A Newsletter for UMW Faculty and Staff
Be armed against flu! The Student Health Center is collaborating with Giant pharmacy to administer flu shots to everyone on campus. Shots will be administered free of charge to recipients of most health insurance plans in the University Center Lobby, from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m., on Oct. 23 and Nov. 14. Be sure to bring your insurance card with you.
Contact the Student Health Center at 540-654-1040 or healthcenter@umw.edu with questions.
Antonio Causarano, associate professor of education.
Antonio Causarano, associate professor of education, will give a presentation titled “Race and Education in Fascist Italy” about Italian dictator Benito Mussolini’s education program. According to The Free Lance-Star, “It will focus on ‘the historical aspects of race in fascist Italy and how the ideology of race was an integral part of the education of fascist youth during the 20 years of fascist regime,’ he said.” Sponsored by the Fredericksburg-Este Association, the free lecture is open to the public and will be held on Friday, Oct. 11 at 7 p.m. at St. George’s Episcopal Church at 905 Princess Anne St. Read more.
College of Business Dean Lynne Richardson
College of Business Dean Lynne Richardson’s weekly column in The Free Lance-Star discusses making changes to job descriptions. Read RETHINKING JOBS AS TIMES CHANGE.
HAVE YOU looked around your organization to see who’s doing what?
As technological changes have impacted so much in the last couple of decades, are the people in your organization “fully employed?” Here are a few things to think about. Read more.
How do you define Physical Wellness for yourself personally? Do you incorporate nutrition into your daily diet, go to the gym weekly, or maybe just take a walk/run daily? There are number of great ideas on being physical well and active, but what can we do to make it a goal or a daily habit in our lives? We will be showcasing several ideas this month on helping all of us become more physically well and the first suggestion is to just walk. Make an appointment with yourself and grab your walking shoes and some friends. Go explore Fredericksburg either by walking downtown or enjoying nature on the hiking trails or surrounding battlefields.
Another suggestion is to join the President Council on Wellness (PCOW) sponsored Mary Wash Moves Event or the PCOW Walking Wednesdays. Mary Wash Moves is a team of faculty and staff split up into 6 teams. Keep track of your steps during the month of October and the team with the highest average wins some great prizes. Join a team by writing your name on the team color tab you choose in the official tracking document. For more information, email wellness@umw.edu.
Walking Wednesdays is available for anyone who has free time between 1:00 and 2:00pm on any Wednesday. We start in front of Lee Hall and explore different routes across campus or downtown for about 30-45 minutes. PCOW will be putting more information out in the coming weeks about this easy, once a week walking event. Let’s start some healthy practices to become more physically well!
Campus Dining will be hosting the annual Thanksgiving Dinner on Wednesday, November 20th at the Top of the UC. Approximately 1,700 students are expected to attend the dinner, so many extra hands will be needed in order to serve such a large number of guests.
Each year many members of UMW’s faculty and staff volunteer to help serve this and other holiday dinners, and they always have lots of fun! Volunteers can bring spouses, significant others, or older children to help serve, and they all get to enjoy the bountiful Thanksgiving feast for free!
Volunteers are asked to serve for one of the following shifts:
4:45 p.m. to 6 p.m.
5:45 p.m. to 7 p.m.
6:45 p.m. to 8 p.m.
Anyone interested in volunteering should contact Rose Benedict at rbenedic@umw.edu or call 540-654-2169.
All UMW veterans – faculty, staff and students – are invited to join us for the Veteran Appreciation Luncheon on Monday, November 11, 2019 to be held at 11:30 a.m. in the Chandler Ballroom. The event is sponsored by the Veterans Resource Center, The Office of Transfer and Off-Campus Student Services, and the Wounded Warrior Project.
Please RSVP to Chris Porter at cjporter@umw.edu if you plan to attend.
A message from the Office of Admissions:
To the UMW Community:
On Saturday, October 26, 2019, the University of Mary Washington will host its UMW Admissions Open House. Approximately 250 prospective students (typically transfers and high school seniors, juniors, and sophomores) and their families will visit campus between 8 a.m. and 4 p.m. The estimated guest count is over 600 visitors.
A sample agenda is posted here. Visitor parking has been reserved in parking deck level 4 off of Route 1, the GW lot, along College Avenue, general visitor parking spaces on Double Drive, the Jefferson Framar Lot and Admissions visitor parking spaces on Double Drive. Primary event locations are the University Center, George Washington Hall, Lee Hall, the Hurley Convergence Center, and campus/residence hall tours in Mason. Expect to see increased foot traffic on campus and curious newcomers at the Top of the University Center (fourth floor), especially between noon and 2 p.m.
While the Office of Admissions sponsors these events, the entire campus assumes the role of host. Our visitors frequently comment on how “friendly, helpful, and engaging” our UMW community is. To this end, last year we enrolled 695 students who had visited campus. Our goal this year is to increase the number of students who visit by 10%.
We encourage you to show your support and tweet to @MaryWash. We would like to see #UMWOpenHouse trending throughout the day. If you’d like to be involved in Open Houses or have ideas, please contact Admissions at 540-654-2000 or email admit@umw.edu.
Thank you for your partnership in showcasing all that is great about UMW!
Dan Hirshberg, assistant professor of religious studies and director of the contemplative studies program
Dan Hirshberg, assistant professor of religious studies and director of the contemplative studies program, offered a lecture and a workshop for Brown University’s Contemplative Studies Initiative.
His lecture focused on “Secular Rhetoric in Contemplative Pedagogy,” which concurred with recent critiques and advocated for pluralist discourse as representative of the field’s objectives and practices. The interactive workshop introduced some of the adverse effects of technology usage and featured the practice of an original contemplative exercise, “Smartphone Dis/Connect: FOMO,” which invites participants to explore the subtle physiological and psychological impacts of smartphone alerts and notifications.
Brown University launched the first Contemplative Studies concentration (major) for undergraduates in the world and is a leader in the interdisciplinary research of contemplation across the humanities, arts, and sciences.
Associate Professor Zach Whalen
Zach Whalen, Associate Professor of English, has just published an article in a special issue of The Journal of Creative Writing Studies on “Creative Making as Creative Writing.” His article, “The Many Authors of The Several Houses of Brian, Spencer, Liam, Victoria, Brayden, Vincent, and Alex: Authorship, Agency, and Appropriation,” is an artist’s statement reflecting on how creating a computer-generated book like Whalen’s 2017 work The Several Houses of Brian, Spencer, Liam, Victoria, Brayden, Vincent, and Alex invites readers to reconsider the idea of what it means to be an author. Whalen’s book draws on several different databases to create an essentially infinite variation on the nursery rhyme “This is the House that Jack Built”; these databases contain the work of hundreds of contributors, so Whalen argues in this article that the novel is best considered a collaboration among many instead of the work of a single individual or computer. https://scholarworks.rit.edu/jcws/vol4/iss1/
Later today, a Halloween storm is expected to bring an enhanced risk of severe weather for the Greater Fredericksburg area. The main hazards associated with this storm will be heavy rain and damaging wind gusts. An isolated tornado is also possible. There may also be localized flooding in areas, as well as damage from falling tree limbs or power lines.
The severe weather may have an impact on evening Halloween activities. Be weather aware tonight by following these safety guidelines:
Everyone is encouraged to update their UMW Alerts settings to include text messaging. This is the fastest way to receive warnings for the area. You can update your settings at https://www.getrave.com/login/umw.
The Office of Emergency Management & Safety will continue to monitor the situation throughout the day and evening until the threat has passed. Updates will be sent to the community if the threat increases. Questions or concerns should be sent to safety@umw.edu.