A Newsletter for UMW Faculty and Staff
Gain a more dynamic understanding of early Islamic society and the nature of religious interaction during a lecture entitled “Religious Identity and Conversion between Christianity and Early Islam (650-900 C.E.)” by Anna Chrysostomides on Wednesday, Nov. 20 at 6 p.m. in Trinkle Hall, Room 204.
Chrysostomides is a 2007 University of Mary Washington religion graduate and a Ph.D. candidate in theology and religion at Saint Antony’s College, Oxford, England.
Geospatial analysis encompasses geographic information systems (GIS), remote sensing, and global positioning systems (GPS) to organize, analyze and display spatial information. UMW will be one of only two institutions in Virginia to offer an advanced degree focused solely on geospatial analysis.
The M.S. in geospatial analysis will be an intensive 12-month program designed for both recent graduates and working professionals. The graduate degree was approved by the Board of Visitors in February. A complete course outline is available at www.umw.edu/gis.
“UMW is an ideal place to study geospatial analysis because of its location mid-way between Washington, D.C., and Richmond and because of its commitment to the liberal arts and sciences,” said Steve Hanna, chair of the Department of Geography.
He said that, in addition to needing employees with advanced technical skills, employers look for a flexible workforce, with expertise in world cultures and languages, mathematics, statistics, computer science and the natural sciences, and spatial thinking.
“Employment announcements stress the need for written and oral communication skills,” said Hanna. “All these are emphasized in the UMW curriculum.”
UMW’s program will require 30-course credits, which will be available through evening classes and can be taken by both full-time and part-time students. Applications for the program will have a recommended filing date of June 1, 2014. For more information, contact Brian Rizzo, director of GIS programs, at rizzo@umw.edu or Steve Hanna, chair of the Department of Geography, at shanna@umw.edu.Janusz Konieczny, professor of mathematics, gave an invited talk, “The Commuting Graph of the Symmetric Inverse Semigroup,” at the Analysis, Logic and Physics Seminar at Virginia Commonwealth University.
Spooky Action Theatre in Washington, D.C. will present a Workshop Production of Kristen LePine’s play Dire Wolves.
The yet unproven presence of dire wolves rears its head in Evansville, Indiana, as six characters heed the call and face ancient fears within, in an interwoven play that encourages us to confront our wild nature or forever live in the realm of tamed comfort. Dire Wolves was commissioned by the Hub Theatre. This performance will be directed by Kristy Simmons.
Kristen teaches in the UMW Department of Theatre and Dance and has an MFA in Dramatic Writing.
The Details
What: Dire Wolves by Kristen LePine
When: Saturday, September 21 at 8 p.m. and Sunday, September 22 at 3 p.m.
Where: Spooky Action Theatre Company, 1810 16th St NW; Washington, D.C. 20009
Cost: FREE
The listing was announced Sept. 10 in the magazine’s online edition. U.S. News & World Report bases its rankings on peer assessment, graduation and retention rates, faculty resources, student selectivity, financial resources and alumni giving.
UMW also is named in a list of “A-Plus Schools for B Students,” for schools ranked among the top three-quarters of their peer groups in the 2014 Best Colleges rankings that admit a meaningful proportion of non-“A” students. For the full list, visit www.usnews.com.
In recent years, the university has seen its academic reputation garner national recognition in numerous selective guidebooks, including Forbes, the Fiske Guide to Colleges and the Princeton Review’s 2012 edition of 150 “Best Value Colleges” and the 2014 edition of “The Best 378 Colleges.”On June 20, 2013, Patricia Orozco, lecturer in Modern Languages and Literatures, offered a presentation entitled “Artistic Motivation in Gloria” at the X Congreso Internacional Galdosiano (X Galdosian International Conference), Galdós, Principles of an Era: celebrating 150 years of the arrival of Benito Pérez Galdós to Madrid in Las Palmas de Gran Canaria, Spain. This conference, celebrated every four years, brings together galdosian scholars to share their research on the works of Benito Pérez Galdós and XIX c. peninsular studies. Dr. Orozco presented part of her research on the theme of the ‘foreigner’ in the works of Galdós and chaired the session titled “Principles of Galdosian Writing”. Approved peer reviewed proceedings of the conference are expected to be published in the coming months. This conference was hosted by the Casa de Colón and Casa-Museo Pérez Galdós.
The annual college guide includes detailed profiles of the colleges with school rating scores in eight categories, including admissions selectivity, academics and quality of life.
In its profile, The Princeton Review says UMW students applaud the small student body and class sizes for fostering close interactions with faculty members.
“Students believe UMW is ‘a hidden jewel that delivers on a historical campus’ and say courses are ‘engaging and intellectually stimulating,’” according to UMW’s profile. “Overall, students agree, ‘Mary Washington is all about getting a well-rounded education while becoming a part of a great community’ and point out that ‘professors are included in that as well.’”
Only about 15 percent of America’s 2,500 four-year colleges and three colleges outside the U.S. are profiled in the book.
“We base our selections primarily on data we obtain in our annual institutional data surveys,” said Robert Franek, author of “The Best 378 Colleges” and Princeton Review’s senior vice president and publisher. “We also take into account input we get from our staff, our 35-member National College Counselor Advisory Board, our personal visits to schools, and the wide range of feedback we get from our surveys of students attending these schools. It is their opinions that college applicants often value the most, particularly on (or in the absence of) campus visits. We also work to keep a wide representation of colleges in the book by region, size, selectivity and character.”
The full list is available at www.PrincetonReview.com.
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News release prepared by: Brynn Boyer
Mary Washington is among 41 public and private institutions designated as a “best buy,” delivering outstanding academics and the most reasonable prices. The selective guidebook features more than 300 colleges and universities. The listing was based on questionnaires sent to administrators and a cross-section of students.
UMW is among 21 public and 20 private schools singled out as “best buys” in the 2014 edition of the guide.
“Mary Washington has gained a reputation as one of the premium public liberal arts colleges in the country and continues to attract bright students from around the globe,” according to the Fiske Guide, which has been compiled for the past 30 years under the direction of Edward B. Fiske, former education editor of the New York Times.
The Fiske Guide is available in bookstores and as an iPad app on iTunes and a web app on CollegeCountdown.com. For more information, visit http://www.collegecountdown.com/.
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News release prepared by: Brynn Boyer
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