Friday, Oct. 24 – Monday, Oct. 27, 8 and 10 p.m. / Reamer Campus Center Auditorium / Film: “Mamma Mia”
Saturday, Oct. 25, 8 a.m.-6 p.m. / “House Trip through History,” tour of homes of Harriet Tubman and William Seward in Auburn, N.Y. Free bus trip led by Katherine Lynes, assistant professor of English and Africana Studies, lynesk@union.edu
Saturday, Oct. 25, 3 p.m. / College Park Field / Women’s soccer vs. Clarkson (Liberty League contest)
Sunday, Oct. 26, 1 p.m. / College Park Field / Women’s soccer vs. St. Lawrence (Liberty League contest)
Monday, Oct. 27, 3:05-4:45 p.m. / F.W. Olin Center, Room 115 / Election 2008 course presents lecture on “Some Economics for Political Scientists” by Lewis Davis, assistant professor of economics
Monday, Oct. 27, 6 p.m. / Golub House / Educated Voter series on key election issues; brief faculty talk followed by discussion and desserts
Tuesday, Oct. 28, 5:30-7:30 p.m. / Wold House / Death in Film Series presents: “Harold and Maude,” black comedy about death-obsessed 19-year old in a relationship with a life-loving 79-year old widow
Wednesday, Oct. 29, 12:50- 1:50 p.m. / Hale House, Everest Lounge / Guest speaker Dr. Gerrit K. Kimsma will talk about “Euthanasia in the Netherlands: An Overview of 15 Years of Data and Procedures Reflecting on Patients, Family, and Physicians.” He is co-author and co-editor of books and articles in the field of medical ethics.
Wednesday, Oct.29, 3:05-4:45 p.m. / F.W. Olin Center, Room 115 / Election 2008 course presents lecture by Deidre Hill Butler, assistant professor of sociology, on “Visual Culture and the 2008 Presidential Campaign”
Wednesday, Oct. 29, 7 p.m. / College Park Field / Men’s soccer vs. Utica
Wednesday, Oct. 29, 7 p.m. / Reamer Campus Center Auditorium / Latin American and Caribbean Studies Film Series presents: “La Ley de Herodes”
Thursday, Oct. 30, 4:30 p.m. / Schaffer Library, Phi Beta Kappa Room / Philosophy Speaker Series: Robert Pippin of the University of Chicago presents “Hegel on Self-consciousness and Desire”
Thursday, Oct. 30, from 5-7 p.m. / Mandeville Gallery / Reception and gallery talk featuring artists for “Parabolas Mexicanas: Paintings, Prints and 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,” one of the landmarks 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, but reservations are 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 Fierstein, clarinet; Ieva Jokubaviciute, piano; Harum Rhodes, violin; Priscilla Lee, cello”
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)
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 features Chris Chabris, assistant professor of psychology, on: “The Psychology and Neuroscience of Voting”
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.”
Knackers Yard, installation by Prof. Anthony Cafritz
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.”
Verastegui pintura – Mexicanas
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.
Autos, art, music, dance – these are topics that inspire passion in this year’s Union nominees for the Watson Fellowship.
Their proposals to study these topics in foreign lands will compete against others from around the country in the prestigious fellowship competition, which is designed to send exceptional students on a journey of self-discovery and personal challenge.
Watson nominees – Nozomi Sakata, emmaline, Ned Lincoln, Wesley Whitaker
“The Watson Fellowship is unique because it is not an academic award,” said History Professor Joyce Madancy, chair of Union’s Watson Fellowship Committee. “The Foundation is looking for people first, and then projects, and so the projects really need to reflect a unique student’s passion.”
The Thomas J. Watson Fellowship Program offers a one-year grant to graduating college seniors “of unusual promise” to study independently outside the United States. The stipend for individual award winners is $28,000.
In addition to Madancy, Union’s Watson committee includes Maggie Tongue, director of Postgraduate Fellowships, Professors Ann Anderson (Mechanical Engineering), Charles Batson (Modern Languages), David Ogawa (Visual Arts) and Chad Orzel (Physics), and Bill Wolff ‘94, a former Watson Fellow.
Other Union students who went on to win the Watson include Andrew Krauss ’08, who explored “Evolution in Outrigger Canoeing”; Noah Eber-Schmid ’06, who investigated punk music and culture in Europe and Scandinavia; Adam Grode ’05, who studied long-necked lutes in Central Asia; and Nori Lupfer ’03, who photographed circuses in motion on several continents.
This year’s nominees are:
Ned Lincoln '12, Watson Fellowship nominees
NED LINCOLN: Exploring European Culture through Vintage Automobile Racing and Restoration
Hometown: Bernardsville, N.J.
Major: Mechanical Engineering
Union activities: Baja Club; term abroad in Fiji
“Cars have souls,” said Ned Lincoln.
Consequently, he’s curious about how these driving machines influence and define who we are, and what can be learned about a society by studying its car culture. To get the answers, he aims to go to the handful of countries in Western Europe where the culture of the automobile is most highly evolved.
“Not only do they design, engineer and produce the most beautiful machines there, but the general public is terrifically enthusiastic about vehicles,” Lincoln said. “There are numerous hill climbs and races through European towns and cities, and the townspeople come out to watch and enjoy them.
“I want to work on Porsches in Germany, Alpha Romeos in Italy and the Lotus in England.”
Ideally, Lincoln’s other stops would include Switzerland, Belgium, Holland and France. If all goes as planned, he’ll restore his 1971 Honda CB 750 motorcycle before leaving and ship it overseas so he will have a reliable, inexpensive way of getting around.
“In my past travels, I have learned a great deal about myself while being on the road, and this would be no exception,” Lincoln said.
If the Watson Fellowship becomes his, Lincoln will be working at restoration shops while journeying to and participating in racing events.
“It would be a ‘philosophy of mechanics,’” he said. “The voyaging aspect will allow me to work toward greater self-understanding, and the immersion in car culture will allow me to learn about how machines affect people throughout Western Europe.
“The fiercest passion in my life is my fascination with machines. It’s made me who I am.”
Emma Payette 12, Watson Fellowship nominee
EMMALINE PAYETTE: A Journey to the Artist within Me
Hometown: Dedham, Mass.
Major: Anthropology
Minor: Studio Art
Union activities: Ozone Café; Sigma Delta Tau; Tasmania term abroad; volunteer art assistant at Zoller Elementary School, Schenectady
Joining the tradition of celebrated artists who were inspired by other cultures, Emmaline Payette wants to study the local art of Guatemala, South Africa, India and Japan. She hopes to incorporate these influences in her own work, expanding her artistic repertoire well beyond the graphite and charcoal portraits at which she excels.
“Visual communication and the preservation of local cultures and art are of great importance in this increasingly globalized world,” Payette said. “Portraiture, in particular, has become a reoccurring theme throughout art history and has developed uniquely in various parts of the world.”
Payette will experiment with the styles, techniques and mediums specific to the culture of each country she visits. This means weaving in Antigua; tribal sculpture in Capetown; miniature folk paintings and portraits in Jaipur (Mandsaur); and woodblock prints in Kyoto.
“I will learn how to master a local art or craft. I will immerse myself in the art in each location by visiting museums, galleries, marketplaces, workshops, local homes and studios, and private and public art spaces. I will keep writing, sketching and making photo journals throughout my travels, with the intention of producing 10 final pieces in each location.”
She is excited about following the convention of modern European artists who looked abroad to other cultures: Gauguin in the Pacific Islands, van Gogh in Japan, Picasso in Africa.
“These new perspectives provided them with a new comprehension of art and opened the doors for further ideas, discoveries and inspirations,” Payette reflected.
Similarly, by using elements from traditional art forms, “I will be able to find my own artist’s voice. I’m pretty conservative and naturalistic, and I am working toward becoming more conceptual and expressive.”
Nozomi Sakata '09. Union Watson Fellowship nominee
NOZOMI SAKATA: Journey to Transcendence through Dance
Hometown: Osaka, Japan
Major: Psychology
Minor: Dance
Union activities: Karate Club; Dance Club; Edward Villella scholarship recipient; Union College Summer Research Fellow
If awarded a Watson Fellowship year, Nozomi Sakata will try to answer the question, “What is transcendence through dance?” in South Africa, Ghana, India and Peru. All are countries rich with native dance influences.
“Humans have danced throughout history to gain spirituality, pray for good lives, worship the divine or connect with the ethereal world,” Sakata said. “I want to dance where and when the people dance and pursue the same trances and feelings of supernatural possession through dance that they do.
“Drawing on my own metaphysical experiences, I will seek to broaden the felt understanding needed to truly know the cultural and spiritual meaning of dance.”
Sakata began dancing at age 11 and has been asking questions about the art form ever since.
She has experienced both the highs and lows of dancing – including attaining transcendence (“my experience of losing rational sense”) and also enduring frustration when moving her body felt more like a responsibility than a joy.
By the time she transferred to Union in 2007 and began exploring dance as an academic discipline, she had studied a variety of idioms, including jazz, funk, breaking and yoga. Now she had broader questions: Why have people danced since ancient times? What does dance bring to the world? Why is dance important for human beings?”
Sakata has immersed herself in the dance of different cultural communities. She has studied African dance at Schenectady’s Hamilton Hill and Native American dance here on campus. At Albany’s Unitarian Church, she learned dances of universal peace, which draw on concepts from Zoroastrianism, Buddhism, Hinduism and Christianity.
This past summer, on a research fellowship, she investigated the relationship between religion and traditional dance, focusing on Africa, India, native America and Japan.
“I have gained a lot of theoretical knowledge about the spiritual experience in different cultures, and my brain experienced transcendence through dance in ways that may be similar to those of other cultures,” Sakata said.
“Yet my body and mind still hunger for a felt understanding of the meaning of dance beyond the personal.”
Wesley Whitaker '09
WESLEY WHITAKER: La Guittara: The Art of the Guitar
Hometown: Sunapee, N.H.
Majors: English/Visual Arts
Minor: Studio art
Union activities: Ski Club
If given the chance, Wesley Whitaker will trace the evolution of the instrument he’s been playing since age 12 – from its birthplace in Spain to its current revival in Scandinavia to its reinterpretation in Bulgaria. Along the way, he’ll play music, build his own guitar, create art and write prose.
“Using a guitar-shaped lens, I will filter my perceptions of these new cultures into a body of artistic works,” he said, “as a means to communicate the struggles, joys and challenges imposed upon me by these new cultures.”
In a print studio in Madrid, he’ll undertake a series of drypoint prints of the classical guitar and the local culture, including portraits of famous guitar builders, urban street scenes and landscapes of the Andalusia countryside.
In a lakeside village in western Sweden, epicenter of the emerging Scandinavian guitar-building community, he’ll construct a guitar while apprenticing with Per Hallgren, a world-renowned luthier in Gråbo.
“He builds every part of his guitars by hand using only wood chisels and handsaws,” Whitaker said. “Mr. Hallgren’s location also perfectly mirrors my personal expectations of the Watson experience. Gråbo, population 4,125, is located just south of the Artic circle. With its natural beauty and remote location, it would provide the ideal environment not only to learn but also to grow as a person.”
In Bulgaria, the musical crossroads of the world, Whitaker expects he’ll find his greatest challenge as he tries his hand at writing short stories “aimed at capturing the beautiful emergence of Eastern and Western musical styles into the guitar-driven folk music of the Roma people.” Bulgaria’s new “gypsy sound,” he noted, is what launched jazz legend Django Reinhardt into fame during the 1930s “and inevitably introduced this new interpretation of the classical guitar to the world’s music community.
“After nearly a century of political turmoil, Bulgaria has finally joined the European Union and is just starting to experience economic growth,” Whitaker said. “English is not widely spoken here. Essentially, I will be communicating with the world through both my guitar playing and writing.”
“Pink Tents”
Karin Sagona ’08 standing on the observatory platform of Brad Pitt’s Make it right campaign in the Lower Ninth Ward. Pitt constructed pink tents to represent houses that he hopes to help rebuild through his fundraising campaign.
New Orlea
Alex Handin '10 gained a few new skills last December in Louisiana, where he spent two weeks helping rebuild communities that are still dealing with the destruction hurricanes Rita and Katrina caused in 2005.
“I got pretty proficient at taping drywall,” he said.
Volunteering his time and energy to reconstruct homes and buildings in the communities of New Orleans and Dulac, however, wasn’t Handin's only goal. He accompanied participants of Union’s community service mini-term on the trip to document life as survivors of the two hurricanes know it.
The resulting photographic documentary, “Southern Louisiana: Hurricane Recovery,” will be on display in the Wikoff Student Gallery in the Nott Memorial through Dec. 19.
“Fence”
Property adjacent to a worksite in New Orleans, LA.
“My main goal was to go down there and bring back the stories of the people living in Louisiana,” Handin said. “With all the media frenzy, it’s been hard for people up here to gain an accurate picture of what life is really like there.”
The Wikoff exhibit consists of photographs of New Orleans and Dulac residents living their daily lives. It also includes images of Union students who participated in the community service mini-term working on reconstruction projects.
Caroline Baillie, DuPont Chair in Engineering Education Research and Development at Queens University in Ontario
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 the 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."
She described projects in Lesotho, South Africa, and Buenos Aries, Argentina, in which she is working to promote economic sustainability with populations that have been marginalized by economic and political forces out of their control. “I consider myself a guinea pig [in determining engineers can do to help],” she said.
President Stephen C. Ainlay addresses the 2008 Frontiers in Education Conference, hosted by the College in Saratoga Springs
Stephen C. Ainlay, president of Union College, opened the plenary session with a short history lesson. Union inaugurated its engineering programs in the mid-19th century, 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, he said. “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.”
Union was the first liberal arts college to offer engineering, in 1845.
A submersible vehicle designed and built by Union students on display at the 2008 Frontiers in Education conference.
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. Conference topics include globalization, diversity and the role of feminism in engineering education.
Previous FIE conferences have been hosted by Georgia Tech, Worcester Polytechnic Institute and Johns Hopkins University.
