Posted on Mar 2, 2006

Rachel Tzvia Back will read from her work at 7 p.m. today, March 2, in Arts Building Room 215 in a presentation titled, “Placing the Voice: The Personal and the Political, Israel 2006.”

The Buffalo-born poet, who lives in the Galilee, is the author of several collections. Her latest collection, Buffalo Poems, published by Duration Press in 2003, follows the cycle of violence in Israel and Palestine over the past years and how it has defined the lives of the people there.

According to one review, “the personal and political merge in her lyrical poetry, as her framing remarks contextualize the complexities and demands of place, the role of the poet in Israeli society and the unrelenting bond to the land.”

Back's collection, Azimuth, was published in English in 2001 by Sheep Meadow Press and in Hebrew in 2000 by Kibbutz HaMeuchad Press. Last spring, Back's translations of pre-eminent Hebrew poet Lea Goldberg – published in Lea Goldberg: Selected Poetry and Drama (Toby Press) – were awarded a PEN translation grant.

In addition, Back's poetry and translations have appeared in numerous journals in America and abroad and in several anthologies, including The Defiant Muse: Hebrew Feminist Poems from Antiquity to the Present and Dreaming the Actual: Contemporary Fiction and poetry by Israeli Women Writers. 

In 2002, Back took part in a reading series that brought Israeli poets to America to present their works. Titled “Poetry of a Punished Land,” the series was presented at  Wesleyan, Princeton and Harvard universities. Back also has served as a guest writer at numerous American universities.

Posted on Mar 2, 2006

Reappointment review committees have been formed for seven assistant professors: Kelly Black, mathematics; Aaron Cass, computer science; Palmyra Catravas, electrical and computer engineering; Zhilan Feng, Graduate College of Union University; Jennifer Matsue, music; Andrew Morris, history; and Andrew Rapoff, mechanical engineering.

Members of the campus community are invited to offer written or oral testimony to committee members. Committees (with chairs listed first), are:

Black: William Zwicker, mathematics (ext. 6160, zwickerw@union.edu); Brenda Johnson, mathematics; Alan Taylor, mathematics.

Cass: Valerie Barr, computer science (ext. 8361, barrv@union.edu); David Hemmendinger, computer science; Thomas Jewell, Division of Engineering and Computer Science.

Catravas: John Spinelli, electrical and computer engineering (ext. 6307, spinellj@union.edu); Yu Chang, electrical and computer engineering; Michael Rudko, electrical and computer engineering.

Feng: Presha Neidermeyer, GCUU (ext. 6598, neidermp@union.edu); Alan Bowman, GCUU; Martin Strosberg, GCUU.

Matsue:  Timothy Olsen, music (ext. 6563, olsent@union.edu); Sharon Gmelch, anthropology; Dianne McMullen, music.

Morris:  Steven Sargent, history (ext. 6360, sargents@union.edu); Andrew Feffer, history; Robert Wells, history.

Rapoff:  Richard Wilk, mechanical engineering (ext. 6268, wilkr@union.edu); Ann Anderson, mechanical engineering; William Keat, mechanical engineering.

Posted on Mar 2, 2006

Musical note:If you're going to be in New York City this weekend, consider checking out Music Professor Hilary Tann's “From the Song of Amergin.” The trio for flute, viola and harp will be presented at Symphony Space, 2537 Broadway at 95^th St., Saturday, March 4, at 7:30 p.m. Performed by the Azure Ensemble, the piece is part of a concert titled, “A New Day: Music by Women Composers.”

Dance reminder: Step over to the Yulman Theatre for the Winter Dance Concert Friday and Saturday at 8 p.m. A range of ballet, modern, jazz and tap pieces is featured. Tickets are $10 for general admission, $7 for Union faculty, staff and students. Call the Box Office at ext. 6545.

Posted on Mar 2, 2006

Thomas K. Jewell, the Carl B. Jansen Professor of Engineering, has been appointed chair of the Civil Engineering Advisory Committee for the University of Qatar.

He will lead a four-person team, including Mohammad Mafi, associate professor of engineering, and former adjunct professors Keith Lashway and Dennis O'Malley in Qatar this month. The committee will make recommendations to develop a strategic plan and an implementation plan to reform the university's civil engineering department into a world-class program and a leading department in the region.

Posted on Mar 2, 2006

David Ogawa, assistant professor of visual arts, chaired a panel at the College Art Association 94^th Annual Conference in Boston last week.  The panel, titled “New Directions in 19th Century Art History,” presented the work of emerging scholars in the field. The Conference included more than 180 sessions in art history and studio art as well as career-development workshops and other events.

Posted on Mar 2, 2006

Several members of the Union College community were prominently featured in the October-December 2005 Journal of Quaternary Science. Donald T. Rodbell, professor of geology and director of environmental studies, was guest editor for the issue, which was dedicated to the memory of his friend and colleague, Geoff Seltzer.

A former Syracuse University professor, Seltzer died of cancer in January 2005. The special issue focused on glacial geology and palaeoclimate records from the Americas.

The article, “Comparing Reconstructed Pleistocene Equilibrium-line Altitudes in the Tropical Andes of Central Peru,” was co-authored by Rodbell and Seltzer with Jacqueline A. Smith, a postdoctoral teaching and research fellow in the geology department, and Joan Ramage, a former visiting professor of geology at Union.

Nick Balascio '01 authored a piece titled, “Equilibrium-line Altitudes During the Last Glacial Maximum Across the Brooks Range, Alaska.” Rodbell, Smith and Seltzer also contributed a number of other articles to the publication