September 2008

Around Campus

Henry Winkler Presents Opening of School Address

Henry Winkler presented the Opening of School address September 1 to begin the 160th year of Austin College. The well-known television icon spoke in Wynne Chapel to a full house — some 900 members of the Austin College community including the entering Class of 2012, the Class of 2009 processing in cap and gown for the first time, faculty, staff, and guests.

Combining humor, wit, inspiration, and poignancy, Winkler discussed his life experiences, beginning with troubling years in school, battling undiagnosed dyslexia, low self-esteem, and a lack of emotional support from his parents. His years in higher education were a bit more promising — he was accepted into Emerson College and then earned a spot at the Yale School of Drama to begin the career in acting, directing, and producing that has made Winkler a well-known face in homes across the United States and beyond. His early years were challenging ones, but Winkler recalls them with a positive outlook. “I realize maybe I would never have been able to achieve what I achieved if I didn’t have the battle, the hill I constantly had to climb,” he said.

Winkler hopes his experiences will bring inspiration to other children who may suffer from learning disabilities or other problems. He has now completed 15 books in a children’s series, Hank Zipzer, The World’s Greatest Underachiever, in which the title character, based on Winkler, finds ways to overcome his daily difficulties.

Speaking particularly to the students present, Winkler encouraged them to make the most of themselves, stressing that each person has only one lifetime to live; that living to their potential will equip them to serve others; and that their very best selves are needed to assist the most vulnerable in society. “There are things to be done, needs to be met, and hurts to be healed, and if you do not do your part, something very important will remain undone forever,” Winkler said.

Winkler remains best known as the television icon “The Fonz” on the 1970s sitcom Happy Days, though he has since added many television, film, and Broadway acting and directing projects to his credits. He also is recognized as a distinguished speaker, humanitarian, author, and advocate of young people and education. Austin College awarded Winkler an honorary Doctor of Humane Letters degree in 2002.

• Additional Opening of School Photos

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Campus Programs Commemorate
Charles Darwin Anniversaries

Austin College will sponsor the event series “Darwin 200” throughout this academic year in celebration of the 200th anniversary of Charles Darwin’s birth February 12, 1809, and the 150th anniversary of the publication of his widely influential book The Origin of Species (1859).

The events include a lecture series, “Darwin 200: Contributions/ Controversies.” The series examines Darwin’s influence not only in the sciences but also in the social sciences and humanities, through disciplines such as psychology, economics, literature, philosophy, and religion. Lectures also will address some of the misunderstandings and controversies surrounding evolution. “Almost no one has had more scientific influence and broader cultural impact than Darwin,” said George Diggs, professor of biology, who has helped organize the events. “Few areas of thought remain untouched by Darwin’s contributions.”

Fall term speakers for “Darwin 200: Contributions/Controversies” include George Diggs, Austin College professor of biology, September 11 at 11 a.m.; Piers Hale, University of Oklahoma assistant professor of the history of science, September 25 at 11 a.m.; and Steven Goldsmith, Austin College professor of biology, October 30 at 11 a.m. These lectures are scheduled for Ida Green Theatre in the Ida Green Communication Center.

David Quammen, author of The Reluctant Mr. Darwin, will speak February 10, 2009, at 7 p.m. in Ida Green Theatre. Philip Gingerich, University of Michigan Case Collegiate Professor of Paleontology, will speak in March 2009, and David Buss, professor of psychology at the University of Texas, will speak April 24, but other details of these lectures are still to be determined. Additional speakers may be added to the schedule.

The lecture series coordinates with two major campus programs: the summer read — The Reluctant Mr. Darwin — and the April 24–25, 2009, annual undergraduate research conference — “Darwin 200: Bridging Disciplines/Breaking Boundaries.” The undergraduate research conference, the sixth hosted by Austin College, will focus broadly on Darwin’s impact on academic disciplines and popular culture and will cover a diverse range of evolution-related topics spanning the humanities, social sciences, and sciences. David Buss, professor of psychology at the University of Texas, will provide the keynote address for the conference April 24, 2009.

Faculty organizers for the Darwin celebration include George Diggs, professor of biology; Steven Goldsmith, professor of biology; Max Grober, associate professor of history; Jerry Lincecum, professor emeritus of English; Peggy Redshaw, professor of biology, who is coordinating the lecture series; and Carol Daeley, professor of English, who is coordinating the undergraduate research conference in April 2009.

Event details are available online.

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The Reluctant Mr. Darwin

Students in Austin College’s Class of 2012 had homework months before arriving on campus. Joining many colleges and universities around the nation, Austin College has instituted a “common read” program, in which all freshmen are assigned a particular book to read prior to the beginning of the fall term. President Oscar C. Page initiated the addition of the program a few years ago and sends the selected book to all freshmen each June along with a letter asking that they read the book.

The 2008 selection was David Quammen’s The Reluctant Mr. Darwin: An Intimate Portrait of Charles Darwin and the Making of His Theory of Evolution. “The common read sets a tone for students and gives them an opportunity to start to focus on college,” said Mike Imhoff, vice president for Academic Affairs and dean of the faculty.

“The common read book gives them something that stimulates them intellectually while providing all students a common experience.” When faculty members use the book in various aspects of their courses, students can begin to see how the book relates to various disciplines and how they can learn from a closer reading, Imhoff said.

How faculty members incorporate the common read book is up to individual faculty. Since several faculty members are involved in organizing “Darwin200” events, many opportunities to include the book in class discussions may arise.

Past Austin College common read assignments include Reading Lolita in Tehran by Azar Nafisi, A Hope in the Unseen by Ron Suskind, and Tracy Kidder’s Mountains Beyond Mountains: The Quest of Dr. Paul Farmer. Suskind delivered the Opening of School address the year freshmen read his book and Paul Farmer was the 2007 speaker.

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Art of the Kuba
Oct 24–Nov 26

Abell Library, Archives & Special Collections Suite Curated by Austin College
Archivist Justin Banks

Mondays, Tuesdays, Wednesdays, Fridays;
8:30 – 11:50 a.m.
and 1 – 3:50 p.m.
Thursdays;
8:30 – 11 a.m.
Homecoming Only:
Friday until 6 p.m.;
Saturday 10 a.m. – 5 p.m.

The Austin College community will get a glimpse of the Congo and the culture of the Bakubas people this fall through an African art exhibit that will kick off the College’s annual Africa Symposium. Alumnae Elizabeth Poole Shepherd ’58 and Amelia Poole Sudderth ’59 were born into that culture as the daughters of Presbyterian medical missionaries Mark and Sara Poole. Amelia, her husband Joe Sudderth ’59, and her late sister’s husband, Don Shepherd ’58, generously made a temporary loan of Bakubas artifacts from the Belgian Congo period for the exhibit.

Ceremonial masks, royal ceremonial garments, wood and stone statues, a carved ivory tusk, and ceremonial swords and spears from the Bakubas tribe will be displayed October 24 – November 26 at the exhibit, housed in the Archives and Special Collections Suite of the College’s George T. and Gladys H. Abell Library Center. Justin Banks, College archivist, said that individuals usually would have to travel to the Smithsonian or catch a traveling art exhibit from the Metropolitan Museum to see the type of artifacts that will be displayed on campus. “The willingness of the families to loan these artifacts creates a unique educational opportunity that would otherwise be impossible for Austin College to offer,” Banks said.

Mark Poole and his wife, Sara Day, served as medical missionaries in the Belgian Congo from 1936 to 1962, providing medical care, surgical operations, and hygiene instruction to the Bakubas tribe. Over time, the Pooles acquired several tribal artifacts and brought them back to the United States, where they have long served as mementos of their lives and work in the African Congo.

The Poole sisters finished high school in the Congo before attending Austin College. “The transition from living in Africa to living in the United States was difficult,” Amelia said. “Austin College was very supportive, and it was small enough that we could become an integral part pretty easily.” Both women met their husbands at Austin College, and in 1961, the College awarded their father an honorary degree for service to humanity. “We’ve always had a warm spot for Austin College,” she said.

Amelia, who majored in art at Austin College, loaned the artifacts to the College for an exhibit in 1959 and was excited to share the artifacts again. “It seems a very appropriate thing to do and something I know my sister would have done if she were still living,” Amelia said.

“We are loaning these things to honor both the culture of the Bakubas people and the dedication and service of my parents among them during those years,” Amelia said. “They went to express the love of God through Their medical and surgical work. As my dad expressed it so many times, they did it so that the people could be free from fear, superstition, and witchcraft and have peace in their hearts through the love of God.”

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Peter Anderson

Africa Symposium November 18–20

Keynote Speaker:
David Binkley

Faculty Member Shares Significance of Poole Collection

Peter Anderson joined Austin College’s faculty as an associate professor of English in 2006. A South African writer, sculptor, and academic, he wrote the script for the slide catalogue of the Standard Bank African Art Collection housed at the University of the Witwatersrand in Johannesburg in the mid-1980s. He teaches postcolonial literature and creative writing, and this fall is offering a course on Anglophone Nigerian literature, “Palm-Wine and Purple Hibiscus.” His comments follow.

African art was never meant to be put on display — hung on a wall, sealed in a glass box, isolated as an object of contemplation, a mute museum piece. In fact, even the concept of “art” is little short of a Eurocentric imposition. African art (continuing to use the term for convenience sake), always was dynamically integrated as a signifying cultural practice, productive of the meanings by which different communities comprehended and connected with the world around them. Masks, for instance, were often inspirited, filled with the overflowing presence of the numinous, the sacred, and therefore as capable of striking terror into the heart of the people as they might be of uplifting them, filling them with power, with love.

The Poole collection is among the few such collections to have been made in a way that can today be endorsed as ethically acceptable. In gratitude for being cured, people would bestow gifts upon the good doctor — “art” works, which we now acknowledge as priceless, but that in early 20th century Europe and America simply were considered as “primitive,” “bizarre,” “barbaric,” and so on.

It is no small achievement to have an ethically sound collection of indigenous art from Congo of the early 20th century. And what a collection. Kuba art is among the most spectacular ever to emerge from central Africa, one of the most powerful founts of great art in world history. Kuba masks, figurative sculptures, carvings in and on ivory, raffia work, to name only those items that come first to mind, are exemplary of the vitality and awe-inspiring profundity of African art. It is no secret today that the impact of African art, its incomparably powerful sculpture in particular, perhaps, on European high modernism, was decisive. We could point to Picasso and the development of cubism, Brancusi and the turn away from “beefsteak” realism, Modigliani and the elongation and simplification of form, for the ramifications are almost endless. Austin College is truly honored, even blessed, to place on exhibition a range of pieces from the Poole collection.

Africa Symposium Discusses Art

The Africa Symposium will feature the keynote address “Stop the Sun: The Art of Masquerade in Southern Kuba Culture” by David Binkley at 11 a.m. November 20 in Hoxie Thompson Auditorium of Sherman Hall. Binkley’s lecture will include a discussion of Kuba history as well as the system of title holding and the relationship of art making to the political hierarchy, including textile production and masquerade performance.

Binkley is an art historian who has lived in the Congo among the Kuba, and according to Anderson, is “perhaps the foremost U.S. expert on Kuba art.” Binkley was the senior curator for research and interpretation at the National Museum of African Art at the Smithsonian Institution and has been involved in many exhibitions and art programs. He earned a bachelor’s and a master’s degree in art history before completing a Ph.D. in African art history in 1987.

A student panel discussion, “Active Participants: Volunteer Insights into Development and Humanitarian Efforts in Africa,” on November 19 features students who spent the summer as Global Outreach Fellows, working with children in Ghana and Ethiopia. Student panelists are Cara Barnes ’09, Holly Boerner ’09, Rebeca Kim ’10, Anne Engelhart ’10, and Monica Martinez ’09.

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Washington, D.C., Becomes Summer Classroom

Rachel Dodd ’11 and Erin Bailey ’10 spent most of the summer in Washington, D.C., but it wasn’t for sightseeing. The two completed an intensive four-week program in Arabic, meeting four hours each weekday in July. The introductory Arabic course emphasized development of speaking and listening skills through intensive drills, exposure to basic structural patterns of the language, and functional vocabulary. The course — led by Yasmine Hasnaoui who taught Arabic in a one-year program at Austin College in 2004–2005 — included introduction to cultural components in the Middle East and North Africa.

In August, Bailey attended the Summer Symposium on U.S. Foreign Policy, joining students from around the world in Washington, D.C., to hear economists, analysts, journalists, government officials, and educators provide insight on the state of politics around the globe. The students also visited the embassies of China, Israel, and Egypt during the conference. Other Austin College participants were Laura Gallardo ’10, Wes Johnston ’10, Adnan Merchant ’11, Kerry Van Zant ’08, and Nathan Withers ’09.

Both events, offered through the Osgood Center for International Studies, were directed by Shelly Williams, president of the Osgood Center and Austin College professor emeritus of political science. Alvaro Escorcia ’10 and Wes Johnston ’10 were Osgood Center interns for the summer. Escorcia worked with a non-governmental agency on sustainable development and Johnston was assigned to TASH, an international association working in disability advocacy.

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John M. Andersen

Laura Dies Campbell

Five Join College Board of Trustees

Five individuals recently joined the Austin College Board of Trustees:

	John M. Andersen ’66 of Dallas, professor of pediatrics and director of pediatric gastroenterology at University of Texas Southwestern Medical School and Children’s Medical Center in Dallas
	Laura Dies Campbell ’73 of Austin, community volunteer active in Lay Missionaries of Charity and Mobile Loaves and Fishes
	Kelly Hiser of Sherman, owner of Kelly Oil Company
	Wes Moffett ’82 of Dallas, chief operating officer of Avelo Mortgage in Irving, a subsidiary of Archon Group
	John Serhant of Denison, Texas, and Steamboat Springs, Colorado, retired vice chair of State Street Global Advisors and advisor to Goldentree Asset Management.

Kelly Hiser

Wes Moffett

John Serhant

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Austin College Is a Great Place to Work

Austin College was named one of the “2008 Great Colleges to Work For” in the July 18 issue of The Chronicle of Higher Education, scoring in the top five in 17 of 27 categories.

“I am proud of the faculty and staff of Austin College who make this a great place to work,” said Oscar C. Page, Austin College president. “Each person contributes to a positive environment characterized by respect and support for one another.”

ModernThink, a human resources consulting firm, administered surveys to 15,000 randomly selected employees of 89 public and private colleges and universities.

Austin College was included in the “small” category, for institutions with 499 or fewer employees and ranked among the top five institutions in categories including healthy faculty administration relations, collaborative governance, professional/career development, teaching environment, confidence in senior leadership, connections to institution and pride, respect and appreciation, and post-retirement benefits.

“Independent surveys are important because responses are generally honest and sincere,” said Heidi Ellis, vice president for Business Affairs at Austin College. “I believe this is a terrific place to work, and this survey confirms that many others feel that way as well.”

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Renowned Shakespearean Scholar to Visit Campus for Lecture

World-renowned Shakespearean and English literature scholar Stephen Greenblatt will visit Austin College October 20 to present a lecture on Shakespeare and Cervantes, “The Strange Case of Cardenio.” The lecture will be held at 7 p.m. in Hoxie Thompson Auditorium of Sherman Hall. A reception and book signing will follow.

“Stephen Greenblatt’s visit to Austin College is a major event for us,” said Carol Daeley, professor of English and chair of the English Department. “He is a groundbreaking figure in literary studies who has recently launched two truly unique projects born out of his interest in ‘what happens when things cross borders.’ His Harvard course on global exchange along ocean routes in the 17th century has, like much of his work, profound relevance to today’s world. His play, Cardenio, co-written with Charles Mee and inspired by Shakespeare and Cervantes, has been adapted for performance in Japan and India. Who better to bring here as the faculty begins its ‘Global Learning for Cultural Awareness’ Quality Enhancement Plan?”

Greenblatt is the John Cogan University Professor of the Humanities at Harvard University, one of 19 Harvard University Professors, the school’s highest professorial distinction.

Before joining the Harvard faculty in 1997, Greenblatt was a professor at the University of California, Berkeley, where he taught for 28 years. He has been a visiting professor and lecturer at universities around the world, including the universities of Oxford, London, Kyoto, Bologna, Florence, Berlin, and Peking. He is the author of dozens of scholarly articles and of 10 books, including Hamlet in Purgatory. He also has served as editor of 10 major volumes, including the seventh edition of The Norton Anthology of English Literature. He is a Fellow of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences and the recipient of many honors and awards.

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Leadership Forum Scheduled for November 7

Austin College’s Posey Leadership Institute will host its annual Leadership Forum November 7, featuring Howard Prince, director of the LBJ School’s Center for Ethical Leadership and retired Brigadier General of the U.S. Army. Prince will offer a 9:30 a.m. session and speak at a luncheon after the morning session.

From 1990 to 1996, Prince served as founding dean and professor in the University of Richmond’s Jepson School of Leadership Studies, where he was responsible for development of the first undergraduate leadership degree program in the world. From 1978 to 1990, Prince was professor and head of the Department of Behavioral Sciences and Leadership at the U.S. Military Academy at West Point.

An honor graduate of West Point, Prince holds a master’s degree in international relations from American University, studied at the University of Bonn in Germany as an Olmsted Scholar, and earned a Ph.D. in psychology from the University of Texas at Austin. A clinical psychologist, he is a Fellow of the American Psychological Association.

For information about the event, contact the Posey Leadership Institute staff at (903) 813-2015 or see Austin College News.

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Page Signs Climate Commitment

Austin College President Oscar C. Page signed the American College and University Presidents Climate Commitment July 24, pledging to eliminate campus greenhouse gas emissions over time. The commitment will require Austin College to complete an emissions inventory, set a target date and milestones to become “climate neutral,” reduce greenhouse gas emissions, integrate sustainability into the curriculum and into the College’s education experience, and make an action plan, inventory, and progress reports publicly available, according to the Presidents Climate Commitment Web site.

“The college has been serious about various aspects of environmental issues in the past, but I’m delighted to see the highest level administrative support for a more comprehensive approach,” said Peter Schulze, professor of biology and environmental science and director of Austin College’s Center for Environmental Studies. “Joining the Presidents Climate Commitment is a recognition that these sorts of efforts are in the best interest of the College and larger community in the long run and are compatible with the mission of the College.”

One of the first steps Austin College will take during Fall Term 2008 is to form a committee that will evaluate how to best meet the goals of the commitment. In signing the commitment, Austin College joined more than 560 colleges and universities committed to address the issue of global warming through reducing campus impact on the environment.

• More About the Presidents Climate Commitment

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Addendum: Spring 2008 Music Recitals

A listing of senior recitals performed by Austin College music majors that was included in the June magazine inadvertently omitted Michael Brahce, vocalist. Since graduation he has been involved with the Berkshire Theatre Festival (BTF) in Stockbridge, Massachusetts.

As one of five Artists in Residence, Brahce performs once a week in a touring production, A Tour of Mount Olympus, written by BTF’s E. Gray Simons III and Tara M. Franklin. He also teaches children at area schools about various aspects of theatre and will perform in the company’s annual holiday production of A Christmas Carol.

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Fall Theatre Season

Chapter Two
by Neil Simon
September 25-27, 7:30 p.m.; and 2:30 p.m., September 27

Directed by Greg Hernandez ’09
Beardsley Arena Theatre

Hamlet
by William Shakespeare
October 23-25, 7 p.m.

Directed by Kathleen Campbell, professor of communication studies
Ida Green Theatre

Festival of One-Act Plays
November 21-22, 7 p.m.

Directed by students of Kirk Everist, assistant professor of communication studies
Ida Green Theatre

All performances in Ida Green Communication Center. Tickets are $8, but free to all Austin College students.

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Upcoming Art Exhibit

October 20–November 14
Artist: Susie Fowler
Ida Green Gallery, Ida Green Communication Center
 

Music Department Performance Schedule

October

25        Sherman Symphony Orchestra
            7:30 p.m., Kidd Key Auditorium, Sherman
26        Faculty Trio Recital
            October 26, 3 p.m., Craig Recital Hall 

November

13        Choral Concert
            7:30 p.m., Wynne Chapel
19        Concert Band Performance
            7:30 p.m., Wynne Chapel
20        Student Recital
            7:30 p.m., Wynne Chapel
24        Chamber Music and Jazz Concert
            7:30 p.m., Wynne Chapel
25        Student Recital
            7:30 p.m., Craig Recital Hall  

December

4          Service of Lessons and Carols featuring Austin College Choirs
            7 p.m., Wynne Chapel
6          Christmas Pops with the Sherman Symphony Orchestra
            7:30 p.m., Mason Complex, Sid Richardson Center
7          Christmas Pops with the Sherman Symphony Orchestra
            3 p.m., Mason Complex, Sid Richardson Center 

See www.austincollege.edu for details, updates, and ticket information.

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September 2008 

Feedback?

Grant Enhances Computer Study Through Robotics

“Implementing robotics into computer science and other sciences makes the curriculum more interesting and interactive,” said Shellene Kelley, Austin College associate professor of computer science. 

Austin College was one of 28 high schools, colleges, and universities in the nation to receive a grant this summer to enhance computer science curriculum with robotics technology. The grant was provided by the Institute for Personal Robots in Education (IPRE) and a gift from Microsoft Research. The schools share $250,000 and received book-sized robots, called Scribblers, enhanced with special hardware technology and software. “IPRE’s efforts in developing this technology over the past two years make it possible to put a robot in the hands of every student in the class for about the same price as a textbook,” said Kelley. “This is key to encouraging experimentation and learning, both in and out of the classroom environment.” 

Kelley is implementing the technology this fall during her Communication/Inquiry (C/I) course, “Computing with Robots: It’s all a BOT science,” with each student exploring ways to automate robot behavior through computer programming using their own personal robot. Kelley also will use the robotic technology in 2009 January and spring term courses.

“It’s much more fun to teach a robot to navigate around obstacles, perform a dance, or travel the halls taking pictures than to write a program to solve a mathematical equation or search for information in a file,” Kelley said. “But the same logic and problem solving skills are needed to accomplish all these tasks. Students learn not only to program robots but also to program computers to solve real-world problems.” 

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