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Saturday, October 17th MiniCollege Schedule
Nineteen MiniCollege classes celebrating 19 Years of bringing the best of the classroom to Skidmore families.
MiniCollege Classes
Session I: 10:45 a.m.
Painti Truthful Paintings and Fictive Photographs: The Portrait in America Somers Classroom, Tang Museum
Katie Hauser, Associate Professor & Chair of Art History
This presentation will argue that some painted portraits are more revealing than even the most accurate photograph.
A Faculty and Technology Collaboration: From Jane Austen to Google Earth
Palamountain Hall, Room 301
Austen’s novels all employ location, landscape, and “improvements to the estate,” as one critic has famously called it, to portray characters and British society of the late 18th/early 19th centuries. Consequently, any tools that can render visual, vivid, and dramatic what those locations and estates were like enhance the reading experience and the immediate sense of what Austen is about (hence, the literally dozens of movie adaptations of her novels). This session of mini-college will focus on a collaboration between Phyllis Roth of the English Department and Alex Chaucer of Instructional Technology to demonstrate the ways such collaboration can enhance our sense of how Austen subtly employs location to characterize those who populate her novels. To show how that works, we will explore the spa-site of Bath through a digital image presentation (a.k.a. powerpoint) Professor Roth produced* and the historic naval town of Portsmouth via the increasing expertise of Alex Chaucer with the stunning globe visualization tool, Google Earth. Google Earth enables us to map a live, albeit virtual, journey through Portsmouth, UK, another Jane Austen location, to see what we can learn about how cities and towns grow and grow to mean – both in fiction and in reality. * with the essential help of Kelly Dempsey-Little, also in Instructional Technology
Studying Organizational Phenomena Through the Use of Famous Quotes
Bolton Hall, Room 281
Tim Harper, Associate Professor of Management & Business
Professor Harper will apply quotes from experts such as Drucker, Maxwell, Welch, Schein, and Covey to examine various organizational dilemmas and leadership principles. The session will be discussion-based and dynamic (we hope). Thus, participants are encouraged to contribute their favorite quotes to the conversation.
A Throwing Demonstration: Using the Potter's Wheel as a Means of Artistic Expression
Saisselin Art Building Room 103 (Ceramics Studio)
Regis Brodie, Professor of Art & Director of Summer Six Professor Brodie will throw on the potter’s wheel and produce two or three pieces. He will talk about the process as he makes these objects, and will explain the aesthetic decisions he makes using clay as the medium for his personal and creative expression. He will end the session by exhibiting finished pieces.
Beatlemania, 1963-1964
Filene Hall, Room 207
Gordon Thompson, Professor of Music
The rise in popularity of the Beatles came in steps accomplished with musical verve and visual style. John Lennon and Paul McCartney set to writing songs that drew listeners into their music as their manager and publisher went about procuring media exposure. With each new recording, they captured a larger audience as national and international events whirled in the background. A review of recordings like “She Loves You” in their cultural contexts reveals some of the ways that the Beatles went from being the best band in Liverpool to the best band in the world.
Drawing from the Live Model/Strategies and Procedures
Saisselin Art Building, Rooms 308 and 311
Joanne Vella, Associate Professor of Art
Drawing based on observation and interpretation will be stressed with attention to form, proportions and
mass through gesture, visual relationships and working
Daily Life in Pompeii
Palamountain Hall, Emerson Auditorium
Leslie Mechem, Co-Director of Women’s Studies & Lecturer in Classics
How did the eruption of Vesuvius Aug. 24, 79 AD affect the town of Pompeii? Who witnessed the event? What have excavations of Pompeii revealed about the daily lives of the many people who lost their homes and livelihoods? This illustrated lecture will explore the city of Pompeii including its marketplace, its nearly complete houses and wall paintings, and bring to life the inhabitants of this devastated city.
The Art of Dissent
Ladd Hall, Room 307
Pat Ferraioli, Visiting Assistant Professor, Government
An examination of the role of dissenting opinions in Supreme Court decisions.
The "Shell to Sea" Campaign and the Corrib Gas Controversy in Ireland
Bolton Hall, Room 280
Jim Kennelly, Director of International Affairs Program, Associate Professor and Associate Chair, Management & Business
Royal Dutch Shell has been prevented from building a natural gas pipeline through an area of pristine natural beauty in County Mayo, Ireland, for the past ten years. Although Shell initially succeeded in securing necessary approvals, the project evolved into a controversial and emotional issue that paired a powerful global corporation against a small rural community and economic growth and jobs against protection of a natural and cultural environment. Professor Kennelly will be joined by his Faculty-Student Research Project student Trevor Mengel ’11.
Going Ape: Poe and the Origins of the Detective Novel
Bolton Hall, Room 282 John Anzalone, Class of 1948 Chair for Excellence in Teaching and Professor of French
1841: Edgar Allan Poe publishes "The Murders in the Rue Morgue in Graham's Magazine," thus introducing detective fiction to the world of letters. Other writers before him, going as far back as Sophocles' Oedipus Rex, had produced works in which the unraveling of a mystery was the subject of the reader's perplexity and pleasure. But Poe brought together for the first time a number of features that we have come to expect in detective fiction, thereby defining the genre and bringing it into its decidedly modern form. In today's presentation we will consider the significance of those ingredients by concentrating on anxiety, dread, and the uncanny solution to the violent, grotesque murders that set an entire genre in motion.
MiniCollege Classes
Session II: 2:00 p.m.
A Throwing Demonstration: Using the Potter's Wheel as a Means of Artistic Expression
Saisselin Art Building, Room 103 (Ceramics Studio)
Regis Brodie, Professor of Art & Director of Summer Six Professor Brodie will throw on the potter’s wheel and produce two or three pieces. He will talk about the process as he makes these objects, and will explain the aesthetic decisions he makes using clay as the medium for his personal and creative expression. He will end the session by exhibiting finished pieces.
Sustainable Skidmore
Bolton Hall, 280
Erica Fuller, Campus Sustainability Coordinator
Learn about Skidmore’s environmental initiatives from their new Campus Sustainability Coordinator. From the geothermal heating and cooling systems, to the new student environmental leadership program, Skidmore is making a clear effort towards environmental action. We invite you to learn not only about the environmental initiatives that are happening at Skidmore, but also how students can get involved in campus greening.
Beatlemania, 1963-1964
Filene Hall, Room 207
Gordon Thompson, Professor of Music
The rise in popularity of the Beatles came in steps accomplished with musical verve and visual style.John Lennon and Paul McCartney set to writing songs that drew listeners into their music as their manager and publisher went about procuring media exposure. With each new recording, they captured a larger audience as national and international events whirled in the background. A review of recordings like “She Loves You” in their cultural contexts reveals some of the ways that the Beatles went from being the best band in Liverpool to the best band in the world.
The Medieval English Lyric
Bolton Hall, Room 281
Kate Greenspan, Associate Professor of English
This session will introduce you to the lyric poetry of medieval England: songs of love and life, meditations, satires, charms and prayers by friars and bards and bawdy singers. We will become conversant with the traditions within which they wrote and the innovations they wrought. Further, we will consider issues of translation, transmission, performance, and literacy, as well as the power of the medieval Church and the rich secular culture that sometimes complemented, sometimes competed with it.
A Psychedelic Experience
Saisselin Art Building, Room 111
Deb Hall, Associate Professor of Art
Take a trip to the Psychedelic Era of the sixties in a Communication Design class. The vibrating color posters of San Francisco will be our inspiration as we apply our artistic skills in digital media to create an anti-kindle bookmark. Please Note: Seating is limited and will be filled on a first come, first served basis.
Filene Hall, Room 113
Vindra Chandra, Lecturer in MusicProfessor Chandra will offer an introduction to Northern Indian Classical Music instruments with special reference to the Sitar and Rag-Tal system. Participants will learn some composition as well as Tal-Rhythms and the essentials of Rag –Terminology: vadi, samvadi, jati, Thaat, Aroh, avroh, pakad- with alap, bandish ,and taans.
Making Up Your Mind- your brain is not a personal computer
Tisch Learning Center, Room 202
Flip Phillips, Associate Professor of Psychology & Director of the Neuroscience Program
The so-called Computation Theory of Mind (CTM) is one of the most heavily used theoretical approaches to understanding our cognitive capacity. It is appealing and intuitive to think of 'mind' as 'computer' but, as you might expect, there might be some problems when comparing the brain with one of its artifacts. In this talk we'll take a look at computation, the mind, and how we might be able to explain one in terms of the other.
Nothing Doing: The Space of Modern Thought
Palamountain Hall, Emerson Auditorium
Grace Burton, Associate Professor of Spanish
Every generation thinks if itself as modern. But on what basis do have we constructed our modernity? The answer, it seems, is absolutely nothing. When merchants from Muslim lands introduced nothing (zero) into Christian Europe in the 13th century, they brought with them an Eastern concept that would revolutionize Western thought. In this class we will consider the history of nothing- be that nothing zero, the void, space or absence- to see how and why this dangerous idea would become the foundation of modern thought.
Woodlawn: The Campus before Skidmore
Bolton Hall, Room 282
Bob Jones, Associate Professor & Chair of Economics and Heather Moore '08
The current Skidmore College campus occupies land that was known as the Woodlawn Estate since the early 19th century. The Woodlawn property was the home to several large mansions, bordered bycarefully planted trees, and intricately woven paths for horse drawn carriages through more than 20 miles of wooded trails. Although Lucy Skidmore Scribner wanted to purchase this property in 1916, while those mansions and carriage trails still dominated the landscape, Skidmore was not able to purchase the land until 1960. By the time Skidmore College acquired the property, the mansions lay in ruins and many trails had become overgrown. This story of Woodlawn is told through maps and pictures of the once beautiful Woodlawn Estate. Followed by a history walk through the North Woods at 3:15 p.m.
