News

WORCESTER, Mass. – Three faculty members at the College of the Holy Cross have been promoted to the rank of associate professor with tenure.

Steven Levandosky ‘92, of the department of mathematics and computer science, earned his Ph.D. from Brown University and his B.A. from Holy Cross. Levandosky joined the Holy Cross faculty in 1999.  Interested in partial differential equations and dynamical structures, he has also taught at Stanford University, where he received the Harold M. Bacon Memorial Teaching Award; the University of Texas at Austin; and Brown University, where he was named an honorable mention for the President’s Award for Excellence in Teaching.  In 2001, Levandowsky published a book titled Linear Algebra, and in 2008, with Walter Strauss and Julie Levandosky, a book titled Partial Differential Equations: An Introduction, Student Solutions Manual.

Sylvia M. Schmitz-Burgard, of the department of modern languages and literatures, received her Ph.D. and M.A. from the University of Virginia. She also attended Rheinische Friedrich-Wilhelms-Universität Bonn and Albertus-Magnus-Universität Köln, both in Germany. A member of the Holy Cross faculty since 2003, Schmitz-Burgard has also taught at Harvard University, Princeton University, MIT, and the University of Virginia. While at Holy Cross, Schmitz-Burgard has represented the department of modern languages and literatures at the Academic Affairs Council, and has contributed to the Women and Gender Studies program, Studies in World Literature, the Center for Interdisciplinary and Special Studies, and Montserrat. Her research and teaching interests include: 18th -, 19th -, and 20th – century German literature; Austrian and German cultural history; women writers and feminist theory, 18th-century European novels; literary theory; as well as law and literature.  In 2000, Schmitz-Burgard published a book on novels by Richardson, Rousseau, and Goethe, titled Das Schreiben des anderen Geschlechts.  She has a new book due out this year titled Gewaltiges Schreiben gegen Gewalt. She lives in Arlington.

Karen Teitel, of the economics department, earned her Ph.D. and B.B.A. from the University of Massachusetts, Amherst and her M.S. from Bentley College. A member of the Holy Cross faculty since 2004, Teitel is the Accounting Program Coordinator.  She directed the Summer Research Fellows Program in Economics in 2007 and 2008, and has served on the Accounting Hiring Committee and the Academic Affairs Council.  In 2007, Teitel received the Journal of International Accounting Research (JIAR) Outstanding Manuscript Award from the American Accounting Association International Accounting Section. She has also published manuscripts in the European Accounting Review and the Journal of International Accounting, Auditing and Taxation.  Her research and teaching interests include external financial reporting by business enterprises, preparation of financial statements and disclosures, and financial reporting policy and regulation. Teitel resides in Hopkinton.

WORCESTER, Mass. – Rev. James J. Miracky, S.J., associate dean for faculty development at the College of the Holy Cross, will become the dean of Loyola College, the school of arts and sciences at Loyola University Maryland.  The announcement was made today by Rev. Brian Linnane, S.J., president of Loyola.

He will assume his new duties on July 1.

Fr. Miracky joined the English department at Holy Cross in 1996 as a tenure-track faculty member and achieved tenure in 2003.  In 2006, he served a term as English department chair, and he has been associate dean since 2008.

Commenting on Fr. Miracky’s appointment, Timothy R. Austin, vice president for academic affairs and dean of the College, said:  “We wish Fr. Miracky every success in his new position at Loyola.  Respected as a scholar and teacher of modern British literature, especially the drama of the period that he enjoys so much, Fr. Miracky assumed roles of steadily increasing responsibility at Holy Cross while maintaining his good humor and his commitment to providing our students with a truly excellent education.”

Rev. Michael C. McFarland, S.J., president of Holy Cross, said:  “Our community has come to value Fr. Miracky’s many contributions as a priest, Jesuit, counselor, friend and especially a superb teacher who engages students effectively not only with challenging pieces of literature but with the deep human issues underlying them.  We will miss him greatly here; but we also realize that this a wonderful opportunity for him to expand his responsibilities, find new outlets for his many talents and make a greater impact in the promotion of Jesuit education.”

WORCESTER, Mass. – The College of the Holy Cross has teamed up with the Colleges of Worcester Consortium to participate in the annual Worcester “Give A Book” drive.

The goal of the citywide book drive is to collect K-8 level books for distribution by the Worcester Public Schools to children who don’t have the means to obtain adequate books for summer reading.

“This drive is a great opportunity to give the gift of reading to a child, which is the foundation of a good education” says Gudrun Krueger, reference librarian at the College and organizer of the book drive.

Please drop off any new or gently used books at the Dinand Library from March 1 – April 24.

Students who go home for spring break are encouraged to check their parent’s cellars and bookcases from years past.

The annual book drive is conducted through the “Worcester: The City that Reads” committee, led by school committee member John Monfredo and City Councilor-At-Large Gary Rosen.

WORCESTER, Mass. – The College of the Holy Cross has been named to the 2009 President’s Higher Education Community Service Honor Roll, the highest federal recognition a college or university can receive for its commitment to volunteering, service-learning and civic engagement.  Holy Cross is one of only 115 colleges nationwide to receive the honor “with distinction.”

Social justice and community service are long-standing traditions at Holy Cross.  Last year, more than 2,200 students (out of a total population of 2,900) dedicated 128,908 hours to working with community organizations.

“Holy Cross students have a deep-rooted commitment to being actively engaged in the life of the greater Worcester community.  Whether staffing summer camps; tutoring in the public schools; working with ex-prisoners or helping victims of domestic violence, their commitment is far reaching and life changing” says Katherine Robertson, special assistant to the president for community affairs at the College.  “Service is knit into every facet of a Holy Cross education, from athletics and spiritual life to academic programming.   Our students do not give lip service to the Jesuit principles of service and social justice; they live it.”

Holy Cross students come together into the community through a variety of programs including Student Programs for Urban Development (SPUD), the College’s 30 year old community service student organization with more than 800 active student members and 40 program sites.

In addition, the College has developed multi-faceted collaborations with many local organizations to leverage a variety of College-based resources to assist partners achieve their missions and better serve their constituencies.  Among the partnerships highlighted in the application were:  Boys & Girls Club of Worcester; Big Brothers Big Sisters of Central Mass.; the Nativity School of Worcester, the South Worcester Neighborhood Improvement Corporation, and Abby’s House.

The Honor Roll includes six colleges and universities that are recognized as Presidential Awardees, with an additional 115 named to the Distinction List, including Holy Cross.  Another 621 schools were named as Honor Roll members including local schools; Assumption College, Clark University, Worcester State College and Mount Wachusett Community College.  Honorees are chosen based on a series of selection factors including the scope and innovation of service projects, percentage of student participation in service activities, incentives for service, and the extent to which the school offers academic service-learning courses.

Launched in 2006, the President’s Higher Education Community Service Honor Roll recognizes universities and colleges across the nation that encourage and support creative and effective community service and service-learning programs. The Honor Roll is part of the Corporation for National and Community Service, and the program is sponsored by the President’s Council on Service and Civic Participation, the U.S. Departments of Education and Housing and Urban Development. This is the third time Holy Cross has been named to the Honor Roll, and the first time it has been recognized “with distinction.”

WORCESTER, Mass. – Jay O’ Callahan ‘60, a world renowned storyteller, will present Forged in the Stars on Thursday Mar. 11 at 7:30 p.m. in the Seelos Theater at the College of the Holy Cross.  Laura O’ Callahan will interpret the piece for the deaf.  The performance is free and open to the public.

Forged in the Stars celebrates NASA’s 50th anniversary.  The main characters, Kate DeCordova and Jack Carver, must present a play about NASA to students at MIT.  Kate wants to highlight the truth about NASA’s accomplishments and failures but Jack resists Kate’s courage to tell the truth.  The climax builds as Kate must decide what stories she will tell.

A Holy Cross alumnus, Jay O’Callahan grew up in Brookline Mass.  After graduation he worked in the Navy, and later became a teacher before he deemed himself a professional storyteller.  He creates all his own stories has been awarded a fellowship from the National Endowment for the Arts.  As a storyteller, he has performed extensively both in the U.S. and abroad, including performances with the Boston Symphony Orchestra, at the Abbey Theater in Dublin, at Lincoln Center, and in New Zealand. Currently O’Callahan is performing Forged in the Stars at NASA sites.

WORCESTER, Mass. – Some of the biggest names in brain science—Michael Gazzaniga, director of the SAGE Center for the Study of the Mind at the University of California Santa Barbara; Patrick Haggard, professor of psychology at the University College of London Institute of Cognitive Neuroscience; Marc Hauser, professor of psychology, organismic and evolutionary biology and biological anthropology at Harvard University; and many others—will come together for a two-day conference titled “Biological Foundations of Morality? Neuroscience, Evolution and Morality,” March 18-19 at the College of the Holy Cross. The public is invited to attend with preregistration at www.holycross.edu/crec. Space is limited.

The conference, sponsored by the Center for Religion, Ethics and Culture, will consider the ethical implications of new science that suggests moral decision making may be fundamentally intuitive or emotional rather than reasoned. To the degree that the brain seems wired or designed to elicit certain basic moral responses, the notion of free will is radically open to debate.

“These scientists and thinkers are at the forefront of discovery in unraveling the biological process of moral decision making,” explains Thomas M. Landy, director of the Center for Religion, Ethics and Culture, sponsor of the conference. “During the conference, we hope to sort out the potentially enormous implications for many Western ethical traditions.”

The conference will begin Thursday, March 18 with a keynote address, “Brains, Belief and Beyond,” by Gazzaniga. He is founder and president of the Cognitive Neuroscience Institute, editor-in-chief of the Journal of Cognitive Neuroscience, and a member of the President’s Council on Bioethics. His scholarly publication The Cognitive Neurosciences III (MIT Press, 2004) is recognized as the sourcebook for the field. He has also published many books accessible to a lay audience, such as Mind Matters (Houghton Mifflin, 1998) and Nature’s Mind (Basic Books, 1992), which, along with his participation in the public television specials The Brain and The Mind, have been instrumental in growing public interest and support for the study of the brain.

Other speakers include:

Patrick Haggard, professor of psychology at the University College of London Institute of Cognitive Neuroscience

Robert Kane ‘60, a Holy Cross alumnus, Distinguished Teaching Professor of Philosophy at the University of Texas at Austin and an authority on the concept of free will

Marc Hauser, professor of psychology, organismic and evolutionary biology and biological anthropology at Harvard University and co-director of the Mind, Brain and Behavior Program

Joshua Greene, assistant professor of psychology at Harvard University and director of the Moral Cognition Lab

Walter Sinnott-Armstrong, Chauncey Stillman Professor in Practical Ethics in the Department of Philosophy and the Kenan Institute for Ethics at Duke University and previously professor of philosophy and Hardy Professor of Legal Studies at Dartmouth College

Anne Harrington, professor and chair of the History of Science at Harvard University, specializing in the history of psychiatry, neuroscience, and the other mind and behavioral sciences

James Blair, chief of the unit on Affective Cognitive Neuroscience in the Mood and Anxiety Disorders Program at the National Institute of Mental Health

Jeanette Kennett, professor of philosophy and the Macquarie Centre for Cognitive Science at Macquarie University, Australia

Stephen Pope, professor of theology at Boston College and author of The Evolution of Altruism and the Ordering of Love (Georgetown, 1994) and Human Evolution and Christian Ethics (Cambridge University Press, 2008)

Rachana Kamtekar, associate professor of philosophy at the University of Arizona, specializing in ancient moral and political philosophy and moral psychology, both contemporary and ancient

The conference is part of a series of programs celebrating science in the liberal arts and the College’s new state-of-the-art $63 million Integrated Science Complex.

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.

WORCESTER, Mass. – Ellen Ruppel Shell, journalism professor at Boston University and the author of Cheap: The High Cost of Discount Culture (Penguin Press, 2009), will talk about her book at 4:30 p.m. on Thursday, Feb. 25 in Rehm Library at the College of the Holy Cross. The event is free and open to the public.

Shell’s lecture is part of the yearlong economic series “After the Fall: Capitalism and a just way forward,” sponsored by the Center for Religion, Ethics and Culture, which explores the lessons learned from the credit crisis that began in 2007 and offers diverse perspectives on how to construct a new economy that is sustainable and just.

In her book, Shell investigates the history, psychology, politics and economics of the low price imperative with a particular look at the impact of globalism.

According to a Library Journal review, “This highly intelligent and disturbing book provides invaluable insight into our consumer culture and should be mandatory reading for anyone trying to figure out our current financial mess. As Shell proves, the hunt for cheap products has hurt us all.”

Shell is also the author of The Hungry Gene: The Science of Fat and the Future of Thin (Grove/Atlantic, 2002) and A Child’s Place (Little, Brown, Inc., 1992). She is a frequent contributor to Atlantic Monthly Magazine and Commonwealth Magazine, and has been published in the New York Times Magazine, Newsweek Magazine, The Washington Post, the Boston Globe, SEED, Smithsonian Magazine, The Los Angeles Times, TIME, and USA Today. Shell is co-director of the Graduate Program in Science Journalism at Boston University.

The talks in the lecture series are recorded for podcast and available at www.holycross.edu/crec/listen_learn.

Upcoming events in the series:

• Thursday, March 11, 7:30 p.m., Rehm Library
Reforming Health Care in the U.S.: What Now? Jonathan Gruber, considered one of the nation’s leading health care economists, is director of the Health Care Program at the National Bureau of Economic Research, a key architect of Massachusetts’ health care reform and professor of economics at MIT.

To learn more about this series and to sign up for email updates from the Center for Religion, Ethics and Culture, 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.

WORCESTER, Mass. – Marc Lamont Hill, a leading hip-hop generation intellectual and a nationally-syndicated columnist will give a talk in honor of Black History Month on Thursday, Feb. 25 at 6 p.m. in the Hogan Campus Center Ballroom at the College of the Holy Cross. His talk, sponsored by the Black Student Union (BSU) and the Teacher Education Program, is free and open to the public.  The talk will be followed by a question and answer session.

Hill has provided commentary for numerous news outlets such as NPR, Washington Post, Essence Magazine, and the New York Times.  Currently he serves as a political contributor for Fox News Channel and appears on The O’Reilly Factor, Huckabee, and Hannity.  Prior to his work with Fox, Hill was a regular guest on CNN, MSNBC, and CourtTV.  As a nationally-syndicated columnist, his writings appear weekly in Metro newspapers.

In 2009, Hill joined Columbia University as an associate professor of education at the Teachers College and holds an affiliated faculty appointment in African American Studies at the Institute for Research in African American Studies at Columbia University.

Hill works directly with African American and Latino youth.  In 2001 he started a literacy project that uses hip-hop culture to increase school engagement and reading skills for high school students.  He also organizes and teaches adult literacy courses for high school dropouts in Philadelphia, Pa. and Camden, N.J.  Hill is founding board member of My5th, a non-profit organization devoted to educating youth about their legal rights and responsibilities.  He works with the ACLU Drug Reform Project, focusing on drug informant policy.

In 2005, Ebony Magazine named Hill one of America’s top 30 Black leaders under 30 years old.

Hill earned his Ph.D. at the University of Pennsylvania. His research focuses on the connections between youth culture, identity, and the education.