The first meeting of the Faith and Intellectual Life Discussion Group for the 2013-2014 academic year will be on Friday, September 20, at 3:30 p.m., in the Murphy Room in Franz Hall, according to Norah Martin, philosophy. The group will be discussing “Farther Away: Robinson Crusoe, David Foster Wallace and the Island of Solitude,” by Jonathan Franzen, and “Antilamentation,” a poem by Dorianne Laux. The direct link to the e-reserve is http://clark.up.edu/search/p?SEARCH=eifler. All readings are on electronic reserve in the library under Martin, Norah and Eifler, Karen, Faith and Intellectual Life Discussion Group. All faculty and staff are welcome. Refreshments will be served. For more information contact Martin at martinn@up.edu or Eifler at eifler@up.edu.
Karen Eifler
50th Anniversary Celebration
The University of Portland School of Education will celebrate its 50th anniversary with a gala reception and dinner on Thursday, June 27, beginning at 6 p.m., in the Bauccio Commons. All faculty, staff, alumni, and friends are welcome to attend. Individual tickets are $50 ($35 for graduates of the past decade), and tables of 10 are $500, and can be reserved at the following link: http://tinyurl.com/mlcnk8m, or by contacting Amy Kwong-Kwapisz at kwongkwa@up.edu or 7752. A portion of each ticket sold will be applied to the 50th Anniversary Scholarship Fund, to be used in support of the next generation of teachers and school leaders to benefit from an education on The Bluff. Sponsorships in the amounts of $10,000, $5,000, and $1,000 are also available.
The 6 p.m. Meet and Greet Reception will feature open bar hospitality and the opportunity to reconnect with classmates, alumni, faculty members, administrators, and friends. Dinner will feature alumni greetings, celebrations, and special announcements. James Popham, emeritus professor in the Graduate School of Education at the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA), will deliver the dinner keynote address. Popham, a nationally recognized authority on educational assessment, teaching and leadership, earned his bachelor’s degree at the University in 1953 and his master’s degree in 1954.
The School of Education professional network has a far-reaching impact in the region. This includes alumni Bonnie Robb and Laurie Espenel, recent winners of the Milken Family Foundation National Educator Award; alumna Anne Storm, recipient of the 2010 National Catholic Educational Association Distinguished Teacher Award; and education professor Karen Eifler, recognized as Oregon Professor of the Year by the Carnegie Foundation for the Advancement of Teaching.
Free childcare is available for children between the ages of 2 and 12 during the dinner, but children must be registered by Friday, June 14. Please Kwong-Kwapisz at kwongkwa@up.edu or 7752 to arrange childcare.
New Garaventa Center Directors
The provost’s office has announced the appointment of Karen Eifler and Rev. Charles Gordon, C.S.C., as co-directors of the Garaventa Center for Catholic Intellectual Life and American Culture, effective July 1, 2013.
Eifler is well known across campus and involved in many activities that speak to the very essence of the Center. She has been a board member and leader in Collegium, a national organization that explores issues similar to those explored by the Garaventa Center. Eifler and Norah Martin, College of Arts and Sciences, have led the Friday afternoon Faith and Intellectual Life Discussion Group for many years. Eifler is a respected and recognized teacher, author, and colleague. Her vast experience, inexhaustible creativity, deft organizational skills, and unquenchable thirst for knowledge and understanding will be assets in leading the Center forward.
Fr. Gordon is well-known for his public lectures in the region and his scholarly discussion groups. His students also find his classroom lessons stimulating and provocative. Cambridge educated and an expert in American culture from the sublime to the ridiculous as well as a widely respected Holy Cross priest, he will add his capacious set of attributes to advancing the Center.
Jamie Powell will continue in her role as program coordinator for the Garaventa Center. For more information contact Powell at 7702 or powell@up.edu.
Bringing Eyes Of Faith To Film
The Garaventa Center will present the spring semester’s final installment of the Bringing Eyes of Faith To Film Series with a screening of “The Avengers” on Wednesday, April 24, at 7:15 p.m., in Shiley Hall room 319. The movie and presentation are free and open to all. Series hosts Fr. Charlie Gordon, C.S.C., of the University’s theology department, and Karen Eifler, of the University’s School of Education, will present brief comments illuminating themes of grace, transcendence, and redemption found in unexpected places like popular movies. Thematic snacks are provided as part of the experience. For more information contact the Garaventa Center at (503) 943-7702 or powell@up.edu.
Faith & Intellectual Life Discussion Group
The final gathering of the Faith and Intellectual Life Discussion Group will be Friday, April 5, from 3:30 to 5 p.m., in the Franz Hall Murphy conference room. The group will discuss three pieces: “Losing Our Religion” by Katherine Ozment, “Awe and the Religious Life: a Naturalistic Perspective” by Howard Wettstein, and Czeslaw Milosz’s poem “Meaning.” All faculty and staff are welcome to attend; refreshments will be served. The readings are available as online reserves under the names Norah Martin or Karen Eifler. For more information contact Karen Eifler at eifler@up.edu.
Peer Review Strategies Workshop
The Writing Resource Center and Teaching and Learning Collaborative invite all faculty to a workshop, “Using Peer Review Strategies to Improve Student Writing and Learning,” on Wednesday, April 17, from 4-5 p.m., in Shiley Hall room 319, according to Karen Eifler, education. This will be a hands-on session, with input from panelists Lars Larson, Elayne Shapiro, Lisa Reed, and Karen Eifler, and time for questions, discussion, and practice. Light refreshments will be served. For more information contact Larson at larson@up.edu or Eifler at eifler@up.edu.
Eyes Of Faith To Film Series
The next Bringing Eyes of Faith to FIlm Series screening will feature “Hunger Games” on Tuesday, March 5, at 7:15 p.m., in Shiley Hall room 319. As hosts of the popular series, Rev. Charlie Gordon, C.S.C., theology, and Karen Eifler, education, screen recently-released popular movies, preceded by brief comments illuminating themes of grace, transcendence, and redemption found in these unexpected places. Thematic snacks are provided as part of the experience. The series is free and open to faculty, staff, students, and the public. For more information contact the Garaventa Center at 7702 or powell@up.edu.
Faith To Film Series Returns
The Garaventa Center is pleased to announce the slate for this semester’s Bringing Eyes of Faith to Film Series, in which hosts Fr. Charlie Gordon, C.S.C., theology, and Karen Eifler, education, screen recent popular movies, preceded by some brief comments illuminating themes of grace, transcendence, and redemption found in these unexpected places. This spring, look for “Brave” on Wednesday, February 6, “Hunger Games” on Tuesday, March 5, and “The Avengers” on Wednesday, April 24. All films begin at 7:15 in Shiley 301. Thematic snacks are part of the experience. The series is free and open to faculty, staff, students, and the public.