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(04/15/15 6:29pm)
I am exhausted. We are all exhausted. The unrelenting surge of assignments and job applications saps our reserves like a tap into a maple tree. Though some may contend the role of God, I think we can all agree our souls are in need of refreshment. What we need this weekend is a nice B&B. Not a bed and breakfast, but Bach and brass.
There are few methods in the world better recognized for rejuvenating the spirit of stressed students than the aural onslaught of a brass quintet and three days of non-stop appreciation for the world’s most prolific composer. Conducting the weekend is a man only slightly less recognized than Johann himself, Jeffrey Thomas, Artistic and Music Director of the American Bach Soloists.
Together, Thomas and Bach will meld students, affiliate artists, faculty and professional musicians from Vermont and greater New England into a delightful festival celebrating a certain man from Leipzig 275 years ago. The fifth annual Middlebury Bach Festival will take place April 24–26 throughout campus, with the Axiom Brass Quintet kicking off the weekend at 8 p.m. in Mead Chapel.
Thomas was educated at the Oberlin Conservatory of Music, Manhattan School of Music and the Juilliard School of Music, with further studies in English literature at Cambridge University. His illustrious musical career has led him to work with many of the world’s most prestigious performance organizations and venues.
Thomas is currently Professor of Music and Director of Choral Ensembles in the Department of Music at UC Davis, and he hosts two classical music radio shows. Through worldwide streaming audio, he brings his experience and love for Baroque and choral music to a global audience.
The festival opens Friday, April 24, with a concert by the Axiom Brass Quintet at 8 p.m. in Mead Chapel. The bossy horns, trombones and tuba of the quintet promise a performance decidedly more boisterous than those traditionally emblematic of the chamber music universe. In a program titled “Sacred Brass,” the quintet will journey through time with music written for or inspired by the church, including works by J. S. Bach, Palestrina, Byrd, Tchaikovsky, Gabrieli and Piazzolla.
Comprised of not only great music, the festival also offers opportunities to learn about Bach. There are two such sessions on Saturday, April 25 at the Kevin P. Mahaney ’84 Center for the Arts. The first, “Chant in the Organ Works of J.S. Bach,” will be given at 10:00 a.m. by Dr. William Tortolano, Professor Emeritus of Music and Fine Arts at Saint Michael’s College, Vermont. The next session, “Rhetoric in the Early Cantatas of J.S. Bach,” will be offered by Guest Conductor Jeffrey Thomas at 11:00 a.m.
Participants can return for a carillon recital by the College’s carillonneur George Matthew Jr. at 3:00 p.m. on the lawn surrounding Mead Chapel. A carillon is created from two octaves of chromatically-arranged bells and played from a keyboard. Whether melodic or cantankerous, we look forward to this novel addition to the quad.
Saturday evening features the grand Festival Concert led by Jeffrey Thomas at 8:00 p.m. in the Kevin P. ’84 Mahaney Center for the Arts Concert Hall. The concert opens with Brandenburg Concerto, No. 5, BWV 1050 by J.S. Bach, followed by a trio of his Cantatas; Funeral Cantata BWV 106 “Gottes Zeit ist die allerbeste Zeit” (God’s time is the best of all times), Cantata for Jubilate BWV 12, “Weinen, klagen, sorgen, sagen” (Weeping, lamentation, worry, despair), and Cantata for Palm Sunday BWV 182, “Himmelskönig, sei willkommen” (King of Heaven, welcome). This concert features varied instrumental and vocal colors that are new to the College’s Bach Festival, including the use of a recorder, solo vocal quartet and full chorus.
On Sunday, April 26, a 3:00 p.m. in the MCA Concert Hall, chamber music concert will feature Bach’s beloved motet BWV 227, “Jesu, meine Freude” (Jesus, my joy), and other Bach piano works performed by students of Middlebury College affiliate artist Diana Fanning.
The reach of Bach goes beyond the school. In addition to on-campus scheduling, area congregations will respond to the spirit of the festival by including works by Bach in their morning services.
The majority of events in the festival are free; the two exceptions are the 8:00 p.m. concerts on Friday and Saturday. Visit go/boxoffice or stop by an office.
(04/08/15 10:02pm)
In honor of 100 years of commitment to foreign languages, the Middlebury Language School will celebrate its centennial with a special weekend of cultural events, lectures and panels on July 15 to 17. The wide assortment of activities, speakers and performances are open to all Middlebury students as well as to the Middlebury community.
In 1915, founder of the College’s first language school, Lillian Stroebe, was on a train from Burlington to Rutland when she spotted the College’s campus situated on a picturesque hill. The isolation and beauty of the College was the ideal place for Stroebe to employ her vision of beginning an immersive German language school. Stroebe presented her idea to the College’s administration, and they agreed to devote the summer months of Middlebury’s campus to learning foreign languages. The concept quickly expanded with the addition of French and Spanish to the German language school in 1916 and 1917.
Although Stroebe’s idea is now 100 years old, her philosophy and commitment to fostering a community of global learners remains pertinent, critical and the guide to Middlebury’s current language programs.
Director of the German school, Bettina Matthias, attests to the ingenuity of Stroebe’s idea that prevails today.
“The original idea and implementation was visionary and ahead of its time both pedagogically and intellectually,” she wrote in an email. “The Language Schools have a sort of magic that has really helped us stay so strong, and I firmly believe that it is and will be one of the foundations of a healthy future.”
Today, Middlebury Language Schools have an impressive global reach and influence. After beginning with only one language and 47 students, the program now has expanded to included eleven languages and has had over 50,000 students, with 12,000 students earning degrees.
Studies have shown that students of Middlebury Language Schools develop greater language proficiency after one summer of attendance than after a semester, and sometimes even a year, abroad. Students of the language schools not only acquire fluency, they also develop deep bonds with their peers and instructors that are reinforced by a mutual commitment to a summer of complete immersion.
For over a year, a centennial committee has planned a celebration and conference that will include phenomenal guest speakers, world-renowned cultural performers, delicious dinners and a culminating dance. The conference is divided into five panels themed: Framing the Global Academic Agenda; Language and Identity: Putting Your Self on the Line; Working Without Subtitles; The ‘Secret Sauce’: Selling Global Products in Local Markets; Language Schools 2.0: The Next Century. The Conference is bookended by extraordinary speakers; opening with Management Editor of The Economist, Adrian Wooldridge, and closing with Director of George Washington University’s School of Media and Public Affairs and Middlebury alum and trustee, Frank Sesno.
In addition to providing stimulating panel discussions, the celebration will include cultural performances from language school alums and participants. The final night of the event will culminate in a ball for which attendees are to dress in outfits from the year 1915 that align with the culture of their language.
Following the dance are fireworks. For current students of the language program, the Language Pledge will be suspended when participating in conference events or activities that require the use of English; an exception Michael Geisler, Vice President of the Middlebury Language Schools, asserts he will only make every 100 years.
While the event will acknowledge and celebrate the accomplishments of the past 100 years, it also highlights the greater objectives of the schools in the future.
Geisler, seeking to put the celebration in a global context, said that the theme of the conference poses a question that goes beyond recognizing the importance of languages and asks why the study of languages is essential.
“A knowledge of the local culture is necessary in order to understand the way in which global issues are articulated, understood and dealt with in different parts of the world,” Geisler said. “This knowledge can only be acquired through knowing the language spoken in that part of the world.”
Geisler hopes to increasingly use technology and social media to improve the Middlebury Language Schools. He sees potential in using technology and social media as a means of creating an online learning environment, which will allow students to take a part of the language school with them as they continue to learn and connect virtually with teachers and peers after the program’s completion.
(03/18/15 5:40pm)
Novelist, poet and College writer-in-residence Julia Alvarez ’71 will deliver this year’s commencement address. Alvarez, along with four others, will receive an honorary degree at the May 24 ceremony.
Alvarez is the acclaimed author of novels, essays and books, including In the Time of the Butterflies and How the García Girls Lost Their Accents. She was awarded the National Medal of Arts — the highest honor given to artists and arts patrons by the U.S. government — by President Obama in 2013. In addition to writing, Alvarez and her husband run a sustainable coffee farm and literacy center called Alta Gracia in the Dominican Republic.
President of the College Ronald D. Liebowitz said in an interview, “Julia has inspired generations. As a writer-in-residence, she has touched so many individuals in the area of creative writing and expression of one’s own self.”
Alvarez was the first Middlebury graduate to do a creative writing thesis in poetry. She credits faculty members such as C. A. Dana Professor of English & American Literatures David Price and Robert Pack, the poet, faculty member and longtime director of the Bread Loaf Writer’s Conference, for supporting her early writing efforts.
Alvarez said in an interview that she relishes the opportunity to speak to a graduating class at an institution that means a great deal to her.
“It’s very touching to be there with a class that is about to set out on the journey that I am looking back on now,” Alvarez said. “They’re saying goodbye to a certain kind of connection to the College, but this place remains under your skin and in your bloodstream, I think.”
Alvarez and her family fled the Dominican Republic when she was 10 to escape the regime of Rafael Trujillo.
In addition to graduating from the College, Alvarez has taught at Middlebury since 1988 and in 1998 transitioned from her tenured position to become writer-in-residence. She holds a master’s in creative writing from Syracuse University. Additionally, Alvarez has frequented the Bread Loaf Writers’ Conference and the Bread Loaf School of English.
“The Bread Loaf Writer’s Conference, the Bread Loaf School of English — I had been trying to get back here ever since I graduated,” Alvarez explained. “So I took the job [in 1988] and here I am.”
Liebowitz also noted Alvarez’s longtime affiliation with the College. “She is an inspiration to a whole host of creative undergraduates here at Middlebury,” he said.
Alvarez, who said she anticipates departing her writer-in-residence position within the next year, sees her address as an opportunity to say goodbye to the College.
“I’m a storyteller — I like shapely stories, and I love the idea that this is my chance to say goodbye to the place that has been my home for so long,” Alvarez said.
Alvarez will receive a Doctor of Letters degree. The other honorary degree recipients will be biologist Martin Chalfie, violinist Hilary Hahn, principal Christina Johnston and political theorist Eric Nelson. Liebowitz said that selecting educators to receive the honorary degrees was an intentional theme for the ceremony.
“All of the honorary degree recipients are educators in their own right,” Liebowitz said.
Martin Chalfie, who won the 2008 Nobel Prize in Chemistry along with Roger Tsien and Osamu Shimomura, will receive an honorary Doctor of Science degree. Chalfie is a Professor of Biological Sciences at Columbia University and visited the College on October 16 to give two lectures on his work on green fluorescent protein.
“Chalfie is a remarkable advocate for undergraduate science education,” Liebowitz said. “He enjoys teaching undergraduates, which is highly unusual for a Nobel Prize winner.”
Violinist Hilary Hahn will receive a Doctor of Arts degree. A virtuosic musician, Hahn has performed in over 40 countries. In addition to winning three Grammys, Hahn also attended the Middlebury Language Schools, studying German, French and Japanese.
“She educates us all about raising our artistic spirits,” Liebowitz said.
Christina Johnston, the principal of Weybridge Elementary School, will receive a Doctor of Education degree. Liebowitz praised her pioneering efforts in science, language instruction, and design-based learning during her tenure leading the local school for the past 20 years.
Robert M. Beren Professor of Government at Harvard University Eric Nelson will receive a Doctor of Laws degree. Nelson visited the College to deliver the 2013 John Hamilton Fulton Lecture in the Liberal Arts, a lecture titled “The Lord Alone Shall Be King of America: Hebraism and the Republican Turn of 1776.”
Liebowitz said Nelson is “very well respected, has written three terrific books and is a marvelous political theorist today.”
The commencement ceremony will take place at 10 a.m. on May 24.
(03/12/15 4:15am)
Myriad voices filled the lofty ceilings of the Kevin P. Mahaney ’84 Center for the Arts (MCA) Concert Hall this past Saturday, as the College’s annual “Songs and Arias” performance began. Seven vocal students sang in the event, performing a mix of solo songs and duets.
The show started about a decade ago as an avenue for student vocalists to showcase their talents in a departmental performance.
“The event began as a concert that would feature the singers who enjoy and excel at singing the classical repertoire,” voice teacher Carol Christensen said. “The singers selected for this concert are far enough along in their technical studies to learn, perfect and perform a set of challenging songs, arias or small vocal ensembles.”
In preparation for the event, the performers met in one-on-one lessons with their respective voice teachers once or twice a week. Typical rehearsals involved technical vocal exercises for the first 15 minutes, allowing students to focus on techniques like breath control, range, legato, agility, placement and tone color.
“Students would then spend the rest of the lesson working through the technical and interpretive challenges each song offers, and had to take the initiative to practice their repertoire between lessons and rehearsals,” Christensen said.
This practice outside of rehearsals helped the students to completely memorize all of their music for the show. Practice schedules varied only for duet rehearsals that required group meetings.
Jack DesBois ’15, who sang a cycle of Shakespeare songs by 20th century English composer Gerald Finzi, noted that individualized rehearsing kept an element of surprise among the performers on the night of the show.
“We didn’t really know what the other singers [were] going to be bringing to the concert on Saturday,” he said.
Hannah Johnston ’15, who performed both a solo and a duet, enjoyed the rehearsal and performance atmosphere despite this separation.
“It was nice to come together and watch what people have been working on and to be really proud of [my] friends for doing something impressive,” Johnston said. “The performance allowed us to join as a musical community to support one another.”
Christensen reiterated this cohesiveness and sense of community.
“The students I have in the concert this year are all seniors, so we have spent many hours together over the years,” she said. “I consider them all to be very close, special friends.”
Although the “Songs and Arias” performance featured some English songs, a large portion of the numbers were in German, Italian or French.
“Working with any voice teacher, you really start with the classical repertoire, which usually means Italian arias at the beginning, maybe moving into German arias, lieder, and a bit of French,” DesBois said. “It’s been really wonderful to start singing in English.”
Johnston, who sang Carl Maria von Weber’s “Kommt ein schlanker Bursch gegangen” as one of her pieces, concurred.
“The vocal recitals are about a smaller group of people getting together to perform a classical repertoire,” she said. “It’s about expressing music in the classical tradition in many different languages.”
Christensen agreed, pointing to the College’s strong language programs as a positive influence on the rehearsal process.
“Many Middlebury students are quite adept at a foreign language,” Christensen said. “We have fun delving into the meaning of the text, and talking about what [the students] can do from a vocal and interpretive standpoint to bring the song to life and make it their own.”
The performance of “Songs and Arias” itself was quite powerful, featuring a range of talented singers. The acoustics of the performance space fit well with the songs, and all of the singers were clearly audible from the back of the Concert Hall. The performers were very focused during their songs, and clearly sought to keep the audience’s attention with hand gestures and flourishes. The foreign language pieces were well done, and the duets were seamlessly coordinated. DesBois’ performance particularly resonated with me, featuring a broad variety of moods and tempos which ranged from more slow and somber numbers to fast-paced songs with humorous sound effects. Unfortunately, the hoarseness in his voice from a recent cold was evident in parts of his Shakespearean cycle, and the inclusion of four whole selections made his segment seem a tad lengthy.
Overall, the “Songs and Arias” show was a triumph which delighted audience members from the student and broader communities.
“It was obvious how much effort went into preparing for the show,” Devin McGrath-Conwell ’18.5 said. “The variation of the styles and songs reflected in the program is a wonderful tribute to the talent of the performers. I enjoyed every moment of it.”
(03/05/15 3:22am)
An unprecedented number of Middlebury students are declaring economics majors. As featured in last week’s edition of the Campus, however, the College’s faculty supply is currently unable to meet this student demand. Between overenrolled classes and overworking professors, there are many problems facing Middlebury’s understaffed economics department. It is therefore clear to our editorial board that the College needs to address economics at Middlebury. Due to the department’s popularity, it is essential that a solution is found to ensure that economics majors are receiving as replete a liberal arts education as those with any other major.
One notable issue for the economics department to address is its staffing imbalance. Recently, Middlebury has come to recommend many experimental courses such as MiddCore and the Liberal Arts Plus curriculum, both of which cover material related to economics and as such pull from the department’s faculty. The Campus appreciates these opportunities to learn soft economics, but at the same time we must point out the repercussions they have on regular economics classes at Middlebury.
While the College boasts an overall nine to one student-faculty ratio, this claim does not apply to the economics department. Because there are not enough professors, there are not enough classes, and the quality of the existing ones suffers. In many of the popular classes that are required for the major, there are not enough desks for every student. To cover professors for all courses, some classes are even being split up and taught by multiple instructors. For example, five professors are teaching the course, the Economic Lens, this spring.
The problems that plague the economics department have a range of effects on the students, too. Recently, many students found themselves unable to get into classes that they need in order to be on track for their major and, more pressingly, to study abroad. With no other viable options, they are forced to sacrifice studying abroad for a full year, if not entirely.
As the overcrowded economics department poses these dilemmas, we feel it is important to reassess why so many Middlebury students aspire to become economics majors in the first place. For many, the major appears to be one of necessity rather than academic interest. The most common misconceptions around the major seem to be that it ensures job security, or that an economics major will prepare you to work in the real world in a way that art history never will.
As the editorial board for the newspaper of a liberal arts institution, we would like to challenge this notion. Middlebury does not have a pre-business program for a reason. The College offers its students the ability to develop analytical skills through departments like English, art history, and other social sciences. It encourages attendees to pursue a wide breadth of learning – to take classes in chemistry while at the same time learning Mandarin.
This well-rounded pursuit of academics and the cultivating of minds that can think, question and create is what the College has to offer. If one’s passion is for studying inflation, G.D.P., and other subject matter of the like, he or she should pursue a major in economics. If one just has a craving for greater knowledge, however, do not let the looming shadow of post-grad employment dictate one’s area of study.
But because the economics major is so popular at the current moment, we at the Campus find it imperative that the department change its ways. One potential solution could be to reintroduce the economics minor, which would siphon off those only looking to take a minimum number of economics classes and keep spots open for those interested in the major. Additionally, the College might consider allowing for additional joint majors beyond the environmental economics major. Distributing people along these more specific fields could better regulate numbers in classes.
While we recognize the hard work the economics department at Middlebury currently puts in, we urge those with power to consider making these necessary amendments. The current state of economics at the College is unsustainable, yet the field clearly continues to draw in more students. So long as students desire to learn economics, let us continue to meet a standard of academic excellence in our teaching of this subject. While Middlebury might currently be recognized as a superior college, there is still room to improve. And in this case, the solution just so happens to be making more room, along with other adjustments, in the economics department.
(02/25/15 4:57pm)
Impressive archery is a frequent “wow” factor for the big screen. From Robin Hood to Legolas to Hawkeye, masters of this highly specialized weapon intrigue and entertain us, providing the opportunity for diverse and pretty badass fight choreography. In Bernard Cornwell’s book The Archer’s Tale, the real, historical archery masters come to life in a vivid, bloody painting.
Set in 14th century England and France, The Archer’s Tale follows the story of a young man named Thomas who joins the English army to seek revenge on the French after his town is raided, leaving him the only survivor. Thomas is one of the infamous English archers who use longbows, a far more deadly weapon than the crossbows used in France and the rest of Europe, and one of the biggest reasons England posed a major threat to France. They are known as the “devil’s horsemen” and are hated throughout France for the destruction they wreak on the countryside. Cornwell successfully evokes the dark reality of medieval warfare. Although the protagonists and narrative are fictional, most of the battles are lifted directly from history, making the backdrop to the action highly realistic. Cornwell does not romanticize the events, or shy away from the raping, burning, pillaging and slaughter that occurr. Yet he manages to make the characters who commit these horrors lively and enjoyable so that you root for them. They are not simply faceless monsters, although they are sometimes not especially well-developed. He does not demonize the French or the English. It is often jarring, in fact, to be reminded that these characters whose witty banter you enjoy on one page destroy dozens of people’s lives on the next.
Even Thomas, though he is presented as somewhat more restrained and level-headed in the violence relative to other characters and he is never explicitly identified as a rapist, is capable of his own fair share of pillaging, drunkenness, blasphemy and even cold-blooded murder. Though uncomfortable for a reader searching for good-at-heart protagonists, these characters would be unbelievable and unrealistic if they were written any other way. It would also be as bad and boring as a formulaic genre novel. Presenting the people committing the atrocities of war as the human beings that they are, no matter how violent and awful, is not only necessary for the accuracy of the story, but also a thought-provoking exercise important to every part of human history, including today.
One of the most impressive elements of the novel is Cornwell’s obviously extensive research. The battles and other major events involving more characters than just the protagonist are almost all based in historical fact. He also spends a great deal of time discussing the mechanics of archery. Although most of it is relevant, it could probably have been condensed, and certainly the level of detail included is not necessary to understanding the plot. The text occasionally gets lost in a technical tangent. It is a fantastic mini-history lesson on archery, if that intrigues you, but would probably seem boring to someone uninterested in the subject. Since the story is so strongly rooted in historical events and the importance of the longbow, I would not recommend it for someone who does not care for historical fiction. It does not require any particular foreknowledge of 14th century history to enjoy the book, but it is certainly more enjoyable if you have a least a vague interest in the era.
Something I particularly enjoyed in this novel was Thomas’s attitude as the protagonist. A major part of the plot is his promise to his dying father that he will recover a relic stolen from the church when their town was raided by the French. Despite this vow and the recurring instance of every other father or mentor figure reminding him he has a destiny to fulfill, Thomas remains reluctant and vaguely annoyed at the whole situation. He is not angsty or upset about being “chosen,” he just genuinely does not care and wishes other people would stop badgering him about it. Although his “destiny” does play a role throughout the novel and form part of the climax, Cornwell allows the novel to make fun of itself and subvert the weary Destiny trope, at least a little bit.
The Archer’s Tale offers a wonderfully detailed glimpse into the life of a 14th century English longbow archer. It is a bloody, dramatic story all the more interesting for being rooted in historical fact. Although it is probably not going to win many awards for literary value, the book is a page-turner. It is well-paced and occasionally shocking, with colorful characters and an engaging plotline. The research and commitment to accuracy is truly outstanding. Ultimately, it is a fun story with a history lesson on the side that is well worth the read.
(02/18/15 11:21pm)
There are few disciplines which naturally complement each other as well as theatre and English, and an exciting inaugural event aims to bridge the literary and performing arts worlds while creating deeper connections between the student body and the larger Middlebury community.
On Tuesday, Feb. 24, New England Review editor-in-chief Carolyn Kuebler, Professor of Theatre Dana Yeaton and Kevin P. Mahaney ’84 Center for the Arts (MCA) Director Liza Sacheli will present a collaborative, multi-faceted evening, combining recent works from the internationally renowned, Middlebury-based literary magazine with the talents of student orators and writers. The event, “NER Out Loud,” will feature seven dramatic student readings of New England Review material in the Concert Hall of the MCA at 7:30 p.m., followed by ‘S’more Readings,’ a unique showcase of work from three student-run literary magazines, Sweatervest, Blackbird and Room 404, accompanied by a s’mores-themed treat reception in the lobby of the MCA.
The event takes inspiration from the ‘Selected Shorts’ program, a weekly radio podcast broadcast on Public Radio International to over 300,000 listeners that enlists the talents of prominent actors to read both established and emerging fiction, usually centered on a theme, author or special collaboration. Kuebler, who took the reins of the New England Review from 20-year editor-in-chief and Director of Literary Studies Stephen Donadio in Jan. 2014, saw a diversity of artistry present in the College and town communities that presented a rare opportunity to establish a distinctly Middlebury version of the show. The idea began percolating in her mind in the spring of 2014, and with the help of Sacheli and Yeaton, an event quickly formed.
“I’ve been to a lot of theatre productions at the College, and I have always been impressed by the acting and how sophisticated and poised the students are, so the idea of putting on an event with some students was always interesting to me,” Kuebler said. “I approached Liza because she was interested in doing some more literary programming, and when I talked to her, she said that Dana would be a good candidate. It turns out that Dana wears a number of different hats, and in addition to teaching and playwriting and the other involvements in the Theatre Department, he also heads this new group called the Oratory Society.”
The Oratory Society began with a group of students taking Yeaton’s J-term 2014 Speechmaking course who wanted more opportunities to practice public speaking and the increasingly rare art of oration. Students from the Theatre Department and many other disciplines soon expressed interest in joining, and the group has quickly grown, performing officially for the first time at the 2014 Martin Luther King, Jr. Oratorio before offering workshops in spring 2014 and making strides to be recognized as an official organization last fall. As of this spring, the group has almost 20 members under the leadership of Oratory Society President Liam Knox ’17.
“It’s been fun to do a little matchmaking and discuss which of the pieces we’ve published over the past year would make for good live reading,” Kuebler said. “We were more concerned about readability, range and immediacy of the text. We wanted to have a variety and a way to showcase the New England Review and the different kinds of writing that we publish. Some works have a storytelling feel that grab the listener, but some are more abstract and poetic or philosophical.”
After selecting appropriate pieces from the New England Review to send to Yeaton, he in turn sent out the possibilities for further review by student actors and members of the Oratory Society. Caitlin Duffy ’15.5 is one of the seven students reading at “NER Out Loud.”
“Dana sent students four documents that each had a collection of short stories and poems, and we suggested which ones we’d like to read,” Duffy said. “I’m reading a short story, so we will pare it down for oration. The idea is getting a literary text into a performance realm. I think approaching literature from this perspective is really special, and it helps me understand it more.”
Melissa MacDonald ’15 will also be reading a literary selection at the event.
“Sometimes you read in your head in a way that maybe misses all the connotations and rhythms that a word can carry if you say it out loud,” she said. “The idea is that we can bring clarity to texts that sometimes you don’t quite understand fully when you read them to yourself. Hopefully when we read out a story we place enough emphasis and character within it that the insight that the piece is trying to provide shines.”
Following the main portion of the evening will be ‘S’more Readings,’ a collaborative idea devised by Kuebler and Sacheli in which students will read their own work from Sweatervest, Blackbird and Room 404 student literary magazines in the lower lobby of the MCA. Mini amps will be accompanied by mini ovens for toasting marshmallows for s’mores, and attendees of the reception will be able to freely browse the magazines and talk with representatives from each.
“It is in my best interest to get more people to know about and engage with the New England Review, but I think that there are a lot of literary students on campus who wouldn’t mind coming out of the woodwork with their magazine,” Kuebler said. “They might have more of an opportunity to show what they’ve been up to under the umbrella of the New England Review. We have all of the same interests as literary magazines.”
In addition to Duffy and MacDonald, Kevin Benscheidt ’17, Brenna Christensen ’17, Cole Ellison ’17, Jabari Matthew ’17 and Sally Seitz ’17 will read selections at the event. Sweatervest and Room 404 will be represented by Nick Kaye ’17 and Dylan Redford ’15, respectively, and Blackbird will feature delegates Emily Luan ’15 and Doug LeCours ’15. The event is free and open to the public.
(02/18/15 9:46pm)
Angela Kubicke, a ninth-grade student at St. Johnsbury Academy, recently proposed that Vermont add a Latin motto to its current English motto and she may soon see her wish come true.
Kubicke proposed to include the phrase “Stella quarta decima fulgeat,” which means “The 14th star shines bright,” since Vermont was the fourteenth state to join the union. This would be used in addition to the current state motto, “Freedom and Unity.”
Part of this Latin motto was originally written on one-cent coins minted by colonial Vermont and used as the common currency throughout New England in that era. Kubicke added the verb “fulgeat” to the end, meaning, “may it shine bright.”
On behalf of Kubicke’s proposal, State Senator Joe Benning (R-Caledonia/Orange) filed a bill in the state legislature. Although it was too late for him to introduce a new bill for that session, he was able to reintroduce the idea to the general public this January through WCAX, a Burlington television station.
However, the debate and comments sparked by the WCAX broadcast, which was posted on the station’s website, ranged from the expected to the absurd.
Supporters of the addition of a Latin motto lauded Kubicke for her engagement in the political system, arguing that this effort should be rewarded by taking her proposal seriously and bringing it to the legislature.
Those opposed to Kubicke’s idea advised Benning to forget this proposal and focus time and taxpayer dollars on lowering taxes and allotting funds to education and healthcare in the state. Still others proposed the addition of mottos in French or Abenaki, two cultures that share a part of Vermont’s history.
Among the string of online comments, someone drew the connection between a Latin motto and Latin American or Latino people, especially those who have immigrated to the United States. These comments confusing the ancient Roman language of Latin with the language of people from South and Central America prompted an even greater spark of commentary regarding the ignorance and misinformation promoted by the former commenters.
At this point, the focus of the comments turned to a debate about immigration. However, the lack of knowledge on the part of the trolling commenters did not deter Kubicke, Benning or their supporters. Despite the various reactions, last week, Kubicke, along with Latin teachers and students from across the state, testified in front of the Senate Operations Committee. Next, the bill went to the Senate, which passed it on Friday. The bill will now go on to the House, which will assign it to a committee to make amendments. Lastly, the Senate will vote on the bill, and then Governor Peter Shumlin will sign it into law.
The idea for adding a state motto in Latin has been in the works for at least a year now. When asked about where the idea came from in an interview with the campus, Kubicke responded, “My school started a Certamen team … and my topic to study was mottos, quotations, and abbreviations.”
According to the National Junior Classical League’s (NJCL) website, “Certamen is a game of fast recall of facts about classical civilizations and its peoples, languages, and cultures.” Competitions for this type of quiz bowl game are held locally across the country, as well as nationally at the NJCL Convention. In the process of memorizing state mottos in Latin, Kubicke discovered that Vermont did not have one.
“A lot of people take the mottos, quotations, and abbreviations quiz down at national forums every year,” Kubicke said, “and Vermont was being left out of the kids who were studying that, and I felt like we should be part of that.” Since Vermont does not have a Latin motto, students were not studying it in preparation for this part of the Certamen competition.
Kubicke was motivated to propose the addition of a Latin motto through her participation in NJCL and her passion for Latin language and classical culture.
“My National Junior Classical League chapter was really small, and I wanted us to come in with a bang,” said Kubicke. “I really like Latin as a subject, as well as just that club is so much fun.”
Although Kubicke has been pursuing this bill on top of school and normal life, she is happy with her decision to do so.
“I really enjoy the subject and I think it’s something very important … It’s been really fun to keep the classical torch burning,” Kubicke said. “I was really interested in it [politics] prior to introducing the bill.”
Kubicke further commented on how this experience has impacted her thoughts on the future.
“I’m really enjoying the process, so maybe,” responded Kubicke, when asked about whether she wanted to pursue a career in politics. Not only has the process been enjoyable, but it has been a learning experience.
When reflecting on what she learned during this process, Kubicke emphasizes the importance of taking action.
“If you think something needs to be changed or you want something to happen you have to speak up, because, let’s be honest, if I hadn’t spoken up and done this, probably nothing would have happened,” Kubicke said. “You’ve got to be proactive and take initiative.”
(01/22/15 1:23am)
I’ve been in Madrid, Spain for the past week, beginning my semester of study abroad at the Middlebury School in Spain. Though Madrid has been amazing thus far, there are times of homesickness, stress, exhaustion and culture shock.
Though these experiences are normal and common amongst those who study abroad, they are often glossed over when recounting experiences abroad. Though it is usually good to focus on the positive parts of study abroad, it’s also useful to be realistic and prepared for the some of the low points.
Being abroad is not going to be 100 per cent comfortable all the time. It can be frustrating and hard to adapt to a new culture and new language. These difficulties can have an impact on mental health and wellness, which makes it of paramount importance to be prepared mentally to study abroad.
If you struggle with mental health, there are many useful steps to take prior to going abroad that can ease the transition and reduce chances of serious problems arising. With a little preparation, studying abroad with a mental health condition is certainly possible and may even help you manage your condition.
If you take medication, it’s important to have a plan for how to access medication while abroad. In some cases, doctors can prescribe enough medication in the United States to last your entire time abroad, but you should still get educated on how to properly carry medications while travelling internationally (check out the State Department’s website for useful information on traveling with medication: http://travel.state.gov/content/studentsabroad/en/health/prescriptions.html).
Those going abroad for longer periods may need to get prescriptions filled while abroad. Working with your psychiatrist or doctor and the staff in the study abroad office can help sort out prescription issues prior to going abroad – make sure you know the names (including generics) and dosage of your prescriptions, and, if you’re going to a country that operates in another language, learn the vocabulary words for your condition and medication. Make sure your doctor knows you’re going abroad and discuss possible challenges beforehand.
Doing research online and talking to the counseling center about mental health resources in various cities can be a great start to a healthy semester abroad. Some larger cities will have mental health resources in English – for example, Madrid has a variety of psychiatrists and psychologists who operate in English. Smaller cities or less-developed countries may have limited resources or no resources in English.
If weekly therapy is a part of managing your condition, it may be wise to choose a study abroad site with mental health resources available. You can also talk to your psychiatrist or psychologist about the possibility of Skype sessions or strategies for self-management while abroad.
Another factor is international insurance and mental health. In Madrid, for example, we received a list during orientation of health and mental health resources that accept HTH Worldwide Insurance, the standard Middlebury Schools Abroad insurance. You may want to check in advance whether the place you plan on studying has mental health resources that accept this insurance, and if not, plan accordingly.
Take time to consider how housing options, university options and program size will affect your time abroad and impact management of mental health issues. It may be that a smaller program with more individualized attention and housing with other students you already know may be a better fit for you. If you feel comfortable, you can discuss mental health resources abroad with the study abroad office or students who have studied abroad before. This may give you a better idea of what to expect and how to approach any issues that arise while abroad.
It’s important to have realistic expectations. Studying abroad can be overwhelming. Don’t expect everything to go perfectly, but don’t expect to be miserable all the time (that’s a sign that something may be wrong). Reading other student’s blogs can help prepare you for possible cultural differences and give you an idea of the typical range of reactions to studying abroad.
Once abroad, it’s important to maintain contact with others – don’t isolate yourself just because you feel overwhelmed and out of place. Chances are other students feel the same way.
Do your best to make connections to people in the host country and explore your surroundings, but don’t feel bad if you need time to indulge in American comforts, like favorite TV shows or peanut butter.
Finding ways to get outside of your apartment or house to get some exercise and stimulation is vital.
Researching beforehand can help make it easier to find your favorite activities abroad – in large cities, there are likely to be sports teams and gyms you can join, dance classes to take and free walking tours of the city.
Make a list beforehand of things you’d like to do and see in the place you’re going; pre-made lists can provide extra motivation to get out of the house and experience the culture of an unfamiliar place.
Journaling can be helpful to reflect on your experiences abroad and your feelings toward various aspects of the semester or year.
This sort of reflection may help you identify healthy and unhealthy patterns of coping in a new setting and can better prepare you for future mental health issues that might arise.
Keeping in contact with those at home is important but can become a problem as well: make sure you aren’t spending too much time in contact with those back home, even at the beginning. This can lead to more extreme homesickness and dependence and can start an unhealthy pattern for the rest of the semester.
Nutrition, adequate sleep and moderation in use of alcohol and drugs are important as well. Make sure to eat enough and eat well; branch out and try new foods, but don’t use that as an excuse to eat unhealthily (e.g. do not go to France and eat only croissants and Nutella).
It can be hard to get adequate amounts of sleep while abroad, especially with the different eating and sleeping schedules of many cultures. Putting in the extra effort to get enough sleep can have a huge impact on how you handle being abroad; fatigue combined with the unfamiliarity of a different culture can make small problems seem like crises.
Alcohol and drugs can also make small problems more severe. Though being abroad is a great time to try wine in Italy and beer in Germany, moderation and control are important, especially at first, when you may not know the layout of the place you’re studying, sketchy areas and how to avoid being mugged, or who to contact in emergency situations.
It is important to be realistic in your expectations for how you’ll feel abroad. It’s normal to feel sad, frustrated and angry while abroad, perhaps even more frequently than at home.
A new culture can be challenging to adapt to. That said, it is not typical to be sad, depressed or miserable all the time. If you’re having trouble getting out of bed every day or find yourself crying all the time, you should talk to someone and find out what resources are available to get help.
If you’re in a place with limited resources, there is lots of helpful information online for ways to cope with feelings of depression, anxiety and more while abroad.
Many universities have guides for mental health condition management while abroad; one example is Northwestern University’s “Mental Health Abroad” (found here: http://www.northwestern.edu/studyabroad/guide/health-and-safety/health/mental-health-abroad.html).
Studying abroad is an invaluable experience for many students; having a mental health condition does not mean you can’t take part in it. Like physical health issues, mental health conditions require extra consideration when deciding whether to study abroad and extra preparation when getting ready to go abroad; with a little preparation, study abroad can still be a success!
(01/15/15 2:38am)
What [podcast] will make you a better person?
Of course, I would be remiss to not say Serial, the new podcast by Sarah Koenig and Julie Snyder. It has killer cliffhangers and incredible writing. It Has inspiring spoofs, spoiler specials and productive conversations about narrative, ethics in reporting and storytelling. Listen to it!
Another favorite is Love & Radio. Creator Nick Vanderkolk describes L&R as intimate stories from “the seedy to the sublime.” They are so intimate they can get uncomfortable, “but in a good way.” Some episodes are so weird, I can’t fully get on board, but Love and Radio consistently pushes me out of my comfort zone as a human and as a producer. It nurtures compassion and inspires sonically.
—Erin Davis, Visiting Winter Term “Sound and Story” Instructor
What [philosopher] will make you a better person?
When I think of the life-skills that I've learned from doing philosophy, three things stand out. First, philosophy teaches one to be fairly discriminating about what's necessary, and there's something very liberating about recognizing that something once assumed to be necessary is in fact contingent. Second, philosophy teaches one to solve bigger problems by breaking them up into a collection of smaller problems that are easier to solve. Third, philosophy encourages rigorous thought across a wide variety of topics.
I don't know that there's one person who perfectly embodies all three of the ideals to which I alluded in my previous email, but David Hume, Immanuel Kant, Ludwig Wittgenstein, and Wilfrid Sellars strike me as pretty good exemplars. Having said that, I'm not really a "figure-driven" philosopher; I care more about the ideas than who said them.
-Kareem Khalifa, Associate Professor of Philosophy
What [book] will make you a better person?
Reading Spenser's The Faerie Queene will make you a better person! Spenser thought that the activity of reading was a profoundly MORAL activity, so the poem teaches you to be a good, careful, ethical reader - of the poem and the book of life! (2)
--Marion Wells, Associate Professor of English & American Literatures
What [book] will make you a better person?
Tough question. Guy Vanderhaeghe, Homesick. (You can’t see it, but I keep changing my mind!) A beautifully crafted story about family love, growing up, and loss. It will make you wise!
—Brett Millier, Reginald L. Cook Professor of American Literature
What [research study] will make you a better person?
The original paper by Hodgkin and Huxley In the 1950’s that described the ionic basis of resting and action potentials for which they won a Nobel Prize. In the 1950’s equipment was ancient, they had to be especially creative, very mathematical, and were especially intuitive. (3)
—Tom Root, Professor of Biology and Neuroscience
What [television series] will make you a better person?
I'd argue that the TV series Mad Men will make you a "better" person. I put "better" in quotes because I do think what a "better" person is is very debatable. But I'd suggest that Mad Men makes us more thoughtful and aware, especially of the relationship between the personal, the social, and the political. At first it seems like the gender and social restrictions depicted in Mad Men are a thing of the past, but as the seasons unfold, I think we come to see how we've inherited those social assumptions and how far we still have to go. And because we identify with the Mad Men characters, we see the reflections of those social issues in our own lives. (4)
-Louisa Stein, Assistant Professor of Film & Media Culture
What [book] will make you a better person?
I never like books that set out to make me a better person (self-help books, say, though I've found a few helpful now and then!) I think any book that enlarges your sense of the world and that allows you entry into another point of view has the potential of increasing your awareness, opening your eyes, stretching those muscles of compassion—which to me might be the best definition of how to be a better person . My favorite inspirational non-self-help book of the moment is one which I used to give to all the volunteers who went down to spend a year at our farm and literacy project in the Dominican republic, alta gracia. it is Rebecca Solnit's very short, very amazing Hope in the Dark: Untold histories, Wild Possibilities. It's a rousing call to activism—urging us to think outside the box, to "change the imagination of change,” her phrase, so that we can begin to turn around some of the colossal challenges facing us as a planet and species. Solnit claims (and I agree!) that one place to begin is with the stories we tell and spread that help us to re-imagine ourselves and the world we live in, which is what the best stories and books do. Will this book or any book make us a better person? I guess ultimately, it's up to us. As Rilke reminds us at the end of "Archaic Torso of Apollo," having described Apollo's statue, the moment of art is over, and now, reader, "You must change your life."
--Julia Alvarez ’71, writer-in-residence
What [study] will make you a better person?
I love the research coming out of the field of positive psychology. Particularly the work of Diener & Seligman, which demonstrates very happy people are highly social and have strong social relationships. If you want to be a better person, be a better friend, sibling, partner, etc. High quality relationships are central to our happiness. (5)
-Robert Moeller, Assistant Professor of Psychology
What [play] will make you a better person?
Hamlet suggests that theatre is a mirror, and that we learn from this reflection. In response to your question, there are so many plays, but I will cite just one example. In Lorraine Hansberry’s A Raisin in the Sun, the character Walter Lee is about to commit a despicable and immoral act before he comes to the conclusion that this act will be devastating to his family and to his manhood. When the audience sees Walter Lee’s struggle, they too realize that Walter’s ultimate decision makes him a better person. I hope this is sufficient. I must now go back to trying to comprehend wrath, greed, sloth, pride, lust, envy, and gluttony. (6)
-Nathaniel Nesmith, C3 Post-Doctoral Fellow in Theatre
What [political text] will make you a better person?
On the 25th anniversary of the Velvet Revolution, Václav Havel’s “The Power of the Powerless.” It will make you a better person, because a life lived in truth is a life that matters. Or as Havel said, “For the real question is whether the brighter future is really always so distant. What if, on the contrary, it has been here for a long time already, and only our own blindness and weakness has prevented us from seeing it around us and within us, and kept us from developing it?”
-Allison Stanger, Russell J. Leng '60 Professor of International Politics and Economics
(01/14/15 11:48pm)
On Jan. 7, President of the College Ronald D. Liebowitz announced the launch of Middlebury’s new brand identity system. In an email to students, Liebowitz explained that the new system intends to clarify what had been a somewhat unclear relationship between the undergraduate institution and the other Middlebury schools and programs, such as the language schools, Bread Loaf and Monterey.
Vice President for Communications and Marketing Bill Burger explained that it became clear that this ambiguity needed to be addressed in 2012.
“We hired a consultant to conduct the research,” Burger explained, “both qualitative and quantitative research, to find out how people perceived Middlebury. We learned a lot from this about how those perceptions aligned with how we saw ourselves.”
One thing that stood out during this research was that there were some misconceptions regarding how the schools and programs at Middlebury fit together. Burger noted that this issue had also come up previously, in the 2010 reaccreditation of the College.
Burger believes that the new identity system will help make the College better known. “Our lack of a clear and shared identity actually served to suppress awareness of Middlebury,” he said. “Many people know about the College, but they didn’t necessarily know that our other schools and programs, which they also may have heard of and which are so respected, are actually connected to Middlebury. Our primary goal is to make it clear that the Bread Loaf School of English, the Language Schools, the Institute in Monterey and the rest are part of one institution, all part of Middlebury.”
In addition to the new naming system, a new logo was also introduced. Burger reflected on the process, saying that the initial plan did not include a logo. Ultimately, however, it became clear that a visual was needed to tie everything together. While Burger admitted that the Middlebury seal was familiar, it also had some disadvantages. He noted its intricacy, making reproduction difficult at times, but also that the text contained abbreviated Latin.
“We needed something bolder,” Burger stated, which is how the shield came to light. “We began to focus on those elements we thought were important to emphasize and that most reflected what is distinctive about Middlebury,” he said, which included its international focus, sense of place and academics, along with the date of the founding.
In terms of difficulties faced throughout the process, Burger explained maintaining tradition in the new logo was important. “That’s why you see Old Chapel, the book, the mountains, the globe, and the founding date,” Burger said.
Burger referenced Middlebury’s 2007 attempt at a new logo – a maple leaf, which ultimately failed. “The problem with the so-called maple leaf logo,” he reasoned, “was that it didn’t really honor the traditions of the institution. It didn’t resonate with alumni or with students. When we embarked on this project, we knew we needed to take a different approach, you could call it a conservative approach, that incorporated familiar symbols.”
Reception to the new identity system, Burger says, has been supportive.
“I have read at least 100 comments that have come in through email, Facebook, Twitter, or through the form that we created on the website.” Burger revealed. “Overall, the reaction has been overwhelmingly positive.”
However, several alumni on the Facebook page expressed disappointment with the new logo and rebranding. These graduates voiced frustration that last week’s announcement was similar to the 2007 maple leaf rollout (which recieved such negative feedback that it was ultimately discarded), where they felt removed from the process.
Likewise, in a Campus poll that asked for feedback on the new logo, 44 percent of the 194 respondents indicated that they “dislike” the new logo while 34 percent said that they “hate” it.
Students also took to forums such as YikYak to express their disappointment in the new logo. One such anonymous “Yak” read, “Sh***y tailgates and stupid logos...One day we woke up and they were just there without explanation.”
Addressing the two different components of the transformation, Burger said that he hasn’t yet heard anyone express disdain over the naming system.
“I’m sure some people will take issue with the particular design of the logo,” Burger said. “Whenever you introduce a new graphic symbol, no matter what it is, some people won’t like it initially, or perhaps ever. That comes with change. But already I’ve heard from a few people who said they had a negative initial reaction, but began to like it more after seeing it for a day or two.”
(12/03/14 11:15pm)
In 20 years, our children may ask us where we were when Michael Brown was shot. When Darren Wilson’s non-indictment was handed down. When people took to the streets because they have had enough police brutality, dead children, distorted justice and militarization. Michael Brown’s death was a wake-up call to a nation that has long been deaf to the fact that one black man is killed every 28 hours by the police or vigilantes. Slavery and Jim Crow may be institutions of the past, but their structural legacy is still alive and well, and it will take far more than electing a black president to solve these problems.
At Middlebury, many students find it easy to be apathetic. I am waist-deep in finals, I was travelling for Thanksgiving, I am not a racist — insert any excuse to not engage here. Ferguson may be 1,100 miles away, but Ferguson could be any town. We may not have police shooting students on our campus, but we still face the same racial dynamics that created conditions in which unarmed black teenagers can be legally shot, be it Trayvon Martin, Michael Brown or any other member of this ever growing list of names.
As Tim Garcia ’14’s film, Abroad at Home: Accounts of the Invisible, illustrated last spring, the playing field is not equal on our campus. Students of color in the film discuss being confused for each other, being singled out in class and in social situations and feeling unwelcome on campus. Other student initiatives — MiddIncluded’s campaign to change the AAL requirement and the planned Intercultural Center, to name a couple — further show where Middlebury is failing to support our students. The dominant culture on this campus is very white, no matter how much we laud diversity as an institutional value.
Kiese Laymon, an English professor at Vassar, wrote a now-viral piece highlighting racist policing, both by campus security and by the Poughkeepsie police. He shares his own experiences being profiled as well as his experiences supporting black students and other young people in Poughkeepsie. When seeing such an incriminating piece from a peer school with a similar profile just a few hours away, we cannot think of ourselves as exempt from these problems.
We commend the organizers who have already worked hard to bring the conversations Ferguson ignited back to our campus. From the students who organized the March Against Police Brutality in October, to the students and professors who have hosted discussions, to the people who planned and participated in the walkout on Monday, we admire the action community members are taking to mark Ferguson’s events at the College.
Looking forward, we cannot let this issue drop after the media attention fades away. Despite our distance on campus, we have a role to play in the cultural shift required to see progress on issues around race in this country. Ferguson is a reminder that we do not in fact live in a “post-racial” society.
The first thing we can do is remember. Ferguson is only one example of history repeating itself in the country — we should not wait for another. Even as Ferguson fades out of the media spotlight, we cannot forget the people still on the ground and still fighting.
The second thing we can do is leverage our educational privilege for social good. When organizers in Ferguson reached out for help in the aftermath of the shooting, they called for experienced doctors, lawyers and other professions that require access to higher education. Whether one of these fields calls you or not, the Middlebury education provides you with a diverse toolbox of skills that you can directly apply to supporting folks on the front lines. Do more than being an educated person who posts on Facebook. Look for a career that puts you in the thick of it.
The final thing we can do is show up. Posting on social media and flooding newsfeeds has its place, but the most important thing we can do is follow organizers by using our peaceful presence as a form of power. We need to be allies that this movement can count on for the day-to-day needs of change-making. Meals will be served, bail posted, marches organized and vigils held — you can help make these things happen. Here on campus, go to the talk in Warner at 4:30 p.m. on Thursday, even if you feel uncomfortable or are not sure what you have to contribute — especially if you feel uncomfortable or are not sure what you have to contribute. Donate to the Legal Support Fund for Justice for Mike Brown. Join the Brown family in their call for all police to wear body cameras.
It should not fall on students of color to teach the rest of campus how to critically engage with these issues. Ferguson should be a wake-up call for every student on this campus to dig deep, to read, write and struggle to understand how they fit into this system and what they can do to prevent another senseless death or fix other cogs in the wheel that make this inequality commonplace. Do not be passive in this fight.
Artwork by NOLAN ELLSWORTH
(11/20/14 12:25am)
One week ago, I saw the Tony-nominated Broadway production of John Steinbeck’s American classic Of Mice and Men - in Middlebury. Due to technological advancements and a recent partnership between major performance companies and theaters around the world, the financial and geographic barriers to experiencing professional, top-market productions are rapidly vanishing. Following the lead of programs like the Public Broadcasting Series’ Lincoln Center Live, which has brought acclaimed New York theatre, concerts and special events into the homes of millions of Americans for free since 1976, New York City’s Metropolitan Opera began streaming live productions to small theaters and over public radio in 2006, and the National Theatre in London followed suit in 2009, now broadcasting to over 1,400 theaters worldwide.
With production costs for a Met Opera running upwards of $500,000, and tickets for popular Broadway productions selling anywhere from $100 to $400, it is no wonder that live broadcasts, with more reasonable ticket costs of $10 to $30 per person, have been gaining in popularity.
The Town Hall Theater started broadcasting the Metropolitan Opera Live in HD series soon after they opened in 2008, purchasing and installing the initial necessary satellite technology that allowed any of the world-renowned opera’s broadcasts to appear before a small-town Vermont audience. When the National Theatre in London started their own HD broadcasting service, the Town Hall Theater already had the correct technology to bring some of the most acclaimed productions in the world to its repertoire.
The latest broadcast, the 2014 Broadway production of Of Mice and Men, was shown at the Town Hall Theater twice on Tuesday, Nov. 11. In an afternoon matinee, a full house of high school students watched the broadcast in conjunction with their study of the play.
“We especially like to carry the plays that we know are on school reading lists, and of course Of Mice and Men is something that every high school kid reads, so we booked it specifically for that reason,” said Town Hall Theater Executive Director Doug Anderson.
Attendance levels have varied widely for the screenings, and the evening showing of Of Mice and Men featured more seats that were empty than filled. The Town Hall Theater does not carry all of the broadcasts offered by National Theatre Live simply because some may be too obscure to market to a local audience.
“It really depends,” Anderson said. “The National does terrific work, but a lot of it is plays that don’t necessarily sell in this country. If they don’t have a major star or title or it’s a brand new play that people don’t know, we tend to sell less. We had Helen Mirren in Phedra in 2009 and it was absolutely packed, because she’s Helen Mirren. There was a National Theatre broadcast of a play called The Audience, which is about Queen Elizabeth meeting every week with the prime minister. [Mirren] played Queen Elizabeth over forty years meeting with 8 different prime ministers, and it was a real tour de force that sold out so much that we showed it again, so you really never know who is going to come to what.”
Of Mice and Men is so definitively an American play, a masterpiece exploration of the struggle to reach the American dream as viewed through the inseparable friendship of two working class men, that it may be surprising that London’s National Theatre picked up the show. Though National Theatre Live had made many attempts to expand its marquee British theatre events to include international offerings, Of Mice and Men was the first Broadway production to be accepted for full production and broadcast by the program. When the production, which is the first Broadway version of the play in over forty years, began its 19-week New York City run at the Longacre Theatre, a filmed broadcast was not even considered, but after the show’s two 2014 Tony Award nominations and the complete recuperation of the show’s $3.8 million capital investment, the National Theatre Live team saw the potential in broadcasting the limited-engagement, star-filled play, even offering to cover the $1 million production and distribution cost to create a broadcast. Touting the Broadway debuts of Oscar award nominated actor-director-author-poet-artist-professor (yes, really) James Franco, Bridesmaids’ Chris O’Dowd and Gossip Girl’s Leighton Meester, as well as the directorial talents of Tony, Drama Desk and Outer Critic Circles award winner Anna D. Shapiro, the production possessed the unique combination of star power and mainstream appeal ideal for a Broadway broadcast test case.
As for the production itself, filmed live on its closing night, July 27, 2014, reviewing is almost pointless. A richly imagined yet subtle set design, superb acting - especially by O’Dowd, who was nominated for the Tony Award for Best Actor in a Play for his role as strong simpleton Lennie - and smart directorial choices speak to the production’s multi-million dollar budget and performance in the most prestigious theatre system in America. These literally are the big leagues, and the production did not disappoint.
After investing in the initial satellite technology, projector and screen, The Town Hall Theater does not have to incur any cost per show, allowing an unlimited choice of broadcasts that brings in extra income for the local theater and benefits the original productions.
“We split the ticket costs with the National Theatre or the Metropolitan Opera, so even if its something that I think may only draw 50 or 60 people, I’m still making money on a night I would normally be dark, so I feel I can go ahead and do that obscure 19th century English comedy because it’s just a matter of turning on the equipment,” Anderson said.
Though I was experiencing the theatre through a new fifth wall which takes away the spontaneity and audience-actor participation of the live theatrical experience, the multiple camera angles and beautiful HD rendition of the play allowed me the unique opportunity to process the big picture of the sumptuous set design only seconds before viewing the pained emotions, lines and tears on Franco’s face, which would never be possible from the balcony of a Broadway theater.
“The National Theatre is the greatest theater in the world and the caliber of the work they do is astonishing,” Anderson said. “I used to make special trips to England just to go to the National Theatre and see their work, and the fact that we can get it live, here in the comfort of our little theater in Middlebury, Vermont, is miraculous and not to be missed.”
On the Tuesday of the broadcast, I had a healthy number of papers to write, novels to read and responses to draft, and it was difficult for me to justify making the trip into town for a two and a half hour mid-week play. In reality, I could have chosen no better distraction. Watching this professional execution of Steinbeck’s tale moved me, broke my heart and reignited my love for the theatre, and I only needed to walk down the road. Tickets to National Theatre Live productions are available through the Town Hall Theater Box Office for $10 for students, and information about upcoming broadcasts will be available at go/tht as productions are chosen and announced.
(11/13/14 12:39am)
Friday night the Middlebury volleyball team (12-12, 6-4) played its final game of the season, falling to the Bowdoin Polar Bears (21-7, 6-4) three sets to one in a NESCAC tournament quarterfinal match at Tufts.
The first match was knotted up at 15 a piece before Bowdoin closed the Panthers out on a ten to three run, sparked by a pair of Christy Jewett service aces. Erika Sklaver slammed home the final two points of the initial game to give Bowdoin a 25 to 18 victory.
Middlebury started the second set on a high note with a six-point streak, highlighted by kills from Emily Kolodka ’18 and Melanie English ’17 and four Bowdoin attack errors.
Bowdoin crawled back into the match, overtaking the Panthers 17 to 16, before Middlebury went on its second six to nothing run, led by three kills from Alice Roberts ’18, propelling the Panthers to a 25 to 18 win which tied the affair at one match each.
Bowdoin began the ultimately close third set with early momentum, gaining a seven to one edge on the Panthers, led by a Michelle Albright service ace and a pair of Christy Jewett Kills.
The run lasted until a Roberts kill started the Panthers’ engines. The Panthers tied the match at 19 when Becca Raffel ’18 hammered home a kill. But the Polar Bears were unfazed, capturing six of the last nine points, led by a service ace and kill by Hailey Wahl, and another kill by Jewett.
The fourth and final match provided a gut-wrenching end to the Panthers’ season.
Bowdoin went up 14 to seven and looked to have the game and the match all but in the bag. But a Bowdoin service error and two Lizzy Reed ’15 service aces as well as two Olivia Kolodka ’15 kills put the Panthers right back into the thick of the game with a deficit of only one point.
After a Hailey Wahl kill put Bowdoin up 21 to 17, the Panthers mustered one final push to try and stretch the meeting to a fifth match.
A Hannah Blackburn ’17 kill and a bevy of Bowdoin service and attack errors found the Panthers on top of the Polar Bears 23 to 22 heading into the final stretch. Bowdoin’s coach, Karen Corey, elected to take a timeout to settle her young team.
The Panthers needed only two more points to set up a dramatic rubber match, but the Polar Bear defense and two more Christy Jewett kills iced the quarterfinal match.
“It’s always tough to lose that last match, but all good things come to an end eventually. We played well, but not great, and when you get to the championships, you usually have to play your best if you want to win,” Head Coach Sarah Raunecker said.
First years Roberts and Raffel led the Panthers with 11 kills apiece. English finished with nine kills, a .368 hitting percentage and a strong defensive showing with three block solos and two block assists. Blackburn had 33 assists and Charlotte Devine ’17 had a match high three service aces. Olivia Kolodka had a team high 16 digs as fellow senior Reed collected 15.
Bowdoin’s Jewett led all players with 22 kills and Sklaver also posted a double-digit total of 13 kills. The Polar Bears’ Quincy Leech contributed 27 assists, and Katie Doherty had a match high of digs.
On Monday, Nov. 10, the selections for the NCAA volleyball tournament were announced. Tufts and Bowdoin were selected as at-large bids from the NESCAC, and will join conference champion Williams in the tournament.
The loss was the final game in a Panther uniform for seniors Reed, Olivia Kolodka and Piper Underbrink ’15.
The three seniors graduate having been members of the 2012 NESCAC Tournament championship team that collected a victory in the NCAA tournament and advanced to the second round.
“They had very successful careers here, and have helped strengthen our program, and we thank them for leaving that legacy,” Raunecker said.
(11/05/14 6:54pm)
This past weekend, Oct. 31 and Nov. 1, volleyball seniors Lizzy Reed ’15, Olivia Kolodka ’15 and Piper Underbrink ’15 played their final regular season home games in Pepin Gym. In the process, the Panthers solidified their fourth seed for the NESCAC tournament that begins Friday night, Nov. 7.
Friday night the Panthers beat the visiting Connecticut College Camels (14-10, 5-5) convincingly in just three sets: 25-18, 25-20 and 25-13. It was a night that celebrated the three members of the team who will in May, kicked off by the singing of the national anthem, courtesy of Underbrink’s mother.
Underbrink and Alice Roberts ’18 had a team high with nine kills each. Melanie English ’17 hit .778 with seven kills on nine attempts and no errors, and defensively had two block solos and three block assists. Becca Raffel ’18 continued her strong first-year campaign tallying seven kills. Reed and Hannah Blackburn ’17 dished out two service aces apiece to go with Blackburn’s 35 assists.
After a late Middlebury comeback fell short in the first set, the Panthers and the crowd began set two energized, jumping on the Jumbos four to one. Olivia Kolodka and English denied a number of Tufts kills early, before making subs to try and stave off a Tufts run.
Jumbo outside hitters Maddie Kuppe and Hayley Hooper led a Tufts run that put the Jumbos on top 12-8. Hooper, a senior and Tufts kills leader, seemed to capitalize on every kill opportunity she had in the set, while the Tufts front line formed an iron curtain, denying Middlebury scorers until Roberts converted a kill for a 16-9 deficit.
Middlebury would fight back after a timeout, as Olivia Kolodka denied a kill shot from Tufts senior Isabel Kuhel. But it wouldn’t be enough for the Panthers, with Tufts looking unstoppable taking the second set 25-13.
A pair of Raffel kills and Jumbo errors saw Middlebury take a narrow lead. Middlebury’s Blackburn delivered a service ace that was followed by a net violation on Tufts. A kill from English coming out of a Jumbos’ timeout appeared to give Middlebury the momentum. The Panthers were pushed to victory by several key kills and blocks by the front line, forcing Tufts to play a fourth set.
Although the Panthers lost the fourth and deciding set, the team battled down the stretch and gave the favored Jumbos all they could handle. The Jumbos’ hulking and more experienced front line may have been victorious, but first-years Roberts and Raffel, along with Underbrink, all contributed with both sensational kills and momentous blocks.
Playing her final regular season game for the Panthers, Reed said the seniors tried to play it like a normal game.
“We have a very special team and it’s an honor to play with such a great group of people and such devoted coaches,” Reed said. “It’s going to be exciting for us to go to NESCACs and see what we can do.”
Next up for the Panthers is the NESCAC Tournament. The fourth-seeded Panthers will play fifth seeded Bowdoin (20-7, 6-4) Friday night, Nov. 7 at 8pm in Medford, MA at Tufts’ Cousens Gym.
(10/29/14 10:03pm)
On Jan. 7, 2015, the College will roll out its new identity system. In late September the Board of Trustees approved the proposal put together by the Office of Communications and Marketing working with an outside consultant. All of the schools and programs that make up the Middlebury brand will adopt a new shield, as well as a common naming structure. All of the affiliate schools will add “Middlebury” at the beginning of their name (e.g. Middlebury Bread Loaf School of English). The newly minted Middlebury Institute of International Studies at Monterey will receive a unique icon.
The changes that will occur on Jan. 7 will be most obvious on the websites. Most publications published after that date will have the updated design elements. As well, some of the adjustments that may take longer to implement, such as the replacing of signage in Monterey.
“To the outside world, and frankly to some of those on the inside, the relationships between the brands are not clear. Our intent was to restore the college to a place of centrality and differentiate it from the language schools or Bread Loaf. We thought this was a more effective way to explain who we are and make those ties a little clearer,” said Bill Burger, the Vice President for Communications and Marketing at an open meeting on Monday.
The new shield was one of many new designs considered in an attempt to visually unify the College and its many programs. It was briefly shown to the Campus in an interview with Burger. Central to the navy shield is a stylized rendition of Old Chapel, with a subtle line of mountains behind it. The three smaller elements that surround Old Chapel are a globe, a book and 1800, the year the College was founded.
“We have a very strong sense of place here,” Burger said when discussing the choice to heavily feature Old Chapel. He cited failed redesigns by the UC system, and at the College in 2008 as two instances in which there was a failure to acknowledge the history and traditions of the institution by trying something too sleek or modern.
The Middlebury Institute of International Affairs at Monterey will be the only affiliate to use a unique logo. According to Burger, the prominence of Old Chapel and the mountains felt appropriate for the New England spirit of the College and for its other schools, but was not representative of Monterey in Northern California. Burger said the compromise that resulted was the same navy shield that instead featured the Segal building.
“It was the first building the Institute bought after it was founded. It is the former Monterey Town library, and features beautiful Spanish colonial architecture,” Burger said.
Prestige and a global approach to liberal arts were two strong themes of the Middlebury brand, as identified by Mark Neustadt in a presentation to faculty in the spring of 2012. The College hired the Baltimore-based consultant to do research on the brand’s effectiveness, after a reaccreditation committee of faculty from colleges and universities around the country suggested that the relationship between the College, and its affiliates was not clear.
In his research, Neustadt found that the College’s brand identity was not clear. Along with a website redesign, he recommended that the College should construct a clear sub brand architecture.
Burger led a team that worked with Neustadt over the last two years to design a new icon and naming convention that together would form the new identity system. After the initial research, they worked from the summer of 2013 to the spring of 2014 on a number of possibilities for the naming conventions and icon, presenting ideas and gathering feedback from students, faculty and staff.
The result of this first stage of iterating and polling was an initial shield design that featured Old Chapel. After a second series of presentations to the community and more design sessions that lasted from February to May of this year, every element on the primary shield was refined, and Monterey’s unique shield was created.
Burger presented to over 300 members of the community, and said that although few students attended the public presentations, they tended to ask some of the best questions.
“This is an important part of design, not only assessing it aesthetically but also with the community,” he said.
(10/29/14 8:30pm)
No one but Jonathan Safran Foer – who spoke at the Middlebury College Commencement in 2013 – could have written Everything Is Illuminated. Of course, this is true to a degree of any piece of writing, but one can imagine that if another author was, for example, given the outline of an Agatha Christie novel and asked to write it, the story would remain intact. Not so with Everything Is Illuminated. Foer’s unique, extraordinary style is integral to the novel at every level, clear in the plot, the characterization, the emotional investment and the terribly beautiful series of climaxes. Foer’s writing shapes them all.
It is not a comfortable novel to read. If you are new to Foer, I would recommend possibly starting with his other famous novel, Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close. Although the writing in the latter is not by any means conventional, the plot and the general sense of the novel are far more straightforward. In Everything Is Illuminated, Foer never lets you rest. It stretches across time, from the crash of a wagon in a tiny unnamed town in the middle of Ukraine in 1791 to the troubled family life of a teenage boy in modern-day Odessa. The novel will jump ahead of itself, flashback, flash forward, scrounge up scraps of the past and leave you dizzy wondering what year it is, or if it even really matters. That which is comic Foer turns poignant, and that which is odd Foer makes comic, with moments of drama appearing when you least expect them. The reader careens from one emotion to the next, never entirely sure what the experience is or should be and eventually coming out the other side confused but not untouched. The semi-memoir, semi-fictional quality of the book, too, leaves one unsteady. Was it real? Was it fiction? Or both? Or perhaps it is fiction, but what is important is the greater literary truth that it expresses.
On the surface, the story does not seem all that complicated. A young American man named, coincidentally, Jonathan Safran Foer, comes to the Ukraine with an old photograph searching for the woman he believes saved his grandfather from the Nazi’s. It has the potential for a satisfying and moving tale, laced with the humor of the difficulty of finding vegetarian meals in Eastern Europe and the slightly inept translator coping with his cranky grandfather as chauffeur and the clueless American client. Foer, however, makes this story far, far more.
No sooner do you open the book than you are greeted with “An Overture to the Commencement of a Very Rigid Journey,” an introductory chapter that begins with “My legal name is Alexander Perchov. But all of my many friends dub me Alex, because that is a more flaccid-to-utter version of my legal name.” Roughly half of the novel is told from the perspective of Alex, who is the occasionally incompetent translator mentioned above. All of his sections are similar to those first few lines. His English is awkward at best, at times downright wrong and confusing at its worst. Yet Foer’s genius shines through as he uses his narrator’s language to communicate tone and feeling in a way not possible with traditional, proper English. Alex’s stilted repetition of the translations between Ukrainians and the “hero,” Jonathan Safran Foer, conveys the confusion and awkwardness of the back-and-forth better than any description could do. His gradual loss of punctuation, paragraph breaks, and even indications of who is speaking catches the reader in the stream of action so that one is as much in the moment as the characters. Foer’s use of language transcends its normal confinements to communicate in ways we encounter when speaking in everyday life, but do not expect to find in a novel.
Alternating with Alex’s chapters are those written in Foer’s voice. In these, he does use proper grammar and vocabulary, but his style is still far from traditional. His story ranges from the mundane to the almost fantastical, from passages of farcical characterization to strange and beautiful descriptions of love and painted hands and sex and dreams and death. Through it all, the novel maintains the ability to surprise. The present and recent and distant pasts interweave in ways one does not expect, but Foer is not one to tie everything together with a neat bow. The ending does not leave everything resolved or even trace each character succinctly back to his or her roots. Instead, I think Foer captures something much more truthful, beautiful and sad about the past. There are connections where one does not expect them, and there are none where one hopes to find them. The resolutions the “hero” wanted to find are not there, but other ones are.
Everything Is Illuminated is, above everything, hard to pin down. It is difficult to know what is truth or fiction, whether to laugh or cry, what is past or present and even who the characters are. Its title is misleading. Yet it is precisely because of its ambiguity that this novel can capture you, whisk you away to Ukraine, and leave you moved by its passion and beauty.
(10/22/14 8:51pm)
Middlebury volleyball spent homecoming weekend in Connecticut, picking up two conference victories on the road at Trinity and Wesleyan on Friday and Saturday, Oct. 17 and 18.
On Friday night the Panthers overcame the Bantams’ quick start in Oosting Gymnasium and cruised to their fourth win in conference play.
The two teams were neck-to-neck in the first set until Trinity went on a four-to-nothing run to take a 17-16 lead. Middlebury closed out the set on a nine-to-one run to take the first set 25-18.
The Panthers carried the momentum over, gaining an early advantage in the second set. A run of aces and well-placed kills gave Middlebury a 19-10 lead, as they held on and secured the set, 25-14.
In the third set, the Panthers traded points with Trinity, until a run of four straight points saw Middlebury grab a 17-13 lead, propelling the Panthers to a 25-19 victory.
Becca Raffel ’18 and Olivia Kolodka ’15 posted the team high for kills with eight each and were followed by Alice Roberts ‘18 who registered seven. Emily Kolodka ’18 played a key role in the victory as she registered a match-high 15 digs for the Panthers along with four service aces. Hannah Blackburn ’17 recorded a double-double with her match high 28 assists to go with 14 digs.
Trinity was led offensively by Kate Giddens with a match-best 11 kills, while Hunter Drews chipped in with six. Amanda Horan added four kills, while Randi Whitham dished out 13 assists. Defensively, Kristen Cooprider led the Bantams with 10 digs. The Bantams fell to 11-7 (3-5) with the loss.
“We feel good about what we’re doing right now, and will continue to strive to improve a little bit every day,” Head Coach Sarah Raunecker said.
Middlebury would look to carry Friday night’s momentum into Wesleyan’s Silloway Gym on Saturday afternoon in Middletown, but quickly found itself down a set when the Cardinals jumped on the Panthers early.
After a Charlotte Devine ’17 kill in the first set, Wesleyan collected 10 of the next 13 points and led by a score of 18-9. Kills by Olivia Kolodka and the first-year duo of Roberts and Raffel looked to stop the bleeding for the Panthers, but it wouldn’t be enough to stop Wesleyan from taking the first set 25-16.
Despite dropping the first set, the Panthers were able to win the next three and capture the match. The second set saw Middlebury in another tough battle as the match went down to the wire with the Panthers leading 19-18. However, a Roberts kill shifted the momentum in Middlebury’s favor. Kills from Melanie English ’17, Olivia Kolodka and a pair of Blackburn service aces sealed 25-18 set victory for the Panthers, knotting the match at one game apiece.
The third set staunchly belonged to Middlebury. The set was highlighted early by three Lizzy Reed ’15 service aces, and was closed by a Devine ace and kills from Raffel, Roberts and Olivia Kolodka.
“It doesn’t necessarily show in our stats, but I think we’ve been a pretty strong serving team this year so far, and we’d like to continue with that these last couple of weeks before NESCACs,” Raunecker said.
The fourth and final set got saw the Panthers off to a rocky start, as three straight attack errors turned their three to nothing lead into a four to three deficit. Once again, it was a close set until the end, when Middlebury managed six straight points, bookended by kills from Emily Kolodka and Raffel, to clinch the set 25-15, and the match three games to one. The loss dropped Wesleyan to 10-9 (2-7).
Olivia Kolodka collected 12 kills, Reed had 18 digs, and Hannah Blackburn dished out an impresive 44 assists to go with her four service aces.
The Panthers, 10-9 (5-3), have six games remaining in the last two weeks of the regular season.
The Panthers’ regular season wraps up with a pair of NESCAC matches against Connecticut College and conference leader Tufts. These matchups provide Middlebury with a chance to improve its seed heading into the conference tournament.
Currently sitting in fifth, the best position the team can find itself is the two seed, but this will require a lot of help; at worst the Panthers will earn the seventh seed.
“Our team has really started to gel and come together as we hoped it would, which has been really fun to see,” Raunecker said. “I think this is due to the strong leadership of our captains, and the maturation of our large freshman class.”
(10/09/14 2:49am)
The Middlebury Language Schools, in celebration of the centennial anniversary of their founding, will launch the School of Korean for the summer of 2015. The school will run at Middlebury’s affiliate campus at Mills College in Oakland, California, where the Arabic and Italian Schools are already housed.
Unlike the population of people studying Romance languages, many of those who choose to learn Korean are heritage learners—people who have cultural or ancestral ties to Korea yet who have some or perhaps no experience in the language. Most of these heritage populations are concentrated on the west coast, not the east.
“As such, there seems to be a consensus among the Korean language teaching community that a school would be more successful on the west coast,” said Dean of Language Schools Stephen Snyder in an interview with The Campus.
During the 2012 Winter Term, Korean was offered to undergraduate students as a workshop given by the Korean American Student Association. Neither undergraduate nor graduate students at Middlebury’s schools, however, had access to any official academic course in Korean.
“We feel responsible for providing as many of the most important world languages as we can on a regular basis to anyone who needs them,” said Michael Geisler, vice president of the Language Schools. “And between economic and security concerns and the fact that more and more students nationally and internationally seem to be interested in studying Korean, we felt that for our centennial career Korean would be the next logical language to launch.”
Middlebury’s intensive immersion programs guarantee improvement to some degree, and often result in fluency on both a technical and human level.
“That is where somebody speaking the language can make a tremendous difference,” Geisler said. “Because with the language comes the culture, and with the culture one can interact with people in ways that people who speak only English can’t.”
Unlike a lot of programs that start with first- or second-year Korean, the Middlebury Language Schools house a complete community of learners. Each language school comprises four levels of language teaching, and all levels must be rolled out at once.
“One challenge, therefore, is attracting enough students in one summer to populate the four levels and co-curricular activities, and having enough students to create a critical enough mass that the same six people aren’t talking to each other the whole time,” Snyder said. “This was one of the reasons we identified Korean as the next language to institute: we think there’s sufficient demand for students to learn it.”
In logistically preparing for the school’s opening, director Sahie Kang has sought the help of academic colleagues and native Koreans. Kang oversaw the development of an online “hybrid” program for novice learners to use before they arrive at the eight-week intensive, teaching Korean characters and simple syntax structures. She is still in the process of recruiting teachers from a pool of applicants. Kang’s teaching staff, when selected and assigned to each of the four levels, will then devise curricula for each level.
Fittingly with the Middlebury’s initiative to solidify its identity, Mr. Geisler has begun to unify the College’s various language programs, which include the famous Bread Loaf Conference and the newly-launched Bread Loaf Orion Environmental Writers’ Conference. Michael Collier, director of the Writers’ Conference, joined Geisler in devising the new Bread Loaf Translators’ Conference, which will be held at Middlebury’s campus in Ripton, Vermont, this June and will model the original Bread Loaf Conference.
Likewise, the Language Schools have sought and will continue to seek to expand their offerings. “Politically critical languages like Turkish, Vietnamese, Persian, and Swahili stood out in the formative phases of this process,” Geisler said. “We had a long discussion about Swahili; we would still like to start that soon, if we can.”
(10/01/14 11:23pm)
This September the MacArthur Foundation granted Vermont cartoonist Alison Bechdel a MacArthur “Genius” Award. Bechdel lives in Bolton, Vermont and is known for her poignant portrayal of family relationships, as well as the lesbian community. She is the second graphic novelist to win the grant.
A MacArthur Fellowship comes with a stipend of $650,000 to the recipient, paid out over five years in quarterly installments with no strings attached. There are no public nominations for MacArthur fellowships. Potential recipients are nominated by an anonymous group and some are chosen by an anonymous selection committee made up of about 12 people. Those who are chosen are then recommended to the president and board of directors, who choose the recipients. Recipients first learn that they haves received the award via a phone call congratulating them.
“What a bizarre day,” Bechdel wrote on her blog on Sept. 17th, after the announcement. “I’m sitting here watching my email fill up with message after message from people from so many different times and places of my life, all congratulating me for the astonishing good fortune of receiving a MacArthur Fellowship. Not to mention a flurry of texts and tweets, and I haven’t had the energy to even look at Facebook.”
Bechdel is known for the comic strip Dykes to Watch Out For, which ran from 1983 to 2008. She also wrote two book-length graphic memoirs: Fun Home: A Family Tradition (2006) and Are You My Mother? A Comic Drama (2012).
“I love that first book,” said Robert Cohen, Professor of English & American Literatures. Cohen has taught Bechdel’s book in classes before.
“It’s rigorous and deep and surprising and like all great memoirs, it transcends the scope of one life,” he said. “Maybe that’s because it’s so scrupulous about looking at her father — the autobiographical stuff comes almost by the way, in service of something larger and more mysterious: the father’s own struggles with identity: sexual and otherwise.”
The MacArthur Foundation praised both Bechdel’s comics and her graphic memoirs. In a statement, it said, “With storytelling that is striking for its conceptual depth and complexity in structure as well as for the deft use of allusion and reference, Bechdel is changing our notions of the contemporary memoir and expanding the expressive potential of the graphic form.”
One of the ways Bechdel expanded the potential of the graphic form was with the invention of the now-famous ‘Bechdel Test’ in 1985. The Bechdel Test was first used on films but now has found a wide audience and is applied to other areas of media as well. In Bechdel’s comic strip, one of her characters explains that she only watched movies that pass a three step test: the movie must 1) have at least two women in it, 2) who talk to each other about 3) something other than a man. Bechdel talked briefly about the test when she came to Middlebury to give a talk titled “Dykes, Dads and Moms to Watch Out For” in November 2012.
“The talk was excellent,” Cohen said. “Polished, funny, terrifically insightful about her pretty painstaking and labor-intensive process of composition. I remember she began by showing images of her rejections from graduate schools in both Writing and Visual Art, and how, feeling she was not good enough in either area, she found a way to combine them in the end. That she seemed as surprised by her success as anyone was just part of what made her presentation so endearing.”
Bechdel told the L.A. Times that with the money, she will be able to pay off some debts and save for retirement, as well as expand her work.
Bechdel said she will be able to “take some risks, do something new — to plunge into my work. It’s an incredible gift.”
