Archive for June, 2010

Weeks Three and Four

Saturday, June 26th, 2010

The second half of SILCS has gone by very quickly. Dr. Betty Neal Crutcher of Wheaton College spoke to the students on Wednesday, June 16 about mentoring and their plans for the future. The next day, Drs. Sam and Alex Vasquez (from Dartmouth College and Wheaton College, respectively) spoke about their life as a couple in higher ed. That day was also the last day of classes for the students.

On Friday, June 18, the students went on their final campus trip. This trip was to Brown University, where they went on a tour of the campus, including the John Carter Brown Library, the Sarah Doyle Women’s Center, the Third World Center, and the English Department, and finally visited the John Hay Library.

This week, the students have been working hard on their papers and presentations while taking a GRE Preparation workshop with Kaplan.

Yesterday Dr. Gregory Colón-Semenza from the University of Connecticut came to speak to the students in the morning. In the afternoon was our graduate recruitment fair, where directors of graduate studies from a number of different institutes came to speak individually with the students. In attendance were:

Dr. Chris Okonkwo from the University of Missouri
Dr. Bret Benjamin and Dr. Pat Chu from the SUNY University at Albany
Dr. Tim Bewes and Dr. Rolland Murray from Brown University
Dr. Ed Larkin from the University of Delaware
Dr. Dovev Levine-Leung from the University of New Hampshire
Dr. Elda Maria Roman from Stanford University
Dr. Nicole Aljoe from Northeastern University
Dr. Badia Ahad from Loyola University Chicago
Dr. Erin Mackie from Syracuse University
and Dr. Darryl Dickson-Carr from Southern Methodist University

This morning, the students presented their research in a final symposium. Tomorrow, everyone will be heading home for some much needed rest. Thanks to everyone involved for making this a fantastic year!

Week Two

Monday, June 14th, 2010

We have officially passed the halfway point of SILCS 2010. The past week has been quite busy. Dr. Ania Loomba from the University of Pennsylvania arrived on Monday to speak to the students about her research. On Wednesday, staff member Mecca Sullivan flew to England to present her short story “Sererie” at the Dissident Citizenship: Queer Postcolonial Belonging conference at the University of Sussex. Congratulations, Mecca.

Dr. Valerie Lee was scheduled to speak to the students on Thursday but the airlines had other plans and she wasn’t able to make it. Instead, we will see her next Sunday, June 20.

On Friday, the students visited Boston University, including the English Department and the Howard Gotlieb Archival Research Center, where they visited exhibits such as SOLDIERS FOR EQUALITY: From Phillis Wheatley to the 20th Century. This was our first trip to Boston University. We thank Dr. Anita Patterson and Dr. Laura Korobkin in the English department and Ryan Hendrickson and Sean Noel in the Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Archive for their hospitality.

Week One

Thursday, June 3rd, 2010

Nineteen students and staff converged on Wheaton College campus this week for the start of SILCS 2010. Everyone arrived on Saturday, May 30, to some gorgeous weather on campus.

Sunday morning dawned bright and early with a trip to Project Adventure in Beverly, MA. This was a first for everyone, staff included. Project Adventure uses a number of outdoor activities to help encourage teamwork and let everyone get to know each other, and gave everyone a day to relax and have fun before their coursework began.

One of the activities included a 50 foot high log suspended between two trees. After donning harnesses, everyone got a chance to climb the trees and walk across the log at the top, then get lowered down by rope. From the top, it looked a lot higher than it had seemed…

Monday morning was the first day of classes, despite the holiday. Dr. Robyn Warhol-Down of The Ohio State University joined SILCS once again as the instructor. On Tuesday, Dr. Dagmawi Woubshet of Cornell University gave a lecture to the students on his research.

This afternoon, the students enjoyed a lovely lunch with Wheaton College President Ronald Crutcher and his wife, Dr. Betty Neal Crutcher. This evening, Dr. Keith Gilyard of Pennsylvania State University will be joining us to discuss his own work, and tomorrow the students will be visiting the W.E.B. Du Bois Institute for African and African American Research at Harvard College. Keep watching this space for more updates!