Category: Professional Notes

Jess Rigelhaupt, assistant professor of history and American studies, and four UMW students served on a panel on “Oral History and Documenting James Farmer’s Legacy at the University of Mary Washington” at the 2010 meeting of the Oral History Association. Christiane Lauer ’11, Sadie Smith ’11, Justin Mattos ’10 and MacKenzie Murphy ’10, with Rigelhaupt, presented papers based on interviews the students conducted in Rigelhaupt’s course “Oral History and James Farmer,” which was taught in fall 2009. The interviews are available at farmeroralhistory.umwblogs.org, a website that documents Farmer’s contributions to UMW and was built as part of the course.  Lauer’s and Smith’s participation in the Oral History Association annual meeting was supported by an undergraduate research grant from the College of Arts and Sciences Dean’s Office.

Robert E. Liebau, associate director of campus recreation, gave the presentation “To the Core—Embracing Personal Leadership Values” to the student session of the annual Virginia Athletic Trainers’ Association meeting in Richmond in January. Ian Rogol, UMW head athletic trainer, said Liebau’s talk was “extremely well received. Bob’s interaction with these students was amazing and all were extremely challenged to think about a topic many athletic training programs do not cover.”

“The Diary of Anne Frank” is opening Friday at the Fauquier Community Theatre. It is produced by Laurie Abeel, associate professor in the College of Education, and directed by Sarah LaFantasie, who studied theatre at UMW. Opening January 14, it runs three weekends: Fridays and Saturdays at 8 p.m.; Sundays at 2 p.m. The last show is Sunday, January 30. Tickets are $13 for students and seniors, and $15 for adults, and can be purchased online at www.fctstage.org. Fauquier Community Theatre is located in the Vint Hill area at 4225 Aiken Drive, Warrenton.
Laurie and Sarah would love to see UMW colleagues at the show.

James F. Gaines, professor of French, translated Alphonse Daudet’s short story “The Three Low Masses” from the original French, and the translation will be published by the Eerie Digest in February. The story, which first appeared in print in 1866 in “Letters From My Mill,” deals with the ghosts of a priest and his parishioners who, during the 17th century, yielded to the sin of gluttony on Christmas Eve and cheated the Lord of a Mass they were supposed to celebrate. In consequence, they were condemned to reappear each year to repeat the Mass until their penance was completed.

Stephen J. Burton, a UMW music professor since 1981, died of pancreatic cancer at his home December 31, 2010. He was 62. Additional information is at http://www.fredericksburg.com/News/FLS/2011/012011/01042011/598319