We are just days from Fall Break, and at this time I want to thank each of you for your hard work and wish you a short respite.
During this busy time, some of our colleagues are taking the first steps in the search for a new Liberal Arts dean. Provost Sally Mason has appointed the search committee, and members of this group will begin the process to recruit, interview and recommend a new dean. Jeff Vitter, dean of the College of Science, is chairing the committee.
This early stage is a good time for you to become involved. You can contact search committee members with suggested names for dean candidates, and please convey to committee members ideas about the qualities and characteristics you believe are essential for our next dean.
Cindy H. Nakatsu, professor of Agronomy.
Also, the College of Liberal Arts recently celebrated two momentous events. On Sept. 12, more than 300 alumni, friends of the College, faculty, staff, and students participated in the dedication of the Yue-Kong Pao Hall of Visual and Performing Arts. The celebration included theater and musical performances featuring students and faculty, which showcased the artistic possibilities of the new building.
Yesterday, the college celebrated a gift of more than 130 Orthodox Christian icons to the Purdue Galleries from Indianapolis resident Katherine "Betsy" Scheuring. These icons will not only be appreciated by artists, but also by scholars interested in history, linguistics, political science, religion, and literature. The icons will be on display next fall for all to enjoy.
Again, I realize many of you are immersed in classes, research, and other projects, but I hope you make time to bring your family and friends to the Liberal Arts Homecoming Celebration from 9-11 a.m. on Oct. 15 on the Purdue Mall. This year we will welcome back alumni with carnival games that introduce aspects of Liberal Arts. Of course, faculty, staff and students are welcome to attend as well!
I hope everyone has an enjoyable fall break.
Tom Adler
NEWS AND RESEARCH
College stages dedication for theaters, arts building
Purdue dedicated two theaters and its new visual and performing arts building Sept. 12, setting the stage for a place where art and technology can meet.
Anna Pao Sohmen
and Martin C. Jischke
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The $43.4 million Yue-Kong Pao Hall of Visual and Performing Arts is the College of Liberal Arts' home to the four divisions that make up visual and performing arts: art and design, music, theatre, and dance.
"This building is a testament to the breadth of the arts at Purdue and our own emphasis on bringing technology to the stage," said President Martin C. Jischke.
Weaving class
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"This is the first building at Purdue named after an international business leader, a visionary who helped bring the market economy to China. The donors include a leader in the video game industry, a former Purdue president and engineer, a professional in the pharmacy industry, and a mechanical engineer."
"Art plays a part in every discipline and in every heart, and this building provides a place where designers, artists and scientists can experiment with art to improve the human condition."
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Liberal Arts announces gift of religious icons to Galleries
Galleries' permanent art collection will be home to one of the largest private Orthodox Christian icon collections in the country, thanks to a gift announced Oct. 4 from an Indianapolis ballet instructor.
Katherine "Betsy" Scheuring
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Katherine "Betsy" Scheuring, a longtime resident of Indianapolis, is giving 132 Russian and Ethiopian religious icons to Galleries. The gift is valued at more than $308, 000. Included in the collection are a variety of religious figures, such as Jesus, the Virgin Mary and saints, as well as images from Judeo-Christian writings. Scheuring's collection ranges from the 16th century to the 21st century.
"Most people expect to find these religious icons only in the homes of Orthodox Christians or in churches," said Thomas Adler, interim dean of the College of Liberal Arts. "But Betsy Scheuring has made it possible for people – whether they are spiritually inspired by these images, curious to learn more about Russia's political history, or captivated by such fine craftsmanship from Ethiopia and Russia – to have access to this incredible collection."
Russian icon
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The icons are predominantly rectangular and range from 2 by 3 inches to 15 by 21 inches. The majority are made from wood and painted with a dull-finished paint called tempera, and some are enclosed by a metal casing called riza that protects the print.
Pieces from the Scheuring collection will be displayed in the fall of 2006, which is the time of year when these icons are traditionally used in Orthodox celebrations.
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Book: How America won its independence at sea
Americans are mistaken if they think colonial America's fight for independence was won solely by defeating the British, says a historian.
The Barbary Wars
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"Here was the United States just emerging from its fight for independence when the young country finds itself blocked from free trade by North African countries in the Atlantic Ocean," says Frank Lambert, professor of American History. "Now, America had to fight for free access against imperial restrictions imposed by Britain and North African states and Europe in what are known as the Barbary Wars."
Lambert, an expert on the American and colonial revolution periods, explores the role commerce played in the Barbary Wars in his new book, The Barbary Wars: American Independence in the Atlantic World. The book ($24) was published in August by HILL and WANG, a division of Farrar, Straus and Giroux.
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Expert measures effects of presidents in the spotlight
Using former presidents to help rally the country after a national or global tragedy has its political pluses and minuses, says a presidential expert.
"Asking former presidents Bill Clinton and George H. W. Bush to lead the fund-raising efforts following two natural disasters – Asia's tsunami and the South's Hurricane Katrina – has worked well for current President George W. Bush," says Buddy Howell, an instructor of Communication. "Former presidents' 'official capital' is rooted in prestige from holding office and is not tarnished by partisan politics. This is different than the current president's 'political capital,' which is affected by whether he keeps other politicians and the public happy."
However, Howell says while the current president is praised for looking beyond party lines and asking for help from a former Democratic leader, there could be consequences in the future.
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OTHER EVENTS
Purdue Theatre presents Road, a late-night tour of an English town
Purdue Theatre will present Jim Cartwright's groundbreaking play, Road, Oct. 20-30 in the Black Box Theatre, Creative Arts Building 3
Road leads the audience into a colorful but gritty world of societal outcasts struggling to survive during Thatcher-era England. The characters discover sadness, laughter and hope for the future as they chaotically intersect and interact on a Saturday night.
Richard Stockton Rand, professor of theatre, will direct the compelling drama that includes a cast of 16 actors playing 34 separate characters.
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Bio artist, creator of green-glowing rabbit to speak at Purdue
The artist known for his creation of a genetically engineered rabbit that glows green under a fluorescent light will speak at Purdue on Oct. 18.
Kac's GFP Bunny
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Eduardo Kac will present "Life Transformation – Art Mutation" at 3 p.m. in the Krannert Building's first-floor auditorium. The lecture is free and open to the public.
A book signing for Telepresence and Bio Art – Networking Humans, Rabbits and Robots will follow at 5 p.m. at Borders Bookstore, 348 E. State St., West Lafayette. The book was published by University of Michigan Press in 2005 and costs $65 for the hardcover edition and $27.95 for the paperback.
"Eduardo Kac is an artist who is always breaking new frontiers, especially in showing how art is used in unusual mediums such as telecommunications, robotics and genetics, in the field generally known as bio art," said Rosanne Altstatt, a visiting scholar of visual and performing arts at Purdue.
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More events
– Award-winning poet Amy Quan Barry will be reading from her work at 7:30 p.m. today (Oct. 5) in Hicks Undergraduate Library's Bookstall. Barry, an associate professor at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, is a visiting professor this year in the Department of English. She has published two books of poetry, Controvertibles and Asylum, which won the Agnes Lynch Starrett Poetry Prize.
Her poems have appeared in The New Yorker, Georgia Review, New England Review and Missouri Review, and she also has received a fellowship from the National Endowment for the Arts and a 2003 Pushcart Prize. This reading is sponsored by the College of Liberal Arts, the Department of English and the Master of Fine Arts program in English.
– Daniel Hsieh, associate professor of Foreign Languages and Literatures, will present "Tang Poetry: Some Favorite Translations," at 8 p.m. on Oct. 6 at Rawls Hall, Room 1057. Hsieh's lecture is sponsored by the Interdisciplinary Classics Program and the Purdue Classics Association.
– Gordon Mork, professor of History, will present "The News from Berlin: Germans and the Holocaust Memorial" at 12:30-1:30 p.m. on Oct. 12 at Stewart Center, Room 214A. Mork's lecture is part of the Jewish Studies lecture series.
– Davy Rothbart, editor of Found Magazine and author of a short story collection The Lone Surfer of Montana, Kansas, will read from his fiction at 7:30 p.m. on Oct. 17 at the Wells Center, 638 North St., Lafayette. Rothbart is a regular on This American Life and The Late Show with David Letterman. This reading is sponsored by the College of Liberal Arts, the Department of English and the Master of Fine Arts program in English.
– Elizabeth Mix, assistant professor in the Patti and Rusty Rueff Department of Visual and Performing Arts, will present "Evil by Design: The Femme-Fatale in Popular Culture" at noon on Oct. 25 at Stewart Center, Room 204. Mix is in the department's Division of Art and Design. The lecture is part of the Women's Studies Noon Series.
– Four fellows from the College of Liberal Arts' faculty development centers will discuss their research during two symposiums on Nov. 9 and 15.
The presentations feature representatives from the Center for Undergraduate Instructional Excellence and the Center for Artistic Endeavors.
On Nov. 9, Charles Gick, associate professor of Visual and Performing Arts, will present, "Exhaustion: A Multisensory Video Installation" and Donald Platt, associate professor of English, will present, "Poetry Reading from Sky Blues (a jazz epic for two kazoos, slide whistle, cap gun, & biplane)." The presentations are 3:30 p.m. at the Jaques Building, second floor, 314-316 West St., West Lafayette.
On Nov. 15, Emily Allen, associate professor of English, will present "Introducing VPO: Victorian Pedagogies Online," and Kristina Bross, associate professor of English, will present "Raiders of the Lost Archives: An Undergraduate Humanities Research Practicum." The presentations are at 3:30 p.m. at Stewart Center, Room 313.
FACULTY & CLA HONORS
Philosophy professor honored by Board of Trustees
Mark Bernstein was named the Joyce and Edward E. Brewer Chair in Applied Ethics by the Board of Trustees on Sept. 23.
Mark Bernstein
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Bernstein's research interests are primarily in applied ethics and contemporary metaphysics. His books include Without a Tear: Our Tragic Relationship with Animals, On Moral Considerability: An Essay on Who Morally Matters and Fatalism. He has published more than 30 journal articles and reviews.
Bernstein joined the Purdue faculty this year from the University of Texas at San Antonio where he was on the faculty since 1983, most recently as the Peter T. Flawn Distinguished Professor of Philosophy. He also was previously on the faculty at Wesleyan University.
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Honors & Awards
Purdue students earn liberal arts scholarships
More than 70 students in the College of Liberal Arts were recently awarded scholarships.
The scholarships are:
