Preserving the Concert Tradition

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Composer Steven Danyew joins the KSC Concert Band on Thursday November 3rd.

Concert lovers can fill their sails at 7 p.m. Thursday, November 3, when the KSC Concert Band and choruses take the Main Stage at the Redfern Arts Center to present “Images in Sound: Preserving the Concert Tradition.”

Jim Chesebrough, KSC music faculty member, and KSC senior Sean Meagher, assistant conductor, direct the band in this performance, presented as part of the College’s 7th Biennial Symposium, What Sustains Us? Envisioning Our Future. Composer Steven Danyew, winner of the 2011 Keene State College Call for Scores competition, will join Dr. Chesebrough; Heather Gilligan, composer and assistant professor of music; and Joe Darby, musicologist, performer, and professor of music, in a pre-concert panel to discuss the importance of commissioning new music.
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Check Out the Candidates

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In keeping with our commitment to academic excellence and public service, KSC has partnered with the American Democracy Project (ADP), a non-partisan, multi-campus initiative by the American Association of State Colleges and Universities (AASCU), to bring political candidates to campus to engage our students, faculty, staff, and Keene community members in the political process. Through The Participating Candidates Program, candidates visit classes, meet with students, and deliver a public address in an open campus forum. The program encourages its attendees to become active, involved citizens. We are pleased to have The Keene Sentinel as our community partner in this endeavor.

To see what candidates will be coming to campus (and other campus happenings), visit the KSC Events Calendar. Questions? Contact Kim Schmidl-Gagne.

KSC Alumni Networking Event in Hooksett, NH

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 Join Brian Parda ’01 and Steve Fortier ’87 on Tuesday, November 15, from 5:30–8 p.m. as they host area KSC alumni at White Birch Brewing’s new facility on 1339 Hooksett Road in Hooksett, NH.

Come network and reconnect with other area alumni! Members of the KSC Alumni Association and the Alumni and Parent Relations staff will be on hand to share the latest news from campus. The White Birch Brewing staff will be pouring samples and answering questions about their beer. Other refreshments and snacks will be available.

For more information about this event, be sure to check it out on the KSC Alumni Facebook page or the alumni website!

Prof. Davis-Kelly Has the Scoop on Pumpkin Carving

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With the great Pumpkin Lobotomy and Pumpkinfest looming (Oct. 22 and 21, respectively), what better setting to inspire a whimsical childrens book about carving the first pumpkin than Keene? Maybe it’s just natural then that all these jack-o-lanterns have moved Graphics Design Professor Rebecca Davis-Kelly and her husband Kevin to create Scooped: the Forgotten Tale of the First Pumpkin Carving, the delightful story of Professor von Junk, a lonely inventor who longed to also be a poet, painter, musician, and Broadway director. The frustrated von Junk created an audience of jack-o-lanterns to watch his first show, the townspeople caught on, and a wonderful yearly tradition was born! Just in time for Pumpkinfest!

For more information, contact Pixel Publishers, PO Box 712, Keene, NH, 03431

KSC Receives Financial Literacy Grant

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Keene State recently received a $4000 grant from HIgher One, a technology and payment services company focused on higher education. Higher One’s Financial Literacy Counts grant program was created so schools could fund student awareness campaigns, workshops, online financial literacy tools, and other programs to help students increase their personal financial management skills and abilities.

Keene State College was among the eight colleges and universities selected from a pool of over 80 applicants to receive $30,000 in total funding from the grant. The proposals were selected based their high levels of student involvement in planning and execution, quality, creativity, and impact on the percentage of undergraduate students on campus.

The College used the grant to fund the financial literacy programs that it provides to incoming students during orientation.

Where’d I See That?

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Personally, I think this is a devious challenge:

If you think you know where this is, stick your answer in the hatband of a Montecristi Fino Panama hat (size 22 1/3″) and send it (in protective hat box, por favor) to Newsline, Alumni Center, 229 Main St., Keene, NH 03435. Or use the “comments” link, below.

Join Us to Celebrate Granny D

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From the 2007 oil painting, Portrait of Granny D, by Sissi Shattuck.

In need of a little inspiration? Think one person can’t make a difference? Well, a great-grandmother from New Hampshire inspired the nation and showed that one person can have a pretty big impact. Come back to campus on Saturday, September 24, and help celebrate the opening of the Granny D Collection at the Mason Library, which is now the proud home of this iconic political activist’s nationally-recognized letters, photographs, and memorabilia.

At 1 p.m., come to the library’s west wing (first floor) to participate in a facilitated discussion about Doris “Granny D” Haddock and her legacy with several speakers, including by Ken Hechler, Molly Kelly, KSC poli-sci prof and state rep Charles Weed, Andrea Raila, Kris Roberts, Jim Rubens, and Ruth Meyer, and a video message from Bill McKibben and greetings from Russ Feingold  and Jeanne Shaheen. At 2 p.m., the Mason Library Archives & Special Collections will unveil a new bronze of Granny D, and Dennis Burke, her biographer, will speak on “If You Want to Be Free, Be Free: The Happy Fearlessness of Granny D and Democracy.” Continue reading Join Us to Celebrate Granny D →

KSC’s Newest Distinguished Teacher: William Seigh

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Prof. William Seigh, a most distinguished teacher

William Seigh, professor of dance, received the Alumni Association’s Distinguished Teacher Award during the New Student Convocation ceremonies that a kicked off the fall semester on August 25. The Distinguished Teacher Award recognizes excellence in teaching, encouragement of independent thinking, rapport with students, and effective student advising, and Prof. Seigh is the 41st recipient of this distinctive honor.

Prof. Seigh’s impact on his students, the Theatre & Dance Department, and the campus, has been profound, as the many heartfelt letters from alumni, students, and faculty supporting his nomination for the award attest. He has a rare gift of motivating his students to find the excellence within themselves. Becky Midler ’10 remembered that, as a freshman, a knee injury caused her to give up her dream of becoming a dancer—until she met William Seigh. “He told me I can do anything; if my heart was in it, I could move past the injury. Following our conversation, he enrolled me in my first dance class in more than six months. … He worked with me and kept pushing me to reach my goals.”

Joshua Midget ’07 said that “rehearsals with William were rehearsals for life,” and Valerie Snowdon ’05 explained that “William does not simply teach dance; he creates critically thinking, confident, and motivated young citizens.” “With thorough knowledge of his field and enthusiastic diligence,” noted Shawn Ahern ’10, “William pushes his students far beyond their boundaries and guides them as they explore the unknown.”

What’s the secret to such profound teaching and influence? The inspiring acceptance speech that Prof. Seigh gave during convocation offers insight into his approach and is well worth reading.

Celebrate the Redfern’s 30th Year

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Come back to campus on Friday, Sept. 16th to help kick off the Redfern Art Center’s 30th year of bringing great performances to the Monadnock Region. The festivities run from 4–6 p.m. and are free and open to the public. The evening will include refreshments and performances by acclaimed contemporary dancer Adele Myers, Music Department artist-in-residence Don Baldini and professor and guitarist José Lezcano, and Theatre and Dance students Deirdre Lewis, Riley Ahern, and Amanda Jones.

You’ll also get a chance to meet the Redfern’s new director, Shannon Mayers.  If you’re coming, please RSVP to 603-358-2168 or boxoffice@keene.edu.

The Redfern has a brilliant program of performances scheduled to mark it’s big anniversary year. Come on back to hear all about it and get ready for the fun!

More information. …

Jarett Miller Wins Undergrad Research Fellowship

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Jarett Miller, microbiology student extraordinaire

KSC sophomore Jarett Miller has been awarded the American Society for Microbiology’s (ASM) Undergraduate Research Fellowship. This fellowship is aimed at highly competitive students who wish to pursue graduate careers (PhD or MD/PhD) in microbiology. And talk about competitive—Jarett applied for the fellowship last year, when he was a freshman! Fellows have the opportunity to conduct full-time summer research at their institution with an ASM mentor and present their research results at the 112th ASM General Meeting in San Francisco, CA, if their abstract is accepted.

Associate Professor of Biology Loren Launen is Jarett’s mentor. (Read about Dr. Launen in the current issue of Keene State Today.) His research project is titled “Characterization of aerobic polyaromatic hydrocarbon degrading bacteria from tidal wetlands of the Great Bay Estuary, NH.”

Each fellow receives up to a $4,000 stipend, a two-year ASM student membership, and funding for travel expenses to the ASM Presentation Institute and 112th ASM General Meeting. Congratulations, Jarett!

Where to Get the Best Hair Care

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Elle magazine in its article, “United States of Style,” has listed Salon Jacqué in Brattleboro, Vermont, (6 Eliot St.) as one of the top 100 salons in the country. And where would the owner of such an award-winning establishment get her remarkable sense of style? Salon-owner Jacqueline Bilodeau is a 1989 graduate from KSC’s Theatre & Dance Department!
Continue reading Where to Get the Best Hair Care →

Film Students on Film

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For many recent film grads, most of their time at KSC was spent working on Enter to Learn, Go Forth to Serve: the First Hundred Years of Keene State College. The film, which airs on New Hampshire Public TV at 8 and 9 p.m. on Sept. 26 and several other times this fall (see the schedule), was a grand and serious project, and 80 or so students spent many long hours creating this excellent documentary. As film studies adjunct faculty member and the film’s co-creator Lance Levesque noted, “We set the standard so high that nothing but perfection was acceptable. That doesn’t just happen; you don’t just go out and take a picture. Some of our shoots were eight hours long, to get one shot with the perfect lighting with no shadows, and the prefect movement with no jittering.”

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Roe v Wade: Past, Present, and Future

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Sarah Weddington

This year’s Dr. Lila C. Murphy ’52 Women and Leadership Lecture Series will feature Sarah Weddington, who, in 1973, successfully argued the Roe v. Wade case before the US Supreme Court, giving women the constitutional right to privacy and the right to choose an abortion. Today, legislators are using the ongoing health care debate as an opportunity to severely restrict women’s access to abortion, or to overturn the landmark ruling altogether. Through her unique lens, Weddington examines the current abortion debate and provides insight into what it all means.

The lecture will be held on Wednesday, October 5, at 7:30 p.m. in the Mabel Brown Room (L.P. Young Student Center) and is free and open to the public.

Alumni! Parents! Pumpkin Fest Parking!

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Hooray! KSC is offering FREE PARKING DURING PUMPKINFEST! Boo! Spaces are limited and you have to reserve one in advance. There’s lots going on on campus that weekend, but the wonderful folks in the Alumni & Parent Relations Office—and Campus Safety, of course!—are holding 50 coveted spaces for alumni and 50 spaces for parents—first come, first served.

You can register online from  October 3 through October 17, or until the spaces are gone. Visit either the Alumni webpage,  or the Parent webpage, where you can find the sign-up form. If you’re one of the lucky early birds, you’ll receive a special parking pass in the mail to place on your dashboard when you’ve parked on campus. Each alumnus or parent may register one vehicle. You’ve got to park before noon on October 22.

Lynn Richardson's "Inside the Fence," currently on exhibit at the UMF Art Gallery.

Prof. Richardson’s Sculpture in Several Galleries

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Lynn Richardson's Inside the Fence, currently on exhibit at the UMF Art Gallery.

Assistant Professor of Sculpture Lynn Richardson’s work is currently appearing in several East Coast galleries. Prof. Richardson is acutely aware of the impact our modern technological progress has on the natural world, and explores that conflict through her sculpture. “We continually exploit our physical world, pushing the limits through our use of technology, neglecting to see the devastating long-term effects it will have on our environment,” Prof. Richardson explained. “My work is intended to be playful, even humorous, in order to soften the hard reality of the underlying message.” However, she also feels “the urgency to respond to these conflicts from the position of an artist that belongs to a different generation.”

So if you’re out and about over the next month or so, visit any of these galleries to be inspired by this sculptor’s amazing work:

Continue reading Prof. Richardson’s Sculpture in Several Galleries →