February 2011 Archives

Wednesday, March 2
7:30-9:00 p.m.
101 Thomas Building

Free and Open to the Public

Panelists include:

• Riadh Bounatirou, Graduate Student in Comparative Literature
• Jonathan Brockopp, Associate Professor of Religious Studies and History 
• Arthur Goldschmidt, Professor Emeritus of Middle Eastern History 
• James Piazza, Associate Professor of Political Science and Fellow, International Center for the Study of Terrorism 
• Moderator: Christian Brady, Dean of Schreyer Honors College
  

 For more information about this event, visit the Rock Ethics Institute website.

This event is supported by the Schreyer Honors College, Rock Ethics Institute, Center for Ethics and Religious Affairs, Middle Eastern Studies Program, and the Department of History and Religious Studies. 

Tuesday, March 1
2:30-4:00 pm
Memorial Lounge, Pasquerilla Spiritual Center

The recent swell of protests in Wisconsin, Ohio, and other states signals the continued life of labor unions and a strong belief in the importance of collective bargaining. The controversy over collective bargaining matters for more than union members: it cuts to the heart of deliberation, of democracy, and the livelihoods of workers everywhere. In response to these protests, the Center for Democratic Deliberation presents a "Flash Forum" - an event organized with due speed to respond to the exigencies of the moment--to give members of the campus and community an opportunity to consider what this issue might mean for people in Pennsylvania and especially for students at Penn State.

The CDD has invited a group of people who know something about unions, labor, collective action, and/or collective bargaining to briefly share their thoughts on these matters, and you are also invited to join our discussion.

Featured Presenters:

• John Marsh, Assistant Professor, Department of English
• Emma Gaalaas Mullaney, Graduate Student, Geography & Women's Studies
• Paul F. Clark, Professor and Chair, Department of Labor Studies and Employment Relations
• Samuel Zucker, Undergraduate Student, College of Liberal Arts
• Dominic Sgro, Director, Southwestern Pennsylvania Public Employees Council 83, AFSCME
  

Questions? Contact the flash forum organizer, Debra Hawhee, Interim Co-Director of the Center for Democratic Deliberation at hawhee@psu.edu. 

Hey Paterno Fellows!

My name is Olivia Hoover and I'm a freshman Psychology major. I am a member of the Paterno Fellows Advisory Board, and we have been talking about getting the program involved with Homecoming 2011. So, I'm trying to get a group of students interested in helping to make some plans for next fall. One main thing we'd like to do is get involved with the parade, by either making a float or just having a group walk.

If anyone would like to be a part of Homecoming 2011 or has any suggestions, please email me at orh5010@psu.edu. We need your help to get this going!

Thank you so much!

Many of you are or soon will be contemplating creating an ePortfolio for the Excellence in Communication Certificate. (If you have not yet signed up for the ECC, do so here. Or send any questions to mcs288@psu.edu).

Whether you create the ePortfolio to fulfill your communication requirement or because you want to have an online record of your communication skills to share with potential graduate programs, law schools, or future employers, you'll need to start somewhere. As I've been meeting with juniors and seniors in the process of revising and completing their portfolios, I've clarified my own sense of what makes an excellent ePortfolio.

1.  Guiding Themes. While your essay on Eddie Murphy from your comedic writing class or your This I Believe speech on the Baltimore Orioles from LA101H might be unique examples of communication, the components in an ePortfolio should be selected to represent several guiding themes. The ePortfolio should read like a themed collection, rather than a random hodgepodge of unrelated but strong work. A sense of YOU should emerge by the end.

2.  What Makes a Strong Guiding Theme? To choose yours, think beyond your major. Instead, think about why you chose your major, what motivates you (in communication situations and beyond), and what should future employers/schools know about you? How have your ideas about communication and its place in the world (or your future career) changed over your time in college? 

3.  Flexibility. Because the simplest pieces to include may not be the best representation of your themes, flexibility is paramount. A recent student told me of her plan to use a speech from early in her college career for her audio component because it was already taped. As we talked, it became clear that this speech did not really represent her major intellectual/personal themes. We decided that, instead, she'd create an audio file to attach to a PowerPoint presentation from her thesis that she already intended to include as her visual component. The new PowerPoint-with-audio-commentary will cover both the visual and oral modes and will give a much better glimpse of her expertise in her major.

4. Forethought. Be thinking already about what might represent you well in an ePortfolio. The best portfolios will include pieces that were written with the goal of representing yourself to future (not just classroom) audiences. For example, one student wants her portfolio to demonstrate intercultural interests and thus is already planning to blog during her summer abroad. So, when you take a course in your major that requires a research paper, choose a topic that represents your passions and interests, and express to your professor your desire to write a paper that seriously engages expert sources. If you are engaging in service learning or community activism, save documents you write, archive fliers/posters you create, and record speeches/talks that you give. This evidence of your communication breadth will come in handy and will be hard to recreate after the fact.

I hope this gives you some idea of what you can be thinking about in the semesters before you create your own e-Portfolio! If you have any questions about the ECC, email mcs288@psu.edu

Yours,

Michelle Smith
ECC Director

Paterno Fellows, Paterno Aspirants, and their guests are invited to a special evening out on Friday, February 25.  For just $5, you'll get to see "The Beaux Strategem" at the Playhouse Theatre (the reviews have been raves!) with a pre-show dinner preview at 6:30 in 111 Arts Building.   

At 7:30 you'll enjoy a wonderful performance of George Farquhar's famous comedy The Beaux Strategem at the Playhouse Theatre (next to the Forum Building).  Directed by distinguished visiting artist Di Trevis, the play is a hilarious romantic comedy involving two dirty rotten scoundrels--two fashionable beaux--with a strategy for getting rich by separating naive young heiresses from their dowries.  Their plans go haywire, though, when true love intervenes, not to mention mistaken identities and robberies gone strangely awry. 

Before the play, at 6:30 (and over a free dinner provided right there for you), in 111 Arts Building, director Di Trevis and PSU Evan Pugh Professor Robert Hume will offer an informal orientation to the play.  This should be tremendous because the food will be good and because Trevis and Hume are experts on the English stage.  Trevis (according to wikipedia) has been directing plays in Britain and the US since 1981.  The first woman to run a company at Britain's Royal National Theatre, she has directed a host of wonderful performances, particularly at the Royal Shakespeare Company. Hume is one of 22 Penn State Evan Pugh Professors (the highest honor a PSU professor can receive) because of his remarkable and sustained studies of English theatre.

And both Trevis and Hume have a pretty good sense of humor.

Fellows and aspirants can pick up tickets ($5 each) from Billie Moslak in 119 Sparks beginning Monday, February 21.  First come, first served.  Each Fellow or aspirant can also buy a ticket for one non-Paterno guest.  But all ticket holders must commit to attending both the pre-show dinner as well as the play itself.

Hello Fellows! Recently the Advisory Board met to discuss some of the upcoming events and future plans for the program. To begin, we discussed the recognition event that took place on January 10th and its pros and cons. Overall we were very pleased with the event and are hoping that you all enjoyed it as much as we did. Next, we discussed the upcoming Paterno Fellows Program event: play The Beaux Strategem on February 25th. I know this event is scheduled for a Friday, but you get a dinner and a show for just $5. Tickets are on sale now in 119 Sparks if you are interested (and you can bring a guest). Finally in old/rapidly approaching business, Dr. Selzer was approached about the permissibility of substituting two minors for the 24-credit minor or second major that is required for graduation with the Paterno Fellows Program. He has deemed it acceptable to do this, but only with his explicit permission based on the student's unique academic goals. This would require you to meet with him in order to discuss and explain your reasoning behind the request. If you have any questions about this, please contact Dr. Selzer via email.

In addition to those things in the immediate past or future, the Advisory Board also looked at some long-term goals for the program. A few of us have decided to take on some side projects that we feel would be interesting for Fellows and Aspirants to participate in. Caitlin is currently planning a Sustainability Fair for students which will feature different eco-friendly organizations. Danielle is looking into maybe having a THON team for the program. Olivia is trying to figure out what it would take to have a presence at Homecoming next fall. Finally, I am proposing a mentoring program where Fellows and Aspirants would be matched based on academic interests and majors. Fellows would be able to give advice about different professors and classes in addition to anything else that an Aspirant might have questions about, including fulfilling program requirements. As you may be able to tell, all of these events will begin or take place in the fall, but we are currently in the planning stages, so this is why we are asking for your help. In the coming weeks, you will be receiving messages asking you to work with each of the people named above in order to make these projects come together smoothly. We would greatly appreciate any assistance that you can provide with these projects. Like I said, most of these projects are in the early planning stages, so we are basically working from scratch. So remember, play on February 25th, watch your inboxes for solicitation about helping with these projects, and pass your first exams. Hopefully your semesters are going well and let's keep up the great work.

Paterno Fellows, Aspirants, and their guests are invited to a special evening out on Friday, February 25--for just $5.  

There are two main attractions.  At 7:30 you'll enjoy a wonderful performance of George Farquhar's famous comedy The Beaux Strategem at the Playhouse Theatre (next to the Forum Building).  Directed by distinguished visiting artist Di Trevis, the play is a hilarious romantic comedy involving two dirty rotten scoundrels--two fashionable beaux--with a strategy for getting rich by separating naive young heiresses from their dowries.  Their plans go haywire, though, when true love intervenes, not to mention mistaken identities and robberies gone strangely awry. 

Before the play (and over a free dinner provided right there for you), in 111 Arts Building, director Di Trevis and PSU Evan Pugh Professor Robert Hume will offer an informal orientation to the play.  This should be tremendous because the food will be good and because Trevis and Hume are experts on the English stage.  Trevis (according to wikipedia) has been directing plays in Britain and the US since 1981.  The first woman to run a company at Britain's Royal National Theatre, she has directed a host of wonderful performances, particularly at the Royal Shakespeare Company. For the past seven years, Trevis has been teaching actors and directors in her international workshops, which has brought her to PSU. Hume is one of 22 Penn State Evan Pugh Professors (the highest honor a PSU professor can receive) because of his remarkable and sustained studies of English theatre.

And both Trevis and Hume have a pretty good sense of humor.

Fellows and aspirants can pick up tickets ($5 each) from Billie Moslak in 119 Sparks beginning Monday, February 14.  First come, first served.  Each Fellow or aspirant can also buy a ticket for one non-Paterno guest.  But all ticket holders must commit to attending both the pre-show dinner as well as the play itself.