Fall 2007
November 9, 2007
Carmelo Comberiati, Professor of Music History and Director of Music, served as a panel respondent at this year's American Musicological Society conference in Quebec, Canada. The November 2nd panel, "New Cultural History of Music," examined the forthcoming publication of a condensed version of Richard Taruskin’s encyclopedic, six-volume Oxford History of Music (by Taruskin and Christopher Gibbs) as a text for music history courses, with corresponding anthologies. Professor Comberiati reviewed chapters from the proposed text concerning Baroque, Classic Era and Romantic works, as well as pedagogical and curricular implications of repertoire selections.
Two songs by Mary Ann Joyce-Walter, Professor of Music: “The Windhover" and "The Caged Skylark, based on poems by Gerard M. Hopkins, were presented in a celebration of poetry and song, titled "From the Workbench," on September 28, 2007 at the University of Maine. On November 8, 2007, ERMMedia recorded Professor Joyce-Walter’s composition for string orchestra and flute, “Aceldama,” which was performed by the Prague Radio Symphony Orchestra and flutist Oxnaya Olevskaya. The CD will be released in 2008.
November 5, 2007
Jane Gangi, Associate Professor of Education, specializing in literacy, participated as a storyteller at the November 3rd Tellabration event at the Barnum Museum in Bridgeport, Connecticut. Tellabration is a worldwide benefit evening of storytelling. It creates a network of storytelling enthusiasts, bonded together in spirit, more or less at the same time. Professor Gangi drew from her repertoire of folk tales from all over the world.
October 30, 2007
Peter Gardella, Professor of World Religions, had his volume American Angels published by The University Press of Kansas. In this 320-page study, Professor Gardella explores the history of angels in America, from Spanish colonialism and Puritan sermons to the modern angel craze that overtook the nation in the 1990s in the wake of Sophy Burnham’s bestselling A Book of Angels. He argues that our collective fascination with angels seems especially linked to their perceived utility as helpmates and describes how they have been incorporated into everything from healing practices and child rearing to warding off evil and evoking love. But, Professor Gardella argues, these angels are often perceived as servants of man rather than agents of God, and this very servitude has helped codify our sense of national uniqueness and righteousness.
James Jones, Associate Professor and Chair of the Department of World Religions and the African Studies Program was a presenter, October 22-23, 2007, on a panel that discussed “Models and Methods of Multi-faith Education” at the Henry Luce Foundation Seminar. A primary goal of the seminar was to advise the Luce Foundation on funding strategies that encourage emerging religious leaders to understand and respect other traditions. Organized by New York’s Auburn Theological seminary and held at the newly opened Bishop Desmond Tutu Center at the Graduate Theological Seminary, the invitation-only event included forty-four scholars representing seminaries and other religious education institutions across the United States.
During this past summer, Professor Jones was in Cairo, Egypt, where he directed the third annual month-long Intensive Arabic and Quran Immersion program at Al-Azhar University. He was accompanied by twenty-four Americans and one Canadian; this ethnically, racially and occupationally diverse group included Muslims and non-Muslims, religious leaders and medical professionals as well as undergraduate and graduate students. His blog, 'Islamic terrorism' an insult, distorts reality, in The Straight Path Online Blog - http://thestraightpathonline.com/blog describes the experience and offers his view of the term “Islamic terrorism.”
October 16, 2007
Irene Whelan, Professor of History and Director of Irish Studies, gave a lecture at Dartmouth College on October 8th. Presented at the invitation of Dartmouth’s History Department, the lecture focused on “Catholicism and Protestantism in Pre-Famine Ireland,” a topic of special research interest to her.
October 10, 2007
Bonnie Walker, Adjunct Lecturer in Dance and Theatre, was chosen to re-create Jerome Robbins’ choreography for the City Center Encores production of Gypsy, starring Patti LuPone. This is Ms. Walker’s third collaboration with prize-winning playwright/director Arthur Laurents on Gypsy; the first two involved productions for Angela Lansbury and for Tyne Daly.
September 28, 2007
Ara Fitzgerald, Associate Professor and Associate Director of Dance & Theatre performed a new work on September 15th at The Construction Company in NYC, entitled "On Looking Back," based on the myth of Orpheus and Eurydice. The show featured dance, theatre and film artists who created work while in residence at The Dragon's Egg in Mystic, Connecticut.
August 1, 2007
Jonathan Tropper, Adjunct Professor in English, just had his novel, How to Talk to a Widower, published by Delacorte Press. It is an official summer selection of the United Kingdom's “Richard and Judy Show” and has been optioned by Paramount Pictures for the production company of Lorne Michaels and John Goldwyn.
July 12, 2007
Jerry Kerlin, Associate Professor of Music Education, along with five other colleagues, will be leading the nineteenth summer of the Kodály Summer Institute in The Steinhardt School of Culture, Education, and Human Development at New York University. Founded by Dr. Kerlin in 1989, this intensive summer workshop allows students to achieve full certification in Kodály method in three summers. Kodaly method, based on the principles of language acquisition, stresses the development of aural perception and solfege singing as the foundation for musicianship and for the development of instrumental technique. The Kodály Summer Institute at New York University has introduced Kodály practice to over 600 music educators from all around the world.