, recitalist and chamber musician, Anthony has toured with the Vienna Chamber Orchestra, the Austrian Radio Orchestra and the Chamber Orchestra of the Vienna Symphony. She also has performed or taught in Argentina, China, Curacao, Japan, Venezuela and Vietnam and, as a member of the Duo Kléber, she has performed in England, France, Italy and Bosnia Herzegovina.

A frequent performer on Wisconsin Public Radio, Anthony earned a bachelor’s degree from the University of Arizona and a master’s degree in music from the State University of New York at Stony Brook. She also studied at Vienna’s famed Hochschule für Musik und Darstellende Kunst.

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

 

 

 

Poet Laureate Natasha Trethewey delivers university convocation Nov. 1

A Head shot of Pulitzer Prize-winning poet Natasha Trethewey.
Natasha Trethewey

Pulitzer Prize-winning poet Natasha Trethewey presents “The Muse of History: On Poetry and Social Justice” Tuesday, Nov. 1 at 11:10 a.m. in the Lawrence Memorial Chapel in the second installment of Lawrence University’s 2016-17 convocation series. Trethewey will conduct a question-and-answer session immediately following her address. The event is free and open to the public.

A native of Mississippi and the daughter of a mixed-race marriage, Trethewey combines the personal and the historical in her work. The author of four collections of poetry, her writing frequently addresses societal issues regarding class, race and war.

Following the release of her first collection, 2000’s “Domestic Work,” Trethewey received the Cave Canem Poetry Prize, which recognizes the best first book by an African American poet. “Domestic Work” also was honored with the 2001 Mississippi Institute of Arts and Letters Book Prize and the 2001 Lillian Smith Award for Poetry.

Her third book of poems, “Native Guard,” was awarded the 2007 Pulitzer Prize.  “Native Guard” has been a part of Lawrence’s Freshman Studies reading list the past two years.

A photo of the cover of the book of poems "Native Guard" by Pulitzer Prize-winning poet Natasha Trethewey.More recently she has released  “Beyond Katrina: A Meditation on the Mississippi Gulf Coast,” a non-fiction personal profile of some of the people whose lives were forever changed by the hurricane.  “Thrall,” her fourth book of poetry published in 2012, explores historical representations of mixed-race families. Trethewey will read from “Thrall” as part of her address.

In 2012, Trethewey was named the 19th Poet Laureate of the United States by the Library of Congress, one of numerous honors she has received for her work. She also has been awarded fellowships from the Academy of American Poets, the National Endowment for the Arts, the Guggenheim Foundation and the Rockefeller Foundation.

Trethewey is a member of the faculty at Atlanta’s Emory University where she is the Robert W. Woodruff Professor of English and Creative Writing.

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