Faculty-Staff Achievements, April 25, 2011
Honors
Janet Galligani Casey
Janet Galligani Casey, professor of English, has received the 2011 Gita Chaudhuri Prize from the Western Association of Women Historians for her book, A New Heartland: Women, Modernity, and the Agrarian Ideal in America (2009, Oxford University Press). The prize was announced in early April at the annual conference of the WAWH in San Marino, Calif. The awards committee called it a "most innovative and transformative work on rural women." The Gita Chaudhuri Prize annually recognizes the best monograph about the history of women in rural environments, from any era and any place in the world, published by a WAWH member. In announcing the award, the WAWH noted, "This book recasts rural women and the gendered image of farming during the late-nineteenth and twentieth centuries. Using a multitude of sources, Casey eloquently argues that male urban spaces defined modernity during the early twentieth century, relegating writers like Willa Cather to a second-tier, women's rural place. This book transforms the way we look at rural life and its position in society."
Linda Motzkin
Linda Motzkin, Jewish chaplain, is one of six 2011 "Women of Influence" recognized by Saratoga Publishing. The annual honor is reserved for a select number of Saratoga County women for their unique contributions to the community. Together with her husband Jonathan Rubenstein, Motzkin serves as rabbi of Temple Sinai in Saratoga Springs. In 2005 they founded the Bread and Torah Project, through which they offer education programs on her scribal arts work and his baking activities, teaching about human needs for spiritual and physical nourishment. One of just a few sofrot (female Hebrew scribes) in the world, Motzkin has thus far written a scroll of Esther and is currently writing a Torah scroll (on parchment that she is making from locally donated deer hides). She has authored several influential texts and is active in a number of civic and religious organizations. A luncheon to recognize this year's Women of Influence is scheduled for Wednesday, May 18, at Longfellow's Restaurant. Tickets may be reserved by calling Kristen at the restaurant: (518) 587-0108.
Daniel Swift, assistant professor of English, has been nominated for the Samuel Johnson Prize, the UK's top literary award for nonfiction, for his book Bomber County. The shortlist for the award will be revealed June 14; the winner will be announced July 6. Click here to read more.
Activities
John Brueggemann, Quadracci Professor of Social Responsibility and professor of sociology, recently gave invited presentations about his book, Rich, Free and Miserable: The Failure of Success in America at the University of New Hampshire, Union College, Morningside Presbyterian Church in Atlanta, "College for a Day" at the Denver Botanic Gardens, and Powerhouse Arena in Brooklyn. He also participated as the author in an "Author Meets Critics" panel for his book and as a critic in an "Author Meets Critics" panel for Erik Olin Wright's book, Envisioning Real Utopias, at the annual meetings of the Southern Sociological Society April 6-9 in Jacksonville, Fla.
Pushkala Prasad, Zankel Professor of Management, and Anota Ijaduola, visiting assistant professor of physics, joined several international Skidmore students to discuss "Impressions of Saratoga from a Global Perspective" at the Saratoga Chamber of Commerce's Third Thursday Breakfast April 21 at the Holiday Inn. Student panelists were Penhleak Chan and Kaarina Mackenzie, both Class of 2012, and Wisam Khaleefah, Class of 2011.
Jay Rogoff, lecturer in English, gave a reading of his poetry April 6 at Utica College. On April 14, he participated in a reading by several poets at Red Fox Books, Glens Falls, in celebration of National Poetry Month.
Mary Zeiss Stange, professor of women's studies and religion, was a consultant for, and appears in, the recently released documentary Facing the Storm: The Story of the American Bison, which was partially filmed on the Montana bison ranch that she operates with her husband Doug Stange, and is the subject of her 2010 book Hard Grass: Life on the Crazy Woman Bison Ranch. The film was produced by High Plains Films in conjunction with Montana Public Television. High Plains Films has also released a six-minute short documentary, Buffalo Hunt, which portrays a hunt on the Crazy Woman Ranch. Here's the link.
Portrait of Chair with Peonies
and John Singer Sargent's "El
Jaleo (1882)", 60" by 36", oil
on canvas, 2010, Doretta Miller
Exhibitions, Publications:
Jay Rogoff, lecturer in English, has published his poem "At the War Museum" in The Hopkins Review, Vol. 4, No. 2 (Spring 2011). The same issue also features his essay-review, "Going Nutcrackers in New York," which discusses versions of Tchaikovsky's Nutcracker by George Balanchine, Mark Morris, and Alexei Ratmansky.
Doretta Miller, professor of art, has a new show, "Portraits of Chairs" scheduled April 26 to May 21 at the First Street Gallery, 526 W. 26th St., New York City. A reception is scheduled from 3 to 5 p.m. Saturday, May 7. The featured works are the first in a new series of portraits of interesting and beloved chairs. Having worked in water-based gouache for many years, Miller recently returned to painting large oils on canvas.
In the News
Sandy Baum, professor emerita of economics, was a source for "Burden of College Loans on Graduates Grows" published April 11 in The New York Times.
John Bruggemann, Quadracci Professor of Social Responsibility and professor of sociology, was a source for "Advocates: Unstructured time critical for child development," published April 17 in The Sunday Gazette.