Letter from the Dean
In December 2005, the Core Humanities Program awarded its 2005 Margaret Cecilia Baney Award for the Core Humanities Prize Essay to Daniel Trucil, a second-year junior from Hawthorne, New Jersey, who is majoring in English and Communication with concentrations in Honors and Writing and Rhetoric. When asked if he enjoys the writing process and if Villanova has improved his writing, Dan said:
"I love to write! Villanova has enhanced my writing ability in that the University encourages me (and all students) to think in an interdisciplinary way. Prior to this point in my academic career, each scholastic subject was its own entity –English was English and philosophy was philosophy. At Villanova, the professors really encourage you to make a connection between the different areas that we study. The world does not develop in a vacuum, and the education offered here at Villanova is all about realizing that truth."
Hearing students like Dan articulate in their own words how their liberal arts education is affecting their lives in such positive and poignant ways serves to reaffirm our commitment to the fulfillment of our mission: The College of Liberal Arts and Sciences exists to provide an atmosphere of responsible learning to a varied group of students who will be called to intellectual, moral, and professional leadership. To fulfill these goals, the College seeks to promote intellectual curiosity and rigor within the University, to instill the fundamentals of critical insight, mature judgment, and independent thinking in its students, and to awaken in its students a sense of the importance of values and the moral responsibility of caring for others and working for the betterment of society.
In other news, in an effort to comply with new University Web standards, the College of Liberal Arts and Sciences is in the midst of a major Web migration project this semester. If you have not already sent your completed Web site “wish list” to Chris Driscoll at
Christopher.Driscoll@villanova.edu and Kate Szumanski at kathryn.szumanski@villanova.edu, I ask that you kindly do so by Feb. 10. That way, we can ensure that all of our Web sites are redesigned and launched on time and on schedule. This project is an exciting one. The Web is an important tool for all of us – faculty, staff, students, prospective students, alumni, and friends – and the Web migration gives us a wonderful opportunity to rethink how we present information on the Web from both a content and design perspective.
I hope this semester is going well for all of you, and as always, please feel free to contact the Dean’s Office if we can be of service to you.
Sincerely,
Kail C. Ellis, O.S.A., Ph.D.
Dean of the College of Liberal Arts and Sciences
News & Events
Daniel Trucil Wins 2005 Margaret Cecilia Baney Award for the Core Humanities Prize Essay
The Core Humanities Program awarded its 2005 Margaret Cecilia Baney Award for the Core Humanities Prize Essay to Daniel Trucil for his work, “…till human voices wake us and we drown.” – Modernism and Treatments of the Individual in Franz Kafka’s The Metamorphosis and T.S. Eliot’s “The Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock,” written for Professor Noël E. Dolan. Honorable mentions were given to Cassandra Jones, Frances Koons, and Daniel Thiel.
For more information on the Core Humanities Program and to read the full article on the 2005 Margaret Cecilia Baney Award for the Core Humanities Prize Essay, please visit:
http://www.artsci.villanova.edu/corehumanities/writing_awards.html
Graduate Studies Office Relocates to the Second Floor of Kennedy Hall
The Graduate Studies Office for the College of Liberal Arts and Sciences is now located on the second floor of Kennedy Hall.
The staff of the Graduate Studies Office would like to thank Richard McKay of Facilities Services and his staff for all of their efforts to ensure a smooth transition to the new space. The move was accomplished in three days, and the office was in full operation on Tuesday, Nov. 22. An open house invitation will be distributed shortly.
Latest Issue of Academics Magazine Focuses on “Inspired Teaching”
Be sure to visit http://www.vpaa.villanova.edu/magazine/
to read the latest issue of Academics magazine.
Help the Camden Rescue Mission Get in the “Comfort Zone”
This Winter the VQI teams representing the College of Liberal Arts and Sciences and the College of Engineering are collaborating on a fundraiser during the month of February to support the Camden Rescue Mission. The theme for the February fundraiser is "getting into the comfort zone.”
Members of the Villanova community kindly are asked to donate their new or gently used items that relate to comfort and warmth — to keep warm in the winter and cool in the summer. For example, new or gently used coats, hats, and gloves in all sizes would make appropriate donations as would other warm articles of clothing, such as long pants and sweaters. Lighter articles of clothing also are acceptable. In addition, VQI will accept donations of household items, such as fans, furniture, and kitchenware. All items to be donated can be left in the basement of the St. Augustine Center for the Liberal Arts (SAC) and on the ground near the medallion on the first floor of SAC. Please remember that your donated items must be in good or excellent condition.
If you have any questions about the fundraiser or about the work of the Camden Rescue Mission itself, please contact Sue Stefanski at
susan.stefanski@villanova.edu. And please be sure to check out the posters and flyers that will be dotting the halls advertising the fundraiser. These will provide additional information.
Mark Your Calendar for These Upcoming Events
The Honors Program Holds its Senior Research Colloquia on Friday, Feb. 3 and 10
The Honors Program will hold its Senior Research Colloquia on Friday, Feb. 3 and 10, from 1:30 to 4:30 p.m. in the Honors Seminar Room. (Some presentations will be made in the Fedigan Room of SAC. Please contact Barbara Romano at
barbara.romano@villanova.edu
to learn more.) Each student's presentation will last 30 minutes.
Come and learn how these Honors students' senior research projects are coming along! A full list of the students' research projects is posted in the Honors Program office on the first floor of SAC; the lists also are posted on every bulletin board in SAC.
The Ethics Program Welcomes Larry Rasmussen to Speak on Campus
The Ethics Program will host a lecture on Monday, Feb. 6, at 3:30 p.m. in the Connelly Center Cinema. Larry Rasmussen, the Reinhold Niebuhr Professor of Social Ethics at the Union Theology Seminary in New York City, will speak on “The Massive Mysticism of Stone:
Religion’s Ecological Phase.”
The Department of English Hosts the 8th Annual Literary Festival
On Tuesday, Feb. 7, Khaled Hosseini, the author of The Kite Runner, will be on campus as the first guest speaker for the 8th Annual Literary Festival presented by the Department of English. For a complete listing of authors who will take part in the Literary Festival, please visit
http://www.english.villanova.edu/LiteraryFestival/lit_fest.htm.
Other guest authors who will visit campus as part of the Literary Festival include Lawrence Joseph, author of
Into It: Poems. He will speak on Thursday, Feb. 9, at 7:30 p.m. in the Presidents’ Lounge of Connelly Center. Anne Waldman, author of
Fast Speaking Woman, will speak on Thursday, Feb. 23, at 7:30 p.m. in the First Floor Lounge of Falvey Memorial Library. Marilyn Nelson, author or
Fields of Praise, will speak on Thursday, March 23, at 7:30 p.m. in the Presidents’ Lounge of Connelly Center. David Means, author of
The Secret Goldfish, will speak on Thursday, April 6, at 7:30 p.m. in the Connelly Center Cinema. Kimberly Peirce, author of
Boys Don't Cry, will speak on Thursday, April 27, at 7:30 p.m. in the Connelly Center Cinema. All events are free and open to the public.
The Center for Arab and Islamic Sponsors a Lecture Entitled, “Iraq and America’s Role in the Middle East: Challenges on Every Front”
John H. Kelley, the Ambassador-in-Residence at the Sam Nunn School of International Affairs at Georgia Tech, will speak on “Iraq and America’s Role in the Middle East: Challenges on Every Front,” on Tuesday, Feb. 14, at 7:30 p.m., in the St. Augustine Center for the Liberal Arts Room 300. Kelly was Assistant Secretary of State for the Near East and South Asia from 1989 to 1991, Ambassador to Lebanon from 1986 to 1988, and Ambassador to Finland from 1991 to 1994.
Dr. Nicolai N. Petro to Speak on “Autocracy, Orthodoxy, and Nationality in Putin’s Russia”
Russian Area Concentration Studies (RASCON) will sponsor a lecture on Tuesday, Feb. 21, 2006, at 4 p.m. in the Bryn Mawr Room of Connelly Center. Dr. Nicolai N. Petro from the University of Rhode Island will speak on “Autocracy, Orthodoxy and Nationality in Putin’s Russia.”
The Augustinian Institute Proudly Presents Two Upcoming Events
The Augustinian Chair in the Thought of St. Augustine Inaugural Lecture will take place on Friday, Feb. 10, 2006, at 3:30 p.m. in the Connelly Center Cinema. Dr. James R. Wetzel, the Augustinian Chair in the Thought of St. Augustine, will deliver a presentation titled, “Body Double: Saint Augustine and the Sexualized Will.” Dr. Wetzel received his undergraduate degree from Princeton University and his Ph.D. from Columbia University. A distinguished scholar on Augustine and the Augustinian tradition, modern philosophy, and religious thought, he is a member of the department of philosophy.
The Augustinian Chair in the Thought of St. Augustine was endowed in 1994 by the Augustinians of the Province of St. Thomas of Villanova to celebrate and strengthen the continuing influence of St. Augustine on their ministry of higher education. The Vivian J. Lamb Lecture Series on Augustinian Thought and the Sciences will feature Professor Robert N. McCauley from Emory University on Wednesday, Feb. 15, 2006, at 4 p.m. in the Connelly Center Cinema. The title of his presentation is: “Comparing the Cognitive Foundations of Science and Religion.” The lecture series is sponsored by the Augustinian Institute.
For more information, please visit
http://www3.villanova.edu/augustinianinstitute/main/index.html
“Augustine and Politics Conference” to be Held on Feb. 23 and 24
The “Augustine and Politics Conference,” an interdisciplinary conference dedicated to studying the political thought of Saint Augustine and commemorating the recently published volume edited by John Doody, Kevin L. Hughes, and Kim Paffenroth, will be held on Feb. 23 and 24. Featured speakers include Todd Breyfogle of the University of Denver; Robert Dodaro, O.S.A., of the Istituto Patristico Augustinianum; and Charles Mathewes of the University of Virginia.
The conference is sponsored by the Core Humanities Program, the Augustinian Institute, the Office of Mission Effectiveness, and the department of political science.
For more information, please visit
http://www.artsci.villanova.edu/corehumanities/augustine_politics.html or contact Gregory Hoskins, conference organizer, at
gregory.hoskins@villanova.edu.
The Cultural Film Series Examines “Struggles of the Spirit”
Visit the Web site of the Cultural Film Series at
http://www.communication.villanova.edu/culturalfilms/struggles.htm for a look at the films featured this semester. The theme of this semester’s series: “Struggles of the Spirit.” Films are shown in the Connelly Center Cinema.
Department of Theatre Stages Prayers of Sherkin from Feb. 7 to 19
The internationally-acclaimed poet, novelist, and playwright Sebastian Barry will spend a semester in residence in the Irish Studies program and work with Villanova Theatre on the staging of Prayers of Sherkin. In this haunting play about a Shaker-like community living in isolation off the coast of Ireland, a young woman from the island falls in love with a shy lithographer from Cork, and must choose between her traditional life on Sherkin Island or a new life – and marriage – on the mainland. The play is directed by James J. Christy.
For more information, please visit:
http://www.theatre.villanova.edu.
