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Kate Regan Film Festival celebrates beloved professor and student film talent

April 7, 2015 By casdept2

Gabriella Riegos
Gabriella Riegos took home the award for ‘Best Narrative film’ as well as ‘Best in Show.’ Riegos film was a powerful piece about depression entitled ‘Reasoning with my depression.’ Photo by Kristen Garcia

On March 26, over 150 students, faculty and staff gathered in the Executive Boardroom of the Bauccio Commons, ate popcorn and candy, played games and celebrated film in honor of the late Spanish professor, Kate Regan.

The “Kate Regan Film Festival” gave members of the UP community an opportunity to submit their short films with the chance of winning a cash prize and watching their film be aired.

Honoring the late and great Kate Regan

Although the banners read “Second Annual Kate Regan Short Film Festival,” this was the first year that the festival donned the name “Kate Regan.”

In the previous year, the event was called CISGO DIGI-SHORTS Digital Storytelling Festival and it was coordinated by Regan herself.

The beloved professor had a vision of not only creating a stronger international awareness with short films but also informing faculty, staff and students of UP’s film resources.

When Regan passed away suddenly in July 2014, her close friends and colleagues worked to honor her legacy and to make the Digital Storytelling Festival bigger and better than the year before.

“Several organizations banded together to move her vision forward and make it really special,” Karen Eifler, co-director of the Garaventa Center and close friend of Regan, said. “We wanted to capture the excitement that Dr. Regan brought to the first one and really extend her vision of it as well.”

The Garaventa Center and several other participants succeeded in their goal to improve on Regan’s brainchild. Where as last year’s fest received five submissions of only international films, this year’s film fest received 33 submissions in all five categories. Those who submitted ranged from students, faculty and staff.

Eifler says that Regan would have been thrilled to see participation from staff as well as students.

“Kate and I had been collaborating on ways to use film not just for entertainment but for teaching, assessment and student learning.” Eifler said. “She brought so much energy to the first one. I really wanted to see that vision expanded.

Best in Show

Gabriela Riegos won both “Best Narrative” and “Best in Show” for her film “Reasoning with my Depression.”

Although Riegos was pleasantly surprised by the recognition for her work, she says that the purpose of her film, an internal conversation between her depression and herself spelled out in golden and foam letters, was to continue her art even in the emotionally difficult transition from high school to college.

“I noticed that when I would fall into a more depressive state of mind, I stopped making art, I’d lose that part of myself,” Riegos said. “So this was making me literally sit down and make a script. I want to make art. I forced myself to make art.”

Riegos walked around the UP campus with her Canon 70 D in one hand and a pile of letters in the other. She put together sentences of hope and positivity in golden letters, and countering ones sprouted from her depression in different colored foam letters.

She said the process was therapeutic. No one on campus questioned or bothered her. As she stacked the letters in different places on campus, she was able to peacefully give her inner struggles a voice.

Riegos stumbled upon the golden letters, that would later lead her to hope and a $1,000 cash prize, by accident.

While shopping for college supplies, she came across them in the teacher’s section and was inspired. Ever since, she knew she had to use them to make art in some way.

“Every time I opened my drawer where I keep my art stuff in my dorm I was like, ‘Ah, there are those letters again,’” Riegos said. “I knew I wanted to do something with them, something expressive with words. It was just the constant nagging of those letters.”

Expressing herself through film really did make a difference in Riegos’ mental state, so much so that she decided to make at least one film a semester.

“It got me restarted,” Riegos said. “I don’t how to describe it. It just turned me around for a little bit. Making art just makes me feel so much better.”

Although ultimately, Riegos makes her films for herself, she found that sharing them with others can be equally rewarding.

It was a slow process getting the word out about her film. She first showed it to her roommate, and then eventually shared it on the Facebook page of a Catholic retreat she had gone on previously.

All the feedback was positive, which gave Riegos confidence.

“I realized that people also feel this way and didn’t know that they felt this way. A lot of people reached out to me,” Riegos said. “I think that seeing people’s reactions is a part of the art too. Seeing that I can affect them.”

Once Riegos caught word of the “Kate Regan Film Festival,” her film felt like a perfect fit.

She submitted the film with no expectation to win “Best in Show” and $1,000 cash prize. In fact, her only current plan to spend the generous prize includes treating her roommates to Taco Bell.

“It was kind of an impulse thing,” Riegos said. “I was like why not, I have it. It’s exactly five minutes long. This is the universe telling me to do this and it worked out for me.”

The other winners

Eifler was astonished at the amount of quality and talent within the festival’s 33 submissions. She said what was most exciting was the variety of films.

Therefore, it came as no surprise that the overall winner, along with the winners in each category, were all beautifully-shot inspiring pieces of art.

Category winners include senior Cassie Sheridan in the documentary film category for “Life Aboard the ‘Sea Prince’,” freshman Hunter Crawford in the humor category for “Walk Through Video Games,” junior Jason Smith in the animation category for his 3D stop-motion film “Scorned by Fate,” and junior Thomas Dempsey, in the International category for his film “Nicaragua.”

Dempsey’s collection of photography from his travel abroad experience in Nicaragua last May struck a chord with the audience.

Dempsey says that ultimately story-telling was his driving force for making the film.

“We were in a small village, 50 people maybe. I just wanted to try and tell their story a little,” he said. “One thing I always tell people is I like photography so much because I’m not very good at storytelling. So having pictures always helps with that process.”

The reason Dempsey made the film initially was to find an interesting way to share his trip with friends and family, so when he heard about the film festival he was excited about the opportunity to share his work.

“I didn’t think any film festival would pop up where I could submit it,” Dempsey said. “To show it in a space like that with a bigger audience definitely was exciting for me.”

Kate Regan Film Fest: UP at its best

Category winners took home a cash prize of $250 each while the “Best in Show” winner took home an extra $750. Each winner was presented with a giant foam check.

These significant cash rewards are a result of a generous donor who loved Kate Regan and wanted to see the festival continue. Eifler says that this marks the overall theme of the festival: Generous community members working together to make something great.

“I think this is UP at its best,” Eifler said. “People taking an idea and making it truly awesome by bringing their gifts and talents to the table and being really generous with what they have.”

People from all over UP worked to make the festival happen. Campus Program Board donated popcorn and candy, and The Library’s Digital Lab offered workshops on how to edit films and lent out equipment.

Several Spanish professors also got involved. Lauren Gaskill, Spanish professor and Regan’s niece, put together a collection of Regan’s short films to display at the festival. Andrea Castanette emceed the program and there was also a Spanish professor on the board of judges.

“Anytime people from all over campus come together to make something happen, I think that’s worth celebrating,” Eifler said. “A lot of the time, we feel like we’re in our little silos, our little caves, but when we come out magical stuff happens.”

–Story from the Beacon by: Rachel Rippetoe

Filed Under: CAS Highlights Tagged With: Beacon

Six students awarded teaching Fulbrights

April 7, 2015 By casdept2

Fullbright
Megan Lester, left, and Michelle Wilcox both won Fublright scholarships to teach English in Germany next year. Lester, Wilcox and two other Fulbright recipients who studied and traveled together in Salzburg sophomore year. Photo by Parker Shoaff

This September, six UP students will join the ranks of 53 Nobel Prize and 78 Pulitzer Prize winners as Fulbright Scholars.

Over the course of one academic year, the students will live, study and teach English in a foreign country through grants awarded to them by the Fulbright US Student Program.

UP is internationally recognized for being a top producer of Fulbright recipients and is currently ranked third in the nation among master’s colleges and universities.

Seniors Megan Fitzgerald, Megan Lester, Rebecca Parks, Erin Petersen, Mikayla Posey and Michelle Wilcox were offered English Teaching Assistantships (ETAs). Parks’ position is in Turkey, Fitzgerald’s is in Mexico, and the other four are in Germany.

On top of working in an elementary or secondary school classroom for 12 hours a week, ETAs study the language and culture of their host country.

Wilcox, a German and history major, started her journey toward the Fulbright program two years ago when as a sophomore studying abroad in Salzburg, Austria.

“I originally decided to study abroad because I love travel, and I was very shy, so I wanted to do something outside of my comfort zone,” Wilcox said. “What I ended up experiencing was transformative.”

She came back to the U.S. enamored with German language and history and vowed to return to Germany after graduation. To Wilcox, applying for the Fulbright seemed like the natural next step on the path she started at UP, so she dove into the process nearly a year ago.

John Orr, director of the Office of Undergraduate Scholarly Engagement, said the most valuable thing the Fulbright program offers to those who apply is clarity, even if the student doesn’t ultimately receive the grant.

“There are advantages beyond simply getting to live somewhere else,” Orr said. “You get to do some soul searching and thinking about who you are or where you want to go, and how you’re going to get there in order to have a competitive application.”

Wilcox wants to use the language and culture skills she gains after her year in Germany to become a German teacher. Instead of waiting until the fall to move, she plans to head to Berlin in June and work during the summer.

“Once you start to travel and you get past the homesickness and the initial hard phases, it becomes addictive,” Wilcox said.

Lester, an English and German major, studied abroad in Salzburg with Wilcox, Posey and Petersen her sophomore year. She had the unique experience of applying for and being awarded the grant along with three of her closest friends and said that her anxiety surrounding the move to Germany is lessened by the knowledge that she’ll be living in the same country as them.

As a tutor in the University’s Writing Center, Lester has enjoyed the experience of working one-on-one with students on their work. She plans to use her time abroad to explore the classroom setting and dynamic and determine whether or not she wants to teach in the future.

“I’ve fallen in love with the German language, and I obviously have a love for the English language, so getting to do both is idea,” Lester said. “It all just makes sense.”

Orr said a majority of the Fulbright awards offered to UP students have been presented to those interested in ETAs or research opportunities in Germany, leading to the student misconception that only German-speaking students can be presented with Fulbright awards.

In addition to Germany, students have gone to India, Spain, Ireland, the United Kingdom and Cambodia. For the first time this year, Turkey and Mexico are included in the mix.

“The bottom line is that Fulbright looks for people who are ambassadorial,” Orr said. “The grant was designed to help put a good face on the United States, and recipients are expected to be good representatives and make inroads with the culture that they’re assigned to.”

Orr said that he hopes students of varying interests will continue to branch out and see all the different experiences grants like the Fulbright can provide.

“For some people, Fulbright provides opportunities they didn’t know they could have, and opens doors they didn’t know existed,” Orr said. “For others it’s a great adventure before going to graduate or professional school. Either way, there are benefits.”

Story from the Beacon by: Karen Garcia

Filed Under: Students Tagged With: Beacon

UP Students Win Top Awards at The Public Debate Association National Tournment

April 2, 2015 By casdept2

SDU
2014-2015 University of Portland Speech & Debate Union

University of Portland students brought home several awards at the 2015 Public Debate Association National Tournament.  Alex Parini (Political Science) won first place speaker at the tournament.  Additionally, out of the 114 debaters, Patrick Johnson (Education), Catherine Wilson (Political Science), and Arthur Hammer (Business) were ranked in the top 32 debaters in the nation based on their win loss record.  Alex advanced to the top 16 based on his win loss record.

 

–Story courtesy of Dr. Bohn Lattin

Filed Under: Speech & Debate Union, Students

Q&A With Theater Major Natalie Mecham–Director of “Boom”

March 31, 2015 By casdept2

Natalie Mecham
Photo courtesy of the Beacon

Many students don’t know much about what goes on in Mago Hunt behind the scenes of the plays they attend. The Beacon sat down with Theater major Natalie Mecham to get the inside scoop on her production “Boom”, the directing capstone project and being a theater major at UP.

Can you tell me a little bit about what the thesis is about and what the performance is about?

“Boom” was written by Peter Sinn Nachtreib. He studied biology and theater in college and he talks about the play as his attempt to meet in the middle between those two worlds. He feels like biology and theater are both trying to make sense of the world in an epic and intimate way.

In the show, the three characters – Jo, Jules and Barbara – are consumed by trying to get their footing in this world that keeps spinning and spinning. And that’s terrifying because they know that it’s going to move on unchanged even after they’re gone. During the show, they’re looking for a way to survive after they’re gone.

The situation, at first, seems a little sitcom-y a little silly, but the circumstances and the stakes turn out to be vastly higher than ever anticipated.

What goes into making a thesis? What is your part in this?

For my directing capstone, I had a month in which I was meeting with faculty talking about shows and talking about what was possible for space. The show being held in the Mehling Theater is really exciting and challenging. We were exploring what the space is capable of.

Once I settled on a show, there was a lot of time spent on asking, ‘Why this story? Why now?’ I had a lot of preparatory writing I had to do and some contextual research. I was trying to figure out what I wanted to say.

What was it like working with a production team?

I had a meeting with the designers where I talked about what popped out for me within each character. Jo is visceral and instinctual. Jules is practical and logical. Barbara is big and splashy.

Then, the designers mull this over with their own artistic perspectives. The costume designer looked at the structure and uniformity in Jules and we talked about how it would make sense for him to wear plaid. I talk a lot with the designers about what things feel like and how aspects of the world and characters translate into their design.

It’s tricky because you want to give them a direction but you don’t want to prescribe. I’ve tried consciously to work alongside them and not do their job, because they do their job a lot better than I would.

And working with the actors?

With the actors, casting was really hard. I was low on the totem pole for shows- the two main stage shows are very large casts.

Oh man, I got lucky. I got so lucky, holy cow. The people who I ended up with just got it. I needed people who understood that as extreme and surreal as the circumstances are.

Jo, Jules, and Barbara are very real humans. They’re not a joke. I needed people who could embrace the circumstances, live them, laugh at them and go big with them but at the end of the day, know that it was real. So I got very lucky. I got three smart people.

What’s it like now that you’ve finally reached the end product?

We’ve been rehearsing since the beginning of February, We’ve been getting to know the play, dating the play, courting the play, wining and dining the play. All too soon, we’ve gotten it up on its feet, which is super weird. I’m at this time where it’s my 10th night starting my homework at 11:30 p.m. and I’m so tired my face hurts, but then I go to sleep for four hours, wake up, and the show is going to open tomorrow. It’s bizarre but very exciting.

What’s it like to be a Theater Major at UP? Why did you choose UP?

The theater major here is a bachelor of arts program, which basically lets you get to know the whole world of theater. I think that’s crucial because you’re reliant on so many different jobs and people to make one production happen.

People are going to see “Boom” and come away talking about the three actors, but there are 20 people who have sweat over this show to make it happen. When there are no promises for a job in theater, it helps to get hired for multiple things.

Being a theater major can also be really tiring. I get flack from my friends who are engineering majors about us not having any work, but I spent about 20 to 25 hours a week in rehearsal and meetings for this show and then outside of that I have all my coursework. It’s very time-consuming.

You have to love it and you have to be a little nuts about it to care that much. You don’t see anyone saying, “Yeah my mom wanted me to get a job after graduation, so I’m a theater major.” You see people who are there because they love it and that’s a great group to work with.

Just like your characters who are looking towards the future, what do you want to do with your future?

As the playwright says, the world is an epic and intimate universe with millions and millions of options. To a degree, I’m still figuring out which option is right for me.

I intern at a bilingual theater doing literary management. I teach preschool. I really love teaching and working with people in that way. I’d love to be a director of education at a theater, maybe a children’s theater. I’d love to get younger folks connecting with theater and understanding what it can do for you.

Story from the Beacon.  Written by: Rachel Rippetoe

Filed Under: Performing and Fine Arts, Students Tagged With: Beacon

NATS Singing Competition: UP Student Achievements

March 17, 2015 By casdept2

NATS

14 participating students with Asst. Professor Nicole Leupp Hanig and Adjunct Instructor and Accompanist Susan McDaniel

During Spring Break, 22 University of Portland students competed in the National Association of Teachers of Singing Competition. This competition was hosted by Portland State University, and drew students from Universities all across the Pacific Northwest.  UP came away with the highest titles in the college age women’s division, with Lydia Blaine, a Junior Psychology major taking first place and Catherine Jacobs, a Freshman Music major taking second place.  Lydia and Catherine are both students of Assistant Professor Nicole Leupp Hanig.  Tanis Gonzaga-Guzman, a Sophomore Drama major and student of Adjunct Instructor Wade Baker, took second place in the competition’s college age men’s  division.

Filed Under: Performing and Fine Arts, Students

Student-Faculty Team Investigates Pregnancy Health in Primates

March 16, 2015 By casdept2

BuiWhile some students are binge-watching Netflix after class, sophomore biology major Tram Bui spends her free time in a computer lab watching videos of monkeys.

No, this isn’t a strange YouTube fascination. Bui teamed up with biology professor Elinor Sullivan this semester to research how the obesity of non-human primates affects their offspring.

“I never thought that it would be so mind blowing,” Bui said. “We can draw conclusions from what we find in the research and help people who are experiencing similar characteristics or maybe even developing healthier lifestyles. It’s so profound to think that you are able to conduct something, and transfer that knowledge to the bigger population to help people become healthier.”

Sullivan and Bui were among the recipients of the Spring 2015 Provost’s Initiative on Undergraduate Research awards. The provost selects faculty members to mentor and collaborate with an underclassman on a co-designed research project.

Bui spends three to four hours a week in the Romanaggi Hall computer lab, working her way through a series of 32 videos. The videos, 45 to 47 minutes each in length, focus on the offspring of an obese non-human primate.

The primate is alone in a cage for the first 10 minutes of the video. Then a researcher, normally Sullivan, walks into the room and sits without interacting with the primate. Eventually, Sullivan will get up close and personal with the primate, attempting to make eye contact.

Bui observes the primates’ behavior and takes detailed notes. Bui says that she has taken note of several social similarities between humans and the non-human primates.

“We found that monkeys who are more obese or have obese parents are less likely to make eye contact because they are afraid or more drawn back,” Bui said. “And you can think about that in our society as well. There hasn’t been a specific study done, but if someone is less confident about the way they look, they are not as likely to go out and interact or make eye contact.”

Sullivan and other researchers also experimented with trying to frighten the animal. Bui said the videos sometimes show Sullivan wearing a vampire mask or a cone head to see how the primate will react.

“One behavior I found in the primate when someone is wearing a vampire mask or a cone head was lip smacking,” Bui said. “It kind of correlates with anxiety, like grinding your teeth when you get nervous about something.”

The world of undergraduate research is new to Bui. She says she is grateful to Sullivan, who was her physiology professor last semester, for helping her gain experience.

“She cares that I’m interested in this, and she’s appreciative of my time and the effort that I’m putting in,” Bui said. “It’s just so nice to have her as a mentor.”

Sullivan has been working on this project with a team of researchers since 2008. She hopes to translate her results to human problems with obesity.

“We knew that obese mothers were more likely to have children that would grow up to be obese.” Sullivan said. “But we didn’t know if that was just genetic, or a result of a shared environment, or if something else is happening during development. That’s why we started investigating.”

The ultimate goal of Sullivan and Bui’s research is to help pregnant women who struggle with obesity find the best way to take proper care of their pregnancy and their child’s health.

Through her experiments, Sullivan has discovered that cutting out unhealthy food from the primate’s diet just during it’s pregnancy can seriously impact the physical and psychological state of the offspring.

She hopes this evidence will help obese pregnant women make healthy choices during their pregnancy.

“They may not be able to give up McDonald’s and eating ice cream forever,” Sullivan said. “But perhaps, just like you give up alcohol and smoking during pregnancy, they’d be willing to give up unhealthy food as well.”

Bui is working towards a career in dentistry and she hopes that this research will further her work.

“The choices you make correlate to your lifestyle and overall that’s something I want to do as a career,” Bui said. “I’m interested in oral health. I think this research will not only make me a better science student but it will make me a more knowledgeable dentist in the future.”

–Story from the Beacon

Filed Under: Biology, From The BEACON, Students Tagged With: Beacon

Trudie Booth Wins 2015 Becky Houck Award

March 16, 2015 By casdept2

Booth
Trudie Booth Accepting Becky Houck Award from Dean Andrews

Excerpts from comments made by Dean Andrews:

Over the past several years the College of Arts and Sciences has honored a deeply deserving faculty member for his or her outstanding service to students in the field of mentoring and advising through the Becky Houck Award for Excellence in Advising.  In significant ways, the Becky Houck Award speaks clearly and graciously to the highest values of the College’s commitment to cura personalis — “care of the whole person.”  Trudie Booth, our 2015 award recipient, is a one-woman show who advises 26 majors and 17 minors, though that number of 43 advisees is certain to increase by the end of the academic year.

Indeed, one might say that Madame Booth not only encourages her students to become global citizens: she inspires them and models for them what global citizenship actually entails.  A francophile who inspires her students to embrace their UP education in order to lead and effect positive change in an ever-increasing global world, Trudie exemplifies what is meant by having that certain je ne sais qua that makes her such a deeply valued colleague and friend to all of us in the College.  Madame Booth is solely responsible for the French Studies major.  As a Lecturer she regularly offers Directed Studies to help some majors get the courses they need and the credit hours necessary when schedules are tight. In order to serve her advisees and help them create a schedule of study that is consistent with their educational goals and which reinforces their language and cultural mastery in French, Trudie maintains close contact with faculty in many other departments — such as History, Philosophy, and Political Science — in order to assist her students schedule the most advanced level courses available.  In effect, Trudie single handedly creates opportunities through cross-curricular programming that exemplifies the lived value of global competency.

Her mentoring of undergraduates is only surpassed by her amazing contact with alumni who come back to visit and share their experiences with students and faculty in the French Studies Program.  Trudie exemplifies the principles that inform the College’s Holy Cross mission in education.  She teaches hearts, minds, and actions in the world.  Because of her generosity, our French Studies students receive the blessings of having a rich and meaningful education that continues to enrich their lives and their families and communities long after they leave the Bluff.

Congratulations, Trudie!

Filed Under: Faculty, International Languages & Cultures

UP Difference Award Recipients

March 15, 2015 By casdept2

Excerpts from comments made by Dean Andrews:

At the beginning of the semester, each senior and junior athlete-student was invited to nominate one professor for The 2015 Difference Award.  The main criterion for this award is that the faculty member embody whatever difference-making characteristic, idea or attitude students felt made a positive and substantial impact in their life as an undergraduate Pilot.  Professors Hannah Callender, Terry Favero, and Christopher Lee were chosen by our athlete-scholars as key difference-makers at our University.  They were honored as Difference Award recipients at a public presentation during the UP Men’s Basketball game on Thursday, February 12.

Congratulations Hannah, Terry, and Chris!

 Callendar Dr. Hannah Callender, Department of Mathematics
 Favero Dr. Terry Favero, Department of Biology
 Lee Dr. Christopher Lee, Department of Mathematics

 

Filed Under: Biology, Faculty, Mathematics

Alice McDermott: The Story as a Meeting Place

March 5, 2015 By casdept2

 

Written by Joanna Monaco, class of 2017

McDermmotFor the past few months, students, staff, and faculty have been reading and discussing Alice McDermott’s novel Charming Billy as part of the University of Portland’s first annual ReadUP event.  Large and small reading discussions have taken place in the library, study rooms, and residence halls across campus in an attempt to relate to the words of Alice McDermott.  On February 26, McDermott visited Buckley Center Auditorium on the University of Portland campus as part of the Schoenfeldt Distinguished Writers Series to read and discuss her writing.

Charming Billy details the struggles of loss, grief, and addiction while also describing the power of love and the implications of human relationship.  It takes place in an Irish Catholic community, and although McDermott is described as being a Catholic novelist, during her time on campus, she explained that although she is titled as a Catholic writer, that title does not define her identity as a writer.  She describes this title as a “means to an end, not an end itself.” She was raised in a Catholic household, but sees herself as a “mediocre Catholic,” explaining that she practices the morals and values of the faith system but is sporadic about the amount of Sundays she spends at mass. Her honesty and transparency about her experience as a Catholic made her evermore relatable to both the Catholics and non-Catholics in the audience.

Alice McDermott speaking at UP
Alice McDermott speaking at UP

During the reading, McDermott read an excerpt from a current work in progress.  She read just enough to acclimate us with the story, and in the small
sample of this piece, much like in Charming Billy, she was able to write fictional characters that were much more than just ink on paper. She made her characters and scenes relatable and wrote with such detail that it allowed the reader to feel transported in to the scene in which she was describing.  She took us back to our childhoods, a place of comfort and relief, which was very much welcomed during the stress that takes place in the mid-semester crunch.

McDermott writes with such relatability that both entertains the reader and forces them to reflect on their own experiences.  McDermott’s art of words is one of the main reasons why human to human relationships and dialogues have taken place about Charming Billy— it is her collection of words that has brought the University of Portland together as a stronger and more connected community. While answering questions about her writing, McDermott stated that she “sees story as a meeting place for us to figure out what our lives mean.” I believe McDermott’s novel exceeded this expectation and was the perfect choice for the University of Portland’s first annual ReadUP.

Filed Under: Uncategorized

Dean’s Welcome: Spring 2015

March 5, 2015 By casdept2

andrewsDear friends and colleagues of the College of Arts and Sciences,

As we enter more fully into what promises to be a spectacular spring 2015, I am reminded that much of what we do in the College helps our students learn how to learn.  With support from our alumni, faculty, and staff, we invite our undergraduate and graduate students to engage fully in the intellectual and social life of a Holy Cross education.  All of us are invited to raise perennial questions of faith and reason, of ethical concerns, and of meaning and practical wisdom about what the good life entails, that is, what the Greeks called “sophia.”  And we don’t stop with questions.  Faculty in the College of Arts and Sciences teach many of the 39 credits that comprise the University’s Core Curriculum to every undergraduate student, regardless of one’s major or professional school discipline.  This ensures that every undergraduate student shares a common “U Portland experience” —  a unique and integrative multi-lens perspective through which students can critically experience the integration of faith, culture, science, humanities, and the arts.  Our commitment to the spiritual, ethical, and intellectual development of the whole person remains the heart or “core” of what we mean by a Catholic and Holy Cross liberal arts education in the College.

In the College of Arts and Sciences we strive to form men and women who will provide ethical leadership to the nation, who will offer hope to our world, and who will engage the joys and sufferings of our age through a faith that seeks justice.  For over a century the College of Arts and Sciences has remained a very special place in which to grow in body, mind, and heart.  We expect our graduates to respond effectively and compassionately to complex social, economic, and cultural issues and to have a capacity that envisions a more just world.

We will challenge you as never before to become an ethical leader in your family, local and regional community, professional field, and beyond.  We invite you to imagine how you might better promote the common good through the transformative power of human creativity, moral discernment, and love.

Whether studying here on the Bluff or at the University’s campus in Salzburg or in one of our other signature Study Abroad programs, you, too will come to experience what thousands of UP alumni already know: in the College of Arts and Sciences, the world is our classroom.

I am grateful that you are a part of our CAS community, and I invite you to explore our CAS News blog and let us know what you think.

Warm regards,

Michael F. Andrews, Ph.D.
Dean, College of Arts and Sciences
McNerney-Hanson University Endowed Chair in Ethics and
Professor of Philosophy

 

 

 

 

Filed Under: CAS Dean, CAS Highlights

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Self-serve is a system accessed through your UP portal that you will utilize often, and grow to love (hopefully, or maybe grow to strongly dislike...we’ll see 😉). But in all seriousness, self-serve is … [Read More...] about Self-Serve: The Basics

The College Essentials: Everything You’ll Find Beneficial here at UP!

Of course, everyone has their own personal items that they're going to bring to college with them because they can't live without them. Mackenzie ('22) has put together her list of things that she … [Read More...] about The College Essentials: Everything You’ll Find Beneficial here at UP!

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Study Abroad Reflection: Sarah '19

Study Abroad Reflection: Sarah ’19

2 years ago
Sarah Ponce is a rising senior majoring in Biology and Spanish with a chemistry minor. Her career go…
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Study Abroad Reflection: Sarah ’19
Study Abroad Experience: Gaby 21'

Study Abroad Experience: Gaby 21′

2 years ago
Gaby (21’) is a rising junior studying Political Science and German Studies and minoring in Gender a…
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Study Abroad Experience: Gaby 21′
Congratulations to CAS in #PilotsGive!

Congratulations to CAS in #PilotsGive!

3 years ago
  Congratulations to the College of Arts and Sciences, which placed second in total donors…
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Congratulations to CAS in #PilotsGive!
Kunal Nayyar ‘03 Challenge Gift for Performing Arts

Kunal Nayyar ‘03 Challenge Gift for Performing Art…

3 years ago
Kunal Nayyar ’03, star from the Big Bang Theory, has pledged to give $200,000 to support the Perfo…
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Kunal Nayyar ‘03 Challenge Gift for Performing Art…
Six Students Awarded Fulbright Grants

Six Students Awarded Fulbright Gran…

5 years ago
Six University of Portland students have been awarded prestigious Fulbright grants to work and study abroad. Four of the Fulbrights are for English teaching positions in Germany, one is for an English…
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New Duties For Fr. Art Wheeler

New Duties For Fr. Art Wheeler

6 years ago
Rev. Art Wheeler, C.S.C., has indicated to the provost that he would like to return to the history…
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New Duties For Fr. Art Wheeler
UP Announces O'Dea International Scholarship

UP Announces O’Dea International Scholarship

7 years ago
The University of Portland has established the O’Dea International Scholarship, endowed by  G. Kelly…
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UP Announces O’Dea International Scholarship
Student Wins Cultural Exchange Scholarship

Student Wins Cultural Exchange Scholarship

7 years ago
Environmental studies and German studies double major Sarah Letendre (pictured) has been awarded a C…
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Student Wins Cultural Exchange Scholarship
Remembering the Salzburg experience: former residence director of UP’s Salzburg program visited UP for the first time this week

Remembering the Salzburg experience…

7 years ago
By Kathryn Walters | From The Beacon Ask senior Cerice Keller about one of her favorite memories of studying abroad in Salzburg, Austria, and instead of waxing lyrical about the delicious strudel,…
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Tops in Fulbrights Again!

Tops in Fulbrights Again!

8 years ago
From UPBEAT University of Portland has been named the top producer of Fulbright scholars in the nat…
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Tops in Fulbrights Again!
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