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The Herald By and for the students of Hobart and William Smith Colleges FRIDAY, October 19, 2007
VOLUME CXXX ISSUE 7
HWS Equestrian Team Riding to Success
Geneva, NY
Finding a Sense of Place: Honoring Deborah Tall – Free Tours to Historic Native American Sites
Photo Courtesy of Kevin Colton
By HWS Communications
Rebecca Dennee ‘10, Sprinkles the Horse, and Cassie Carnright ‘10 captains and founders of the HWS Equestrian Team during a recent practice.
Tacos For Teachers: Alicia Pagan ‘05 Discusses Teach For America By John Heavey Arts and Entertainment Editor Friday, Oct. 19, Alicia Pagan ’05 will return to campus to share her experiences as a Teach for America Teacher in an afternoon of Tacos for Teachers. Pagan, who earned her MAT from HWS in ’06, will speak at 12:20 p.m. in the Sanford Room. Pagan, who has spent the last two years teaching in Atlanta, Georgia, will talk about why there is a need for the Teach for America program on campus as well as nationwide. Teach for America is the national corps of outstanding recent college graduates and young professionals of all academic majors, career interests, and professional backgrounds who commit two years to teach in urban and rural public schools and become leaders in the effort to expand educational opportunity.
Corps members work relentlessly to ensure that more students growing up today in our country’s lowest-income communities are given the educational opportunities they deserve. In the long run, the alumni are a powerful force of leaders working from inside education and from every other sector to effect the fundamental changes needed to ensure that all children have an equal chance in life Pagan will highlight how a degree from HWS will garner qualifications to work in this highly selective program. “The Teach for America Program is a very competitive one,” stated head of Public Services, Ave Bauder. “Bringing Alicia back will help to lay out a road map for students on what they can do to put themselves in a better position when applying.” The section will also
examine ways in which two years with Teach for America can open up individual professional opportunities and positively impact the lives of children, as well as enlisting our nation’s most promising future leaders in the movement to eliminate educational inequality. As part of the Center for Civic Engagement and Service Learning’s continual effort to civically engage HWS students, Pagan will highlight the importance of leadership in issues of service learning. Lunch will be served for participants, and reservations can be requested by e-mailing serve@hws. edu. For more information on the Teach for America program, visit: http://www.teachforamerica.org/
Sarah DeGray ‘06 Publishes Honors Project on Hip-Hop Subculture By John Heavey Arts and Entertainment Editor In a soon to be released edited volume Authentic Artifice: Cultures of the Real, Sarah DeGray ’06 will have her HWS honors project paper published. The paper, “Hiphop and Authenticity: Navigating the Semiological, Ideological and Commercial Functions of Authenticity in Rap Music and Culture,” investigates authenticity in the hip-hop subculture and will be part of the 2007 cultural research collection. “It is wonderful to see Sarah continue her intellectual pursuits after graduating from HWS,” commented Kevin Dunn, Associate Professor of Political Science and advising professor for DeGray’s honors project. “She produced a wonderfully insightful and original Honors Project, and it is rewarding to see her develop that into a publishable piece in an academic collection.” DeGray’s paper, which in September 2006 she presented at a social science and humanities postgraduate conference on authenticity in the U.K., examines the relationships between the ideas of authenticity and the hip-hop subculture, exploring the realms of rap, graffiti, and break dancing. “Participants of this subculture are consistently making
claims to be real,” said DeGray of her paper. “I sought to find out what this means and determine the semiological significance of it by examining the signs and signifiers.” Drawing her paper topic from an interest and connection to Afro-Centric rap in high school, DeGray’s media studies at HWS gave her cause to confront her despondency with mainstream rap music and its representation of culture. The edited volume Authentic Artifice: Cultures of the Real from the European Studies Research Institute consists of ten contributing authors who explore everything from piracy to publishing to tourism in relationship with art, music, and film. Despite the array of ideas and examples in these ten chapters, DeGray would explain that they all center on the common theme of “reproduction, representation, and redevelopment.” Fueling the connections within each paper as well as connecting them in the volume, these themes question how art is representing authenticity in culture and subsequently redeveloping signs and images in society. DeGray, who is currently a paralegal and legal assistant for Langrock, Sperry & Wool law firm,
is the sole contributor to the volume with only a B.A. degree. She spoke to this, saying, “It speaks highly of the quality of the HWS honors project in its ability to be akin to work at the Masters level, it simulates the graduate environment and prepares students for professional postgraduate work.” DeGray’s experience with the honors project and her subsequent publication and success has opened here eyes to opportunities in the academic field, and she plans to pursue a PhD in sociology/cultural studies. “I am proud of Sarah for writing such quality work,” said Dunn of DeGray’s achievements. “The Honors Program allows motivated students to really delve into a project and produce something of substance; for really excellent students like Sarah, the results can be the first of what may be a long line of academic publications and triumphs.” Looking toward her plans to come, DeGray concluded, “With what I was able to accomplish in one undergraduate year makes me very excited about what I can achieve in graduate school. I will continue to work in this area; these are important and relevant topics in our culture.”
Finding a Sense of Place: Honoring Deborah Tall – Free Tours to Historic Native American Sites This Saturday the first of two field trips sponsored by the Office of Intercultural Affairs and the Office of Student Activities will travel to Ganondagan, the site of a Native American community that was a flourishing and vibrant center for the Seneca people, located in Victor, N.Y. Intercultural Affairs and Student Activities organized the event in coordination with Instructor of English Mary Hess and Assistant Professor of Religious Studies Fay Botham for their First-Year Seminars, “Native Heritage: Walk in Balance on the Earth Mother” and “Sacred Earth: Native American Religious Ecologies.” The staff at Ganondagan will present a program about the history of the Seneca Nation and the Ganondagan site, after which the students can explore trails. Side stops will include the site in Geneva where Ganundasaga (New Settlement Village) was located, and, in Canaindagua, students will visit the site of the signing of the Canaindagua Treaty of 1794. Hess, the “tour guide” for this trip, will provide the historical context of the sites.
During the spring 2008 semester, a second field trip titled “Women, Slaves, and Abolitionists” will visit the National Women’s Hall of Fame and the Women’s Rights National Park in Seneca Falls and the Harriet Tubman Home and the Seward House in Auburn. The purposes of the field trips are: (1) to introduce students to the rich cultural history of the Finger Lakes region and, (2) to bring together students – in particular, first-year seminar students and international and exchange students – with other student groups to share a learning experience focusing on the cultural heritage of this region. The tours will honor the memory of Deborah Tall, former English professor, and will use her book as a guide for touring and studying the historic sites in the region that will give our students “sense of place.” This trip is free of charge and is open to all students. Lunch will be provided. For reservations, interested parties can contact Alejandra Molina at 781-3797 and/or at molina@hws. edu. Reservations must be made by Thursday, Oct. 18.
Panel will Explore Political Science Internships By HWS Communications Did you ever wonder what it would be like to intern for a senator, a congressman, or even a presidential candidate? Several of your fellow HWS students spent their summer break doing just that, and would like to share their experiences with you! On Tuesday, Oct. 23, the Political Science Department and Salisbury Center for Career Services will host a Political Science Internship Panel featuring six Hobart and William
Smith students. Working for politicians including Sen. Ted Kennedy of Massachusetts and Congressman Jim Saxton, a New Jersey Republican, the students will discuss how they obtained their internships, what they learned, how they filled their days, and how they made the most of their experiences. The discussion will begin at 7:30 p.m. in the Sanford Room. Reserve your seat by e-mailing cso@hws.edu.
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