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Holy Cross Anthropology Professor Lends Expertise to The Atlantic

Posted on March 6, 2020 by Holy Cross in the News

Jeremy Jones, assistant professor of anthropology. Photo by Tom Rettig

Why is talking about money such a taboo subject for Americans? The Atlantic called upon renowned anthropologists nationwide to shed some light on the issue.

In the recent article, Jeremy Jones, assistant professor of anthropology at College of the Holy Cross, discussed how time and our own personal conceptions of our futures can weigh into conversations about money.

According to Jones, “people’s openness about a particular expenditure or investment might have to do with the time horizon associated with it.” This, he explains, is why we may be more comfortable disclosing to an acquaintance how much we spent on a meal today, but not how much we make in a year.

Jones, an anthropologist who has studied cultures of money in Zimbabwe, believes this is one of the reasons debt is such a sensitive topic. “The ramifications of [it] can extend far beyond the here and now.”

To read the full article, go to TheAtlantic.com.

Posted in In The News, News, Sociology and Anthropology | Comments Off

‘Joys, Sorrows, Concerns’ Surveys the Artistic Career of Holy Cross Visual Arts Professor Susan Schmidt

Posted on March 4, 2020 by College of the Holy Cross

Degree of Impact, 2017. Polymer plate, etching, and stencil

The Iris and B. Gerald Cantor Art Gallery at the College of the Holy Cross is delighted to celebrate the career of Professor Susan Schmidt in the exhibition “Joys, Sorrows, Concerns” from March 9 through April 10, 2020. An opening reception will take place on Wednesday, March 11 from 5 to 7 p.m., with remarks by the artist at 5:30 p.m. The exhibition will feature drawings, prints, and artists’ books representing the span of her artistic output.

As a faculty member of the department of visual arts for over thirty years, Schmidt has taught courses in printmaking, bookmaking and drawing, mediums that she herself has consistently explored throughout her studio practice. The keen focus of her artistic eye has been, largely, on examinations of family life, with, as she states, “its varied and unbounded configurations and its power to bind us together, as well as tear us apart.”

Schmidt works from the traditions of observational drawing expanded by the possibilities of printmaking. Her early work involved drawing on site and responding to particular physical spaces. She was interested in the expressive quality of the space and the immediacy of drawing on site. With printmaking, she fully exploits the process inherent in “the making” of imagery by layering, recycling and combining the traditional with new techniques and materials.

Throughout her career, she has adeptly moved between creating oversized drawings to small-scale intimate prints, to smaller-still artists’ books, which have been particularly fitting as objects to address themes of contemporary childhood, and as a vehicle for her interest in folktales as the basis of work exploring the roles of parents and children.

Describing her current work, Schmidt says, “I am interested in the ways that drawing allows us to consider current social issues differently than the way we see them on screens. A slower, more imaginative response to crisis. In my most recent print installation ‘Joys, Sorrows, Concerns,’ I was thinking about the many problems people seeking asylum in the U.S. face, and my prints portray human beings within that system, suspended and uncertain.”

Schmidt is a skillful and patient mentor to her students who has taught countless Holy Cross students – many of whom have gone on to artistic careers of their own. She quietly conveys her inspirations as an artist to her students while working in the Millard Studios. Schmidt says, “Following one idea to another, leading to an unknown outcome, is an uncertain process, discouraging, irrational, and in small moments truly exciting. This is why I make art and in particular chose the improvisational strategies of printmaking.”

Schmidt will give a gallery talk and printmaking demonstration in the gallery during the exhibition, and Holy Cross scholars Susan Elizabeth Sweeney and Jorge Santos, both of the English Department, will also give lunchtime talks at noon.

EVENTS:

Opening Reception

Wednesday, March 11, 2020

Cantor Art Gallery 5 – 7 p.m.

Opening remarks at 5:30 p.m.

“Monotype, The Painterly Print”

Demonstration of monotype printing by artist Susan Schmidt

Thursday, April 2

Cantor Art Gallery, 4 p.m.

Lunchtime Talk Series

Tuesdays at 12 noon

Cantor Art Gallery

March 17

Susan Schmidt, Artist

“Joys, Sorrows & Concerns”

March 24

Susan Elizabeth Sweeney, Monsignor Murray Professor in Arts and Humanities

English Department, College of the Holy Cross

“Reading Books and Seeing Art”

April 7

Jorge Santos, Associate Professor, English Department, College of the Holy Cross

“Photo-graphic Borderlands”

Posted in News, Press Release, Visual Arts | Comments Off

Holy Cross Students Reflect, Find Tranquility Through Off-Campus Retreats

Posted on March 3, 2020 by Jane Carlton

Four students sit in chairs with books and computers When Christine Church ’20 told her friends last spring that she was taking part in a five-day silent retreat, the reaction was anything but quiet.

“They said, ‘oh, I could never do that. I could never be silent for five days.’”

But Church, a philosophy and psychology double major, is one of over 700 students — nearly 25 percent of the student body — who participate in a retreat at some point during their four years at College of the Holy Cross.

Held at the Thomas P. Joyce ’59 Contemplative Center, just minutes from campus, students can choose from a variety of inspiring retreats to unwind and reflect during the academic year — from class-year specific outings, such as the Ignite Retreat for first-year students and the Sophomore Retreat, to a study retreat during finals season.

“Our retreat program is open to all students, wherever they are on their journey of faith,” says Megan Fox-Kelly, associate chaplain and director of retreats.

“Students attend a retreat for a variety of reasons and for various lengths of time. Some retreats are for one night, others for an entire weekend and we even offer a five-day adaptation of the Spiritual Exercises four times during the academic year. The Joyce Contemplative Center offers a beautiful atmosphere to slow down and to notice all that is often missed in the busyness of life.”

Led by College chaplains, retreats at the Joyce Contemplative Center give students the space to dive into deeper questions than they may have time to thoroughly think about on campus.

“The whole atmosphere and environment of the center really let me sink into it all,” Church says. “The entire retreat experience creates an environment where you have the time and the desire to begin asking yourself those deeper questions that you may have thought of briefly in class or with friends, but never had the time to truly explore.”

For Richard Cabral ’22, an Italian and political science double major who went on the first-year Escape retreat and has now helped lead other retreats, the experience was different than anything he’d done before.

“Instead of talks mixed in with group reflections, after a few talks, we were split up into smaller groups where we began deep, meaningful conversations,” he says. “The most rewarding part of the whole experience was that moment when the walls we have up when we meet someone come down. There’s such a profound sense of realism.”

Retreats are an integral part of a Holy Cross education, says Fox-Kelly.

“We ask our students to work hard, to push themselves academically and to consider who they are and what they can do for our world. Students leave their time on retreat with a deeper sense of gratitude and a deeper awareness of the importance of quiet, reflection and prayer.”

Church says that at the end of the day, the most rewarding part of her retreat experience was the chance for stillness.

“As students, especially toward the end of the semester, we lose conscious presence of our everyday experiences. We’re constantly rushing from class to work to group presentation meeting to practice to rehearsal that, by the end of the day, we go to bed without giving ourselves the necessary time to reflect and recharge our batteries before the next day begins. Each day on my retreat gave me the opportunity to just be present in my immediate experiences, to have gratitude for everything I was learning and to properly explore the implications that what I was learning could have on who I wanted to become.”

Posted in Featured, Italian Studies, News, Philosophy, Political Science, Psychology | Comments Off

Are We Living in a Post-Truth World? Holy Cross History Professor Breaks It Down on NPR’s ‘On Point’

Posted on February 27, 2020 by Holy Cross in the News

Cynthia Hooper, associate professor of history and director of Russian and Eastern European Studies. Photo by Tom Rettig

In the third installment of a series on truth, Meghna Chakrabarti of NPR’s “On Point” turned to Cynthia Hooper, associate professor of history and director of Russian and Eastern European Studies at the College of the Holy Cross, for her insight.

As a historian of Russia specializing in Kremlin media strategy, Hooper talks about how media, the information machine and the powerful manipulate the truth, but also the emerging culture of consent.

“In a lot of ways today, I think we’re seeing a devaluing of the importance of truth in power,” said Hooper. “And maybe a sense that what matters more is effectiveness.”

To make that point, Hooper goes on to quote Fyodor Dostoevsky, who in his final novel “Brothers Karamazov” said that “Most people prefer to live and die happily in ignorance, than to take on the burden of freedom.”

So according to Hooper, there is a real dilemma for journalists and educators going forward. “Are we going to give people what they need to know, a way to make them grow, or are we going to give them what they want to hear?”

To listen to the segment, go to WBUR.org.

Posted in History, In The News, News, Russian and Eastern European Studies | Comments Off

Holy Cross Senior Emma Powell ’20 Presents Award-Winning Thesis on Repairing Racial Injustice in America

Posted on February 26, 2020 by College of the Holy Cross

Emma Powell stands on the steps of Dinand Library

As a classics and history double major at College of the Holy Cross, Emma Powell ’20 knows how significantly the power of memory affects both the present and the future.

Powell earned the Maurizio Vannicelli Washington Semester Away Program Award for her thesis on the historical memory of African American history, “A Remedy for the Past, If Only We Can Remember.” To a crowded Rehm Library, Powell recalled how she researched the design and impact of two prominent Civil Rights memorials in the United States: the Martin Luther King, Jr. Memorial in Washington, D.C. and the National Memorial for Peace and Justice in Montgomery, Alabama.

The Vannicelli Award, named for the late Holy Cross political science professor and Washington Semester director Maurizio Vannicelli, is given each semester to the student who produces the best thesis during the Washington Semester Program.

During her semester in Washington, Powell interned at the Smithsonian Institute, working in their Travelling Exhibition Service on an exhibition highlighting influential leaders of the Civil Rights Movement. She was inspired through this work to focus her research on the memory and legacy of the struggle black Americans have gone through to earn recognition and civil rights in American history.

“How do we as a nation hold ourselves accountable for the past?” Powell asked.

Powell spoke at length about the impact that racial injustice, discrimination and violence have left on American history and how memory can be used to heal some of these deeply entrenched wounds. In her presentation, Powell demonstrated how each piece of monument planning and design holds the power to decide who and what is remembered in the national dialogue.

“The most important lesson that has come from my internship is that every choice to include or exclude any small piece of content says something,” Powell said.

Powell ended her talk by arguing for greater recognition and representation of African-American history as part of the national memory presented in the Nation’s capital.

“It’s an issue of national identity. It’s something we need to claim as a nation, and until we do that, I think we won’t be truly moving toward racial justice.”

Posted in Classics, Featured, History, J.D. Power Center for Liberal Arts in the World, News, Political Science | Comments Off

Holy Cross Sociology Professor Calls Weinstein Conviction a ‘Public Restaging’ of Women’s Sexual Harassment

Posted on February 25, 2020 by Holy Cross in the News

Selina Gallo-Cruz, associate professor of sociology. Photo by Tom Rettig

Selina Gallo-Cruz, associate professor of sociology at College of the Holy Cross and a social movements scholar, was quoted in a recent article for The Christian Science Monitor on how the #MeToo movement and the conviction of Hollywood mogul Harvey Weinstein have changed American society.

“What has long been commonplace in the private backstage experiences of women’s lives is now being negotiated on a public front stage,” said Gallo-Cruz.

Gallo-Cruz, who teaches in the Gender, Sexuality, and Women’s Studies multidisciplinary program that explores the many facets of gender and sexuality, refers to this phenomenon as a “public restaging” of women’s sexual harassment.

“I try to impress upon my students what life was like as a young woman when it was common to witness and experience sexual harassment,” said Gallo-Cruz. “But just as it was ‘normal,’ it also existed in a private sphere.”

“What was taboo was not the harassment itself but speaking out about it in public,” she continued. “Now the times are changing this dynamic — we are in the midst of a paradigm shift.”

Gallo-Cruz has published works on various aspects of feminist history and the politics of women’s movements and movements against domestic violence and currently serves on the board of Abby’s House, one of the first shelters for women in the country.

To read the full article, go to CSMonitor.com.

Posted in Gender, Sexuality, and Women's Studies, In The News, News, Sociology and Anthropology | Comments Off

‘Race to the Start’ Documentary Premieres on Campus

Posted on February 24, 2020 by Jane Carlton

Four people sit on a panel at a table and laugh

“We were all fashioned by the events in history we found ourselves in. What we saw, what went on, how we dealt with our relationships — all came as our being members of the Holy Cross community,” Art Martin ’70, co-founder of the Black Student Union (BSU) at the College of the Holy Cross told a room full of students, faculty, staff and alumni after a viewing of “Race to the Start” on February 18.

Kona Khasu ’92 created the 45-minute documentary in honor of the BSU’s 50th anniversary year. Khasu’s work — which included extensive interviews and archival footage of the College — was showcased on campus to a full house. After the film, a nine-person panel of current students and alumni — including Art Martin ’70, Eddie Jenkins ’72, Payton Shubrick ’15, Nakyah Lucas ’20, Dianne Jemmott ’77, Feleicia Jeter ’20, Jordyn Shubrick ’22, Debroah Hodges-Pabón ’87 and Kona Khasu ’92 — reflected on the piece and answered questions about their experiences in the BSU.

Payton Shubrick expressed how being a BSU alumna is about “being given a charge to uphold the torch” that the group represents.

“There’s something about an openness to change and wanting to do better that paved the way to what I am doing today.”

Posted in Featured, News, Photo Galleries | Comments Off

Euronews Quotes Judaic Studies Professor on Controversial War-Time Pope Archives

Posted on February 21, 2020 by Holy Cross in the News

Alan Avery-Peck, Kraft-Hiatt Professor in Judaic Studies. Photo by Austin Bosworth

More than 150 historians and researchers around the world have signed up to access the Vatican archives of Pope Pius XII set to be released on March 2, showing overwhelming interest into the World War II-era pope and his record during the Holocaust. But what can we expect to learn from the archives?

In a recent Euronews article, Alan Avery-Peck, Kraft-Hiatt Professor of Judaic Studies at College of the Holy Cross, helped shed some light on the controversial period of Vatican history. According to Avery-Peck, there is strong evidence that the wartime pontiff was silent during the Holocaust.

“The World Jewish Congress begged the pope openly to proclaim his revulsion for Nazism,” said Avery-Peck. “Even the U.S. informed the Vatican in September 1942 that residents of the Warsaw Ghetto were being slaughtered.”

Ultimately Professor Avery-Peck believes “there is strong evidence that Pius XII knew of the Nazis’ ‘Final Solution’ – their intention to annihilate the Jews.”

It’s unclear what this will mean for Pius XII’s potential beatification, but the Vatican and historians alike are in agreement: the release of the archives are a “necessary transparency” step that can only enhance Catholic-Jewish relations.

To read the full article, go to Euronews.com.

Posted in In The News, News, Religious Studies | Comments Off

16th Annual ArtsWorcester College Competition Showcases Holy Cross Artists

Posted on February 20, 2020 by Holy Cross in the News

A collage of four pieces of art—one of a book, one of a cow, one of an eye, and one of a tree Two College of the Holy Cross students, Nathan Manna ’21 and Stephanie McCrary ’20, were awarded Juror’s Prizes in this year’s 16th Annual College Art Show at the ArtsWorcester gallery, an annual competition featuring students from local area colleges.

Honorable mentions were also awarded to Murphy Grady ’20, a studio art major with a minor in art history, and Emma Waligory ’20, an English major with a minor in studio art. Nine additional Holy Cross students were invited to exhibit their work in the show.

The organization received more than 260 submissions this year, featuring traditional and new media, including sculpture, video, print, painting and photography. More than 70 were selected and judged by Lynne Cooney, artistic director and chief curator of the Boston University Art Galleries.

Posted in Africana Studies, Arthistory, English, Studio Art | Comments Off

Student Government Association Holds Sexual Respect Week on Campus

Posted on February 18, 2020 by Jane Carlton

Students gather around a table that has pink donuts on it

When the Student Government Association (SGA) started discussing important topics to address at the beginning of the 2019 fall semester, one word kept coming up: respect. “In conversations among all branches — judicial, council, Senate — we wanted to highlight sexual respect and what that really looks like on a campus and really what it looks like to form healthy relationships with our peers, faculty and staff,” says Delaney Wells ’20, a religious studies major with a concentration in peace and conflict studies and Chief of Staff for the SGA.

The SGA collaborated with partners on campus, including the Title IX office, the Chaplains’ office and the counseling center, to create Sexual Respect Week — a week of programming that, as Wells says, “engages in what it means to be students at a Jesuit school who really feel this responsibility and commitment to being respectful to one another.”

Opportunities for students to engage throughout the week included an open discussion on consent with Title IX expert Jodi Shipper; multiple productions of The Vagina Monologues; a conversation facilitated by the Chaplains’ office centered on campus healing; and a Valentine’s Day breakfast with discussions on what love means to different people.

And the hope is the conversation will last long beyond one week.

Wells says, “It’s great to hear from different perspectives about what it looks like to be responsible for one another. We hope to incorporate that input throughout the whole semester and the whole year.”

Posted in Featured, News, Peace and Conflict Studies, Religious Studies | Comments Off

Holy Cross Moot Court Team Comes Out On Top in National Competition

Posted on February 14, 2020 by Holy Cross in the News

A group of nicely dressed students stand together and smile Last month, while most Holy Cross students were soaking up their last few days of winter break, members of the Holy Cross Moot Court team traveled to Baton Rouge, Louisiana, to compete in the American Moot Court Association (AMCA) National Championship. The participants, eight Holy Cross students ranging from sophomores to seniors, presented their arguments among a highly qualified and competitive field of students from more than 35 colleges and universities from around the country. Multiple students from Holy Cross placed among the top competitors, including Amber John ’22 and Will Hamilton ’22, who placed first and fourth, respectively, in the nation in Oral Advocacy.

“The best thing about moot court is really the fact that we win as a team; every single member, captain and coach is a huge part of any individual’s successes,” says John. “Winning the national title in Individual Oral Advocacy was not just a symbol of how much I’ve put into this activity, but how much the team has worked to help get me there.”

Although the team competes together in pairs, much of the practice and preparation is done collaboratively in the months leading up to the competition. The team’s head coach, John O’Donnell, spoke highly of the team’s performance.

“To have the top attorney in the competition really speaks not only to individual talent but to the leadership on the team as well,” O’Donnell says.

O’Donnell especially emphasized the impact senior leadership and returning alumni have had on the team’s performance, touting their contributions of support and experience as key elements to the team’s success.

The Holy Cross Moot Court team competes at both the regional and national level. Similar to Mock Trial competitions, the structure of a Moot Court competition is designed as a mock Supreme Court argument, where two teams compete against one another to present their arguments before a panel of elected judges and local attorneys who decide the winner.

The AMCA competition was extremely selective this year, with only the top 16% of Moot Court competitors in the country earning invitations to compete. Arguments were heard over two days, with only the top students moving on to compete on the second day. Holy Cross students competed on both the first and second days, with multiple students progressing into the later rounds. The Moot Court team would like to thank not only their supportive coaches and team members, but also the Holy Cross community for their support this season.

“The Moot Court trip to New Orleans was a really special way for me to close out my four-year career on the team,” says Moot Court team member Spencer Caron ’20. ” Doing so well in competition this season is a good way to thank both our coaches and Holy Cross for their support.”

Posted in Featured, J.D. Power Center for Liberal Arts in the World, News | Comments Off

Holy Cross Ranks Among Top Undergraduate Fulbright Scholarship Producers

Posted on February 11, 2020 by Holy Cross in the News

Photo by Avanell Brock

According to The Chronicle of Higher Education, the College of the Holy Cross ranks once again as one of the top undergraduate producers of Fulbright students during the 2019-2020 academic year. This year, Holy Cross students are spanning the globe, with positions in India, Taiwan, Germany, Belarus, and Ecuador.

The Fulbright Program, sponsored by the U.S. Department of State, is widely recognized as the most prestigious international exchange program in the world. The highly competitive grants are awarded on the basis of academic or professional achievement, as well as demonstrated leadership potential.

Each year approximately 1,900 grants are awarded through the Fulbright U.S. Student Program, which offers opportunities for students and young professionals to undertake international graduate study, advanced research, university teaching, and primary and secondary school teaching in more than 140 countries worldwide.

Since 1965, the College has produced a total of 156 Fulbright scholars, and has consistently been among the nation’s top producers of Fulbright students at the undergraduate level according to data submitted by the Institute of International Education. At Holy Cross, the Fulbright U.S. Student Program application process is supported by the Office of Distinguished Fellowships and Graduate Studies.

“Holy Cross is blessed to have very strong foreign language programs, as well as many committed faculty members who work hard to create a special learning environment for our students,” said Anthony B. Cashman, director of Distinguished Fellowships and Graduate Studies at the College. “As for our Fulbright alumni, they benefit immeasurably from their experiences, not only by learning more about the world and how they can effect change, but also about themselves.”

Find some highlights from this year’s winners here.

William Griffin ’19 in Germany (Major: German and international studies)

Claire MacMillan ’19 in Germany (Major: chemistry)

Elisaveta Mavrodieva ’19 in Belarus (Major: anthropology and studio art)

Kristina Washer ’17 in Ecuador (Major: biology)

Amanda Wibben ’19 in India (Major: biology)

Gregory Wood ’18 in Taiwan (Major: political science and Asian studies)

For more information, go to chronicle.com.

Posted in Asian Studies, Biology, Chemistry, Featured, German Studies, In The News, News, Political Science, Sociology and Anthropology, Studio Art | Comments Off

Meet the 2019 Sanctae Crucis Honorees

Posted on February 7, 2020 by Holy Cross Magazine

The Sanctae Crucis honorees stand on the front steps of ivy-covered Wheeler Hall

The Sanctae Crucis Award is the highest non-degree accolade that Holy Cross bestows on alumni, recognizing those who take up the College’s challenge to find meaning in life and history and honor their obligations to others.

Meet this year’s five honorees, each of whom has embraced the Jesuit ideal of “active engagement with the world” in their own way.

Posted in Chemistry, English, Featured, History, Holy Cross Magazine, News, Political Science, Winter 2020 | Comments Off

Release of Justice Clarence Thomas ‘71 Documentary ‘Created Equal’ Attracts National Media Coverage

Posted on February 4, 2020 by Holy Cross in the News

Photo by Steve Petteway, Collection of the Supreme Court of the United States

A documentary on Justice Clarence Thomas ’71 entitled “Created Equal: Clarence Thomas in His Own Words,” which was released in select theaters on January 31, is set to air nationally on PBS this May.

The documentary gives viewers an inside look into the personal life of the Supreme Court Justice and Holy Cross alumnus, showing how he rose from humble beginnings to now holding a seat on the highest court in the land. The release of the documentary has been highly anticipated, with notable outlets from TIME, The Washington Post, The New York Times and ABC News lauding the film’s insight and exclusive access to the notoriously private Justice.

Justice Clarence Thomas graduated from the College of the Holy Cross in 1971, as one of the first African-American students recruited to attend the college by Fr. John Brooks, S.J., and as a founding member of the school’s Black Student Union. An English major at the College, Thomas was also a member of Alpha Sigma Nu and the Purple Key Society.

Following his graduation, Thomas went on to receive his J.D. from Yale Law, worked in several prominent firms, and rose in the judicial ranks to become the longest-sitting judge currently on the Supreme Court. Back in 2012, Thomas received an honorary degree from Holy Cross in recognition of his legal career, service to the College as a former trustee, and especially to students who study in the Washington Semester Program, and his tenure on the nation’s highest court.

For more information on the documentary, go to JusticeThomasMovie.com.

Relevant Coverage:

TIME, Oct. 23

The Washington Post, Nov. 5

ABC News, Nov. 28

Variety, Dec. 13

The New York Times, Jan. 30

Forbes, Jan. 30

Posted in Alumni, English, In The News, News | Comments Off

Photos: Holy Cross Students Spend Winter Break Interning at Presidential Campaigns

Posted on January 30, 2020 by Jane Carlton

A student walks out of a political campaign office While many Holy Cross students spent winter break on … well, break … some students used the weeks between semesters to pursue their passions. On campus, a number of students attended the four-day Non-Profit Careers Conference; in New York City and Boston, other students took part in career workshops and worksite visits — sponsored by both the Center for Career Development and the Ciocca Center for Business, Ethics and Society — to get a feel for post-grad life. Further north, eleven students decamped to Manchester, New Hampshire, to intern on presidential election campaigns through a program run by the J.D. Power Center for Liberal Arts in the World. Students lived in the city for nearly a month, working daily on a number of different campaigns and taking a course, The Primary Process in America, taught by Daniel Klinghard, professor of political science and director of the J.D. Power Center.

“At the J.D. Power Center, we’ve been looking at ways to provide experiential learning opportunities to students outside of the regular semester model,” says Klinghard. “As someone who studies political parties in my academic career, I’ve always been fascinated by the New Hampshire primary, and I have always wanted to figure out a way to better connect our students to this amazing event that happens just to our north. So for me, it made sense to combine these two things.”

Posted in Ciocca Center for Business, Ethics, and Society, English, Featured, J.D. Power Center for Liberal Arts in the World, Latin American, Latinx, and Caribbean Studies, News, Political Science, Psychology | Comments Off

Holy Cross Emerita Professor Curates Worcester Refugee Artists Exhibit

Posted on January 29, 2020 by Jane Carlton

Susan Rodgers stands in an art gallery full of handmade crafts Susan Rodgers, professor emerita of anthropology and distinguished professor emerita of ethics and society, spent her career exploring the politics of art and literature in Southeast Asia, particularly Indonesia. Then, several years ago, she focused her lens a little closer — well, much closer — to campus, working with Burmese refugees in her home of Worcester, Massachusetts.

What started as volunteer mentoring and tutoring with a local non-profit, Worcester Refugee Assistance Project (WRAP), has grown into something much more for Rodgers, for anthropological scholarship and for her community.

In 2018, Rodgers applied for — and received — a Scholarship in Action grant, part of an $800,000 grant to the College from the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation to support Worcester-based faculty/student research. The grant supports her work with Holy Cross students over three years on an anthropological ethnography about how refugees from Burma (Myanmar), Bhutan and several African nations are making new lives for themselves in Worcester. Rodgers’ primary focus is on the Karen and Karenni refugees from Burma.

As part of the multi-year project, Rodgers has worked with both WRAP and Refugee Artisans of Worcester (RAW). In collaboration with the founders of RAW, Rodgers recently curated an exhibit at the Worcester Center for Crafts entitled “Crafting a New Home: Refugee Artisans of Worcester,” which is on display through the end of February. We caught up with Rodgers to talk about how Holy Cross students are researching refugee life in Worcester and how RAW is using craft-making to empower refugees to heal from the lives they have fled.

How has craft-making and the collaboration with RAW impacted the refugee community here in Worcester?
Refugees, by United Nations definition, are fleeing extreme violence. They’re fleeing the great possibility of being killed, so they have, really, a lot of trauma in their backgrounds, which they don’t at first talk about when they get to a relatively safe space like Worcester. Sometimes they don’t even talk to their families about the violence that led them to flee to U.N. refugee camps.

But after I get to know the artisans and they open up, we’ve found many, many times that they tell us that — first when they were in the refugee camp, which provided a degree of safety, and then even more so when they moved into homes in Worcester — they find that the physical experience of making a craft, the actual physical movements of winding rattan into coils to make a basket or the hours it takes to weave a hand-loomed textile, gives them kind of a safe space and a way to get away temporarily from the memories of violence. Crafts can become arts of recovery.

Tell us about the exhibition. What types of crafts and stories are featured?
The exhibition is designed to invite people in to learn more about refugee communities in Worcester at the same time they’re enjoying the crafts, which really are quite extraordinary in terms of exuberance and high level of skill. We display weavings, baskets, other bamboo and rattan arts, stonework, and embroidery — plus two bamboo birdhouses and a bamboo bicycle.

We want to show our museum visitors how many contributions the refugee artisans are making to the city. We know from interacting with refugees in town that they’re such vibrant, creative contributors to the public good — and an exhibit about their crafts is a great way to show that.

You’ve always worked to incorporate students into your research. How will students be working with this exhibit?
Tildah Fredua and Jennifer Feraud, who are currently juniors, are the docents for the show. Last spring, they were my research students in Anthropology 495, which is directed research under the Scholarship in Action grant, and together, we interviewed refugee artisans from Africa. We visited their homes many times to listen to their stories and their commentaries on their crafts.

Student work will also be showcased in the exhibit itself. We’re drawing on research done with the Holy Cross students in wall texts. For instance, one of our wall texts is about historical connections between the Worcester Female Employment Society (WFES), active in the city in the 1850s and early 1860s, and both RAW and, indirectly, the Worcester Center for Crafts.

My 2019 Weiss Summer Research fellow Madeleine Fontenay ’21 benefited from really interesting experiences of going to all these different archives around town — the Antiquarian Society, old city archives in the public library — to find out more about these connections. WFES was part of a fascinating boom in humanitarian work in Worcester that has echoes today.

What has it been like working on a project that is so public-facing, as opposed to your other research?
Much of my work on Indonesia has been focused on very analytical, theoretical issues. And many of my previous books and journal articles, I think, are largely read by other anthropologists and by Southeast Asian specialists. I think those are important books and works; however, they were not typically directed toward the general public.

My work with museums is public anthropology. It’s taking an anthropological perspective and introducing it to a broader public. That’s why I have curated a series of exhibitions for Cantor Art Gallery on Southeast Asian textiles. But, once I started to volunteer with the Burmese refugees here in Worcester, I realized, “Wow, these are their stories that I’m collecting.” I thought about that in an analytical, anthropological way.

Indeed, these stories will inform the anthropology book that I’ll write about the three years of fieldwork. But, forced migrants’ stories are also very important to get out into American political discourse so that people can get to know refugees as they really are — as very creative, vibrant, funny, extremely interesting and individualized people.

Related Information

Mellon Foundation Grant to Support Holy Cross Professors’ Research into LGBTQ+, Refugee Communities in Worcester

Posted in Featured, J.D. Power Center for Liberal Arts in the World, News, Sociology and Anthropology | Comments Off

Holy Cross Community Celebrates the Life of Grace Rett ’22 in Memorial Mass

Posted on January 24, 2020 by Jane Carlton

Many people stand in a very full chapel during a service Hundreds of College of the Holy Cross students, faculty, staff and other community members filled St. Joseph Memorial Chapel Friday, Jan. 24 to celebrate Mass in memory of Grace Rett ’22.

Grace passed away after a serious motor vehicle crash while with the women’s rowing team on a winter training trip in Vero Beach, Florida.

Rev. Philip L. Boroughs, S.J., president of the College, delivered the homily and spoke about Rett’s loving and hard-working spirit. In addition to the rowing team, Rett served as a Montserrat Leader, worked in Admissions as a tour guide, sang in the chapel choir and attended weekly Athlete Bible Study.

“Today is the feast day of St. Francis De Sales who wrote: ‘Be who you are and be that well.’ How aptly that describes Grace,” Fr. Boroughs said to the community.

“She was a much-loved and loving daughter, a very proud and protective sister and she enjoyed the blessing of a close extended family. At Holy Cross, Grace was a student first and an athlete second, but for her they really weren’t in competition, because in both she worked extremely hard and loved the challenges they brought.”

Mourners were given Holy Cross purple bracelets bearing one of Grace’s mantras, “Love the Fight.”

Fr. Boroughs presided over Mass; it was co-celebrated by Rev. James G. Gartland, S.J., Pastor of St. Mary Student Parish in Ann Arbor, Michigan; Rev. C. Kevin Gillespie, S.J., Pastor of Holy Trinity Church in Georgetown; and Rev. John Baldovin, S.J. ’69. Gartland and Gillespie are trustees of the College and Baldovin is a former trustee.

The Holy Cross community filled not only the pews of St. Joseph Memorial Chapel, but the seats of Seelos Theatre, which was set up to accommodate an overflow of mourners. Fr. Boroughs honored Grace’s love of Holy Cross and the sport of crew.

“Clearly, the time that Grace spent in practice, competition and traveling with our Women’s Crew Team brought her some of the happiest moments of her time on Mount St. James,” Fr. Boroughs said. “She loved the community that they formed and the enduring bonds they created. And, as we all know, just before Christmas, always seeking new challenges, Grace set a world record rowing 62 consecutive hours and 3 seconds. Nothing Grace ever did was ordinary.”

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Holy Cross Spring 2020 Seelos Film Series

Posted on January 23, 2020 by College of the Holy Cross

Three characters from Star Wars fly a space ship

The College of the Holy Cross will be featuring the following films in Seelos Theater this spring. All films are free and open to the public.

Please note: All screenings are cancelled until further notice.

“Can You Ever Forgive Me”
Wed. Jan. 22: Showings at 3:30 and 8 p.m. Rated R. Starring Melissa McCarthy, Richard E. Grant and Dolly Wells. Lee Israel made her living in the 1970s and ’80s profiling the likes of Katharine Hepburn, Tallulah Bankhead, Estee Lauder and journalist Dorothy Kilgallen. When Lee is no longer able to get published because she has fallen out of step with current tastes, she turns her art form to deception, abetted by her loyal friend Jack. An adaptation of the memoir “Can You Ever Forgive Me?” relays the true story of the best-selling celebrity biographer (and friend to cats).

“Toy Story 4”
Fri. Jan. 24 and Sat. Jan. 25: Showing at 7 p.m. Rated G. Starring Tom Hanks, Tim Allen and Annie Potts. When a new toy called “Forky” joins Woody and the gang, a road trip alongside old and new friends reveals how big the world can be for a toy.

“Downton Abbey”
Wed. Jan. 29: Showings at 3:30 and 8 p.m. Rated PG-13. Starring Michelle Dockery, Matthew Goode and Geraldine James. The continuing story of the Crawley family, wealthy owners of a large estate in the English countryside in the early twentieth century.

“Ready or Not”
Fri. Jan. 31 and Sat. Feb. 1: Showing at 7 p.m. Rated R. Starring Samara Weaving, Adam Brody and Mark O’Brien. A bride’s wedding night takes a sinister turn when her eccentric new in-laws force her to take part in a terrifying game.

“Judy”
Wed. Feb 5: Showings at 3:30 and 8 p.m. Rated R. Starring Renée Zellweger, Jessie Buckley and Finn Wittrock. Legendary performer Judy Garland arrives in London in the winter of 1968 to perform a series of sold-out concerts.

“Ad Astra”
Fri. Feb. 7 and Sat. Feb. 8: Showing at 7 p.m. Rated R. Starring Brad Pitt, Tommy Lee Jones and Ruth Negga. Astronaut Roy McBride undertakes a mission across an unforgiving solar system to uncover the truth about his missing father and his doomed expedition that now, 30 years later, threatens the universe.

“Once Upon a Time…in Hollywood”
Wed. Feb. 12: Showings at 3:30 and 8 p.m. Rated R. Starring Leonardo DiCaprio, Brad Pitt and Margot Robbie. A faded television actor and his stunt double strive to achieve fame and success in the film industry during the final years of Hollywood’s Golden Age in 1969 Los Angeles.

“Peanut Butter Falcon”
Fri. Feb. 14 and Sat. Feb. 15: Showing at 7 p.m. Rated R. Starring Dakota Johnson, Zack Gottsagen and Ann Owens. Zak runs away from his care home to make his dream of becoming a wrestler come true.

“Blinded by the Light”
Wed. Feb. 19: Showings at 3:30 and 8 p.m. Rated R. Starring Billy Barratt, Ronak Singh Chadha Berges and Viveik Kaira. In England in 1987, a teenager from an Asian family learns to live his life, understand his family and find his own voice through the music of American rock star Bruce Springsteen.

“21 Bridges”
Fri. Feb. 21 and Sat. Feb. 22: Showing at 7 p.m. Rated R. Starring Chadwick Bozeman, Sienna Miller and J.K. Simmons. An embattled NYPD detective is thrust into a citywide manhunt for a pair of cop killers after uncovering a massive and unexpected conspiracy.

“Harriet”
Wed. Feb. 26: Showings at 3:30 and 8 p.m. Rated PG-13. Starring Cynthia Erivo, Leslie Odom Jr. and Joe Alwyn. The extraordinary tale of Harriet Tubman’s escape from slavery and transformation into one of America’s greatest heroes, whose courage, ingenuity, and tenacity freed hundreds of slaves and changed the course of history.

“Knives Out” – CANCELED
Rated PG-13. Starring Daniel Craig, Chris Evans and Ana de Armas. A detective investigates the death of a patriarch of an eccentric, combative family.

“Hustlers” – CANCELED
Rated PG-13. Starring Constance Wu, Jennifer Lopez and Julia Stiles. Inspired by the viral New York Magazine article, Hustlers follows a crew of savvy former strip club employees who band together to turn the tables on their Wall Street clients.

“Motherless Brooklyn”
Wed. Mar. 18: Showings at 3:30 and 8 p.m. Rated R. Starring Edward Norton, Gugu Mbatha-Raw and Alec Baldwin. In 1950s New York, a lonely private detective afflicted with Tourette’s Syndrome ventures to solve the murder of his mentor and only friend.

“Maleficent: Mistress of Evil”
Fri. Mar. 20 and Sat. Mar. 21: Showing at 7 p.m. Rated PG. Starring Angelina Jolie, Elle Fanning and Harris Dickinson. Maleficent and her goddaughter Aurora begin to question the complex family ties that bind them as they are pulled in different directions by impending nuptials, unexpected allies, and dark new forces at play.

“Parasite”
Wed. Mar. 25: Showings at 3:30 and 8 p.m. Rated PG. Starring Kang-ho Song, Sun-kyun Lee and Yeo-jeong Jo. All unemployed, Ki-taek and his family take peculiar interest in the wealthy and glamorous Parks, as they ingratiate themselves into their lives and get entangled in an unexpected incident.

“The Good Liar”
Fri. Mar. 27 and Sat. Mar. 28: Showing at 7 p.m. Rated R. Starring Helen Mirren, Ian McKellan and Russell Tovey. Consummate con man Roy Courtnay has set his sights on his latest mark: the recently widowed Betty McLeish, worth millions. But this time, what should have been a simple swindle escalates into a cat-and-mouse game with the ultimate stakes.

“A Beautiful Day in the Neighborhood”
Wed. Apr. 1: Showings at 3:30 and 8 p.m. Rated PG. Starring Tom Hanks, Matthew Rhys and Chris Cooper. Based on the true story of a real-life friendship between Fred Rogers and journalist Tom Junod.

“Joker”
Fri. Apr. 3 and Sat. Apr. 4: Showing at 7 p.m. Rated R. Starring Joaquin Phoenix, Robert De Niro and Zazie Beetz. In Gotham City, mentally troubled comedian Arthur Fleck is disregarded and mistreated by society. He then embarks on a downward spiral of revolution and bloody crime. This path brings him face-to-face with his alter-ego: the Joker.

“Queen and Slim”
Wed. Apr. 15: Showings at 3:30 and 8 p.m. Rated R. Starring Daniel Kaluuya, Jodie Turner-Smith and Bokeem Woodbine. A couple’s first date takes an unexpected turn when a police officer pulls them over.

“Terminator: Dark Fate”
Fri. Apr. 17 and Sat. Apr. 18: Showing at 7 p.m. Rated R. Starring Linda Hamilton, Arnold Schwarzenegger and Mackenzie Davis. An augmented human and Sarah Connor must stop an advanced liquid Terminator, from hunting down a young girl, whose fate is critical to the human race.

“Ford v Ferrari”
Wed. Apr. 22: Showings at 3:30 and 8 p.m. Rated R. Starring Matt Damon, Christian Bale and Jon Bernthal. American car designer Carroll Shelby and driver Ken Miles battle corporate interference, the laws of physics and their own personal demons to build a revolutionary race car for Ford and challenge Ferrari at the 24 Hours of Le Mans in 1966.

“Dr. Sleep”
Fri. Apr. 24 and Sat. Apr. 25: Showing at 7 p.m. Rated PG-13. Starring Ewan McGregor, Rebecca Ferguson and Kyleigh Curran. Years following the events of “The Shining,” a now-adult Dan Torrance must protect a young girl with similar powers from a cult known as The True Knot, who prey on children with powers to remain immortal.

“Jojo Rabbit”
Wed. Apr. 29: Showings at 3:30 and 8 p.m. Rated PG-13. Starring Roman Griffin Davis, Thomas McKenzie and Scarlett Johansson. A young boy in Hitler’s army finds out his mother is hiding a Jewish girl in their home.

“Star Wars: Episode IX – The Rise of Skywalker”
Fri. May 1 and Sat. May 2: Showing at 7 p.m. Rated PG-13. Starring Carrie Fisher, Mark Hamill and Adam Driver. The surviving members of the resistance face the First Order once again, and the legendary conflict between the Jedi and the Sith reaches its peak bringing the Skywalker saga to its end.

All synopses courtesy of IMDB.com

For additional information, please contact Seelos Box Office at 508-793-2455.

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Holy Cross Professor Introduces Annual Weemsy Awards in Effort to Shed Light on History Fails

Posted on January 22, 2020 by Holy Cross in the News

Ed O’Donnell, associate professor of history at Holy Cross, is seen here working on his podcast “In The Past Lane” at BirchTree Bread Company in Worcester. Photo by Tom Rettig

In an era of viral culture where the flood of misinformation can spread like wildfire, Ed O’Donnell, associate professor of history at College of the Holy Cross, tells the New Yorker in a recent article that it’s vital to call attention to “history hucksters who misrepresent history out of ignorance or as a means to advance themselves or their cause.”

Over the past few years, O’Donnell, along with other fellow “twitterstorians,” or historians with large followings on Twitter, has been bringing his expertise to the social media platform to rebut lies and historical misinformation. And this year he went one step further by creating the annual Weemsy Awards, highlighting “the biggest history fails of the year” by politicians, celebrities, executives and more.

The awards are named in honor of Mason Locke Weems — more commonly known as Parson Weems — an American author who wrote the famous 1800 biography of George Washington considered as the point of origin for many long-held myths about Washington, in particular the famous cherry tree anecdote.

Last year’s big winner was writer and political commentator, Dinesh D’Souza, for the multitude of demonstrably false claims about U.S. history he shared in 2019.

O’Donnell, a member of the Holy Cross class of 1986, is the author of several books, including “1001 Things Everyone Should Know About Irish-American History” (Broadway Books, 2002) and “Henry George and the Crisis of Inequality: Progress and Poverty in the Gilded Age” (Columbia University Press, June 2015). He also hosts a popular podcast, In The Past Lane, exploring various topics in U.S. history.

To read the full article, go to the NewYorker.com.

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‘Warm Room’ Series of Photographs by Peter A. Moriarty Depicting Historic Greenhouses on View at Cantor Art Gallery

Posted on January 21, 2020 by College of the Holy Cross

Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew Palm House, England

The Iris and B. Gerald Cantor Art Gallery at the College of the Holy Cross will present the work of photographer Peter A. Moriarty in the exhibition “Warm Room: Photographs from Historic Greenhouses” from January 22 through February 29. An opening reception, with remarks by the artist, will take place on January 23 from 5 – 7 p.m.

Moriarty began the project over twenty years ago when he visited Planting Fields Arboretum near his home on Long Island. Since then, greenhouses and gardens have been a focal point of Moriarty’s artistic and scholarly interests as he focused his camera on the architecture of the historic buildings, and the visual relationship of the plants housed within them, both in the United States and in Europe. From the “Palm House” of Kew Gardens in England to nearby Tower Hill Botanic Garden’s “Orangerie,” his evocative silver gelatin prints contrast structure with organic forms using the play of light and shadow.

In addition to “Warm Room,” photos from Moriarty’s “Light Shed” series of temporary or plastic greenhouses, and his experimental camera-less contact prints of plant forms, will also be on view.

Moriarty, who currently resides and maintains a studio in Clinton, Massachusetts, received an undergraduate degree in philosophy, with honors, from the University of New Hampshire, and a master of fine arts degree from the Rochester Institute of Technology. He is an emeritus professor of art from the Vermont State Colleges, and is a former senior teacher at the Trinity School in New York City.

His photographs have been exhibited throughout the United States and are in numerous collections, including the Addison Gallery of Art, Andover, Mass.; George Eastman House, Rochester, N.Y.; New York Botanical Garden, Bronx, N.Y.; Yale University Art Gallery, New Haven, Conn.; and the Worcester Art Museum. He is represented by BigTown Gallery in Rochester, Vt.

Moriarty, along with faculty scholars from the College’s departments of history and visual arts, will give lectures in conjunction with the exhibition. A catalogue is available for sale.

EVENTS

Opening Reception

Thursday, January 23

Cantor Art Gallery 5 – 7 p.m.

Opening remarks by the artist at 5:30 p.m.

Gallery Talk by artist Peter Moriarty

Thursday, February 20

Cantor Art Gallery, 4 p.m.

Lunchtime Talk Series

Wednesdays at 12 noon

Cantor Art Gallery

January 29

Peter Moriarty, Artist

A Teaching Portfolio from the History of Photographs

February 12

Amy D. Finstein, Assistant Professor, Department of Visual Arts, College of the Holy Cross

Of Green and Gardens

February 26

Sahar Bazzaz, Professor, History Department, College of the Holy Cross

Greenhouses as Colonial ‘Kunstkammer’: Plants, Science and Empire

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Please note: All screenings are cancelled until further notice.

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