March 2009--Congratulations to Professor Reuben Zahler! He won a National Endowment for the Humanities summer stipend. Professor Zahler reports, "With this pile of ducats, I'll go to Venezuela this summer for a month of archival work, in order to finish my book."
January 2009--Congratulations to Professor Susanna Lim! She won theErnest G. Moll Faculty Research Professorship in Literary Studies for the next academic year. The fellowship is awarded each year to the Oregon Humanities Center Research Fellowship applicant with the most outstanding proposal in the field of literary studies. The Moll Professor receives a course buy-out for one term, to be spent in residence at the Oregon Humanities Center, as well as a $1,000 research account to be used during the fellowship year.
Congratulations to Professor Joseph Fracchia!
January 2009--Congratulations to Professor Joseph Fracchia! He won the Sherl K. Coleman and Margaret E. Guitteau Professorship in the Humanities for the next academic year. The Coleman-Guitteau TeachingandResearch Professorship provides faculty with a teaching fellowship during one academic quarter, and then with a research fellowship the following quarter to pursue full-time research on one or more of the topics explored in the course.
CHC attendee, Phil Hansen, featured in winter Oregon Quarterly
“Better Late…” (story about CHC attendee Phil Hansen) by Katie Gries, Oregon Quarterly. Phil Hansen submitted his self-published work "The History of Germanic Languages at Oregon" as his honors college thesis 40 years after his 1967 deadline. The story is available here: http://www.oregonquarterly.com/winter2008/old_oregon.php
Jan Eliot, CHC alumna, visits the Duck Store for book signing
Jan Eliot, CHC class of 1977 (Women’s Studies/Independent Studies) and syndicated cartoonist of Stone Soup, holds book signing and discussion of her most recent book, This Might Not Be Pretty, the seventh in the Stone Soup collection: http://uoduckstore.com/literaryduck/generalbooks/author_events.cfm#nov8
Dean Frank mentioned in Autumn 2008 Oregon Quarterly
David Frank, professor of rhetoric, has become the first dean of the UO's Robert D. Clark Honors College, the nation's oldest four-year, public honors college.
CHC alumna to speak about dance production recently performed in New York City
Tiffany Mills, artistic director of a dance company in New York City and 1992 alumna of University of Oregon’s Robert D. Clark Honors College, will show a video clip and talk about her most recent work, Tomorrow’s Legs, on Monday, August 4, at 7 p.m. in 307 Chapman Hall, 990 E. 13th Avenue. The event is co-sponsored by the UO Clark Honors College and the Department of Dance.
Collaborating with experimental theater artist Peter Petralia of England, Mills and her dance company are employing a unique combination of dance and theatre to tell the personal stories of the dancers in this new piece. “We’re investigating a new direction with this work, weighing equally dancer’s stories with the company's idiosyncratic and athletic movement,” said Mills, who has received several awards for her innovative work, including Bates Dance Festival Emerging Choreographer Award in 1998, and a University of Oregon School of Music and Dance Distinguished Alum in 2005 and Boekhelheide Creativity Award in Chemistry, Music and Dance in 2006.
Thanks to a grant from the Joyce SoHo Residency Program, Mills has received free rehearsal and performance space, technical assistance, and expert counsel to develop this production for the past year. Part of the Joyce’s educational outreach series, the piece was performed in June as a work-in-progress at the Joyce’s theatre in New York City’s SoHo district, providing the opportunity to discuss and solicit feedback about the development of the production so far.
The finished work will premiere at Dancespace also in New York City in 2009. For more information about Mills' visit to Eugene, call (541) 346-2442 or email picado@uoregon.edu. For more information about Mills' work, visit www.tiffanymillscompany.org.
UO CHC Graduate Prepares for Fulbright Year in Ukraine
“Game for a variety of business ventures: Richard Boyles embraces the idea of bringing everything you have to the game every day”
CHC alumnus Richard Boyles is the cover story in The Register-Guard’s monthly business publication in July 2008, by Joe Mosley, blue chip (Lane County’s monthly business magazine), Vol. 1, No. 4, pg. 4-5 and 26-29
Kelly Menachemson hired as Director of Development for the CHC and Undergraduate Initiatives
Kelly Menachemson was hired as Director of Development for the CHC and Undergraduate Initiatives. Scheduled to begin her new post September 15, Menachemson will report to CHC Dean David Frank, Karen Sprague, Vice Provost for Undergraduate Studies, and Robin Holmes, Vice President for Student Affairs. Previously the Assistant Director of Development for the American Techinon Society, the development arm of Israel Institute of Technology (considered to be the “MIT of the Middle East”), Menachemson will lead the CHC’s efforts to raise funds for the Chapman Hall renovation project, scholarships, and other projects. For more information, contact Dean Frank at 541.346.4198 or dfrank@uoregon.edu.
CHC student plays Zombie in original production of Hamlet
Rachael Davies, a theater arts major scheduled to graduate in June, and several of the cast of a dozen UO students and community members are bit by the increasingly desperate and haunted Hamlet in his attempt to seek his Father's revenge and, upon death, are transformed into Zombies. Davies plays Rose, or Resencrantz in the original script, one of Hamlet's friends who betrays him by working for his mother and uncle, Claudius, to discover the source of Hamlet's persistent distress.
CHC Alumnus Jeff Whitty's 2004 Tony Award winning play, Avenue Q, is touring cities nationwide this summer. The Further Adventures of Hedda Gabler is playing at this year's Oregon Shakespeare Festival in Ashland. For information on the outstanding young alumnus visit: http://www.uoalumni.com/enews/0806/Outstanding_Young_Alumnus.php
Experts to debate political bias in American universities in Eugene and Portland
Cary Nelson, President of the American Association of University Professors, and David Horowitz, President of the Freedom Center, will debate the controversial topic of whether or not the freedom to teach and learn exists in American institutions of higher learning at the Inaugural Contrarian Forum. The debate will take place in Eugene on Monday, May 19, at 7 p.m. at Morse Event Center, Northwest Christian College, and in Portland on Tuesday, May 20, at 7:30 p.m. at the University of Oregon White Stag Building, 70 NW Couch. Both events are free and open to the public.
“The debates will provide a forum to discuss the claim that professors of American universities routinely indoctrinate students with their own political ideologies,” says David Frank, who is the director of the UO Forensics Program and will serve as moderator of the debates.
The debates will cap a four-day international conference, entitled “The Promise of Reason,” and organized by the UO English department's Center for Teaching Writing. More than 100 international scholars are scheduled to give presentations on topics such as legal reasoning, peaceful conflict resolution, arguments from religious authority, reasoning about human rights, the role of opposition in a just society, and feministic perspectives on argument.
Funding for the annual Contrarain Forum is provided by Clark Honors College alumnus Ival McMains, CEO of Family Fitness Management. For more information about the public debates or conference, visit www.uoregon.edu/~promreas/ or call 541-346-3911.
Contact: Therese M Picado, College Communications Coordinator, Robert D. Clark Honors College, 541-346-2442, picado@uoregon.edu
Sources:
·David Frank, debate moderator, director of the UO Forensics Program and associate director, Robert D. Clark Honors College, 541-346-4198, dfrank@uoregon.edu
CHC hosts convocation, presentation of student, faculty and alumni research and work
“UO Clark Honors College hosts convocation, presentation of student theses,” UNIVERSITY OF OREGON NEWS, Office of Public & Media Relations: http://tinyurl.com/3swql2
CHC alumna Kathleen Liberty to give guest lectures
"Guest Lectures May 8 and May 10 by Early intervention professor and Clark Honors College alumna Kathleen Liberty, Ph.D.," University of Oregon School of Education online events: http://education.uoregon.edu/feature.htm?id=2170
CHC student Rachael Davies to stage original play April 11 and 12
"University of Oregon student to stage original play April 11 and 12,” UNIVERSITY OF OREGON NEWS, Office of Public & Media Relations: http://tinyurl.com/6b8tjn
CHC student Christina Li in newest edition of Oregon Quarterly
CHC student Christina Li is featured in Campaign Oregon advertisement, entitled "Our Next Ambassador to China," on page 3 of the spring 2008 Oregon Quarterly.
CHC alumnus and Oregon Democratic U.S. Senate candidate Steve Novick wins coveted endorsement of the Oregon Education Association in addition to former Oregon Governor John Kitzhaber
“Ore. teachers union backs Novick," by Associated Press, KVAL: http://www.kval.com/news/local/16417766.html (For more information about Steve’s campaign, visit http://www.novickforsenate.org/.)
31 CHC students named Who's Who
31 CHC students were named Who’s Who Among Students in American Universities and Colleges. The list appeared in the Oregon Daily Emerald on 2/26/08. For more information about the award, see: http://www.whoswhoamongstudents.com/home.asp
CHC Alum Matt Clark named Vice President of Finance for Blount International
CHC Faculty David Frank interviewed by www.slate.com
“How Obama Does That Thing He Does: A professor of rhetoric cracks the candidate's code,” By Jack Shafer, www.slate.com, 2008 Washington Post.Newsweek Interactive Co. LLC:http://www.slate.com/id/2184480
CHC Faculty Monique Balbuena publishes article
Monique Balbuena publishes article, “A Symbolist Kinah? Laments and Modernism in the Maghreb,” IGGUD: SELECTED ESSAYS IN JEWISH STUDIES, VOLUME 3: LANGUAGES, LITERATURES, ARTS, World Union of Jewish Studies, Jerusalem 2007
“Inmates, students learn humanities in Oregon prison During spring term, 15 students will take a course with 15 inmates at the Oregon State Penitentiary,” By: Trevor Davis, Oregon Daily Emerald: http://media.www.dailyemerald.com/media/storage/paper859/news/2007/03/05/News/Inmates.Students.Learn.Humanities.In.Oregon.Prison-2757295.shtml
James Shephard of Paris, France, and David Honig of Berkeley, California, join the Alumni Advisory Council
James Shephard of Paris, France, and David Honig of Berkeley, California, joined the Clark Honors College Advisory Council for External Relations in November, bringing the number of council members to 15.
Shephard, a humanities major who graduated from the honors college in 1980, is Legal Director/Secretary General of Banque AIG in Paris and London. He and his wife Florence have made a commitment to making the university more global by establishing two scholarships at the honors college. The Shephard Family Scholarship for International Students helps support international students admitted to the Clark Honors College, and the Shephard Family Scholarship for Study Abroad helps current honors college students pursuing foreign language studies in an approved UO study abroad program.
Honig, is a corporate partner in the San Francisco office of Winston Strawn LLP, an international law firm. A generous supporter of the honors college, Honig graduated magna cum laude 1984 with a degree in English. He received a J.D. from the University of Chicago Law School in 1991.
The honors college established its Alumni Advisory Council in 1999 to assist the Director of the college with communication and outreach to alumni, parents, potential students, and friends to help recruit and retain students, encourage alumni involvement, enhance Clark Honors College programs, and to garner financial support.
Clark Honors College Grad Carissa Sharp Receives Prestigious Scholarship
Carissa Sharp, a 2006 graduate of the University of Oregon honors college, has received one of the most prestigious and generous scholarships in the country.
Three days before she turned 23 and a month after finishing bachelor's degrees in religious studies and psychology, Sharp received word that she was among 77 students to be named a scholar in the Jack Kent Cooke Foundation Graduate Program. The Cooke Foundation will provide Sharp, who will begin graduate work in theological studies at Harvard University this fall, with tuition, room, board, fees and books – up to $50,000 annually – for up to six years.
Sharp, of Portland, is the first Cooke scholar ever to be selected from the University of Oregon. Sharp's award is something in which the entire university community can take pride, said Linda Brady, senior vice president and provost.
"The Cooke Foundation's award not only is a tribute to Carissa's talents, but it also highlights the superior academic value of the University of Oregon," Brady said. "Students such as Carissa demonstrate that the university is a place where the nation's top scholars flourish while achieving academic goals." Colleges and universities can only nominate two students for the award each year. The university's nomination committee selected Sharp in recognition of her outstanding qualities and achievements. "Whether it be taking over class for a professor in her job as a teaching assistant, conducting research to fund a project supporting victims of domestic violence, or traveling in Italy and Egypt observing religious practices of the people, (Carissa) Sharp is able to take what she learns and apply it," the committee wrote in a nomination letter sent to the Cooke Foundation with Sharp's application.
This is the fifth year the Cooke Foundation has offered the graduate program, one of the nation's most generous scholarships. Awards are based on academic performance, financial need, leadership, community involvement and ambition.
The Robert D. Clark Honors College at the University of Oregon was the perfect place for Sharp to focus and polish her abilities. After graduating from St. Mary's Academy, a private, Catholic high school in Portland, Sharp arrived in Eugene unsure of what she wanted to study. She spent her first year of college sampling the wide variety of academic fare offered at the university.
"I was considering everything from the hard sciences to music performance in cello," she said. She was thinking about everything except for religious studies. Then one of her friends mentioned that she was getting a minor in the subject.
"I was so jealous. World religions had been my favorite class" in high school, Sharp said. "All of a sudden, I realized that I could actually major in religious studies in college - it had never entered my mind before. I would definitely say that it was an 'aha' moment."
Sharp ended up double majoring in religious studies and psychology, another subject that had always fascinated her. She merged the two disciplines for her honors thesis, which focused on the study of religion from a scientific perspective.
At Harvard, Sharp will pursue a master's in theological studies, the equivalent of a master's of art in religious studies. Eventually she plans to be a professor.
"Religious studies is such an important field, particularly with the state of our world today," Sharp said. "I feel like I can really make an important contribution through the study of modern religion. I have always been an academic at heart, and as a professor I can stay in school forever."
CHC Alum Wins Pulitzer
CHC alumnus Doug Bates ’68 of Portland was recently awarded the Pulitzer Prize for his work on an editorial series about the OregonStateHospital published in the Oregonian. Bates and co-award winner Rick Attig addressed issues at the old hospital surrounding the overcrowded and understaffed facilities. The editorial series, entitled “Oregon’s ForgottenHospital” ran from January through September of 2005 and featured the stories of individuals closest to the problems. True to the goal of the series, Bates and Attig succeeded in prompting the removal of adolescents from the hospital and improved mental health insurance.
Doug Bates '68 (left) and Rick Attig upon receiving the Pulitzer citation from Columbia President Lee Bollinger on May 22 at the prize presentation at Columbia University.
Bates, who graduated from the UO in 1968, worked as managing editor of The San Diego Union-Tribune, news editor of The Seattle Times and managing editor of The Register-Guard in Eugene before joining the Oregonian’s editorial board in 1993. He also serves as an associate editor of the Portland-based Newspaper.
Festschrift: Alumni Honor Professor Cogan
Professor Frances Cogan was presented with a book of essays at the Honors College's first annual Spring Celebration in March, to commemorate her upcoming 25th anniversary teaching in the Clark Honors College and as a tribute to the impact she has had on so many students.
The Festschrift, or essays written to honor somebody, were written by twenty of Cogan's former students, who responded to a "call for papers" from alumnus David Boyes '88. Boyes, who coordinated the tribute, said he received responses from more than 400 alumni.
Boyes also presented a silver rose pin to Professor Cogan as a special remembrance from students who were the first to take Cogan's "adventure literature" class. The silver rose pin is a special reference to The Prisoner of Zenda, in which the hero, unable to marry the heroine sends her a silver rose pin every year.
Cogan said she was humbled by the tribute.
"I thought it was wonderful, very touching," Cogan said. "There are so many good teachers and most of them never get one-eighth of this recognition. I am very grateful."
As part of the Spring Celebration, Cogan also delivered the inaugural lecture in Room 307, newly renovated as the result of a gift from Doug Ragen '64.
Oregon inmates, CHC students take classes together
"Ore. inmates, college students take classes together,” by Associated Press, KVAL: http://www.kval.com/news/local/17141286.html (ed note: Our news release was picked up by the Associated Press and KVAL covered the story!)