July 28, 2026

EagleEye

A Newsletter for UMW Faculty and Staff

Severe Weather Awareness Week Safety Tips

by

Image of storm for Severe Weather Awareness week 2026

UMW’s recent test of its Emergency Notification System was part of Severe Weather Awareness Week, which is designed to refresh, remind and educate everyone about the seasonal threats from severe weather and how to plan and prepare for them. The Virginia Department of Emergency Management partners with the National Weather Service to promote Severe Weather Awareness Week. Each day of the week covers a different topic, including preparedness tips and ways to stay safe during severe weather. More information is available from the National Weather Service online.

Tornado Safety tips:

  1. Watch vs. Warning
    1. Know the difference between a Watch and a Warning and know what to do
    2. Watch = hazardous conditions are favorable.  Say informed and be prepared.
    3. Warning = hazardous conditions are imminent.  Take action now!  Seek shelter.
  2. Safe Shelter Locations
    1. Pre-identify safe sheltering locations at home, school, and work
    2. Lower level interior rooms with no windows are best; avoid large rooms such as auditoriums
    3. If outside, find the nearest sturdy building; if you can’t make it to a building, find a low lying spot to lay flat on the ground and cover your head
  3. Stay Informed
    1. Don’t ignore severe weather alerts!
    2. Know your surroundings, pre-plan safety actions and stay aware
    3. Have weather safety conversations with your friends, family  and colleagues

For more information about University of Mary Washington’s emergency management programs, please visit the Emergency Management and Safety webpage at https://students.umw.edu/safety/emergency-management/ or contact Emergency Management at 540-654-2108.

Summer Course: “The World on a Plate”

by

Logo with a globeAs you advise your students on their course choices in the Summer and Fall, please keep in mind the Modern Languages and Literatures course: “The World on a Plate: A Journey Through Global Cuisines.”

This 3-credit, online course fulfills the global and diverse perspectives requirement, is writing intensive and has honors and non-honors sections. There is no prerequisite. It takes place Monday through Thursday, 1 – 3 p.m. during the second summer session.

In addition, the course is modeled after the COVID-19 in Context course of 2020. It has two weekly (Tuesday/Thursday, 1 – 2:30 p.m.) public lectures by experts and local chefs on the week’s topic. So, consider dropping by yourself and let others in the community know!

Lecture by Henry Skerritt, Curator at Kluge-Ruhe Aboriginal Art Collection, March 19

by

Thursday, March 19, from 5 p.m. to 6 p.m. all are welcome for a special lecture by University of Virginia’s Professor Henry Skerritt, Curator of Research at the Kluge-Ruhe Aboriginal Art Collection.

In his talk, Irrititja Kuwarri Tjungu (Past & Present Together): How a small Aboriginal Australian community took on the Global Artworld, Prof. Skerritt will discuss his traveling exhibition Irrititja Kuwarri Tjungu: Contemporary Aboriginal Painting from the Australian Desert, currently on display at the Grey Art Museum at New York University.

This exhibition celebrates fifty years of Papunya Tula artists, a group of Aboriginal painters whose abstract artworks merge contemporary materials with ancestral ceremonial designs. Their collective organization, the Papunya Tula Artists Pty Ltd., is the first Aboriginal-owned arts enterprise in Australia.

This lecture is supported by the Visiting Artists and Scholars Program (VASP) through a collaboration between the Department of Art, the Department of Cultural and Philosophical Inquiry, and UMW Galleries.  All are welcome. No reservations or tickets are needed. If you have any questions, contact Julia DeLancey (jdelance@umw.edu).

Photo of an Aboriginal Artist

Women’s History Month Major Performer Carly Harvey, March 21

by

graphic with performance dates and timesBased out of Washington, DC, Carly Harvey combines Blues, Jazz, Soul, and Indigenous American styles to produce a unique sound. She is the originator of the “Native Scat” — an improvisational fusion of a traditional Jazz scat with Native vocables. In addition to performing as a solo act, Carly is an entertaining and dynamic band leader.

Catch her women’s history month major performance at UMW on Saturday, March 21 at 7 p.m. at in The Underground, Lee Hall.

According to DC Music Review, “Carly is grace, confidence, originality, and the right amount of sexy swagger all at once. She commands the stage with her voice and presence and draws you in intensely. Then she seems to end each song with an infectious smile of pure gratitude that beams so brightly into the audience.

In July 2018, Carly was featured in Big City Blues Magazine as one of the youngest Blues artists to watch. She is also a three-time DC Blues Society Battle of the Bands Winner and was proclaimed DC’s Queen of the Blues in 2016 by Dr. Nick Johnson of WPFW Radio. In 2021, Carly was nominated 7 times and won the WAMMIE award for Best Blues Artist. Most recently Carly was casted on season 28 of The Voice turning two chairs and choosing team Bublé.

Carly is an Eastern Band Tsalagi and Tuscarora descendant and it is her belief that Blues not only comes from the African American experience but is also directly influenced by Indigenous American Minor Pentatonic Melodies and Stomp Dance Songs. She offers lectures in schools, universities, and internationally to educate people about the music that gives her so much pride in her Afro-Indigenous heritage.

Jane Austen’s Bookshelf: A Talk With Author Rebecca Romney, March 23

by

Picture of Cover of Jane Austen's BookshelfJoin us for a talk with best-selling author Rebecca Romney!

Jane Austen wasn’t a lone genius. She wrote at a time of great experimentation for women writers — and clues about those women, and the exceptional books they wrote, are sprinkled like breadcrumbs throughout Austen’s work.

So where had these women gone? In Jane Austen’s Bookshelf, Romney investigates the disappearance of Austen’s heroes — women writers who were erased from the Western canon — to reveal who they were, what they meant to Austen and how they were forgotten.

Monday, March 23, 2026
5:30 p.m. — 6:30 p.m.
HCC Digital Auditorium
Register here!

This event is free and open to the UMW community and the public. There will be a talk, followed by Q&A from the audience. Refreshments will be served after the event. There will be a book signing after the event, and copies of the books will be available on-site for purchase.

Panel Discussion: A Blueprint For Lasting Peace in Israel-Palestine, March 23

by

Photo of the book cover for the book titled "From Apartheid to Democracy: A Blueprint for Peace in Israel-Palestine"Join UMW’s Department of Political Science & International Relations and the Department of History, American Studies, and Sociology for a panel discussion on Michael Schaeffer Omer-Man’s and Sarah Leah Whitson’s new book: From Apartheid to Democracy: A Blueprint for Peace in Israel-Palestine.

A Blueprint For Lasting Peace in Israel-Palestine
Monday, March 23
4:00 p.m.
Monroe 346

The panel discussion will center on the authors’ proposed plan for a lasting peace in Israel-Palestine, with Professor Nabil Al-Tikriti and Professor Ranjit Singh joining the two pre-eminent authors on the panel.

Omer-Man is the former Israel-Palestine Director at both DAWN and Editor in Chief of +972 Magazine, and Whitson is Executive Director of DAWN and former Executive Director of Human Rights Watch’s Middle East and North Africa Division.

 

Interpreting World War II Aviation for a New Era Lecture, March 24

by

The Department of History, American Studies, and Sociology is sponsoring a public lecture with Roger D. Conner, Ph.D., curator of the Aeronautics Department at the Smithsonian’s National Air and Space Museum.

Interpreting World War II Aviation for a New Era
Tuesday, March 24
4 to 5:30 p.m.
Monroe 116

Questions? Contact sharris@umw.edu.

Photo from of plane and aviators from Smithsonian's Air and Space Museum with dates and details of lecture that are also included in the copy of this post.

Public Square Debate on Campus, March 11

by

All are welcome at a very exciting public debate event taking place on campus — it’s a great opportunity for community engagement, professional development and networking.

A VA250 Public Square Debate: Is Social Media a Threat to Democracy?
Wednesday, March 11
6 p.m. – 8 p.m.
CRUC Chandler Ballroom
Reception to follow

Event FAQ:
What is the Public Square Debate initiative?
The Public Square Debate initiative brings together students from local high schools, 2-year (Germanna) and 4-year (UMW) colleges, and members of the broader community for a respectful exchange of ideas on timely civic questions. Public Square debates help participants explore what it means to live in a democracy — and what it takes to strengthen one. The Public Square Debate initiative is a partnership among VA250, the State Council of Higher Education for Virginia (SCHEV), the Virginia Department of Education (VDOE), Braver Angels and the American Council of Trustees and Alumni (ACTA), which houses the College Debates & Discourse Alliance.

What is the Braver Angels debate format?
Braver Angels debates are non-competitive and allow everyone in the room to participate. There is no distinction between the speakers and the audience. The debates are run by a trained chair using a light parliamentary format that allows for everyone to have a chance to speak. The UMW/GCC debate will be chaired by an experienced chair from the College Debates and Discourse Alliance.

What will the debate be about?
The topic that will be debated is whether social media a threat to democracy.

 

Flier for the debate with date and time details (all included in the text of this post)

Guest Talk: Leadership in an Age of AI Acceleration, March 10

by

The Center for AI and the Liberal Arts is pleased to invite you to a guest talk by Sean O’Brien ‘09, UMW’s AI Expert-in-Residence, on Tuesday, March 10.

As we navigate the rapid changes brought about by artificial intelligence, many of us are wrestling with the scale of its disruption. From shifting workforce dynamics to intensifying government scrutiny, the “symptoms” of structural change are everywhere. O’Brien provides a national perspective on these shifts and will discuss how we can prepare our institutions for the decade ahead.

Event Details:

  • Talk Title: Preparing for the Storm: Leadership in an Age of AI Acceleration
  • Date: Tuesday, March 10
  • Time: 4:00 p.m
  • Location: Lee Hall 411

 About the Talk:

Drawing from his experience leading the division focused on AI, cloud and emerging technology at Internet2, the United States’ national research and education network, O’Brien will discuss the unmistakable acceleration of technology and the compression of decision cycles in higher education. Importantly, this talk will argue that the liberal arts tradition is not just relevant, but is actually a vital “design philosophy” for this uncertain era. The ability to reason ethically, communicate across disciplines and think systemically are the exact capabilities required to navigate current volatility.