Art Historian To Discuss Climate Change And Winter Landscapes In Flemish And Dutch Paintings

Chestertown, MD, January 29, 2003 — The Washington College Department of Art, the Center for the Environment and Society and Art History Club present “Bethlehem in the Snow and Holland on the Ice: Climatic Change and the Invention of the Winter Landscape, 1560-1620,” a lecture by Lawrence O. Goedde, Ph.D., Chair of the McIntire Department of Art at the University of Virginia, Tuesday, February 11, at 8 p.m. in the College's Casey Academic Center Forum. The event is free and open to the public.

Dr. Goedde has taught art history at the University of Virginia since 1981. A graduate of Washington University, he received his Ph.D. from Columbia University and specializes in Northern Baroque art. In addition to numerous academic awards and research grants, Dr. Goedde is past vice-president of the Historians of Netherlandish Art. His talk will address both the hypothesis that painted landscapes produced in specific areas depict or imply weather conditions corresponding to the observed weather of those regions and the proposition that changes in climate are reflected in the development of art, or even that climate changes cause artistic change.

His lecture will focus on a group of snow scenes dating to 1565-1567 by Pieter Bruegel the Elder. In these works, the celebrated Flemish artist painted perhaps for the first time in Western art snowy winter weather in a large-scale format and established an artistic subject that remains popular to this day. In recent years a number of scholars of climate history have linked Bruegel's invention to the bitterly cold winter of 1564-65 and to the Little Ice Age of the late sixteenth and early seventeenth centuries. But the direct relation of works of art to climate and to changes in climate can be problematic, Dr. Goedde believes, and though Netherlandish art can be highly descriptive, there is a selective realism in Dutch landscape painting that complicates the hypothesis that climate changes necessarily influenced the artists.

Poet And Editor To Discuss Poetry And The Challenges Of Small Press Publishing February 27

Chestertown, MD, January 28, 2003 — The O'Neill Literary House at Washington College presents “Poet and Publisher,” a poetry reading and a discussion of small press publishing featuring poet Melanie Braverman and publisher Susan Kan, Thursday, February 27 at 4 p.m. in the O'Neill Literary House. This free event is open to the public and is a must for aspiring writers and poets and for those interested in the world of small press publishing.

Braverman is the author of the poetry collection Red (Perugia Press 2002) and the novel East Justice (Permanent Press 1996). She is the recipient of grants in poetry and fiction from the Massachusetts Cultural Council and has published in numerous journals, including American Poetry Review, American Voice and Southern Poetry Review. She has taught in the Spoleto Artists Symposia in Italy and the Fine Arts Work Center workshop programs. She lives in Provincetown, MA, and is currently serving as a visiting writer at Dartmouth College.

Kan is the founding editor and director of Perugia Press, a small poetry press based in Florence, MA. Founded in 1997, the press publishes books by women writers who are at the beginnings of their careers. Kan holds a Master of Fine Arts degree in Creative Writing from the Warren Wilson College Program for Writers. Braverman will read from Red and will discuss small press publishing from the poet's perspective. Kan will address the challenges faced by small press publishers.

Pre-Civil Rights Era Remembered At Washington College Martin Luther King Day Ceremony

Chestertown, MD, January 23, 2003 — For the first time in recent memory, the audience attending an event in Washington College's Norman James Theatre were asked to file in through doors labeled “White Only” and “Colored Only.” Immediately labeled as soon as they walked through the door, some were allowed up front, but many more were told to sit in the back.

And it was all done in honor of a man who spent his life fighting against the practices those heading the event were trying to echo.

The Martin Luther King, Jr. Day celebration at Washington College titled “Remember Why” gave its audience just a small taste of the inequity and discrimination the doctor and reverend died fighting to eliminate. Each person, as they came in, was asked to draw a label from a basket. Those with a “WHITE” label were told to sit up front. Those with a “COLORED” label had to sit in the back.

By the time the ceremony began, the rear of the small theater was packed. Host Jennifer Walker of the Class of 2003, explained just why the labels had been given out.

“These labels you are wearing were assigned to you not based on character or personality, but indiscriminately,” she said. “Today, as you are separated, think about those feelings that you had … From 1880 to the 1960's … because of the Jim Crow laws … many people felt as you do today.”

Those addressing the audience at the Jan. 20 ceremony spoke of their own feelings about King and read pieces relevant to the day.

Mark Hoesly, associate dean, asked, “Why do we still gather annually? … People don't gather in this number for other Americans.”

“People still haven't learned the lessons,” he said. “Until we learn these lessons, I think we will still need to dedicate ourselves to the ideals that Dr. King championed.”

The most poignant and timely words spoken were those of King himself. Professor Kevin Brien of the college's Department of Philosophy, in speaking about his reaction to the civil rights leader's assassination, read excerpts from King's speeches.

“On April 4, 1968, an assassin's bullet stole the life of a man with a great dream, a man who routinely went where even the angels feared to tread … I was in the library of Boston University when he was killed … It was the same institution where King received his doctorate,” Brien said.

It wasn't until later, walking along the Charles River, that he heard the news.

“I felt a grief welling up in me … Snippets of King's speeches came to my mind,” he said.

Brien read from two of King's most well known speeches, and from one of his least studied, yet most relevant works.

In his acceptance address for the Nobel Peace Prize in 1964, King said to the audience in Oslo, “I refuse to accept that man is mere flotsam and jetsam in the river of life unable to influence the unfolding events which surround him. I refuse to accept the view that mankind is so tragically bound to the starless midnight of racism and war that the bright daybreak of peace and brotherhood can never become a reality.”

During his address to those marching on Washington DC on Aug. 28, 1963, King said from the steps of the Lincoln Memorial, “I have a dream that one day this nation will rise up and live out the true meaning of its creed: ‘We hold these truths to be self-evident that all men are created equal' … I have a dream that my four little children will one day live in a nation where they will not be judged by the color of their skin, but by the content of their character.”

King delivered a speech to a meeting of Clergy and Laity Concerned at Riverside Church in New York City on April 4, 1967, exactly one year before his tragic death, titled “Beyond Vietnam: A Time to Break the Silence.”

“I am convinced that if we are to get on the right side of the world revolution, we as a nation must undergo a radical revolution of values,” he told his audience. “We must rapidly begin the shift from a thing-oriented society to a person-oriented society. When machines and computers, profit motives and property rights are considered more important than people, the giant triplets of racism, materialism, and militarism are incapable of being conquered.”

“A true revolution of values will soon look uneasily on the glaring contrast of poverty and wealth,” he continued. “A nation that continues year after year to spend more money on military defense than on programs of social uplift is approaching spiritual death. America, the richest and most powerful nation in the world, can well lead the way in this revolution of values … We must, with positive action, seek to remove those conditions of poverty, insecurity and injustice which are the fertile soil in which the seed of communism grows and develops.”

Brien added to that final quote with his own words, dovetailing King's feelings on Vietnam with the message of the worldwide peace rallies held the two days before.

“I would add that this fertile soil of poverty, insecurity and injustice is also the soil in which the seed of terrorism grows,” he said. “If we want peace … we must work for social justice now … We must work for social justice in the relations between the sexes … between races … between nations … in all human relations.”

Audience members were encouraged, before they left the theater, to write on their labels – “WHITE” and “COLORED” – words to express how they would label themselves. Before leaving, the audience put those transformed labels on a corkboard panel in the back.

Many said “Love” or “Peace” or “Unity.” One read “God's Children, One or Indivisible.” And one read “Youth of Tomorrow, The Choice is Ours.”

College To Honor Science, Liberal Arts And Public Service Accomplishments At 2003 Washington's Birthday Convocation

Chestertown, MD, January 21, 2003— In an annual tradition to honor the school's founding patron and his deals, Washington College will hold its annual George Washington Birthday Convocation on Saturday, February 22, 2003, beginning at 2 p.m. in the College's Gibson Performing Arts Center, Tawes Theatre. The honored guests will be John H. Marburger III, Director of the President's Office for Science and Technology Policy; Werner Gundersheimer, Ph.D., Director Emeritus of the Folger Shakespeare Library; and Walter Baker, Washington College alumnus and member of the Maryland Senate 1979-2003. Alumnus Bob Cleaver '58, recipient of the 2002 Alumni Service Award, will also be recognized for his contributions to the College. The event and is free and open to the public. A reception will follow in the lobby of the Miller Library.

Dr. John Marburger was appointed by President George Bush to direct the Office of Science and Technology, created in 1976 and designed to provide the president with policy advice related to science and technology, applied research, science education and scientific literacy, and international cooperation. Dr. Marburger holds a Ph.D. in applied physics from Stanford University and was the former Director of the U.S. Department of Energy's Brookhaven National Laboratory. As president of the State University of New York at Stony Brook from 1980 to 1994, he oversaw the opening and growth of its University Hospital and the development of biological sciences as the university's major strength.

Under his leadership in the 1980s, Stony Brook's federally funded scientific research exceeded that of any other public university in the Northeast. Before joining Stony Brook, Dr. Marburger was a professor of physics and electrical engineering at the University of Southern California, where he contributed to the field on nonlinear optics and cofounded the university's Center for Laser Studies. Washington College will honor his contributions to science education by awarding him an Honorary Doctor of Science from the College.

Dr. Werner Gundersheimer, who directed the Capitol Hill-based Folger Library from 1984 to 2002, will be awarded an Honorary Doctor of Letters from the College for recognition of his support of the liberal arts and his recent gift to Washington College's Clifton M. Miller Library: his private collection of books on Medieval and Renaissance literature and culture. A noted scholar of early modern French and Italian history, Dr. Gundersheimer is a graduate of Amherst College and earned his M.A. and Ph.D. degrees at Harvard University. Before joining the Folger, he was Chairman of the Department of History and Director of the Center for Italian Studies at the University of Pennsylvania.

The Honorable Walter Baker, a 1960 graduate of Washington College, served the citizens of the 36th District of Maryland (comprising Cecil, Kent, Caroline, Queen Anne's and Talbot Counties) in the State Senate from 1979 to 2002. Born in Port Deposit, MD, Baker served in the U. S. Army from 1950 to 1953, and, after receiving his law degree from the University of Maryland School of Law, worked as a practicing lawyer and a State's Attorney. In recognition of dedication to public service and of his long career in Maryland politics, he will be honored with an Honorary Doctor of Public Service from his alma mater.

The convocation will also recognize Bob Cleaver, Class of 1958, the recipient of the Washington College Alumni Association's 2002 Alumni Association Service Award. In 1994, at the conclusion of a 35-year career as an insurance executive, Cleaver and his wife, Ann Hurst, Class of 1957, returned to Kent County and to their alma mater. Instead of seeing retirement as a time to withdraw, Cleaver became more involved with Washington College, and has served three times as interim alumni director, consulted in corporate relations to the College's Development Office, co-chaired his 45th Class Reunion, and served as co-president of the Kent and Queen Anne's Alumni Chapter. Cleaver is also a member of the College's 1782 Society and George Washington Society, but, more so, is an example of a loyal alumnus who thrives on the fellowship of alumni and gives generously his time, energy and talent to the support the College.

Speaker Explores The Rich Cultural Contributions Of Her Enslaved Ancestors February 4

Chestertown, MD, January 21, 2003 — In honor of Black History Month, Washington College's C.V. Starr Center for the Study of the American Experience presents “THE DIMINISHING POWER OF MYTH,” a lecture by Dorothy Spruill Redford, executive director of North Carolina's Somerset Place Plantation, Tuesday, February 4, 2003, at 7:30 p.m. in the College's Hynson Lounge. The event is free and the public is invited to attend.

More than 20 years ago, inspired by the landmark television program Roots, Dorothy Spruill Redford began researching her family history, a quest that led her to Somerset Place, once one of North Carolina's wealthiest plantations. Four generations of her enslaved ancestors worked and died there, but when she visited the site, there was no mention of the contributions of Somerset's slaves. Convinced that their story must be told, she began organizing a “homecoming,” an event to bring together the black and white descendants of Somerset. The homecoming became a national news story, and on the appointed day, over two thousand people showed up. Since the first homecoming in 1986, the event has continued to grow. Her book, Somerset Homecoming: Recovering a Lost Heritage, chronicles her inspiring journey into her family's past. Alex Haley called it, “the best, most beautifully researched, and most thoroughly presented black family history that I know of.”

Now the executive director of the historic site where her ancestors once worked in bondage, Redford has incorporated the integral story of the enslaved community into the larger history of Somerset. Her lecture will discuss the ways that she has accomplished this, and also address the larger issue of how African-American history fits into and enriches the American historical experience.

“THE DIMINISHING POWER OF MYTH” is a program of the C.V. Starr Center for the Study of the American Experience, an innovative forum for new scholarship about American history. Drawing on the special historical strengths of Washington College, the Center explores the early republic, the rise of democracy, and the manifold ways in which the founding era continues to shape the fabric of American culture. The Center is interdisciplinary, encouraging the study of traditional history alongside new approaches, and seeking to bridge the divide between the academic world and the public at large.

For more information about C. V. Starr Center events and programs, visit the Center online athttp://starrcenter.washcoll.edu, or call 410-810-7156.

Martin Luther King Service

Washington College will host a remembrance service on Monday, January 20 from 12:30 p.m. to 1:30 p.m. in the Norman James Theater. All are encouraged to attend.

The program is titled "Martin Luther King: Remembering Why," and will feature reading and reflections by faculty and students.

The program will give attendees a chance to reflect on the way life used to be before and during King's life and the results of his work and his sacrifices to end segregation.

For more information about the event, contact Dr. Ruth Shoge in the Miller Library, ext. 7704, or via e-mail: rshoge2@washcoll.edu.

College Equestrian Team Hosts First Intercollegiate Horse Show In Chestertown March 2

Chestertown, MD, January 17, 2003— The Washington College Equestrian Team and Club, in cooperation with the University of Pennsylvania Equestrian Team, will co-host an Intercollegiate Horse Show on Sunday, March 2, 2003, from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. at Crimson Stables on Route 291 (Morgnec Road) in Chestertown. This is the first official qualifying Intercollegiate Horseshow Association (IHSA) competition sponsored by Washington College and held locally. The event is free and the public is invited to attend.

Currently ranked fourth among 14 schools in IHSA Region 2, Zone 3, the Washington College Equestrian Team will field twenty riders at the March show. Riders will compete in hunt seat equitation, which focuses on the riders' skills in walk, trot, canter and jumping. “Scoring is based on the riders' abilities,” said team coach Sandy Griffiths, “not the horses, and I am confident that our riders will earn enough points to qualify for a place in the IHSA Regional Competition later this year.”

In 2002, the Washington College riders finished the season in sixth place for the region, beating many larger and more established programs. More than half of the newly formed team advanced to the Regional Championships, and student Annette Bangert led the team to its first IHSA National Championship, placing fourth in her class in the nation for hunt seat equitation.

The Washington College Equestrian Club is open to all students of any riding ability, even beginners, and allows students to participate in educational field trips, monthly trail rides, riding lessons, and competitions sponsored by the IHSA. Students do not have to own their own horses to participate in the club activities or IHSA competitions. The IHSA has competitive opportunities for all levels, from beginning to advanced, and horses are assigned by a straw draw at each competition.

Stirring The Mud And The Mind: Author Explores Landscapes And Human Imagination February 5th And 6th

Chestertown, MD, January 10, 2003 — Washington College's Center for the Environment and Societyannounces the next event in the popular Journeys Home Lecture Series. Author Barbara Hurd, Ph.D., will speak Wednesday, February 5, 2003, starting at 7:30 p.m. in Easton's historic Avalon Theatre on “Praising the Mess: Landscape and Imagination.” She will also read selections of prose and poetry centering on the theme of her latest book, Stirring the Mud: On Swamps, Bogs, and Human Imagination, at a lunch, talk and book-signing Thursday, February 6, 2003, at 12:30 p.m. in Washington College's O'Neill Literary House. Tickets are required for the Avalon Theatre lecture.

In addition to Stirring the Mud, Dr. Hurd is the author of a volume of poetry, Objects in this Mirror, and a book on caves, forthcoming from Houghton Mifflin. Stirring the Mud was inspired by Maryland's own swamps and wetlands, and is both a physical and mental journey through these vital environments often pushed to the margin of human attention or inexorably altered for our use.

Dr. Hurd's essays and poems have appeared in numerous journals including Best American Essays, The Yale Review, The Georgia Review, Orion, Nimrod, Prairie Schooner, Audubon and others. She is the recipient of a 2002 NEA Fellowship in Creative Nonfiction, four Maryland Individual Artist Awards for Poetry, winner of the Sierra Club's National Nature Writing Award, and a finalist for the Annie Dillard Award for Creative Nonfiction and the PEN/Jerard Award. Dr. Hurd teaches creative writing at Frostburg State University in Frostburg, MD, where she also co-edits the journal Nightsun.

Journeys Home is a collaboration between the Center for the Environment and Society, Adkins Arboretum, Eastern Shore Land Conservancy, and Maryland Center for Agro-Ecology, Inc. Tickets to the Avalon lecture may be purchased at the door or by contacting the Adkins Arboretum at 410-634-2847. The Washington College event is free and open to the public, but seating is limited. Please call 410-810-7151 by January 27 to reserve a place.

To learn more about educational events and program sponsored by the Washington College Center for the Environment and Society, visit the center online at http://ces.washcoll.edu or call 410-810-7151.

Your Move: Speaker Teaches Life's Lessons Through Chess

Chestertown, MD, January 6, 2003— Washington College's Department of Business Management, Black Student Union, Education Club and Goldstein Program in Public Affairs present “CHESS AND LIFE: PARALLEL LESSONS,” a talk by Eugene Brown, Founder and Director of Washington, DC's Big Chair Chess Club and Deanwood Chess House, Thursday, February 6, 2003, at 7:30 p.m. in the College's Hynson Lounge. The event is free and the public is invited to attend.

At age 56, Eugene “Chess Man” Brown is a grandfather, a real estate agent, a master barber, and a mentor who aims to help inner city youth in Washington, DC avoid the hard lessons that he had to learn. The founder of DC's Big Chair Chess Club and Deanwood Chess House, Brown uses chess to help both children and adults learn life skills for success. The chess club's motto is also Brown's philosophy for life: “Always think before you move.”

Since its founding in 1993, Brown's Big Chair Chess Club has coached groups of students to city and community chess championships over the past seven years. Through chess instruction and playing, Brown and his volunteers teach others to avoid wrong thinking and poor decision-making that lead to problems and learn the methods of right thinking that can lead to their personal success. The Club shows children and adults how to play chess as a method to realize the practical personal and social benefits of concentration, cooperation and planning; critical, strategic, and analytical thinking; and self-discipline.

War With Iraq? Former UN Inspector Scott Ritter To Speak At Washington College January 30

Chestertown, MD, January 6, 2003 — Scott Ritter, former Chief Weapons Inspector for the United Nations Special Commission in Iraq (UNSCOM), will discuss “WAR WITH IRAQ: HOW DID WE GET HERE?” on Thursday, January 30, 2003, at 7:30 p.m. in Washington College's Tawes Theater. This timely talk is free and the public is encouraged to attend.

As a chief weapons inspector for the UNSCOM, Ritter was labeled a hero by some, a maverick by others, and a spy by the Iraqi government. Ritter has had an extensive and distinguished career in government service. He is a ballistic missile technology expert who worked in military intelligence during a 12-year career in the U.S. armed forces, including assignments in the former Soviet Union and in the Middle East. In 1991, Ritter joined UNSCOM and took part in more than 30 inspection missions, 14 as chief. In 1995, his team discovered in Iraq missile guidance equipment purchased from Russia through a Palestinian agent.

In January 1998, he led the U.N. weapons inspectors back to Iraq only to blocked by Iraqi officials who accused him of being a spy. Following Iraq's decision to block further inspections, Ritter found the U.S. and the U.N. Security Council unwilling to confront Iraq's position and resigned proclaiming that the “illusion of arms control is more dangerous than no arms control at all.” His experience in enemy territory has resulted in a book, Endgame: Solving the Iraq problem Once and for All, and a film exposing the results of America's foreign policy in the Persian Gulf and the devastating effects of the United Nations economic sanctions on the people of Iraq.

The talk is sponsored by Washington College's William James Forum and Goldstein Program in Public Affairs, established in honor of the late Louis L. Goldstein, 1935 alumnus and Maryland's longest serving elected official. The Goldstein Program sponsors lectures, symposia, visiting fellows, travel and other projects that bring students and faculty together with leaders in public policy and the media.

Concert Series Hosts Violinist Jennifer Koh January 17th

Chestertown, MD, January 6, 2003 — The 51st season of the Washington College Concert Series welcomes violin virtuoso Jennifer Koh to the College's Tawes Theatre, Gibson Performing Arts Center on Friday, January 17, 2003. The concert begins at 8 p.m.

Single tickets at the door are $15.00 for adults and $5.00 for youth and students.

Jennifer Koh has dazzled audiences with her artistry, virtuosity and musicality, and has been recognized by critics for exceptional technique, effortless style and stage presence beyond her years. Her repertoire ranges from classic works by Bach, Vivaldi, Mozart, Bartok and Paganini to modern concertos by Russian composer Andrey Eshpai and Finnish composer Uuno Klami.

Born in Chicago, Koh is a graduate of Oberlin College and the Oberlin Conservatory. She currently studies with Jaime Laredo of Philadelphia's Curtis Institute. Since 1995, when she won the International Tchaikovsky Competition, Koh has performed with numerous conductors and orchestras around the world, but she is also an accomplished recitalist, performing at numerous festivals and music centers. Koh's latest CD, Solo Chaconnes, was released in 2001 by Cedille Records.

For ticket information and a 2002-2003 Washington College Concert Series season brochure, call 410-778-7839. Season tickets are available for $50.00 per person, and individual tax-deductible patron sponsorships begin at $75.00. Season tickets can be purchased by check or money order through the mail from the Washington College Concert Series, 300 Washington Avenue, Chestertown, MD 21620-1197.