Three working groups have been formed to address sophomore seminar, clusters, and quantitative reasoning and science and technology (QR/S&T) requirements of the College's new Gen Ed program. The Board includes Valerie Barr, Barbara Danowski, Teresa Meade, Hans Mueller and Mary Mar.
The groups are:
Sophomore Seminar: Meade, Mar, Christine Henseler, Karen Brison
Clusters: Mueller, Danowski, Christine Henseler, Doug Klein
QR/S&T: Barr, Bill Zwicker, Rebecca Koopman, Dan Burns, Andy Rapoff
“Their task is to iron out the details of these requirements and give the Gen Ed board a working document so it can begin to solicit and approve courses and clusters as soon as possible,” said Kimmo I. Rosenthal, dean for undergraduate education. He and Henseler will meet with chairs, departments and faculty to discuss participation, scheduling, departmental offerings and other pertinent issues.
The Admissions Office will welcome some 500 prospective students and their parents to the Open House on Columbus Day, Monday, Oct. 10.
“Visits to campus are a very important way for people to get to know Union better,” said Dan Lundquist, vice president for admissions. “As one alumnus who recently visited Union wrote, ‘The tour of campus provided a terrific window into the life of an incredibly vital college. Kids seemed smart and engaged, and the facilities were to die for!'”
A prelude to the Open House will be Multicultural Weekend, with events scheduled for Saturday afternoon through Monday, including a Hale House dinner, social activities and discussions about academic life at Union. More than 100 student guests are expected, with more 50 faculty volunteering their help.
With hundreds of prospects, students, staff and volunteers on campus this weekend, it's a given that parking will be tight – so Admissions is asking members of the Union community to park in peripheral lots to leave on-campus spaces for the guests.
The next Open House is set for Veteran's Day, Monday, Nov. 11.
CONSTRUCTING KITS – Michael Glickman '09, Beuth House freshman rep, left, and JunHo Ham '09 pitch in.
Students in every Minerva House were busy with school work Thursday evening, although not their usual course work. They were assembling special school kits for children whose lives and studies have been disrupted by Hurricane Katrina.
“This project presents a unique opportunity for the Minervas to use the strength of their communities for a greater good – to further the relief effort in the Gulf Coast Region,” says Varun Shetty '08 of Golub House, one of the student leaders behind the initiative. “Each of the seven Minervas has pledged money to purchase supplies for primary and secondary school children.”
Shetty, who has been working closely with Gretchel Tyson, community outreach director, and Viki Brooks-McDonald, campus interfaith chaplain, says the total effort is expected to raise more than $2,700, making it possible to put together kits for 348 displaced children.
Crayons
Each kit contains a notebook, construction paper, pencils, a large eraser, sharpener, ruler, box of crayons and a pair of scissors.
When complete, the kits will be sent from the Kenney Community Center to the distribution center of Church World Services in Baltimore, Md., one of many groups coordinating delivery to Katrina's most vulnerable survivors.
Thousands of children in the Gulf Coast have seen their lives, including their homes, schools and in many cases, entire communities, washed away by Hurricane Katrina this fall.
“I hope that our efforts will give a little something special to a community in need,” said Emily Clark '06 of Beuth House. “I think it must be hardest on the children. Many of them are starting new schools in unfamiliar environments, and we wanted to help ease their transition in a small way. I'm hoping that lots of our students will feel like they haven't contributed enough time, energy or money to helping the victims of this terrible disaster. This is an easy way to give a little bit of time for others who do not have very much.”
Brooks-McDonald said that while it's easy for many of us to get distracted by our own busy lives, “it's important to remember that so many people continue to struggle with the day-to-day tasks we often take for granted.”
The Visual Arts Department of Union College will present an exhibition titled “Digital Means: Collages, Paintings, & Digital Works by Robert Kinsell and Leonard Stokes.” Held in the Burns Arts Atrium Gallery, it opens Thursday, Oct. 27 and runs through Friday, Dec. 2, 2005.
This exhibition brings together 40 works by these two acclaimed artists for the first time. Both artists use digital media to plan and create images, but employ them in different ways. Kinsell makes paintings, while Stokes makes collages. They create compelling images, where color plays a major role.
Robert Kinsell and Leonard Stokes will be in the gallery at 3 p.m. Thursday, October 27, to lead an exhibition tour and talk about their work. An artists' reception will follow at 4:30 p.m.
Kinsell is Professor of Art at Stephen F. Austin University in Nacagdoches, Texas, where he teaches painting, drawing and design. He received his BA from DePauw University, through which he participated in the Great Lakes College Association New York Arts Program as an apprentice to Philip Pearlstein.
After working in advertising in Chicago several years, he earned his MFA in painting from the University of Wisconsin-Madison. His work has been shown through prominent solo and group exhibitions in Chicago, Houston, San Francisco, and New Orleans, as well as the Arnot Art Museum in Elmira, N.Y. His work is represented by McMurtrey Gallery in Houston and Ann Nathan Gallery in Chicago.
Leonard Stokes is a professor of visual art at Purchase College, State University of New York. He also has taught at the University of Pennsylvania, Harvard, The Cooper Union, Yale Universityand Union. His teaching focuses on drawing, design and innovative approaches to painting concepts. Stokes received his BA and MFA in painting from Yale and studied at the College of Design (AGS) in Basel, Switzerland.
Before teaching, Stokes worked for Ives-Sillman publishers on a Walker Evans portfolio and with Josef Alber's production of another project. His own work has been shown regularly through solo and group exhibitions at Jason McCoy Inc. and Cordier Ekstrom galleries, New York City.
This exhibition and related events are made possible through the generous support of Union College, its Visual Arts Department and the Walter C. Baker Fine Arts Endowment, which continue to promote the visual arts in the Capital Region of New York state.
The Burns Arts Atrium Gallery is located in the Visual Arts Building at Union. Gallery hours are Monday through Friday, 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. and from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. weekends. For more information, please contact (518) 388-6714.
