Boston College

Bread for a World in Need” was the theme of the third annual Multi-Faith Thanksgiving Celebration, attended by more than 200 students, faculty, and University employees on November 19 in the Heights Room. Clergy and students representing many faith traditions spoke, and incorporated Anglican, Islamic, and Jewish ritual bread blessings into the worship service. With the help of Spread the Bread, an organization that promotes baking and sharing bread in communities around the world, the collection from the service’s offering provided bread to local food pantries, according to Karen Kelly Kiefer ’82, a founder of the group and assistant director of the Church in the 21st Century Center. The offering was also used to send gingerbread cookies to U.S. troops abroad, said Kiefer. Above, Fr. Michael Himes, professor of theology, speaks at the celebration. Seated (l-r) are Vice President for University Mission and Ministry Joseph Appleyard, SJ; Nathaniel Mull ’09 of the Interfaith Dialogue Club; Rabbi Ruth Langer, associate director of the Center for Christian-Jewish Learning; Rev. Howard McLendon, campus minister; and Meyer Chambers, campus minister for liturgical arts.

Students met alumni who work in the arts on November 13 at the tenth annual Career Night for the Arts, sponsored by the Boston College Arts Council and the University’s Career Center. For two hours in the McMullen Museum, more than 100 students held informal networking sessions with some 20 alumni, including painters, filmmakers, photographers, writers, arts administrators, actors, an interior decorator, and an architect. Networking sessions enable students to hear directly from practitioners in a field without recruiters, and to see “models of success,” says Amy Donegan, associate director of the Career Center, adding, “The alumni are just fabulous. They love to give back through events like this.” Above, (l-r), Lena Park ’11, Hannah Wheeler ’12, Carolyn McCrosson ’12, and Courtney Caliendo ’12 talk with Erin Dionne ’97, an assistant professor of English at Montserrat College and author of stories and novels for “middle graders” (ages 9–12).

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Nanotechnology—working with matter at the atomic or molecular level—offers the promise of a huge range of innovations, from improved manufacturing techniques to new medical treatments and diagnostic tools. @BC presents an interview with Michael Naughton, chair of the physics department, in which he describes three nanotechnology projects at Boston College aimed at tapping renewable energy sources: developing nano-coaxial cable for highly efficient solar cells; using nanoparticles to create thermoelectric material that converts heat to electricity; and constructing “nano-nets” from silicon, which can split molecules of water to release hydrogen. Naughton also discusses the recent acquisition of facilities and equipment, which have made the University a center for nanotechnology research in the Boston area.

Twenty-seven faculty have joined Boston College this semester, and two more will arrive this spring. A third of the newcomers join the Arts & Sciences faculty, with the others distributed among the professional schools and the School of Theology and Ministry. While most are in the early stages of their academic careers and entering as assistant professors, three arrived as associate professors and two are full professors. @BC presents a slideshow of nine of these freshmen faculty, including statements of their research interests, which range from the philosophy of science to possible gender bias in the study of sleep apnea. We will feature other new faculty in upcoming issues.

On October 1, Silvia Karman Cubiñá ’87 was appointed director and chief curator of the 45-year-old Bass Museum of Art in Miami Beach. The museum, which has a permanent collection of some 3,000 works, was recently enlarged by renowned Japanese architect Arata Isozake to encompass 33,000 square feet of exhibit space, giving it “a dramatically new look, rendering it Miami’s most progressive art museum,” according to Frommer’s.

For more than 20 years, the Miami-born Cubiñá has worked in art museums and galleries including the Cuban Museum of Art in Miami, San Francisco’s Mexican Museum, and the Institute of Visual Arts at the Milwaukee campus of the University of Wisconsin. She directed 31 independent exhibitions at the Moore Space in Miami, where she became the founding director and curator in 2001. She has served on numerous grant and award selection committees, and was recently named one of 10 fellows at New York’s Center for Curatorial Leadership.

Cubiñá says she will strengthen programming at the Bass to make it the Miami art community’s home. “I think it’s the responsibility of all museums to offer very strong alternatives to going to the beach or going to the mall,” she told the Sun Post. “Miami is now a major cultural destination, and I am excited about furthering the Bass Museum’s role in this context, as a place that promotes art, ideas, and dialogue.”

The Connolly House living room was overflowing on November 5 for a multi-media presentation by Seamus Connolly about Boston’s Irish music scene in the 1970s and 1980s. Connolly, the University’s Sullivan Artist-in-Residence and 10-time winner of the Irish National Fiddle Championship, reminisced about music and musicians, showed slides, played recordings, performed on the fiddle, and invited other musicians in the audience to perform and share their memories. Sitting in the front row listening to Connolly (standing) were Irish musicians (l-r) Brendan Tonra, violin; Helen Kisiel, piano; Larry Reynolds, fiddle; Joe Derrane, mandolin and guitar; Tommy Kelly, pipes; and (partially hidden) Sally Kelly, piano.

Sixty-two artworks created by members of the Boston College faculty and staff, from paintings and fabric wall hangings to photographs and mixed media, are on view until November 13 at the fifth annual “Faculty/Staff Art Exhibition” in the Bapst Student Art Gallery. “The quality is really very remarkable,” said Adeane Bregman, Bapst art librarian. The contributors represent 18 departments, programs, and offices, including the biology department, Information Technology Services, the Intersections Project, facilities services, and the Church in the 21st Century Center. “A professional curator teaches us how to organize an exhibition, balancing factors of color and size,” said Art Club President Melissa Keller ’10, whose organization sponsors the show. “My favorite part is seeing the wide array of artwork from the faculty and staff. It’s amazing what they do in their free time.” Above (l-r), contributors Alec Peck of the Lynch School of Education and the chemistry department’s David McFadden converse at the exhibition’s opening on October 30.