Professors discuss details of knowledge at panel

Four professors from different departments spoke at the Academic Affairs Committee Professor Panel on Wednesday Nov. 19 to discuss how different fields define "knowledge," what knowledge means and why people can be confident that they know something. The panel consisted of assistant professor of planetary geology, hydrology and geomorphology Nicholas Warner, assistant professor of history Ryan Jones, assistant professor of statistics Yusuf Kenan Bilgiç and assistant professor of philosophy Amanda Roth.

The first question proposed to the professors was about whether or not they believe there is a general consensus of what is known in their respective departments.

“The problem for me, being new to the department, is that it is hard to get a sense of what we all agree and disagree on,” Warner said, who is in his first year of teaching at Geneseo. “I get my data from the frontier of existence of known space. In the planetary sciences field we are limited on data, heavy in hypothesis and light on consensus. There are no defined laws for planetary sciences––it is always changing. We help each other in trying to establish a knowledge of our respective fields.”

Jones, who is also a new professor and teaches Latin American history and cultures, said he feels similarly.

“The history department changes as history changes,” Jones said. “It is very different than the department it was 50 years ago, which focused on politics and economics. [The professors] saw history as a series of lists and dates as opposed to focusing on women, minorities and different types of people.”

The second question dealt with the different levels of reliable knowledge. Warner discussed the importance of hypotheses when it comes to geological sciences.

“There needs to be some sort of initial observational evidence to support a belief,” he said. “Hypothesis is basically just observing something, then examining what it is and why it happens. Eventually, a hypothesis that stands the test of time and becomes reviewed amongst peers who are similarly trained becomes a theory. You can't go from hypothesis to theory to law—it is impossible.”

Roth countered Warner’s argument.

“Philosophers do not use the theory of law,” she said. “Some are skeptical of the idea that we can actually know anything––why do we need justification? What counts as justification? We can observe all sorts of things, but does that count as observation? We can't really justify anything—this is one of these puzzles that have been puzzling philosophers for hundreds of years. There is no way to justify beliefs.”

Finally, the panel discussed what the process of knowledge in the professors’ respective fields includes.

“In stats you are given data, but what can you infer? What is missing? We need to communicate with some upper level of knowledge,” Bilgiç said. “I call it wisdom; wisdom and knowledge force you to make decisions,”

Warner said that knowledge comes from communicating.

“We all read, speak, teach and write. That is a key part of building my own knowledge base over time,” he said. “One of my graduate advisors said she got a PhD because she realized that she doesn't know everything. The recognition that you don't know everything keeps you going—to read more papers, give more talks, teach more classes. I’ve learned more from teaching than anything else. You can really improve from interacting with others.”

Guest speaker shares feminist poetry, discusses nonprofit work

Poet Cate Marvin provided listeners with a sample of her poems when she visited campus as part of the All-College hour speaker series on Wednesday Nov. 12. In addition to reading her work, she discussed the nonprofit organization VIDA: Women in Literary Arts, which she co-founded with fellow poet Erin Beliu in 2009. Published in 2001, her first book World’s Tallest Disaster was chosen for the Kathryn A. Morton Prize. She also received the Kate Tufts Discovery Prize a year later.

Marvin co-edited the anthology Legitimate Dangers: American Poets of the New Century with poet Michael Dumanis in 2006. Her poems have appeared in over ten acclaimed literary journals. Her second book Fragment of the Head of a Queen was published in 2007 and she received a Whiting Award for her work. She now teaches at Lesley University, Columbia University and the College of Staten Island.

She read 11 of her poems covering a variety of subjects. Marvin described her poetry as "dark and comedic.” One of the opening poems was “Whether to Reel For,” a two-part poem which Marvin called “more of an apocalyptic poem than the first.” It focused on how nature is “symbolic of a human emotion, which is, of course, a fallacy because nature does not have emotion.” The third poem “Scenes from the Battle of Us” compared a volatile relationship to a war.

“My poems are funny in a dark way,” Marvin said. “They’re ironic in the sense that any sort of ironic statement is both true and false—kind of a messed up observation.” Marvin continued on to read “Lying My Head Off,” focusing on how sometimes we have no choice but to lie.

“At times they say one must lie in order to survive,” she said, comparing lies to “an oil slick on my tongue.”

Marvin has a new book coming out in March 2015 titled Oracle, which took about seven years to complete. It draws material from Marvin’s high school days—encounters with the opposite sex, stereotypes and popularity.

Oracle’s poems vary in subject range from classroom time to eye color to wisteria trees. For example, one poem named “Industrial Arts” tackles the divide between female and male roles in the form of an industrial arts class.

In the poem, an imaginary teacher yells, “Ladies, stand back! We don’t want you cutting those pretty fingers off or sawing yourselves in half. This is a man’s work.”

According to Marvin, the “nonprofit feminist literary” VIDA organization she co-founded “helps expose the same amount of opportunities to women and men as writers.”

She noted that the birth of the organization was somewhat of an accident.

“I wrote a letter to a panel who rejected me about the fact that females are underrepresented in the literary world,” she said. “The email went viral, and the next day I woke up and had over 300 emails in my inbox. [Beliu] had been on this panel, and she became my co-director that day.”

Although Marvin is working to correct the gender imbalance in her field, she said that there is still room for improvement.

Marvin said that she draws inspiration from Lord Alfred Tennyson, T.S. Eliot, Wallace Stevens, Thomas Wyatt and Robert Frost, naming them amongst her favorite poets. The poet most influential to her, however, is Sylvia Plath. Many of Marvin’s poems deal with similar themes to Plath’s, especially those concerning suicide and lost love.

“[There is] a tradition established by Plath in dramatic monologues that are very artificial in their construction,” Marvin said. “It is rare that you find good novels or poems in which everything goes right. Good literature is about conflict.”

School of Business hires new Dean, works to increase department visibility

  Geneseo recently named Denise Rotondo as Dean of the School of Business, replacing interim dean Walter Roettger.

Prior to being selected, Rotondo served as Dean of Business for seven years at Meredith College in Raleigh, North Carolina. There, she taught management classes and led an initiative that resulted in AACSB initial accreditation.

Rotondo cited the new opportunities she will have at Geneseo as the primary reason for her major career move.

“I now have the opportunity to work with the brightest, most motivated students I’ve seen in over 20 years, as well as a talented faculty who excel at teaching, scholarship and professional involvement,” she said. “I also have the opportunity to strengthen some outstanding academic programs by engaging the business community more directly with students and faculty.”

Her credentials include a doctorate in business administration from Florida State University with an emphasis on organizational behavior and human resource management. In addition, she also earned a bachelor’s degree from the University of Florida followed by a master’s degree from Florida State.

Rotondo plans to cooperate with professors and students alike in order to “improve and expand” the School of Business.

“We are planning on the introduction of concentrations in areas such as finance and marketing for Business School majors; a revision to the professional development requirement which will ensure all business students develop strong job-search skills early in their academic program,” she said. “These skills will be bolstered by the expansion of opportunities for students to network with alumni and busibusiness professionals, leading to internships and job placements.”

With this plan in mind, Rotondo hopes to see the School of Business’ professional recognition grow.

“At Geneseo, we offer an outstanding business education by combining the best of a strong liberal arts education with exceptional professional preparation,” Rotondo said. “Our students have remarkable career success. The achievements of our graduates keep employers coming back ... and many employers reach out to us even though Geneseo is not on their firm’s ‘typical’ college-recruiting circuit. I want the School of Business at Geneseo to be recognized and across the state and beyond for the quality of our program and the value it offers to students.”

The School of Business currently has over 850 students majoring in accounting, business administration and economics. The school also offers graduate programs in accounting. The enrollment in the School of Business programs, as well as the number of internships offered, grew for a second time in 2014.

“The growth in Business School majors and remarkable job placements of our students told me that the school was thriving,” Rotondo said. “It was a wonderful professional opportunity for me and my family. Also, I’m a huge ice hockey fan, and when I saw the Geneseo’s men’s team went to the Frozen Four, I knew it was the right place for me.”

Rotondo is excited about her new position and the future that lies ahead.

“I have enough experience reviewing other business programs and visiting business schools all over the world to know a hidden gem when I see it,” she said. “We have a very bright future ahead.”

$1.2 million offered to future STEM teachers

The National Science Foundation recently awarded Geneseo with a five-year, $1.2 million grant that will provide scholarships to future science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) teachers. The award, which is Geneseo’s largest ever single grant, will benefit students planning to teach physics or other STEM disciplines in struggling high schools after obtaining a New York State education degree. The Robert Noyce Teacher Scholarship Program will award substantial scholarships to 35 STEM majors at Geneseo. The program mainly seeks to attract Geneseo physics majors into the education field.

“The Geneseo grant is especially focused on physics teaching, but math and other science majors can participate also,” program director and distinguished teaching professor of physics Kurt Fletcher said. Each student awarded the scholarship will receive up to two years of support during their junior and senior years, with physics majors receiving $12,000 per year and non-physics majors receiving $10,000 scholarships.

Internships and scholarship support will also be provided for students in the STEM field who plan on teaching their subjects at a high school level after they graduate.

Since there is a shortage of physics teachers in underserved high schools compared to other subjects such as English and history, the Robert Noyce Teacher Scholarship program was designed in an effort to enable those interested in teaching physics to meet their full potential.

The program also seeks to attract Geneseo physics majors into the education field by providing them with an incentive to enter a fulfilling career path.

“The primary objectives of the Noyce Scholarship program is to encourage talented science, technology, engineering, and mathematics majors and professionals to become K-12 mathematics and science teachers,” Fletcher said. “We’re going to offer early teaching experiences for undergraduates to get a taste of what teaching is like early in their academic careers, when it is still possible for them to enter the certification process through our School of Education.”

Scholars commit to teach two years as a mathematics or science teacher in an underserved school district for each year of scholarship support.

The award program––with a period extending to Aug. 31, 2019––consists of several different components. The Build-it, Leave-it, Teach-it program enables physics majors to design and construct physics-related demonstrations as well as prepare lessons and present them to students at local high schools. They are also encouraged to donate their physics equipment to the participating teacher’s classroom.

The second component is a summer program that includes a field school and an internship, geared to provide students with their first teaching experiences. The students will also be mentored by physics teachers and will attend a national conference of STEM education.

In addition to providing a stipend for the summer internship and tuition support for the summer physics teacher field school, the grant provides travel support for scholars, funds for materials and supplies for classroom demonstrations, and other necessities.

Fletcher has high hopes for the scholarship program.

“I hope that science and math majors who have the talent and expertise to become outstanding teachers will be encouraged to enter the teaching profession,” he said.

Holocaust survivor describes hardships

Holocaust survivor Sam Rind spoke in the College Union Ballroom about his experience as a young boy during World War II on Wednesday Oct. 8 as part of the All-College Hour Speaker Series. Born in Krasnovrov, Poland––a small town of only 3,000 people––in 1937, Rind was born into a world on the verge of war. World War II started in Sept. 1939.

“The destruction of properties, homes and lives––mainly those of Jews––started when [Adolf] Hitler came to power in 1933,” Rind said. “German Jews did not believe that Hitler was going to hurt them because their fathers fought for Germany in World War I. Even if someone changed religion, in his eyes, they were a Jew if their ancestry was Jewish. Anyone born as a Jew, dies as a Jew.”

When Rind was a young boy, his large family split up into groups in order to ensure a greater chance of survival. Rind and his mother, father, aunt, uncle, their three daughters and baby brother spent a long time being trucked from one Ukrainian camp to the other. In these camps, they were forced to perform manual labor.

Adults and children alike would “dig graves for those who were dead, even those who were nearing death,” Rind said.

One of Rind’s cousins was killed because she was not digging a grave fast enough. Rind noted that although most camps were guided by the German Nazis, the camp he was at was run by Romanians.

Rind felt the Romanians were worse than Germans. “They wanted to show the Germans that they could do the same thing they were doing, or better,” he said.

Rind explained how his father was forced to trade a 14-carat gold ring for one potato––food was  scarce. The death of Rind’s father instilled a sense of responsibility in him along with a loss of innocence.

“You had a 5-year-old lose not only his father, but his childhood because he realized he now had to take care of his mother and his baby brother,” Rind said.

The theme of family was prevalent throughout his speech as he continued to describe the inhumane loss of his brother.

“I’ve seen so much death in front of my eyes at such a young age … I learned so much from taking care of my mother,” Rind said. “I learned how to be a human being from her. She taught me respect … A society without respect is doomed.”

Rind survived the Holocaust by fleeing to the Ukraine. He returned to Poland to join a commune, eventually deciding to move to the United States. He finally made it to the U.S. in 1960.

Throughout Rind’s speech, he stressed the notion that we have a chance to end unfair killing once and for all. He compared the Holocaust to the mass genocide that is currently occurring in Africa.

“There is genocide that goes on in Africa every day because the government does not do enough to stop it,” Rind said.

He encouraged the audience to do something about genocide as soon as possible.

“Learn to say ‘never again,” he said. “It’s very important. You want to grow up and say, ‘there is peace on this earth because of you.’”

He hopes that by speaking to people around the world, he can encourage them to bring about lasting, positive world change.

“I’m hoping that people like me are helping people like you,” Rind said.

English department evaluates changes to major

The English department completed its restructuring of the English major last year. The department made two major changes to its curriculum in order to enhance the education of the students. All English courses are now four credits, which means that they are scheduled for 200 minutes a week. The requirement that must be met in order to receive an English degree has also changed, including a shift in the number of classes required as well as the types of classes offered. The major now encompasses a broader range of subjects that students can choose to study as well as both 300 and 400-level courses.

“Professors are using it to widen the range of ways in which they engage with students in the classroom,” English Department Chair Paul Schacht said. “We have always mixed up lecture and discussion, but a number of classes are putting students into groups and allotting time for group projects.”

This includes in-class workshops on writing and having students collaborate with each other online through blogging and forum discussion. According to Schacht, the primary benefit of the four-credit courses is that they "give students the freedom to try different kinds of things.”

He also stressed the importance of a greater number of choices when it comes to choosing classes.

“Students can still spread themselves out historically, since they are required to take at least one class that studies early, modern and recent literature,” Schacht said. “With the previous English major, too many students experienced [the major] merely as a checklist and crossing things off. We want to change that.”

400-level courses have recently been implemented to the major as well.

“We strived to put the emphasis in each course level on certain outcomes that we want our students to meet,” Schacht added. “As they go from one level to another, they will be building on skills and knowledge they had acquired while adding new ones as well. Students have much more freedom in the courses they take.”

300-level courses focus on literary texts in a historical context, while 400-level courses focus on criticism. In an effort to include each professor's ideas on what the most important aspects of the new major would be, professors divided themselves into groups. Each group of professors came up with an idea of the essential learning outcomes and decided on the most important area: to create a meaningful experience.

“We asked ourselves, ‘What are the most important skills for an English major to have when he or she graduates? What curriculum ensures that students acquire and improve that knowledge?’" Schacht said.

Now that the new major is implemented, Schacht noted that it is vital that professors are "committed to working together to ensure that students are reaching their goals."

Professors answered a quick assessment pertaining to their progress. The most recent assessment helped Schacht decide which parts of the major still need work. The professors are bringing students into the conversation as well.

"I appreciate it as a student because it gives me more flexibility in the classes I take and it definitely makes it easier to expose yourself to fewer types of writing overall,” junior English major Kristen Druse said. “I don't think my individual classes have been taught differently, but I think that this gives professors more flexibility to design classes that they're excited to teach, which is great for the department as a whole."

Schacht has high hopes for the “new and improved” English major.

"I think this change is fantastic,” he said. “Hopefully, it will help draw students towards deciding on a degree in English."

Geneseo ranked fifth nationally among master's universities

Geneseo was recently ranked fifth by Washington Monthly magazine among the nation’s master’s universities for its contributions to social mobility, research and service. There were 671 colleges in its master’s university category.Washington Monthly defines social mobility as “recruiting and graduating low-income students,” research as “producing cutting-edge scholarship and Ph.D.s,” and service as “encouraging students to give something back to their country.” Interim Provost and Vice President for Academic Affairs David Gordon said he is pleased with Geneseo’s high ranking. “I think it’s excellent for the college to get this recognition. It’s recognizing some of the things that we considered to be the most important, especially the categories of social mobility, research and service. These three categories are the things that are most important to this college,” he said. To be eligible for the ranking, a school must be considered a master’s university, which means they fit into the three aforementioned criteria––social mobility, research and service––as well as offering a vast array of undergraduate and graduate programs. Most of these schools are known for their comprehensive undergraduate programs and some master’s programs. Geneseo’s master’s program offers degrees in education and accounting, two popular undergraduate majors. Geneseo does not offer any doctorate programs. Gordon added that Geneseo was ranked 17th overall in 2012, which shows a great improvement. Geneseo was also ranked highly in numerous other categories. It placed ninth in the number of alumni who go on to earn a doctorate, 39th in the community service participation and hours served category, 11th in the number of alumni who service in the Peace Corps (relative to size), 271st in actual versus predicted graduation rates related to the net price of attendance and 92nd in “Best Bang for the Buck” based on the economic value students receive per dollar. Although Gordon said that it is hard to know for sure what will come of the rankings, he “hopes that students who are considering colleges will see and be attracted to Geneseo because of it.”

Faculty panel explores medical ethics

In a display of Geneseo's wide range of expertise, professors participated in the Medical Ethics Panel on Wednesday Oct. 30.

Professor of biology Susan Bandoni Muench, associate professor of sociology Elaine Cleeton and Chair and professor of anthropology Rose-Marie Chierici spoke to the globalization of medicine, including the relationship between poverty and the accessibility of health care.

Cleeton began the discussion by explaining her take on the influence that science and medicine have on the construction of the female body type that is deemed to be universal.

“Scientists offer important models for building knowledge, but every model has its flaws,” she said. “The classical medical view portrays the female body as deficient - childbirth is now viewed as a medical emergency, and our menstrual symptoms are seen as 'negative and angry.'”

Cleeton described her academic focus as examining how modern medicine contributes to beliefs that are “stereotypical to women, expecting them to be [submissive] to men.”

Muench's academic focus centers on working with host-parasite relationships in ecology and evolutionary organisms. She also studies trichinosis, which is a little-known disease in which a trichina worm infects the body through an oral cavity. According to Muench, trichinosis is deemed a neglected “tropical disease” because it is associated with poorer countries and sanitation.

The disease is an example of the negative “relationship between poverty and human health,” Muench said. “It is very hard to get funds within the scientific community for diseases that affect other countries than the United States. When you are looking at an infectious disease, it is not solely a concept of disease; there are sociological factors that contribute as well.”

Muench spoke about the neglected tropical diseases and health care in developing countries such as Ghana.

“It is caused by poverty and causes poverty itself … It lowers people's quality of life and limits children's horizons,” she said.

Chierici, the last to speak, is a cultural anthropologist with a specialty in applied medical anthropology. She has experience running a health care-centered nongovernmental organization in Haiti, assisting with the outbreak of cholera after the destructive earthquake of January 2010.

Chierici discussed how health care has become “an industry that helps make health a common good to people … Access to health is one of the questions that we are [mainly] concerned with … Health is no longer an individual experience. If it is a common good, then it should be available to all.”

This panel discussion was the first installment of the Academic Affairs Committee-sponsored Faculty Panel Series.

All-College Hour speaker critiques post-earthquake aid

Haitian-born Harvard professor Dr. Claire-Cecile Pierre spoke of her time reconstructing her birth country after the devastating January 2010 earthquake in the All-College Hour Speaker series on Wednesday Oct. 23. Pierre served as the chief medical resident and clinical director of quality informatics at the Cambridge Health Alliance. Pierre recounted her experiences following the traumatic events of the earthquake that left Haiti crumbling in its wake. The earthquake hit approximately 16 miles outside the capital Port-au-Prince, leaving over 200,000 people dead and over 300,000 people injured. Pierre said that her family was greatly affected by the earthquake, and she showed pictures of the personal impact of the earthquake on her life, including pictures of her collapsed apartment.

Along with Pierre’s apartment, the earthquake destroyed a substantial part of Haiti, including government buildings, hospitals, schools and commercial buildings. Thirty hospitals, three-quarters of the medical schools, the largest nursing school and the Ministry of Health were completely destroyed. Since Pierre’s primary focus is on health care improvement relief efforts, she sprang to action almost immediately after the earthquake affected her homeland.

Pierre described the extensive response period after the earthquake as emergency, recovery and reconstruction.

“The initial response was local,” she said. “When you watch CNN, you see the global response but never the local response. Neighbors pulling each other out … teachers coming to help.” She said that these firsthand experiences influenced her actions during each period of response, especially the current reconstruction period.

Pierre became a leader and advisor with the Interim Haiti Recovery Commission, which, she said, served “to bring technical assistance to the government in order to sort all of the offers that Haiti received after the earthquake in order to rebuild the country.”

“Regardless of the government’s political orientation, there will always be a need for health and education,” she said.

According to Pierre, 50 percent of American households donated to the Haiti earthquake. Most of the aid, however, was dedicated to humanitarian causes and could not be used for reconstruction.

“Now the government of Haiti is stuck, and the public sector is stuck,” she said. “We have people who want to help us but not in the areas where we absolutely need help.”

Pierre also spoke of her volunteering experience with Dr. Paul Farmer, an American physician and anthropologist whom she met at Harvard. She assisted him at the United Nations Office of the Special Envoy to Haiti with former President Bill Clinton in 2009. In 2010, she joined Farmer in his relief efforts with the Interim Haiti Recovery Commission.

Today, Pierre is working on a teaching hospital in Haiti, which she started with Farmer when the Haitian government asked him to open a community hospital after the earthquake. After witnessing the recovery attempts after the earthquake, they realized that building a small hospital would not be enough.

Together, Pierre and Farmer led the planning and creation of a hospital that not only treats patients but also educates those who wish to pursue a career in the medical field. Treating over 700 patients per day, the hospital is a unique combination of education and health. It is helping to steadily increase the well-being of its patients as well as the number of medical professionals.

Pierre said that the challenges facing the hospital are great, but will pay off in the end, saying, “When I look at the hospital, I see reconstruction and hope.”

ASSESStivus keynote emphasizes accountability

In celebration of the second annual ASSESStivus: Assessment for the Rest of Us on Wednesday Sept. 18, Ephraim Schechter presented a keynote address on the aims of assessment. According to the Geneseo website, ASSESStivus is day set aside to embrace “the model of continuous improvement while highlighting assessment initiatives, sharing back information and utilizing best practices.” Geneseo implemented ASSESStivus following its Middle States accreditation in an attempt to raise awareness of the importance of transforming Geneseo into a premier liberal arts college.

Schechter is a nationally renowned expert on assessment in higher education. He provides consultation and assistance for outcome assessment programs at various universities throughout the country.

In addition to his lectures, he is the founder and director of HigherEdAssessment.com, a website that he said provides “consultation and assistance,” as well as various workshops, to colleges and universities that are “developing and implementing outcomes assessment programs.”

According to Schechter, he was chosen to give the lecture during ASSESStivus due to his career as an academic department head and assessment director at the University of Colorado at Boulder and North Carolina State University for over 25 years. He made a previous appearance at Geneseo in 2006.

Schechter’s address titled “So Who (and What) Is It For” was focused on fostering a culture of assessment at Geneseo.

He defined the word “assessment” by discussing who it affects, including faculty, current students and their parents, as well as prospective students and their parents, graduates’ employers, administrators, accreditors and legislators.

Schechter said he encourages educators to ask themselves various questions regarding their curriculum and assessment, including, “How could the curriculum be structured to achieve the outcomes you want to achieve? What are we trying to do? How are we doing? How do we use that knowledge?”

Schechter also discussed two general purposes of assessment: program planning and improvement and accountability reporting, or as Schechter said, “telling the story.”

“What’s important is how the results get used,” Schechter said.

Schechter said that one of the main problems with assessment is “teaching to the test,” since the majority of students seem to be focused on merely getting high grades on tests without actually being able to apply their knowledge to real life situations.

He said that many educators make the mistake of basing their curriculum on the question, “Will this be on the test?”

“Grades do not give you enough detail,” he said. “Three students can receive [the same grade] for completely different reasons. What we are doing cannot be measured with numbers.”