Green Party Candidate Ralph Nader Speaks at WC April 30

Chestertown, April 20—Ralph Nader will speak at Washington College on Sunday, April 30, at 7:30 p.m. Ranked third in polls on presidential candidates, Nader will talk about how government, corporations, and free trade will affect the global environment in the 21st century. His appearance in the Casey Academic Center Forum on campus is free and open to the public.

Nader is a noted lecturer whose simple message of being an active citizen touches a chord in his audiences. Years after they graduate, college students tell him how his lecture evening changed their lives.

Honored by "Time" magazine as one of the 100 most influential Americans of the 20th century, Nader has devoted his life to giving ordinary people the tools to defend themselves against corporate negligence and government indifference. After publication of his 1965 book "Unsafe at Any Speed," about potentially fatal mechanical defects in some cars, and the Senate hearings that resulted from it, Nader was catapulted into the public sphere. Seat belts and air bags in automobiles resulted from Nader's expose.

Nader was instrumental in the creation of the Occupational Safety and Health Administration, OSHA; the Environmental Protection Agency, EPA; and the Consumer Product Safety Commission. He helped draft and pass the Safe Water Drinking Act, the Meat and Poultry Inspection rules, and the Freedom of Information Act. Nader has formed numerous citizen groups, including the Center for Auto Safety, Public Citizen, Pension Rights Center, the Coalition for University in the Public Interest, and the student public interest research groups that operate in more than 20 states. He is now also working with alumni classes, including his own at Princeton University and Harvard Law School, to redirect their efforts from parties and reunions to volunteerism and community projects.

This William James Forum lecture is also sponsored by the Louis Goldstein Program in Public Affairs, The Society of Junior Fellows and the Campus Events and Visitors Committee.

Washington College Names Widmer Head of C. V. Starr Center

Annapolis, April 19—Governor Parris N. Glendening joined Washington College president John S. Toll today to announce the appointment of Edward "Ted" Ladd Widmer as director of the C. V. Starr Center for the Study of the American Experience at Washington College in Chestertown, MD

A Harvard-educated historian, Widmer comes to the College from the White House, where he was Special Assistant to the President and director for speechwriting at the National Security Council. Widmer holds a Ph.D. in the history of American civilization; an A.M. in history; and an A.B., magna cum laude, all from Harvard University. He was an instructor in history and literature at Harvard and also taught at the Rhode Island School of Design.

About the Center, Widmer says, "The C. V. Starr Center will devote itself to the study of one of the most remarkable metamorphoses in history: how in the brief span of two centuries, a loose agglomeration of colonies at the periphery of the British empire evolved into the greatest power ever known."

Widmer envisions an active role in public life for the Center, saying, "Through a wide variety of public programs, the Center will encourage the broad study of the American experience and the countless ways we give daily new meaning to what Washington called 'the great experiment.' In keeping with the special history and character of Washington College, the Center will pay close attention to the nation's founding moment."

In addition to directing the C. V. Starr Center, Widmer will teach undergraduate and graduate courses in history as an associate professor at Washington College.

Widmer's published works reflect his broad knowledge of American cultural, intellectual, and political history. His book Young America: The Flowering of Democracy in New York City (Oxford University Press: 1998) is a study of politics and culture in the Jacksonian period. Widmer examines the career of John O'Sullivan, author of "Manifest Destiny," and the influence of his magazine, the Democratic Review. He was a contributing editor for the magazine George and has written for The American Heritage History of the United States, The Whitman Encyclopedia, The Encyclopedia of New England Culture, The Encyclopedia Africana, Harvard Magazine, and Rhode Island History. He is also a consultant for a variety of other magazines and journals. His second book, on the troubled early history of African-American music, has been accepted for publication by Oxford University Press.

The new director received the Dena Epstein Award for Excellence in Music History in 1998, a Charles Warren Center Fellowship in American History in 1997, a W. E. B. Du Bois Fellowship in Afro-American Studies in 1996, the Stephen Botein Prize for Teaching Excellence in 1994, a John Carter Brown Library Fellowship in 1994, and the Mark DeWolfe Howe Fellowship in the Study of Civil Liberties in 1991. From 1985 to 1993, Widmer held the Mellon Fellowship in the Humanities.

The headquarters of the C. V. Starr Center will be in the Custom House, a Colonial period building located on the Chester River in Chestertown, MD The Custom House was given to the College by the late Wilbur Ross Hubbard, a long-time member of Washington College's Board of Visitors and Governors. The building is being restored with assistance from grants from the Maryland Historic Trust and the C. V. Starr Foundation.

WC Named to Yahoo's Most Wired List, Ranked #1 in Maryland

Chestertown, April 18 — Washington College placed at #38 in the nation on Yahoo's Most Wired Colleges list. According to the elite list, widely considered the authoritative source for rating the best campus technology in the U.S., Washington College was also rated #1 in the state of Maryland.

Yahoo's list is determined by how colleges rate according to certain criteria important to students, including the capabilities to allow students to apply electronically, offer Internet access in classrooms, offer students more than 25MB of server disk space, and provide computer equipment or labs in a variety of buildings around the campus.

The list specifically cited the Washington College web site, pointing out that the Mellon Grant portion of the site showcased digital projects that students had created.

Washington College Hosts Premiere of Sacred Ritual Film

Chestertown, April 17—"An Offering to Appeal for Rain" will be shown at 7 p.m. on Thursday, April 27, in the Casey Academic Forum at Washington College. After the screening, film makers Alan R. Sandstrom and Pamela Effrein Sandstrom will discuss its significance and answer questions from the audience. Admission is free.

This will be the premiere of the video. No outsiders other than the film makers have ever witnessed this sacred ritual—a dramatic pilgrimage to the top of a sacred mountain to ask the water spirit for rain.

Anthropologist Alan R. Sandstrom has been conducting ethnographic research among Nahua Indians of Veracruz, Mexico, since 1972. Pamela Effrein, his wife, has accompanied him on all of his expeditions since their marriage. The Sandstroms' early research on ritual led to a groundbreaking analysis of ritual paper cutting among the Nahua, Traditional Papermaking and Paper Cult Figures of Mexico. Nahua medicine was the focus of Sandstrom's research, which led to the publication of The Image of Disease: Medical Practices of Nahua Indians of the Huasteca and to a volume co-edited with Brad Huber, Mesoamerican Healers. In 1981 Sandstrom published a study of curing and crop rituals, Traditional Curing and Crop Fertility Rituals among Otomi Indians of the Sierra de Puebla, Mexico: The Lopez Manuscripts.

Sandstrom's Corn is Our Blood: Culture and Ethnic Identity in a Contemporary Aztec Indian Village, now in its third printing, is the culmination of years of field research on the ethnic identity and culture change among the Nahua. The Sandstroms' most recent research examined milpa horticulture among the same population. In "An Offering to Appeal for Rain," the Sandstroms participated in a fantastic pilgrimage to the top of a sacred mountain to ask the water spirit for rain.

Alan Sandstrom received his Ph.D. in anthropology from Indiana University, Bloomington, and is professor of anthropology at Indiana University-Purdue University Fort Wayne, where he has taught since 1975. He was recently appointed distinguished professor by the Academia Mexicana de las Ciencias (Mexican Academy of Sciences). Pamela Effrein Sandstrom has a Ph.D. in Library and Information Science from Indiana University and is head of reference at the Indiana University-Purdue University Fort Wayne library.

The video premiere and Daniel Z. Gibson and John A. Wagner lecture are also sponsored by The Campus Events and Visitors Committee, The Department of Sociology & Anthropology, The Art Department, The Program in International Studies and the Louis L. Goldstein Program in Public Affairs.

Performance Artist and Professor Holly Hughes to Appear at WC

Chestertown, April 14—Holly Hughes, whose National Endowment for the Arts grant was denied because of the content of her work, will perform selections from her work at 7 p.m., Friday, April 21 in the Tawes Theatre on the campus of Washington College. Admission is free.

Critics consistently praise Hughes's work. Pulitzer Prize-winning playwright Tony Kushner writes, "She's phenomenal. When you encounter a mind like Holly Hughes, it wakes you up." The Chicago Tribune calls Hughes "One of the most insightful, funny and entertaining storytellers around."

The Raleigh-Durham Spectator called Hughes "part pundit, part comedian, and part exhibitionist. A gifted comedian, she has a fresh and very funny point of view, and her wry observations on contemporary society appeal to a wider audience than she might imagine."

Hughes is an Obie-winning writer, performer and teacher and is considered a central figure in America's culture wars.In 1990 Hughes became what some have called "a notorious poster girl of the free speech movement" when she and three other artists were denied funding by the National Endowment for the Arts. After recommending Hughes for a grant, the NEA reversed its decision on the grounds that Hughes's work was too "controversial." The artists sued and settled successfully out of court.

Hughes's performance is sponsored by the Drama Department of Washington College and the Robert Julian Emory Memorial Fund.

Art Scholar to Discuss Apocalyptic Visions

Chestertown, April 14 — The Washington College Friends of the Arts and Department of Art present "Apocalypse Then: Reflections on the Half-Millennium in German-Speaking Lands around 1500," a lecture by renowned art historian Larry A. Silver. The copiously illustrated talk will take place at 8 p.m. on Tuesday, April 25, in the Casey Academic Center Forum at Washington College. Admission is free.

Silver is the James and Nan Wagner Farquhar Professor of the History of Art at the University of Pennsylvania and former president of the College Art Association. He received his bachelor's degree in art from the University of Chicago. His master's degree and Ph.D. were earned at Harvard University. A noted speaker, Silver has also written or co-written more than 50 books and art exhibit catalogues on such artists as Bosch, Brueghel, and van Leyden.

Samuel Beckett Friend & Biographer to Speak at WC

Chestertown, MD — Was Samuel Beckett, the great innovator of modern theater, inspired by the paintings of the Old Masters? In his lively and accessible illustrated talk, James Knowlson, Beckett's authorized biographer, will address that question. His lecture is at 4:30 p.m. on Tuesday April 18 in the Casey Academic Forum at Washington College. It is free and open to the public.

Knowlson will base his talk on Beckett's unpublished correspondence and personal diaries, to which he has had exclusive access. A personal friend of the playwright for twenty years, Knowlson wrote the acclaimed biography "Damned to Fame. The Life of Samuel Beckett" in 1996. The book was short-listed for the Whitbread Biography Award and the James Tait Black Memorial Prize in 1996, and won the Southern Arts Association's prize for the best nonfiction work over a three-year period. In the United States, It was also awarded the George Freedley Memorial Award for the outstanding book on theater of 1996. An emeritus professor of French at the University of Reading, Knowlson has written or edited ten other books on Beckett and founded the Journal of Beckett Studies. In 1971, he established the Beckett Archive, now The Beckett International Foundation at Reading.

Knowlson was extensively involved with the productions of Beckett's works during his lifetime. After Beckett's death, he was a consultant for several London theater productions and television films. He has lectured in Japan, Holland, France, Italy, Germany, and Spain, where his books have also been translated.

"Beckett and the Old Masters" is sponsored by the Sophie Kerr Committee at Washington College.

Archaeologists Dig Behind Chestertown's Colonial Custom House

Chestertown, April 12—Archaeologists from Washington College recently began a two-week archaeological investigation at Chestertown's Custom House, at the foot of High Street. The excavations were prompted by the College's plans for a substantial renovation of the old building, a restoration that might disturb centuries-old archaeological remains.

The original section of the Custom House was built around 1745 by local innkeeper and merchant Samuel Massey. The distinctive brickwork of the house's facade, a style that uses glazed brick in a decorative pattern, marks it as a prominent building for its time. It was acquired from Massey in 1749 and enlarged substantially by another of Kent County's most prominent citizens, Thomas Ringgold. Ringgold, an attorney and member of the House of Burgesses, had extensive mercantile connections, interests in shipbuilding yards, and large landholdings.

Ringgold supervised his holdings from the Custom House, located at the corner of High and Front Streets. The house overlooked Chestertown's main wharf at the foot of High Street. Vaults and cellars beneath the house were used for storage, and the grounds held a wide variety of buildings over the years. Historical documents refer to a dry goods store, a cooper's shop (barrel and cask maker), granaries, storehouses, and wharves.

The location of the house also made it ideal for watching the comings and goings of ships and cargos from Chestertown's busy colonial harbor. Prior to the American Revolution, the District Customs Collector used at least one room in the house as an office, giving the building the name it has retained ever since, the Custom House.

During the 1800s, the Custom House saw a variety of owners and changes in the uses of both the house and its grounds. Outbuildings for the residence included a carriage house, a meat house, and privies, and commercial structures included warehouses and canning factories. For many years, the house was divided into apartments. In 1909 the property was purchased by the Hubbard family, who remained the owners until the property recently was given to Washington College. Much of the historic fabric of the Custom House has deteriorated and the building requires substantial renovation before it can be used effectively. The College plans to rehabilitate the building, paying special attention to historical details and keeping intact as much as possible of the original building.

Part of the renovation work includes construction of new mechanical and storage rooms in the rear of the building. Because this will disturb the ground, archaeologists from Washington College are excavating these areas in advance of construction to ensure that no important evidence of the earlier history of the site is destroyed.

During the two-week excavation phase of the project, which began on April 10, archaeologists will excavate inside the planned construction area. Digging one layer at a time, the students and staff members hope to uncover artifacts and the remains of old foundations from outbuildings. John Seidel, assistant professor of archaeology, said, "The materials we recover during this dig may reveal important insights into the construction phases and history of the Custom House and the everyday life of its occupants."

Wingate Memorial Lecture Examines Civilization and Madness

Chestertown, April 11—The transformation of the medieval world to Renaissance civilization challenged strongly held opinions about human behavior. Using the history of madness as a lens, noted scholar and author H. C. Erik Midelfort will examine the history of the Renaissance and the civilizing process in his talk "Madness and Civilization in Renaissance Germany." The illustrated lecture takes place at 7:30 p.m. on Thursday April 20 in the Casey Academic Forum at Washington College.

Midelfort's highly praised study, A History of Madness in Sixteenth-Century Germany, forms the basis of his talk. The work has been praised for shedding light on the entire history of its era and on the nature of insanity and culture in general. It received the 1999 Ralph Waldo Emerson Award, one of three prestigious national Phi Beta Kappa Book Awards for outstanding nonfiction, as "a contribution to the cultural and intellectual understanding of mankind." Donald McColl, Washington College assistant professor of art history, researched the illustrations for the book.

Midelfort is C. Julian Bishko Professor of history and principal of Brown College at the University of Virginia, where he has taught since 1970. He has also written "Mad Princes of Renaissance Germany" and other studies of madness and the occult in the Renaissance. A magna cum laude graduate of Yale University, where he also received his Ph.D., Midelfort has taught at Stanford, Bern, Stuttgart and Harvard universities.

"Madness and Civilization in Renaissance Germany" is the Conrad M. Wingate Memorial Lecture in History. It is also sponsored by the Washington College Department of Art and the Washington College Phi Beta Kappa Association. It is free and open to the public. For more information, please call 1-800-442-1782.

Washington College Offers "Theatre in the Classroom" Summer Grad Course

Chestertown, April 7—Washington College will offer "Theatre in the Classroom," a graduate course in education this summer, taught by drama professor Timothy Maloney. The course will be held from 7 to 9:30 p.m., Tues. and Thurs., from June 5 to July 24.

Theatre in the Classroom will focus on developing methods of integrating performance techniques into the regular curriculum in any content area and exploring interdisciplinary planning and teaching strategies. "Theatre can be used in any discipline—from biology to physics to history to literature," Maloney says. Students will work on developing techniques of both scripted and non-scripted performance as a means of presenting content material and of engaging their own students in active, creative encounters with that material. Maryland is among the states that have drafted or completed arts education standards. Professional development such as that offered by Theatre in the Classroom is key to the success of those standards.

The class is grounded in Harvard professor Howard Gardner's work on the variety of forms of intelligence, which has helped legitimate arts as integral to learning. "In his study of the many forms in which intelligence can be expressed and developed, Gardner points to the practical utility of using the arts in enhancing individual performance," says Maloney.

Using theatre in the classroom can increase students' ability to understand material by engaging their imaginations. "Reading alone might distance students from the material," Maloney says. "Theatre is particularly apt for classroom use because it is an innate human activity—it's intrinsic in humans to make theatre , to make language that expresses the human condition in the present."

Washington College offers courses leading to masters degrees in English, history, and psychology. Those who are pursuing a graduate degree in education elsewhere should contact their schools to determine whether Theatre in the Classroom fulfills degree requirements. Graduate tuition and fees at Washington College are $770 per course. For more information about Theatre in the Classroom or other graduate courses being offered this summer, call the Washington College Office of the Registrar, 410-778-7299.

Kent County Community Invited to Share in Arboretum's Success

Arbor Day celebration April 17 at Washington College

Chestertown, MD — How community involvement can help shape the future of the Virginia Gent Decker Aboretum at Washington College will be discussed during the College’s Arbor Day celebration, featuring Rosemary Ford, associate professor of biology and director of the arboretum, and Marnie Flook, an avid gardener and arboretum volunteer whose Chestertown garden has been featured on many garden tours. Ford and Flook will talk about the natural history of many of the species represented on the campus and conduct a virtual tour of the arboretum at 7 p.m. on Monday April 17 in the Casey Academic Forum. The public is especially welcome.

"We’ll be highlighting trees of interest on campus and talking about the campus plan for the arboretum’s future, as well as how tree lovers in Kent County can share in that future," said Ford.

Last year more than 100 students from Garnett Elementary School toured the campus arboretum, identifying trees with the help of labels affixed to the trees. Ford says that Chestertown residents of all ages walk through the campus to rest in the shade of the older trees and see how new ones are faring.

Although the arboretum is young, having been founded in 1998, it already comprises more than 100 trees. It is dedicated to Virginia Gent Decker, wife of Alonzo G. Decker, the retired chief executive office of Black & Decker corporation who co-chaired Washington College’s $43.3 million Campaign for Excellence during the 1980s. Mrs. Decker, who has an abiding interest in the environment, serves as Honorary Chair of the arboretum.

"The arboretum is growing, both in the number of trees on the campus, and in community members who are interested in assisting," said Ford. Many of those helpers belong to the Friends of the Virginia Gent Decker Arboretum, which was founded in 1999. Ford said, "The Friends will be instrumental in assuring that the arboretum provides the community with a rich asset."

For more information about this Arbor Day event or the Virginia Gent Decker Arboretum, call 410-778-7726

Washington College Gospel Choir to Perform at Two Events

Chestertown, MD — The Washington College Gospel Choir, under the direction of Reverend Eric Scott, will perform in the Student Study Lounge of Hodson Hall at 2:30 PM on Saturday April 8th or Washington College's Diversity Weekend. This event will be held in conjunction with other events for Diversity Weekend to be held at the College.

The Gospel Choir will also sing at the Talbot County Chamber of Commerce Shore Leadership Program at 5:40 p.m. on Thursday April 13, 2000 at the Sultana Shipyard in Chestertown.

Shore Leadership broadens the base of leaders on the Eastern Shore by developing individual interest in and knowledge about the region and state. The program fosters leadership ability that can be applied for the greater good of the community.

In addition to their normal repertoire, the choir will sing several new songs.

Paris Peace Conference Simulation at Washington College

Chestertown, MD — Under the auspices of the United States Institute of Peace and Washington College, students from Washington College, Howard University, The Catholic University of America, and the University of Baltimore will come together on the College campus in Chestertown, MD, for a two-day simulation of the 1972 Paris Peace talks. The original talks were begun in 1968, but reached an impasse. After behind-the-scenes negotiations, the official talks began again in October 1972. On January 25, 1973 a final agreement was signed. On March 29, 1973, the last U.S. troops pulled out of South Vietnam. The simulation at Washington College takes place Thursday April 6 and Friday April 7.

In addition, Peter Rodman, assistant to Henry Kissinger from 1969 to 1977, will join the students, their faculty sponsors, and faculty observers from West Point the evening of April 6 for a lecture/dinner in Chestertown.

The United States Institute of Peace was established 16 years ago by Congress as an educational research institution to help in preventing, managing, and resolving international conflicts. Educational outreach is one of its emphases.

The Peace Conference will begin with each team of three students presenting a brief detailing its negotiating stance and position. From that point on, the conference assumes a life of its own. Washington College represents the United States. The Catholic University of America represents North Vietnam. Howard University will take the role of South Vietnam. The University of Baltimore will represent the USSR. Jeff Helsing, of the USIP will moderate. Faculty members from West Point will attend as observers.

Music of Claude Debussy at Washington College

Chestertown, MD — Chiaki Miyazaki will present a lecture and recital featuring Claude Debussy's piano music at 4 p.m. on Sunday April 9, at the Norman James Theatre at Washington College.

Miyazaki is a senior at the College. A psychology and music major, she plans to pursue a graduate degree in music therapy after graduating. She will be playing the first and second arabesques from "Deux Arabesques," Prelude from "Suite Bergamasque," "Reverie," Prelude from "Suite pour le piano," "La fille aux cheveux de lin," and "La Cathedrale engloutie."

"Piano Music of Claude Debussy" is free and open to the public.

Tales from the Garden by Author Dorothy Sucher

Chestertown, MD — Author Dorothy Sucher will read from her book "The Invisible Garden" at Washington College at 8 p.m. on Thursday April 13. Her reading takes place in the O'Neill Literary House and is free and open to the public.

Sucher's stories of cultivating an abandoned Vermont garden while growing friendships with a variety of colorful neighbors are enjoyed by gardeners and nongardeners alike. Readers call it humorous, deeply satisfying and engaging.

Enchanted by a stream running through the property, Sucher impulsively buys a rundown blue farmhouse in Vermont. The perfect writer's retreat, thinks Sucher, who has also written two mysteries. Instead of retreating, however, she is consumed by "Garden Fever—an obsessive state in which plan piles upon plan, project upon project, the more grandiose, the better." The lifelong city dweller finds that shaping her land is much more difficult than glossy gardening magazines would have her believe. Yet, she rejoices in the process of creating gardens, ponds, and paths and in the friendships and insights that arise from those efforts.

Sucher's reading is sponsored by the O'Neill Literary House and the Sophie Kerr Committee.

Washington College Tuition And Fees Up 4.24 Percent

Third Lowest Increase Since 1976 Marks Continued Modest Trend

Chestertown, MD — Tuition and student fees at Washington College will rise 4.24 percent for the upcoming academic year. The increase of $1,100 will bring the total bill for the 2000-2001 academic year at Washington College—including tuition, room, board and mandatory fees—to $27,040. The current cost is $25,940.

Officials said that effective cost-control measures and strong fund-raising efforts contributed to the moderate increase. Washington College seeks to ensure up-to-date facilities with the latest technologies for its students. Near completion on campus is Goldstein Hall, the College's newest classroom and faculty office building. It will house 24 faculty offices, three classrooms, five seminar rooms, two teaching labs, and one lecture hall. The Writing Center, Math Workshop, and Study Skills offices will also be located at Goldstein Hall, providing a central location for students. Also on tap over the next four years is construction of new residence halls and renovation of those existing to meet the expectations of post-Millennial college students.

College President John S. Toll said, "We have endeavored to hold down the increase in the cost of Washington College education and to provide financial aid to every student who needs it. We're pleased by the increase in the number of able applicants for admission this year and are working to see that the unique Washington College education is available to those who are well qualified."

Many of those well-qualified students benefit from a major element of Washington College's financial aid package, the Washington Scholars program, now in its fourth year. The Washington Scholars program makes $40,000 in scholarship money available to all Washington College students who were inducted into their high school National Honor Society and maintain a B average.

WC Students Offer Their Help to Habitat for Humanity Over Spring Break

Chestertown, MD — It’s not unusual for a vanload of Washington College students to head off to Florida for spring break. What set this group apart from the denizens of sun-worshippers heading south was their daily itinerary—rise at 6 a.m., drive to a construction site, and work all day in the hot sun, all for a good cause.

Sophomore Gia Greer led Washington College’s team of ten Habitat for Humanity volunteers, who spent four days helping to build a house for a Gainesville, Fla., family. The all-female crew camped out in the basement of a doctor’s suburban home by night and teamed up with a contingent from University of New Hampshire to hang siding and nail on roof shingles by day. (link to Gainesville article)

"It gave us a huge sense of accomplishment, knowing that we were helping somebody in particular, and realizing that we were capable of putting a roof on a house," commented Grier, the SGA’s Service Chair. "We also had a lot of fun bonding as a group and meeting other people. We especially enjoyed exchanging stories with the New Hampshire group. Coming from a large school, they couldn’t believe that an underclassman had organized this trip."

In response to the "huge interest" shown in the spring break alternative this year, Grier hopes to put together two or three Habitat for Humanity teams next year. "Everyone who went thought it was a great experience."

Washington College Celebrates National Poetry Month

Leading Poet Dick Allen to Read and Lecture April 11 and 12

Chestertown, MD — Dick Allen, regarded as one of America's leading contemporary poets and writers, will read from his work and lecture on contemporary poetry at Washington College. The reading takes place at 4 p.m., Tuesday April 11, in the Casey Academic Center Forum. His lecture, "Contemporary Poetry: The Good, The Bad, The Ugly, and The Weird," will be held at 4:30 p.m., Wednesday April 12, in the Sophie Kerr Room in the College's Miller Library.

A widely published and anthologized poet, Allen will read from Ode to the Cold War and poems written and published after that 1997 book. Allen's other books of poetry include Flight and Pursuit; Overnight in the Guest House of the Mystic, nominated for the National Book Critics Circle Award for the year's best poetry collection; Regions With No Proper Names; and Anon and Various Time Machine Poems.

In his lecture, Allen says he will examine "what's really right and what's really wrong about contemporary poetry, especially American poetry." He'll discuss such movements as New Formalism, Expansive Poetry, the New Narrative, and Language Poetry and talk about why poetry is both greatly popular and not popular at all in America today. Allen also will discuss little-known aspects of what the current state of poetry reveals about contemporary society and contemporary individuals.

Allen has received many awards including a National Endowment for the Arts Fellowship in Poetry Writing, the Hart Crane Poetry Fellowship, the Robert Frost Poetry Fellowship (Bread Loaf), and an Academy of American Poets prize. A noted speaker, he has presented more than 150 lectures, panel talks, and poetry readings at colleges and universities throughout the United States. He also reviews poetry, and is the director of creative writing and Charles A. Dana professor of English at the University of Bridgeport in Connecticut.

Allen's appearances are sponsored by the Sophie Kerr Committee and are free and open to the public.