College of Liberal Arts Musings Newsletter Spring 2020

SPRING 2020

College of Liberal Arts

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MESSAGE from the DEAN

Spring greetings from the Mount! As I write this, I am alone in my office in the middle of a workday afternoon, on an empty floor, in (as far as I can tell) an almost empty Bradley Building.

I am finishing my 33rd year at the university, and this one is certainly ending unlike any other!

Just two weeks ago, the College of Liberal Arts hosted a lovely, well-attended and seemingly normal Ducharme Lecture on the topic of utopias. Since then, all classes have moved online, and very few students, seminarians, administrators, staff and faculty members remain on campus.

It’s been hectic and stressful adjusting to the coronavirus, but, looking back, I believe we’ll feel good about how the Mount has weathered this storm. President Tim Trainor, Provost Boyd Creasman and the entire Cabinet have efficiently gathered the best information available and acted decisively and prudently, keeping the safety of the entire Mount community always in mind.

Mount faculty members, most of whom have not taught online, were greatly assisted by my colleague in the School of Education, Dean Barbara Marinak, Ph.D., and her team, particularly those in the Center for Instructional Design and Delivery. This Center was founded to inform and assist faculty members about the best teaching practices, including the use of the most up-to-date technology. I don’t think anyone anticipated that they’d have to help the entire faculty move courses online in such a short span, but they’ve mobilized effectively and thoughtfully.

On a couple of warm days, I’ve experienced an eerie feeling as I walk outside and see our beautiful campus undergoing the greening and flowering of spring, yet empty of people! In those moments it is hard for me to believe how much sickness threatens our world. For many of us, the Mount is not quite Utopia, but it is a beautiful place, happiest when filled with people who care about each other. I feel especially bad for our graduating seniors who did not plan to finish their college careers off campus.

The topic of leaving the Mount reminds me of perhaps the most profound question in Henry David Thoreau’s Walden (1854). This great book describes the author’s two-year sojourn in the woods, where he lived near Walden Pond in a small house of his own making as deliberately and self-sufficiently as possible. After he discovered and lived such a satisfying life there, one wonders why he left. He addressed this question directly by describing the lingering “path from my door to the pond-side” he himself created, observing “how easily and insensibly we…make a beaten track for ourselves,” both physically and in “paths which the mind travels.” Instead of remaining on this trail, Thoreau suggested he has “several more lives to live,” and wanted to experience them “before the mast and on the deck of the world.”

I was a college senior when I first contemplated these words, taking a class on American autobiography with other senior liberal arts majors. Many of us were unsure about our futures, but we were stubborn lovers of words, ideas and their meanings. (It’s not just now that the value of the liberal arts is questioned!) I’ll never forget, however, what our professor, Francis Burch, S.J., a Jesuit priest from Maryland, told us. “Some students,” he said, “require the comfort of a well-worn path: they need to know that their specific major will lead to a specific kind of job. But in choosing the liberal arts, you have shown that you already have the confidence to find your own path.”

I found his words both comforting and true and, over the years, have often shared them with students. But I always add how important it is that they express that confidence about their choice of study when they interview or even just speak with others. Happily, coronavirus notwithstanding, I encounter confident liberal arts majors at the Mount all the time! They speak persuasively, well and with great hope. Their skill and optimism inspire me and make me confident that the journeys they and their alma mater travel—viral threats notwithstanding— trend upward. In the following pages, you’ll read more about our great students, alumni and faculty members. Please follow their lead when you talk about your Mount experience. Given the current disruption, the Mount would appreciate your verbal, spiritual and financial support.

Please consider contributing to our Forward Campaign, our unrestricted annual fund or the College of Liberal Arts’ Dean’s Fund for Excellence. You can contribute to the latter by visiting this website. I’d love to hear from you in any case. Spes Nostra!

Peter Dorsey, Ph.D., Dean of the College of Liberal Arts

ALUMNI SPOTLIGHT

Siobhan Madison

From Liberal Arts to Legal Service Siobhan Madison, J.D., graduated from the Mount in 1997 with majors in history and philosophy. Her liberal arts degrees helped her to gain skills and perspectives that took her to law school and then a rich and diverse legal career. Open to new ideas and experiences, she enjoyed accumulating knowledge each step of the way and quickly became attracted to public service, accepting roles in the U.S. government, the City of Baltimore, her home state of Maryland, and at a nonprofit that aids low- and moderate-income clients in obtaining legal services. She now helps students at The George Washington University Law School navigate their career paths. She also serves on the Advisory Board of the Pre-Law program at Mount St. Mary’s and supports the Mount’s Office of Competitive Fellowships, led by Associate Professor of History Jamie Gianoutsos, Ph.D. College of Liberal Arts Dean Peter Dorsey, Ph.D., recently interviewed Madison about her remarkable journey.

How did you come to choose the Mount?

How would you describe your time at the Mount?

I went to Aberdeen High School in Harford County, the same high school as Cal Ripken.

I played basketball and tennis and hoped to continue with tennis in college. As a middle schooler, I attended a tennis camp at Mount St. Mary’s, so the school had been on my radar. I chose the Mount because I liked the size of the school; it was the perfect distance from home; and I was Catholic.

Coming from a small high school community, I thrived in the close-knit atmosphere of the Mount, and I really appreciated the open-door policy of my professors. I was a member of the tennis team all four years, and these are some of my fondest memories. I made friends, not only with other Mount athletes, but with fellow students from across the Mount, many of whom I am still friends with

today. One of my favorite professors was Dr. Sue Goliber from the History Department.

I vividly remember how she made me realize I was not in high school anymore! There was a lot of work, but I went to Dr. Goliber, and she helped me create a strategy to succeed.

My philosophy classes were also excellent (thank you Dr. David Rehm), but my favorite courses were in American history. I loved Dr. Curtis Johnson’s class, and he advised my senior thesis on the role that white

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patronage played on black authors during the Harlem Renaissance. Dr. Johnson wrote my recommendation for law school, and I am deeply grateful for his help. I also had great classes with Drs. Michael Towle, Emilio Rodriguez, and George Williams from the Political Science Department, and Dr. Cynthia Chance from the Philosophy Department.

The Mount gave me a great education with a lot of support.

How did studying the liberal arts prepare you for your career?

Law school was not on my radar when I started at the Mount, but I knew I was interested in an advanced degree, and I talked with different professors. I thought a liberal arts education was the best option for me because it gave me more space to figure out what I wanted to do.

Liberal arts was the right choice because it developed the research-and-writing skills that I hadn’t developed during secondary school. The curriculum was very helpful: if you’re not sure what you want to do, it can help you find your way. I believe writing is one of the most important skills needed to prepare you for law school. If you’re not a 4

good writer, you’re going to struggle in law school. I did not write a lot in high school, but by the time I finished the Mount, I was well-prepared for the writing challenges that law school would bring. Another benefit of the Mount’s liberal arts core curriculum is that you take courses out of your areas of interest. This gives you a frame of reference for whatever legal problem is in front of you.

When advising clients, you can’t operate in a silo; you need to understand the breadth of the problem and whether you need advice from practitioners in other areas of the law.

You can be any major you want to be and go to law school.

Tell us about your law school experience.

I went to the University of Cincinnati College of Law. I chose UC Law because I received a scholarship, and it was a relatively small school that suited me as a learner. Due to limitations around my scholarship, I had to work in Cincinnati during my summers.

So, between school years, I was a summer associate with Keating, Muething & Klekamp, a large general-practice law firm in downtown Cincinnati. It was a valuable experience, not only for the substantive exposure I got to the practice of law, but for the opportunity to

discover what type of legal work I did and did not like. I left the firm with a strong desire to see what I could accomplish in the realm of public service.

How did your legal career unfold?

My first job after law school was working for the National Labor Relations Board in their Appellate Court Branch. I loved this job because I was doing public interest work, and getting the chance to do oral arguments before the federal appeals courts at an early stage in my career. Looking back, this was definitely one of the best jobs I’ve had. Then I had an opportunity to go to the Department of Justice, and I jumped at the chance. I started doing trial level work on the Tobacco Litigation team. This was a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to work on one of the biggest racketeering cases ever brought by the federal government. When the trial ended, I transitioned to the Federal Programs Branch, where I was lead counsel in cases in which the United States or its agencies were named as defendants. I got the chance to represent many agencies, including the FBI and the State Department.

It was a wonderful and fulfilling experience.

After my oldest daughter was born and my

husband, Ron, was transferred to Fort Dix in New Jersey, I continued to work, remotely, for Federal Programs in the physical space of the U.S. Attorney’s Office in Philadelphia.

When we moved back to Maryland, I left the Department of Justice and began work for the Mayor and City Council of Baltimore.

This was similar to the work I had done for Federal Programs, but this time representing Baltimore City agencies. After several years with Baltimore City, I went to work for the Attorney General of Maryland, first handling correctional litigation cases and then providing advice and counsel to the Maryland Health Care Commission. Afterward, I moved to a Baltimore-based nonprofit organization called Civil Justice, where we helped promote a fairly new way of delivering legal services, called “limited scope representation.” This model is designed to increase access to legal services for low-income Marylanders.

Tell us about your current position at the George Washington University Law School.

Throughout my career, I have been actively involved in guiding students and giving career advice. I’m doing this now at George Washington. It’s a good fit: I love working in higher ed., and GW is an excellent law school.

My legal career has been dedicated to public service so I am particularly excited to specialize in counseling students interested in entering this field. The biggest challenge we face with these students is finding paid internship opportunities. We are constantly working to find funding for those seeking jobs in public interest. I was really attracted to working at GW Law because it has an innovative program called the Inns of Court that integrates professional development directly into the students’ curriculum.

an effort to learn all you can. Network to find attorneys willing to help, attend public trials and oral arguments, volunteer with legal services organizations. There are plenty of ways to get exposure. The second thing I tell students is “Don’t get stuck on school rankings.” Do a cost-benefit analysis; think about how much debt you will take on. You don’t have to go to a top-ranked school to come out with an awesome education.

What advice would you give an undergraduate student about going to law school?

My husband, Ron, is a colonel in the Army, stationed at Aberdeen Proving Ground. We have three daughters, all of whom are avid swimmers. Isabel is 14 and loves playing the flute and basketball. She’ll soon be competing in the Maryland State Solo and Ensemble Festival at Towson University.

Nina is 10 and plays clarinet, basketball and volleyball; she loves to sing and dance and will be playing a police officer in an upcoming production of Annie, Jr. You can catch the baby of the family, Simone, either singing, dancing or watching Boss Baby. The whole family is into running. Ron and the girls have participated in triathlons, including the Mount triathlon. Ron and I also like to do road races, but only the ones that serve beer afterward!

When I decided to go to law school, I really had no idea what practicing law would be like. I had no clue what type of law I wanted to practice and no one telling me how to find out. So, my advice for anyone considering law school is to take any opportunity you can to get exposure to the many practice areas and practice settings that the legal field has to offer. Job satisfaction is a hot topic among practicing lawyers, and the earlier you can begin to understand what legal job will suit you, the more satisfied and fulfilled you will be. Talk to people who are doing what you think you want to do. Make

Tell us about your family.

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Rev. James Donohue’s Sabbatical Year in Tanzania 6

Although the Rev. Jim Donohue is a well-published scholar, until this year he has only had one sabbatical in 23 years of serving the Mount, a fact that illustrates his deep (and sometimes exhaustive) commitment to the university. During this, his second sabbatical, Donohue is working on a book with Associate Provost David McCarthy, Ph.D., titled A Vision of Marriage, but he has also taken his talents to Tanzania! In addition to doing research and writing, he has been serving as rector for the Tanzanian seminarians at the Congregation of the Resurrection Formation House in Morogoro. Donohue feels blessed to take his sabbatical in Tanzania and has thrown himself into Tanzanian culture. He attributes the Mount’s mission of serving others as a big factor in pushing him outside his “homebody” comfort zone.

“My journey to Tanzania began a long, long time ago,” said Donohue. His first service trip resulted from Professor Diana Rodriguez-Lozano’s perseverance in asking him to participate in her frequently offered trip to Peru. “It was a fantastic experience,” he said. “It gave me more confidence that I could ‘be myself’ in a different culture.” In the fall of 2008, Donohue was selected to lead students on a study-abroad trip to Prague. He remembers asking himself what he had gotten himself into, but he let go of his fears and misconceptions and took a leap of faith. He realized that he has the ability to adapt and move within a culture and language different from his own.

The Resurrection Formation House is home to professed priesthood candidates, seminarians and students, all seeking to do the work of the Lord. Donohue sees the “tremendous needs on the part of the Tanzanian people, both physical and spiritual” and appreciates the positive involvement of the Catholic Church in providing basic necessities of physical and spiritual life: education, health care, social work and leadership training.

Donohue is developing innovative ways to help. As he continues to shepherd the newly professed seminarians, he encourages them to have a giving heart and observes that the young men and women of Tanzania have a strong desire to serve each other. He shares this desire as rector and yearns to export the Mount’s goodness, even in the face of hardship.

Although he and those he works with are aiming toward the same goal of bettering the physical and spiritual life of Tanzania, there have been some bumps during his journey. Communication is a basic aspect of life, but it has been a recurring issue. Donohue is making progress in Swahili but is not yet fluent. Yet he does not allow the barrier of language to stop him from fulfilling his duties and overcoming difficulties. Determined to improve, he has learned the basic greetings of the Tanzanian people and can execute transactions at the post office without using any English. He now presides in Swahili during the Eucharist.

On his first night, Donohue was given the traditional robe and walking stick of a Tanzanian shepherd. Walking has become a new pastime as he walks on average eight miles a day. In addition to helping him lose over 50 pounds, walking has pushed him to reflect and understand that acceptance and adaptation are general life skills. The extra time that he has in Tanzania has allowed him to make needed changes in his life and find additional opportunities to help others. One way is to teach English to several people in Morogoro, an opportunity that has allowed both Donohue and his students to peek into each other’s worlds. Another way is to support the football club of 30 young men who come from the local village of Tungi.

While Donohue has experienced a big cultural shock, he believes the experience has done him much good. “Spiritually, it has been a joy to pray with our Resurrectionist seminarians and the local religious women and men each day,” he said. This fruitful prayer has pulled him closer to the poor. Adapting to the culture of Tanzania also has encouraged Donohue to reflect upon how he might live differently when he returns to the Mount in the fall of 2020. Reflecting on these positive changes, Donohue observes, “I owe the Mount a great debt for the opportunities it has provided to open my eyes wider to the world and its needs, and for this support and help,” he added, “I will always be indebted.”

Donohue has kept the Mount community informed about his Tanzanian journey on his illustrated blog which can be accessed from the “CRs In Action” tab on the Congregation of the Resurrection, Ontario-Kentucky Province, website.

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The Good Place

Spring 2020 Ducharme Lecture

Daniel McMahon, Ph.D., a 1980 graduate of the Mount and principal of DeMatha Catholic High School in Hyattsville, Maryland, explained the concept of utopia in the spring 2020 Ducharme Lecture. In his address, titled, Mapping Utopia: From Plato to Atwood to Where We Live, McMahon encouraged the audience to reflect on the word play behind “utopia” as coined by St. Thomas More in 1516: “the good place that is no place.” Utopian perfection exists only in the mind and in literature: it cannot project itself into reality. Throughout his lecture, however, McMahon demonstrated how utopian thought is embedded in the educational journey found in the Mount’s unique core curriculum.

McMahon identified three virtues of studying utopias: they break down the boundaries of academic disciplines; they explore the big questions about human existence; and they trace the historical narrative of ideas.

He opened the lecture by referring to José Ortega y Gasset’s essay “The Barbarism of Specialization,” which argues that extreme specialization in modern society results in a “disarticulation of knowledge” which creates the “self-satisfied” specialist who in knowing a “tiny portion of the universe” becomes a “learned ignoramus.” In contrast, McMahon praised liberal arts education for “giving individuals the tools to succeed in specialized work,” but also making them 8

“humble and curious about traveling in the archipelago of knowledge.”

Citing literary theorist Northrop Frye, who described utopias as places where all “specialized disciplines can meet and interpenetrate with a mutual respect,” McMahon argued that utopias are not confined to any specific literary genre; they are driven by ideas and explore universal issues examined by the liberal arts. No single discipline can answer all of life’s questions and so the “study of utopias forces us to make connections across traditional departmental lines to fight the disarticulation of knowledge.” In this sense, McMahon stated, utopias are “a real gift in education.”

McMahon next explained how utopias and the related category of dystopias raise important questions about the goals of human life. How should we live our lives?

How should we govern ourselves? Are authority, force and power synonymous?

In exploring such questions, McMahon explained, utopian literature makes “directed assumptions about human nature.” In doing so, utopian texts become “works in the history of ideas.” He mentioned authors from the ancient world such as St. Augustine and Pelagius, to important figures from the European and American Enlightenment.

He also explained how utopias are both creative and destructive—creative in the

sense that they imagine newer and better societies and destructive in the sense that they wish to replace societies as we know them. Dislocated from the real world in time and space, however, utopias ultimately selfdestruct because they posit societies that cannot exist.

Referencing works such as Aldous Huxley’s Brave New World, McMahon also illustrated the central role education plays in constructing and maintaining utopias and dystopias. “Traveler” characters are frequently the subject of this education, and they often stand in the place of readers. McMahon explained that the educational project in utopias and dystopias is often advanced by depicting the state metaphorically. One such metaphor, “the body politic,” was popular in ancient texts such as Plato’s Republic because it assumed a hierarchical society governed by a “head.”

This metaphor became less popular during the rise of democracy, but it was revived during the nineteenth century in the thought of Social Darwinists like Herbert Spencer.

McMahon warned his audience that people must “choose their metaphors carefully” because “eventually they will do your thinking for you.”

Utopias often transform work into play. In Ursula Le Guin’s novel The Dispossessed, for example, two characters happily decide

FEAR ON THE MOUNTAIN

The American Horror Story

Fear is an emotion that is provoked by an expected sight, sensation or experience of horror. Some people want to stay away from fear, but it is inevitable. In his course English 135 American Horror Story, Associate Professor Jack Dudley, Ph.D., pushes students to explore horror from the perspective of literature and film. The exploration is not as scary as one may think.

As an English professor, Dudley believes students should enjoy and understand cultural forms from all angles and finds that, when students engage with books and film, they explore reality on a deeper level. This deeper level in turn impacts the ways individuals experience pop culture. Dudley explains that horror has always been an interest of his, and he strives to examine closely its relation to society. He also believes the genre of horror helps all of us to think more deeply about life. While horror appears to be simple on the surface, Dudley argues it is a complex representation of humanity’s creativity. In the course, students explore that complexity and enjoy horror’s creativity while reading works of H.P. Lovecraft, Edgar Allan Poe and Stephen King. They also watch films and television shows such as Rosemary’s Baby, Get Out and Stranger Things.

to assemble munitions in their spare time.

On the other hand, dystopias typically convert play into work. There is no time for play, for example, in the Gilead of Margaret Atwood’s The Handmaid’s Tale. Utopias and dystopias also address questions of justice and fairness. Contemporary society is often obsessed with what is or is not fair, and to that extent we are all invested in utopian thinking. Because it is so central to our view of the world, McMahon was inclined to affirm Oscar Wilde’s statement: “A map of a world that does not include Utopia is not worth even glancing at.”

An award-winning educator, McMahon is an active scholar, book reviewer, blogger and newspaper commenter, who offers workshops on pedagogy, writing and leadership. He serves on the boards of many nonprofit organizations including the Advisory Board of the Mount’s College of Liberal Arts.

The students enjoy reading and watching classic and modern horror. “Dr. Dudley brings so much knowledge to horror,” said Joseph Staub, C ‘20, who considers the class to be a highlight of his time at the Mount. “We are able to discuss aspects of horror literature and film that I wouldn’t normally think about.” Dudley has found a way to give students new perspectives on the nature of literature and film while making the classroom fun and engaging.

Dudley, who earned his Ph.D. in English from the University of Wisconsin-Madison and recently achieved tenure, has been teaching English courses at the Mount since 2014. When he is not teaching his students about the unexpected fun of horror, he is writing a book about how religious beliefs and attitudes continue to impact postmodern culture. He also enjoys running and quality time with his wife Jaci and his cats Bam, Meiko, Baby Grey, Oreo and Gouda.

As he continues on his path of success at the Mount, Dudley has formed an exciting space for those who love horror and all its complexity. He mentioned that Stephen King’s novel It is one of his favorite horror stories. “I admire this work because there is no singular personal narrative. Each character has a backstory that weaves into the novel,” said Dudley. Even though some horror stories have lost their ability to scare him, he said he gets to experience the fear all over again through his students. “They’ll see something I haven’t seen before,” he said, “and I’ll think, ‘Yikes, now that is a frightening thought!’”

The Ducharme Lecture series was endowed with a generous gift from Raphael Della Ratta, class of 1992, and his family. In establishing this series, he has chosen to honor one of his professors, Robert Ducharme, Ph.D., professor emeritus of English, whose inspired teaching motivated generations of students to see the value of the liberal arts.

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Mount

Hosts Musical Gala The Mount hosted a musical Gala on Friday, February 22, at the Delaplaine Fine Arts Center in downtown Frederick, Maryland.

Held in the Center’s spacious Gardiner Hall, the event featured the Mount’s Big Band, Chorale and Lab Band, musical ensembles directed by the university’s Visual and Performing Arts Department.

As guests sipped wine and mingled, the Lab Band opened the evening with classic jazz numbers such as Duke Ellington’s “C Jam Blues,” experimental rock pieces like Tortoise’s “I Set My Face to the Hillside” and American standards such as Johnny Mandel’s “Shadow of your Smile.” The Lab Band forms a class taught by Associate Professor of Music Mark Carlson, D.M.A., and the students’ versatility was on full display, as performers swapped instruments, scores and musical genres. Next, the Mount’s Big 10

Band took the stage and delivered big sound with Count Basie’s high energy “Jumpin’ at the Woodside” and the driving beat of Jimmy Forest’s “Night Train.”

Next up was the Mount Chorale, directed by department chair, Professor Andrew Rosenfeld, D.M.A. Harmonizing beautifully, they performed the Israeli folk song, “Erev Shel Shoshanim,” followed by the sacred song, “V’al Kulam.” Transitioning smoothly from the sacred to the secular, they sang “Moonspeak,” an original composition

by Rosenfeld, based on President John F. Kennedy’s speech advocating a moon landing. Turning wistful, the Chorale finished its set with an inspiring rendition of Jerome Kern’s “Smoke Gets in Your Eyes.”

At various moments during the evening, student performers Pratosh Brahmbhatt,

A FIRST FOR PHILOSOPHY Allie Wade, Shawn Manges, Scott Korte and Rita Marcotte addressed the audience. These musicians explained how their involvement in the Mount’s musical program impacted their university experience. Each student told a different story; there were moments of humor, friendship, adversity, poignancy and sheer fun, but all the performers described how their musical life at Mount St. Mary’s very positively impacted their social, academic and professional development.

The music program at the Mount is open to all majors, who can participate for college credit, as an extra-curricular activity or both.

The evening’s lively final set featured Rita Marcotte singing a Big Band version of “Paper Moon,” followed by a rousing rendition of Louie Prima’s “Sing, Sing, Sing,” during which Pratosh Brahmbhatt amazed the crowd with show-stopping drum solos.

Once the music stopped, student musicians, Mount faculty and staff, and guests mingled and shared in the joy of a successful performance. Rosenfeld and Carlson praised the student’s work. Carlson reflected, “Every day Mount students come to rehearsal and push the envelope of musicianship to establish the quality standard for the next semester. It has been a privilege to work with so many intelligent and dedicated musicians and a joy to share their work.”

The student performers also enjoyed the experience. Keyboardist and bassoon player Betsy Busch said, “Performing at the Gala in Frederick was a great opportunity because we normally only perform at the Mount. It was also exciting to share the music we’ve been working on for Big Band since we put so much time and effort into it.”

The Visual and Performing Arts Department hopes the Gala will become an annual event and believes it marks an additional step in the evolution of the university’s music program. It certainly showcased how well university students are developing their already impressive skills while exporting the goodness of Mount St. Mary’s. If the success of this year’s concert is any indication, next year they may need a bigger venue.

Edmund Husserl is a German philosopher known as the father of phenomenology.

He identified the relationship between human consciousness and objects in the real world. Husserl is famous not only for his founding of phenomenology, but also for the intricacy of his writing. To understand Husserl’s ideas in his native German is one thing, but to translate them into another language calls for a deeper power. The Mount’s very own Thane Naberhaus, Ph.D., tackled this challenge.

Dr. Naberhaus was able to dig through Husserl’s complexity while collaborating with his co-translator, Sebastian Luft, Ph.D., a philosophy professor from Marquette University. They translated Husserl’s Erste Philosophie, or First Philosophy, and recently published the text as a book. The translated manuscripts are Husserl’s lecture course from the winter semester of 1923-1924 at the University of Freiburg im Breisgau. That semester Husserl lectured students about the history of philosophy and the significance of his own transcendental phenomeology while paying homage to “Socrates-Plato,” Aristotle, Descartes, and Kant.

Dr. Naberhaus is an associate professor in the Mount’s Philosophy Department.

His areas of focus include phenomenology, existentialism, and transcendental philosophy.

These interests pushed him to “take a leap of faith” to co-translate the dense and challenging lectures. Most people who read Husserl stick to a small part of his work. Dr. Naberhaus accepted the challenge because First Philosophy is Husserl’s most systematic attempt to explain his philosophy as a whole. “It is his philosophy of philosophy,” said Dr. Naberhaus.

It is also the only major work by Husserl that had not been translated into English.

The translation was a tedious voyage, but the translators were well equipped to undertake it. Dr. Luft is a native German speaker who understands English well, and Dr. Naberhaus is a native English speaker who understands German well.

Dr. Naberhaus, however, understands that the process is not straightforward.

“I had to suppress the editor in me,” said Naberhaus. “I wanted to be Husserl’s editor. I found cases where I thought Husserl had said something badly, and I wanted to fix it or say it more elegantly, but I knew I was bound by the requirement of being faithful to the original. There was a tension between faithfulness and elegance.” While some scholars believe that a thinker’s ideas are not truly expressible in another language, Dr. Naberhaus holds that thoughts can be articulated in any language, though it takes effort to translate them from one to another. He described three principal elements to the translation process: understanding the text in the home language (German, in this case), getting the basic sense into the target language (English), and, within the limits imposed by being faithful to the original, making it readable and elegant in the target language.

“Most of the work went into the third step,” Naberhaus explained. “The first two steps are not that hard. The third step is a bear.”

Dr. Naberhaus was happy to make Husserl’s work more available to English speakers and said the task greatly improved his German. Thanks to Dr. Naberhaus’ unfailing endurance, English speakers are now able to tackle Edmund Husserl’s First Philosophy themselves.

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The Beautiful Mind of

Philosophical Creativity First-year students at the Mount are all asked the following question at the heart of a liberal arts education: what does it mean to be a person? In his new course, The Philosophy of Creativity, Mike Miller, Ph.D., challenged his first-year students in Fall 2019 to explore this question in a different way by asking, “What does it mean to be a creative person?”

As a philosopher, Miller, who has been teaching at the Mount for 18 years, understands human nature through a blending of abstract metaphysics and practical experience. This is why he designed a philosophy course with real-world applications, created to push his students to explore the mystery of humanity through an appreciation of their own creative work. “I see myself as a creative connection to philosophy,” he said.

Miller wants students to recognize that all humans have a spiritual side, and are more than just a body. As humans, we all interact at many levels, and creativity is embedded in everyone. To enhance the computer expertise of students in the digital age, Miller used professional training videos from LinkedIn Learning to help students develop their creative skills. The students were introduced to several applications from Adobe’s Creative Cloud Suite, including Illustrator, Lightroom and Photoshop. No one walked into his class claiming to be a creative person, but the course helped them recognize their own potential and understand that creativity is a defining human quality.

Long known as a fantastic teacher, Miller is also an accomplished photographer, who is able to create vivid memories from a single snap of the camera. But, alongside his students, he wanted to learn more about his own creative spirit. To prepare to teach the course, 12

he hired a tutor over the summer to help him sharpen his skills in computer illustration and photo editing. He recalls very exciting meetings with his tutor at Dunkin’ Donuts, where he enjoyed relearning what it means to be a student by having his own homework to complete!

Miller had several goals for his students, including that they come to understand themselves as active and creative students, and not just passive participants in a classroom. He also wanted them to be open to talking about their artistic challenges and even welcome their failures, since Miller recognizes that fear of failure often paralyzes students from getting the most out of their classes.

Philosophy classes are often criticized for being abstract and not connected to real-life issues, but, by investigating their humanity through hands-on experience, Miller’s students learned more about themselves.

“Since the first class, Dr. Miller pushed us to do the very best with all of our assignments,” said Timothy Breson, C’23. “I considered it to be motivating, and by the time we got to the projects for each one of Adobe’s applications, it really felt like I had gone leaps and bounds from where I was before.” Tyler Jackson, C’23, agreed, stating, “The writing assignments and discussion topics prompted us to think about what it meant to be creative. Unlike most philosophy classes, we even learned practical skills to exercise our creativity.”

Continuing his practice of pedagogical innovation, Miller has provided a unique Mount experience to help students explore their human nature and lay the foundation for a creative career.

MUSINGS | Spring 2020

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STUDENT SPOTLIGHT

Mount Man of All Seasons Harry Scherer As students complete the spring semester via remote instruction from their homes due to the 2019 novel coronavirus, the lack of activity on campus underscores how active Mount students are under normal circumstances! Sophomore Harry Scherer’s varied interests and activities surely identify him as a Mount man of all seasons! As the unusual circumstances give us reflective pause, it’s worth tracing the seasons of Scherer’s academic year.

SUMMER 2019 This Pittsburgh native chose the Mount because of its Catholic identity, beautiful campus, small classes and personal relationships with professors. One of the professors with whom Scherer developed a relationship in his first year at the Mount, Philosophy Professor Joshua Hochschild, Ph.D, recommended Scherer apply for a Monastic Wisdom Seminar sponsored by the Lumen Christi Institute and held at New Melleray Abbey, a Trappist monastery in Iowa. Joining 11 other young men at various stages in their educational journeys, Scherer in June learned about the vocation of monastic life and the role it has played in the Catholic intellectual tradition. “As a mere observer, it was one of the most impactful weeks of my life,” he reflected.

In July he went on a three-week pilgrimage to Italy with generous support from the Office of Competitive Fellowships, directed

by Associate Professor of History Jamie Gianoutsos, Ph.D. A group of Mount students, led by the Rev. Diego Ruiz, visited Rome, Milan, Turin, Florence, Siena, Assisi, and Lucca. In the Vatican Museum, the Mounties were delighted to see a statue of Pericles they recognized from their Western Civ reader! The trip ended with a three-day conference organized by the Institute of the Incarnate Word, whose theme was the “evangelization of culture.” “It was very high energy,” Scherer recalled, “not a silent retreat!”

FALL 2019 The indefatigable Scherer was back at the Mount in mid-August for resident assistant (RA) training. Working with fellow honors student Elena Rittie, C’21, Scherer was placed in charge of an honors dorm in one of the Mount’s Integrated Living and Learning Communities, sponsored by the Office of Residence Life. Scherer learned a great deal and enjoyed getting to know the young men he supports. “Being an RA is more than just a job,” he stated, “It’s an opportunity to see how community is built and to be there for residents when they are at their best and their worst.” This campus leader is already planning ways to better integrate his programming with the goals of the Honors Program next year. Also during the fall, Scherer served as a member of the editorial board of Tolle Lege, a student journal devoted to essays in philosophy and theology. “It’s always fun to see thoughtful research from university and seminary students,” he noted.

“I’m interested in the ideas of my peers and enjoy working with them.”

WINTER 2019-20 Winter at the Mount means Founder’s Day, or two Founder’s Days to be exact, when the university invites talented high-school seniors to compete for two full-tuition scholarships. It’s a lively and popular event that also provides an opportunity for the

Mount to showcase all it has to offer. Scherer remembers he was “humbled” to learn that he would receive a Founder’s Scholarship during his senior year of high school. He finds the Founder’s Scholarship to be a “great example of the generosity of the Mount and how she invests in her students.” Scherer, moreover, returns the favor each year by giving a “Become a Mountaineer” address to the invited students and their families.

“It’s been a real honor,” he said, “and I hope to influence how prospective students think about the Mount.”

SPRING 2020 This spring has been like no other in the history of Mount St. Mary’s. Along with other Mount students, Scherer is back home, completing his classes online. “The students know that this is as hard on the professors as it is on us. It has taken some adjusting, but we will get through it,” he said.

Before he left campus, he learned a paper he submitted had been accepted for the Richard Macksey National Undergraduate Research Symposium at Johns Hopkins University. The essay, which grew out of a course taught by Philosophy Department Chair Richard Buck, Ph.D., uses the political thought of John Rawls to explore how theories of economic inequality impact our understanding of economic liberalism, as well as classical and contemporary capitalism. While the coronavirus has forced the cancellation of the physical conference, Johns Hopkins is offering participants the opportunity to present their papers virtually.

Still hoping to get some “on the ground” experience this summer, Scherer has been accepted into a program sponsored by the American Enterprise Institute titled “Liberal Education in an Age of Distraction.” He is still waiting to hear about other summer programs sponsored by the Thomistic Institute at Catholic University and the Acton Institute in Grand Rapids, Michigan.

Whatever the summer holds for Scherer, we know he will be busy—physically, intellectually and spiritually!

ALL SEASONS As a man of all seasons, Scherer has interests and activities that run throughout the year. In addition to his being attracted to the Mount because of its small size, Catholic identity and personal relationships, he was also drawn to its Philosophy, Politics and Economics (PPE) major. Mount St. Mary’s is the first university in Maryland to offer this undergraduate program, which is popular in Europe for those who wish to go into public and governmental service. Reflecting on PPE, Scherer said, “We can’t think about these disciplines in isolation. We need to attack the issues facing our world in the integrated way that PPE allows. It gives us a broad way to think about issues concretely.” He especially credits Professors Hochschild, John Larrivee, Ph.D., and Barrett Turner, Ph.D., for bringing clarity to his interdisciplinary work and for being active agents of the university’s mission.

Throughout the year, Scherer also writes for the Emmitsburg News-Journal, which features columns by Mount students during all four years of their undergraduate experience, as well as separate columns for sports and the arts. Scherer has written articles on Bishop Fulton Sheen and the importance of literacy, including what and how one reads. He thanks his previous Mount coordinating editor, Shea Rowell, C’19, for helping him write more clearly, and he appreciates how his current editor, Morgan Rooney, C’20, helps him narrow his focus.

Scherer says, “The gift of being able to write for this publication gives me the ability both to represent the Mount and speak to our neighbors in Emmitsburg.”

This man of all seasons is nearly two years into his Mount journey. Many enriching twists and turns remain, but he wants everyone to know he is “incredibly grateful for the people who make the Mount special, who they are and what they do. The Mount is who she is because of the people, and that should never be forgotten.”

College of Liberal Arts | MUSINGS | Spring 2020

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STUDENT SPOTLIGHT

Full Sphere Emma Krusz’s Global Journey 16

When Communication major Emma Krusz, C’20, left her home in Tidewater Virginia to come to the Mount four years ago, she had no idea how much of the world she would see. Now that all classes have moved online, she’s back where she started, finishing her senior year in Virginia. “It’s just different being at home,” she said, “I’m working on my honors project and managing the Mountain Echo so I only have two regular classes.” But she spoke positively about finishing and the depth and breadth of her Mount journey. Her first stop was Mountward Bound, a voluntary program that helps entering students bond while they experience key elements of the Mount’s values. Emma chose the “Serve” program, sponsored by the Office of Social Justice. “Everyone told me that I wouldn’t keep in touch with those I met at Mountward Bound,” Krusz said, “but those students remain my best friends.”

Before long, her Mount experience extended well beyond campus. After her sophomore year, she took a summer semester in Salzburg, Austria, led by Mount Professors Michelle Patterson, Ph.D., Andrew Rosenfeld, D.M.A., and Mark Carlson, D.M.A., with about 14 other students. “Our professors were so involved,” Krusz stated. “We had our classwork from 9 to 12, and then we all began exploring.

The professors were so knowledgeable about different locations in Austria. They took us to places where the locals went – not necessarily tourist destinations – so we were able to be immersed in the culture.”

Krusz especially enjoyed taking the course “The History of Beer and Brewing” and seeing both Austria and Germany from the summit of Mount Untersberg.

During her junior year, Krusz experienced Prague on a semester-long trip organized by Theology Professor the Rev. Jim Donohue.

“The two trips were very different,” Krusz recalled, “there were over 40 students, and we lived in separate apartments so everyone had an opportunity to do their own thing.

One group might focus on day trips; others would travel to different parts of Europe on the weekends; others spent most of their time exploring Prague.” Taking the initiative, Krusz organized a weekend trip to Oktoberfest in Munich for five people, and then she helped other Mount students join in. Another highlight was when Donohue divided the Mount students into three groups and had them to his apartment for a homecooked meal. “Father Jim cooked spaghetti for everyone the first night but then got

overwhelmed and ordered pizza for the rest!” she said. “Still, everybody got a great feel for the Mount community.”

Before they went to Austria, Krusz and her friend and fellow communication major Kelley Northam, C ’20, were thinking of ways to document their trip. “You get a lot more out of it,” Krusz said, “when you’re able to reflect on what you’ve done.” They met with one of their professors, Mary Catherine Kennedy, Ph.D., who suggested they develop a Mount St. Mary’s study-abroad blog.

Working with the university’s marketing and communications department, they chose an Internet platform and welcomed Grace Bovard, C ’19, and Haley Phelps, C ’20, to the team. The MSMU Travel Blog was a hit, so Kennedy created a course to continue the blog in Prague and then set up an internship program for Krusz and Northam. Even though the two remained on campus this year, they coordinated, edited and oversaw blogs coming from students experiencing this year’s programs in Dublin, Ireland; Cuenca, Ecuador; and Florence, Italy.

Krusz became so passionate about study abroad that she decided to make it the focus of her senior honors project. She wanted to investigate how it impacted students and the extent to which they found it valuable.

After conducting a literature review on the topic, she developed a survey and interview questions, focusing on the intellectual, emotional, social, and spiritual effects of studying abroad. After submitting a proposal to the Mount’s Honors and Study Abroad

Programs, she obtained funding to join Mount students in Dublin so she could conduct interviews on site. Her Honors Project mentor, Assistant Professor Kennedy, joined her. “She has taught me so much and I am so thankful for her guidance,” exclaimed Krusz.

In conducting her research, Krusz discovered that studying abroad most positively impacted students emotionally and socially, making them likely to be more outgoing, self-confident and open to new experiences.

While travelling and learning about other cultures and countries is Krusz’s passion, she’s been active in many other ways. She served as a staff writer for three years on the student newspaper, The Mountain Echo, and this year is its managing editor. She and her colleagues have even found a way to keep the paper going during the COVID-19 crisis.

In addition to her travel-blog internship, she’s held on-campus internships with the Career Center and the Admissions Office. Speaking of the Admissions positon, she recalled, “I did email communications and learned what it takes to work in an office. Everyone was so kind; I enjoyed selling the Mount.” Krusz’s oncampus work helped her secure internships off campus. Last fall, she served as a social media intern at L’Arche in Frederick, Maryland. Previously, she worked as a communications intern for a summer camp run by Jacob’s Ladder in Urbanna, Virginia.

Looking ahead, she’s interested in graduate school but believes she’ll test the job market first. Many of the companies she’s applied to have placed their recruiting efforts on hold because of the coronavirus.

When asked about finishing her senior year off-campus, Krusz admitted, “It’s really hard, really sad, but we all understand the situation.” As they complete their work, she and her classmates are staying in touch through FaceTime, Zoom and email. They’ve also been communicating with Mount administrators about planning an alternate graduation. The way she’s ending her senior year is not ideal, but Krusz is undeterred.

She believes the Mount has prepared her to handle any situation, and she’s logged the miles to prove it.

College of Liberal Arts | MUSINGS | Spring 2020

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16300 Old Emmitsburg Road Emmitsburg, Maryland 21727

Did you know that the Mount’s Career Center has a number of services for alumni?

Here is some of what we provide: 1. Resume and cover letter help.

2. Interview assistance.

3. Resources to help you in your search for opportunities.

Do you know how to use

?

This is our gateway for alumni and students to connect with employers. You can check it regularly to see what opportunities are out there for you in the field of your choice: msmary.edu/mounthired.

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We are available for phone, SkypeTM or email consultation. Call 301-447-5202 or careercenter@msmary.edu.