Professional Activities
Christopher Swist, artist in residence, had two movements from his his Cities at Twilight performed by the Hartford Symphony Orchestra in an event that blended visual art and music. You can hear more from Christopher about the piece in a video produced by HSO.
Jerry P. Jasinski, Chemistry, is one of 14 selectees to be inducted into the Vermont Principal’s Association (VPA) Hall of Fame May 5. The VPA Hall of Fame is organized as a means of recognizing, preserving and promoting the heritage of interscholastic athletics/activities in Vermont. Jasinski is being honored for his contributions as the founder and director of the Vermont State Decathlon/Heptathlon Championships for 35 years and for his role as a football, basketball and track and field official in Vermont for over 40 years.
Kate Tirabassi (English/Center for Writing Director), Cynthia Smith (Assistant Director, Center for Writing), and three Center for Writing tutors Caroline Gamble (Spanish/Elem. Ed.), Brendan Hoar (English/Sec. Ed.), and Veronica Spadaro (Film) presented at the 2017 Northeast Writing Centers Association Conference (NEWCA) at Pace University on April 1, 2017. Their presentation entitled “The More Things Change, The More They Stay The Same: Investigating the Work Lives and History of Keene State College’s Center for Writing Staff” focused on archival research conducted by the staff during the Spring 2017 semester. They shared new discoveries about the Center’s history, how these discoveries helped the staff to understand the rationale behind the Center’s current practices and philosophy, and how understanding our history has impacted plans for our future work. They discussed with participants the implications and importance of archival research in writing centers at the institutional level and for the scholarly field of writing center studies overall. The Center for Writing tutors’ travel was sponsored by a Center for Creative Inquiry grant and the Northeast Writing Centers Association’s Robert J. Connors Memorial Scholarship.
Kate Tirabassi (English, Center for Writing Director), Darrell Hucks (Education), and Tanya Sturtz (Education) presented a panel entitled “Fostering Civic Engagement Among Millennials: Emerging Research and Opportunities” at the University of Connecticut’s annual Teaching of Writing Conference on April 7, 2017. Their presentation provided an overview of the year-long linked course initiative that they established in 2012, and shared focus group data from their ongoing work with first-year students with an interest in Education, discussing how students further developed essential literacy skills and a strong commitment to civic engagement that they will need in college, in their communities and in their intended profession as teachers.
