Posts Tagged ‘dr. dagmawi woubshet’

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!

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Week One

Monday, June 8th, 2009

It’s been a very busy first week here at SILCS. Last Sunday, May 31, all of the students arrived on campus for a welcome dinner with President Ronald Crutcher and his wife, Dr. Betty Neal Crutcher. The food was delicious and the conversation engrossing, as the President regaled us with stories of how he first became a cellist and everyone shared details about themselves. Several of the students discovered a mutual interest in playing the guitar (badly).

Monday was the start of classes. Dr. Robyn Warhol-Down joined SILCS once again as an instructor. The students read Barthes, Foucault, Benjamin, and Fish, and began to do research for their final project. Dr. Herman Beavers from the University of Pennsylvania spoke to the students Monday night about the idea of risk and how it relates to African American Studies. On Wednesday, the students heard Dr. Lisa Lebduska from Wheaton College speak about rhetoric and composition, and on Thursday Dr. Dagmawi Woubshet from Cornell University spoke about his work in comparative literature.

The Brown University English Department and John Carter Brown Library welcomed the students for a visit on Friday. The day was unfortunately rainy, but the rain cleared on Saturday in time for a relaxing trip out on Narragansett Bay with Save the Bay.

There are many more events scheduled for this month so keep watching this space for more updates!

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SILCScast 004: Dr. Dagmawi Woubshet

Monday, November 17th, 2008

Today, Dr. Dagmawi Woubshet talks about the literary and cultural analysis that went into completing his dissertation on AIDS writing. Dr. Woubshet received his Ph.D. from Harvard University in 2007 and is now an English professor at Cornell University. He spoke to the students of SILCS on June 16, 2008.

Listen now.

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Week Three

Friday, June 20th, 2008

The final week of classes has come to a close at SILCS, and now the students have time to focus on finishing their papers and getting ready for a symposium on June 28th. The past three weeks have been packed with a semester’s worth of theory and instruction, and the students have done an admirable job in keeping on top of things.

Amidst their classes, the students also took three more trips to visit nearby colleges and universities. On Wednesday the 11th, the students took a trip to Harvard University. On Friday the 13th was Bridgewater State College, and on Tuesday the 17th was Brandeis University. These three campuses, along with the previous visits to Yale University and Brown University, showcased the types of campuses and graduate programs that the students could expect to attend and at which they could eventually teach.

The students with Thomas Sayers EllisThe series of lectures continued with Dr. Darryl Dickson-Carr of Southern Methodist University. Dr. Dickson-Carr is a member of the SILCS Steering Committee and spoke to the students about his career and getting a Ph.D. in English. Dr. Dagmawi Woubshet of Cornell University spoke about doing comparative work and his travel around the world. This was followed by Dr. Dolan Hubbard, another SILCS Steering Committee member, who spoke about the College Language Association and the Modern Language Association. Yesterday, Thomas Sayers Ellis, who teaches poetry at Sarah Lawrence College, talked about creative writing and read a few of his own poems, including The Obama Hour, which was recently showcased in The Root.

There has been some leisure time in the past week as well. On the 19th, SILCS attending a showing of The Taming of the Shrew at the Sandra Feinstein-Gamm Theatre in Pawtucket. The production was a fun and energetic interpretation of the play, set in 1960s Italy. Over the weekend, some students visited Boston. Tonight there will be bowling, and tomorrow there will be a trip to see the Providence Waterfire, before we enter the final week of the Summer Institute.

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