Boston College Chronicle

The Boston College

Chronicle Published by the Boston College Office of University Communications FEBRUARY 1, 2018 VOL. 25 NO. 10

Freshmen Applications at Highest Level in Six Years

INSIDE offer their take 2 •Haitians on controversy •Burns receives trove of Civil War letters, photos

•Big BC presence on Olympic hockey teams nurse 3 •Cardiovascular scientist joins CSON •New accolades for City Connects program •MLK Dinner tonight •Photo: Career and Internship Fair rates BC 4 •Kiplinger’s among ‘Best Values’ Ethics at 5 •Kaveny’s the Edges of Law

book on arms 6 •Erickson’s treaty wins award •Photo: Sox rookies come to the Heights Additions; BC in 7 •Welcome the Media; Nota Bene; Jobs to showcase 8 •McMullen Chinese artist Cao Jun •Photos: Martin Luther King Unity Breakfast

the University’s recruitment and admission goals.

One notable trend, he said, is Applications for the Boston Col- that freshmen applications have relege Class of 2022 totaled 31,098, bounded after a two-year period representing a nine percent increase that saw them dip significantly – to over the those for the previous 24,538 in 2013 and 23,223 in freshman class, and the highest fig- 2014 – after BC added a suppleure since the 34,061 received for mentary essay to its application in 2012. the Class of 2016.

“The best way to In addition, the “The best way number of early action to explain this is explain this is what might be called ‘marapplications rose by ket acclimation,’” said 15 percent, to 10,350, what might be Mahoney. “At first, stucompared to the Class called ‘market dents who considered of 2021. From that applying to BC didn’t pool, the University ad- acclimation.’” expect an essay, so they mitted 3,170 students, –John Mahoney steered away. But now, a two percent decrease after a few years, people from last year’s 33 perknow the essay is there and so they cent acceptance rate.

Putting these statistics in con- take that into account when they text, Director of Undergraduate look at BC as a potential destinaAdmission John L. Mahoney cited tion.

“This points to BC’s continseveral trends and developments ued strength among college-age – some national, others specific to students.

If they decide to do the BC – that are likely to have shortterm or longer-lasting impact on Continued on page 4

BY SEAN SMITH CHRONICLE EDITOR

Translators (in foreground) were on hand for Professor of Political Science Marc Landy’s lecture to Mexican police officials who came to Boston College for a professionalization program. (Photo by Lee Pellegrini)

‘Justice, Democracy and Dignity’

University’s Global Leadership Institute aids a major effort to professionalize Mexico’s police force

BY ED HAYWARD STAFF WRITER

A group of 23 police officials, investigators and prosecutors from Mexico came to Boston College last month as part of a US Department of State-funded program, directed by BC’s Global Leadership Institute, to assist the country in professionalizing its police force.

The Mexican police officials, who work in the areas of police standards, internal affairs and anti-corruption investigations, at-

tended lectures with faculty and Boston-area experts and seminars at Boston Police Department headquarters as part of their weeklong stay. Following their Boston visit, the participants traveled to Seattle for programs organized in conjunction with Seattle Police Chief Kathleen O’Toole ’79.

Funded for two years with $1 million from the State Department’s Bureau of International Narcotics and Law Enforcement Affairs, the program will bring 100 police officers from across Mexico Continued on page 4

Council to Coordinate Broad Learning Outcomes Initiative

BY ED HAYWARD STAFF WRITER

The University Council on Learning Outcomes has been formed to connect the work of academic departments and the divisions of Student Affairs and University Mission and Ministry in a broad initiative to continuously improve teaching and learning and the overall student experience.

The council is the newest phase in a University-wide effort to expand the use of learning outcomes, an increasingly impor-

tant focus of accrediting agencies and other stakeholders in higher education.

Consisting of more than 50 members drawn from faculty and staff, the council includes eight internal committees and is structured to foster discussions and planning around learning outcomes, their measurement, and the progress of their use in the schools and colleges, Student Affairs and Mission and Ministry.

Provost and Dean of Faculties David Quigley said the learning outcomes approach is about Continued on page 6

QUOTE:

A Fresh Perspective on Theology, African Studies

BY SEAN SMITH CHRONICLE EDITOR

The multidisciplinary work of new faculty members Amey Victoria Adkins-Jones and Kyrah Malika Daniels has brought to Boston College a unique expertise on religion and the African Diaspora.

Adkins-Jones joined the Theology Department last fall, while Daniels became a member of the Art, Art History and Film faculty, with a courtesy appointment in Theology. Both also teach in the African and African Diaspora Studies Program.

Their respective research and teaching interests reflect an appreciation for the classic tenets of theology, to which each brings fresh, contemporary perspectives and insights: Adkins-Jones studies Mariology, human trafficking, and the prison industrial complex; Daniels

explores race, religion and visual culture, sacred arts and material culture, and ritual healing traditions in the Black Atlantic.

“Religion and spirituality have always been an important part of African diasporic history and culture,” said Associate Professor of History Martin Summers, director of African and African Diaspora Studies.

“I’m especially excited that we’ve been able to bring to AADS and the BC community two dynamic scholars who, although they approach religion from different methodological perspectives and are interested in different questions, are deeply committed to researching and teaching about the spiritual, social, and political dimensions of black religious identity and practice. I think that our program and our students will benefit enormousContinued on page 5

“Our stories are being told by others. We as immigrants need to tell our own story and educate people about Haiti.”

–BC Dining Services Assistant Manager Boromain Jeanty, page 3

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A ROUND

C AMPUS TELLING THEIR OWN STORIES

Some of the Civil War-era correspondence and photos donated by author Ellen Alden to John J. Burns Library. (Photo courtesy Burns Library)

FAITHFULLY GIVEN Ellen B. Alden, who based her award-winning historical novel, Yours Faithfully, Florence Burke: An Irish Immigrant Story, on 19 letters written by her great-great grandfather “Flor” to his wife and children, formally donated his original correspondence and photographs to the John J. Burns Library yesterday following a reading and discussion.

“Parting with his letters was difficult, but I’m confident that my Irish ancestors would be honored to find themselves immortalized at one of the finest Irish Studies institutions in the country,” said Alden, of Andover, Mass. “My sister, Catherine, is a graduate of this prestigious university, and we wanted the letters to remain in Massachusetts – the state the Burkes chose as their permanent home.”

The library will professionally preserve, archive and digitize the documents so they are accessible to Civil War and Irish history students and aficionados worldwide.

Alden is a former elementary education teacher who converted her love of history, education and

family into a compelling story of an impoverished Irish farmer (Florence, an anglicized version of Fingin or Finnian), who emigrated to West Springfield, Mass., to escape Ireland’s Great Famine and riskily volunteered for the Union Army to fulfill his dream of land ownership.

At the event, co-sponsored by the Eire Society of Boston, an excerpt from the letters, recorded

by WROL-AM Irish music host Seamus Mulligan, was played.

“We are very pleased that Ellen and her family have chosen Burns Library as the permanent home for their ancestor’s poignant legacy,” said Burns Librarian Christian Dupont. “Such gifts provide new opportunities for exploring the dynamics of history in greater depth.”

The program concluded with an a cappella rendition by BC alumna Julie Zavrl of “Isle of Hope, Isle of Tears,” a heartbreaking song of emigration from Ireland to New York written by David Downes.

–Phil Gloudemans

ASSOCIATE VICE PRESIDENT FOR UNIVERSITY COMMUNICATIONS Jack Dunn DEPUTY DIRECTOR OF UNIVERSITY COMMUNICATIONS Patricia Delaney EDITOR Sean Smith

CONTRIBUTING STAFF Phil Gloudemans Ed Hayward Rosanne Pellegrini Kathleen Sullivan PHOTOGRAPHERS Gary Gilbert Peter Julian Lee Pellegrini

As controversy swirled in midJanuary over President Trump’s alleged disparaging remarks about Haiti, members of the Boston College community with ties to Haiti had the opportunity to share their views at a “pop-up” dinner sponsored by BC Dining Services and the English Department.

The event, held Jan. 19 in the Walsh Function Room, featured Haitian food (rice and beans, beef pate, fried plantain, and joumou, a soup made with winter squash) and remarks by three BCDS employees and an undergraduate student, all of Haitian heritage.

“Our stories are being told by others,” BCDS Assistant Manager Boromain Jeanty, who along with his co-workers talked about his and his family’s immigration experiences. “We as immigrants need to tell our own story and educate people about Haiti.”

“I wanted to speak to the Haitian students,” said Dishroom Supervisor Lafontant Charles, when asked why he participated. “I wanted to remind them that a lot of us sacrificed for their opportunities, and now those people are in trouble and they need someone to speak up for them. It is the students’ turn to speak up.”

Haitian Students Association President Naya Joseph ’19 also spoke, discussing Haitian culture and history as well as her own family’s immigration story with the audience. Interviewed afterwards, she

admitted she was nervous about being in front of an audience but felt compelled to take part.

“I chose to speak at the event because my Haitian identity is very important to me,” said Joseph. “I spoke in order to empower Haitians and inform non-Haitians.”

The English Department and Dining Services have collaborated

their story than over a meal that speaks to the cultural traditions of the storyteller’s home?”

“I’ve always believed food is a great healer and that it brings people together in meaningful ways,” said Lynne Anderson, director of English Language Learning, who collaborated with Bailey.

Bailey and Anderson praised

(L-R) Naya Joseph ’19, Wiltes Seide, Lafontant Charles and Boromain Jeanty speak at the Jan. 19 “pop-up” Haitian dinner in Walsh Hall.

on similar events to highlight the diversity on BC’s campus, including a dinner last year at which attendees enjoyed a Syrian meal.

Executive Chef of Catering Frank Bailey, who volunteered to help prepare food for the evening, sees the partnership as a natural one.

“Storytelling and food have been joined in culture for all time,” said Bailey, “and what better way to bring people together to discuss

the guest speakers, and the many who volunteered their time to put the event together on short notice, for helping to broaden perspectives of the University community.

Said Joseph, “We really got to bask in the diversity of our campus, inclusive of faculty and staff, and break bread together. It was a wonderful experience!”

–Christine Balquist

ON OLYMPIC ICE Six current or former Boston College hockey Eagles will represent the United States on the ice at the 2018 Winter Olympics in South Korea, which begin Feb. 9.

Cayla Barnes ’22, Kali Flanagan ’19, Megan Keller ’19, Emily Pfalzer ’15 and Haley Skarupa ’16 will skate with the women’s Team USA, while Brian Gionta ’01 will captain the men’s team.

“We’re extremely proud of our Boston College players who made the Olympic team,” said women’s hockey head coach Katie Crowley, herself a three-time Olympian (1998, 2002, 2006). “It’s an excit-

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ing time for them and their families. They’ve done a tremendous job working to get themselves prepared and it’s an awesome achievement for them. We’re just really excited for them.”

Barnes, Flanagan, Keller, Pfalzer, and Skarupa all will make their Olympic debut at the PyeongChang Games, which run until Feb. 25 with competitions for elite athletes from around the globe. The five represent the largest contingent of Boston College players on a US Olympic roster, besting the three named to the 2014 squad: Alex Carpenter ’16, Molly

Schaus ’11 and Kelli Stack ’11.

Former men’s hockey captain and 2001 national champion Gionta, on the other hand, is the only player on this year’s US men’s team with previous Olympics experience, scoring four goals in six games at the 2006 games in Turin, Italy. Gionta is one of 25 hockey Eagles to play for the US Men’s Olympic Team to date and the second to be named captain, after Brian Leetch in 1988.

The US women begin competition on Feb. 11; the men on Feb. 14.

–University Communications

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)5523350. Distributed free to faculty and staff offices and other locations on campus. Periodicals postage paid at Boston, MA and additional mailing offices. POSTMASTER: send address changes to The Boston College Chronicle, Office of University Communications, 3 Lake Street, Brighton, MA 02135.

A flipbook edition of Chronicle is available via e-mail. Send requests to chronicle@bc.edu.

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New CSON Associate Dean Plans to City Connects Lauded for Encourage More Interdisciplinary Research Social, Educational Impact between patients and their inforCardiovascular nurse scientist Lee Pellegrini

Christopher Lee, who joined the Connell School of Nursing last month as associate dean for research and director of the Office of Nursing Research (ONR), likes to call his data-driven research approach “biobehavioral profiling.”

Combining symptom science with exploring both the patient’s self-care behavior and the relationship between the patient and informal caregiver, he looks “into and beyond” patients suffering from heart disease.

Lee comes to Boston College after seven years at Oregon Health & Science University (OHSU), where he was most recently the Carol A. Lindeman Distinguished Professor. At OHSU, a leader in women’s health, he published 10 papers examining gender differences in heart disease – larger hearts are generally considered worse for men, smaller hearts worse for women.

In his roles as ONR director and a mentor to faculty researchers, Lee hopes to encourage more interdisciplinary inquiry across the Connell School, in particular cardiovascular research. Heart disease is still the leading cause of death in the United States, claiming some 610,000 lives a year, more than all cancers combined. But more and more, Lee notes, today’s patients “have cardiovascular disease and diabetes and high blood pressure and rheumatoid arthritis. Treatment is increasingly complicated.”

Nurses need “more information and more skills to master than ever before.”

Lee is a “born mentor,” says Connell School Associate Dean for Undergraduate Programs Sean Clarke, who met Lee in an NIH study session when Clarke was an

Christopher Lee

undergraduate at the University of Pennsylvania. “He’s great at figuring out what people need to transform their ideas into research and publications. And he’s had a great run at nailing down funding, which will help get science going on the ground for students at all levels.”

With grants from the National Institutes of Health and the National Institute of Nursing Research, Lee led a team of colleagues at OHSU and across the country in several studies on how the installment of a left ventricular assist device (LVAD) – a pump used for patients with end-stage heart failure – affects both physical and psychological symptoms.

As Lee reported in the June 2017 Journal of Cardiovascular Nursing, by far the greatest benefits for both bridge and destination patients appear within the first 30 days of installment, earlier than previously thought.

Lee also investigates patients’ self-management of heart disease (“What are patients doing for themselves during the 99.99 percent of the time they’re not in a physician or NP’s office?”) and examines how relationships

mal caregivers — such as spouses and adult children — can affect symptoms. He finds that the most successful situation is when both patient and caregiver willfully manage the illness, and the spouse treats caregiving less as a strain and more as a “labor of love.”

Lee’s work has earned him the 2016 Protégé Award from the Friends of the National Institute of Nursing Research, the 2014 Heart Failure Society of America Nursing Leadership Award, and the 2013 American Heart Association Marie Cowan Promising Young Investigator Award. In addition to being a Fellow of the American Academy of Nursing, Lee is a Fellow of HFSA and AHA. After earning a bachelor’s degree in nursing at the University of New Hampshire, he spent seven years as a bedside nurse in Massachusetts health care facilities, including Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center and the Lahey Hospital & Medical Center.

While earning his nurse practitioner degree and doctorate at Penn, he studied under Barbara Riegel, a leading researcher in adult heart failure with whom Lee has since co-authored 34 articles; Nancy Tkacs, a neuroendocrine physiologist; and heart-failure physician Kenneth Margulies.

At OHSU, Lee taught biostatistics to PhD students, which he may continue to do at the Connell School. He’s also interested in teaching and “finding ways to make undergraduates more inspired and have more opportunities to engage in research. It’s important to be exposed to research early.”

—Zachary Jason, Office of University Communications

It was a time for introductions and advice last week when the Career Center held its annual Spring Career and Internship Fair Jan. 24 and 25 in the Heights Room of Corcoran Commons. Students had the opportunity to chat with more than 90 employers representing fields such as financial services, accounting, real estate business services, consulting, management consumer products, retail, manufacturing, technology, entrepreneurship, education, non-profit, social services, government, law, public policy, arts, sports, entertainment, communications, media, marketing, health care, and life and physical sciences. (Photos by Peter Julian)

BY PHIL GLOUDEMANS STAFF WRITER

City Connects, the Lynch School of Education’s researchbased support program for students in high poverty, urban elementary schools, has received acknowledgement from two national organizations for its social impact and contribution to education reform.

Results for America (RfA), an independent, non-partisan initiative that advocates for more reliance on evidence-based decisions, named City Connects a “Moneyball for Government” designee, signifying that it effectively uses data to identify programs and practices that are proven to produce valued outcomes.

“Moneyball” refers to the baseball philosophy implemented by Oakland Athletics general manager Billy Beane, who used data instead of conventional player evaluation measures to build contending teams despite a limited budget. RfA claims that by adopting “Moneyball,” governments and non-profit organizations can cost-efficiently improve outcomes for young people, their families and communities.

City Connects is one of 134 leaders and organizations – including City Year, Big Brothers Big Sisters of America, and MENTOR: The National Mentoring Partnership – among the 1.5 million US non-profits so designated by RfA. Established in 2001, City Connects works to narrow the achievement gap in 87 urban public, charter, and Catholic schools serving nearly 29,000 students in five states. The program addresses out-of-school factors that can affect students’ ability to succeed and thrive academically, offering a defined protocol for a counselor or school social worker in collaboration with teachers to support every

student with accompanying tools to track their work, understand student progress, and demonstrate effectiveness.

In addition to the RfA designation, City Connects has been selected by the University of Pennsylvania’s Center for High Impact Philanthropy (CHIP) for inclusion in its 2018 High Impact Giving Guide, a trusted, widely utilized and independent source of information on non-profit organizations, which assists both public and private granters in the identification of worthy grantees.

A collaboration between Penn’s School of Social Policy and Practice and its Wharton School, CHIP provides unbiased analysis for foundation trustees, foundation executive directors/CEOs and other philanthropic leaders seeking guidance on how to practice highimpact giving. Among its criteria, CHIP examines an organization’s use of evidence-based problem solving and cost-per-impact analysis, and the meaningful improvement in its constituents’ lives.

“We are very pleased to join the ranks of the Moneyball for Government roster,” said Mary E. Walsh, the Lynch School’s Daniel E. Kearns Professor of Urban Education and Innovative Leadership and the executive director of City Connects. “This recognition will serve as a spur to deepen our understanding of the mechanisms that drive our evidence-based success.”

She added, “CHIP’s endorsement is a critically important designation for a wide range of both public and private funders. To be recognized by organizations with rigorous standards for public and private investments is an honor, and will hopefully further the work we do to support students and show what is possible for every child.”

MLK Scholarship Awarded Tonight L’Merchie Frazier, director of education and interpretation for the Museum of African American History in Boston and Nantucket, will be the featured speaker at the 36th annual Martin Luther King Jr. Memorial Dinner tonight in the Yawkey Center’s Murray Room.

The event also will feature the awarding of the Martin Luther King Jr. Memorial Scholarship, which is presented each year to a BC junior whose life and work evokes the memory of the legendary civil rights leader.

This year’s candidates are Angela Grace Arzu, Omolayo Aduke Ojurongbe, Evan Barbour Palm-

er, Bryan Josue Paula Gonzalez and Anthony Malick Smith.

Frazier provides place-based education and interdisciplinary history programs, projects and lectures that promote STEM/ STEAM education pedagogy. An award-winning visual and performance artist and poet, Frazier has held art residencies in Brazil, Taiwan, France and Cuba, and more recently the New England Foundation for the Arts.

University President William P. Leahy, SJ, and 2017 MLK Scholar Akosua Opokua-Achampong ’18 also will speak at the event.

–University Communications

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Applications Pass 31,000 Mark Continued from page 1 essay, it suggests a level of seriousness about wanting to go here.”

The numbers for early action applicants – who submit applications by Nov. 1 and are notified of the University’s decision

by Christmas – also are a cause for optimism, said Mahoney, who explained the benefit of early action from the Office of Admission’s standpoint: “You get some wonderful students, and have a longer period of time in which to interact with them before they must decide [by May 1] to submit their enrollment confirmation fee.”

The admitted early action students demonstrated academic proficiency on entrance exams, Mahoney said, averaging 33 on the ACT and 1453 on the SAT. He noted that since the College Board implemented a new SAT last year, with a 1,600-point scale and a revised writing and reading section, more students are scoring at higher levels – the average SAT score for last year’s early action admitted students was 1425 – but this does not devalue their high academic quality.

“Overall, this is still about the top five percent of national testtakers,” said Mahoney. “There is a theory that the higher SAT scores embolden students to think of applying to highly selective schools like BC. When they see their test scores are up around the 1450s, they think, ‘OK, I’m going to up the ante.’”

Demographics and geography are a continuing challenge for colleges’ recruiting efforts, as the college-age population in New England and the Midwest is “in a flat period” compared to other parts of the country, said Mahoney. However, BC continues to remain strong in primary markets like Massachusetts, New York and New Jersey, while building on progress in key states such as California (up 9.71 percent from last year), Florida (8.46 percent) and Texas (8.35 percent).

BC also saw a 12.4 percent increase in applications from international students.

AHANA students made up 33 percent of BC’s Class of 2022 applicant pool, he said, due to a 16 percent increase in applications over last year; the current freshman class is the most diverse in University history, with 31 percent AHANA students.

Proximity to Boston and Jesuit, Catholic identity have long been major factors in BC’s favor, said Mahoney, but current and future University-wide academic initiatives are also now making an impression on potential applicants.

“We’re seeing great interest in the core curriculum renewal program of the past few years. Even

just hearing the names of some of the new pilot courses really gets students’ attention. They’re very impressed and intrigued with the way BC is revitalizing the study of liberal arts.”

The Schiller Institute for Integrated Science and Society – construction of which begins next spring – also is capturing imaginations, Mahoney said.

“Even though it’s still a few years away, the Schiller Institute is a great manifestation of Jesuit education in the 21st century: using strengths in the sciences and humanities to address world problems. It looks and sounds very cutting-edge to this generation of college students.”

As always, Mahoney commends the hard work among his Admission colleagues for BC’s recruitment: “It’s truly a team effort.”

An increasingly important part of that team, he added, is the role of some 700 undergraduates who volunteer for the Student Admission Program.

“One evening as I was heading out, I saw lights on in the Admission Office waiting room, and when I looked in I saw a bunch of SAP volunteers. They were e-mailing all the students from the Midwest who had applied, thanking them for their interest in BC; then there would be another group of volunteers who would e-mail students from other parts of the country.

“It’s things like that which can mean a lot when you’re trying to figure out what college is best for you.”

BC Ranked 18th Among ‘Best College Values’ Boston College ranks 18th among US private universities and 43rd among all of the nation’s public, private, and liberal arts colleges and universities surveyed for Kiplinger’s 2018 “Best College Values” list.

Introduced in 1998, the rankings now combine public schools, private universities and private liberal arts colleges into a single, comprehensive list of the top 300 schools offering the best value.

Kiplinger also ranks the 100 best in each category.

Last year, Boston College was 20th among US private universities and 47th among all public, private, and liberal arts colleges and universities on Kiplinger’s list.

View the full list of “Best College Values 2018” at Kiplinger. com.

—University Communications

Twenty-three Mexican police officials attended the Global Leadership Institute’s weeklong program.

GLI Program Focuses on Policy, Practice Challenges Continued from page 1 during the coming months for discussions on accountability and civilian oversight.

“The message we’re trying to impart is that internal affairs is about more than procedures, rules and due diligence,” said GLI Director Robert Mauro.

“We spent the first few days on the big picture: What’s the point of internal affairs? What does it mean to have a police force that’s part of the community?

“We are encouraging the participants to think broadly about internal affairs. Yes, they will get the details of internal affairs – case work, procedures, paperwork – but we want to take a step back and look at the bigger issues of justice, democracy and dignity,” said Mauro.

Boston College was among eight organizations awarded grants by INL as part of an effort to help Mexican police officials address policy and practical challenges while building partnerships and networks across international borders. Other grant recipients included Yale and Stanford universities, the Police Foundation, and the International Association of the Chiefs of Police.

In the past, the Irish Institute – GLI’s predecessor – worked with the Police Service of Northern Ireland and Ireland’s Guarda Siochana, said Mauro.

Professor of Political Science Marc Landy gave a talk on American democracy and additional lectures were provided by faculty from Harvard and Northeastern universities, as well as experts from community organizations and businesses. The programs at BPD headquarters focused on accountability, oversight and integrity.

Speaking through a translator, visiting police officials described the professional development op-

portunity as a prime example of the level of cooperation that has and should continue to exist between the two countries.

Mauricio Alberto Gutierrez Senties, a long-time investigator who now directs evaluation and employment in the Mexico City police force, said police and government officials must confront a number of societal problems – violence, narcotics trafficking and corruption – both in efforts to maintain law and order, but also in their efforts to build effective law enforcement organizations.

“I’m looking forward to learning from the police here and other speakers about how to professionalize our work,” said Gutierrez Senties. “I like to observe the more advanced aspects of society and lifestyles in the US that many of us would like to have in Mexico. These are the benefits of coming here to observe and we appreciate the work that Boston College has done.”

Erika Judith Jasso Carrasco, a prosecutor with the Attorney General’s Office in the State of Chihuahua, said the program offers a chance to improve investigative practices, as well as coor-

dination and cooperation with the US. “It is very important to maintain coordination between Mexico’s Attorney General’s Office and the US government through the embassy for any issue of alerts or arrest warrants,” Jasso Carrasco said. “They have supported us and when they ask us for information on individuals we are always in communication and get results within 24 hours.”

Vicente Hiran Blade Morales, chief inspector with the internal affairs unit for police in the state of Nuevo Leon, echoed Jasso Carrasco’s sentiments.

“I hope to learn best practices from the police here in the US and to collaborate with colleagues from other states and forge good relationships and camaraderie on a trip like this,” said Blade Morales.

The program is “very important because you open your chain of communication and all the things you learn in these courses you can replicate in your units and with the police.”

Contact Ed Hayward at ed.hayward@bc.edu

Participants attended lectures from Prof. Marc Landy (Political Science) and other Boston-area experts and seminars at Boston Police Department headquarters as part of the GLI program. (Photos by Lee Pellegrini)

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Amey Victoria Adkins-Jones

in the University community.”

As a teacher-scholar rooted in community, justice and social values, Adkins-Jones has felt empowered and inspired through her affiliations with Theology and the African and African Diaspora Studies Program.

“I think it’s the responsibility of scholars in every field to think and speak on issues of identity and matters of injustice, locally and globally, if we want a world in which we can all live,” she said.

Discussing her wide-ranging research interests, Adkins-Jones described a theological vision built around an understanding of “the multiplicity of others.”

“We all live at multiple junctions in life, but how many of us are forced into discrete categories?” she said. “What are the consequences of this, and how do we find solutions? I examine those questions in a theological context.”

Adkins-Jones has applied this perspective in analyses of trafficking, especially its colonial-era origins and ties to Christian tradition, and race and gender-related issues of confinement. Her study of the Virgin Mary centers on the dimensions of purity narratives, and how efforts to maintain the environment in which these narratives exist “often come at the expense of someone else.” Her forthcoming book pulls together these threads.

She has recently begun work on a new book on theological responses to technology and violence. “If theology helps us to see

humanity in the image of God,” which examines key ritual art obshe said, “how does technology jects used in healing ceremonies to disrupt that? For example, why treat spiritual illnesses and mental do police body cameras – which health conditions in Haiti and the are supposed to encourage caution Democratic Republic of Congo. and restraint through surveillance “Addressing mental health is– instead seem to actually produce sues has long been, and continues violence, and mainly against black to be, a major societal concern,” people?” she said. “My focus is on how cerA native of Virginia, Adkins- tain populations and communities Jones earned her bachelor’s degree deal with such issues by using ritfrom the University of Virginia, ual art objects in religious healing a master’s of divinity degree ceremonies, many of which have from Duke Divinity School been in use for centuries. What are and her doctorate from Duke. the important components of the Among her various scholarly healing rituals? How might these activities, she has been a fre- have changed or evolved over the quent presenter at the Ameri- years? How have they have been can Academy of Religion handed down from generation to annual meetings, lectured on generation?” race and confinement at a This semester, Daniels is teachconference on moral implica- ing the course We Wear the Mask: tions of torture, and appeared Festival, Carnival & Masquerade, as a panelist on the PBS show which she calls her “dream class.”

“Religion and Ethics News- “The rituals and traditions that weekly.” take place during Mardi Gras or Adkins-Jones is teaching other similar festivals and carnivals an Introduction to Christian are not all about play and partyTheology core course, along ing,” she said. “There are some with a seminar, Black Church, important themes of humanity Black Protest. Her first brush with BC students was overwhelmingly positive.

“The level of thoughtfulness, care, acuity and directness of their responses in our class interactions – it makes you want to teach for the rest of your life,” she said. “I want my students to know the world is their classroom.

Theology is an exercise in empathy and paying better attention to those around you, and the students I’ve seen seem to understand this.”

Daniels served as junior Kyrah Malika Daniels curator at the Smithsonian Institute’s National Museum of and identity at work here. Putting American History in Washington, on a mask or a costume is about DC. Following the Haitian earth- making a transition: What do we quake of 2010, she worked in St. become, and how are we meant to Raphael, Haiti, with Lakou Soley be transformed? How is the space Academic and Cultural Arts Cen- we are in transformed?” ter, a grassroots organization that Daniels holds a bachelor’s dedevelops arts-based pedagogy. Her gree from Stanford University, work has been published in the and master’s and doctoral deJournal of Africana Religions and grees from Harvard University. the Journal of Haitian Studies, and She has been the recipient of a is forthcoming in the Journal for Mellon Mays Undergraduate Felthe American Academy of Religion. lowship Dissertation Grant from Growing up in a home full the Woodrow Wilson National of religious art from African and Fellowship Foundation and a FulCaribbean cultures, Daniels had bright Institute of International an inclination to study sacred art Education grant for fieldwork in and rituals, from which she de- the Democratic Republic of Conveloped a strong interest in the go, and co-organized conferences importance of ceremonies and ho- and panels for, among others, the listic remedies for physical illnesses American Academy of Religion and spiritual imbalance among and the African & Diasporic Relireligious communities in the Ca- gious Studies Association. ribbean and Central Africa. She is Contact Sean Smith at working on her first book, tentasean.smith@bc.edu tively titled When the Spirit Is Ill, Photos by Lee Pellegrini

Continued from page 1 ly from Professor Adkins-Jones’ and Professor Daniels’ presence.”

Adkins-Jones pointed to BC’s “commitment to Jesuit values” as a key factor in her decision to join the University – a commitment she has witnessed inside the classroom and out. “BC is a place of rigorous scholarship, but not at the cost of care to students and faculty,” she explained. “The concern for the individual is quite apparent

At the Intersection of Law and Ethics

Most ethicists believe otherwise, but secular law can be a valuable source of moral wisdom, says Kaveny

BY KATHLEEN SULLIVAN STAFF WRITER

Libby Professor of Law and Theology Cathleen Kaveny made an unusual dedication in her new book, Ethics at the Edges of Law: Christian Moralists and American Legal Thought: to the Religion Department Lounge at Princeton University.

As she writes in the book’s preface, the lounge was a place where professors, graduate students and “excessively bold undergraduates” like herself held rigorous yet respectful conversations about political, moral, cultural and religious issues of the day.

This ideal of intellectual exchange, Kaveny writes, stands in counterpoint to the culture wars of today that she sought to capture in her book.

Ethics at the Edges of Law is structured as an exchange between the American legal tradition and the tradition of Christian ethics. She chose leading contemporary figures in Christian ethics, such as Paul Ramsey, Stanley Hauerwas and Tristram Engelhardt, among others, as “conversation partners” for her book.

Kaveny’s approach is counter to the way most ethicists think about the law. “Most ethicists would say, ‘I get my ethical analysis and then apply it through the law to bind society.’ Also, there are a lot of thinkers based in law who say, ‘Let’s look at how the resources of the theological tradition can help illuminate legal questions.’

“I’m doing the reverse. I’m trying to make the case that ethicists of whatever stripe can treat the secular law as a worthwhile source and conversation partner,” said Kaveny, who teaches Bioethics and the Law; Faith, Morality and Law; Contracts, and Complicity. “It will help advance and illuminate aspects of their own commitment. As I studied law and started to teach law, I saw there was a lot of moral wisdom in the law.”

Kaveny is talking specifically about the realm of common law.

“Moral judgment infuses common law subjects, like contracts and torts, in a very practical way.

Common law develops by cases, stories that have great moral tensions. I have a lot of respect for the common law tradition.”

For example, in one chapter, Kaveny brings the case of Watts

Lee Pellegrini

Adkins-Jones, Daniels Exemplify New Directions in Theology, African Studies

5

“I’m trying to make the case that ethicists of whatever stripe can treat the secular law as a worthwhile source and conversation partner. It will help advance and illuminate aspects of their own commitment.”

–Cathleen Kaveny

v. Watts – a staple of many firstyear contract law textbooks – into conversation with the writings of ethicist Gene Outka, author of the book Agape, to explore issues of love and justice.

In another chapter, Kaveny pairs the issues surrounding the use of victim impact statements in criminal sentencing with ethicist Margaret Farley, whose work highlights the role of experience in moral discernment.

Kaveny’s career itself has been a mixture of the law and ethics. As an undergraduate, she majored in religion. She earned a law degree, and then the following year, a doctorate in ethics. She clerked for Judge John T. Noonan on the US Court of Appeals, Ninth Circuit and practiced health law in Boston.

“I’m interested in nurturing younger scholars whose work is at the intersection of law and ethics,” added Kaveny, who noted that there are areas beyond the scope of her book that can be mined. “I think that would be really exciting.”

Contact Kathleen Sullivan at kathleen.sullivan@bc.edu

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BY SEAN SMITH CHRONICLE EDITOR

Beginning in the 1990s, according to Associate Professor of Political Science Jennifer Erickson, something dramatic happened in the international arms trade: Where major arms-producing democracies once blanched at controls on exporting arms to human rights violators and conflict zones, most of them now began to embrace the idea.

This change culminated in the groundbreaking Arms Trade Treaty (ATT) overwhelmingly passed by the United Nations General Assembly in 2013, and implemented in late 2014. For the first time, Erickson notes, states agreed to worldwide, legally binding humanitarian or “responsible” arms trade standards.

Erickson’s analysis of the runup to ATT – and how and why arms-exporting democracies put aside past sovereignty, security, and economic worries in favor of humanitarian arms transfer controls – is featured in her 2015 book Dangerous Trade: Arms Ex-

ports, Human Rights, and International Reputation, which won the American Political Science Association (APSA) Foreign Policy Section’s Best Book Award for 2017. Founded in 1903, APSA is the leading professional organization for the study of political science and serves more than 12,000 members in more than 80 countries.

“This was the first time APSA’s Foreign Policy Section presented a book award, and I am very grateful for this recognition from my peers,” said Erickson. “The award covered books published in 2015 and 2016, and there was an extraordinary amount of terrific research produced during that time, so I feel doubly honored.”

In Dangerous Trade, Erickson reviews previous failed arms export control initiatives and tracks arms transfer trends over time.

Discussing the shift in attitudes on humanitarian arms control, she reveals that states committed to these policies out of concern for their international reputations.

Erickson also shows how arms trade scandals threaten domestic

reputations and thus help improve compliance.

Using statistical data and interviews conducted in the US and several European countries, Erickson challenges existing theories of state behavior while providing insight into the role of reputation as a social mechanism to gain treaty support and the importance of government transparency and accountability in generating compliance with new norms and rules.

The ATT’s effects in its first few years have been debated. Diplomats and NGOs have sought to improve its implementation and use the treaty to draw attention to exports that violate its terms. Critics, however, have noted that signatories to the treaty, like France, Italy and the UK, have continued sending weapons to Egypt despite the government’s crackdown on dissent; the UK, meanwhile, signed an arms deal with Saudi Arabia, even as that country has carried out attacks on Yemen.

Erickson acknowledges the ATT’s difficulties, but believes the treaty to be a positive step, and says US participation was, and re-

Gary Wayne Gilbert

PoliSci’s Erickson Wins Best Book Award for Her Research on Arms Trade Treaty

“The Arms Trade Treaty is a means to bring about a change in behavior, “ says Jennifer Erickson, “and not surprisingly, this can be a slow process.” mains, a key factor in its passage: “Many other countries wouldn’t have signed if the US hadn’t.”

She added: “It is a thoughtful articulation of principles governments generally support, and having this on paper provides a tool to push back on countries that flout or ignore those tenets, and to hold them accountable.

“The ATT is a means to bring about a change in behavior, and not surprisingly, this can be a slow process. Transparency in the arms trade – which the treaty seeks to foster –­ is critical: If no one pays attention, governments will keep on doing what they want to do.”

University Council on Learning Outcomes Begins Its Work Continued from page 1 moving beyond student grades to evaluate teaching and learning. The approach seeks to clarify expectations, the competencies students are expected to develop, and the discipline-specific knowledge a major or program will deliver.

“This all helps us to talk about what is important to teaching and learning and what kind of impact we are making in the work we do,” said Quigley.

Analyzing data is one aspect, but so is the process of examining the broader student experience. Quigley pointed to several departments’ major seminars, which have been used to gauge student progress toward core learning goals and competencies.

“The council can help us encourage conversations across campus about best practices in each school and college,” said Quigley. “It can encourage faculty to share what they hear from their peers at other universities and help us develop meaningful collaborations between academic affairs, Student Affairs and Mission and Ministry to tie together our work in student formation and improving undergraduate, graduate and professional education.”

Special Assistant to the President Robert R. Newton, who

Provost and Dean of Faculties David Quigley addressed a recent meeting of the University Council on Learning Outcomes. (Photo by Lee Pellegrini)

co-chairs the council with Director of Assessment and Accreditation Jessica Greene, said, “The underlying premise of the learning outcomes approach is that if faculty define what students should know or be able to do as a result of the course rather than simply describe the material the course will cover, both faculty and students will have sharper understanding of what they are trying to accomplish.”

Ten years ago, BC developed a plan to assess student learning outcomes at the request of the New England Association of Schools and Colleges Commission on Institutions of Higher Education. As part of BC’s successful 2017 NEASC re-accred-

itation, the University showed the results of this effort. The council is intended to continue that work.

The council includes committees focused on learning outcomes in undergraduate and graduate education, academic affairs, Mission and Ministry and Student Affairs.

In addition to promoting and monitoring progress in those areas, special committees will address specific issues: •Faculty/Staff Development on Learning Outcomes •University-wide Coordination, Targeted Reporting, and Communication Strategy •Analysis of the Boston College Undergraduate Experience

Questionnaire and Other Data Sources •Definition and Measurement of Student Formation Outcomes Greene said the council is the latest piece in BC’s long-standing commitment to institutional selfstudy and assessment.

“Boston College has consistently worked to reflect on our efforts and identify areas for growth and it is the goal of the council to help support these efforts and facilitate connections and collaborations across units with the aim being continuous improvement,” Greene said.

The work of the council aligns with the University Strategic Plan through its focus on student formation, specifically new initiatives to define and measure student formation, Newton said.

“We intend to use the learning outcomes approach to capitalize on the interest and energy that emerged over the past decade in focusing on learning outcomes because of the external expectations of our accreditors,” said Newton. “Now we will use the learning outcomes approach primarily to improve student experiences University-wide.”

Boston Red Sox prospects ran sprints under the Alumni Stadium bubble during the Red Sox Rookie Development Workout last month. The Boston College baseball team will face the Sox in an exhibition game on Feb. 22 in Ft. Myers, Fla. (Photo by Billie Weiss/Boston Red Sox)

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BOSTON COLLEGE IN THE MEDIA An introduction to new faculty members at Boston College

Ali Ersen Erol

Assistant Professor of the Practice of Communication Morrissey College of Arts and Sciences DEGREES: Pennsylvania State University (BS); George Mason University (MS); Howard University (PhD) WHAT THEY STUDY: Queer theory; politics of sexuality and gender; critical linguistics.

WHAT THEY’RE TEACHING: Public Speaking; Globalization and the Media

Your current book project revolves around the Gezi Park protests in Turkey almost five years ago. How do you see this event as a significant one in the context of queer theory and sexual/gender issues? “When I contrast queer and non-queer discourses during the protests, I see different levels of subversion – and when I say subversion, I mean subversion against the state, which is the whole point of why you have a protest in the first place.

Non-queer discourses are either not subversive or are minimally so. They rely on patriarchic and heterosexist discourses to protest the state, which are the building blocks of the state anyway and don’t really challenge anything. But queer discourses subvert these very assumptions of being in the world and how we should exist, how the state should exist, and how the future should exist. In this sense, it is very, very hopeful. As one late Jyn Erso put it, ‘rebellions are built on hope.’”

In the wake of President Trump’s reported use of vulgar language with regard to Haiti and countries in Africa, African and African Diaspora Studies faculty members Assoc. Prof. Régine Michelle Jean-Charles (Romance Languages) and Assoc. Prof. Zine Magubane (Sociology) gave their reactions on, respectively, National Public Radio’s “All Things Considered” and NBC-Boston.

The Omaha World Herald reported on plans by the Archdiocese of Omaha – in partnership with the Two-Way Immersion Network for Catholic Schools of the Lynch School of Education’s Roche Center for Catholic Education – to launch its first duallanguage education program next school year, teaching children as young as three years old in both Spanish and English.

Assoc. Prof. Hosffman Ospino (STM) discussed the imperative of educating Hispanic children in Catholic schools in a column distributed by Catholic News Service.

The political currents of the past year will continue to have an impact on higher education in 2018 and beyond, wrote Research Prof.

Philip Altbach (LSOE) in a piece that appeared in University World News.

Assistant Professor of Earth and Environmental Sciences Morrissey College of Arts and Sciences DEGREES: McGill University (BS); University of Toronto (PhD) WHAT SHE STUDIES: Climate and sea-level change; use of statistical techniques to understand global mean sea-level during current and past warm periods.

WHAT SHE’S TEACHING: Data Exploration and Analysis

JOBS

Describe the process of “fingerprinting” the ocean and how that factors into your research into changes in climate and sea level. “When an ice sheet melts, oceans do not rise uniformly worldwide. Counterintuitively, sea level falls close to a melting ice sheet and rises beyond expectation in areas further away. These unique patterns, known as sea-level fingerprints, allow us to use sea-level records to better understand the historical behavior of ice sheets and make future predictions.”

Assistant Professor of Legal Reasoning, Research and Writing Boston College Law School DEGREES: Syracuse University (AB, MPA); Georgetown University (JD) WHAT SHE STUDIES: Improving legal communication and problem-solving skills in new lawyers; designing experiential curricula to prepare lawyers for professional practice; helping students develop professional identities.

WHAT SHE’S TEACHING: Law Practice

How can law schools better prepare graduates for the realities of law practice? “New lawyers need to understand that they are entering a competitive professional service business and they will excel by focusing on client problem-solving and finding ways to be indispensable. This requires understanding the client’s non-legal interests as well as her legal problems.

As a former in-house counsel with experience supervising outside counsel on a variety of matters, I was struck by the number of smart, knowledgeable lawyers who knew the law but lacked basic client service and problemsolving skills. I try to share the client’s perspective with my law students from the first day of class, and I encourage them to leverage the personal strengths that they already walked into law school with to start developing a professional identity.”

Assoc. Prof. Joseph Tecce (Psychology) discussed the body language of New England Patriots coach Bill Belichick and quarterback Tom Brady amid media reports of their disagreements – which they both refuted.

Prof. John Ebel (Earth and Environmental Sciences), former director of Weston Observatory, talked with the Boston Globe about New England earthquakes following reports of temblors in Maine.

Carling Hay

Maureen Van Neste

Prof. of Macro Practice Tiziana Dearing (BCSSW) assessed the performance of Massachusetts Governor Charlier Baker in 2017 on WBUR and, in a piece for WBUR’s “Cognoscenti,” called for leaders of businesses, organizations, and operations to take seriously the call to create workplaces free of sexual harassment and bullying, and consistent with people’s professional aspirations and personal lives.

University President William P. Leahy, SJ, spoke at a recent reception in the Cadigan Alumni Center honoring donors of endowed professorships and the faculty who hold them. Fr. Leahy, along with Provost and Dean of Faculties David Quigley, University Trustee Charles I. Clough Jr. ’64 and Clough Millennium Chair in History James O’Toole described the impact of these gifts on faculty and their students, and the critical role endowed professorships will continue to play in the University’s future. (Photo by Rose Lincoln)

NOTA BENE

Boston College Law School Professor Daniel R. Coquillette was awarded the Peter Dobkin Hall History of Philanthropy Book Prize for On the Battlefield of Merit: Harvard Law School, The First Century at the annual conference of The Association for Research on Nonprofit Organizations and Voluntary Action in Grand Rapids, Mich. ARNOVA is an international association that connects scholars, teachers, and practice leaders interested in research on nonprofit organizations, voluntary action, philanthropy and Jon Wargo civil society.

Assistant Professor Coquillette, the J. Donald Monan, SJ, University Lynch School of Education DEGREES: Indiana University (BA); Michigan State University Professor of Law, shared the honor with co-author (PhD) Bruce A. Kimball, professor of Education Policy and WHAT HE STUDIES: Digital literacies, post-qualitative research, Leadership at The Ohio State University. and writing studies; how writing moves; use of feminist, queer and post-structural modes of inquiry to explore how youth use On the Battlefield of Merit offers a candid, critiliteracy, and technologies of composition to design more just cal, and definitive account of the nation’s oldest and social futures. most influential legal education institution during its WHAT HE’S TEACHING: Advanced Qualitative Research (doctoral students); Teaching Reading first century of influence (1817-1909), including its You describe yourself as a digital literacies scholar who “hacks” and ties with slavery and Civil War involvement, its bufdoesn’t just “yack.” What do you mean by that? “I think for those of us feting between Federalists and Republicans, its antiwho do work in digital literacies and digital rhetorics, it is important to not only describe and/or interpret the rhetorical work done behind the screen Catholicism and reluctance to admit minorities and (i.e., yack about it) but to also build, break, remix, and hack with the tools women, and its financial missteps at the turn of the and technologies we’re talking about.”

20th century. A second volume from the co-authors –Phil Gloudemans, Ed Hayward, Sean Smith will continue this history through the 20th century.

Photos by Lee Pellegrini and Gary Wayne Gilbert –Phil Gloudemans

The following are among the most recent positions posted by the Department of Human Resources.

For more information on employment opportunities at Boston College, see www.bc.edu/offices/hr: Assistant Director, Student Organizations, Student Affairs/ Residential Life Director, Church in the 21st Century Center Assistant Director, Operations, Academic Affairs/Provost Campus Minister, University Mission and Ministry Construction Project Manager, Facilities Director, Boston College Campus School Network Engineer, Information Technology Senior Philanthropic Advisor, University Advancement Assistant Treasurer, Financial/ Budget Broadcast Engineer, ACC Network Production Dining Management Intern, Dining and Catering/Auxiliary/ Public Safety Programs and Events Specialist, Advancement Resident Director, Student Affairs/Residential Life Senior Application Administrator, Information Technology Strategic Sourcing Officer, Financial/Budget

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Viva Polonia II!

An interactive family concert with music, dance, and storytelling Feb. 11, 4 p.m., Gasson 100 bc.edu/music

“Cao Jun: Hymns to Nature”

A Dialogue Between Art of the Past and Art of the Present

BY ROSANNE PELLEGRINI STAFF WRITER

Cao Jun, one of China’s most visionary contemporary artists, will be the focus of a new exhibition opening this Monday at the McMullen Museum of Art – the first in the US to feature his work.

“Cao Jun: Hymns to Nature” will be on display in the Museum’s Daley Family and Monan Galleries through June 3.

The exhibition comprises 64 works, all from the artist’s collection, consisting of watercolor and mixed media paintings, calligraphy, porcelain, and digital media.

“Hymns to Nature” examines the deep roots of Cao Jun’s art in the experience of nature and how he portrays our place within it, according to organizers, and illuminates his novel responses to admired, earlier paintings by his countrymen, encouraging viewers to ponder a dynamic dialogue between Chinese art of the past and that of the present.

“Since I first saw Cao Jun’s paintings while visiting his museum complex, I have become increasingly convinced that he is among the most highly original and creative artists of our time,” said Adelmann Professor of Philosophy John Sallis, the exhibition’s curator.

“His art blends exquisitely the themes of the classical Chinese tradition with modern artistic

BC SCENES

features similar to those of Western art. From his early depictions of wild animals to his recent, more abstract paintings of the most elemental forces of nature and the cosmos, his work brings

accompanying scholarly publication in the United States,” said McMullen Museum of Art Director and Professor of Art History Nancy Netzer.

His childhood environment

Samples of works by Chinese artist Cao Jun that will be on display in the McMullen Museum of Art from Feb. 5-June 3.

to light profound visions that, without his art, would remain unseen. Curating this exhibition has only deepened my appreciation of his remarkable artistic achievement.”

“The McMullen Museum is grateful to Professor Sallis for bringing Cao Jun, already well known in China, to our attention and to working with us to organize this important contemporary artist’s first exhibition and

shaped by the lakes and rivers of his native Jiangsu Province, Cao Jun studied and worked for 18 years near Mount Tai, one of China’s most ancient places of worship and ceremonial ritual.

The proximity of aquatic sites and mountainous terrain informed Cao Jun’s approach to artistic creation, as have his subsequent journeys: After formal training in Beijing, he settled in New Zealand and traveled

throughout Europe and the US, and more recently to the polar regions and northern Alaska.

Arranged thematically, the exhibition opens with Cao Jun’s early works depicting wild animals. It moves on to later paintings where he employs the techniques of ink- and color-splashing to render mountain landscapes, water, and flowers.

Subsequent areas display his calligraphy and porcelain. The exhibition concludes with more recent abstract works exploring the various configurations in which spatial phenomena can appear.

Exhibition sections include: The Spirit of Animality; The Poetics of Water; The Look of Landscape; Botanicals; Reflections of Autumn; Dreams of Space; Calligraphy; Porcelain; and Songs of the Earth.

“John Sallis’ interpretation of my works has been penetratingly profound, as he has balanced the convergence of Eastern and Western cultures contained in the images that I created with points, lines and planes to interpret my stories and spiritual pursuits,” Cao Jun said. “Working with Nancy Netzer and the staff of an internationally leading academic museum like the McMullen has been a truly rewarding

experience.”

“Hymns to Nature” is accompanied by a catalogue, edited

by Sallis, with contributions by Chinese and American scholars that examine the ways in which Cao Jun’s art fuses elements of classical Chinese painting with modern abstract forms akin to those of Western art. Essays also discuss the philosophical and poetic dimensions of the artist’s work, as well as Cao Jun’s profound connections to the natural world.

The exhibition is underwritten

by Boston College with major support from the Patrons of the McMullen Museum.

Public programming – including the conference “Painting Nature: The Art of Cao Jun” Feb. 23-24 – for families and the general public will complement the exhibition. For more information, and to register for those events that require advance registration, go to the McMullen Museum Events page at www. bc.edu/sites/artmuseum/about/ events.html. More events will be added leading up to this exhibition; for programming updates, subscribe to the McMullen mailing list at http://eepurl.com/bW7cOr. Directions, parking and program information are available at www.bc.edu/artmuseum.

Contact Rosanne Pellegrini at rosanne.pellegrini@bc.edu

BEGIN THE DAY WITH UNITY The Black Faculty Staff and Administrators Association held its annual Martin Luther King Jr. Unity Breakfast on Jan. 18 in the Corcoran Commons Heights Room, featuring a keynote address by Asst. Prof. Amey Victoria AdkinsJones (Theology), at left, a member of the African and African Diaspora Studies Program faculty. [Read a profile of Adkins-Jones on page 1.]

Photos by Peter Julian