An essay by Colin Rafferty, assistant professor of English, has been named a Notable Essay in the 2013 edition of Best American Essays, edited this year by Cheryl Strayed. Rafferty’s essay, “Notes Towards Building the Monument,” was originally published in the Spring 2012 issue of Witness. This is the third time in four years that Rafferty has been among the writers of Notable Essays in the Best American Essays series.
Kennedy to Present at National Conference
Amanda Kennedy, student success coordinator, will present at the National Academic Advising Association’s (NACADA) National Conference in Salt Lake City, Utah from October 6 to 9. During the conference, entitled “Facilitating Failure: The Exploration of Student Failure and the Journey of Success Management,” Kennedy’s presentation will explore dealing with student failure in student affairs and academic advising.
Anthes Serves as Panelist at Bridgewater College
Dre Anthes, Director of Graduate Admissions, was a guest at Bridgewater College’s panel on graduate admissions on September 24. She was joined by colleagues from VA Tech, JMU, and Radford. The panel discussed preparation for graduate school, selecting the right program, the application process, and current trends in graduate admissions to over 100 eager undergraduate students.
Farnsworth Authors Opinion Column
Stephen Farnsworth, professor of political science and director of the University’s Center for Leadership and Media Studies, is author of an opinion column in the Free-Lance Star drawn from his new co-authored book, “The Global President: International Media and the US Government.”
In addition, Dr. Farnsworth has been interviewed by a number of media outlets on the US government shutdown and Virginia politics. Recent interviews include:
Dance Instructor Contributes Choreography in VelocityDC Dance Festival
The 5th Annual VelocityDC Dance Festival will take place on October 10-12, 2013 at Sydney Harman Hall in Washington, D.C. The festival includes performances on the main stage in Sydney Harman Hall, the RAMP series featuring artists in the downstairs studio in the theater and a Site Specific performance pre-show at the Portrait Gallery and in spaces in and around Sydney Harman Hall.
UMW’s dance faculty member Roxann Rowley will be presenting work as part of VelocityDC’s Site Specific portion of the festival. Her company Next Reflex Dance Collective along with Dance Performance Group and Movius Contemporary Ballet will collaboratively work together producing a one night exploration of the Portrait Gallery called “Clean Sweep.” On Friday, October 11 at 5 p.m. the dancers will move in and around the gallery’s beautiful atrium creating movement around and in the large and continuous running water panels and the large marble platforms that flank the space. The companies will perform as a group and also feature each company in this evening exploration of space.
Each group will also do an excerpt of their work at the Sydney Harman Hall. Ms. Rowley’s choreography will be featured outside Sydney Harman Hall on October 12, 2013 at 1:15 p.m. and is a slow meditative improvisation involving a long red piece of fabric that ties two dancers together. Music for the work is composed and performed by John White and Nate Masters both alumni of University of Mary Washington music department.
VelocityDC Dance Festival is October 10-12, 2013 with events centered in and around Sydney Harman Hall in downtown D.C. “Clean Sweep” will be performed on October 11 at the National Portrait Gallery’s Atrium at 5 p.m. and excerpts will be performed in front of Sydney Harman Hall an hour before the main stage performances. October 10 at 7 p.m., October 12 at 1:15 and 7 p.m. More information can be found at www.velocitydc.org and www.nextreflexdc.com.
April Greenan Gives Endowed Lecture at UVA Medical School
April Greenan, Assistant Professor of Music, delivered the John F. Anderson Memorial Lecture in Medicine & Society at the University of Virginia School of Medicine on September 25, 2013. The lecture was entitled, “Music as Medicine: How 21st-Century Physicians Can Apply Music to Comprehensive Patient Care.”
Jack Bales Provides New Perspective on Babe Ruth
It’s the shot discussed—and disputed—around the world: Babe Ruth’s home run during the third game of the 1932 Chicago Cubs – New York Yankees World Series. Did the Yankees’ Babe Ruth really (and perhaps arrogantly?) point to the outfield before he slammed a ball into the center-field bleachers at Chicago’s Wrigley Field? Opinions have usually fallen along partisan lines, but in an article for ChicagoSide, an online sports magazine, Reference and Humanities Librarian Jack Bales quotes Cubs players who insisted that Babe Ruth did indeed point to the bleachers and Yankees players who said that the tale was all made up. Bales originally wrote about the Called Shot for his website, http://WrigleyIvy.com, which he created while participating in UMW’s “Domain of One’s Own” faculty initiative this past spring. His extensive article on Chicago Cubs President William Veeck Sr. will soon be published in the peer-reviewed Baseball Research Journal, the publication of the Society for American Baseball Research.
Barrenechea Presents at Comparative Literature Conference
Antonio Barrenechea, Associate Professor of English, recently presented “All-American Literature” within an experimental “Ideas of the Decade” panel at ACL(x)/E(x)amine, a conference of the American Comparative Literature Association. Hosted by Penn State University, the conference ran September 27-28, 2013.
Sally Scott Participates in Celebration of Learning Under Section 504
Sally Scott, director of disability resources at the University of Mary Washington and a member of the Association on Higher Education and Disability participated in the Forty Years of Learning Under Section 504 celebration on Thursday, September 26 at the U.S. Department of Education in Washington, D.C. Highlights included U.S. Secretary of Education Arne Duncan who gave remarks and participated in panel discussions about the advances made since the law’s passage and its benefits to today’s students.
Gupta Presents Research on Indian Foreign Policy
Surupa Gupta, Associate Professor of Political Science and International Affairs, presented her co-authored paper on India’s foreign policy at a seminar on “Foreign Policies of BRICS Countries” organized by the Royal Danish Defense College on September 9 2013, in Copenhagen, Denmark.