Carleton College News

Carleton senior Andrew Terwilliger (Lancaster, Wis.) has been awarded a prestigious Thomas J. Watson Fellowship. A linguistics major, Terwilliger is one of forty college students nation-wide to be awarded a Watson "dream" grant. The Thomas J. Watson Foundation Fellowships enable college seniors to pursue their unique passion or dream for a year of independent exploration and travel outside the United States.    

A compelling photographic exhibit at The Hideaway Coffeehouse & Wine Bar in downtown Northfield features the work of Carleton College sophomore Anushka Patel (India). Entitled "New Perspectives, New Possibilities," the exhibit is the culmination of a collaboration between the Northfield-based non-profit Children's Culture Connection and ASHA, a community health and development society dedicated to improving the lives of the urban poor of Delhi, India. On Thursday, March 18 from 6 to 8 pm, The Hideaway will host a special reception for Patel and others involved in the project. This event is free and open to the public.

Carleton alumnus Flavian Brown ’09 has been selected to receive the 2010 Gilliam Fellowships for Advanced Study from the Howard Hughes Medical Institute (HHMI). Each of the five Gilliam fellows receives $44,000 in graduate school support annually for up to five years to help move the fellow toward a career in science research and teaching. Gilliam Fellows are described by HHMI past-president Thomas Cech as “exceptional young people with enormous potential and a burning desire to do biomedical research.”  HHMI chooses the Fellows, according to Peter J. Bruns, HHMI vice president for grants and special programs, “not only for their potential as scientists but also for their potential as leaders who are concerned about diversity.”

Carleton’s Information Technology Services (ITS) department is sponsoring a personal and home electronics equipment recycling day on Saturday, March 20 from 9 a.m. – 12 noon. The event’s partner, Material Processing Corporation (MPC), allows local residents to recycle personal and/or home computing equipment for a small fee. MPC will have a large truck available for local residents to drop their items in the parking lot south of Laird Stadium, which sits adjacent to Highway 19.

Carleton's career center's externship program is the focus of a feature in the March 4 edition of The Financial Times titled "Placements with a domestic twist." The article focuses on 25th Reunion Trustee Paul Van Valkenburg's '82 and Barb (Behringer) Geiser's '83 role as volunteer hosts. The article is available at FT.com, although registrations (free) may be required. You can learn more about the externship program on the career center's website.

Katy Hinman '95 is profiled in the March 2010 edition of AtlantaMagazine.com in an article called "Wonder Women!" Hinman, a biology major at Carleton and executive director of Georgia Interfaith Power and Light, goes by the moniker Bat L. Royale in Atlanta-area roller derby circles and is on the Toxic Shocks, one of four teams in the Atlanta league. The article's author, Hollis Gillespie, writes: "Hinman herself is a walking model of diversity, which explains her attraction to the sport. She has a B.A. and M.A. in biology, a Ph.D. in ecology and evolution, and presently (when not trying to knock the badunkadunk out of opposing derby girls) she coordinates the regional program for Georgia Interfaith Power & Light and is a pastoral scholar at her church. In 2007 she saw signs advertising the Rollergirls near her Little Five Points office and decided to attend that year’s championship bout. She was hooked. “I loved to skate as a kid—Xanadu was one of my favorite movies—and I’d seen a lot of old-school, kitschy roller derby on TV back in the day,” Hinman recalls. “But seeing hard-core flat track for the first time, I fell in love. Great athleticism and full contact, but everyone looked like they were having so much fun.” She attended a Rollergirl recruitment skate the next weekend, and bought skates and pads later that day."

Cathryn Manduca and the Carleton College Science Education Resource Center have been awarded the Science Prize for Online Resources in Education (SPORE) for their website creation, On the Cutting Edge, which fosters the sharing of ideas about the geosciences, both in terms of teaching and education throughout the field. In an era in which knowledge of geoscience is fundamental to handling such pressing issues as climate change and environmental degradation, the web site fosters the sharing of ideas about teaching with the aim of improving education throughout the field.

Patrice Gaines, celebrated journalist and former reporter for the Washington Post, battled a turbulent existence fraught with abusive relationships, heroin addiction, arrests, and incarceration before she embarked on a contemplative journey to change. Gaines will share her powerful story and research findings in a convocation titled “How We Can All Be Free: Prison Reform in the 21st Century” at 10:50 a.m. on Friday, Feb. 26 in the Skinner Memorial Chapel on the Carleton College campus. Following her presentation, Gaines will sign copies of her acclaimed books, Moments of Grace: Meeting the Challenge to Change and Laughing in the Dark: From Colored Girl to Woman of Color—A Journey from Prison to Power, which will be available for purchase at the event and in advance at a 15% discount at the Carleton College Bookstore. This event is free and open to the public.

Professor Yael Zerubavel will give the annual Forkosh Family Lecture in Judaic Studies at Carleton College on Thursday, February 25 at 8 p.m. in the Severance Great Hall. The founding director of the Allen and Joan Bildner Center for the Study of Jewish Life and a professor of Jewish studies and history at Rutgers University, Zerubavel is an expert on the development of Israeli culture, collective memory and identity. Entitled “Imagining Exile in the Homeland: Cultural Diversity and the Politics of Remembrance in Israel,” Zerubavel’s presentation is free and open to the public.

Four and half years since Hurricane Katrina ravaged the city of New Orleans, the students and faculty of Carleton College will host a Post-Katrina Symposium to reflect on the city’s progress towards recovery with the aid of ongoing relief efforts. On Thursday, Feb. 25 at 5 p.m. in the Boliou Hall Auditorium, three speakers—Rosanne Adderley, associate professor of history at Tulane University; John Bardes’08 (history), teacher at the Arthur Ashe Charter School in New Orleans; and Kimberly Smith, Carleton College associate professor of political science and environmental studies—will contribute their varying perspectives on the impact of Katrina along the Gulf Coast, and how the city continues its reconstruction from the mass devastation. Michael Hemesath, professor of economics and organizer of two post-Katrina student service trips to the Gulf Coast, will moderate the symposium. Prior to the panel discussion, there will be a reception with refreshments at 4:30 p.m. in the Boliou Hall lobby. This event is free and open to the public.

Come and enjoy spoken word and other creative performances inspired by the African American experience! In honor of Black History Month, Carleton’s annual “We Speak” celebration will be held on Friday, February 26 at 8 p.m. in the College’s Concert Hall. This annual event is sponsored by Carleton’s Black Student Alliance (BSA), who encourages African American students, or any student with interest in African American issues, to come out and celebrate their heritage. This evening of performance is free and open to the public.

Local filmmaker Paul Krause will premier his film, Harvest, on Thursday, February 25 at 7:30 p.m. in the Northfield High School Auditorium. The film chronicles the creation of Ray Jacobson’s public sculpture of the same name from start to finish, revealing how the people of Northfield helped contribute to its making. It is truly a celebration of the community, just as the sculpture was originally commissioned to celebrate Northfield’s 150th anniversary as a city in 2005. Doors will open at 7 p.m. and a reception with Ray Jacobson will follow the screening. The movie will be of particular interest to artists, sculpture students, and any community planning to commission public art. This event is free and open to the public.

Carleton's alumni annual fund was one of five college fund-raising programs highlighted by a recent Chronicle of Higher Education article entitled "5 Colleges That Inspire Alumni Giving, and How They Do It." The article singled out how the College thanks its donors, pointing to the recent thank-you videos posted on Carleton's website as a prime example. The article also talks about "Volunteer for Carleton," which nearly one-third of current students participated this past year. "I want them to see and think and acknowledge those making gifts and volunteering," Mr. Clark says. "You're part of a larger community, and many of these people you've never met have made a difference in your experience." The article is only available online to subscribers.