A student-organized rally against hate will be held 12:30 p.m. Friday in front of the Nott Memorial. In an e-mail letter sent Thursday, Dean of Faculty Therese McCarty encouraged faculty members to dismiss class at 12:25 p.m. Friday, if possible, to facilitate attendance.
“We are fortunate that students are undertaking this effort since it is very important that we unite as a community against hate,” McCarty said.
The rally comes in response to recent events surrounding e-mails sent to a small group of students, administrators and faculty since last May. Local authorities are working with College officials to identify the sender.
The Michael S. Rapaport Ethics Across the Curriculum Initiative is seeking proposals for a new round of grants that provide a $2,000 course-development honorarium, plus funds for research, travel, speakers and field trips. The deadline is Friday, Nov. 17. Application forms are available at http://ethics.union.edu/application.html.
Faculty from Anthropology, Chemistry, Economics, English, Engineering/Computer Science, History, Mathematics and Physics have already received grants to fund ethics segments in such courses as American Indian Women Writers, Introduction to Statistics and Organic Chemistry.
A luncheon workshop on Wednesday, Nov. 1, noon – 1:30 p.m. in Everest Lounge will feature Dr. John Kaplan, ethics consultant and professor of Research Ethics at Albany Medical Center. Kaplan is an expert on using case studies to teach researchers and science and social science students about ethical problems in research (such as intellectual property and sharing credit for research). All faculty members are invited.
Contact Bob Baker, chair (bakerr@union.edu), or Anastasia Pease, program director (peasea@union.edu) for help in developing proposals and locating syllabi, teaching materials and appropriate case studies.
Mark Toher, the Frank Bailey professor of Classics, organized a conference, “Greek History and the Historical Imagination in Honor of Professor Charles W. Fornara” at Brown University. It featured 14 preeminent historians of ancient Greece, including former Union faculty member John Marincola.
Several dozen members of the Union College community attended the 11th Annual Armand and Donald Feigenbaum Forum Wednesday to discuss “The Global Imperative: Approaches to Internationalizing the Union Experience.”
“This forum could not have come at a better time, given we are in the middle of a strategic planning process,” said President Ainlay, speaking to those gathered at Feigenbaum Hall. “We want to emphasize how important it is in a liberal arts institution today to take seriously the global concept.”
Each year, the Feigenbaum Forum stimulates dialogue about integrating corporate management principles with higher education administration. Brothers Armand V. '42 and Donald S. '46 Feigenbaum are the founders of the General Systems Company, a Pittsfield, Mass., international systems engineering firm that designs and implements integrated management systems for major corporations.
Donald, a world leader in systems management and systems engineering and founding chairman of the systems engineering committee of the American Society for Quality Control, acknowledged the importance of flexibility and change as part of the global perspective.
“One problem a lot of Americans have is thinking that what's good for us is good for everyone else. Nobody in the world is like us,” he said. “The important thing is to recognize this and get as much information and interaction with other cultures as possible. It is an ever-changing world out there.”
Economics Chair Eshi Motahar spoke on Union's success in bringing different cultures to the College through faculty and student exchange programs. For the future, “I'd like to focus on post-term abroad, or reentry programs,” he said, citing the importance of harnessing students' enthusiasm for their travels after they return to campus.
Other speakers at Wednesday's event included Dean of Students Stephen C. Leavitt, who highlighted Union's successful term abroad program in Fiji; Campus Minister Viki J. Brooks-McDonald, who spoke on “The Value of Intercultural Understanding”; Nancy Borowick '07, who talked about teaching in Barbados during a term abroad; and Alessandro Carini '07, a Union exchange student from Colombia who shared his campus experiences.
Armand Feigenbaum gave closing remarks. He is the originator of Total Quality Control, the basic text on quality systems and improvement, first published in 1951 and reissued in a 50th anniversary edition. Most recently, the Feigenbaums co-authored The Power of Management Capital (McGraw-Hill, 2003).
“The Feigenbaums have made an enormous contribution to the world of ideas,” Ainlay said. “It is an honor to Union that we can count them among our own.”
Stacie Raucci, assistant professor of Classics, read a paper titled “Why Include Roman Women in the Latin Curriculum?” in Baltimore, Md., at the annual meeting of the Classical Association of the Atlantic States. Her paper argued for a feminist pedagogy that would include texts by and about ancient women at the introductory and intermediate levels of Latin language instruction. This has traditionally not been the case in a Latin curriculum long dominated by tales of war, conquest, and authors like Caesar. As Raucci demonstrated, other viable texts exist, which deserve consideration for a more balanced presentation of ancient life and culture.
