CASE WESTERN RESERVE UNIVERSITY art/sci College of Arts and Sciences fall 2005 vol.2 / no.1 www.case.edu/artsci MESSAGE FROM THE DEAN Athena is the goddess of wisdom and the Parthenon is her temple. This summer, I watched it being reconstructed. I had come to Athens at the end of a family trip, after a research symposium on the island of Mykonos. My wife and I guided our three children through many beloved monuments of Hellas—the temple of Asklepios at Epidaurus, the seat of the oracle at Delphi, the temple of Apollo at Vassae. Everywhere, we found breathtaking transformation in immemorial sites. At Vassae, where I once studied the ruin as the only person in the landscape for an entire day, I now found a canopy, a high-tech learning station, and groups of students speaking many languages. Of all the changes I observed in Greece, none struck me as deeply as the transformation of research and learning at Apollo’s temple. The students exploring the ancient sites live in a world unknown not only to Meno, but also to the generation of students and scholars that immediately preceded theirs. We are all seekers of wisdom. But wisdom now requires the ability to thrive in an environment that will not come into existence until tomorrow. That is one reason why we created SAGES—to equip students to engage in lifelong learning in a variety of settings; to teach them how to communicate in every medium from Socratic dialogue to web broadcast. This issue of art/sci presents the College as it prepares, and prepares its students, for an exciting and challenging future. Mark Turner Institute Professor and Dean COMING TO FRUITION A fall celebration for Arts and Sciences Welcome to this special issue of art/sci, the biannual newsletter for faculty, staff, alumni, and friends of the College of Arts and Sciences at Case. As the 2005-06 academic year begins, the fruits of several major initiatives—in student and faculty recruitment, curricular reform, program development, and facilities creation—will be visible in the College and across the university. With so much to celebrate, nothing less than a special issue seemed adequate to the occasion. This is the year when SAGES, a program created under the leadership of Arts and Sciences faculty, will become the general education curriculum for all Case undergraduates. It is the year when the university will enroll its largest entering class ever, and when Arts and Sciences will welcome eighteen new faculty members, including ten in the humanities and six in the social sciences. It is a year when several departments will be significantly expanded, with the appointment of new chairs and, in some cases, a redefinition of their research and educational missions. Finally, this is the year when the newly completed construction of world-class facilities—including the residential Village at 115, SAGES Central, and the Samuel B. and Marian K. Freedman Digital Library, Language Learning, and Multimedia Services Center—will make an unprecedented array of educational resources and experiences available to Case students and faculty. We hope that you will enjoy learning about the remarkable changes taking place in Arts and Sciences this fall. Thank you for reading this special issue. WHAT'S INSIDE ▼ FREEDMAN CENTER OPENS ▼ PROFILES OF NEW FACULTY ▼ NEW DEPARTMENT CHAIRS NAMED ▼ ALUMNI ASSOCIATION APPROVED ▼ SAGES CENTRAL ▼ FALL 2005/SPRING 2006 EVENTS FROM INSPIRATION TO PRESENTATION: 21st-Century Information Technology Finds a Home in New Freedman Center Without relinquishing their traditional function as information repositories, academic libraries are increasingly embracing the role of producers and publishers of knowledge. At Case, this change has been brought home with the creation of a state-of-the-art information technology center in Kelvin Smith Library—a facility where the production of digital materials supports interactive approaches to learning, teaching, and research. The Samuel B. and Marian K. Freedman Digital Library, Language Learning, and Multimedia Services Center owes its existence to the generosity of the two Case alumni for whom it is named. Mr. Freedman graduated from Adelbert College in 1937 with a bachelor’s degree in economics; Mrs. Freedman graduated that same year from Flora Stone Mather College with a bachelor’s degree in English. On September 8, the couple hosted the Center’s dedication ceremony, which featured remarks by university leaders and tours of the facility. The Freedman Center is also the result of an ongoing collaboration between KSL (the managing partner), Arts and Sciences, and the Instructional Technology and Academic Computing (ITAC) department of Case Information Technology Services. It was designed to provide users with the equipment and expertise they need to take their ideas “from inspiration to presentation”; to transform language learning at Case through multimedia tools; and to enhance adaptive technology services for people with visual impairments by equipping workstations with devices that magnify and read aloud from texts. “Multimedia can be defined as the computer-delivered combination of a large range of communication modes—text, sound, graphics, images, animation, moving pictures, and so on,” explained University Librarian Joanne Eustis. “Each element has advantages in a learning situation.” With the opening of the Freedman Center, all members of the Case community will be able to gather materials (such as photographs, audio clips, and video footage), capture them digitally, and integrate them in DVDs or other formats. Even experienced users of information technology will be surprised and impressed by the Freedman Center’s capabilities. Alongside traditional 8.5” x 14” scanners, for instance, the Center boasts a medium-format scanner that can handle maps, atlas pages, and posters; thanks to an adapter that lights images from above, it can also digitize x-rays, CAT scans, and transparencies. Film, slide, and high-speed document scanners are also part of the technological mix. On tours of the Freedman Center, staff introduce visitors to the “multimedia monolith,” a console of equipment that... [Illustration Caption]: Perspective Sketch, Hasenstab Architects, The Samuel B. and Marian K. Freedman Digital Library, Language Learning, and Multimedia Services Center art/sci fall 2005 vol.2 / no.1 EDITOR: CATHERINE VARGA DESIGN: CREATIVE COUNSEL PRINTING: MASTER PRINTING art/sci is distributed twice each academic year to alumni, faculty, staff, and friends of the College of Arts and Sciences at Case Western Reserve University ...can capture any form of media output—including the sound produced by records (all speeds), cassette tapes, 1/4-inch reel-to-reel tapes, and the audio tracks of videos and DVDs—and incorporate it into curricular materials or course projects. When Arts and Sciences first became involved in planning for the Freedman Center, the goal was to upgrade its Language Resource Center, located in Guilford House and operated by the department of modern languages and literatures. Peter Yang, associate professor of German and Chinese, received a Provost Opportunity Grant to fund the upgrade. Former dean Samuel M. Savin then approved the creation of an advisory committee, led by associate dean Stephen Haynesworth and former department chair Marie Lathers, to develop a detailed plan. As it happened, Joanne Eustis, also a member of that committee, had just received a Provost Opportunity Grant of her own, to develop what would become the Freedman Center. At her suggestion, Arts and Sciences combined its efforts (and grant) with the library’s, making the language learning facility an integral part of the KSL project. William Siebenschuh, interim chair of modern languages and literatures, worked with the library to bring the project to completion. Thanks to the partnership between KSL and the College, the Freedman Center includes a Language Learning area with online access to self-study courses as well as departmental course tools. Instead of just listening to traditional instructional tapes, students can play CD-ROMs at any one of 22 workstations, record assignments online, or even conduct videoconferences with people in other countries—a way of practicing their language skills in authentic, real-time contexts. According to Thomas Knab, chief information officer in Arts and Sciences, “Language learning will be galvanized when faculty members in modern languages and literatures, library staff, Arts and Sciences personnel trained in language acquisition, and ITAC staff work together to use and create digital multimedia materials for education and scholarship.” In the short term, Justin Locsei, acting manager of the Language Learning area, has collaborated with faculty and staff to prepare the new facility and online features for classes this fall. “The Freedman Center will serve as a platform for global communication and presentation from Case,” Knab said. “By merging equipment, collections, and personnel, it will provide a range of new services with the capability of connecting students, educators, and scholars around the world. It is critical to the College’s plans to offer advanced instructional and communications technology integrated with support services for all of our faculty and students.” The Freedman Center, located on the first floor of KSL, is open to all faculty, students, and staff with a valid Case ID. For more information, visit http://library.case.edu/ksl/admin/multimedia/. THREE A&S FACULTY NAMED INAUGURAL FREEDMAN CENTER FELLOWS The Freedman Center Fellows Program was established by KSL, ITAC, and the University Center for Innovation in Teaching and Education (UCITE) to showcase the Freedman Center’s potential and encourage faculty to use its facilities. Three Freedman Center Fellows will be named annually. They will receive a summer stipend to assist them in redesigning undergraduate academic courses, incorporating technologies and building teaching tools that support the development of information and research skills. The inaugural Freedman Center Fellows are three professors from Arts and Sciences: ◆ Kimberly Emmons, assistant professor, English — Emmons has revised ENGL 310: “The History of the English Language.” As a Freedman Center Fellow, she developed a series of course modules that introduce students to many of the library and electronic resources available for the study of English. ◆ Kelly McMann, assistant professor, political science — With her Freedman Center Fellowship, McMann has revised her course POSC 362: “Politics of Central Asia.” She has prepared guidelines for Internet research for course projects and designed multiple research exercises that incorporate the resources of the Freedman Center. ◆ Catherine Scallen, associate professor, art history and art — Scallen will incorporate extensive research-based, collaborative, and multimedia-based learning into her SAGES University Seminar, “Art the Mirror of Art 1400-1789.” She will use the Freedman Center Fellowship funds to assist students with the development of multimedia class presentations and to improve their thinking, research, writing, and oral presentation skills. COMMUNICATION SCIENCES INTRODUCES A SHARPER FOCUS, NEW FACULTY After a year of restructuring, the College’s department of communication sciences will emerge this fall with a sharper focus, new faculty, and expanded opportunities for students interested in pursuing degrees in this rewarding field. Until now, the department has been home to two programs: (1) communication studies, in which students developed skills in public speaking and persuasion, with an emphasis on interpersonal and organizational applications; and (2) communication sciences and disorders, which prepared undergraduate and graduate students for careers in speech-language pathology. In 2003-04, however, a departmental review held in consultation with an external committee led to three recommendations that would alter the department’s future. “We immediately addressed the first two recommendations—separating the two programs and discontinuing the communication studies track within the department,” said acting chair Stephen Haynesworth, who is also an associate dean and associate professor of biology. “The third recommendation was to invest in the communications sciences and disorders track, and build upon our existing strengths in this area. With this recommendation, we took our time and spent much of the last year looking for ways to develop a distinctive, niche program that would attract the best students and researchers.” The department’s new emphasis, within the field of communication sciences and disorders, will be biological, medical, and clinical issues relevant to children. “We already have built a great reputation for study and research in these areas,” Haynesworth said. “We have a significant number of graduates who are already out there, practicing and thriving, and we have developed long-standing relationships with many of the local health care facilities whose focus is communication sciences and disorders.” Haynesworth pointed to the department’s ongoing collaboration with the Cleveland Hearing & Speech Center, whose executive director, Bernard Henri, is an adjunct faculty member in communication sciences. In addition, Haynesworth sees abundant possibilities for collaboration between department faculty and faculty from Case’s school of engineering, the schools of medicine and dental medicine, the Frances Payne Bolton School of Nursing, and the Mandel School of Applied Social Sciences, as well as from several departments within Arts and Sciences. The close proximity of leading health care facilities, including Rainbow Babies and Children’s Hospital and The Cleveland Clinic, provides outstanding opportunities for students and faculty alike. As a result of the restructuring, the department has added three new faculty members, including Angela Ciccia, an alumna of the department’s B.A., M.A., and Ph.D. programs, who has served as instructor and clinical program director for the past two years (see accompanying story). Although the communication studies track has been discontinued within the department, Haynesworth said that the College still recognizes the need to help students enhance their communication skills. “We are building interdisciplinary programs in this area,” he noted, citing SAGES as an example. “In SAGES, writing and oral communication are integrated into the seminar experience.” NEW APPOINTMENTS IN COMMUNICATION SCIENCES Angela Hein Ciccia (Ph.D., CCC-SLP in Communication Disorders, Case Western Reserve University) studies how adolescents process social information. She uses functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) to identify the neuroanatomy involved in such processing; her subjects include typically developing adolescents as well as adolescents with traumatic brain injury. “I became interested in studying adolescents while I was working as a speech-language pathologist at the University of Texas medical branch,” Ciccia said. “I was assigned to a pediatric rehabilitation unit and was seeing a lot of teenage boys who had sustained head injuries from sports, car accidents, and general risk-taking activities. I became frustrated at how little research was available and applicable to this population.” She hopes that the restructured department “can take advantage of the tremendous resources that are available on this campus, and, by doing so, conduct research that will ultimately lead to more efficacious treatment strategies.” Ciccia’s teaching interests are anatomy and physiology, neuroscience of communication disorders, adult language disorders, and motor speech disorders. She is the faculty advisor for the Case chapter of the National Student Speech-Language-Hearing Association and the undergraduate advisor for communication sciences majors. art/sci fall 2005 vol.2 / no.1 Patrizia Bonaventura (Ph.D. in Speech and Hearing Science, The Ohio State University) conducts research on speech production, perception, and recognition, with the goal of developing new technologies for people with hearing and speech disabilities. At Case, she will establish a speech production lab equipped with an electromagnetic device that measures, graphs, and visualizes movements of the speech organs. Currently, Bonaventura is working on an automatic speech recognizer that processes both auditory cues (the sounds of speech) and articulatory cues (as in lip reading); most speech recognizers are “trained” to respond to acoustic signals only. She is also collaborating with audiologists at the Cleveland Hearing & Speech Center to improve speech interpreting devices for the deaf. Her teaching interests include helping students apply speech science to the improvement of speech technology—an especially promising career field for graduates in communication sciences. Stacy L. Williams (Ph.D., CCC-SLP in Communication Sciences and Disorders, University of Cincinnati) began her career as a speech-language pathologist, creating and customizing software programs for the children she served. Her areas of expertise include augmentative communication, instructional technology, and distance education, all linked to children’s speech-language development and disorders. At present, Williams’s primary research objective is to investigate uses of virtual reality simulations for subjects with a variety of speech-language disorders. “Case has an outstanding reputation for development and implementation of innovative technology-based applications,” she said. “It is my hope that the newly expanded communication sciences department, applying technological tools and medical advances, will research new and cutting-edge ideas for integrating technology into the field of speech-language pathology.” NEW CHAIRS NAMED IN PHYSICS, PSYCHOLOGY, ANTHROPOLOGY Three current Arts and Sciences faculty members will become department chairs this fall. The transition in leadership is especially notable in physics, where Cyrus Taylor will assume the role that Lawrence Krauss has filled for the past 12 years. Lawrence Greksa, after a year as interim chair of anthropology, has become full-time chair on a lasting basis. And Robert Greene, who previously served as chair of psychology from 2000 to 2003, has returned to that position, succeeding Douglas Detterman. In interviews with art/sci, the three chairs shared their thoughts about their appointments and their respective departments. Cyrus Taylor • Physics In addition to serving as chair of physics, Taylor will continue as director of Case’s Physics Entrepreneurship Program (PEP) and the Institute for Technology Innovation, Commercialization and Entrepreneurship (InTICE). He joined the department as professor of physics in 1988. “Professor Krauss had an extraordinary tenure as chair of the department. When he came in, he faced major challenges in hiring new faculty as our senior colleagues retired. In the process, he repositioned us as an even more powerful department, with major new research thrusts representing the opportunities of the current physics world. At the same time, he led the reformation of the undergraduate and graduate programs, creating new degree programs in Engineering Physics (with the School of Engineering) and Mathematics and Physics (with the mathematics department). He also led the creation of the PEP program. In short, Lawrence helped create what is arguably the best physics department of its size in the nation. continued on page 6 fall 2005 vol.2 / no.1 NEW CHAIRS NAMED IN PHYSICS, PSYCHOLOGY, ANTHROPOLOGY continued “The physics department at Case is an amazing place. The faculty are world renowned for their work, and yet manage to combine their excellence in research and teaching with an extraordinary collegiality. The corollary to this is that the opportunity to serve as chair is an enormous honor.” Lawrence Greksa • Anthropology Greksa is a human population biologist who uses evolutionary and ecological paradigms to examine the biological and cultural adaptations of humans to a variety of stressors. Greksa, who joined Case in 1982, teaches introductory courses in physical anthropology and upper-level courses in human population biology and quantitative methods. “A year ago, when Dean Turner asked me to serve as interim chair, the department was preparing to undergo an external review, one part of which was creating a vision statement. The statement called for strategic modifications in our undergraduate and graduate programs that would allow us to maintain our preeminence in medical anthropology while expanding to the broader area of global health. “The creation of the vision statement and the other activities last year were an effort of the department as a whole. So I knew, when I accepted the full-time position as chair, that I would be leading a department with a single vision, made up of faculty members who have worked together productively for many years and who are all committed to doing whatever is necessary to ensure that the department maintains its distinction. “In this spirit, we will now begin to transform anthropology into a department with a broader focus on global health. The first step is to modify old courses and to create new courses, for both undergraduates and graduate students. We will also make strategic hires of new faculty who will further enhance our program. Finally, we will increase and intensify our ties with other units in the university, including the master’s program in public health in the department of epidemiology and biostatistics, the Center for Global Health, and others. “Naturally, I was pleased to see that this year’s common reading for incoming students is Tracy Kidder’s Mountains Beyond Mountains, a book about medical anthropologist and physician Paul Farmer. Most faculty in the department have known Paul for years. I think the book will show students what a determined and committed person can do. He is not only a first-class researcher, but also a true humanitarian who has provided health care (both directly and indirectly, through clinics he has established) to people who would otherwise have none whatsoever. Paul’s work provides students with a wonderful example of how ideals can be put into practice.” Robert Greene • Psychology Greene, a Case professor since 1984, conducts research on human learning and memory, specifically the effects of repetition on memory and the relationship between short- and long-term measures of memory. He also teaches several psychology courses, including “Psychology of Learning” and “Learning Theory.” “I welcomed the opportunity to return to the chair because this is such an exciting time for the College and the university. With SAGES becoming a complete reality, undergraduate enrollments booming, and all sorts of exciting collaborations occurring across departments in the College, this seems to be the beginning of a new and promising era for us all. “We are happy to welcome a new faculty member this semester, Anastasia Dimitropoulos. Her appointment will help the department continue its tradition of excellence in the field of cognition (and specifically disabilities in cognitive functioning), in addition to its history of excellence in clinical psychology. We already plan to carry out searches for additional faculty, and we are very grateful that the College has been so proactive in keeping the department of psychology strong.” CHARLES BURROUGHS NAMED AS CHAIR OF ART HISTORY AND ART Three new faculty members in Arts and Sciences have been appointed as department chairs: Merlin Donald in cognitive science, Charles Burroughs in art history and art, and Per Aage Brandt in modern languages and literatures. The previous issue of art/sci led off with the news of Professor Donald’s appointment. For this issue, Charles Burroughs, the Elsie B. Smith Professor of Liberal Arts, has written about his career, his research interests, and his hopes for his department. A story on Professor Brandt will appear in the next issue of art/sci. I am an art and architectural historian with broad scholarly interests, though my major area of specialization has been Italy between the thirteenth and seventeenth centuries. I have published a range of studies on well-known protagonists of cultural transformation, including Michelangelo, Brunelleschi, Alberti, Palladio, Botticelli, and some of the most important papal patrons of the period. But I have a particular interest in the anonymous or vernacular practices that shape both urban and rural environments. My first book, From Signs to Design: Environmental Process and Reform in Early Renaissance Rome (MIT Press, 1990), explored the emergence of new forms of urban living and models of urban space—forms that inspired, but did not depend on, conscious planning. In some studies, I have concentrated on architecture; in others, on the production of images. I sought to integrate these interests, as well as my reading of late-medieval Florentine literature, in a recent book, The Italian Renaissance Palace Façade: Structures of Authority, Surfaces of Sense (Cambridge University Press, 2002). In this project I explore the “façade” as a central notion in understanding the cultural world as well as the key architectural conceptions of late medieval and early modern Italy (and by extension Europe). For example, I explore the relationship between façade design and the well-known contemporary interest in reading a person’s character from the exterior, e.g., through physiognomy, and conversely in resisting such legibility, through dissimulation. My current projects include a study of the idea of origin (i.e., of architecture, society, the city, etc.) in early Renaissance Florence, and a related exploration of neglected dimensions of Botticelli’s famous mythological painting the Primavera. In addition, I am part of an international team of scholars, including experts in labor and environmental history, that recently won a Getty Foundation Collaborative Award for a study of plantation landscapes and architecture, and the representation of these in a range of media and contexts, in the Atlantic world in the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries. My interest in and experience of cross-disciplinary research and pedagogy, not least across the traditional boundary between the humanities and sciences, resonate with current concerns here. I am excited to work in an institutional milieu in which the questioning of existing pedagogical patterns and practices is the order of the day. And it is invigorating for me to be back, once again, in a major city, one engaged, with whatever prospects of success, in an ambitious program of redefinition in which cultural institutions and the visual and other arts already play a crucial role. Many people I have met clearly wonder why anyone would accept a position in this department just as the Cleveland Museum of Art is about to close for several years. This is undoubtedly a major blow to the department, but it also creates an opportunity for us to consider the nature of our links with the Museum, and indeed to think about the actual and potential place in contemporary society of museums and the artworks they harbor. The department also includes a lively studio program with a particular commitment to multicultural art and design teaching and a close relationship with the Cleveland Institute of Art. It is therefore an excellent platform from which to consider a wide range of ways to make art and to study artistic making as well as ways of writing about and responding to the visual arts. I am honored to find myself a member of, and to have the opportunity to lead, an extremely distinguished and highly visible group of art historians, and to do so within the larger, ambitiously conceived interdisciplinary environment of the College of Arts and Sciences, indeed of the University as a whole. [Photo Caption]: Charles Burroughs ARTS AND SCIENCES ALUMNI NEWS fall 2005 vol.2 / no.1 NEW CASE ALUMNI ASSOCIATION APPROVED After two years of intense effort by alumni leadership and the university administration, the Case Board of Trustees “enthusiastically and unanimously approved” a resolution recommending the creation and support of the Alumni Association of Case Western Reserve University. During the June 4, 2005 board meeting, President Hundert described the formation of this unified alumni association as a critical element in Case’s plans to enhance its national prominence and international stature. In approving the resolution, the Board was adopting the recommendations of the Alumni Task Force, which met weekly over the past six months to solicit alumni perspectives and propose a structure for the new organization. Led by Harold McRae (ADL'65 and university trustee) and Laura John Nosek (NUR'61, NUR'81, GRS'86), the Alumni Task Force has worked diligently to serve the interests and priorities of the 25 university-based alumni associations and affinity groups that will now be combined into one alumni association representing “one university.” OUR MISSION The Alumni Association of Case Western Reserve University is dedicated to fostering a lifelong relationship of mutual and enduring benefit between all present and future alumni and the university. OUR VISION The Alumni Association of Case Western Reserve University, in partnership with our university, will accomplish its mission through excellence in communication, coordination, and collaboration. This mutually beneficial relationship will foster innovation, commitment, advocacy, and leadership. The Alumni Association will be hosting special programs and events across the country to celebrate its creation and actively engage alumni in its activities. For the latest updates on the Alumni Association and upcoming events in your region, visit http://www.case.edu/alumni/stay/connect.html. ALUMNI WEEKEND AND HOMECOMING October 14-15, 2005 This October, experience the energy of the Case campus and reconnect with alumni, faculty, staff, and students. Remember and celebrate your college days by participating in Alumni Weekend and Homecoming—an all-campus, all-alumni, and all-student event. The weekend offers an array of opportunities to catch up with friends while exploring Case’s newest programs and facilities. Join us for this year’s Friday night headliner, Emmy-award winning comedian Dennis Miller, performing live in Severance Hall. Saturday morning, grab a cup of Peet’s coffee and meet faculty from SAGES (the Seminar Approach to General Education and Scholarship) in the recently opened SAGES Café—and then take part in a seminar sampler. Attend the first annual Arts ShowCASE, featuring the university’s superb offerings in the visual and performing arts. And tour the stunning new facilities of The Village at 115, the latest addition to Case’s North Residential Village. For up-to-the-minute information on these and the many other events scheduled for Alumni Weekend and Homecoming, visit www.case.edu/alumni/weekend, email [email protected], or call 800-866-6280. ARTS AND SCIENCES ANNUAL FUND Please consider supporting the College of Arts and Sciences with a 2005-06 Annual Fund gift! Visit http://giving.case.edu or use the envelope inserted in this issue of art/sci. Your contribution makes an immediate impact by supporting this year’s activities, even as it helps establish a foundation for the College’s future. AFFINITY GROUPS SHOWCASE FRIENDS OF DANCE Friends of Dance, founded in the late 1970s by Kathryn Karipides and Henry Kurth, was established to support productions of the dance program in the College’s department of theater and dance. Revitalized in 2000 by Karen Potter, the program’s current director, Friends of Dance now provides financial support for guest artists, productions, seminars, and special events. Friends of Dance also sponsors the creative endeavors and educational pursuits of emerging student artists at Mather Dance Center. In support of the dance program’s mission to provide international experiences for students, Friends of Dance matches funds awarded from the Baker-Nord Center for the Humanities and the School of Graduate Studies for dance training and performance abroad. Most recently, graduating seniors Sarah McCalister and Paloma McGregor received funding to attend dance programs in Turkey and Greece, respectively. Each summer, selected students receive funding to study with Case faculty in Milan, Italy. In the past, Friends of Dance has contributed major support to host such noted artists as Susan McGuire, a native Clevelander who has had a distinguished career with the Martha Graham and Paul Taylor dance companies, and Joyce Herring of the Pascal Rioult Dance Theater, as part of the Visiting Collaborators program. Friends of Dance continues to grow, thanks to the active participation of alumni and Cleveland-area dance enthusiasts. The members’ names are listed in every concert program, and they are invited to all special events at Mather Dance Center, including post-concert receptions to meet the artists. Please consider joining today! For more information on becoming a Friends of Dance member, or to learn about upcoming events, please contact the Office of Development and Alumni Affairs, College of Arts and Sciences, at 216-368-0097 or 800-360-5308, or via email at [email protected]. A Compelling Story: Creating an Endowment Fund Through Planned Giving Who would not want more income, less taxes, and the ability to diversify, preserve, and shift assets? Planned giving can provide all of this for you, and, at the same time, enable you to make a lasting contribution by creating an endowment fund in the College of Arts and Sciences. Endowment funds are vital to our educational mission. They enable the College to attract outstanding faculty, they level the playing field for financially disadvantaged but promising students, and they serve as a financial buffer in times of economic distress. Endowment funds are also personally meaningful. Donors experience the joy of having made a difference in our students’ lives. The young people who benefit from their generosity realize that someone cared about their future, and so they are inspired to give back, too. The advantages of creating an endowment fund through planned giving make for a compelling story—one that takes time to tell. We will continue to tell this story in future issues of art/sci, where we will explain how planned giving allows you to: ◆ increase retirement income ◆ save for retirement ◆ diversify assets while avoiding capital gains ◆ provide for loved ones ◆ simplify estate administration As you read these articles, we hope that you will imagine yourself benefiting from a planned gift and be inspired to establish an endowment fund. To learn more, please call the Office of Development and Alumni Affairs, College of Arts and Sciences, toll-free at 800-360-5308 or direct at 216-368-0097 or visit http://www.cwru.edu/development/planned/. NEW FACULTY MEMBERS STRENGTHEN THE LIBERAL ARTS AT CASE fall 2005 vol.2 / no.1 With the appointment of ten new faculty members in the humanities, the College has reaffirmed its commitment to enhancing research and education in the liberal arts. Outstanding scholars and teachers have joined the departments of classics, English, history, music, and philosophy, in addition to new chairs in art history and art and modern languages and literatures. There are also significant new hires in political science, mathematics, and psychology. Below are profiles of each new faculty member. CLASSICS Paul Iversen, assistant professor (Ph.D. in classical studies, The Ohio State University), specializes in Greek and Roman new comedy, Hellenistic culture and history, and the deciphering of Greek and Latin inscriptions. A visiting assistant professor at Case since 2001, Iversen has taught a SAGES seminar titled “Myth, Ritual, and Society in the Ancient World,” as well as several classics courses. “I have always believed that the best way for students to learn about the ancient world, including myth and ritual, is to carefully read the primary texts, or even the art and physical remains, with a critical eye,” Iversen said. “I like my students to ask such questions as, ‘What do myth and ritual tell us about the particular societies that generate them?’ ‘What were their values or collective memories?’ ‘How are they similar to or different from ours?’ The SAGES seminar format facilitates grappling with such questions.” For fifteen years, Iversen has been collecting, organizing, and editing ancient Greek and some Latin inscriptions. In cooperation with the Packard Humanities Institute, he is currently gathering them into a web-based searchable corpus. Rachel Sternberg, assistant professor (Ph.D. in Greek, Bryn Mawr College), was most recently assistant professor and chair of classical studies at the College of Wooster. Her areas of interest include the social history of Greece and Rome, popular morality in ancient Athens, and the relationship between the ancient Greek world and American civilization. “I became interested in how the framers of our constitution, all classically educated, interpreted Greek and Roman history and literature,” she said. “They definitely put ancient Athens on a cultural pedestal. And since the Athenians prided themselves on being humane—something the Romans were not especially known for—it is fascinating to watch how Thomas Jefferson inherited and lived with a contradiction between humane ideals and the practice of slavery.” As for the supposedly dead languages of Greek and Latin, Sternberg says that they come alive “as soon as you play with the words and see what their derivatives are still doing in English. “There is nothing I like better than teaching ancient Greek,” she continued. “It is intricate and beautiful and it opens the door to a rich and time-honored realm of literature and ideas.” HISTORY Marixa Lasso, assistant professor (Ph.D. in history, University of Florida), was most recently assistant professor of history at California State University, Los Angeles, where her teaching centered on nineteenth-century Latin America and race relations. Lasso is currently writing a book on revolution in Colombia, with the working title The Harmony of War. “The book title comes from the notion that in times of war against a foreign enemy—in this case a colonial power—nations develop ideologies of harmony to unify people who previously were in conflict with each other,” she said. Lasso incorporates several aspects of her research into the courses she teaches. “I constantly try to make students aware of the complexity of any historical issue, a complexity that is not always clear in broad narratives and historical generalizations.” ENGLISH Thrity Umrigar, assistant professor (Ph.D. in English, Kent State University), received her graduate degree in journalism from The Ohio State University. For fifteen years, she worked as a reporter for the Akron Beacon Journal, contributing regularly to the paper’s Sunday magazine and writing a local column. During this time, Umrigar began doctoral studies in English at Kent State University and juggled classes with work. In 1999, Umrigar was awarded a Nieman Fellowship at Harvard University for mid-career journalists. The author of a novel, Bombay Time (2002), and a memoir, First Darling of the Morning: Selected Memories of an Indian Childhood (2003), Umrigar is currently completing a novel exploring the social and cultural differences between an affluent Bombayite and her longtime domestic helper. “I think my main objective in teaching undergraduates is to make them fall in love with language and with the act of writing,” Umrigar said. “I have no illusions that many of them will become published writers—in fact, most of them will not. But I want them to learn how to read critically and also passionately, and I want them to explore their own selves through their writing. My hope is that they will leave my class becoming lifelong readers and writers—even if they never publish anything that they write.” MUSIC Peter Bennett, assistant professor (D.Phil. in musicology, Oxford University), is a harpsichordist and organist and founding director of Ensemble Dumont, whose performances and recordings of seventeenth-century French music have met with high acclaim throughout Europe. “In my own field of early music, I will be looking to make music with students at Case in a number of ways—coaching and collaborating in various projects, large and small,” Bennett said. “I am also very much looking forward to branching out again as a performer. Before making a name for myself as a specialist in the French baroque, I did all kinds of performing, from organ recitals to contemporary music to singing and conducting of the mainstream repertoire.” Bennett explained that he has tried to maintain a separation between his performing career and his scholarly pursuits. “In my opinion, to be successful as a performer it is sometimes necessary to ignore the musicology. Having said that, my performance work has almost invariably been the stimulus for my research, even though my research is not directly related to performance.” Daniel Goldmark, assistant professor (Ph.D. in musicology, University of California, Los Angeles), worked for five years as an editor and producer at Rhino Records in Los Angeles. Before that, he was archivist and a music supervisor at Spumco Animation in Hollywood. He is the author of two books on music in Hollywood cartoons and a specialist in American popular music, including jazz and music for film. Goldmark is intrigued by the relationship between cartoon and classical music. He remembers sitting in a music history class as an undergraduate, listening to Mozart's Piano Sonata in C Major, and realizing that he had first learned that piece, and countless other pieces, from animated cartoons. "It was at that point," he said, "that I resolved to learn more about music in cartoons. "When people hear what I work on," he continued, "most quickly jump to the conclusion that I watch cartoons for a living—granted, a fun idea. But when they ask me whether cartoon music is truly serious music, we usually end up talking about how much music people learn from cartoons and films, and how the media can create a new meaning or cultural significance for a piece of music that’s 50 or 100 years old—if not older.” David Rothenberg, assistant professor (M.Phil. and Ph.D. in music history, Yale University), spent 2002-03 in Munich, Germany, carrying out research on the medieval and Renaissance music manuscripts of the Bavarian State Library. Last year, he taught music history and directed the Collegium Musicum at Colby College in Maine. Rothenberg’s research focuses on symbolism and liturgical signification in medieval and Renaissance music. “My way of studying musical meaning is not to examine individual compositions in a vacuum, but rather to study them in the context of musical and liturgical traditions,” he said. “I believe all historical study of music should be grounded in study of the culture in which it arose, but this is especially true in the Middle Ages and Renaissance, when boundaries between the various arts were not as strictly drawn as they later became.” continued on page 12 fall 2005 vol.2 / no.1 PROFILES OF NEW FACULTY continued PHILOSOPHY Sara Waller, assistant professor (Ph.D. in philosophy, Loyola University), was most recently associate professor of philosophy at California State University, Dominguez Hills. One of her areas of expertise is the philosophy of mind—the topic of a class she is teaching at Case this fall. “The course will cover historical and contemporary explanations for the interaction between mind and body,” Waller explained. “All of us have experienced the effects of physical substances (medicine, a cup of coffee) on consciousness. But is the mind just another physical substance, or a product thereof? If all physical matter follows physical laws, then are we living out predestined lives under the delusion that we make choices? “I hope that students will take away from the course both a taste for rigorous yet imaginative argument, and a sense of the excitement and relevance of philosophy.” Waller is also interested in how neurology and the philosophy of language fit together. “I am not sure that they do—and that is what interests me most,” she said. “I am studying the conceptual commitments that lead us to specific views on the relevance of neurological discovery to language and thought.” POLITICAL SCIENCE Justin Buchler, assistant professor (Ph.D. in political science, University of California, Berkeley), was most recently a visiting assistant professor in political science at Oberlin College. He studies a very timely and controversial topic: the behavior of voters and the performance of voting machines. “I became involved in the study of voting machines after the 2000 election,” he said. “My Berkeley colleague and I found that early assessments of the problems with punch-cards were correct (they don’t work), but that electronic voting machines perform better than many have claimed.” Buchler also studies campaign finance, and has found that contributions to candidates and parties rarely influence policy decisions. Buchler is cautiously optimistic about the impact his work may have on shaping public policy. “My research frequently challenges conventional wisdom, so policy-makers are unlikely to ever believe anything I say,” he said. “My only objective is to make people think.” Peter W. Moore, assistant professor (Ph.D. in political science, McGill University), was most recently assistant professor of political science at the University of Miami (Florida). His fields of interest include comparative politics (focusing on the Middle East and Africa), international relations, political economy, crisis, conflict, and war. His first book, Doing Business in the Middle East: Politics and Economic Crisis in Jordan and Kuwait, was published by Cambridge University Press in 2004. In his current research, he is examining strategies of trade liberalization and export-led development in Asia and the Middle East. “It is generally agreed that export trade is one key to a country’s successful economic development, but the political requisites to achieve that are still debated,” Moore said. “By comparing successful cases of export-led development with new experiments (Jordan, Egypt, Turkey), I hope to push this debate in a new direction.” Moore incorporates his real-life experiences into his courses. “Since I conducted much of my research in the Gulf and Levant, I use those experiences, films, and definitely cuisine to expand student knowledge,” he said. “In my Middle East politics course, I usually assign each student a city to investigate and present to the class as a way to see the region as more than simply an arena of conflict.” ARTS AND SCIENCES ONLINE We invite you to read previous issues of art/sci on the College’s website: Fall 2004 vol. 1, no. 1: http://www.case.edu/artsci/newsletter/archive/v11/ Spring 2005 vol. 1, no. 2: http://www.case.edu/artsci/newsletter/archive/v12/ Other sites of interest: Arts and Sciences home page: http://www.case.edu/artsci SAGES: http://www.case.edu/sages Alumni Relations: http://www.case.edu/alumni MATHEMATICS Christophe Geuzaine, assistant professor (Ph.D. in applied sciences, University of Liège, Belgium), was most recently a post-doctoral researcher with the Belgian National Foundation for Scientific Research. He works in the field of applied mathematics, with links to various areas of engineering, material science, and biology. “Explaining my research interests to non-mathematicians is relatively easy, thanks to the many ‘real life’ problems I deal with, and to which many people can relate,” Geuzaine said. “I study modeling of electromagnetic fields and waves, like those in or around cell phones, power lines, microwave ovens, motors, and optical fibers. I also engage in research on the behavior of biological cells and tissues under various constraints, and on modeling the shape of airplanes and submarines.” Geuzaine noted that his findings have been applied to the development of open-source software tools available on the Internet. “These tools play an increasingly important role in making the kind of math I do relevant to non-specialists,” he said. PSYCHOLOGY Anastasia Dimitropoulos, assistant professor (Ph.D. in developmental psychology, Vanderbilt University), has been a Merck Scholar and was most recently a National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH) research fellow at the Yale Child Study Center. Her research focuses on compulsivity and its relationship to developmental disabilities, using functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) to better understand these conditions. Dimitropoulos has studied Prader-Willi syndrome, a genetic disorder that typically causes low muscle tone, short stature, cognitive disabilities, problem behaviors, and a chronic feeling of hunger that can lead to excessive eating and life-threatening obesity. “Using fMRI,” she explained, “I have worked to identify areas of the brain that are involved in processing food-related information, examining where these structures differ from those of weight-matched individuals who do not have the syndrome.” VISITING FELLOWS EXPAND SAGES OFFERINGS Since its inception, SAGES has brought outstanding scientists, scholars, political leaders, journalists, and other local professionals to the Case campus as visiting seminar leaders. President Edward M. Hundert announced his plans to appoint such visitors in his inaugural address in January 2003. Since then, the Presidential Fellows program has significantly expanded the range of seminar offerings and strengthened connections between the university and the larger community. Beginning this fall, the ranks of visiting fellows will be bostered by guest faculty recruited from universities across the country. These scholars, appointed by Dean Mark Turner in the College of Arts and Sciences, will be known as SAGES Fellows. With the generous support of The 1525 Foundation, SAGES has created a special category of visitors, designated as Beamer-Schneider SAGES Fellows, who will make ethical reflection and deliberation an integral part of the seminar experience. The Foundation had previously expressed its commitment to ethics teaching at Case by endowing the Beamer-Schneider Professorship in Ethics in the College of Arts and Sciences. Each year, too, a scholar who has achieved particular distinction in teaching and research will be appointed as the Samuel M. Savin SAGES Fellow, in honor of the former dean of the College of Arts and Sciences. For fall 2005, the visiting seminar leaders will be: Carter Edman, architect, Collins Gordon Bostwick (Presidential Fellow). Seminar: “Learning to See: Architecture and Aesthetics in Context.” Douglas Knerr, associate professor of social sciences, Roosevelt University (Beamer-Schneider SAGES Fellow). Seminars: “Home, Hearth, and Housing: An Exploration of Domestic Culture in the U.S.” and “Business and Society.” Edward G. Lawry, professor of philosophy, Oklahoma State University (Samuel M. Savin SAGES Fellow). Seminar: “Aesthetic and Moral Value.” Elaine Richardson, associate professor, English and applied linguistics, Pennsylvania State University (SAGES Fellow). Seminar: “Afro-American Oral Folk Traditions.” Warren Zanes, vice president of education, Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and Museum (Presidential Fellow). Seminar: “Writing Rock and Roll.” SAGES CENTRAL TAKES SHAPE IN CRAWFORD HALL SAGES Café set to open Fall 2005 fall 2005 vol.2 / no.1 In its first year as a program for all incoming students, SAGES is acquiring a suitably prominent home on the Case campus. Having begun as a renovation of the undergraduate curriculum, SAGES (the Seminar Approach to General Education and Scholarship) has now inspired an equally ambitious renovation of quad-level Crawford Hall. The results will be on view in September with the opening of SAGES Central—a mix of educational, administrative, and social spaces, all constructed around the new SAGES Café. “This project creates a novel, highly visible center for intellectual and social activity at the heart of the Case campus,” said Vera Tobin, faculty and program development assistant in Arts and Sciences, who is overseeing the café’s operations. The transformation of quad-level Crawford into SAGES Central began in March 2005. Previously, the original marble-and-glass lobby had been partitioned into a variety of unrelated offices, with no connection to the large patio encircling the building. No one tarried, or had reason to tarry, in the stark space before the elevators. But now, said Arts and Sciences Dean Mark Turner, “First-floor Crawford puts SAGES on stage: you will be able to look into it from any point and see our signature undergraduate program in operation. Here are students in the glass-walled seminar room; there are students and professors conversing at the café; around the corner are the SAGES Fellows conferring with students about their work.” Ken Klika, director of facilities management for Arts and Sciences, has his own metaphor for SAGES Central. “To me,” he said, “the space now looks like a lighthouse, a beacon. And it fits the vision we had from the beginning: that the space would be visible from many different directions, that it would be open, that it would be inviting, that it would be a place where you would want to do some scholarly work or just chit-chat with faculty and students.” Klika, who oversaw the renovation from its inception, said that the café is his favorite part. “But I’m tickled with all of the space, at how it all turned out. And I think it will look even better once we get the glass doors in on the sides and remodel the vestibule. The glass windows were the natural elements that the building already had; now we can let the campus look inside and see SAGES.” The café will be open day and night, serving Peet’s coffee and tea (“SAGES deserves no less,” said Turner) as well as sandwiches and salads. In addition, the baristas at the café will become a first point of contact with SAGES, providing basic information for students, visiting scholars, and donors. Klika describes himself as a “faithful servant” of the university’s collective vision for SAGES. But Turner views his contribution differently. “Ken accepted the challenge of creating a home for SAGES that integrated its intellectual, cultural, and social aspirations,” he said. “His genius has been to give SAGES a habitation that represents and serves its mission.” [Illustration Credit]: Ewing Cole FALL 2005/SPRING 2006 EVENTS Frontiers of Astronomy Lecture Series Presentations are held at The Cleveland Museum of Natural History’s Murch Auditorium, at 8 pm - Thursday, October 20, 2005: The History of Dark Matter: Vera C. Rubin, Carnegie Institute of Washington - Thursday, November 10, 2005: Einstein’s Biggest Blunder: A Cosmic Mystery Story: Lawrence Krauss, Case Western Reserve University - Thursday, December 15, 2005: The Teenage Universe: Distant Quasars and the State of the Universe Soon After the Big Bang: Michael Strauss, Princeton University - Thursday, March 16, 2006: Binary Minor Planets: Derek Richardson, University of Maryland - Thursday, April 20, 2006: TBA: Paul Harding, Case Western Reserve University All events sponsored by the department of astronomy at Case, The Cleveland Museum of Natural History, and The Cleveland Astronomical Society Baker-Nord Center for the Humanities Events - September 21, 2005: Thwing Center Ballroom at 4:30 pm | The Richard N. Campen Lecture in Architecture and Sculpture: Robert P. Madison, architect - April 2-7, 2006: Humanities Week - A week-long series of events around the theme “Childhoods.” Keynote address by Anne Lamott, bestselling author, on Friday, April 7, 2006 at 4:30 pm - April 14-16, 2006: Manor House Symposium - Material Religion All events sponsored by the Baker-Nord Center for the Humanities Case Eldred Drama Series 2005-2006 All performances are in the Eldred Theater - October 7, 8, 13, 14, 15, 2005 at 8 pm; October 9 and 16, 2005 at 2:30 pm: The Memory of Water by Shelagh Stephenson, directed by John Jensen - November 11, 12, 17, 18, 19, 2005 at 8 pm; November 13 and 20, 2005 at 2:30 pm: Six Characters in Search of an Author by Luigi Pirandello, directed by Stephen McCue - February 10, 11, 16, 17, 18 at 8 pm; February 12 and 19 at 2:30 pm: Look Back in Anger by John Osborne, directed by Ron Wilson - March 31, April 1, 6, 7, 8 at 8 pm; April 1 and 9 at 2:30 pm: The Philadelphia Story by Phillip Barry, directed by Jerrold Scott All events sponsored by the theater arts program in the department of theater and dance Case Conversations on Children in Research and Policy All talks are at 11:45 am in Clark Hall Room 206 (check Web site for updates) - Tuesday, October 11, 2005: Involving Children with Life-Shortening Illnesses in Medical Decisions - Myra Bluebond-Langner, Ph.D., Distinguished Professor of Anthropology, Rutgers University-Camden; Visiting Scholar, Baker-Nord Center for the Humanities - Tuesday, November 8, 2005: Learning to Read: What Twins Can Tell Us - Lee Thompson, Ph.D., Associate Professor of Psychology - Tuesday, December 6, 2005: Pre-Adoption Stress and its Association with Adoption Outcomes from a Global Perspective - Victor Groza, LISW, Ph.D., Professor & Chair, Doctoral Program, MSASS - Tuesday, February 7, 2006: Title forthcoming - Brian Gran, Ph.D., Assistant Professor of Sociology - Tuesday, March 7, 2006: Title forthcoming - Barbara Cromer, M.D., Frederick C. Robbins Professor of Child and Adolescent Health, Case School of Medicine - Tuesday, April 4, 2006: Title forthcoming - Rob Fischer, Ph.D., Senior Research Associate, MSASS All events sponsored by the Schubert Center for Child Development Mather Dance Series All performances are in the Mather Dance Center. - November 11, 12, 17, 18, 19, 2005 at 8 pm; November 13, 2005 at 2:30 pm: Mélange - Danceworks by the Mather Dance Ensemble - March 31, April 1, 6, 7, 8, 2006 at 8 pm; April 6, 2006 at 2:30 pm: Collaborations - Danceworks featuring faculty artists from Arts and Sciences continued on back panel FALL 2005/SPRING 2006 EVENTS continued Mather Dance Series continued - December 1 and 2, 2005 at 8 pm; December 3, 2005 at 7 and 8:30 pm - April 20 and 21, 2006 at 8 pm; April 22, 2006 at 7 and 8:30 pm MaDaCol: Danceworks by the Mather Dance Collective All events sponsored by the dance program in the department of theater and dance Music and Culture Lecture Series All lectures are in Clark Hall Room 206 at 4 pm - Friday, September 16, 2005: In the Beginning: Creation Scenarios from Mozart to Schubert - Maynard Solomon, biographer - Monday, November 15, 2005: Labyrinths and Music - Craig Wright, Yale University - Thursday, March 23, 2006: Leonard Bernstein in the Early 1950s: Theater, Genre, Cultural Critique - Carol Oja, William Powell Mason Professor of Music, Harvard University All events sponsored by the department of music Samuel Rosenthal Center for Judaic Studies Events - Thursday, October 27, 2005: Ford Auditorium, Allen Memorial Medical Library at 4:30 pm | The Artist Studies the Doctor: A Millennium of Observation - Sherwin B. Nuland, M.D., Yale University School of Medicine Sponsored by the Samuel Rosenthal Center for Judaic Studies The Inaugural Samuel M. Savin SAGES Lecture - Friday, October 14, 2005: Amasa Stone Chapel at 2:30 pm | Liberal Education as the Knowledge Most Worth Having - Edward Lawry, Samuel M. Savin SAGES Fellow, Fall 2005 Society for Critical Exchange Events - Wednesday, September 14, 2005: Gund Hall Room 158 at 4:30 pm | Crimes of the Genome: Literature and the Gene for Violence - Jay Clayton, William R. Kenan, Jr. Professor and Chair of English, Vanderbilt University - October 28-30, 2005: Gund Hall Room 158 | Autism and Representation: Writing, Cognition, Disability - A Working Conference of the Society for Critical Exchange - April 20-22, 2006: Gund Hall Room 158 | Con/texts of Invention: A Working Conference of the Society for Critical Exchange All events sponsored by the Society for Critical Exchange at Case Women’s Studies Program Events - Sunday, October 2, 2005: Ford Auditorium, Allen Memorial Medical Library at 2 pm | Theatrical Performance: Amigas - Friday, October 21, 2005: Reinberger Chamber Hall, Severance Hall, at 8 pm | Theatrical Performance: Yo Soy Minerva All events sponsored by the Women’s Studies Program CASE COLLEGE OF ARTS AND SCIENCES Office of the Dean 10900 Euclid Avenue Cleveland, OH 44106-7068 www.case.edu/artsci