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“Veni, Vidi, Vici.”

Caesar’s famous words — Latin for “I came, I saw, I conquered” — could be repeated by some local high school scholars on the afternoon of April 12 as they depart the Holy Cross campus.

Each year, the College’s classics department hosts Classics Day and invites high school students to campus to challenge their knowledge of ancient history, classical mythology and language. Hundreds of high school students involved in classical studies across New England participate in a day of contests, including a certamen (“competition,” in Latin), costume contest, and chariot race.

This year, more than 400 students from St.George’s School in Newport, Providence Classical School in Providence, St. Sebastian’s High School in Needham, among others, will channel Homer, Thucydides and Plutarch.

During the certamen, the student groups are split into upper and lower levels based on their knowledge and year of study in the classical subjects. Holy Cross classics majors act as judges on Latin grammar, history, and culture. The four-student teams endure an hour of challenging questions created by the college students.

Following the certamen, the students participate in the costume contest and chariot race.

“The costumes have been very creative in recent years,” says Toni Methe, the department’s administrative assistant, who organizes the event and remembers in particular a “phenomenal” Trojan Horse costume. “The students get very involved in Classics Day, and there’s a lot of competition out there.”

The costume contest is judged on more than great design; students must be knowledgeable about their character in order to proceed to the final rounds.

The chariot race — which takes place around the Hart Center — is another occasion for inventiveness. Each school creates a chariot that must be four feet high, include four wheels and be pulled by “student horses.” Many are covered in Latin phrases and classical accessories, such as vine leaves and gold.

At the end of the day, the student winners in all contest categories are awarded gold and purple trophies of Athena Nike, “the winged victory” goddess.

Much like the subject it celebrates, Classics Day has a rich 36-year history. Eta Sigma Phi, the national Classics Honor Society, cultivated the idea for this event in the early 1970s, when they began “an outreach program with the local classics community, going to schools and bringing students to campus,” says Professor William Ziobro, who graduated from Holy Cross in 1966. From that, the idea for Classics Day evolved.

The outreach eventually turned into a day of contest and lectures — and the biggest event the department sponsors. The purpose has always been to encourage students to study Latin and ancient civilization in college.

When Rev. Edward Vodoklys, S.J., senior lecturer in the classics department, was a student at Holy Cross in the early ’70s when the event involved Homeric plays and lectures from key influential figures of the classics world, like professors Barbara McCarthy and Bill Fitzgerald.

Maureen Gassert, senior classics major, has fond memories of participating in Classics Day when she was a student at Hingham High; and she says, “it’s a chance for Holy Cross to showcase one of the best classics departments in the country.”

Scholars, theologians, social activists, members of religious orders and professors from across the country will gather on the Holy Cross campus for a conference titled “Shaping American Catholicism” on April 13-14 at the Center for Religion, Ethics and Culture that will explore the major themes in the life and work of David J. O’Brien, professor of history and Loyola Professor of Roman Catholic Studies at the College. The conference, co-sponsored by the Cushwa Center for the Study of American Catholicism, University of Notre Dame, is being held in honor of O’Brien’s many contributions to scholarship and teaching.

After nearly 40 years of teaching American Catholic history and Catholic social and political thought in Holy Cross classrooms, O’Brien will retire at the end of the academic year.

His long teaching career has been accompanied by national recognition and acclaim. One of the first scholars to specialize in American Catholic history, O’Brien is widely published. A frequent lecturer, he is the recipient of many honors and awards for his work. He has also been at the forefront of social causes and activism since the Vietnam War protests.

The first day of the conference will feature presentations by John McGreevy, professor of history, University of Notre Dame; William Portier, chair in Catholic theology, University of Dayton; and Leslie Woodcock Tentler, professor of history, Catholic University of America. That evening’s principal address will be delivered by John Carr of the department of social development and world peace, U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops, and longtime friend of O’Brien’s.

The following day, in addition to the two panels — “Directions for a Next Generation in American Catholic History” and “Public Catholicism: Peace, Politics, and Social Ministry” — students and faculty from the Holy Cross history department will gather to discuss O’Brien’s emphasis on the study of history, on intellectual engagement, and on social activism.

Among the scheduled panelists are: Margaret O’Brien Steinfels, former editor of Commonweal and founding co-director of the Fordham University Center on Religion and Culture; Paula Kane ’80, chair of Catholic studies, University of Pittsburgh; James McCartin, associate director, Center for Catholic Studies, Seton Hall University; and Claire Schaeffer-Duffy, of Saints Francis & Therese Catholic Worker House in Worcester.

The conference itself is free of charge to all who wish to attend. The cost for the Friday evening reception and dinner, and Saturday lunch, is $45. For more information, call the Center for Religion, Ethics and Culture at 508-793-3869.

For the entire schedule of events, visit: http://www.holycross.edu/departments/crec/website/obriencelebr.htm.

More Background

David O’Brien received a bachelor of arts degree at the University of Notre Dame and a Ph.D. in American history from the University of Rochester. After five years at Loyola College in Montreal he came to Holy Cross in 1969.

He has written extensively on U.S. Catholic history, on Catholic social and political thought and on Catholic higher education. His major publications include: American Catholics and Social Reform: The New Deal Years (Oxford, 1968); The Renewal of American Catholicism (Oxford, 1972); Renewing the Earth: Catholic Documents on Peace, Justice and Liberation (co-editor, Doubleday, 1977); Faith and Friendship: Catholicism in the Diocese of Syracuse, 1886-1986 (Catholic Diocese of Syracuse, 1987); Public Catholicism (Macmillan, 1988); Isaac Hecker (Paulist, 1991).

O’Brien has served as president of the American Catholic Historical Association and has been awarded six honorary degrees. In 1992 he received the Theodore M. Hesburgh Award for Distinguished Service to Catholic Higher Education from the Association of Catholic Colleges and Universities and in 2005 he received the University of Dayton Marianist Award which is presented annually to “a Roman Catholic who has made an outstanding contribution to scholarship and intellectual life.”

He had a major leadership role as a staff member for the National Conference of Catholic Bishops’ landmark Call to Action Conference in 1976. Over the years he has served on many boards of Catholic organizations and publications, while his commentaries on politics, war and church affairs have appeared in many publications.

O’Brien was the founding director of the Center for Religion, Ethics and Culture at Holy Cross. He also developed the Peace and Conflict Studies concentration, a multidisciplinary program for students who wish to complement their major field of study with courses focused on peace, conflict, justice and human dignity. He and his wife Joanne have four children and four grandchildren and live in Jefferson, Mass.

While his Holy Cross classroom teaching will conclude upon his retirement, O’Brien plans to continue to write and lecture.

A passenger ship. A fence. Superman. A handprint. A pistol. A truck. Winding paths, McDonald’s, and a weeping figure on a horse.

In Holy Cross’s GESSO Student Art Gallery in the lower level of Hogan Campus Center, the exhibition Crossing Borders draws these disparate images together to express the struggles, hopes, and troubles of the immigration experience in the United States. Created by nine student artists, the show examines problems both past and present to portray the ideals of immigration against the sometimes cruel realities.

The students in the studio art class Drawing as a Visual Narrative explored the theme of immigration through a variety of images, but entirely in the medium of black paper cut outs. The class examines visual storytelling with an emphasis on contemporary narrative art. On display through April 16, Crossing Borders considers the problems of both the past and present.

Works by Emily Chalko ’08, Christopher Gorczyca ’07, Elizabeth Hylton ’07, Aislinn Kelly ’07, Bridget Kluger ’08, Brett Leonard ’07, Thanh Nguyen ’10, Ahmed Pirzai ’08, and Santiago Rodao ’07 are on display.

The exhibition grew out of personal, social, and artistic inspirations. Led by Susan Schmidt, associate professor of visual arts, the students tapped into both firsthand and public issues for their artwork. The idea for silhouetted forms came from the work of Kara Walker, a contemporary artist who works in silhouette wall installations to examine race relations.

It was also Schmidt’s hope that students would “learn how art can address a social issue, and how immigration can be distilled into visual symbols that do justice to the complexity of the immigrant experience.”

She added, “These symbols are multi-referential and viewers can draw their own conclusions. I hope that Holy Cross students slow down to look for awhile, and realize how closely these border crossings touch our community.”

Student Emily Chalko’s inspiration grew out of her family’s Irish heritage. “My grandfather’s parents each came over from Ireland alone as teenagers,” she says. “They each found their way to Portland, Maine, to relatives who had preceded them.”

Reflecting on her family’s efforts to remain connected with their homeland, Chalko says, “My great grandparents led a very social household with traditional Sunday parties open to friends and neighbors. Their children played music and my great grandmother made root beer. Since many of their friends were also Irish immigrants, these open houses were an important way to stay connected to their traditions, and, as their children grew and developed their own tastes, to celebrate American popular culture.”

For Bridget Kluger, the image that stood out most to her was that of the massive passenger ship, attempting to transport the hopeful across harsh waters to the promise of a better life.

“The image of a ship really represents for many people the influx of immigration to the United States during the Ellis Island years,” she says. “I think the class really just hopes that the Holy Cross community will take the time to think about the themes and ideas the exhibit presents. It’s really important to provoke and challenge diversity of thought and I think that this show provides a unique opportunity to do just that.”

Nothing gets the collective student body on Mount St. James fired up the way a Patriot League Tournament win does.

This year, both the men’s and women’s teams headed to the “big dance” with automatic berths in the NCAA tournament, and the entire time Crusaders offered their teams enthusiastic and unwavering support.

Hundreds of students gathered in Crossroads alongside the men’s team on March 11 to watch ESPN’s announcements of when and where the Crusaders would play in the NCAA Tournament. The crowd roared when they learned the men earned the No. 13 seed to play No. 4 seed University of Southern Illinois.

The women earned No. 16 to square off against No. 1 seeded Duke.

Being part of the tournament was not a new feat for either team; this was the 12th NCAA Tournament appearance for each.

Two busloads of student fans were able to travel to Columbus, Ohio to support the men’s team on March 16. A treacherous snow storm did not deter these die-hard fans. The roads were so bad, the buses nearly turned around in Pennsylvania.

“We would have been devastated if we didn’t make it to the game, it was an experience of a lifetime,” said senior Francesco Danielle.

Despite the defeat by the Salukis — not to mention living off granola bars and sun chips for the 30 hours of travel — the busloads of students did not regret the trek.

For the students who did not bear the bus ride with screaming and exhausted ’Sader fans, Student Programs and Involvement (SPI) along with the Athletics department made sure that the student body on campus would still be able to cheer on the teams. A large projection screen set up in the Hogan Ballroom, as well as a plasma screen in the back of the room, allowed Crusader fans to see seniors, including Keith Simmons and Torey Thomas, play their final game for Holy Cross and freshman Eric Meister dominate the boards during the men’s game; and Brittany Keil score her 1,000th point during the women’s game.

“We figured the Hogan Ballroom was the best place to get the community together for such exciting events and we were thrilled by the turn out,” says Ben Correia, assistant director of SPI.

Screens were also set up in the Pub and Crossroads for both games.

Unfortunately, our beloved teams did not make it past the first round. The men’s team was defeated by Southern Illinois 61-51 and the women’s team lost to Duke 81-44.

But the teams probably have little to worry about next year in terms of filling the stands. Their devoted fans will be back in the Hart Center to cheer them on toward a 13th appearance.

In fact, the Hart Center can oftentimes be a tough place for opposing teams to play. During men’s games, Hart averaged 3,044 fans a game this season, the largest attendance in recent memory. The team was unbeaten this year in home court.

“G-52!”

“Yes!” “Darn it!”

“I-27”

“BINGO!” “Oh no!”

The familiar sounds of Bingo echoed through the ballroom of Loyola Hall this past Saturday, the tournament a part of the full schedule of activities for Siblings Weekend. The weekend, now in its sixth year, allows younger siblings the opportunity to spend time with their favorite Crusader and get a glimpse of what life at college is like.

It also gives Holy Cross students a change of pace as spring approaches with the promise of finals and many long nights of studying. “Uniting family and education gives students a breath of fresh air in the middle of the term,” says Andrew Rhoades ’07, student event coordinator.

Cara O’Connor ’08 shared some games of Bingo with her 8-year-old sister Erin and 9-year-old brother James. On Saturday, the trio had also attended the Siblings Weekend festival in the Kimball Quad, which featured spin art Frisbees, arts and crafts, photo key chains and caricatures.  Other offerings included Indoor Olympics on Friday night, a multicultural fair, two showings of the hit film Happy Feet, and a dance party at the Edge, Holy Cross’s own dance club in Crossroads.

Spearheaded by Brenda Hounsell Sullivan, director of Orientation, Transition and Leadership, and Ed Coolbaugh, assistant dean of students and director of Residence Life and Housing, Siblings Weekend represents a collaboration of efforts from student programs and the administration. A total of 84 siblings enjoyed this year’s event.

“I think the program allows students to share the college environment with their siblings,” says Coolbaugh. “Holy Cross students can show what college is really like rather than what is shown on TV and in movies. It really allows these siblings to see that where their older siblings are succeeding in college, they can, too.”

Between rounds of Bingo, Erin and James showed off their tattoos — paw prints for Erin and an eagle for James. Don’t worry, they were only temporary tattoos given out earlier at the festival.

Of the weekend as a whole, Cara says, “It’s fun. It’s like you don’t really think of the stress of school when they’re around.”

Erin and James won bubbles and ring pops at Bingo, solidifying the opinion that this was indeed a great weekend.

The crowds around the hot chocolate and ice cream machines at Kimball Dining Hall speak volumes every year, and this year was no different — Siblings Weekend was a hit.

Mission statements are important because they define an institution’s purpose. All too often, though, they are placed in a frame, hung on a wall and forgotten.

Not at Holy Cross.

Alumni often report back that the College’s mission statement, which calls for the “commitment to the service of faith and promotion of justice” informs their decisions throughout life. The development of that social consciousness begins during their time on the Hill. Faculty and staff ensure that students apply the Jesuit philosophy of “service to others” in their daily work.

On March 27 from noon to 1 p.m. in Hogan 320, as part of the inaugural Mission and Social Justice Luncheon Series titled “Lessons from the Cross … Stories of Civility,” three speakers will talk on how they are challenged and encouraged to support the College’s mission and seek social justice in their daily interactions. Speakers include Dan Corrou, assistant Chaplain; Elizabeth K. Green ’07, president of the Campus Activities Board; and Jacqueline D. Peterson, vice president of Student Affairs and dean of students. Lunch will be provided.

The Office of Human Resources and the “Hate: Not Here!” committee — comprised of faculty, staff, and students across campus — planned the event as a way as a way “to engage all who attend in thoughtful reflection and conversation, strengthen our personal and collective social responsibility to live meaningful and purposeful lives and affirm our commitment to maintaining a campus community which values respect, dignity, and civility.”

“The luncheon will give students, staff, and faculty a chance to slow down from their busy schedules, enjoy lunch, and reflect on what it means to be part of the Holy Cross campus community,” says Green ’07, a history major who sits on the “Hate: Not Here!” committee. “The luncheon will be structured as a conversation rather than a lecture where the speakers and attendees can share their personal stories and opinions about how we can incorporate the College’s mission and seek social justice in our daily interactions.”

Spearheaded by Kolt Bloxson ’06, “Hate: Not Here!” is an anti-bias initiative that promotes individual and collective responsibility for building campus community.

The event is part of the College’s annual UNITY Week, which runs from March 26 through April 1. Click here for a complete schedule of events.

By Alexis Coyle ’07

Related Information:

* College Mission Statement

As participants in the 2007 Mexico Meal Auction fundraiser, Holy Cross faculty and staff have agreed to prepare meals for students in their homes, or take them out to dinner in Worcester. Students: Don’t miss this great opportunity to get to know your professors (and other Holy Cross staff) outside of the classroom, and support a great cause in the process!

The annual Mexico Meal Auction is the primary fundraiser for the Mexico Immersion Program, a two-week, faith-based, reverse-mission program that provides students with an opportunity to walk with the poor of Mexico and experience the reality of life for many people in Latin America. The program is run through the Chaplains’ Office.

The Meal Auction is March 26 at 8 p.m. in the Gesso area outside of Crossroads. Bidding starts promptly to ensure a speedy auction. Cash, credit cards and checks are accepted. All proceeds from the auction enable students to participate in the Mexico immersion trip.

For more information, contact student coordinators Meagan Chuckran ’07 and Katie Falkowski ’08.

If you thought that playing a piano recital at New York’s storied Weill Recital Hall at Carnegie Hall might be different from playing a piano recital at Holy Cross’ Brooks Concert Hall, think again.

Reflecting on her experiences with both, renowned pianist Sarah Grunstein, assistant professor of music at Holy Cross, says, “The music you’re making in the moment — that’s the only music that exists. There is nothing else. The event I’m in is the most important that there is. Every audience is the ultimate audience.”

On March 27 at 8 p.m. in Brooks Hall, Grunstein will once again present her craft and hard work in a recital titled “Intimacy and Drama: Chopin and Brahms.” The first half will feature diverse works by Polish composer Frédéric Chopin. “I find it fascinating to explore the dimensions of Chopin’s creative genius. The recital will feature the various genres of prelude, mazurka, ballade and the Funeral March Sonata. As composer, pianist, and improviser, Chopin finds all kinds of different ways through which to express intimacy and drama.”

Boston cellist Jan Müller-Szeraws will join Grunstein for the second half of the recital for Brahms’ Sonata for Cello and Piano, Op. 99. “Here we have intimacy and drama, still in the 19th century, now using a whole different language, and shared by the dialogue of cellist and pianist.”

Grunstein, who hails from Sydney, Australia, attributes much of her artistic inspiration to the work of her father, painter Bill Grunstein. Bill pursues art with the same energy, his daughter says, as his practical career in manufacturing. He was a teacher for the prestigious Royal Art Society of New South Wales in Sydney, serving as its director from 1989 to 1996. He has held numerous exhibitions in Australia. The walls of Sarah’s childhood home were filled with her father’s paintings, to the extent that hundreds were stacked in a room upstairs, unable to find available wall space to be hung.

In such an environment, she says, “You’re constantly learning, though there isn’t a ‘lesson’ as such.” What Sarah Grunstein absorbed as a child was the artist’s ability “to create fantasy out of mere reality, to take others there, and to merge that world with this.” She adds, “This phenomenon is the same in art as in music.”

Grunstein reflects on her father’s immense influence, and writes of him “from the perspective of both an artist and as a daughter” in the book she has co-authored with Colin Parker, titled Bill Grunstein: A Retrospective, published in 2006 by Phillip Matthews in New South Wales, Australia. Born and raised in Poland, Bill was captured by German soldiers during World War II in 1942. He painted portraits of Nazi SS officers to survive his time in concentration camps. After immigrating to Australia, he married Chana “Hania” Anna Bornstein, whom he had met in Eggenfelden, a refugee center in Germany after the war. In Australia he pursued his passion for painting in oils and watercolors — mainly vibrant and colorful landscapes, along with abstract work.

For Sarah Grunstein, there is no divide between the art of painting and that of music, except for the temporal aspect of music. Writing from the perspective of artist to artist, she notes, “We recognize that art is created in the mind, the eye, the hand, the memory, and the soul. Sitting in her Brooks office amidst paintings and piano, she says, “The only difference in creation, for music, is not the eye, but the ear.”

“My father’s artworks were a constant inspiration in their texture, color, light, shape and form. I learned to see something new each day — to see beyond what my eye could see. We find these same entities in music.”

Grunstein started her career at Holy Cross five years ago, with degrees from the Juilliard School in New York City and the Graduate Center at the City University of New York.

“It’s really apparent that the students in our music department are thinking musicians, something you can hear both in their performance and in their discourse about music,” she says. “It’s really quite thrilling.”

Grunstein teaches music courses, piano, and chamber music. She implemented the monthly Performance Forums in the spring semester of 2002 to provide an arena for students to perform among each other and garner insight into their work through dialogue among faculty and students. She also implemented the Chamber Music Festival, an annual showcase of student performances featuring music composed for small ensembles.

“One of the most special features of playing chamber music is that it is a delight not only for the audience in an intimate setting, but for the players in their musical exchange,” she says. “Performers in our music department ensembles range from freshmen to graduating seniors, and coach with faculty for the entire year. I am so delighted that this year our Chamber Music Festival will be part of the College’s Academic Conference in April.”

“There’s something special about our music students,” she says. “Each faculty member works hard with them on an individual basis. The combination of such training and the students’ natural ability draws them to understand music, its history, and its compositional aspect. What emerges are musicians who are thoughtful and intelligent.”

Rabbi Norman M. Cohen ’72, who was the only Jew among 2,300 other students when he was enrolled at Holy Cross, will return to study, lecture, and meet with members of the College community while he is in residence on campus March 23 through April 2.

Cohen is the founding rabbi of the reform Jewish congregation Bet Shalom in Minnetonka, Minn.

While on campus, Cohen will live in Ciampi Hall, the Jesuit residence. In addition to a full schedule of events, and formal and informal meetings with students, faculty, and staff, he will meet with members of the local Jewish community. He is especially looking forward to spending time with Rabbi Seth L. Bernstein, of Worcester’s Temple Sinai, who was a classmate of Cohen’s in rabbinical school at Hebrew Union College-Jewish Institute of Religion in Cincinnati.

This is the third College-sponsored visit Cohen has made back to College Hill. He spoke on campus in March of 2001, and again in September of last year. Katherine McElaney ’76, director of the College chaplains, initiated plans for this longer visit. “After I met Rabbi Cohen, I very much wanted him to come work here as a chaplain,” she said. “I saw him being the kind of person whose ministry would be very far-reaching — stretching way beyond Jewish members of the Holy Cross community.”

Cohen had a similar reaction. “When I was here in September, I kept saying to myself: ‘This is a great experience, and if only I could spend more time, I’d get a lot out of talking and working with the people at Holy Cross,’ ” he recalled. “Then when Kim McElaney asked me to consider coming back, I realized that Holy Cross would be an extraordinary environment in which to do my personal study, and work with the chaplains and with students.”

In addition to a formal schedule during his residency, Cohen will engage in his own study. “I try to take study leave every year, and this will be a perfect place in which to do that work. After all, Holy Cross is where I learned to study.” He is focusing his current personal study on the Book of Ruth.

“I vividly remember my days as a student on campus at Holy Cross,” he said. “It was a real privilege to be a student here — and I’m looking forward to being back.”

At one of his previous lectures on campus, Cohen said: “My years at Holy Cross are a time of great significance for me, leading me to my life’s work, the Rabbinate. It may seem ironic, but coming to this Jesuit environment, where the Catholic faith enhances life for so many, opened my eyes to the depth and beauty of my own Jewish heritage … It was difficult for me to take my Judaism for granted.”

While a student at Holy Cross, he was a Hiatt Scholar for a six month program in Jerusalem at the Hiatt Institute of Brandeis University.

Cohen will arrive on Friday, March 23, for Shabbat dinner with the Holy Cross community. Details of his schedule will be announced, and he is also planning to deliver a lecture on the subject of his forthcoming book exploring the stereotypes that Christians and Jews have about each other. And, he says, “I’m open to what people come up with,” including meeting with Israeli students who are living in Worcester and answering questions from prospective Holy Cross students who are Jewish.

He’ll depart on Monday, April 2. “I’ll be home in time for Passover.”

Related information:

* www.betshalom.org
* Chaplains’ Office

Self-discovery is one of the hallmarks of a Holy Cross education.

It makes sense, then, that a student organization is sponsoring an event around that very theme. The Multiethnic Identity Xploration (MIX) provides resources for students and members of the local Worcester community who are interested in the issues that mixed people (or multi-ethnic people) face on a daily basis.

MIX is sponsoring a two-part MIXsational Extravaganza on March 23 from 6 to 8 p.m. in the Loyola Ballroom which will give students the opportunity to explore different cultures through a variety of ways. Tickets are $3 and can be purchased at the door. The event is open to all students at member institutions of the Colleges of Worcester Consortium.

During the first half of the event students will learn more about the ethnicity of various well-known personalities through displays of their family histories, and sample ethnic dishes. Jessica Jackson, co-chair of MIX, gave as an example the story of model and actor Tyson Beckford, who is both Chinese and Jamaican. Food from both of those countries will be offered at his display.

The remainder of the event will feature testimonials and performances by Holy Cross students of mixed ethnicity. In sharing their personal stories, students hope to educate others on cultural differences and issues that mixed-race people face regularly, such as questioning their culture and identity.

Learning to appreciate the differences among people of various cultures is the ultimate goal of the event.

“People with multiple ethnicities have to deal with issues that question the different cultures that make up that person. Sometimes being multi-racial requires that person to choose between different things, such as which culture to celebrate and which religion to follow,” says Jackson. “Many times, multiracial students have to face difficult decisions, like which religion to choose — their mother’s or father’s.”

MIX’s event will combine a serious topic with the fun of exploration. Along with the international food, participants will be entertained by performances such as Polynesian dance and Egyptian belly dance. MIX is still looking for students who are willing to volunteer to perform. For more information e-mail Jackson at jsjack09@holycross.edu.

Barefoot and entranced at the opening prayer ceremony in Singapore’s oldest Hindu temple, Megan Osborne ’05 was enveloped by the intensity of a moment she’d only read about in textbooks. Thousands of miles from her hometown of Redding, Conn., her passion for her double majors of history and anthropology, along with a concentration in Asian Studies, played out in front of her eyes.

The recipient of a prestigious Fulbright Research grant in 2005, Osborne was able to realize her goal of exploring the differences between Asian and Western depictions of Asian culture in museums as well as immersing herself in a culture she had long studied. As part of her Fulbright experience, Osborne worked in Singapore’s new Asian Civilisations Museum, designing a permanent exhibit and redesigning a gallery during her stay. She also conducted research using 19th century museum documents to form the basis for a journal article concerning collecting practices of early European explorers of Southeast Asia. The article will appear in the The Heritage Journal.

Osborne’s time in Singapore also included time spent within city communities there, where she experienced facets of the culture in a direct and personal manner. At the opening prayer ceremony at the Sri Mariamman Temple, Osborne experienced the religious fervor of the participants accompanied by the incense, lights, and music. She also visited museums in Thailand, Malaysia, Hong Kong, and Cambodia, and participated in festivities for such events as the Chinese New Year and the end of Ramadan.

Osborne will give a talk, “Museum Representations of Asia: A Comparison of Singapore’s Asian Civilisations Museum and New York’s American Museum of Natural History” on April 3 at 2 p.m. in the Cantor Art Gallery as part of the gallery’s exhibition, Gold Cloths of Sumatra: Indonesia’s Songkets from Ceremony to Commodity.

Susan Rodgers, professor of anthropology in the College’s department of sociology and anthropology, is the exhibition’s curator, and spearheaded the effort to get a comprehensive look at one of Indonesia’s most intriguing and lasting traditions — that of the songket. Songkets are woven cloths made of silk and gold-wrapped thread worn at ceremonial events as head or shoulder wraps or as sarongs. This exhibition is extraordinary in that its scope encompasses all of Sumatra, rather than focusing on the best-known area for songket making, West Sumatra. The songkets on display represent the textile arts of the Minangkabau people of West Sumatra, as well the gold cloths of Palembang, Jambi, Aceh, and Bengkulu.

Fittingly, Osborne’s interest in anthropology and Asian cultures found its beginnings in “Art and Power in Asia,” an anthropology class taught by Rodgers. The course explored the politics and aesthetics of selected Southeast Asian arts.  Topics included international art collecting, colonialism and art looting, and museum depictions of Cambodia and Indonesia. The class also visited the American Museum of Natural History in New York, where Osborne would later intern.

Though she had always had an interest in Asia, Osborne says, “Professor Rodgers’ class opened my eyes to the art traditions of Southeast Asia … I was fascinated by the Khmer empire’s capital city of Angkor and the many temples that cover the historic site. Previous to Professor Rodgers’ class, I had never heard of these amazing temples and city structures and I became very interested in the dynamics of art and kingship in this place.”

Following graduation, Osborne stayed in contact with Professor Rodgers. They even saw each other several times in Singapore when Rodgers was on her way to Indonesia to do research for the current Cantor show. Osborne, who hopes to pursue a doctorate in cultural anthropology, now lives in Cambridge with her husband Andy Soh, a law student she met in Singapore.

Osborne’s talk will address the challenge of representing a culture in a museum, comparing the American Museum of Natural History’s Hall of Asian Peoples to the Asian Civilizations Museum’s Southeast Asian Gallery.

Asked to describe the focus of her talk, Osborne says, “It is my belief that the Hall of Asian Peoples largely reinforces stereotypes about Asia while the Southeast Asian Gallery of the Asian Civilisations Museum breaks stereotypes and enables the visitor to envision Southeast Asia in a new light. The talk will explore reasons why these two galleries diverge in technique, content and display.”

Osborne witnessed firsthand the merging of tradition with contemporary life in Singapore, the very theme the exhibition seeks to explore. A study trip to Malaysian Borneo, to a village without running water or dependable electricity, also exemplified this relationship well.

“I was privileged to go to a kampong [village] and spend time with an anthropologist in the field,” she says. “Here, my original impressions of Malaysian indigenous culture were shattered. While many traditional longhouses typical of the Dayak people still stand, many villagers have moved into modern homes … In essence, what I observed were the complex relationships between traditional and modern practices and beliefs across different generations.”

The former Fulbright scholar’s talk will be one of many events surrounding the Sumatran songket exhibition. Three student docents add further depth to the range of information this show provides. Melanie Chapman ’07, Sarah Thibeault ’07, and Colleen Germain ’07 are giving guided tours for groups that seek an individualized experience.

Roger Hankins, director of the Cantor Art Gallery, believes that this aspect will offer “more scholarship, more accessibility” to a show that may seem far removed for many in America.

Of lessons learned while in Singapore, Osborne says, “While the world is an enormous place, we really have a tremendous amount in common with people worldwide.”

By Erin O’Connell ’07

Related Information:

* Cantor Art Gallery Web Site
* Press Release: Holy Cross’ Cantor Art Gallery Presents Exhibition on Asian Hand-Loomed Cloths