Weekly Bulletin

Doctoral oral exams for April 29 to May 3

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

Susan Balaban, Ph.D., Psychology. Monday, April 29, 4 p.m., 131 Tobin. Dissertation: “Trauma and Secure Based Behaviors in Dating Relationships.” Sally Powers, chr.

Zhaochang Peng, Ph.D., Economics. Wednesday, May 1, 9 a.m., 1028 Thompson Reading Room. Dissertation: “Decollectivization and Rural Poverty in Post-Mao China: A Critique of the Conventional Wisdom.” David Kotz and James Boyce, co-chrs.

Xuan Che, Ph.D., Management.

‘Sustainable Since 1863’ T-shirts available from Libraries

The Libraries are offering “Sustainable Since 1863” T-shirts made from recycled bottles for a $20 donation.

The shirts feature an archival photo of the campus’s early days as an agricultural college and were created from post-consumer waste yarns made in the United States from an average 14 bottles per shirt, and each is stamped with a bottle count. Energy and resource savings from the 1,000 shirts ordered include 12,400 bottles diverted from landfills, 199,648 lbs. of greenhouse gases avoided, 137,586 gallons of water and 1,701 kWh hours of electricity saved.
 
The T-shirts will be

Environmental and health activist Annie Leonard is Earth Day speaker

Environmental and health activist filmmaker Annie Leonard is the keynote speaker for Earth Day on Monday, April 22 at 7 p.m. in Bowker Auditorium. She is the creator of the animated short documentary film, “The Story of Stuff,” which has been viewed more than 10 million times worldwide. Leonard will also sign copies of her book, “The Story of Stuff: How Our Obsession with Stuff is Trashing the Planet, Our Communities, and Our Health, and a Vision for Change.”
 
Her 20-minute film, released in 2007, examines the materials economy, modern “throw away culture,” and how consumers can stop what

Michigan scholar to give Collins Lecture at Renaissance Center

Linda Gregerson, the Caroline Walker Bynum Distinguished Professor of English Language and Literature at the University of Michigan, will give the Dan S. Collins Lecture, “Milton and the Tragedy of Nations,” on Tuesday, April 23 at 4 p.m. at the Renaissance Center, 650 East Pleasant St.

The lecture is free and open to the public.

For information, contact the center at renaissance@english.umass.edu or 577-3600.

Campus programs organize ‘Stand Against Racism’ activities

As part of National YWCA Take a Stand Against Racism Day on Friday, April 26, several campus programs are sponsoring events focused on civil rights, the legal system and social justice.
 
The program opens at noon with a Stand Against Racism Walk starting at Haigis Mall in front of the Fine Arts Center.
 
From 1-6 p.m. in 201 Wilder Hall, there will be a series of presentations, including speakers, a film screening, media gallery, student testimonials and performances.
 
Shelley Perdomo, director of the Center for Multicultural Advancement and Student Success (CMASS) will give opening

Poets featured in finale of jubilat/Jones Reading Series

The final event in the jubilat/Jones Reading Series will feature poets Ben Kopel, Laurie Saurborn Young and Amanda Nadelberg on Sunday, April 21 at 3 p.m. in the Woodbury Room at the Jones Library, 43 Amity St.
 
The reading will be followed by a question-and-answer session with the poets.  
 
Kopel is a graduate of the MFA Program for Poets and Writers. He is the author of a chapbook, “Because We Must,” and a full-length collection titled “Victory,” which was published in 2012.
 
Young is a poet, writer and photographer. She is the author of “Carnavoria,” a book of poems.

ECE students show inventions at Senior Design Day

The College of Engineering is hosting Senior Design Project Day on Friday, April 19, where students in Electrical and Computer Engineering (ECE) show off electronic devices they have invented. One speeds up the location of avalanche victims, another teaches how to play the guitar and a third helps sports trainers diagnose concussions. There is also an automated system for parking payments using wireless technology.
 
Thirteen teams of four students will unveil their inventions at the Gunness Engineering Student Center in Marcus Hall from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m.

Cornell scientist discusses X-ray phase problem solutions

Veit Elser of Cornell University will speak on “A Solution Strategy for Hard Problems Inspired by the X-ray Phase Problem” Wednesday, April 24 at 4 p.m. in 124 Hasbrouck Laboratory.

A standard topic in the introductory physics curriculum is computing a diffraction pattern given a pair of slits of a given size and separation -- but not the reverse, i.e. directly computing the structure of the slits from the diffraction pattern.

Native Studies Symposium and Powwow set for April 19-20

The sixth annual Native Studies Symposium and Powwow is being held on campus April 19-20.
 
The symposium, “Water and Social and Economic Justice,” takes place Friday, April 19 from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. on the 10th floor of the Campus Center. The program highlights graduate and undergraduate research with indigenous communities, especially as relates to indigenous water rights, industrialization and economic politics. The keynote speaker is Ramona Peters of the Mashpee Wampanoags.
 
Also on Friday, Martha Redbone performs in concert at 8 p.m. in the Campus Center Reading Room.
 
The UMass Powwow

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

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