Posted on Oct 28, 2008

Thursday, Oct. 30, 4:30 p.m. / Phi Beta Kappa Room, Schaffer Library / Philosophy Speaker Series presents Richard Sorabji of the University of London/NYU discussing “Gandhi as a Model for an Ancient Western View of the Ideal Life”

Thursday, Oct. 30, 5-7 p.m. / Mandeville Gallery / Reception and talk by the two artists for “Parabolas Mexicanas: Paintings, Prints & Drawings by Bernardo González and Francisco Verástegui," followed by an improvisational performance piece

Thursday, Oct. 30, 8 p.m.  / Taylor Music Center, Emerson Auditorium / Screening of "The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari,” a landmark of German Expressionist cinema. This 1919 silent classic will be accompanied by a live soundtrack performed by the Boston-based Devil Music Ensemble. Admission is free; reservations recommended. Contact Linda Goodman at 388-6785 or goodmanl@union.edu.

Thursday, Oct. 30, 8 p.m. / Memorial Chapel / Chamber Concert Series Presents: “Trio Cavatina with Alexander Fiterstein, clarinet; Ieva Jokubaviciute, piano; Harum Rhodes, violin; Priscilla Lee, cello”

Thursday, Oct. 30, 8 p.m. / Reamer Campus Center Auditorium / Classic Film: “Fargo”

Friday, Oct. 31, 10:30 a.m.-12:45 p.m. / Reamer Campus Center / “Day of the Dead” altar creation, followed by authentic Mexican lunch at Sorum House, 1-2:30 pm. This Mexican celebration honors departed loved ones. Traditions include building private altars honoring the deceased, decorated with sugar skulls, pan de muerto, marigolds, favorite foods and beverages, and photos and memorabilia. Union’s altar will be dedicated to Union College people who have died in the last year, and to deceased loved ones of participants. Sponsored by the Mandeville Gallery and Office of Minerva Programs.

Friday, Oct. 31, 3 p.m. / Messa Rink at Achilles Center / Women’s Hockey vs. Yale (ECAC contest)

Friday, Oct. 31, 4 p.m. / Frank Bailey Field / Women’s Field Hockey vs. SUNY New Paltz

Friday, Oct. 31, 4 p.m. / College Park Field / Women’s Soccer vs. SUNY Geneseo

Friday, Oct. 31, 7 p.m. / Messa Rink at Achilles Center / Men’s Hockey vs. Connecticut

Friday, Oct. 31 – Monday, Nov. 3, 8 and 10 p.m. / Reamer Campus Center Auditorium / Film: "Swing Vote"

Saturday, Nov. 1, 2 p.m. / College Park Field / Men’s Soccer vs. SUNY Oswego

Saturday, Nov. 1, 3 p.m. / Messa Rink at Achilles Center / Women’s hockey vs. Brown (ECAC contest)

Saturday, Nov. 1, 3 p.m. / Reamer Campus Center Auditorium / Classic Film: “Fargo”

Sunday, Nov. 2, 1 p.m. / Frank Bailey Field / Women’s Field Hockey vs. Nazareth

Monday, Nov. 3, 3:05-4:45 p.m. / F. W. Olin Center Room 115 / Election 2008 course lecture by Chris Chabris, assistant professor of psychology, on “The Psychology and Neuroscience of Voting”

Tuesday, Nov. 4, 5:30-7:30 p.m. / Wold House / Death in Film Series presents “Death at a Funeral,” British black comedy about the chaos that erupts at a funeral when romance, jealousy, in-laws, hallucinogens, dark secrets and a spot of bold blackmail collide

Wednesday, Nov. 5, 12:55 p.m. / Reamer Campus Center Room 302 / Women and Gender Studies presents discussions of the presidential election with Political Science Professors Terry Weiner and Brad Hays and Union students

Wednesday, Nov. 5, 3:05-4:45 p.m. / F. W. Olin Center Room 115 / Election 2008 course lecture by Chris Chabris, assistant professor of psychology, on “The Psychology and Neuroscience of Voting”  

Friday, Nov. 7, 7 p.m. / Messa Rink at Achilles Center / Men’s hockey vs. Dartmouth (ECAC contest)

Friday, Nov. 7 – Monday, Nov. 10, 8 and 10 p.m. / Reamer Campus Center Auditorium / Film: " Tropic Thunder"

Saturday, Nov. 8, 12 p.m. / Frank Bailey Field / Football vs. Merchant Marine (Liberty League contest)

Saturday, Nov. 8, 7:30 p.m. / Messa Rink at Achilles Center / Men’s hockey vs. Harvard (ECAC contest)

Monday, Nov. 10, 12:55 p.m. / Reamer Campus Center Room 302 / Women and Gender Studies presents Trita Parsi, director, National Iranian American Council, on “U.S. Elections, the United States, Israel and Iran”

Monday, Nov. 10, 3:05-4:45 p.m. / F.W. Olin Center, Room 115 / Election 2008 course lecture by Mathematics Professor William  Zwicker on “Bushwhacked by U.S. Presidential Elections: Why the U.S. Voting System Might Be to Blame”

Posted on Oct 28, 2008

Through Nov. 14

Schaffer Library

Locally Grown: A Brief History of Schenectady and U.S. Gardening and Agriculture

This "organic exhibit"  features items from the Schaffer Library collections and archives on the history of gardening, agriculture, and sustainability in Schenectady and beyond.  On display are personal diaries of Prof. Isaac Jackson (of Jackson’s Garden), volumes from the College's first library and photographs from the campus’s new organic garden, Octopus’s Garden.

Through Nov. 23 

Mandeville Gallery

Nott Memorial

Outside Information: A Site-Specific Sound Installation by Stephan Moore

Moore, a composer, audio artist and sound designer in New York City, uses the complex acoustics inside the Nott Memorial to transform the building’s interior into a dense wilderness of small, shifting sounds. Says Rachel Seligman, director and curator, Mandeville Gallery, “This wonderful piece is a subtle blanket of shifting, tantalizing sounds, which engages the careful listener with its mysterious and delicate textures.” 

Through Dec. 1

Visual Arts Building

Burns Atrium Art Gallery

Knackers Yard

Visiting Assistant Professor of Visual Arts Anthony Cafritz’s recent installation of seemingly disparate materials that “attempts to describe the current state of things.”

Through Dec. 19

Wikoff Student Gallery

Nott Memorial

“Southern Louisiana: Hurricane Recovery”

This is a photographic documentary by Alex Handin ’10. Says Handin: “In 2005, hurricanes Katrina and Rita devastated Southern Louisiana, claiming lives and destroying homes. In December 2007, I accompanied Union College's community service mini-term to New Orleans and Dulac, La. This project seeks to share experiences of hurricane survivors with members of the Union community.”

Through Feb. 8

Mandeville Gallery

Nott Memorial

“Parabolas Mexicanas: Paintings, Prints and Drawings by Bernardo González and Francisco Verástegui”

This exhibition features some 50 paintings, prints and drawings by Mexican artists Bernardo González and Francisco Verástegui. The College will be hosting a series of events in connection with the show, including events with the artists, a film series, performances and lectures during fall and winter terms. Artists’ reception and gallery talk with González and Verástegui set for Thursday, Oct. 30, 5-7 p.m. in the Nott. Improvisation performance to follow at 7 p.m., with Steven Koenig, poet, and Gustavo Aguilar, percussion.

Posted on Oct 28, 2008

President Stephen C. Ainlay and his wife, Judith Gardner Ainlay, recently connected with alumni, parents and friends of the College who live in London. The September trip included a cocktail reception, a presentation of the “Welcome Back to Union College” video and a visit with high school students interested in learning more about life at Union. Edward Walley ’93 is president of the Union College Club of London, formed in 2003.

A paper by John Garver, Geology Department chair, titled “Crustal-scale structural architecture, shortening, and exhumation of an active, eroding orogenic wedge,” recently was published by the journal Tectonics (vol. 27). Co-authors are Andrew Meigs, Sarah Johnston ’02 and James Spotila. The piece is part of the authors’ long-term effort at understanding the tectonic evolution of the Chugach Range in Chugach/St. Elias Range, southern Alaska. Their paper details one of the most dramatic collision zones in the world. Much of the work was the master’s thesis of Johnston, then at Oregon State University. Johnston did the analytical work with Garver in Union’s fission track lab.

Hilary Tann’s oboe concerto, “Shakkei,” has been released on CD by North/South Recordings. The CD is called “Landscapes for Chamber Orchestra,” and the North/South Chamber Orchestra is conducted by Max Lifchitz with Virginia Shaw, soloist. “Shakkei” will be performed Nov. 1 in Rio de Janiero by the Brazilian National Orchestra, conducted by Ligia Amadio with soprano saxophone soloist Susan Fancher. Tann is the John Howard Payne Professor of Music.

Anna Gaudette ’09 and  Hillary Bauer ’11 presented their work at the Canadian Undergraduate Physics Conference at the University of Toronto recently. Gaudette presented on studies of mechanical reinforcements of polymer nanocomposites. Bauer’s work focused on the phase transition of physically restricted molecules in the nano scale. Accompanying the students was Samuel Amanuel, assistant professor of physics. The conference drew 272 delegates from 39 institutions across Canada and the United States. 

A recruiting video by Jonathan Campano ’09, titled “The Union College Geology Department,” won an award for Best Documentary at the Third Annual Electric City Film Fest last week at Proctors, where it was shown along with other winning entries. Campano began work on his project for the Geosciences and Environmental Sciences at Union last May and completed it this fall. This year’s film festival, presented by SACCTV-16, focused on the theme, “Why Schenectady?”

Posted on Oct 24, 2008

Tranquil green walls and sweet-scented flowers created a peaceful atmosphere in Room 205 of the Reamer Campus Center during a ceremony dedicating the space’s new use.

But it was the Union College students attending the event Thursday evening who gave the new prayer and meditation room a true sense of purpose.

Gathered in a circle inside the room, students offered prayers of the Hindu, Muslim, Jewish and Christian faiths to celebrate the official unveiling of the room.

They also spoke of the importance of the room, not just to Union’s longstanding support of multicultural efforts, but also to the importance of religion in human lives.

“As a self-identified atheistic Jew, I am often asked why I am involved with religious and spiritual life and the Multi-Faith Council, and my answer is always the same,” said Ariel Sincoff-Yedid ’09, chair of Union’s Multi-Faith Council. “I may not agree with every tenet of every tradition or every belief or practice, but I have seen, both academically and practically, how important religion is in the lives of so many people.”

“I believe these beliefs and practices must be protected and understood,” she added. “This space, our prayer and meditation room, is a necessary step in the protection and encouragement of religion, spirituality and interest at Union.”

President Stephen C. Ainlay agreed, recounting a bit of Union’s history.“Union College is known as the first non-denominational college in America,” he said. “I can’t imagine – but I’m trying now – how proud the founders of Union would be to see this space.”

The prayer and meditation room is open to all, and is stocked with sacred texts, prayer rugs, prayer cushions and other articles to enhance religious observance.

Posted on Oct 24, 2008

A leader of engineering education urged more than 600 of her colleagues on Thursday to change the prevailing model of globalization, with its emphasis on increased efficiency, to better incorporate the sustainability of society and the environment.

“We can no longer think only about profit,” said Caroline Baillie, the DuPont Chair in Engineering Education Research and Development at Queens University in Ontario, at the plenary address at the 38th annual Frontiers in Education Conference, hosted by Union College in Saratoga Springs.

“I remind my students that engineers must have a sense of ‘response-ability,’” she said. “Students need to be able to respond to problems that once were perceived to be out of their area.”

Baillie spoke on "Engineering for a Just and Sustainable Future." The conference, which continues through Saturday, also will address globalization and the role of feminism in engineering education.

President Stephen C. Ainlay opened the plenary session with a short history lesson.

Union, he noted, was the first liberal arts college to offer engineering, in 1845, a time when the nation’s rapid growth caused a demand for professionals to build an infrastructure. Early engineering programs at Union ran alongside the traditional liberal arts curriculum with very little intersection.

“Today, engineering is no longer parallel to the liberal arts,” he said. “Engineers must be part a part of the liberal arts so that we can confront the challenges we face today.”

Cherrice Traver, dean of engineering at Union, is general chair of the FIE conference that gathered 600 educators and professionals from nearly 300 institutions and 34 countries.