Victor Navasky '54, best known for his illustrious career in journalism as editor and publisher of The Nation, shared his thoughts about political caricatures with the campus community during the annual Thomas B. McCabe Lecture. In his talk, Navasky considered the significant influence that caricatures can have on the political arena and explored why the medium may be more incendiary than other forms of journalistic expression. Navasky currently serves as the George Delacorte Professor of Magazine Journalism at Columbia University's Graduate School of Journalism and recently published Mission Accomplished! Or How We Won the War in Iraq.
As the Director of Corporate, Foundation and Government Relations at the College, Ken Dinitz '88 often shares Swarthmore stories with the outside world. Participating in a Center for Digital Storytelling workshop held on campus gave him an opportunity to explore a new medium for telling those tales. In this, his first piece, he tells a powerful story about War News Radio by weaving together photos, special effects, voice and music. more
President Bloom answered a variety of questions at a lively session during Alumni Weekend 2009. The subjects he addressed include how to ensure diversity on campus (:50), the breadth of Swarthmore's academic curriculum (6:20), and the future of the liberal arts education (11:50).
At Swarthmore's 137th commencement on May 31, 2009, President Alfred H. Bloom awarded honorary degrees to Mary Schmidt Campbell '69, dean of NYU's Tisch School of the Arts and professor and chair of art and public policy, and James C. Hormel '55, a philanthropist devoted to social justice and human rights and the first openly gay ambassador in U.S. history. Bloom himself received an honorary degree on the occasion of his departure from the College after 18 years as president. The senior speaker, as voted by his classmates, was Sonny Sidhu '09.
The 2009 senior class speaker, as voted by his classmates, was Sonny Sidhu '09, who graduated with a major in film and media studies and dual minors in history and religion. In his introduction, President Bloom remarked on his "passion for exploring the potential of human-computer interactions to alter and enrich human experience."
In awarding Mary Schmidt Campbell '69, dean of NYU's Tisch School of the Arts and professor and chair of art and public policy, the degree of Doctor of Humane Letters, President Bloom described her as "a tireless champion of artists and the arts, a powerful educator, an esteemed scholar, and a visionary interpreter of the role of artistic expression in our cultural, ethical, and political lives."
In awarding James C. Hormel '55, a philanthropist devoted to social justice and human rights and the first openly gay ambassador in U.S. history, the degree of Doctor of Laws, President Bloom noted that his "care for humanity, expressed in transformative activism and philanthropy, place you among the alumni of this College who have had the greatest impact on shaping a more inclusive and generous world."
Swarthmore's new 24″-telescope is named for Peter van de Kamp, a beloved astronomy professor who influenced generations of students during his 35 years on the faculty.
A native of Holland, van de Kamp was known as much for his weekly campus screenings of Charlie Chaplin movies as he was for his devotion to his students. At the telescope's dedication earlier this month, President Bloom introduced Ed Dennison '49, a former student of "PVDK" who spoke about that devotion and the "clear picture of astronomy and the life of an astronomer" that van de Kamp provided.
Students, faculty, and staff celebrated Charles Darwin’s 200th birthday with a memorable party in the Science Center Feb. 12, 2009. Organized by Associate Professor of Biology Colin Purrington, the party featured cake, games, and favors – though in this case, each had an evolution-inspired twist.
The cake, made of numerous individual banana cakes, sported an icing tree similar to a sketch Darwin made to represent the way evolution works. That design also appeared on the temporary tattoos Purrington made for the occasion, along with numerous tattoos, stickers, and bookmarks of Darwin’s face. Students also played an earnest game of “pin the beak on the finch.”
“Several years ago, I decided that simply teaching evolution to a few thousand Swarthmore students over the life of my career wasn’t going to really change public attitudes," says Purrington, who provides a variety of evolution education resources on his site. “I felt I had to do something to speed up the acceptance of evolution. This work is not going to stop global warming or make gas cheaper, but I feel strongly that science education is hobbled in part because other aspects of science are so often associated with evolution. If people accept and enjoy the science of evolution, we might have a better overall science education policy in the United States - and that would be a good thing.”
