News

Hampden Gallery hosts BFA thesis exhibit

"Shared Dimensions," a BFA thesis exhibition by Mariel Daniels, will be on view Dec. 4-9 at Hampden Gallery.

The graduating senior's work hovers between both two and three-dimensions. Daniels says, "One can draw on a vessel and a vessel can be drawn. Combining old and new methods of manipulating items gives me room to compare and contrast."

A closing reception will be held Sunday, Dec. 9 from 2-4 p.m.

'Quote Me' exhibit at Hampden features student works

"Quote Me," a student exhibition of artworks, will be on display Dec. 4-9 at the Hampden Gallery.

The featured 2D and 3D works by 19 undergraduates are inspired by quotes from figures ranging from Shakespeare to Dr. Seuss. Participating artists are Caprice Cappucci, Patricia Cataldo, Nicholas Collilouri, Rebecca Cummings, Michael Dandley, Andrew Del Valle, Catherine Heitz, Jennifer Ho, Julia Keenan, Melissa Kornfeld,Samantha Luo, Allyson Lynes, Eliza Mason, Lauren Petkus, Kevin Pomerleau, Carlanne Raber, Grace Romanello, Kieran Ryan and Kelly Urquhart.

A closing reception is scheduled for

Research develops ‘second skin’ military fabric to repel chemical and biological agents

Military uniforms of the future may offer a new layer of critical protection to wearers thanks to research by polymer scientists and colleagues at several other institutions who are developing a nanotube-based fabric that repels chemical and biological agents.

Polymer Science professors Kenneth Carter and James Watkins, collaborating with team leader Francesco Fornasiero of Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory (LLNL), recently received a five-year $1.8 million grant to design ways to manufacture the new material as part of a $13 million project funded by the U.S.

Clingman’s Distinguished Faculty Lecture looks from South Africa to the world in tracking challenges of identity

Stephen Clingman, director of the Interdisciplinary Studies Institute, will discuss “Looking from South Africa to the World: A Story of Identity for Our Times” in the second of the campus’s 2012-13 Distinguished Faculty Lectures on Monday, Dec. 3.
 
All lectures in the series are free and open to the public and begin at 4 p.m. in the Massachusetts Room at the Mullins Center. A reception immediately follows each lecture. 
 
Clingman, who is a professor of English and a former chair of the department, will examine how South African activists and writers have approached the question of identity

Center for Digital Education names Schweik a 'top innovator'

For his cutting-edge use of open-source software in the classroom and as a research focus, Charles Schweik, associate professor of Environmental Conservation and Public Policy, has been named one of this year’s top 50 innovators in education by the Center for Digital Education, a national research and advisory institute specializing in education technology trends, policy and funding.
 
Schweik joined the faculty in 1999 and was an early proponent of using wikis as a learning tool to help engage his students.

Faculty/Staff Appreciation Days at University Store

The University Store is celebrating annual Faculty/Staff Appreciation Days on Thursday and Friday, Dec. 6-7, with a 20 percent discount on all non-computer related merchandise.

Store director Ken Kahler and his staff want to thank all those in the community for their support throughout the year and hope that campus employees will stop by.
 

Wind Ensemble performs Dec. 7

The Wind Ensemble will perform in concert on Friday, Dec. 7 at 8 p.m. in the Fine Arts Center Concert Hall under the direction of James Patrick Miller.

The program will include Evan Hause's Concerto for Trumpet and Wind Ensemble, the world premiere of Music professor Jeffrey W. Holmes' Continuum for Trumpet, Trombone & Wind Ensemble, Paul Hindemith's March from Symphonic Metamorphosis, Gordon Jacob's Old Wine in New Bottles and Einojuhani Rautavaara's Solitamessu (Soldier’s Mass).

The faculty soloists will be Eric Berlin (right) on trumpet and Greg Spiridopoulos on trombone.

Tickets are $3

State education secretary visits University Without Walls

Massachusetts Secretary of Education Paul Reville visited the University Without Walls Nov. 20 to see first-hand how innovations in technology and online learning are opening doors for adult students living and working in the Commonwealth.
 
Reville's visit was part of his statewide tour aimed at gathering information on best practices in educational technology in K-12 and higher education settings.

During the visit, Reville met with UWW director Ingrid Bracey, who described the program’s model.
 
Kyle Stephanie Kraus, instructional designer and trainer with CPE E-learning, provided an

Back up SPARK course materials by Dec. 21

SPARK, one of the learning management systems (LMS) for on-campus courses at UMass Amherst, is going away at the end of the fall 2012 semester. Academic Computing recommends that SPARK course materials be backed up by Friday, Dec. 21.

Blackboard Vista, the software behind SPARK, is no longer supported by its vendor, Blackboard Inc. After the campus’s license expires on Dec. 29, files and data stored on SPARK will no longer be accessible.

Users have several options available for backing up SPARK course materials:

Manually Download Files from Spark to Your Computer

Use SPARK's File Manager to

Hatch to lead Blended Learning Faculty Forum

Heath Hatch, senior lecturer in Physics, will lead a discussion on "The Best of Two Worlds: Blended Course Design and Implementation" on Thursday, Nov. 29 from 1-2 p.m. in the Teaching Commons on the 26th floor of the Du Bois Library.

The space has been reserved until 3 p.m. for attendees who want to continue the discussion.

The Faculty Forum is a series of faculty-led discussions on the challenges, rewards and opportunities of teaching with technology, sponsored by the Office of Information Technologies, the Libraries and the Center for Teaching and Faculty Development.

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