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Letter from the Dean
Welcome to the August 2006 issue of the e-newsletter of the College of
Liberal Arts and Sciences at Villanova.
As we collectively look to the beginning of the 2006-2007 academic year
after the summer break with
renewed energy and focus, I’d like to take this opportunity on behalf of the
College’s administration, faculty, and staff to welcome our new subscribers
to the College’s e-newsletter. It is a pleasure to have you join our
community.
Whether you are a parent of a current student in the College, an alumnus of
the College, or a prospective student, we welcome you and hope that you
enjoy reading about the many activities happening in the College. In this
issue, you’ll read about the College’s new major in biochemistry, the
many intellectual and cultural activities planned by the Villanova Center
for Liberal Education (VCLE) for our first-year students, and the opening of
a new laboratory in the Mendel Science Center.
As our students return to campus after the summer recess, it presents the
ideal opportunity to ask ourselves an important question: Why a liberal
education? Why is it important to educate the future leaders of our world
in the liberal tradition? On the College’s newly designed Web site, you’ll
read more about these two important questions. I encourage you to check out
our Web site, and as always, to send your feedback to Kate Szumanski at
kathryn.szumanski@villanova.edu. We are committed to improvement and take
all of your suggestions seriously.
So on behalf of everyone working in the Dean’s Office, I’d like to welcome
you to the beginning of the 2006-2007 academic year. I wish you a productive
year. Please remember that we in the Dean’s Office are here to serve
you and look forward to the
opportunity to work with you in the days and months ahead.
Sincerely,
Rev. Kail C. Ellis, O.S.A., Ph.D.
Dean of the College
In College News …
Intellectual and Cultural Co-curricular
Opportunities for First-Year Students Abound in the College
This summer, several
faculty from the Villanova Center for Liberal Education (VCLE) -- in conjunction with the efforts of the Office of Student Life -- will
further enrich our first-year students' experiences of the mandated
co-curricular cultural events connected with the Villanova Seminar:
Augustine and Culture by:
- Developing and integrating additional
co-curricular materials to support on campus cultural events
- Developing and integrating co-curricular
materials, which expand the students’ experience of major
Philadelphia
cultural institutions
- Coordinating these intellectual and cultural
events in the residence halls by the involvement of resident assistants (RAs) in the
selection, planning, and execution of these events
- Publishing a pamphlet at the beginning of each
semester that lists all VCLE-recommended intellectual and cultural events
and invites all first-year students to enjoy the interesting
intellectual engagement found on and around Villanova beyond, yet connected
to, their Villanova Seminar course.
The
University of Pennsylvania Museum, an archeological and anthropological
treasure house, is the first cultural institution which we intend to visit. Other events include the development of co-curricular materials in
connection with the Villanova Theater's production of The Tempest in
November, which the VCLE, through the seminars, will support.
"We expect that each such VCLE-sponsored
co-curricular events will help to establish such cultural events as an
ongoing part of the Villanova Seminar curriculum," said Marylu Hill, Ph.D.,
assistant director of the VCLE. "Through these efforts, we
seek to take a significant stride in transforming the intellectual and
cultural climate of this campus."
Learning objectives include: to enhance and enrich the intellectual and
cultural experience of the first-year student; to integrate the learning
that occurs in the classroom with those co-curricular intellectual and
cultural opportunities on this campus and in the surrounding areas; and to foster a habit of life-long cultural
engagement in our first-year students which will help transform the
intellectual and cultural climate on the campus beyond the first year by
demonstrating to our Villanova Seminar students that an essential part of a
college education is active participation in the life of the mind outside
the classroom.
Chemistry Department Offers New Major in Biochemistry
The Department of Chemistry is pleased to announce a new Bachelor of Science
degree in Biochemistry. Biochemistry was initially defined as the
application of chemical principles to the study of problems of biological
significance, but has evolved into a separate discipline distinct from
chemistry or biology. Strong knowledge of biochemistry is especially needed
in medicine. Many disease states are caused by the disruption of normal
biochemical processes within cells and organisms.
The major consists of 135 total credits (and five free electives),
including courses in chemistry, biology, biochemistry, calculus, and
physics. Biochemistry is a recommended degree for students considering a
career in the allied health fields, or in the pharmaceutical industry. More
information about the Biochemistry major can be found on the Chemistry
Department Web site: (www.chemistry.villanova.edu/programs/bs-biochemistry.html).
Department of Chemistry Establishes the Laboratory for Molecular
Structure Analysis
All are welcome to attend a lab open house on Friday, Sept. 15
The Department of Chemistry announces the establishment of the Laboratory
for Molecular Structural Analysis. The Laboratory is supervised by Dr. Scott
Kassel, associate professor of chemistry, and was funded by a $329,000 grant
to Dr. Kassel from the Major Research Instrumentation Program of the
National Science Foundation and by departmental funds. The centerpiece of
the laboratory is a Bruker Kappa APEX II x-ray diffractometer with copper
and molybdenum sources. This instrument is capable of collecting structural
information from both crystalline and powdered samples.
The laboratory provides molecular structural determination in support of
research in the department and also at small colleges and universities in
the tri-state area. The laboratory will also be used to train undergraduate
and graduate students in techniques and practices necessary for the
structural determination of organic and inorganic molecules.
The laboratory is located in Room 313A of the Mendel Science Center. An open house to
celebrate the opening of the laboratory will be held on Friday, Sept. 15,
from 3 to 5 p.m. The Villanova community is invited to attend; refreshments
will be served.
Ethics Program to Sponsor an Interdisciplinary Conference and
Inaugurate an Award in Professional Ethics
The Ethics Program will sponsor an interdisciplinary conference --
Contemporary Ethical Problems in Engineering Practice:
A Dialogue -- May 31 to June 2, 2007. In addition, the Ethics Program will
inaugurate the Praxis Award in Professional Ethics on March 28, 2007. This
award will highlight and celebrate the contributions of a professional or an
academic in the field of professional ethics. For more information on the
many activities planned in the Ethics Program, please visit
http://www.ethics.villanova.edu/.
An Extensive Program of Events Marks the 2006-2007 Series in
Anthropology
Looking Into Culture: The 2006-2007 Series in Anthropology
features a number of events planned throughout the upcoming fall and spring
semesters. For more information on all of these events, please visit
http://www90.homepage.villanova.edu/lowell.gustafson/anthropology/2006_07.html.
Need Graphic Design Help?
Media Technologies & Creative Design (MT/CD), located in the basement of
Falvey Memorial Library, manages and produces an extensive range of graphic
arts services in areas of digital and traditional graphics design and
photography. Creative design services are utilized by faculty and
administration for curriculum, research, presentation and publication use,
as well as for internal, community, national, and international University
use. For more information on how MT/CD can assist you, please contact
Bernadette Dierkes at bernadette.dierkes@villanova.edu.
Save the Dates!
Please mark your calendars for these important events:
| Science and Technology Open House |
Sunday, Oct. 29 |
| Early Action Candidates' Day |
Saturday, Feb. 3 |
| Candidates' Day |
To Be Announced |
| Mendel Medal Award Lecture
|
Saturday, April 28 |
Please visit
http://www.villanova.edu/enroll/registrar/calendar/spring.htm?year=2007
for the complete academic calendar.
Faculty in the News
- Bangbo Hu, Ph.D., associate professor of geography,
has been invited by Harvard University to give a presentation on Chinese
cartography for the China Humanities Seminar on October 16, 2006.
IT Corner
- New Websites coming online - Over the next month you will see
many newly designed websites coming online including the Villanova
Center for Liberal Education, Political Science, Health Professions and
Internship Office.
- Update Your Biography on the Web – As part of the College's
ongoing Web migration process, all faculty and staff members in the
College are asked to assemble basic biographical data on themselves and
input it into a simple online form, known by UNIT as the BIO TOOL, as
soon as possible. This is the information about you that will be
displayed on your department's new Web site (when it is completed).
Please visit this Web site and fill in the appropriate line items. Your
attention to this matter is greatly appreciated.
http://vuws.villanova.edu/bio/edit
- Loaner Laptops Available - A number of loaner laptops are
available in each department on a short-term basis for special projects,
conferences, presentations, etc. Additional laptops are also
available from the College IT Coordinators, including 2 MacBooks. Please
contact your department's administrative assistants or an
IT Coordinator for more information.
Send Your News Items and Event Notices for Publication Do you need help broadening your outreach efforts, publicizing events, and
getting the word out about the accomplishments of your faculty? Please
submit your announcements or events via our
online submission form or directly to Kate Szumanski at
kathryn.szumanski@villanova.edu.
Kate will include it in the next issue of the College’s e-newsletter. |
