Faculty News
Irwin M. Abrams is Distinguished University Professor Emeritus at Antioch University and Professor of History Emeritus at Antioch College in Yellow Springs, Ohio. He is a world authority on the history of the Nobel Peace Prize, about which he has published widely, lectured at universities here and abroad, contributed to encyclopedias, been interviewed on television and radio and consulted on television documentaries.
His book, The Nobel Peace Prize and the Laureates, selected by the American Library Association as one of “the outstanding reference works of 1989,” was revised and published in 2001 by Watson Publishing International as the Centennial Edition of the prize. He published the authorized edition of the Nobel Peace Lectures 1971-1995 (World Scientific Publishing Co., Singapore, New Jersey, London) in three volumes and is working on the volume for 1996-2000. He wrote the articles on the peace prize in The Nobel Prize Annual for the years 1988-97 (IMG Publishing, N.Y.). In 2000 he published an updated edition of his anthology The Words of Peace, with the foreword by President Jimmy Carter (Newmarket Press, N.Y.. 3rd edition 2002)). In 2003 he co-edited the anthology, The Iraq War and Its Consequences: Thoughts of Nobel Peace Laureates and Eminent Scholars (World Scientific, Singapore, New Jersey, London).
Born in San Francisco, he graduated from Stanford University with great distinction and as a member of Phi Beta Kappa. He received the MA and PhD degrees from Harvard University. An early pioneer peace historian, his doctoral dissertation on the 19th century peace movement shared Harvard's Sumner Prize.
A Quaker, during World War II he left his teaching position in the Department of History at Stanford University to serve for four years with the American Friends Service Committee along with many others in the relief and reconstruction work which earned the Committee the Nobel Peace Prize in 1947.
Joining the faculty of Antioch College in 1947, he established the Department of History and taught European history and International Studies there for over three decades. A theorist and practitioner of international education, he helped organize Antioch Education Abroad, was Coordinator of International Programs for the Great Lakes Colleges Association and served as president of the International Society for Educational, Cultural and Scientific Interchanges.
His Fulbright was at the University of Cologne. He has organized educational programs in both western and eastern Europe and consulted with the U.S. Departments of State and Education. He served on the editorial board of the Antioch Review and was chairman of the board of managers of the Quaker monthly, Friends Journal.
In 1997 the trustees of Antioch University, on the “recommendation of the faculty of Antioch College,” awarded him the honorary degree of Doctor of Humane Letters. In 2000 the Peace History Society and the Peace History Commission of the International Peace Research Association gave him recognition "for distinguished lifetime service in the research and popularization of the cause of peace in History." In 2003 the Antioch College Alumni Association presented him with the Arthur Morgan Award for his “long and continued exemplary service for the Antioch College community the education community, and the global community.”
In January 2004, at the annual meeting of the American Historical Association in Washington, D.C., he was honored with a Peace Research panel on “Irwin Abrams and the Evolution of a Field,” for which he presented the paper, “Memoirs of a Peace Historian.” In April he presented a paper at the Colloquy Elie Ducommun in Geneva.
He was married to the late Freda Morrill Abrams and has lived in Yellow Springs since 1947. In 2003-2004 Irwin co-chaired the Sesquicentennial Committee at Antioch College where he helped to plan and implement nearly a dozen events to celebrate Antioch College’s 150 years.
Barbara Davis, Associate Professor of European History, spent a month in Europe. Although the primary goal was continuing with her research of sixteenth-century confraternities in Toulouse, France, she also did some museum hopping in London, traveled to Ravenna, and Florence, and then back again to Toulouse. It was a good trip with a lot seen and learned.
Erin Davis, Assistant Professor of Sociology, and Christine Smith, Assistant Professor of Psychology, presented preliminary work, “A Comparative Study of Feminist Meanings, Identities, and Activism”, at the Great Lakes College Association Women’s Studies Conference at Kenyon in April of 2004. Also at the Great Lakes College Association Women’s Studies Conference, Erin moderated and participated in a collaborative session: “Grrrlz to Womyn: A Workshop on Successful Feminist Mentoring” with Amy Killoran, Visiting Assistant Librarian for Public & Instructional Services, and with Vange Heiliger and Suzanne Smailes from Wittenberg.
Erin traveled and studied in China this summer as part of a East West Center Summer Institute: “China’s Contending Metropolitan Regions: Hong Kong and Shanghai Field Study.” After the seminar ended, she traveled on her own to Xi'an and Beijing.
Bob Devine ’67 , College Professor, was elected to the National Board of the Alliance for Community Media in June. A nonprofit national membership organization founded in 1976, the Alliance represents over 1,000 Public, Educational and Governmental access organizations and community media centers throughout the country, and focuses on advancing democratic and community models of communication. Bob also continues to serve on the Editorial Board of Community Media Review.
In June of 2004, Dennie Eagleson ’71 was invited to offer a Polaroid Transfer and Emulsion Lift workshop to the staff at Cone Editions Press in East Topsham, Vermont, one of the most prestigious digital printing facilities for photographers and printmakers in the world. In exchange, she was invited to participate in a "Complete Digital Workflow" workshop, where all aspects of preparing images for printing on large-scale digital presses on fine art papers was presented. Dennie returned with excellent information and training on how to refine her own and the College's digital printmaking facilities.
Benjamin Grossberg, Assistant Professor of Literature and Creative Writing, published a poem in the Blue Moon Review, was a finalist in the Tampa Review first book prize, and placed third in the New Words poetry contest through Akron Art Museum.
Ben also won a Pushcart Prize this year for his poem “Beatle Orgy”. The Pushcart Prize: Best of the Small Presses series, published every year since 1976, is the most honored literary project in America. Hundreds of presses and thousands of writers of short stories, poetry and essays have been represented. Writers who were first noticed here include Raymond Carver, Tim O’Brien, Philip Lopate, Philip Levine, John Irving, and many more.
Ben writes: “I continue to fix up my old farm house, which fills me with all kinds of pride and happiness, and my pumpkin patch flourishes.”
Adam Howard, Assistant Professor of Education, spent most of the year finishing a book on schooling for affluent students, which will most likely be published by Harvard Press this upcoming year. The book is tentatively titled Interrupting Privilege.
Adam was a finalist (one of four) for the Critical Issues in Curriculum Studies Early Career Award, given by a SIG of American Education Research Association for his six-year ethnographic study of affluent schools. He published three articles: “Higher education and social class” in About Campus: Enriching the Student Learning Experience; “World-changing work of teachers” in Democracy and Education; and “Teacher education situated in reflective practice” in National Society for Experiential Education Quarterly. He also presented the following papers:
- “Breaking the Silence: Researching Privileging Systems” (invited) presented at American Education Research Association, San Diego, CA, April, 2004
- “Countering Hedonistic Consumerism” presented at American Association for the Advancement of Curriculum Studies, San Diego, CA, April, 2004
- “Socioeconomic Context of Experiential Education” Presented at National Society for Experiential Education National Conference, Minneapolis, Minnesota, October, 2003.
- “Countering the Mis-education System: A Theoretical Probe.” Presented at Journal of Curriculum Theorizing Conference, Dayton, Ohio, October, 2003.
Adam was on leave from Antioch and was a Visiting Associate Professor of Education and Human Development at Colby College in Waterville, Maine. He taught five classes: Revolutionary Multiculturalism and the Political Project; Education, Environment, and Social Justice; Practicum in Education; Urban/Multicultural Practicum; and Social Class and Education. He also was an adjunct professor at Lesley University in Cambridge, MA. He taught three graduate level courses on weekends at different locations (Washington, Montana, Wyoming, Georgia, Massachusetts): Dimensions of Equity; Classroom and School Inquiry (Research Methods); and Action Research in Education.
Pat Linn, J.D. Dawson Professor of Cooperative Education, was invited to contribute the entry on cooperative education for a forthcoming Encyclopedia of Career Development to be published by Sage in 2006. She co-authored a chapter, with Patti Jones from the University of Michigan at Dearborn, on Cooperative Education in the Liberal Arts, in the recently published International Handbook for Cooperative Education, edited by Richard Coll and Chris Eames and published by the World Association on Cooperative Education. She also presented workshops on how to do research on cooperative education at the national meeting of the Cooperative Education and Internship Association in Arlington, Virginia, in April and at the Ohio Cooperative Education Association meeting in Huron, Ohio, in May.
Pat also pointed out that graduates Karen Mulhauser ’65 and Patrick Masterson ’99 were part of a panel of former co-op students who discussed their co-op learning at the national meeting of CEIA (as above) in April of this year!
Nevin Mercede, Associate Professor of Paint/Printmaking, was in Russia for three weeks during the summer of 2004 with the Global Partner's program, funded by the Mellon Foundation. She was studying Russian culture, to be integrated into her fall course Issues in Art. The course is about the art of 20th century liberation movements. She also spent two weeks in Germany and the Czech Republic doing research for her studio work Reflections, 2D and 3D works that integrate text with images of landscapes and skies as reflected in various water bodies. Examples of Nevin’s work are available at http://www.antioch-college.edu/Academics/faculty/nevin_mercede.shtml
Pat Mische, Lloyd Professor of Peace Studies and World Law, recently received a Great Lakes College Association 2004 Global Partners East African Travel Grant.
Elizabeth Nettles, Assistant Professor of Mathematics, went to a conference in May 2004 on the Retention of Minorities and Underrepresented Groups in the Sciences. The conference analyzed teaching and learning styles as well as technology and content in today’s science courses. This is a continuation of her studies in retention and a contribution to her future research on the same subject matter.
Colette Palamar, Assistant Professor of Environmental Studies and Director of the Herndon Gallery, recently had an article titled “Festival Fire” published in Ecological Restoration. She presented papers at conferences in New Orleans, Nebraska City, and Saratoga Springs. She also presented art shows in New Orleans and Victoria B.C. She is currently serving as co-chair of the Renewal Commissions Design Team.
Colette writes: “My cat, Chloe, had four Siamese kittens and we adopted a Border Collie/Australian shepherd mix named Una. I learned how to knit.”
Robert Pryor ’71 , Associate Professor and Director of AEA Buddhist Studies Program, is co-author of “Tracing Buddhism in Ohio”, a chapter in, Religion in Ohio: Profiles of Faith Communities, edited by Tarunjit S. Butalia & Diane P. Small, published in 2004 by Ohio University Press in association with the Religious Experience Advisory Council of the Ohio Bicentennial Commission and the Interfaith Association of Central Ohio.
In January, after leading an Insight Travel pilgrimage to the sites associated with the life of the Buddha in India and Nepal, Robert was invited to deliver a lecture to the students and faculty of the Kathmandu University Centre for Buddhist Studies at the Rangjung Yeshe Institute in Boudhnath. His lecture was titled “The Historical Buddha.”
During February, March and April of 2004, Robert hosted the visit of two Theravada Buddhist nuns to Yellow Springs. Sister Molini from Burma and Sister Dharmavijaya from Nepal are both accomplished scholars and practitioners able to teach in English. They were in residence at the Yellow Springs Dharma Center during these three months and they taught there twice each week. During this time they also made guest appearances in classes at Antioch College and Antioch McGregor. They have both been associated with the Antioch program in Bodh Gaya, India for many years and therefore have a real interest in Antioch and Antioch students. It was an invaluable opportunity for our community to have them with us this year.
Louise Smith ’77, Associate Professor of Theatre, worked with Carlyle Brown on two productions. The first was his solo play Fula From America, which Louise directed. It is the story of a trip Carlyle took to Africa. He has performed it at Alabama Shakespeare Festival, Horizon Theatre in Atlanta, The Marsh in San Francisco and the Spoleto Festival in Charleston, South Carolina. Louise also performed in a play Carlyle wrote for her called Talking Masks at the Pillsbury House Theatre in Minneapolis for three weeks in May.
Carlyle is a Minneapolis-based playwright best known for his work The African Company Presents Richard the Third. He directed his own work and taught playwriting at Antioch for four Fall terms.
The Antioch Theatre has received a grant to bring Chilean theatre artist Peyuco Villagra this Fall to be in residence. Peyuco will be working with students on a new play and also acting in Waiting For Godot, which will be directed by Tony Dallas. Louise will play Lucky.
This Fall Louise will be teaching acting at Earlham as a sabbatical replacement.
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