Alaolmolki to Give Talk on Pakistan

Professor of Political Science Nozar Alaolmolki will be giving a talk titled “Inside Pakistan: Are Militants The Future?” on Sunday, September 27, at 9:00 a.m. at the Unitarian Church at 21600 Shaker Blvd., Shaker Heights, Ohio.

A description of Alaolmolki’s talk from the church’s newsletter:

Political, social and economic conditions in Pakistan are changing. What is the historic and current role of the Taliban and other militant groups? How are we affected? Join Dr. Nozar Alaolmolki, Political Science Professor at Hiram College in a wide ranging discussion of these and other issues also found in his new book: “Militant Islamists: Terrorists Without Frontiers.”

The talk is free and open to the public.

Bissell Symposia Series Explores Human Rights in the Americas

The Fall 2009 Howard S. Bissell Symposia Series will be taking place soon. This year’s speakers will address the issue of human rights in the Americas.

On Wednesday, October 7, Daniel Wilkinson will speak at 7 p.m. in the Kennedy Center Ballroom. The title for his talk will be “Human Rights in the Western Hemisphere: What are our rights?”

Wilkinson is a human rights lawyer and writer, and is Deputy Director for the Americas at Human Rights Watch, one of the world’s leading independent organizations dedicated to defending and protecting human rights. He has published reports on Mexico, Colombia, Venezuela, Cuba and the United States, and his writing has appeared in “The Washington Post,” “The Los Angeles Times,” “The International Herald Tribune” and other publications in the United States and throughout Latin America.

And on Wednesday, October 20, Fidel Xinico and Ronaldo Lec will speak about their personal experiences with human rights in Guatemala. Their talk will also take place at 7 p.m. in the Kennedy Center Ballroom.

Xinico is a Guatemalan citizen of the Cakchiquel Maya ethnic group. He spent four years studying at St. Paul Seminary at the University of St. Thomas in St. Paul, Minn., from 1984 to 1988. He now works for the Center for Global Education at Augsburg College in Minneapolis and enjoys an active exchange of ideas with North Americans.

Lec is a Guatemalan indigenous Maya anthropologist. He has been implementing and promoting sound organic agricultural systems for the sustainability and self reliance of indigenous and rural peoples in Mesoamerica for the past 14 years.

For more information on this symposia series, contact Linda Rea at reall@hiram.edu.

Pulitzer Prize Winner Tracy Kidder to Speak at Opening Convocation September 10

Pulitzer Prize and National Book Award winner Tracy Kidder will be the guest speaker at Hiram College’s Opening Convocation on Thursday, September 10, 2009. The event will begin at 12 p.m. and will be held in the Martin Fieldhouse of the Les and Kathy Coleman Sports, Recreation, and Fitness Center.

Kidder’s talk about his book “Mountains Beyond Mountains” introduces the first-year theme of “complicity.” New Hiram students received a copy of the book to read prior to the start of classes and will discuss it in their fall semester colloquia.

“Mountains Beyond Mountains” tells the story of two world health crises, tuberculosis and AIDS, through the eyes of Dr. Paul Farmer, a specialist in infectious diseases, who worked to establish clinics and hospitals in Haiti to combat the increase of these infections in the area. He founded Partners in Health, a nongovernmental organization that is the only health-care provider in the Plateau Central in Haiti.

The book illustrates complicity. Recognizing that we live in a complex world, it points out that we are complicit and deny people healthcare in various parts of the world simply because we do nothing or feign innocence to the problems of others. The book was chosen as the common reading for this year because it highlights complicity in many lights and from many angles.

Kidder’s writing has appeared in “The New Yorker,” “The Atlantic Monthly,” “Granta,” “The New York Times Book Review” and “The New York Times” OpEd page.

This event is co-sponsored by two of Hiram’s Centers of Excellence: the Center for the Study of Ethics and Values and the Center for Literature, Medicine and Biomedical Humanities. The convocation is free and open to the public. The Hiram College Bookstore will have copies of “Mountains Beyond Mountains” and Kidder’s newest book, “Strength and What Remains,” available for purchase.

Fried Installed as Second Chair of Biomedical Humanities

Colleen Fried, professor of chemistry and director of the Center of Literature, Medicine and Biomedical Humanities, was installed as the second holder of the Herbert L. and Pauline Wentz Andrews Chair of Biomedical Humanities at today’s convocation.

The Andrews Chair was created through a $1.5 million endowment gift by Dr. Thomas W. Andrews ’59 to honor his parents and express his gratitude to Hiram College.

Volleyball Picked Second in NCAC Preseason Coaches Poll

CLEVELAND, OHIO — The Hiram College volleyball team was selected to finish second of nine teams in the 2009 North Coast Athletic Conference preseason coaches poll that was released today (Thursday, Aug. 27).

Hiram had 71 points to place second while regular season and tournament champion Wittenberg University was again picked as the favorite with 81 points and received all nine first-place votes. Allegheny (Pa.) College and The College of Wooster were tied for third with 56 points each.

Last year, Hiram fell just one win shy of its fifth straight 20+ win season at 19-18 overall, but boasted an impressive 11-5 record in the NCAC. The Terriers appeared in the conference tournament for the eighth straight year and advanced to the championship match for the seventh consecutive season.

Hiram returns 12 letterwinners in 2009, including six starters, and will be led by four seniors that include All-NCAC middle hitter Randa Jackson (South Euclid/Brush), outside hitters Lauren London (Pittsburgh, Pa./Avonworth) and Charley McQueary (Oregon/Clay) and libero Brittany Mayle (Mantua/Crestwood).

“We have a good group of seniors this season who are all four-year members of the program,” said Head Coach Ellen Dempsey. “Their experience will be invaluable not only to the success of the team, but also in helping guide our younger players during matches and practice.”

Hiram will open the 2009 season on Tuesday, Sept. 1 when it travels to Berea for a non-conference match against Baldwin-Wallace College at the Rudolph Ursprung Gymnasium. The match is set to begin at 7 p.m. The Terriers will then travel to Huntington, Pa. for the Juniata College Invitational on Friday-Saturday, Sept. 4-5 where Hiram will face some of the toughest competition of the season including Juniata who was ranked No. 3 in the nation in the final AVCA poll last year including being ranked the top overall team for the majority of the season.

FOR MORE INFORMATION, please contact Hiram College Sports Information Director Jeff Hoedt by phone at (330) 569-5495, by FAX at (330) 569-5392 or by email at hoedtjm@hiram.edu.

Men’s Soccer Picked Third in 2009 NCAC Preseason Coaches Poll

CLEVELAND, OHIO — The Hiram College men’s soccer team was picked to finish third in the 2009 North Coast Athletic Conference preseason coaches poll that was released earlier today (Wednesday, Aug. 26).

Hiram had 80 points to place third while defending NCAC regular season and tournament champion Ohio Wesleyan University was tabbed the conference favorite with 96 points and nine first-place votes. Kenyon College was second with 88 points and one first-place vote.

Last season, the Terriers posted a 13-6 overall record and made its first-ever NCAC Tournament appearance since joining the NCAC in 1999. Hiram’s 13 wins was the most since 1996 when the Terriers won a school record 16 games. The Terriers also posted back-to-back seasons with 10 or wins for the first time in over 10 years.

“We achieved many of our goals last year,” said sixth-year Head Coach Carl Capellas, who was named the 2008 NCAC Coach of the Year and National Soccer Coaches Association of America (NSCAA)/Adidas Great Lakes Region Coach of the Year. “We’ve worked extremely hard to become a program that competes regionally and nationally.”

The Terriers lost eight seniors and three starters to graduation, but will still have their share of talented and experienced players back with seven starters returning in 2009.

This year’s squad will be led by eight seniors including All-Great Lakes Region players Nick Gdanetz (McKeen, Pa./Erie Cathedral Prep) and David Mason (Akron/Archbishop Hoban) along with All-NCAC award winner David Krems (Lakewood). Also back, is Patt Dittoe (Hudson), Jamie Ganner (Eastlake/North), All-NCAC Phil Major (Walnut Creet/Berlin Hiland), Ryan Stuver (Twinsburg), and Marc Windham (Hudson).

Hiram will open the 2009 season on Tuesday, Sept. 1 when it hosts Case in a non-conference game at the Hiram Soccer Complex. Kickoff is scheduled for 4 p.m.

FOR MORE INFORMATION, please contact Hiram College Sports Information Director Jeff Hoedt by phone at (330) 569-5495, by FAX at (330) 569-5392 or by email at hoedtjm@hiram.edu.

Sonntag Solos in Germany

On June 28, 2009, Assistant Professor of Music Dawn Sonntag performed a solo vocal concert titled “Liebesfreud und Liebesleid: Liebeslieder aus drei Jahrhunderten“ (“The Joy and Pain of Love: Love Songs from Three Centuries”) in the concert hall at the historic Musikschule Schaumburger Märchensänger on the Bückeburg Palace grounds in Bückeburg, Germany. Accompanied by pianist Roman Rofalski , the concert included repertoire by German, Norwegian and French composers, as well as nine of Sonntag’s own vocal compositions.

Following her concert in Germany, Sonntag spent five weeks in Paris as a participant in the European-American Musical Alliance Summer Composition Workshop at the L’ecole Normale de Musique. The program, led by faculty of the French Conservatoire L’Ecole Normale de Musique and the Julliard School, is a continuation of the pedagogical techniques of Nadia Boulanger, one of the 20^th century’s most influential composition pedagogues. Sonntag’s new a-cappella choral piece, “Echo,” set to a text by Christina Rossetti and winner of the 2009 EAMA choral competition, was premiered July 29, 2009, in the historic Cortot concert hall in Paris. Sonntag’s Paris performances also included chamber music for voice, viola, and piano by Brahms and a premiere performance of a Mari Ésabel Valverda’s art song, “Then of Thy Beauty.”

Sonntag also premiered her newly composed “Rhapsody” for two pianos with Julliard pianist Jesse Wong. Sonntag and Professor Randy Fusco will also perform this piece at the Cleveland Composers’ Guild Concert at Cleveland State University on October 4, 2009.

Women’s Soccer Picked Eighth in NCAC Preseason Coaches Poll

CLEVELAND, OHIO — The Hiram College women’s soccer team was picked to finish eighth in the 2009 North Coast Athletic Conference preseason coaches poll that was released today (Tuesday, Aug. 25).

The Terriers finished with 18 points to place eighth of nine teams. Denison University, the defending conference regular season champion, was tabbed as the favorite with 79 points and seven first-place votes. NCAC Tournament Champion Wittenberg University was second at 70 points and one first-place vote and Ohio Wesleyan University rounded out the top three with 58 points and one first-place vote.

Hiram will return 12 letterwinners this season and will be led by senior duo Whitney Dropsey (Ashland/Hillsdale) and Grace Heffernan (Kent/Roosevelt). Also back to lead the team are junior All-NCAC players Claire Conner (Aurora) and Madison Sepp (Aliquippa, Pa./Hopewell).

“There is a special excitement going into this year,” said sixth-year Head Coach Bob Dean. “The minutes and experience are returning. Our recruiting gives us a much, much deeper foundation. We have added international experience via Canada, and there is great competition at every position. It is now time to move forward in our incredibly strong conference.”

Hiram will begin the 2009 season on Tuesday, Sept. 1 when it travels to University Heights for a non-conference match against John Carroll University at Don Shula Stadium. The match is scheduled to begin at 7 p.m.

FOR MORE INFORMATION, please contact Hiram College Sports Information Director Jeff Hoedt by phone at (330) 569-5495, by FAX at (330) 569-5392 or by email at hoedtjm@hiram.edu.

Hiram Expands Asian Studies Program with Japanese Book Collection Donation

Hiram College to receive a collection of books about contemporary Japan. The foundation limits its distribution to up to 300 select libraries, colleges, universities and other institutions throughout North America to which it donates sets of books.

Hiram’s library was one of those institutions. The Nippon Foundation’s program, “100 Books for Understanding Contemporary Japan,” selected the College based on a proposal that Hiram submitted earlier this year.

The Hiram College Library will receive 68 titles, since 32 of the books are already part of its collection.

“This grant will add to our collection key titles we’re missing about Japan and its politics, culture, arts, literature and religion,” said Library Director David Everett. “Japan is a country that is getting more and more study at Hiram, but the library collection has been behind. The books provided by the Nippon Foundation will bolster our Japanese collection.”

Hiram College has long led study abroad trips to Japan, and is currently growing its Asian Studies program. The College recently hired a faculty member in the history department, Chip Dewell, whose research interests are Sino-Japanese relations in the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. His courses received high praises from students. In the spring of 2010, he and Cara Constance, a faculty member in the biology department, will be taking students to Japan for an interdisciplinary course, “Japan: Urbanization and Innovation.” The group will be visiting Tokyo, Kyoto, Tsukuba, Hiroshima, Himeiji and Shirakawa-go to explore how Japanese civilization transitioned from a chiefly rural, agrarian society to a highly urbanized society.

According to the foundation’s Web site, the Nippon Foundation, an independent, nonprofit, grant making organization founded in 1962, started the book program because “in many countries there is a lack of understanding of the true face of contemporary Japan. Thus, as a means to facilitate understanding of Japan overseas, the Foundation produced a catalogue detailing 100 carefully selected books that provide information on contemporary Japan in the English language, and began donating these books to libraries that have an interest in Japan.”

Go to the Nippon Foundation Web site for more information.

Choir Rehearsals, Concerts and More

The Hiram College choir’s first rehearsal is Monday, August 31 at 4:15 p.m. All faculty and staff are welcome to join! Rehearsals are held Mondays and Wednesdays from 4:15 – 5:30 p.m. This year’s fall concert on Friday, November 13, at 7:30 p.m. will feature Faure’s Requiem with chamber orchestra. In addition, Dr. Hilary Apfestadt, president emeritus and current vice president of the American Choral Director’s Association, associate director of the Ohio State University School of Music and director of choral studies there will be leading a choral music clinic on Saturday, November 7, from 9 a.m. – 3:30 p.m., with a concluding concert at 4 p.m.

We encourage you to participate in both events.

Next Page »