Three Cups of Tea Selected as Common Reading Choice for New Students
What difference can one person make?
Three Cups of Tea, this year's Common Reading selection for new students, chronicles how mountain climber Greg Mortenson has changed the lives of 28,000 school children in his quest to bring education to Pakistan's and Afghanistan's rural villages. He has established more than 78 schools and vocational centers in areas rife with political discord.
Mortenson tells of how, while descending K2, the world's second highest mountain, he lost his way in 1993 and by happenstance found the small village of Korphe in the remote Karakoram region of the Himalayas. As a parting promise in response to the villagers' generosity, he promised to return and build a school. It took over 580 letters, and included building a bridge across the rugged terrain, but eventually his first school was built.
The campus community will have the opportunity to hear his first-hand account when he delivers the keynote address for Convocation at 4:30 p.m., Wednesday, Aug. 26, in Severance Hall. Mortenson's appearance will be his first in Ohio. Read more.
Campus News
RePlay for Kids is hosting a toy repair workshop to benefit children with disabilities from 5 to 7 p.m., Tuesday, March 24, in Nord Hall 310. RePlay for Kids is a nonprofit organization of volunteers who repair and adapt toys and assistive devices for children with disabilities. Most of the work involves minor repairs. Send an e-mail to the organization for more information.
As part of Writing Week, the SAGES University Seminar Case Writes is conducting a campus survey of writing practices and attitudes. The online survey is open through Friday, March 27.
Joseph Fagan, Lucy Adams Leffingwell Professor of Psychology, will once again offer his summer grant writing course, Critical Thinking in Research, for faculty and advanced graduate students. Those who take this course will have a complete proposal ready to be sent out for fall 2009 federal deadlines by the end of July. Complete information, including class schedules, how to register and tuition waiver information is available online. Faculty from all major academic divisions at the university who have taken the course over the years have brought in approximately $45 million in total costs. Note: Graduate students enrolled in a degree program may begin registering today. All visiting and non-degree students can register beginning April 13.
The Weatherhead School of Management and the Department of Organizational Behavior will host an informational open house about the Master of Science Program in Positive Organizational Development and Change (MPOD) from 4 to 6:30 p.m., Thursday, March 26, at the Peter B. Lewis Building. Before the open house Richard Boyatzis, a professor in the Weatherhead School of Management and the College of Arts and Sciences, will lead a free online workshop on "Coaching with Compassion: The Path to Developing Leaders." MPOD explores appreciative inquiry, leadership development, emotional intelligence and sustainable enterprises. Register online.
For Faculty and Staff
The University Center on Aging and Health and the Frances Payne Bolton School of Nursing are co-sponsoring the 18th Annual Florence Cellar Conference: Intergenerational Family Caregiving: Self Management in Caring for Each Other on Thursday, April 23, at Executive Caterers at Landerhaven. This conference will gather scholars and practitioners in the community to examine various concepts and activities that will foster and promote support and services to caregiving families. Note: The University Center on Aging and Health is offering a special rate of $125 for faculty and staff to attend. If more than one faculty member comes from a respective department, each can come for $100. Contact Pamela Collins at 368-2692 for more information.
The Department of Human Resources is hosting a seminar on "Perspectives for Weathering Volatile Times" from 1:30 to 3 p.m., Tuesday, March 24, at the Allen Memorial Library. Register online.
For Students
The Summer Information Fair will be held from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m., Tuesday, March 24, and Wednesday, March 25, at the SAGES Café. Students are invited to stop by to learn about summer courses, enter a raffle for a $100 gift card to the Barnes & Noble Bookstore, and take home fun prizes and gifts. Go online for more information.
The Engineering and Science Review (ESR), a magazine published every semester by Case Western Reserve students, is looking for students to join the team. The magazine is devoted to exploring research taking place at the university. Submissions from engineering to medical sciences to humanities are welcome. Writers are wanted, along with copy editors and layout designers. All positions are paid. Meetings are held at 8 p.m. on Tuesdays in The Observer office (basement of Thwing Center).
The Pre-Dental Society is hosting an elementary outreach program on Friday, March 27. The group will visit Citizen's Academy to teach students about proper dental hygiene, and the dental society is accepting donations of dental hygiene items for this program. Contact Fred Chen for details.
Events
The Department of English presents Philip Gourevitch on the topic of "Extreme Reporting: Inhabiting the Story from Rwanda to Abu Ghraib" at 7 p.m., Wednesday, March 25, in Mather Memorial 125. Gourevitch is a staff writer for The New Yorker and editor of The Paris Review. Part of the Wain Journalism Lecture Series.
Roland Posner, director of the Research Center for Semiotics at the Technische Universität Berlin, will speak on the topic of "Berlin—New York: Visual Deconstructions of Urban Life" from 4 to 6:30 p.m., Monday, March 30, in Clark Hall 309. A reception precedes the talk at 4 p.m. Posner will discuss how a city's identity is constantly being constructed of millions of visions that are already processed in multiple ways. Sponsored by the Max Kade Center for German Studies and the Center for Culture and Cognition.
The Department of Music announces the third concert in its 23rd season of Chapel, Court & Countryside: Early Music at Harkness. CC&C presents the Cleveland debut of Quicksilver at 7:30 p.m., Saturday, March 28, in Harkness Chapel. The program is a celebration of Handel the cosmopolitan musician. The group includes Case Western Reserve's Julie Andrijeski on baroque violin. Discounted tickets of $23 are available for faculty and staff. Admission is free for Case Western Reserve students.
Stephen Hazan Arnoff will discuss "About Man and God and Law: Bob Dylan and Religion" at 4:30 p.m., Wednesday, March 25, in Clark Hall 309. In a discussion illustrated by selected clips of music, video and text, Arnoff, a Cleveland native and a scholar of popular and Jewish culture, will explain how Dylan's pursuit of spiritual truth embodies a modern quest of many great artists and intellectuals to make sense of ancient traditions and folkways. Sponsored by the Samuel Rosenthal Center for Judaic Studies.
As part of Women's History Month, Linda Niccolai of Yale University will discuss "A Harm Reduction Approach to HIV Prevention for Women: Examples from Around the Globe" from 7 to 9 p.m., Tuesday, March 24, at the Mandel School of Applied Social Sciences, Room 320A. Learn more.
The views and opinions of those invited to speak on campus do not necessarily reflect the views of the university administration or any other segment of the university community.
Data Center Renovations
The final phases of the data center renovation project involve moving individual data servers, which may result in periodic planned outages for some information technology services. Server and application administrators will alert affected users. Read more for a complete schedule of planned services.
