A number of individuals in the Division of Student Affairs are presenting at major conferences this year, on themes ranging from leadership and disciplinary strategies to identity development. Director of Greek Affairs Timothy Dunn and Counseling Center Director Marcus Hotaling recently spoke at the National Association of Student Personnel Administrators Mental Health Conference in New Orleans about collaborative efforts between their offices aimed at making students aware of support services. They touched on issues ranging from stress management to the effects of pledging on academics.
In early February, Dunn, Dean of First-Year Students Kate Schurick and Senior Associate Dean of Students Trish Williams will present at the Association of Student Conduct Administration international conference in Tampa, Fla. They will speak on “Quantifying Conduct: The Point System.” Dunn and Residence Director Katie Cartmell will address the Association of College Personnel Administrators national conference in Boston in March.
Also in March, Resident Director Connie Gardner will co-present a session on male identity development at the American College Personnel Association in Boston. The convention focus this year is on how student services and programs engage students in and out of the classroom. Gardner looked at research by physician and psychologist Leonard Sax, whose 2007 book, “Boys Adrift,” tackles questions of underachievement in young men. She is interested in exploring ways to increase male involvement in campus activities.
Prometheus Books has released the 4th edition of Philosophy and Sex, edited by Robert Baker, the William D. Williams Professor of Philosophy and director of the Rapaport Everyday Ethics Across the Curriculum Initiative, and Kathleen Wininger, professor of philosophy and women’s and gender studies at the University of Southern Maine, formerly a visiting professor at Union. This classic collection of essays on adultery, monogamy, perversion, homosexuality, pederasty, sex without love, sexual equality and other topics was first published in 1975, edited by Baker and the late Frederick Elliston, who also taught at Union. The book has served as a vehicle for publishing manuscripts dealing frankly and philosophically with issues of sex and gender, subjects that philosophy journals often deem unsuitable for philosophical reflection. The current edition focuses on the global dimensions of philosophical issues involving sex and gender, with essays on the legalization of same-sex marriage in Massachusetts and in South Africa (including a piece on homosexuality and Apartheid by Desmond Tutu), the historical stigmatization of unmarried women (“On Spinsters”), intersexuality, female sexuality and the “Vagina Monologues,” and male and female circumcision.
Angela Tatem, director of the Kenney Community Center, Cybil Tribie ’11, U-CARE student coordinator, and Antonio Gutierrez ’10, a student leader for the America Reads literacy program, recently were interviewed on the “Schenectady Today Show” for a feature on how Union students are helping out in the local community. The show is seen each weekday morning on Channel 16, Schenectady County, on Public Access Television. To see the interview, click here.
A listener essay on friendship by Tina Lincer, associate director of Communications, recently aired on “The Roundtable” on WAMC, National Public Radio.
Kim Plofker, visiting assistant professor of mathematics, is one of 20 individuals from around the world invited to be a plenary speaker at the International Congress of Mathematicians, to take place in Hyderabad, India, Aug. 19-27. She joins speakers from Brazil, China, France, India, Israel, Russia and the U.S. The congress, held every four years, is organized under the auspices of the International Mathematical Union, a non-governmental, non-profit scientific organization dedicated to promoting international cooperation in mathematics and supporting activities that contribute to the development of pure, applied and educational mathematical science worldwide.
Brad Hays, assistant professor of political science, discussed dissatisfaction with the Congress in Obama's first year on WAMC’s Congressional Corner. To read Part I, click here. For Part II, click here.