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| Alumnae College |
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| May 22 – Session 1 |
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| 9–10:30 a.m. |
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| Option A: Monoprint: In the Studio |
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(9 a.m.–12:30 p.m.) Dwight Pogue, professor of art
Class limited to 10 participants; $10 materials fee. |
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Making color monotypes using the flat bed offset proofing press, the same process used by noted artists Elizabeth Murray, Mary Frank and Eric Fischl. This relatively new and unique way of making monoprints permits the artist to pull five to ten equally strong impressions from one painting or drawing instead of the typical one impression per painting. The ‘offset’ method also makes it possible to pull prints from a variety of drawing materials including graphite, oil pastel and ink.
Due to time constraints, participants will each pull only two impressions from their inked plate; image size 10 x 12 inches on paper 15 x 22 inches. Participants should bring a simple 10 x 12 inch pencil line sketch (no shading) to transfer onto the plate. |
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| Option B: Sherlock Holmes and the Scientific Method |
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| Larry Meinert, professor in residence, geology |
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| If it were not for murder and other dastardly deeds, Sherlock Holmes probably would have been a scientist, based upon his classic method involving observations, hypotheses, tests of hypotheses, and finally conclusions. This has been the foundation of a first year seminar that has proven one of the more popular Smith offerings, as profiled in the Smith Alumnae Quarterly. In this class we will explore the intersection of literature, science, creative writing, and imagination. Prior to the class please read the short Sherlock Holmes story “A Scandal in Bohemia” (available in numerous Sherlock Holmes collections as well as online). We will use this as the basis of discussion. |
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Option C: Class, Race and Gender in the New World of
Environmental Change
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| Leslie King, associate professor, sociology |
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| Over the past two decades, activists and academics have clearly linked environmental issues with class and race inequalities–most of us are now aware, for example, that toxic waste facilities tend to be sited in poor communities and communities of color. Increasingly, given that women and men experience environments differently, scholars are investigating how gender enters into environmental justice. This mini-course will explore how access to natural resources and to clean, healthy environments depend on ones social position. We will examine how less powerful people are organizing to improve their environments and how affluent institutions, such as Smith College, can be part of the struggle for environmental justice. |
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| Option D: Middle East Energy and Finance in the Global Economy |
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| Karen Pfeifer, professor of economics |
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| In the twenty-first century, Middle Eastern energy exporters have played more complex roles in the global economic system than they did in previous cycles of growth and crisis. This session will explore what they learned, how that changed the roles they play, and how these changes have played out in the recent cycle of soaring growth followed by the searing crisis that engulfs the world today. |
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| Option E: All Over the Map: Smith Poetry |
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Ellen Doré Watson, director, Poetry Center; Rosetta Cohen, professor,
education & child study |
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| A reading and interactive discussion of the range of poetic voices of Smith faculty from W.H. Auden to the present. How do these voices reflect the broader trends in contemporary poetry? How do poems of radically different sensibilities/strategies conjure feeling, make meaning, direct our experience of reading? |
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| Option F: The Architecture of Frank Lloyd Wright |
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John Davis, associate provost, dean for academic development,
and Alice Pratt Brown Professor of Art |
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| A magisterial, almost mythic figure in American cultural history, Frank Lloyd Wright put American architecture “on the map” in international circles as well. We will examine the complex career of this fascinating and difficult titan, from his earliest houses in Oak Park, IL, and his articulation of the Prairie Style, to his commercial successes such as the Larkin Building, Buffalo, NY, to his international style triumph of Fallingwater, Bear Run, PA, to his last masterpiece, the Guggenheim Museum, in New York City. Throughout, we will pay particular attention to the composition of interior space, the use of materials, and the relationship of the building to its natural (and urban) environment. |
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| Option G: Smith's Carbon Footprint and Yours |
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| Dano Weisbord, environmental sustainability director |
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| In November of 2007, Smith College signed the American College and University Presidents Climate Commitment. Doing so commits the college to achieving climate neutrality; wherein we no longer produce any greenhouse gas emissions, or offset those that we do produce. This session will present how Smith measured the greenhouse gas emissions it produces now, and what this suggests for a reduction strategy. We will also discuss how an inventory can be created by individuals and used to inform home energy, transportation and purchasing choices. |
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| Option H: Telling and Retelling: The Great Gatsby and Double Bind |
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| Patricia Skarda, professor of English language and literature |
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| Chris Bohjalian, author of Double Bind, assumes that the characters in F. Scott Fitzgerald’s The Great Gatsby are real, not fictional, creating tensions between fact and fiction; it’s a romp. Give them a quick read and see if you agree. They are short and worth our attention. |
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| May 22 – Session 2 |
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| 11 a.m.–12:30 p.m. |
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| Option A: Monoprint: In the Studio |
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| Continued |
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Option B: What Makes Good Wine? The Connection Between
Wine and Geology |
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Larry Meinert, professor in residence, geology
$10 materials fee |
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| Mounds of grape seeds in prehistoric caves testify that early people had more than a passing acquaintance with wine. The records of the ancient Egyptians and Greeks also contain observations that certain regions seemed to produce better wine than others. This observation carries through to modern times where the question is brought into sharp focus by the rather simple occurrence of two vineyards, side by side, that share most obvious aspects of climate, slope and viticulture, yet produce crops that are vastly different. Examples abound but perhaps the most spectacular are the vineyards of Burgundy, France, where the wines of Romanee-Conti have been highly valued for centuries (some bottles sell for thousands of dollars), while nearby vineyards produce wine that is sold as vin ordinare for less than a dollar a bottle. The simple question is, "Why?" This class will address that question and many others, using examples from the author's research experience in the vineyards of France, Italy, Chile, Argentina, New York, and Washington State. The lecture will be illustrated with a comparative tasting of wines from some of the regions described. |
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Option C: Class, Race and Gender in the New World of
Environmental Change
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| Repeat of Session 1 |
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| Option D: MIddle East Energy and Finance in the Global Economy |
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| Repeat of Session 1 |
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| Option E: All Over the Map: Smith Poetry |
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| Repeat of Session 1 |
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| Option F: The Architecture of Frank Lloyd Wright |
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| Repeat of Session 1 |
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| Option G: Smith's Carbon Footprint and Yours |
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| Repeat of Session 1 |
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| Option H: Telling and Retelling: The Great Gatsby and Double Bind |
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| Repeat of Session 1 |
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| Lunch & Presentation |
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| 12:45 p.m. |
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| Reflections on A Pearl in the Storm |
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Victoria (Tori) Murden McClure '85
Author of A Pearl in the Storm: How I Found My Heart in the Middle of the Ocean |
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| In 1999, Tori Murden, a woman of "firsts," became the first woman and first American to row the Atlantic Ocean alone. She was the first woman and first American to ski to the geographic South Pole, and the first woman to climb Mount Lewis Nunatuk in the Antarctic. She has been profiled in numerous publications including “Life,” “Newsweek,” and “People” magazines, and recently published her first book, A Pearl in the Storm: How I Found My Heart in the Middle of the Ocean. Currently serving as a Smith College Trustee, Murden earned her MDiv for Harvard University in 1989 and her JD from the University of Louisville in 1994. |
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