Associate Professor of History Andrea Foroughi's latest book, “Go If You Think It Your Duty: A Minnesota Couple’s Civil War Letters,” recently was published by Minnesota Historical Society Press. The book chronicles America’s deadliest war through the eyes of the Bowlers, who shared more than 230 letters while James Bowler served in the Third Minnesota Volunteer Regiment and Lizzie stayed in Nininger, Minn.
James Madison Bowler was 23 in 1861. Lizzie Caleff was 21. They courted, married, had children and bought a farm. They attended dances, talked politics, confided their deepest fears – all separately, through hundreds of letters, as the American Civil War raged around them.
From the first “Dear Lizzie” in April 1860 to the final “Ever Yours, Madison,” in September 1865, the relationship between James and Lizzie “has an intimacy that’s beguiling,” says Foroughi.
To read a review by the Associated Press that has appeared in publications worldwide, click here.
Several Political Science faculty and students recently attended the New York State Political Science Association annual conference at the University at Albany. Visiting Instructor Darius Watson presented a paper entitled “Multilateralism and the Nuclear Nonproliferation Regime.” Associate Professor Zoe Oxley, Benjamin Bauer ’08 and Omar Shakir ’08 participated in a roundtable regarding undergraduate and graduate student journals, titled “Publishing a Student Political Science Journal: Faculty and Student Experiences.” Bauer and Shakir are editors of The Pi Sigma Alpha Undergraduate Journal of Politics, which is currently hosted by Union’s chapter of Pi Sigma Alpha. Whitney Ogás ’08, the journal’s third editor, was unable to attend the conference but prepared comments for the roundtable.
The Union-Schenectady Alliance, a group created by Steve Walker '08 and Josh DeBartolo '08 to improve relationships between the College and the city, recently held its first major event.
On Saturday, April 26, local restaurants, shops and cultural attractions hosted “Show Me Schenectady,” a chance for students to sample city life. Hundreds of students filled the downtown for the event, which was coordinated by organizations including the Chamber of Schenectady County, the Downtown Schenectady Improvement Corp. and Proctors Theatre.
The event received extensive media coverage, including a front page story in the Sunday Gazette.
To read the story, click here (registration may be required).
The Alpha of New York Chapter of Phi Beta Kappa at Union, established in 1817, has admitted 31 new members.
Two members of the Class of 2009 were elected this year: Cathryn Cook and Steven Herron.
Inductees from the Class of 2008 include Gregory Anastasio, Benjamin Bauer, Allison Baum, Richard Bonventre, Daniel Butensky, Carly Chasin, Jennifer Dalenta, Joshua DeBartolo, Cassandra Denefrio, Erica D. Erlanger, Rachael Federico, Hilary Handin, Claire Hendry, Naazia Husain, Syed Hussnain, Andrew Laccetti, Emily Laing, Kate Langwig, Richard Leahy, Bilal Mahmood, Sara Lynn Melton, Jessica Lynne Rudin, Carol Shotzbarger, David Shulman, Amanda Slowik, Rachel Start, John Traver, Stephen Walker and Lauren Youngman.
They join the following members of the Class of 2008 elected last year: Kaitlin Canty, Dionna Kasper, Michelle Elyse Koo, Ali Qureshi and Jacquelyn Raftery.
Each spring, Union hundreds of students showcase their intellectual insights, creativity and scholarly accomplishments at the Steinmetz Symposium. The campus-wide event, a highlight of the Union experience, takes place Friday, May 2 and Saturday, May 3, with a full spectrum of presentations, performances, exhibits and more.
Most sessions will be held Friday, with classes cancelled to allow the entire campus community to attend.
Students are delving into topics ranging from Mayan mathematics (Valencia Starr ’08) and media portrayals of autism (Kimberly Tureck ’10) to the “truth” about fair trade coffee (John Traver ’08).
They have analyzed how the personalities of U.S. Supreme Court Justices O’Connor and Frankfurter affect their decisions on the bench (Jessica Goldberg ’08) and how carbon emissions impact Schenectady (Sarah Conner ’10).
Steinmetz Symposium
Mechanical Engineering major Andrew Salemo ’08 will present his design of a hockey puck for the visually impaired, while another ME major, Guo Hong Ho ’08, will unveil his solar-powered thermoelectric ice maker in a session devoted to renewable energy.
In their sociological analyses of “Media, Muslims and Medicine,” students have researched traditional Indian Ayurvedic medicine (Mary Abraham ’08), how South Asians are depicted in Western television and film (Geraldine Emmanuel ’08) and the psychosocial impact of 9/11 on young American Muslims (Naazia Husain’08).
Music major Richard Moccia ’08 will give an ethnographic overview of ska music and the current third wave ska scene in the United States, and Biology major Jesse Mango ’08 will explain the photosynthetic rate of mosses.
Charlotte Keenan worked alongside SAFER volunteers and Union students at her New Orleans house. Before Hurricane Katrina hit, Keenan evacuated to Tunica, Mississippi. When she and her husband returned in October 2005, they were only able to salvage about
Alex Handin ’10, a Physics and History major, will present “Southern Louisiana Hurricane Recovery,” a photojournalistic account of his community service mini-term in New Orleans. He shares “individual stories of survival and reconstruction often lost in the media frenzy surrounding the storms.”
On a peripatetic note, about 70 students will take part in the Steinmetz dance concert at the Nott Memorial Friday,12:20-1:30 p.m.
Student art in all media will be on view in the Burns Arts Atrium Gallery in the Visual Arts Building.
The Union College Choir and the Union College and Community Orchestra concert, with Victor Klimash conducting, is set for Friday, 8 p.m. in Memorial Chapel.
The College’s annual Prize Day ceremonies will be held Saturday,11 a.m.–12:30 p.m. in Memorial Chapel. Students are honored for achievement in academics, research, service, governance and athletics.
Also on Saturday, the Union College Jazz Ensemble will perform 1–2 p.m. in Emerson Auditorium in the Taylor Music Center in a concert featuring jazz and popular styles, from the Dixieland classic “Basin Street Blues” to Santana’s “Black Magic Woman.”
Charles Proteus Steinmetz (1865-1923), chief consulting engineer for the General Electric Company, was widely regarded as America’s leading electrical engineer. He taught Electrical Engineering and Applied Physics at Union from 1902 until his death.
One of the highlights of this weekend’s Steinmetz Symposium is the exhibition of student art work in the Burns Arts Atrium Gallery, located in the Visual Arts Building.This year, there are 93 images created by 74 Union students.
The exhibition contains drawings, prints, 2-D design works, traditional and digital photographs, sculpture, digital art and electronic works.
Steinmetz Art Exhibition 2008
Faculty members sponsoring works from their area of expertise are Martin Benjamin (photography), Chris Duncan (sculpture), Walter Hatke (drawing and painting), Fernando Orellana (digital and electronic art) and Sandy Wimer (2-D design, printmaking and drawing).
The exhibition was installed by Frank Rapant of the Visual Arts Department. It runs through Sunday,May 4, with a public reception set for Thursday, May 1, 4-5:30 p.m.
