Creative Duo Behind Idiots' Books To Share Publishing Ideas at Literary House Oct. 2

CHESTERTOWN, MD—The husband and wife behind Idiot Books are anything but idiots, of course. Writer Matthew Swanson and illustrator Robbi Behr are smart, clever and wildly creative, and those attributes will be on display when they visit Washington College for a free, public talk on Tuesday, October 2. Their presentation, “Six Years In the Black: Running a Small Press, Blurring the Lines Between Life and Art, and the Virtues of Creative Impatience,” will begin at 4:30 p.m. at the College’s Rose O’Neill Literary House, 407 Washington Avenue.

Swanson and Behr left their big-city jobs in Baltimore and moved to Chestertown to launch a small, independent press in 2006. Living and working out of a renovated barn, they create mostly satirical, illustrated books on a wide range of topics from parenting to politics, mostly for a group of subscribers.

Their work has been praised by national media that include the New York Times, USA Today, New York magazine, and Slate.com. Building on their   success with picture books for grownups, they recently launched a children’s series, Bobbledy Books, which will deliver books and songs to the hip younger set.

For more information, visit the Idiots’ Books website, and the Literary House website at http://lithouse.washcoll.edu/.  

Neuroscience Researcher and Blogger to Share Research on Brain Function, Memory and Thought

CHESTERTOWN, MD— An educator and researcher in neuroscience from Texas A & M University will visit Washington College on Tuesday, October 2, to talk about the biology of thought and consciousness. 

William Klemm will deliver a power-point lecture titled “The Ghost Materializes: How the Brain’s Three Minds Think,” based on his book by the same title.

The talk will take place at 5 p.m. in Hotchkiss Recital Hall, Daniel Z. Gibson Center for the Arts on the Washington College campus, 300 Washington Avenue.  A reception with the author will follow in the Underwood Lobby.

Klemm’s lecture, like his latest book, crystallizes his ideas about brain function, especially how the brain creates thought as either latent messages stored as memory or “on-line” through patterns of nerve impulses distributed in circuits and networks. He will challenge a common view that free will is illusory with his theory for consciousness: that the brain is capable of generating both automatic intentions and freely chosen ones. A long-time sleep researcher, he also will present his latest theory for why people dream.

Klemm, who calls himself “the Memory Medic,” has authored more than 17 books, 50 book chapters and 200-peer-reviewed papers. His most recent books include Better Grades, Less Effort, 2011 (Benecton), Atoms of Mind: The Ghost Materializes, 2011 (Springer) and Memory Power 101, 2012 (Skyhorse/Norton). 

He writes a monthly research-based newspaper column for baby boomers that covers topics of memory, attentiveness and perception, and maintains the blog site “Improve Your Learning and Memory.” He also blogs for Psychology Today, whose editors have tagged many of his posts as “essential reads.” His blog posts have drawn over a quarter million reader views.

The October 2 event at Washington College is sponsored by Sigma Xi, Phi Beta Kappa, and the William James Forum. For more on the speaker: http://vetmed.tamu.edu/faculty/wklemm.

GIS students find that a liberal-arts education and on-the-job tech skills are a winning combination

Mariah Perkins works in the field for a GIS lab project.

CHESTERTOWN, MD—In today’s economy, few college students graduate with both diplomas and job offers in hand. Thanks to their work with Washington College’s Geographic Information Systems (GIS) lab, seniors Mariah Perkins and Spencer Van Cise will be counting themselves among the fortunate few. They are proof of the effectiveness of the growing work-study program run by the GIS lab, where some 60 undergraduates are now applying their computer mapping skills to a variety of projects for both the College and for outside organizations and agencies.

            Perkins, an anthropology major from Frederick, Md., and Van Cise, an environmental studies major from Arcadia, Calif., each completed a summer internship with technology consulting firm Booz Allen Hamilton and returned to campus with assurances that a full-time position would await them following their graduation next May.  These are jobs with “very generous” starting salaries, adds Stewart Bruce, the director of the GIS program at Washington College who has mentored the two students.

            Bruce’s connection to Booz Allen Hamilton principal Susan Kalweit, who serves with him on the U.S. Geospatial Intelligence Foundation Academic Advisory Board, helped Perkins and Van Cise land the internships. Both had worked in the campus GIS lab since freshman year. “I knew they were outstanding members of GIS who would represent Washington College well,” says Bruce. “They more than exceeded expectations in their internships; according to Sue [Kalweit], they ‘set the bar very high.’”

            Van Cise is continuing to work part-time for Booz Allen Hamilton during the school year, working remotely on a company-supplied computer. He also puts in 10 hours a week in the Washington College GIS lab, honing the skills he’s been building over the last three years.

            Perkins, on top of her Booz Allen Hamilton internship and job offer, earned a prestigious $5,000 undergraduate scholarship from the U.S. Geospatial Intelligence Foundation. She is studying in Finland for the semester but will likely join Van Cise in working for both the company and the College when returns to Chestertown in the spring.  “I’m happy for these students,” says Bruce with obvious pride. “These jobs are really a fantastic opportunity.”  He is not surprised that such job offers can come to students at a small liberal arts college without a GIS major. “Companies want critical thinkers who come from a wide range of backgrounds—anthropology, biology, environmental studies, etc.—because they want and need those interdisciplinary teams,” he says.

            The Washington College GIS program is striking for the number of undergraduates who are using cutting-edge computer mapping technology to complete real-world projects for clients. The 60 student workers, many of them first-years and sophomores, work under professional staff supervision on projects that include mapping crime statistics for the Maryland State Police, creating 3-D cityscapes for town planners and helping conservationists map critical areas and waterways. A recent addition to the project list is helping the Upper Shore Regional Council create an online mapping tool for its Harvest Directory, a listing of the agricultural products and services available in Maryland’s Cecil, Kent and Queen Anne’s Counties.

            “You know, the classroom is great, the Intro to GIS course is great, but in the lab, students are on a voyage of independent discovery,” says Bruce. “They don’t know the answers in advance, and they’re able to work it out on their own using a combination of technical skills and the critical thinking skills that a broad liberal arts education can strengthen.” Working on practical GIS projects at WC, he adds, gives them a competitive edge in the job market.”  

First-year student Steve McFall works part time in the GIS lab.

            Another GIS student well on his way to gaining that edge is freshman Steve McFall. After attending four of Bruce’s GIS summer programs for young people, he earned a $2,000 scholarship from the U.S. Geospatial Intelligence Foundation his senior year at Smethport Area High School in Smethport, Penn. McFall began working in WC’s GIS lab last summer, before his freshman year began.

            “Back in the summer after my sixth grade year I met Stew at his GIS camp at Penn State and completely fell in love with GIS,” says McFall. “Two years later the camp moved down here to Washington College and I decided to come, as well. I fell further in love with the technology and I also really liked the campus.”

            McFall will be one of a handful of high-achieving students joining Bruce and his Washington College contingent this October at the Geospatial Intelligence Symposium in Orlando, Fla. The symposium draws GIS leaders from business, military and public service sectors and offers the students a chance to network and explore career opportunities.  

            For Bruce and the GIS program he has built at Washington College, such trips are one more way to help students map their own futures.

  ­–– Grace Arenas