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(11/12/14 9:43pm)
“When we are loved we are afraid / love will vanish / when we are alone we are afraid / love will never return,” reads a piece of the poem “The Black Unicorn” by Audre Lorde, included in the program for the Hepburn Zoo production of Marsha Norman's Getting Out.
Getting Out, which ran Nov. 6-8, marked the first student theatre production of the semester. Under the direction of Rebecca Coates-Finke ’16.5, the play explored the ever-present fear of not having something – whether it is love or freedom or food, whether because of losing it or never getting it back – through the journey of a woman named Arlene who has just been released from prison and returns to her home in Kentucky to restart her life.
Coates-Finke first got the idea to direct her own production last spring in her Directing I class, when Aashna Aggarwal ’16 – who plays Arlene – approached her about collaborating on a project. Coates-Finke, who had been reading plays in preparation for Playwriting I, found Getting Out while looking at a series of plays by Marsha Norman and instantly connected with the subject matter and the format through which the play addresses it.
“There’s a lot of different layers to the play that drew me in,” Coates-Finke said. “It is about [a girl] trying to shed her past and move on to a new life. And the impossibility of doing that. [It’s about] how much ‘getting out’ is not a reality of the world.”
Getting Out presents the difficult task of shedding one’s past by putting Arlene’s former self – called Arlie and played with engaging tenacity and unwavering energy by Sarah Karerat ’18 – onstage with Arlene for almost every moment of the dramatic action.
Maggie Cochrane ’16’s smart stage design, which countered Arlene’s apartment on the left side of the stage with an open, transformable black space on the right, confined Arlene into the reality of her tiny apartment while allowing Arlie’s presence to spread into every dimension of the space as she moved back in forth through time.
After some discussion with Coates-Finke about which version of the protagonist Aggarwal would play, Aggarwal decided to take on the challenge of grounding herself in the post-prison Arlene, a woman with the same history and inherent hard edge as Arlie, but with a different way of handling these parts of herself. Aggarwal’s impressive restraint and subtle use of the triggers and reactive instincts Karerat instilled into Arlie created a strong contrast between the two leads that invited the audience to participate in finding Arlie in her current self, rather than spelling the similarities out for them. Coates-Finke and both actresses acknowledged the links in the text between Arlie and Arlene – present in overlapping conversations about their weight or their father and in each woman’s use of props such as lighters and food items – without making them obvious or forced.
To incorporate the pieces of Arlie that motivate Arlene, and also distinguish her as a new woman, Aggarwal tracked Arlie’s feelings and reactions in each scene and used them to explain how and why Arlene does what she does. While Arlene’s old self is not gone, Aggarwal realized that she has to establish a new approach to the same problems.
“Arlie came up with a way to deal with the world, and that’s not going to work for Arlene,” Aggarwal said.
The play, in part, follows Arlene’s progression towards finding the way of life that will work for her. Initially, her aggression leads her to proclaim, “I ain’t Arlie. Arlie could have killed you,” but her emotions evolve to allow a quiet yet powerful call for help asking her neighbor Ruby to stay and protect her from Carl, a former friend who tries to tempt her into resorting to her past actions to live more comfortably. John Cheesman ’16’s believable portrayal of Carl’s aggression and self-confidence in his life choices makes Arlene’s decision harder and more significant than it could be without the development of such high stakes by both actors.
Despite the length of the loudspeaker announcements, which opened each act and verged on too long to hold the audience’s interest, the moments of humor in these announcements and in supporting characters were much appreciated and prevented the play from becoming one-note in its message. A stand out in this respect, Eliza Renner ’18 delivered her lines as the mother with impeccable comedic timing while matching her blunt humor with pointed gravity when necessary.
Quincy Simmons ’18’s one-liners as friendly neighbor Ruby in the second half of the show revived what the dreary plants brought by prison guard/friend/attempted rapist Bennie – played with an effective combination of unsettling ease and rare moments of eagerness by Jabari Matthew ’17 – could not, brightening both Arlene’s situation and the audience’s hope. Simmons’ gentle yet matter-of-fact delivery of self-advice such as, “Ruby, if that gallon of milk can bounce back, so can you” and resonating truths like, “Arlene’s had about as much help as she can stand,” show that verbal punches can be just as powerful as physical ones.
While the text itself felt repetitive in its intentions at times, Coates-Finke’s dynamic blocking – especially in playing with Arlie’s untamed energy when she is forced into confinement – and adeptness at setting up rewarding moments prevented the play from dragging and brought the audience along to the final conflict.
Arlene’s ultimate question is how to surpass her old ways without giving up the luxury – or at least relative luxury – that she had gotten used to. She sees Ruby’s life of cooking all night and playing cards all day as equally stifling to her time in jail, and yet she wants to provide her son with a present, positive mother figure, something she cannot do if she returns to prostitution and crime. She has received an opportunity to start over, and yet the reality of the freedom of a woman just released from jail does not provide an easy, or even recognizable, way to get out from under the oppression she has experienced. She is afraid of losing the progress she has made if she goes with Carl, and she is afraid of losing her freedom if she stays. It is her recognition of the inevitability of fearing the road not taken that allows her to take her first tangible step in one direction at the end of the play, bringing her out of the unknown if nothing else.
(09/10/14 2:16pm)
The MiddSummer Play Lab (MSPL), a week-long summer intensive program that fosters relationships between Middlebury College students and alumni in the theatre and film industries, returned to campus for its second season this past week, Sept. 2-6. The program was started by Tara Giordano ’02.5 in 2013 with the help of Visiting Assistant Professor of Theatre Dana Yeaton, the Center for Careers and Internships (CCI), and a number of alumni artists.
MSPL brought five alumni back to campus this summer to teach and learn from each other. The program offers a unique chance for students to learn applicable, career-building skills directly from professionals and cultivates the continuation of bonds between students that extend beyond the campus into multiple big-city job markets.
The networking benefits of MSPL are twofold: alumni have the chance to create and produce new work together while keeping their college collaborations alive, and current students have the opportunity to break into the tight-knit alumni community and strengthen the artistic relationships already present within their immediate generation. Bill Army ’07, an alumni participant and new Visiting Professor of Theatre, identified the importance of maintaining college connections as one of the biggest takeaways for students in the program.
“I hope that each student more fully realized that the relationships that they are cultivating now are some of the most important relationships that they will make,” Army said.
This year, eleven undergraduate students took advantage of MSPL’s offerings, which included three master classes in film acting as well as alumni-led discussions about the details and realities of the theatre and film industries. Cassidy Freeman ’04.5, Joe Varca ’02.5 and Giordano led the master classes, focusing on their personal experience auditioning for film in New York and Los Angeles. Greg Swartz ’17.5 viewed his experience at the play lab as a confirmation of his decision to join the Department of Theatre at the College.
“After the summer play lab, I’m so excited to become more involved with theatre at Middlebury,” Swartz said. “As a student considering an eventual career in theatre and film, it was invaluable to learn about the experiences the alumni had as they established themselves as actors and playwrights after graduation.”
Swartz also commented on the rare opportunity to learn about the specifics of acting for film.
“The alumni gave great feedback in the film class that has definitely made me a stronger actor, and I also found it helpful to view and critique recordings of my own work,” he said.
Varca, who co-led the master classes, echoed Swartz’s comments in his hopes for what he was able to contribute that he would have valued when he was a student.
“I remember what it was like as a student, contemplating a life working as an actor or director and the uncertainty surrounding that path,” Varca said. “So to return to Middlebury and offer not only hope, but practical skills and tools to help current students take the leap is something I feel very lucky and grateful to be able to do.”
The MSPL also served as a workshop environment for CLICKSHARE, a new play written by Lucas Kavner ’06.5, culminating in a play reading featuring Army, Giordano, Freeman, Varca, Nicholas Hemerling ’14.5, and Associate Professor of Theatre Alex Draper. Kavner described the editing and reworking as invaluable for his own process and saw the reading as an additional opportunity for students to learn as well.
“I hope the students got a taste of what the play reading process is like, since it’s so much of what takes place in New York,” he said.
MSPL sprung out of a conversation in the spring of 2013 between alumni in New York City and Los Angeles about collaborating on a new play. Since the College served as the common link between everyone involved, the alumni reached out to Yeaton, the College’s playwriting mentor, in hopes of exploring this process in the place where its creators met and grew together. Yeaton then worked with the CCI, which provided the funding for transportation costs that made it possible for MSPL to take off.
Associate Director of Professional and Career Development Susan Walker approved of MSPL initially because she saw it as an innovative way to lessen the gap between the academic arts world and professional careers in the arts.
“At CCI, we applaud and promote all opportunities to connect undergraduates with alumni who are working in their fields of interest,” Walker said. “Along with internships, this is the best way to really get a sense of what it takes to become a successful professional. MSPL is unique because students receive direct coaching from alumni and have a chance to see them demonstrate their craft in the final reading.”
Walker attended the final play reading of Kavner’s CLICKSHARE, as well as the initial question and answer session with the alumni artists, and expressed her hope that a wider Middlebury audience will be able to see this type of impressive performance and creative vision in the future.
“CCI looks forward to partnering to keep MSPL thriving and even growing in the future, and in other collaborations on behalf of students,” Walker said recently.
Giordano confirmed that she is planning to make MSPL an annual summer offering. While the program initially took place in the month of June, Giordano explained that the program will be shifting permanently to the week before classes begin in September. Looking forward, Giordano wants to expand MSPL just as the arts alumni community itself expands. She seeks to diversify skills and add new experiences while maintaining the core that was the reason for its inception: collaboration amongst peers who all share common memories of their time at the College.
(10/16/13 10:33pm)
If you walk onto the stage in Wright Theater between now and late November, you will see black and gray floor panels attached in a grid-like pattern to form the foundation for the upcoming production of “Pentecost.” What you may not realize is that the exact same flooring travelled to Atlantic Stage in New York City twice and adorned Seeler Studio Theater the spring before that, recycled for a total of seven productions in three years.
Behind the flooring rest shelves full of used materials like these panels, ready to be resized and remade into the next scenic creation. These resources come from even more expansive storage barns packed with saved set pieces from as long as 13 years ago.
The practice of the set designers and technical directors in the Department of Theatre is to reuse and recycle during every step of the production process. Professor of Theatre Mark Evancho, who is designing the demanding set for “Pentecost,” explained that due to budget limitations and the College’s remote location, recycling begins as early as in the conceptual stage.
“I am always looking in the trash, in the environment,” said Evancho. “I’ll go down to the recycling center, see something and think, ‘Hey I can use that.’ And I’ll grab it.”
“That’s the nature of theater,” he added. “You start realizing what you can do with [the materials]. You remake them.”
During the construction process, the opportunity to make environmentally conscious decisions heightens. Associate Technical Director Jim Dougherty explained that taking advantage of these opportunities serves a large role financially as well as environmentally, citing the dual benefit of mulching all plain wood under a foot long.
Other practices the department follows that fall into this category include using wood chipped off of younger trees instead of cut from taken-down trees, using digital projections to cut back on actual set pieces and lining the floor with Celotex, a fiberboard used to deaden sound that is highly decomposable and made partly from recycled sources, such as recycled waste glass and aluminum.
Celotex is one of the three primary fiberboard products that the department uses, along with Homasote, which uses recycled consumer paper to make a board that is both recycled and recyclable, and Masonite, which serves as a green alternative to plywood. These materials serve as efficient replacements for plywood and other less decomposable options when possible so that the sturdier materials can be preserved and used for a longer period of time.
Despite the practice of reusing, the department will not keep using materials if they are discovered to be harmful.
This was true for the dry pigment paint they used ten years ago, which they boxed up when it was shown to be carcinogenic. They now use water-based paint for almost all of the their projects. The only oil-based paint used in productions is spray paint, which has not been replaced because its visual effect cannot be created using a water-based option.
While the production team recycles and uses a range of environmentally friendly materials, they recognize that there are restrictions that do not allow them to take advantage of every green option. PVC lumber, for example, is made to last longer and therefore waste less wood, but it is too expensive to be practical for the College. Foam, on the other hand, is not green, but it is light and easy to carve, so it is a valuable resource that the team cannot afford to replace.
Evancho explained that the Theatre Department looked into replacing the lights in Wright Theater with light emitting diode (LED) lights but found that this idea would have jeopardized the aesthetic success of the lighting because the light quality of LED bulbs is “harsh” and the lights vibrate if they are dimmed.
“LED isn’t at a point technologically as an art form for us to take advantage of it,” added Dougherty.
Evancho also noted that the actual set construction is separate from the conceptual design knowledge students are exposed to in Scenic Design I (THEA0111).
“We very rarely talk about the materials,” he said. “We talk about the thinking that goes behind them.”
Evancho added that a basic understanding of the materials available and their advantages and disadvantages would benefit students as they progress in the department and tackle productions of their own.
“It would be a great thing if students became aware of what they are using,” he said.
Emily Sarich ’16, who took THEA0111 last fall and is currently stage managing the upcoming student production of Cock, agreed that a knowledge of the materials behind the idea would help her have a more complete understanding of set design.
“We focused more on the conceptual aspects of scenic design than the practical aspects,” said Sarich. “I think its important to learn about the materials we would use because knowing what you can make things out of really affects what you can make. It affects the aesthetics.”
“Figuring out the materials that we can and should use both to save money and be environmentally friendly is definitely an important part of that,” she added.
Both Evancho and Dougherty stressed that, while they try to stay conscious of the environment when considering supplies, the aesthetic value is their primary concern.
“We’re trying to get ourselves into the green world,” said Evancho. “But it always becomes going green versus doing what we need to do to enhance the play.”
“Sometimes it works out, but sometimes we have to choose the aesthetics”, added Dougherty.
The primary role of the setting and the lighting in a theater production is to provide a visual depiction of the world of the play, and sometimes this image does not lend itself to the greenest design option. However, through the increase in digital technology, the budget constraints and the ideology to create through reconstruction, theater design at the College lends itself in a grand sense to an environmentally friendly product.
“If you had the million dollar budget, you would lean on it,” said Evancho. “By not having all that money, you use the mind and creativity to make it work. And that’s inherently green.”
(09/12/13 12:42am)
A new theater opportunity for actors and theatergoers alike is coming to Middlebury this season through The Company at Town Hall Theater, a new acting company that will bring musical theater and paid acting jobs to students and members of the Middlebury community. They will start their inaugural season with “Shrek the Musical”, which is expected to go up in early December.
The Company at Town Hall Theater, led by executive directors Justin Bouvier and Serena Eddy-Guiles, is still developing, but it is building its foundation upon a profit-sharing model that will provide every member of a production, from the leads to the chorus, with a stipend proportional to the member’s role and the performance revenue. Bouvier sees this model as a financial risk, but one that is worth taking given the quality of performance it will garner.
“If you are willing to take a financial risk and compensate talent, both on and off stage, you attract talented people, who then grow the talent pool by word of mouth,” said Bouvier. “Also, people are more willing to give their time for a show, even for a small stipend.”
Bouvier also hopes to appeal to actors by basing the company at the Middlebury Town Hall Theater (THT), stating that its quality and prime location will bring talent and audiences as it has done for resident companies such as Middlebury Community Players and Middlebury Actors Workshop.
“The Town Hall Theater is a premier theater destination in Vermont,” he said. ”The state of the art facility allows many opportunities for companies to put on ‘Broadway’ quality shows, and it is centrally located between Rutland and Chittenden County.”
THT Executive Director Douglas Anderson adds that The Company at Town Hall Theater will bring some talent of their own, and that they have his full support.
“The Company brings together some of the most talented musical theater performers in the Champlain Valley,” said Anderson. “Their productions are sure to be superb.”
Aside from drawing in talent, the executive members of The Company at Town Hall Theater see financial compensation as an essential part of their business philosophy, stressing a positive portrayal of arts within a community and a focus on the individual.
“We are trying to prove that art can be self-sustaining,” said Bouvier. “We want to show that you can make a little money and still pay people by being financially frugal with budgets.”
“If we do well as a company, we do well as individuals”, he added.
While auditions for “Shrek the Musical” took place before students arrived on campus this fall, The Company at Town Hall Theater plans to do two shows a year, with the second show tentatively set for late June. Bouvier hopes that this second show, along with future seasons, will entice students to audition and become involved with the company, since they currently have very few actors who are in their 20’s.
“We would love to see college students at our auditions,” said Bouvier. “In fact, I feel that this is a huge piece that is missing. The Company wants to take on some ‘newer’ musicals, but we need college age actors to do this!”
Anderson also expressed his enthusiasm for student actors joining THT productions, but he has observed that most student performers find sufficient acting or technical opportunities within the various programs at The College.
“We always try to get Middlebury students to be part of THT productions,” said Anderson, “but it’s difficult, because the college theater program is so strong and there’s just so much to do on campus.”
“We’d be pleased, of course, if students with a musical theater bent discovered The Company and began to take part,” he added.
Student actor Leah Sarbib ’15.5 echoed Anderson’s views, explaining that time commitment and scheduling conflicts are the driving factors preventing her from auditioning for theater productions outside of The College.
“While money is always a worry when pursuing an artistic career, my experience at college has been that time is more of a limiting factor,” said Sarbib. “I would love to pursue this opportunity and I may try, now that I know about it, but I am so busy that I’m still not sure I’ll go for it. A more enticing offer might actually be a play that only rehearses on the weekends and has a flexible rehearsal schedule.”
Sarbib also thought the philosophy behind The Company at Town Hall Theater would benefit actors who have just graduated from college and often cannot find jobs that will pay and help their careers at the same time.
“I think that it’s an even better opportunity for actors who have just graduated and are trying to make a name for themselves. It is always nice to get paid and feel appreciated for your work as an actor and it would definitely benefit any aspiring actor to get a professional and paid gig on his/her resume,” she said.
Already underway with their first production, The Company at Town Hall Theater is looking ahead in various ways and is open to the future possibilities of adding more productions and performing straight theater shows, among other ideas. They are presenting a new way to produce theater in Middlebury that, if successful, will show that rewarding actors can in turn increase quality and reward the audience as well.
(05/01/13 2:37pm)
As part of Sexual Assault Awareness Month, It Happens Here (IHH) brought Grace Brown, 20-year-old creator of Project Unbreakable, to Dana Auditorium on Monday, April 29 to share the history of her project and the stories behind some of the photographs. Project Unbreakable is a tumblr blog that captures photos of sexual assault victims holding quotes from their attackers and has received nationwide attention for its promotion of sexual assault awareness and hope. In 2012, TIME Magazine named Brown’s project as one of the “30 Must-See Tumblr Blogs.”
Since the blog’s creation, Brown has put up over 1,500 photographs. The photos typically show the survivor holding a poster that contains a statement from the attacker, and sometimes has a reaction or a detail about the situation as well. In many of the photos, the survivor’s face is shown.
Brown originally planned to cover the survivors’ faces until she began getting requests from women who wanted to show their identities. She described her choice to open up this option as the biggest decision she has made in her process thus far.
As Brown continued her talk, she switched between giving background stories to the images and letting them stand for themselves. She explained some of the results she saw, such as similar posters from different people. Many women held the words, “I love you,” or “Does this feel good?” and many male survivors wrote that they were expected to “like it” because they were boys.
Brown then changed the mood of the talk, highlighting Project Unbreakable’s positive message.
“Project Unbreakable is not sad,” she said. “It may seem like it, but if you dig deeper down, it’s a symbol of hope.”
She ended her talk by defining the goal of her project: to make survivors respected, rather than pitied or victimized.
RD Jenkinson ’10.5, the commons residential adviser (CRA) of Atwater Commons, then gave a brief description of resources on campus for sexual assault support and prevention. Dean of Cook Commons Ian Sutherland added that the College recently hired a new director of health and wellness education, Barbara McCall, who will arrive this summer.
“The student life community at the College looks forward to working closely with Ms. McCall to develop additional programming on sexual misconduct, to help educate all students about this issue and to try to eliminate its occurrence in our environment,” said Sutherland.
Sutherland also commented on the effectiveness of Brown’s blog.
“Grace Brown’s ‘Project Unbreakable’ is extremely powerful,” he said. “The images are simple, the messages brief and profound; yet together they convey that sexual assault is complex in its causes and wide-ranging in its effects. I applaud It Happens Here for sponsoring events such as Brown’s presentation and for building awareness of sexual misconduct on campus.”
The students who organized and attended the event were also moved by the images, and lingered in the auditorium for several minutes to talk about the issues surrounding sexual assault on campus and speak with Brown personally.
“Even as a woman, there are things that have become so commonplace we forget that they are actually not okay,” said Julia Deutsch ’13. “You think it’s a grey area, but its not. You have a right to be upset.”
Sam Koplinka-Loehr ’13 described the project as “a powerful reminder of the tremendous amount of compassionate work we have yet to do to build a positive consent culture and end rape and sexual violence on this campus.”
Inspired by the talk yet also concerned, Thomas Bryenton ’13 spoke about the emphasis at the College on survivors and the need for a program that informs men more effectively. Kristina Johansson ’14, an organizer of the event, added that this talk should be supplemented with a more expansive look at sexual assault on campus.
“We have to be addressing these larger notions of female sexuality, of what is currently socially acceptable and what isn’t,” she said. “We can’t end sexual violence only by giving resources, we need to be working to dismantle social norms so that we can prevent it from happening in the first place.”
Brown is currently looking to expand Project Unbreakable by getting involved in mandatory first-year orientations and trying to cultivate more submissions. She plans to publish a book in the future, but wants to keep her immediate focus on her expanding her current project.
(04/10/13 4:41pm)
On Wednesday, April 3, Andrew Forsthoefel ’11 and his co-producer Jay Allison held a listening event in Woods Hole, Mass. for the release of their hour-long radio documentary, which follows Forsthoefel’s 4,000-mile walk across the country through the voices of people he met along the way. The radio piece is published on Transom.org, along with a map of the route Forsthoefel walked and more details about the project.
Forsthoefel started walking from his home in Chadds Ford, Penn. in October 2011, and traveled through Virginia, Louisiana, New Mexico, and every state along the way until he reached the Pacific Ocean in Half Moon Bay, Calif. on September 8, 2012. His parents were waiting for him along with a circle of friends he had met along the way. When Forsthoefel arrived, he had with him over 85 hours of audio, capturing various perspectives on life, death, fear and age.
When Forsthoefel set out, he did not have any plan of how long he would walk or where he would end up. He knew that he would record conversations and that he wanted to ask people about transformation, but he did not know what he would find nor what would become of his journey. He wanted to learn, to listen and to spend time with people — and so he chose to walk.
“For [the period] after graduation, I hoped to find some ingredients in an experience that would give me a potent learning experience. And I thought walking might have some of those ingredients,” Forsthoefel said.
Forsthoefel set off from his home with a mandolin and a 50-pound backpack holding a tent, beef jerky, maps and a few other necessities. He also wore a sign that said “Walking to Listen.”
The documentary narrates Forsthoefel’s travels across America, from voice to voice, linking each new location with a person who has something that needs to be said. The comments range from stories of lost loves and skydiving, to those that provide advice on how to live.
The second half of the documentary explores the idea of age, as well as the fear that Forsthoefel encountered and overcame during his walk.
“Finally it hit me. I could actually die out here [in the desert]. From then on, I was fear-walking,” he said. Later in the piece, he added, “But I am in the forest, and I know it’s not a scary place. And the fears of death I had been carrying with me, in that moment, were gone.”
Even when Forsthoefel finished walking, he did not know what the stories would become. He thought of creating an archive, of making a series, of setting up a gallery to combine photos with voices and of incorporating walking in the presentation of his work.
Allison, who worked closely with Forsthoefel to create the piece, believed that the medium of radio was perfect for this project.
“Andrew captured audio on his walk — not video. He is an amazing listener. What could be better for radio?” he said.
Allison also explained the impact Forsthoefel’s journey has already made on the town of Woods Hole, Mass.
“It’s a testimony to [Forsthoefel] that, in his short time here, he has come to know so many people. The town hall was overflowing. People who didn’t know [him] before we played the piece certainly knew him afterward, and they gave him a prolonged standing ovation. It was a lovely night.”
Forsthoefel agreed, saying, “It felt great to be in the room hearing people hear the piece, which is a representation of my year [and] of me. I was very humbled to see so many people show up. I couldn’t have dreamed of a more perfect way to end it,” he said. Forsthoefel added that he was very thankful to Jay, his family, and everyone he was met throughout all areas of his project.
The piece has also been well received by online listeners. Zak Rosen, one of the many people who have commented on the piece on Transom.org, explained why Forsthoefel’s piece resonated with him.
“There’s so much wisdom here, without it once feeling didactic or patronizing,” he wrote. “And the bit at the end — about being in the dark forest, as opposed to looking into it — if only all our work could shed such light on the human existence with so few words and artifice.”
Daniel Brayton, associate professor of English and American literatures, was also impressed by the piece.
“Here’s a young man who had the courage to throw himself to the winds, putting himself at the mercy of all kinds of strangers as he walked across this country,” he said.
“Very few have the courage to pursue adventures like this one, and even fewer have the talent to record and convey their experiences so compellingly.”
Sue Halpern, a scholar-in-residence at the College who introduced Forsthoefel to audio, added, “It reflects precisely who Andrew is. It is, as he is, honest, searching, sincere, and I think that because he is all of those things, people opened up to him all along the way,” she said. “It’s the best audio piece I’ve heard, hands down. I think it should be required listening for anyone who aspires to grow up.”
In making this radio piece, Forsthoefel created a way for listeners of any age and stage in life to access the stories he unearthed during his walk and to take from them whatever each listener needs the most. As Allison noted, “This is a great piece for young people about old people, and this is a great piece for old people about young people.”
Next, Forsthoefel intends to write something about his walk, telling the stories that cannot be captured through audio. Beyond that, though uncertain of his next move, Forsthoefel wants to keep listening.
(02/27/13 11:18pm)
After the Community Council approved two proposals introduced by the Inter-House Council in December, social houses will change their admittance policies. Starting in the fall of 2013, second-semester first-years will be able to pledge social houses and first-semester sophomores will be able to live in the houses.
Community Council passed both proposals during a meeting on Jan. 21 after reviewing them for several weeks, and soon after the proposals were brought to President of the College Ronald D. Liebowitz, who granted final approval.
Barrett Smith ’13, student co-chair of community council, said that the reasoning behind his support for the idea was due to its supplementary nature to the commons system.
“What was most persuasive for me was the idea of the social houses supplementing our commons system,” said Smith. “I personally found a strong community in my commons, but no matter how good our commons system is, it won’t work for everyone. Many people find their sense of home and community here in a diversity of social organizations, and the social houses seem to be particularly strong ones for many.”
Another important aspect of the proposal regarding sophomores is that it is likely to help the social houses fill their beds each semester. The doubles in the houses are hard to fill because they are an unattractive option to junior and senior members. Members of social houses and of Community Council felt that the option would be very attractive to sophomores, for it would provide a unique opportunity for sophomores to live with and have access to upperclassmen.
Associate Dean of Students Doug Adams explained, “There will not be a significant impact for housing as a whole, but [the new rule] may help social houses more easily fill all of the beds in their houses as they will have a larger pool of students from which to draw.
“Depending on the level of interest in this program it may provide some additional housing flexibility in sophomore communities,” he added.
When the proposals passed, Community Council attached two stipulations to address concerns about possible ramifications. The first stated that only two first-semester sophomores may live in each house, and the second gave the proposals a two-year trial period, allowing them to be revoked if necessary.
Smith explained that these additions were created mainly to ensure that sophomores were not pressured to fill beds.
“We definitely don’t want that, and if this becomes an issue during the trial period, Community Council has the capacity to re-evaluate it,” said Smith.
Leslie Reed ’14, student head of Brackett House (Tavern), added that the social houses view the trial period as a helpful tool as well.
“This initiative is a big change for Middlebury’s social scene and social houses, so I think it is smart to test the program before setting it in stone,” said Reed. “It will be nice to see if it works out as we hope.”
Dean of the College and co-Chair of Community Council Shirley Collado explained that the original rules regarding first-year and sophomore participation in social houses revolved around the belief in the first two years of college to be a time of exploration.
“The philosophy of our commons and residential life system centers around a significant commitment to the first-year and sophomore experience,” said Collado. “We want first-years to have ample time to get to know the College, explore a broad range of interests and try out difference experiences.”
Collado added that the social house leaders and members who attended the meeting made compelling arguments about the vast number of organizations that first-years already are permitted to join. She appreciates that the two-year trial period will allow for new options for first-years while still allowing the Community Council and the College to explore any issues that occur.
“I hope the benefits will outweigh any potential challenges,” she said. “I also hope that first-years will continue to have great options and experiences across campus while still remaining rooted in the core values of the commons.”
Despite challenges and benefits for the houses, both Reed and Mark Isbell ’14, student head of Kappa Delta Rho (KDR), asserted that the main purpose of the new admittance policies is to enhance the lives of first-years and sophomores on campus.
Isbell pointed out that since all members of social houses go through in-depth alcohol awareness training, letting first-years become members would help them learn about responsible drinking, as well as how to be accountable for a space they can call home.
“It’s only fair that as a student you be allowed to experience everything available before that critical change from first-year to sophomore year,” he said.
Reed said she believes the new policy will effect positive change both for her house and for first-years across campus.
“We just want to share the love we’ve all found for our organization and the members in it with first-years that might want a different community outside of their commons. A first-year’s perspective at Middlebury is very different from a senior’s, so having those voices represented will bring more insight into how we can better socially serve Middlebury’s community.”
(02/13/13 10:45pm)
On Sunday, Feb. 10, It Happens Here (IHH), a sexual assault awareness student organization, revealed the results of their Map Project, showing the student-submitted locations of over 100 incidents of sexual assault that have occurred on campus.
The map, which is currently on display in the Davis Family Library atrium, shows the same campus map that is handed out at the Admissions Office, but is covered in large red dots, each of which identifies one of the 60 different locations on campus where a sexual assault has occurred.
According to Map Project organizers, over 100 students submitted personal stories — some more detailed and emotional than others — describing incidents of sexual assault for the project.
Members of IHH launched the project in the fall of 2012 by collecting anonymous submissions of incidents of sexual assault from students via the group’s website and then marked the location of each incident on the map. By pairing this collection of anonymous stories with a visual representation of where they occurred, IHH members sought to connect emotional experience with geographical proximity.
“The project began as a way to locate experiences of sexual assault and to make the subject personal and real,” explained Emily Pedowitz ’13, an IHH leader and member of the Sexual Assault Oversight Committee (SAOC). “We wanted to show that sexual assault at Middlebury is pervasive and occurs all over campus.”
IHH’s decision to use a map to identify the large presence of sexual violence on campus arose from the group’s desire to communicate their message through “showing instead of telling.”
Sujata Moorti, professor of women’s and gender studies, agrees that the visual element of the Map Project provides a new perspective in the discussion of sexual assault on campus.
“This visual summary of the prevalence of sexual assaults may help highlight how widespread and ‘ordinary’ this phenomenon is on campus,” said Moorti. “Often we think that sexual assault takes place ‘out there,’ but to know that it takes place in the same dorm could help raise consciousness.
“Seeing assault in geographical and spatial terms may also help our community think more creatively about how to dismantle ‘rape culture,’” she added.
In response to student concerns that the map might create a stigma or reputation for certain locations on campus identified through the project — social houses, in particular — Luke Carroll-Brown ’13 countered that the map project sought to encourage positive change, and pointed out that social houses were not the most common locations on the map.
“The Map Project has never been about identifying danger zones on campus,” explained Carroll-Brown. “That would stink of emphasizing victim responsibility instead of placing accountability where it should lie: in the hands of the individuals who perpetrate these crimes.
“The Map Project is about coming clean with a problem [that] so many of us deny or disregard, putting the human impact of this epidemic in visual form and driving empathy amongst survivors,” he added.
In addition to providing a new way to draw attention to the issue of sexual assault on campus, Moorti suggested that the Map Project might also serve as a springboard for conversation regarding sexual violence and as a tool to further educate students about how and when sexual assault occurs. Academic studies on the subject indicate that sexual assault often occurs between two acquaintances rather than strangers, which has been echoed in some of the personal stories submitted to the project.
“Existing scholarship on sexual assault on college campuses indicates that it occurs largely among acquaintances and familiars,” Moorti said, citing an often misunderstood facet of sexual violence. “[Multiple studies] all concur that the majority of sexual assaults occur between people known to each other. Stranger assaults are rare.”
The project will remain on display in the library atrium until Sunday, Feb. 17. IHH is now working on collecting anonymous student monologues to present to the Middlebury community at an event in April. Students can submit their stories anonymously or find information to get involved with IHH online at go/ihh.
(01/24/13 12:48am)
On Monday, Jan. 14, Middlebury Interactive Languages (MIL) and the College introduced a new initiative that will give up to 30 schools across Vermont discounted access to online language learning, developed specifically for K-12 students. The $2.6 million Vermont World Language Initiative was created to expand the progress MIL has already made in language access since its start in 2010.
The College celebrated the launch of the new initiative at its new headquarters, where Governor Peter Shumlin, President of the College Ronald D. Liebowitz, Middlebury Interactive Languages CEO Jane Swift and other political and business leaders were in attendance.
MIL was created for two primary reasons: to provide quality language learning at a time when budgets were being cut across the country and to retain the College’s position as a leader in language teaching. President of the College Ronald D. Liebowitz saw MIL as an opportunity to hold onto the leadership role in language education that the College has had for decades.
“We were fortunate enough to grab that mantle after our innovative summer language schools began, but after 95 years you can’t live by that alone, especially when the world is changing so rapidly,” said Liebowitz. “The world is becoming digital, and technology makes it possible to deliver quality content in foreign languages for the first time. So, in order for us to retain our leadership role as an institution, we needed to enter that space.
“There is no excuse for not diving in,” he added, regarding the new developments in technology that allow for access in rural areas.
The company, which is a collaboration between the College and K12 Inc., offers courses in Chinese, French, German, Latin and Spanish, designed by professors from the College and Middlebury Summer Language Schools. The Chinese courses in particular provide a unique opportunity for younger students, as secondary schools throughout the country rarely offer the study of Chinese.
The Vermont World Language Initiative is the next step for the company in taking advantage of the large reach of technology, and will also reciprocally improve the quality of MIL.
“With the wider access by the 30 Vermont schools participating in this World Language Initiative, MIL will better judge the effectiveness of the learning materials it has developed, and consequently improve the quality and determine how it might better be targeted at certain types of schools and learners,” said Chief Learning Officer Aline Germain-Rutherford.
Liebowitz explained that the initiative will also aid professional development for the faculty of the participating schools. The online courses will not be replacing teachers, but rather will be used as a resource to allow teachers to bring innovation into their classrooms. The goal of the courses, at least for now, is to create a hybrid learning environment, with human-to-human contact and digital content.
Germain-Rutherford also pointed out key advantages of online learning, highlighting its flexibility in pacing and its diverse authentic resources that allow the students to “flood” themselves with the languages they are studying.
In comparison with Middlebury Summer Language Schools, Liebowitz said, “You can’t do immersion online, so of course you lose something,” but added that full immersion is rare in any school setting or even when studying abroad. He explained that the benefits of online learning are in some ways different, but still important in keeping language education alive.
“Part of it is getting young people to stay involved in language learning,” said Liebowitz. “A lot of people might do it for a year or two, or to take care of a requirement, but I think both digital content and the pedagogy that MIL is trying to promote will go a long way in keeping and expanding the attention span of young people who are learning languages.”
While there is no assumed financial gain for the College in its participation in MIL, there is a strong possibility that it could become a source of revenue.
“It would be wonderful if this could become a revenue stream that allows us to reduce increases in tuition and even reduce the cost of a Middlebury education,” said Liebowitz.
“We are hoping down the road that it could become a revenue generator for us, but that’s not the primary motivation factor,” he added.
Liebowitz also suggested that the company may work in the future towards the goal of expanding its online courses to the whole country, and even internationally, to spread quality language learning as far as possible.
While MIL helps confirm the College’s current leadership role in language teaching and may potentially become a source of revenue, one of the main objectives in creating the company has always been to increase access to language learning and give students the skills necessary to succeed in the international workplace.
“One of the goals of MIL and [the] College is to help improve foreign language education in the United States,” said Germain-Rutherford, “and this Vermont World Language Initiative is certainly a promising, collaborative and important first step.”
(11/07/12 10:14pm)
LOCALmotive, a new shift in the Gamut Room on Monday nights from 7 – 9 p.m., aims to bring local food to campus in an affordable and fun way.
Annalise Carington ’15 and Jordan Collins ’15.5 started this initiative and are the main cooks. They coordinated with the Middlebury College Organic Farm and other local sources, such as the weekly Middlebury farmer’s market, to get a wide range of produce. This process allows them to use not only organic vegetables, but also local dairy, meat, eggs and other produce in their weekly dishes.
The initiative connects the students to a wider community beyond the College through direct communication between the student leaders and the local farms.
“In doing this we support the local economy and build relationships with farmers in the community,” said Carington.
While local, organic food is often more expensive than other options, this is not the case with LOCALmotive. A plate full of Vermont-grown cuisine costs only a dollar or two, and there are different options every week.
The Gamut Room’s central location adds to the initiative’s convenience, making it easy to stop by for a quick snack or stay and enjoy the dynamic atmosphere.
“Our goal is to make local food more accessible on campus,” said Carington. “Students have to know what good local food tastes like before they will care about it.”
The shift has been fairly well attended so far, but the organizers are looking to reach out to more students, especially those who do not have experience buying and eating local food.
Rachel Getz ’15.5, a student who has attended this shift, agrees with the importance of introducing local food to students in a fresh, new way.
“I think it is a wonderful and delicious thing,” said Getz.
“Even if you aren’t a food activist and crazy about the local food movement, just go because the food is fantastic.”
“I think Vermont is ahead of the curve in terms of returning to our agricultural roots and a lot of people need to be exposed to the value of such a strong food-centered community.”
In addition to supporting local farmers and organic food-based lifestyles, Carington adds that a main goal of LOCALmotive is simply to give students a tasty meal.
“If nothing else, we hope to provide a yummy study break for students, from sources that we feel good about,” she said.
To try the locally grown snacks for yourself, stop by the Gamut Room in Gifford next Monday from 7 – 9 p.m.
(10/31/12 4:43pm)
Candlelit dinners, which the College’s Campus Sustainability Coordinators (CSCs) began last year, are continuing to be held in Proctor or Ross every Wednesday night this semester.
The dinners initially occurred once every other week. Last spring, in order to have a greater impact on the college community, they were increased to every week, alternating between Proctor and Ross. While the dinners have primarily taken place every other Wednesday in Proctor this year, Sustainability Coordinator Melissa Garrett ’14 said that this is temporary.
“The goal is to alternate between the dining halls each week,” she said.
The main purpose of the candlelit dinners is to raise campus-wide awareness about simple and easy ways in which our campus can be more sustainable. Last Wednesday, the CSCs organized candlelit dinners in both Proctor and Ross in recognition of National Sustainability Day.
“They are a nice weekly reminder to think about our energy consumption and talk about sustainability,” said CSC Spencer Petterson ’14.
The CSCs view these dinners as a way to encourage students to lead sustainable lifestyles in creative ways and make a small impact at the same time. While turning the lights off for a few hours does not have a huge effect on its own, the difference grows over time.
“It reduces the College's energy usage a little bit each dinner, which as we know, can combine to make a greater impact if we continue to organize them,” said Garrett.
While the actual statistics are unknown, Petterson assured that one of the group’s primary goals is finding out exactly how much energy and money is being saved each Wednesday.
Student reactions to the weekly candlelit dinners are mixed, with some people in support of the message they send and others against the practicality of having a dimly lit dining hall.
“Every time there is a candlelit dinner, at least for a moment, I think about my personal impact on the environment,” said Amy Pickens ’15.
Marea Colombo ’13 also agreed with the intentions of the dinners, but sees a problem in their functionality.
“The idea behind candlelight dinners is great — we need to increase awareness of environmental sustainability at the College,” said Colombo. “However, I think that the lack of lighting in many areas of the dining hall has actually started turning people away from both the idea and the message it hopes to send out.”
(10/10/12 9:19pm)
Project Green Challenge, a month-long competition run by the environmental group Teens Turning Green, is beginning its second year, and for the first time the College will join a group of over 500 other colleges participating in the project.
The challenge was created and put together by mother and daughter Judi Shils and Erin Schrode in order to raise awareness about sustainable living and educate students on how they can achieve a sustainable lifestyle in a campus environment.
The competition takes place throughout the month of October. Each day, participants receive an email with the day’s challenge and theme. The theme changes daily, ranging from your dorm room to labeling to your body.
Once the participant has completed the challenge, he or she uploads proof to the website and is entered to win a prize. There is a prize for each day, as well as overall prizes at the end of the month, including an invitation to a three-day eco-summit.
“It is really easy, and the challenges teach you about the problems with the way most of us live today and how to fix them so that you are living in a way that will help improve the state of the environment as well as your own life,” said Piper Rosales Underbrink ’15, the campus representative for the project.
There are three levels to each challenge: green, greener and greenest. This system helps make the project open and welcoming to students who have no experience with sustainable living, as well as those who are already aware and want to learn more.
Sustainability Communication and Outreach Coordinator Avery McNiff brought Project Green Challenge to Middlebury through the recommendation of Tiffany Chang, a future member of the Middlebury class of 2017, who is spending her gap year working with Teens Turning Green.
“We thought it would be a good way for the Campus Sustainability Coordinators to learn more about sustainable living and interesting ways to promote it,” said McNiff.
Rosales Underbrink took control of the project because she saw the value it could have for the college community as a whole.
“Middlebury is participating in the challenge because we are a school that has made a decision to try to live as ‘green’ as possible and to promote sustainability,” said Rosales Underbrink. “This is a great way to get people excited and involved.”
Thirty-one students are participating in Project Green Challenge, beating the original goal of 20 students. Participants like Sarah Studwell ’13 are just as excited about the project as the coordinators.
“Project Green Challenge seems like a really tangible way to put into practice a lot of the ideals that we hold here at Middlebury,” said Studwell. “It has the potential to get a lot of people doing the little things that really add up.”
Students interested in joining the challenge for the remained of October can sign up at Project Green Challenge.
(09/19/12 11:30pm)
MiddFarmstand, an online farmer's market offering produce from local farms, opened for faculty and staff this past summer. The coordinators are now looking into expanding the service to students.
The program is a branch of yourfarmstand.com, which originated in Charlotte, Vt. in 2010 and has now expanded to over a dozen markets, benefitting both the producers and the consumers in communities across Vermont.
Market Coordinator Greg Krathwohl '14 and Francisca Drexel, academic coordinator for film and media and market manager, were the primary organizers of the market at the College, which takes place in the café at the Kevin P. Mahaney '84 Center for the Arts (CFA) every Tuesday from 3:30 to 5:30 p.m.
The service is simple and effective, according to staff. Once a user has signed up on yourfarmstand.com and selected the Middlebury market, they can put money into their account via check or PayPal, browse the categories of produce available that week and add items to their cart. On Tuesday, the staff or faculty member picks up their order at the CFA. There are no lines, and the experience is often supplemented with free samples, while customers catch up with colleagues.
"The market is a great idea, very well organized and in a lovely setting," said Bill Beaney, golf and hockey coach.
The market also features over twenty producers and provides a wide variety of products to consumers. Meat, eggs, pies as well as freshly picked fruits and vegetables are all available for purchase.
Ioana Uricaru, assistant professor of film & media culture, shared Beaney's enthusiasm.
"I just moved here from LA, and I'm very happy to be able to get fresh food," said Beaney. "The radishes look great, and the pie is beautiful and enormous."
The presence of different types of produce also ensures that the suppliers are not competing with each other, but are instead working together to draw in more business and more interest in buying locally. This past Tuesday, every producer had orders, making the service worthwhile to everyone.
New Market Coordinator Kathryn Benson '13 pointed out the benefits the online market gives to the farmers as well as the community.
"Producers know it's a guaranteed sell, so they don't have to pay a worker to wait at a farmer's market where they can't always sell all their produce," said Benson.
According to Drexel, Students interested in joining MiddFarmstand will have to wait a little longer in order for the plan to be approved by the President's Office.
"We must first make sure that there isn't a complication with those students who've enrolled in the College's meal plan," she said.
Drexel will soon meet with other department heads to discuss the initiative.
Students interested in the service can follow MiddFarmstand on Facebook to stay apprised of announcements.