Posted on Oct 21, 2010

Noted author, journalist and feminist Rebecca Walker will speak Thursday, Oct. 28 at 6 p.m. in the Nott Memorial.

Walker will discuss “The End of Feminism: Why Feminism as We Know it Must Transform.” The talk, part of the Presidential Forum on Diversity series, is free and open to the public.

Walker, author of the best-selling memoir “Black, White, and Jewish: Autobiography of a Shifting Self,” has written extensively on race, gender politics and the changing face of contemporary American feminism.

Her mother, Alice, is the acclaimed African-American author who won the 1983 Pulitzer Prize for The Color Purple. The two became estranged following the publication of the younger Walker’s memoir and their differing views of feminism, among other issues. Her second memoir, “Baby Love: Choosing Motherhood after a Lifetime of Ambivalence,” chronicles the arrival of her son, Tenzin, in December 2004.

Walker’s anthology, “To Be Real: Telling the Truth and Changing the Face of Feminism,” has become a staple of women’s studies programs. Her most recent anthology was 2009’s “One Big Happy Family: 18 Writers Talk About Polyamory, Open Adoption, Mixed Marriage, Househusbandry, Single Motherhood, and Other Realities of Truly Modern Love.”

Time magazine named Walker one of the 50 most influential leaders of her generation. She is a contributor to Newsweek and several other magazines. Her essays have appeared in Glamour, Real Simple and Child. She has appeared on “The Today Show,” “Charlie Rose,” CNN, ABC News, “Good Morning America” and “Oprah.”

The College is celebrating the 40^th anniversary of co-education at Union, and diversity programs will focus on women and their unique contributions to society. Earlier, author Awista Ayub talked about her efforts to unite Afghani women through sports.

Posted on Oct 20, 2010

Frank M. Calabria, who taught psychology at Union for 24 years and had lifelong passions for creative teaching, ballroom dancing and classical guitar, died Wednesday, Oct. 20, 2010 at his Wendell Avenue home. He was 86.

Calabria was a charismatic professor whose creative teaching style often involved movement, and his classes were in high demand. Colleagues this week recalled his enthusiasm for involving students – and faculty – in experiential learning exercises that illustrated psychological principles.

He earned a bachelor’s degree from City College of New York, and a Ph.D. degree from New York University. He taught at Albany State University and Russell Sage College before joining Union in 1966. He retired in 1989, but maintained a private practice in psychotherapy and continued to write for academic and popular audiences.

He wrote two books, "Dance of the Sleepwalkers" (1993, Bowling Green State University Popular Press) about the dance marathon fad of the 1920s and 1930s, and his memoir, "Let It Be Dance: My Life Story" (2001, Writers Club Press). He wrote an article, “The Dance Marathon Craze,” in the summer 1976 issue of the Journal of Popular Culture. As a popular young professor who was well in tune with student attitudes, he wrote a lengthy piece, “The College Scene: What’s Happening Now?” for the Fall 1967 edition of Symposium, then the College magazine.

Calabria met his wife, Angela, 54 years ago at the Byrnes & Swanson dance studio in his native Brooklyn, where he was a dance instructor and she, a student. He also taught ballroom dance at the local USO, Dance of America conventions and various studios.

The couple had a dance studio in their home, and they frequently gave demonstrations at College events. They were featured recently in a Times-Union profile video, available here.

Calabria served in World War II as an athletic instructor and was decorated with a victory medal, good conduct medal and American Theatre Service medal. As a child, he was confined to a wheelchair for a year, but as a teenager went on to start a body building club.

“Frank had such vitality and zest for life,” recalled Linda Stanhope, professor of psychology. “When I first came to Union, he used to stop by my office and tell me stories about what it was like to teach psychology during the 1960s and 70s, when he taught a popular course called 'Creativity' (which he taught in a very creative way). He really emphasized making his classes personally meaningful to the students, and always encouraged new faculty members to try to do the same, a lesson I took to heart. I will always remember Frank and his lovely wife, Angela, dancing at President Ainlay’s inaugural ball; they were a vision.”

“Frank was one of the people with whom I went to dinner during my job interview some 25 years ago,” said Kenneth DeBono, the Gilbert R. Livingston Professor of the Behavioral Sciences. “His enthusiasm for Union, for the Psychology Department, and for life in general, weighed heavily in my decision to continue my career at Union.”

Professor of psychology and Chair Suzie Benack added, “Frank had a free and infectious spirit; his energy, joie de vivre, and ever-present warm smile enlivened the Psychology Department for many years. He taught a series of enormously popular courses that combined psychology and the arts, especially psychology through literature and dance. He did what would today be called interdisciplinary and 'embodied' teaching, engaging students in movement and creative activities that exemplified psychological principles. Frank taught about the importance of maintaining a sense of wonder, openness and enthusiasm across the lifespan, and he demonstrated to all of us what that meant.”

In addition to his wife, survivors include two sons, Carl ’80 and Mark; and two daughters, Alissa (Calabria ’84) Quinn and Mayela Harris.

A memorial service is set for Sunday, October 24, at 3 p.m. at the First Unitarian Society of Schenectady, 1221 Wendell Ave. The family will receive friends and family following the memorial service at their home. Contributions may be made to the First Unitarian Society of Schenectady.

Posted on Oct 19, 2010

Cellist Sophie Shao has been described as a musician with a superior sense of style, great finesse and emotion. On Thursday, Oct. 28 at 8 p.m., Shao will perform in Memorial Chapel with Pei-Yao Wang, Daniel Phillips, Arnaud Sussmann and Eric Nowlin.

This group of Marlboro virtuosi and members of the Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center will present Ravel’s sonata for Violin and Cello (1922) and piano quintets by Schumann and Elgar.

Winner of a top prize in the 2001 Rostropovich Competition and a laureate of the 2002 XII Tchaikovsky Competition, Shao has wowed audiences since she was a child. At 11, she made her first appearance with the Houston Symphony. At 19, she received the prestigious Avery Fisher Career Grant.

A graduate of the Curtis Institute of Music and Yale University, she is on the faculty at the Bard Conservatory of Music and Vassar College. A native of Houston, she recently collaborated with film composer Howard Shore on his score for “The Betrayal,” resulting in a concerto commission for the 2011-2012 season.

Pianist Pei-Yao Wang returns for her eighth Series appearance. Born in Taipei, Taiwan, Wang was the youngest pianist, at 8, to receive the overall first prize in the Taiwan National Piano Competition. She has performed throughout the U.S., Canada, Europe and Asia. She holds a Master of Music degree from Yale and is a graduate of the Metropolitan Opera’s Lindemann Young Artists Program.

Violinist Daniel Phillips is an established chamber musician, solo artist and teacher. He is a founding member of the Orion String Quartet, which tours internationally and has residences at the Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center and at the Mannes College of Music. A winner of the prestigious Young Concert Artists International Auditions in 1976, Phillips has performed as a soloist with many of the country's leading symphonies. He teaches at the Aaron Copland School of Music of Queens College.

Fellow violinist Arnaud Sussmann, winner of the Avery Fisher Career Grant in 2009, has impressed critics and audiences from New York to St. Petersburg. A laureate of the Hudson Valley Philharmonic String Competition, the Andrea Postacchini Competition in Italy and the Vatelot/Rampal Competition in Paris, Sussmann was chosen by Itzhak Perlman to be a Starling Fellow. Sussmann holds bachelor’s and master’s degrees from The Julliard School. 

Eric Nowlin is a decorated violist, winning second prize in the 2006 Walter W. Naumburg Competition and first place in both the 2003 Irving M. Klein International String and the 2001 Julliard Viola Concerto competitions. A graduate of The Julliard School, Nowlin is an associate principal violist with the Toronto Symphony.

Concert tickets are free to the Union College community. For tickets and information, call 388-6080 or visit http://www.union.edu/ConcertSeries.

Posted on Oct 19, 2010

He conquered Rome. His oratorical skills are legendary. And for more than a century, his literary masterpieces, including "Commentarii de bello Gallico" ("Commentaries on the Gallic War") were a staple of high school Latin classrooms.

But before you could say veni, vidi, vici, the works of Julius Caesar, arguably the greatest general in Rome’s history, vanished from the classroom.

As anti-war sentiment raged during the Vietnam War, there was little appetite for a dictator who bragged about the invasion and conquest of Gaul, and the war against his fellow citizens.

Instead, scholars turned to Latin love poetry, casting off the imperialist with a simple message: Ave atque vale. (Hail and farewell.)

Now, Caesar is poised to make a triumphant return to the classroom.

“Caesar's imperialism and his usurpation of republican government are what make him timely today during our own so-called war on terror,” said Hans-Friedrich Mueller, the William D. Williams Professor of Classics at Union.

“How far should we go in protecting ourselves? Does domestic security require foreign intervention? Does it make sense to give up traditional rights and freedoms at home for the sake of security?”

Caesar’s re-emergence is just one of the topics to be discussed when dozens of scholars of  ancient Latin and Greek gather at Union for the annual meeting of the Classical Association of the Empire State.

Over three days beginning Thursday, Oct. 21, about 60 high school teachers and 15 college professors will address how the classical languages and civilizations are taught in New York.

Peter Bedford, the John and Jane Wold Professor of Religious Studies, will talk about Christians in ancient Rome. Stacie Raucci, assistant professor of classics and Daniel Curley, associate professor of classics at Skidmore College, talk about representations of the ancient world in film and television.

There are also sessions centered on Greece with Tarik Wareh, assistant professor of classics and James Wells, visiting assistant professor of classics at Hamilton. Even Gilgamesh, the fifth king of Uruk, is represented in a presentation by Ladislaus Bolchazy, president of Bolchazy-Carducci, publishers of college and high school texts about the ancient world.

Mueller will lead a session at the conference on Caesar’s return.

Sessions are free and open to members of the Union community and the public. For a complete schedule, click here.

Posted on Oct 18, 2010

He conquered Rome. His oratorical skills are legendary. And for more than a century, his literary masterpieces, including Commentarii de bello Gallico ("Commentaries on the Gallic War") were a staple of high school Latin classrooms.

But before you could say veni, vidi, vici, the works of Julius Caesar, arguably the greatest general in Rome’s history, vanished from the classroom.

As the anti-war sentiment raged during the Vietnam War, there was little appetite for a dictator who bragged about the invasion and conquest of Gaul, and the war against his fellow citizens.

Instead, scholars turned to Latin love poetry, casting off the imperialist with a simple message: “Ave atque vale.”

Now, Caesar is poised to make a triumphant return to the classroom.

“Caesar's imperialism and his usurpation of republican government are what make him timely today during our own so-called war on terror,” said Hans-Friedrich Mueller, the William D. Williams Professor of Classics at Union.

“How far should we go in protecting ourselves? Does domestic security require foreign intervention? Does it make sense to give up traditional rights and freedoms at home for the sake of security?”

Caesar’s re-emergence is just one of the topics to be discussed when dozens of scholars of  ancient Latin and Greek gather at Union for the annual meeting of the Classical Association of the Empire State.

Over three days beginning Thursday, Oct. 21, about 60 high school teachers and 15 college professors will address how the classical languages and civilizations are taught in New York.

Peter Bedford, the John and Jane Wold Professor of Religious Studies, will talk about Christians in ancient Rome. Stacie Raucci, assistant professor of classics and Daniel Curley, associate professor of classics at Skidmore College, talk about representations of the ancient world in film and television.

There are also sessions centered on Greece with Tarik Wareh, assistant professor of classics and James Wells, visiting assistant professor of classics at Hamilton. Even Gilgamesh, the fifth king of Uruk, is represented in a presentation by Ladislaus Bolchazy, president of Bolchazy-Carducci, publishers of college and high school texts about the ancient world.

Sessions are free and open to members of the Union community and the public. For a complete schedule, click here.

It’s not a good time to be a fan of the classics. The New York State Board of Regents recently eliminated the Regents exam for Latin; one session at the conference is devoted to discussing the impact of the move. And on Oct. 1, SUNY-Albany officials announced that the school would eliminate admissions to its classics program, along with French, Italian, Russian and theater programs.

Both budget moves are seen as warning signs by supporters of the humanities that, as the sluggish economy lingers and students gravitate toward disciplines they believe have better career potential, the idea of “what it means to be a human being” will evaporate.

In the meantime, Caesar is enjoying his own revival. Shakespeare’s play chronicling his life is a staple in curricula taught to generations of high school English students, alongside “The Great Gatsby” and “The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn.”

But a generation of Latin teachers grew up without reading the works of Caesar, one of the authors who will now be included in the Advanced Placement Latin exam for high school students.

That’s welcome news for Mueller, who will lead a session at the conference on Caesar’s return.

“Apart from good grammar and a clear Latin style, Caesar’s conflicted legacy offers teachers and students an excellent laboratory for discussing important ethical, legal and constitutional issues because personal politics are not at stake in the outcome of events thousands of years in the past.”

Posted on Oct 18, 2010

Pilar Moyano, professor of Spanish and Latin American Studies, delivered a paper titled ¨De señoras nobles, esclavas y ¨gariyas¨: Clase social en la obra de las poetas de al-Andalus¨ at the Grupo de Estudios sobre la Mujer en España y las Américas, pre-1800 (Women in Spain and the Americas before 1800), hosted by Mount Holyoke College and UMass-Amherst in September.

Mechanical engineering professor Frank Wicks authored an article titled “Credit to the Bicycle” for the July issue of Mechanical Engineering, a membership publication of the American Society of Mechanical Engineering. The article by Wicks, a frequent contributor, notes the remarkable energy efficiency of the bicycle. He traces the technologies such as metal tubing, chains and sprockets, wire spoke wheels, and rubber tires that led to a practical bicycle, as well as how the bicycle provided vital technologies for the first motorcycles, automobiles and flying machines developed. The article also traces ever-expanding modifications for recreation, exercise and competitive sports, and the growing enthusiasm for bicycles as an alternative form of transportation to help solve environmental, resource and traffic challenges.

Scott LaBrake, senior lecturer of physics and astronomy and accelerator manager, and Maria Battaglia ’12 attended the 21^st international Conference on the Applications of Accelerator in Research and Industry (CAARI) in Fort Worth, Texas in August. LaBrake gave an invited talk on “Teaching Materials Analysis using PIXE at Union College,” which detailed the use of the department’s 1MV particle accelerator to study environmental pollution in atmospheric aerosols and liquid precipitation in New York state using the ion beam analysis technique of PIXE. Battaglia presented a poster detailing her research project, “Trace Elemental Composition and Concentration of Liquid Precipitation in New York Using PIXE,” which demonstrated seasonal variations in the elemental composition and concentration of rainwater and snow. LaBrake also submitted a paper at the conference that has been accepted for publication in a special edition of Nuclear Instruments and Methods in Physics Research B along with co-authors Michael Vineyard, the Frank and Marie Louise Bailey Professor of Physics and Astronomy, Battaglia, Chad Harrington ’11, Colin Gleason ’11, Katie Schuff ’12, Shivani Pathak ’10, Rob Moore ’12 and Colin Turley ’13.

Robert Sharlet, the Chauncey Winters Research Professor of Political Science, was the opening speaker at the memorial service for the late professor Robert C. Tucker at Princeton University earlier this month. Professor Tucker, a seminal scholar on Marx and on Russia, was Sharlet’s mentor when he taught at Indiana University, and later his colleague. Sharlet has also co-authored a tribute to Tucker’s career in Slavic Review, the major field journal. In addition, he is co-organizer of a roundtable discussion on Tucker’s scholarly work at a national conference to be held in Washington, D.C. in 2011.