Newsletter Volume 10 Issue 4 - October 18, 2023 | |
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Still seeking volunteers for MedShare. Four of our emeritus members sorted and packed on October 11 and had a great time! Hoping for more members to join in the fun next month.
If you are interested in being part of the group in November, please use the registration link below or contact Jane Mashburn at jmashbu@emory.edu.
Here is the custom reservation code link for The Emeritus College Group volunteer session on November 21, December 12 and January 9, from 1p - 4p.
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Lunch Colloquium -- Monday, October 23, 2023 | |
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“Growing Institutional Efforts with an Indigenous Approach”
Beth Michel
Senior Associate Dean of Undergraduate Admission
Monday, October 23, 2023
11:30-1:00
Beth Michel will describe Emory’s efforts to increase the visibility, voice, and contributions of Native American people. She will highlight people, departments, and initiatives at Emory that have been and continue to be instrumental in this effort.
She will bring news describing progress of the new Center for Native American and Indigenous Studies, to be launched this fall in Emory College. The Center will advance research, scholarship, teaching, and learning rooted in and related to Indigenous studies.
Michel also will summarize and highlight Emory’s active relationship with the Tribal communities on and off campus including plans for continuing and growing engagement.
Throughout, Michel will incorporate Emory’s history related to Native Americans. Notably, “Emory University acknowledges the Muscogee (Creek) people who lived, worked, produced knowledge on, and nurtured the land where Emory’s Oxford and Atlanta campuses are now located. In 1821, fifteen years before Emory’s founding, the Muscogee were forced to relinquish this land. Emory recognizes the sustained oppression, land dispossession, and involuntary removals of the Muscogee and Cherokee peoples from Georgia and the Southeast.”
About Beth Michel:
Beth Michel is a proud citizen of the Tohono O’odham Nation as well as Hopi and Navajo. She is a Senior Associate Dean of Admission and Lead for Native American Affairs in the Office of Admission. She is a member of Emory’s Native American and Indigenous Studies Initiative (NAISI), an ad hoc committee focused on creating awareness of Native American history and contemporary issues as well as increased visibility of the Indigenous campus community. Prior to joining Emory, Michel was an Indigenous evaluator at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), Division of Nutrition, Physical Activity and Obesity (DNPAO) as a contractor. During her 8 years as a consultant and trusted advisor, she collaborated with more than 30 Tribal health programs and Native-serving organizations to support evaluation design and implementation provided by public health federal funds.
Michel has served in various civic leadership roles including the Chair of Indigenous Peoples in Evaluation for the American Evaluation Association, and currently serving as the Chair of her Tribal Nation’s Institutional Review Board. Michel received a Master of Public Health degree from Rollins School of Public Health and a Bachelor of Science from the University of Arizona.
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Lunch Colloquium -- Monday, November 6, 2023 | |
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"Are Digital Actors the Future of Hollywood?"
Tanine Allison
Associate Professor, Film and Media Studies
Monday, November 6, 2023
11:30-1:00
This presentation is an exploration of how digital visual effects mediate issues of race, gender, age, and identity.
Dr. Allison’s research and teaching is focused on film, digital media, and video games. Her work explores emerging media technologies in relation to ideas of authenticity, identity, and aesthetics. Her book Destructive Sublime: World War II in American Film and Media challenges conventional notions of the American war genre. She is now focusing her research on the use of digital visual effects in film and animation.
About Tanine Allison:
Tanine Allison is an Associate Professor of Film and Media at Emory University, where she teaches courses on film, video games, television, and digital media. Dr. Allison is the author of Destructive Sublime: World War II in American Film and Media (Rutgers University Press, 2018), which explores the aesthetics of combat sequences in WWII films and video games. Her essays on motion capture, race, war media, and digital visual effects have appeared in New Review of Film and Television Studies, Quarterly Review of Film and Video, Journal of Popular Film and Television, and a number of other journals and anthologies. She is currently writing a book about motion capture and digital performance in film, animation, and video games. Allison is a graduate of Brown University and earned her PhD in Film/Cinema/Video Studies at the University of Pittsburgh.
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Emeritus Spring Activity Opportunity | |
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From Emeritus member Joyce Flueckiger:
I encourage many of us to offer to host "Dinner with 12 Strangers" as an opportunity to engage with current Emory students. I speak from experience. Last spring a former student (from 20 years ago!) hosted such a dinner, inviting three of her former professors (two of us emerit) and the rest "strangers." It was a lively evening of unexpected connections and shared interests and the room buzzed.
For example, one of the students was applying for (and subsequently received) a Fulbright to Thailand and was filled with questions about how to enter a community as a "stranger" and ways to approach issues of international public health. I sent him a copy of my book about a Muslim female healer in India, and we sent several emails back and forth. It was an occasion to mentor several students and to be enlivened by their energy. There is an option to cohost, and if dates work out, I plan to host a dinner and would love a cohost in springtime.
For more information and registration to host a dinner please click here.
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The first 2023-2024 meeting of the University Faculty Council, held in person, was called to order by Chair Dr. Nikita Gupta who introduced Emory Provost Ravi Bellamkonda. Provost Bellamkonda spoke about the changing faces of leadership at Emory, including the appointment of five new deans, with three additional searches underway. Since 2020, 21 senior administrative positions have been filled, 20 of them brand new to Emory. Recruitment of top talent has been extraordinarily successful.
Dr. Ashima Lal, Faculty Councilor and Chair of the Faculty Life Course Committee, with the assistance of EUEC member Mike Kutner, laid out the new efforts underway to establish a Faculty Club. Building on the extensive earlier work of Mike Kutner and John Bugge, which had been on the verge of success before being struck down by Emory’s many leadership transitions and the pandemic, the current Faculty Life Course Committee sought Faculty Council approval for the continuation of this pursuit, beginning with a survey to gauge faculty needs and interest in a club. The motion to approve was unanimously (enthusiastically!) passed.
Finally, Provost Bellamkonda explained the strictly prescribed procedures that would be followed for the PhD student vote on unionization, to be held in October.
At the University Senate meeting, Senate President Nikita Gupta introduced Emory University President Gregory Fenves, who highlighted some important updates: On September 15, First Lady Jill Biden came to campus to present an award to Dr. Bill Delgado and announce a new agency for MRNA development. One Emory has included a commitment to increase investment in the arts with Arts and Humanistic Inquiry. Emory College has set a goal to increase the retention rate for first-year students to 97% from its present 93%, and to improve the four-year rate, which is now 80% compared to 90% for peer institutions. Efforts are ongoing to find new ways to support diversity in college admissions in light of the recent Supreme Court decision banning consideration of race.
Finally, Ciannat Howett, Associate Vice President for Resilience, Sustainability, and Economic Inclusion reported on Emory’s 2023 Climate Action Plan, followed by a discussion about what units and individuals can do in support.
For those wishing more detailed information on either meeting, minutes will be posted and can be accessed with Emory login credentials at:
https://facultycouncil.emory.edu/meetings/2022-2023/index.html
https://www.senate.emory.edu/meetings/2022-2023/index.html
-- Holly York, EUEC Representative to the Faculty Council and University Senate (2021-2024)
Note: my term ends with this academic year and election of a new Emeritus College representative for these two bodies will take place in the spring. If you’re interested in serving, let Ann Rogers know. Each body meets once a month during the academic year, with, at present, alternate meetings on Zoom. The time commitment is minimal and you get to keep up with what’s going on, see colleagues, and have the ear of the President and Provost every month or so. What’s not to like?
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Ron Gould
Goodrich C. White Professor Emeritus
Ron is at it again!
October 4, 2023
Discrete Math Seminar at Emory University
"Have you Ever Meta-Conjectured?"
October 10, 2023
Georgia State Discrete Math Seminar
"Have you Ever Meta-Conjectured?"
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New members are the lifeblood of any organization.
Please make a special effort to welcome them to the EUEC!
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Paul J Zwier, II
Professor of Law, Emory Law School
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One of our recent new members has provided a short bio:
Kirk Elifson, Professor Emeritus of Behavioral, Social, and Health Education Sciences, Rollins School of Public Health
In the early 1970s, while I was close to completing my Ph.D. in Sociology at Vanderbilt, my first academic post was at Fisk University. The call to serve as a Captain in Vietnam, disrupted the completion of my dissertation. Next, my academic path took me to the Department of Sociology at Georgia State University, where I received my first tenure and served as chair of the department for more than a decade. Already extensively engaged with colleagues at the Rollins School of Public Health, I joined the Department of Behavioral, Social, and Health Education Sciences (BSHES) to teach, mentor, and conduct research. Reflections on my professorial trajectory made me realize that my journey involved a Historically Black College and University (HBCU), a large public, urban research university, and a leading private research university with a comprehensive academic healthcare system. However, all are places where dreams are nurtured, knowledge flourishes, and futures are shaped.
As a teacher, I marvel at the intellectual sparks the students experience, their critical thinking, and their active dialogue. Alongside teaching, I value engagement and collaborative research that synergistically blends the expertise and perspectives of all involved. BSHES was the perfect place for me to connect all these dots. Having received external funding for my research, including from federal agencies such as NIH and CDC, might be viewed as academic success and as providing opportunities for my students, but I am most proud of how it facilitated deep, intense community engagement. For example, funding from the CDC and NIH, facilitated path-breaking work with and among people at risk for or infected with HIV/AIDS, starting in the early 1980s or with families that experienced intergenerational substance abuse. Deep community engagement allowed the impact of this research to go beyond academic papers by the team, especially students. My statistical and mixed-methods knowledge led me to become an “expert consultant;” for example, in the case of the Fifth Street church bombing in Birmingham (AL) or when assisting the American Band of the Cherokee Indians with a social impact study to decide on establishing a casino in North Carolina.
Beyond the academy, community service has always been part of my life. For example, my work over the course of the last decade with ...
Hambidge – served on board, invest in generations of artists
Olmsted Linear Parks – president – urban park restoration
Hope Atlanta – homelessness
The diversity of experiences over the course of my career provides a powerful foundation for an engaged and meaningful retirement. As I shift towards more informal consulting and mentoring, I also find myself with more time to be with friends on the golf course.
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Cooke Noontime Concert
Ackerman Hall
Friday, October 20, 2023, 12 – 1pm EDT
The Carlos Museum and the Emory Chamber Music Society of Atlanta welcome Artistic Director and Concertmaster of the Charleston Symphony, violinist Yuriy Bekker, playing the music of Korngold and Franck for his Emory debut, accompanied by pianist William Ransom.
The program is free and open to the public, but registration is required.
To register please click here.
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Performance by Ibrahim Miari "In Between"
Emory Performing Arts Studio
1804 N. Decatur Road
Sunday, October 22, 2023, 7 – 9pm EDT
Ibrahim Miari, Lecturer in Foreign Languages, University of Pennsylvania;
“In Between” (A One-Man Show)
On the precipice between two cultures stands Ibrahim Miari, son of a Palestinian Muslim father and a Jewish Israeli mother. In this riveting and thought-provoking one-man show written and performed by Miari, he recalls his childhood in Israel and brings us into the complexities and contradictions that define his life “In Between” two worlds. With deftness, wit, and humor, Miari transcends today’s political distractions and
reminds us of the deeper inner struggles and bonds that link us all.
For more information and registration please click here.
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"Stop Cop City”: Unpacking the Struggle Over the South River Forest
White Hall room 208
Thursday, October 26, 2023, 6 – 7:30pm EDT
You are cordially invited to the roundtable discussion “Stop Cop City”: Unpacking the Struggle Over the South River Forest. The roundtable will take place on Thursday, October 26, 6.00-7.30pm, in White Hall room 208. The event is intended to be an informative session. It brings together scholars and activists to discuss intersecting themes surrounding the debate over the South River forest: environmental justice and racism from a historical perspective as well as the recent criminalization of political protest.
Four outstanding speakers will walk us through the complex issues surrounding the struggle over the South River forest here in Atlanta, Georgia: Dr. Jacqueline Echols, Board President of the South River Watershed Alliance; Sasha Tycko, PhD student in Anthropology here at Emory University; Jaanaki Radhakrishnan, Emory undergraduate and student representative for Emory's chapter of the "Stop Cop City" movement; and Selena Coppa-Caldera, Emory School of Law JD student and National Lawyers' Guild representative. The panel will be moderated by Dr. Frank Voigt, DAAD-Lecturer at the Department of German Studies.
This event is free of charge.
For more information please contact Frank Voigt -- fvoigt@emory.edu
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The Jews of Summer: Zionism and Cultural Preservation in American Jewish Summer Camps
White Hall 103
Wednesday, November 1, 2023, 7 – 8:30pm EDT
After the Holocaust, American Jews anxiously debated how to preserve “authentic” Jewish culture, fearful that affluence, assimilation, and suburbanization threatened the Jewish future. They pinned their hopes on summer camps, many of which used Zionism as their main ideological tool, conceiving of their camps as miniature versions of Israel. Sandra Fox will show how adults' fears, hopes, and dreams about the Jewish future inflected every element of camp, from the languages taught to what was permitted romantically and sexually.
For more information and registration please click here
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Details and other information, as well as additional campus events, can be found on the Emory Events Calendar.
If you'd like to share an event/program of interest before the next newsletter
please contact Dianne Becht Dianne.becht@emory.edu
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Walking the Campus with Dianne | |
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The interesting bench from our previous walk can be found in the Michael C. Carlos Hall (not the museum, but the building that houses Art History). The bench is part of the campus art collection. "Chaise Gabion" was created by Celeste Roberge in 1988 and is made of steel and river rock. You can find it on the third floor landing in the building just off the staircase.
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Unpack the sweaters and jackets! The weather here in Atlanta is finally turning a bit cooler, so let's look at some interior architecture. This place is beautiful....and always busy with students, faculty, and staff, especially with all the research and experiments going on.
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Where will you find this on the Emory campus? | | | | |
