News

Alumni panel discusses fashion business and careers

Eight alumni who are now top-level executives from the retail fashion sector will speak about industry trends, challenges and opportunities during a panel discussion on the “Business of Fashion” on Thursday, April 25 at 3 p.m. in the Graduate Reading Room in the Campus Center.
 
The panel will also touch on the role of research, product development, merchandising, licensing and customer experience.
 
The panelists are:
  • Marc Schneider ’81, president of Philip van Heusen Group, Heritage Wholesale Division
  • Abbey Doneger ’73, president of Doneger Group
  • Jim Biolos ’85, chief financial officer

HerbFest 2013 celebrates spices, herbs and medicinal plants

HerbFest 2013, an activity sponsored by students enrolled in PLSOILIN 280, “Herbs, Spices, & Medicinal Plants,” will be held Tuesday, April 23 from 11:30 a.m. to 1:30 p.m. in the Student Union Ballroom. 

All faculty, staff and students are invited to see the collection of herbs and herbal projects developed by students.    

Attendees will have the opportunity to sample a range of foods prepared with herbs and spices, have students answer questions about growing and using herbs, and see a variety of herbal species in the HerbFest garden.

Stadium Drive closed to through traffic April 16 or 17

The contractor for the McGuirk Alumni Stadium upgrade project will close a portion of Stadium Drive on either Tuesday, April 16, or Wednesday, April 17, depending on weather conditions, for utility work in the area.  During construction, Stadium Drive via the intersection southeast of the softball complex will be open to local traffic only.
 
Questions or comments about this project should be directed to the project manager, Joe Balzano, at 545-2179 or jbalzano@facil.umass.edu.

Panel to examine 'Public Scholarship in the Interdisciplinary Arena'

The Interdisciplinary Studies Institute is presenting a panel discussion on “The Challenges of Engagement: Public Scholarship in the Interdisciplinary Arena” on Wednesday, April 24 at 4 p.m. in 904-08 Campus Center.
 
The event marks the culmination of this year’s ISI Faculty Seminar on “Engagement: The Challenge of Public Scholarship.” Members of the seminar will be present to participate in the discussion, and panelists will include Nicholas Bromell, English, on publication; Whitney Battle-Baptiste, Anthropology, on community engagement, and Elizabeth Chilton, Anthropology, on tenure and

STEM talk looks at middle school's use of Problem Based Learning

Wayne Kermenski, a science teacher at Mohawk Trail Regional School District, will speak on “Project Based Learning, the Fifth Academic Class” on Tuesday, April 23 at 4 p.m. in 138 Hasbrouck Lab at a talk sponsored by the STEM Education Institute.
 
A few years back, Mohawk Trail Regional Middle School created a course titled “Project Based Learning” or PBL. It became one of five academic classes for middle school students. The goals for this course included inquiry-based projects that enforced skills students learned in their other courses.

Roundtable discusses reception of Holocaust in post-communist Europe

The Institute for Holocaust, Genocide, and Memory Studies is hosting a roundtable on the “Reception of the Holocaust in Post-communist Europe” with Holocaust historian Omer Bartov of Brown University, Joanna Michlic, John-Paul Himka and Cathy Portuges, professor of Comparative Literature, on Thursday, April 25 at 4:30 p.m.
 
Michlic and Himka are the co-editors of the book, “Bringing the Dark to Light: The Reception of the Holocaust in Post-communist Europe,” which includes with essays by Bartov and Portuges.
 
The panel will be moderated by James Young, director of the institute.
 
Admission

Doctoral oral exams for April 22-26

The graduate dean invites all graduate faculty to attend the final oral examinations for the doctoral candidates scheduled as follows:

Katharine Kirakosian, Ph.D., Anthropology. Wednesday, April 24, 1 p.m., 903 Campus Center. Dissertation: “Curious Monuments of the Simplest Kind: Shell Midden Archaeology in Massachusetts (1868-2008).” Elizabeth Chilton, chr.

Alumni share fashion industry insights with students

Students interested in careers in the fashion industry can hear from eight alumni who are now executives in clothing and footwear companies during a Dining With the Stars program on Thursday, April 25 at 5:30 p.m. in the Amherst Room, 10th floor of the Campus Center.
 
“Success Stories from Top Fashion Executives” will provide “real world” answers and advice on a professional career. The evening format includes a formal dinner with one executive per table of eight attendees. After dinner, there will be time for two rotations to new tables to hear from other alumni presenters.
 
Participating

Visiting Writers Series reading features 3 alumni poets

The Visiting Writers Series hosts three alumni poets, Matthew Zapruder ’99, Dan Chelotti ’01 and Lisa Olstein ’02, on Thursday, April 25 at 8 p.m. in the University Museum of Contemporary Art.
 
Zapruder is the author of three collections of poetry, most recently “Come On All You Ghosts,” a New York Times Notable Book of the Year. His poems, essays and translations have appeared in Tin House, Paris Review, The New Yorker and The Believer.

UWN offers ‘Speed Networking’ luncheon on April 17

The University Women’s Network (UWN) is holding a “Speed Networking” luncheon Wednesday, April 17 from noon to 1 p.m. in the Cape Cod Lounge in the Student Union.

Speed Networking is a quick, easy and low-pressure way for introverts, extroverts, new UWN members or more experienced to meet people. UWN members and guests are invited to spend an hour sipping mocktails, munching on appetizers and taking time to learn about other attendees.

The menu will be turkey, ham, roast beef and vegetarian mini-wraps, mini-fruit kabobs, antipasto skewers, eclairs, cannoli, tea cookies, fruit tartlets and

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