January 14th, 2010

Selected Events

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From William Fleeger, Environmental Studies: The Environmental Studies department invites you to an open-house celebration of the completion of a natural resource inventory (NRI) for Robin Hood Park from 10:30 a.m. to noon on Tuesday, December 15, in the Atrium Lounge (room 138) of the Student Center.

As a capstone service-learning experience, students in the department’s junior/senior seminar worked tirelessly during the year-long course to inventory and assess the condition of the ecological and social resources relevant to the park. Their professional quality NRI provides valuable new information and important baseline data necessary for the development of a management plan for this popular and centrally located city property. This informal event is an opportunity to view the completed NRI, learn about the student’s experiences, and express our gratitude for the support provided by our partners, the City of Keene Conservation Commission and Parks and Recreation Department. For more information, please contact Renate Gebauer (8-2577) or Bill Fleeger at (8-2989).

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From Therese Seibert, Sociology: On Thursday, December 10, Stephanie Hurley will present “Songs of Hope and Resistance from the Holocaust” in the Lantern Room of the Student Center from 10:30 to 11:45 a.m.

Music served many functions for those interned in concentration camps and ghettos during the Holocaust. These songs speak of the experiences and feelings of those persecuted during the Holocaust: the suffering and hope, shared experiences, daily news, resistance, unity, and entertainment. Supplemented by a PowerPoint slideshow, Stephanie will describe the historical context and personal stories behind each song. Stephanie’s clear and emotive voice expresses the pain as well as the hope of the victims and brings a deep sense of connection to another place and time.

Singer Stephanie Hurley is an accomplished vocalist in many genres of music. She graduated with honors from Keene State College in May 2003, receiving a Bachelor of Music in Vocal Performance and a Bachelor of Arts in Music History. This performance is an extension of her research conducted at the Cohen Center for Holocaust Studies at Keene State College, for which she was awarded the 2003 Hildebrandt Award.

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From The Academic Excellence Conference Committee: The College welcomes all students engaged in interesting work and research to consider sharing that work with the College community at this year’s Academic Excellence conference.

The 2009 conference will be held Saturday, March 27, from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. in the Student Center and the David F. Putnam Science Center. This is a great opportunity for students to present outstanding work. Guidelines, FAQs, and the new online proposal form can be accessed here. For more information contact Ann Rancourt, Yi Gong, or Donna Hinz. Proposals are due Wednesday, December 9, at 5 p.m.

Faculty support for and student participation in the conference has been excellent, and the conference committee looks forward to another excellent conference.

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From William Stroup, English: On Tuesday, November 24, Dr. Ana Estrella, visiting contract lecturer in English from Pontificia Universidad Católica del Ecuador, will present “Ecuador Linguistic Atlas Project” as part of the English department’s Third Tuesday Series. She will present in the Appian Way Conference Room, Mason Library; free and open to all (refreshments served).

Drawing on her ongoing scholarly study of how Ecuadorians actually speak Spanish and the difference between the regions of Ecuador, this talk will be about the research methods and actual findings of Dr. Estrella’s project.

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From Heather Jasmin, Continuing Education: This fall, the Office of Continuing Education is sponsoring “Great Decisions,” a series of discussions of global issues. A 45-minute lecture on a topic of global interest is followed by moderated discussion; all lectures are free and open to the public. A nationwide forum of the Foreign Policy Association (FPA), “Great Decisions” is part of the longest-running civic education program in the United States devoted to foreign affairs.

Chuck Weed (Political Science) will moderate “Cuba” on Thursday, December 9, from 6:30 to 8:30 p.m.
 in Rhodes N210. Attendees are encouraged to buy the Great Decisions 2009 publication ($18, available at the KSC Bookstore). RSVP Continuing Education, 8-2290.

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From David White, Education: The 33rd Keene State College Children’s Literature Festival was held Saturday, October 31. Once again, the event sold out, with 500 people comming from 14 states and Canada. Featured speakers were Beth Krommes, Lita Judge, Katherine Paterson, Lois Lowry, and Jane Yolen. Approximately $24,000 of children’s books were sold that day!! Speakers for the 2010 and 2011 festivals have already been confirmed.

Lois Lowry and Lita Judge autograph their books at Keene State College Children’s Literature Festival’s Saturday night social and dinner (courtesy photo).

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From Bill Menezes, Redfern: The comic genius of Avner the Eccentric will be showcased on Thursday, November 12, at 7:30 p.m. in the Redfern Arts Center. Avner Eisenberg is probably best known for his endearing portrayal of “The Jewel,” the scene-stealing holy man, in The Jewel of the Nile, co-starring Michael Douglas and Kathleen Turner. He was also featured in the film Brenda Starr and the television series Webster and Mathnet. Tickets and information are available at the Redfern Arts Center box office, 8-2168, or online.

Avner the Eccentric (courtesy photo)

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From Brinda Charry, for Keene is Reading: Shareen Davis, an activist for traditional fishing rights, and her daughter Shannon Eldridge, a KSC alumna and fisherwoman, will screen clips from the film A Fish Story, which aired on PBS Independent Lens, on Thursday, November 12, at 4 p.m. in the Lantern Room, Student Center.

They will talk about life in a fishing family with a particular focus: the women’s perspective in the fishing world, as part of a family legacy with cultural and historical roots. A question-and-answer session will follow. For more information, please contact Patricia Pedroza (8-2098) or Rosemary Gianno (8-2510). (Part of the 2009-10 Keene is Reading series of events)

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From Mary Pleasanton, Academic/Career Advising: Please encourage your students to participate in Career Connections (Sciences/Business/Government) scheduled for Thursday, November 19, from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. in the Science Center lobby. Local and regional employers will be available to discuss internships, part-time jobs, and career opportunities. Faculty and staff are welcome to stop by to speak with companies and organizations to discover what they are looking for in our students, graduates, and curriculum. All majors are welcome to explore these industry groups.

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From Jennifer Ferrell, Student Center: The Student Center is sponsoring the Fifth Annual Winter Celebration, complete with decorations, music, hot beverages, chocolate fountains, novelties, arts and crafts, activities, and more throughout the first floor of the Student Center on Wednesday, December 9, between 11 a.m. and 2 p.m. We are providing that framework with the hopes of expanding upon the festivities by including as many student organizations, campus departments, staff, and faculty as we can muster. It’s a fun way for the KSC community to celebrate the end of another great semester and the beginning of the winter season.
 
We would love to have your department or group participate in our celebration by sponsoring a table or space in the Student Center and welcome your creative ideas to make this celebration a truly special event. In the past, departments have offered activities such as making your own healthy trail mix, stress-relief packages, snowflake ornaments, decorating cookies and cupcakes, selling plants and poinsettias, giving away sweets and treats, fundraising for their organizations, or offering information about winter sports. Feel free to get as creative as you can! Each group will receive only one table or one space. Due to high demand for spaces, we will be operating on a first-come, first-served basis.
 
If you are interested in participating or have questions about the event, please contact Jennifer Ferrell by Friday, November 27, with your group’s name, contact person, power requirements (if any), and idea/activity.

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Keene State College’s Sixth Biennial World Affairs Symposium, “From Local to Global,” will explore issues related to globalization through a series of speakers, forums, and films offered on campus and in Keene from Wednesday, November 4, through Friday, November 6. All events are free and open to the public. (For a complete schedule and description of speakers and events, please visit the Symposium web page.)

Artists, educators, scholars, planners, and community leaders will gather to explore the impact of “the global” on local cultures, environments, economies, and identities. The symposium events are organized around the following set of questions:

• How do perceptions of the global shape discourses of the local?
• When do localized discourses and cultural practices determine limits and definitions of global?
• Where do these concerns direct communication between people, especially within the praxis of teaching and learning?
• When does local knowledge become globalized?
• How can global information be localized?

Three keynote speakers:

Judy Wicks, a pioneering voice in the local economy movement for over 30 years, will deliver the opening keynote address, “Local Living Economies: Green, Fair, and Fun,” on Wednesday, November 4, at 8 p.m. (Mabel Brown Room, Student Center).

Tina Mai Chen will present “Film as Friendship: China’s Cultural Diplomacy in the Cold War” on Thursday, November 5, at 7 p.m. (Mabel Brown Room, Student Center).

Peter McLaren will present “Public Pedagogy in Dangerous Times,” on Friday, November 6, at 2 p.m. (Mabel Brown Room, Student Center).

Global/Local Film Festival:

Visit the film festival page for a list of films, keynote speakers, film panel, and detailed information about each film (click the film title). All films will be shown in the Drenan Auditorium on the third floor of Parker Hall.

KSC over Time:

How is Keene State College tied to events on the local, national, and global scale? Check out the wall-sized poster that will be on display in the Student Center Atrium throughout the Symposium to find out.

Judy Wicks, Tina Mai Chen and Peter McLaren

For more information, contact Kim Schmidl­Gagne at kgagne@keene.edu or 8­2768.

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From Stuart Kaufman, Sports Information: The lucky 13th edition of Midnight Madness was celebrated at Spaulding Gym on Friday, October 23. Night Owls who came out for the festivities were treated to a great night of fun and entertainment. The cheerleaders’ cheers brought everyone to their feet, the dancers danced the night away, and students contested for valuable prizes. While the season might be a few weeks away, the introduction of Owl players was greeted with a large roar that could be heard all the way up in Plymouth!

KSC students at Midnight Madness (courtesy photo)

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From Rose Kundanis, Journalism: As part of the Keene State College Centennial, the Department of Communication, Journalism, and Philosophy has sponsored an historic timeline of the almost 100 years of student newspapers at KSC. Professors Julio Delsesto and Rose Kundanis will present this timeline on Friday, November 6, at 4 p.m. in the Media Arts Center Atrium. You are invited to share with us as we celebrate the Equinox and earlier versions of the KSC student newspaper. For more information, contact Rose Kundanis, 8-2404 or rkundani@keene.edu

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From Nona Fienberg, Arts and Humanities: The “New Voices, New Visions” series features the voices of faculty members who have joined the Keene State College community in the past several years and the visions of faculty members exploring new and exciting areas of study.

On Tuesday, November 3, Dr. Stephen Lucey, Assistant Professor of Art History, will present “Til Death Do Us Part: Royal Salvation Strategies in Late Medieval Cyprus,” at 4:30 in Morrison Lecture Hall. Dr. Lucey will present his research on a 15th-century chapel in Pyrga, Cyprus, and discuss the elaborate decorative program in light of the chapel’s intended memorial function and the ambitions of its founder, Janus de Lusignan, one of the last crusader kings.

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2500 pumpkins from Bradford, Vermont, were delivered to Fiske Quad for the annual Pumpkin Lobotomy on October 16. More than 40 student organizations had tables surrounding the quad, providing caramel apples, cider, popcorn, and face painting for the crowd of KSC carvers. The pumpkin “guts” are always composted, but this year they were collected in the College’s new rubbish truck, which eliminated a lot of lifting and extra dumpster moving. Mary Jensen (Sustainability/Recycling) reports that several tons were collected and will be composted with leaves and chipped brush and used as mulch or soil conditioners for campus lawns and flowerbeds.

(Lynn Roman photo.)

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Elsewhere on campus, 144 members of the KSC community participated in the Fifth Annual Pumpkin 5K Fun Run/Walk, including nuns-on-the-run Patty Farmer, Amanda Warman, and Beth Zinn. “We are a team in the College’s Healthy Challenge initiative,” said Warman. “Our team name is the Sisters of Perpetual Hunger, so Beth came up with the idea of walking as a team in costume since it is a ‘fun run’ - or a ‘fun nun run’ now, I guess.”

Nuns on the run (l–r) Patty Farmer, Amanda Warman, and Beth Zinn (Lynn Roman photo.)

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From Stuart Kaufman, Sports Information: Keene State will hold its annual Midnight Madness celebration at Spaulding Gym on Friday night, October 23. Members of the College and Keene community are encouraged to attend. Doors are scheduled to open at 10:30 p.m., with festivities getting under way at 11. The first 1,800 students that come through the door will receive a specially designed Madness t-shirt.

Program highlights include unusual contests, incredible prizes and giveaways, and performances by the KSC cheerleading and dance squads, all leading up to the introduction of this year’s men’s and women’s basketball teams at the stroke of midnight. Prizes include a pair of $10,000 shots, airline vouchers, iPod and computer giveaways, a $300 Synergy gift certificate, and bookstore and meal-plan awards. “It’s like the Keene State version of Let’s make a Deal,” said KSC women’s basketball coach Keith Boucher.

 
Following the games, the Keene State men’s and women’s basketball teams take the floor and entertain the crowd with slam dunk and shooting contests. Midnight Madness is sponsored by KSC athletics, the Lloyd P. Young Student Center, the Vice-President’s Office for Student Affairs, and Keene State Student Government.

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From Peter Stevenson, Sociology: The Criminal Justice Studies Program and the Department of Health Sciences invites you to attend a discussion focusing on drug prohibition policies by Richard Van Wickler, member of Law Enforcement Against Prohibition (LEAP), Superintendent of the Cheshire County House of Corrections, and an instructor here at KSC. His talk will focus on the many failures associated with the “War on Drugs” and how this social problem needs to be redefined as something other than a criminal justice issue. This event will be held on Monday, October 19, at 7 p.m. in the Mountain View Room. We hope to see you there (please share this with students and colleagues).

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“Keene Writes,” part of a National Day on Writing celebration, will be held on Tuesday, October 20, from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. in the Mountain View Room, Student Center. Look at what the Keene State community has written­ - view a collection of published materials from faculty, staff, and students ­- and then participate in the following activities:

• The Six-Word Memoir Contest: Six words to tell your story? Impossible? Give it a try. Award: $25.00 gift certificate from Toadstool Bookstore
• Headline-Writing Contest: Read an article & create a headline. Award: $25.00 gift certificate from Toadstool Bookstore
• Add your voice to an ongoing KSC Writing Facebook page: Answer the question, “What’s on your mind?”
• Caption-Writing Cartoon Contest: Be clever, be cute, and win a $25.00 gift certificate from Toadstool Bookstore.
• The Board of Blogs: Visit the board and see what KSC people are writing about.
• Ongoing Scrabble Game
• Grab a Letter from the Alphabet - Write a Sentence Game
• Graffiti Board: Your chance to legally write on walls.
• Workshops: Sit down with faculty member Jeff Friedman and try your hand at creative writing.

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From Tim Allen, Environmental Studies: The KSC Department of Environmental Studies is pleased to present a series of guest speakers, researchers in the fields of Environmental Studies, talking about their work. We invite you to join us!

On Tuesday, October 13, Andrew J. Friedland, The Richard and Jane Pearl Professor in Environmental Studies at Dartmouth College, will lead off the series with “Burning Northern Forest Biomass: Is It Really Carbon Neutral?”

There are reasons to question whether increased reliance on biomass fuels from the Northern Forest will actually contribute to stabilizing or reducing atmospheric carbon dioxide concentrations. Presumably, older forests are in a near-steady state (i.e., respiratory losses are equal to photosynthetic uptake) and are no longer actively sequestering carbon. If this is true, burning wood to displace fossil fuel and converting older forests to younger, faster growing forests would replace a carbon-neutral forest with a carbon-accumulating forest. Under this scenario, the carbon released by burning wood from a mature forest would be sequestered more rapidly by young forests than by old forests, and would result in a net reduction in atmospheric carbon concentrations. However, if during the harvesting of woody biomass, sequestered carbon stored deep in soil is mobilized and released into the atmosphere, this activity may not actually be carbon neutral. Professor Friedland will discuss his current research showing some indications that deep-soil carbon in the Northern Forest may well be released during logging activities.

The event is free and open to the public and will begin at 4 p.m. on Tuesday, October 13, in room 110 of Morrison Hall. Refreshments will be served, and students are especially encouraged to attend. Future speakers include:

• Tuesday, November 10: Christopher Brehme (Geography), “Cognitive Strategies of Lobster Fishers in Maine and Western Australia”
• Tuesday,February 2: Nicholas L.Rodenhouse, professor of Biological Sciences at Wellesley College
• Tuesday, March 2:to be announced
• Tuesday, April 6: Brooke T. Mossman, professor of Environmental Pathology at the University of Vermont

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Writer Ken Smith will be on campus to read from his work and be interviewed by Jeff Friedman (English) and the audience on Thursday, October 15, at 4 p.m. in the Mountain View Room of the Student Center. The interview will focus on radio essays, blogging, and other new short experimental forms.
 
Smith is associate professor of English at Indiana University South Bend, where he also serves as director of the Master of Liberal Studies Program for the Association of Graduate Liberal Studies Programs. He edits Confluence: The Journal of Graduate Liberal Studies, and writes commentaries for WVPE, the NPR affiliate station in northern Indiana. He is a founding member of the Michiana Chronicles series, which started broadcasting in 2001 and which was given an Edward R. Murrow award for commentary in 2007. Six of the writers from the series have published their work in And Now, Michiana Chronicles, an anthology of commentaries broadcast on WVPE. He is also the founder and head of Indiana University South Bend’s Wolfson Press, a new university press that focuses on books about the history and culture of the region. He edits and coordinates the university’s political blog, and for several years maintained a blog about web publishing called Weblogs in Higher Education. He teaches courses in writing, creative writing, and the new web media genres of active citizenship.

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From Sara Hottinger, Women’s Studies: Tuesday, October 20, has been declared a National Day on Writing, and KSC is participating by hosting an all-day event in the Mountain View Room. We invite you to contribute your published writing so that we can all browse, read, and admire everything our campus community has produced.

Please submit any materials published in a non-KSC publication, including books, journal articles (we need a copy of the journal), newspaper articles, editorials, letters to the editor (original copies are preferred), newsletter or magazine contributions, poems, short stories, essays, recipes, technical writing, instruction manuals, pamphlets, comics, cartoon strips, graphic novels, plays, screenplays, scripts, song lyrics. Mark Long (English) is also featuring the writing that the KSC community does in blogs. If you keep a blog and would like your writing featured, please email Mark at mlong@keene.edu

The deadline for participation is Friday, October 16. Please bring your entries to the Center for Writing, 81 Blake Street, between 10 a.m. and 8 p.m. or to Sarah Spykman’s administrative office in the Media Arts Center, 8 a.m.-11 a.m. and 1 p.m.-3 p.m. Please make sure your entry has a cover sheet that clearly identifies you, where you work on campus, and where to return your material. All entries will be securely kept in locked offices until they are returned.

Feel free to contact pbenay@keene.edu if you have any questions about the Keene Writes! event or about the submission of published materials.

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On Monday, October 5, the internationally acclaimed performance duo Climbing PoeTree will give a free performance at 7 p.m. in the Mabel Brown Room of Keene State College’s Young Student Center. In the midst of a ground-breaking tour, Alixa and Naima will perform excerpts from their multimedia show about unnatural disaster and a great shift in universal consciousness with Hurricane Season: The Hidden Messages in the Water.

Climbing PoeTree is the combined force of two queer, mixed-race, and immigrant women of color who have sharpened their art as tool for popular education, community organizing, and personal transformation. Their repertoire of dual-voice poems explore diverse themes, including state and personal violence, environmental justice, civil rights, spirituality, sexuality, and woman’s empowerment.

With roots in Haiti and Columbia, Aliza and Naima reside in Brooklyn and have traveled across the country on a mission to overcome destruction with creativity. They have performed in more than 80 cities with artists such as Amiri Baraka, Sonia Sanchez, Nikki Giovanni, Alicia Keys, Erykah Badu, Danny Glover, The Last Poets, and Dead Prez.

This event is free and open to the public and sponsored by Keene State’s Office of Diversity and Multiculturalism, Campus Commission on Diversity and Multiculturalism, and Common Ground. For more information, contact Kim Schmidl-Gagne at 8-2768 or kgagne@keene.edu.

Climbing PoeTree (courtesy photo)

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From Peter Temple, TDS: The Keene State College Architecture Club is sponsoring a talk on the current state of sustainable design and energy-efficient building technology in China on Wednesday, October 7, at noon in the Mountain View Room, Student Center. Lu Jian, director of Research and Development for the Chixiao Building Technology Company in Shenzhen, China, will be the guest speaker. For more information, contact Peter Temple, 8-2978.

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