CAMPUS
news & notes
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English Professor Gives Keynote at Harvard Folklore Symposium
Alumni, Superintendents and Principals Speak to Aspiring Teachers
Assistant Professor of English & Communication Trevor Blank served as the keynote speaker for Harvard University’s annual Folklore and Mythology Annual Symposium, held in April 2015. In his presentation, “The World at our Fingertips: Folklore, Digital Culture and the Pursuit of Meaning in Contemporary Vernacular Discourse,” Blank’s teaching and research centers on the study of folk and popular culture, mass media and the digital humanities. COLLEGE NE WS
Former Potsdam Normal School Nominated as Historic Landmark
The former Potsdam Normal School building could soon be designated as a state and national historic landmark. The New York State Board for Historic Preservation recently nominated the distinctive Potsdam sandstone building to be added to the State and National Registers of Historic Places. Built between 1917 and 1931, the building served as the campus of the Potsdam Normal School, which was the sixth such school to be established by the State of New York to educate teachers. The school is now the old Snell Hall building as part of Clarkson University’s downtown campus. The addition to the registry is pending state and federal approval. NE W INITIATIVES
Biology Faculty and Students Start Healthy Plant Initiative
Faculty and students in the Department of Biology have launched the Healthy Plant Initiative. Sponsored by the new Wagner Institute for Sustainability and Ecological Research, the program aims to ensure healthier plants in offices, classrooms and common areas across campus. The initiative was created by student Michal Weaver ’18 as part of her environmental studies capstone project along with Steve Smith, a classmate in an ecological entomology course. Raymond Bowdish, the instructional specialist in the department, oversees the program.
The SUNY Potsdam School of Education Alumni Board hosted 21 alumni who are school superintendents and principals for a career advice session to students aspiring to become teachers. The session was part of the College’s Teacher Education Student Association (TESA) annual two-day conference in April 2015. Dr. Richard Wiesenthal ’77, principal of the New Paltz Middle School and the 2014 New York State Middle School Principal of the Year, delivered the keynote address at the opening session of the Conference. COLLEGE NE WS
Faculty and Staff Present at the Geological Society of America Northeastern Conference
In March 2015, Dr. Robert Badger, Hon.’15, professor of geology, accompanied seven students and one alumnus to the 50th Northeast Geological Society of America Conference in Bretton Woods, NH, where the group presented their research. Dr. Badger and Matthew Merkle ’15 gave a presentation titled “Fluid Inclusion Studies in the Carthage/Colton Mylonite Zone,” with Associate Professor of Geology Dr. Chris Kelson serving as a contributing author. At the conference, several students presented the research they completed with Assistant Professor Dr. Dylan Blumentritt, including Kelly Nuccio ’15, Farrell Bell ’15, Cheyne Aiken ’14 and Gabriella Rossi ’15. Johnathan Freebern ’15, Robert Stachowiak ’16 and Amanda Blackburn ’16 also attended the conference and will be presenting their research at the National GSA conference in November 2015, in Baltimore, MD. COLLEGE NE WS
SUNY Potsdam Sponsors 2nd Annual LGBT Pride Parade
Students in Dr. John Youngblood’s “LGBT Family Communications” course in the Department of English and Communication organized SUNY Potsdam’s second annual LGBT Pride Parade, held in April. Members of the SUNY Potsdam campus and community joined together to celebrate diversity and equality. This year’s grand marshall was President Kristin G. Esterberg. She was recognized along with her family—including her spouse Sue Bergmeier, and their daughters, Katie and Qiong Qiong. w w w.potsdam.edu/people
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