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NEWS:

WSU to Host Unique Art Installation
"Sweetheart of All My Dreams"

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NOTEWORTHY:

Catherine Wilcox-Titus (Visual & Performing Arts) presented her paper, "A Sense of Place A Sense of Trauma" at the New England Popular Culture Conference in Boston on October 23, 2010. Her talk examined how two contemporary artists have dealt with the representation of traumatic events such as global hunger (Agnes Denes) or the forced relocation of people by state-sanctioned programs(Chen Qiulin). Agnes Denes juxtaposed two acres of wheat growing in Battery Park in New York City in the shadow of the World Trade Towers in 1982 (Wheatfield: A Confrontation) as a way to bring attention to world hunger. (Her work took on new meanings as a consequence of the events of 9/11.) Qiulin's video examined the trauma of relocation for 1.3 million people when their towns and cities were flooded to create the Three Gorges Dam opened in China in 2009.

Professor Wilcox-Titus also gave a talk at the Worcester Art Museum on Professor's Night (Nov. 16) on the the challenges of teaching post-studio art. Using the example of David Maisel's photograph of Robert Smithson's Spiral Jetty, her talk discussed the rewards and challenges of teaching about contemporary art that is seldom seen firsthand and accessible for most viewers only through photographs.




Worcester State University Hall of Fame outfielder Eric Swedberg
(Auburn, MA) was one of 52 former collegiate baseball players selected to D3baseball.com's 2000's Team of the Decade. Swedberg was one of 15 who was named to the first team and one of 10 to be honored from a New England school.

Swedberg was a three-time All-American in 2000, 2001 and 2002 as he was also the MASCAC Player of the Year in each of those seasons. Swedberg was instrumental in helping the Lancers reach the ECAC Tournament twice and in 2002 Worcester State captured the regular season and MASCAC Tournament crown to advance to their first NCAA Tournament since the 1983 season.

Swedberg led the nation in slugging in 2000 while he boosted three-year career totals of 148 runs, 202 hits, 47 doubles, 12 triples, 45 homers, 192 RBIs. He also had an eye-popping .467 career batting average and a .942 slugging percentage; both are the highest totals of any D3baseball first-teamer. Swedberg's name remains next to six career marks and he either holds or is tied with another player for four single-season records.

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AROUND CAMPUS:


Production of Julius Caesar Draws
Highest Theatre Ticket Sales in Five Years


Worcester State Theatre is proud to announce that the production of Julius Caesar, that closed on Sunday, sold 711 tickets, making it the best selling play in the last five years. The added high school matinee, with 164 tickets sold, helped put the production over the top. There were requests for over 200 additional high school students from three schools who could not be accommodated.

Theatre performances have seen a significant increase in ticket sales since 2006, when the average audience size was about 50. Since moving back into the renovated Fuller Theater one year ago, the average audience size has been about 120.


Campus Community Steps Up
to Help End Local Hunger

The Hunger Awareness Day/Empty Bowl Fundraiser last Tuesday was another great success with over $900 raised for Worcester County Food Bank, Worcester Food Policy Council, Brigham Hill Community Farm and St. Paul's Outreach in Worcester. NECN/WCTR Charter TV3 reporter Kenneth Craig stopped by and reported from the event.


Veteran International Journalist Delivers
Keynote Address at Campus Conference

Over 150 people attended the 19th annual Massachusetts Council for International Education (MaCIE) conference at Worcester State University, Friday, November 19. Founded in 1991, MaCIE is an association of Massachusetts public institutions of higher education promoting international education.

Bill Clifford, executive director of WolrdBoston, delivered the keynote address. A veteran international journalist, Clifford also served as a research fellow at Harvard University. He told the crowd that his hope and vision is for all college and university students to spend at least a semester abroad. He sees international education as critical to an increasingly more connected global society.

In addition to preparing for a global economy, he noted that international education and exchange also raises awareness of other countries customs and ways of life. He noted that the biggest shock for students studying abroad is often the return home. Clifford noted that after his experiences in Japan, he was shocked how "loud" the U.S. was upon his return. And even though he is a sports fan and a Boston Red Sox fan in particular, he said,
 "I can't stand a TV screen everywhere we go to dine or drink." Since joining WorldBoston as Executive Director in January 2008, Clifford launched Academic WorldQuest for Boston area high schools. The program, an international affairs knowledge competition, has grown rapidly from just two pilot teams three years ago to more than 15 high school teams preparing for the 2011 WorldQuest.

Previously, Clifford was a journalist covering international finance and economics in Asia, where he launched and directed news bureaus in Japan and Hong Kong for the pioneering multimedia venture CBS MarketWatch. Prior to that, he was senior correspondent for CNBC Asia in Tokyo. Bill holds an M.A. from The Johns Hopkins University's School of Advanced International Studies (SAIS), a B.A. summa cum laude in international relations and French literature from Tufts University, and a C.E.P. in public policy from Institut d'Etudes Politiques, Paris.

Also attending the conference were a delegation of 10 Chancellors and Vice-Chancellors of Pakistani universities, who are visiting the U.S. to share experiences and exchange strategies with their American counterparts, and to identify possible opportunities to apply practices from the U.S. higher education to the Pakistani system. Specific themes include university management strategies, administrative structures in public universities, and educational exchange modes for collaboration between U.S. and Pakistani institutions.


Diversity Lecturer John Elder
Robison Discusses Book on WTAG

At the diversity lecture last Wednesday, John Elder Robison, author of Look Me in the Eye: Illuminating Insights on Autism, From a Life with Asperger's, discussed how he overcame enormous odds to lead a fulfilling life: from an anti-social child to a husband and a father now running a multi-million dollar car specialty shop. Visit here to listen to his interview, with Assistant Vice President of Public Relations & Marketing Lea Ann Scales, on the
Jordan Levy Show on November 15.

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ANNOUNCEMENTS:

Get Into The Holiday Spirit with the Chorus/Chorale
Holiday Pops Concert: Tickets are now on sale for the Holiday Pops
Concert featuring the Chorus and Chorale of Worcester State University and Chamber Orchestra to be held at Our Lady of the Angels Church, 1222 Main Street, Worcester. The concert will be on Saturday, December 4, 2010 at 7:30 pm. Tickets are $7 for students and elders and $12 for the general public. On campus, you may get tickets in the Dept. of Visual and Performing Arts, L-132 or by calling 508-929-8824 or emailing: cnigro@worcester.edu. Tickets will also be available at the door. Holiday music and light classics will highlight this concert with composers such as Rutter, Bach, Gabrieli, Franck, Coldplay and others.

Chorale Releases New Holiday CD: The WSU Chorale announces the release of its new holiday CD, "A Merry Little Christmas." Titles on the CD are: Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas, Lullay My Liking by Lawson, Throw the Yule Log On, Uncle John (PDQ Bach), Let All Mortal Flesh Keep Silence by Bairstow, The Lamb by Blake/Tavener, Gloria by Courtney, Adam lay ybounden by Ord, In Dulci Jubilo arr. by Pearsall, Ubi caritas by Durufle, Ave Maria by Biebl and Amazing Grace. Copies are now on sale for $12 each. To order yours, email cnigro@worcester.edu and put a check in interoffice mail payable to the WSU Chorale. Proceeds will go to offset the costs of the Germany tour. They make great stocking stuffers!! Order yours now!

Student Recital Featuring WSU VPA Students
Wednesday, December 1, 7- 9:15 p.m. in Fuller Theater: Performances in voice, guitar, piano, oboe and flute by WSU's music students. Also, there will be a prelude by the WSU Jazz Band beginning at 7 pm. Open to all parents, friends, faculty, administration and the public. Free admission.

Nominations Sought for Civic Engagement Award
The Center for Service-Learning and Civic Engagement is accepting nominations for a student Civic Engagement Award. Deadline for nominations is January 11, 2011. Award recipients will be honored at the Celebration of Service Day in the spring and will be nominated for the Worcester consortium's Civic Engagement Award.

Eligibility: A student or student team must have been enrolled and the community activity take place in part or whole between Jan 1, 2010, and Jan1, 2011. Student activity must be identified as either volunteering, internship/clinical/practicum, work study, service-learning or faculty guided CBR. Student work must be connected to a community agency or organization external to WSU.

Criteria: Student or team activity must make a substantial contribution or have a major impact on the community organization, illustrated in numbers, stories, etc. Contribution should go way above and beyond a typical commitment.

Nominees are asked to identify partner community organization. Selections can be forwarded electronically to the Center for Service-Learning to jmandell@worcester.edu. Information to include: name of selected
student(s), brief description of engagement activity, brief statement of value of service, identification of organization where engagement activity took place, brief statement of value of organization's service to community.

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WSU IN THE NEWS:

Worcester students seek to end hunger
NECN.com
On the campus of Worcester State University, students are focused on ending hunger. They are taking part in a number of events this week -- designed to raise awareness of the problem.


Cambridge's PCA welcomes new staff
Wicked Local Cambridge
Her recent projects include the LEED Gold-designed expansion of Dowden Hall at Worcester State University and the Coolidge School Apartments in Watertown. ...

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