H&SS eNews, February 2006

Greetings from H&SS.

Whether you are a member of the media looking for a faculty expert on deadline, a student who wants to learn about the latest H&SS events, or an alumni who wants to catch up on campus news, this is a one-stop shop for H&SS news and events.

The H&SS eNews is a monthly electronic publication of the College of Humanities and Social Sciences at Carnegie Mellon University. The eNews is compiled and edited by Kelli McElhinny, director of media relations for H&SS. She can be reached at 412-268-6094 or kellim@andrew.cmu.edu. Contact Kelli to submit news about yourself and your fellow alumni, and to sign up for our newsletters.

For past eNews publications, please visit the H&SS eNews archive.

For news about the entire university, be sure to check out the university’s home page or the Carnegie Mellon Today website.

Alumni News

--Colt Foutz (B.A. Creative Writing, 2000), won two state press awards and one national writing award for his work in 2005 at the Naperville (Ill.) Sun. Foutz's coverage of a neighborhood poker tournament and the country's obsession with Texas Hold 'Em earned first place honors in entertainment writing in the Suburban Newspaper Association of America's annual contest. The Northern Illinois Newspaper Association awarded Foutz second place for his weekly column, The Driver's Seat; he also earned second place from the Illinois Press Association for his informational graphic covering local elections.

--David Gong (B.S. Social History, 2000) has taken a position with Microsoft in Redmond, Wash., as a search media analyst in the MSN division. Previously he worked for Ripple Effects Interactive in Pittsburgh.

--Andrew Pueschel (B.A. Ethics, History and Public Policy, 2000) has formed Forté Productions and Services, a marketing and image firm, in Pittsburgh. With the lofty goal of rejuvenating the city of Pittsburgh, the firm will offer creative marketing, event planning, and image consulting services. The first event that Forté will produce is The Pittsburgh Dancesport Championships on March 10-12. For more information on the Pittsburgh Dancesport Championships go to http://www.pittsburghdancesport.com. Pueschel also is the marketing project manager for the Information Networking Institute and the College of Engineering at Carnegie Mellon.

ANNOUNCEMENT: Carnegie Mellon invites alumni who plan to attend graduate school and have financial need to apply for the Jack Kent Cooke Scholarship, a nationally prestigious award that can be used at an approved institution abroad or in the United States. Winners receive a maximum of $50,000 per year for a maximum of six years of study. To receive the award, you must have graduated in the last five years. Non-U.S. citizens are eligible. For more information, guidelines and eligibility requirements see http://www.jackkentcookefoundation.org. The campus deadline is March 1, 2006. If interested, please contact the campus representative, William Alba, at alba@cmu.edu.

College/Faculty News

--The American Psychosomatic Society will honor Sheldon Cohen, the Robert E. Doherty Professor of Psychology, with its Patricia R. Barchas Award in Sociophysiology at the society's annual conference March 1-4 in Denver. The award honors researchers who have done interesting and exciting work exploring relationships that could lead to long-term change both in social behavior and in physiology. Cohen's research focuses on the impact of emotions, stress and social factors on physical health.

--Susan Polansky, teaching professor of Spanish, won the 2006 Barbara Lazarus Award for Culture and Climate. Lazarus, who died in 2003, was associate provost for academic affairs. The award, which is given every year by Carnegie Mellon President Jared L. Cohon as part of the university's Martin Luther King Day Jr. commemoration, is awarded to faculty and staff who have demonstrated extraordinary leadership and made a demonstrable impact on improving the culture and climate in the Carnegie Mellon community. For more information, go to http://www.cmu.edu/cmnews/extra/060120_polansky.html.

--History Professor John Soluri has authored “Banana Cultures: Agriculture, Consumption, and Environmental Change in Honduras and the United States.” The book explores the relationship between the production and consumption of bananas as a cultural and economic phenomenon. “Banana Cultures” spans more than 100 years, starting in the 1870s, when bananas spread from small-scale farms in Cuba, Jamaica and the Bay Islands to mainland Central America. For more information, go to http://www.cmu.edu/cmnews/extra/060201_banana.html.

--Poet Blas Manuel De Luna is among five finalists in poetry for the National Book Critics Circle Award for his debut collection “Bent to the Earth,” which was published by the Carnegie Mellon University Press. This is the first time that a book published by the university press has been nominated for the National Book Critics Circle Award, one of publishing’s highest honors. De Luna’s poems tell the story of the hardscrabble lives of immigrant workers. De Luna was born in Tijuana, Mexico, and raised in Madera, Calif. He teaches high school English in California. In 1986, Carnegie Mellon published poet Rita Dove’s “Thomas and Beulah,” which was awarded the Pulitzer the following year. For more information, go to http://www.cmu.edu/PR/releases06/060124_poetry.html.

Events

--William P. Jones will speak at 5 p.m. Feb. 17 as part of the Center for Africanamerican Urban Studies and the Economy (CAUSE) lecture series. Jones is a scholar-in-residence at the Schomburg Center for Research in Black Culture and is on leave from the Department of History at the University of Wisconsin-Madison. His talk is titled “The Tribe of Black Ulysses: African American Lumber Workers in the Jim Crow South.” His talk will take place in the H&SS Auditorium (Baker A53). Refreshments will be served at 4:30 p.m.

--Tom Smart, the former director of museum programs at the Frick Art and Historical Center in Pittsburgh, will speak at 5:30 p.m. Feb. 27 in the Adamson Wing of Baker Hall as part of the "Aesthetics Out of Bounds" arts histories lecture series, sponsored by the Center for the Arts in Society.

-- The entire Carnegie Mellon community is invited to the CFA Centennial Beaux Arts Ball. The College of Fine Arts will celebrate its 100-year anniversary from 8 p.m. to 2 a.m. March 8 with a costume ball in the College of Fine Arts building. There will be good food, libations and entertainment that will keep you on your feet the whole night.  Yes, breakfast will be served. 

CFA has resurrected the ball after a 14-year hiatus. The Beaux Arts tradition originated in 1648 at L'Ecole National Superieure Des Beaux Arts in Paris--also known as the National Academy of Architecture, Painting and Sculpture. Students celebrated the end of exams by staging outrageous all-night revels and masked balls that encouraged freedom of expression and offered social equality for the disguised.

Carnegie Mellon began its tradition in 1911 when architect Henry Hornbostel, a member of the first faculty and a dean of the college, introduced the Beaux Arts Ball to campus. The ball became a costume party, usually held every four years in the College of Fine Arts building. The ball was such an important part of the institution that many faculty included aspects of its planning into their curricula.

This year's theme, “Light and Shadow,” was chosen by the faculty, staff, students and alumni who comprise the Beaux Arts Ball Committee. The theme celebrates timeless paradoxes: black and white, backward and forward, art and technology, the studio and the lab, while underscoring the educational ideals that distinguish the College of Fine Arts.

Costumes are encouraged, but not mandatory. Prizes will be awarded for best costumes. 

Tickets are $40 for students; $75 for alumni, faculty and staff; and $250 for an exclusive Patrons ticket. Tickets can be purchased by check or credit card, by mail or in person at the School of Drama box office in the Purnell Center. Credit cards will also be accepted by phone at 412-268-2407. Box office hours are Monday through Friday, noon to 5 p.m. Limit two tickets per person. All tickets must be purchased by Feb. 28. No tickets will be sold at the door.

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