Boston College Chronicle December 1, 2022

PUBLISHED BY THE BOSTON COLLEGE OFFICE OF UNIVERSITY COMMUNICATIONS

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Around Campus

New Chapter

BC Global

December events; Endeavor program will return to in-person format.

BC organization a pillar of support for underrepresented students considering STEM.

Middle East becomes a popular area of interest for student scholars.

PUBLISHED BY THE BOSTON COLLEGE OFFICE OF UNIVERSITY COMMUNICATIONS

Global Public Health and Common Good New Major

BY ED HAYWARD STAFF WRITER

Boston College will offer a new major in Global Public Health and the Common Good, adding to a popular program that counts more than 100 students enrolled in its minor or pursuing the degree independently.

Under the leadership of the program’s founding director, Professor of Biology Philip J. Landrigan, M.D., and administered by the Connell School of Nursing in partnership with the Schiller Institute for Integrated Science and Society, the major is expected to eventually enroll approximately 45 students, who must apply for acceptance into the highly competitive program.

The new major reflects Boston College’s

ongoing commitment to the sciences, one of the key priorities expressed in the University’s 2017 Strategic Plan.

The Global Public Health major joins the six-course public health minor that was launched in 2018 and now enrolls 110 students. There are currently 13 students pursuing an independent major in public health with approval from the Morrissey College of Arts and Sciences, Landrigan said.

“The excitement level is off the charts,” said Landrigan, a 1963 alumnus who returned to his alma mater to help advance early efforts to bring public health programming to students. “As far as I’m concerned, this is a dream come true. This is what many people—particularly [Vice Provost for Research and Academic Planning] Thomas

DECEMBER 1, 2022 VOL. 30 NO. 7

Chilling Out, Keeping Warm

Boston College held its traditional Christmas tree-lighting celebration Tuesday evening, with carol singing, hot chocolate, and a visit from Santa. See page 2 for other holiday-related campus events. photo by taylor morales

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Going Four-ward?

BC researchers aiding global study of four-day week pilot program

BY SEAN SMITH CHRONICLE EDITOR

Michael Davidson, S.J., and Yvonne McBarnett

photos by lee pellegrini and caitlin cunningham

New Leadership But Familiar Faces for BAIC and Montserrat Coalition

BY JACK DUNN ASSOCIATE VICE PRESIDENT FOR UNIVERSITY COMMUNICATIONS

Boston College has announced that two of its most popular and respected administrators will assume new roles in 2023, with Thea Bowman AHANA and Intercultural Center (BAIC) Director Michael David-

son, S.J., returning to University Mission and Ministry to serve as director of the Montserrat Coalition, and Montserrat Coalition Director Yvonne McBarnett returning to Student Affairs to become the new director of the BAIC. The changes, senior administrators said, will enable both directors to utilize

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Once viewed as an improbable facet of some distant future, the four-day week is becoming more of a reality in the contemporary workplace, and a pair of Boston College faculty members are involved in a landmark international study of this trend.

4 Day Week Global (4DWG)—a nonprofit established to provide a platform for supporters of the four-day week—began a world-wide pilot program earlier this year for companies and organizations that have adopted the model of four days’ work with no reduction in pay, or were interested in doing so. More than 100 companies in the United States, United Kingdom, Australia, Canada, and Ireland have taken part over a series of six-month trials. 4DWG offers the participating companies coaching and other assistance in setting up and running a four-day week.

BC Professor of Sociology Juliet Schor,

who serves on the 4DWG academic board, departmental colleague Associate Professor Wen Fan, and University College Dublin faculty member Orla Kelly, who holds a doctorate in sociology from BC, are assessing the results.

Released this week, the study’s most recent data—from the first and second trials, which involve nearly 33 companies—indicates a high level of satisfaction on the part of both employers and employees with the four-day week: Companies noted an improvement in productivity and growth in revenue; workers reported less stress and burnout, and an overall positive effect on mental and physical health.

Most significantly, when asked whether they would continue using the four-day model, “none of the companies answered ‘no’ or ‘likely no,’” according to Schor.

As a social economist whose research focuses on the intersection of work, consumption, and climate change—her

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Chronicle

December 1, 2022

Around Campus Holiday (and Other) Events Close Out Semester The festive season arrived on the Heights Tuesday evening, when University President William P. Leahy, S.J., officiated at the campus Christmas tree-lighting ceremony. In the coming weeks, Boston College will be host to concert performances, celebrations, and a holiday fair—in addition to Winter Wonderland, which makes its return for the first time in three years. Here’s a look at upcoming seasonal events, which are free unless otherwise indicated: •“Christmas on the Heights,” Trinity Chapel, Newton Campus December 2, 7:30 p.m.; December 3, 4 p.m. and 7:30 p.m.; December 4, 2 p.m.

A performance of seasonal music by the University Chorale of Boston College and the Boston College Symphony Orchestra, led by John Finney, chorale director and orchestra conductor. Tickets purchased in advance of each performance are required; student admission $5; general admission $12.50: bc.edu/tickets.

Information: bostoncollegechorale@gmail.com •McMullen Museum of Art Holiday Celebration, Brighton Campus December 3, noon to 4 p.m.

At its annual holiday celebration, the McMullen Museum will host festive activities for visitors including live music, hot chocolate and holiday treats, exhibition tours, games, and arts and crafts activities throughout the museum.

•“A Christmas Festival,” 300 Hammond Pond Parkway December 4, 3 p.m.

BC Bands presents performances by BC bOp!, the University Wind Ensemble, and the

Symphonic Band.

•“Music at St. Mary’s” Christmas Concert, St. Mary’s Chapel, Main Campus December 8, 5-6 p.m.

Members of the University Chorale of Boston College, directed by John Finney, will present music of the season.

•“Winter Wonderland,” Cadigan Alumni Center, Brighton Campus December 10, 10 a.m.-2 p.m.

The Boston College Alumni Association invites alumni, family, and friends to experience the magic of the holiday season at Winter Wonderland, with activities for all ages. Festivities will include appearances by Santa Claus and Mrs. Claus, interactive performances, visits with baby animals, train rides, and more. Attendees are encouraged to bring new, unwrapped toys for boys and girls ages six to 14, which will be donated to local children’s organizations. The cost is $15 for adults and children; free for children under age four. To register, go to the Alumni Events web page at bc.edu/alumni/ events.html. For questions, email bcaa@bc.edu.

•Holiday Craft Fair, Welch Dining Room, Lyons Hall, Main Campus December 10, noon-5 p.m.

Sponsored by the Arts Council, the fair will feature more than 30 student crafters who will sell a variety of handmade goods including: knit/crocheted items, artwork, jewelry, ceramics, clothing, holiday ornaments, and decorations.

The Heightsmen will perform at the beginning of the event.

Other Upcoming Events –Tonight: Gaelic Roots concert, Connolly

“Christmas on the Heights,” tomorrow and Saturday and Sunday in Trinity Chapel on Newton Campus.

photo by lee pellegrini

House, 6:30 p.m.

Traditional Irish music with Brenda Castles on concertina, joined by Alan Murray on guitar. Castles comes from a rich tradition of music in Co. Meath, has several All-Ireland Fleadh titles to her name, and was a finalist in one of the early Young Traditional Musician of the Year competitions. A native of Scotland, Murray is an accomplished performer and teacher who has become a fixture in Boston’s Celtic music community.

–December 2 and 3: Week of Dance, Robsham Theater Arts Center The culmination of BC’s annual Week of Dance: a two-night showcase of Boston College student dance teams performing a variety of styles. Shows are at 7:30 p.m. Tickets are $12:50; go to bc.edu/tickets.

–December 5: “Astaza,” Middle East Ensemble of Boston College, Gasson 100, 8 p.m.

Boston College students and guests perform music of the Middle East under the direction of

Nizar Fares.

–December 7: Middle Eastern Employees & Allies Affinity Group Holiday Community Gathering, noon-1 p.m., 2150 Commonwealth Avenue Room 109 In collaboration with the Office for Institutional Diversity, the Middle Eastern Employees and Allies (MEEA) affinity group invites University community members to a holiday gathering. MEEA is dedicated to “celebrating the diversity of BC’s campus, inspiring unity in the Middle Eastern community, inviting non-Middle Eastern employees to share in the life of our community, and educating the larger BC community about Middle Eastern culture and current events.”

RSVP by December 2 to rb.gy/yyek4r or by email to diversity@bc.edu.

For more information on these and other events, including Advent liturgies, see the University Calendar at events.bc.edu.

—Rosanne Pellegrini

BC’s Endeavor Program Returns with an In-Person Format in January Endeavor, Boston College’s annual career exploration program for sophomores and juniors with liberal arts or undecided majors, will return to an in-person format January 11-13, and feature a keynote address from Lyft executive Annelise Hagar Preciado ’14, M.A. ’15.

Hagar Preciado, program manager of central product management, will discuss her Boston College experience and how her liberal arts coursework benefitted her career.

Since graduating from BC with a bachelor’s degree in sociology and Hispanic Studies and a master’s degree in sociology, she has served with the AmeriCorps VISTA service program and worked in a variety of positions at Lyft.

In addition to Hagar Preciado, some 100 other alumni will speak and meet with the more than 250 undergraduates participating in the 2023 Endeavor program, introduced ASSOCIATE VICE PRESIDENT FOR UNIVERSITY COMMUNICATIONS

Jack Dunn

SENIOR DIRECTOR FOR UNIVERSITY COMMUNICATIONS

Patricia Delaney EDITOR

Sean Smith

Annelise Hagar Preciado

in 2016 by the Career Center to help students gain clarity about career options and learn how to connect the value of their liberal arts education to potential careers.

Over the course of three days, participants will reflect on their skills and interests during workshops, listen to panels of liberal arts alumni from diverse industries, practice

CONTRIBUTING STAFF

networking, and take a “career trek” to an organization in the Greater Boston area such as FTI Consulting, Education First, and CCS Fundraising.

“The Endeavor program is a truly unique opportunity for students to take a step back; think about their skills, interests, and values; and learn about and experience possibilities for their future,” said Julianne Smith, associate director of career education at the Career Center. “This year, we’ve received a recordsetting number of alumni volunteer applications, illustrating the strong drive that the BC community has to support current students after a challenging few years. Our hope is that students walk away from the program feeling more confident in themselves, the vast alumni community, and the skills they are building both in and outside of the classroom.”

Endeavor’s mission reflects a key facet of

Christine Balquist Phil Gloudemans Ed Hayward Rosanne Pellegrini Kathleen Sullivan

Chronicle

PHOTOGRAPHERS

www.bc.edu/bcnews chronicle@bc.edu

Caitlin Cunningham Lee Pellegrini

Boston College’s Strategic Plan, which calls for the University to foster an educational culture that promotes opportunities for students to integrate traditional liberal arts disciplines with professional preparation and vocational discernment.

“As a sophomore, Endeavor was my first time really thinking about what I want to do for a career, so I was really nervous going in,” said Haley Carey ’23, a past participant and a student leader for the 2023 program. “The Career Center staff does such a good job supporting the students; they really helped me gain a lot of confidence. After hearing about alumni experiences, I could visualize the career path that I wanted for my life a little bit better.”

For information about Endeavor 2023, see bc.edu/endeavor.

—Christine Balquist

The Boston College Chronicle (USPS 009491), the internal newspaper for faculty and staff, is published biweekly from September to May by Boston College, with editorial offices at the Office of University Communications, 3 Lake Street, Brighton, MA 02135 (617)552-3350.

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Chronicle

December 1, 2022

Adkins-Jones’ Research Bolstered by Two Awards “I’m exploring what else is pos-

BY KATHLEEN SULLIVAN STAFF WRITER

Assistant Professor of Theology and African and African Diaspora Studies Amey Victoria Adkins-Jones is the recipient of two awards in support of her research project, “See No Evil: Technology, Violence, and the Future of Black Being,” which considers how technology mediates a vision and experience of shared humanity and Black life.

Adkins-Jones, a theologian and Black studies scholar, is working on a monograph project that asks how seeing race is tied to racial belief, how anti-Blackness in the United States must be accounted for through not only technological advancement but also theological admonition, and how the legacies of racial formation and white supremacy of the American Christian theological project is critical to a broader intervention in Black study.

Her project has received support from the American Association of University Women, a nonpartisan, nonprofit organization that is one of the world’s oldest supporters of graduate women’s education.

Adkins-Jones, who was awarded an AAUW

sible when, in terms of injustice, seeing is not believing, and bearing witness is not enough to challenge the chokehold of death.”

—Amey Victoria Adkins-Jones

photo by lee pellegrini

American Postdoctoral Research Leave Fellowship, was one of 320 scholars and community projects that were recipients of an unprecedented $6 million in AAUW fellowships and grants for the 2022-2023 academic year.

Adkins-Jones is also a recipient of a Sabbatical Grant for Researchers from the

Louisville Institute. Funded by the Religion Division of Lilly Endowment, Louisville Institute awards grants and fellowships to those who lead and study North American religious institutions, practices, and movements, advancing scholarship to strengthen church, academy, and wider society. The grants assist research and writing projects that will advance religious and theological scholarship in ways that also address practical issues concerning Christian faith and life, pastoral leadership, and/or religious institutions.

“I’m extremely honored to find continued support for my work, especially for a project that considers the questions of Black life, joy, and possibility, despite a persistent climate of Black death in the United States,” said Adkins-Jones. “I’m thrilled to be working on a project that considers the questions of Black life, joy, and possibility, despite the anti-Blackness and racialized violence we continue to see in the United States. I’m exploring what else is possible when, in terms of injustice, seeing is not believing, and bearing witness is not enough to challenge the chokehold of death. This leave is a tremendous opportunity, and I’m excited for the ways this time will enhance my scholarship and teaching.”

Adkins-Jones’ scholarship is in Mariology, theological anthropology, and womanist and Black feminist thought. She specifically considers Black madonnas and iconography, human trafficking, the prison industrial complex, racial justice, visual culture, and artificial intelligence. She teaches both undergraduates and graduate students, her courses including Introduction to Christian Theology; Black Church, Black Protest; Christianity and Colonialism; and Womanist and Black Theologies.

McBarnett, Fr. Davidson Swap Leadership Positions

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their extensive experience and studentmentoring skills in a way that best assists BC students.

Haub Vice President for University Mission and Ministry Jack Butler, S.J., said the change in positions will allow Fr. Davidson to use his pastoral gifts as a Jesuit to serve Montserrat students.

“Fr. Michael began his career at Boston College as a campus minister who lived in BC residence halls before eventually moving to Student Affairs,” said Fr. Butler. “I am pleased that he will be returning to our division to lead the Montserrat Coalition, where he can help even more of our students to find the academic, social, and spiritual supports that will help enable their success.”

Founded in 2008, the Montserrat Coalition serves students with the highest levels of financial need, providing access to retreats, sporting and theater events, service programs, and independent study, while also aiding in their academic, social, and spiritual formation.

Vice President for Student Affairs Shawna Cooper Whitehead welcomed McBarnett back to Student Affairs where, she said, her leadership, vision, and mentoring skills will help her to lead the BAIC in its outreach to students. ”Yvonne began her career at BC working in the BAIC, and this transition will

This is the final edition of Chronicle for the fall 2022 semester. Chronicle will resume publication on January 19.

give her an opportunity to return to a center that is critically important to our students,” said Cooper Whitehead. “She has a wealth of experience and a unique ability to connect with people, particularly underrepresented and underserved students. She is an ideal fit for the BAIC.” The Bowman Center provides support for the University’s undergraduate community, with a particular focus on AHANA students and multicultural, multiracial, Options Through Education scholars. The center helps students to navigate the challenges of the college experience by offering programs that facilitate student identity formation and build community.

A member of the Northeast Province of the Society of Jesus and a native of Jamaica, Fr. Davidson came to Boston College in 2012 after serving as dean of students at St. George’s College in Kingston. He worked for six years in Campus Ministry before being named director of the BAIC in 2018.

During his four years as director of the Bowman Center, he earned a reputation as a strong student advocate and a resource for AHANA students looking to make the most of their BC experience.

“As the incoming director of the Montserrat Coalition, I am excited to once again focus on students, especially those who are from financially modest backgrounds,” said Fr. Davidson. “As a Jesuit, I am charged by the Gospel to find God in all things and all people and to give selflessly, especially to those living on the margins of society.

I intend to create a space where students are loved, celebrated, and their voices are heard—regardless of their demographic differences, and to continue fostering a community of care where students’ experi-

ences and expressions are valued and their sense of belonging is both actualized and celebrated.”

McBarnett, who received her undergraduate and graduate degrees from the Woods College of Advancing Studies, came to Boston College in 2002 and worked as an administrative assistant in the BAIC before being named counselor and then BAIC program administrator. She was appointed program manager of the Montserrat Coalition in 2015 and director in 2018.

As leader of Montserrat, she was praised by students for being a caring advocate and mentor who was readily accessible to stu-

dents in need.

“I am honored and humbled by this appointment, and look forward to transitioning into my new role as the director of the Thea Bowman AHANA and Intercultural Center,” said McBarnett. “One of my goals will be to work on eliminating perceived barriers, so that the students can pursue their spiritual, social, and intellectual development here at Boston College. I am excited for the opportunity to continue on the journey of helping students and building bridges with my campus partners across the University.”

Athletics Again Among Academic Leaders Boston College Athletics once again ranks among the nation’s academic elite, according to the latest NCAA Graduation Success Rate (GSR) figures. BC is tied for fifth in the nation in overall GSR— developed by the NCAA to more accurately assess the academic success of student-athletes as part of its academic reform initiatives—in all sports among Football Bowl Subdivision (FBS) schools.

BC boasted an overall GSR of 96 for the class of student-athletes that entered the University in 2015, which was tied for fourth among the 10 conferences and independents that comprise the FBS. Boston College’s GSR rank tied for third in the Atlantic Coast Conference, behind only Duke (98) and Notre Dame (97). The NCAA average GSR was 90 percent.

BC football ranked first in the ACC with a 97 GSR, five points higher than last year and 17 points above the Division I average (80) while women’s basketball’s perfect GSR also led the ACC and was seven points higher than the national mark (93).

Among all FBS conferences, the ACC has the highest overall average GSR and the highest score in football, women’s basketball, and men’s basketball. Twentytwo of Boston College’s 24 athletic programs scored a GSR of 90 or better.

Since the GSR’s inception, Boston College has earned a mark of 94 or better in all 17 GSR reports, which date back to the class of student-athletes that entered in 1998.

More information about the GSR is available at NCAA.org.

—Boston College Athletics

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December 1, 2022

Major Continued from page 1

Chiles and the late Alberto Godenzi”—who was associate vice president for global engagement and BC School of Social Work dean—“have been talking about since 2014.

The first steps began before I got here and we have taken it in stages since.”

While BCSSW dean, Godenzi advocated for a range of programs to expand BC’s global reach. Chiles, who is also the DeLuca Professor of Biology, began discussing the program with Landrigan in 2014, Landrigan said.

Connell School Dean Katherine Gregory said the school is uniquely suited to support students in the new major, particularly in the service-learning aspects of their study. CSON has extensive partnerships with a diverse group of clinical organizations, from large teaching hospitals to community health centers and schoolbased clinics, to clinical locations around the world.

“We are thrilled to welcome this new academic program to the Connell School, and help position it for success in collaboration with the Schiller Institute,” Gregory said. “We are confident that this program will be successful as a result of the strengths of our faculty, not only in the Connell School where we have many faculty who have long taught in the program and are passionate about public health, but also from across the University.”

The Schiller Institute, with a focus on areas of health, energy, and the environ-

At left, Philip Landrigan with undergraduates pursuing Global Public Health and the Common Good as an independent major: (L-R) Ella Whitman ’23, Michael Britt ’23, Naomi Alter ’23, and Sebastian Cota ’24; above center, Katherine Gregory; at right, Laura Steinberg. photos by lee pellegrini and marilyn hesler

ment, will help administer the new major.

Schiller Institute Seidner Family Executive Director Laura Steinberg anticipates complementing course offerings with the institute’s speaker series, student research grants, and student-driven events in such areas as environmental justice and global equity.

“The Schiller Institute was conceived as a home for interdisciplinary curricular programs at BC, especially those related to health, climate change, and data science,” said Steinberg. “We see a great deal of synergy between the institute’s current work and the focus of the Global Public Health and the Common Good major.”

Students in the major will take 12 courses for 36 credits for their degree, Landrigan said. Classes include public

health-focused offers on epidemiology, biostatistics and data analysis, ethics, law, and health inequities. Each student will complete a senior capstone project, which could take the form of a traditional thesis, or a service project supporting an organization with a public health focus, he said.

The program joins a growing list of undergraduate majors in a discipline that was previously the province of graduate students, Landrigan said. At BC, there has been strong student interest in public health courses since the development of the first three-course sequence, which was designed by professors from BCSSW, the Connell School, and the Lynch School of Education and Human Development.

The major differentiates itself, Landrigan said, through its emphasis on social

justice and the “preferential option for the poor,” a commitment to individuals living on the margins of society first exhorted by then-Jesuit Superior General Pedro Arrupe, S.J., in 1968.

“Like every other good public health program, we work very hard to teach our students the technical aspects of public health: epidemiology, biostatistics, and those courses,” said Landrigan, who has devoted much of his career to pediatric epidemiology. “What sets us apart is the very explicit emphasis on the social dimension of public health and the strong commitment to public service in our students. The study of public health involves learning how health and disease exist in communities and then taking that knowledge and translating it to advance the common good.”

Organization Seeks to Promote Diversity in STEM Fields

BY MEGHAN KEEFE SPECIAL TO THE CHRONICLE

Ten Boston College students attended the recent National Diversity in STEM (NDiSTEM) Conference in San Juan, Puerto Rico, where they presented their research findings and networked with mentors in their desired science fields—an accomplishment made possible by the establishment of a Boston College chapter of the Society for Advancement of Chicanos/ Hispanics and Native Americans in Science (SACNAS).

“I like to think we’re [Boston College’s] best kept secret,” said Cristina Cusmai ’24, a Montlclair, NJ, native who is chapter president.

Cusmai expressed pride in being part of a group that enables students to “bring their full selves” into scientific research. As one of the passionate undergraduates present at the NDiSTEM conference, Cusmai was impressed by its foundation of cultural diversity intermeshed with scientific discovery. “Many people were in full traditional dress,” she said, and SACNAS recruiters “held this in such high value.”

Much of SACNAS’s mission revolves around preparing underserved populations and their allies for their careers in STEM. Whether through resume workshops, instructions on how to approach STEM faculty with questions, or the BC chapter’s

own “Declassified Guide to Research,” SACNAS strives to aid students—whatever their level of knowledge—in advancement in the sciences.

The chapter’s advisor, Biology Department Associate Director Dina Goodfriend, has seen it through every stage of its establishment. The road was rocky, she noted: Creating a SACNAS chapter at Boston College entailed making clear that the society was more than just a “science club” and that allies are invited to participate as well.

“We had to act as a sort of ghost organization,” laughed Goodfriend as she recounted the early days of the chapter in 2019, “but I saw a space in BC that was vacant and needed to be fulfilled.” She emphasized to prospective students that joining SACNAS is an “impactful act for your future and your career.”

Cusmai joined SACNAS as a freshman, at a time when the COVID-19 pandemic had a considerable impact on campus activities: There were no in-person meetings and any events were held on Zoom. To see the organization grow into what it is today is extraordinary, she said, noting that the chapter’s first general interest meeting of the academic year drew 60 people.

She also pointed to the many events that SACNAS has organized with the help of STEM faculty, where students are encouraged to talk with professors in a more relaxed setting about their research and

Members of the Boston College chapter of the Society for Advancement of Chicanos/Hispanics and Native Americans in Science (SACNAS) at the National Diversity in STEM Conference in Puerto Rico.

how to get started in a lab. These unique gatherings set SACNAS apart as an organization that meets students where they are and equips them with the skills they need to break into the world of science, according to Cusmai.

Goodfriend and Professor and Biology Chair Welkin Johnson agree that faculty involvement in SACNAS events and students’ willingness to enter into conversations surrounding research and inclusivity

within STEM have been a boon for the BC chapter.

“There’s momentum here,” said Johnson of the multitude of possibilities available for SACNAS members. To the students and faculty who are interested in joining or supporting the chapter, he added, the organization has one message: “The doors are wide open.”

Meghan Keefe is a junior in the Morrissey College of Arts and Sciences

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Chronicle

December 1, 2022

A Four-Day Week? BC Researchers Say It Can Work.

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publications include the 1992 book The Overworked American: The Unexpected Decline of Leisure—Schor sees 4DWG as helping to challenge long-held assumptions and beliefs about work/life balance and productivity.

Schor recounted an anecdote from an interview with someone in customer service at a company in the first 4DWG trial.

“When my interviewee told her biggest client that she would no longer be working on Fridays, the response she got was ‘Good for you!’ I think that’s emblematic of how people have changed their thinking about the nature of work; we’re at a point where the three-day weekend is now seen as more reasonable.”

Schor and Fan’s team is leading the global data collection, and collaborating with local researchers in each country, gathering information from employees through surveys and interviews, while companies supply administrative data. They are analyzing changes pre- and post-trial, as well as across countries and companies, employee demographics, and job types.

“Perhaps the most surprising finding so far,” said Fan, “is that there is no surprise, which is not typically the case in academic research. Usually, we would get some hypotheses supported while others refuted, but for this project, basically everything we expect to move moves, and in the anticipated direction. Hours reduced, well-being improved, and key organizational bottomlines sustained—all of these happened without the need for workers to intensify their work demands. I think this is an ideal example demonstrating how powerful wellconceived work redesign efforts can make an impactful difference in the real world.”

Sociologists Juliet Schor, left, and Wen Fan are assisting the 4 Day Week Global project. photos by lee pellegrini

Schor and Fan said the main reason employees have maintained productivity in the four-day week is that companies have decreased or cut activities with questionable or low value in the day-in, week-out operation. Meetings—a traditional source of complaints among employees and managers alike—have been a major target in this reorganization, with personnel turning to phone calls, messaging apps, or other means of communication.

The other key to increased productivity, they noted, is that four-day week employees tend to use their third day off for doctor’s appointments or other personal errands that they would otherwise try to cram into a workday. Employees also reported devoting the extra day off to hobbies and leisure activities, household work,

and personal grooming, all of which often contribute to good mental health and general life satisfaction.

The four-day week’s tangible benefits for employers, Schor and Fan added, include lower employee health care costs, less employee turnover, and an asset for recruiting new workers.

“Not losing highly trained individuals, in fields like health care or teaching, to stress and burnout is certainly a worthwhile goal,” said Schor, “and at a time when we’ve seen many employers struggle to fill positions, the four-day week can be touted as a benefit.”

The four-day week concept predates 4DWG, and the project itself was launched in 2018, but Schor and Fan agree that the COVID-19 pandemic—

which shuttered many workplaces and led to an uptick in remote work—undoubtedly was a critical if unplanned factor in putting the program in operation.

“This would’ve been a difficult sell preCOVID—it would’ve struck a lot of people as pie-in-the-sky, and not feasible for companies,” said Schor. “But the pandemic created such levels of stress and burnout, and led many employees to say, ‘I want to live my life differently,’ and this created more of a space for reimagining work— and, as part of that, the four-day week.”

For all that, Fan said, the “traditional” 40-hour, in-office model of work is still deeply entrenched in many societies. “Social change is always difficult, especially when it comes to challenging the deepseated institutional logics dictating how, when, and where we work. Let’s hope we don’t waste the crisis of COVID in terms of the profound workplace innovations it has precipitated.”

Schor noted that workplaces that have been sped up—such as in manufacturing, where workers are typically paid by the hour—will have difficulty with a four-day week “since it’s harder for them to squeeze out inefficient time.” However, over time, as the new schedule is normalized, they will gain by making the switch.

“What companies need to understand is, you don’t focus on individual productivity, but rather the overall organization.

Employers who went to remote work during COVID recognized that they could trust their people to do the work, and that’s what we’re saying here, too.”

For more about 4 Day Week Global, see www.4dayweek.com

Teacher Education Expert Assumes Brennan Chair

BY PHIL GLOUDEMANS STAFF WRITER

A. Lin Goodwin, a globally renowned teacher-education expert, and the former dean of the Faculty of Education at the University of Hong Kong, joined the Lynch School of Education and Human Development as the Thomas More Brennan Chair in Education, established in 2002 to promote social justice and connect theory and practice in education.

Goodwin, who previously served as the Evenden Professor of Education and vice dean at Columbia University’s Teachers College, assumes the endowed position held by inaugural Brennan Professor Andrew Hargreaves until his retirement in 2018.

Goodwin’s research focuses on teacher/ teacher educator beliefs, identities, and development; equitable education and powerful teaching for immigrant and minoritized youth; international analyses and comparisons of teacher education practice and policy; and the experiences of Asian/ Asian American teachers and students in American schools. Her work has appeared in leading education journals, including

A. Lin Goodwin

the International Journal of Educational Research, the Journal of Teacher Education, Teachers College Record, and Urban Education. A frequent international consultant, Goodwin has advised educators in Brazil, China, Japan, Jordan, Latvia, Poland, Russia, Singapore, and Thailand.

“We are thrilled to have Lin Goodwin join our faculty,” said Stanton E.F. Wortham, the Charles F. Donovan, S.J., Dean of the Lynch School. “She has collaborated with elite scholars and institu-

tions around the world, and her accomplishments are recognized by researchers, practitioners, and policymakers in many countries. She brings deep experience as a scholar, teacher, and administrator, and her work speaks directly to the BC mission of expanding opportunities for young people to build fulfilling lives.”

She is a former vice president of the American Educational Research Association (AERA) Division K: Teaching and Teacher Education. In 2015, Goodwin was honored as a Distinguished Researcher by AERA’s Special Interest Group: Research on the Education of Asian and Pacific Americans, and she was named the inaugural Dr. Ruth Wong Professor of Teacher Education by Singapore’s National Institute of Education.

Goodwin earned doctoral and master’s degrees in education and a master of arts degree at Teachers College, and a bachelor of science degree cum laude at Central Connecticut State University. A Singapore native, she was the first in her family to attend college, the only Asian American female vice dean at Teachers College, and the only female dean during her five years at the University of Hong Kong.

She is the author or co-author, and editor or co-editor of 10 books on teacher education, including the most recent, Empowered Educators: How High-Performing Systems Shape Teaching Quality Around the World, with Linda Darling-Hammond and others; and Empowered Educators in Singapore: How High-Performing Systems Shape Teaching Quality, with E.L. Low and Darling-Hammond.

In fall 2019, Goodwin served as a presenter at the Lynch School Dean’s Office Faculty Speaker Series, which hosts leading scholars from across the country to discuss their research on current education topics.

Her remarks were titled “Becoming Social Justice Teacher Educators: What Kind of Knowing (and Doing) Is Needed?”

“I’m honored to join the Lynch School, a community of exemplary education scholars whom I have long admired and whose work has shaped and informed my own,” said Goodwin earlier this fall. “I’m drawn to the BC tradition of ethical care, and advocacy for justice and the common good. I look forward to many intellectually challenging years with students and colleagues as we work together toward a more loving, equitable and just society.”

6

Chronicle

December 1, 2022

Bloomsday Comes in November for BC’s James Joyce Enthusiasts

BY SEAN SMITH CHRONICLE EDITOR

Befitting a university with a distinguished Irish heritage and a leading Irish Studies program, Boston College has become a wellspring for James Joyce’s Ulysses, acclaimed as one of the 20th century’s greatest works, and one of the most challenging.

In 2007, BC was the setting for the first very Boston-based Bloomsday, an international celebration of Ulysses held every June 16, the date on which the book’s events occur. BC subsequently shifted its Bloomsday festivities to April, so as to incorporate them into the academic year.

This year, BC observed Bloomsday on November 10-11, thanks to undergraduates in the class on Ulysses taught by Joyce scholar Joseph Nugent, a professor of the practice in the English Department and Irish Studies faculty member. The students organized a moveable feast-like marathon reading of the book (an activity at many Bloomsday celebrations) at 18 locations across campus and even beyond, including Connolly House and the Chestnut Hill Reservoir; outside Corcoran Commons and 2150 Commonwealth Avenue; and in The Heights office, the Eagle’s Nest, and the Chocolate Bar—sites corresponding with locations in Dublin, where the novel’s events take place.

They also assembled a related website [kmriatour.wordpress.com] on which they planned to post a complementary podcast and movie, among other additions, and worked on individual Ulysses-oriented projects. “@BCBloomsday” began a little after 8 a.m. on November 10 in Connolly House and ended at about 1 p.m. the next day in the English Department conference room in Stokes Hall, as Nugent, Cyrus Rosen ’25, Eileen Flynn ’23, and Grace McPhee ’23 took turns reading the concluding chapter, “Penelope,” its nearly 4,000-word

final sentence ending with the rapturous “yes I said yes I will Yes.” Nugent has been a force for exploring new dimensions of Ulysses and other Irish literature through modern technology.

Working with students over the years, he has adapted Ulysses as an immersive virtual reality 3D game, “Joycestick,” and created a multi-media tour inspired by the book depicting Dublin in 1922, the year Ulysses was published. He’s by no means surprised by what the students can do, but he’s entirely grateful for it.

“It never fails to blow me away how interested they are in Ulysses—the class always fills up—and how enthusiastically they take on such a complex, demanding book,” said Nugent, noting that Rosen, an engineering major from Wilmington, Del., is using the DALL-E 2 artificial intelligence system to produce images for Ulysses based on specific passages from the book (“They’re not precise,” said Rosen, “but I think they capture the emotion in the text”).

“It’s not a novel that you just pick up; you have to live the book. It takes over your brain, and that’s what Joyce wanted from it.”

—Nina Khaghany ’24

Written by Joyce as a parallel to Homer’s Odyssey, Ulysses has been hailed for its inventive technique, structure, and language, particularly its use of stream-of-consciousness. These qualities, plus a length of more than 700 pages, also make for a formidable read, as even its biggest fans

BC Scenes

Veterans Day Remembrance PHOTOS BY LEE PELLEGRINI The University’s annual Veterans Day Remembrance Ceremony included a talk by retired Colonel April D. Skou ’96, in photo at far right, whose daughter peered around her mother’s shoulder to watch the posting of the color guard.

BC Bloomsday celebrants—some sporting James Joyce-style bowler and mustache—took turns reading Ulysses during a stop in Stokes Hall. At left are English and Irish Studies faculty member Joseph Nugent and Nina Khaghany ’24, who organized the event. photo by guy beiner

acknowledge. Yet despite—or perhaps because of—its imposing reputation, Ulysses occasionally enters the pop culture realm: A recent episode of the AMC series “Kevin Can [Expletive] Himself” included a scene in which a character tries to read the book; after a few seconds, clearly bewildered, she exclaims, “What? WHAT?” None of this deterred Nina Khaghany ’24, an English and classical studies major from West Bloomfield, Mich., from taking Nugent’s class, or wanting to organize the marathon reading—something her mother had participated in as an English major herself.

“The book is meant to be read aloud and, especially after our marathon reading, I am so grateful that we did so,” she said.

“Reading it alone and silently really doesn’t do it justice. I wanted to do the marathon reading to mimic the Bloomsday tradition, and moving around campus and involving the students and faculty at BC made our project just so much more important to the study of this amazing work.”

Still, Bloomsday—like most marathons—was a feat of endurance. The reading of the “Circe” chapter, which lasted from roughly 2-4:30 a.m., was “tough,” said Khaghany: “Our delirium matched

well with the intoxicated thoughts of Stephen Dedalus and Leopold Bloom,” the book’s major characters.

Reading Ulysses is no small task, Khaghany and McPhee readily admit, and trying to interest friends and acquaintances in it is an equally tall order.

“There are large portions that are drawn out and hard to get through,” said McPhee, “and then there will be one sentence where you’re just floored. Some of my friends asked about the book and I said, ‘How can you not know what Ulysses is?’ So I read a couple of passages from the ‘Calypso’ chapter to them, and they said ‘Wow.’” “It’s not a novel that you just pick up; you have to live the book,” said Khaghany.

“It takes over your brain, and that’s what Joyce wanted from it. Think as if you are Stephen Dedalus and Leopold Bloom; put yourself in someone else’s life and you will take away from it more than you know about yourself.”

Khaghany praised Nugent for inspiring her and her fellow students to see literature in a new light. “The study of English doesn’t need to be so strict—you know, stay in the library and read. There is so much you can do with books if you change the way you want to learn through them.”

7

Chronicle

December 1, 2022

Landrigan to Receive Gold Honor Medal from NISS

BY ED HAYWARD STAFF WRITER

For his work to improve public health in the United States and around the world, Professor of Biology and founding Director of the Program for Global Public Health and the Common Good Philip J. Landrigan, M.D., ’63, will receive the Gold Honor Medal from the National Institute of Social Sciences next Tuesday.

Landrigan, who also directs BC’s Global Observatory on Planetary Health, will be honored along with Hunter College President Jennifer J. Raab, and astrophysicist Neil deGrasse Tyson, director of the Hayden Planetarium of the American Museum of Natural History, as “individuals who have made the highest contribution to the improvement of society” at the institute’s annual Gold Medal Gala.

“I am deeply honored to receive the National Institute of Social Sciences Gold Honor Medal,” he said. “But public health is never the work of one person. It is the work of teams of selfless and incredibly dedicated people who commit their entire lives to the preferential option for the poor.

I accept this medal on behalf of all the many friends and good colleagues with whom I have worked in public health for over 50 years.”

A pediatrician, public health physician, and epidemiologist recognized as one of the world’s leading advocates of children’s environmental health, Landrigan uses the tools of epidemiology to find the connections between toxic chemicals and human health, especially the health of infants and children.

He is particularly interested in understanding how toxic chemicals injure the developing brains and nervous systems of children

More CASE Honors for University After a strong performance in the Council for Advancement and Support of Education (CASE) Circle of Excellence Awards earlier this year, Boston College Magazine and two BC Office of University Communications-produced videos enjoyed similar success in the recent CASE District 1 Awards.

BCM, the University’s alumni magazine—also produced by University Communications—was one of two publications to be recognized as Best Magazine, one of six to be awarded for overall design, and the only magazine to have two stories selected in the category of news features of 1,000 or more words (“Boston College Celebrates 50 Years of Co-Education” and “Freedom Fighters”).

The two videos were “That BC Feeling,” which captured the spirit of the BC community despite the challenges of COVID-19, and “Keeping the Faith,” a profile of Eagles

pitcher Samrath Singh ’22, believed to be the first observant Sikh to ever play Division 1 baseball.

BC Law magazine, published by the BC Law School, and University Advancement’s “Discovery Expeditions: Innovation in Values-driven Board Engagement” volunteer engagement program were also recognized

by CASE District 1.

The premier recognition program for educational advancement, CASE awards showcase outstanding work in advancement services, alumni relations, communications, fundraising, and marketing. The CASE District 1 encompasses colleges and universities in the North Atlantic region.

—University Communications Find out more about BC’s winning entries in the CASE Circle of Excellence Awards at bit. ly/CASE-circle-of-excellence-2022

Philip Landrigan photo by caitlin cunningham

and in translating this knowledge into public policy to protect health. He is a member of the National Academy of Medicine.

Landrigan’s early studies of lead poisoning conducted in collaboration with his colleague the late Herbert L. Needleman, M.D., demonstrated that lead is toxic to children even at very low levels and contributed to the U.S. government’s decision to remove lead from paint and gasoline, actions that reduced population mean blood lead levels in the U.S. by more than 90 percent.

As a teacher, Landrigan said he tries to share with students the rewards of deeply challenging research and policy work and the opportunities to help improve the lives of others.

“Public health is an extraordinary vocation,” Landrigan said. “It is intellectually deeply satisfying because it uses state-ofthe-art science to discover the root causes of health and disease and to devise strategies for health promotion and disease prevention. But public health is also good for the soul. It is rooted in a philosophy of social justice, and one of its main goals is to end— or at least lessen—the sharp disparities in

Nota Bene Sociology Professor and Chair Andrew Jorgenson has been appointed by the United States Secretary of Health and Human Services to serve on the National Advisory Environmental Health Sciences Council. The council is a congressionally mandated body that advises the Health and Human Services secretary, director of the National Institutes of Health, and director of the National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences on matters relating to the direction of research, research support, training, and career development supported by NIEHS. Jorgensen’s term runs for three years.

Professor of Physics David Broido and Schiller Institute for Integrated Science and Society Professor of Global Sustainability Hanqin Tian have been named among 2022’s Highly Cited Researchers by the analytics firm Clarivate. The list recognizes research scientists and social scientists who have demonstrated exceptional influence—reflected through their

health that separate white from Black, rich from poor, and mainstream from marginalized. This is the gist of what I try to convey to my students.”

A study Landrigan led in the 1990s at the National Academy of Sciences defined children’s unique susceptibilities to pesticides and other toxic chemicals, catalyzed fundamental revamping of U.S. pesticide policy, and led to passage of the Food Quality Protection Act, the only federal environmental statute containing explicit provisions to protect children’s health.

In his prior position as a professor and physician at the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai in New York City, Landrigan was involved in the medical and epidemiologic follow-up of 20,000 9/11 rescue workers. His studies documented that more than 40 percent of these men and women have persistent abnormalities of pulmonary function and that approximately 15 percent have mental health problems related to their service.

From 2015 to 2017, he co-chaired the Lancet Commission on Pollution & Health, which reported that pollution causes nine million deaths annually and is an existential threat to planetary health. To continue the work of the Lancet Commission, Landrigan launched the Global Observatory on Planetary Health shortly after joining the BC faculty in 2019.

One of the nation’s oldest honorary societies, the National Institute of Social Sciences has presented Gold Medals each year since 1913 to men and women whose lives have manifested the highest achievements and who have made significant contributions to society and to humanity. Recent honorees include diplomat Madeleine Albright, historian Henry Louis Gates Jr., physician Paul Farmer, M.D., Surgeon General C. Everett Koop, M.D., economist John Kenneth Galbraith, author Ron Chernow, economist Paul Krugman, and Olympian Michelle Kwan.

Jobs publication of multiple papers frequently cited by their peers during the last decade, according to the company. The preliminary list is drawn from the highly cited papers that rank in the top one percent by citations for field and publication year in the Web of Science citation index over the past decade. This year, 7,225 researcher awards from 69 countries and regions were recognized: 3,981 in specific fields and 3,244—including Broido and Tian—for cross-field impact, according to Clarivate.

The Asian Studies Program and the Eastern, Slavic, and German Studies Department sponsored the 21st annual Japanese Speech Presentation on November 12 in Higgins Hall, in cooperation with Consul General of Japan Kotaro Suzuki, who was the keynote speaker. Students and faculty members from Boston College as well as other institutions, including Harvard, Tufts and Wellesley, made presentations.

The following are among the recent positions posted by the Department of Human Resources. For more information on employment opportunities at Boston College, see www.bc.edu/jobs or scan the QR code at right.

Admission Associate Staff Psychologist or Staff Clinician Associate Director, Academy Admissions, Pine Manor Institute for Student Success Director, Institutional Planning

Content Development Specialist

Senior Events Specialist

Assistant Supervisor, Plumbing Operations

Associate Director, Initiative on Land & Housing Property Rights

Supervisor, Audio & Event Services

Staff Nurse

Production Manager

Director, Cleanroom Facility

Resident Director

Associate Director, First Year Experience Administrative Assistant, Law School

Summer Housing & Transitions Assistant

Associate University Librarian

Software Release Analyst

Senior Network Systems Engineer

Public Safety Dispatcher

8

Chronicle

December 1, 2022

BC Global

Fellowships, Grants Aid Students’ Middle East Research

BY PHIL GLOUDEMANS STAFF WRITER

For Boston College students like Morrissey College of Arts and Sciences doctoral candidate Tyler Parker and Lynch School of Education and Human Development sophomore Faith Drescher, the Middle East is a locus for researching compelling historical, political, and social issues—and the availability of grants and fellowships through BC and elsewhere are enabling them to go right to the source.

Parker, whose area of interest is international politics, journeyed to Qatar and the United Arab Emirates (UAE) last summer to work on his dissertation on why the six Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) member states—Qatar, UAE, Bahrain, Kuwait, Oman, and Saudi Arabia—have materially and rhetorically supported United States foreign policy plans in the Middle East and North Africa since the 1990s.

Drescher, a student in the Gabelli Presidential Scholars Program, conducted research on Arab mental health during her two weeks last July in the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan, located at the crossroads of Asia, Africa, and Europe.

The pair were recipients of Omar A. Aggad Travel and Research Fellowships, a program established in 2017 by Tarek O. Aggad, executive director of the Aggad Investment Company, chair of the Arab Palestinian Investment Company, and the father of a Boston College alumnus, to support undergraduate and graduate study in the Middle East, with the express purpose of addressing misunderstandings about the region and its people.

Parker and Drescher shared their experiences as part of a student panel on Middle East study and research on Tuesday at Hovey House, an event co-hosted by the Office of Global Education and the Islamic Civilization & Societies Program. Isabella Nassar, a Morrissey College senior studying this semester at the American University of Sharjah, UAE, participated in the event remotely.

BC study-abroad administrators and students who have gone to the Middle East recently reflected on the importance of Aggad Fellowships, as well as other sources of support for international research: BC’s Mizna Fellowship Fund, established through a generous alumnus gift to create opportunities for undergraduate research, language study, internships, and service-learning initiatives throughout the Islamic world; federally funded Boren Awards that subsidize undergraduate study-abroad scholarships and graduate research fellowships in regions critical to U.S. interests; and the U.S. Department of State Critical Language Scholarship Program, which offers approximately 600 undergraduate or graduate students the opportunity to participate in an intensive language study abroad.

“Faith and Tyler’s Middle East research admirably represents the purpose and spirit of the Omar Aggad Fellowships,” said Kath-

Faith Drescher ’25 and doctoral student Tyler Parker pursued research projects in the Middle East through the Omar A. Aggad Travel and Research Fellowship program. photo by lee pellegrini

leen T. Bailey, a professor of the practice in political science, and director of the Islamic Civilization & Societies Program. “The fact that students are expected to spend time in the Middle East to conduct deep research, derived from conversations with local experts and citizens, is an invaluable aspect of the grants.”

That is what Aggad had in mind when he made the gift establishing the fellowship program named for his late father, which has underwritten the investigations and study abroad for nearly 30 BC students since 2016. Aggad, who along with his wife Shirine are members of the BC Board of Regents, was particularly interested in helping students understand the long-running Palestinian-Israeli conflict, and supporting research and activities designed to promote peace in the region.

“There are significant misconceptions in the U.S. about Arabs and Muslims, so encouraging students to travel to countries in the region will hopefully change this, one small step at a time,” said Aggad in announcing the gift. “Nothing is more valuable than highlighting commonalities between the people of this world.”

Available to undergraduates and gradu-

Snapshot

Multifaith Thanksgiving PHOTO BY CAITLIN CUNNINGHAM

Boston College held its annual Multifaith Thanksgiving Celebration on November 17 in the Heights Room of Corcoran Commons, hosted by Campus Ministry, with musical performances by the Liturgy Arts Group and the School of Theology and Ministry Liturgical Choir. Elizabeth Moukit ’23, at center in photo, was among those who gave a reading at the event, the theme of which was “For this, too, I am grateful.”

ate students, Aggad Fellowships provide funds for summer or winter-break travel in the Middle East for research, language study, and skill acquisition. Freshman and sophomore project proposals are judged on whether they deepen knowledge in a given field related to Middle Eastern and Islamic Studies; proposals from juniors and seniors are designed to contribute to a thesis project, and can be used to gather data, conduct interviews, and for archival research.

Proposals with a language component are preferred.

Parker said his findings show that GCC governments have varied considerably in their backing of specific U.S. strategies over the last three decades, though he emphasized they are “strategic partners of the U.S. whose cooperation is often essential to the formation and functioning of American foreign policy initiatives.

“I was fortunate to receive the Aggad Fellowship,” he added. “Travel through the Aggad grant helped me conduct interviews through which I gained invaluable insights for my Qatar and UAE chapters.”

Drescher, whose research is titled “A Mental Health Study in Jordan: Come So Far, Yet So Far to Go,” said, “Jordan has

long maintained its central role in Middle East geopolitics, and regional conflicts have significantly impacted its social demographics ever since the 1990-1991 Gulf War. There is political and economic stress, and increasing levels of domestic violence, which are reflected in the inhabitants’ mental health.”

The World Health Organization estimated that prior to the COVID-19 pandemic, 20 percent of Jordanians—approximately 2.06 million people—suffered from mental illness, and according to her research, 40 percent of the population demonstrated some degree of anxiety during the epidemic’s quarantine.

“Most collectivist countries like Jordan that emphasize the group’s necessities and goals versus individual needs and desires tend to stigmatize mental health disorders as taboo,” said Drescher, who also received financial support from BC’s University Fellowships Committee for Advanced Study.

“My investigation determined that although the internalized public and personal mental health shame is fading, it needs increased attention.”

“Study abroad has been a very important part of the formative experience for BC students for many years,” said Christina D. Hatzipetros, associate director of health, safety, and communications for the Office of Global Education. “We are aware that many students come to BC specifically for the foreign education experiences we offer.

Among the many benefits are the opportunity to develop skills that are highly valued in both the public and private sector careers, such as intercultural competency, global awareness and perspectives, foreign language proficiency, adaptability, problem-solving and communication skills, and increased confidence and initiative.

“Students are also drawn to experiential learning abroad, including internships and research opportunities, in addition to the more traditional semester, academic year, and faculty-led summer programs. Perhaps the biggest benefit to students is the opportunity to explore parts of the world they have not yet learned about or experienced.”