October 5, 2014
Dear Students:
Tomorrow, you’re going to get an e-mail from me with your individual link to the annual HSS student survey. Please take the 15 minutes to fill out the survey and help all our faculty and staff do what we can to make HSS an even better place. Four students who complete the survey will win $50 gift cards for Amazon, so … 15 minutes might make you $50! Thank you for being a good citizen of the School of Humanities and Social Sciences. Celebrate your HSS spirit by buying and wearing an HSS t-shirt, about which you can read under “Opportunities” below.
In addition, I have a special request for all HSS students who are pre-med. If you haven’t done so already, please contact Dr. Ruddy in Psychology (ruddy@tcnj.edu) to get enrolled in HSS’s pre-med pathway program. This does not add any requirements or courses to your already full program, but does help us accurately forecast the seats you and other HSS students will need in Chem, Bio, Physics, and Math classes. In addition, the pre-med pathway program allows you to track, through PAWS, your completion of all the pre-med requirements. So please do stop by and see Dr. Ruddy to enroll in the pre-med pathway program. (Note: this is only for HSS students; youmust have at least one HSS major to be eligible to enroll in this program.)
Now, on to this week’s news:
In my weekly messages I often try to inspire you to be more purposeful about your life and about your college experience.
This week, I learned that a student posted a comment on Facebook about how one of her professors inspired her. Both the student, Niriksha Kannan, and the professor, Dr. Moussa Sow, agreed to let me post her comment, so I am sharing it with you here:
“Today, my French professor went on a small tangent in the beginning of class because he was feeling down after hearing about lot of awful things happening around the world today, namely the beheading of yet another journalist. I could hear in his voice that he was troubled, but the things he said inspired me. I jotted down a few things that resonated with me. “Don’t let the fear keep you from living your life. Life is too short, there’s no room or time for that much hate. You should spark positivity. I’m not telling you you have to do anything or give anything. But you can smile – that’s something you can do. Smile at someone. Take time to live. Take time to look at the flowers and watch the leaves fall. Take time to live.” And being a French class (& everything sounding more beautiful in French), he ended with, “Il faut vivre.”
This is what teaching is – taking time out of a curriculum or learning goal, and instilling something valuable in your students that goes beyond the confines of a classroom.”
So I leave you with these words: Take time to live, to watch the leaves fall, and to smile at someone. Thank you, Dr. Sow and thank you, Niriksha!
Sincerely,
BR
Congratulations
Congratulations to TCNJ debaters who had a splendid showing at a recent tournament held at Swarthmore College. Special kudos to HSS members of the debate team, including Jackson Ganem, Eric Tannenbaum, and Stephanie Orlando, all of whom made TCNJ and HSS very proud. (By the way, TCNJ debate welcomes new members: find out more by e-mailing them at debate@tcnj.edu). Later this semester, members of the debate team will debate with Dr. Passe, Dean of the School of Education, and Dr. Rifkin, Dean of HSS, in our annual “Debate the Deans” event so stay tuned to the weekly message for details on that event.
Congratulations to WILL and WGS Alumna Ariel Donohue, program manager for Montana State’s Diversity Awareness Office, one of 83 institutions to receive the 2014 Higher Education Excellence in Diversity Award.
Opportunities
HSS students planning on study abroad for Spring 2015 looking for additional support should consider applying for a Roebling Award. You can learn about this scholarship soon at this URL: hss.tcnj.edu/roebling. (The application and information will be posted very soon to that URL.) The deadline to apply is October 30.
The Senators of Humanities and Social Sciences are proud to present the new HSS t-shirt. This t-shirt was designed and created as a way to boost HSS pride and to give a cohesive identity to the largest school at TCNJ. Purchasing a t-shirt will allow the members of HSS to show that they are proud to belong to the school, and most importantly, it will build the name and face of the School of HSS within TCNJ. The Senators of HSS will be pre-ordering the shirts the week of October 6, 7, 9 and 10 for $10. The pre-ordering will take place in the Social Sciences Atrium between classes in the morning and afternoon, and in the evenings on those days in either Travers or Wolf lobbies. You can see the shirt on the flyer, attached to this message.
Peace Corps Information Sessions at 2-3 pm and 4-5:30 pm in Social Science Room 227 on Wed., Oct. 8.
A TCNJ graduate student is offering tutoring sessions to help prepare current students to take the GRE. You must sign up by Oct. 8 for this opportunity by going to the Tutoring Center in Roscoe West. Sessions will be held on Thursdays from 3 -4 pm and will focus on the general (not subject-specific) sections of the GRE, but all aspects of test-taking strategies can be discussed.
Events
Mon., Oct. 6 Television broadcast of documentary on Chambersburg, “From the ‘Burg to the Barrio,” by TCNJ Professors Susan Ryan and Rachel Adler, at 10 pm on NJTV’s NJDOCS program.
Tues., Oct. 7 Mental Health Screening Day from 10 am to 2 pm in Brower Student Center 209, 210, 211, and 212: Results are anonymous and confidential.
Tues., Oct. 7 Politics Forum: Dr. Pierre LeMorvan, “Privacy and Falsehood,” in Social Science 223 from 12:30 to 1:30 pm. For more information about Politics Forum events, see polisci.tcnj.edu/politics-forum
Tues., Oct. 7 Tuesday afternoon recital series in Mayo Concert Hall at 12:30
Wed., Oct. 8 Community Learning Day Lecture / Exploring Economic Justice: Mr. Wes Moore, author of The Other Wes Moore, at noon in Kendall Auditorium
Wed., Oct. 8 Lecture on the Ebola Crisis in West Africa by Ambassador Jimmy Kolker at 4 pm in Education 212
Wed., Oct. 8 Visiting Artist Series: Robert and Shana Parkeharrison at 4 pm in Mayo Concert Hall
Thurs., Oct. 9 Visiting Writers Series: MacArthur Genius Award winning author of more than 20 books, Ishmael Reed, 5 pm in the Library Auditorium. Reed is “renowned for his politically charged, wildly imaginative storytelling as well as his caustic cultural criticism.” See his website here: http://www.ishmaelreed.org/
Thurs., Oct. 9 Flu Shot Clinic from 11:30 to 1:30 at Loser 106 @ $20 cash only: See this website for more information: http://health.tcnj.edu/events/flushot/
Thurs., Oct. 9 TCNJ’s Liberty in North Korea Rescue Team (LINK) presents a screening of “Jangmadang” (Black Market) from 12:30 to 1:30 in Roscoe West 201.
Fri., Oct. 10 Mark Cherry, St. Edwards University, “Driving a Wedge Between Parents and Children: Justice and Medical Decision-Making,” at 4 pm in Physics 101, with reception following