H&SS eNews, December 2006

Greetings from H&SS.

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

--Peter C. Fusaro, (B.A. History, 1972) has launched Verde Venture Partners, an early stage private equity clean energy fund. Peter has recently written two more books: “Energy and Environmental Hedge Funds: The New Investment Paradigm” and “Energy and Emissions: Collision or Convergence.” He has also been selected for Who's Who in America for 2007.

ANNOUNCEMENT--The Social and Decision Science Student Advisory Council (SDS SAC) will be hosting a networking event for current SDS students with SDS alumni on Thursday, February 8, 2007. This event will be on the Carnegie Mellon campus. The specific time and location will be determined.

The SDS SAC surveyed students at the beginning of the semester and the top event that students were interested in was a networking event with alumni. Because half of the current SDS students took this survey, we think we will get a great student turnout for this event. We would love it if you could attend this event. We’re interested in hearing about your experience, what can be done with an SDS major, and what you’ve done so far.

If you would like to know more about the event or if you would be willing to attend, please contact Liz Mullen at emullen@andrew.cmu.edu.

College/Faculty News

--The Arthur Vining Davis Foundations have given the Humanities Scholars Program a $200,000 endowment grant that initially will be used to help support humanities faculty and develop new courses for the Humanities Scholars Program. The money will also be used to bring in exceptional humanists early in their careers to teach in the program as fellows in the university’s Humanities Center. For more information, go to http://cmu.edu/news/archive/2006/november/nov.-20---davis-foundations-grant.shtml.

--Happiness and other positive emotions play an even more important role in health than previously thought, according to a study published in the journal Psychosomatic Medicine by Psychology Professor Sheldon Cohen. This recent study confirms the results of a landmark 2004 paper in which Cohen and his colleagues found that people who are happy, lively, calm or exhibit other positive emotions are less likely to become ill when they are exposed to a cold virus than those who report few of these emotions. For more information, go to http://www.cmu.edu/news/archive/2006/november/nov.-6-happy-is-healthier.shtml.

--Publishers Weekly has selected Terrance Hayes’ book “Wind in a Box” one of its top 100 books of the year. The book is one of only three poetry collections to make this year’s list. Hayes, an associate professor of creative writing, also is the author of "Hip Logic" and "Muscular Music." He is a past winner of a Whiting Writers Award, the Kate Tufts Discovery Award, a National Poetry Series Award, a Pushcart Prize, a Best American Poetry Selection and a National Endowment for the Arts Fellowship.
 

--English Professor David Shumway recently presented research on his soon-to-be-completed book about rock stars in a series of talks at the American History Seminar at Cambridge; the University of Strathclyde, Glasgow; the John F. Kennedy Institute for American Studies, Berlin; and the School of Music at the University of Liverpool. His presentations were titled "A New Kind of Star: Rock & Roll and the Politicization of Celebrity," and "Bob Dylan: How Rock & Roll Became Art." Shumway is the director of the Humanities Center.

Events

--The fall 2006 Phi Beta Kappa initiation ceremony will take place at 5 p.m. Tuesday, Dec. 5 in the Erwin R. Steinberg Auditorium (Baker Hall A53). Pittsburgh City Councilman Bill Peduto will be the guest speaker. A reception will follow the ceremony.

--Seniors in the Information Systems Program will present their fall semester projects at the annual IS Project Fair at 3 p.m. Friday, Dec. 8 in the Connan Room of the University Center. A reception will follow.

--For a complete list of upcoming alumni events, go to http://alumni2.tepper.cmu.edu/cmuEvents/.

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