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Upcoming Events
October 17
Lunch Colloquium
October 17 WEBCAST - LC
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Contact Other Members
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find out about a travel destination or find other EUEC members who would like to travel with you, send an email to:
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Courses
If you would like to find other EUEC members interested in taking a MOOC together, an OLLI course together, or possibly teaching together in an OLLI course, click on the following link to send an email:
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This issue of our newsletter is sent to members and friends of the Emory University Emeritus College (EUEC). I hope the newsletter will help keep you informed about our activities and help you feel connected with our members throughout the U.S. On the left are links to our website and links to contact either me or the EUEC office.
With best wishes,
Gray
Gray F. Crouse Director, EUEC
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 Message from the Director
Our Lunch Colloquiums continued on a high note with Stefan Lutz's description of his adventures on the Seven Summits, which you can read about in this issue. The recorded webcast has some beautiful pictures in addition to his narrative. Our next two speakers, Joseph Crespino and Brenda Bynum, promise to be stellar as well. Also note that our previous speaker, Carol Anderson, was recently selected as one of Politico Magazine's top 50 individuals transforming American politics in 2016. Thanks to our Mind Matters committee for a truly amazing list of speakers.
A copy of the Shakespeare First Folio is coming to Emory in November. Our March 28 Lunch Colloquium speaker, Tiffany Stern, was at Emory because of the Shakespeare events, and there are many taking place in the next few months. See below for information about those events.
Our faculty continue to be busy, winning awards, speaking, and publishing. Be sure to let us know of your own activities!
I am very grateful to John Bugge, Herb Benario, and Gretchen Schulz for help with proofing and editing.
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Lunch Colloquium October 17
 The Strange Life and Death of the Good White Southerners
Joseph CrespinoJimmy Carter Professor and Chair Department of History
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Lunch Colloquium October 24
 Mary Hutchinson Observed: From Bloomsbury to Beckett
The Luce Center
Room 130
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Lunch Colloquium September 26
 The Science of Mountaineering: A Quest for the Seven SummitsStefan Lutz
Professor and Chair
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Shakespeare
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The Second, Third and Fourth Folios are now on view in the Rose Library, leading up to an exhibit of the First Folio opening Nov. 5 at the Carlos Museum. Emory is the only site in Georgia to host the First Folio and one of only a few sites to exhibit all of the Folios together.
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We got a preview of coming attractions surrounding the exhibition of a Shakespeare First Folio with the Lunch Colloquium featuring Tiffany Stern on March 28. The centerpiece of the celebration is the arrival of the First Folio, the first collected edition of Shakespeare's plays, published in 1623, just seven years after his death. The First Folio will be on view at Emory's Michael C. Carlos Museum from Nov. 5 through Dec. 11, the only display of the literary treasure in Georgia. There are many events taking place before the exhibition.
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Faculty Activities
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New Members
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We note the passing of Suzie Tindall and Alice Cunningham. |
Walking the Campus with Dianne
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Lunch Colloquium October 17
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Gregory Peck as Atticus Finch and Brock Peters as Tom Robinson in the 1962 film version of
To Kill a Mockingbird
. Photograph by Universal Pictures/Photofest
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The Strange Life and Death of the Good White Southerners
Joseph Crespino
Jimmy Carter Professor and Chair
Department of History Emory professor Joe Crespino is a historian of the twentieth-century United States, with expertise in the political history of post-World War II America. His published work has examined the intersections of region, race, and religion in American politics in the second half of the twentieth century. The argument that animates both his book on Strom Thurmond and his book on Mississippi and the conservative counterrevolution is the notion that the struggles in the American South over race and modernization in the twentieth century should not be viewed in isolation, but rather as part of a broader series of transformations in national political life. In the October 17th Lunch Colloquium, he's going to give us an overview of his current book project, which is a political and cultural history of white southern liberalism from the Great Depression through the end of the twentieth century. Biography
Crespino's most recent book, Strom Thurmond's America (Hill and Wang, 2012), is a political biography of the longtime U.S. Senator from South Carolina that figures Thurmond not merely as one of the last of the Jim Crow demagogues, but also as one of the pioneers of a postwar sunbelt conservatism that reshaped the national Republican Party. Complicating Thurmond's life and legacy in this way, he argues, helps us to rethink important assumptions about both Southern and national politics in the second half of the twentieth century.
His first book, In Search of Another Country: Mississippi and the Conservative Counterrevolution (Princeton, 2007), examines how whites in Mississippi, generally considered to be the most recalcitrant Deep South state, strategically accommodated themselves to civil rights changes. In doing so, they linked their fight against racial change with a number of other conservative constituencies throughout the country and became important contributors to a conservative countermovement in the 1960s and 70s.
He is currently at work on two projects. The first is a history of civil rights struggle in the American South that takes as its starting point the notion that African-Americans' confrontation with Jim Crow represented not only a political crisis, but a religious, or spiritual, one as well, and it follows the implications of that idea for how we write the history of this period. The second is a study of Atticus Finch, the hero of the Pulitzer Prize-winning novel To Kill a Mockingbird, and how the figure of Atticus and the enduring influence of the novel have both reflected and shaped American arguments over race and morality in the modern South and nation.
Crespino teaches a range of courses on the history of modern American politics and the history of the American South. In 2009 he was awarded the Emory Center for Teaching and Curriculum's Award for Excellence in Undergraduate Teaching.
- BA, Northwestern University, 1994.
- MEd, University of Mississippi, 1996.
- MA, Stanford University, 2002.
- PhD, Stanford University, 2002.
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Lunch Colloquium October 24
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T. S. Eliot letter to Mary Hutchinson in Harry Ransom Library
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Mary Hutchinson Observed: From Bloomsbury to Beckett
Brenda Bynum Senior Lecturer Emerita Department of Theater Studies Brenda Bynum writes, "While working on the correspondence of Samuel Beckett, I read letters that he had written to his friend Mary Hutchinson. I wanted to know more about her, but discovered that there were no biographies, autobiographies, or memoirs to read. So, when I was awarded the Heilbrun Distinguished Emeritus Research Fellowship, I took advantage of the opportunity to search out her story for myself -- at the Harry Ransom Library at the University of Texas where her papers are housed; in the published diaries, biographies, letters and memoirs of the remarkable number of twentieth-century artists in whom she had seminal (and, in some cases, carnal) interest; and in London, Cambridge, and the south of England where I found the places in which she had spent her exquisitely well-lived life. As a very young woman, she was a close confidante of her cousin Lytton Strachey, and she died in her 89th year in 1977 while watching a television production of a Beckett play. She seemed to know everyone who was anyone in the arts, but the London Times said in her obituary that 'Essentially, she was a private person . . . and avoided researchers who wished to pump her about her eminent friends.' They are all long gone now, so one might feel forgiven for revealing some of the secrets she honored and kept all of her life. She was the embodiment of Bertolt Brecht's observation that 'every art contributes to the greatest art of all, the art of living.'"
About Brenda Bynum
For most of us, Brenda truly needs no introduction. For those new to EUEC, here is just a brief synopsis of her career. From 1983 until 2000 Brenda Bynum was a Resident Artist and member of the faculty here at Emory in the Department of Theater Studies, where, after her retirement, her colleagues honored her with the establishment of The Brenda Bynum Award, which is presented each year to an outstanding theater student. In 2004 she was named a Heilbrun Distinguished Emeritus Research Fellow and later received the 2013 Distinguished Emerita Award. She has been an active member of the Emory University Emeritus College since 2001 and continues to pursue her primary academic interest in the work of Samuel Beckett. Brenda was the Sheth Distinguished Lecturer in 2015 and her lecture can be seen by clicking here.
She has been an actor and director in Atlanta since 1973, working primarily at the Alliance Theater where she was also the Acting Teacher for the nationally-known Professional Intern Program, a two-year post-graduate residency.
She was named by WABE as a Lexus Leader of the Arts in Atlanta, and, in the late 'seventies, she was a co-founder of the first theater in Atlanta run exclusively by women, T.H.E. Theatre, Ltd. Since that time she has participated in the development of over a dozen original performance pieces based on the lives and works of real women. The latest in that line is "Jordan Is So Chilly: An Encounter with Lillian Smith," about the remarkable Georgia author and human rights activist, which has toured the Southeast over the past two years under the auspices of the Georgia Humanities Council. This past October, she was presented the 2015 Governor's Award for the Arts and Humanities by Governor Deal, in a ceremony at the State Capitol.
Her professional papers are collected in the Hargrett Rare Book and Manuscript Library at the University of Georgia.
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Lunch Colloquium September 26
The Science of Mountaineering: A Quest for the Seven Summits
Stefan Lutz
Professor and Chair
Department of ChemistryBorn in Switzerland, Stefan Lutz was educated in Zurich, received a MSc degree in biotechnology in the UK and a PhD at the University of Florida before assuming a postdoctoral position at Penn State. He came to Emory in 2002 as an Assistant Professor and worked his way through the ranks, eventually being promoted to Full Professor and Chair of the Chemistry Department. For the September 26th colloquium, Dr. Lutz first provided brief biographical information about his academic background, his research and teaching, and his passion for hiking, and then offered a fascinating visual PowerPoint journey through his high-altitude experiences in mountaineering.
In 2012, when Stefan summited Aconcagua, at 22,830 feet the highest point in South America, his life-long avocation became a full-fledged quest to climb the other six of the so-called Seven Summits, the highest peaks on each of the continents. Americans Dick Bass and Frank Wells, amateur mountaineers, adventurers, and businessmen, first came up with the idea of climbing the Seven Summits, with Bass becoming the first person to reach the top of all the continents in 1985. Mount Everest (29,035 ft) is considered the most difficult and dangerous of the Seven Summits for climbers, while Australia's Mount Kosciuszko (7,310 ft) is just a short day hike on a bright summer day. The big rounded volcano of Kilimanjaro (19,340 ft) often defeats many of its suitors due to high altitude issues. Both Aconcagua and Mount Elbus (18,510) are challenging climbs that require good mountaineering skills in proper weather. Denali (20,320) and Mount Vinson (16,070 ft) present more serious challenges to would-be climbers. Denali is a huge mountain covered with glaciers and exposed to severe weather, while Vinson in Antarctica is bitterly cold, remote, and hard and expensive to reach. As of 2015, only 500 individuals have managed to climb all seven summits.
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Mount Everest and Everest Base Camp (located on the glacier tongue).
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Stefan shared with us the wonderful variety of scientific insights he has derived from these adventures, a merging of hobby and scholarship that has often found its way into his classroom and research. He started his presentation recounting his experience with the extreme challenges of high altitude on Mount Everest.
Stefan interwove stories infused with an academic expertise that ranges from the physiology and biochemistry of altitude (sickness) to the sociology and psychology of endurance, fear, and bonding during intense experiences. In addition, his presentation also dealt with the desolate environment of the southern polar region he experienced while climbing Mount Vinson, the struggle with extreme cold on Denali, and the beauty of the landscapes he passed through on the way to six summits.
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On top of the headwall during the climb of Mount Vinson in Antartica
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As Carol Clark, editor of Emory's eScienceCommons, put it in a fine article she published last March, Stefan's "scientific training deepened his understanding of extreme landscapes and the physical and mental processes a climber may experience." Click here to see the webcast of this talk
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New Members
New members are the lifeblood of any organization. Please make a special effort to welcome them to EUEC!
William Cody, PhD, Professor Emeritus of Political Science Ian R. Crocker, MD, FACR, Vice Chair and Professor, Department of Radiation Oncology
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Faculty Activities
André J Nahmias, BA, MA, MPH, MD Richard W Blumberg Professor of Pediatrics Emeritus Professor of Public Health Emeritus On October 27, EUEC Member Andy Nahmias will receive a Distinguished Alumni Achievement Award from George Washington University. The award states: "Andre Nahmias, M.D. '57 - Emeritus Professor of Pediatrics and Public Health at Emory University: Dr. Nahmias joined Emory University in 1964, rising to become professor of pediatrics. He founded the International Interdisciplinary AIDS Foundation in Geneva in 1984 and was a consultant to many U.S. and international organizations." This award puts him in the company, among others, of NBA champion Arnold "Red" Auerbach, B.S. '40, M.A. '41; Nobel Prize winner Julius Axelrod, Ph.D. '55; and former U.S. Secretary of State Colin Powell, M.B.A. '71. A brief bio for Andy can be read by clicking here.
Frank Maddox
Associate Professor Emeritus of Economics
On Wednesday, September 14, the Office of Equity and Inclusion sponsored the faculty panel Teaching International Students. Over 120 faculty and staff attended for a lively conversation focusing on ways that faculty can be intentional regarding the growing F1Visa cohort of students. Frank Maddox, a new member of the Emeritus College who retired from Oxford College (only to return twice weekly during 2016-17 to teach economics while his position is filled) was one of the faculty. Here is his response to a question regarding his learning Mandarin in response to the growing number of Chinese students in his classes. Moderator Pamela Scully: "Frank,
I understand that you learned Mandarin to facilitate relationships with Chinese students. Could you elaborate on why you did that?"
Frank Maddox: "Yes, I have been studying Mandarin for over three years now! Let me provide a little context for what I know sounds like an extreme action. "I teach economics out at Oxford. In 2010 we had a new cohort of Chinese students arrive to campus. Prior to 2010 I usually had one or two F1 Visa students in each class. Mostly these were Korean students who had attended high school in the U.S., so they were familiar with U.S. culture. My attitude was always--you've been accepted into Emory. It's up to you to make adjustments to the classroom and campus environment. Welcome aboard! "Then suddenly in fall 2010 I arrived to class and more than half of my students were from China. Most had never been in the States until the previous week. "What I failed to anticipate was that economics, because it relies heavily upon math skills, and because it is a pre-requisite for the business major, would attract a disproportionate number of these new students. Only a couple of other professors on campus experienced this drastic increase in F1 Visa students. "I contacted our admissions office and learned this was the new normal... I could expect large numbers of Chinese students from that moment until I retired. In my annual report to my Dean in 2011 I explained that I was afraid I might need to find different work because of this dramatic change in my classroom environment. I always enjoyed the relationships I had with students during and out of class. Suddenly that joy seemed threatened. "Remember in the past I'd always said to the students, 'it's up to you to make adjustments.' Well, in 2010 with over half the students with names I couldn't pronounce, I realized it was I who had to make the adjustments so that I could relate to these students with an open heart just like always. "Here's what I did. First I invited these students to my home, FOOD is a marvelous social lubricant! Next I traveled to China with the Halle Institute and learned about culture. And finally in summer 2013, with the help of a student I first met in Nanjing, I started to learn Mandarin. "Within a year I started to experience these students, who initially seemed exotic and hard to relate to, to be just like any other Oxford student--eager to learn, eager to have a meaningful undergraduate experience. "I'm not suggesting that you all learn a foreign language. But I do believe if you, like me, are in a discipline that attracts a disproportionate number of F1 Visa students, it is up to us to intentionally make adjustments that allow us to be fully present with these students in the classroom." EUEC Members Deborah Ayer, Brenda Bynum, David Hesla (deceased), Linda Matthews, John Matthews, Don Saliers, Viola Westbrook, and Holly York There was a launch of the fourth and final volume of The Letters of Samuel Beckett on September 29 in Paris. The EUEC members mentioned above all contributed as volunteers in the production of this volume. The launch was h osted jointly by the American University of Paris, École Normale Supérieure, and the Centre Culturel Irlandais. EUEC Member Holly York traveled to Paris to provide an Emory presence at the launch, which featured a reading of selected letters at the École Normale Supérieure and receptions at the Centre Culturel Irlandais and the Irish Embassy. This volume, like the others, is published by Cambridge University Press:
- This fourth and final volume, which completes the Cambridge edition of The Letters of Samuel Beckett, covers the final twenty-four years of what was, as Beckett saw it, a surprisingly long life. During these years he produced many of his finest and most concentrated works for theatre, plays that included Not I, Ohio Impromptu, and Catastrophe; for television he wrote Eh Joe and Ghost Trio; while in prose, he produced the late 'trilogy' that comprises Company, Ill Seen Ill Said, and Worstward Ho. In 1969, Beckett was awarded the Nobel Prize in Literature, and the letters from this period show him struggling to cope with the pressures created by his ever-growing international fame. The letters reveal how, later, he turned his mind to his legacy, as seen through his interactions with biographers and archivists. This volume also provides chronologies, explanatory notes, translations, and profiles of Beckett's chief correspondents.
You can watch a YouTube trailer for the 4th volume by clicking here and a short interview with one of the editors, Dan Gunn, by clicking here.
A list of the events in Atlanta celebrating the publication (the first of which is the Lunch Colloquium with Brenda Bynum) can be seen by clicking here.
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In Memoriam
 EUEC Member Suzie Cunningham Tindall, M.D. died October 5, 2016, of complications of multiple myeloma. She was born September 16, 1944 in Norfolk, Virginia.
From her bio on the Society of Neurological Surgeons website:
She attended Duke University as an undergraduate taking the typical premedical curriculum and finishing in 1966 with a B.A. in chemistry. She attended medical school at the University of Texas Medical Branch in Galveston graduating AOA in 1970. The first two years of study were made unduly difficult because of financial insecurity. She worked at several jobs - phlebotomist, laboratory technician - to support herself. A small scholarship loan for the last two years enabled better concentration on the medical curriculum.
Medical internship at Vanderbilt University Hospital was followed by a return to the University of Texas for a neurology residency under Dr. John Calvery. She married George Tindall, the Chairman of Neurosurgery at the University of Texas Medical Branch, and in 1973 moved to Atlanta, Georgia with him where he accepted the position as Chief of Neurosurgery at the Emory University School of Medicine, and she completed her neurology residency. She entered the private practice of neurology in DeKalb County, Georgia.
In 1978 she returned to the Emory University School of Medicine and entered a neurosurgical residency. Upon finishing the residency, she accepted a position as Assistant Professor of Neurosurgery at Emory. She retired as Professor of Neurological Surgery in 2000. She was a strong advocate of equal opportunities for women, mostly by example. She was President of the Southern Neurosurgical Society, the Georgia Neurosurgical Society, and was the first female member of The American Academy of Neurological Surgeons.
Alice Jeanne Cunningham died September 21, 2016 as a result of pancreatic cancer. She is survived by EUEC Member Mary Alice Clower with whom she shared 56 wonderfully happy years. Alice completed undergraduate studies at Vanderbilt University and the University of Arkansas. Her Ph.D. in Chemistry from Emory University was conferred in 1966. In 1967-68, she did post-doctoral research with Allen J. Bard at the University of Texas in Austin. From 1984 to 1986 she was a Distinguished Visiting Scholar and Visiting Professor at Emory University. For 25 years, Alice was a member of the faculty of Agnes Scott College where she was the William Rand Kenan, Jr. Professor of Chemistry. Her complete obituary can be read by clicking here. |
Walking the campus with Dianne
A few of you recognized our last photo...the staircase in the Robert W. Woodruff Library (the main library of Emory). Walk directly to the back of the building from the entrance and you will find this lovely gateway to more of the wonderful building. One flight up and you will discover the Schatten Gallery, among many other things. There is so much more in this place than just books. Don't be surprised if I visit another part of the library in the future.
Let's explore something a little different on our next walk. This place is old, interesting, and has a lot of colorful history. It's also somewhat off the beaten path.
Where Will You Find This on Emory's Campus?
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Emory University Emeritus College The Luce Center
825 Houston Mill Road NE #206 Atlanta, GA 30329 |
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