Posted on Apr 16, 2008

Actor, director and screenwriter John Cameron Mitchell will present “The Making of Shortbus” Friday, April 18 at 7 p.m. in Old Chapel. Advanced screenings of the critically acclaimed film will be shown in the Reamer Campus Center Auditorium Thursday, April 17 at 5 and 7 p.m.

The screenings and talk are free and open to the public.

Written and directed by Mitchell, “Shortbus” (2006) explores sexuality and the yearning for connection in post-911 New York.

The film, which portrays strong sexual content, garnered six film awards including “Best Art Direction” and “Best Screenplay” at the 2006 Gijün International Film Festival and a “Golden Eye” for “Best New Feature Film” at the 2006 Zurich Film Festival.

Mitchell is best known for his portrayal of a transsexual glam rocker in “Hedwig and the Angry Inch.” He won two Obies for his off-Broadway performance of an East German victim of a botched sex change operation. Mitchell adapted the play for the big screen and premiered the film at the 2001 Sundance Festival, where he won the Director’s Award and Audience Award.

Mitchell’s visit, part of Union’s newly formed Film Studies program and minor, was made possible through award-winning documentary producer and director Jim de Sève. A visiting filmmaker at Union for the 2008 spring and fall terms, de Sève teaches “Documentary Filmmaking: Filtering Your World.”

Mitchell's talk is co-sponsored by Spectrum, Modern Languages and Literature Department, Sorum House and the Minerva Programs Office. Sorum House is also hosting a dinner with Mitchell and members of the campus community at 5:30 p.m. preceding the talk.

For more information about Film Studies, contact Co-directors Michelle Chilcoat (388-7103, chilcoam@union.edu) or Andrew Feffer (388-6787, feffera@union.edu).

Posted on Apr 16, 2008

Reappointment review committees have been formed for five assistant professors. Members of the campus community may provide written or oral testimony to committee member. Committees (with chairs listed first) are:

Stacie Raucci, Classics: Hans-Friedrich Mueller, chair, Classics (muellerh@union.edu, ext. 8748), Mark Toher (Classics), Kara Doyle (English)

Tarik Wareh, Classics: Hans-Friedrich Mueller, chair, Classics (muellerh@union.edu, ext. 8748), Mark Toher (Classics), Peter Bedford (Religious Studies)

Shane Cotter, Electrical & Computer Engineering: John Spinelli, chair, ECE (spinellj@union.edu, ext. 6307), Yu Chang (ECE), Ekram Hassib (ECE)

Lewis Davis, Economics: Stephen Schmidt, chair, Economics (schmidsj@union.edu, ext. 6078), James Kenney (Economics), Mehmet Fuat Senner (Economics), Shelton Schmidt (Economics)

Lisa Warenski, Philosophy: Raymond Martin, chair, Philosophy (martinr@union.edu, ext. 8011), Robert Baker (Philosophy), Linda Patrik (Philosophy), Felmon Davis (Philosophy)

Posted on Apr 16, 2008

Actor, director and screenwriter John Cameron Mitchell will present “The Making of Shortbus” Friday, April 18 at 7 p.m. in Old Chapel. Advanced screenings of the film will be shown in the Reamer Campus Center Auditorium Thursday, April 17 at 5 and 7 p.m.

The screenings and talk are free and open to the public.

Written and directed by Mitchell, the critically acclaimed “Shortbus” (2006) explores sexuality and the yearning for connection in post-911 New York.

The film, which includes explicit sexual content, garnered six awards including “Best Art Direction” and “Best Screenplay” at the 2006 Gijün International Film Festival and a “Golden Eye” for “Best New Feature Film” at the 2006 Zurich Film Festival.

Mitchell is best known for his portrayal of a transsexual glam rocker in “Hedwig and the Angry Inch.” He won two Obies for his off-Broadway performance of an East German victim of a botched sex change operation. Mitchell adapted the play for the big screen and premiered the film at the 2001 Sundance Festival, where he won the Director’s Award and Audience Award.

Mitchell’s visit, part of Union’s newly formed Film Studies program and minor, was made possible through award-winning documentary producer and director Jim de Sève. A visiting filmmaker at Union for the 2008 spring and fall terms, de Sève teaches a film production course called “Documentary Filmmaking: Filtering Your World.”

The talk is co-sponsored by Spectrum, Modern Languages and Literature Department, Sorum House and the Minerva Programs Office. Sorum House is also hosting a dinner with Mitchell and members of the campus community at 5:30 p.m. preceding the talk.

For more information about Film Studies, contact Co-directors Michelle Chilcoat (388-7103, chilcoam@union.edu) or Andrew Feffer at (388-6787, feffera@union.edu).

Posted on Apr 16, 2008

It’s Earth Day (almost), so dig in.

A number of activities are planned this weekend for the annual celebration of Earth Day. Among them is the groundbreaking for Octopus’s Garden, Union’s new organic, community garden.

The event is set for Saturday, 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Earth Day is Tuesday, April 22.

“We will be rolling up sod and tilling soil to prepare the garden site for planting. The really great thing is how many people on campus are excited about this,” said Nathali Neal ’07, who is among a core group of students, faculty and staff spearheading the garden project.

The Octopus’s Garden – name courtesy of Jake Schaffern '09, a resident of Ozone House and Beatles fan – will be located between McKean and Wells house, set on a three-quarters acre lot.

“Our goal is to promote and encourage sustainability and a sense of community on campus,” said Neal, a Bioengineering Fellow. “Dining Services has donated a start-up grant, and Facilities is transporting soil and compost and providing gardening tools. It will be a student, faculty and staff collaboration, and if interest prevails, we hope to produce even more food for the community and the College.”

According to Neal, half of the produce will be donated to the Regional Food Bank of Northeastern New York. The rest will be used at various campus eateries, including Ozone Café and the 0^₃ Marketplace, and given to those who help care for the garden.

A member of Ozone House while a student, Neal had long been interested in a garden. The idea grew after she received a call from Jennifer Lippmann, wife of Mechanical Engineering Professor Ashok Ramasubramanian. Lippmann was new to the area and wanted to share her experience with sustainable gardens.

The project blossomed. Involved faculty include Professors Kim Plofker (Mathematics), Paul Williams (Biology), Seffi Maleki (Physics), Kara Doyle (English), Hugh Jenkins (English). Staff include Union Horticulturalist Connie Schmitz, Assistant Librarian Courtney Seymour, Director of Dining Services Dan Detora and Dining Services Director of Operations Callie Stacey.

In addition to Neal and Schaffern, active student participants are Sara Horowitz '10, Reed Olsen '09, Wendy Beatty '09, Keerti Murari '11 and Justin Blau '08.

The Union garden will be roughly 36 feet by 52 feet with about 10 planting beds and small walkways. There’ll be a variety of vegetables that can be harvested in fall and stored for a long period of time, including tomatoes, peppers, zucchini, butternut squash, onions, potatoes, carrots, beets, asparagus, melons and more.

To aid in pest management, the gardeners will plant a section of flowers and herbs, including basil, lavender, rosemary, alyssum, nasturtium, marigolds and bachelor buttons.

“We’re growing everything on our own in our campus greenhouse,” Neal noted. “The seeds are either organically grown or heirloom seeds, and we’re not using any chemical fertilizers or pesticides in an effort to minimize our impact on the environment.

"The garden is an important component in reducing Union's carbon footprint. The more local food we eat, the less carbon is emitted through the transportation of food from distant sources.”

In addition to Saturday’s garden groundbreaking, the Environmental Club will celebrate Earth Day with paper-making and recycled art activities beginning at noon and a converted biodiesel car that belongs to the uncle of Kimberly Floeser ’11.

The Environmental Club, Octopus's Garden and Dining Services are sponsoring an organic barbecue at noon between Schaffer Library and the Humanities Buiding, across from Beuth House (free for gardeners; declining balance for all others).

For more information, contact Neal at nealn@union.edu.

Posted on Apr 16, 2008

Friday, April 25 is the deadline for faculty-initiated Internal Education Foundation (IEF) proposals. Faculty members who have educationally innovative proposals should submit them to David Hayes, dean of Academic Departments in S100, Science & Engineering Building or on the Web at www.union.edu/Academics/AcademicAffairs.

Questions concerning faculty-initiated projects should be directed to Hayes at hayesd@union.edu.  

The deadline for student-initiated IEF proposals is Thursday, May 15. Proposals must have written approval from a faculty advisor who has agreed to supervise the project. Proposals go to Mary K. Carroll, director of Undergraduate Research (S&E, S100). Application forms are available at www.union.edu/Academics/AcademicAffairs. For more information, e-mail Carroll at carrollm@union.edu.

The Faculty Research Fund Committee (FRF) and the Humanities Development Fund (HDF) Committee are soliciting grant proposals to support faculty scholarship activities. Applications and guidelines are available on the Web at www.union.edu/Academics/AcademicAffairs. The deadline for submission of proposals is Friday, April 25, 2008. Questions? Contact Dean Hayes.