Faculty Accomplishments – Page 11

Borthwick Marble Sculptures and Photographic Prints Exhibited in France

Associate Professor of Art Bradley Borthwick has an exhibition of sculptures and prints on display in Puyloubier, France titled une œuvre...un monument...ou plutôt, me voilà au travail. On view Sept. 14-Oct. 11, 2024, this exhibition presents a sequence of marble sculptures and a series of photographic prints that collectively reflect upon a one-year relocation to the south of France. In the spirit of the flaneur, an exploration of the Bouches-du-Rhône, the Var, and the Luberon has informed a body of work that brings landscape topographies, material indexes, and cultural ritual into sculptural and print format. A sense of obscurity experienced when living slightly outside the language and customs of a place finds its relevance within the creative process, forming choices made within both stone carving and the photographic record.

Green Photobook Forthcoming, Work to be Exhibited in Italy

Photographer and Professor of Art Gary Green will have his fourth photobook officially released at Paris Photo in November. Including over a dozen year's worth of work made in Central Maine, Almost Home describes the resilience of the natural world as it battles constant changes in the built environment. It is also a metaphoric telling of our own limited time on earth. Printed in tritone in Bologna, Italy, it is his third photobook with L'Artiere Editions. Green has also been invited to exhibit his work from After Morandi—a visual dialogue with the modernist painter Giorgio Morandi—at Casa Morandi, now a small museum in Italy, where the painter lived and worked. The exhibit will happen in October 2025 during Bologna's Foto Industria Festival.

Spark Article Titled “Look Out!” Published in the American Scholar

Debra Spark, the Zacamy Professor of English (Creative Writing), had her article titled "Look Out!" published in American Scholar, a publication of Phi Beta Kappa. Subtitled "Why did it take so long to protect spectators of America’s favorite pastime?" Spark chronicles the fiction writer Susan Perabo's relationship with baseball.

Hanlon Named a CCN Faculty Champion and Fellow to Promote Journalism Partnerships

Associate Professor of English Aaron Hanlon was recently named a Faculty Champion and Fellow by the Center for Community News at the University of Vermont to promote journalism partnerships between students and community news organizations. The program is a national initiative to support the people running local news reporting programs at U.S. colleges and universities across the country. Hanlon plans to build journalism development and recruitment components into his first-year writing course, identify professional journalists to help mentor students, and establish journalism pathways for interested students.

Falantin Participates in Radio France Podcast Promoting Forthcoming Book

Assistant Professor of French Studies Flavien Falantin appeared on the Radio France podcast Le Cours de l'histoire discussing a forthcoming book that he coedited with Céline Hromadova, Bonjour tristesse 1954-2024. The book is on the iconic French writer Françoise Sagan, best known for her debut novel Bonjour tristesse (Hello Sadness), which caused a sensation both in France and internationally when it was first published 70 years ago. The book celebrates this significant anniversary as well as the 20th anniversary of Sagan's passing. Falantin also discussed his last monograph, Faut-il brûler Sagan? [Must We Burn Sagan?], published in 2023. Radio France is akin to the BBC or NPR and holds an essential place in the French cultural landscape.

Taylor Essay on Simone and André Weil’s Relevance to Math Education Published in The Conversation

Professor of Mathematics Scott Taylor wrote an essay titled "The mystic and the mathematician: What the towering 20th-century thinkers Simone and André Weil can teach today’s math educators" published by the academic news organization The Conversation. "André achieved renown as a mathematician; Simone was a formidable philosopher and mystic. ... Both wrestled with the best way to teach math. Their insights and contradictions point to the fundamental role that mathematics and mathematics education play in human life and culture," Taylor wrote in his essay.

Sheehan Publishes Article on Jacob Lawrence in The Art Bulletin

Ellerton M. and Edith K. Jetté Professor of Art Tanya Sheehan has published a major research article on the 11 paintings that artist Jacob Lawrence created in 1949-50, when he was treated for anxiety and depression at Hillside Hospital in Queens. Her article, “'A Different Kind of Struggle': Jacob Lawrence’s Hospital Series and the Politics of Art as Therapy," appears in the June 2024 issue of The Art Bulletin, the College Art Association’s flagship journal, which features on its cover a painting from Lawrence’s Hospital series titled In the Garden (1950, North Carolina Museum of Art). At midcentury, critics praised the Hospital series for its similarities to the asylum art of Van Gogh and its apparent lack of interest in Black struggles. Sheehan’s reinterpretation of Lawrence’s work shows, however, that he had much to say about the social and psychological conditions of African Americans in picturing the hospital’s predominantly white patients. Entering into conversation with Hillside’s clinical practices, his paintings offer powerful statements about both the aesthetics and politics of art as therapy.

Mayrl Article Wins Distinguished Awards from Sociology Associations

Associate Professor of Sociology Damon Mayrl has won two awards for his article "The Funk of White Souls: Toward a Du Boisian Theory of the White Church," published in the journal Sociology of Religion in 2023. The honors include the Distinguished Article Award from the Association for the Sociology of Religion and the Distinguished Article Award from the American Sociological Association's Section on the Sociology of Religion.

Mayrl Coedits New Volume on Historical Sociology

Damon Mayrl, associate professor and chair of the Department of Sociology, co-edited a newly published volume titled After Positivism: New Approaches to Comparison in Historical Sociology. The books brings together a collection of essays attempting to rethink the purpose and possibilities of the comparative method in historical sociology. Mayrl and his coeditor were recent guests on the New Books Network podcast discussing the volume.

Gherwash Wins Martinson Innovation Award from SLAC-WPA

Ghada Gherwash, assistant professor of writing and director of the Farnham Writers' Center, has been honored with the 2024-25 Martinson Innovation Award from the Small Liberal Arts College-Writing Program Administrators. Chosen from an exceptionally competitive pool, Gherwash's initiative, “On Linguistic Justice in the Writing Center: A Genesis Story,” shows how "meaningful and sustainable linguistic justice efforts can grow from grassroots efforts to cross-campus conversations—fostering, in documented ways, a more inclusive learning environment," according to the SLAC-WPA press release.