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Friday, November 20, 2015
 This week saw the ending of an era. The last exhibit is up at the old Robert and Elaine Stein Galleries as Coordinator Tess Cortes works to get the galleries packed up and ready for the big move across the CAC Commons and into their new gallery space when it is completed this spring. The last exhibit was a wonderful conglomerate concoction of artists (or pretend artists) drawing on the walls. There is definitely something cathartic about applying black paint to white walls. I had the pleasure of adding my own vision and was pleased that I have advanced one notch above stick figures. Pictured here is Gallery Coordinator Tess Cortes, Associate Professor Penny Park, and a student artist.
This past week has been a huge celebration of the 20th Anniversary of the Dayton Peace Accords with lots going on in the community, at Wright State, and in CoLA. Thank you to everyone who has participated in providing programming and other logistical wonders towards this important event. We have had many tie-in events including those by CELIA and UCIE. One such event was An Evening with Steven Galloway, author of The Cellist of Sarajevo, our Common Text for this year. The event was organized by First Year Programs. I was again impressed with CoLA's involvement that included a beautiful, poignant cello performance of Albinoni's Adagio by Franklin Cox, Music, a piece that is central to the story. Vaughn Shannon, Political Science, provided an excellent display on Sarajevo Then and Now, Carolyn Stoermer, English, as co-chair of the Common Text Committee provided the welcome and event introduction, and Carlos Costa, Political Science, introduced author Steven Galloway. The three essay contest winners were all CoLA students and included Kat Adams, English, Frances Smith, Art and Philosophy and a member of the Dean's Student Advisory Board, and Emma Peterson, International Studies and Spanish. Congratulations all!Wright State recently hosted its annual Heritage Societies Event to recognize generous donors with cumulative giving of $10,000 or more to the university. CoLA celebrated a number of honorees this year who were either being inducted into the Heritage Societies for the first time or moving from one Heritage level to the next. I am especially grateful to our amazingly generous faculty, staff, and retirees who were honored that evening: Abe Bassett, retired Theatre Jennie Buckwalter, Dean's Office/Modern Languages Dennis and Carol Loranger, English and Music Bill Rickert, retired Communication Kristin Sobolik and Scott Peterson, Dean's Office and Communication Donald Swanson (deceased), retired English Sarah Twill, Social Work O ur Modern Languages faculty have been busy this fall filling the Student Union with area high school students at their various language Immersion Days which serve as fantastic recruitment events for Wright State. Many people have worked tirelessly and enthusiastically to ensure the success of these events, including Lauren Wolfe who has provided wonderful administrative support along the way.
Arabic Immersion Day - One Culture, Different Nations - was held on October 12 and welcomed 60 students from the Dayton Islamic School to celebrate the culture that unifies the different Arabic nations. Students enjoyed a flag parade, an amazing lunch of halal lamb and yellow rice, and many interactive activities designed to get them speaking and writing in Arabic. Thank you to Amira Ben-Amer Orr and Joshua Mabra for coordinating this inaugural event! The third German Immersion Day featured fairy tales of the Brothers Grimm and took place on October 28 with nearly 50 area high school students speaking German, competing in games, and enjoying wonderful German cuisine and prizes. Special guests were the Volkstanzgruppe of the Liederkranz-Turner Verein, Dayton's very own German Club founded 125 years ago! Kudos to Renate Sturdevant, Elfe Dona, and Miriam Powers for their hard work on this program. The 13th annual Journée d'Immersion Française on November 10 had our Student Union bursting at the seams with 250 students and 17 teachers from 14 area high schools. This year's theme was les Antilles françaises, with all target language activities focusing on the history, culture, geography, and music of this beautiful Francophone area. The morning began with trivia games followed by a flag parade and a wide variety of interactive breakout sessions to keep the students immersed in the language. The delicious Caribbean-themed lunch carried on the theme of the morning and was the perfect end to a fantastic program. Congratulations to Kirsten Halling, Pascale Abadie, Karine Daddah, and Ben Hirt for leading the charge and making this day such a success!
The third Chinese Immersion Day will take place on February 8, 2016, Chinese New Year, and will be coordinated by Haili Du and Maan Broadstock.
 This week's featured New Faculty member is Ashley Hall, Assistant Professor for the Department of English. Ashley received her Ph.D. in English with an emphasis in Rhetoric and Composition from the University of North Carolina. She also holds two M.A. degrees in English and Humanities, in addition to a B.A. in Foreign Languages and Literatures from Old Dominion University. This semester Ashley is teaching Academic Writing and Reading and Basic Media Writing. Her current research is focused on Digital Humanities. One recent project is focused on Twitter and the process of archiving tweets and the limits and possibilities such a process presents. Ashley has been continually thrilled and impressed with the students and staff at Wright State. Welcome, Ashley! Next week we celebrate Thanksgiving and as such we'll take a break from the CoLA Weekly. I hope you enjoy this time to relax (and eat some good food!) with friends and family.
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Kristin Sobolik Dean | |
Upcoming Events:
Concert in Schuster Hall, Sunday, Nov 22, 3:00 p.m. in honor of Bohuslav Martinu's 125th birthday
Duo No. 2 for Violin and Cello, H. 371
Seven Arabesques for Violin and Piano, H. 201
Three Madrigals for Violin and Viola, H. 313
Prelude in the form of an Andante, H. 181
Piano Quartet, H. 287
Thomas Sobieski, violin
Kevin Nordstrom, viola
Franklin Cox, cello and piano
Jennifer Cruz, piano
Fine and Performing Arts
Be sure to visit these online calendars throughout the year for great arts entertainment!
CLASS CORNERPlease check out the many upcoming activities planned through our Center for Liberal Arts Student Success ( CLASS).
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163 Millett Hall - 3640 Colonel Glenn Hwy - Dayton, OH 45435 - 937-775-2225 - fax: 937-775-2181
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