Hans-Friedrich Mueller, the William D. Williams Professor of Classics, was one of the featured speakers who examined the historical impact of the three-day Battle of the Teutoburg Forest at a recent symposium at Martin Luther College in New Ulm, Minn. The symposium was part of the Hermann Victory Celebration, which drew thousands of spectators to see an army of re-enactors led by Arminius, also known as “Hermann the German,” defeat the Roman legions of Quintilus Varus. The 2,000-year-old battle helped shape Europe for centuries to come.
Pilar Moyano, professor of Spanish, delivered two papers in Spain in June. These were: “Fantasía y memoria histórica de España en el cine de Guillermo del Toro,” at the V International Conference of the Sociedad Hispánica de Humanidades, in Seville, and “’Los niños de Morelia’ en la obra del dramaturgo mexicano Víctor Hugo Rascón Banda” at the Intercontinental Conference of the Instituto Universitario de Investigación y Estudios Norteamericanos de la Universidad de Alcalá de Henares, in Madrid.
A monograph artist book, “Atomic Age,” by Professor of Visual Arts Martin Benjamin, will be unveiled in conjunction with a solo exhibition of the same name during Atlanta Celebrates Photography (ACP) month. The exhibition at Pace Academy in Buckhead, Ga., continues throughout October. The body of work is about life in the atomic age, from people to locations to lyrical photographs about love and life. Published by Atomic Age/Digital Press and spanning images from 1978 to 2007, the book will debut at the Oct. 6 reception for Benjamin’s exhibition. The book’s development was supported by a CAPS Photography Fellowship from the New York State Council for the Arts and a Humanities Faculty Development Research Grant from the College. In summer 2007, Benjamin worked with summer research intern Nina Witschonke, a visiting international student from Aachen, Germany, to sequence and lay out the book’s 122 photographs with text. Upon return to her home university, Witschonke continued working on the project for her senior thesis, earning her art degree with an exhibition of her work relating to “Atomic Age” and three other potential book projects with Benjamin. Also instrumental in the book’s production was David Ogawa, professor of art history. “Atomic Age” contains images taken in such locations as Los Alamos, Colo., Oak Ridge, Tenn., Alamagordo, N.M., Hiroshima, Japan, Cuba, China and Vietnam as well as in Schenectady and the Capital Region. It will be available at the Union College Bookstore, among other outlets.
Samuel Amanuel, assistant professor of physics, recently presented a paper on “Reconciliation of the Apparent Delta H During the Phase Transition of Physically Confined System” at the North American Thermal Analysis Society Annual Conference in Lubbock Texas. The analysis and calculations showed that the behavior of molecules within 2.14 nano meters from a surface is different than molecules far away from a surface. The work involved summer research by Hillary Bauer ’11, Peter Bonventre ’11 and Dana Lasher ’08.