Author: Marty Morrison

UMW has been selected as host of the 2011 Governor’s Foreign Language Academy in German by the Virginia Department of Education.

This summer, 45 Virginia high school students who have excelled in language study will reside on UMW’s Fredericksburg campus from June 25-July 17. The program provides students with a three-week foreign language immersion intensive environment.

Marcel Rotter, associate professor of German, said the university’s dedication to foreign language studies makes Mary Washington a fitting site of the program. Rotter, who developed the grant proposal for the German academy, will be the program coordinator.

“UMW has a strong commitment to liberal arts education, including foreign language education,” said Rotter. “We have a language requirement that provides all graduates at least an intermediate knowledge of one foreign language. The recent restructuring of the Office of International Academic Services is additional evidence.”

During the academy, use of the English language is forbidden. Participants agree to strictly speak German for the duration of the program.

Adjunct instructor Mark Scharf’s play Empires Fall has been produced by the Run of the Mill Theatre, Baltimore, Md. A monologue from his play, The Whispers of Saints will appear in the 2011 Volume 3, Young Women’s Monologues from Contemporary Plays, both published by Meriwether Publishing, Ltd., and his plays Keeping Faith, Lizards Brains and Get Stuffed, published by Original Works Publishing, are now available on Kindle on Amazon.com. Mark will appear on two Playwriting Workshop panels at the University of Baltimore at the UB Student Center for the Performing Arts on June 25th, 2011: The Craft of Playwriting and Marketing Your Plays. Also, The Baltimore City Historical Society has added copies of Mark’s plays Blue Mermaid, The Whispers of Saints, Scorpions, The Mean Reds and Last Night at the Owl Bar to their archives.

Scott Harris has been chosen as director of the James Monroe Museum and
Memorial Library in Fredericksburg. Harris, who currently serves as director of the New Market Battlefield State Historical Park in New Market, Va., will begin work at the museum July 18.  Read the press release

Ranny Corbin, Clerk of the Board of Visitors and Assistant Vice President for Special Initiatives, will  retire after more than 15 years of dedicated service to the University.

Please join us on Thursday, June 2, 3 to 4:30 p.m. in Dodd Foyer, as we say thank you, give our congratulations, and bid a fond farewell.  All faculty and staff are invited to attend this special occasion and to send Ranny off with our best wishes.

Mary Rigsby, professor of English, and Suzanne Sumner, professor of mathematics, gave an invited feature presentation at the Teaching Professor Conference in Atlanta, Georgia, held May 20-22, titled “BustingWalls and Overcoming Blahs:  Knotty Problems and Speed Dating.”  The Teaching Professor Conference is a premier international conference on teaching pedagogy at the college level, with 800 participants from 10 countries.

Rigsby and Sumner received this invitation because of their past participation in Teaching Professor conferences, and to share their

experiences as former directors of UMW’s Teaching Innovation Program.  In addition, Sumner is currently on the advisory board for the Teaching Professor Conference and reviewed  proposals for contributed sessions for the conference.