W&M Professors Awarded ACLS Fellowships for Humanities Research
Alan Goldman and Melvin Patrick Ely, both William R. Kenan Jr. Professors of Humanities, will use the American Council of Learned Societies (ACLS) fellowships to conduct research and produce major pieces of scholarly work during the 2007-08 year.
Goldman, who specializes in epistemology, ethics, aesthetics, and philosophy of law, will use the award to write a book on practical reason.
Ely, who writes and teaches about the history of African Americans and of the South, will use the award to work on his next book, A Horrible Intimacy: Whites and Enslaved Blacks in Old Virginia.
Flat Hat Wins National Award
The Flat Hat student newspaper received the highest national award in student journalism, sharing it with nine other college newspapers across the nation. The Flat Hat received a Pacemaker Award from the Associated Collegiate Press, a nonprofit educational association, as part of its annual student newspaper competition.
"We are very proud and excited to receive the Pacemaker award, and it speaks to the hard work of our dedicated staff over the past year," Flat Hat editor-in-chief Andy Zahn '08 said. "Our newspaper was nominated with some very highly regarded newspapers, and I felt humbled to be considered alongside the competition."
The twice-weekly paper competed with 162 entries in the four-year non-daily category. Journalists from the Washington Post judged the competition, and evaluated the newspapers on content, quality of writing, design and photography.
Back Porch Energy Initiative Kicks Off
Instead of lobbying Washington or starting a protest, a group of College students and recent alumni set out in November to promote environmental issues on a road trip powered entirely by biodiesel. The nonprofit Back Porch Energy Initiative (BPEI) began a tour around the Southeast, showing people specific methods to reduce their energy use rather than simply distributing information. Their Web site, at www.backporchei.org, details their work at sustaining a nonprofit and features a forum where the BPEI team can engage with members of the community in dialogue about "green" issues.
"Change for global problems only comes from local solutions," marketing director Jon Davidow '06 told the Flat Hat.
Professor Honored By King of Spain
Medieval history professor George Greenia was awarded the Cross of Isabel the Catholic in October for his contributions to Spanish history and scholarship. The Cross, awarded by reigning monarch Juan Carlos I, was in honor of Greenia's work on Spanish religious pilgrimages. Greenia has also published in influential academic journals on the subject of pilgrimages, including La Coronita and American Pilgrim. The Cross of Isabel the Catholic is the Spanish equivalent to being knighted by the British queen.
Iraqi Ambassador Speaks At College Event
When it comes to Iraq, Americans need to manage expectations and to take the long view concerning the transition to democracy, Samir Sumaida'ie, the Iraqi ambassador to the United States, told more than 220 people in Williamsburg on Nov. 4. Sumaida'ie is a former Iraqi ambassador to the United Nations.
"You broke [Iraq] so you own it," the ambassador told members of the audience before asking them to consider what would happen if U.S. military forces "walked out" before institutions capable of providing civil order were re-established.
"That would be an open invitation to our predatory neighbors to make a grab at a very important piece of real estate," he said. "We must work together to get out of this mess that we created together."
Sumaida'ie, who was referred to as a "true son of Iraq" during introductory remarks by William and Mary President Gene Nichol, gave his talk, "Iraq: Opportunities and Challenges," as part of the Global Forum sponsored by the College's Wendy and Emery Reves Center for International Studies.
He suggested that Iraq remained a center of culture and stability in the Middle East until sanctions, imposed by the United Nations following the first Gulf War in 1990, stripped its institutions of the professional class able to maintain them. When coalition forces entered the country the second time in 2003, it found "a country that was broken," he said.
"When communities are afraid, they don't come forth with information," he explained. Concerning the timetable for a stabilized Iraq, Sumaida'ie said that the history of Jamestown and related Peninsula sites suggest that democracy takes a long time to establish.
"We are expected to do better overnight," he said. Responding to a question from a member of the audience at the end of his lecture, he reasserted that "historians would judge harshly after the invasion, but in the fullness of time the invasion would be judged to be a good move."
