Posted on May 14, 2007

Guest lecturer Linda L. Layne will reveal "What are Feminist Technologies?"  Wednesday, May 16, at 12:50 p.m. in Social Sciences room 104.

Layne is the Hale Professor of Humanities and Social Sciences and professor of anthropology in the Department of Science and Technology Studies at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute. Her areas of study include new reproductive technologies, personal and collective identity, feminist methods, feminist technology and the advancement of women in academe.

The lecture is the subject of a new volume on feminist technology which Layne is compiling with authors Sharra Vostral and Kate Boyer. Layne's lecture will address technologies that are considered “liberating” for women including tampons, breast pumps, a birth control pill that suppresses menstruation and Layne’s own work on home pregnancy tests.

The author of numerous journal articles, Layne has also authored Motherhood Lost: A Feminist Perspective on Pregnancy Loss (Routledge 2003); and the chapter “Childbearing Loss” in the new edition of Our Bodies, Ourselves (2005). She also served as an editor of Consuming Motherhood (Rutgers University Press, 2004) which was the winner of the Council on Anthropology of Reproduction's New Volume Book Prize, and of Transformative Motherhood: On Giving and Getting in a Consumer Culture (New York University Press, 1999) which was the winner of the Council on Anthropology of Reproduction's Enduring Influence Book Prize.

Pizza & Politics is sponsored by Pi Sigma Alpha, the Political Science Department and the Women's and Gender Studies Program, and is funded through an Intellectual Enrichment Grant.

Posted on May 14, 2007

Adam Grode ’05, a former Watson Fellow who received a Fulbright to live and study in Chinese Central Asia, has added a Critical Language Enhancement Award to his portfolio.

The CLEA will allow Grode to study intensive Mandarin during the fall 2007 semester at the Harbin Institute of Technology. Afterwards, he will move to Urumqi to formally begin his Fulbright project.

Grode last year used a Watson Fellowship to study long-necked lutes in Central Asia. Earlier this spring, he received a Fulbright grant to live and study in Chinese Central Asia. He is believed to be the first Union graduate to receive both a Watson and a Fulbright.

"In the Chinese state of Xinjiang, longstanding state-censorship of musical compositions and public performances endangers the musical traditions of the Uyghurs, the area’s largest Turkic Muslim minority," Grode said. "Though the Uyghurs share several musical commonalities with Central Asia, it is the ustad–shagird (master-apprentice) tradition which today stands as the bedrock of their musical heritage."

As a "Fulbrighter," Grode will study the rawap, a highly prized Uyghur long-necked lute under an ustad and develop his linguistic proficiency in Uyghur and Mandarin.

The CLEA, a component of the National Security Language Initiative, is available to students who have been awarded a Fulbright.

Applying for a Fulbright was “a lot more intense,” than applying for a Watson, he said, but he was helped by Prof. Megan Ferry, who conducted his language interview for the Fulbright. Grode also cites encouragement from faculty in East Asian Studies.

Grode spoke last fall in a Perspectives at the Nott lecture on his Watson travels along the Silk Road in the former Soviet republics of Azerbaijan, Turkmenistan, Uzbekistan, Kazakhstan and Kyrgyzstan. The route he followed was important commercially, but also contributed to the development of musical styles and instruments.

Unlike the Watson, which had Grode moving to a new area every few weeks, the Fulbright will allow him a full year to settle in at Xinjiang Arts Institute in the Uygur Province of northwest China. “I’m really looking forward to having an apartment,” he said.

Grode plans to start the Fulbright in September, and to explore the desert and oasis features of Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region during college breaks. The province this year celebrates its 50^th anniversary, and music of the region will be a major part of the celebration, Grode said.

Grode said he is hoping to pursue a Ph.D. in anthropology or ethnomusicology, perhaps one day working for organizations like the Smithsonian Institution or UNESCO and “try to make a difference.”

“Soft politics makes a difference,” he said. “You can have all the armies you want, but unless there is understanding between cultures, it’s never going to happen.”

A native of Philadelphia who created his own Eurasian Studies major at Union, Grode was the 44th Union student to receive the prestigious travel-study grant from the Thomas J. Watson Foundation. The $25,000 fellowship funded his study, “Long-necked Lutes from Baku to Bishkek: A Musical Journey in Central Asia.”

The Fulbright Program, an international exchange program sponsored by the U.S. Department of State, is designed to “increase mutual understanding between the people of the United States and the people of other countries.” The program was established in under legislation introduced by then Senator J. William Fulbright of Arkansas in 1946. Since then, nearly 280,000 “Fulbrighters” have participated. There are about 6,000 new grants annually.

Posted on May 14, 2007

The Kenney Community Center will host the 11th annual U-Care Day, a carnival for area families Sunday, May 20, from 1 to 4 p.m. in the Memorial Field House.

The event is free and open to the community. Children 12 and under must be accompanied by an adult.

The Union Community Reaching Everyone (U-CARE) Program provides undergraduates with volunteer opportunities in the community. Through U-Care, students can also get information about additional community organizations and volunteer services in the area.

U-Care Day helps Union students celebrate the success of their community outreach with local families. Members of the campus community volunteer to host activities throughout the day.

Karolina Cikowska '07 and Latoya Roper ’08 return as coordinators this year, along with Pete Lapré, a 2006 graduate of Fairfield University who is assigned to the Kenney Community Center through the Volunteer in Service to America (VISTA). In addition to  running the U-Care program, Lapré also heads the SAIL program, which pairs Union students in local elementary schools as tutors/mentors.

“The Union students really love interacting with the kids and the carnival helps build a strong relationship with the local community,” said Cikowska.

Students can sign up to volunteer at the event this week in the Reamer Campus Center. They can also donate meals from their declining balance to help offset the costs of purchasing food for the event.

U-Care Day is being sponsored by the President's Office this year. Stewart’s Shops will be providing ice cream for the second year in a row. The College expects more than 300 families to attend.

To volunteer, please e-mail ucare@union.edu or call the Kenney Community Center at (518) 388-6609.

Posted on May 14, 2007

Binyavanga Wainaina, Union's writer in residence from Kenya, was recently profiled in the Chronicle of Higher Education.

To read the complete story, CLICK HERE.

Posted on May 10, 2007

A group of Union students will Rollerblade 2,000 miles, from Amelia Island, Fla., to Kittery, Maine, this summer, as part of “Rolling for Autism,” to raise money for scholarships for children with autism and to develop public awareness of the cause.

To support the project, the sisters of Sigma Delta Tau and brothers of AEPi are holding "Tie Dye for a Cause," selling Rolling for Autism T-shirts in Reamer Campus Center, beginning Saturday, May 12. The cost is $10.

A tie-dying event is set for Saturday, May 19, noon-5 p.m. on Rugby Field, featuring a BBQ and live music by students. Participants can bring something of their own to tie-dye for $3.

The Rolling for Autism Foundation was launched by Psychology major Dan Tatar ’07 of Queensbury, N.Y.

“We have the best possible group of individuals assembled, all working towards a great cause,” Tatar said. “This is a great opportunity for my friends and me to do something to help others and have a lot of fun along the way.” 

Autism is the third most common developmental disorder in the United States, and by the next decade, it could affect 4 million Americans.

The fund-raising trip, which begins June 25, will include stops and events, such as cookouts, in small towns and in cities such as Savannah, Charleston, Washington, D.C., New York and Boston. With plans to skate roughly 40 miles each day, the skaters will be on the road for about eight weeks and will be joined by other team members along the way.

The Union group has garnered support from the Autistic Society of America, American Special Hockey Association and other organizations.

For more information, visit http://www.rollingforautism.com/.