September 2008

The 2008-2009 school year began on First-Year Move-In Day, August 30, 2008. New students enjoyed Orientation Week with faculty talks, a campus-wide scavenger hunt, movie nights, a carnival, and a visit from Frank Warren, creator of Post Secret. SLC alum Eric Mabius ’93, star of the ABC Sitcom Ugly Betty, visted campus on September 6 to deliver the 2008 Alumni/ae Keynote Address. | See video

After a week of interviews with faculty, classes began on September 8. A spectrum of performances, lectures, and readings by guests and faculty filled the first month of the schoolyear. The 2008 Election Lecture Series, sponsored by the Donald C. Samuel Fund for Economics and Politics, debuted on campus in September, jump-starting a season of events surrounding the 2008 presidential elections. Frances Fox Piven, Lorraine Minnite, and Margaret Groarke, political scientists and co-authors of Keeping Down the Black Vote: Race and the Demobilization of American Voters, delivered the first lectures of the series in "Keeping Down the Vote," a discussion panel on disenfranchisement in the United States. And the Sarah Lawrence College Democrats hosted a viewing in Reisinger auditorium of the first presidential candidate debate of the 2008 election.

With an eye to the international ramifications of the presidential election, two guest lecturers invited discussion on current issues in the Middle East. Avi Shlaim, one of the leading scholars of the Arab-Israeli conflict and a Professor of International Relations at the University of Oxford, gave a lecture that examined U.S. policy on the Arab-Israeli conflict, "The United States and the Arab-Israeli Peace Process: Challenges Facing the Next U.S. President." Shqipe Malushi ’85, a Sarah Lawrence alumna working in a leadership training program in Afghanistan, held a roundtable discussion on her experiences in the country and the relationship between peace, justice, and cultural representation in the area. Sponsored by The Christian A. Johnson Chair in International and Middle Eastern Studies.

Also in September, Psychology faculty member Kim Ferguson delivered the first presentation in the annual Science Seminar Series, "Face value?: What infants can tell us about eyewitness identification errors," discussing new research that explores the origins and development of visual stereotyping.

October 2008

Discussion of the 2008 presidential elections continued in October with a viewing of the second presidential candidate debate and the vice-presidential candidate debate in Reisinger auditorium, hosted by the Sarah Lawrence College Democrats. SUNY Albany professor and Collins Fellow Bruce Miroff visited campus for a lecture organized by The Ray Seidelman Fund for Political Advocacy and sponsored by The Donald C. Samuel Fund for Economics and Politics and the College Politics Department, "After Forty Years in the Wilderness: The Democrats in 2008," a reflection on the possible emergence of a durable Democratic majority.

Debuting the Teach-In: Retrospective, Progress, and Visions for the Future in the Name of Diversity lecture series, sponsored by the Diversity Subcommittee of the Committee on Student Life, College Archivist Abby Lester gave a multimedia presentation, "A Brief History of Student Activism at SLC," using photos and videos of protests from the Sarah Lawrence College Archives.

As part of the College's ongoing initiative to green the campus, Sustainable SLC, members of the press, elected officials, and green-movement activists gathered to celebrate the installation of a green roof on Taylor residence hall by graduates of Sustainable South Bronx's green jobs training program. | Read more

Michael Alexander, author of Jazz Age Jews, delivered a lecture on interracial/ethnic dynamics, "After Jolson Sang Swannee: What Jewish Minstrelsy Can Tell Us About Black-Jewish Relations. | See video

A series of international guests graced the campus in October. Acclaimed Kenyan novelist, playwright, poet, and critic Ngugi wa Thiong'o visited the College, meeting with students and faculty and reading from his recent novel, Wizard of the Crow. | Read more | See video

Hillel welcomed Israeli filmmaker Yael Katzir for a screening and discussion of her film, Praying in Her Own Voice, which addresses the issue of women's prayer at the Western Wall in Jerusalem. And professor emerita, author, and activist Eva Kollisch, who came to the United States as a refugee in the late 1930s, returned to Sarah Lawrence to discuss her new book The Ground Under my Feet, which explores the imprint that Anti-Semitism and a lack of belonging make on emotional well-being, as well as the healing power of friendship.

A variety of artists came to Sarah Lawrence as well. Tony and Emmy award-winning actress and SLC alumna Jane Alexander returned to Sarah Lawrence for a special Theatre Forum. Kicking off the Music Program's Music Tuesday Concert Series, esteemed composer Joan Tower came to campus to celebrate her 70th birthday with an all-Tower program performed by the Cassatt Quartet. Continuing the Emerging Artist series that debuted during the 2007-2008 academic year, artist Karlos Carcamo's exhibit in the Barbara Walters Gallery, "It's Like That," showcased artwork that reflects urban culture through a range of mediums such as painting, sculpture, works on paper, and photography. And from the end of October through the middle of December, the Esther Raushenbush Library Gallery housed "Camera Work: 2008," a group of 45 photographs culled from two collections published by SLC alumnus Steven Schnur ’74.

The likelihood of a serious economic downturn became a certainty by the end of the month, and the Economics Department organized a timely and well-attended Teach-in on the Current Economic Crisis, a series of short lectures covering various aspects of the recession, presented by Economics Faculty Kim Christensen, Marilyn Power, Frank Roosevelt, and Jamee Moudud, and followed by an open discussion.

College students ended the month on a high note when the Fall Formal, held on Holloween, brought the Hot 8 Brass Band from New Orleans to campus for a night of costumed revelry.

November 2008

The month of November opened with Family Weekend at Sarah Lawrence College: students and their families attended the Annual Art Auction (the proceeds of which supported The Fund for Sarah Lawrence), lectures on student life, and special seminars arranged for the occasion.

Gearing up for the election, faculty Jamee Moudud (Economics), David Peritz (Political Science), Vijay Sheshadri (Writing), and Bella Brodzki (Literature) formed an interdisciplinary SLC Symposium on the 2008 Presidential Elections to discuss the political campaigns, election process, and presidential candidates. Students gathered on the night of November 4 to watch election returns in a tent on the South Lawn of Westlands at the festive and memorable Election Day Party hosted by the Sarah Lawrence College Democrats.

Later in the month, Award-Winning columnist Bob Herbert of The New York Times reflected on the historic 2008 election and its implications for the future of America in a talk entitled "Wounded Colossus: The Threat to America as We've Known It," sponsored by the Donald C. Samuel Fund for Economics and Politics. | Read more | See video

The Teach-In: Retrospective, Progress, and Visions for the Future in the Name of Diversity lecture series, sponsored by the Diversity Subcommittee of the Committee on Student Life, continued in November with three separate talks. Religion Faculty member Glenn Dynner discussed "Antisemitism"; Director of Financial Aid Heather McDonnell spoke on "The Economics of Financial Aid and Diversity," examining the impact of federal loan policies on student demographics at SLC; and Associate Dean of the College Mary Porter presented "Adopting Nathan: Travels in Class, Race and Gender," a lecture that drew on her anthropological training—particularly in issues of race and kinship—to reflect on the experiences involved in the adoption of her son, Nathan, out of New York City foster care when he was six years old.

A variety of guest speakers came to Sarah Lawrence College in November. Historian Nina Silber, author of Daughters of the Union: Northern Women Fight the Civil War and co-editor of Battle Scars: Gender and Sexuality in the American Civil War, delivered a talk on her recent work as part of the Women's History Lecture Series. Students Promoting Awareness of Animal Rights (SPAAR) hosted animal activist Peter Young, who was imprisoned after releasing mink from fur farms, to speak about his personal transition from mainstream to illegal animal liberation activity, his experience in prison, and the aims of the underground animal liberation movement.

Fawaz Gerges, The Christian A. Johnson Chair in International Affairs and Middle Eastern Studies invited Stuart J. D. Schwartzstein, a former U.S. Department of Defense official who served in Washington and Baghdad during the war in Iraq, to campus to deliver the lecture "Invading Iraq: Blood and Oil—A U.S. Official's Insider's View." Schwartzstein reflected on the decision-making process that led to the U.S.-led occupation and invasion of Iraq. And inaugurating the Environmental Studies/Science, Technology, and Society (ES/STS) Colloquium Series, author and artist Trever Paglen discussed his book Torture Taxi: On the Trail of the CIA's Rendition Flights, which documents the CIA's use of modified commerical aircraft for extraordinary rendition. | Read more

Artists were among the College's many visitors in November. As part of the Music Program's Music Tuesday Concert Series, The Manhattan String Quartet visited the College to perform a program of Beethoven and Ives. Among the medly of writers drawn to campus by the Graduate Studies Reading Series, numerous poetry alumnae/i who have recently published a book of poetry returned to campus for the celebratory Published Poetry Alum Extravaganza. Sponsored by The Elaine Oakley Behr Visiting Writers Fund and The Linda Ashear Fund for Visiting Poets.

Anne Bogart, the visionary artistic director of the SITI theatre company and winner of multiple Obie awards, visited campus for the third Theatre Forum of the year. And San Francisco-based actor and writer Dan Hoyle, winner of the 2007 Will Glickman Award for Best New Play, presented his third solo show, Tings Dey Happen. | Read more

During Homecoming Week students enjoyed various events including Capture the Flag, a movie night, a craft fair, and a pep rally followed by a varsity basketball game. After the game, students donned their finest for the annual Homecoming Dance.

December 2008

Award-winning choreographer Donna Uchizono, the first Barbara Bray Ketchum artist-in-residence at Sarah Lawrence and a 2008 Artist Fellowship recipient of the New York Foundation for the Arts (NYFA), spent the fall semester creating a new dance, Badlands of Montana, which College dance students performed at the beginning of December. The dance was based on a work commissioned by Montana's Headwaters Dance Company, a project designed to capture the spirit, culture and landscape of Montana. Later in the month Uchizono delivered a lecture, co-sponsored by Artists and Audiences Exchange, about her work and life as a dance artist. | Read more | See Video 

In observation of Human Rights Day on December 10, the College hosted a week-long program brimming with film screenings, discussions, lectures, and student art, all designed to raise awareness of global human-rights abuses. A range of guest speakers visited campus for the event: Norman Finkelstein spoke on the Palestinian-Israeli conflict, Pauline Kravath discussed the contemporary slave trade, Gene Baur explored the intersection of animal rights and human rights, and Younes Abouyoub gave a lecture on Darfur. Faculty led discussions on human rights issues in Yonkers, the international ramifications of discrimination in the United States, workers' rights in Jewish texts, international laws addressing rape, and the legacy of Martin Luther King, Jr., and students contributed with an art exhibit, an open mic event, and resistance songs. | Read more

At the end of the fall semester, College students displayed posters depicting the findings of their conference work chemistry, mathematics, physics, and psychology at the Fall Science and Mathematics Poster Session.

And on December 17 many students, dressed in cap and gown, said goodbye to Sarah Lawrence at the Winter Commencement ceremony.

January 2009

After a long winter break, College students, faculty, and staff returned to campus for the start of classes on January 20. Many gathered in Reisinger auditorium on opening day for the televised screening of the Presidential Inauguration of Barack Obama.

Beginning in January and continuing into the spring, Heimbold Visual Art Center's Barbara Walters Gallery showcased the work of Matthew Cox in "The Wind Kept Me Up Last Night," a solo exhibit sponsored by the Emerging Artist Series. The exhibit included pieces that explore the "feelings that are encountered in unexpected places as I go about my daily routine." | Read more

At the end of January the College Theatre Department hosted a Theatre Forum with Ben Cameron, program director for the arts at the Doris Duke Charitable Foundation.

February 2009

In early February, as part of the Enivronmental Studies/Science, Technology, and Society (ES/ETS) Colloquium Series, author Jake Kosek gave a talk entitled "Homeland Security Detective Devices: On the New Uses of the Honey Bee," discussing the rise of the honeybee as a tool and metaphor in the war on terror. | Read more

Later in the month, historian Alejandro de la Fuente, author of A Nation for All: Race, Inequality and Politics in Twentieth-Century Cuba, delivered "The New Afro-Cuban Cultural Movement and the Debate on Race in Contemporary Cuba," a lecture on the impact that the economic crisis of the 1990s had on race relations and the recent rise of an Afrocubanist cultural movement on the island.

In observation of V-Day on February 14, students held a craft fair and bake sale, screened Eve Ensler's documentary Until The Violence Stops, hosted an open-mic night, and performed The Vagina Monologues, donating all proceeds to My Sister's Place.

At the annual Winter Carinval on February 19, students enjoyed cotton candy, played laser tag, and rode a mechanical bull, all at the Campbell Sports Center. The next day, the annual Students for Students Scholarship Fund (SSSF) Auction was held in Reisinger, bearing the theme Disco Dynasty-- Remember the 70s. The festive attitude continued the following week, when student and professional musicians gathered for a series of acoustic and vocal performances during the February Folk Festival.

March 2009

At the beginning of the month, College dancers and choreographers presented their work in the Spring Student Dance Concert.

Special Representative of the World Bank to the United Nations Ferid Belhaj came to campus in March to deliver a lecture entitled "The World Bank in a Time of Global Financial Crisis,” examining the evolving economic roles of the Bretton Woods institutions since World War II. | Read more

Later in the month, The Child Development Institute hosted the 2009 Longfellow Lecture by Richard Louv, author and Chairman of the Children & Nature Network. Louve's recent book Last Child in the Woods: Saving Our Children from Nature-Deficit Disorder, has stimulated an international conversation about the future relationship between children and nature. | Read more | See video

And the eleventh annual Women's History Conference, Gender and Power in the Muslim World, was held at the College on March 6 and 7. Mona Eltahawy, a journalist and lecturer on Muslim and Arab issues, was this year's keynote speaker. The conference addressed the politics and histories embedded in various ways of seeing gender in Muslim societies and communities. | Read more

April 2009

An alumni guest visited the campus at the beginning of April. Amanda Forman ’91, author of The Duchess, returned to Sarah Lawrence for a screening and discussion of the film based on her novel, an event sponsored by the Friends of the Library Program and the Office of Alumnae/i Relations.

Gordon G. Chang, Commentary blogger and author of Nuclear Showdown: North Korea Takes On the World and The Coming Collapse of China, presented the Adda B. Bozeman Lecture in International Relations, sponsored by the Adda Bozeman Chair in International Relations. Chang, who has lived and worked in China and Hong Kong for almost two decades, addressed the economic and political status of China in his talk, "China Rising or Falling?: What Does This Mean for Us?" | Read more | See Video

Later in the month, Christian Parenti, author, international journalist, contributing editor at The Nation came to campus as part of the 2008 Election Lecture Series to share his insights on Afghanistan in a talk entitled "Afghanistan Now: A Hundred Year History of War."

The Annual Science Lecture featured Dr. Micheal E. Brown, the scientist who, among other accomplishments, discovered Eris, the largest object found in the solar system in 150 years. In his talk, "How I Killed Pluto and Why it Had it Coming," Brown told the story of that discovery and addressed how it dealt the death blow to the planethood status of Pluto. | Read more | See video

Assistant Professor Kimberly Kono of Smith College delivered the annual Goldman Lecture, sponsored by the Merle Rosenblatt Goldman Fund to Support International Inquiry, "Colonizing the Family in 1930s Manchuria," a discussion of the use of familial images—and of motherhood in particular—to promote the Chinese colonial project in Manchuria. Rosa Clemente, community organizer, radio journalist, Hip-Hop activist and the first ever Latino/a in United States history to run for Vice-President, discussed contemporary activism in her talk "Being a Grass-Roots Activist in an Era of Neoliberalism."

Actress Jane Alexander and playwright Tina Howe, friends and colleagues since they were housemates at Sarah Lawrence decades ago, returned to the College on April 27 to participate in the Full Circle Lecture. The two spoke of their lives and careers since Alexander performed in Howe's first play when they were students. | See video

At the end of the month the College hosted the sixth annual Sarah Lawrence College Poetry Festival: Poetry in Dialogue, the largest poetry festival in New York State. Organized entirely by students, the event featured readings by more than 40 poets. In addition to the readings, craft talks, panel discussions, and receptions, the festival also included live music and an open mic night. | Read more

May 2009

To celebrate the begining of spring, the Students for Students Scholarship Fund (SSSF) invited the families of College faculty, staff, and students to come together with families of Bronxville and Yonkers at the annual Mayfair 2009: Walk With the Wild Things, a carnivalesque children's fair inspired by Maurice Sendak's classsic picture book. Children and adults alike enjoyed rides and games, face-painting and temporary tattoos, sand art, and a reading station.

Dr. T. Berry Brazelton, noted pediatrician, author, and nationally recognized expert on young children, joined Dr. Joshua Sparrow, pshychiatrist and child development expert, to give a joint lecture on child development early in the month. Their talk, "Touchpoints: a Developmental and Relational Model for Working with Children and Families," discussed the role of preparing children to be academically successful in ways that respect and nurture the whole child. Sponsored by the Child Care Council of Westchester, The Guidance Center, and Sarah Lawrence College.

On May 12, Heimbold opened its doors for the annual Open Studio, during which Visual Arts students showcased their work for the campus community.

Students and faculty gathered at the Campbell Sports Center for the Spring Science and Mathematics Poster Session, where over ninety students displayed posters of their conference work in biology, chemistry, computer science, human genetics, physics, and psychology.

On Friday, May 22, White House Chief of Staff Rahm Emanuel addressed the class of 2009 and their families at the College's 2009 Commencement ceremonies, which was broadcast live on slc.edu for the first time. Emanuel, who graduated from Sarah Lawrence in 1981, has built a successful career as a political consultant, and earned the first major presidential appointment to follow the historic election of Barack Obama. | Read more