Ursinus Magazine - Winter 2013

URSINUS Winter 2013

magazine

The Independent Learning Experience Discover how this innovative program defines Ursinus graduates

The dapper Mr. Harold Goldberg, Class of 1937, walks across the football field at Homecoming to take part in the coin toss on game day.

In This Issue

Features

Big Projects, Small College

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A critical mission at Ursinus is to help shape eager, talented students into confident, independent adults ready to meet the rigors of graduate school and the professional world. It is through Independent Learning Experiences (ILE) of research, internships and study abroad, student teaching and other projects of their own design that students are able to achieve more than they imagined possible and to learn about their individual strengths and life goals. Discover how this requirement for every student is designed to help foster responsibility and initiative.

A Perfect Match

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Nikolas Stasulli 2009 donated peripheral blood stem cells (PBSCs) for a child battling leukemia. At Ursinus, he earned his B.S. in Biochemistry and Molecular Biology with minors in Biostatistics and Dance. As a student, he walked in to the Floy Lewis Bakes Field House, heard about the Be the Match registry drive, and signed up. Chosen as a donor, he is now hoping to save the life of a stranger.

Through the Looking Glass

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Read about an innovative program designed to improve communications between teachers and students. The Student Consultant Program Andrew W. Mellon Teaching and Learning Initiative (TLI) is a great learning tool for teachers, says Meredith Goldsmith, English professor and Director of the Mellon Program. She started the program in the fall of 2010 through a four-year grant from the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation.

Family Man

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Sam Totaro 1969 is one of the country’s most respected and well-known experts in the fields of adoption and family law. He has worked on over 4,000 adoption cases in the past 35 years, has appeared on news shows such as the Today Show, and Good Morning America, and once had a television movie made about one of his cases. But never mind the accolades; Totaro’s focus is helping people through some of the most challenging times in their lives.

Campus News 3

A $300,000 grant from the Mellon Foundation supports a partnership between Ursinus College and Columbia University. This unique collaboration between the institutions includes a plan to exchange ideas on core curricula with the goal of strengthening their programs and learning from one another. Although they are two very different schools, Ursinus and Columbia share a deep commitment to liberal arts education.

Class Notes 28

Dr. Joseph Valloti, M.D., 1945 has served the community for the past 62 years. “My father was an immigrant bricklayer and he built this office for me in 1950,” says Valloti. “How can I ever expect to leave a place that is so precious to me?” Read more about this dedicated doctor who still makes house calls.

On the Cover

The Independent Learning Experiences (ILE). Through broad and vibrant research opportunities, Ursinus students expand on their ability to create and achieve more than they imagined possible. Story p. 12.

Dear Friends, I enjoyed Homecoming 2012, where I caught up with alumni and also met many of you for the first time. The Hall of Fame for Athletes honored retired “Coach T.” Brian Thomas, Erin Fitzgerald Stroble 2002, Bradley Brewster 1974, Susan Sobolewski Dybus 2002, Bradley J. Getz 1997, Jumaah Ingram Johnson 2002 and Wilbert D. Abele 1961, who was awarded the Blanche B. Schultz ’41 award.

The new Grizzly Gala at Homecoming was a festive way for alumni and current students to come together with a common purpose, to celebrate Ursinus.

A preview of the glorious 75th Anniversary Messiah concert was offered in the Homecoming informal Messiah group sing. Campus organizations such as Sankofa Umoja, men’s basketball, track and field and several Greek organizations enjoyed reunions. You can share Homecoming memories through the photo spread in this issue.

It is through our alumni that we connect as a community and pass the torch to our current students. Much of that is done through these magazine pages.

Our alumni have benefitted from their liberal arts education to become leaders in their fields, people who make things happen. One example you will read about is attorney Samuel Totaro 1969, a national expert on adoption litigation and family law. This issue also profiles 2009 graduate Nikolas Stasulli, who is one of several students to have been successfully matched in the National Marrow Donor Program® (NMDP) through our football team’s community service project. Bruce Clark 1975, whose two children also chose Ursinus, put his interest in history to work as a business entrepreneur, and 1945 graduate Dr. Joseph Valloti has practiced medicine for more than 60 years.

You will read in these pages about the Independent Learning Experience, which offers our students a bridge to the next chapters of their lives as alumni. It is a hallmark of the Ursinus liberal arts education that learning goes beyond the classroom, and that experiential learning can form the basis for leading lives of value and purpose. Many of you have been instrumental providing internships, mentoring, and offering other support for current students.

I also want to call your attention to a regular feature called Field Notes, showcasing our faculty expertise. In this issue, Associate Professor of Art History Matthew Shoaf explains why the working title of his upcoming book is called Hearing Early Italian Art. I hope to see you at the many alumni events planned for spring, which are listed in this winter issue.

Go, Bears!

Bobby Fong, President

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Ursinus Magazine Volume CXII, No. 1 Winter 2013

Third class postage paid at Lansdale, Pa. Ursinus Magazine is published seasonally three times a year.

Copyright 2013 by Ursinus College.

Editorial correspondence and submissions: Ursinus Magazine, P.O. Box 1000, Collegeville, PA 19426-1000. (610) 409-3300 or e-mail: ucmag@ursinus.edu Editor Kathryn Campbell kcampbell@ursinus.edu Director of Communications Wendy Greenberg wgreenberg@ursinus.edu Senior Writer Ellen Cosgrove Labrecque 1995 elabrecque@ursinus.edu Class Notes Editor Jennifer Meininger Wolfe jwolfe1@ursinus.edu Contributing to this Issue Joan Fairman Kanes, Steve Falk, Brian Garfinkel, Jim Roese, Erik Andersen, J.F. Pirro 1987, Erin Hovey 1996, Monica Reuman 2015, William Thomas Cain, Jessica Driscoll, and Ursinus College Archives Design Jeffrey Morgan JDM Creative Advertising, LLC www.jdmcreative.com Chair, Board of Trustees Alan P. Novak 1971 President Dr. Bobby Fong Vice President for Academic Affairs and Dean of the College Dr. Lucien (Terry) Winegar Senior Vice President for Advancement Jill A. Leauber Marsteller 1978 Vice President for Enrollment Richard DiFeliciantonio Vice President for Finance and Administration Winfield Guilmette Vice President for Student Affairs Deborah Nolan The mission of Ursinus College is to enable students to become independent, responsible, and thoughtful individuals through a program of liberal education. That education prepares them to live creatively and usefully, and to provide leadership for their society in an interdependent world.

Gateway The

ursinus campus news

A Unique Partnership Between Ursinus and Columbia University A $300,000 grant from the Mellon Foundation supports a partnership between Ursinus College and Columbia University. This unique collaboration between the institutions includes a plan to exchange ideas on core curricula with the goal of strengthening their programs and learning from one another.

Although they are two very different schools, Ursinus and Columbia share a deep commitment to liberal arts education.

This exploration of both the Ursinus Common Intellectual Experience (CIE) and Columbia’s Core Curriculum will allow Ursinus faculty who have experience teaching the CIE to offer expertise to Columbia post-doctoral students. In addition, it will establish post-doctoral fellows at Ursinus, and will support visits from Columbia scholars whose expertise pertains to works in the CIE syllabus. The Mellon-CIE Junior Fellows, along with select first-year students, will accompany Ursinus faculty to Columbia’s campus to take advantage of Columbia’s and New York City’s resources, and a member of Ursinus’s faculty will teach in Columbia’s Core Curriculum.

to strengthen the links between Ursinus’s Common Intellectual Experience and Columbia’s Core Curriculum,” he says. “This partnership between two different kinds of institutions that nevertheless share a deep commitment to liberal education represents a unique opportunity for mutual learning and for the strengthening of both programs.”

Ursinus President Bobby Fong believes that the Mellon-funded Ursinus-Columbia initiative “will enable Ursinus to continue to demonstrate that what higher education should impart is not only expertise in a particular field, but individual growth in character and the ability to make sound judgments. This is the kind of education at which liberal arts colleges like Ursinus excel.”

The partnership compliments

the new Ursinus Center for Science and the Common Good. “We at Ursinus believe that an education in any expertise, science or otherwise, is of greater value when students understand it within the larger context of liberal learning,” says Dr. Fong.

Ursinus faculty established the year-long freshman course called the CIE in 2002 and it has continued to garner praise among higher education experts ever since. The course challenges first-year students to examine basic questions of human existence in

small, discussion-based classes, taught by faculty from every discipline. Students examine their own individual choices in light of more universal concerns, and they develop the capacity to deliberate more thoughtfully about the choices they will face.

“In CIE, students develop the qualities of intellect and character that are conducive to making wise decisions about questions everyone will face: Which career might be most humanly rewarding? What are my obligations to friends, family, and community? What should be the bearing of God in my life?” says Professor of Politics Paul Stern, one of the creators of CIE. “None of these can be wholly resolved through some technical approach. Rather, they require careful attention to particulars, the

At Columbia, Associate Dean and Director of the Center for the Core Curriculum Roosevelt Montás said he was looking forward to the collaboration. “We are excited WINTER 2013 Page 3

New Director for the Philip and Muriel Berman Museum of Art

Stainback was the founding Director of Skidmore College’s Tang Teaching Museum and Art Gallery. As Dayton Director of the Tang, his exhibitions responded to cultural Charles Stainback arrives this April and educational needs of the college as the new Director of the Philip and surrounding community. At the and Muriel Berman Museum of Art. Tang he helped secure a major grant Stainback currently serves as the from the Henry Luce Foundation.

Deputy Director of the Norton Mu- He was also a Professor of Liberal seum of Art, the largest art museum Studies at Skidmore. in Florida and one of the state’s major cultural institutions. Prior to “Charlie will bring fresh ideas that position he served as the Wiland an innovative approach to liam and Sarah Ross Soter Curator exhibitions while also reaching of Photography for the Norton. out as a partner to the faculty and President Bobby Fong talks with Museum Director Charles Stainback this fall. students on campus,” says Senior “I am delighted to be joining the Vice President for Advancement Jill ongoing weighing of evidence, and members, school partners, corporate Ursinus community and returning to Marsteller, who chaired the search a willingness to revise views on the sponsors and City Year alumni in the world of college museums, ” says committee for the new Berman the Philadelphia area to transform basis of more compelling alternaStainback.

“The Berman is regarded director. “Ursinus will benefit from this school into a safer and friendlier tives. They require judgment, the as one of the nation’s finest small colCharlie’s insights, talent and expericapacity to thoughtfully apply gen- place for students to learn and play. lege art museums, and I look forward ence, and he will be embraced by eral principles to complex, changing Ursinus alumni Anne Lapera 2012, to helping it grow and evolve. ” the Museum’s wide circle of friends circumstances. The structure of the currently in City Year Philadelphia, both on and off campus.” and Amanda Finch 2011 also Common Intellectual Experience Stainback previously served as volunteered at the event. provides the conditions in which Distinguished Visiting Gradustudents can develop this capacity.” ate Professor in the Department "City Year day of service made The Columbia Core Curriculum is of Photography/Film at Virginia the set of common courses required getting up early worth it," says Commonwealth University, as well Anahi McTntyre 2014. "Not only of all undergraduates and considas Director of Exhibitions for the ered the necessary general education was the staff kind and organized, A panel of experts discussed the sigInternational Center of Photograbut we also got to work with some for students, irrespective of their nificant changes occurring in health of the students who go to the school. phy in New York and Director of the care delivery, costs and payment majors. Like the Ursinus CIE, the International Center of Photography communal learning — with all stu- I love to paint murals, but it made systems. The Business and EconomMidtown in New York. He holds a doing the tasks that much better dents encountering the same texts ics Department presented the event, knowing who was going to appreci- BFA from Kansas City Art Institute “Our Options Have Changed: Conand issues at the same time — and and an MFA from the Visual Studies the critical dialogue experienced in ate this artwork every day. Having sumer Health Literacy in a Changing students there helped highlight the Workshop of the State University small seminars are the distinctive Environment” this past October in of New York at Buffalo. His areas reasons why City Year does what features of the Core. Columbia’s an effort to better educate consumers of expertise are photography and it does."

Core Curriculum has been called about the changing landscape. contemporary art. not only academically rigorous but

Exploring Consumer Health Literacy

Founded in Boston in 1988, City Year is an education-focused, nonprofit organization that partners with public schools and teachers to help keep students in school and on track to succeed. This public-private Madeline McEvily 2013 organized partnership brings together teams a group of Ursinus students to volunteer for the “City Year Serves” day of young AmeriCorps members who commit to a year of fullthis past November. This was the second year Ursinus has participated time service in schools in 24 communities across the United in the service day, says McEvily, a Bonner Leader. Twenty-two students States and through two internationrose early to help improve Philadel- al affiliates. Corps members provide individual support to students phia schools with mural paintings, who need extra care and attention, light construction and gardening.

The Ursinus volunteers focused their focusing on attendance, behavior, and course performance through efforts on the Grover Washington Jr. Middle School in North Philadel- in-class tutoring, mentoring, phia. Volunteers joined community and after-school programs. also personally transformative for students.

City Year

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“We are fortunate to have someone of Mr. Stainback’s extensive experience,” says President Fong.

The program addressed challenges arising from the effects of innovation on quality and cost in a changing health care environment, with

Aubrey Paris 2015, a Center for Science and the Common Good Fellow, listens to Dr. Richard Heinzl. (see story on p. 5)

majors to consider the impact of science on society by presenting a seminar series, hosting a Science Writer in Residence, and developing new courses.

Scientists need to understand the ethical, political, and religious context in which science operates in order to judge how scientific endeavors can best advance the common good, says Biology Professor Robert Dawley. “The Center for Science and Other panelists included Steven Altschuler, M.D., CEO of Children’s the Common Good will ensure that Ursinus science majors acquire this Hospital of Philadelphia; Kevin judgment by encouraging them to Flynn, Founder and President of make the most of the liberal educaHealthCare Advocates; Ursinus trustee Robert Sing, D.O., a critical tion that Ursinus offers,” says Dawley. “By creating new courses and care surgeon specializing in sports medicine, acute care, and emergen- fellowship programs, and by bringcy medicine; and Karl Stark, Health ing to campus prominent speakers and science writers, the Center will and Science Editor for The Philaengage science majors more closely delphia Inquirer. President Fong than ever with the humanities and introduced the event, and Rebecca Jaroff, associate professor of English, social sciences on campus. For the judgment that our future scientists moderated the panel discussion.

Carol Cirka, associate professor and so urgently need can come only chair of the Business and Economics from a truly interdisciplinary and liberal education.” department, organized the event.

Thirteen student Fellows of the Center have been selected from a diverse group of applicants. They range from a student who worked in clinics in India, to a football quarterback who tutors youths and Ursinus hosted founder of the first is interested in medicine, to a VietNorth American chapter of Doctors namese student who wants to return Without Borders, Richard Heinzl. to Vietnam to work in health care, The Nobel Peace Prize-winning or- to the organic farm director who ganization has inspired a movement works with bees. among medical professionals to help the world’s most vulnerable populations. Heinzl founded the chapter in 1988, just out of medical school, and shortly thereafter he became its first field volunteer, spending an A winner of the 1997 Pulitzer Prize extraordinary year in remote Cam- for his series of medical narratives, bodia. His experiences are captured Life Choices, Mike Vitez spoke to Ursinus students in December. in his memoir, Cambodia Calling.

A staff writer at The Philadelphia Hundreds of volunteers have since Inquirer since 1985, Vitez presented followed in his footsteps.

‘Storytelling is our Salvation! My Heinzl’s talk was sponsored by The life as a journalist and how I came Ursinus College Center for Science to love medical narratives.’ In a world overrun with facts, websites, and the Common Good which cable channels, press releases and is funded by an $800,000 grant noise, Vitez believes the best way from the Howard Hughes Medito reach people is through stories. cal Institute. The goal is to provide opportunities for all Ursinus science The Center for Science and the

Heinzl First Speaker for Center for Science and the Common Good

Pulitzer PrizeWinning Journalist Michael Vitez

Ursinus ‘Pause for Paws’ a Big, Barking Success Photo | Monica Reuman 2015

the goal of enabling consumers to make informed choices as the health care market becomes increasingly market-driven. Health care leaders from the Philadelphia area discussed these issues, including Larry R. Kaiser, M.D., FACS, CEO of Temple University Health System and Dean of the Temple University School of Medicine, who offered the keynote address.

Ali Hrasok 2013 brought her dog, Molly, to Pause for Paws and Jamie Faselt 2015 shared a dog hug on October 9.

An event bringing students and dogs together on Olin Plaza was a perfect chance to keep them from missing their beloved pets back home this fall. In an effort to offer an opportunity for stress-reducing time with animals, Brenda Lederach, Lecturer in the Psychology Department, coordinated the first Ursinus Pause for Paws gathering. The idea was brought to her by Dean Terry Winegar. More than 20 dogs belonging to staff and faculty happily arrived for free biscuits and lots of pats on the head.

“I was very pleased with how the Bow Wow Pow Wow went,” says Lederach, a Wellness House faculty mentor. “We had more than 20 dogs attend the party. We had another party down in the Straussburger Commons with Domenick Scudera, Professor of Theater, and his dogs. All the dogs were well behaved and if the students had tails I believe they would have been wagging them.”

Professor Joel Bish brought his rescue dog, Frankie, a mini daschund. “We both loved it,” says Dr. Bish, Chair of the Neuroscience program. “Nice to see how many animal lovers there are in the student body. I heard many students state how this made their day.” Students who flocked to the dog party talked about their own pets at home in New Jersey, Florida and Connecticut.

This shared bond and common affection for dogs was a great opportunity for the Ursinus community to connect.

Assistant Professor of English Elizabeth Ho brought her basset hound, Momar. “I heard multiple times from the students that this was the ‘best day ever’ – which seems to suggest that we should have this event again and often,” says Dr. Ho, who is pretty confident that Momar had a great time playing with Ursinus dogs and students. But with basset hounds, how do you tell?

- Kathryn Campbell WINTER 2013 Page 5

Common Good at Ursinus College provides opportunities for all Ursinus students to consider the impact of science on the common good and to learn to better communicate scientific research to the public.

current, basic, and estimative.

Following 31 years of analytic and production management positions and experience, McClellan was selected to the General Colin L. Powell Chair for Analysis and Production at the then Joint Military Intelligence College (JMIC).

McClellan assumed the Chair in the summer of 1998 and taught analytic and intelligence production courses in the School of Intelligence Studies.

He retired from DIA in January 2002, although he continued as an Adjunct Professor at the JMIC until September of that year.

munity, particularly, the CIA, NSA, and State Department’s Office of Intelligence and Research.

“I was very gratified by the interest shown in my career considering strategic intelligence analysis isn't a traditional job objective for a lot of college students,” says McClellan, who is from Spring City, Pa. “Looking back, I sincerely believe Ursinus provided me the foundaGary R. McClellan 1966, retired tion and confidence to have Defense Intelligence Agency Anaa very successful, fulfilling, lyst, spoke on campus this fall as exciting, and gratifying career. part of the Ambassador’s Speakers His visit to Ursinus was made more I look forward to future opSeries. “My wife, Charity (Finkbin- special because McClellan was able portunities to interact with er) 1968, and I have maintained our to speak in classes as well as give an an amazing group of talented, close association with Ursinus since evening lecture in Olin. “I'm truly bright, enthusiastic, positive our graduations,” says McClellan. impressed with the quality of the young people eager to move “I've had the pleasure of participat- students, not only from their acaon to take their place in this ing in Ambassador Joe Melrose's demic qualifications, but also from ever-increasingly complex classes prior to this visit and I've their breadth and depth of interests, and challenging world. I'm always enjoyed the opportunity to their personal and educational very proud Ursinus is there to interact with the Ursinus students.” experiences, their inquisitiveness help get them on their way.” and quest for knowledge and inforMcClellan earned his master's mation even beyond their current degree in Latin American Studies academic pursuits, their plans and from Vanderbilt University and was hopes for their futures, and their recruited by the Defense Intelligence very genuine ability and capacity Agency (DIA) while at Vanderbilt. to warmly welcome and make feel He joined the Agency in 1968 imcomfortable new acquaintances.” mediately following his graduate Throughout his career, McClellan’s Marcus Foster, superintendent studies. During his career, McClel- diverse analytic background afford- of the Oakland, Calif., schools in lan held a variety of analytic and ed him the opportunity to produce the early 1970s, and a product of production management positions, a wide variety of analysis. His work Philadelphia schools as a student, the vast majority dealing with the allowed him to coordinate, collabo- teacher, principal, and administraLatin America region. His anarate, and produce within the greater tor, was assassinated Nov. 6, 1973 by lytic experience covered the three Military Intelligence Community as the Symbionese Liberation Army. primary intelligence categories: well as the larger Intelligence Com- Now a book, In the Crossfire: Marcus Foster and the Troubled History of Gary McClellan speaks to students in an International Relations class this fall.

American School Reform (University of Pennsylvania Press 2012) by John P. Spencer, Associate Professor of Education, brings to light Foster’s achievements and relates them to current issues in school reform.

Debates today on achievement gaps among students of varying socio-economic status and racial backgrounds — and on whether education alone can eliminate those gaps — were anticipated in Foster’s conviction that while schools can make a difference, schools and communities must work together on common ground. Yet, contends Spencer, “Foster’s balanced outlook

Alumni Gary R. McClellan Lectures on Career as Defense Intelligence Agency Analyst

Book on Educator Marcus Foster Sets Context of School Reform Debates

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is too often neglected in school reform today, which tends to hold schools accountable while letting the rest of society off the hook.”

In the Crossfire explores the history of urban education reform against the backdrop of Foster’s life and work. Spencer says in his introduction that the book draws on history to make an argument about current school reform debates, reconstructing a vision of shared accountability.

“This effort to mobilize multiple constituencies was essential to the urban educational success stories that dotted his career, and a lesson for current policymakers who would take aim at the achievement gap without addressing the full range of school and non-school factors that have created it,” says Spencer.

Foster was a teacher and ultimately principal of Philadelphia’s Simon Gratz High School (where the athletic fields are named for him) and associate superintendent of the Philadelphia schools. In 1970 he was tapped to be the first African American Superintendent of the Oakland Unified School District in Oakland, Calif. A native of Athens, Ga., he grew up in Philadelphia, graduated from Cheyney State College (where the student union building is named for him) and earned a doctorate from the University of Pennsylvania. After his violent

Tony Rosa 2013 was recognized for starting a mentoring program for middle school students.

enough about the complexities of school and classroom life that make or break lasting reform.”

Spencer hopes that Foster’s legacy will inspire leaders to do what Foster did: combine a sense of urgency with a sense of scope, and concede that school revitalization efforts need to mobilize diverse constituencies. Foster’s life “offers a cautionary lesson for school reform” in that larger forces need to be addressed as well as the schools themselves.

Spencer’s Ph.D. from New York University is in U.S. history. He received a B.A. in history and a teaching credential in social studies from Brown In the book, Spencer shows that years before No Child Left Behind, University. The Ph.D. dissertation on which his book manuscript is and the charter school debate, “urban educators such as Foster had based received the Claude Eggertsen helped establish the idea that, with Prize from the History of Education Society. Spencer’s work as an historiproactive leadership and high acaan and teacher are informed by five demic expectations, urban schools could be ‘effective schools’ — and a years of experience as a high school key to social mobility — regardless and middle school history teacher in the San Francisco Bay Area and by of the social and economic consulting and professional develbackground of their students. opment work for the City University “Though Foster’s assassination was a of New York (American Social devastating setback for these hopes History Project) and the University of Pittsburgh. and expectations in Oakland, the - Wendy Greenberg belief that urban schools should be an answer to inequality, as opposed to a reflection or even a cause of it, did not die with him. . . . Today’s policy debates are dominated by the same basic idea that animated Foster: race and social class should Ursinus College senior football playnot determine a student’s success er wide receiver Tony Rosa was one in school and in life, and schools of 22 players across the country, and should be held accountable for fulfilling that promise — specifically across all divisions to be named to the 2012 Allstate American Football by eliminating achievement gaps.”

Coaches Association (AFCA) Good Works Team. One of the sport’s But schools can’t do it alone, and premier service honors, the Allstate Foster put his focus not only on AFCA Good Works Team® shines schools but on the social and economic forces that shaped them. a spotlight on the positive, off-thefield impact that a select group Foster’s life, according to Spencer, of student-athletes has on their shows us that the “roots of this current focus on accountability run communities. Rosa was one of two much deeper than is often appreci- players in the Centennial Conference to receive the honor, joining ated. . .” and that school accountability is only half the battle. In the junior offensive lineman Chad Tothero of Franklin and Marshall last 10 to 15 years, says Spencer, College. Rosa founded the Students at times the nation has embraced Today Into Leaders Tomorrow narrow and simplistic versions of (STILT) on campus, which focuses the accountability ethos that came on helping middle school students out of Foster’s era. “We don’t hear grow into successful leaders. The

Senior Athlete Tony Rosa in the Spotlight for Mentoring

Photo | Monica Reuman 2015

death, the SLA claimed Foster had supported oppressive security measures in the Oakland schools, but the SLA misconstrued Foster’s position, says Spencer. (It is said that the SLA tried to enhance its image with the kidnapping of Patty Hearst, after the debacle of Foster’s death.) Today the School District of Philadelphia awards the Marcus A. Foster Award, and in Oakland, The Marcus A. Foster Educational Institute awards scholarships to high school students and to Oakland public schools teachers who develop innovative educational projects.

STILT program has mentored more than 1,000 students on the values of communication, teamwork and dedication, and Rosa has increased mentor participation from nine to more than 40. On the field, the senior wide receiver was named the 2011 Ursinus Outstanding Offensive Spring Performer and was given the 2012 Offensive Iron Bear Award.

while donating their limited free time and energy to serve others, and we at Allstate commend them for their commitment to volunteerism.”

Upcoming Lectures

Award-winning writer, Richard Conniff, whose work in human and animal behavior has been featured on television and in Smithsonian, “Tony’s commitment to helping The New York Times Magazine and grade school kids in the greater National Geographic will lecture on Philadelphia area through the how the discovery of new species in STILT program is very admirable,” the 18th and 19th centuries changed says Ursinus head football coach the world. Feb. 26, 4:30 p.m. and Peter Gallagher. “He is an intelligent 7 p.m. Lenfest Theater Kaleidoyoung man with a bright future.” scope Performing Arts Center The program received 117 nominations from colleges and universities hailing from 35 states. From the nominations, a prestigious voting panel comprised of former Allstate AFCA Good Works Team® members and college football media selected two 11-member teams — one featuring players competing in the NCAA® Football Bowl Subdivision and the other a combined team representing the NCAA Football Championship Subdivision, Divisions II, III and the NAIA.

Roger King, author of A Girl From Zanzibar (2002), has worked in more than 20 African and Asian countries, mostly for United Nations agencies. His lecture is supported by a grant from the Howard Hughes Medical Institute. March 18, 7 p.m.

Lenfest Theater Kaleidoscope Performing Arts Center Matt Strassler, a theoretical physicist and professor at Rutgers University.

He believes “that science is one of the world’s great spectator sports, and should be a source of joy and excitement for the public - especially for kids and for kids at heart.”

His lecture is supported by a grant from the Howard Hughes Medical Institute. April 8, 7 p.m. Lenfest Theater Kaleidoscope Performing Arts Center

“As fans of college football, Allstate takes great pride in partnering with the AFCA to recognize these dedicated student-athletes for their accomplishments off the field,” says Kathy Mabe, president of Allstate’s West regions and a member of the 2012 Allstate AFCA Good Works Team voting panel. “These players For more listings of upcoming have demonstrated the unique ability events and lectures visit the college to balance academics with athletics web site www.ursinus.edu

WINTER 2013 Page 7

Philip and Muriel Berman

THE

Museum of Art E x h i b i t i o n s

o n

V iew

Tyria Dingle, Miniature basket, 2007, Mt. Pleasant, South Carolina, pine needles, palmetto, 2 x 2 ⅜ x 1 ⅝ inches; courtesy of the artist. Photo: E.G. Schempf.

GRASS ROOTS – AFRICAN ORIGINS OF AN AMERICAN ART January 28 – March 16, 2013 Main Gallery Opening reception, Thursday, February 7, 5 to 6:30 p.m.

Special lecture at 7 p.m. by Dr. Patrick Hurley, Assistant Professor of Environmental Studies at Ursinus College

historic rice cultivation artifacts. It highlights the remarkable beauty of coiled basketry and shows how the market basket can be viewed simultaneously as a work of art, object of use, and container of memory. In this context, the humble but beautifully crafted coiled basket, made in Africa and the southern United States, becomes a vehicle for learning about creativity and artistry characteristic of Africans in America from the 17th century to the present.

Grass Roots traces the histories of coiled basketry in Africa and America. Featuring baskets from the low country of South Carolina and Georgia as well as from diverse regions of Africa, the exhibition documents the production of coiled baskets from the domestication of rice in Africa, through the trans-Atlantic slave trade to the Carolina rice plantation, and into the present day.

The exhibition has been made possible by NEH on the Road, a special initiative of the National Endowment for the Humanities.

Grass Roots: African Origins of an American Art was organized by the Museum for African Art in New York City in collaboration with the Avery Research Center for African American History and Culture in Charleston, SC. It was co-curated by Chief Curator Enid Schildkrout, Museum for African Art, and curator and historian Dale Rosengarten, College of Charleston. The exhibition is toured

by Mid-America Arts Alliance through NEH on the Road.

This exhibition provides visitors with the opportunity to engage with diverse artifacts including baskets, basket-making tools and Page 8 ursinus magazine

JENNIFER KARADY IN COUNTRY: SOLDIERS’ STORIES FROM IRAQ AND AFGHANISTAN January 28 – April 7, 2013 Upper Gallery Opening reception for the artist: Wednesday, February 13, 5 to 6:30 p.m.

Artist talk: February 13, 4 to 5 p.m.

Florida and Virginia and she hopes in the end to complete a series of twenty-five photographs.

For the past six years, Jennifer Karady has worked with American veterans returning from the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan to create staged narrative photographs that depict their individual stories and address their difficulties in adjusting to civilian life. After extensive interview processes with the veterans and their families, Karady collaborates with each of her subjects to restage a chosen moment from war within the safe space of his or her everyday environment, often surrounded by family and friends.

Support for the artist’s work on “Soldiers’ Stories from Iraq and Afghanistan” has been provided by SF Camerawork, CEPA Gallery, The Puffin Foundation, The Corporation of Yaddo, The MacDowell Colony, The Blue Mountain Center, The Virginia Center for the Creative Arts, Kimmel Harding Nelson Center for the Arts, The Atlantic Center for the Arts, the Greater New York Arts Development Fund of the New York City Department of Cultural Affairs, administered by the Brooklyn Arts Council, Inc. and individual donors. It is a sponsored project of the New York Foundation for the Arts, through their Fiscal Sponsorship Program.

The collision between or collapse of the soldier’s world and the civilian world evokes the psychology of life after war, and the challenges that adjustment to the home front entails. The process of making the photograph is intended to be helpful for the veteran subject, and is conceptually related to cognitive behavioral therapy.

Describing herself as working more like a painter than as a photographer, Karady differs in her practice from other staged narrative photographers in that she collaborates with real people to dramatize their stories through both literal depiction and metaphorical and allegorical means.

Former Satellite Communications Specialist Aaron Grehan, 11th Signal Brigade, U.S. Army, veteran of Operation Iraqi Freedom, with girlfriend, Neta, and mother, Judy; Peterborough, NH, May 2007. Chromogenic color print, 49 x 50 in.

Courtesy of the artist.

Each photograph takes approximately a month to produce and involves several extensive interviews (recorded), collaborative conceptualization, location scouting, producing a sketch, discussion/approval from the veteran, propping, makeup, costuming, rehearsal of physical action, training local assistants, set construction, casting extras, artificial lighting and the photo shoot.

The process of making the photograph culminates in a highly choreographed installation/event.

There is no digital manipulation whatsoever in order to ensure the truthfulness of the staged moment and the authenticity of the veteran subject's participation.

Each large-scale color photograph is accompanied by a recounting of the veteran’s story in his or her own words that has been transcribed and edited from the interviews. So far, Karady has produced fifteen photographs in the series with veterans in Nebraska, New Hampshire, upstate New York, New York City, California, WINTER 2013 Page 9

2012 HOMECOMING

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3 More than 600 Ursinus family members returned to campus to celebrate Homecoming Weekend 2012 on October 26 and 27. Students, alumni, parents and friends kicked off the weekend on Friday with the Hall of Fame for Athletes and the new Grizzly Gala. Attendees continued to enjoy Saturday’s festivities, including the official Ursinus tailgate; the return of Organization Reunions; five athletic games; the hailed Red, Old Gold and Black T-shirt Swap; our ever-popular Family Art & Sports Pavilion and the Young Alumni Council’s After-Party at the Trappe. Don’t miss this great event next fall!

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8 (All left to right) 1) Proud Bear parents wear the red black and old gold before the football game.

2) B’Naturals alumni and current members Ryann Burke, 2012; Natausha Davis, 2013; Jessica Meikrantz, 2013; Aleia Mangano, 2015; Victoria Glover, 2015; Chelsea Miller, 2015; Liz Palovick, 2012; Josie Maresa, 2012; Michelle Swenson, 2014; Celia Morrison, 2015; Sasha Carvalho, 2015 encouraged alumnae to sing the national anthem with them.

3) Jef Corson (Trustee), Michael Marcon 1986 (Trustee), Joseph DeSimone 1986, (Trustee), Frank Correll 1983 (Trustee) 4) Dean Mioli is second from left celebrating with fellow Beta Sig members.

5) Courtney Schultz 2006, Mary Ann (Murrow) Group 2005, Tom Group 2006, and Kevin Zufelt 2011. 6) All smiles on game day! 7) Jenepher and R. Paul “Paul” Shillingford both Class of 1954 8) Cheering on the Bears Alex Doll is third from left and Jacquelyn Heikel is fourth from right.

9) Meeting the Bear are the McElwee triplet boys and Bryce Moyer. 10) Homecoming King and Queen Lauren DiCairano and Liam Marston beam under cloudy skies. 11) Jumaah Ingram Johnson 2002 spoke as a Hall of Fame Inductee, 2012, for Gymnastics. 12) Walter Larkin 1957 and Nancy Larkin.

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Big How the Liberal Arts Experience at Ursinus Turns Students Into Scholars Ready to Make Their Way in the World

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A critical mission at Ursinus is to help shape eager, talented students into confident, independent adults ready to meet the rigors of graduate school and the professional world.

It is through Independent Learning Experiences (ILE) of research, internships and study abroad, student teaching and other projects of their own design, that they are able to achieve more than they imagined possible and to learn about their individual strengths and life goals. The ILE, a requirement for every Ursinus undergraduate, is designed to help students take responsibility for their education, foster initiative and independence and build confidence in their abilities.

By Jessica Driscoll

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restling with complex problems, and being unsure of the next step, is ok. These intellectual tremors are a part of the education process. It is one lesson that Matt Stehman 2010 took from his Independent Learning Experience. It changed the way he approached research and inspired him to pursue a graduate degree.

“It taught me that it was okay to struggle,” says Stehman, who majored in mathematics and minored in physics and computer science. And that it was all right if I couldn’t immediately find the solution to a problem.”

The research he conducted through the ILE was an important factor in his decision to pursue a doctoral degree in civil engineering at Johns Hopkins University in Baltimore. His current focus there is experimental earthquake engineering. Stehman chose to conduct research alongside Dr. Mohammed Yahdi, chair of the Department of Mathematics and Computer Science, developing analytical solutions to a nonlinear differential equation that modeled oscillations of a suspension bridge deck. Conducting research from the summer after his junior year through his senior spring semester, Stehman was able to write an honors thesis on the topic of nonlinear models of suspension bridge oscillations.

“I first learned about modeling the dynamics of suspension bridges in Dr. Yahdi’s Differential Equations class,” says Stehman. “I had always admired architecture and structures, but I was truly amazed when I learned that differential equations could be used to model their dynamic responses. Luckily enough, Dr. Yahdi offered me an opportunity to work with him on the subject during the Summer Fellows program.”

It was Yahdi’s enthusiasm for research that motivated him to stay focused and excited about his own work and research, says Stehman. “Often I would go to Dr. Yahdi with no clear idea of my next step,” he says. “In these instances, he reminded me of the overall goal of the project and then helped me to analyze the problem. His ability to guide me was majorly beneficial for the success of my research and projects.”

COLLABORATION, A PATH TO SUCCESS Yahdi has worked with more than a dozen students through ILE over the last few years. It’s important to match a student’s interest, he says, with the research he or she will be conducting. It ensures continued motivation, he says. Some students work on their own individual research. In the case of students like Stehman, who came to Yahdi with an idea that aligns with his own expertise, the research often becomes collaborative.

“I serve as both an advisor and a research mentor,” says Yahdi. “I schedule regular meetings with my research students and almost on a daily basis during the summer. I train the students how to work independently, develop and approach difficult questions, and evaluate their progress on a regular basis.”

The goal is through the close interaction on a research project, the students experience the excitement of discovery, Yahdi says.

“They improve their ability to utilize and analyze complex concepts, nurture interests and skills in research, and acquire the sophistication required for successful research careers.”

Students submit publications or write honors papers on their subject matter, and regularly give presentations before the department or at conferences. The conferences allow students to network, interact and develop professional relationships with professionals in the discipline and expose them to career options.

ILE allows students to take on studies of disciplines that are not covered in the regular curriculum. “It gives them the opportunity to conduct research, to lead a project, to acquire skills not learned in the classroom and to analyze complex thoughts and issues,” he says. “It is wonderful for the students to have access to these collaborative research opportunities and other ILE programs. It builds their confidence and fosters their achievements.”

Matt Stehman 2010 chose to conduct research alongside Dr. Mohammed Yahdi, chair of the Department of Mathematics and Computer Science, develop­ing analytical solutions to a nonlinear differential equation that modeled oscillations of a suspension bridge deck.

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One key to the ILE program’s continued success is connection with alumni. Those who have successfully completed the ILE experience and gone on to graduate schools, or into promising careers, visit current

ILE allows students to take on studies of disciplines that are not covered in the regular curriculum.

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undergraduates and talk about how the ILE was a transformative experience, says Yahdi. “Matt (Stehman) came to campus last summer, and the way he presented everything definitely got the students excited about the program. It’s a contagious effect, and now more students are interested in pursuing serious research.”

Brett Emery 2012 majored in mathematics and minored in economics, statistics and chemistry. He knew that for his ILE, he wanted to take on an internship. “I felt that it would allow me to apply my classroom knowledge while gaining practical experience for the business world,” says Emery, who works as a performance analyst at City of London Investment Management in Coatesville. Emery’s 12-week internship was completed within the summer between his junior and senior years at Catalyst360, a contact center located in Horsham.

“I found the opportunity through the Ursinus College Career Services Job, Internship & Networking Fair,” says Emery. “I was also directed to this particular internship by my advisor, Dr. Yahdi, and my Managerial Economics professor, Dr. (Heather) O’Neill. Fortunately, the manager of my department was also an Ursinus alumna.”

As an Enterprise Decision Support Analyst intern, Emery worked in business intelligence and data analysis.

“My department focused on using data-based decisionmaking to provide better business outcomes,” he says. “I was actively involved with the preparation, analysis, and presentation of data using multiple technological tools, including Microsoft Excel and SAS statistical analysis software. I was also exposed to industry-specific software applications that allowed me to carry out daily tasks, such as assisting team members with requests and reporting data.”

While on the job hunt, Emery says, he was able to talk positively about his internship experience. It was essential to landing a position that he wanted. He also gained increased confidence in the classroom and enhanced interactions with professors. In addition to his professional work, Emery intends to eventually pursue a master’s degree in statistics or an MBA. “The ILE program gave me practical experience in the professional world,” he says. “I was able to benefit personally, academically and professionally in a multitude of ways. Not only does the program allow for tremendous personal growth, but it helped me decide on post-graduation plans.”

Parents and students are increasingly questioning the value of Page 16 ursinus magazine

college and a liberal arts education in particular, says Richard G. DiFeliciantonio, Vice President for Enrollment. “It is critical that I am able to sit with a family and describe for them a well-considered four-year program with a beginning, middle and end — a user's guide, if you will,” he says. “A new student begins with our excellent first-year experience, next chooses work in the major, and finally, in preparation for life beyond Ursinus, pulls it all together with the ILE. Families need to hear that the Ursinus plan is compelling and that it works."

The mission of the ILE is to transform students in meaningful ways through experiences outside of the classroom. By participating in an internship, they gain real industry knowledge and interact with people working in a particular profession, says Carla Mollins Rinde, Director of Career Services at Ursinus.

“It’s invaluable,” says Rinde, “Fitting into an organization’s culture and seeing how people really work together gives our students a distinct career advantage. Most employers are looking for someone who can add value right away, and internships give them the opportunity to use the skills they have and develop new skills in order to convince a prospective employer that they have the right background.”

In addition to giving them an edge in their career search, Rinde says internships also build students’ confidence.

“They develop a new set of skills and abilities, and following graduation feel that they’re ready to work seriously,” she says. The ILE program is already a unique and beneficial program, but coordinators are always looking for ways to make it more successful.

“Our goal is to build on the program’s transformative nature, so we’re regularly discussing how we can improve the experience,” Rinde says. “For example, we are seeing more international internships, so our record-keeping needs to keep up with that. And, in the case of the study abroad programs, students must complete a pre-departure course, but we don’t have anything equivalent to that for internships. The advisory group has been discussing whether we should have some kind of online course to be taken pre-internship to help students navigate the workplace. Issues like not writing e-mails in familiar language and how to dress professionally could be addressed. In this way, we can address the social and cultural issues of a workplace while we also work more intensely with students to create thoughtful learning experiences with measureable outcomes.”

At Home in the (Work) World Adrienne Murphy-Stout 2013 knew that she wanted a study abroad experience since she was a freshman.

With a keen interest in medicine and research, she was hoping for hands-on experience in a laboratory setting. She participated in a research internship at London’s King’s College Hospital in their Department of Clinical Neuropathology.

As part of ongoing research performed by the department, she worked on a research project for four months. “The data gathered required assessment by a biostatistician and was continued after my time in London,” she says. “Personal outcomes of this research and the internship overall was a better understanding of the collaboration between specialists in patient treatment. From oncologists and neurosurgeons to biologists, researchers, and pathologists preparing and assessing tissue samples, collaboration of knowledge both intra and interdepartmentally is required to treat cases and provide the best possible care. This internship enabled me to gain a holistic picture of patient treatment as well as knowledge of the operations conducted within a clinical laboratory.”

Rebecca E. Kohn, Professor of Biology, worked closely with Murphy-Stout and was the on-campus advisor for her internship in London. “Adrienne is an exceptional student who pursues a variety of interests,” says Kohn. “She is completing a double major in Biology and Neuroscience and pursuing independent research in my laboratory. She is a dedicated researcher who is instrumental in designing her research project and thorough in her experimentation.”

The advantages that the Independent Learning Experience provided Murphy-Stout included “the invaluable first-hand experience of working within a clinical laboratory and learning more about public health care,” she says. “Not only was I able to live in London, become immersed in a foreign culture, and travel throughout Europe, but I was also able to learn of England’s publicly funded health care system, the National Health Service. This enabled me to draw better comparisons between the British and American health care systems.”

Though her internship was not a service project, the laboratory research does seek to serve a greater good in helping ailing community members. “The ideas and content of medicine and research that I have understood in Ursinus classrooms were applied to meeting community needs,” she says. “I do believe that more of a service-based emphasis could be placed upon the program. The idea behind the Independent Learning Experience is to take the knowledge gained within a classroom and apply it to a context outside the chalkboard-lined walls, acquire confidence while learning to flourish independently, and explore possible career paths. Much of what we are taught at Ursinus focuses on attaining knowledge to serve a greater good, whether it is through research, medicine or another discipline. Taking these concepts and applying them to serve the community during the ILE offers students the opportunity to truly practice what they are learning.”

- Kathryn Campbell

“The research based internship at King’s College Hospital afforded me not only the opportunity to experience working within a hospital research laboratory and tying findings into the clinical cases, but I was also granted academic credit for my internship,” says Murphy-Stout, who is from Cologne, New Jersey. This research within the field of neuropathology was counted as credit toward her Neuroscience and Biology majors.

“It offered me first-hand experience with much of the neuroanatomical and neurological diseases discussed within my classes at Ursinus.”

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Madeline Zurn 2014 explains her independent research project to Ursinus Visiting Assistant Professor of Chemistry Brian Pfennig at one of the public campus exhibitions of student research. Her research, with Dr. Ellen Dawley, used salamanders to examine the role of microglial cells on spinal cord neurogenesis.

Opportunities to Grow; Discover Your World and Your Passions Ursinus students say they experience the transformative effects of these internships. Kari Raffensberger, a junior who is a double major in neuroscience and Spanish, interned at The Lutheran Home at Topton this summer.

“I spent two to five days a week with the residents, and my time was split between early and late-stage Alzheimer's residents,” says Raffensberger. “I led small group discussions and games, did oneon-one visits and assisted with large group activities. An example of a small group discussion would be ‘reminiscing’ where I would gather residents who had had similar life experiences (i.e., living on a farm) so that they could share their memories with me and each other.”

Though she loved her experience at Topton, it was challenging, says Raffensberger. “I had learned about Alzheimer's in class, but it is one thing to know about a disease, and another to see it. The hardest part was seeing these individuals who I had come to know struggle with things that most of us take for granted, like being able to feed themselves or take themselves to the restroom. It was hardest when they expressed that all they really wanted was to go home. But by this same token, that is why I was glad to be there. I was there helping people to feel better and giving them someone to talk to.”

At first overwhelmed, Raffensberger soon learned how to approach different residents and situations and the importance of patience. The experience ignited an interest in working with the older adult population.

“This semester I decided to take a course on adulthood and aging to further understand this growing population and its needs,” she says. “I would recommend that students pursuing internships should be encouraged to spend time making a list of personal goals before they begin, separate from those that they come up Page 18 ursinus magazine

with for their advisor. An ILE is not supposed to be a purely academic exercise or just another thing that needs to get checked off of the list for graduation. It is an opportunity to grow as an individual and discover more about your world and your passions.”

High quality internships can be excellent career stepping stones, says the Hon. Joseph Melrose, Ambassador-in-Residence and Professor of International Relations. Carolyn Smith completed two Summer Fellows and a Distinguished Honors project and was offered an internship with the United Nations University. That internship was followed by an internship at the United States Mission to the United Nations.

“Carolyn’s performance at the U.S. Mission was so successful that she was invited to return for the General Assembly where she met several foreign leaders and the President of the United States,” says Melrose.

The ILE opportunities give students the opportunity to develop individually, he says. “They accomplish this whether it’s through the individualized research opportunities afforded by Summer Fellows, internships associated with study abroad experiences which allow them to acquire a deeper understanding of the different culture they are experiencing and to hone their foreign language skills, or through the internships they undertake with businesses, governmental organizations or civil society.”

Even if the internship is not what the student thought it would be, he says, it can be worthwhile. “In many cases, the internships confirm the student’s long term interests and career pursuits.

Occasionally, an internship will result in a student learning what they thought they wanted to do as career is not in reality a good fit for them. This is just as valuable a learning experience as finding what they thought they wanted to pursue, really is a good fit, and inspires them to go higher and further.”

A few students combine two or more of the ILE experiences. Katie Ringler’s internship with the International Corps in Africa led

to her Honors research in the field. “The development of several centers at Ursinus hopefully will produce more and better ILE opportunities for both research and internships,” says Melrose.

There is always room to improve on the ILE to help make the program more effective, says President Bobby Fong. “I envision more variation, and combinations of the ILE requirements,” says President Fong. “With Study Abroad, for example, one typically thinks in terms of a semester or year. Are there shorter intervals that can be just as effective? One new opportunity is an exchange program with Lingnan University in Hong Kong, where students study abroad and at the same time do student teaching. We tend to think of research in terms of Summer Fellows but there are both internship and research opportunities at pharmaceutical companies, for example, that we can explore. The Strategic Plan addresses these and more opportunities for students.”

In addition, there is a significant role for alumni engagement, says Fong. “We have begun to look at creating an alumni database that can be sorted by expertise, by ability and by geography. A national alumni network that is tied into the educational program of the college can be effective here.”

Fostering Confidence, Igniting Interest and Some Insights about the Giant Elephant Shrew Rance Zawada, a senior biology major, spent his summer studying animal behavior at the Philadelphia Zoo. “We proposed, designed and carried out our own ethology — the branch of biology dealing with animal behavior — project on an animal of our choice,” says Zawada. “The project was then turned into a full report for the Philadelphia Zoo and presented to the public, albeit in a more playful and less scientific manner, because you were getting kids and people excited about learning. We would also do ethograms on a number of other animals for the zoo itself. The rest of our time was spent doing educational presentations as well as interpretations.”

The experience reaffirmed his commitment to conservation and strengthened his interest in science, says Zawada. “It also really showed me that things that are complex must be transformed in methods that children can understand. They were like fantastic little sponges mopping up more information than you could imagine. As a biology student, it made me very proud.” Zawada says he felt well prepared for the internship.

“The ethology course at Ursinus absolutely gave me a leg up when it came to designing my own ethology project and ethogram for sengis (also known as giant elephant shrews),” he says. “However, I also love evolutionary biology. So my research paper for Ursinus was on the evolutionary biology of Afrotheria — a group of animals that includes manatees and dugongs, elephants, hyraxes, sengis and aardvarks. It was awesome to be able to observe a num-

“Surveys done by the Association of American Colleges and Universities show that employers want essential learning outcomes which are coincident with a liberal education,” says Dr. Fong.

“Experiential learning enables our students to apply classroom lessons to situations that anticipate what they’ll be facing after graduation,” he says.

“Part of our responsibility entails helping students orient themselves to life after graduation by guiding their next steps into the world beyond the College. What experiences can they have at Ursinus that extend beyond the campus, including internships, study abroad, research, service learning and philanthropy?

The Ursinus Independent Learning Experience is designed to link studies with the world beyond the classroom.”

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Assistant Dean for Academic Affairs Gregory Weight said the ILE program “represents the college's commitment to providing what the President has called ‘liberal arts plus’ — experiences that pro­vide students with the opportunity to apply their learning in a variety of contexts.” ber of these animals firsthand while questions stewed in my brain that I ultimately explored in my research paper.”

Though he’s now studying in France, Zawada says a friend who works in an ethology lab for a large university said there was a very good chance he could be working there in the future due to his work at the zoo.

“The experience fostered an even stronger sense of confidence in myself and my education,” he says.

Melissa Hardin, Assistant Dean for International Studies, says the ILE, in all its forms, offers students the opportunity to immerse themselves in an environment in which they can apply what they learn in the classroom to a real world experience. The majority of graduates do more than one ILE. “The hope is that theory put to practice will lead to reflection and action in keeping with our mission statement,” says Hardin. “It must be an approved experience that includes a ‘real world’ immersion or otherwise applied component that requires a student both to take on responsibilities for directing his or her own learning, while benefiting from the supervision, guidance or mentoring of a faculty member or other role model or expert.”

For example, Hardin says, student teachers are responsible for preparing daily lessons and teaching classes, but they must also learn to partner with their professional co-ops and work as part of a larger instructional team. “Students who participate in study abroad programs take what might be deemed ‘traditional’ classes, but they do so in the larger context of a foreign educational and cultural environment in which they have to redefine their roles as members of their new community,” she says.

All these experiences allow students to test the limits of their skills and knowledge in a challenging and demanding, yet safe and supportive, environment, Hardin says. “They also provide students with opportunities for personal growth and reflection,” she says.

“When asked what they get out of these experiences, students most frequently comment on an increase in self-confidence and sense of personal achievement.”

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The ILE program helps emphasize these unique experiences not as ‘parentheses’ in the students’ college careers but as integral components of their education, she says. “This reinforces our commitment to preparing students to wrestle with the problems they will face in the world beyond college,” she says. “Faculty and administrators who engage in the administration of these programs found ourselves working together for the first time, and this collaboration helped us to expand our view on the individual programs and recognize the goals and challenges we shared. This group joined together with faculty representatives from the standing committee on Academic Standards and Discipline with a view to establishing standards, guidelines and best practices to be shared with the campus community at large. That work is ongoing but promises to make of the various ILE opportunities available to students a more coherent holistic endeavor that can better serve as the practical culmination of their undergraduate learning.”

Opportunities and Rigor When he was an Ursinus student, Jonathan Yoder’s participated in several of the ILE initiatives. He graduated with a BA in Spanish and a minor in Latin in 2005. While a student, he completed all requirements to become certified K-12 in Latin and Spanish and now teaches both subjects at Owen J. Roberts High School in Pottstown, Pa. “I had the great opportunity to student teach both Spanish and Latin at both the Middle School and High School level,” says Yoder.

“I was then asked by the school to stay on as a Long Term Sub and midway through that assignment I was offered a full-time position.

I have been here ever since and could not be happier. Without the opportunities and rigor of Ursinus I would not be where I am today.

My transition from college life to real life was just so seamless and I owe a lot of that to my professors at Ursinus.”

Yoder began with a study abroad experience in Madrid during his sophomore year. “It was just phenomenal,” he says. “I was able to receive an “Ursinus” education, since my professors traveled with us, but it just was magnified by the fact that we were embedded in the culture we were studying.”

He later went on to volunteer and work for a community center in Kensington and developed a Spanish GED curriculum that is used by many institutions in Philadelphia. “This was an experience I would have been too timid too approach without my experience abroad,” he says. While studying abroad, the students completed internships in addition to their classes. Yoder’s internship was at a private school on the outskirts of the city. “I learned invaluable lessons about the administrative and daily operations of a classroom in Spain,” he says. “I also got to work with the children teaching them everything from the rules of baseball in Physical Education and helping them with basic arithmetic during Math.”

Assistant Dean for Academic Affairs Gregory Weight said the ILE program “represents the college's commitment to providing what the President has called ‘liberal arts plus’ — experiences that provide students with the opportunity to apply their learning in a variety of contexts.”

The ILE program creates opportunities for students to stretch themselves by placing them in new living or working environments that give them a different perspective and help them to hone their own identities, values and strengths.

“From our own data on the Summer Fellows program, students are more open to experiences than they otherwise would be,” says Weight. “Students report being more interested in graduate school, more interested in continuing with research and more invested in their academic pursuits. On an individual level, I have seen students grow personally and professionally. They are more confident, more open to taking risks, and more invested in their own futures, rather than expecting others to provide the path for them.”

Kristin Cichowski, a senior theatre major with an elementary education and film studies minor, participated in the Summer Fellows program last summer. She says it was one of the most challenging experiences she’s had at Ursinus.

for her, was a healthy balance of fun and research, Cichowski says her research responsibilities were to “read Absurdist plays, take copious notes on them and eventually write a 20-25 page paper at the end. It was transformative for me in that it was the first opportunity I was afforded here at Ursinus to truly be the pilot of my own plane, in terms of academics,” she says. “Other than a weekly meeting with my advisor, I did not have many deadlines, so I refined — more than anything — my time management and organizational skills.”

Cichowski said the ILE experience instilled “an eager desire to be a forever and proactive learner; constantly discovering the world around me through books and then utilizing what I have learned to go out into the world and affect others.”

Edwin Kosik, a senior English major with a minor in film studies, says he fell in love not just with his research topic, but with the possibility of independent research in his future. His research paper was titled “Southern Honor: The Construction and Performance of Masculinity in William Faulkner's ‘The Unvanquished.’

“I don't know if being better prepared would have been a good thing,” says Kosik. “Similar to my experience going abroad, I found myself in a new situation, having to make sense of what I was doing and how I was going to succeed. The initial stumble — the ‘what do I do now?’ — was part of the learning experience.”

The ILE program, “placed me in a state of mind where I could charge at my senior year with enthusiasm and excitement,” says Kosik. “I told myself I was ready for it, and now here I am, and I am ready.”

Jessica Driscoll is a freelance writer with experience in journalism focused on municipal issues and higher education. She is a journalism and media studies graduate of Rutgers University in New Brunswick, N.J.

“It was the first time that I was asked to produce a large body of work that was both self-motivated and for which I was not getting a numerical grade,” says Cichowski. Explaining that the program,

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PerfectMatch

Nikolas Stasulli in front of the hospital where he donated peripheral blood stem cells (PBSCs) for a child battling leukemia.

On average, one in 540 registry members who sign up eventually are chosen to donate to a patient, according to the National Marrow Donor Program. To be on the registry, potential donors must meet age and health guidelines. Thousands of people with life-threatening diseases like leukemia, lymphoma or sickle cell anemia need a marrow transplant, but don’t have a match in their family. Interestingly, Nik Stasulli is one of three Ursinus students to complete a match in the past three years. Teddy Conrad 2013 was matched successfully and went through the procedure last year. The Ursinus football team running back was featured in the magazine in the fall of 2011. And John Carty 2014 also went through the procedure last year, says Coach Pete Gallagher.

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Nikolas Stasulli graduated in 2009 with a B.S. in Biochemistry and Molecular Biology with minors in Biostatistics and Dance.

When he walked into the Floy-Lewis-Bakes Center as a student and heard about the Be the Match registry drive, he had no inkling he would ever be chosen.

“But after learning about the process I thought ‘why not?’ ” says Stasulli. If he was selected to donate it would be an uncomfortable process. “But if I could help someone survive a bout with cancer in the process,” he says, “it would be worth it.”

Stasulli’s grandfather had received a bone marrow biopsy a month or two before he heard about the Be the Match drive sponsored by the Ursinus football team on campus. “It was clearly uncomfortable for my grandfather, but I figured I would be willing to go through that to help someone even if I didn't know them.”

In truth, Stasulli never really expected to be selected. “I just gave my cheek swab,” he says, “but pretty much forgot about it.”

Then in May Be the Match representatives contacted Stasulli, who is a student at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill in a graduate program for a Ph.D. in Microbiology and Immunology.

They wanted him to give a blood donation as a possible match.

"I am so proud of our student - athletes for leading the Be the Match program here at Ursinus,” says Peter Gallagher, Head Football Coach Ursinus College, who sponsors the drive on campus.

“Together we are saving lives and that is a pretty big deal.”

While going through the process, Stasulli’s parents told him that they had been put on the registry when they were younger. Many of the nurses that he interacted with during the process said they've been on the registry for years and never been called for a blood test.

“It feels kind of strange having people tell me what a great thing I'm doing and how proud they are,” says Stasulli. “I realize what an impact it may have on this family, but I never really thought too much about how it would appear to other people. I just think if a week or two of being achy, sore, and uncomfortable could save someone's life then why wouldn't I do it?”

During Stasulli’s donation, he did not undergo direct bone marrow extraction, but instead donated peripheral blood stem cells (PBSCs). For five days before the donation, he received an injection each day that caused his bone marrow to overproduce these PBSCs. “It basically made my body feel really achy and tired, similar to symptoms of the flu, and I lost some joint flexibility,” he says.

“On the day of donation it was similar to donating platelets, they put an needle into each arm, took blood from the one arm, ran it through a machine to separate out the PBSCs, and then returned everything else to me through the other arm.”

Since the patient who Stasulli donated to was so young, it took nearly three hours for them to isolate enough cells. The symptoms of the injections gradually went away over the next week and he soon felt well again.

“Anytime I felt really achy and sore, I just thought about how much worse it must be for this child, and especially the parents who have to go through this.

In early November Stasulli heard from Be the Match that the patient had not engrafted with his stem cells yet, so he was asked to give a second donation of T-cell lymphocytes.

The Be the Match registry has a confidentiality policy for a year after donation. “For that first year after you donate, it's possible that you can be called upon again to donate a second time or donate other things such as blood, plasma, platelets, or T-cells and they don't want you meeting them to influence your decision to donate again.”

“It feels kind of strange having people tell me what a great thing I'm doing and how proud they are,” says Stasulli.

“I realize what an impact it may have on this family, but I never really thought too much about how it would appear to other people. I just think if a week or two of being achy, sore, and uncomfortable could save someone's life then why wouldn't I do it?”

The experience has not changed him, he says, but it has made him feel good that he was able to help. “I would definitely do it over again, and if I get chosen again somehow I would have no qualms about going through it again. If I can help someone out through donating something that my body already creates and replaces on a regular basis then I am more than happy. It's such a small part of us that we can give to try and help someone through a really difficult time in their life.”

By Kathryn Campbell WINTER 2013 Page 23

Through the

Looking Glass Classroom Collaboration Aims to Improve Teaching Methods

By Ellen Labrecque 1995

Page 24 ursinus magazine

Improving communications between teachers and students is the goal of The Student Consultant Program Andrew W. Mellon Teaching and Learning Initiative (TLI). Meredith Goldsmith, English professor and Director of the Mellon Program, started the program in the fall of 2010 through a four-year grant from the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation. Invited to attend a Bryn Mawr College and Haverford College pedagogy seminar, Goldsmith heard about their TLI and was intrigued. One of the conditions of attending the seminar was that a student would observe Goldsmith teaching and offer her feedback on her instruction.

engage them better, but also try to help faculty see that their students meet them halfway.”

“My time with this student ended up to be such an incredibly intense but productive experience,” says Goldsmith. “I was at a moment in my career when I had just gotten tenure and I wanted to rethink things. She really helped me see how I wanted my students to be educated.”

“Participating in this program was like looking into the mirror; it was really enlightening,” says Carol Cirka, Chair and Professor of the Business and Economics Department.

The Initiative is based on a one-on-one relationship between a faculty member and a trained student consultant. The student consultant does not take the class for a grade, but is strictly a paid thirdparty observer. He or she takes copious notes on the professor’s teaching techniques and student responses. Those reflections and observations are reported in weekly meetings with the professor.

“TLI creates a common goal for both students and faculty, which is the improvement of teaching and learning on campus,” says senior Rosie Clark, an English major who has participated in the program five times. “When consultants and professors come together to work on this goal, the differences in degrees and titles disappear and we really do become partners in the improvement of education.”

Student consultants meet with Goldsmith in a bi-weekly seminar to help troubleshoot from their perspective and get advice on how to effectively communicate their thoughts to their faculty.

“When I am observing a class, I pay attention to who is verbally engaged, who looks like they’re paying attention even though they aren’t speaking, and who has completely disengaged from class,” says Clark. “I’ve worked with professors on increasing participation and getting students excited about the material, often through projects that involve contemporary media relevant to the course. I’ve also worked with professors on holding students accountable. I try to advocate for students so as to help faculty

All the professors in the program participate on a volunteer basis and the student observations are separate from the tenure and promotion process. Since the program began, 30 partnerships have been created. Faculty are confident enough as professionals to accept what, at times, can feel like a vulnerable position because they want to learn how to become more effective in their classrooms.

One of Cirka’s goals was to become more aware of how she manages her classroom time. Through the program, and with recommendations from her student consultant, Cirka started to return papers and banter with students five minutes before the class was officially supposed to start, instead of doing this right on time.

Additionally, Cirka discovered she tended to focus class conversations with just a few students, leaving others out in the cold. “I soon became more conscious to engage everybody in the room and not just the students raising their hand.”

Codrina Popescu, a chemistry professor at Ursinus, was equally happy with her time in the program. “I began to keep a journal about my teaching just as my consultant was doing,” says Popescu.

“We would get together and report what I saw through my eyes and what she saw through her eyes. I soon saw things more clearly overall. My students became more committed and it was one of the smoothest classes I’ve ever taught.”

The Mellon Grant funding ends in the fall of 2013, but Goldsmith is hopeful that because of the program’s success, the college will continue to support the program. The invisible barrier that can sometimes exist between faculty and students on college campuses has begun to come down at Ursinus.

“The program makes students more capable of talking about their classroom experience, and it makes the faculty better at explaining what they are trying to do with the whole class,” says Goldsmith. “A lot of conflicts in the classroom are based on misunderstanding. Through this Initiative, truths can be revealed.”

Participating in this program was like looking into the mirror; it was really enlightening,” says Carol Cirka, Chair and Professor of the Business and Economics Department.

WINTER 2013 Page 25

Family Man

By Ellen Labrecque 1995

Sam Totaro is one of the country’s most respected and well-known experts in the fields of adoption and family law. He has worked on over 4,000 adoption cases in the past 35 years, appeared on news shows such as the Today Show and Good Morning America, and once had a television movie made about one of his cases. But Totaro doesn’t focus on the high-profile aspects of his job. He simply wants to help people through the most challenging times in their lives.

am Totaro is naturally compassionate and warm-hearted. Yet to do his job well, he has to distance himself emotionally from his clients. And this doesn’t come easy considering he and his wife, Andrea adopted two children of their own, Juliana and Christopher. They know too well the emotional terrain of adoption that families must weather.

“When friends and clients find out I have adopted children, everybody asks is this why I went into this field,” says Totaro. “I handled a couple hundred adoptions before my wife and I adopted.

But my own life does affirm my decision to work in this field and makes me happy to know how much I am helping people.”

Totaro didn’t plan to become a lawyer after graduating from Ursinus with a degree in science. His career began in the chemistry lab, but the outgoing future litigator soon realized he wanted more day-to-day interaction with people. He went to law school at the University of Memphis and graduated in 1974. His first job landed him back in Philadelphia as a law clerk in an Orphan’s Court, which handled adoptions. After he finished his clerkship, the firm Sutton and Lewis hired him to continue his adoption work.

Totaro’s father, who was a minister in The Assemblies of God Page 26 ursinus magazine

Church, instilled in his son the importance of helping people.

Local church leaders soon realized they could trust and rely on Totaro when young women in their congregations, who were unexpectedly pregnant, sought advice on adoption.

“Most of these women were going through a difficult time and it was great that I could ease the burden of their journey for them,” Totaro says, now an Elder in his Presbyterian Church.

Totaro works for Curtin and Heefner in Doylestown and also does extensive work for non-profit organizations, such as the Silver Springs Martin Luther School, a private residential treatment facility for emotionally disturbed and challenged children, where he is chairperson of the Board of Directors.

“Sam has such a level-headed mind and he listens and cares about each and every person he works with,” says Bob Madonna, a Silver Springs board member who turned to Totaro for the adoptions of his own two children.

In the late nineties, Sam and Andrea co-founded the adoption agency, ANA Adoptions, where Andrea is the Director and Sam serves as legal counsel. Around the time ANA Adoptions opened,

Totaro took on a case that became nationally known and eventually the subject of the 1998 Lifetime movie, A Change of Heart.

Totaro was helping Keith and Kimberly Lussier adopt a little girl, Brittany, from Korea in 1994. Kimberly was being treated for uterine cancer at the time of the adoption but was in remission.

The couple welcomed Brittany in February, and the adoption was scheduled to be finalized in August. But in July, Kimberly died suddenly from the cancer. Keith called the adoption agency after his wife died and told them he still wanted to go forward with the adoption. The agency did not do single-parent adoptions and, as a result, took Brittany away and placed her with another family.

down the couple who had been given Brittany and told them her story. When they learned about who the baby was, they volunteered to give her back to Keith. The agency withdrew their appeal after a lot of public pressure and Lussier got his daughter back.

Totaro took Lussier’s case to court to help him fight for his daughter.

Totaro was lead counsel on the Gibbs vs. Ernst case, in which the Pennsylvania Supreme Court established the right of adoptive parents to be compensated for failure of adoption agencies to fully disclose all relevant information to the adoptive parents before adoption. The case was cited by over 20 Supreme Courts in other states.

“Keith was from Buffalo and the court case took place in Bucks County so the poor guy, who just lost his wife and had his daughter taken away from him, was sleeping in a hotel room,” says Totaro. “My wife and I decided to have him move in with us during the trial. As a result, we became like brothers.”

“There is no façade with Sam,” says Andrea. “He is down-to earth, compassionate and is guided by his faith. says Andrea. When somebody needs him, he’ll be there for them. That is the principle in which he runs his career and his entire life.”

The court ruled in Lussier’s favor and the judge stated that Brittany had to be returned within 72 hours to Keith. But the adoption agency appealed the ruling, which put a stay on the entire case.

“Keith said to me, if this was going to go on for a year or so, he couldn’t rip Brittany from her new home,” says Totaro.

A local newscaster, who had been following the case, tracked

“It was the most amazing day to reunite this father with his daughter,” says Totaro. “It made everything I do worth it. Today I’m still good friends with Keith and Brittany is a thriving young lady.”

Although many of Totaro’s cases aren’t as high profile, he still makes a difference in each and every one of his client’s lives. He works on many “standard” adoptions, but he also specializes in adoptions gone wrong.

“Sam is extremely well-regarded and is the perfect blend of competence and compassion,” says Karen Burrill, a 1969 Ursinus graduate and Director of the Child and Home Study Associates Adoption Agency, who has worked with Totaro on countless adoptions. “He is the one of the most sought-after lawyers in the adoption world.”

Totaro is working on another high-profile adoption case that has led him back to the talk shows. But whether in or out of the spotlight, he simply wants to do the work he feels called to do.

“Helping these people is our life,” he says about he and Andrea.

“And, I wouldn’t want to be living any other way.”

Attorney Samuel Totaro 1969 has worked on over 4,000 adoption cases and is the one of the most sought-after adoption lawyers in the world.

WINTER 2013 Page 27

Coming Events: 2013 Young Alumni Happy Hour – These Bears Don’t Hibernate!

Friday, January 25 | 6 p.m. - 8 p.m.

Public House 2 Logan Square, Center City Philadelphia Enjoy complimentary appetizers, drink specials and networking with fellow graduates of the last decade (Classes of 2003-2012).

Sponsored by the Young Alumni Council Visit www.ursinus.edu/alumni for more details and registration.

National Council East Coast Florida Alumni & Parent Event

Alumni Weekend – Are You Coming Back?

May 31 – June 2 Ursinus College Campus Don’t miss these traditions: • Reunion Celebrations for Classes ending in 3's and 8's • Annual Lobster Bake with Faculty and Staff • Young Alumni Cocktail Party sponsored by the Young Alumni Council • Alumni Academy Classes • Red, Old Gold & Black Society Luncheon • Plus, new programming additions!

Visit www.ursinus.edu/AlumniWeekend for more details.

Saturday, February 23, 2012 | 2:00 p.m. – 5:00 p.m.

The Norton Museum; West Palm Beach, FL Alumni and Parents will have the opportunity to tour the Norton Museum with Charlie Stainback, the new Director of the Berman Museum of Art.

Baccalaureate Ceremony

National Council West Coast Florida Alumni & Parent Event

May 10 | 10 a.m.

Front Lawn, in front of the Berman Museum

Sunday, February 24, 2012 | 3:00 p.m. – 6:00 p.m.

Lakewood Ranch Golf and Country Club; Bradenton, FL This event is hosted by Trustee Emeritus Robert Keehn, III ’70. Join alumni and parents living on the West Coast of Florida to meet new campus faces and discuss future initiatives in place at Ursinus College.

Philadelphia National Council Event Series

Alumni and parents are invited to attend a series of events hosted in the Philadelphia vicinity. We will engage in conversation about how alumni and parent volunteers in the region can engage more frequently with each other and with Ursinus. For more information, please visit: www.ursinus.edu/NationalCouncil.

Page 36 ursinus magazine

Thursday, May 9 | 6 p.m.

Bomberger Memorial Hall

Commencement

Homecoming Weekend

October 18 – 19 RiverCrest Golf Club in Phoenixville & Ursinus College Campus Save the date for a weekend full of Homecoming festivities! Mark your calendar for the second annual Grizzly Gala on Friday evening, featuring the Slippery Band at RiverCrest.

Weddings Stacy Dennery 2000 and Jeremiah Schatt were married on May 12, 2012.

Katie Clark 2009 and Daniel Horn were married on May 26, 2012.

Corey Jayne Bolander 2006 and Andrew Shindel 2006 were married on June 16, 2012.

Emily DiIoia 2005 and Erik Iodice were married on Sept. 8, 2012.

Matthew McCloskey 2000 and Erin Royston were married on Sept. 15, 2012.

WINTER 2013 Page 37

Jennifer Romer 2007 and Timothy Seibert 2007 were married on July 28, 2012.

Stephanie Levitsky 2008 and Chris Carey 2008 were married on October 13, 2012.

Andrew Grali 2004 and Megan Iannozzi were married on September 15, 2012.

Erica Hartzell 2001 and Michael Wasilkowski were married on Sept. 17, 2010.

Michelle Hofmann 2006 and Stephen Ciabattoni 2008 were married on Sept. 29, 2012.

Erin Hoban 2006 and Kiernan Cavanagh 2006 were married on July 21, 2012.

Johanna Nash 2004 and Tyler Pittenger 2005 were married on March 31, 2012.

James Francart 2000 and Christy Heller were married on July 9, 2011.

Page 38 ursinus magazine

Tori Wynne 2007 and Clay Hazelett 2006 were married on June 9, 2012.

Lauren Carrescia 2005 and Evan Nisenson were married on Sept. 1, 2012.

Jenna Lesky 2008 and Cole Racich 2008 were married on July 14, 2012.

Christine Snyder 2006 and Owen Weaver 2006 were married on Oct. 13, 2012.

Ursinus wedding photos

We heard you!

Ursinus Magazine will continue to publish wedding photos in the magazine as well as online.

Please continue to send your beautiful wedding memories. Thank you for sharing your joy.

Send photos to Ursinus Magazine, P.O. Box 1000, Collegeville, PA 19426. Digital photos can be e-mailed to ucmag@ursinus.edu.

Ursinus College reserves the right to reject publication of photos which are not of publishable quality. We regret that we are not able to return print photographs. The wedding date must be given and the group photograph should include only Ursinus alumni.

Please sign onto the Ursinus online community: www.ursinus.edu/alumni for full captions including names of the Ursinus alumni pictured in the photo. Questions can be addressed to the Office of Alumni Relations, 610.409.3585, or by e-mailing ucmag@ursinus.edu.

Join us on Facebook where 3,341 friends like the Ursinus page.

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Our Official Ursinus Social Media Directory can be found on news.ursinus.edu or directly here news.ursinus.edu/college-communications/social-directory WINTER 2013 Page 39

Field notes

Quiet...

Did You Hear That?

Matthew Shoaf, Ph.D. Associate Professor of Art History and Chair of the Department of Art and Art History, explores how the senses are manifested in fourteenth-century Italian art.

Shoaf at work in his office overlooking Patterson Field.

Photo by Sarah K. Kaufman Visiting Assistant Professor of Art, Photography Department of Art and Art History.

Page 40 ursinus magazine

Peek in to Matthew Shoaf ’s small office and the first thing you will notice are piles and piles of art history books. They surround him in the tall shelves, are packed precariously on chairs and spread across his desk, too. But like any focused professor, he knows exactly where to find the one he needs when he needs it.

The art, much of it relief sculptures and paintings, that Shoaf studies represented the moral virtues and vices of the people in 14th century Italy. A gaping mouth here, covered eyes there and a heap of emotional expressions glowered from the walls of public places to send a stern message to a rising middle class, Shoaf says.

“The art was addressed to people in the cities telling them how to live.” A common theme was the Seven Deadly Sins and among those the most deadly was pride. In this period, Shoaf says, echoing Renaissance art historian Michael Baxandall, painting and sculpture were too important to be left to the artist. “Patrons had a say in what the artists could make. The message was to live by a certain code and that code was changing.”

In addition to teaching, Shoaf is hard at work on a book called Hearing Early Italian Art about how the art of painting and sculpture have been historically connected to the sense of hearing.

“My focus is fourteenth-century Italy, an art historical ‘grey area’ between the Middle Ages and the Renaissance,” says Shoaf. “It’s also a period marked by institutional efforts to control speech. I examine how artists of that time, working for governments and religious institutions, explored auditory experience in pictures and attempted to make vocal sounds meaningful for audiences (morally and spiritually as well as politically). I am interested in how people were helped to hear through images.”

A year after Shoaf graduated from Occidental College, he volunteered on an archaeological excavation in Belgium. “It was a pivotal experience for me in terms of my academic interests and in my thinking about career options,” he says. The experience illuminated his interest in the political role art played in history.

Photos by Matthew Shoaf

“Part of what drives me is the use of images in public life and how art connects with people. I wanted to step further back and specialize in a period where I would have a broader view of history.

In the late Middle Ages, cities were coming back to life. Presently I am interested in how pictures taught people in cities to listen to themselves and to other people.”

Shoaf earned his MA and his Ph.D. in art history from the University of Chicago. He spent several weeks researching in Italy in 2008 to put his current book project into motion.

By Kathryn Campbell

WINTER 2013 Page 41

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