Breast cancer through a journalist’s lens
In recognition of Breast Cancer Awareness Month, BC Bookmarks spotlights alumna Ann Murray Paige, a broadcast journalist and author of Words to Live By and pink tips, a book of advice for anyone diagnosed with breast cancer from someone who has been there. An inspirational figure, Paige regularly blogs about her experience as a cancer patient. Her other projects include a one-woman show, “In the Pink,” and a documentary, “The Breast Cancer Diaries,” which has been seen in 30 countries and been translated into two languages. Earlier this year Paige was honored by the Massachusetts General Hospital Cancer Care Center at its one hundred event which recognizes 100 individuals and groups whose diligence and discoveries, philanthropy and passion have helped advance the fight against cancer. Listen to her amazing speech.
American foreign policy in retreat
Johns Hopkins School of Advanced International Studies Dean Vali Nasr, a Middle East scholar, foreign policy adviser and commentator on international relations, will talk about his book, The Dispensable Nation: American Foreign Policy in Retreat on Oct. 9 at 5:30 p.m. in Devlin Hall, room 101. The Dispensable Nation is about the implications of the Obama administration’s foreign policy on American strategic interests. Nasr’s other books, Forces of Fortune and The Shia Revival, examined the postwar sectarian violence in Iraq and the uprisings known as the Arab Spring and contributed to U.S. policy formulated in response to those events. From 2009 to 2011, Nasr was special adviser to the president’s special representative for Afghanistan and Pakistan. He is currently a member of the U.S. Department of State’s Foreign Affairs Policy Board and a life member of the Council on Foreign Relations. Copies of The Dispensable Nation: American Foreign Policy in Retreat will be available for purchase at the event. Sponsor: The Clough Center for the Study of Constitutional Democracy.
How children succeed
Best-selling author Paul Tough will present “How Children Succeed” on Oct. 9 in Gasson Hall, room 100 at 7 p.m. Tough is the author of How Children Succeed: Grit, Curiosity, and the Hidden Power of Character, which has been translated into 22 languages, and Whatever It Takes: Geoffrey Canada’s Quest to Change Harlem and America. Tough is a contributing writer for the New York Times Magazine, where he has written extensively about education, parenting, poverty, and politics. His writing has also appeared in the New Yorker, Slate, GQ, Esquire and Geist. Sponsors: Lowell Humanities Series and Winston Center for Leadership and Ethics.
Posted in Guest Authors, Lowell Humanities Series
Tagged children, education, poverty
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Who made the Dean’s List?
Boston College Vice President Father William B. Neenan, SJ, has released his annual “Dean’s List” of recommended reading. The 2013-14 list has four new titles: Last Friends by Jane Gardam; The End of the Point by Professor of English Elizabeth Graver; The Unlikely Pilgrimage of Harold Fry by Rachel Joyce, and Ron Chernow’s Washington: A Life. Read Fr. Neenan’s thoughts on his new Dean’s List picks in the Boston College Chronicle. The Boston College Libraries maintain a complete list of all the titles that have graced the Dean’s List, which Fr. Neenan has issued every year since 1982. Thank you, Fr. Neenan!
The BC-Tom Clancy connection
The late author Tom Clancy often referenced Boston College in his best-selling military thrillers. His fictional hero Jack Ryan, who debuted in The Hunt for Red October, was a graduate of Boston College. Clancy, himself a product of Jesuit education, was believed to have modeled Jack Ryan after a real-life high school friend who went on to attend Boston College. Read more. Listen to this appreciation of Clancy and his legacy on WBUR. Rest in peace, Tom Clancy. (At left, Tom Clancy signs books at Boston College in 1989.)
A look at working
Work is more than just a 9-to-5 activity. Work is a central aspect of life, providing a source of structure, a means of survival, a connection to others, and optimally a means of self-determination, according to Lynch School of Education Professor David Blustein, who has edited the new Oxford Handbook of the Psychology of Working (Oxford University Press). Bringing together a broad range of scholars and practitioners, Blustein has assembled an expansive examination of the nature of work as well as the people who work and those who want to work. Contributors to the text from Boston College include: Blustein, AJ Franklin, Maureen Kenny, Mary Beth Medvide, and Philip Mirvis. For more, check out this Boston College Chronicle Q&A with Blustein.
Award for Laurence
Congratulations to Boston College Associate Professor of Political Science Jonathan Laurence, whose book The Emancipation of Europe’s Muslims: The State’s Role in Minority Integration was honored with the 2013 Hubert Morken Award for the best publication on religion and politics by the American Political Science Association. The Emancipation of Europe’s Muslims traces how governments across Western Europe have responded to the growing presence of Muslim immigrants in their countries over the past 50 years, and sheds light on the geopolitical implications of a religious minority’s transition from outsiders to citizens. Laurence also recently published an article in the Fall issue of Dissent on the relationship of the European Left and Islam.
Posted in Awards/Honors, Boston College Authors
Tagged Europe, Islam, Political Science department
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Books on BC football
Boston College alumnus Reid Oslin, former sports information officer in Athletics, will sign copies of his newly updated edition of Tales from the Boston College Sideline: A Collection of the Greatest Eagle Stories Ever Told as well as his previously published Boston College Football Vault: The History of the Eagles prior to Saturday’s game against Florida State. The event is sponsored by the BC Bookstore. Oslin’s books can be purchased on site at a 20% discount. The book signing is on Sept. 28 from 1 to 3 p.m. outside the Hillside Cafe.
Fleming is MacArthur Fellow
Congratulations to medieval historian Robin Fleming, author of Britain After Rome: The Fall and Rise, 400-1070, who has been named a 2013 MacArthur Fellow. Fleming is a professor of history at Boston College and scholar of early medieval Britain. The John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation’s MacArthur Fellowships, also known as “Genius Awards,” are presented to talented individuals in a variety of fields who have shown exceptional originality in and dedication to their creative pursuits. More
Posted in Awards/Honors, Boston College Authors
Tagged European history, History Department
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BC Bookmarks 