Weekly Bulletin

Swordsmanship conference is April 27

The ninth annual Swordsmanship Conference takes place Saturday, April 27 from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. in the Reading Room and on the grounds outside the Renaissance Center, 650 East Pleasant St.

This year, the conference will feature presentations by Russ Mitchell on the Hungarian sabre tradition, Michael Chidester on Italian and German longsword, and Frank Hunt with an analysis of Joachim Meyer's rapier system.

The conference is free and open to the public and lunch is provided. Call 577-3600 by April 25 to register.

For information, contact the center at renaissance@english.umass.edu or

New course proposal

The following new course proposal has been submitted to the Faculty Senate Office for review and approval and is listed here for faculty review and comment. Comments on any new course proposal should be submitted to Ernest May, secretary of the Faculty Senate, at senate@senate.umass.edu.

SCH-MGMT 200, “Career and Professional Development,” 2 credits; Instructor: Co-taught with various faculty, Deans, and career center staff; This course is designed to prepare students for success in career and professional development competencies such as networking, internship/job search, professional

Flags lowered for victims of Boston Marathon bombings

Gov. Deval L. Patrick has ordered that the U.S. and Massachusetts flags be lowered to half-staff at all state buildings immediately and until further notice in honor of the victims of the acts of violence perpetrated in Boston on April 15.

Miller, Page to discuss and sign copies of new guide to campus architecture

Professors Max Page and Marla Miller, authors of a newly published guide to the architecture and landscape of the 150-year-old UMass Amherst campus, will present their research and sign copies of the new book in a special Sesquicentennial lecture, “Beauty, Cravings, Virtue: A Celebration of the Architectural Legacy of the University of Massachusetts Amherst” on Tuesday, April 23 beginning at 4 p.m. in the Bernie Dallas Room in Goodell.
 
Miller and Page admit from the outset that not all campus architecture is for everyone.

Panel discussion on the 'Engaged Campus' is April 26

A panel discussion on “The Engaged Campus: Giving Back to the Commonwealth and Beyond” will be presented Friday, April 26, from 3-4:30 p.m. in W-32 Machmer Hall as part of this year’s Founders Week celebration.
 
Organized by the UMass Public Engagement Project (PEP), the panel will include Dan Gerber, associate dean for Academic Affairs in the School of Public Health and Health Sciences and chair of the Faculty Senate’s Public Service and Outreach Council; Marla Michel, director of Community Engagement and the Scibelli Enterprise Center in Springfield; John Reiff, director of the Office of

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.

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