Potash Hill - Marlboro College

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MARLBORO COLLEGE
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Potash Hill
The Magazine of Marlboro College
. Summer 2010
Editor’s Note
Parting Shot
Ethan Denny is a Marlboro junior who just finished an International Honors Program, traveling around the world
to learn about globalization, economics, anthropology, ecology and social movements. He says, “I believe in being
informed by as wide a perspective as possible and in not being stuck in one field alone.” Getting “the big picture”
is part of the intellectual culture at Marlboro, and it is integral to several of the stories in this issue of Potash Hill.
Becky Catarelli’s pioneering treatment of the Great Pacific Garbage Patch, for example, stretches our
definitions of politics and environmental science. Talia Jackson’s and Amer Latif’s insights provide a broader
understanding of the word “jihad,” and Jim Richardson brings 20 years of professional perspective to bear on
the issue of reproductive health. Two events this spring offer dramatically different perspectives, the social
activism of the late Howard Zinn and the economic activism of Tom and Deneen Borelli.
Although Ethan shares some of his experiences on page 35, he says that the reality of his international
adventure was “far, far more strange, maddening, enlightening and exultant.” Perhaps this is in the nature
of opening minds to broader perspectives. I hope you find something strange, maddening, enlightening or exultant
in this issue of Potash Hill, and that you submit a letter describing why. You can see reactions to the last issue on page 60.
—Philip Johansson, editor
Edi tor: Philip Johansson
A rt Edi tor: Dianna Noyes ’80
St af f Ph ot ogr ap h e r s : Marcus DeSieno ’10, Adam Keller ’10, Thea Cabreros ’12
Potash Hill welcomes letters to the editor. Mail them to: Editor, Potash Hill,
Marlboro College, P.O. Box A, Marlboro, VT 05344, or send email to: pjohansson@marlboro.edu.
The editor reserves the right to edit for length letters that appear in Potash Hill.
Potash Hill is available online at Marlboro College’s website, www.marlboro.edu.
After four years behind the camera, providing rich
woodwardesign
images for numerous Marlboro publications and web
Front cover: Plastic shards littering a Hawaii beach are only the most obvious effect of the Great Pacific Garbage Patch.
While Becky Catarelli did her Plan on changing gender boundaries in Vietnam, the alumna has gone on to explore the social
and ethical dimensions of environmental impacts such as 100 tons of floating trash (see page 12). Photo by Becky Catarelli
Back cover: Zebras nuzzle at Masai Mara Reserve, Kenya, the site of Jaime Tanner’s
research on spotted hyenas (see page 2). Photo by Jaime Tanner
Marlboro College Mission Statement
The goal of Marlboro College is to teach students to think clearly and to learn independently through engagement in a
structured program of liberal studies. Students are expected to develop a command of concise and correct English and to
strive for academic excellence informed by intellectual and artistic creativity; they are encouraged to acquire a passion
for learning, discerning judgment and a global perspective. The college promotes independence by requiring students to
participate in the planning of their own programs of study and to act responsibly within a self-governing community.
pages, graduates Marcus DeSieno and Adam Keller take a
much-deserved cruise on the fire pond “party barge.”
Thanks and bon voyage, Marcus and Adam.
Photo by Thea Cabreros
Potash Hill
T h e M a g a z in e o f M a r lb o r o C o lle g e
L i b er a l A r t s
Science
Hyena Skulls and
the Social Order . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2
Humanities
The Greater Jihad: struggling to “do the beautiful” . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8
Social Sciences
The Cosmopolitics of Garbage . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12
Arts
Sam Is My Brother . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 16
Perspective
Undue Burden: the crisis of reproductive health care . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 20
O n & O ff t h e H i ll
The extended family of Luis Batlle, New faculty member sinks
teeth into biology, Keeping up with the classics, WHIP program
puts wellness first, Graduate school joins virtual learning cooperative, Spring events test degrees of activism, Alumni trustees
take the lead, Worthy of note, Commencement 2010 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 22
A lu m n i N ew s
Class Notes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 50
Letters to the Editor . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 60
In Memoriam . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 62
Return to Table of Contents
S C I E N C E
SCIENCE
HYENA
SKULLS
and the
SOCIAL
ORDER
BY JAIME TANNER
An intimate look at the social and anatomical complexities of spotted
hyenas suggests a key role for their massive, bone-crushing skulls in the
evolution of female dominance.
Hardly deserving of their reputation as cowardly scavengers, spotted hyenas are actually
quite successful predators. Up to 85 percent of their diet consists of food that they have killed
themselves, and it is much more common for lions to steal kills from hyenas than the other
way around. Spotted hyenas are the most abundant large carnivores in Africa, and they owe
their success to endurance, complex social behaviors and jaws that crush bones like after-dinner
mints. In my own research I have sought to shed light on the role of hyenas’ specialized skulls
in the evolution of their social system.
Spotted hyenas belong to the family Hyaenidae, which also includes brown and striped
hyenas, both solitary scavengers, as well as aardwolves, which feed solely on termites. Spotted
hyenas are unique among hyaenids in that they are highly social, living in clans that can range
in size from nine to 100 individuals. Clan members cooperate to defend a common territory
and resources against other hyenas and against their fiercest competitors—lions.
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Return
Table offeed
Contents
Opposite:toFlamingos
in Lake Nakuru, Kenya. Above: Spotted hyena skulls reveal
the development of the adults’ massive jaws and teeth.
Photos by Jaime Tanner
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SCIENCE
individuals and their offspring feeding first at a kill. One of the most unique aspects of spotted
hyena biology is that adult females are larger, more aggressive and socially dominant to all adult
males within a clan. Adult males, conversely, are at the bottom of the social hierarchy, below
females and their offspring. The social rank of an individual is not determined by strength or
size but rather is inherited maternally.
Female spotted hyenas give birth to one or two cubs in an isolated den hole, usually an
abandoned aardvark or warthog den. After four to six weeks in their natal den, the cubs are
transferred to the clan’s communal den, where all the other cubs in the clan reside. This is the
social hotspot of a clan, where mothers, cubs and other members of the clan come to meet and
greet. It is here, at the communal den, that cubs first learn their ranks in relation to others by
observing their mother’s interactions with other hyenas. Cubs will remain at the communal den
until about 10 months of age, at which time they will begin to join their mother on forays away
from the den and begin to feed regularly on carcasses. Spotted hyenas nurse their young for
a relatively long period of time, weaning cubs between 8 months and 2 years of age. This is
particularly interesting considering that spotted hyenas are also capable of giving birth by the
time they are 2 years old.
A common misconception about spotted hyenas, at least among
Africans, is that they are hermaphrodites, possessing both male and
female genitalia. Although this is untrue, it is understandable how this
myth might have come about: To the untrained eye, it is very difficult
Although spotted hyenas are very social and will hunt in groups to take down an animal as
have external genitals that look almost identical to those of males,
on average, is readily capable of subduing an adult wildebeest weighing 400 pounds. Unlike the
including a fully erectile phallus and “pseudoscrotum.” As if this weren’t
big cats, spotted hyenas do not stalk their prey; they are instead referred to as “coursers,” which
odd enough, females need to urinate, copulate and give birth through
run their prey down to exhaustion. They have incredibly high endurance, and their characteristic
this phallus, with far-reaching implications. The birth canal is elon-
sloping posture makes running long distances more energetically efficient.
gated, so much so that the umbilical cord must tear inside the female
Spotted hyenas are not only successful predators, but also efficient at feeding on their prey.
Descended from scavenging, bone-cracking ancestors, they have the strongest jaws of any land
carnivore and are capable of cracking open and consuming bones as big as giraffe leg bones.
before the cub can be born. It is not unusual for cubs, particularly to
first-time mothers, to die during this arduous process.
Why would natural selection favor such a costly piece of
They have highly specialized skulls that are capable of generating and sustaining large forces.
equipment? Many hypotheses have been put forth to explain
We estimate that an adult hyena is capable of producing bite forces as large as 7,000 Newtons.
masculinization of female spotted hyenas. To date, the most likely explanation is that natural
As reference, an adult human, biting down as hard as he or she can, will generate between 150
selection has not favored this trait, per se, at all. Instead, it may merely be a side effect of
and 300 Newtons of force. Their bone-cracking ability allows spotted hyenas to make use of an
selection for socially dominant females. In order for females to be bigger, stronger and more
entire carcass, and they will eat just about everything except for the horns, hooves and teeth.
aggressive they have high levels of male-like hormones, even during pregnancy. This may
In a matter of mere minutes a group of hyenas can reduce a 400-pound wildebeest to barely
expose developing fetuses to high levels of these hormones, which may in turn cause fetal
more than a bloody patch of grass on the ground.
females’ genitals to form in the same “package” as that of males. Despite years of research,
Living in large social groups means that there is the potential for intense feeding competition
between spotted hyenas at a kill, with up to 20 clan members feeding on a carcass at the same
time. This competition is mediated, in part, by a rigid dominance hierarchy. A lifelong social
rank determines the priority of access to resources, such as food and mates, with high-ranking
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to tell the difference between males and females. Female spotted hyenas
large as a zebra or buffalo, they usually hunt alone. A single adult hyena, weighing 120 pounds
Potash Hill . S U M M E R 2 0 1 0
we still do not completely understand how this happens. Nevertheless, it is clear that there
is strong selection for female dominance—but why?
My own research on spotted hyenas has sought to shed light on the evolution of female
dominance in this species. I worked under the guidance of Dr. Kay Holekamp, who established
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SCIENCE
might take a long time to develop but do not have intense feeding competition (striped hyenas).
These findings will help tease out the relative importance of these variables in the evolution of
spotted hyena female dominance.
While our knowledge about spotted hyenas has come a long way from the misconceptions
of hunched, cowardly scavengers waiting to steal the kills of magnificent lions, there is still
much to learn about these unique animals. I plan to continue investigating selective pressures
on the behavior and anatomy of hyenas and other mammals throughout development.
the Mara Hyena Project over 20 years ago in the Masai Mara National Reserve, in southwestern
Kenya. During this time researchers like myself have been following the same population of spotted
hyenas and recording their age, sex, social rank, genetic relatedness, body measurements and social
behaviors. We can identify each member in the study population from their unique spot patterns
and other identifying characteristics. The wealth of data accumulated over the years has allowed
Kay and her students to investigate questions about spotted hyena development, social behavior,
cognition, hormones, interactions with humans and more.
Jaime Tanner is the new
professor of biology at
Marlboro, with interests
in animal evolution,
behavior and development. For more about
Jaime, go to page 27.
*See “Post-weaning
maternal effects and the
evolution of female dominance in the spotted
hyena.” Watts, H.E., J.B.
Tanner, B.L. Lundrigan
and K.E. Holekamp
(2009). Proceedings of
the Royal Society B 276:
2291–2298.
For my dissertation research I focused on the development of the bone-crushing skull
Marlboro goes to Kenya
and feeding behavior in spotted hyenas. At the Michigan State University Museum, we have
amassed a unique skull collection for which we know the age, sex and social rank of each speci-
Over spring break, Jaime and political science professor
men. Using this collection, and comparable measurements from anesthetized hyenas in the wild,
Lynette Rummel led six students from the Biology of
I was able to track the changes in size and shape of skulls throughout development. Additionally,
Mammals class for two weeks in Kenya. They visited Lake
during the two-and-a-half years that I spent collecting data in the field, I conducted a “feeding
Nakuru National Park (where they were found imitating fla-
speed” experiment, in which I recorded the time that it took for hyenas of different ages to eat
mingoes, pictured) as well as Masai Mara, and had the unique opportunity to observe African animals in their natural habitat.
a goat femur. These were all fascinating details of hyena development to reveal, but you may be
They also spent valuable time with the Maasai, one of Kenya’s ethnic groups, and learned about their culture.
wondering what they have to do with the evolution of female dominance.
One aspect of behavior upon which selection should be strong is maternal care, since this has
“When I woke up for the morning game drive it was still dark as night. The first sight we saw was a huge herd of buffalo
a direct impact on a female’s “fitness”—her ability to pass her genes on to the next generation.
with many young. There was this one lonely buffalo separated from the herd with one of his horns missing. It must have
As I mentioned earlier, females will nurse their offspring for a relatively long period of time, longer
been a fresh wound because it appeared to still be bleeding. The horn was most likely lost in a fight. In buffalo society the
than most other carnivores. What I found in my research was that it takes a long period of time for
old and sick are cast out and tend to be more aggressive.”
the skulls of young spotted hyenas to develop into the specialized bone-cracking skulls of adults.
—Joella Simons Adkins ’12
In fact, their skulls continue to grow until they are 3 years old, a full year after they are able to
reproduce. Likewise, when I looked at their feeding speed, I found that spotted hyenas do not reach
adult abilities until they are 3 years of age. These findings help explain why there is an extended
period of offspring dependence in this species.
Because spotted hyenas live in large groups where there is likely to be intense feeding
“Four adult elephants and two young. Isaac tells us that the adults wave their ears to indicate unhappiness. The very
big one is now waving its ears toward our car. Also she is walking closer. We are now backing up and driving away.”
“Baboons—I don’t like them. It offends and unnerves me that they are so much like humans but are not, in fact, human. A
little too close to home, if you ask me.”
—Emily Field ’11
competition, large, aggressive females are better able to take care of their highly dependent
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offspring. This new hypothesis for the evolution of female dominance in hyenas was proposed
“It was my last night to sleep on African soil, and I felt sad. Then the sounds of the group at the campfire softly crept
by my colleagues and me in the Proceedings of the Royal Society.* Our next step will be to
into my consciousness. I think it was Gina who sang first, and so beautifully. Then the Maasai began to sing, a chanting,
compare the rates of development that we have found in spotted hyenas to those of other
rhythmic sound accompanied by a high, aria-like solo. I was transported, and I fell asleep full of satisfaction and gratitude
carnivores with intense feeding competition but without specialized bone-cracking skulls
at witnessing such different worlds become one, around the campfire.”
(lions and wild dogs), and to those of species that have specialized bone-cracking skulls that
—Lynette Rummel, politics professor
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HUMANITIES
The Greater Jihad:
TJ: Although “jihad” literally refers to both
cannot burn crops; you cannot hurt women
an inner and an outer struggle, in contem-
and children and old people; religious places
struggling to “do the beautiful”
porary times the outer dimension of jihad
cannot be desecrated. Yet even though we’re
has overshadowed the inner, more personal
using the same concept of jihad today, modern
meaning. The word has frequently been used
warfare is qualitatively different than the fight-
by Muslims to indicate any war fought in the
ing that once took place. Muslim scholars have
name of Islam, from Muhammad’s time. This
only grudgingly, and with abhorrence, allowed
application of jihad has been exploited by the
this kind of warfare because it’s the only way
Western media to such an extent that the pub-
to protect a state. Most jurists consider the
lic is generally ignorant of its deeper meaning.
majority of modern methods of conflict—
BY TALIA JACKSON ’09 AND AMER LATIF
Recent graduate Talia Jackon wrote, “If an American on the street were
asked what ‘jihad’ meant, they would typically say, ‘Islamic holy war.’”
Talia and her Plan sponsor, religion professor Amer Latif, delve into the
broader meaning of jihad to reveal how struggle defines Islam.
forget suicide bombing—to be against Islamic
AL: A specific kind of jihad is to fight against
people who are threatening the community.
8
The same word is used whether it refers to a
law, the common good and the preservation
of innocent life. Fighting is considered to be
a final recourse, not to be taken lightly. But
Talia Jackson: In the Muslim world the idea
Amer Latif: No matter where human beings
of jihad, or ‘struggle,’ is the defining nature of
are and wherever they live, the issue is how
existence. From an Islamic perspective, to be
to live one’s life. And the way different
human is to struggle. But life for Muslims is not
cultures conceive it and the images they use
merely a struggle to survive; there is a larger
for it are sometimes strikingly similar. This
struggle as warfare has taken up more and
purpose. When Muhammad, the founder of
notion of greater jihad would be familiar to
more of our consciousness. Conflict is what
Islam, returned home with his men after a
most people in the world, in the sense people
makes news; it’s just as simple as that. Yet
spoke of is inward, concealed in the inner
long battle in the early seventh century, he
use when they say, “I’m struggling to make
jihad as fighting is merely one manifestation
dimension of the human soul. Inside people
said, “We have returned from the lesser jihad
a life,” or “I’m fighting for my kids.” It’s that
of the broader concept of what it means to
there dwell doubts in matters of faith; there
to the greater jihad.” Those with Muhammad
universal sense of living that is encapsulated,
live life. From an Islamic point of view,
also exists jealousy, anger, greed and fear.
begged the messenger to tell them, “What
the larger sense of striving that the Qur’an
it’s part of the whole picture. It’s just one
Muhammad professed that people overcame
could be greater than struggling against the
refers to. It casts all this experience that we
element of the greater struggle, just part
these feelings by struggling to do good and do
unbelievers with the sword?” Muhammad told
have, being here on earth, within a broader
of life: Sometimes you have to fight.
God’s will. This is humanity’s “greater jihad.”
them that the greater jihad was “struggling
framework: that we are struggling on the
against the enemy in your own breast.”
path to God.
Muslim state fighting in the name of Islam,
such as Pakistan, or a terrorist group fighting
against the state in the name of Islam, such
as the Taliban. In recent times, the idea of
Since Muhammad’s day there have been
specific ways in which war is carried out. You
these outward struggles are nothing compared
to the most important work you have to face
within yourself.
TJ: The greater struggle that Muhammad
While the inner dimension of jihad is
often eclipsed in current political and religious
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rhetoric, it is very present in the Qur’an. In
who is striving to assure that her kids are
AL: The act of praying five times a day is
For others an understanding of the world and
this central scripture of Islam, jihad is a broad
safe is just the same as a legal scholar who
islam. But does a person understand and
themselves may be based on societal custom.
concept that at times suggests physical struggle,
is struggling to find the answer to a pressing
have faith in what he’s doing or is he simply
People may be defined by their experience:
but violent conflict is rarely explicitly stated.
legal issue. It’s not even a metaphor; in a
imitating? What is his intention in doing
If their father is a farmer they too become
For example, the Qur’an says:
way it really gives a literal sense of how to
this: Is it for show or is it for God’s sake?
a farmer. Muslims have families, individual
live one’s life.
It’s not simply the act. It’s a situation of
hopes, dreams and desires that are all factors
O men, bow you down and prostrate
from Talia Jackson’s
Plan of Concentration
in religion and political science, which also
explored the struggle for
Islamic identity in Algeria
the heart: the understanding with which
in their decisions. But their primary goal in
do good happily so you shall prosper;
TJ: A useful guide to what the greater jihad
an action is done, the intention behind it.
life, in being human, is to serve God.
and struggle for God as is His due,
entails can be found in the “three dimensions” of
The three dimensions are outward actions,
for He has chosen you, and laid on
Islam, known respectively as islam (submission),
inward understanding and real motivation.
has been appropriated by Islamic extremists
Talia started graduate
you no impediment in your religion.
iman (faith) and ihsan (doing the beautiful).
If one is attentive of the presence of God,
for their violent purposes, and by the media
studies at Smith College
They come from the Hadith of Gabriel, one of
if one is aware of the unity of existence and
covering them, the meaning of struggle for
the written accounts of Muhammad’s words and
feels that they are going to be held account-
most Muslims is more benign. By engaging in
deeds. In the Hadith, Muhammad teaches that
able, then it’s a very different endeavor.
the idea of jihad present in each of the three
yourselves, and serve your Lord, and
Far from engendering a violent holy war,
humanity’s struggle is a matter of courtesy
toward God. Just as children are encouraged
by their parents to write thank you notes
when someone has given them gifts, Muslims
are encouraged to struggle for God as an
expression of thanks for the gift of existence.
following a car accident.
this summer, where she
is working on her
master’s in social work.
dimensions of Islam, the majority of Muslims
Amer Latif is professor
TJ: The idea of faith governing all elements
hope to follow God’s guidance, walking the
of religion at Marlboro
during Ramadan. But the first dimension is only
of life, both the public and the private, is
path toward the divine. As the Qur’an says,
the beginning of humanity’s struggle.
very foreign to non-Muslims. In Islam, faith
“To every one of you, we have appointed a
While islam is at the level of action, iman
is synonymous with understanding. Yet
understanding one’s place in the world is a
the unity of God. God describes himself in
it is easy to have faith when you have a good
universal principle: Every human being wants
the Qur’an through many different attributes:
job and live a comfortable life. It is harder to
to understand how he or she fits into the
He’s the loving, the merciful, the kind, the
have faith and struggle in God’s path when
world, what the right things are to do in life.
forgiving, the life giver and the life taker. But
the rewards are not on the surface, when you
For some people their guiding principle is
one of his names is also “the real.” So to say
see or experience hardship. A Muslim can
individuality—they spend their lives search-
God is one is to say reality is one: There is a
only achieve iman through struggle. In the
ing for what defines them as an individual.
certain order to existence. This is a supremely
Qur’an, God says that those who truly have
optimistic statement. When the Bible or the
faith are those who do not doubt.
Qur’an says that things are connected, it con-
Although a narrower concept of jihad
and her own personal
struggle with paralysis
such as ritual prayer, paying alms tax and fasting
the way to submit to God is through actions,
is at the level of understanding. For example,
AL: The broader context for jihad is that of
and was one of the
sponsors of Talia’s Plan.
He received his Ph.D.
right way and an open road.”
last year from Stony
Brook University, with
a dissertation on Rumi’s
interpretation of
the Qur’an.
The third dimension of Islam, ihsan,
nects one’s life, one’s struggles, and makes
is the verbal noun of the word ahsana, “to
meaning of them in this broader perspective:
do right, act with kindness, do something
Where did I come from; where am I going?
uprightly; to give something goodly.”
I’m struggling along the path of God. It’s a
Islamic scholars William Chittick and
way of making sense of the meaning of life
Sachiko Murata translate this word as “doing
that tries to unify all aspects. Jihad provides
the beautiful.” Ihsan is not only performing an
coherence to one’s way of thinking about
action, or understanding the reason behind
ineffability. As part of his research he traveled to Turkey with Amer Latif, on a grant from the
the world, so things are not disjointed.
it, but doing so with the intention of serving
Jerome I. Aron Fund, to interview Sufi teachers and practitioners. “From the Sufi perspective,
God. If a Muslim thinks, acts and understands
music may be seen as a reminder of our place within the cosmos and as one path toward God,”
is greater jihad. You strive with your money,
with such intention, he is remembering
said Mike. His research built upon readings of 13th-century mystics and scholars Ibn al-Arabi and Rumi, as well as contemporary
with your bodies, with your selves. A mother
God in every moment.
scholars. “By being welcomed into the oral tradition of Sufism, I was opened to a world beyond the texts,” he said.
Everything that one does in one’s life
10
This article is adapted
Music and mystical experience
“Practice is nothing other than struggle,” said bassist Mike Harrist ’10, referring to both spiritual
and musical practice. “It is knocking on the door, waiting for it to be opened from the other side.”
For his Plan of Concentration, Mike focused on the relationship between musical experience and
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SOCIAL
SCIENCES
In addition to littering beaches, the garbage patch is wreaking havoc on the ocean’s
residents as marine animals increasingly mistake these pelagic plastics for food. Larger animals,
including sea turtles, seals and albatrosses, ingest plastic bags, bottle tops and cigarette lighters.
Because plastic degrades into smaller and smaller pieces, yet never entirely disappears, smaller
organisms feed on minute plastic particles that resemble plankton. Plastic chemicals enter the
marine food chain and eventually humans when we eat seafood. Furthermore, plastics adhere to
poisonous chemicals like PCBs, DDT and dioxin, which then accumulate in the tissues of marine
animals and find their way into the foods we eat. Mounting scientific evidence suggests that our
waste may be causing irreversible damage to our own bodies.
My exploration of the Great Pacific Garbage Patch investigates this stunning
The Cosmopolitics of Garbage
environmental problem through the lens of what is known as “continental philosophy.”
Among other things, continental philosophy critiques the objectivity of science and recognizes
both “nature” and “society” as purely human constructs rather than diametrically opposed
realities. Nonhumans, a category that can include beings as diverse as animals, mountains, rivers
Building on her own encounters with the Great Pacific Garbage
Patch, Becky Catarelli explores nonhuman relations, “thing
BY BECKY CATARELLI ’04
power” and new ethical horizons.
and even our own plastic trash, are taken seriously as mediators in worldly relationships. In an
From the end of the shoreline where we were crouched in the sand picking out tiny bits of plastic,
are actually dragging it off the beach or filtering tiny pieces of it from the sand, it is disturbing to
I could see torches springing to life farther down the beach and crowds of tourists making their way
a degree that is difficult to capture in words. The long list of items we encountered on the beaches
down to the water for night snorkeling. Once in a while, a honeymooning couple would walk by
included jar lids, plastic cutlery, toothbrushes, combs, umbrella handles, plastic bottles, children’s
and ask what we were doing. No one had heard of the Great Pacific Garbage Patch, and they all
toys and especially fishing gear. We also consistently found the knotted sections from black plastic
moved on quickly when we showed them the tiny pieces of plastic that we were carefully extracting
garbage bags: the edges around the knots were full of teeth marks, the rest of the bags having been
from the sand and that could be seen washing in with the waves. When darkness fell, we trudged
mistaken for food.
attempt to understand our intricate connections with our own trash, I spent some time working
with an energetic couple who devote most of their time and financial resources to cleaning up
and collecting samples of plastics from Hawaii’s beaches.
The plastic that is washing up in Hawaii is overwhelming to even think about, but when you
down the beach with eight buckets of degraded plastic—an hour’s work. The section of beach we
left behind hardly looked any different.
The Great Pacific Garbage Patch was discovered and named by captain-turned-marine-researcher
Charles Moore in 1997, while he was taking the long way back to California from a sailing race in
Hawaii. Traveling through the center of the gyre, he was so profoundly influenced by the trash he
12
The Great Pacific Garbage Patch is a vast area within the North Pacific subtropical gyre where
saw floating in the water that he has dedicated his life to researching and raising awareness about
plastic debris gathers in a soup-like mixture that has been called the world’s biggest “landfill.” This
the issue. Moore’s experience can be understood through the concept of “affect,” as used by conti-
concentration of trash is estimated to be twice the size of Texas and to contain a stunning 100
nental philosophers. Affect is not the feeling itself, but rather the power that makes us feel. Some
million tons of plastic, circulating for years before some of it washes up on windward beaches in
nonhumans possess this power to such an extent that it can influence a human to act in ways that
Hawaii and elsewhere. Beyond the obvious environmental impacts, this sea of garbage has even
are different from actions intended by a cognitive mind. When we not only re-encounter our own
deeper consequences in terms of our ethical relationship with the world.
waste, but learn that it is circulating back into our bodies in dangerous ways, the intensity can
SUMMER 2010
. Potash Hill
13
SOCIAL
Perhaps the Great Pacific Garbage Patch has not yet spoken loudly enough to influence
humanity on a global scale, but it continues to gather emissaries, human and nonhuman, transforming a modest network into a burgeoning issue. Some enlisted humans have dedicated their
lives to the garbage patch; some, like myself, have been affected enough to engage in an academic
SCIENCES
exploration of the network; and a great many others have chosen to forgo a plastic bag at the
supermarket because they understand that the same bag may eventually end up lodged in the throat
of a marine animal or incorporated, in some form, into a human body. We are all people who, to
varying extents, have taken up the issue of the garbage patch as it flexes its political muscles.
Cosmopolitics does not begin and end with the Great Pacific Garbage Patch. Beyond this
prominent example, countless other actor networks are affecting the world around us, influencing
our actions and altering our paths. The issue of ozone layer depletion started with an exclusively
nonhuman assemblage way up in the atmosphere and eventually led to the creation of the Montreal
Protocol’s effective policies controlling the use of chlorofluorocarbons. The same thing is happening
with carbon emissions today: They are deeply embedded in a cosmopolitical process that includes a
Becky Catarelli received
be so strong as to cause us to switch trajectories. Moore’s life path was altered through such an
her master’s degree in
encounter with a nonhuman assemblage of plastic bits.
nature, society and
environmental policy
from Oxford University
for her research sum-
Once affect has seized our attention, it is through ethics that we adjust to these nonhuman
messages and learn to relate anew to the world around us. Everyone who has ever taken a plastic
bag at a supermarket or purchased a bottle of laundry detergent is complicit in the Great Pacific
marized in this article.
Garbage Patch, making it an ethical dilemma that implicates most humans the world over.
Becky was recently
However, continental philosophy does not interpret ethics exclusively as a code of conduct, but
awarded a Clarendon
instead as a process of relations forged between actors in a profoundly connected network. Rather
Scholarship to continue
than simply understanding and following a set of rules, living ethically involves openness to the
her graduate work at
continuous adjustment and repositioning of relations with the things around us, something that
Oxford, where she is
investigating the future
vast network of human and nonhuman participants, and that has been gaining momentum as the
number of enlisted actors increases.
Cosmopolitics asks nothing but that we pay attention to nonhumans and take them seriously.
Admittedly, although this approach is useful in thinking about our ethical relations with the world,
it is not necessarily practical in an immediate sense. Yet if we are willing to treat our waste products
as legitimate actors with the power to do us harm, we may finally be in a better position to understand the intricate ethical webs in which we are entangled and avert future ecological disasters.
Captain Moore and the trash-collecting couple I met in Hawaii are doing with great fervor.
Through affective encounters and their impact on ethics, nonhumans emerge as substantial
beings with the political agency to directly involve humans in environmental issues. Dubbed
The shifting balance of global power
“cosmopolitics” by philosopher of science Isabelle Stengers, this new theory encourages us to
No stranger to subtropical gyres himself, Kevin Cabrey ’10 grew up on a sailboat that
Above: Plastic bottles
engage with nonhuman entities by acknowledging and responding to what political scientist
rarely stayed in one place for long, living and learning in more than 50 countries. Kevin’s
and eel cones, used to
Jane Bennett calls their “thing power.” Cosmopolitics begins when things are drawn together,
comprehensive worldview contributed to his Plan of Concentration in politics, which
trap eels in Korea, are
or rather attract each other, by virtue of their thing power, without the benefit of human agency.
looked specifically at the future of political and social development in rising nation-
Until recently, the oceans and all the nonhuman actors in their currents have assembled virtu-
states like China, India and Brazil. “Part of this includes looking at the contradictions,
ally outside of any human awareness. Now these things have formed a network whose nonhuman
crises and increasing decline of American hegemony and Western neo-imperialism,” said
participants include, among other things, the ocean, our plastic trash, marine animals and toxic
Kevin. “But most interesting are the paths to power being taken by emerging nations
chemicals. This network can in turn influence human actions through affective encounters,
like China, and the ways in which modern conceptions of market economics are being successfully married to socialist statism
compelling humans to speak on its behalf. In this way, things like the garbage patch become
and other alternative development strategies. The more we can contextualize America’s own failures and limitations as it pur-
politically potent as more actors, both human and nonhuman, become involved in the issue.
sued its recent path of development, the better we can understand how emerging powers can avoid the same errors.”
of the Maldives in the
face of sea level rise.
among the flotsam that
washes up on the shores
of Hawaii from the Great
Pacific Garbage Patch.
Photos by
Becky Catarelli
Despite its unfamiliarity in typical political circles, this nonhuman influence can spark
a large-scale mobilization of human resources working to enact real political change.
14
SUMMER 2010
. Potash Hill
15
ARTS
I had heard this, knew it already. I had told it myself to some younger kids. I wasn’t going
to stop him though. Who would? The world would pull up a chair and cut the static. Sam was
the armistice on Christmas.
He could talk. “The dance was pretty boring, so I left and followed the tracks home. And
the snow was starting to let up a little, but it was still hard for me to see anything.” Drawing
shadows with his exhalations on the concrete in the cold. He kept going. He said he tripped on
something that he thought was a piece of wood. The snow let up for good, as if to let him see it.
He said he turned around. “It was a dog’s leg. Like a golden retriever, or something. Not much
snow on it either. It’d just happened. Just been severed.” He said he looked around for the rest
of him but didn’t see anything.
I’ve been drowning ants in the sink lately. I’ve been sitting in the sun and going through entire
packs of cigarettes. I’ve been listening to my neighbor’s wind chime at night. I hold my breath
and listen.
I went to the creek today. I woke up early even though I only got a few hours of sleep. Even
though nobody’s really expecting anything from me. I could hear my aunt whispering to my
mother in the living room. I could hear televised weather reports from across the house.
am Is
r
e
h
t
o
r
My B
Today I woke up, drank some coffee and followed the tracks all the way to the creek. No water
though. Still. We’ve probably had two weeks of 100-degree weather, maybe more. The creek
bed was scorched. Pink skin flaking off. The plants on the bank looked like they were sweating
white dust. Bleached crawdad skeletons everywhere. Like the picture you showed me of the two
BY ERIC BREEDEN ’11
One summer it was just me, Sam and the boring-ass city of Nashville. We’d stand in the doorways
of air conditioned buildings on Broadway, or sit on the steps in front of this bookstore on Fifth
instead, but I’m not going to say that. “He moved. He moved up north, got a job.” Disappeared,
Avenue. Then we’d walk some more. He’d ask questions like, I wonder if we could spend the
maybe. “He disappeared.” Like Huck Finn with the pig’s blood that looked so human. Or I
night in the art museum? or, Could we get into a bar? or, I wonder if we could find some water-
could say that you turned into something else. That way you’d still be here.
melons? At the bar they told us: You guys look just like brothers, and you’re both too young.
just a chemical transformation. Increased serotonin. That godsend. But if you look at them side
by side, it’s amazing. The article had color pictures, side by side. There was a stack of magazines
in the waiting room. I picked one from the stack. On the left side of the page, the grasshopper,
the homebody—a sigh of green, no patterns. But the other one, the one next to him, the
iridescent afterthought. I wish I could show you, Sam. This one, he was electric with bumblebee
stripes. He was the one who left. He was the one who obliterated civilizations, then left.
Sam was older than me. He had these stories. Jeans rolled once, pacing wet asphalt. Adderall
driven, talking and talking. I’d catch up next to him and listen. We’d wander and always find
a fire escape or a row of pissed-off dogs, or both. Once this redneck even chased us in his truck
So we went for the watermelons.
The grocery stand was easy to steal from. Rows of the brightest fruit I’d ever seen, watermelons
so enormous they didn’t seem real. Like giraffes. He liked their colors, I think. It wasn’t the taste.
It was how they changed from bright red to pink to white as you ate them. He’d take a bite and
watch the water ease out. The best part was when we’d find the top of some building and drop
the rinds from it. We’d drop them and they’d burst like watery stars on the pavement.
At the stand, we each grabbed one and lumbered off like pregnant women.
Sam knew where to go, because he said, “I know where to go.”
From the top of a parking garage we watched the city turn blue, then darken. The windows
were squares of light stacked up, with some getting brighter, a few going out.
We cut into the watermelons. They poured out over the concrete edge.
A wasp dipped down to drink from Sam’s slice. He drank until his wings were damp. Sam let him
after we knocked over his snowman.
16
I didn’t stay that long.
From now on I’m not going to say what happened to you. I haven’t thought of what to say
I read that locusts aren’t genetically different from grasshoppers. Did you know this? That it’s
Potash Hill .
Photo by Joanna
Moyer-Battick ’12
people buried at Vesuvius.
But soon enough, every night I guess, we’d stop somewhere and I’d listen to him.
drink until he had enough. Sometimes Sam could get real quiet. He’d just sit by himself for a while, or
“This is true. The time I was walking home in the snow after that dance or whatever it was.”
stare at something like he was praying. He stared at the wasp as it drank. That stuff killed me.
SUMMER 2010
SUMMER 2010
. Potash Hill
17
no shirt and used to burn whatever trash blew into his yard. I have no idea what happened to
him. Anyways, I had a cigarette hanging in my mouth and I was pushing the lawn mower into
the garage when this wasp fell from the gutter and stung my hand. Sam thought the whole thing
The crickets started up again, started laughing. Somewhere in a pile of sawdust and dead
grass a snake waited as quiet as an empty road. On a road near that, a tree fell through a house
maybe you were asleep at the same time, somewhere else. I think that maybe you accidentally
Tennessee, and is study-
walked over into my dream.
Or maybe it was me. Maybe I found your dream, finally.
at Marlboro. For his Plan
In it, you’re standing on a tiny patch of pavement in the center of a field. You’re wearing
19th-century America.
I guess, or change.
the marriage. Was it your marriage? You’ve made it to the bottom and you’re not dizzy. Of course
you’re not dizzy.
thing and here you are at the bottom of the hill. The sunlight is picking every wisp from your
MacArthur Prize (see
jacket and slinging them like sparks over me. You look at me.
And what you give me is this: that in the dream, I don’t know it’s a dream.
photo titled “Cousin.”
The last night I saw my brother we drove to the creek. We sat in the car a for while. I was still
The image depicts her
drinking, still drunk from earlier in the day. I closed my eyes, heard Sam eating sunflower seeds
twin brother and cousin
beside me. That’s what he did after he quit smoking. I lifted a cigarette to my mouth.
their bodies made them
Anyways, this is what I have. This story, or whatever it is.
It’s yours.
And there’s one thing left in it, Sam.
Do you remember how we used to flip rocks over in the creek looking for crawdads?
And when we actually found one how we were too scared to pick it up?
Look.
Self-portrait and plasticity
“No.”
reflection of the other,”
“This guy had a parrot on his shoulder that kept biting him as he was driving and he’d just
hit it with a water bottle and say, Lucy and I have a love-hate relationship.”
“New possibilities for self-representation, and the tools allowed by digital and situational
manipulation, treat the human body as a thing that is moldable, transformable and ulti-
“When were you hitchhiking?”
mately correctable,” said Kelsey Wolcott ’10, who did her Plan of Concentration in gender
He didn’t answer. He just grabbed the cigarette out of my mouth, took one puff and said,
studies and painting. “For this reason, the self-portrait can show us the bodily manifesta-
“Well,” as he opened the car door and got out.
tions of cultural desires, ideals and fears.” Kelsey focused on the self-representations of
On the other side of the window he looked like a faded, invulnerable image of himself.
two contemporary photographers, Cindy Sherman and Nikki S. Lee, to explore the gendered
Around him, yellow flowers slouched, staring down at the dirt. The crickets, a steady drone.
themes implicit in portrait plasticity and the rhetoric of limitless possibility. “Self-portraits
I had the feeling that all of it was being filmed.
exhibit a kind of fantasy, one that provides insight into the psychology of both the maker and the culture in which they
One time I climbed a tree in the woods and it began to snow. The borders of each flake sank
into each flake. There was nothing particular anywhere that day. Nobody remembers this day.
18
I wanted to say that I wish I had gotten out of the car. The time when we drove to the
creek where we used to fish when we were kids. I wish I had gotten out. That’s all.
“Did I tell you about the guy who looked like Karl Marx,” he asked, “who gave me a ride
one time, the guy with the parrot.”
look as if one was a
she said.
I made you my brother in the story. And if they could have seen us they would have thought
the same thing. There was no other way to write about it. I don’t know how to write about it.
I am.
was awarded this year’s
“I thought the shape of
In that article I read, I found out that locusts tend to emerge when there’s an overpopulation of
grasshoppers. When you can turn around and see someone just like yourself, you have to leave,
But you had to tell me here. That this is where you’ve been. A thousand years of not saying any-
on a beach in Maine.
Right through Sam too. Tonight, I thought, the whole thing is funny. Everything that lives can
long enough to outgrow the suit. Long enough to miss the occasion for the suit. The graduation,
Joanna Moyer-Battick
of “balance,” for her
feel it. The crickets laughed right through the windows of the car. Right through that house.
a suit that’s too small for you and it’s covered in dry grass. Like you’ve been rolling down a hill
You lean like a tree in the steady dream light. The sun follows you. And I finally know it.
page 41), on the theme
that looked like ours. That happened here. Away from my dream, but close enough that I could
agree on that.
ing writing and literature
“Leaves of Grass” and
After he walked off, I noticed how loud the crickets were. It sounded like they were laughing,
seconds. I didn’t even notice the clouds at first. Then one bucket of ice was dropped over the car.
I woke up thinking about you. I don’t necessarily think I was dreaming about you. I think that
of Walt Whitman’s
He rolled up the legs of his jeans, turned around and looked through the window. How could I
have thought of snow? He squinted, made a James Dean face. I did the same to him. His was better.
it over the sting. I watched him. He held my hand out and rubbed the tobacco in. “This always
Eric Breeden is from
of self in the context
I can see my face in the lens that faces me.
and it grew and grew, kept growing until it was interrupted by hail. A few seconds of hail. Only a few
It worked. Which is why I tell it now.
exploring the meaning
I could have left. That’s why I remember it. I could have left you before any of this. Sometimes
was perfect. He put his cigarette out, tore it open, dampened the tobacco with his spit and spread
works,” he said. I didn’t say anything.
of Concentration he is
ARTS
One time when me and Sam were about eight we were smoking these cigarettes that Sam
got from some white-trash kid. Sam traded a Mountain Dew for them. The kid wore a coat with
have been embedded.” Kelsey says her own paintings and needlework, such as the study shown here, “focus specifically
on the articulation of the artist-subject dynamic.”
SUMMER 2010
. Potash Hill
19
reproductive health care
BY JIM RICHARDSON ’64
doctors say are often the safest and best way
with limited financial resources. I believe
to protect women’s health; the court’s deci-
this is an injustice that is exacerbated by
sion reverses medical precedent by placing
inequalities in reproductive health care.
ideological opposition to a procedure above
women’s health.
As unbelievable as it may sound, our
nities for women and men by enabling them
until 1965, for the laws banning birth control
country could revert back to the pre–Roe
to decide when to have children. Planned
Will the next generation of women and families
to be overturned in Griswold v. Connecticut,
v. Wade era in the near future. Although the
Parenthood provides family planning and
have access to comprehensive reproductive
and another eight years before Roe v. Wade
recently passed health care legislation did not
health care to all women, particularly those
health care, or will they be dealt more blows
legalized abortion.
include it, Rep. Bart Stupak (D-MI) success-
with limited incomes, some on Medicaid and
fully amended the House’s version of the bill
others without any health care insurance
limiting their right to birth control and abor-
But in recent years, individuals and
tion services? As a former professional in the
groups opposed to abortion and birth control
to ban abortion coverage, thanks to heavy
at all. Early childbearing limits any person’s
field of reproductive health for 22 years, I am
have succeeded in gradually restricting full
lobbying support from the U.S. Conference
opportunities, but most pronouncedly in these
gravely concerned that recent developments
access for women and families to reproductive
of Catholic Bishops. Meanwhile, the U.S.
underserved populations, perpetuating the
may topple nearly a century of gains in
health care. In various states across our coun-
Supreme Court is one justice away from being
cycle of poverty. Over the years I have found
women’s health.
try, legislators have enacted laws that limit
able to overturn Roe v. Wade, once again
that women and men who are empowered to
sexual health education programs in public
denying women the right to make their own
plan when, and if, to be parents are more likely
so much? There are many issues here, from
schools and that allow pharmacists
decisions regarding pregnancies. Far from
to achieve their fullest potential.
the roles of women, men and sexuality in
to refuse to fill prescriptions when they
preventing abortions, reversing Roe would
American culture to overpopulation and
have a religious or moral disagreement with
produce similar results to those in other coun-
self-determination and privacy of reproduc-
the continuing tension between religious
the drug’s use. In my own state of Michigan,
tries where abortions are done illegally: septic
tive health care will need a new generation of
beliefs over reproduction. But for me it largely
I have personally witnessed women forced
infections and greater risk of death for women,
advocates. The significant accomplishments
comes down to a matter of social justice. I
to meet onerous requirements, such as
predominantly poor, minority women.
we enjoy today would not have been possible
firmly believe that we all have certain human
so-called “counseling sessions” that provide
rights that include an opportunity to achieve
misinformation, as a condition to receiving
to any and all opportunities of our society just
work of many. The future of reproductive
our full potential.
reproductive health services. Invariably, it
because we are white, male and from a family
health care depends upon new people who
is the economically challenged and racial
of means, like the majority of state represen-
believe in social justice to become part of the
in our country have struggled and fought for
minorities who bear the brunt of these obsta-
tatives and justices in the examples I’ve cited.
movement. For me, it’s not enough to just
their right to self-determination and privacy
cles to obtaining reproductive health care.
We attended good schools and could pay for
sit on the sidelines and consider the debate
a college education and are acquainted with
intellectually; it’s important to take action.
For at least 95 years, women and families
about sexuality and reproduction. The move-
20
The advocacy and services I have devoted
my career to are aimed at advancing opportu-
The future of women’s health is in jeopardy:
Why should a white, male retiree care
Meanwhile, landmark cases in the courts
Some of us are privileged to have full access
The 95-year movement for access,
without the sacrifices, leadership and hard
ment for comprehensive reproductive health
are setting precedents placing further limits
others of privilege who can connect us to
Otherwise we can kiss goodbye to our free-
care started in 1916, when Margaret Sanger
on women’s health services. A 1992 U.S.
good jobs. And then there are those in our
doms, like the freedom to make basic decisions
opened the first birth control medical clinic,
Supreme Court case allowed states to restrict
society who have fewer opportunities because
about our health care without some white,
in Brooklyn, New York. This was at a time
abortion access so long as these restrictions
they are female, persons of color or people
male congressman deciding what’s best for us.
when it was illegal for women to vote, sign
do not impose an “undue burden” on women
contracts, own bank accounts or divorce hus-
seeking abortions. In 2007 the court banned
bands, let alone have information about birth
certain abortion procedures in the second
control or family planning. It took 49 years,
trimester of pregnancy, procedures that
PERSPECTIVE
UNDUE BURDEN: the crisis of
SUMMER 2010
Jim Richardson retired
last year after more than
two decades as CEO
of Planned Parenthood of
East Central Michigan. He
still enjoys working in his
community as a volunteer. For more information on this issue, contact
Planned Parenthood, the
American Civil Liberties
Union, NARAL Pro-Choice
America or the National
Organization for Women.
. Potash Hill
21
O N
&
O F F
T H E
H I L L
ON
&
OFF
THE
HILL
The extended family of Luis Batlle
A much beloved mentor at both Marlboro College and Marlboro Music School and Festival,
Luis Batlle recently retired from his duties at the college for health reasons. The festival celebrates its 60th season this summer; Luis has participated for most of those years and has taught
music at Marlboro College since 1980. His illustrious musical legacy is a reminder of the shared
Photos by
history on one humble campus, Luis’ extended year-round family.
Roger Katz
(opposite) and
“Even in the beginning I knew all the employees of the college, because most of them were
Robert George
our employees,” said Luis, who was first invited to Marlboro by festival co-founder Rudolf Serkin
(above)
in 1956. “The current admissions building was then the building for both the college staff and
all the staff of the music festival. Many of them worked for both. It was very family-like.”
Luis became
friends with Tom
Ragle, president of
“I appreciate that Luis made his amazing musical talent a part of our lives—I will
Marlboro from 1959
never forget the times he let me lie on the floor under his piano so I could listen to
to 1981 and a great
him practice. Luis shares his wonderful family and makes all of us feel that we are
music lover, but for
part of that family too. I am honored to have been included in his circle of friends.
many years he really
He has a deep generosity of spirit, a quality of soul, which, as Emily Dickinson put
didn’t know much
it, ’. . . sings the tune—without the words, And never stops at all.’”
about the college that
—Jet Thomas, former religion professor
enlivened the campus in the fall. After
each festival season, he returned to his native Uruguay to continue his promising musical career
there and raise his family. His best inkling of the college’s academic caliber came in the years
when theater professor Geoffrey Brown directed a summer repertory theater in the barn behind
22
SUMMER 2010
. Potash Hill
23
Marlboro House, now the Colonel Williams
“Luis’ generosity is on so many levels. He’s been generous in
“Luis has invited so many outstanding
impressed with the quality of these productions.
come because of their devotion to him and to
his students. If a student is having trouble, he’s there for that
Luis’ annual migration to Uruguay came to
the attentive audiences he and Stan Charkey
student. As an accompanist he is there to serve the music,
an end in 1978, when he moved to the United
have created here,” said Ellen McCulloch-Lovell,
States full time to co-direct Serkin’s Institute
president. Meanwhile, Geri introduced a broader
for Young Performing Musicians in Guilford,
academic perspective to the summer festivals,
the composer and that person he is playing with. This takes
so much discipline and courage, day by day, year by year.”
Vermont, and teach part time at Boston
University. He brought along his four children,
at Marlboro as soon as she arrived. At first it
just seemed like the logical choice.
“Then I read a publication of the college,
and there was an excellent article in it written
by T. Wilson (professor of literature and writing) about language and learning,” said Luis. “I
ing guest lecturers like renowned Shakespeare
scholar Stephen Greenblatt.
“Last summer there was one violinist who
came to Geri and said, ‘I want to know more about
poetry,’” said Luis. “And so they read poetry together all summer. Through Geri
Opposite: Luis performs
and me, many of the musicians have gotten to know more of the college.”
with Kyle Ambrust and
Teaching at the college was a natural extension of Luis’ many summers of working with
Sasha Cooke in
the 2008 festival.
was very impressed, and I said to myself, ‘I want
world-class musicians on the same campus. “It seemed to me that the college had the same
my children to go there.’ Look what happened:
philosophy, the same ethical approach as the festival,” he said. “Of course, the students are
Moss Hollow with his
all four of them came to Marlboro.” His son
different, but the approach to learning is the same.”
daughter, Eliza Batlle,
Luis Batlle ’83 started the next year, and his
younger sons followed a few years later.
“I am one of the lucky few to have grown
“The participants in the festival are the elite in their field,” said Jorge. “Those of us who
attended the college are not quite at that level, although some alumni have achieved such
recognition. However, both institutions teach art and life, and their approaches are similar.
up with the festival,” said Jorge Batlle ’88, Luis’
It is the process that they teach, not the ends: Students in both the college and the festival
youngest son, now a lawyer in New York. “I
search for their voices. It is not the brilliance of the performance or the quality of the Plan that
grew up not just with my father and my broth-
is venerated, but the understanding of what it takes to reach that pinnacle of success.”
Above: Luis strolls down
followed by Geri and
festival manager
Anthony Checchia.
Photos by
Pete Checchia ’92
Pete Checchia, son of the
festival manager, and a
60 years of musical passion
ers and sister, and not just with many wonderful
musicians, but with the entire Marlboro family.
Luis. In keeping with the multidisciplinary approach at Marlboro, over the years he sat in on math
For five weekends this summer, starting on July 17, the Marlboro
This family extends to the college, which later
classes with Joe Mazur, physics classes with John MacArthur, biology classes with Bob Engel and a
Music School and Festival will mark its 60th season with special
opened my eyes to literature, philosophy, reli-
whole year of Shakespeare with Audrey Gorton. “Having the great Luis Batlle audit your Latin class
gone on to be one of the
performances featuring chamber music from all musical periods.
gion and art. Marlboro’s wonderful professors
is not something you’re ever going to forget,” said former classics fellow Mark Pobjoy.
leading photographers of
As in previous years, Luis Batlle will be among those selecting
instilled in me the gift of knowledge and the
diverse instrumental and vocal combinations for each week’s
thirst to seek it always.”
program from some 70 works in rehearsal at any one time.
“Rudolf Serkin used to say frequently that the festival was
a ‘republic of equals,’” said Luis, echoing some of the same
democratic and egalitarian ideals of Marlboro College. “There
are no teachers and students, just people of different ages and
experiences. In each group we try to include one person who,
because of his or her age, has a knowledge that only years of
experience can give. And the young participants contribute their
talent and enthusiasm.”
When music professor and festival co-founder
Blanche Moyse moved on from the college
faculty in 1980, the college community eagerly
welcomed Luis. “The job came with a wife,”
Luis is fond of saying, as a few months later he
married literature professor Geraldine Pittman.
Together they have been an invaluable cultural link between the college and festival over
three decades. Luis has brought dozens of top
musicians from the festival and beyond to play
concerts during the school year, a tradition that
continues through the “Music for a Sunday
Afternoon” series.
24
by lecturing on Dante, for example, and invit-
HILL
and Eliza Batlle ’82, his eldest, started college
THE
—Stan Charkey, professor of music
OFF
how many concerts he does for the community, generous with
&
musicians to perform at the college, and they
ON
Inn. A lover of theater, Luis was highly
“One of the things I miss is that the college was once so small, you could know everybody,” said
Luis recalls bringing his third child, Leopoldo Batlle ’88, to the festival when he was only four
years old. “Leopoldo was such a mischievous child,” he said. “The only way that he could be still is if
he snuck out in the morning and went to the concert hall, when Pablo Casals was at his orchestra.
Marlboro alumnus, began
photographing the music
festival in 1983. He has
the classical music world
as well as an acclaimed
multidisciplinary visual
artist. www.petesart.com
He would sit for hours there. And you’d see this 4-year-old entranced by the 96-year-old master.”
Over the years Luis
has shared countless solos,
duets, trios and other
“He’s a very patient teacher, and he teaches music in a way that I suspect
ensembles, attracting
is somewhat unusual. Luis will keep playing you the music until you begin
eminent musicians to the
to respond to it somehow. He doesn’t sit at the piano and play a theme,
college to perform works
and say, what do you think of that? No, no. He whips out the tape player and
of Mendelssohn, Mozart,
plays you a whole movement, and then just looks at you—he keeps looking
Haydn, Schumann, Chopin
at you until you finally choke up something.”
and many more. He collaborated with the Brattleboro
—Tim Little, professor of history
Music Center and the
SUMMER 2010
. Potash Hill
25
Windham Orchestra, and performed all 32 Beethoven piano
tion with a Marlboro course on Beethoven’s life. For several years
Luis was the principal organizer of an annual concert to benefit
ON
New faculty member sinks
teeth into biology
sonatas in a memorable series of eight solo concerts in conjunc-
&
Morningside Shelter, netting thousands of dollars for the homeless
biology faculty member and valuable complement to the sci-
Center for the Performing Arts, in September 2008.
ence program, who wrote the feature starting on page 2. Jaime
THE
This spring semester Marlboro welcomed Jaime Tanner, a new
of the new Paul and Dorothy Olson music library in the Serkin
OFF
in Brattleboro. His last public appearance was for the dedication
comes to Marlboro with a wealth of teaching experience, hav-
“Luis is indelibly identified with Marlboro College as well as
ing served as a Darwin Postdoctoral Fellow at the University of
his reputation as a teacher and his wide range of friendships among
Massachusetts Amherst and a visiting professor at the University
HILL
Marlboro Music School,” said Ellen. “With his musicianship,
of Hawaii. She taught a study abroad program on the behavioral
the best musicians in the world, he is the strong link between
ecology of African mammals and received an Excellence-In-Teaching Award at Michigan State
the two Marlboros.”
University, where she earned her Ph.D. in 2007.
“I strive to equip students with the tools they’ll need to answer questions about the natural
Above: Luis and Geri
world,” said Jaime. “I want them to know how to think critically about science and how to ask
celebrate the graduation
good scientific questions.”
of his son, Leopoldo.
All in the family: Josh Moyse
Archive photo
The grandson of Blanche and Louis Moyse, music
faculty members and co-founders of the festival,
Josh Moyse joined Marlboro as a guest director in
the theater program this spring. It was a homecoming
of sorts, as Marlboro is where his parents, Linda ’61
and Michel Moyse ’63, Blanche and Louis’ son,
Jaime is also an accomplished field researcher, having conducted research on the behavior
and ecology of free-living spotted hyenas in Kenya’s Masai Mara Game Reserve since 2001, as
well as doctoral research on the feeding behavior and skull morphology in this unique species.
“My research takes an integrative approach, combining behavioral, morphological and
performance data to understand developmental changes in hyenas and other members of the
Order Carnivora,” said Jamie. Her field studies included measuring the biting force of hyenas,
not a task for the faint of heart, and comparing skull structure in hyenas of assorted ages. This
research is part of a growing body of literature demonstrating that the relationship between mor-
first met.
“I wouldn’t be here if not for the college,
truly,” said Josh. He grew up in the area, but went
to college at New York University and received his
M.F.A. from the California Institute of the Arts. Josh has been a director for over 20
years, working extensively with New York and Los Angeles theaters and with film
companies in Los Angeles and Vermont. His projects have ranged from adapting great
literature such as Heart of Darkness to more avant-garde and interdisciplinary projects.
At Marlboro he worked with students to create a postmodern adaptation of Dashiell
phology and performance changes as an animal grows and faces different challenges. Jaime has
published her research in Journal of Morphology, Proceedings of the Royal Society, Biological Journal
of the Linnean Society and Journal of Developmental Processes. She has also served as a reviewer for
Behaviour, Journal of Mammalogy, Journal of Morphology and Canadian Journal of Zoology.
This spring, Jaime taught General Biology and Biology of Mammals, with students from the
latter class joining her on a spring break trip to Kenya to learn about some amazing mammals
there and continue her hyena research. The Marlboro community looks forward to many years
of zoological erudition with Jaime.
Hammett’s classic detective novel The Maltese Falcon.
“My family has walked this campus in some capacity for over 60 years, and I was
keen to continue a family tradition in some way,” said Josh. “I also suspected that the
rigorous and independent academic environment would welcome my challenging some
preconceived notions about the nature of theater.”
26
SUMMER 2010
. Potash Hill
27
Keeping up with the classics
the hell I had done. This feeling was not helped by
I had thought I was coming to the world’s most technologically advanced country.”
“A year of college teaching right after completing my own bachelor’s program was a very
special opportunity,” said Martin Cropp, Marlboro’s third classics fellow and a professor emeritus
of classics at the University of Calgary. “I returned to a job in the U.K. Department of Trade,
but four years later switched to graduate school and a university teaching
fellows from Oxford University to come to Marlboro
career. I wouldn’t have done that without my year at Marlboro.” He also
College, and in time he, like others, found it to be
would have missed the opportunity of winning the Wendell Cup cross-
a uniquely meaningful experience. This fall marks
country ski race, three months after his first outing: “I got the tip to use
the arrival of Marlboro’s 31st classics fellow, William
purple wax and no one else did.”
Guast, as well as the emergence of a new fellow selector, Mark Pobjoy, a former classics fellow himself.
Above: Former classics
who taught math at the time and was Geoffrey’s best man, twice.
“Marlboro gave me, at a very young age, a remarkable opportunity to teach bright students
Philip deMay, who was a classics fellow for two years starting in
1991, learned to drive in Vermont, which might have been a liability
when he returned to England. “I bought my first car, a large ’70s Buick,
fellow Rob Wendt
in the best liberal arts environment imaginable,” said Mark, a classics fellow from 1989 to 1991.
though it didn’t work very well,” said Philip, who is still a teacher of clas-
explores Ephesus,
“It gave me responsibility for looking after a whole subject and designing courses, something
sics at Sevenoaks School in Southern England. “It was a real treat to live
an ancient Greek
that is done by numerous committees here in the U.K.” Mark is dean of faculty at Magdalen
and work in the countryside, to enjoy cross-country skiing and swimming
College, Oxford, as well as chair of the Committee of the Deans of Faculty for the 44 Oxford
at South Pond.”
and Roman city in
modern Turkey.
Opposite: Recent
classics fellow Emma
colleges. He has been on the interview panel for the Marlboro fellowship since 1993, but
recently became the convenor of that panel.
The classics fellowship was the inspiration of Tom Ragle, former Marlboro president, who
studied ancient Greek history and literature as an undergraduate at Harvard. Interest in classics
selector Mark Pobjoy.
was high at Marlboro when he arrived in 1958, and Tom was encouraged by teaching a section
on Thucydides in Roland Boyden’s ancient Greek history class. “Out of this came an interesting
and fun debate between the Herodotians, led by Roland, and the Thucydideans, led by me, as
to which was the better historian,” said Tom. He was well aware that the classical tradition was
stronger in England than in America, and he garnered a five-year grant from the Old Dominion
Foundation to support a teaching fellow each year.
“Although Tom had set up the classics fellowship as a five-year trial, it was clear within five
weeks that the demand would be permanent,” said Nicholas Barber, the first classics fellow to
come to Marlboro, in 1963. “What I certainly didn’t realize was that Tom’s imaginative idea
of bringing in an inexperienced Oxford classicist would still be going strong nearly 50 years later.”
Now a retired shipping executive and chair of Oxford University’s Ashmolean Museum,
he wanted to be an academic. He enjoyed teaching a Greek class with three students, and watching them progress from complete beginners to reading the Revelation of St. John. “The class in
which we all adopted the persona of another person in the class was particularly memorable, with
Mark Anderson, now one of your trustees, doing a very good job of impersonating me,” said Paul.
“Enjoying teaching at Marlboro influenced me to train as an elementary school teacher after
my return to England, as I valued the cross-curricular enquiry which the Plan of Concentration
allowed,” said Steve Higgins. He was a classics fellow from 1983 to 1985, and after eight years in
the elementary classroom he returned to university. He is now professor of education at Durham
University. “I have always had an interest in the quality of thinking and reasoning, whether of
6-year-olds, those studying to be teachers themselves or the doctoral students I supervised.”
“I love my job. I would not be here were it not for Marlboro,” said Andrew Bell, associate
professor of history at the University of Nevada at Las Vegas and author of Spectacular Power in
Nicholas was impressed with the enthusiasm of Marlboro students for the classics. A stunning
the Greek and Roman City. Andrew suspects he is the only classics fellow to “wangle” three years
17 students signed up for his Greek Civilization course, representing 17 percent of the student
out of the fellowship, and is still awestruck by the academic rigor he encountered at Marlboro.
body. “I was teaching Latin to no less than 6 percent of the total enrollment and Greek to 4
“I distinctly remember having my 25th contact hour of the week and being just stunned by the
percent, surely records for any liberal arts college at that time.”
realization of both the quality of a student’s question and my ignorance,” he said. “Hence
While Nicholas was already committed to a career in shipping, with a company that named
its ships after Homeric heroes, Marlboro made an indelible impression on him. “It helped me
28
For Paul Elbourne, classics fellow number 21 and now a lecturer in linguistics at Queen
Mary, University of London, coming to Marlboro confirmed what he had already expected: that
Park and new fellow
Potash Hill .
HILL
Rob was the 13th in a long line of classics
ship and support of faculty and students at Marlboro, especially longtime trustee Ted Wendell,
I decided to go to graduate school.”
Emma Park, the 29th classics fellow, who was at Marlboro from 2007 to 2008, is currently
grow enormously as a person, as well as opening my eyes to the limitless possibilities of the
working on her doctorate in classical literature and philosophy at University College, Oxford.
United States,” he said. “In other words, it was a fundamentally formative experience.”
She happily remembers getting to know the students and faculty at Marlboro, as well as the
SUMMER 2010
THE
having to share a party line with the next apartment.
school, Crown Woods, and retired as principal there in 2000. He fondly remembers the friend-
OFF
a week before the start of term and wondering what
company,” said Geoffrey, who spent six years as head of classics at London’s largest co-ed high
&
the fall of 1978, “arriving in the middle of nowhere
ON
Rob Wendt vividly recalls turning up Route 9 in
Geoffrey Fallows, who followed Nicholas in the fall of 1964, would have to agree. “The
year confirmed the enormous satisfaction of teaching my subject and the enjoyment of students’
SUMMER 2010
. Potash Hill
29
beauty and remoteness of the campus. “It gave me time to think about what I wanted to do,
learning—and laughing—a lot, on otherwise
and a chance to experience teaching different areas of classics and to learn from so many
quiet Friday afternoons.”
interesting members of the community, some of whom I am still in touch with.”
Not every classics fellow has gone on to a career in academics. Rob Wendt, who now fondly
Although three WHIPsters graduated
in May, the impact of 47 Marlboro students
remembers his year that started with the ill-omened trip up Route 9, went into law and is now
spending 18 hours engaged in dialogue on
a Senior Crown Prosecutor. But each fellow found his or her own benefits in the Marlboro
health and wellness issues in the last three
experience. “The Religion, Literature and Philosophy seminar was a complete revelation,”
semesters has been very visible. WHIPsters
said Rob. “My English classical education had taught me a lot about a relatively few things,
have revived the flagging Health & Wellness
but RLP opened my eyes to a whole world of interest. Everybody should read Kuhn’s Copernican
Committee and invited several speakers to
Revolution and Dante’s Divine Comedy. Marlboro gave me lifelong interests and special
campus to jumpstart dialogues, particularly on
friendships for which I will always be extremely grateful.”
issues of sexual assault and consent. They also
“Marlboro provides a very fresh perspective on the world,” said Andrew Singer, the most
took charge and organized campus talks
recent fellow, who left Marlboro this spring and is now travelling in India for a few months to
on sexual health and on alcohol and other
consider his next step. “To be part of an American liberal arts institution with a strong ideology,
drugs during the fall orientation program.
to participate in the workings of this small but active community, is a stimulating new experience.
I’m sure I have benefited from this as much as the students.”
“The resulting programs were infinitely better received by their peers than the programs
I have seen previously at the college,” said Ken Schneck, dean of students. “We are excited to
WHIP participant Jack
Rossiter-Munley ’12.
see what the next crop of WHIPsters will produce, even as we are fortified by the visual of an
WHIP program puts wellness first
increased number of those hooded sweatshirts on campus and by all that those sweatshirts have
come to represent.”
What would compel 16 percent of the student population to commit to nine weeks of Friday
afternoon health training sessions? Home-baked goodies and hooded sweatshirts haven’t hurt,
but the real incentive is learning about healthy choices and facilitating health education among
peers. Marlboro’s Wellness & Health Informed Peers (WHIP) program has been so successful
that it was named “Program of the Year” for New England, from among 130 institutions, by the
National Association of Student Personnel Administrators last November.
“While group facilitation and peer education were the goals of the program, we also
concentrated on educating ourselves about a variety of topics, ranging from nutrition to rape to
stress management,” said Olivia Sanders ’10. Olivia was a “WHIPster” from the spring of 2009,
the program’s first semester. “This program is an excellent idea for Marlboro and really can
Teachers across Vermont will take part in a new certificate program at Marlboro College
Graduate School, gaining cutting-edge skills in online education, thanks to a partnership with
the Vermont Virtual Learning Cooperative. The cooperative, which was established through
an initiative funded by the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act to bring K–12 virtual
education to Vermont, will pay the tuition for selected participants starting this summer.
“Marlboro College Graduate School is proud to play a leading role in developing this program
with the Vermont Virtual Learning Cooperative,” said Sean Conley, associate dean of the gradu-
make an impact on this community; indeed, it already has.”
To facilitate the training sessions, the student life staff reached out to local health care
providers who were willing to lead discussions on health education topics. The response was
overwhelmingly positive, and included a representative from Planned Parenthood to discuss
ate school. “VTVLC’s efforts are consistent with the core goal of our program to use technology
to improve access to quality educational opportunities for students.”
VTVLC was founded last fall by Jeff Renard, an alumnus of the graduate school’s Master of
sexual and reproductive health and someone from the Brattleboro Retreat to lead a dialogue
Science in Information Technologies program. Based on a $400,000 grant from the Vermont
about alcohol and other drug use.
Department of Energy, the cooperative was tasked to lead, manage and develop a system that
“The presenters are experts in their areas,” said Re Gorham, director of health services at
provided online learning opportunities for all Vermont K–12 schools. Before launching VTVLC,
Marlboro and a nurse practitioner. “They provide the students with excellent contacts from commu-
Jeff spent 10 years as the distance learning coordinator with the River Valley Technical Center
nity organizations that both support and are supported by our small rural college health center. It is
in Springfield, offering virtual courses throughout Vermont and New Hampshire.
inspiring to see so many students becoming more informed and involved in peer health education.”
Lucy DeLaurentis ’10 said, “The presenters created a relaxing setting where, after learn-
30
Graduate school joins virtual learning cooperative
“Vermont now joins 26 other states in the country by offering a virtual school option
to its students,” said Jeff. “The initial phases of this program will require support from school
ing information about a specific topic, we could openly discuss our thoughts and ask questions.
administrators as we train teachers to teach online and ramp up course offerings.” Along with
One of my favorite memories may have been from the afternoon we discussed sexual health, as
Marlboro College Graduate School, Jeff has brought in Community College of Vermont,
it led us to share amusing stories. When I think about my experience with WHIP, I remember
Global Classroom and the Learning Network of Vermont as VTVLC partners.
SUMMER 2010
. Potash Hill
31
“Think of a food co-op; we want schools to become supporting members by offering courses
from their schools that, in turn, will get them seats in other online courses being offered by
The VTVLC partnership soundly supports the graduate school’s mission to develop online
Although he has been a Marlboro trustee for 11 years, in May Dean Nicyper became the first
alumnus in the history of the college to chair the board. Succeeding him as vice-chair is Sara
&
learning opportunities that connect students throughout Vermont and the world.
Alumni trustees take the lead
ON
other schools around the state,” said Jeff.
OFF
Coffey ’90, so now two Marlboro graduates are leading the trustees for the first time.
“My respect and admiration for Marlboro dates back to my years as a student here,” said
“I don’t believe it’s possible to be neutral,” said Howard Zinn, author,
Also, it is always fun to be on campus again.”
what Marlboro gave to me then and it is very satisfying to have an opportunity to give back.
Dean takes the helm at a time when rising costs, shifting demographics of high school
University. Zinn passed away in January, leaving a legacy of more than 30
graduates and increasing demand for professional training poses challenges for the college. He
books, including the best-selling People’s History of the United States. “The
received his J.D. from American University, Washington College of Law, and focuses on com-
world is already moving in certain directions. And to be neutral, to be
mercial disputes, art law, intellectual property, product liability and securities litigation. Dean
passive, in a situation like that, is to collaborate with what is going on.”
has published articles on related subjects in The National Law Journal, New York Law Journal,
evening retrospective of film and theater. The afternoon featured a screen-
American University Law Review and Entertainment, Arts and Sports Law Journal.
“After graduating from Marlboro, I was a professional musician for seven years prior to
ing of the 2004 documentary You Can’t Be Neutral on a Moving Train, followed by sociology
becoming a lawyer,” said Dean. “My experiences as both a musician and a lawyer taught me
professor Jerry Levy’s rendition of Zinn’s one-man play, Marx in Soho. In the evening, Branden
many things, such as the significance of thinking creatively when solving problems and the
Grant ’11 directed fellow students and faculty in The People Speak, a live dramatization that
amount of hard work and discipline required for accomplishing any significant task well. I also
Above: Branden Grant
gives voice to those who spoke up for social change throughout U.S. history. This was followed
learned how to manage and grow an enterprise. I hope to draw from all of my prior experience
narrates The People
by a video of Zinn’s 2004 lecture at Marlboro College, introduced by film professor Jay Craven,
while serving as chair.”
Speak, a dramatization
Zinn’s student at BU, protégé activist and longtime colleague.
based on Howard
Zinn’s work.
Opposite: Trustees
Bart Goodwin and
Dean Nicyper at
commencement 2010.
HILL
human rights activist and longtime professor of political science at Boston
In April, Marlboro celebrated Zinn’s career through an afternoon and
THE
Spring events test degrees of activism
Dean, a partner at the New York law firm Flemming Zulack Williamson Zauderer. “I appreciate
Dean succeeds Bart Goodwin, who stepped down as chairman after
“Howard Zinn was a generous friend, a mesmerizing teacher, an unparalleled storyteller,”
six years of strong guidance, leaving Marlboro College in a financially
said Jay, who reminisced about earning a semester’s credits from Zinn for helping stage the 1971
sound position. With the support of the board and President Ellen
May Day protests against the Vietnam War. “His vivid and detailed historical narratives capti-
McCulloch-Lovell, Bart was a major proponent of a balanced budget.
vated us as students, providing a fresh vision and a sense of our own ability to make a difference.”
“For Marlboro to prosper, we have to operate within our means
“I had a modest goal when I became a teacher,” said Zinn. “I wanted to change the world.”
and yet have the resources to weather ups and downs,” said Bart, a
Another shade of activism entirely was celebrated later in April, when conservative analysts
partner at BCI Partners in Greenwich, Connecticut. His experience
Tom and Deneen Borelli made a presentation titled “The Tea Party Movement: Political Activism
in the finance industry and specifically as a venture capitalist made
in the Economic Arena.” The Borellis are fellows at the National Center for Public Policy
him ideally suited to guide a young college experiencing growing
Research and frequent contributors to print and broadcast media. Their lecture was supported by
pains. He was also a strong supporter of the graduate school’s
the Thomas Thompson Trust, which provides funding for speakers “whose views run counter to
launching of the MBA in Managing for Sustainability program.
the prevailing opinion on campus.”
“I feel that it will be very meaningful to have a Marlboro graduate as
“The tea party movement was born from a sense of shock,” said Deneen Borelli. “Suddenly
Americans’ sense of fairness was violated, and they were jolted out of their political stupor.”
the chair,” said Bart of his successor. “I know that Dean will bring dedication
and energy to the position.”
But while public dissent has historically related to issues of war or social change, the Borellis’
activism is in response to the government economic stimulus package and other costly policy
initiatives such as the new health care bill.
“Our concern is that the power of special interest groups dilutes the voice of everyday
citizens to influence public policy,” said Tom Borelli. “The tea party movement has the
potential to break the cozy relationship among special interest groups and stop the growth
of government and the loss of liberty.”
For information about upcoming events, go to www.marlboro.edu/news/events.
32
SUMMER 2010
. Potash Hill
33
Readers who enjoyed the article
This spring, Marlboro
John Sheehy, professor of
of Arts and Sciences (VAAS)
by philosophy professor William
welcomed Sean Conley
writing and literature, had
awarded a fellowship to Ellen
Edelglass in the last Potash
(below) as the new associate
a story included in the recent
McCulloch-Lovell, president, in
Hill (Winter 2010) will not be
dean of the graduate school.
book The Good Men Project:
recognition of her many contribu-
surprised to learn that he gave
“As someone working in teach-
Real Stories from the Front
“I’ve been reading and doing a
tions to the arts and humanities.
a paper last November called
ing and technology, I’ve known
Lines of Modern Manhood.
lot of research on ‘mega’ mines
The fellowship highlights her
“Rooted Cosmopolitanism:
about the Marlboro College
Edited by Tom Matlack, the
and on Argentina’s native for-
work as executive director of
Philosophy, Pedagogy and
Graduate School for a long time
book features personal essays
ests and fauna,” said Chrissy
the President’s Committee
Place.” That was at the annual
and have attended some excel-
by a broad range of men
Raudonis ’11 (below), who did
on the Arts and Humanities,
meeting of the International
lent technology-in-education
describing the challenges,
her World Studies Program
during the Clinton administra-
Association for Environmental
workshops here,” said Sean. He
triumphs and life-changing
internship this spring with a
tion, and as executive director
Philosophy, where William also
finds that the graduate school
moments that define man-
small NGO called Argentina
of the Vermont Arts Council
moderated a session on Asian
draws from the same educa-
hood in America. John’s story
Natural. The group works with
from 1975 to 1983. “Being
attitudes toward nature. At
tional values that sets Marlboro
describing his relationship with
a wide range of environmental
named a fellow of VAAS holds
the concurrent meeting of the
College apart from other
his dad, “Skeff,” was included
and social issues, from loss of
great meaning for me,” said
liberal arts colleges, and applies
in the film of The Good Men
biodiversity to indigenous rights,
Ellen. “I believe in the creative
them to professional educa-
Project as well. John also had
but is right now focusing on
enterprise, that creativity can
tion. “What really intrigued
a nonfiction story, titled “Red
opposing giant mining opera-
be taught and leads people to
me was the student-centered,
Line,” published in the fall
tions with equally huge envi-
be the artists of their own lives.
student-directed approach to
2009 issue of Fourth Genre.
ronmental and social impacts.
I especially want young people
“Instead of furthering the
to develop their own special
‘development’ of the country,
voices in ways that change
these mines result in the exit of
their lives and the world.” In
capital, leave the local people
January, Ellen was also elected
sick and without livelihoods, and
to the board of directors of
use obscene quantities of energy
the Council of Independent
and water,” said Chrissy.
Colleges, which supports college
was pleased to be appointed
regional cabinet member for
the ACUHO-I (pronounced
he chaired a session called
“To Speak Against/Within
Oppression(s): Methodologies
of Embodied Social Criticism.”
farm manager Erin Riordan ’10
(above) appeared on a panel
at the Vermont-wide Northeast
Organic Farming Association
conference in Burlington. In a
panel called “Student Farms on
AH-coo-HO-ee) Foundation
the Rise,” Erin articulated the
in February. The foundation
operates charitable and edu-
“In the first class with one
cational projects in support of
professor, our entire worldview
the Association of College and
was turned on its head, spun
University Housing Officers–
around, torn apart and recon-
International, a professional
structed again, all in less than
organization with members
an hour,” said Ethan Denny ’12,
very exciting and inspiring to
selected for the “best of” gala
from 900 colleges and univer-
and that was before he started
see the range of college farms,”
concert at the end. “The confer-
sities. “Being connected and
traveling. Ethan spent the last
college farms faced the same
the American College Dance
Festival at Boston University.
Out of 45 dances presented by
students from 36 New England
colleges and universities, both of
those by Marlboro students were
ence sparked a new passion in
my soul: I’m more invested in
my dance than before and I am
grateful for that,” said André,
who choreographed one of the
dances and performed it with
Amity. The other dance was a
solo work choreographed and
performed by Amity. “This was a
huge honor for the students and
also some wonderful recognition
for the college, as Marlboro was
the only college to be represented twice in the gala,” said Kristin
Horrigan, dance professor.
and university leadership to
advance institutional excellence.
history of Marlboro’s farm and
its role in the community. The
panel of student farmers from
seven Vermont colleges then
entertained questions. “It was
said Erin. “Most of the smaller
graduate education.” Sean came
to Marlboro from The New
School in New York City, where
Led by students in politics
he was chair of the department
professor Lynette Rummel’s
of English language studies and
“dedicated hour” group, the
helped launch a new online
Marlboro community responded
master’s program in teaching
decisively to the earthquake
English to speakers of other
in Haiti by donating more
languages. Before that, Sean
than $11,000 in support of
spent 10 years in teaching and
humanitarian efforts there.
administration at the School for
This considerable sum was
International Training.
raised in a matter of a couple
working for an organization
two semesters in a program
“I knew this part of the world
like ACUHO-I is invaluable to
called Rethinking Globalization,
problems as Marlboro, strug-
weeks from students, faculty,
was very small, geographically,
residential campuses so we
run by the International Honors
gling to gain administrative
staff and especially trustees,
but it’s one thing to know it
can remain on the forefront of
Program at the School for
support and funding, maintain
and went to Partners in Health,
and another to see it,” said
what colleges and universities
International Training. With 25
themselves over the summer
an organization with 25 years
Kelly Pierce-Bulger ’11, who
are doing to meet the needs
other students, he travelled to
and find a clear mission. But it
of experience in Haiti. Levi
of students,” said Kyle.
Washington, D.C., Tanzania,
was awe-inspiring to hear about
Gershkowitz ’12 said, “Now
Jordan through CIEE (Council
India, New Zealand and Mexico,
colleges that had succeeded and
there is discussion about how to
on International Educational
never staying in one place lon-
that had successfully integrated
make this some sort of model,
Exchange). “It seems that
ger than a few days. “In New
farming into their college.”
so when similar natural disasters
almost anywhere you go in the
Zealand we stayed on a marae,
happen in the future, Marlboro
northern part of this country,
a Maori meeting place, and
is prepared to respond.”
you can see Palestine. This fact
slept in long rows in the main
has given me new insight into
house and learned about how
the reason that the refugees are
the Maori see the world as a
so set on their right of return.
beautiful old woman,” said
They can literally see their
Ethan. “The critical thinking
land; they just can’t get to it.”
and lived experiences I have had
Kelly brushed up on her Arabic,
will help my studies immensely,
learned about Jordan’s history
not to mention the simple
and explored cultural sites such
growing up and life learning
as Petra, the Dead Sea and the
I have done.”
spent her spring semester in
HILL
ing prowess at a conference of
of housing and residential life
and Existential Philosophy,
tomatoes needed tending,
THE
were recognized for their danc-
when he says it, the director
In February, long before the
OFF
(above) and Amity Jones ’10
Audette (above) is sneezing
Society for Phenomenology
&
In February, André Morgan ’12
Although it sounds like Kyle
ON
Last fall, the Vermont Academy
Worthy of note
Citadel of Amman.
34
SUMMER 2010
. Potash Hill
35
Drew Tanabe ’12, who
Following a long tradition of
In February, Emily Mente ’11
participated in the United
college students working at the
and Anna Knecht ’11 (below)
Nations climate change con-
nearby Marlboro Elementary
opened the doors of a Women’s
ference in Copenhagen last
School, Kelly Ahrens ’12, Erin
Resource Center, with support
since its owner’s death in 1959,”
Organization for Nuclear
December as a representative
Riordan ’10 and both Paige
from Town Meeting and many
Laura said. “He also finds—
Research in Switzerland,
of the national youth group
Martins (Paige Lynne Martin ’11
other members of the commu-
eventually—the explanation
which Adrian participated
SustainUS (Potash Hill, Winter
and Paige Elizabeth Martin ’11;
nity. “I’ve been very impressed
of unacknowledged sorrows
in 36 years ago. Recognition
2010), reports being a bit
what are the odds?) put in
with the amount of support on
behind his marriage. That
has been much swifter
confused by the proceedings.
time assisting teachers. Paige
campus,” said Emily. Located in
makes it sound sentimental,
for Adrian’s new book,
“I had gone in thinking that
Elizabeth was on a study
a cozy downstairs room in the
but I promise it isn’t.”
Conferences That Work,
there would be some sort of
abroad program in France dur-
Gander World Studies Center,
which explores the limits of
agreement, or disagreement,
ing the spring semester, but the
the WRC provides a space for
traditional conferences and
and it seemed to be something
other three worked through
young women to explore issues
the strengths of “peer confer-
in between,” said Drew. “There
the year. “I helped with math
of gender, sexism and oppres-
were some interesting devel-
in the third-fourth grade and
sion. The center has already
opments; it illuminated how
read to kids in all the primary
hosted many events, including
important China was going
grades,” said Paige Lynne, who
a community potluck, a gender
to be. I was very defensive of
balanced her time between this
bender costume workshop and
the outcome at first, but that
and working as a family respite
discussions on queerness and
defense slowly turned into
worker through Health Care
feminism, sexual health and
frustration. It made me more
and Rehabilitation Services in
the sexual misconduct policy.
interested in non-UN processes
Brattleboro. “Kids have great
“We are also in the process of
for environmental change, such
minds and it is very good to
building a library and a media
as environmental law and grass-
be reminded of that weekly.
center so we can screen a film
roots actions.” Drew is work-
Although it does not tie in
series,” said Anna. “We would
ing with other activists across
with my studies, I believe I will
greatly appreciate contributions
Vermont to make 100 percent
probably get involved in this
of any kind from the alumni
renewable energy a viable
vein of work once I graduate.”
community: advice, books or
HILL
The inspiration for former
with people I never would
mathematics professor Joe
have dreamed I’d be able to
speak to,” said Ken Schneck,
dean of students (above). “Amy
Ray from the Indigo Girls? Ari
Shapiro from NPR? Legendary
civil rights champion Evan
Wolfson? C’mon! These guests
are my heroes.” Ken was talking about This Show Is So Gay,
the local radio show he hosts
with admissions office manager
Becca Sheehan (above), which
was recently given global reach
by websites QNation.fm and
week, Becca and I receive the
most incredible emails from
LGBT individuals and allies
for whom our show is their
only gay outlet in their very
closed communities,” said
Ken. “Sometimes we forget
that people are even listening,
but these reminders are
of facilitating experience.
Mazur’s latest book, What’s
Grant Li, Chinese language
Luck Got to Do with It?, came
professor, presented a paper
while waiting in a 7-Eleven for
on “distributivity” at the
a tow-truck. “I watched as per-
May meeting of the
son after person put down $20,
International Association
$50, even $100 for Megabucks
of Chinese Linguistics. In
tickets,” said Joe. “It awakened
Tao of Division: Syntactic
an old desire in me to write
Conditions on Distributivity
about the follies of believing in
(Harbin Institute of Technology
Press, 2009), Grant proposes
Photography professor John
gambling windfalls.” Available
an elegant, Zen-like theory to
Willis has a new book due
from Princeton University Press
explain why languages differ in
out this fall called Views from
in July, What’s Luck Got to Do
expressing collective meanings
the Reservation, published by
with It? traces the history of
of plural nouns. “In essence, I
Columbia College Chicago’s
gambling from the Neolithic
Age to the global economic
Former visiting professor
developed a theory by doing
Center for American Places. Part
of his ongoing collaboration
crisis brought on by financiers’
Wyn Cooper has just come
away with other theories that
with residents of the Pine Ridge
out with his fourth book of
specifically address the prob-
trillion-dollar bets.
lem,” said Grant. “Rather than
Reservation in South Dakota,
working directly I focused on
home to the Oglala Sioux, the
the whole system of grammar,
book offers John’s intimate
from which solutions to the
perspective on everyday life and
specific problems would
landscapes along with reflec-
follow, via a free ride.”
tions of community members.
poems, Chaos is the New Calm.
The book is composed of 50
“loose” sonnets, some rhymed,
some not, ranging from travelogue to inner monologue, from
social commentary to solitary
musings. Poet T.R. Hummer
The book will also include a
incredibly humbling.”
said, “Wyn Cooper explores
CD of traditional music, titled
For more information on these items,
an overlooked territory that
Heartbeat of the Rez.
go to the following websites:
Return in Kind (Separate Star,
Chrissy Raudonis www.argentinanatural.org.ar
2010) is writing professor Laura
of Frank O’Hara and the
Kelly Pierce-Bulger kelly-in-jordan.blogspot.com
Stevenson’s latest book, just
more unalloyed sentiments
Ethan Denny ihp.edu/page/lettershome/#rg
out in June, about a widower
of contemporary popular
lies between the crafty irony
who learns his wife has left him
Women’s Resource Center email emente@marlboro.edu
150 acres of Vermont land he
Ken Schneck www.ThisShowIsSoGay.com
didn’t know she owned. “Upon
John Sheehy www.goodmenproject.com
arriving in Vermont, he finds
Adrian Segar www.conferencesthatwork.com
that he has inherited not an
Wyn Cooper www.wyncooper.com
investment in ski country, but
an old farm with a family grave-
Or if you are interested in the day-to-day happenings on campus, check out
yard and a house untouched
Marlboro’s very own YouTube channel at www.youtube.com/user/MarlboroCollege#p
(but mysteriously maintained)
or the Potash Phil blog at www.marlboro.edu/communities/alumni/blog/.
THE
ences,” based on his 20 years
“Each week, we get to speak
ClickClickExpose.com. “Every
36
OFF
gubernatorial elections.
CERN, the European
&
financial sponsorship.”
a series of experiments at
ON
platform for upcoming
recognition was based on
HOT OFF THE PRESS
culture, discovering
Former computer science
professor Adrian Segar was
unexpected equivalencies
and startling imbalances.”
among about 70 physicists
who were awarded the 2009
European Physical Society Prize
for High-Energy and Particle
Physics for the discovery of
“weak neutral currents.” The
SUMMER 2010
. Potash Hill
37
Commencement 2010
paper that tells us we did something great, came together and made something. Whether or not
we run into each other at some date in the future, our lives intertwined, connected at the prover-
Beyond the accolades for your seven volumes of poems, you are commendable for your impact
included 80 undergraduates, completing Plans of Concentration
on our appreciation for creative writing and its fundamental role in higher education. “Vision
ranging from performance art to solar cell biochemistry, and one
and craft are inseparable,” you have said. “The hardest part is balancing clarity and mystery,
master’s degree in philosophy (Peter Blair ’01). President Ellen
precision and resonance, but it is in this work that the act of making a poem becomes primarily
McCulloch-Lovell told the graduates that while they might forget
an act of discovery, a lens through which to see the world.”
HILL
family, friends and community members. The class of 2010
THE
For more than 30 years, you have engaged readers with your fierce and unexpected poetry.
OFF
From the honorary doctor of letters citation for Ellen Bryant Voigt:
Persons on May 16, an idyllic spring day, to be celebrated by
&
The largest graduating class in Marlboro history gathered in
ON
bial collegiate hip known as Marlboro College. There’s something remarkably special about that.
details of their courses of study, they would not forget the empathy
research on the physical nature of memories and their malleability. An honorary degree was conferred
From Ellen Bryant
Voigt’s address:
upon Ellen Bryant Voigt, former Vermont Poet Laureate, who evoked the words of one of her prede-
obsessively, patiently, without reaching
cessors and the first commencement speaker at Marlboro, Robert Frost. Honorary degrees were also
too quickly for meaning and category,
conferred upon Francis Voigt, founder of the New England Culinary Institute, as well as J. Barton
what John Keats called “negative
Goodwin, Marlboro trustee, who officially stepped down as chairman at this commencement. The
capability”—is actually the major part of
valediction was offered by classics fellow Andrew Singer, in Latin and English, quoting Horace:
any creative thinking, as distinguished from
“He who has made a start has accomplished half of the task; dare to be wise; begin.”
“thoughts” or received wisdom or their
they have for each other or the respect they have earned from peers
and faculty members. Senior speaker Will Mees explored recent
To observe—
popular cousin, “self-expression.” Creative
From President Ellen McCulloch-Lovell’s address:
thinking is real work; it doesn’t swagger; it
You are impossible to
is full of self-doubt; it doesn’t dazzle in the
characterize. You are Marlboro’s largest graduating class, ever. You range in age from 21 to 35.
You are strong and uncertain, tenacious and flexible. You learned languages we don’t teach
and traveled to countries on the State Department’s watch list; one-third of you studied abroad.
You played at open mic night or you stayed in the library late; you partied, you argued, your
discussions spilled from the classroom into the dining hall into the dorms, cottages and apartments downtown. You served on the selectboard, as town crier and on academic and Town
Meeting committees. This year, I thought a lot about what constitutes a college; as its members
change, what lasts? What deserves protecting? What demands improving? For what is a college
blogosphere; it seems to keep you circling
and idling, going nowhere, and yet it is what drives any field of inquiry forward, whether the sciences or the humanities, social sciences or the arts—we can see the range in your impressive “Plans
of Concentration.” Because what it circles toward, with diligence and a little luck, is a thrilling
discovery: some congruence between almost any disparate objects you choose to observe. No matter
where you enter the web, you can find the spider.
but its people? What is a college but the ideas and ideals its members pass on and strive for as
From the valediction by Andrew Singer:
they participate in this very particular place?
plures amici sunt. optima opera, nuper perfecta, sunt documento altae regulae animi in hoc collegio. vos
multi ex vobis opera mecum fecistis;
laudo. inter se iuvantes per ipsa amicitia communitatem veram fecistis, quae imagines superstat et vero
Photos in this
section by
Thea Cabreros,
Dianna Noyes and
Jeff Woodward
From Will Mees’ senior address:
nobis profuit. I have worked with many of you; many more I know as friends. Your fine projects,
Regardless of
recently completed, are testament to the high intellectual standards of the community. I praise you.
who we hung out with, of where we spent most of our time or
Through supporting one another, by your very friendship, you have created a true community that
what we did with that time, Marlboro has acted as a commons:
exceeds ideals and has enriched us all.
a single thread weaving through each and every one of our
lives. I’d like to think I speak for all of us when I say that there
For full transcripts of addresses and citations, as well as photos and video,
has never been a group of people I have so readily been able
go to www.marlboro.edu/news/commencement/2010.
to identify and have so readily identified with. All of us here
today, patiently, anxiously waiting to receive that little slip of
38
SUMMER 2010
. Potash Hill
39
The Helen W. Clark Prize is awarded by
human history and culture with a passion
the visual arts faculty for the best Plan of
for the natural world. Erin Riordan
Concentration in the fine arts. Alisha Langerman
Academic Prizes
ON
community and who unites an interest in
&
The Sally and Valerio Montanari Theatre
who demonstrate excellence in the natural
contribution to the pursuit of excellence
sciences, who use interdisciplinary approaches
in theater production. Simon Moody
and who place their work in the context of
THE
The Buck Turner Prize is awarded to students
senior who has made the greatest overall
OFF
Prize is awarded annually to a graduating
HILL
larger questions. Morgan Ingalls and Will Mees
Willson Gaul.
The Freshman/Sophomore Essay Prize is
The William Davisson Prize, created in 2008
given annually for the best essay written
by the Town Meeting selectboard and named
in honor of Will Davisson, who served as a
faculty member for 18 years and as a trustee for
22 years, is awarded to one or more students
for extraordinary contributions to the Marlboro
community. Willson Gaul and Sophia Cleary
The Ryan Larsen Memorial Prize was
established in 2006 in memory of Ryan
Jeffrey Larsen, who felt transformed by the
opportunities to learn and grow within the
for a Marlboro course. Ayla Mullen
Sarah Horowitz.
The Audrey Alley Gorton Award is given in
memory of Audrey Gorton, Marlboro alumna
and member of the faculty for 33 years, to the
student who best reflects the Gorton qualities
of: a passion for reading, an independence of
critical judgment, a fastidious attention to
Simon Moody.
matters of style and a gift for intelligent con-
The Roland W. Boyden Prize is given by
versation. Sarah Horowitz and Sari Brown
the humanities faculty to students who have
embrace of the Marlboro College community.
demonstrated excellence in the humanities.
It is awarded annually to a junior or senior
Roland Boyden was a founding faculty mem-
who best reflects Ryan’s qualities of philo-
ber of the college, acting president, dean and
sophical curiosity, creativity, compassion and
trustee. Noah Burke and Ursula Roessiger
spiritual inquiry. Mike Harrist and Amity Jones
Joanna Moyer-Battick.
The Robert H. MacArthur Prize was
established in 1973 in memory of Robert
MacArthur, class of 1951, and recently
rededicated to Robert and also to John and
to John and Robert’s parents, John and Olive
MacArthur, who founded the science program
at Marlboro College. The contest for the
Amber Schaefer.
prize is in the form of a question or challenge
The Hilly van Loon Prize, established by the
offered to the entire student community.
class of 2000 in honor of Hilly van Loon,
Joanna Moyer-Battick; second prize, Mary
Coventry; honorable mention, Sophia Cleary,
Marlboro class of 1962 and staff member
for 23 years, is given to the senior who best
Amity Jones.
The Rebecca Willow Prize, established in
2008 in memory of Rebecca Willow, class of
1995, is awarded to a student whose presence
Lauren Deshay and Levi Gershkowitz
reflects Hilly’s wisdom, compassion, community involvement, quiet dedication to the
The Dr. Loren C. Bronsen Award for
spirit of Marlboro College, joy in writing and
Excellence in Classics was established by the
celebration of life. Amber Schaefer
family of Loren Bronsen, class of 1973, to
encourage undergraduate work in classics.
brings personal integrity and kindness to the
40
Noah Burke.
Amanda DeBisschop
SUMMER 2010
. Potash Hill
41
2010 Graduates and their Plans of Concentration
Bachelor of Arts
SOCIOLOGY
PLAN SUMMARY: An exploration of the relationship between agriculture and sustainability.
PROJECT: A historical sociology exploring how
the emergence and spread of agriculture affected
human-environmental relationships.
Sponsor: Gerald Levy
Outside Evaluator: Robert Rakoff,
Hampshire College
Anthony Bisceglia
Bachelor of Arts
VISUAL ARTS/Sculpture
PLAN SUMMARY: A study of sculpture
and other media supported by a paper on
20th-century artists using soft form.
PROJECT: An exhibition of sewn sculpture
and other media.
Sponsors: Timothy Segar, Thomas Toleno
Outside Evaluator: Joseph Smith, Mount
Holyoke College
Joshua Boykin
Bachelor of Science
CHEMISTRY
PLAN SUMMARY: An exploration of the
organic molecules used in photovoltaic cells
with an emphasis on dye-sensitized solar
cells and an exploration of the potential
of solar power to become a primary source
of energy in the United States.
PROJECT: A paper focusing on dye-sensitized
solar cells and current research to increase
their efficiencies.
Sponsor: Todd Smith
Outside Evaluator: Peter Talmadge,
Greenfield Community College
42
Christopher Michael Boyle
Kevin Cabrey
Bachelor of Arts
LANGUAGES/Applied Linguistics and Spanish
PLAN SUMMARY: La vida galapaguena:
Bachelor of Arts
POLITICS
A collection of essays and journals exploring
second language acquisition and culture in the
Galapagos Islands, Ecuador, with supplementary
work conducted in Spanish.
PROJECT: A case study of English as foreign
language students in the Galapagos Islands and
a paper researching and analyzing their performance in English.
Sponsors: Tom Means, Rosario de Swanson
Outside Evaluator: Beatriz Fantini,
SIT World Learning
Meredith Vitale Cann
Bachelor of Arts
PHILOSOPHY
Bachelor of Arts
PSYCHOLOGY
PLAN SUMMARY: An analysis of the sublime
in Longinus, Burke, Kant and Lyotard from the
perspectives of aesthetics, morality and politics,
with particular attention to the sublime as a
symbol of freedom.
PROJECT: A paper mapping the use of
the sublime through the works of Longinus,
Edmund Burke and Immanuel Kant.
Sponsor: William Edelglass
Outside Evaluator: John Drabinski,
Amherst College
PLAN SUMMARY: An examination
of empathy and its similarities and
differences in humans and dogs.
PROJECT: A paper examining empathy
in humans.
Sponsors: Thomas Toleno, Jonathan Mack
Outside Evaluator: David Johnson,
Amanda Justine DeBisschop
Bachelor of Arts
LANGUAGES/Ancient Greek
& Literature/Contemporary American
Poetry & WRITING/Poetry
Bachelor of Arts
VISUAL ARTS
PLAN SUMMARY: A study of visual arts
exploring printmaking, ceramics and sculpture
through themes of repetition. Also a study
of artists of the 20th and 21st centuries who
explore aspects of appropriation.
PROJECT: A show of artwork including prints,
ceramics and sculpture.
Sponsors: Timothy Segar, Michael Boylen,
Cathy Osman
Outside Evaluator: Craig Stockwell,
Vermont College
PLAN SUMMARY: An exploration of love
in three parts: an English translation of Plato’s
dialogue The Symposium, an analytical essay
linking The Symposium to Galway Kinnell’s
The Book of Nightmares and a collection of
original poetry.
PROJECT: A collection of original poems.
Sponsor: T. Hunter Wilson
Outside Evaluator: Jacqueline Gens,
New England College
Mary Grace Theresa Coventry
Bachelor of Arts
RELIGION
Bachelor of Arts
MATHEMATICS & WRITING
Noah Aaron Burke
PLAN SUMMARY: A critique of democratic
theory and practice in the antebellum era.
PROJECT: Exploring the transformations
of the democratic paradigm in the 1828
presidential election and its implications
for republican participation.
Sponsors: Kathryn Ratcliff, Meg Mott
Outside Evaluator: Tom Redden,
Southern Vermont College
Martin Cahill
PLAN SUMMARY: A study of genetic
engineering to reduce automobile pollution.
PROJECT: A paper on using archaeal
metabolism to filter harmful car exhaust
and turn it into a useable fuel.
Sponsor: Todd Smith
Outside Evaluator: Scott Tighe,
University of Vermont
Bachelor of Arts
BIOCHEMISTRY
Josephine R. Colburn
PLAN SUMMARY: A political exploration
of systemic epoch in the contemporary world.
PROJECT: An analysis of development in the
21st century through examining the decline of
empire and the rise of a pluralistic alternative.
Sponsor: Lynette Rummel
Outside Evaluator: Jon Western,
Mount Holyoke College
PLAN SUMMARY: A study of several topics
in mathematics, ranging from game theory to
advanced calculus, and a focused examination
of structure and narrative in games, covering
both the design and implementation of games
and their mechanics.
PROJECT: Designing a tabletop board game.
Sponsors: Matthew Ollis, John Sheehy
Outside Evaluator: Chris Dupuis,
freelance game designer
Ashley Deanne Breazeale
Bachelor of Arts
AMERICAN STUDIES & POLITICS
HILL
Michelle Fischer.
PLAN SUMMARY: A study of female
adolescence in the United States,
drawing on perspectives from history,
psychology and cultural studies.
PROJECT: A study of how single-sex
schools impact female self-esteem.
Sponsor: Kathryn Ratcliff
Outside Evaluator: Rebecca Hains,
Salem State College
Keara Castaldo
PLAN SUMMARY: An investigation of the
development of American neoliberal ideology,
including a history of the movement in terms of
its ideological conception and the progress and
process of its instigation in American politics,
both domestic and otherwise.
PROJECT: A paper on the development
of neoliberal policy and institutions.
Sponsors: Timothy Little, Gerald Levy
THE
John Wilson Bean
Bachelor of Arts
AMERICAN STUDIES/Psychology
PLAN SUMMARY: A study of the public
service model in alternative architecture and
its impact on the poor communicated through
ethnographic writing, film and design.
PROJECT: Middle Class Architects: A case
study of aspiring public service professionals.
Sponsors: Gerald Levy, Timothy Segar
Outside Evaluator: Christian Churchill,
St. Thomas Aquinas College
OFF
PLAN SUMMARY: An exploration of
performance through a theatrical and academic
examination of the social dynamics of contemporary strip clubs in the United States.
PROJECT: A theatrical representation of
contemporary strip clubs through the lens
of an original musical set in a fictional club.
Sponsors: Brenda Foley, Kristin Horrigan
Outside Evaluator: William Seigh,
Keene State College
Anne Wilson Davis
Bachelor of Arts
HISTORY
&
Bachelor of Arts
THEATER/Dance/Performance Studies
Evan Clossman
Bachelor of Arts
SOCIOLOGY
ON
Toni Lynn Baldi
Kenton Howard Card
Art history teacher Erin Benay, Sophia
Cleary and dance teacher Kristin Horrigan.
themes of suffering, healing and the social
construction of reality as depicted in the
biblical book of Job and in the poetry of Rumi,
supplemented by personal narrative.
PROJECT: A paper exploring the nature
of suffering and healing, as depicted in
the biblical book of Job.
Sponsors: Amer Latif, John Sheehy
Outside Evaluator: Michael Pittman,
Albany College of Pharmacy
Sophia Cleary
Bachelor of Arts
ART HISTORY/Modern and
Contemporary & DANCE
PLAN SUMMARY: A study of the relationships
between conceptual and performance art with
a focus on artistic appropriation and authorship.
PROJECT: A paper examining the concepts
of object and subjecthood in the works of
conceptual and performance artists from the
1960s and ’70s.
Sponsors: Erin Benay, Kristin Horrigan
Outside Evaluator: Frazer Ward,
Smith College
Evelyn Rose Crawford
Bachelor of Science
BIOCHEMISTRY/Avian Biology
PLAN SUMMARY: A broad analysis of
the interactions between organisms and
their environment from a biochemist’s
and endocrinologist’s perspective.
PROJECT: Paper discussing laboratory
research on the effect of an endocrine-disrupting
chemical, bisphenol-A, on gene expression in
chicken testes.
Sponsors: Todd Smith, Robert Engel
Outside Evaluator: R. Thomas Zoeller,
University of Massachusetts Amherst
Toni Baldi and family.
SUMMER 2010
. Potash Hill
43
Marcus John DeSieno
Bachelor of Arts
PHOTOGRAPHY
PLAN SUMMARY: A critical investigation
into the ethical issues surrounding representation
in documentary photography.
PROJECT: A photographic gallery
exhibit investigating a consumer-oriented
American landscape.
Sponsor: John Willis
Outside Evaluator: Virginia Beahan,
Dartmouth College
Carolyn Victoria Drumsta
Bachelor of Arts
ENVIRONMENTAL STUDIES &
BIOLOGY/Evolutionary Biology
Bachelor of Arts
POLITICS/Journalism
PLAN SUMMARY: An inquiry into the nature
of perception, drawing on cognitive psychology,
philosophy and mathematics.
PROJECT: A paper examining Gibson’s
ecological optics informed by geometry
of the perceptual field.
Sponsors: Thomas Toleno, William Edelglass
Outside Evaluator: Anthony Barrand,
Boston University
PLAN SUMMARY: A study of the anatomy
and physiology of the human kidney, with
the goal of using mathematical tools to
predict the severity of kidney disease.
PROJECT: A paper detailing work on
mathematical models of kidney functions.
Sponsors: Todd Smith, Matthew Ollis
Outside Evaluator: Armand Balboni,
Westfield State College
impact of educational systems in South Africa
and the United States.
PROJECT: A history of education in
South Africa.
Sponsors: Carol Hendrickson, Jonathan Mack
Outside Evaluator: Amy Grillo,
Union Institute and University
Sarah Rachel Horowitz
PLAN SUMMARY: An analysis of Mexican
democracy, focusing on the media’s role in
influencing national politics.
PROJECT: A paper on democratic change
in Mexico, focusing on the democratic
transformation of the country to a
multi-party system during the 1990s.
Sponsors: Lynette Rummel, Dana Howell
Outside Evaluator: Michael Clancy,
University of Hartford
Von Caterina Ferguson
Willson Barrett Gaul
Bachelor of Arts
ASIAN STUDIES & POLITICS
Bachelor of Arts
WRITING/Creative Nonfiction
PLAN SUMMARY: An exploration of women
and the supernatural in American history from
the mid-19th century to the present, with an
emphasis on the evolution of the spiritualist
movement and the theme of the supernatural
in the short fiction of Edith Wharton and
Charlotte Gilman.
PROJECT: Women and the evolution
of spiritualism.
Sponsors: Kathryn Ratcliff, Gloria Biamonte
Outside Evaluator: Joanne Hayes,
Bachelor of Arts
ART HISTORY/Museum Studies
Antonio Raphael Iaccarino
PLAN SUMMARY: A study of Vietnam’s
domestic and foreign policies since 1986.
PROJECT: A paper based on research with
Hanoi residents regarding economics and
changing lifestyles in Vietnam since 1986.
Sponsors: Seth Harter, Gerald Levy,
Lynette Rummel
Outside Evaluator: Kate Jellema,
independent scholar
PLAN SUMMARY: The composition and
critical analysis of literary nonfiction, with an
emphasis on personal narrative. An original
book-length account of running the Leadville
Trail 100 Ultramarathon, supported by analysis
of selected personal narratives.
PROJECT: A personal account of running
the Leadville Trail 100 Ultramarathon.
Outside Evaluator: John Caldwell, author
Michelle Leigh Fischer
Bachelor of Arts
ANTHROPOLOGY & RELIGION
PLAN SUMMARY: An investigation
of New Age religion using fieldwork and
library-based research.
PROJECT: An ethnography of the
Correllian Nativist Church.
Sponsors: Carol Hendrickson, Amer Latif
Outside Evaluator: Abigail Adams,
Central Connecticut State University
Christopher Franz
Sean Gerety
Bachelor of Arts
ECONOMICS
PLAN SUMMARY: A study of the economics
of the Internet with a focus on creative content
and property rights.
PROJECT: A paper analyzing property, piracy
and the production of music from Gutenberg
to Google.
Sponsor: James Tober
Outside Evaluator: John Levin,
School for International Training
Bachelor of Arts
FILM/VIDEO STUDIES/Screenwriting and
Criticism & ASIAN STUDIES/Daoism
spiritual dimensions of the martial arts,
specifically traditional Chinese martial
arts and their relationship to Daoism,
and an examination of how martial arts
and spirituality have been portrayed in film.
PROJECT: A screenplay concerning the spiritual dimensions of East Asian martial arts.
Sponsors: Seth Harter, Jay Craven
Outside Evaluator: William Phillips,
Dartmouth College
PLAN SUMMARY: To combine a solid
foundation in psychology, Spanish and applied
linguistics in order to apply them to the
Colombian context of English language
learning, history, culture and armed conflict.
PROJECT: Field study in Colombia examining
the teaching of English as a second language.
Sponsors: Thomas Toleno,
Rosario de Swanson, Tom Means
Outside Evaluator: Beatriz Fantini,
SIT World Learning
Bachelor of Science
BIOCHEMISTRY/Molecular Biology
Bachelor of Arts
WRITING/Photography
PLAN SUMMARY: A study of white-nose
syndrome and population decline in bats,
including laboratory research exploring the
cause of the syndrome.
PROJECT: A study of changes in gene expression in mammalian cells exposed to Geomyces
destructans, using microarray technology.
Sponsor: Todd Smith
Outside Evaluator: Scott Darling,
Vermont Fish & Wildlife Department
PLAN SUMMARY: An exploration through
writing and photography of the possibility of
finding meaning in loss, especially as it relates
to family.
PROJECT: A collection of nonfiction pieces
using memoir, interview and research to explore
the death of my brother and its impact on my
life, my family and my community.
Sponsors: John Sheehy, John Willis
Outside Evaluator: Janis Greve,
Gordon MacKay Jackson
Bachelor of Arts
FILM/VIDEO STUDIES
Bachelor of Arts
MUSIC & RELIGION
John “Spike” Carter ’09 and Adam Keller.
Bachelor of Arts
PSYCHOLOGY/Linguistics
& LANGUAGES/Spanish
Morgan Knight Ingalls
Michael Brian Hamby
Michael K. Harrist
PLAN SUMMARY: A study of morality
emphasizing the selective mechanisms by which
it evolved, including an in-depth analysis of its
adaptive function.
PROJECT: An exploration of the philosophical
implications of evolutionary ethics, including a
comparison with historical accounts of morality.
Sponsors: William Edelglass, Robert Engel
Outside Evaluator: Richard Lewontin,
Harvard University
44
late 19th-century French painting and how
artists in Paris perceived and framed reality
as well as an investigation of perceptions of
space and organization in museum display
and curatorial processes.
PROJECT: A study of framing, mirroring
and window motifs found in late 19th-century
French painting and how social, political and
geographical developments during the time
influenced artists.
Sponsors: Erin Benay, Cathy Osman
Outside Evaluator: Carol Ockman,
Williams College
HILL
PLAN SUMMARY: An exploration of how
gendered identity is created in a mass-mediated
society, drawing on socio-historical analysis
and photography.
PROJECT: An exhibit of portrait photography
and autobiographical collage.
Sponsors: John Willis, Kathryn Ratcliff,
Gloria Biamonte
Outside Evaluator: Rebecca Hains,
Salem State College
Alexander Douglas Hunter
Bachelor of Arts
ANTHROPOLOGY & PSYCHOLOGY
THE
Bachelor of Arts
PHOTOGRAPHY & AMERICAN
STUDIES/American Literature
Shelby Marie Holton
Bachelor of Arts
AMERICAN STUDIES/Literature
OFF
Lucy Michelle Joanna Alexander
DeLaurentis
Caitlin Going
Bachelor of Science
BIOLOGY & MATHEMATICS
&
and Amanda DeBisschop.
Rik Ganguly
Bachelor of Arts
PSYCHOLOGY & PHILOSOPHY
ON
Writing and literature teacher T. Wilson
Parker Matthew Davis Emmerson
PLAN SUMMARY: An examination of music
and spirituality with an emphasis on the ways
in which certain music’s supposed abstract and
expressive nature may make it possible for the
practitioner to engage with the ineffable.
PROJECT: A paper that draws parallels
between mystical and musical experience
with an emphasis on the performative nature
of both disciplines.
Sponsors: Stanley Charkey, Amer Latif
Outside Evaluator: Etan Nasreddin-Longo,
independent scholar
Mark Genszler ’95, Alexander Hunter
and Michael Hamby.
PLAN SUMMARY: Write, produce and edit an
original film reflecting the filmmaking philosophies of Lloyd Kaufman and Roger Corman.
PROJECT: The complete production of an
original film, including scripting, filming,
scoring and editing.
Sponsor: Jay Craven
Outside Evaluator: Kenneth Peck,
independent film scholar
SUMMER 2010
. Potash Hill
45
Bachelor of Arts
LANGUAGES/Linguistics
PLAN SUMMARY: Studies in documentary
film production and narrative film criticism.
PROJECT: A documentary film exploration
of “hero” narratives in movies.
Sponsors: Paul Nelsen, Jay Craven
Outside Evaluator: William Phillips,
Dartmouth College
PLAN SUMMARY: A research-based
examination of the nature of second
language acquisition, focusing on the
complications associated with adult
language learning, specifically of
English speakers learning Mandarin.
PROJECT: A comprehensive study
of language acquisiton theory.
Sponsors: Grant Li, Tom Means
Outside Evaluator: Elka Todeva,
SIT Graduate Institute
PLAN SUMMARY: A study of Czech and
Soviet cultural identity in the 20th century
through literature and film.
PROJECT: An examination of the relationship
of socialist realism to Czech new wave.
Sponsors: Dana Howell, Geraldine Pittman
de Batlle
Outside Evaluator: Polina Barskova,
Hampshire College
PLAN SUMMARY: A study of political
disintegration in the aftermath of Richard
Nixon’s presidency through an original script
and theatrical performance.
PROJECT: The writing of an original play, The
Tiger Heart, and the staging of the production.
Sponsor: Brenda Foley
Outside Evaluator: Jennifer Madden,
Wheaton College
Alisha Langerman
Bachelor of Arts
PHYSICS & COMPUTER
SCIENCE/Wind Energy
Bachelor of Arts
VISUAL ARTS & ENVIRONMENTAL
STUDIES/Ecological Design
PLAN SUMMARY: An examination
of the physics of wind power.
PROJECT: Computer models of wind turbine
design and energy production.
Sponsors: Travis Norsen, Jim Mahoney
Outside Evaluator: Patrick Quinlan,
PLAN SUMMARY: A study of visual art
exploring the contemporary relationship
between humans, ecology and the built environment, accompanied by research in vernacular
architecture and ecological design.
PROJECT: Exhibit of woodcut prints and
photography exploring human relationships
within environments of sprawl, industry and
abandonment.
Sponsors: Timothy Segar, Cathy Osman
Outside Evaluator: Brian Cohen,
independent artist, Bridge Press
Bachelor of Arts in International Studies
LANGUAGES/Applied Linguistics
Language faculty members
Amity Jones
Bachelor of Arts
DANCE & RELIGION/Islam
PLAN SUMMARY: A study of spirituality and
physicality drawing on modern dance and Islam.
PROJECT: A body of choreographic work
exploring the connections between inward
experience and outward expression.
Sponsors: Kristin Horrigan, Amer Latif
Outside Evaluator: Candice Salyers,
Smith College
Adam Susemihl Keller
Bachelor of Arts
AMERICAN STUDIES/Media Studies
PLAN SUMMARY: An exploration of how
technology and mass communication have
shaped the nature of community and public
discourse in the United States.
PROJECT: From mixtapes to the iPod: A radio
production focusing on personal audio devices.
Sponsor: Kathryn Ratcliff
Outside Evaluator: Benjamin Aslinger,
Bentley University
46
Mia Noel
Ariella Mara Miller
Alec Koumjian
Christopher Kwiat
Rosario de Swanson and Grant Li.
Ariella Miller.
PLAN SUMMARY: A study in biopolitics,
public health and HIV.
PROJECT: A paper describing HIV infection
and potential new therapies.
Sponsors: Todd Smith, Meg Mott
Outside Evaluator: Armand Balboni,
Westfield State College
PLAN SUMMARY: A study of how languages
are learned, drawing from both theoretical
analysis of communicative language teaching
and personal experience learning Portuguese
in Brazil. This study is then applied to create
a semester-long curriculum for the teaching
of English as a second/foreign language.
PROJECT: A compilation of beginner-level
English lesson plans outlining a semester’s
worth of English instruction.
INTERNSHIP: Florianopolis, Brazil
Sponsor: Tom Means
Outside Evaluator: Alvino Fantini,
SIT World Learning
Laura Lancaster
Bachelor of Arts
VISUAL ARTS/Art History
PLAN SUMMARY: A study in relief sculpture
and works on paper that calls into question
notions of the natural and the artificial,
connected to an art historical study looking
at images of violence and monsters in 19thand 21st-century art and popular culture.
PROJECT: Art exhibition of artwork that
emphasizes themes of collection, specimens,
and natural and artificial materials.
Sponsors: Cathy Osman, Erin Benay,
Timothy Segar
Outside Evaluator: Soo Sunny Park,
Dartmouth College
Tobey Sol LaRoche
Bachelor of Arts
LIBERAL STUDIES/Education
PLAN SUMMARY: An exploration of music’s
role in early education, with a focus on fostering
creativity and improvisation in young children.
PROJECT: A study of some of the more influential methods of music education used in the
United States, with inquiries into the value of
creativity and improvisation skills gained
in the early years of primary schooling.
Sponsor: Thomas Toleno
Outside Evaluator: Ellen Jahos,
Keene School District
Bachelor of Arts
ART HISTORY & PHILOSOPHY/Visual Art
PLAN SUMMARY: An examination of
the conceptual art movement focusing on the
subject of artistic intention and the art object,
as well as a look at the formal element of
repetition, complemented by an exhibition
of works on paper.
PROJECT: A philosophical exploration
of the conceptual art movement with regard
to artistic intention and the art object.
Sponsors: William Edelglass, Erin Benay,
Cathy Osman
Outside Evaluator: Nathan Margalit,
PLAN SUMMARY: An interdisciplinary
study of environmental management with a
focus on collaborative, place-based and adaptive
planning, drawing on economics, environmental
philosophy and policy studies.
PROJECT: A case study of the Northern
Forest planning initiative, examining history,
process and outcomes.
Sponsors: James Tober, William Edelglass
Outside Evaluator: Jan Dizard,
Amherst College
PLAN SUMMARY: An examination of contemporary U.S.–Middle East relations, reflecting
foreign policy of the George W. Bush administration, post 9/11 American film and personal
experiences in the region.
PROJECT: The Bush Doctrine: Analysis of
foreign policy under George W. Bush.
Sponsors: Lynette Rummel, Jay Craven
Outside Evaluator: Tim Kipp,
Brattleboro Union High School
Brooke Gale O’Donnell
Bachelor of Arts
AMERICAN STUDIES/Literature
antebellum literary culture with a focus on
the life and work of Nathaniel Hawthorne.
PROJECT: A paper focusing on the expansion
of the antebellum literary marketplace with an
emphasis on Hawthorne’s relationship to critics
and to the popular female authors of the day.
Sponsors: Kathryn Ratcliff, Gloria Biamonte
Outside Evaluator: Lise Sanders,
Hampshire College
Susannah Lane Mohan
Lisa E. Orenstein
Bachelor of Arts
WRITING & RELIGION
Bachelor of Arts
PSYCHOLOGY/Education
the reciprocal relationship between identity
and perception through creative nonfiction and
a literary analysis of an ancient Indian epic
and one contemporary American novel.
PROJECT: A piece of creative nonfiction about
a summer spent in Tibet. A literary paper about
the construction and expression of identity
through myth-making in Marilynne Robinson’s
novel Housekeeping.
Sponsors: Amer Latif, Gloria Biamonte
Outside Evaluator: Martha Ackmann,
PLAN SUMMARY: The review and
application of intervention types for
school-aged children with AD/HD.
PROJECT: The design of a research proposal
that tests the skills approach against other
treatment interventions for school-aged
children with AD/HD.
Sponsors: Thomas Toleno, Jonathan Mack
Outside Evaluator: Dorothy Osterholt,
Landmark College
Isaac Daniel Lawrence
Bachelor of Arts
ECONOMICS & PHILOSOPHY
Bachelor of Arts
POLITICS & FILM/VIDEO STUDIES
Simon Moody
Lindsay Kathleen Christopher O’Rourke
Bachelor of Arts
LITERATURE/Irish Studies/Classics
& WRITING
Michaela Wood.
Bachelor of Arts
THEATER
PLAN SUMMARY: An examination of the
history and use of race as a thematic device
on the American stage, culminating in a
production of Rebecca Gilman’s play
Spinning into Butter.
PROJECT: A performance of Rebecca
Gilman’s play Spinning into Butter.
Sponsor: Brenda Foley
Outside Evaluator: Peggy Rae Johnson,
Keene State College
HILL
Christopher Odegard
Bachelor of Arts
FILM/VIDEO STUDIES
THE
Francisco Alejandro Mugnani
Bachelor of Science
BIOCHEMISTRY/Immunology & POLITICS/
Political Theory
OFF
William Hunter Mees
Bachelor of Arts
THEATER
&
Heidi Koos
Bachelor of Arts
CULTURAL HISTORY & LITERATURE/
Russian & East European Studies
ON
William Allen Jenkins
Amber Lyn Nuite
Bachelor of Arts
HISTORY & LANGUAGES/Spanish
PLAN SUMMARY: A study of the history of
Argentina and of the tango in Argentina and
elsewhere. Much of the written work will be in
the Spanish language.
PROJECT: A paper exploring the history
of the Argentine tango.
Sponsor: Timothy Little
Outside Evaluator: Elsa Borrero,
The Putney School
PLAN SUMMARY: A comparative study of
James Joyce’s Ulysses and the classical epic.
PROJECT: A paper exploring both the classical
and Irish elements of episodes in Ulysses.
Sponsors: Heather Clark, Timothy Little,
Andrew Singer, Laura Stevenson
Outside Evaluator: Susan Brown,
independent scholar
SUMMER 2010
. Potash Hill
47
Amber Schaefer
Garth Thomas Sutherland
Paul Tarr Vorvick
Gelek Namgyal Yeshi
Bachelor of Arts
VISUAL ARTS & SOCIOLOGY
Bachelor of Arts
POLITICS
Bachelor of Arts
THEATER/Sociology
Bachelor of Arts
PHILOSOPHY/Buddhist Philosophy
PLAN SUMMARY: A cross-disciplinary
study of quality, value and accomplishment
in everyday life as reflected in fine art.
PROJECT: Painstaking crudeness and elaborate
ineptitude: An exhibition of sculpture, painting
and mixed media objects.
Sponsors: Cathy Osman, Gerald Levy,
Timothy Segar
Outside Evaluator: Lynn Richardson,
Keene State College
PLAN SUMMARY: The politics of pluralism:
An exploration of felony disenfranchisement in
the United States and Nepali nation building.
PROJECT: A paper exploring women’s
political voices within the Nepali nationbuilding process.
Sponsor: Meg Mott
Outside Evaluator: Ann Armbrecht,
Goddard College
Bachelor of Arts
POLITICS/Political Theory &
AMERICAN STUDIES
PLAN SUMMARY: A study of live action
role playing games in the northeastern United
States, with particular focus on the organizational and personal aspects of “LARPing.”
PROJECT: An investigation and analysis of live
action role playing games, supported by studies
of theoretical models drawn from major thinkers
in sociology and performance studies.
Sponsors: Paul Nelsen, Gerald Levy
Outside Evaluator: Ethan Gilsdorf,
independent scholar and writer
PLAN SUMMARY: A study of Buddhist
theories of karma.
PROJECT: The first translation into a
European language of Chu dang shing gi
A Guide to the Buddhist Path), by the 18thcentury Tibetan scholar Gung thang, together
with a commentary and introductory essay.
Outside Evaluator: Eric Nelson,
University of Massachusetts Lowell
Nathaniel Weeks
Annalisa Rose Yoder
Bachelor of Arts
MUSIC/Musicology
Bachelor of Arts
PSYCHOLOGY
PLAN SUMMARY: A broad study of music
history, with a focus on the evolution of electronic music. A study of music composition
and performance combining a wide range
of influences including jazz, concert music,
musique concrete and electronic music.
A study of recording, mixing and mastering
both electronic and acoustic instruments.
PROJECT: A research paper on early electronic
music with a focus on musique concrete and its
influence on the rest of the field.
Sponsor: Stanley Charkey
Outside Evaluator: John Levin,
independent scholar and composer
PLAN SUMMARY: Use of psychology to
evaluate cultural memory and perceived status.
PROJECT: An analysis of the relationship
between the cultural memory of the history of
colonization in the United States and Mexico
and an individual’s attitudes toward outside
cultures and other members of his/her culture.
Sponsor: Thomas Toleno
Outside Evaluator: Kate Jellema,
independent scholar
Bachelor of Arts
AMERICAN STUDIES &
ECONOMICS & POLITICS
PLAN SUMMARY: An interdisciplinary
exploration of the contested relationship
between public and private space in the United
States, with an emphasis on the contemporary
urban environment.
PROJECT: New London, Connecticut, and the
Kelo decision: A study of urban redevelopment
and property redistribution.
Sponsors: Kathryn Ratcliff, Meg Mott,
James Tober
Outside Evaluator: Myrna Breitbart,
Hampshire College
Timothy Patterson
Bachelor of Arts
THEATER & FILM/VIDEO STUDIES
PLAN SUMMARY: An exploration of an
apocalyptic perspective in contemporary theater
and film through the production of three
original short films.
PROJECT: The writing, filming and editing
of three short films.
Sponsors: Brenda Foley, Jay Craven
Outside Evaluator: Kenneth Peck,
independent film scholar
André Perez
Bachelor of Arts
AMERICAN STUDIES
relationship between political agency and storytelling within the transgender community
through the lens of media analysis.
PROJECT: A multimedia exhibit that attempts
to portray a history of transgender activism and
reframe trans issues as a community struggle.
Sponsors: Kathryn Ratcliff, John Willis
Outside Evaluator: Joelle Ryan,
University of New Hampshire
48
Bachelor of Arts
HISTORY
Evan George Taylor
PLAN SUMMARY: A study of the natural
world with a focus on the disturbance ecology
of New England and Pacific coast forests.
PROJECT: Field research and analysis of the
effects of the 2008 ice storm in the woods of
Marlboro, Vermont.
Sponsor: Jennifer Ramstetter
Outside Evaluator: R. Matthew Landis,
Middlebury College
PLAN SUMMARY: A theoretical and practical
exploration of the teaching of history in high
schools in the United States, from the beginning of the 20th century to the present.
PROJECT: An essay exploring the teaching of
history in U.S. high schools, including but not
limited to how curriculum is designed and how
elements of history are emphasized or ignored.
Sponsors: Timothy Little, Gerald Levy
Outside Evaluator: Amy Grillo, Union
Institute and University
Erin Elizabeth Riordan
Michael C. Sotak
Bachelor of Arts
LITERATURE &
WRITING/Environmental Studies
Bachelor of Arts
ENVIRONMENTAL
STUDIES/Renewable Energy
Georgios Michael Loring Tsangaris
PLAN SUMMARY: A study of environmental
perspectives in literature, focusing on contemporary American poetry with supporting work
in creative writing and ecology.
PROJECT: Paper on ecological perspectives
in contemporary American poetry focusing on
Mary Oliver, Gary Snyder and Wendell Berry.
Outside Evaluator: Jacqueline Gens,
New England College
environmental and social challenges that face
the public acceptance of renewable energy, with
a focus on wind power.
PROJECT: A paper addressing the environmental challenges and benefits of renewable energy.
Sponsors: Jennifer Ramstetter, Gerald Levy
Outside Evaluator: John Kidder, Vermont
Technical College
PLAN SUMMARY: A study of the historical
development of American youthful
countercultures informing an ethnographic
and photographic portrait of contemporary
punk subculture.
PROJECT: An ethnographic study of punk
counterculture in contemporary America.
Sponsors: Gerald Levy, Kathryn Ratcliff,
John Willis
Outside Evaluator: Wilson Valentin-Escobar,
Hampshire College
Zorn Sunshine-Carter
Olivia Danielle Sanders
Bachelor of Arts
PSYCHOLOGY & AMERICAN
STUDIES/Gender Studies
PLAN SUMMARY: A psychological and
cultural examination of adolescent female
development, focusing on how constructions
of femininity shape identity formation.
PROJECT: An investigation of adolescent
identity formation through an analysis of
five Marlboro women’s narratives on their
femininity and sexuality.
Sponsors: Thomas Toleno, Kathryn Ratcliff
Outside Evaluator: Lauren Duncan,
Smith College
Bachelor of Arts
SOCIOLOGY
PLAN SUMMARY: A study of United States
foreign policy from World War II to the
present day.
PROJECT: A study of contemporary
U.S. involvement in the Middle East
and Central Asia.
Sponsor: Gerald Levy
Bachelor of Arts
SOCIOLOGY & AMERICAN STUDIES
Bachelor of Arts
SOCIOLOGY & BIOLOGY
PLAN SUMMARY: The relationship between
food, exercise and lifestyle from a sociological
and biological perspective.
PROJECT: An ethnographic study of foodfocused lifestyles in a small academic community.
Sponsors: Gerald Levy, Todd Smith
Outside Evaluator: Willem Brooke-deBock,
Kaplan University
Bachelor of Arts
AMERICAN STUDIES/Gender Studies/
Painting
PLAN SUMMARY: A study of the selfrepresentation of selected contemporary female
artists with an emphasis on how the gendered
body is reconfigured in the context of postmodernism and an analytical paper complemented
by artwork.
PROJECT: Virtual selves: Plasticity and manipulation in the works of Cindy Sherman and
Nikki S. Lee.
Sponsors: Kathryn Ratcliff, Cathy Osman
Outside Evaluator: Lise Sanders,
Hampshire College
Michaela D. Wood
Bachelor of Arts
DANCE/Artistic and Scientific Approaches
Mary Coventry.
Kelsey Wolcott
PLAN SUMMARY: An exploration of body/
mind connection in dance movement practices.
PROJECT: A paper exploring the underlying
connections between performed contemporary
dance and dance/movement therapy.
Sponsors: Kristin Horrigan, Jaime Tanner
Outside Evaluator: Megan Frazier, Shriner’s
Hospital for Children
HILL
Pooja Patel
Bachelor of Arts
ENVIRONMENTAL
STUDIES/Forest Ecology
THE
Tim’s friend in college.
Elizabeth Shepherd
Julia Rose Langworthy Powers-Boyle
bstan bcos (Similes of Water and Trees:
OFF
father Richard Sanders, who was
&
Olivia Sanders with art teachers Tim
Segar and Cathy Osman, and Olivia’s
PLAN SUMMARY: An exploration of democratic visions within educational theories with
a historical case study in progressive education.
PROJECT: A paper analyzing how different
educational or political theorists draw pedagogical methods from their visions for radical
democracy and social change, including John
Dewey, Paulo Freire and bell hooks.
Sponsors: Meg Mott, Kathryn Ratcliff
Outside Evaluator: Amy Grillo,
Union Institute and University
ON
Nicolas Graham Petr
Mengbi Zhou
Bachelor of Arts
HISTORY & ASIAN STUDIES
PLAN SUMMARY: An examination of the
changing European attitudes toward “going
native” in British India and other British dependencies, as well as the attitudes of the native
population toward the changing sentiments.
PROJECT: A paper outlining, from the late18th century to the 20th, the Far East imperial
expansion of the British and the native response.
Sponsors: Seth Harter, Timothy Little
Outside Evaluator: Thomas Williams,
Green Mountain College
Peter A. Blair
Master of Arts
PHILOSOPHY
Thesis: “Otherwise than the true:
Verification and responsibility in late Levinas.”
A study of truth, verification and responsibility
in Emmanuel Levinas’s ethics.
Outside Evaluator: Eric Nelson,
University of Massachusetts Lowell
SUMMER 2010
. Potash Hill
49
A L U M N I
N E W S
’51
’57
“After 40 years of ministry in the Episcopal
Church,” writes the Rev. REGINALD
RODMAN, “serving as rector and vicar
in parishes and missions in Colorado,
Hawaii and Oregon, I have retired from
active ministry. The shock of retirement
is mitigated by my new and deepening
relationships with salmon. As always, I
continue to be impressed by the growth
and development of Marlboro. Best wishes
and high regards.”
’59
BRUCE and BARBARA COLE write,
“Living close to the college gives us the
opportunity to attend many functions,
one of which was the ceramics department show featuring MALCOLM (ORV)
WRIGHT ’62 and Michael Boylen’s beautiful creations. A fitting tribute to 40 years.
Barbara’s continuing (very) part-time work
in the bookstore continues to impress us
with the vibrancy of the college.”
’64
“I am finally a married man,” writes
DANIEL MOORE. “Got married on
November 14, 2009. On our honeymoon,
we drove past Marlboro College. My bride,
Adrienne Rarick, was impressed. Looking
forward to many more days.”
“Still find it hard to believe no one I knew
was at the 60th reunion,” BARBARA
(BUNKY) ZIMMERMAN tells us. “The
college looks great—so big. Am living in
Oregon with Zoe (my Lhasa Apso) and two
cats. Roni died four years ago and I still
miss him. Am trying to learn computer, but
am not good at it. Hi to all—come see me
if you get around here.”
50
“I’m halfway through a new book,”
writes ART MAGIDA. “This one’s
for Macmillan and is about Erik Jan
Hanussen, aka ‘Hitler’s Jewish clairvoyant.’
Fascinating, disturbing guy. Publication
date (if I’m lucky): spring 2011.”
JENNIE TUCKER tells us: “All is well
here in the Blue Mountains (Oregon).
Enjoying semi-retirement. Summer garden
was devastated by grasshoppers—fifth year of
the hungry buggers. Addicted to ISC.com.
Online Scrabble, what fun.”
’68
“Glad to hear Marlboro is doing so well,”
writes MARK KLIMO. “Always fond
memories of those formative years. Best to
all. Hello, TIM LITTLE. Went fishing
with RON WHITEHORNE ’63 recently.”
’69
SHEILA LANGDON GARRETT is in
her tenth year teaching at The Meeting
School in Rindge, New Hampshire. “I
became a grandmother in September
and it’s like falling in love. My granddaughter Lily lives with my son, Eli, and
his wife, Jennifer, in Massachusetts, not
too far away. I have many connections
to Marlboro these days. I am in regular
contact with SUE WHITEHORNE
RUSTEN ’68 and TIM MAYO, and
have also had a visit from JAVED
CHAUDHRI ’65 and his wonderful wife,
Yasmeen. The Meeting School considers
itself a feeder school for Marlboro and it
has been one almost since it was founded
in 1957. Two TMS grads were already
at Marlboro when I got there in 1963—
BRUCIE TUCKER ’66 and ANGELA
(SHOOGIE) WOOD LEVINE ’64.
I’ve seen both of them at Meeting School
reunions. DAPHNE CROCKER ’71 also
graduated from TMS and she visited here
a few years ago on her way to sing with
Blanche Moyse. Since I’ve been teaching
at TMS we’ve had several students graduate from here and go to Marlboro. I don’t
even remember all of them, but I know
JONATHAN BOYNTON ’09 graduated last year and ZACH PEARSON ’12
will in the coming years. SHOSHANNA
BRADY went to Marlboro for a while
and is still in the area. DEVIN GREEN
’11 and SUSANNAH MOHAN ’10
are currently enrolled, as far as I know.
If anyone knows of high schoolers that
you think might do well at Marlboro and
would benefit from a couple of years (or
even four) here first, please send them our
way. If you want to see me virtually, check
out the video on our website (www.
meetingschool.org) and if anyone is
in the Monadnock region of New
Hampshire, stop by. It’s very lovely
here and I live in a yurt on the edge
of woods and orchards.”
’72
JUDY MCCLAREN ASBURY
reports that she will be having an exhibition of her paintings at the Nagasaki
Peace Museum in Nagasaki, Japan, this
year. It will open on August 10, the day
after the 65th anniversary of the atomic
bombing of that city, and many of Judy’s
paintings were inspired by this event.
DENA DAVIS was on a Fulbright
teaching assignment at University of Padua,
in Italy, from May through June 2010.
“Things are good for us in Austin,” writes
HAROLD ZAKON. “Our 19-year-old
daughter, Daniella, is attending Evergreen
State College in Olympia, Washington,
a western and larger version of Marlboro.
I visited MELANIE GIFFORD ’73 in
Washington, D.C., and FRANK PEKOC
in Cleveland this past year. Great fun to
see you both.”
In February, former pottery professor
Malcolm Wright ’62 and pottery professor
Michael Boylen each shared their work at a
joint show in Drury Gallery. Michael retired
this spring after 30 years (see Potash Hill,
Winter 2010).
’73
ALICE GROSSMAN tells us: “How fun
to discover that my colleague in the art
department at Pingree School, a small
private high school north of Boston, is
also a Marlboro graduate. BARBARA
Opposite: Josie Colburn ’10 celebrates receiving her diploma.
Return
P h o t o b to
y JTable
e f f W oof
o dContents
ward
NEWS
Joan and CHARLES STAPLES write,
“Our latest world travel of note was an
ambitious and memorable three-week tour
in South Africa, plus visits to Swaziland
and Zimbabwe (Victoria Falls). Included
were Johannesburg, Soweto, Kruger
National Park, Kwazulu Natal, Port
Elizabeth and south coast to Cape Town
and vicinity. We learned much from a
learned indigenous tour director, and
engaged many sights of interest.”
’67
ALUMNI
Class notes are listed by year and include
both graduates and nongraduates; the latter are listed under the class with which
they were associated.
SUMMER 2010
. Potash Hill
51
DIANNA NOYES decided it was time
to try something new and signed up for
pottery classes at Brattleboro Clayworks
this spring. “Let’s just say that I have a
whole new appreciation of the craft, and
my reverence for those of you who make a
living from it, or even an avocation of it,
has sky-rocketed.”
Sunny Tappan ’77:
Swimming in poetry
Everyone who
has heard
Sunny read
STEVE VAN NESS writes, “Busy life.
Four kids: 23, 18, 13 and 12. Two companies. Launching new music web biz in
April, at Gimmesound.com. Still doing
events: impactartsevents.com.”
her poetry,
or enjoyed her
choice of daily
poem for the
campus online Town Crier, will
’82
be pleased to hear that she had
ABBY JACOBSON is back in Putney,
Vermont, after two years of residing at
a small boarding school in the White
Mountains. “While there, I did some ice
climbing, sailing and whitewater rafting,
as well as some spectacular hiking. Now,
being home again, I’m employed at a
therapeutic residential program called The
Tapestry Program, which is for Vermont
women coming out of the prison system.
Challenging work, but I’m grateful for
a poem published this spring in
The Aurorean, a biannual poetry
journal out of Maine:
Last Swim of the Season
Gail Manyan Henry ’72 celebrated her 60th birthday in good company at her New Hampshire
Gravel strewn with rust-orange
home. Joining her were (back row) Barbara Hornthumb ’72, Gail, Bob Plumb ’73, Rosemary
needles, dry green of maples
Siragusa Zamore ’73, Peter Zamore ’74, Will Wootton ’72, (seated) Rick Clare ’75, Bruce
edging towards red and yellow,
Droste ’72, Lulu Ballantine Wootton ‘85 and Pamela Cersosimo ’77.
the sand pocked with dull footprints,
a faded towel bereft
on a stump, canoes bellyup on weeds—
the water’s still
warm. Tonight a Nor’easter
is warned, but now it’s quiet
and a cormorant’s skimming
a wing’s length above the lake.
galleries, artists, cultural organizations,
cheesemakers and landscape designers to
further populate the trail. On April 23–25,
the arts council hosted our third Poets and
Writers Weekend, showcasing the literary,
visual and performing arts in a grassroots,
Marlboro-style event. I was pleased to
help bring Marlboro’s nonprofit certification program to our southwestern corner
of Vermont. It was received well and was
much needed by our nonprofit sector.”
’76
WHITNEY ’97 and I are the largest
alumnae contingent from any college
in the school. Hopefully one day Barbara
(theater arts) or I (photography) will send
one of our students Marlboro’s way.”
’74
“I have been working to build visibility
for the creative community in southern
Vermont, as part of my efforts through the
Greater Manchester Arts Council,” writes
BETH MEACHEM. “We have developed
an online virtual art trail designed to
build cultural tourism awareness in the
region. Marlboro’s Drury Gallery will be
on the trail, and we are encouraging other
52
MELISSA METTLER ABRAMS writes,
“It’s mid-November and we’re in the midst
of our second snowstorm in Fort Collins,
Colorado. This is a wonderful city—we’d
love to have visitors if anyone is interested. My husband and I are coping with
two teenage daughters and still managing
to stay sane.”
“Orion turns 2 on January 18,” writes
CHRISTOPHER NOTH. “Finishing Sex
and the City 2. Trying to find a new space
for the Cutting Room (rock ‘n roll club
I had for 10 years on West 24th) so we
can do a fundraiser for Rainforest Action
Network, a great organization.”
work at all. My son Drew, age 21, now
resides in Arcata, California—home to the
famous redwoods—where he’s working as
an independent contractor and musician.
My other son, Lee, age 20, is a full-time
student at Castleton State College, where
he hopes to major in sports management.
I’d love to hear from any of you either by
email (abby.jacobson.50@gmail.com) or
via Facebook.”
DANIEL PICKER writes, “I published a
book review in Rain Taxi Review of Books
in the online edition this winter. The
previous spring, I published my fourth and
fifth poems in RUNE: The MIT Journal of
Arts & Letters, where (at MIT) I was invited
to read my work for the second time. Also,
last spring I published my poetry in the
annual edition of Bridges, where I’ve
published about 15 poems since 1997.”
“I’ve been in Las Vegas since 2001, which
was my return to the U.S. after nearly
a decade living abroad in Colombia,”
writes TIM PRATT. “Until being laid
off in December, I was a reporter at the
’78
REGGIE BLASZCZYK published two
books last year—American Consumer Society,
1865–2005: From Hearth to HDTV and
Rohm and Haas: A Century of Innovation—
both available on Amazon.com. In fall
2009, she was a visiting research scholar at
the Victoria & Albert Museum in London,
and has joined the editorial board at the
Journal of Design History, the leading international journal in its field, published by
Oxford University Press. In what little spare
time she has, she enjoys watching Law &
Order reruns that feature former classmate
CHRIS NOTH ’76, and keeps her eye
out for British productions with
MADELEINE POTTER ’79.
Daniel Kane ’90: The poetics of sociability
“Art isn’t something the tortured individual has to sweat
over in the solitary hell of an attic,” said Daniel Kane.
“Art is something that can literally happen at a party.
Art can be fun.” Daniel is the author of We Saw the Light:
Conversations between the New American Cinema
and Poetry (University of Iowa, 2009), a book focusing
on the exchanges—social, literary, aesthetic and
collaborative—between experimental and avant-garde
American filmmakers and poets of the postwar era.
We Saw the Light examines artistic communities in the 50s and 60s, largely based in
San Francisco and New York, communities commonly affiliated with “New American
’79
Cinema” and the “Beat,” “San Francisco Renaissance” and “New York School” move-
“Still happy in the mountains of
Pennsylvania,” writes ED MCMULLEN.
“Ah, wilderness.”
ments. Within these communities, Daniel shows, through anecdote and analysis,
how artists in different media effectively influenced and inspired each other.
Daniel is currently working on a cultural history detailing how the New York
’80
SOPHIE BLACK had another poem
published, in the May 17 issue of The
New Yorker, titled “Private Equity.”
See it at www.newyorker.com/fiction/
poetry/2010/05/17/100517po_poem_black.
proto-punk and post-punk scenes of the 60s, 70s and 80s were informed and
influenced by poetic formations like the French Symbolists and Beat Generation
writers. He is a professor of American literature at the University of Sussex in
Brighton, England, which he says is “sort of like the San Francisco of England.”
In April, current students enjoyed a casual
discussion with local alumni Michelle Chasse
Holzapfel ’73, David Holzapfel ’72, Nels Kloster
‘97 and Sarah Edwards ’78 about life after
Marlboro and how they chose their vocations.
Las Vegas Sun these nine years, covering
minority affairs, immigration and social
services. In Colombia, I also did reporting,
in both English and Spanish, for publications ranging from the New York Times,
the Economist and the Miami Herald to the
Associated Press. My wife, Joana, who’s
a scenic designer and art teacher, and
13-year-old son, Jesse, are both from Cali,
Colombia; my younger son, Dylan, was
born in Henderson, Nevada, and now we’re
all looking for new opportunities, perhaps
starting over somewhere else. All ideas are
welcome at tpsowhat@gmail.com. And old
friends or new voices from Marlboro are
always welcome here in Vegas, while we’re
still here.”
“I’m still working at Slippery Rock
University,” writes DAVID SKEELE,
“teaching acting, directing shows and
running the playwriting program. This
summer, we’ll take my latest ‘play of
supernatural horror’ to the Fringe Festival
in Edinburgh, Scotland.”
’84
JOHN MAJONEN and ELLY
WETTEMANN MAJONEN ’87 write
to tell us: “John is running marathons.
Elly just presented several workshops at
the Marlboro College Graduate School
on the social and emotional foundations
of early learning. Older daughter EMMA
MAJONEN ’13 is currently in Chennai,
India, and emails with Marlboro alum
ATHAR KHAN ’88. Small world.”
SUMMER 2010
. Potash Hill
53
“At its best, I believe medicine is a dialogue
individual and society,” said naturopathic doctor
Anna Abele. She recently founded A Natural Path,
a new center for naturopathic healing with
locations in West Brattleboro, Vermont, and
Northampton, Massachusetts.
Anna, who studied developmental psychology while at Marlboro, worked in the
field of psychiatric crisis for seven years after graduation. It was there that she
became inspired to explore alternative forms of healing. “If you wish to gain firsthand experience of the limitations of modern medicine, psychiatric crisis is a good
place to learn,” said Anna. She began studying herbal medicine, and eventually
decided to get her naturopathic doctor degree. Anna worked at the Brattleboro
Naturopathic Clinic before opening her own practice.
“I like working to reduce suffering,” said Anna. “I enjoy thinking outside the box
and working toward answers for people who have fallen through the cracks in our
systems. It is satisfying to know that I do my best on a regular basis for the good
of others.”
’89
STEFANO LUZZATTO sends some
updates about himself and TONYA
BLOWERS ’90. “We have recently
moved to Trieste, Italy, from London
with our two children, Francesca, 11, and
Michaela, 7. Tonya is teaching creative
writing and I am working for UNESCO
at the Abdus Salam International Centre
for Theoretical Physics. This is a research
institute whose mission is to ‘promote
excellence in science in the developing
world.’ So on top of my personal research,
I help to coordinate a variety of schemes
to help individual scientists in countries
with poor resources and poor research
infrastructure to carry on their research.
It feels like the perfect job for me, bringing
together many different aspects of work
that I have experienced in different places
at different times.”
Dr. JAMES ROUSE is the wellness doctor
for QVC television. He is co-founder and
creator of Mix1, an all-natural nutritional
beverage. James reports he is happily
married to Debra, and they have two
daughters, Dakota, 12, and Elli, 7.
’88
“I am enjoying life now, working as a
nurse for Compassionate Care Hospice in
Brooklyn, New York,” writes MONIKA
LYMAN. “Love to stay in touch with
old friends. Find me on Facebook, if
you want.”
ANDREW KOSCIESZA continues to
build the music program at Montgomery
County Community College in suburban Pennsylvania. The program has
just launched an associate degree with
transfer agreements in place with Temple
University, University of the Arts, West
Chester University and others. Barring
unforeseen circumstances, by the time you
read this Andrew’s promotion to associate professor will be finalized. Melinda
continues to build the dance program at
the same institution. Daughter Ariel (who
now goes by Aiden James) is completing
her third and final year teaching English in
Japan. Christopher is in his junior year at
Gettysburg, and is considering changing to
a political science major. Any friends are
strongly encouraged to visit or to drop an
email: akoscies@verizon.net.
’86
“In May 2009 I received a Master
of Divinity degree from Pacific
Lutheran Theological Seminary,”
writes SANDRA RUDD. “In November
2009 I was ordained as a Lutheran pastor.
In December I began serving at Sitka
Lutheran Church in Sitka, Alaska. I am
having fun getting to know the town,
the people and the history. The church
is the oldest Lutheran church on the
West Coast, as it was founded by Finnish
Lutherans in 1840 while Alaska was still in
Russian hands. Almost all the cruise ships
to Alaska stop here, and so if you or your
family happen to be on one, please stop
by and say ‘hi.’”
54
METTE SCHWARTZ writes, “My middle
school curriculum work has expanded to
involve math as well as science, which
some may remember has been a perennial
’91
C. J. CHURCHILL reports, “My partner,
Jody Jeglinski, and I were married on
June 12 in Amherst, New Hampshire.
We’ve been together since 1996 and are
thrilled to celebrate the legal recognition
of our union.”
’92
MIKE CRANE took a leave from running
his community development consulting
business to help rebuild Iraq. “I have a
one-year contract with the U.S. State
Department and am leading several urban
planning initiatives. I was honored to
witness the first free election in a completely
sovereign Iraq since . . . well, ever. I live
in the Mesopotamian Valley on the Tigris
River; some call it the cradle of civilization.
I’m trying the find the civility.”
’93
“I’m still reporting half-time for the public
radio show Marketplace and (ostensibly)
freelancing with the other half of my
time,” writes SEAN COLE. “I’m also
planning to move to Toronto on May 1.
Any Marlboro alumni up there in the
Great White North? Please get in touch:
ittycity@comcast.net. In terms of fellow alumni sightings, I recently, and
wonderfully, reunited with JENNA
CHANDLER-WARD ’92 in Cambridge,
Massachusetts. We had a drink and then
walked over to Buckaroo’s Mercantile,
the kitsch and curiosity shop in Central
Square owned by BROOKS MORRIS
’92. It was like old times—except we’re
all so much more attractive now. I often
have the pleasure of hanging out with
AARON TIEGER ’97 and attending
Andrew Gates ’94: Witness in Haiti
When Andrew Gates traveled to Haiti in
’90
’85
where I have been for 11 years now, and
have begun presenting at conferences
around the country. My husband, Dan,
and I have been married 20 years—but
Marlboro College and Putney School have
all our money…so, we’ll see about that
trip. I live just a few miles from the college
in Marlboro, so please look me up if you’re
ever in the area.”
January, he intended to perform demolition
“I recently had lunch up on the hill, as
a parent,” writes SOPHIE LAMPARD
DENNIS. “Yes, my son ERIC ’13 is
finishing his freshman year at the college.
I have thoroughly enjoyed watching the
college from this new vantage point—and
I must say I have been very impressed
(once again) by the level of education
that he is receiving. Hearing about the
goings-on in Schrader is kind of fun too.
He is moving heavily into science, and
enjoyed taking Bob Engel’s last class in
fall ’09 (Physical Geography) and two
classes with JENNY RAMSTETTER ’81
this spring. He is also an artist, and has
been taking film and drawing this year.
My older daughter, Coral, graduated from
University of Vermont in dairy science
last spring, and has just returned from six
months in Chile, where she was working on a dairy farm (she was there for the
earthquake). And my younger daughter,
Marie, is a junior at The Putney School,
where she just finished up a great season
on the basketball team. She is also a fabulous horseback rider. For my part, I am still
teaching at Landmark College in Putney,
work in Port au Prince, the capital, in the
aftermath of the devastating earthquake.
He and a group of six other men raised
$5,000 and a large supply of food, but they
did not make it past the outskirts of the city
before their truck driver refused to go on. It was here that Andrew’s group came
across an orphanage housing 19 children but lacking any food, and they donated
their food supply and money to the orphanage that very morning.
“We never really had a specific plan for the food or cash when we left, simply
believing that we’d find someone who needed them. In the end, we didn’t have to
look far,” Andrew said. He was moved by the effect on the spirit and morale of the
children. “When I arrived, they were listless and still; before the first meal was finished, they were starting to sing and play.”
Andrew then found a Red Cross field hospital in the same neighborhood, where he
relied on his paramedic training to treat Haitians with various maladies, from fractures to dysentery, for his remaining eight days there. “My experience in Haiti has
reinforced my sense of gratitude for all of my many privileges; it is a daily reminder
of how fortunate I am here,” he said. When Andrew is not building houses in
Austin, Texas, he helps his wife in her immigration law practice.
his poetry readings. And who should be in
the audience at one of those readings late
last year but DAVID DILORENZO ’95.
Always great to see him. Also, CATE
MARVIN ’93 and I both had poems
published in the anthology Starting
Today: 100 Poems for Obama’s First
100 Days (University of Iowa Press).
Finally, I’ve discovered that actor
CHRIS NOTH ’78 and I both studied poetry at Marlboro, both lived in
a cabin there, and both took off for
Indonesia afterwards. All of this makes
me wonder why I was never featured
on Law and Order: Criminal Intent.”
NEWS
between self and other, mind and body,
interest of mine. My husband and I are
still lovingly restoring our 1707 house in
Westborough, Massachusetts.”
ALUMNI
Anna Abele ’91:
Exploring alternative
forms of healing
’94
GINA DEANGELIS writes, “David,
Audrey and I welcomed Dominic Joseph
on October 30. He’s a happy little guy
and a lot of fun to have around! I still
work in education outreach for Colonial
Williamsburg, where I’m finishing up
a years-long project called “The Idea
of America,” an all-digital high school
history-and-civics curriculum created by
Colonial Williamsburg and distributed
by Pearson. Just trying to change the face
of American history education, that’s all.
Hoping to get to New England for the
national fife and drum muster this
August. Hi to all the folks I don’t
already see on Facebook.”
’95
“My husband and I are doing great,”
writes ELIZABETH BLAIR. “We’re
always amazed by the words and actions of
our 4-year-old, Vincent—truly is a ‘great
age.’ Still living in Tampa, Florida. Please
stop in if you’re in the Sunshine State.”
ERIK PEARSON writes, “Enjoying
life in Austin, Texas. Our two kids will start
elementary school this year. Business is going
well: http://VisibleContact.com. Enjoyed a
trip to Peru this year, exploring opportunities
in international health care technology.”
“I’ll be processing Jersey cow milk this spring,
when my son’s heifer freshens,” says MAYA
ZELKIN, “and leading four ‘traditional
foods’ workshops at a local cooperative store
in March. Happy eating to all.”
’96
ROBIN GAY’s research article, titled,
“My body or my mind: The impact of state
and trait objectification on women’s cognitive resources,” was recently published in
SUMMER 2010
. Potash Hill
55
’97
’04
GARY GOTTLIEB and MELANIE
KNIGHT GOTTLIEB ’02 write to tell
us that Melanie was promoted to admissions operations director at Webster
University. Gary is now associate professor
at Webster, and had his third book—How
Does It Sound Now? Legendary Engineers
and Vintage Gear—published by Thomson
in October 2009. He was also moderator
for the panel “How Does It Sound Now:
the Evolution of Audio” at the Boston
Area Definitive Audio Student Summit
in September 2009.
“I moved back to Vermont in May of ’08,”
writes HEATHER BRYCE, “and I’m so
happy to be back. I’m working as a developmental educator at Early Intervention
(working with children 0 to 3 years old with
disabilities and supporting their families),
in central Vermont. I am still dancing,
now in the Burlington area, and hope to
be performing again soon. I recently got
engaged to a wonderful man, Eric Labor,
and couldn’t be happier. We are planning
to get married in May of next year. I hope
everyone is well; I always like hearing from
Marlboro friends and have plenty of room
for visitors.”
ELIOT GOODWIN and ALLISON
LENNOX were married on Sunday,
September 6, 2009, in Shelburne, Vermont.
HEATHER GREENWOOD tells us: “I’ll
be graduating (a bit later than anticipated)
from Antioch with my master’s degree in
resource management and conservation
this summer. Next stop: Find a job that
pays my loans.”
ALAINA HAMMOND’s one-act
play, The Party Continued, was produced in January, part of the InGenius
2010 Short Play Festival at Manhattan
Theatre Source. The Party Continued
Marlboro once again held a successful series of gatherings for alumni and prospective
students in Boston, New York, Philadelphia, Washington, D.C, Chicago, Los Angeles, San
KELLY STOCKWELL says, “Hey folks,
check out our hot new bluegrass band,
www.hotmustardbluegrass.com.”
Francisco, Seattle and Portland. Attendees at the San Francisco event included (front row)
(second row) Sarah Fielding ’09, Liz Ross ’01, Astra Valters ’97, Kaern Kreyling ’86,
’98
SARAH R. LAVIGNE and GEORGE
LEONIAK ’05 would love to share the
news that they have a new baby boy born
on March 16, 2010. His name is Basil Strix
Lavigne Leoniak. All are very happy and
well. Check out Sarah’s new blog:
lavignephotography.blogspot.com/.
’99
KATE QUIN-EASTER writes, “Erica and
I are deep in the throes of graduate school.
I entered the University of Southern
Maine’s master’s in adult education program in September 2009. It’s been an
adventure relearning how to read quickly
and deeply and write decent papers. I’m
still working at Job Corps in Limestone,
Maine, and enjoying the life of a career
transitions counselor (this means that it’s
my job to get trainees into a job, military
or, my favorite, college). We are proud
horse-owners now and I’m loving the
sedentary life of the ‘horsewife.’ Northern
Maine is as gorgeous as ever and we welcome visitors. It’s getting harder to believe
that it’s been over 10 years since graduating college. Where has the time gone?
Hellos from afar, especially to CAROL
HAMMOND ’96, KITTY ELLYSON
’94, DEB BRUCE, JODI CLARK ’95
and JENN KARSTAD ’97.”
56
Alan Rosenblith ’02: Redesigning the dollar
Deana Bramley ’08, Jordan Hendrickson ’07, Althea and Sophie Fyfe, Rob Fyfe ’94,
“There has never been a time when we have more freedom to create the
Zoe Maas-Fyfe ’94, Christopher Mahoney ’02, (back row) Krista Haimovitch ’94, Todd
world we want to live in,” said Alan Rosenblith, who lives in Portland, Oregon.
Andrews ’01, Caely French ’07, Cameron Campbell ’07, Jeff McGuire ’81, Brian Richard ’86
“Redesigning currency is right at the core of our creative potential as a species.”
and our own Mark Genszler ’95, alumni director.
Alan is the director of The Money Fix, a feature-length documentary exploring
American society’s relationship with the almighty dollar, which recently won a
’01
“I got married!” writes BOBBY DROZEK.
“Still living in Somerville, Massachusetts,
working as a psychotherapist at the
Veterans Administration.”
DAVID FLEMING writes, “My wife
and I will be moving to Wellington, New
Zealand, where I’ll be starting work on
a Ph.D. Any Marlboro alums in New
Zealand should look us up.”
JENNIFER FLEMING is expecting her
first child in mid-May. “Can’t wait to be
a parent. We think it’s a boy. Many
blessings this year.”
’02
A staff reporter for the New Haven
Independent, THOMAS MACMILLAN
won the 2010 National Award for
Excellence in American Journalism on
Latino issues for his coverage of East Haven
police harassment of Hispanics. Judges
called Tom’s ongoing coverage of alleged
racial profiling “a fine example of traditional
shoe leather reporting, consistent news
coverage and the use of video, digital photos
and court documents to provide context for
the overall story. A strong marriage of multimedia and journalism.”
In June, HEATHERJEAN MACNEIL
announced the launch of Proxy’s “fruition
collection,” a limited edition assortment of
fashion accessories ethically sourced from
the highlands of Guatemala, the Arequipa
markets of Peru and the villages of northern Thailand. Heatherjean started Proxy
(Potash Hill, Summer 2009) to provide
“fashion forward” apparel for women by
empowering and employing workers in an
effort to create a sweatshop-free, sustainable world. To learn more about Proxy or
see the collection, go to proxyapparel.com.
Green Apple Award.
The Money Fix documents alternative money systems that help solve economic
problems for the communities in which they operate. The project was inspired by
Alan’s experiences studying permaculture, including “invisible architectures” that
shape how societies function, while working on an organic farm in New Mexico.
“Most of us take the monetary system for granted, but it has a profound and
largely misunderstood influence on our lives,” said Alan.
Alan also directed a documentary on organic farming
and natural building in New
Mexico, called Dreams of
Green. Since directing The
Money Fix, he has become
involved in efforts to redesign
currency on a systemic level. He
’03
co-founded the MetaCurrency
“Still in Louisville,” writes ANGELA
SCHULDT, “working as a crisis therapist
with children and families in the local
community mental health center. I’m
getting married to longtime love Joey in
September. Looking forward to visiting
Vermont someday soon.”
premiered at Marlboro in October 2003
as a staged reading starring RYAN
CAMPBELL ’07, JAMES GARREN
’05, SARAH SEAGRAVE ’05,
AMIALYA BELLEROSE-ELDER ’06,
STEPHANIE KRUTSICK ’06 and
GARRETT COOK ’07.
“After about five years of living in
New Haven, Connecticut,” writes
ELIZABETH (LIZZIE) THEIS,
“I’ve recently moved to Brooklyn, New
York, to complete my graduate degree
in the media studies program at the
New School. I am continuing to make
video art and work with young filmmakers.
This June, I will be overseeing a youth
filmmaking project in conjunction with
Bushwick Open Studios, as well as showcasing some of my own work. I am also
working on funding my first feature-length
narrative film, which I hope to shoot this
fall. I’m doing the typical Brooklyn loftliving thing with a handful of artists, and
I couldn’t be any happier. You can check
out some of what I’m doing on my website, which, depending on the time of this
printing, may or may not only lead to my
blog: www.lizzieboredom.com. I hope all
are well. I often miss the hill and would
love to hear from people.”
NEWS
ULLA VÄLK writes, “Been living
and working as a freelance artist in
Amsterdam, Holland, for the past few
years. Just finished illustrating a children’s
book called Pancakes at Midnight, written
by Jenny Curtis Fee, to be published in
2010 by Urban Crayon Press (www.urban
crayonpress.com). Keep an eye out for it.”
ALUMNI
the European Journal of Social Psychology
and subsequently written up by MillerMcCunne online magazine as one of their
feature articles. She writes that she is still
in New York City and working at Mount
Sinai Medical Center. She would love
to hear from fellow Marlboro folks at
robin.gay@gmail.com.
’05
LUCAS ROUNTREE completed his first
motion picture with Poison Apple Films,
Renfield the Undead. He worked as the
costume manager, designing and creating
over 20 looks for the feature-length film
in addition to supervising wardrobe and
make-up and choreographing a bonus reel
in Greek theatrical style (keeping with his
studies, naturally). He looks forward to a
lucrative career within the horror genre.
In January, he met his life partner,
Étienne-Émile Laurent Skrabo, and they
are moving forward with their ambitions
to take over the free world through “art,
life, love, all things gay.” Currently, Lucas
is compiling his dance works from 2000–
2010 into a film documentary and asks his
fellow dancers from Marlboro to contact
him via email if they have contributions
that may be applicable to his work:
lertree@gmail.com.
Project, whose aim is to make the core infrastructure of the American economy
“unencloseable.” Alan is currently in post-production on a third film about the
efforts of the MetaCurrency movement, entitled Milk & Honey: The Film. For more
information on The Money Fix, visit http://www.themoneyfix.org.
“I’ve been back living in Toronto for
most of the past five years,” writes
ANTHONY SCHEIN. “There are a few
of us in the area, including REBECCA
SCHEIN ’01, NAHUM BROWN ’01,
CAITLYN PAXSON and CHRISTIAN
SUMMER 2010
. Potash Hill
57
’09
Chelsea Connell ’08: Building health clinics in Kenya
sive in the fall of 2006, World Studies Program student Chelsea Connell wanted
to do more for the villagers there. Many people were living without clean water
and electricity, and Chelsea heard stories of suffering, such as women giving
She began working with the Funzi and Bodo Trust, a charitable foundation that
works with villagers in Bodo and Funzi to create better living conditions.
KATHERINE PARTINGTON starred
in Overload, a new murder-mystery feature film, which won the Indie Spirit
Special Recognition Award at the Boston
International Film Festival in April. The
film, directed by Newfane filmmaker
Robert Fritz, has also gained critics’ awards
at the L.A. Reel Film Festival and the
Honolulu International Film Festival.
Since its founding in 2006,
the Funzi and Bodo Trust has
opened two new health clinics, and worked to improve
the local economy as well as
the educational system in the
villages. Chelsea, with the help
Alumni profiles by Mary Coventry ’10
of her mother, raised $7,000
toward the construction of the
These class notes include submissions
from October 2009 through April 2010.
Alumni may submit items for the next
issue of Potash Hill by October 1, 2010,
at alumni.marlboro.edu or by emailing
alumni@marlboro.edu.
clinic in Bodo, served by the
same staff as the Funzi clinic.
“With additional fund raising,
Demonstrating Newton’s law of universal gravitation, or merely throwing apples over the roof of Hendricks?
the Bodo clinic will also be
If you know who these rascals are, what they are up to or why there happen to be so many Swedish
automobiles on campus, drop us a note at pjohansson@marlboro.edu.
able to have electricity,” said
Chelsea. “Then the government will provide it with a refrigerator as well as
Photo by Clemens Kalischer
vaccines, free of charge.”
Potash Hill
Meanwhile, Chelsea has been working with “at risk” children in New York,
MCCRORY ’07. I’ve put my pursuit of
a master’s in communication and culture
on hold (almost done) while working as a
political aide to a Toronto City councilor.
We’ve had some big legislative wins here,
including a tax and partial ban on outdoor
advertising, which I worked very hard on.
Toronto has seen visits from ‘Tall’ CHRIS
LEWIS and RICHARD PLATZMAN
this year, and from RACHEL FEDERLIN
’06 in summer 2009. Marlboro alumni are
always welcome for a visit here.”
“I’m finally settling into life in the
Northwest,” writes MICHELLE WRUCK.
“I tried to live in Portland, Oregon, for
a couple of years, but despite what Los
Angeles thinks, Portland is a big city, in
my opinion. So, I’m moving up north. I’ve
been learning a bit about boat building
from voyagingproject.com, an anarchist
collective of sailors who are fixing up a
100-year-old ketch and then sailing down
to the Caribbean to explore and connect
58
with good people. In the fall, if I haven’t
joined the boat project, I’ll be attending
the Wilderness Awareness School Anake
yearlong program, a radical naturalist training that I’ve been looking into for the last
couple of years. LIZ CRAIN is enrolled in
the program now, and will be enrolled in
the second-year mentoring apprenticeship
next year while I’m there. ASHLEY BIES,
currently halfway through a doctoral program
in conservation biology and field ecology
(big surprise), is thinking about taking a
break from structured academia and joining
the program next year as well (WOODS
Leadership Training ’05 reunion). While
I’m enrolled I’ll be volunteering part time
at the Clearwater Free School nearby. It’s
taken me a while to find a niche outside
Marlboro—anybody else with me?—so I’m
especially glad to finally be feeling a bit
more settled. I miss the Green Mountains
nearly every day and dream about coming
back to reconnect with community and
land. Anybody need a house-sitter?
Wishing you all love and luck. Come visit.”
NEWS
birth in canoes because they didn’t have access to a hospital or health clinic.
ALUMNI
NICOLE CASTRO writes, “Like many,
I am working a job simply to pay the rent
and staying busy looking for something
better in the meantime. Yesterday was the
first warm day in Portland. I sat outside in
the afternoon and chased the sun as it set,
while listening to a friend play his guitar,
just as I was doing on campus this time
last year. Some things never change.”
After traveling to the coastal fishing village of Bodo, Kenya, for a language inten-
welcomes your letters,
submissions of poetry
and fiction and queries
for feature articles.
and has been accepted in the accelerated Registered Nursing program at the
’06
“How do you know that the life you’re
living is meaningful?” writes LESLIE LOY,
who runs the largest house at Camphill
Soltane, a community for people with
special needs. “I guess, in my case, it comes
from living with people who are utterly
honest with you and who tell you like it is.
MARY WELCH and I have lived in the
same house, a sprawling ranch-style abode
just outside of Philadelphia, since the last
major snowstorm hit our community in
February. Each morning, we wake at the
crack of dawn only to find ourselves jumping into a jam-packed day of meetings,
meals, projects, laughter, tears, frustrations,
joys. Sometimes we’re more exhausted than
we’ve ever felt before, but occasionally
that pays off: We can stop and realize we’re
blessed to live with friends who care, who
will walk with us through thick and thin
and who, at the end of the day, can look at
you and know whether you need to laugh,
University of Miami. She hopes to pursue a dual master’s degree in nursing and
international public health.
cry or just go outside and run through the
apple orchard. Mary currently teaches
pottery and helps in the instrumentmaking courses with our students and
community residents while I work ‘part
time’ for WeStrive.org (co-founded with
MATTHEW CORTEZ TEMPLE ’03).”
’07
TESSA WALKER is “In grad school.
Loving it, but Marlboro was way better.
Miss you guys. Love, T.”
’08
“I have applied to several New England
law schools,” writes ALEX OSTROW,
“and took a trip to Haiti in April to work
with fellow Marlboro alumnus MATT
LEVASSEUR ’07. As part of an internship, I represented the ACLU at this year’s
GOP and Democratic conventions in
Worcester. I am also working for a book
publisher and still DJing. Special thanks to
Catherine O’Callaghan, Gerald Levy and
Edmund Brelsford.”
Address them to
Editor, Potash Hill
P.O. Box A, Marlboro
Vermont, 05344
or email them to
pjohansson@marlboro.edu
SUMMER 2010
. Potash Hill
59
somewhere. The other guy between
Maggie and Carla I first thought was
Larry Dunham ’64, but the briefcase
between his legs makes me think that
it is not Larry as I remember him. We
lived in Mather House next door to
one another at some point. This was
certainly not a gospel bunch.”
“The man wearing shorts is Bob
Hawthorne, a faculty member and
a fine baritone or tenor in Blanche
Moyse’s chorus, also often a soloist,”
said Jenny Olmsted Wages ’67, who
Letters
guessed the photo was from between
Marlboro thrives because of your support.
1965 and ’67. “The gal on Bob’s right
We received several letters regarding the photo on page 46 of the last Potash Hill (Winter 2010), showing
was perhaps Susan Whitehead (from
pioneer gangsta rappers cutting some rhymes in front of the dining hall. While most readers agreed on
Martha’s Vineyard)…definitely familiar.
four of the participants, other identities are less certain.
And the woman on his left is a faculty
member and wife of another faculty
“While I can’t tell you who was singing
“Susan Whiting is standing third from
“The woman with her back turned and
member. Was it Stamm? Think she had
or what was being sung in the photo-
left,” said Stephenie Smith ’68. “Bob
the ample arse is myself,” said Maggie
a little daughter named Allegra. The
graph on page 46, I can tell you who a
Hawthorne next to her on her left.
Marx. “The woman behind me is
far right gal is Carla Nord-something
couple of the people were,” said Carla
I recognize the woman just to Bob’s
Carla Nordstrom. The woman to the
(probably not Nordstrom, but close to
Nordstrom ’67. “Susan Whiting ’67
left with her head down but I can’t
left of the guitarist is ‘Soo’ Whiting
that). Sorry I can’t be more definite.
was the woman standing next to the
remember her name. Her last name
and next to her with the white socks
Now I think the faculty woman may
guitar player. I think that the woman
was Smith, I think…Cindy Smith? I
is, I believe, the chemistry professor.
be Ed B-something’s wife, not Stamm.
with the light shirt and short hair was
also recognize the girl on the extreme
My guess is that this was 1963–4.”
Sorry, I have ‘Can’t think of that word’
Maggie Marx ’70, and I’m standing
right but can’t come up with a name.
at the far right with the cutoff shorts,
Maggie Marx is standing in the fore-
“I recognize Sue Whiting looking at
leather jacket and loafers—don’t
ground facing the guitar player. Don’t
the guitarist, who I think is George
“From left to right, I think we’re
remember ever having a pair of loafers.”
have a clue who he is. That’s puzzling
something, but not quite sure,” said
looking at John van Kirk ’71,
because I knew all the guitar players
Jeff Adams ’66. “Next to her is Bob
Godfrey Day ’70, ‘Soo’ Whiting, Bob
on campus.”
Johnson (again, I think) who was
Hawthorne, Sherry Bromley (that
a science professor of something.
one took a while), Carla Nordstrom,
“Wow,” said Ted Wendell, trustee
since 1979. “Bob Hawthorne, chemis-
Your gifts matter, no matter their size.
High rates of participation in annual giving by alumni, parents and
friends encourage others to give, whether the gift is $10 or $1,000.
Your gifts support all areas of the student experience.
Annual gifts ensure that we can continue our generous financial aid
program and provide opportunities like faculty-student research,
student life initiatives and campus energy and greening projects.
Online giving is easy—and easy on the environment:
marlboro.edu/giving
disease at age 65. Ed Brelsford?”
try teacher and former trustee, is dead
“We think we see, from left to right,
(Actually, Bob Johnson ’68 was a sci-
someone I can’t recognize, and Maggie
center. Cindy Smith, I think, is to his
‘Soo’ Whiting, Bob Hawthorne,
ence student of that era. —ed.) In the
Marx,” said Carol Hollander ’70.
left and Sue Whiting is to his right. Far
Maggie Marx and Carla Nordstrom,”
foreground, with her butt, is Maggie
right in the photo is Carla Nordstrom.
said Cathi Hodnicki Wilkin ’66 and
Marx. To the right of her is Carla
(Sherry Bromley, who is still a neighbor
I probably should know the others, but
Roger Wilken ’67. “We’re well, living
Nordstrom. I remember Carla because
of the college, is quite sure she is not
the bells aren’t ringing.”
since 1971 in Guilford.”
she lived in Nyack, New York,
pictured. —ed.)
and her father was a professor
60
SUMMER 2010
. Potash Hill
61
IN
In Memoriam
philosophy of the college. For his
Massachusetts, and attended the
and Tamworth. Her flower gardens
New Hampshire, and Rachel
Wickersham & Taft, often referred
commitment, hard work and clear
Lincoln School in Providence, Rhode
at the Fry House provided her with
Boyden ’79 (whose husband is
to as the nation’s oldest major law
thinking, Dick was awarded an honor-
Island. In 1939 she enrolled at Black
great pleasure. Cynthia was very well
Pieter van Loon ’88) of Marlboro,
firm, where he served until 1989.
ary Doctor of Humane Letters degree
Mountain College in North Carolina.
informed about flowers and delighted
as well as four grandchildren and
In addition to his work as a lawyer,
from Marlboro College in 2001.
There she met Roland, and when she
in their beauty.
five great-grandchildren.
Dick taught United States Army
In addition to his generosity to
graduated in 1943 they became engaged.
Cynthia established the library
MEMORIAM
York City law firm of Cadwalader,
—Tim Little ’65
Intelligence Classes for 15 years at the
Marlboro, Dick was a major con-
Command and General Staff School
tributor to the University of Illinois,
intelligence, and when Cynthia
in the early 1960s, sang in Blanche
Donald Tong ’51
in New York. He was awarded the
Marlboro Music School and Festival
graduated she enlisted in the navy
Moyse’s chorale over the years and
A resident of Hawaii, Donald Tong
Decorated Bronze Star and retired
and the American Folk Art Museum.
herself and was assigned to a large
continued to support the academic
passed away in October 2008. Donald
Richard Taylor,
former trustee
from the Army as a lieutenant colonel.
He served on the board of directors
naval hospital in Mississippi. Cynthia’s
and social life of Marlboro College.
was a city planner, and after retiring
For several years Dick and his
of several United States and foreign
organizational and typing skills were
Roland and Cynthia hosted spectacu-
he served as a managing partner in his
A devoted trustee of Marlboro College
wife vacationed in Vermont, which
corporations, entertained former
more valuable than her nursing skills,
lar New Year’s Eve parties into the
family’s land development company.
for 37 years, Richard Taylor died
reminded Maureen of her native
presidents of foreign countries at his
and she spent the war as secretary
1970s, open to all who dared to brave
Donald and his wife, Leonora, lived in
in Sarasota, Florida, last December,
Ireland, before building a home in
New York home, entertained British
and record keeper to the doctors.
the elements. Following Roland’s
Hilo, on the big island of Hawaii, for
at the age of 92. Dick was born in
East Dover in 1960. There they raised
royalty and represented major United
Cynthia and Roland were married
death, in 1981, Cynthia continued to
50 years before relocating to a senior
Kewanee, Illinois, where his family
beefalos, which they found more
States and foreign Fortune 500 compa-
in 1945 and moved to Lucier Road
divide the year between Marlboro and
community in Honolulu. They stayed
owned a wagon and buggy business
suited to Vermont’s steep terrain and
nies as lead attorney in international
the following year.
Tamworth. She went to China with
in touch with Donald’s classmate
and the first automobile dealership
poor soil than the cattle Dick’s fam-
acquisitions. He loved United States
Roland was the first faculty
faculty and students from the college
Bob Hamner ’52, and revisited the
in Henry County. He went to the
ily had back in Illinois. In the 1960s,
history and its presidents, as well as
member hired by Marlboro College,
and to Italy with friends. She walked
Marlboro campus in the 1980s.
University of Illinois, were he was a
Dick began his long commitment to
classical music, opera and the New
and during the early years of the col-
and skied as the seasons allowed,
member of the Army ROTC’s horse
Marlboro College through financial
York Yankees. Dick treated everyone
lege’s existence, Cynthia was pressed
and took up listening to opera while
cavalry and editor of the university
support and dedicated participation
equally and respectfully, and he was an
into service as a provider of clerical
continuing to read poetry, dramatic
Henry Smith,
former student
yearbook. Upon graduation in 1939,
on the board of trustees.
eternal optimist. He often remarked
support, writing tutor and assistant
literature and the novels of Henry
Another Marlboro pioneer, Henry
that the three most important words
to the dean. She frequently remarked
James. She loved classical music and
“Hank” Smith died in Brattleboro in
“Dick joined the board because
he entered the Army as a second
Roland was serving in naval
at the Marlboro Elementary School
lieutenant for what was to be a
of his friendship with and respect for
in the English language are “please”
later upon the youthful high spirits of
the mystery novels of Ngaio Marsh
April at the age of 82. Hank was born
one-year tour of duty, before World
Arthur Whittemore, whom he had
and “thank you.”
the first students, who were nearly all
and Josephine Tey.
in New Bedford, Massachusetts, and
War II started. Dick often called the
met aboard ship on a trans-Atlantic
war years, when he worked as an
crossing,” said Tom Ragle, former
to Dick for his loyalty and integrity
spirited herself, and her lively chatter
friend who went well out of her way to
in the South Pacific from 1944 to 1946,
intelligence officer, the longest
Marlboro president. “He played many
over many years.
contrasted with Roland’s more mea-
support persons whose circumstances
before coming to Marlboro College
“one” year of his life.
key roles on our board, such as nego-
sured tone. No one who ever played
required it. In the last year of her life,
for two years starting in 1948. Hank
Marlboro College says “thank you”
of her generation. Cynthia was high-
served in the navy as a gunner’s mate
Cynthia was a faithful and loyal
tiations with the Marlboro Music
Cynthia Boyden
charades on her team could doubt the
her caretakers noted her serenity and
worked at the Brattleboro Reformer for
Kewanee, where he married Maureen
School and Festival, and was always
The widow of dean and longtime
force of her intelligence or the clarity
commented on the lengthy silences
many years, then as a safety supervi-
Hoey, an Irish colleague in the war
friendly, concerned, helpful, generous
faculty member Roland Boyden,
of her expression.
with which she punctuated her days.
sor with Ebasco Constructors until
effort. He earned his J.D. from the
and meticulous.”
Cynthia Boyden died at her home
Those who had known her longer
he retired in 1987. He enjoyed many
After the war, Dick returned to
Dick served as chairman for 10
University of Illinois in 1946 and
In 1950 the Boydens inherited
on Lucier Road, in Marlboro, in
the Fry House in Tamworth, New
reflected on her regard for those
adventures with his wife, Barbara,
an L.L.M from Columbia University
years and treasurer for 17, and held an
December 2009. She was 88 years
Hampshire, and thereafter Cynthia
caretakers. She leaves three daughters,
especially backpacking, canoeing and
in 1947. He then joined the New
unbending faith in the principles and
old. Cynthia grew up in Winchester,
divided her time between Marlboro
Jennifer and Rebecca of Tamworth,
bicycling. In 1988, they completed a
62
SUMMER 2010
. Potash Hill
63
cross-country bike tour and followed
Marlboro for 15 years, retiring in 2007,
Brattleboro area to work at Marlboro.
that with other tours in the United
then returned to work part time for
Theodora co-authored a book,
States, Europe and New Zealand.
a period in 2008 and again in 2009.
Furniture Making Plain and Simple,
“Sandy had an affinity for the college
in 1984, and was appreciated in the
Philip Crafts ’57
and its community that continually
admissions office for her sweet and
The longtime owner of Crafts Country
brought her back, and we welcomed
positive character.
Store in Marlboro, and a resident of
her with open arms,” said Anne Pratt,
West Dover, Vermont, Philip Crafts
senior financial management officer.
David Soyer
died in May at the age of 79. Phil
“She was a friend to all students, fac-
Longtime college neighbor and
graduated from Wilmington High
ulty and staff during her time here,
participant in the Marlboro Music
School and served for six years in
and provided invaluable service in a
School and Festival since the 1960s,
the army before attending Marlboro,
multifaceted capacity.”
David Soyer died in February at the
age of 87. The founding cellist of
where he studied forestry. He recalled
that one year he paid half of his
Maureen DesChenes
the Guarneri String Quartet, David
tuition in cans of maple syrup, when
A Marlboro resident for 24 years,
played with the ensemble for 37 years,
the college didn’t have enough to
Maureen DesChenes died in January
traveling the world and playing 100
send to contributors. He met his wife,
at the age of 64, following a lengthy
concerts a year. David retired in 2001,
Margaret, in Marlboro, and married
illness. A graduate of Morse College,
but made a last appearance at the
her in the Marlboro Meetinghouse
in Connecticut, she served as an
Metropolitan Museum of Art last May
church in 1952. Phil was a special
administrative assistant to biology pro-
before the quartet retired as a whole.
education teacher for many years,
fessors at Central Connecticut State
He was on the faculties of Curtis
receiving a master’s from Vanderbilt
University for 20 years. After moving
Institute of Music, the Julliard School
University, and taught in Vermont,
to Vermont, Maureen worked for sev-
and the Manhattan School of Music,
Colorado, Florida and Massachusetts.
eral years in the development office
and was still giving lessons until two
He “retired” in 1984, and owned
for Marlboro College as well as in the
weeks before he passed away.
and operated Crafts Country Store
same capacity at World Learning, in
until 1994. Phil enjoyed being in
Brattleboro. She enjoyed spending
the woods, and loved camping and
time in the American Southwest,
traveling with his family.
loved nature and was an avid reader.
Sandy Vonderhorst
Theodora Poulos
Marlboro resident and longtime
The associate director of admissions
staff member at Marlboro College,
at Marlboro College for seven years
Wilma “Sandy” Vonderhorst died in
in the 1980s and ’90s, Theodora
March after a courageous battle with
Poulos died in December at the age
cancer. She was 70 years old. Over
of 81. A graduate of Endicott College,
the years she worked at the Holstein
she worked at The Experiment in
Association, Skyline Restaurant and
International Living and as an editor
at Mt. Snow Ski Shop making hats.
for Ladies Home Journal and Charles
Sandy worked as a staff accountant at
Scribner Sons before returning to the
64
Editor’s Note
Parting Shot
Ethan Denny is a Marlboro junior who just finished an International Honors Program, traveling around the world
to learn about globalization, economics, anthropology, ecology and social movements. He says, “I believe in being
informed by as wide a perspective as possible and in not being stuck in one field alone.” Getting “the big picture”
is part of the intellectual culture at Marlboro, and it is integral to several of the stories in this issue of Potash Hill.
Becky Catarelli’s pioneering treatment of the Great Pacific Garbage Patch, for example, stretches our
definitions of politics and environmental science. Talia Jackson’s and Amer Latif’s insights provide a broader
understanding of the word “jihad,” and Jim Richardson brings 20 years of professional perspective to bear on
the issue of reproductive health. Two events this spring offer dramatically different perspectives, the social
activism of the late Howard Zinn and the economic activism of Tom and Deneen Borelli.
Although Ethan shares some of his experiences on page 35, he says that the reality of his international
adventure was “far, far more strange, maddening, enlightening and exultant.” Perhaps this is in the nature
of opening minds to broader perspectives. I hope you find something strange, maddening, enlightening or exultant
in this issue of Potash Hill, and that you submit a letter describing why. You can see reactions to the last issue on page 60.
—Philip Johansson, editor
Edi tor: Philip Johansson
A rt Edi tor: Dianna Noyes ’80
St af f Ph ot ogr ap h e r s : Marcus DeSieno ’10, Adam Keller ’10, Thea Cabreros ’12
Potash Hill welcomes letters to the editor. Mail them to: Editor, Potash Hill,
Marlboro College, P.O. Box A, Marlboro, VT 05344, or send email to: pjohansson@marlboro.edu.
The editor reserves the right to edit for length letters that appear in Potash Hill.
Potash Hill is available online at Marlboro College’s website, www.marlboro.edu.
After four years behind the camera, providing rich
woodwardesign
images for numerous Marlboro publications and web
Front cover: Plastic shards littering a Hawaii beach are only the most obvious effect of the Great Pacific Garbage Patch.
While Becky Catarelli did her Plan on changing gender boundaries in Vietnam, the alumna has gone on to explore the social
and ethical dimensions of environmental impacts such as 100 tons of floating trash (see page 12). Photo by Becky Catarelli
Back cover: Zebras nuzzle at Masai Mara Reserve, Kenya, the site of Jaime Tanner’s
research on spotted hyenas (see page 2). Photo by Jaime Tanner
Marlboro College Mission Statement
The goal of Marlboro College is to teach students to think clearly and to learn independently through engagement in a
structured program of liberal studies. Students are expected to develop a command of concise and correct English and to
strive for academic excellence informed by intellectual and artistic creativity; they are encouraged to acquire a passion
for learning, discerning judgment and a global perspective. The college promotes independence by requiring students to
participate in the planning of their own programs of study and to act responsibly within a self-governing community.
pages, graduates Marcus DeSieno and Adam Keller take a
much-deserved cruise on the fire pond “party barge.”
Thanks and bon voyage, Marcus and Adam.
Photo by Thea Cabreros
MARLBORO COLLEGE
Nonprofit Org.
U.S. Postage
Marlboro, Vermont 05344
Paid
Putney, VT
Change Service Requested
Permit No. 1
Potash Hill
The Magazine of Marlboro College
. Summer 2010

Potash Hill - Marlboro College

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