Newsbriefs, AY 2007-2008

July 2008

  • PROFESSOR CHERYL SWIFT NAMES SENCER LEADERSHIP FELLOW
    ( 07.15.08) Biology Professor Cheryl Swift has been appointed as a Leadership Fellow for the Science Education for New Civic Engagement and Responsibilities (SENCER) program. SENCER is a faculty development and science education reform initiative that engages student in science and math by focusing on real world problems. The initiative is the signature program of the National Center for Science and Civic Engagement. The selection committee gave special note to Swift's course, "Globalization and the Environment," that was co-developed with Professor Becky Overmeyer-Velasquez. As a fellow, Swift will coordinate Whittier's participation with the SENCER program, develop additional courses that teach science through issues of global consequences, and support regional collective efforts to limit carbon emissions.

june 2008

  • PROFESSOR AYESHA SHAIK HONORED BY SOCIAL SERVICE COMMISSION
    (06.13.08) Ayesha Shaikh, assistant professor of psychology will be honored as one of the"Volunteers of the Year" by the City of Whittier Social Services Commission for her outstanding contribution to the InterCommunity Counseling Center (ICC). The ICC is a non-profit organization offering sliding-scale counseling services to Whittier residents. Shaikh served as board president of ICC for the 2007-08 year. During her tenure on the board the ICC moved to a larger facility and the board gained 10 new members, including three individuals from Whittier College. "It is nice to really strengthen the connection between Whittier College and the ICC," she said.
  • WHITTIER COLLEGE ANNOUNCES PARTNERSHIP WITH UNIVERSIDAD AUTONOMA DE BAJA CALIFORNIA
    (06.06.08) A Whittier College delegation consisting of President Sharon Herzberger, Professors Rafael Chabran, Daniel Duran, Chuck Hill, Les Howard, and Peter Reich, as well as Luz Maria Galbreath, director of the Ortiz Programs, traveled to Mexicali, Mexico to meet with officials of the Universidad Autónoma de Baja California. President Herzberger signed an official agreement for an academic exchange between the flagship campus of UABC and Whittier College.
  • PROFESSOR JOYCE KAUFMAN TO CHAIR ISA STATUS OF WOMEN COMMITTEE
    (06.03.08) Joyce P. Kaufman, professor of political science and director of the Whittier Scholars Program, has been appointed chair of the newly-formed committee on the Status of Women for the International Studies Association (ISA). Founded in 1959, ISA is the major professional organization in the field of international studies and international relations. As a long time member of ISA, Kaufman hopes to establish procedures to regularly assess the status of women in the field. "In so doing, I hope that ISA can get a better sense as to how women are faring in the generally male-dominated field of international relations."

APRIL 2008

  • STUDENT-FACULTY RESEARCH PRESENTED AT AMERICAN CHEMICAL SOCIETY NATIONAL SPRING MEETING
    ( 04.28.08) Assistant Professors of Chemistry Ralph Isovitsch and Amy Moskun, along with Whittier students Tenzing Doleck '08 (of Kathmandu, Nepal) and Jonathan Attard '09 (of Lakeview, CA), presented posters detailing their research into organic-inorganic polymers at the 2008 national meeting of the American Chemical Society (ACS),held in New Orleans during April. One of the team's posters was also selected for inclusion in an additional session, the "Sci-Mix," which showcases posters deemed to be of general interest to all divisions of the ACS.
  • WHITTIER PROFESSOR FEATURED AT 13th LOS ANGELES TIMES FESTIVAL OF BOOKS
    (04.25.08) Tony Barnstone, English professor and noted poet, will participated in this two-day, annual Los Angeles event, focusing on writers from a variety of genres and drawing crowds in the hundreds of thousands. Barnstone gave a staged poetry reading from his work"The Golem of Los Angeles."
  • ORIGINS GETS SPANISH TRANSLATION
    (04.11.08) History Professor Robert B. Mark's book "The Origins of the Modern World: A Global and Ecological Narrative from the Fifteenth to the Twenty-first Century" (Rowman and Littlefield, 2002 and 2007) has recently been translated and published in Spanish as "Los Origenes del Mundo Moderno: Un Nueva Vision." This is the book's fifth translation into a foreign language, the others being Swedish, German, Chinese, and Norwegian.
  • NERHOOD AWARD FOR EXCELLENCE IN TEACHING AWARDED TO VAN OOSBREE
    (04.01.08) Whittier College Professor Patricia Van Oosbree is the recipient of the 2008 Nerhood Award. Named for Professor Harry W. Nerhood, Professor Emeritus of History, the award recognizes overall excellence in teaching. Prof. Van Oosbree teaches in the department of kinesiology and leisure science and brings to Whittier College her extensive knowledge of health, nutrition, and exercise physiology.

mARCH 2008

  • PROFESSOR ROSEMARY CARBINE JOINS CONVERSATION ON OBAMA'S SPEECH
    (03.19.08) Sen. Barack Obama's speech, responding to criticism of his relationship with Rev. Jeremiah Wright, touched on controversial issues regarding race, religion, and politics that had not been at the forefront of his campaign. The speech urged Americans to deal with the issue of race in this country and received praise from local experts according to an article in the Whittier Daily News. Rosemary Carbine, visiting assistant professor of religious studies at Whittier College says, "He described how the U.S. as a nation is more than the sum of its parts, and when he talked about Wright he noted the pastor is more than the sum of his sermons. He wants to find common ground with Wright, even as he rejects certain aspects of his worldview."
  • SPANISH PROFESSOR INVITED TO PRESENT PAPERS AT TWO MARCH CONFERENCES
    (03.11.08) This month, Doreen O'Connor-Gómez, professor of Spanish, is covering miles while delivering the results of recent research. On March 8, she traveled to Florida International University to present the paper "La guinda de la mierda: Immigration and Madrid's Urban Youth" at the Sexta Conferencia Bianual de Estudios Culturales Españoles y Latinoamericanos. On March 14-15, she will head for the University of North Texas in Denton, where she has been invited to give a version of her forthcoming article, "Spectacle and Violence: Immigration in Spain Today" (Hispania, March 2008), at the Second International Conference: "Spanishness" in the Spanish Novel and Cinema of the 20th-21st Century. The latter work will be included as a chapter in her upcoming book, currently in progress.

February 2008

  • PROFESSOR'S WORK FEATURED IN NEW-YORK HISTORICAL SOCIETY'S "BOOKS THAT MATTER" CAMPAIGN
    (02.10.08) Tigers, Rice, Silk and Silt: Environment and Economy in Late Imperial South China by Robert Marks is reviewed by fellow historian Elizabeth Blackmar, in a series presented by the N-YHS and published monthly in the New York Times' Book Review section. The series relates "what historians are reading now"; Marks' book was included in the February 10, 2008, edition of the Times.
  • PRESIDENT RESPONDS TO NY TIMES ARTICLE RE: ENDOWMENTS
    (02.10.08) In a letter to the editor published in a Sunday edition of the New York Times, President Sharon Herzberger makes the case that size of endowment does not necessarily equate quality education.


January 2008

  • LEVELLE, LOZANO, COOK AT CARNEGIE HALL
    (01.10.08) A concert featuring original works by composer and associate professor of music Teresa LeVelle, with performances by two of her Whittier colleagues, Grammy-winning flautist Danny Lozano and pianist Stephen Cook, was given at Carnegie Hall’s Weill Recital Hall in New York.
  • PROFESSOR'S LATEST TEXT DRAWS ENDORSEMENT FROM TWO LEADING SCHOLARS
    (01.05.08) Published by Lexington Press and co-authored with Kristen Williams of Clark University, Joyce Kaufman's most recent work, "Women, the State and War: A Comparative Perspective of Citizenship and Nationalism," looks at the intersection of gender, citizenship, and nationalism; marriage, intermarriage, and how states gender that relationship; and the ways in which women are used a symbols to reinforce or further nationalistic goals. Following the book's release, Cynthia Enloe and V. Spike Peterson, two of the biggest names in the field of feminist international politics, each offered their endorsement, calling the comparative study a "superb combination of IR theory and careful case studies" and noting it "demonstrates the political salience of feminist inquiry."


December 2007

  • WHITTIER AT THE WORLD UNIVERSITIES FORUM
    (12.21.07) Whittier College will be heading for international noteriety when Advancement Vice President Elizabeth Robison joins colleagues from around the globe at the inaugural World Universities Forum in Davos, Switzerland, in late January 2008, following the World Economic Forum. At the conference, Robison will present the workshop, "Serving the Under-Served: The Challenges and Opportunities of Whittier College’s Commitment to Under-Represented Students," focusing on the challenges and opportunities of building—and preserving—a diverse campus and ensuring access, with an interactive participant discussion to identify areas of common experience and best practices from various higher education contexts.
  • NORWEIGIAN MINISTRY INVITES MARKS FOR SALON
    (12.07.07) Robert Marks, Richard & Billie Diehl Distinguished Professor of History, was invited by the Norweigian Ministry of Foreign Affairs to present a "salon" centered around ideas expressed in his book, The Origins of the Modern World: A Global and Ecological Narrative from the Fifteenth to the Twenty-First Century—a text used in more than 600 American colleges and universities and printed in several languages, including Norweigian. Marks' November 26 presentation was to be part of a broad public discussion in Norway of their relationship to the forces of "globalization." This is the second international broadcast interview of late Marks has been invited to give; the first was with Swedish public television, for a six-part series on globalization.
          While in Oslo, Marks was also interviewed by two news organizations, one a weekly like Newsweek and the other a daily literary paper.  He also presented two lectures at the University of Bergen, one based on Origins, and the other on another of his books, Tigers, Rice, Silk and Silt: Environment and Economy in Late Imperial South China.