Assistant Professors Stacie Rauccie and Tarik Wareh of the Department of Classics recently brought their students to the annual meeting of the Eastern Zone Latin Teachers Association in Saratoga Springs, where they presented their research to high school teachers from Eastern New York. Union students and the titles of their talks are: Jennifer Hough ’08: “Did the Greeks Invent Calculus?”; John Feliciano ’08, “A Literary Commentary on Livy's Early History of Rome and His Handling of Women”; Allison Baum ’08: “The Evolution and Migration of Trojan Myth in Ancient Greece and Rome”; and Claire Hendry ’08: “Barbarians Through the Eyes of Romans.”
Kristin Bidoshi, associate professor of Russian, published an article titled “The Case for Dynamic Exercise Systems in Language Learning” (with David Galloway) in Computer Assisted Language Learning: An International Journal 21 (2008): 1-10(Routledge: Taylor and Francis Group Publishers). In April, Bidoshi was an invited member of the National Endowment for the Humanities Collaborative Humanities Research Grant Selection Committee, where she helped the American Council of Teachers of Russian and the National Council for Eurasian and East European Research organizations grant NEH travel awards. She was recently invited to serve as the head of the Theory, Central/Eastern European Literature and Special Topics Division for the 2008 Program Committee of the American Association of Teachers of Slavic and East European Languages and Literatures Conference. Bidoshi is an associate editor for the journal, Symposium (Syracuse University Press), and was recently elected vice president of the Slavic and East European Folklore Society.
Two choral works by Hilary Tann, the John Howard Payne Professor of Music, were premiered by the Melodia Women's Choir in St. Lukes in the Field in New York City recently. “Wellspring” had its U.S. premiere, and “Contemplations” had its New York premiere. The program, “Force of Nature – Celebrating the Earth,” featured music written by 20th and 21st century composers honoring the spirit of the natural world. A portion of ticket sales were donated to Water is Life – Kenya, a not-for-profit organization devoted to bringing resources, supplies, equipment and expertise to complete new wells in drought-stricken areas.
Robert Baker, the William D. Williams Professor of Philosophy and Chair of the Rapaport Everyday Ethics Across the Curriculum Initiative, and Chalmers Clark, visiting associate professor of Philosophy, will join with Udo Schuklenk, editor of Bioethics, Barbara Katz Rothman of CUNY and other bioethicists to discuss current controversies in genetics, religion and big pharm at the Bioethics International Conference on New Dilemmas in Medicine at the United Nations in New York City May 23. The daylong U.N. affiliate conference is sponsored by Bioethics International, IHEU and the Appignani Center for Bioethics. A reception at the Romanian Consulates will follow.