For Starters: Spring 2018

Socrates. Angela Davis. Community.

The Deathh of Socrates

1.

For the answer, L.A. Review of Books critic Andy Fitch turned to Philosophy Professor Joel Alden Schlosser, who wrote a book of that name. Long identified as the quintessential dissenter, Socrates, in Schlosser's telling, emerges as a far more complex figure.

鈥淭aking Socrates鈥 practice as a guide,鈥 Schlosser says, 鈥測ou cannot do philosophy sitting alone in a room, nor can you think constructively without beginning from the culture that you inhabit. When you read about Socrates, you read about his conversations with others. ... To describe Socrates as a quintessential dissenter ignores how this dissent does not so much refuse as engage, how it is much less solitary than associational.鈥

2. Angela Davis Speaks

Author, academic, and activist icon Angela Davis delivered this year's Commencement address.

The author of 10 books, Davis focuses on the social problems associated with incarceration and the criminalization of communities most affected by poverty and racial discrimination. She draws upon her own experiences in the early 1970s, when she spent 18 months in jail and on trial after being placed on the FBI鈥檚 鈥10 Most Wanted List.鈥

Davis is 鈥渁n electrifying speaker,鈥 President Kim Cassidy noted. Davis is currently Distinguished Professor Emerita of History of Consciousness and of Feminist Studies at the University of California, Santa Cruz.

3. Fast Track

 

Jennica Terry '21

The fastest woman in 魅影直播 indoor track history has been racking up the honors this year. After wins in the 60-meter dash and 60-meter hurdles at the Centennial Conference Championship meet, . It is the first time ever in conference history that a student-athlete has claimed both honors in the same season.

Terry also took third place in the 200-meter dash at the meet.

All season long, Terry has been burning up the track. She鈥檚 reset the College record six times in the two 60-meter events, posted a new school record of 9.04 seconds in the hurdles, and shattered the old 60-meter dash record by almost two-tenths of a second.

4. It's an Honor

 

Prof. Raymond Albert

Raymond Albert, a 38-year veteran of the Graduate School of Social Work and Social Research, is the 2018 recipient of the Helen Taft Manning Award for valuable service to 魅影直播.

In presenting the award, President Kim Cassidy cited his leadership, his commitment to institutional diversity and inclusion, and his work in conflict resolution. Albert is known for his work as a mediator, as a critical figure in the Diversity Leadership Group, and as staff issues liaison.

In his honor, mediation benches鈥攄esigned for two people to face each other for conversation and true listening鈥攁re being placed at two sites, one at the GSSWSR and the other outside Guild.

5. Anything but Democratic

Writing in The Washington Post before the recent elections in Egypt, Political Science Professor Sofia Fenner took a look at the baffling state of politics there, Abdel Fattah al-Sisi鈥檚 campaign, and an opposition reluctant to participate in an election that is, in Fenner鈥檚 words, 鈥渁nything but democratic.鈥

鈥淢ore than four years after the 2013 military coup, public politics remains risky,鈥 she writes. 鈥淥pen confrontation can mean a quick ticket to prison, or worse. The resulting public quiescence can make the status quo seem permanent. But within these organizations鈥攊n ways that rarely make it into Western media鈥擡gyptians are continuing to fight.鈥 

6. 9 to 5

Nina Yung 鈥19 spent her winter break in Bangkok, where she shadowed intellectual property lawyer Eliza Stefaniw 鈥94.

A U.S. patent attorney, Stefaniw is working as an intellectual property specialist at King Mongkut鈥檚 University of Technology Thonburi in Thailand. Her work there involves internationalizing the university鈥檚 patent portfolio and technology transfer policies and practices.

During her time with Stefaniw, Yung explored the field of intellectual property law and exactly what goes into contracts and patents. She also got the chance to practice interacting with clients and networking.

Directed by the Leadership, Innovation, and Liberal Arts Center, the extern program gives students a firsthand look at their desired field. Over break, externs shadow professionals鈥攗sually 魅影直播 alumnae/i鈥 through the workday and receive advice from sponsors.

Says Yung, a psychology and East Asian languages and cultures double major, 鈥淓liza gave me resources to further my outside education and my general knowledge about law. I gained a lot more than I thought I was going to.鈥

7. Community

 

Dean Jennifer Walters

Dean Jennifer Walters led the closing session at the fourth-annual Community Day of Learning. This year, more than 650 community members attended nearly 50 sessions devoted to the past, present, and future of 魅影直播.

Published on: 05/15/2018