Speakers’ Bureau Program
College Speakers
Following are speakers listed in alphabetical order, with details of their presentation/lecture offerings.* On leave in the fall
** On leave in the spring
*** On leave for the year
› Nigel Alderman ***
Assistant Professor
English
Specialties:
- Post-1945 British literature and culture
- Modernism
- Romanticism
- Literary theory, especially Marxists aesthetics
› David Allen
Instructor in Physical Education • Head Coach Swimming and Diving
Physical Education and Athletics
“Incorporating Fitness into a Busy Lifestyle”
Learn the basic components of fitness and simple ways to incorporate them into a busy life.
“What’s so Good about Sports?”
The lecture will explain why sports are neither inherently good nor bad. There are many examples in the news today of athletes behaving badly, but is this a reflection of athletics in general? Or is it poor coaching, mentoring, and supervision? Why should we continue to support athletics? What kind of changes can we make to improve the overall experience and behavior of our athletes? The lecture will conclude with a discussion on numerous ways to make a positive difference in athletics.
Notes:
Willing to travel internationally.
› Kay Greiner Althoff FP ’84
Director • Frances Perkins Program
“It’s Never Too Late: FP Success Stories”
Short overview of the program and examples of FP’s who have overcome odds to success.
Notes: Willing to travel internationally.
Diane C. Anci
Dean • Admission
“Admission Update”
› Bruce M. Arnold ***
Associate Professor • Classics
“Oedipus and Job: On the Meaning of Suffering”
“Marriage in Homer’s Odyssey: What Your Professor Never Told You”
Cori Ashworth
Alumnae Career Development Consultant
Alumnae Association
Cori Ashworth believes that career and life transitions are challenging but that good preparation during these times can lead to positive growth. Cori offers workshops on career and life transitions that are tailored to the profile of the regional group. Most recently she has facilitated several programs on networking, as well as on marketing
and job strategy. She teaches a core of related career material and then guides exercises and discussion on the topic with an emphasis on building collegial relationships among alumnae.
Professor • English
“Shakespeare on Stage and Film”
“Teaching with Technology”
› Danielle Bessett '96 -- NEW!!
Ellertson Fellow • Ibis Reproductive Health
Danielle Bessett’s current research project draws from content analysis, ethnographic observations, and longitudinal qualitative interviews with sixty-four women in Manhattan, Connecticut, and the Bronx to consider how expectant mothers from diverse backgrounds construct normality in the highly-stratified context of medicalized pregnancy and how their innovations of normality express understandings of well-being, family, and social life more generally.
› Robin Blaetz **
Associate Professor • Film Studies
“Realizing the Passion on the Screen”
Using film excerpts, Professor Blaetz examines how filmmakers across film history try to bring the figure of Christ to the screen, and speculates about why the effort so often fails.
“Joan of Arc in American Film & Culture”
Using film excerpts and images from popular culture, this lecture demonstrates the ways in which the meaning
of Joan of Arc changed in the U.S. between WWI and WWII.
“Women Experimental Filmmakers”
A discussion and viewing of the work of the first generation of women filmmakers in the American avant-garde, particularly those women who worked with images of the domestic concerns of their daily lives.
Notes:
Particularly interested in traveling to Los Angeles, Washington D.C., North Carolina, and Atlanta. Willing to travel internationally.
Allen R. Bonde
Professor • Music
“Music in the American Musical: the Golden Age”
An entertaining lecture/performance/sing-along including music by Gershwin, Kern, Rodgers, Porter and Bernstein, among others. Requires an in-tune piano.
Notes: Especially interested in traveling to Hawaii. Unavailable July –August 2008. Willing to travel internationally.
Jane B. Brown
Vice President • Enrollment and College Relations
“Enrollment and Marketing”
› Sheila Browne -- NEW!!
Professor • Chemistry
“Women in Science”
The history and challenges of women in science and Mount Holyoke's contribution to women in science.
“Minorities in Science”
The status and progress of underrepresented minorities in science. Mount Holyoke's role in increasing the numbers of minority women in science.
Notes: Willing to travel anywhere domestically and internationally. Is unavailable in April.
F. W. Brownlow
Professor • English
English Renaissance literature including Shakespeare; music, and poetry.
Jens Christiansen
Professor • Economics and Environmental Studies
“Global Climate Change”
“The Economics of European Integration; The Introduction of the Euro”
“Comparative Economic Performance of the G-7”
“Inequality and Environmental Degradation in the Global Economy”
Joan Cocks *
Professor • Politics and Critical Social Thought
“The Pitfalls of Nationalism in the World Today”
On the twin dangers of the search for sovereignty on the part of “big” powers and the quest for self-determination on the part of “little” peoples, before and after 9/11.
“What is ‘Critical Social Thought’?”
A description of an interdisciplinary program at Mount Holyoke College that
examines the relationship between ideas and society, and that requires
each of its majors to sculpt her curriculum around a normative question
or theme of her own design.
Notes: Willing to travel anywhere domestically. Internationally, only willing to lecture in Slovenia.
James Coleman
Visiting Artist • Professor
Dance
“Image Sense—The Arts in the Liberal Arts”
A lecture/video presentation on the nature of art works, their non-discursive ‘image sense’ and the role of the arts in the liberal arts. Although the focus will be on dance and choreography, the discussion will include broader references to all the arts and to the other modes of expression and knowledge they engender.
Notes: Is specially interested in traveling to the Pacific Northwest, Southwest and Southern U.S. Willing to travel internationally.
Edwina J. Cruise
Professor • Russion and Eurasion Studies on the Alumnae Foundation
“Traditions & Innovations in Teaching & Learning at MHC, 1981-2007”
A presentation on 25 years of curriculum and campus life at Mount Holyoke College.
“Mrs. Plumm and Me: Uncommon Women or Others?”
A dramatic presentation that recreates a beloved character, Mrs. Plumm, from Uncommon Women and Others, the first major play by Wendy Wasserstein ’71, one MHC’s most acclaimed alums, who passed away in January, 2006. Mrs. Plumm, (MHC ’28) is housemother to a disorderly pack of young women, who worry about Wittgenstein, orgasms, canoe sing, and their futures. She tries vainly to keep their feet off the furniture and maintain decorum at tea. Mrs. Plumm is intensely devoted to the traditions of her alma mater, inclined to nostalgia, and, like the presenter herself, close to retirement. You are invited to join the memory of Wendy Wasserstein, Mrs. Plumm and Professor Cruise on a trip from Mount Holyoke’s venerable past into its future.
› Corinne M. Demas
Professor • English
Talks based on her books, the memoir Eleven Stories High: Growing up in Stuyvesant Town, 1948-1968, and the novel If Ever I Return Again, set on a whaling ship in the nineteenth century. Professor Demas is also author of several children’s books, including The Disappearing Island and Saying Goodbye to Lulu. Please visit www.corinnedemas.com for more information.
Joyce Devlin ***
Professor • Theater Arts
“Oh Moon of Mahogany: The Life and Times of Lotte Lenya”
A solo performance with text and music. It is November 27,1981, the day the great singer/ actress Lotte Lenya passed away. Anna, a German-Jewish immigrant and Lenya fan, celebrates Lenya’s life and the career through stories and songs. Accompanied by Larry Baione on guitar.
Notes: Professor Devlin prefers to perform on a stage if possible, but can make do with any space, large or small. Willing to travel internationally.
› Francine M. Deutsch-- NEW!!
Professor • Psychology
“Equally-shared Parenting”
A discussion of the gendered description of domestic labor and how some couples have nonetheless created equality at home.
Notes: Will not be in the U.S. 2008-2009. Is especially interested in talking to clubs in France. Willing to travel within Europe.
› Marianne Doezema
Florence Finch Abbott Director • Mount Holyoke College Art Museum
“Mount Holyoke College Art Museum: Past, Present and Future”
Founded in 1876, the Mount Holyoke College Art Museum is one of the oldest collegiate museums in the United States—and one of the liveliest. More than 11,000 objects from ancient Egypt, China, Peru, and contemporary America are displayed on a rotating basis. The museum recently underwent a major renovation and expansion, reopening in the fall of 2002 to rave reviews: “A jewel of a museum.” “What a treat for students and alumnae.” “So glad we came—we’ll be back.” This talk with slides presents a brief introduction to the museum, its permanent collection, and its distinguished tradition of organizing exhibitions that not only have enriched the intellectual life of the campus but have also traveled nationally.
“Psyches, Sirens, and Shoppers: Representing Women in American Art”
Paintings of the female figure became extremely popular in this county at the end of the nineteenth century and in the first decades of the twentieth. Often these images were idealized, presenting woman as the embodiment of refinement and taste and the evocation of aesthetic beauty and spirituality. On the other hand, I find most interesting those images that do not resort to mythology or allegory. This slide talk focuses on images of contemporary women during a period when the so-called feminine sphere was being negotiated in written and verbal discourse and in visual images of all kinds.
Notes: especially interested in traveling to Washington and California. Unavailable December 2008– January 2009. Willing to travel internationally.
› Amber Douglas -- NEW!!
Assistant Professor • Psychology
Amber Douglas’s research interests fall into two categories: psychological trauma with an emphasis on dissociation and the psychology of ethnic minorities. She’s particularly interested in exploring research questions that examine the intersection of these two areas. As a clinical psychologist, Douglas focuses on scholarship that contributes to the understanding of psychological adjustment, well-being, and mental health.
Vincent A. Ferraro
Ruth C. Lawson Professor • Politics And International Relations
“American Foreign Policy”
An overview of current concerns and challenges to American foreign policy with special emphasis on matters of security and conflict.
“World Politics”
An overview of the contemporary world political situation. Special emphasis on relations between the developing and developed world.
Notes: Unavailable January 2008. Willing to travel internationally.
Lawrence B. Fine **
Chair and Irene Kaplan Leiwant Professor • Jewish Studies
“Introducing Jewish Mystical Tradition”
What is Jewish mysticism, Kabbalah, Hasidism? What are its historical roots, literatures, and teachings? Why is Kabbalah experiencing renewed popularity today?
“Contemporary Jewish Spirituality”
This talk will describe and characterize the growing interest in the Jewish community in “spirituality,” particularly as it draws on Jewish mystical traditions, Kabbalah and Hasidism.
“Women and Judaism”
This talk will discuss the roles of women in Jewish religious culture and history, as well as some of the dramatic developments that have taken place in recent years with respect to women and Judaism.
Notes: Willing to travel internationally.
John O. Fox
Visiting Associate Professor • Politics, American Studies, Complex Organizations
“Winners and Losers Under Federal Tax Laws: Uncovering Our Nation’s Most Expensive, Least Understood, and Often Inequitable Social Programs”
Our nation’s most expensive discretionary budget for social programs—amounting to over $500 billion annually—appears in the special tax breaks Congress grants under our federal income tax laws. Voters cannot understand government policies relating to housing, health care, education, the environment, retirement, children, child care, marriage, divorce, single taxpayers, heads of households, death, charities, and much more without understanding the role played by the tax laws. Most members of Congress don’t understand the consequences of the hundreds of tax breaks they and their predecessors have authored; members who do understand them rarely care to tell the truth to the public about them. So many of the tax breaks sound good but cannot be justified by notions of tax justice. Few of the tax breaks serve our nation’s economic interests. We’ll look behind the myths and discuss realities. (No background in economics, tax policy, or accounting is required; all you need is the desire to be an informed voter.)
“Myths and Realities of Federal Taxation”
Congress offers so many special relief provisions in the tax laws favoring some people over others that our tax burdens often have more to do with our ability to avoid taxes than our ability to pay them. These outcomes produce arbitrary results that also slow economic growth. If Americans understood why a vastly simpler tax system would be in their best interests, they might demand that Congress reform the laws in the public interest rather than use them to promote their reelection.
“Tax Subsidies for Education: Double Losers for Many Low-Income Households”
The 10 special tax relief measures for education primarily assist households who can afford to pay and provide little or no relief to a great many lower-income households who need assistance most. At the same time, these relief measures drive up the cost of higher education for everyone, including all those people who do not benefit from the tax measures.
“Social Security: The Hard Decisions Americans Must Make”
A time bomb is ticking on America’s most popular social program: Social Security. Within 35 to 40 years, the Social Security trust fund is expected to be empty, yet the life expectancies of older people will continue to rise. Every year that we delay addressing this problem, the problem becomes more difficult to solve. Americans must make some hard choices, and they must be made sooner, not later.
Notes: Is especially interested in traveling to Florida and California. Will be unavailable January to May 2009. Willing to only travel to New Zealand and Australia.
Terese Freedman
Professor • Dance
“Master Classes in Modern Dance, Improvisation, and Composition”
Lecture and demonstrations.
Leah B. Glasser
Dean of First-Year Studies and Lecturer • English
“A Landscape of One’s Own”
This lecture will focus on how nineteenth- and early twentieth- century American women such as Mary Austin, Celia Thaxter, Zitkala Sa, Sarah Orne Jewett, and Willa Cather wrote their life stories in the context of the deserts, islands, prairies, and forests of the United States. They believed, as Mary Austin said in The Land of Little Rain, that “to understand the fashion of any life, one must know the land it is lived in.” With landscape as their center, these writers developed a freedom of voice through the language they used when they spoke of, and seemingly for, nature. In what sense did such writing become a vehicle for women to explore the inner landscapes of their lives and reconstruct their identities in terms that defied traditional gender boundaries?
“Writing Women’s Lives: The Process and the Paradox”
What is involved in writing a feminist biography? We look to the history of women writers for an understanding of our roots; in the process, however, is it possible to create imaginary women to satisfy longings for an unambiguous feminist heritage? Is the heritage that much richer for its implicit ambiguities? This lecture will explore the complexity of feminist biography through the example of Professor Glasser’s own experience in writing the biography of Mary E. Wilkins Freeman, the New England writer who attended Mount Holyoke in 1870 and who wrote of the psychology of women’s lives in the nineteenth century.
“Gender and War in American Literature”
This talk will focus on American writers and their response to war in the nineteenth through twentieth centuries. How does gender inform the experience of war and the conceptualization of peace? Virginia Woolf posed a critical question in Three Guineas: “How are we to prevent war?” Her conclusion suggests that we must find “new words” and create “new methods” rather than perpetuate the language and methods produced by the “procession of educated men.” Discussion will focus closely on language in considering when and how new language emerges as writers examine the impact of war on their lives. Works will be selected from diaries, journals, letters, essays, poetry, and fiction by writers such as Thoreau, Whitman, Crane, Twain, Hemingway, O’Brien, Dickinson, Alcott, Amy Lowell, Cather, Wharton, Yamada; selections will also draw from Writing Between the Lines: An Anthology on War and its Social Consequences.
“Mount Holyoke’s First-Year Common Read”
This lecture will focus on the first-year common reading program. The lecture will cover the goals, format, and effects of the program as well as discussion of the common text selected for the year. This year’s common read is Caucasia by Danzy Senna.
Notes: Is especially interested in traveling to California, Arizona, Florida, Hawaii, Atlanta, Boston, Chicago and Seattle. Is happy to speak with alumnae and, if there is interest, with prospective students. Unavailable August-September 2007. Willing to travel internationally.
› John T. Grayson
Associate Professor • Religion
“Why Are There Churches on Sesame Street and None in Mr. Roger’s Neighborhood?”
“Were You There? Symbol, Mask and Metaphor in the Black Spirituals”
“Sometimes I Feel Like a Motherless Child: Alienation in the Black Spiritual Slave Narrative and the American Experience”
Lowell W. Gudmundson ***
Professor • Latin American Studies
“Coffee 101: From Juan Valdez to Starbucks”
“Ethnic Politics in Central America”
Notes: Unavailable July 2008 to June 2009. Willing to lecture internationally only in Costa Rica.
› Rie Hachiyanagi
Associate Professor • Art
“An Expressive Silence”
While employing handmade paper as the essential catalyst for space/time-based arts, Professor Hachiyanagi philosophically investigates what a piece of paper in itself might signify. This presentation of his installation and performance pieces both embraces the distinctive physical properties of materials and also provokes thoughts on the interconnections between being and expression.
Notes: Willing to travel internationally. Able to lecture in Japanese.
James Hartley
Associate Professor • Economics
“Western Civilization: An Introduction Through the Great Books”
This lecture is a summary of the first-year seminar of the same name. The lecture can trace out (in whole or in part) the development of Western civilization through an interdisciplinary tour of the books which shaped Western thought.
“Reading the Great Books: Rediscovering a Liberal Arts Education”
This lecture discusses how the Great Books (“The best that has been thought and said”) provide a means for pursuing a lifelong education. What are the Great Books? What are the benefits of reading them? How should they be read? Why should disciplinary boundaries be ignored? Throughout, the emphasis is on the importance of a means to acquire a liberal arts education.
Notes: Willing to travel internationally.
Vanessa James
Professor & Chair • Theatre Arts
“The Genealogy of Greek Mythology”
How genealogy informs our understanding of Greek literature, drama, and mythology. Based on Professor James’s recent book of the above title, published in September 2003. PowerPoint presentation.
“Theatre Arts at Mount Holyoke College”
The development of the Department of Theatre Arts at MHC and our vision for the future. Theatre arts in a liberal arts institution. PowerPoint presentation.
Notes: Willing to travel internationally.
Stephen Jones
Professor • Russian and Eurasian Studies
“The New Great Game: Oil and Geopolitics in the Caucasus”
The Great Game in the 19th century between Russia and Great Britain in Central Asia has been replaced by a new Great Game in the Caucasus over oil and its transport to the West. The new contendors are the USA, the European Union, and Russia.
“Russia: From Putin to Medvedev”
Where is Russia Going? What is Putin's Legacy? What can we expect from President Medvedev?
“Central Asia, Geoploitics and the Environment”
The environmental disaster of the Aral Sea in Central Asia. Cotton, gas, and oil and their impact on Central Asian politics and society.
Notes: Is especially interested in traveling to Texas and Montana. Unavailable May 2008 and June 2008. Willing to travel internationally, and will travel to Georgia, Turkey, China and Central Asia
Girma Kebbede ***
Professor of Geography • Earth and Environment
“Sudan’s Predicament: Civil War and Displacement”
“Conflicts in the Horn of Africa”
Kavita
R. Khory ’84
Associate Professor • Politics
“International Relations”
Linda Laderach
Professor • Music
Associate Professor • Music
“Music For Violin and Piano”
Music of the Classical and Romantic Periods. Based on availability of a baby grand piano in concert condition.
“Music for Violin and Harpsichord”
Music of the Baroque Period. Based on availability of a two-manual harpsichord in concert condition.
“Music for Violin and Organ”
Music for solo organ, music for violin and organ. Based on availability of organ.
Notes: Willing to travel internationally.
John Lemly *
Professor • English and African Studies
“Playwrights in the Garden of South Hadley: Suzan-Lori Parks and Wendy Wasserstein”
Two of contemporary America’s most prominent women playwrights, Suzan-Lori Parks and the late Wendy Wasserstein, graduated from Mount Holyoke. What besides their genius might help explain that coincidence?
“New African Voices”
The era of Independence was ushered in by such legendary writers as Achebe, Soyinka, Gordimer, and Ngugi, but recent fiction brings the continent alive in the 21st century. Come on a literary safari to meet these younger writers and their unforgettable characters: an Elvis impersonator in Lagos; the mother of a teen-age murderer in Cape Town; former child soldiers in West Africa; middle-aged lovers in Somalia; another couple on the South African coast and the whale that comes between them.
“Jane Austen in Hollywood”
Austen’s novels are the delight of recent filmmakers two centuries later. What do these “film versions” say about our times and Austen’s? Presentation includes selected film clips and passages from the fiction.
Notes: Willing to travel internationally.
Miriam R. Levin
Professor • History • Case Western Reserve University
“Sex and Science at Mount Holyoke”
A talk based on Professor Levin’s book Defining Women’s Scientific Enterprise: Mount Holyoke Faculty and the Rise of American Science.
Jonathan Lipman
Professor • History
“Chifanle meiyou? Have you eaten? – An Excursion into the Worlds of Chinese Food”
Throughout China, people tend to talk about food more than any other topic, to the point that in some parts of northern China people greet one another with, “Have you eaten?” rather than “Are you well?” An old Chinese proverb says, “The common people regard food as heaven.” Whatever the common people eat, both the humble and the privileged agree: There are only a few truly great haute cuisines in the world, and China’s is invariably listed close to the top. The dishes created by Chinese chefs are rivaled in subtlety, variety, and imagination perhaps only in France, and gourmets have been arguing their respective merits for centuries. In this talk, Professor Lipman tries to analyze, sometimes systematically, the wonder and diversity of Chinese cuisine.
“Living Judaism in Confucian Culture: Being Jewish and Being Chinese”
By the fifteenth century Common Era, Jews had lived in some parts of China for a very long time. Some scholars believe that Jewish merchants had settled in Chinese trading cities as early as the first century C.E., others that they had arrived only with the rapid expansion of the Muslim world in the seventh-eight centuries C.E. We do know that the Islamic conquests allowed Jewish merchants, mostly from Persia, to join Arabs, Persians, Turks, Armenians, and South Asians in the Chinese cities of both Silk Roads—the seaports of China’s southeast coast and the great caravan centers of northern China. Certainly foreign in culture, sojourners rather than settlers, Jewish merchants nonetheless adapted to local ways and used local Chinese (as well as the Eurasian lingua franca, Persian) to do business. Using a Jewish text (from 1489 C.E.) which he translated from Chinese into English, Professor Lipman will introduce in his talk the fascinating world of the Chinese Jews.
Notes: Unavailable January and June 2008. Willing to travel internationally.
Louise Litterick
Professor • Music
“Rewriting History: the French Chanson of the Early Sixteenth Century ”
The hypothesis that the early sixteenth-century chanson originated in Italy has been widely accepted. This talk will demonstrate how this narrative came into being and why it can no longer be sustained. The lecture will also provide evidence that this most French of musical genres evolved not in Italy, but in France.
“Music of Heroism, Protest, and Lament during the Second World War”
Musical works by European and American composers written during World War II suggest a wide range of responses to the world conflict, reflecting each composer’s particular political context as well as musical language, style, and personal situation.
Eugenie Malek
Senior Instructor of Piano Performance • Music
“Russian Romantic Masters of the Piano”
Recital (with commentary) of solo piano works by Tchaikovsky, Liadov, Borodin, Scriabin, and Rachmaninoff.
“Piano Works by American Composers”
Recital/lecture covering composers such as Samuel Barber, Robert Starer, Phillip Glass, Amy Beach, Ellen Zwilich, Diane Rahbee, Scott Joplin, and George Gershwin. Lecture covers style points as well as biographical and historical information.
“Piano Recital in C# Minor”
Piano solo recital / lecture of works united by a common key, enabling listeners to distinguish unique characteristics of each composer (Bach, Brahms, Chopin, Rachmaninoff, Debussy, Scriabin).
Notes: Is especially interested in traveling to the West Coast. Unavailable July-August 2008. Willing to travel internationally.
Kevin McCaffrey
Associate Director • Office of Communications
“PR 101”
A quick introduction on how to work with the media to advance organizational visibility and effectiveness.
Notes: Willing to travel internationally.
Jillian McLeod
Claire Booth Luce Assistant Professor • Mathematics
“A Long-Overdue Tribute to Euphemia Lofton Haynes”
Euphemia Lofton Haynes is the earliest known African American woman to receive a PFD in mathematics. Though she earned her degree in 1943 (at Catholic University), it was not until 2000 that the mathematics community acknowledged her and her accomplishments. In this lecture Professor McLeod presents a brief biography of this phenomenal woman/educator/ activist/recipient of a Papal medal/mathematician. She also uses Haynes’s life to question the ways in which race and gender continue to adversely determine the experiences of women from underrepresented groups in the mathematical sciences.
“Complete Chaos is Impossible!”
An introduction to Ramsey Theory (on the integers).
Notes: Willing to travel internationally.
› Mark A. McMenamin ***
Professor of Geology and Chair • Earth and Environment
“All that Rises Must Converge”
A look at the rebirth of Teilhard de Chardin’s concept of convergent evolution.
“Hypersea”
The story of how life moved from sea to land.
“The Cambrian Revolution”
How animals changed the world.
“The Great Story”
A reflection on the incorporation of the history of life into Thomas Barry’s “Great Work.”
Notes: Willing to travel internationally.
Thomas L. Millette
Associate Professor • Geography
“Deforestation in the Himalayas”
“Working in the Himalayas”
› Lynn Morgan
Professor • Sociology and Anthropology
“Embryo Encounters”
Human embryos are very much on people’s minds these days, but how did they get there? We weren’t always so obsessed with embryos; a hundred years ago, few could imagine what an embryo looked like. But that was before an enormous human embryo collecting project showed us how to think about “ourselves unborn.” This talk begins with Professor Morgan’s discovery of dozens of human fetuses in the basement of Mount Holyoke’s biology department. It goes on to tell the little-known history of a large collection of human embryo-and-fetal specimens, amassed in Baltimore in the early twentieth century and now housed at the National Museum of Health & Medicine. It traces the development of vast networks of embryo traffickers to the recent digitalization and popularity of embryo images. This history prompts the question: how do we know what embryos mean?
Notes: Willing to travel internationally.
› Charlene M0rrow
Co-Director, SummerMath & SEARCH • Lecturer, Psychology and Education
“Connecting Women with Mathematics”
Discussion of topics related to 20 years of work directing the SummerMath Program and the newer SEARCH program, both mathematics programs at MHC for a wide range of high school girls from across the country. Topics can include a description of the programs’ problem-solving approach to gaining confidence and fluency in mathematics, helping girls gain a mathematical voice, or current issues regarding gender and mathematics.
“Origami and Mathematics”
Charlene Marrow has conducted a wide range of origami workshops, from the construction of beautiful geometric objects made from folded paper squares (with an exploration of the geometric structure of these objects), to an exploration of mathematics related to coloring possibilities of origami polyhedra. All explorations are informal and mathematical expertise is not required.
Notes: Unavailable September 2007–October 2007 or February 2008.
› James Morrow
Co-Director, SummerMath • Lecturer, Mathematics
“Geometries for the 21st Century”
This presentation will describe the evolution of "geometry" from its origin as the only geometry to the many flavors of geometry in use in the twenty-first century.
Notes: Unavailable September 2007–October 2007 or February 2008.
Eva Paus
Professor,
Carol Hoffman Collins
Director of the Center • Economics,
McCulloch
Center for Global Initiatives
“The Center for Global Initiatives – Preparing Students for Global Competence and Citizenship”
We live in a world where capital and information cross national borders at growing speed; where unprecedented human development and technological achievements coexist with abject poverty, deprivation, and inequality within and among countries; where unchecked economic growth is posing a growing threat to the environmental balance sustaining human livelihood; and where homogenizing global forces draw into sharper relief cross-national and cultural differences in understanding the world and its challenges. A liberal arts education has to prepare students for these challenges of the 21st century. Building on Mount Holyoke College’s long tradition of international engagement, the Center for Global Initiatives was founded in 2004 to unite Mount Holyoke’s wealth of international programs and people and advance a coherent vision for education for global competence and citizenship. Through its far-reaching initiatives, the Center aims to weave engagement with a global world into the very fabric of a Mount Holyoke education.
“The New Global Division of Labor: Winners and Losers of Offshore Outsourcing”
The increasing organization of production across national borders is a key force behind the current economic globalization process. As corporations in the developed countries produce and source increasingly more products and services in countries with lower wages and social and environmental standards, an intense debate has developed about the implications of globalized production for developed and developing countries. Some think that we are at the beginning of a new Great Transformation, while others interpret current trends as more of the same. The lecture will discuss the reasons behind the growing globalization of production, and the implication for employment, wages, income distribution, and economic growth in developed countries.
“The Rise of China”
Implications of the Rise of China for the rest of the world. Analysis and policy discussion.
› Ellen D. Perrella
Head Athletic Trainer and Lecturer
“FUNctional Strength Training”
Incorporates multi-dimensional movements that emphasize balance, proprioception, and coordination. This is an innovative approach to getting stronger that is fun and requires little to no equipment. We will review the basic principles of functional strength training with a hands-on lab for all fitness levels.
“Separating Fat from Fiction: Exploring Myths, Realities, and Assumptions”
The information provided in this lecture has profound implications for your health. The misinformation presented by the media, the diet industry and the medical establishment regarding these topics is staggering. How does obesity relate to mortality, heart disease and many other health risks? What are the short and long-term effects of dieting, considering that 55 percent of the adult population is dieting in America at any given time? How much and what type of exercise does it take to reap health benefits? This talk will share research, challenge myths, and shed light on these important topics.
› Indira V. Peterson -- NEW!!
David B. Truman Professor • Asian Studies
A native of Mumbai, India, Indira Viswanathan Peterson specializes in Sanskrit and Tamil literature, Hinduism, and South Indian cultural history and classical music. Her book Poems to Siva: The Hymns of the Tamil Saints (Princeton University Press, 1989) is the first study and translation of the Tamil devotional hymns of Shaiva saints of South India, and a study of the performance of the hymns in South Indian temples. Her newest book, Design and Rhetoric in Sankrit Court Epic: The Kiratarjuniya of Bharavi (State University of New York Press, 2003), is an introduction to the Sanskrit court epic genre through the analysis of a celebrated sixth-century poem
Constantine Pleshakov
Visiting Assistant Professor • Russian and Eurasian Studies
“Russu-Japanese War, 1904-1905”
Based on Professor Pleshakov’s book, The Tsar’s Last Armada (2002).
“Russia and America in 2007”
Current political and diplomatic issues.
“The Romanovs’ Legacy”
The legacy of the east Russian dynasty.
Notes: Unavailable December 2008–January 2009, and May–June 2009. Willing to travel internationally.
Harriet S. Pollatsek **
Julia and Sara Ann Adams Professor of Science and Professor of Mathematics • Mathematics and Statistics
“Is Math an Experimental Science?”
“From Witches to Global Warming: 15 Years of Quantitative Reasoning”
› Laurie Priest
Director of Athletics and Chair • Physical Education and Athletic
“A History of Sport at Mount Holyoke College” (slide presentation)
“Gender Equity for Women in Sport: Are Our Sons and Daughters Being Treated Equally?”
Notes: Willing to travel internationally.
William
H. Quillian
Professor • English
“Virginia Woolf’s To the Lighthouse”
“D. H. Lawrence’s The Rainbow”
“John Berger: A Critic of Our Time”
Margaret Robinson
Professor and Chair of Mathematics • Mathematics and Statistics
“Fractals and Chaos: An Introduction”
This lecture will give a hands-on view of the material covered in an explorations course on fractals.
“Famous Unsolved Problems in Number Theory”
What do mathematicians work on these days?
“Cryptography”
An introduction to the basic ideas used for public key cryptosystems.
Notes: Willing to travel internationally.
› Michael Robinson -- NEW!!
Professor • Economics
“SAT Optional at Mount Holyoke”
An overview of the academic research on Mount Holyoke's SAT-optional policy. Who submits scores and who doesn’t? Is either decision equally rational? Does it impact the probability of admission?
“Take me out the Opera—or was that the Ballgame?”
Research on attendance at performing arts and sporting events. Are sports and arts complements or substitutes? How does marriage affect the attendance patterns of men and women?
Notes: Willing to travel domestically. Is unavailable July-August 2008.
Alberto Sandoval
Professor • Spanish
His current research involves Juan Ruiz de Alarcon’s colonial discourse, Puerto Rican cultural representation of air migration and identity formation, and AIDS and Latino literature.
“Spanish Theater in the 17th Century”
“Latin American Colonial Discourse”
“U.S. Latino Theater”
Robert M. Schwartz
E. Nevius Rodman Professor • History
“History of the College and Campus”
Why not a history of our own back yard? This history of the College and the campus is something more than local boosterism; it serves as a microcosm of American history from the standpoints of women’s education and environmental and cultural history. Indeed, international history comes into play with the study of Mount Holyoke’s participation in missionary activity in Turkey, African, India, and East Asia. Student work on missions abroad and the evolution of the campus are the two themes represented in the collaborative project Professor Schwartz directs: A Digital Historical Atlas of the Campus and the College.
“Environmental History”
Environmental history is something new under the recent sun: It reflects our current concerns about the present and future health of our earth and places near earth. The history of human changes to the environment is of increasing interest to students and scientists as well. In this talk, examples from Europe and America from the Renaissance to the twentieth century will be discussed. The lecture will also cover conflicting conceptions of nature in Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein and the use of computer technology (Geographic Information Systems) to explore questions about the impact of industrialization on the human and physical landscape of Victorian England.
“The Transportation Revolution of the 19th Century in Britain and France”
This talk comes from Professor Schwartz’s research on railways and social change in the long nineteenth century (1800-1914). Time itself was transformed in the sense that railway scheduling brought about the standardization of time over regions and nations. Perceptions of time also changed as time came to be measured out in minutes and seconds, and even a minute late was enough to miss the train. Space too, changed as the speed of rail transport served to shrink geographic space, connect remote areas to a central network, and transform rural and urban landscapes. In the early nineteenth century, fast horse-drawn coaches were thought remarkable by reaching Edinburgh from London in 69 hours. In the 1880s it took only 10 hours for the same journey by train. These and other dramatic changes become clear in maps, historical images, and historical accounts of amazement that one could travel through the countryside at 25 miles an hour!
Notes: Especially interested in traveling to Los Angeles, New York City, Ann Arbor, Florida, Charleston SC, Boston, Washington DC, Austin TX, and elsewhere. Willing to travel internationally.
› Peter J. Scotto
Associate Professor • Russian and Eurasian Studies
“A History of the Russian Alphabet” (with slides)
“Saint Petersburg: The City as Cultural Icon” (with slides)
“Egyptomania is Pushkin’s St. Petersburg” (with slides)
› Curtis G. Smith
Professor Emeritus • Biological Sciences
“The Structure of Memory”
An understanding of how the brain processes information gives us some useful insights into how memory works. Such knowledge may not help you remember where you left your keys, but it will at least give you an appreciation of the complexities and the amazing efficiency of human memory.
“Are We the Seed of Abraham?”
A critical look at the “science” of genealogy in the light of
modern genetics reveals the futility of trying to trace our ancestry more
than a few generations back, but also uncovers some amazing facts about how
interrelated everyone is, and offers some insights about race, migrations,
and human evolution.
Notes: Willing to travel internationally.
› Preston H. Smith II
Assistant Professor • Politics
“Community-Based Learning: Pedagogy and Community Service”
Susan
M. Smith
Norma Wait Harris and Emma Gale Harris Professor • Biological
Sciences
“Social Behavior of Black Capped Chickadees: A Long-Term Study”
Paul J. Staiti
Professor on the Alumnae Foundation • Art
“The Art of Winslow Homer”
Gary
Steigerwalt
Professor • Music
“Two Centuries of Four-Hand Piano Music” with pianist Dana Muller
A lecture-recital featuring works for one piano, four hands performed by Gary Steigerwalt and his wife, pianist Dana Muller. Programs can be topical (music from New England in the late nineteenth century; early twentieth-century French composers, among others) or can be a cross-section of compositions from the late Classical period through the twentieth century. For more information and samplings from compact disc recordings, visit www.muller-steigerwalt.com.
“Acknowledging Her Celtic Muse: The Works of Pianist/Composer Helen Hopekirk with soprano Melinda Spratlan”
A lecture-recital on the career of Scottish-American musician Helen Hopekirk (1856-1945), with emphasis on her changing compositional style. MHC Music faculty Melinda Spratlan joins Gary Steigerwalt in performances of Hopekirk’s vocal literature ranging from German art songs and Scottish folk tune adaptations to evocative settings of poetry by ‘Celtic Twilight’ writer Fiona Macleod.
Notes: Traveling to all areas of the U.S. fine for both programs. For Program #1, however, performers have a particular interest in traveling to Southwestern states. Unavailable February 2008. Willing to travel internationally.
Geoffrey S. Sumi
Associate Professor • Classics
“A Culture of Violence? Popular Entertainment in Ancient Rome and the Modern U. S.”
Ancient Rome is often cited as a negative example of what the modern U. S. might become (or perhaps has already become): a callous culture inured to violence through the effects of watching violent entertainment. Conversely, can violent entertainment serve a useful social function? We will explore both sides of this question through a discussion of violent entertainment in ancient Rome (gladiatorial combat, wild beast hunts, public executions, and chariot racing) and comparing these with the forms of violent entertainment more familiar to us.
“Monuments and Social Memory in Ancient Rome”
The topography of ancient Rome was a symbolic landscape dotted with buildings and monuments that told stories about Rome’s distant past. For this reason, Rome has been called a “living museum.” These monuments and the stories associated with them informed the social memory of Romans and shaped their understanding of their own history. In this lecture, we will examine some of these monuments and their connection to Roman history under the reign of Augustus, first emperor of Rome, who was responsible for rebuilding the city following a devastating civil war and, as a result, reformulating Romans’ view of their own past.
Notes: Especially interested in traveling to Seattle. Willing to travel internationally.
Donna Van Handle
Senior Lecture • German
Dean of International Students • McCulloch Center for Global Initiatives
“McCulloch Center for Global Initiatives”
The Center for Global Initiatives (CGI) was founded in 2004 to unite Mount Holyoke’s wealth of international programs and people, and implement a coherent vision for education for global citizenship. The Center initiates, promotes, and coordinates educational activities to advance our understanding of global problems and solutions from cross-disciplinary, cross-cultural, and cross-national perspectives. Since fall 2003, Van Handle has served as Mount Holyoke's Dean of International Students through the Center.
Notes: Van Handel also specializes in Contemporary German Landeskunde and literature (especially literature of the former German Democratic Republic); second-language acquisition; and use of Internet resources in foreign language teaching and research. She can speak on any of these topics.
› Nicole Vaget -- NEW!!
Reverand Joseph Paradis Professor • French
“Mount Holyoke College, 1937-2007: Innovation Emerging Through Tradition”
For the fall 2007 Mount Holoyke College European Alumnae Reunion/Symposium in Geneva, Professor Vaget presented a DVD as a “souvenir from MHC.” It is a multimedia narration of the last 60 years of the college, during which three male presidents (Ham, Gettel, Truman) and two female presidents (Kennan and Creighton) served.
Entertaining and factual, this narrated visual essay uses images from the MHC archives collection. Remembering campus events, presidents, students, and faculty, Professor Vaget conducts a 20-minute chronological tour of life at MHC .
Notes: Unavailable July - December 2008.
Thomas E. Wartenberg
Professor • Philosophy and Film Studies
“Existentialism”
This school of philosophy, which achieved popularity after the Second World War, remains intriguing to many people. Find out why from the author of the recently published Existentialism: A Beginner’s Guide.
“Doing Philosophy with Children”
Can elementary school children really learn philosophy? The surprising answer is that young children have a real knack for philosophy. As a result of Professor Wartenberg’s interest in exploring philosophy with young children, he has developed a course in which Mount Holyoke students teach philosophy to children at a local elementary school. They do so by using children’s books as prompts for philosophical discussions. Using a 30-minute video about this course and the Web site he developed for teaching philosophy to children, Professor Wartenberg will discuss this intriguing community-based project.
“Film as Philosophy”
Did “The Matrix” remind you of your first philosophy course? Were you a bit puzzled and confused by the inverted time sequence of “Memento”? These are just two examples of films that present actual philosophical ideas, which may explain, in part, a recent upsurge in philosophers’ interest in popular culture and, especially, film. The talk will explore this trend and the question of how films can make a genuine contribution to philosophical thinking.
Notes: Unavailable July 2008. Willing to travel internationally.
Donald Weber
Lucia, Ruth, and Elizabeth MacGregor Professor of English • English
“Don’t Get Me Started: The future of Jewish Stand Up Comedy”
This presentation offers a deep analysis of the traditions of Jewish stand up comedy (mainly the 1950s) and argues for an emerging mode of performance art in this, our “post-Seinfeld” era. Professor Weber calls this mode “the story of my story,” and shows how it has come to inform/shape the performance styles of a host of contemporary comedians, above all Marc Maron. The talk includes video clips as well.
“The Anxiety of Belonging: The Multiculturalism Debates in Europe, the UK, and America”
This talk examines the current debates about assimilation (“integration” in European terminology), identity politics, and multiculturalism in Germany, France, the Netherlands, the UK, and America focusing (for the most part) on recent films. The vexed question of “belonging” and the problem of feeling “at home” absorb a host of artists and filmmakers today. Using a number of clips, Professor Weber explores how popular culture engages these ultimate, pressing questions.
“Discussion of and Book Signing of Haunted in the New World: Jewish American Culture from Cahan to the Goldbergs”
Professor Weber is happy to visit with alumnae groups interested in reading sections of his most recent book or hosting a local book signing.
Notes: Especially interested in traveling to Chicago, Seattle, San Francisco, and Los Angeles. Willing to travel internationally
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Be good to yourself. You can’t fill anyone else’s cup until you fill your own. — Susan Taylor, editor, Essence magazine, Black History Month keynote address, 1997 |
