The Holy Cross football team will hold its annual Price Chopper Kids’ Day during the contest with Dartmouth on Oct. 15. The Crusaders will hold a free pregame clinic for kids aged 13 and under beginning at 10 a.m. at Fitton Field.
Read the entire story at GoHolyCross.com.
Related Information:
Kurt Hultgren
On Saturday, Oct. 22, the Worcester Art Museum (WAM) will host a lively affair, titled Tableaux Vivants, which means “art coming to life.” Holy Cross theatre students and Worcester area community members will dress in costume and makeup as characters from the treasures in the museum’s permanent collection, including “Portrait of My Daughters,” by Frank Benson; “The Repentant Magdalen,” by El Greco; and “Mrs. Elizabeth Freake and Baby Mary.” These tableaux vivants will be anything but the traditionally silent and motionless living representations of art. Rather, they will come to life before guests’ eyes, sharing knowledge about the works of art that they embody.
Holy Cross’ costume designer Kurt Hultgren and his staff created all the costumes for the festive party to celebrate WAM’s director, Jim Welu, who is stepping down after 25 years of service to the Worcester arts community.
“This is a wonderful opportunity for more than a couple of dozen Holy Cross students who are working on this project in various capacities, as well as modeling,” says Hultgren. “The event is a great collaboration between two Worcester cultural and educational institutions.”
Tickets are $30 for members of the Holy Cross community, and $40 for the general public (when asked for member ID number type in HOLY CROSS for discount.) The event will be held from 7 to 10 p.m. Festive attire is encouraged. For more information or to register visit the Worcester Art Museum or call (508)-799-4406 x 3123.
Related Information
The Telegram & Gazette previews the upcoming event in ‘Tableaux Vivants’ marks departure of Jim Welu from WAM.
The Changeling
The department of theatre at the College of the Holy Cross presents The Changeling written by Thomas Middleton and William Rowley, directed by Edward Isser, professor and chair of the theatre department. The play will be performed November 3-5 and 10-12 at 8 p.m. in Fenwick Theatre (located on the second floor of O’Kane Hall). Tickets are $7 for members of the Holy Cross community and $10 for the general public. Group rates are available. Tickets can be reserved by calling the box office at (508)-793-2496. Parental guidance is recommended.
The Changeling is a shocking Renaissance tragedy about obsession, madness, murder and the wages of sin. Beatrice-Johanna is forced by her father to become engaged to an unappealing aristocrat, but shortly after, she meets the man of her dreams. Wishing to be free to pursue the object of her desire, Beatrice-Johanna convinces a deformed servant, De Flores, to kill the inconvenient fiancé. Once the gruesome deed is done, she discovers that De Flores wants something much more than money in return.
“This startling morality play was very popular at the time it opened, but the work was so disturbing and repellent that it was banned from the English stage for almost 300 years,” says Isser. “Since the early 1960s, however, the play has been regularly revived to the gruesome delight of modern audiences.”
Isser, who has directed a dozen Shakespeare productions on campus, in Green Hill Park and at Foothills Theatre, says he is “thrilled at the prospect of tackling this challenging and disturbing text.”
Cast and crew include: Shannon Locascio ’14 as Beatrice-Johanna, William Soller ’14 as her demanding father, David Martinez ’12 as the servant De Flores, Matthew Helfer ’12 as the object of affection and Conor Sullivan ’14 as the unfortunate fiancé. Barbara Craig, assistant professor of theatre, set and lighting design; Kurt Hultgren, costume designer, costumes; Eric Culver, lecturer of music, music direction; choreography by Linsey Barker ’12 and Caroline Cataldo ’12.
Asteria
The College of the Holy Cross will host a medieval/renaissance colloquium titled “Of Love and War,” on Thursday, Oct. 20. The colloquium will include a live sword demonstration and a sword-handling workshop from representatives of the Higgins Armory Museum; and a concert-lecture by the award winning duo, Asteria. The pair will present songs from medieval Burgundy. All events are free and open to the public.
Schedule of events:
Colloquium: 4 p.m., Brooks Concert Hall
The colloquium includes short presentations, demonstrations and discussion from the following:
James Powers, professor of history at Holy Cross, will discuss military depictions and their message in Western Europe from 1000-1230.
Mark Lincicome, associate professor and chair of the history department at Holy Cross, will discuss the aura of the sword in Japanese history.
William Short, from the Higgins Armory Museum, will discuss and show Viking fighting moves from the “Sagas of Icelanders.”
Devon Kurtz and Neal Bourbeau, both from the Higgins Armory Museum, will discuss and show how to arm a knight. (They may need a volunteer from the audience!)
Ken Mondschein, from the Higgins Armory Museum, will speak on medieval fighting books.
Sword Displays: 5:30 p.m., Smith Courtyard
Mondschein and Short will present a live sword demonstration and a sword-handling workshop.
Concert-lecture: 8 p.m., Brooks Concert Hall
Asteria (Sylvia Rhyne, soprano, and Eric Redlinger, tenor and lute) brings to life the exquisite love songs of medieval Burgundy. Their historically informed settings and intimate interpretations are based on extensive archival research into original sources in Paris, The Hague, and Basel, Switzerland.
This engaging duo brings out the passion and emotional impact of late medieval vocal and instrumental music with timeless love songs of wide appeal, transporting their listeners back to the age of chivalry.
Asteria has been heralded as “meltingly beautiful” by The New York Times and as “captivating and intimate” by Goldberg Magazine.
Victor Matheson
Besides being an essential source of revenue for governments, lotteries are extremely popular and mysteriously compelling (who hasn’t imagined hitting the jackpot?). But, the general public still knows little about how they work.
Victor Matheson, associate professor of economics at the College of the Holy Cross, spoke about the long history of lotteries around the world on WNYC’s “The Leonard Lopate Show.” Did you know that the Great Wall of China and Harvard University were funded in part by lotteries?
Throughout the segment, Matheson explained where lottery money comes from, where it goes, and what the odds are of winning it big.
“Typically, for every one dollar lottery ticket, roughly 50 cents goes into the prizes paid back to the lucky winners,” Matheson said. “About 5 cents goes back to the store who sold the lottery ticket in the first place. Another 10 or 15 percent goes into administration in the lottery or advertising campaigns. And roughly 30 – 35 cents on that dollar, about a third, goes into state coffers.”
Chances of winning are slim. “About 200 million to one for the Powerball,” said Matheson, “which makes it about 10 times more likely you’re going to get killed by lightening.”
“Any mathematician knows the way that you maximize the amount you win in the lottery is to not play at all. In fact, some people have called the lottery just a tax on people who are bad at math.”
This “Holy Cross in the News” item by Kristine Maloney.
Ward Thomas
Ward Thomas, professor of political science at the College of the Holy Cross, talked to NECN/Channel 3 about the 10th anniversary of the war in Afghanistan.
“Beyond this point it is not clear that an extended stay of troops will be decisive in bringing about the political system we wanted,” he told the reporter. “The initial goals of the war, depriving al-Qaida terrorists a base of operations and bringing down the Taliban government, have been successful. But long term goals of providing stability may be more difficult to obtain.”
Thomas said getting out may be the best option.
This “Holy Cross in the News” item by Cristal Steuer.
Zeb Hogan
Environmental Studies and the biology department at the College of the Holy Cross are sponsoring a series of lectures this semester.
Zeb Hogan, assistant professor of natural resources and environmental science at the University of Nevada Reno, will give a talk titled “Imperiled Giants: Ecology and Conservation of the World’s Largest Freshwater Fish,” on Oct. 25 at 4:30 p.m. in Rehm Library. Hogan is the host of the hit television show, Monster Fish, which is broadcast on the National Geographic Channel. A long-term advocate for the conservation of freshwater fish species, he has worked the majority of his career trying to understand the ecology of the largest, freshwater fishes in the world. Hogan travels to the most endangered environments, striving to save critically endangered fish and the livelihood of people who share their habitats. He has been named a National Geographic Explorer and is a Scientific Appointed Councilor for Fish for the United Nations Convention on Migratory Species.
David Montgomery, professor of earth and space sciences at the University of Washington, will give the 2011 William Morris Davis Lecture on “Dirt: The Erosion of Civilizations,” on Nov. 1 at 5 p.m. in Rehm Library. Montgomery studies geomorphology, the evolution of landscapes. He has received numerous awards including the 2008 MacArthur ‘Genius’ Award; two Washington State Book awards, one for King of Fish: The Thousand-Year Run of Salmon (2004), and for Dirt: The Erosion of Civilizations (2008). His research interests range from the co-evolution of the Pacific salmon and the topography of the Pacific Northwest to the environmental history of Puget Sound rivers.
Derek Lovely, professor of microbiology at the University of Massachusetts, Amherst, will give a talk on Nov. 16 at 12 p.m. in Rehm Library. Lovely is an internationally known microbial ecologist whose research is focused on the physiology and ecology of novel anaerobic microorganisms.
James David Christie
James David Christie, Distinguished Artist in Residence and College of the Holy Cross Organist, will perform with members of the Boston Symphony Orchestra: Robert Sheena, oboe and English Horn, and Cynthia Meyers, flute, on Sunday, Oct. 23 at 3 p.m. in St. Joseph Memorial Chapel. The concert, which is part of the 2011-12 Holy Cross Chapel Artists Series, is free, open to the public, and handicap accessible.
A diverse program of baroque and 20th-century works, the concert will include the works of Georg Böhm, J. S. Bach, Jacques Berthier, Flor Peeters, Charles Callahan, Marguerite Rosegens and Jehan Alain.
Sheena has served as principal English horn player for the Boston Symphony Orchestra and the Boston Pops Orchestra since 1994. He has premiered many new works for English horn and has been a soloist with several American orchestras. Meyers joined the Boston Symphony as a piccolo in 2006. Previous positions included principal flute of the Omaha Symphony and principal piccolo of the Houston Symphony.
In addition to his appointment at Holy Cross, Christie serves as an organist for the Boston Symphony Orchestra and has served on more international organ competition juries than any American organist. Christie has toured the U.S., Canada, Europe, Asia and Australia giving concerts, master classes and seminars at major music festivals. He has recorded for 12 different labels and is heard regularly on radio broadcasts in the U.S., Canada and Europe.
Future performances of the 2011-12 Chapel Artists Series include:
• Sunday, Nov. 6 – Jean Ferrard, organist
• Sunday, Jan. 29 – Neil Cockburn, organist
• Sunday, Feb. 26 – John Grew, organist
• Sunday, April 29 – Philippe Lefebvre, organist
For more information about any of the performances in the Chapel Artists Series, please call the music department at (508) 793-2296, or visit the department’s website.
basketball arena
In a Slate article about a possible NBA lockout and its potential impact on the economies of franchise cities, a study by College of the Holy Cross Professors Robert Baumann and Victor Matheson helped put business owners’ fears at ease.
Their analyis focused on the state of Florida, looking at how sales tax receipts changed during every MLB, NFL, NBA, and NHL labor stoppage since 1982. The results showed no decrease in revenue for local businesses, and corroborated earlier studies looking at similar data.
This “Holy Cross in the News” item by Kristine Maloney.
UMass Medicine Cancer Walk
More than 300 students, faculty, and staff members from Holy Cross were among the 10,000 people who participated in the 13th annual UMass Medicine Cancer Walk on Sunday, Sept. 25. The College, which is a flagship sponsor of this fundraising event, raised more than $13,000!
Over the years the walk has raised millions of dollars to support cutting-edge cancer research and build the UMass Memorial Cancer Center, the world class research center in Worcester.
“It was amazing to see the ‘sea of purple’ in Worcester on Sunday,” shares Jackie Peterson, cancer survivor and dean of students. “The Holy Cross community truly rallied in loving support of many of us who have journeyed through the cancer experience and increased the hope for the many who will make the journey in the future.”
Highlights include:
Physical plant employees raised more than $700 in support of cancer survivor Warren Lohnes, who works as an electrician at the College.
The economics department raised more than $1,300. The group has raised the most money and sent the most people to the walk for the last three years.
Many of the College’s 27 varsity athletics teams participated again this year. The women’s teams—led by ice hockey, crew, volleyball, and track and field—raised more than $900.
In addition to walking, Recognized Student Organizations HC for a Cure and Student Health Awareness Peer Educators (SHAPE) organized numerous teams and staffed the registration tables.
Monica Duffy Toft
Monica Duffy Toft, associate professor of public policy at the John F. Kennedy School of Government at Harvard University, will give a lecture titled “The Resurgence of Religion in Global Politics” on Tuesday, Oct. 18 at 4:30 p.m. in Rehm Library, Smith Hall at the College of the Holy Cross.
The lecture is one of the Deitchman Family Lectures on Religion and Modernity presented by the College’s Center for Religion, Ethics and Culture. It is free and open to the public.
Toft, who directs the Initiative on Religion in International Affairs at Harvard, asserts that contrary to past predictions of an increasingly secular society, religion’s influence on politics is surging. It has both incited violence and inspired peace. God’s Century: Resurgent Religion and Global Politics (Norton, 2011), a book Toft co-authored with Daniel Philpott and Timothy Samuel Shah, lays out examples of this and offers suggestions for confronting the challenges and taking advantage of the opportunities posed by globally resurgent religion.
Toft and her co-authors recently discussed God’s Century on The Exchange on NHPR.
A 2008 Carnegie Scholar, Toft is author of Securing The Peace: The Durable Settlement of Civil Wars (Princeton University Press, 2009) and The Geography of Ethnic Conflict: Identity, Interests, and Territory (Princeton University Press, 2003) and co-editor of The Fog of Peace: Strategic and Military Planning under Uncertainty (Routledge, 2006). She has written opinion pieces for The Australian, Boston Globe, Christian Science Monitor, Dallas Morning News, Huffington Post, International Herald Tribune and the Washington Post.
For more information about this and other events hosted by the Center for Religion, Ethics and Culture, and to listen to lectures online, visit www.holycross.edu/crec.
About The Center for Religion, Ethics and Culture:
Established in 2001 and housed in Smith Hall, the Center for Religion, Ethics and Culture provides resources for faculty and course development, sponsors conferences and college-wide teaching events, hosts visiting fellows, and coordinates a number of campus lecture series. Rooted in the College’s commitment to invite conversation about basic human questions, the Center welcomes persons of all faiths and seeks to foster dialogue that acknowledges and respects differences, providing a forum for intellectual exchange that is interreligious, interdisciplinary, intercultural, and international in scope. The Center also brings members of the Holy Cross community into conversation with the Greater Worcester community, the academic community, and the wider world to examine the role of faith and inquiry in higher education and in the larger culture.
Holy Cross alumni in Congress
With three current members of the House of Representatives and one U.S. Senator among its graduates, the College of the Holy Cross has one of the highest ratios of Congress members to student enrollment, according to Roll Call, the newspaper of Capitol Hill.
In a recent article, the alumni—Rep. Timothy H. Bishop ’72 (D- New York), Sen. Robert Casey ’82 (D – Pennsylvania), Rep. James P. Moran Jr. ’67 (D – Virginia) and Rep. Peter Welch ’69 (D – Vermont)—talked about how their experiences at Holy Cross helped prepare them for careers in public service.
“It was very much a part of the education at Holy Cross that you thought beyond yourself,” Welch told Roll Call. “When people organize and challenge injustice, they can have an impact,” he continued. “I saw how changing laws would provide fairness and opportunity.”
Bishop shared a similar sentiment. “There’s a real ethos of commitment to others and public service that runs through a Jesuit education,” he said. “The whole world was changing from 1968 to 1972. It was impossible to not be politically aware.”
Holy Cross President Rev. Michael McFarland, S.J., also attributed the large number of Holy Cross alumni in Congress to the College’s Jesuit background.
“That’s part of the Catholic consciousness, to appreciate larger community structures,” he said. “It had at least some sense that community structures were good things and that you could work change through them.”
This “Holy Cross in the News” item by Kristine Maloney.
The Worcester Telegram & Gazette reported that on Saturday, Oct. 1, the College of the Holy Cross welcomed the Stanley Cup to campus for the first time, courtesy of Matt Chmura ‘03, director of communications for the Boston Bruins.
“With my love and admiration for my four years here at Holy Cross, and my connection to the city of Worcester and Holy Cross, I wanted to make sure I had it here for a little bit,” said Chmura, whose name is one of 52 recently etched on the Cup in honor of the Bruins’ championship. “It was something that I had to do, I knew that I wanted to do, and I wanted to share it with the school and the students.”
The cup embarked a tour of the Holy Cross campus, after private ice-time with the men’s and women’s hockey as well as a group of 20 students from the Nativity School, a Jesuit middle school for boys in Worcester.
This “Holy Cross in the News” item is by Sara Bovat ’14.
In a Marketplace report, Victor Matheson, associate professor of economics at the College of the Holy Cross, discusses the possible benefits of Air Force and Navy competing in the Big East Conference.
Matheson explains that moving up to a better conference might be a good financial decision for the schools, “Typically, any football program outside of the big six football conferences don’t make money.”
This “Holy Cross in the News” item is by Sara Bovat ’14.
Jay O'Callahan
In honor of Veterans Day, renowned storyteller Jay O’Callahan ’60 will perform “Father Joe: A Hero’s Journey,” on Thursday, Nov. 10 at 4 p.m. in the Seelos Theater. The event is free and open to the public. Veterans are especially welcome to attend, and will be recognized during this special performance.
“Father Joe” tells the story of Holy Cross math and physics professor, Rev. Joseph T. O’Callahan, S.J., Navy Chaplain, who earned a Medal of Honor during WWII. Fr. O’Callahan was the first Jesuit from the New England Province to enter the Navy during WWII. On March 19, 1945, he was onboard the U.S.S. Franklin when the ship was attacked by a Japanese bomber. He was injured while rescuing shipmates and was awarded the Medal of Honor for his heroic actions. O’Callahan left the Navy in late 1946. He later returned to Holy Cross to teach philosophy. In 1956, he wrote a book, titled I was Chaplain on the Franklin, recounting his experiences.
Jay O’Callahan ‘60, Fr. O’Callahan’s nephew, is a professional storyteller whose performance credits include Lincoln Center, The Boston Symphony Orchestra, the Winter Olympics, and the Abbey Theatre in Dublin, Ireland. His audio recordings have won numerous awards, including the ALA/Carnegie Award, the Birmingham International Educational Film Festival Award, the Indie Award, and the Parent’s Choice Classics Award.
In “Father Joe,” O’Callahan re-enacts that fateful day on the Franklin, interweaving his narrative with personal reminiscences of his uncle during his student days at Holy Cross. O’Callahan draws the audience into the story with his re-creation of “bursting explosions, the bewilderment of the sailors, the flames scudding about as though alive, the sight of smoke and burning flesh, the intense battering and subsequent shaking on that ‘burning city,’ the Franklin.” The story concludes with his uncle emerging “a figure of extraordinary calm amid chaos who snaps sense into the men, creates order from disorder, and again and again risks his own life to save others.”
NAME Sheila Coursey ’13
HOMETOWN West Hartford, Conn.
AREAS OF STUDY English major with a concentration in Latin American and Latino Studies, College Honors Program
WHERE SHE’S STUDYING Mansfield College at Oxford University in Oxford, England
WHY SHE CHOSE ENGLAND “Oxford is an incredible city with a centuries-old academic history, so when I’m not in class I’ll plan to visit the local museums and landmarks and take part in other activities. The London Olympics are next summer, so I’ll definitely be keeping an eye out for the preparation!”
WHAT SHE’S MOST LOOKING FORWARD TO “The engaging — if slightly terrifying — one-on-one sessions with Oxford tutors. It’s definitely going to challenge the way I write.”
WHY SHE’S BLOGGING “So that future Holy Cross students have an idea of what it’s like to study abroad in Oxford, from huge events to little adventures (like learning the Oxford vocabulary and avoiding a traffic disaster the first time I ride a bike).”
Related Information:
More than 100 students conducted research at Holy Cross over the summer, while another 157 did internships that were secured through the College’s Summer Internship Program. At the start of the fall semester, students presented their work at two separate poster sessions.
The 18th Annual Undergraduate Summer Research Symposium, which has grown in size and stature over the years, featured more than 100 poster presentations by students who conducted research alongside faculty in the departments of math and computer science, physics, chemistry, biology, psychology, sociology and anthropology, economics, political science, history, classics, English, and theatre. Through a mix of funding sources — including contributions from alumni and parents — the students received a stipend and housing on campus.
The symposium is a college-wide event that brings faculty and students together from all disciplines at Holy Cross, and provides an opportunity to celebrate their accomplishments as well as those of their friends and colleagues. It is also a way for students to witness the breadth of research possibilities on and off campus, and to open a dialogue with a faculty member about conducting research during the upcoming academic year and summer.
At the third annual Summer Internship Program Poster Session students shared their summer internship experiences at companies such as Autism Speaks, Chanel, Inc., General Electric, Pfizer, and Time Warner Cable Media.
The Summer Internship Program is unique in that internships have been created by Holy Cross alumni and/or parents of current and past Holy Cross students, and are earmarked specifically for the College’s students. In addition, students are offered full support throughout the internship process by staff.
Summer Research Symposium photography by John Buckingham. Summer Internship Poster Session photography by J Kevin Crowley ’12.
Related Information:
Nir Eisikovits
Nir Eisikovits, founder and director of the graduate program in ethics and public policy at Suffolk University, will give a talk titled “Stuck: Why Israel is in so much trouble and how it can dig out,” on Monday, Oct. 17 at 7 p.m. in Rehm Library, Smith Hall, at the College of the Holy Cross. The lecture, supported by the Kraft-Hiatt Fund for Jewish-Christian Understanding, is free and open to the public.
Eisikovits focuses his research and writing on the moral and political dilemmas arising in post-conflict and transitional settings. In this talk, he will consider what led Israel to its current situation and how Israelis can improve their position.
“Israel finds itself in the worst strategic shape it has been in for decades,” he explains. “Its alliances with Egypt, Syria and Jordan have been destabilized; it is subject to intense international criticism over the handling of the Palestinian question; it is experiencing unprecedented internal civic strife.”
An Israeli attorney, Eisikovits earned his Ph.D. in legal and political philosophy from Boston University in 2005. He is a fellow at the International Center for Conciliation. He is the author of Sympathizing with the Enemy: Reconciliation, Transitional Justice, Negotiation (Republic of Letters, 2009).
The Kraft-Hiatt fund supports campus and community-wide educational initiatives that foster understanding of Judaism and Jewish culture, and dialogue between Jews and Christians. It is administered by the Center for Religion, Ethics and Culture. The lecture is co-sponsored by Peace and Conflict Studies at Holy Cross. For more information and to listen to lectures online, visit http://www.holycross.edu/crec.
About The Center for Religion, Ethics and Culture:
Celebrating its 10th anniversary, the Center for Religion, Ethics and Culture provides resources for faculty and course development, sponsors conferences and college-wide teaching events, hosts visiting fellows, and coordinates a number of campus lecture series. Rooted in the College’s commitment to invite conversation about basic human questions, the Center welcomes persons of all faiths and seeks to foster dialogue that acknowledges and respects differences, providing a forum for intellectual exchange that is interreligious, interdisciplinary, intercultural, and international in scope. The Center also brings members of the Holy Cross community into conversation with the Greater Worcester community, the academic community, and the wider world to examine the role of faith and inquiry in higher education and in the larger culture.
The College of the Holy Cross ranks fifth this year among small colleges and universities contributing the greatest number of graduates to Teach For America with 17 recent Holy Cross alumni joining the program.
The Telegram & Gazette recently spoke with Michelle Marieni ’11 who is teaching in Temple Hills, Md. She told the reporter she had planned to pursue a career in research, but after serving as a volunteer tutor at Holy Cross, she made the decision to try teaching. “My biggest challenge is trying to get to know each student as an individual,” she said, adding that she teaches 120 students.
Throughout Teach For America’s 20-year history, more than 130 Holy Cross alumni have taught as corps members.
Read the Telegram & Gazette story
This “Holy Cross in the News” item by Cristal Steuer.
On Nov. 8 at 7 p.m., Amy R. Wolfson, Ph.D., professor of psychology and associate dean for faculty development, will give a live web lecture on sleep and adolescence exclusively for Holy Cross alumni, parents and friends.
Wolfson, a widely-sought after expert on sleep patterns, has done extensive research on the subject and her recent research has been supported by a seven-figure grant from the National Institute of Child Health and Human Development.
At the end of the 20-minute talk, Wolfson will answer questions submitted online. You may submit questions for her at any time during the lecture by using our chat room. Wolfson will also accept questions via Twitter (#HCLive or @hcalumni), e-mail (hcalumni@holycross.edu), or Facebook.
Bookmark the online location and be sure to tune in at 7 p.m. on Nov. 8.
This special event is presented by the Office of Alumni Relations and the Alumni Education Program in collaboration with the Office of Public Affairs.
