February 15, 2015
Dear Students:
In case you’re wondering what it’s like in Moscow in the winter, well, you need wonder no longer. We’ve been living it, right here in New Jersey. The average temperatures in January and February in Moscow are around 16 degrees Fahrenheit, with coldest temperatures at 35 below.
And just in case you’re wondering about this: Yes, I’ve been wearing my Moscow winter gear these past two days. (A good reason to study Russian and go on study abroad to Russia is that you get really good winter gear you can wear on days like this.) So, yes, okay – I admit it: Even I’m cold in this weather, not something you hear often from a Professor of Russian.
But we have some events this week that are guaranteed to heat things up:
Journalist Matt Taibbi (who lived and worked in Moscow for several years in the late 1990s and early 2000s – sorry, I couldn’t resist bringing that up) will be giving a talk entitled “The Divide: American Injustice in the Age of the Wealth Gap” (also the title of his book published last year) at 4 pm in Education 212 on Wed., February 18. Taibbi has written for The Rolling Stone, The Nation, Playboy, among other magazines and he has appeared on nationally broadcast news programs to comment on political and economic affairs in the United States. You can learn more about Taibbi before his visit by checking out his Twitter feed (https://twitter.com/mtaibbi) which has more than 200,000 followers or by reading this review of his book (http://www.nytimes.com/2014/04/13/books/review/the-divide-by-matt-taibbi.html?_r=0). His lecture promises to be a very special conversation about economic justice in our country: It’s a remarkable event – one might even say that it will be heated! – and it’s right here on our campus, so I encourage everyone to attend. (Thanks to the NJ Council for the Humanities, TCNJ’s School of Business, and TCNJ’s Federation of Teaches Local 2364 for their generous support of this event!
Another kind of justice will be featured in a symposium on campus this weekend, when the graduate program in English features papers on the topic of poetic justice. That’s another way to warm up your heart.
So don’t be afraid of the cold: bundle up (yes, wear a hat), step out, and engage!
Sincerely,
BR
Congratulations
Congratulations to HSS students and TCNJ Debaters Jackson Ganem and Eric Tannenbaum who made it into “novice out-rounds” at the debate tournament at Rutgers University last weekend: this means that these TCNJ debaters were among the top 8 novices at the tournament!
Congratulations to English alumna Kate Napolitano, profiled beautifully here: http://youngtopublishing.com/2014/11/publishing-profiles-kate-napolitano-editor-at-plume/
Congratulations to English alumna Sheila Callaghan, the writer of the play “Everything You Touch,” which is now playing to great reviews at the Rattlestick Theater in New York.
Congratulations to Dr. Qin Shao (History) who has just been appointed a Visiting Senior Research Fellow for Spring 2015 (while she’s on sabbatical) at the East Asian Institute of the National University of Singapore.
Opportunities
Are you an HSS student? Of course you are! But did you know that HSS stands not only for Humanities and Social Sciences, but also for Happy and Super Smart Students? (Thanks to the HSS Student Advisory Council members for noticing this fact!) Our HSS student webmaster, Jack Meyers, and our HSS student photographer, Jaryd Frankel, have teamed up to create a project profiling our Happy and Super Smart Students. If you’d like to volunteer to be profiled for this HSS campaign, be ready to give 15-20 minutes of your time to Jack and Jaryd, who will want to hear honest, positive, and authentic words about yourself, your goals, and your successes. They will use your words and your image to celebrate at the HSS Instagram page the many different kinds of happiness and success in our community to show how truly impressive, motivated, smart, creative, well-rounded, thoughtful, and engaged our students truly are. To volunteer to be profiled, write Jack and Jaryd at hssmedia@tcnj.edu and describe in 2 or so sentences why you think you should be profiled; be sure to specify your class level (e.g., sophomore) and your major(s). Jack and Jaryd can’t promise to respond to everyone who writes in, so please be understanding.
Don’t forget to register your team to compete in HSS’s Demosthenes Prize Policy Competition by the deadline of March 4 at https://tcnj.qualtrics.com//SE/?SID=SV_djuHhC119rWTPOl
If you are looking for a once in a lifetime experience this summer, please consider interning and traveling abroad with America’s Unofficial Ambassadors this summer (with optional TCNJ credit)! You can travel to Indonesia, Morocco, Tajikistan, Turkey or Zanzibar this summer with America’s Unofficial Ambassadors Summer Service Internship Program. For more information, see unofficialambassadors.com: Applications are due March 2. If you have questions, contact Bridget Quinn at quinnb2@tcnj.edu
TCNJ’s Career Center has set up a networking and career event in Washington, DC for Wed. March 4 and YES – you can participate! It costs only $25 plus a $10 metrocard: for more information and to register, see https://tcnj.qualtrics.com/jfe/form/SV_aaDL3MgcitXzmHb. Please note that you MUST participate in one of the pre-trip orientation sessions on Feb. 18 from 2 to 3 pm or Feb. 25 from 3-4 pm. (You’ll see location information when you register to participate in the trip.)
The Isles Youth Institute is looking for an AmeriCorps Youth Mentor (6 hours per week for a 12-month commitment). For more information, contact Ms. Esther Brahmi at ebrahmi@isles.org.
Please save the date: February 27 will be our TCNJ Spring Career and Internship Fair (from 9 am to 1 pm in the Rec Center). To get the most out of it, attend the marketing workshop on Feb. 17 at the Career Center (see “Events” for more information)
Events
Tues., Feb. 17 Opening of Exhibition by Senior Erin Chamberlin, “Tell me I’m pretty” in the AIMM Art Gallery
Tues., Feb. 17 At 12:30 Dr. Rachel Goldman (History) will give a talk entitled “Breaking the Concrete Ceiling: Ancient Roman Attitudes to Slavery,” as part of our Politics Forum series, in Education 113
Tues., Feb. 17 The Career Center will run a workshop from 5-6 pm in Roscoe West Room 202 to help you market yourself at the Career and Internship Fair that will be held on campus later this month. Even if you’re not ready to look for a job or an internship, this is a great opportunity to plan for your future.
Wed., Feb. 18 From 2:00 – 3:30 pm the Career Center will be running an orientation for its trip to the TCNJ-DC Career Fair to be held on March 4 (students can register to go to DC for a day of career networking and interviewing). The orientation will be in Roscoe West Room 102.
Wed., Feb. 18 Journalist Matt Taibbi will give a lecture entitled “The Divide: American Injustice in the Age of the Wealth Gap” at 4 pm in Education 212. See exploringeconomicjustice.pages.tcnj.edu for more information
Thurs., Feb. 19 Film Screening: WHO CARES?, a film about social and humanitarian entrepreneurship around the world, at 6 pm in the Library Auditorium. See exploringeconomicjustice.pages.tcnj.edu for more details.
Fri., Feb. 20 Exploring Justice and Liberty Conference, beginning at 5 pmand continuing all day Saturday; meals and refreshments are provided – registration is free. See details about the conference and register to attend at this website: https://www.theihs.org/on-campus-education/tcnj2015
Sat., Feb. 21 English Graduate Student Symposium: Poetic Justice. From 9 am to 4 pm in the Business Building Lounge (basement of the Business School). For more information, see poeticjusticeattcnj.blogspot.com
Sat., Feb. 21 The Holistic Life Foundation from Baltimore is leading an all-day yoga and meditation event at TCNJ from 11 am – 4 pm in the Student Center Room 202 to teach us how mindfulness and yoga can provide stress relief. Attendance is first come, first served; lunch will be provided. For more information go to circleofcompassiontcnj.weebly.com or email circle@tcnj.edu