Category: What’s New @ UMW

Since 2004, the Chappell Great Lives lecture series has brought noted biographers and professors to lecture in George Washington Hall’s Dodd Auditorium. Now, the same lectures are available anywhere, through the iTunes U appfor iPad, iPhone or iPod touch, as well as on a Mac or PC using iTunes.

The free app is home to courses and classroom materials from colleges and universities around the world, as well as lectures and presentations like Great Lives.

Tim Owens, instructional technology specialist at UMW, said the move to iTunes U will help expand the reach of the lecture series beyond Mary Washington.

On Friday, Feb. 24, Charles J. Shields’ lecture on Kurt Vonnegut became the first Great Lives lecture available for download. Each Friday, another of the 2012 lectures will be released. Lectures from previous years also will be released.

Users can subscribe directly in iTunes to receive the video downloads each week, as well as watch them on UMW’s website at http://www.umw.edu/greatlives/category/archived-videos/.

Gari Melchers Home and Studio at Belmont recently installed 10 interpretive markers at key sites along its 1.5 miles of public trails.

The markers feature descriptions and photographs detailing important trail sites, including the locations of a 19th-century ice pond and springheads and the ruins of an electric pump station artist Gari Melchers installed to bring water uphill from underground springs to a cistern near the main house. Additional marker topics include the Melchers’ farming practices, the early canal along the Rappahannock River that helped power 18th- and 19th-century mills in Falmouth and a gravesite for members of the family of Joseph B. Ficklen, the Civil War-era owner of Belmont. The George J. and Effie L. Seay Foundation provided funding for the project.

In Corinne Melchers’ will deeding Belmont to the Commonwealth of Virginia, she expressed a desire that the property be developed into a public park for the enjoyment of local residents.

“We are excited about this long-awaited opportunity to increase the appreciation of local history for walkers exploring our network of trails,” said Site Preservation Manager Beate Jensen.

Belmont’s trails are open year round without charge. Trail maps are available on the museum’s website and in the museum shop. Markers at the trail entrances also illustrate the various routes available.

Volunteers from the Virginia Master Naturalists program hold free guided hikes for the public on the last Sunday of each month at 2 p.m. These hikes focus on native plants and animals, as well as Belmont’s historic features.

The University of Mary Washington Philharmonic Orchestra will perform classical works from Europe and America during its March Musical Mix concert on Saturday, March 17.

The program will include Tchaikovsky’s “1812 Overture,” Beethoven’s Symphony No. 7 and the evolving versions leading up to the U.S. national anthem “The Star Spangled Banner.” The concert begins at 7:30 p.m. in George Washington Hall’s Dodd Auditorium. Tickets are $10, and are available at a discounted rate for UMW employees and students.

To learn more about the program, read the news release from Monday, Feb. 27.

Concert tickets can be purchased online at www.philharmonic.umw.edu or at the concert hall. For more information, call (540) 654-1012.

The 2011 Writing Contest winners were announced Wednesday, Feb. 22. They are:

FSEM:
Meredith Stone: “Learning about Race”
Instructor: Dr. Cooperman

Brooke Andrews: “What Makes an Effective Infographic”
Instructor: Dr. Hydorn

Arts and Humanities:

Katie Hubbard: “Embodiment and Sexuality in the Works of Mark Z. Danielewski and Shelley Jackson: Postmodern Reactions to Posthumanism”
Instructor: Dr. Whalen

Tracy Frelk: “The Corpse Beloved: Necrophilia and a Strange Feminism in Haggard’s ‘She'”
Instructor: Dr. Mathur

Natural and Social Sciences (Sophomores and Juniors):

Gemma Cohen: “Neighborhoods and Child Development”
Instructor: Dr. L. Martin

Sara Krechel: “Harry Potter and the History of Racism”
Instructor: Dr. Cincinnati

Ethan Bottone: “Keeping a Language Alive: Inuktitut”
Instructor: Dr. Bowen

Natural and Social Sciences (Seniors):

Dana Cazan: “Is It Time to Upgrade? The Technological ‘Participation Gap’ and Fairfax County Public Schools”
Instructor: Dr. Moon

Katie Geary: “Preferences in Human Mate Selection Explained from a Social Role Perspective and an Evolutionary Perspective”
Instructor: Dr. Liss

Kelsey Coates: “Busying Giddy Minds: A Pluralist Perspective on Argentina’s Invasion of the Falklands”
Instructor: Dr. J. Davidson

Brian Brown: “Imaginative Geographics: Culture, Power, and Memory in National Memorials”
Instructor: Dr. Hanna

Cameron Carroll: They’re Coming to Get You, America: The Popularity of Zombie Films and National Fear during the Cold War and the War on Terror”
Instructor: Dr. Ferrell

Congratulations, winners! Please look for their papers in their entirety in the forthcoming publication of the 2011 Writing Contest Winners.

On Friday, Feb. 17, the James Monroe Museum and Memorial Library announced the acquisition of a significant artifact from the Revolutionary War. The museum has obtained a furlough signed by then-Major James Monroe on February 23, 1778, at Valley Forge. The furlough is believed to be the earliest-known official document bearing Monroe’s signature.

Support from the Friends of the James Monroe Museum was instrumental in purchasing the furlough from a nationally recognized documents dealer. The effort involved several weeks of negotiation and fundraising.

“Securing such a rare and interesting artifact as this furlough for the museum’s collection would be good news under any circumstances,” said Scott Harris, director of the James Monroe Museum. “To do so with the help of so many supporters is especially gratifying.”

The furlough, or military pass, was issued to Second Lieutenant John Wallace, Jr. of the Sixth Pennsylvania Regiment, an infantry unit in the division of Major General William Alexander, also known as Lord Stirling. At the time, 19-year-old James Monroe served as Stirling’s aide-de-camp.

Donations made specifically for the purpose of buying the document came from the following: Paul M. Jones Revocable Trust; Stewart Jones Charitable Trust; Clan Munro Association, USA; Champe and Mary Randolph Corbin; Mrs. Mary Alice Regier Hoes; Charles and Mary Wynn McDaniel; Mrs. Rita M. Stone; and Judge Jere M. H. Willis, Jr. and Mrs. Barbara Willis.