News

Science Cafe looks at microbes' role on tree of life

Laura Katz, professor of biological sciences at Smith College, will speak on “Microbes Shake the Tree of Life” at a Science Café on Monday, Nov. 12 at 5:30 p.m. at the Esselon Café in Hadley.
 
Katz will discuss her work exploring the position and influence of microbes on the tree of life. Microbes, she reminds us, have dominated Earth’s history and represent the bulk of biodiversity and biomass on our planet, yet much remains to be learned about microbial life. Light snacks will be provided and drinks will be available for purchase.

Visiting Writers Series hosts reading by Noy Holland

The Visiting Writers Series will host a reading by English professor Noy Holland on Thursday, Nov. 15 at 8 p.m. in Memorial Hall.
 
Holland, who directs the MFA Program for Poets and Writers, is the author of The Spectacle of the Body, What Begins with Bird, and Swim for the Little One First. She is the recipient of fellowships from the National Endowment for the Arts, the Massachusetts Cultural Council, the University of Florida and the Bread Loaf Writers Conference.
 
Visiting Writers Series

UMCA exhibits recent acquisitions

The University Museum of Contemporary Art is exhibiting "Recent Acquisitions," featuring a number of important works received during the past year, from Nov. 15 through Dec. 9.
 
The exhibition honors and celebrates the donors and supporters who have made possible the growth of the archive, as well as the artists who represent the vitality and richness of art-making today. Some of the artists included in the exhibition are David Goldblatt, Stephen Petegorsky, Avery Preesman and Robert Mapplethorpe.
 
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Image: Stephen Petegorsky's Corn Debris on Snow, 2007.
 
 

STEM talk focuses on online course planning and implementation

Joan Thormann of Lesley University will speak on “Nuts and Bolts of Planning and Implementing your Online Course” at a STEM Talk on Tuesday, Nov. 13 at 4 p.m. in 138 Hasbrouck Lab.
 
Thormann will describe strategies to support online course development and teaching that have proven to make the online experience engaging and satisfying for both students and the faculty member. Techniques to enhance student participation such as optimizing introductions, using targeted grading systems and voice conferencing will be presented.

Panel to discuss 'Wearing a Hijab' at UMCA

Two members of the campus community and artist Elizabeth Stone will participate in a discussion titled "Wearing a Hijab - Garment and Symbol" on Thursday, Nov. 8 from 5-6:30 p.m. at the University Museum of Contemporary Art in the Fine Arts Center.

When Stone and artist and MFA candidate Nour Bishouty exchanged thoughts about "Woman in a Burkha," a painting by Stone in the exhibition "Dialogue with a Collection: Elizabeth Stone - Embodied/Disembodied," both realized that they had entered intellectual territory that required a respectful and thoughtful conversation beyond the casual comments

Eveleigh, ATC, honored with Access Award

Rob Eveleigh of the Assistive Technologies Center was recognized Oct. 18 with an Access Award from the Stavros Center for Independent Living.
 
Given annually to individuals and businesses that have provided outstanding services to the disability community of the Pioneer Valley, the awards were presented at a luncheon at the Log Cabin in Holyoke.
 
Joe Tringali, director of services at Stavros, said Eveleigh has been making a big difference at the university.

CASA installs its first weather radar in Texas

Brenda Philips, deputy director of the College of Engineering’s Collaborative Sensing of the Atmosphere (CASA) program, with engineer Eric Lyons and innovation manager Apoorva Bajaj, were on hand Oct. 28 as the first CASA weather radar unit was installed by helicopter atop a building at the University of Texas Arlington (UTA).
 
Philips said, “This represents a great technical and organizational milestone for the project.” Over the next several months it will see three more CASA units installed at partner institutions in the Dallas-Fort Worth metro area, with support from the North Texas

Platt's book on Taiping rebellion named a finalist for Cundill Prize

A history of the Taiping rebellion by Stephen R. Platt, associate professor of History, is one of three finalists for McGill University’s 2012 Cundill Prize, the world’s most lucrative award for a non-fiction book.
 
“Autumn in the Heavenly Kingdom: China, the West and the Epic Story of the Taiping Civil War,” published earlier this year by Alfred A. Knopf, was chosen from among 143 works submitted by publishers from all over the globe. The competition, now in its fifth year, features a $75,000 U.S. grand prize.
 
While Union and Confederate troops were slaughtering each other at Antietam in

Music faculty featured on new recordings

New CDs featuring professor Jeffrey W. Holmes, visiting assistant professor Christopher Krueger and assistant professor Felipe Salles of the Music and Dance Department were recently released.

The Aulos Ensemble, with flutist Krueger, released the fourth CD in its Baroque Chamber Music series on the Centaur Record label. The Telemann Album, now joins the Bach Family Album, In Dulci Jubilo, Baroque Music for Christmas, and Jean Philippe Rameau, Suites from Les Indes galantes and Les Fêtes d’hébé. The ensemble performs Baroque music on period instruments. The CD will be available on Amazon.com

UMass Extension’s new Garden Calendar on sale

UMass Extension’s 2013 Garden Calendar is now available.
 
The calendar features daily gardening tips for Northeast growing conditions, daily sunrise and sunset times, phases of the moon, room for notes and inspiring garden images for each month.
 
Calendars are $12 each, plus $2.50 shipping for one calendar and $2 for each additional calendar. Send check payable to UMass to Garden Calendar, c/o Mailrite, 78 River Road South, Putney, VT 05346.
 
For information, contact the UMass Extension Landscape, Nursery and Urban Forestry Program at 545-0895 or eweeks@umext.umass.edu
 
 
 

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