Robert Baker, professor of philosophy, will be one of four American scholars convening with British and German experts on medical ethics in Feiberg, Germany, this
month as part of the Freiberg Project On Ethical Codes in Medicine 1947-1997. The Project has been organized by the Academie Fur Ethick In Der Medzin of
Albert-Ludwigs-Universitat Freiberg under the patronage of the President of the Federal Republic of Germany, to celebrate the semicentennial of the Nuremberg Code of ethics of experimenting on humans (the Code formulated the basis on which sixteen Nazi Doctors were convicted of committing crimes against humanity; it became the basis on which the European Community, the U.S., the U.N. and the W.H.O. regulates experiments involving
humans). The project scholars will produce a tri-lingual volume on the Nuremberg Code and its significance and will organize an international conference commemorating the Nuremberg
Code to be held in Freiberg, October 1997. Baker will be exploring questions about the
validity of moral standards across time and cultures.
Karen Williams, counselor for the Health Professions Programs and adjunct
associate professor in the Department of Biological Sciences, recently presented a paper,
“An Antepartum Screening Questionnaire for Postpartum Depressive Symptoms
(PPDS)” at the annual meeting of the North American Society for Psychosocial
Obstetrics and Gynecology. This research study also was cited in a recent edition of Medical
Tribune.
Janet Anderson, Leslie Hull, Charles Scaife and Thomas Werner of
Chemistry participated in a Project Kaleidoscope Workshop titled “Revitalizing
Introductory Chemistry” recently at Columbia University. PKAL designated the
department's innovative non-major chemistry courses as a “Program That Works.”
The faculty members gave two workshops on the four courses that constitute the non-majors
component. They also served as consultants to other institutions planning changes in their
majors and non-majors chemistry courses.
Sigrid Kellenter, Thomas Lamont Professor of Ancient and Modern Literature
(German), has four new publications. She wrote the lead article in The German Studies
Review on the fairytale poems of the German poet Geertje Suhr titled “Geertje
Suhrs Maerchengedichte: Grimms Heldin meundig?” The article is a substantial
revision and expansion of a paper delivered on this topic in Leipzig, Germany. Also, she
has written complete biographies on the German exile writers Hans Sahl, Walter Sorell and
Otto Zoff published in the edited volume Deutschsprachige Exilliteratur seit 1933:
Bibliographien USA.”
Todd Burgman, assistant professor of finance, is to give a talk titled
“Comparing the German and U.S. Corporate Governance Systems: Big Banks and Employee
Co-Determination vs. Stockholders and Takeover Threats” at a conference hosted by the
Alexander von Humboldt Foundation and the Embassy of the Federal Republic of Germany held
this month in Washington. Also, he is to present a paper titled “The German Universal
Banking System and Corporate Finance” at the Multinational Finance Society annual
meeting in June.
George Gmelch, professor of anthropology, and Sharon Gmelch, director of Women's
Studies, published an article titled “Barbados' Amerindian Past” in the winter
issue of Anthropology Today. The article reviews what scholars have learned from
archaeological excavations of Amerindian settlement sites. Barbados' Amerindian population
disappeared shortly after the first European contact in the 1550s.
Thomas Werner, Florence B. Sherwood Professor of Chemistry, gave a presentation
titled “The Binding of Pyrene and Other Probes to CD Polymers” at the 8th
International Cyclodextrin Symposium in Budapest, Hungary. The paper was the result of
research with two senior research students – Jodie Iannacone and Mary Amoo – who were
co-authors. Both students worked on this project last summer and during the academic year.