Wikipedia made better
Thanks to Boston College senior Marie Pellissier, the online encyclopedia Wikipedia has an informative, well-researched entry on a pioneering woman of the American West, Susan LaFlesche Picotte (1865-1915). For an assignment in Professor of History Marilynn Johnson’s course History of the American West, Pellissier introduced “Wiki” to Picotte, widely considered to be the first Native American woman to become a physician. Pellissier hopes readers of the article “come away with a sense of just how extraordinary this woman was. I think one of the most interesting things about Picotte is the way she was able to have an impact on, and earn the respect of, both the Omaha nation and the community of whites living around their reservation in Walthill, Nebraska.” Added Johnson: “I’m delighted that Marie’s research has resulted in such a tangible and accessible contribution to historical knowledge on the web. Wikipedia is here to stay, so why not improve it? There are tons of entries on male explorers and military figures in the American West, but not nearly as many on women and Native Americans. Marie’s article gives us both.” Read more at Wiki Education Foundation.
Posted in Students
Tagged American history, History Department, Native American, women
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From the West Wing to the Winston Center
Communication strategist Karen Hughes, worldwide vice chair of Burson-Marsteller, former Under Secretary of State for Public Diplomacy and Public Affairs and former advisor to President George W. Bush, will speak at a Winston Center for Leadership and Ethics event on Feb. 25. She will present “The CEOs of Leadership: Clarity, Example and Optimism,” at 4 p.m. in Gasson Hall, room 100. Hughes, who has more than 30 years of public policy, communications and political experience, joined the global public relations and communications firm Burson-Marsteller in 2008. Prior to that she served as Under Secretary of State for Public Diplomacy and Public Affairs where she led the U.S. State Department’s effort to communicate America’s values abroad. Hughes is author of the memoir Ten Minutes from Normal (Viking).
Shrayer in new anthology, Tablet
The title story of Professor of Russian, English, and Jewish Studies Maxim D. Shrayer’s acclaimed 2009 collection, Yom Kippur in Amsterdam, has been published in a major anthology of Jewish American fiction. The New Diaspora: The Changing Landscape of American Jewish Fiction (Wayne State University Press, 2015) features 36 stories by some of the leading names in contemporary fiction, including Edith Pearlman, Francine Prose, Jonathan Safran Foer and Nathan Englander. According to the publisher, the anthology “celebrates the continuing vitality and fresh visions of contemporary Jewish writing, even as it highlights its debt to history and embrace of collective memory.” Shrayer’s story follows Jake Glaz, a young Jewish man baffled by the prospect of intermarriage to a Catholic woman. After realizing neither he nor she will convert, Jake leaves the United States to spend Yom Kippur in Amsterdam, a “beautiful place for a Jew to atone.” Read more in the Boston College Chronicle | Shrayer also has written a piece for Tablet Magazine, titled “Ahlabustin, or Russians in Punta Cana.”
Wolfe: reviewed and reviewer
Boston College Professor of Political Science Alan Wolfe, director of the Boisi Center for Religion and American Public Life, has written a book review for Commonweal magazine. Wolfe’s book, At Home in Exile: Why Diaspora is Good for the Jews (Beacon Press, 2014), is also the subject of a book review in the same issue. Wolfe reviews Herzl’s Vision: Theodor Herzl and the Founding of the Jewish State by Shlomo Avineri.
Festschrift in honor of Frs. Clifford and Harrington
School of Theology and Ministry colleagues Fr. Thomas Stegman, SJ, Christopher R. Matthews and Christopher Frechette have edited Biblical Essays in Honor of Daniel J. Harrington, SJ, and Richard J. Clifford, SJ (Paulist Press), a Festschrift in honor of the late STM Professor of New Testament Daniel Harrington, SJ and STM Founding Dean Richard J. Clifford, SJ, a professor of Old Testament. According to the editors, Biblical Essays not only honors the Jesuit scholars, but also illustrates an important interpretive phenomenon: the use and reuse of Scripture. The volume features essays from 18 scholars with personal and professional connections to the honorees, including the editors and Boston College Theology Professor Pheme Perkins. The book was unveiled at a special event held last month.
Event postponed
The talk by Boston College theologian Stephen J. Pope on“A Place for Everyone: Pastoral Challenges to the Family” scheduled for February 16 at 5:30 p.m in the Heights Room of Corcoran Commons has been postponed. For more information, contact the Church in the 21st Century Center.
Pastoral Challenges to the Family
Boston College theologian Stephen J. Pope will present “A Place for Everyone: Pastoral Challenges to the Family” on February 16 at 5:30 p.m in the Heights Room of Corcoran Commons. Pope is the author of The Evolution of Altruism and the Ordering of Love (Georgetown, 1994) and Human Evolution and Christian Ethics (Cambridge, 2007). He is editor of Essays on the Ethics of St. Thomas Aquinas (Georgetown, 2001). The event is co-sponsored by the Church in the 21st Century Center and the Theology Department. The event is free, but registration is requested.
Understanding Love and Responsibility
After years of counseling young adults and married couples, Father Karol Wojtyla (Saint John Paul II) published Love and Responsibility. This classic work is not an easy book to read as the language is often high and theoretical. Boston College Carroll School of Management Associate Professor of the Practice Richard Spinello has published Understanding Love and Responsibility (Pauline Books & Media, 2014), a companion piece that allows readers to better understand St. John Paul II’s rich, thought-provoking and challenging work. Based on the new English translation of Love and Responsibility, Spinello’s commentary will enable readers to discover the beauty of Saint John Paul II’s timeless work. Spinello is also the author of The Genius of John Paul II: The Great Pope’s Moral Wisdom and The Encyclicals of John Paul II: An Introduction and Commentary, along with numerous other books and articles on ethical theory and applied ethics. More on his book in this blog post from The Pilot.
Posted in Boston College Authors
Tagged Carroll School of Management, Catholic Church, marriage, papal
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“Genius” in the house
MacArthur “Genius Grant” winner Alison Bechdel will give a talk at 7 p.m. on Feb. 11 in Gasson Hall, room 100 under the sponsorship of the Lowell Humanities Series. Bechdel is a cartoonist best known for her comic strip “Dykes To Watch Out For,” which was self-syndicated from 1983 to 2008. Her memoir, Fun Home: A Family Tragicomic, was named a Time magazine Best Book of the year, a finalist for a National Book Critics Circle Award and was adapted into an award-winning musical that opened Off-Broadway in 2013. Her newest memoir is Are You My Mother? A Comic Drama. Bechdel is also the Marsh Professor at Large at the University of Vermont. NPR interview
Posted in Guest Authors, Lowell Humanities Series
Tagged cartoonist, MacArthur Grant, memoir
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