Rose O'Neill Literary House Presents 'Pictures + Words: The New Literature of Graphic Narrative' At Washington College

Chestertown, MD — As part of its "Pictures + Words" festival, Washington College's Rose O'Neill Literary House will present "Pictures + Words: The New Literature of Graphic Narrative," a discussion featuring a diverse array of talent, on Saturday, April 25, from noon to 6 p.m.

Speakers will include award-winning French graphic novelist Emmanuel Guibert, poet Chad Parmenter, web-based cartoonist Kate Beaton, the husband-and-wife creative team of Robbi Behr and Matthew Swanson (publishers of Idiots'Books), and various Washington College student artists/writers.

The Paris-born Guibert, in residence as this year's PEN World Voices Festival/Washington College Fellow in International Letters, has authored numerous acclaimed graphic novels for readers young and old, from the raucous and silly Sardine in Outer Space series, to the sweeping biographical epic of a World War II G.I., Alan's War, as well as the funny and charming The Professor's Daughter, with Joann Sfar.

Alan's War, a project that evolved from Guibert's friendship with an American World War II veteran retired in France, recently received four major Eisner Award nominations, including Best Reality-Based Work, Best Graphic Album - New, Best U.S. Edition of International Material, and Best Writer/Artist. The Eisner Award winners are announced each July at Comic-Con.

Poet Chad Parmenter is a creative writing fellow in the University of Missouri's Ph.D. program. His work has appeared in The Harvard Review, The Kenyon Review, Smartish Pace, The Best American Poetry 2007, and elsewhere. His translations are forthcoming in Circumference: A Journal of Literary Translation. Interviews that he has conducted have appeared in Rain Taxi and American Poetry Review. His reviews have appeared in American Book Review, Pleiades and The Missouri Review.

Kate Beaton is a Toronto-based cartoonist who has attraced a huge fan following with her webcomics that often explore the humor in history. A reviewer for Wired magazine called Beaton's the "funniest comic that I've read in awhile."

Matthew Swanson and Robbi Behr are the creators and producers of Idiots'Books, a subscription-based series of volumes on a wide-ranging diversity of subject matter. Innovative, insightful, often whimsical, the books provide a showcase for Swanson's witty, deceptively simple writing style and Behr's distinctive and memorable artwork.

Admission to "Pictures + Words: The New Literature of Graphic Narrative" is free and open to the public.

By Popular Demand, 'Night With Neil Gaiman' Moves to Larger Venue at Washington College

Chestertown, MD — As part of its "Pictures + Words: The New Literature of Graphic Narrative" festival, Washington College's Rose O'Neill Literary House had scheduled "A Night With Neil Gaiman," a lecture by the international superstar of fantasy and graphic narrative, to be held at the Prince Theatre on Monday, April 27, at 7:30 p.m. Advance interest in the event has been so strong that all seating reservations quickly filled.

Solution? A bigger venue.

Due to the number of requests that are still coming in for tickets, "A Night With Neil Gaiman" is being moved to Washington College's Cain Gymnasium. The location has changed, but date and time have remained the same: Monday, April 27, 7:30 p.m.

For those who already are ticket holders, the ticket now guarantees a seat in the first few rows, which will be reserved for ticket holders only. For those who do not have a ticket, there is now seating for 900 to 1,000 people, but the remaining seats will be available on a first-come, first-served basis.

Bestselling author Neil Gaiman has long been one of the top writers in modern comics, as well as writing books for readers of all ages. He is listed in the Dictionary of Literary Biography as one of the top 10 living post-modern writers, and is a prolific creator of works of prose, poetry, film, journalism, comics, song lyrics and drama.

Gaiman is the winner of three Hugo Awards, two Nebula Awards, a World Fantasy Award, four Bram Stoker Awards, nine Locus Awards, a British Fantasy Award, two British SF Awards, four Geffens, an International Horror Guild Award and two Mythopoeic Awards.

For more information on "A Night With Neil Gaiman," call 410/778-7899 or email obailey2@washcoll.edu.

Executive Director of U.S. Botanic Garden Visits Washington College for Arbor Day Celebration

Chestertown, MD — Holly H. Shimizu, Executive Director of the United States Botanic Garden, will present "The Garden as Sanctuary," a special address highlighting the Washington College Arbor Day celebration, at Litrenta Lecture Hall on Friday, April 24, at 5 p.m.

The celebration is sponsored by the Virginia Gent Decker Arboretum. Prior to Shimizu's talk, a tree dedication will be held on the Campus Lawn at 4:30 p.m.

As Executive Director of the United States Botanic Garden (USBG), Shimizu oversees the oldest botanic garden in North America. The complex includes the Conservatory and surrounding grounds, the Frederick Auguste Bartholdi Park, the three-acre site for the National Garden (west of the Conservatory), and the D.C. Village Production Facility, a nursery and greenhouse operation responsible for producing all the USBG plants and those for the entire Capitol Hill complex.

Under Shimizu's leadership since November 2000, the USBG has gained national recognition for its innovative exhibits as well as for its national partnerships with botanical institutions. She oversaw the redesign and installation of the new National Garden that opened in October 2006, and she coordinated production of a new book, A Botanic Garden for the Nation.

Shimizu is well known as one of the hosts of "The Victory Garden," a gardening show broadcast on public television stations in the United States and abroad. In addition, she has written for many books and magazines on a variety of horticultural, environmental and botanical subjects.

She holds an associate's degree in horticulture and landscape design from Temple University, a bachelor's degree in horticulture from Pennsylvania State University, and a master's degree in horticulture from the University of Maryland.

Litrenta Lecture Hall is located in the John S. Toll Science Center. Admission to Shimizu's presentation, and to the Campus Lawn tree dedication preceding it, is free and open to the public.

College President Baird Tipson Announces Retirement

Letter from President Tipson

Dear Students and Colleagues,

When I came to Washington College in the summer of 2004, I was determined to continue the remarkable progress that the College had made over the previous decade. I wanted to preside over academic innovations, co-curricular initiatives and facility enhancements that would ensure the College's success well into the 21st century. I am tremendously proud of our achievements over the past five years and convinced that, despite the current economic crisis, Washington College will continue to thrive.

At the same time that I anticipate a strong future for Washington College, I have been planning for my own. After careful consideration and in consultation with the Chair and Vice Chair of the Board of Visitors and Governors, I have decided to retire at the end of the next academic year. Such a schedule will allow time for a thorough search and orderly transition for my successor. Planning will begin at the upcoming meeting of the Board of Visitors and Governors, with a search committee named soon afterward.

Serving as your President has been immensely fulfilling. I will continue to devote my full energies to presiding over the College as long as I am here. I will be nearly 67 when I step down, ready to enjoy reading, writing, and perhaps volunteering in some area of higher education, in addition to spending time with my new grandson.

While I look forward to the next stage of my life, I know I will miss all of you. I expect to seize every chance in my remaining time on campus to participate in the activities—academic, athletic, and artistic—that have enriched me since my arrival. Thank you all for your ongoing efforts in support of Washington College.

Sincerely,

Baird Tipson
President

Letter from Ed Nordberg

To the Members of the Washington College Community:

The accompanying letter from Baird Tipson, which announces that the coming academic year will be his final one as Washington College's 26th President, affords me the opportunity to express my gratitude and that of the Board of Visitors & Governors for the numerous contributions he has made to our College, campus and community.

Since Dr. Tipson's arrival in 2004, Washington College has attained many notable achievements, including the installation of a Phi Beta Kappa chapter, inclusion in the Princeton Review's Guide to the Best 366 Colleges, and the launch and early success of the George Washington Book Prize. Signs of our institutional vitality continue to strengthen, despite challenging economic times. This past fall, the College welcomed its largest entering class ever with 417 new students and launched a new Presidential Fellows initiative. The number of applicants for admission next fall has more than doubled, from 2104 last year to 4484 this year. Dr. Tipson's tenure has been marked by celebration of the College's 225th Anniversary and the adoption of a new strategic plan, Toward Eminence. New academic initiatives have resulted in re-imagining the first-year experience, the addition of minors in Black Studies, Dance, and Justice, Law, and Society. The innovative Chesapeake semester launches this fall. Endowments were secured for a new faculty chair in Art and Art History, faculty development, and an investment program enabling students to test their financial acumen with real portfolios. The National Endowment for the Humanities awarded the College its largest federal grant ever.

Nowhere will Dr. Tipson's mark be more enduring than in his transformation of our historic campus. Starting with the development of a new campus master plan, he has guided the renovation and expansion of the Gibson Center for the Arts, the renovation and expansion of the Hodson Hall dining and student center, the construction of Chester and Sassafras Residence Halls, the construction of Roy Kirby Jr. Stadium (recognized as one of the top ten lacrosse venues in the nation), the construction of Athey Ball Park, the addition of a new research vessel and the purchase and restoration of the Patrick Henry Fellows Residence. He has laid the groundwork for the College's future expansion on the riverfront with the signing of an option to purchase five acres on the Chester River to accommodate a new boathouse, environmental laboratories, classrooms, recreational facilities and student residences.

In Chestertown and beyond, Dr. Tipson has been an engaged citizen and leader. He established the Vincent Hynson Scholarship, enabling more local minority students to attend the College. He created the President's Medal and President's Service Awards honoring citizens from the community as well as College faculty and employees. In the region, he has served as a trustee to the Chesapeake Bay Maritime Museum, Mid-Shore Community Foundation, St. Martin's Ministries, the Maryland Independent College and University Association, the Independent College Fund of Maryland, and the Centennial Athletic Conference. He has established a national presence in higher education as a member of the board of the National Association of Independent Colleges and Universities, the National Collegiate Athletic Associations' Presidents Council, and the Wye Faculty Seminar; and as a charter signatory of the President's Campus Climate Commitment and the Amethyst Initiative.

The task before us now is to find a new president worthy of the example set by Dr. Tipson. As the Board of Visitors & Governors gathers on campus April 16 - 18, we will commence the process of searching for Washington College's 27th president. Our plan is to identify and secure the services of a nationally known search consultant without delay, and to empanel a representative committee, drawn from the ranks of trustees, faculty, staff, alumni and students, to conduct a search that will result in a recommendation of a candidate or candidates to the Board of Visitors & Governors sometime during the fall semester. I will ask the leadership of this committee to enter into conversations with the College community before the end of the current semester, most likely through a series of structured listening sessions where all will have an opportunity to share their thoughts on the desired qualities of our next president.

Please join me and my fellow trustees in sharing with Dr. Tipson your appreciation of the contributions he has made to ensuring the continued success of Washington College.

Sincerely,

Edward P. Nordberg '82
Chair

American Pictures Series at Smithsonian Features Cartoonist Roz Chast

Roz Chast

Chestertown, MD — Legendary New Yorker cartoonist Roz Chast will appear on Sunday, April 26, as the final speaker in this spring's American Pictures Distinguished Lecture Series, a joint program of Washington College, the National Portrait Gallery and the Smithsonian American Art Museum.

The American Pictures series offers a highly original approach to art, pairing great works with leading figures of American culture. This spring's all-star line-up has included Chast, iconic filmmaker John Waters (who appeared March 21), novelist Jamaica Kincaid (who appeared April 11) and presidential historian Harold Holzer (who appeared April 18). Each speaker has chosen a single powerful image and investigated its meanings, revealing how artworks reflect American identity and inspire creativity in many different fields. The series director is historian and essayist Adam Goodheart, Hodson Trust-Griswold Director of the college's C.V. Starr Center for the Study of the American Experience.

Chast has said she found her calling when she was 8 years old and came across some of Charles Addams' deliciously macabre cartoons. On April 26, she will discuss his famous "Boiling Oil." Addams was the creator of the Addams family of television and movie fame, and in the cartoon, a group of Christmas carolers serenades the family manse while the Addamses, hidden on the roof, prepare to douse them with a cauldron of boiling oil. Like Addams before her, Chast is a longtime contributor to The New Yorker, where editor David Remnick calls her "the magazine's only certifiable genius." Her work has been collected in nine books, most recently a 25-year survey of her work, titled Theories of Everything.

Her lecture, which is free and open to the public, will take place at 4:30 p.m. at the Reynolds Center for American Art and Portraiture, 8th and F Sts., N.W., Washington, D.C., in the National Portrait Gallery's and Smithsonian American Art Museum's McEvoy Auditorium. Tickets are available in the G Street lobby of the Reynolds Center, beginning at 3:30 p.m. No reservations are necessary for the general public.

Students, faculty, staff, alumni and friends of Washington College may reserve tickets to this and the other American Pictures events on a first-come, first-served basis. The Starr Center is also running free buses from Chestertown to Washington for each talk. For details, please call 410-810-7165 or email jsmith7@washcoll.edu. For more information on the American Pictures series, visit starrcenter.washcoll.edu.

About the Sponsors

Founded in 1782 under the personal patronage of its namesake, Washington College in Chestertown, Maryland, upholds a tradition of excellence and innovation in the liberal arts. The American Pictures lecture series is a project of the college's C.V. Starr Center for the Study of the American Experience and its Department of Art and Art History. Support for the American Pictures Distinguished Lecture Series comes from the Starr Foundation, the Hodson Trust, the Hedgelawn Foundation, and other benefactors.

The Smithsonian American Art Museum, the nation's first collection of American art, is an unparalleled record of the American experience. The collection captures the aspirations, character and imagination of the American people from the colonial period to today.

The National Portrait Gallery tells the stories of America through the individuals—poets and presidents, visionaries and villains, actors and activists—who have built our national culture. It is where the arts keep us in the company of remarkable Americans.

American Pictures Series at Smithsonian Features Historian Harold Holzer

View photos from Harold Holzer's talk

Chestertown, MD — On Saturday, April 18, Lincoln scholar Harold Holzer will unravel the mysteries of John Henry Brown's "Abraham Lincoln," one of the most unusual and deeply revealing portraits of the 16th president, as part of this spring's American Pictures Distinguished Lecture Series.

A joint program of Washington College, the National Portrait Gallery and the Smithsonian American Art Museum, the American Pictures series offers a highly original approach to art, pairing great works with leading figures of American culture. This spring's all-star line-up includes Holzer, iconic filmmaker John Waters (who appeared March 21), novelist Jamaica Kincaid (who appeared April 11) and New Yorker cartoonist Roz Chast, who will appear on Sunday, April 26. Each speaker chooses a single powerful image and investigates its meanings, revealing how artworks reflect American identity and inspire creativity in many different fields. The series director is historian and essayist Adam Goodheart, Hodson Trust-Griswold Director of the college's C.V. Starr Center for the Study of the American Experience.

A prolific writer, Holzer has authored or edited 31 books, and in 2008 was awarded the National Humanities Medal. His latest work is the critically praised Lincoln President-Elect: Abraham Lincoln and the Great Secession Winter, 1860-1861. Holzer is also Senior Vice President for External Affairs at The Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York.

His April 18 lecture, which is free and open to the public, will take place at 4:30 p.m. at the Reynolds Center for American Art and Portraiture, 8th and F Sts., N.W., Washington, D.C., in the National Portrait Gallery's and Smithsonian American Art Museum's McEvoy Auditorium. Tickets are available in the G Street lobby of the Reynolds Center, beginning at 3:30 p.m. No reservations are necessary for the general public.

Students, faculty, staff, alumni and friends of Washington College may reserve tickets to this and the other American Pictures events on a first-come, first-served basis. The Starr Center is also running free buses from Chestertown to Washington for each talk. For details, please call 410-810-7165 or email jsmith7@washcoll.edu. For more information on the American Pictures series, visit starrcenter.washcoll.edu.

About the Sponsors

Founded in 1782 under the personal patronage of its namesake, Washington College in Chestertown, Maryland, upholds a tradition of excellence and innovation in the liberal arts. The American Pictures lecture series is a project of the college's C.V. Starr Center for the Study of the American Experience and its Department of Art and Art History. Support for the American Pictures Distinguished Lecture Series comes from the Starr Foundation, the Hodson Trust, the Hedgelawn Foundation, and other benefactors.

The Smithsonian American Art Museum, the nation's first collection of American art, is an unparalleled record of the American experience. The collection captures the aspirations, character and imagination of the American people from the colonial period to today.

The National Portrait Gallery tells the stories of America through the individuals—poets and presidents, visionaries and villains, actors and activists—who have built our national culture. It is where the arts keep us in the company of remarkable Americans.

'Environments, Archetypes and Images of Trauma': 2009 Student Art Exhibition at Washington College

Student Art Exhibition

Chestertown, MD — The Washington College Department of Art and Art History's 2009 Student Art Exhibition, "Environments, Archetypes and Images of Trauma," will open with a reception in the Constance Stuart Larrabee Arts Center on Thursday, April 16, from 5-7 p.m. The exhibition will be on view weekdays through May 1, from 1 to 4 p.m. daily.

The show's highlight is an exhibition of Senior Capstone Experiences by graduating art majors Aliina Lahti, Corinne Saul and Maria Taylor.

Also on display are works by both advanced and beginning students of various studio divisions such as photography, drawing, ceramics, video art, painting and design.

"Three large-scale multimedia installations included in the 2009 Senior Capstone Experience Exhibition explore issues ranging from the disappearance of natural environments, to medical alteration of identity, to meditation on our growing exposure and indifference to images of traumatic events," said Assistant Professor of Studio Art Monika Weiss, who curated the exhibition. "Although each installation was created with a specific conceptual focus, the works in the exhibition share an aesthetic approach that favors delicacy and attention to the small, the humble and the poetic, while tackling the ethical."

"Fragile," a three-dimensional installation by Aliina Lahti, is composed of natural materials found in the environment, as well as a sculptural form, inspired by the Earth's atmosphere and created with plaster and string. The planet's continents are fashioned from newspaper clippings about global environmental concerns. The installation's fragile elements gathered from nature (twigs, tree branches, etc.) are juxtaposed with projected images of industrial sites. The work instills in the viewer a feeling of subtle urgency. As the artist herself put it, "The delicacy of this piece exemplifies the tenuous condition of the Earth's fragile environment and the state of human beings within it."

"Side Effects May Include...," a photographic and sculptural installation by Corinne Saul, examines society's obsession with medications, specifically antidepressants and their role in reinventing, altering and damaging personal identity. Positioned close to the floor level and displayed as one long line, the 20 black and white photographs of Saul's face represent the artist holding a mask. Saul's self-shot photographs present various stages of blending or merging her real face with the artificial contours of the mask. "The installation examines the emotions hidden behind antidepressants and the mesh of reality and non-reality of the mask," Saul noted, adding that her work hopefully "challenges viewers to re-examine their own lives and what masks they use in day-to-day life."

Maria Taylor's "Fragments" is an installation made up of 36 charcoal and pencil drawings. The pictures offer extreme close-ups of fragments from selected images currently found in American newspapers — depicting events in Pakistan, Sri Lanka and South Korea. The result is an exploration of how everyday news depicts suffering. "By replicating images of trauma and suffering shown by the press and in the media, my project focuses on the act of exploiting the victims of tragic events as figures in elegant photographs," Taylor explained. Her goal is to desconstruct this aesthetic-yet-distancing approach to the suffering of others in faraway corners of the globe. "Perhaps empathy begins with taking a closer look."

Admission to "Environments, Archetypes and Images of Trauma" is free and open to public.

Washington College Drama Department Presents Shakespeare's 'Much Ado About Nothing'

View photos from Much Ado About Nothing

Chestertown, MD — The Washington College Department of Drama will present William Shakespeare's enduringly popular romantic comedy "Much Ado About Nothing" in the Rose O'Neill Literary House Garden on Saturday and Sunday, April 18 and 19, at 3 p.m.

Generally considered one of Shakespeare's best comedies, "Much Ado About Nothing" mixes robust hilarity with more serious ruminations on court politics. Set in Messina, Sicily, the play tells the story of two pairs of lovers, Beatrice and Benedick and Claudio and Hero. While much of the plot revolves around obstacles to the union of the two young lovers Claudio and Hero, the love-hate relationship of Beatrice and Benedick showcases the "merry war" of the sexes. (Benedick thinks he hates Beatrice but really loves her, and Beatrice she hates Benedick but really loves him.)

The Washington College production of "Much Ado About Nothing" is directed by senior Hester Sachse and features Aileen Brenner, Alec Rosa, Antoine Jordan, Chantel Delulio, Claire Hely, Joe Rittenhouse, John Lesser, Katherine Kaestner, Katie Muldowney, Maggie Farrell, Maggie Kobik, Mary DiAngelo, Nick Gaeto, Roisin O'Donovan and Stephan Jordan. Admission is free, but reservations are required; call 410/778-7835 or e-mail drama_tickets@washcoll.edu.

Award-Winning French Graphic Novelist Takes up Residency at Washington College's Rose O'Neill Literary House

Chestertown, MD — Emmanuel Guibert, award-winning French author of more than 34 volumes of graphic narrative, is arriving in Chestertown this month for a two-week residency at Washington College's Rose O'Neill Literary House. The public is invited to "Meet Emmanuel Guibert," an introductory conversation with the author, at the Rose O'Neill Literary House on Thursday, April 16, at 6 p.m.

Guibert, in residence as this year's PEN World Voices Festival/Washington College Fellow in International Letters, is here to interact with Washington College student writers and to take part in "Pictures + Words: The New Literature of Graphic Narrative," a festival being presented by the Literary House on April 25. (An appearance by international graphic-narrative superstar Neil Gaiman follows on April 27).

The Paris-born Guibert has authored numerous acclaimed graphic novels for readers young and old, from the raucous and silly Sardine in Outer Space series, to the sweeping biographical epic of a World War II G.I., Alan's War, as well as the funny and charming The Professor's Daughter, with Joann Sfar.

Alan's War, a project that evolved from Guibert's friendship with an American World War II veteran retired in France, recently received four major Eisner Award nominations, including Best Reality-Based Work, Best Graphic Album - New, Best U.S. Edition of International Material, and Best Writer/Artist. The Eisner Award winners are announced each July at Comic-Con.

In a starred review, Publishers Weekly hailed Alan's War as a "poignant and frank graphic memoir... Guibert's illustrations capture the time period vividly."

Prior to Alan's War, Guibert gained international renown when he collaborated with globe-trotting French photojournalist Didier Lefèvre to create a graphic novel titled The Photographer. The book documented Lefèvre's assignment to Afghanistan in 1986 with Doctors Without Borders.

The collaboration of these two artists created a groundbreaking new form of narrative art: Guibert used Lefèvre's black and white photos as panels, here and there, along with his own illustrations, to interpret Lefèvre's travels, encounters and thoughts about the complexities of war. Since its release, The Photographer has received many awards and has been translated into 11 languages.

Admission to "Meet Emmanuel Guibert" is free and open to the public.

Apocalypse in Gotham: Author Examines 'City's End' at Washington College

Chestertown, MD — New York City looms large in the American imagination – as a magnet for hopes, fears and, intriguingly, apocalyptic fantasies. Max Page, Associate Professor of Architecture and History at the University of Massachusetts, Amherst, will explore how the Big Apple inspires Armageddon-like visions when he presents “The City's End: Two Centuries of Fantasies, Fears and Premonitions of New York's Destruction” at Washington College's Litrenta Lecture Hall on Thursday, April 16, at 7:30 p.m.

The lecture is presented by the C.V. Starr Center for the Study of the American Experience and the Department of Art and Art History.

Page's presentation is based on his 2008 book of the same title, published by Yale University Press, and a book signing will follow his talk. “One can never think of New York City – or cities in general – in the same way after seeing them through Max Page's eyes,” said Starr Center Associate Director Jill Ogline Titus. “He becomes the voice in your head telling you to linger, to look more closely, and to question your first impressions.”

From 19th-century paintings of fires raging through New York City to scenes of Manhattan engulfed by a gigantic wave in the 1998 movie “Deep Impact,” images of the city's end have been prolific and diverse. Why have Americans repeatedly imagined New York's destruction? What do the fantasies of annihilation played out in virtually every form of literature and art mean?

Scrupulously researched and profusely illustrated, The City's End is the first book to investigate two centuries of imagined cataclysms visited upon New York, and to provide a critical historical perspective to our understanding of the events of September 11, 2001.

The author examines the destruction fantasies created by American writers and image-makers at various stages of New York's development. Seen in every medium from newspapers and films to novels, paintings and computer software, such images, though disturbing, have been continuously popular.

Page demonstrates with vivid examples and illustrations how each era's destruction genre has reflected the city's economic, political, racial or physical tensions. He also shows how the images have become forces in their own right, shaping Americans' perceptions of New York and of cities in general.

The New Yorker praised The City's End as “richly detailed,” while the Wall Street Journal hailed it as “an informative and provocative read.” “Page is a lucid writer whose thesis is supported with reams of research,” enthused Newsday. “The book is worth getting for the illustrations alone.”

Page also is the author of The Creative Destruction of Manhattan, 1900-1940 (University of Chicago Press, 1999), which won the Spiro Kostof Award of the Society of Architectural Historians, for the best book on architecture and urbanism. In addition, he is the co-editor of Building the Nation: Americans Write Their Architecture, Their Cities and Their Environment (University of Pennsylvania Press, 2003) and Giving Preserving a History: Histories of Historic Preservation in the United States (Routledge, 2003).

For the 100th anniversary of Times Square in 2004, Page curated the centennial exhibition on the history of the Square at the AXA Gallery in New York.

A 2003 Guggenheim Fellow, he writes a regular column for Architecture magazine and has written for the New York Times, Metropolis, the Los Angeles Times, and the Boston Globe.

Litrenta Lecture Hall is located in the John S. Toll Science Center. Admission to “The City's End: Two Centuries of Fantasies, Fears and Premonitions of New York's Destruction” is free and open to the public.

About the C.V. Starr Center

The C.V. Starr Center for the Study of the American Experience explores our nation's history – and particularly the legacy of its Founding era – in innovative ways. Through educational programs, scholarship, and public outreach, and especially by supporting and fostering the art of written history, the Starr Center seeks to bridge the divide between past and present, and between the academic world and the public at large. From its base in the circa-1746 Custom House along Chestertown's colonial waterfront, the Center also serves as a portal onto a world of opportunities for Washington College students. Its guiding principle is that now more than ever, a wider understanding of our shared past is fundamental to the continuing success of America's democratic experiment. For more information on the Center, visit http://starrcenter.washcoll.edu.

Rose O'Neill Literary House Lands Spotlight on iTunes U

Chestertown, MD — iTunes U features the Rose O'Neill Literary House prominently on its site for National Poetry Month. Tune in to the Rose O'Neill Literary House audio feeds.

Washington College 2008-2009 Concert Series Concludes with Acclaimed Attacca Quartet

Chestertown, MD — The 57th season of the Washington College Concert Series concludes with a performance by the Attacca String Quartet at the Norman James Theatre on Friday, April 17, at 8 p.m.

Winner of the Alice Coleman Grand Prize at the 60th annual Coleman Chamber Ensemble Competition in 2006 and one of 10 quartets chosen to compete in the semi-finals of the 9th Banff International String Quartet Competition, the internationally acclaimed Attacca String Quartet is well on its way to becoming one of America's premier young performing ensembles.

Featuring violinists Amy Schroeder and Keiko Tokunaga, violist Gillian Gallagher and cellist Andrew Yee, the quartet was formed at the Juilliard School in 2003 and gave its debut recital in 2007 as part of the Artists International Winners Series in Carnegie Hall's Weill Recital Hall. The group's star has been rapidly in the ascendant ever since.

Tickets for the performance can be purchased at the door — $15 for adults, $5 for youth and students. For more information, call 410/778-7839.

The Jefferson Enigma: Award-Winning Historian Explores 'Sex, Lies & Microfilm' at Washington College

Chestertown, MD — Award-winning historian Henry Wiencek, presently residing in Chestertown as Washington College's first-ever Patrick Henry Fellow, will unveil some of the startling discoveries he has made researching his upcoming book about Thomas Jefferson and slavery in "Sex, Lies & Microfilm: What Historians Don't Tell You About Thomas Jefferson," a lecture at Washington College's Casey Academic Center Forum on Tuesday, April 21, at 7:30 p.m. Admission is free and open to the public.

Wiencek will read from his book-in-progress and talk about what he has gleaned from Jeffersonian primary-source material. In the process, he says, he will reveal "the ways historians have suppressed or ignored some of the most important facts about Jefferson and slavery. Ultimately — despite all the attention that the Sally Hemings story has gotten - slavery was not about sex, but about money, which can be an even more sensitive topic than sex."

This is Wiencek's second public appearance at Washington College. Last fall, a standing-room-only audience was enthralled with his lecture comparing the way Jefferson actually treated his slaves, to George Washington, who was so quiet on the subject, but who, according to Wiencek, was the more genuinely compassionate and morally aware of the two slaveholders. He has been using the fellowship year in Chestertown to complete his forthcoming book about the master of Monticello and the men, women and children whose labor was the lifeblood of the estate.

"The intelligence, honesty, and great care that Henry Wiencek brings to bear on his work have made him one of our finest contemporary historians," says Adam Goodheart, Hodson Trust-Griswold Director of the C.V. Starr Center for the American Experience, which administers the Patrick Henry Fellowship. "Now we are going to have the opportunity to hear him talk about the work he has been doing as a fellow during his year here in Chestertown."

For the past three years, Wiencek has immersed himself in Jefferson's papers and plantation documents, in the oral histories of slave descendants, in Albemarle County court records, in the papers of Jefferson's extended family, and in recent archaeological discoveries at Monticello. His book is under contract with Farrar, Straus & Giroux.

A resident of Charlottesville, Va., Wiencek is perhaps best known for An Imperfect God: George Washington, His Slaves, and the Creation of America, which was published in 2003 to superlative reviews and named Best Book of that year by the Society for Historians of the Early American Republic. The historian Gordon Wood, writing in the New York Times, called it "superb" and the Washington Post said, "It must be read by all who wish to understand early America."

Wiencek has written and/or edited more than a dozen books. The Hairstons: An American Family in Black and White (St. Martin's, 1999) — the epic story of two extended southern families who share a surname and a legacy, though one is black and the other white — won the National Book Critics' Circle Award for nonfiction. He is the first recipient of the new Patrick Henry Fellowship, which is provided by Washington College's C.V. Starr Center for the Study of the American Experience, co-sponsored by the Rose O'Neill Literary House, and funded through a challenge grant from the National Endowment for the Humanities.

The Patrick Henry Fellowship offers a yearlong residency to authors engaged in innovative work on America's founding era and its legacy. As part of the fellowship award, Wiencek and his wife, writer Donna Lucey, are residing in the heart of Chestertown's colonial historic district, in the newly restored c. 1735 Patrick Henry Fellows' Residence.

About the C.V. Starr Center

The C.V. Starr Center for the Study of the American Experience explores our nation's history — and particularly the legacy of its Founding era — in innovative ways. Through educational programs, scholarship, and public outreach, and especially by supporting and fostering the art of written history, the Starr Center seeks to bridge the divide between past and present, and between the academic world and the public at large. From its base in the circa-1746 Custom House along Chestertown's colonial waterfront, the Center also serves as a portal onto a world of opportunities for Washington College students. Its guiding principle is that now more than ever, a wider understanding of our shared past is fundamental to the continuing success of America's democratic experiment. For more information on the Center and on the Patrick Henry Fellowship, visit http://starrcenter.washcoll.edu.

Spring Clean-up at Eastern Neck Island

View photos from the Shoreline Cleanup

Chestertown, MD — The Center for Environment & Society (CES) at Washington College and the Friends of Eastern Neck, Inc., are organizing a shoreline clean-up at Eastern Neck National Wildlife Refuge on Saturday, April 18, from 12 noon to 4:00 p.m. Volunteers will meet at the Refuge Office and Visitor Center, located at 1730 Eastern Neck Road in Rock Hall. "A lot of trash and debris washes up on shore over the winter," says Michele Whitbeck, volunteer coordinator at the Refuge, "so we aim to clean it up." The event is free and open to the public.

The College's Student Environmental Alliance (SEA) and Women In Need/the alley are arranging vanpools to the Refuge. Vans will depart at 11:15 AM. CES associate Tara Holste says trash bags, gloves, bug spray and bottled water will be provided for all volunteers. To register for the vanpools, or for more information, contact tholste2@washcoll.edu or call 410/778-7295.

The Center for Environment " Society works to instill a conservation ethic by connecting people to the land and water. It supports interdisciplinary research and education, exemplary stewardship of natural and cultural resources, and the integration of ecological and social values. The Friends of Eastern Neck, Inc. is a non-profit organization that supports the missions of the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and Eastern Neck NWR through financial, advocacy, and volunteer support. To learn more about volunteer opportunities at Eastern Neck, visit www.fws.gov/northeast/easternneck/ or call (410) 639-7056.

Students in Free Enterprise Participate in Regional Competition

Tarrytown, NY — The Washington College Students in Free Enterprise (WC SIFE) team participated in its seventh SIFE Regional Competition in Tarrytown, New York. SIFE Regional Competitions afford qualified SIFE teams the opportunity to present the projects they have completed in the areas of market economics, entrepreneurship, personal success skills, financial literacy, business ethics, and environmental sustainability to a panel of judges. Eight of the twenty-five active members made the four-hour trek with sophomores Claire Bond, Michelle Moore, Josh Tex, and Liz Vares making the presentation, accompanied by sophomore media specialist Alketa Tanushi. Seniors Megan Jasion, Danielle Sica and Tori Weitzel helped out during the question and answer segment. The team came away from the competition with the Second Runner Up Award for their league.

View photos from SIFE competition

This year's WC SIFE team has contributed over 550 hours to 18 projects, impacting over 900 people. The team continued successful projects such as the Career Expo and working closely with the Center for Career Development to host the Washington College Career Fair (which just had its fifth anniversary), as well as starting new projects helping people in Chestertown, Kent County, and Ghana. Students presented a budgeting workshop to participants of the Kent Family Center, and collected athletic shoes to help the Perpetual Prosperity Pumps Foundation support Ghanaian villagers pursue environmentally sustainable farming techniques. In addition, in a project designed and proposed by the team, sixteen families from the Community Food Pantry will receive Earth Box® container systems and tomato plants so that they can supplement non-perishable food received from the Food Pantry with fresh vegetables they will grow themselves this summer. The WC SIFE team has partnered with a host of organizations to make these projects happen, including the Center for the Environment and Society, Master Gardeners, HomePorts, the Kent County Chamber of Commerce and S.C.O.R.E.

Students of all majors who want to make a measurable difference in the lives of people locally and globally are welcome to join anytime. Meetings are held Monday evenings at 7 p.m. in Daly 108. For more information, contact Megan Jasion, WC SIFE president, at mjasion2@washcoll.edu.

Jamaica Kincaid in American Pictures Event at the Smithsonian

Chestertown, MD — Internationally acclaimed novelist Jamaica Kincaid will appear on Saturday, April 11, as the second speaker in this spring's American Pictures Distinguished Lecture Series, a joint program of Washington College, the National Portrait Gallery and the Smithsonian American Art Museum.

The American Pictures series offers a highly original approach to art, pairing great works with leading figures of American culture. This spring's all-star line-up includes Kincaid, iconic filmmaker John Waters (who appeared March 21), presidential historian Harold Holzer (April 18) and New Yorker cartoonist Roz Chast (April 26). Each speaker chooses a single powerful image and investigates its meanings, revealing how artworks reflect American identity and inspire creativity in many different fields. The series director is historian and essayist Adam Goodheart, Hodson Trust-Griswold Director of the college's C.V. Starr Center for the Study of the American Experience.

View photos from Jamaica Kincaid's lecture

Born in Antigua, Kincaid has made a lasting mark on the literary history of both the Caribbean and her adopted country, the United States. She was a staff writer at The New Yorker from 1976 until 1995, and in 2004 was elected to the American Academy of Arts and Letters. Her many works of fiction and nonfiction include Annie John (1985), A Small Place (1988), The Autobiography of My Mother (1996), and, most recently, Among Flowers: A Walk in the Himalayas (2005). As her subject for the American Pictures talk, Kincaid has chosen "Kept In," Edward Lamson Henry's poignant 1889 painting of an African-American schoolgirl.

Her April 11 lecture, which is free and open to the public, will take place at 4:30 p.m. at the Reynolds Center for American Art and Portraiture, 8th and F Sts., N.W., Washington, D.C., in the National Portrait Gallery's and Smithsonian American Art Museum's McEvoy Auditorium. Tickets are available in the G Street lobby of the Reynolds Center, beginning at 3:30 p.m. No reservations are necessary for the general public.

Students, faculty, staff, alumni and friends of Washington College may reserve tickets to this and the other American Pictures events on a first-come, first-served basis. The Starr Center is also running free buses from Chestertown to Washington for each talk. For details, please call 410-810-7165 or email jsmith7@washcoll.edu. For more information on the American Pictures series, visit starrcenter.washcoll.edu.

About the Sponsors

Founded in 1782 under the personal patronage of its namesake, Washington College in Chestertown, Maryland, upholds a tradition of excellence and innovation in the liberal arts. The American Pictures lecture series is a project of the college's C.V. Starr Center for the Study of the American Experience and its Department of Art and Art History. Support for the American Pictures Distinguished Lecture Series comes from the Starr Foundation, the Hodson Trust, the Hedgelawn Foundation, and other benefactors.

The Smithsonian American Art Museum, the nation's first collection of American art, is an unparalleled record of the American experience. The collection captures the aspirations, character and imagination of the American people from the colonial period to today.

The National Portrait Gallery tells the stories of America through the individuals—poets and presidents, visionaries and villains, actors and activists—who have built our national culture. It is where the arts keep us in the company of remarkable Americans.

Pooches on Parade at Earth Day Festival

Chestertown, MD — The Kent County Humane Society, the Town of Chestertown, and the Center for Environment " Society at Washington College are collaborating on this year's Mutt Strut and Earth Day Festival in downtown Chestertown on April 25 from 9:00 AM to 4:00 PM.

View Earth Day photos

Registration for the 12th annual Mutt Strut begins at 8:00 AM in Fountain Park, and the dog parade starts at 9:00 AM. There is a $5 registration fee for those who want to promenade with their dogs, otherwise events are free and open to the public. "We hope people from all walks of life will join together in support of clean air, land, and water for the Earth and its animals," says JoAnn Fairchild, senior program manager at the Center.

According to Fairchild, there will be live music in the Park, eco-friendly exhibitors and vendors on Memorial Row, a petting zoo, and a variety of pet and Earth Day activities on both lawns of the Kent County Courthouse. Washington College students will feature face-painting, t-shirt tie-dye, and a coloring contest with frogs, fishes, and butterflies made out of recycled cardboard. Downtown merchants and eateries will be open, the Chestertown Elks #2474 will be grilling hamburgers and hot dogs, and Rose Greene of Church Hill will fire up the griddles for funnel cake and fried fish.

Chestertown Mayor Bailey reports the popular Farmers' Market will already be underway that morning, as will the Town's "green window" and meter decorating contests. As part of its Chestertown Goes Green campaign, the Town is arranging free services for paper shredding and recycling of fluorescent bulbs and tubes that Saturday. And Mayor Bailey says the Town's Green Team will be selling tote bags as part of its campaign to "just say no thank you to plastic bags!"

The Mutt Strut and Pet Fair is the spring fund-raiser for the local Humane Society. "Proceeds go toward the animal shelter and the care of the animals waiting for new homes," says Dr. David Newell, chair of the board of trustees. Fellow trustee Mary Ashley notes the canine competitions always draw a big crowd, especially with Courtney Phelps as emcee. "The high jump contests, limbo contests, and dog/owner look-alike contests are sure to bring a big smile," she says. Ashley has agreed to spend a night in the animal shelter kennel unless she raises $10,000 by the end of April.

For Mutt Strut information call 410/708-5833 or 778-3648; for Earth Day events call 410/778-7295.

Washington College Dance Company Presents Spring Concert

Chestertown, MD — The Washington College Dance Company, under the direction of Prof. Karen L. Smith, will present its annual Spring Dance Concert at the College's Cain Athletic Center, Thursday through Saturday, April 16-18. The concert, which will kick off the beginning of National Dance Week, commences with a special matinee for local schoolchildren on Thursday, April 16, at 1:15 p.m. Subsequent performances are Friday, April 17, at 7:00 p.m. and Saturday, April 18, at 1 p.m.

View dance recital photos

This year's program will feature a variety of dance styles—classical and contemporary ballet, modern dance, jazz, hip-hop, tap, and lyrical—performed by more than 30 students.

Ensemble dances include "Smooth," "Boom" and "Love," choreographed by Lauren Thomas '09; "Panic," "Drop" and "Jerk," choreographed by Kathy Bands '10; "Hot Tin Roof," choreographed by Mary Fletcher '10; "Fireman" and "Thunder," choreographed by Elle O'Brien '12 and Ally Happel '11; "Dancing," choreographed by Veronica Spolarich '11; "My Same," choreographed by Rachel Dittman '11, "Just Dance," choreographed by Ally Happel; "Crazy," choreographed by Ally Happel and Allison Farrow '11, and "Out of Silence—After Sunrise," choreographed by dance Professor Karen L. Smith. A trio of choreographers — Elle O'Brien '12, Emily Hordesky '12 and Kelsey Hallowell '12 — will perform a hip-hop number.

The show also will feature two dances from the repertoire of Sho' Troupe, the Washington College Dance Team, titled "Boom" and "Roll," choreographed by Lauren Thomas '09.

Five solos will be performed by choreographers Lauren Thomas, Kathy Bands, Jess Hohne, Ally Happel and Riley Carbonneau.

In addition to the choreographers, performers in the concert include; juniors Megan Johnston and Kelly Topita; sophomores Jenny Hobbs, Nichole Horn, Holly Jones, Emily Simpson; and first-year students Ryan Adams-Brown, Megan Gentry, Sarah Hartge, Gretchen Harz, Virginia Long, Hyemi Seok, Chris Smith, Grace Swanson and Alyssa Velazquez.

The Spring Dance Concert will feature a raffle for a chance to win a "Night at the Movies" or an Eastern Shore-themed basket filled with goodies. Tickets for the raffle cost $1 and can be purchased during all three performances. The winners will be drawn at the end of the Saturday performance.

The Spring Dance Concert is open to the public; a $1 donation is welcomed. For more information, call 410/778-7237.