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Students Will Explore Culture and Literature in London
When talking about London, Suzanne Westfall, professor and head of English, cites Samuel Johnson’s famous line: “He who is tired of London is tired of life.” She will lead a new semester-abroad program in fall 2010 that will give students ample exposure to the vibrant United Kingdom capital. Students will live and study at Goldsmiths College of University of London. They will take a variety of liberal arts classes including Westfall’s Alternative Londons course focusing on the literature, culture, and arts of multicultural London and its marginalized populations.
Nov 20, 2009
Lauren Howland ’11 Has Developed into a Student Leader
Neuroscience major Lauren Howland ’11 (Vestal, N.Y.) is the executive chair of Lafayette Activities Forum, an intern for the Lafayette Leadership Education Committee, and involved in a number of other campus organizations. She believes the organizational, communication, and teamwork skills she has developed through these leadership roles are helping her in the classroom and will help her in her future career. "My experiences with student organizations have helped me refine my leadership skills and learn how to interact in the professional world," she says.
Nov 18, 2009
Professor Olga Anna Duhl Publishes Book on Love and Medicine in the Renaissance
Olga Anna Duhl, professor of foreign languages and literatures, has edited Amour, sexualité et médecine aux XVe et XVIe siècles (Love, Sexuality, and Medicine in the 15th and 16th Century). Published by Editions Universitaires de Dijon, France, the book contains the proceedings from an international conference that Duhl organized at University of Bourgogne in 2006. For the conference, “Love and Medicine in the Renaissance,” Duhl brought together scholars specializing in numerous academic disciplines from several countries. The conference was inspired by her involvement with an international team of scholars at the University of Bourgogne Research Center, “Interactions Culturelles Européennes” (European Cultural Interactions).
Nov 16, 2009
New General Biology Approach Prepares Students for Independent Research Gone are the days when students completed weekly labs with predetermined outcomes designed to illustrate a specific concept. Instead, a new format in General Biology 101 allows students to have more autonomy in open-ended, interdisciplinary lab modules. “This is crucial in our first semester biology courses since these types of experiments form the basis of long-term research projects,” says Laurie Caslake, associate professor and head of biology. “We hope that exposing students to this type of research will stimulate them to learn and improve their technical and scientific reasoning skills, as well as interest them in continuing in biology and, ultimately, performing independent research or an honors thesis in biology.”
Nov 13, 2009
Green Roof on Acopian Provides Environmental and Educational Benefits The grass is always greener...on the roof of Acopian Engineering Center. A 588 square-foot section of the building's roof has been planted with a specialized lawn that will bring environmental benefits to the building and educational opportunities to students. Civil engineering major Daniella Colon '10 (Bronx, N.Y.) and students in LEAP (Lafayette Environmental Awareness and Protection) and SEES (Society of Environmental Engineers and Scientists) researched and helped design the roof. It is planted with sedum plants, hearty native grass species that store water in their leaves, allowing the vegetated roof to thrive with minimal maintenance. The plants are expected to flourish for several years.
Nov 13, 2009
Scott Hummel Receives Award from International Standards Development Organization
ASTM International has awarded Scott Hummel, associate professor and head of mechanical engineering, with the Frank C. Brautigam Award for outstanding and effective work as a task group chairman in the development of a new ASTM standard in the area of galling (metal on metal) wear. This establishes Hummel as one of the world’s leading experts in this field. During the 10 years that Hummel conducted the standard research, Lafayette students, including Ryan Waite '04, Ben Partlow '03, and Alex Herr '00, contributed to the project and were co-authors on papers published by Hummel.
Nov 12, 2009
Students Help Capture World War II in High Definition When WWII in HD begins airing Nov. 15, nine Lafayette students will know they had a hand in one of the History Channel’s most ambitious projects to date. They served as interns with Lou Reda Productions of Easton. Donald L. Miller, John Henry MacCracken Professor of History, was writer and chief historical consultant for the full-color, high definition series narrated by Emmy Award-winner Gary Sinise. As head of the history department internship program, Miller helped the students secure the internships with the documentary filmmaking firm. “I was provided the opportunity to witness exactly what goes into the formation and production of a documentary and how all of these components work together to create the finished project,” says Emily Caracandas ’10.
Nov 10, 2009
Students Will Study Engineering and Spanish Culture in Madrid This spring, James Ferri, associate professor of chemical and biomolecular engineering, will lead a new semester-abroad program in Spain. Twenty-five students, consisting mostly of second-semester engineering sophomores, will participate study at Saint Louis University’s Madrid campus. The Madrid program will complement Lafayette’s faculty-led program at Jacobs University Bremen in Germany, where students are able to study engineering and German language and culture. This spring, Anne Raich, assistant professor of civil and environmental engineering, will serve as faculty host.
Nov 09, 2009
Fosbenner ’10 and Minckler ’10 Named Finalists for Marshall Scholarship
Stephanie Fosbenner ’10 (Perkasie, Pa.) and Max Minckler ’10 (Fort Lauderdale, Fla.) have been selected as finalists in the 2010 Marshall Scholarship competition. Marshall Scholarships finance young Americans of high ability to study for a degree in the United Kingdom. Up to 40 scholars are selected each year to study at the graduate level at a U.K. institution in any field of study. Each scholarship is held for two years. Fosbenner and Minckler are both scheduled to be interviewed by a regional Marshall selection panel this month.
Nov 06, 2009
Tiffany Patafio ’10 Explores the World of Finance
Mechanical engineering major Tiffany Patafio ’10 (Staten Island, N.Y.) got a taste of life in the finance industry during a summer internship with Daniel Kilmurray ’75 at UBS Financial Services in New York City. "This opportunity not only exposed me to the world of finance, it also helped me to network and connect with people in all different fields. I worked with so many wonderful people who had so much advice to offer about possible career paths and how to approach my upcoming job search. I learned so many valuable things about the finance world and gained so many beneficial contacts in all industries, that I truly feel this internship will help to shape my career and, consequently, the rest of my life," she says.
Nov 04, 2009
Computer Science Students Develop Software to Aid Peers Soon students taking Introduction to Engineering and Public Policy and Introduction to Policy Studies will have a new software program at their disposal called Urban Development Tools (UDT). The twist is that fellow students studying computer science are creating the program. Miguel Haruki Yamaguchi ’11 (Akashi, Japan) and Rhodes Baker ’10 (Columbus, Ohio) developed the UDT concept and a basic prototype this past summer as EXCEL Scholars under the guidance of Chun Wai Liew, associate professor and head of computer science.
Nov 03, 2009
Team-Taught Course Will Merge Russian Art, Culture, and History A new team-taught course will provide students with a look at Russian and Eastern European art, government, history, literature, music, and religion, both in and out of the classroom. The interdisciplinary class, which includes a free trip to Russia, will allow students to experience the country firsthand. History, Art, and Culture of Russia and Eastern Europe, taught by Joshua Sanborn, associate professor of history, andIda Sinkevic, associate professor of art, will allow students to learn from experts in two different disciplines in the same classroom.
Nov 02, 2009
Students Will Explore the Inner Workings of the Nation’s Economy A team of six students will travel to Maryland Nov. 2-4 to compete in the regional College Fed Challenge competition held at the Baltimore branch of the Federal Reserve Bank of Richmond. The students will become monetary policymakers as they assess current economic conditions, determine Federal Reserve goals, and develop a monetary policy that addresses these goals. They are scored on content, responses to judges’ questions, research and analysis, presentation, and teamwork. “Students learn about the nature of monetary policy and how it is conducted,” says James DeVault, associate professor of economics and team co-adviser. “They also learn how to put together a persuasive presentation and how to work together as a team.”
Oct 30, 2009
Students Will Compete in Computing ‘Battle of the Brains’ Two teams of Lafayette students will be challenged to use their programming skills, creativity, and business sense as they compete in the regional round of the world’s most prestigious computer programming competition. Sponsored by IBM, the 34th annual Association for Computing Machinery International Collegiate Programming Contest (ICPC) for the mid-Atlantic region will take place Nov. 7 at Wilkes University. The “Battle of the Brains” is based on a competition first held at Texas A&M University in 1970 and requires student teams to write programs to solve as many complex, real-world problems as possible within a five-hour time limit.
Oct 29, 2009
Emergent Patterns
Oct 29, 2009
Professor Donald Miller Helps Bring WWII History to Big and Small Screens
This fall, Donald L. Miller, John Henry MacCracken Professor of History, will welcome the premiere of two projects he’s worked closely on to preserve the rich stories of World War II. The film Beyond all Boundaries will debut at the National World War II Museum Nov. 6-8, and the 10-hour series WWII in HD will begin its run Nov. 15 on the History Channel. Miller served as writer and creative consultant on the film, traveling to California to meet with Tom Hanks about the project. Miller was writer and chief historical consultant for WWII in HD. He worked with Lou Reda Productions of Easton on the full-color, high-definition series, which is one of the History Channel’s most ambitious projects to date. It is narrated by Emmy Award-winner Gary Sinise.
Oct 27, 2009
Students Will Visit the Far East in January Faculty-Led Course
For three weeks in January, students will be immersed in Japanese culture through a new winter interim-abroad course led by Paul Barclay, associate professor of history, and Naoko Ikegami, visiting instructor of foreign languages and literatures. The course is being offered as part of the College's new interdisciplinary Asian studies major. While in Japan, the students will tour temples, shrines, gardens, monuments, and natural vistas of Western Japan, with a concentration on Kyoto. They will watch demonstrations of and participate in Zen mediation; the art of Kimono, ceramics, paper-making, and calligraphy; traditional martial arts; and fine Japanese cuisine and tea ceremony. They also will practice communicating using Japanese and Japanese-friendly English.
Oct 26, 2009
Professor Jamila Bookwala Will Present Jones Faculty Lecture Oct. 28 Jamila Bookwala, associate professor of psychology, will present this year’s Jones Faculty Lecture 7:30 p.m. Wednesday, Oct. 28, in Kirby Hall of Civil Rights room 104. A reception will follow. Her talk, “Our Relationships, Our Health,” will focus on her research looking at the link between personal relationships and health during the middle and late adulthood years. In particular, her research examines the interconnections among marriage, stress, and psychological and physical health in adults aged 50+ years. The talk is sponsored by the Thomas Roy and Lura Forest Jones Faculty Lecture and Awards Fund, established in 1966 to recognize superior teaching and scholarship at Lafayette.
Oct 23, 2009
Lew Minter and Amanda Smith ’10 Reconstruct Altarpieces by Painter Vivarini Lew Minter, director of the art department's media lab, and art major Amanda Smith ’10 have produced digital reconstructions of two altarpieces by Italian Renaissance Painter Antonio Vivarini. The reconstructions will be exhibited at the Gemäldegalerie museum in Berlin and were published among a broader discussion of the context of the polyptychs in the Jahrbuch der Berliner Museen 2008 (Year Book of the Berlin Museums, published 2009). A detailed article focusing on reconstruction problems will be published, along with color reproductions, in a museum journal.
Oct 22, 2009
Experimental Printmaking Institute Begins Innovative Internship Program The Experimental Printmaking Institute (EPI) has hired three student interns this semester, starting a program which Curlee Raven Holton, professor of art and director of EPI, hopes will become a model for the future. The program provides students with an experience that is both interdisciplinary and very “real world” in nature. The interns, who are not art majors, will not only learn about the art industry, but also will be in charge of EPI’s business management, marketing, public relations, and research and documentation. Holton believes the internship program fits in with EPI’s student-centered mission.
Oct 21, 2009
