ARTES LIBERALES
Spring 2010 Volume III, No. I
The Newsletter of the Liberal Arts
A&S DEAN’S LETTER
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In the last month, all of our eyes have been on Haiti. The media’s coverage of the earthquake and its aftermath has made those of us who live comfortably in other places in the world feel helpless. The University of Richmond community has already begun coming together to help the people of Haiti, and I trust that efforts will continue long after the disaster stops being a headline. It’s understandable that, with Haiti on my mind, I’ve found myself considering what one person can do to make a difference in a community. In each issue of Artes Liberales, the School of Arts & Sciences brings you stories about the liberal arts—stories that touch students, faculty, and alumni. I’m touched by the fact that, without realizing we’d done it, nearly every story in this issue is, at its core, about changing communities for the better.
Andrew F. Newcomb Dean
Dona Hickey Senior Associate Dean, Faculty Development
Kathy Hoke Associate Dean, Research Support
Scott Johnson Associate Dean Director, Academic Advising Resource Center
Joseph Boehman Associate Dean Dean of Richmond College
Juliette L. Landphair Associate Dean Dean of Westhampton College
Our student research story isn’t just about research; English students helped teachers create writing centers in public schools. Our alumni feature is about a young alumna who’s passionate about creating sustainable sports programs in Ghana. Even a story about our new Integrated Quantitative Science class is really the story of 20 nervous first-year students who, in less than a year, transformed themselves into a community of active scholars. I hope this issue finds you pondering your own possibilities, considering all the ways you can change the communities you care about for the better.
Andrew F. Newcomb Dean of the School of Arts & Sciences University of Richmond
Artes Liberales is published three times a year for faculty, staff, students, and friends of the School of Arts & Sciences at the University of Richmond. Electronic issues of Artes Liberales can be found online at http://as.richmond.edu Director of Communications Rachel Beanland Communications Coordinator Erika Neddenien Graphic & Web Coordinator Kirsten A. McKinney Send story ideas or comments to eneddeni@richmond.edu.
Our Mission To explore the liberal arts through intellectual inquiry, shared investigation, and creativity, thereby fostering a community whose members pursue knowledge for its intrinsic value and its contributions to professions, society, and the world. Cover art provided by Virginia Bunker, ‘07. Photo taken at a field hockey tournament in Ghana. See story on page 6.
It’s been years since Richmond philosophy professor Gary Shapiro found himself a student in a college classroom—four decades to be precise. But this spring, he finds himself in good company, in a class made up of 11 other Richmond faculty, all eager to develop meaningful courses that help students learn about American disciplines from transnational perspectives. Named for Alexis de Tocqueville, a French aristocrat who traveled to the United States from France in the early 19th century, the Tocqueville Faculty Seminar is part of a larger multi-year project to develop a series of Tocqueville seminars, or semester-long courses, that will change the way Richmond students look at American studies. Religion professor Doug Winiarski is coordinating the Tocqueville Seminars, alongside English professor Monika Siebert, and said, “What’s interesting about Tocqueville isn’t necessarily that his travels produced Democracy in America, but that he was fascinated with places outside of France. He traveled extensively, to three different continents, studying political systems, customs, and people, and he always looked for meaningful ways to connect the things he was studying back to France.” The 12 faculty members who
have been selected to participate in this spring’s Tocqueville Faculty Development Seminar already share an affinity for studying and teaching some aspect of the American experience, whether American jazz, American literature, American landscape theory, or the history of America’s great mathematicians. Over the course of the semester, as faculty attend classes led by leading scholars in transnational American studies, they will begin to understand how they can approach their own discipline within a transnational context. Winiarski says that participating faculty fall into three categories. “There are those who feel as if they need to learn more about the American studies discipline and movement, especially as we move away from the notion of a singular American identity,” he said. “Then there’s a group of faculty members who are already well-versed in the American studies discipline but want help implementing new methodologies in the classroom.” “And lastly, and perhaps most interesting, are those who want to establish new pedagogical models for teaching about the United States in international settings, often relying on team teaching with international partners at institutions around the world.” g
A&S FACULTY TEACHING
Tocqueville Seminars: Changing the way professors view American studies
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A&S FACULTY RESEARCH
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Political science professor studies anti-Americanism, Obama’s popularity After a stint teaching English in South Korea in 1994, political science professor Monti Datta says he became “hypersensitive” about gauging foreign opinion of the United States. “I had just graduated from undergrad at UC Berkley and it was the first time in my life that I was really experiencing how others look at the U.S.,” he said. “I really saw that this force of anti-Americanism or pro-Americanism was really strong. Then, wherever I went in the world, whether it was to Japan or India or Canada or Europe, I was paying attention to it.” Fifteen years later, Datta is working on turning his dissertation on the consequences of anti-American sentiment into a book proposal, the focus of which is whether the opinion of average foreign citizens affects how their countries interact with the U.S. Datta says his research indicates that yes, it does. He compared countries’ public opinion of the U.S. over time, based on three factors: how countries voted in the United Nations, how much money the countries’ citizens spent on U.S. tourism, and how heartily countries supported U.S-led military interventions. “For some countries you see more of a relationship than others,” Datta said. “You begin to look at the overall pattern and see that a trend emerges.”
Datta has also begun interviewing foreign dignitaries in order to determine whether or not they believe public opinion is a force at work behind these issues. He’s already spoken to the French ambassador who extended an invitation to visit and interview officials in France. “This is ideal. It will allow me to get at the heart of how some of these leaders are thinking about the U.S.; they can either confirm or disprove these findings,” he said. “I’m hoping to conduct as many interviews as I can over the next several months, to flesh out this narrative because, right now, my research is very quantitative and statistical.” The election of President Barack Obama has inspired a more positive global attitude towards the U.S., and Datta is now examining the effects of this trend. “Everyone knows Barack Obama is a rock star, but is it making a difference? Is it making a difference in the war in Afghanistan? In how the U.S. is interacting with Iran and North Korea? Is there any measurable impact?,” he said. “And what’s interesting is that so far, for some of the data I’ve looked at, there does seem to be a relationship.” This semester Datta is turning the reins over to his students, asking them to identify the causes and consequences of anti-Americanism in a senior seminar he’s teaching. Like him, many of the students are driven by their own experiences abroad. “A lot of them are students returning from studying abroad and they have personal experiences that they want to research,” he said. “Through this class they can pose their own original questions and hopefully find a satisfying answer.” g
When Terry Dolson was teaching Introduction to Composition Theory and Pedagogy in the spring of 2006, she wanted to find a way to make sure her students really “got it.” “The class basically teaches future teachers the theory behind writing instruction,” she said. “Theory wasn’t enough. I wanted the final project to have a practical application.” Her solution: have the students research how to create a writing center similar to Richmond’s at area high schools. Many of the students in the class already had experience working in Richmond’s writing center. And, as the students started researching the subject further, they got excited. It didn’t seem that crazy. They developed an instructional wiki containing methods on how to train students in peer review, and Dolson pulled together a meeting of local public school administrators. The students presented their findings and performed a peer critique demonstration. And to their delight a couple of people actually followed up. Jonathan Morris worked for Henrico County Public Schools and wanted to put together a writing center at Moody Middle School. By the next spring Moody’s writing center was up and running. Morris invited a couple of students from Dolson’s class to come speak to his peer reviewers. Brian Brower, ’08, was one of the students who made
the trip to Moody Middle. He says it was gratifying to see the students excited about teaching. “The children who had signed up as peer reviewers clearly took a great interest in the work they were doing, which was a great sign,” said Brower. Morris, who’s now an administrator at Moody Middle, says the writing center has been a huge success, and that they couldn’t have put it together without Richmond’s wiki. “We couldn’t have done it without the web resources. There’s not a lot out there as far as the process of putting together a center goes,” he said. “And now 90 percent of the at-risk students referred to us are passing their tests.” A second center opened at Deep Run High School. Beth Jones, who was a student in Dolson’s class, now teaches English there and helps run their writing center. In its second year, she says the program is flourishing. “The students are so willing to listen to a peer when it comes to their writing, and the peer reviewers are dedicated, intelligent, and compassionate upperclassmen,” Jones said. “It’s great to see the same student come back during all stages of their writing, once he or she realizes how much working with others can help.” g
STUDENT RESEARCH
English class introduces writing centers to Henrico County Public Schools
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A&S ALUMNI FOCUS
Arts and Sciences graduate brings love of sports to her studies in Ghana
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Virginia Bunker, ’07, has two passions. She’s an avid athlete, running track in high school, joining Richmond’s women’s track team as a walk-on her freshman year, and playing club rugby every year thereafter. She also has a deep love for Ghana and its people. She spent a semester studying abroad in the West African nation during the fall of her junior year at Richmond and has returned twice in the two and a half years since she graduated. Bunker has found a way to combine her two interests through her studies at the University of Indiana at Bloomington. She’s currently pursuing a master’s degree in African studies, her thesis focusing on sports development in Ghana. “All of this great stuff is happening in athletics in Ghana,” Bunker said. “But a lot of the funds are being allocated to surface projects. Those can be important, but in the long run it’s not sustainable unless you’re developing programs at a grassroots level.”
Soccer is the most popular sport in the nation, and in recent years Ghana has participated in several championships, hosting the African Cup twice and winning the FIFA Under 20 World Cup in 2009. “When they hosted the African Cup it was a huge opportunity, and the country’s infrastructure, like the airports and roads, were improved in preparation,” Bunker said. Bunker says that sports development can help a nation prosper in a number of ways—by creating jobs, solidifying a national identity, and even aiding in conflict resolution in war-torn areas. She conducted research in Ghana over the summer, attending sporting events and interviewing local authorities while studying the indigenous language, Twi, through a Foreign Language and Area Studies fellowship. “Twi is a really fun language to learn, but it’s very difficult as well. It’s so tonal and our ears haven’t been trained for
A&S ALUMNI FOCUS
7 Virginia Bunker, ’07, with two coaches pushing for women’s sports equality in Ghana
that,” Bunker said. “But it’s rewarding to learn because once people hear you speaking it, they automatically have more respect for you. You’re showing respect for their culture.” Bunker says she hopes to put her skills to good use, possibly working for the government in some capacity. Ideally, she would love to get involved in developing sporting programs in Africa. Anthropology professor Jan French
met Bunker her first semester teaching at Richmond and immediately took a liking to her. “She was so rapid and bright. She was so sensitive to class discussions, she really got it,” she said. French said she wasn’t surprised when she learned of Bunker’s success. “She’s managed to incorporate her love of sports with something intellectual, and she’s thriving." g
A&S FEATURE
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First class of Integrated Quantitative Science students say the course makes the grade The first semester of the University of Richmond’s brand new Integrated Quantitative Science course has come to a close, and both students and professors agree that it’s been a success. The groundbreaking yearlong course integrates introductory courses in biology, chemistry, physics, math, and computer science. Eighty incoming students competed for 20 spots in the program, which was funded by a $1.4 million grant from the Howard Hughes Medical Institute. The class met five days a week and was team-taught by five Richmond professors. In addition, students attended once-a-week labs and workshops. During the first semester the course focused on antibiotic resistance and was
taught by April Hill (biology), Carol Parish (chemistry), Barry Lawson (computer science), Lester Caudill (math), and Mirela Fetea (physics). “Their first step was to use math, computer science, and biology to examine how infection might spread at a hospital, and how the introduction of antibiotics might affect it,” Hill said. Next they used chemistry to model the structure of the antibiotics. “We narrowed the scope and looked at how the antibiotic molecules are structured and whether we can change the configurations of existing antibiotics to kind of change their function,” said Michael Freeman, ’13. Next they brought biology in, examining bacteria found in marine sponges. “About half of a marine sponge’s tissue is made up of bacteria,” Hill said. “So the idea is that if there is all of this bacteria interacting, they might be engaging in warfare, and maybe they’re making their own antibiotic compounds in order
because my other sisters took the routine intro science classes. It all hit me then.” The students wrapped up their semester-long investigation by presenting their findings at a symposium last December. “We had other faculty come because we thought we might be biased. We just think these students are all so great,” Hill said. “Several of the guest faculty came up to me afterwards and said ‘whoa, they really knew what they were doing’. They were able to talk about the computer science and then switch gears and talk about the chemistry seamlessly.” IQ science students are also guaranteed funding for a summer research fellowship following the course’s completion this May. After completing only the first semester, Freeman is already making plans to join chemistry professor Mike Leopold’s research team. “This class helped me decide what I wanted to do, and I’m leaning toward a particular research field,” Freeman said. “The fact that we have multiple professors means that we have the professors bouncing ideas off of one another, constantly adding new things to the class. It made biology more physical and chemistry more biological. It helped.” g
A&S FEATURE
to survive.” The students split up into groups, each treating a sponge with a different antibiotic—killing all bacteria in the sponge except those resistant to antibiotics. Their hypothesis was that if a bacterium is resistant, maybe it’s making its own anti-microbial compound. “We found in several groups, including my own, that the sponges were actually possibly producing antimicrobial agents of their own that were killing E. coli and Staphylococcus aureus,” Freeman said. “So, it’s possible that, if you keep doing research on the subject, that you could isolate new antibiotics from the sponges.” This was a unique opportunity for the students; very little research has been done on obtaining antibiotics from marine sponges. The majority of antibiotics used today have been obtained from soil organisms. Taylor Applebaum, ’13, said that participating in actual research projects, where the outcome wasn’t already known, made class more engaging and exciting. “This was my first exposure to a college science class and it didn’t really hit me how unusual it was that we were doing this research until I told my mom about it,” she said. “She was just amazed
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A&S IN THE COMMUNITY
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Ensemble creates own community at Richmond Every Thursday night the members of the University of Richmond’s gamelan percussion ensemble, Raga Kusuma, gather in the basement of Booker Hall. As members trickle in they begin to assemble the instruments together, which include large gongs, an instrument called the bonang (a series of kettles suspended on wooden racks) and the gangsa (which resembles a xylophone). Music professor Andy McGraw enforces only two rules during these practices: don’t step over the instruments and leave your shoes at the door. After a few moments of discussion, the group settles down, and after McGraw demonstrates a melody briefly on one of the instruments, they begin to play. McGraw beats on the drum to keep the time and travels around the room, working with each instrument cluster on their part, as the ensemble continues to
cycle the melody, sometimes for almost fifteen minutes without pause. Gamelan is a traditional Balinese community-based style of percussion. In Indonesia, instruments are often housed in local meetinghouses, and the musicians aren’t professionals, but local farmers or merchants. “Gamelan music accommodates a wide range of abilities and interests, from very easy parts like hitting a gong every eight beats, to insanely difficult parts that take years to master,” McGraw said. “It accommodates the wide ranges of talent and time commitment you find in an average community.” McGraw says that the nature of the music requires cooperation. “The music is also built so that the melodies interlock,” he said. “It is literally impossible to play gamelan, as it is composed, by yourself. You have to work with a community to perform the music.” The Raga Kasuma community is a motley crew of about 25 musicians, composed of both Richmond and VCU
Business major Ari Corson, ’10, joined the group his freshman year, and says he’s had the opportunity to play all over the area. “I’ve gone places in Richmond I might never have gone. I’ve met people I might never have met and become good friends with quite a few,” Corson said. “Sometimes the people I have met haven’t necessarily become my best friends, but when we get together for gamelan, we connect as we play together.” McGraw says the group is growing and attributes the group’s popularity to the musical interaction it provides participants. “I think in an age of cubical-alienation and faux communities such as Facebook, people are looking for venues for actual, face-to-face, human interaction that is creative,” he said. “Gamelan can accommodate people with or without prior musical experience; it can accommodate a wide age range, and since it is essentially new to everyone, most people approach it without prior biases… as they might with more familiar musical traditions.” McGraw is on research leave this semester as he is preparing to take another musical group he directs in New York City to the annual Bali Arts Festival in June. His group, Dharma Swara, will perform for more than 10,000 people over the course of the monthlong festival. He’s hoping to take along a few of the members of Raga Kusuma with him to play in the local villages. g
A&S IN THE COMMUNITY
students, as well as members of the community. Participants range in age from seven to 64. McGraw says that most people find out about the group through word of mouth, as members tend to bring in friends. Athena Parker works at a local nonprofit and attends VCU part-time. She found information about the group online and came to a practice. “They held a community day where people could come in and play the instruments. I went to that about six months ago and just started coming every Thursday,” Parker said. “It’s cool to see this many people, who are unrelated by any other means, get together and just enjoy playing music.” Parker invited her friend Kyle Dossier, a construction worker whom she describes as “an excellent musician,” to join, and he’s been attending rehearsals for a month. Dossier already plays a number of instruments, but says this is his first attempt at percussion. “I’m really pleased with it,” he said. “I guess you could say I’m a full convert now.” In addition to holding concerts here on campus, they often perform at area events, such as the First Fridays Art Walk.
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A&S IN THE WORLD
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The French Film Festival brings Paris to The Byrd French professor Francoise RavauxKirkpatrick has co-directed the city of Richmond’s French Film Festival every year since she and her husband, Virginia Commonwealth University professor Peter Kirkpatrick, founded it in 1993— but until last year VCU stood alone as its main sponsor. “It was so wonderful to see the University of Richmond name up there beside VCU’s last year,” Ravaux-Kirkpatrick said. “It’s only normal that the partnership would become more visible.” And last year’s festival was the largest to date. Nearly all 24 film screenings, 12 long and 12 short, at the historic Byrd Theatre sold out, a total of more than 21,000 admissions. The event was attended by 35 of French cinema’s most revered actors and directors. The French Film Festival has become one of the area’s premiere cultural events, but its draw far exceeds that of central Virginia. It’s the largest French Film Festival in the United States and brings in spectators from across the country.
“For a weekend, Richmond becomes the Francophone capital of the United States,” said French professor Kasongo Kapanga. French and English double-major Ben Fancy, ’10, has attended the festival every year since he’s been at UR and says that it’s a rare opportunity to be completely immersed in the language. Directors and actors address audience members entirely in French. “One of my favorite things was realizing that I could follow along and understand the French without needing the translation,” said Fancy, who is a festival intern this year. “You walk outside, in front of the Byrd Theater, and everyone’s speaking French. It’s sort of like having a little tiny part of France here in Richmond.” For the first time ever, the festival reception will be held at the University of Richmond, bringing the French Ambassador to the U.S. to campus along with French cinema’s finest. This semester also marks the launch of a new film studies program at UR, and Ravaux-Kirkpatrick says the French Film Festival will play a vital role in the development of the curriculum. “The festival has long been related to VCU and their program,” she said. “It will definitely benefit UR’s new program. And these students and their knowledge will most certainly benefit the festival in return.” g
Amy Treonis [biology], with Erin Austin, ’08, and Katharine Semmens, ’08, and Charles Parsons, ’10, had a paper, “Granite rock outcrops: An extreme environment for soil nematodes?” accepted for publication in the Journal of Nematology. Claudia Ferman [LAIS] recently completed a new film, Real Sucio Habana (Dirty Real Havana), which weaves together conversations with Cuban writer Pedro Juan Gutiérrez with excerpts from his narrative and poetry. Michael Leopold [chemistry], Jon Dattelbaum [chemistry], Matt Trawick [physics], and Carolyn Marks [biology], with Morgan Vargo, ’10, Chris Gulka, ’10. Chris Gerig, ’10, Chris Manieri, ’10, and Nate Lawrence, ’10, had a paper, “Distance Dependence of Electron Transfer Kinetics for Azurin Protein Adsorbed to Monolayer Protected Nanoparticle Film Assemblies” accepted for publication in Langmuir. Johann Stegmeir [theatre and dance] designed “Inventing Van Gogh” for the Asolo Repertory Theatre in Sarasota, FL. Kelling Donald [chemistry] and Smaranda Craciun, ’11, had a paper, “Radical Bonding: Structure and Stability of Bis(Phenalenyl) Complexes of Divalent Metals from across the Periodic Table,” published in the ACS Journal, Inorganic Chemistry.
Jim Rettig [library] moderated a conversation among New Jersey librarians, U.S. Secretary of Education Arne Duncan, and New Jersey governor Jon Corzine, about the issues facing libraries in the current economy. Louis Schwartz’s [English] book, Milton and Maternal Mortality, published by Cambridge University Press, was released in June ’09 in the U.K. and in August ’09 in the U.S. Jeremy Drummond’s [art and art history] project, 65-Point Plan for Sustainable Living, was purchased for the Cisneros Fontanals Art Foundation in Miami, Fla. Jonathan Dattelbaum [chemistry], with Matt Luchansky, ’09, and Bryan Der, ’09, had a paper, “Amino acid transport in thermophiles: characterization of an arginine-binding protein in Thermotoga maritima,” accepted for publication in Molecular BioSystems. Anne Van Gelder and Johann Stegmeir [theatre and dance] and Victoria George [religion] gave a lecture, “How does 19th Century Ballet Differ From Today,” as part of the Virginia Museum of Fine Arts “How” lecture series. Linda Boland [biology], with Michelle Drzewiecki, ’09, Gabriela Timoney, ’11, and Erin Casey, ’09, had a paper, “Inhibitory effects of polyunsaturated fatty acids on Kv4 potassium channels,” published in the American Journal of Physiology: Cell Physiology. Have some good news to share in the next issue of Artes Liberales? Send your professional achievements to rbeanlan@richmond.edu.
A&S IN THE WORKS
Arts & Sciences Faculty Accomplishments
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A&S HIGHLIGHTS
14 FEBRUARY February 25 @ 7:30 p.m. Brown-Alley Room, Weinstein Hall UCLA professor David Sabean will present a lecture titled “Thoughts on Incest: Shifting Discourses Since the Renaissance.” February 26 @ 7:30 p.m. February 27 @ 7:30 p.m. February 28 @ 2:30 p.m. Alice Jepson Theatre, Modlin Center for the Arts The University Dancers will mark their 25th anniversary at their annual spring concert directed by Myra Daleng. The concert will premiere pieces composed specifically for the occasion by internationally acclaimed choreographers Jean Paul Comelin, Robert Battle, and Jessica Lang.
MARCH March 18 @ 4:30 p.m. Brown-Alley Room, Weinstein Hall As part of the Tocqueville Seminar series, Philip J. Deloria, a professor at the University of Michigan at Ann Arbor, will give a lecture titled “The (Transnational) Mary Sully: American Indian Art, American Studies, and the Nations Within.” March 18 @ 7:30 p.m. March 25 @ 7:30 p.m. Room 118, Jepson Hall The spring 2010 Douglas Southall Freeman Visiting Professor, William Doyle, will give two lectures on Napoleon:“Revolutionary Napoleon” and “Napoleon, Women and the French Revolution.”
March 22 @ 7 p.m. Brown-Alley Room, Weinstein Hall New York Times bestselling author David Shields presents a lecture titled “Genre is a MinimumSecurity Prison.” March 22 @ 7:30 p.m. March 23 @ 7:30 p.m. Cousins Studio Theatre The Department of Theatre presents Confederacy of Dunces, directed by Walter Schoen. March 28 @ 3 p.m. Camp Concert Hall, Booker Hall of Music Faculty artist Richard Becker and his wife, Doris Wylee-Becker, present a duo-piano concert, featuring music by Schubert, Stravinsky, and others.
APRIL April 12 @ 7:30 p.m. Camp Concert Hall, Booker Hall of Music The UR Jazz Ensemble performs a concert of swing and contemporary Jazz selections. April 16 @ 1 p.m. Modlin Center for the Arts The 25th Annual Student Research Symposium, features oral presentations, poster sessions, performances and art exhibits by students who have completed undergraduate research projects in the School of Arts & Sciences.
Modlin Center for the Arts Calendar at http://modlin.richmond.edu/ University Museums Calendar at http://museums.richmond.edu/
Visit http://.as.richmond.edu for the School of Arts & Sciences’ full calendar of events.
Name: Duncan Phillips, ’09 Major: Journalism & English Hometown: Toledo, Ohio So you interned with the Tampa Bay Rays after graduation. What was that like? Working in the front office of a major league baseball team was an awesome experience. I worked as an intern in the marketing and community relations department. A lot of my responsibilities were in community relations, so I was able to work with some of our bigger partners such as the United Way and Big Brothers Big Sisters. I also fielded and fulfilled donation requests from non-profits in Florida. The Rays have a huge impact in the community and have made their
outreach efforts a priority, so it was cool to see how much respect people in the area have for the ball club. Now you’re back in Richmond working at The Hodges Partnership. How did that happen? I interned with The Hodges Partnership in the fall semester of my senior year. I didn’t have any experience in public relations at the time, but I learned so much in the couple months that I was there. It’s a close-knit working environment and as a result, I was given a lot of legitimate work to do. Near the end of my internship, I was allowed to go out and pitch some stories and actually ended up landing a front-page story in a local publication for one of our clients. That was neat. I kept in touch with the folks at Hodges through the end of my senior year and after graduation. They’re baseball nuts over there, so they were excited to hear about my internship with the Rays. And while that job was wrapping up in December, I had some preliminary talks about coming on board in a full-time position at the firm. Eventually they made an offer and I couldn’t have been more thrilled. The timing worked out perfectly, and I ended up exactly where I wanted to be. So what’s your job like now? My job is primarily media relations. We’ve got a bunch of cool clients and it’s my job to get them linked up with various news outlets. And I’ll even be working on the University of Richmond account. That’s a tough gig, right? I get to pitch reporters about the university I’m already so passionate about. g
ELEVEN MONTHS OUT
Artes Liberales catches up with one Arts & Sciences graduate each issue to ask the age old question - What are you really going to do with a liberal arts degree? Two rules apply. You have to have graduated within the last year and you have to be brutally honest.
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Three-Headed Goddess, India. 15-16th century, Sandstone, 14 1/4 in. x 9 in. x 9 in., Lora Robins Gallery of Design from Nature, University of Richmond Museums, Purchased with funds from the Lora Robins Endowment, R2006.14.01, Photograph by Taylor Dabney.
John Frey, ’10. “Opposites.” This pen and ink screen-printing explores the dynamic between rural and urban, underdevelopment and overdevelopment, and simplicity and complexity.
University of Richmond, Virginia 23173