Students in Professor Andoveloniaina Rasolofo’s French linguistics class at New York’s Manhattanville College, listening to Dr. Langford.

On May 1, French linguistics students at Manhattanville College in New York had their first encounter with Cheshire County’s Franco-Americans, via the wizardry of Skype.

From her office in Morrison Hall, Professor Margaret Langford delivered her interactive PowerPoint lecture, An Invisible Presence: The Franco-Americans in New England (Une Présence invisible: Les Franco-Americans de la Nouvelle Angleterre), to Professor Andoveloniaina Rasolofo’s students and guests at Manhattanville. Dr. Langford explained to her audience how more than 900,000 French-Canadians (Québécois) immigrated to the United States, primarily coming to New England and upper-state New York, from the mid 1800s to well into the 1930s, and that many of their descendants still abide there. Using the Franco-American experience in Cheshire County, New Hampshire as a model, Dr. Langford examined the question: “Why don’t we know more about the Franco-Americans today, despite their significant numbers and contributions?”

“My students and I learned a lot about a topic that is seldom discussed,” explained Professor Rosolofo.

Professor Langford found it “an exhilarating experience!”

Two representatives from KSC have been awarded fellowships to the first European Summer Institute on the Holocaust and Jewish Civilization at the Royal Holloway campus, Egham, Surrey in England, this summer: Dr. Nona Fienberg, who will be moving from her current position as  dean of Arts & Humanities in June to teach in the Holocaust and Genocide Studies Department, and Economics Professor Patrick Dolenc. This intensive, two-week residential program is designed to broaden the background of postgraduates in Holocaust studies, early career academics, and educators in relevant fields. The curriculum consists of courses, lectures, and seminars taught by leading scholars on such themes as the history of Jews and Judaism in Europe, Holocaust history, the Holocaust in literature and film, and the Holocaust and modern thought.

Dr. Beverly J. Ferrucci

The NH Department of Education recently honored Dr. Beverly J. Ferrucci, professor of mathematics, at a presentation honoring the state’s outstanding educators and schools. The New Hampshire College and University Council selected Dr. Ferrucci for her teaching excellence, particularly for her research in ethnomathematics, the study of how other cultures learn and use mathematics, and her efforts to promote and encourage women to pursue careers in the mathematical sciences.

More information.

James Waller, Professor and Cohen Chair for Holocaust and Genocide Studies

Professor and Cohen Chair for Holocaust and Genocide Studies James Waller has been invited to attend a dinner at the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum in Washington, DC, on April 18, honoring Aung San Suu Kyi. The Memorial Museum will grant Suu Kyi, who won the 1991 Nobel Peace Prize for her pro-democracy work in her native Burma, with the Elie Wiesel Award, the Museum’s highest honor.

“I am particularly thrilled to have the opportunity to be present for Aung San Suu Kyi’s award,” Dr. Waller explained. “I think that what is happening in Myanmar/Burma is forcing us to rethink genocide prevention in some fundamental (and very encouraging) ways. Last year at this time, I was telling audiences that Burma was the most likely country in the world to engage in genocide. It really stood on the precipice of mass atrocity, and my standard line was ‘the only surprise is that genocide hasn’t happened yet in Burma,’ because every other risk factor was well in place. Now, just months later, free, democratic elections are on the horizon. It’s really amazing—this most encouraging lesson in genocide prevention is that it’s never too late. As long as a country hasn’t yet reached that falling off point, there’s still hope.”

Dr. Waller is also invited to participate as a featured speaker in the Museum’s annual Days of Remembrance luncheon on April 19. Broadcast journalist Marvin Kalb, and Shankhar Vedantum, author of The Hidden Brain, will moderate the luncheon program, which will focus on understanding how the Holocaust was made possible by everyday people. Dr. Waller’s research for his book, Becoming Evil: How Ordinary People Commit Genocide and Mass Killing (Oxford), will be particularly relevant to the discussion.

About 10 years ago, while he was developing a course at University of Illinois Chicago, Michael Antonucci, associate professor of English and American studies, stumbled upon an old and dusty copy of Frank J. Basloe’s I Grew Up With Basketball: Twenty Years of Barnstorming with Cage Greats of Yesterday, then long out of print. Basloe (1887–1966) was born in Hungary and immigrated as a child with his family to the United States in the late 19th century.

“It’s a great American coming-of-age tale in which a Jewish immigrant becomes (in his words) ‘a toned American’ through the new game called basketball,” explained Dr. Antonucci. “From this perspective, the text gives scholars and students a great snapshot of the US in the early 20th century. Trains, cities, towns, games, work, and the hustle are present throughout the text.” Realizing that the book had real value for his work in American studies at KSC, Dr. Antonucci tried using a pdf copy of I Grew Up With Basketball as a text it in his class. Obviously, that was far from an ideal solution, so he proposed that the University of Nebraska Press reprint the book, for which he wrote a new introduction.
Continue Reading »