Bridgewater Review, Vol. 39, No. 1, April 2020

Bridgewater Review

Volume 39 Issue 1 Article 1

4-2020

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Recommended Citation Bridgewater State University. (2020). Bridgewater Review. 39(1). Available at: http://vc.bridgew.edu/ br_rev/vol39/iss1/1

This item is available as part of Virtual Commons, the open-access institutional repository of Bridgewater State University, Bridgewater, Massachusetts. Bridgewater Review

Ridged Pots: A Studio Investigation by R. PRESTON SAUNDERS Also in this issue: XIAOYING JING and ON SABBATICAL PAULA BISHOP BIN ZHANG Reflections by LISA LITTERIO, on Felice Bryant’s Country Music on Chinese Family Kinship DIANA FOX, and Songwriting and Ancestor Worship MAURA ROSENTHAL SAMUEL SERNA SIMuRing: Making an Book Reviews by OTÁLVARO Interdisciplinary Project Work HALINA ADAMS, and on Scientists and Public Policy by CHRISTINE BRANDON, JESSICA BIRTHISEL POLINA SABININ, and CHARLES C. COX III NICOLE GLEN, and on Shuji Isawa JENNIE AIZENMAN Poetry by JOE LACROIX

AprilVolume 2020 39, Number 1 April 2020 BRIDGEWATER STATE UNIVERSITY1 A Note on COVID-19: The editors of Bridgewater Review hope that all members of our BSU community and their loved ones are safe and well during this crisis. We would like to thank our administrators for providing leadership and guidance; our faculty and librarians for their hard work in moving and teaching courses online; our staff for keeping university business running and supporting us all; and our students for their patience and endurance during a challenging time.

“Do you Remember? When you got to school LATE and the Chalk trays weren’t dusted __” (Hilda M. Todd Scrapbook, BSU Archives and Special Collections)

Credits for Author Photographs Sarah Wiggins (by George Rizer); Paula Bishop (by Nicki Pardo); Charles C. Cox III (by Charles C. Cox III); Xiaoying Jing (by Bin Zhang); R. Preston Saunders (by R. Preston Saunders); Christine Brandon (by Christine Brandon); Polina Sabinin (by Jim Wakefield); Nicole Glen (by Polina Sabinin); Jennie Aizenman (by Cape Cod Broadcasting); Lisa Litterio (by Ben Hollis); Maura Rosenthal (by John Winters); Jessica Birthisel (by George Rizer); Halina Adams (by Halina Adams); Joe LaCroix (by Donna Russo).

2 Bridgewater Review Bridgewater Review Volume 39, Number 1 April 2020

2 Editor’s Notebook EDITOR Sarah Wiggins Sarah Wiggins History 4 Felice Bryant and Country Music Songwriting in the 1950s Paula Bishop ASSOCIATE EDITOR Ellen Scheible 8 The Responsibility of Scientists in Public Policy English & Irish Studies Samuel Serna Otálvaro EDITORS EMERITUS 13 Shuji Isawa and Bridgewater State Normal School, 1875-1878 Michael Kryzanek Charles C. Cox III Political Science & Global Studies

16 Ridged Pots: A Studio Investigation William C. Levin R. Preston Saunders Sociology Barbara Apstein 24 Chinese Family Kinship and Ancestor Worship English Xiaoying Jing and Bin Zhang Brian Payne 28 SIMuRing: Making an Interdisciplinary Project Work History Christine Brandon, Polina Sabinin, Nicole Glen, and Jennie Aizenman Andrew C. Holman 33 ON SABBATICAL History & Canadian Studies From Data Gathering to Classroom Policies: Reflecting on Lee Torda My First Sabbatical, Lisa Litterio English Scholar-activist Anthropology in Nepal: Radical Women DESIGN Artists on the Liberation Front, Diana Fox Philip McCormick’s Design Sabbatical 2.0: A True Break, Maura Rosenthal Works, Inc., North Easton, MA 36 BOOK REVIEWS The Testaments by Margaret Atwood, Halina Adams Because Internet: Understanding the New Rules of Language by Gretchen McCulloch, Jessica Birthisel

40 POETRY “When I Taught My Last Class,” Joe LaCroix

On the Front Cover: Ridged Pot Series # 1, 15”h x 16”w x 16”d (Photograph by Clements Photography and Design)

Bridgewater Review is published twice a year by the faculty and librarians of Bridgewater State University. Opinions expressed herein are those of the authors and do not necessarily reflect the policies of Bridgewater Review or Bridgewater State University.

Letters to the Editor are encouraged and should be sent to: Editor, Bridgewater Review, [email protected]

April 2020 1 and living in a boarding house with a EDITOR’S NOTEBOOK cast of characters that she vividly illus- trates. Todd introduces an insurance Being Toddy salesman, a lawyer, and her principal, who was “constitutionally cursed Sarah Wiggins with fly-a-way, untidy hair,” and thus cannot stop thinking about Hilda M. Todd. I first “spoiled her DISPOSITION.” She calls herself “Toddy” and, in a third- encountered her last summer when I brought my person narrative format, promises the students to the BSU archives. Sitting on the table reader that more will be revealed about I her. In fact, a few more pages in, she was a scrapbook produced by Todd that covered the announces: “THIS BOOK, as may be years 1909 to 1917. This scrapbook was not the usual perceived by the Discerning, is some- type with photos, newspaper clippings, and dance what devoted to the MEN. This Book has shocked a great many people. GET cards. It was filled with beautifully crafted illustrations READY.” Who can walk away from indicative of the time period. These illustrations were that invitation? arranged by Todd to tell her story, as well as for her Toddy does not disappoint. She goes own edification and amusement. The scrapbook into detail about her romantic interests. One that stands out is a courtship with functions twofold as an illustrated storybook and a a curate. From the outset, a tension woman’s personal journal. While I am not one to between the two parties exists. Her illustration of them sitting together on a turn down a good dance card, nothing quite compares bench shows different personalities that to Hilda Todd’s scrapbook. Since spending time with may not be suited for each other (Image it, I have contemplated just what it is that makes the 1). Toddy reveals that the curate finds her love of producing illustrative art book so special. In the end, I think that her artwork, inappropriate in certain circumstances writing, humor, and honesty produced something and unladylike in general. The tipping point comes when Toddy draws an that still feels alive over 100 years later. unflattering picture of the curate and Hilda Todd attended Bridgewater State years at Brockton High School. When “To make matters worse, it looked just Normal School from 1903 until 1905. opening up the scrapbook, we find her like him.” She admits that she “has yet After leaving Bridgewater, she main- situated in Torrington, Connecticut, in to meet a man who can stand seeing tained a long teaching career, including the early stages of her teaching career himself as Toddy makes him look in her

Image 1: “The Curate is willing for Toddy to beam on him, but he does Image 3: “What Toddy really Read.” (Hilda M. Todd Scrapbook, BSU wish she wouldn’t do it in quite such a public manner!” (Hilda M. Todd Archives and Special Collections) Scrapbook, BSU Archives and Special Collections)

2 Bridgewater Review sketches,” and faces the consequences ham dangling above her head that her of the curate distancing himself from mother repeatedly asked her to hang. her (Image 2). With humor, she added, “I hope this Ham drops on me and kills “However he bought a higher collar, me Dead!” That was the last page of and some shoulder braces. All things her scrapbook and “The End of That work together for grace,” and titled PERFECT DAY.” Though it may the accompanying drawing, “See the be an odd image with which to end a Improvement.” By the next page she substantial creative project, it is in many drew another woman with a dour face ways symbolic of the dutiful daughter who would win the curate’s affections. whose attempts to balance work, care- taking, and relationships sometimes fail. Throughout the book we see the story of an independent and creative woman Why does Hilda Todd continue to who was unlucky in love at this stage in haunt my thoughts? Maybe the rich- her life. She positions herself often on ness of her artwork made me feel that the sidelines observing other couples I knew her. Part of me wished that I and losing potential lovers to rivals. could be her friend. And that is why One can speculate that her “artistic” this scrapbook feels alive in my hands. personality may not have been consid- Image 2: “The Curate endeavors to ascertain Toddy takes us into her personal life ered suitable for marriage by some men. if he looks as bad as Toddy has drawn him. and shows us the humor, hope, fear, Did Toddy’s ability to produce art give Unfortunately he forgets to lower the shade!” frustration, and heartache that we all her a certain power that the curate felt (Hilda M. Todd Scrapbook, BSU Archives and endure, regardless of who we are or in he could not control? Her vivacious Special Collections) what age we live. It is not a fairy tale spirit may have been too much for the when you’ve got to teach on Tuesday!” with a “happily ever after” message. It starched churchman. Though he did A sentiment upon which I believe that is day-to-day reality that we recognize. try. One set of illustrations tells the we can all agree. Now when I look out upon my class- story of the curate and crucifer (another rooms filled with students who are boarding house resident) offering Serious issues relating to work and future teachers carrying on the BSU Toddy books such as Pilgrim’s Progress, marriage also arose in the book. It was tradition, I can see a direct line to and Lives of the Saints. The result was a difficult to decipher, but it appears that Hilda Todd. I am grateful that the stack of improving books left neglected Todd was consoling a female colleague BSU archives hold this piece in their on the floor while she instead delved who endured unwanted advances from collection. The scrapbook will soon into Elinor Glyn’s controversial a male coworker. She also listened to a be digitized, allowing greater access romance novel, Three Weeks (Image 3). woman lament about her marital dif- to the public. If you are ever on campus Out of curiosity, I, too, decided to ficulties and explain how she and her and/or having a trying day, I encourage give Three Weeks a read and bypassed husband were not an ideal match and a trip to the archives to pay Hilda Lives of the Saints. I admit that I am on that he “Crushed her Soul.” Todd a visit so that you can see her full “Team Toddy.” In fact, many of life’s difficulties can body of work. I guarantee that you Hilda Todd embodied more than a be found in Toddy’s work. The final will not be able to walk away either. young woman’s romantic interests. She pages detailed a trying day that started GET R EA DY. was also a woman forging a career. Her on a cold morning with frozen pipes, a commentary focuses on the anxie- bundled-up walk to school not know- ties of teaching that anyone who has ing that school was canceled due to conducted a classroom can understand. the weather, and thoughts of “Why She captures the hurried attempts and should any sane person live in New panic to make it to school on time England?” She sits in the freezing cold and get everything ready in her room, and waits for the late running East from preparing the chalkboard to fill- Bridgewater trolley; she comes home ing the inkwells. A personal favorite to care for her parents; and then opens is an illustration of a dancing woman a letter revealing, “… that the ‘Only_ coupled with the adage: “‘Look not on Man_You_Ever Loved’ has bestowed Sarah Wiggins is Professor in the the wine when it is red’ – on Monday, Himself on ANOTHER!” The next Department of History. page shows Toddy going to bed with a

April 2020 3 Felice Bryant and Country Music Songwriting in the 1950s Paula Bishop f you were a country music artist working in Nashville in the 1950s, you might have found Iyourself at the home of Nashville songwriters, Felice and Boudleaux Bryant, enjoying one of Felice’s home-cooked meals. Boudleaux would present songs that he and Felice had written while Felice offered suggestions and corrections from the kitchen. On the surface this domestic scene suggests conventional gender roles in which the husband handles business Nashville image (Photo Credit: NiKreative / while the wife entertains the guests, but in fact, the Alamy Stock Photo) Bryants had learned to capitalize on Felice’s culinary the country music industry of the 1950s skills and outgoing personality in order to build their and build a successful career, becom- professional songwriting career. As she once quipped, ing what Mary Bufwack and Robert Oermann called the “woman who if they fed the artists a “belly full of spaghetti and ears ignited the explosion of women writers full of songs,” they were more likely to choose a song on music Row.” written by the Bryants. Felice Bryant (1925-2003) was born Matilda Genevieve Scaduto in Bennett. Some of their biggest suc- Milwaukee, the home of numerous cesses came when Don and Phil Everly European immigrants. Her father scored hits on the country, R&B, and had arrived from Palermo, Sicily, mainstream charts with the Bryants’ around 1912, and her mother was a songs “Bye Bye Love,” “Wake Up, second-generation Sicilian American. Little Susie,” and others. The Bryants’ Felice loved to sing, and as a young approach—entertaining artists at girl, turned to writing songs, as home—helped them become two of well as poems and stories. She found the most sought-after songwriters dur- inspiration in The Best Loved Poems ing a critical period in the development of the American People, as well as the of country music. Furthermore, by Italian folksongs of her family and using her domestic sphere, Felice was the hymns and sacred songs of the able to defy the gendered constraints of Catholic Church. She met Boudleaux

Felice and Boudleaux Bryant (Photo Credit: Courtesy of the Country Music Hall of Fame® The men did not want her in and Museum) their space, but she could get Their songs were recorded by country artists such as Little Jimmy Dickens, them into hers and use her skills Cowboy Copas, Red Foley, Hank Snow, Carl Smith, and Eddy Arnold, as and tools to create a working well as mainstream pop artists like Tony business relationship.

4 Bridgewater Review (1920-1987) on Valentine’s Day, 1945, when his jazz band was playing at the Outside of performing as lead Schroeder Hotel where Felice worked as an elevator operator. When she or backup singers (not playing first spotted him, she immediately felt instruments), the only other roles attracted to him and conspired to get his attention. She offered to buy him available to women in country a (free) drink at the water fountain but accidentally splashed water on him music were typically secretaries. instead. He was charmed by her, and a few days later they embarked on their Felice and just a small handful life together. Boudleaux gave her the nickname of “Felice,” which she used of other women … worked as for the remainder of her life. songwriters, a profession generally In the early years of their marriage, Felice and Boudleaux made reserved for men. Boudleaux’s hometown of Moultrie, Georgia, their home base. From there they traveled together to musical gigs, country music industry. “Everybody with their home life. In the early years, but more often than not, Felice stayed thought we were crazy,” Felice later they would write at night after putting home while Boudleaux went out on noted, “but we saw the far vision.” their sons, Dane and Del, to bed. In the the road to perform. Left alone for long morning, they would send the boys to Felice and Boudleaux knew that to stretches, she grew bored and turned to school then sleep until they returned. support themselves solely as songwriters writing songs. As she explained, “My While working together at home, they needed to write a fair number of God, it took half an hour to clean this Felice recalled that they could “feed hit songs. That meant getting as many damned apartment. There is nowhere ideas back and forth while I did the songs as possible recorded with the top to go. I mean what could you do?” housework.” Boudleaux wrote down and up-and-coming country music Boudleaux, too, was writing songs their ideas while Felice moved about artists, which in turn meant they would while out on the road. their home completing the household need a substantial catalog from which chores, thus finding a way to balance Eventually, they pooled their work and artists could choose. They quickly the demands of their professional life began to write together. Once they had established a writing routine that with their family and home life. written over eighty songs, they looked allowed them to balance their career for a publisher but were not successful at first. In 1949, they met Fred Rose of Acuff-Rose Publishing, one of the first Nashville-based, country music- focused publishers. Rose placed one of their songs, “Country Boy,” with Little Jimmy Dickens, who scored a number seven hit with it. The success of that song inspired them to pursue songwriting as a full-time profession, and so they moved their family, which now included two young sons, to Nashville in 1950. At that point, most country music songwriters supplemented their income by performing or working at other jobs. Some were recording artists who wrote for themselves. But very few people made songwriting their full- time profession. Furthermore, in 1950 Nashville was not yet the center of the Donn Reynolds, George Morgan, Wesley Rose, Boudleaux Bryant, and Eddy Arnold, 1957 (Photo Credit: Wikimedia Commons)

April 2020 5 about so-and-so?’ because that would trigger something in her mind, you know.” Chet Atkins, in describing a similar scene, recalled that Boudleaux usually went along with Felice’s suggestions. She once humorously noted that they fed the artists “until they couldn’t move and Boudleaux would have a cap- tive audience. They had to listen, and to get out, they had to take something. We’d trap ‘em!” Entertaining at home this way allowed Felice to work around the entrenched conservative male-dominated pro- cesses that governed the country music industry. Felice explained, “[T]hat was The Grand Ole Opry, circa 1960s (Photo Credit: Everett Collection Historical / Alamy Stock Photo) one of the reasons I stayed home a lot because it aggravated the good old boys Songwriters in Nashville in the 1950s exposure for your song. And if you [to have her in the studio]. And you worked somewhat like the Tin Pan had three or four or five or six encores sort of tried pretty much to stay out of Alley writers of New York City in on a song, it might help launch it into their way because you were an uppity that publishers hired song pluggers to that next level of whatever that it took woman, whatever the hell that was. present songs to recording artists. This to become a hit.” Not only were they But what I did at home was my busi- was most often done in the studio of able to pitch songs and help current ness. I’m glad that Boudleaux enjoyed the record label as artists came and went ones gain further success, Felice and what we did at home and it became a for recording sessions. Some writers Boudleaux could tap into their knowl- business. It started out a hobby, but it created demo tapes that could be sent edge of the artists gained through their became our livelihood. But I still had to artists or label executives. While backstage relationships and write songs to stay out of the way of the boys.” The the Bryants did go to the studios and specifically for an artist, increasing their men did not want her in their space, but make tapes, they had the most success chance of placing a song. she could get them into hers and use by charting a different course, one that Another strategy that they used, and her skills and tools to create a working took advantage of Felice’s domestic one that proved to be quite successful business relationship. By inviting them skills and outgoing personality. for them, was to invite artists to their into her home, Felice controlled the Soon after they arrived in Nashville, home. Felice would fix a meal inspired situation and maintained agency over they started visiting with artists by her Italian upbringing—something her career, while working within the backstage at the Grand Ole Opry, the like spaghetti or chicken cacciatore, metaphorical home of country music. exotic foods in Nashville in the 1950s— While Boudleaux jammed with musi- while Boudleuax suggested songs from cians backstage and showed them songs their collection, often singing the tune they had written, Felice would tap into while accompanying himself on the the network of female artists and wives guitar. Felice would offer comments of male artists to find someone to watch and suggestions from the kitchen, their sons while she went into the house maintaining an active role in the sell- to act as cheerleader for their songs. ing and marketing of their songs. Fred Their son Del recalled, “Mom was Foster, founder of Monument Records always running around and going out described the scene: “When they were to the stage area to get in to the audi- showing songs, it was like a party. She ence to scream and yell and hopefully was always bringing something to eat encourage an encore from the audience or drink, and he’s singing or looking because if you got an encore your song through the book [the ledgers in which was sung again. Or you had another they wrote their songs]. And he comes verse that Mom and Dad had written on a song, ‘Oh, this might be good.’ Felice and Boudleaux Bryant (Photo credit: and [it was] sung again. It was better And she’d say, ‘No, Boudleaux, how Courtesy of House of Bryant Publications)

6 Bridgewater Review gendered constraints of the country While developing her career as a song- of resistance” and quietly challenged music industry of the 1950s. writer, Felice simultaneously accepted various systems in order to bring about and relished her role as a wife and change for women. Using her domestic Broadly speaking, only a few women mother. This was before Betty Friedan space to create a pocket of resistance, found success in country music during suggested in The Feminine Mystique Felice built a successful career as a this time. The industry and its audi- (1963) that women were, in actuality, songwriter, and likely acclimated ence fully embraced the conservative being stifled by their roles as house- Music Row executives, musicians, post-World War II middle-class notion wives and mothers. Scholars such as and other industry leaders to the idea of the “ideal woman.” Women worked Elaine Tyler May have depicted women of women as full participants in the in the home, rearing the children, tak- like Felice as victims of a Cold War era creation and production of country ing care of the household chores such recontainment of women after their music outside of their traditional roles as provisioning, cooking, and clean- successes outside the home in World as singers and secretaries. ing, and providing for the needs of the War II, implying that they were victims husband. He, in turn, was expected to Bibliography without agency. These narratives of work outside the home and provide Bryant, Boudleaux, and Felice Bryant. containment depict the domestic sphere the income and stability necessary to Interview by John Rumble, March 26, 1983. as a place from which to escape, not one achieve and maintain the idealized Frist Library and Archive, Country Music Hall of Fame and Museum. Bryant, Boudleaux, and Felice Bryant. Interview by Patricia A. Hall, November 19, Some of their biggest successes 1975. Frist Library and Archive, Country Music Hall of Fame and Museum. came when Don and Phil Everly Bufwack, Mary A., and Robert K. Oermann. Finding Her Voice: Women in Country Music, scored hits on the country, 1800-2000. Nashville: Country Music Foundation Press and Vanderbilt University, R&B, and mainstream charts 2003. Hurst, Jack. “Hit-Writing Song Pros Still with the Bryants’ songs “Bye Bye Don’t Know ‘Why.’” Nashville Tennessean, March 22, 1971. Love,” “Wake Up, Little Susie,” May, Elaine Tyler. Homeward Bound: American Families in the Cold War Era. New York: Basic and others. Books, 2008. Meyerowitz, Joanne Jay, ed. Not June Cleaver: Women and Gender in Postwar America, 1945- 1960. Temple University Press, 1994. middle-class lifestyle. Fan magazines to be harnessed. Therefore, the stories such as Country Song Roundup regularly of women who were rebellious or Rector, Lee. “Writers Felice & Boudleaux Review 30 Years.” Music City News, February praised female performers or the wives revolutionary and made significant 1980. of male performers for maintaining an contributions to a male-dominated Wilson, Lee. All I Have to Do Is Dream: The efficient and orderly home and caring domain have been privileged over Boudleaux and Felice Bryant Story. Nashville, for the children. Women performers those women who worked within the TN: House of Bryant Publications, 2011. were expected to dress and behave con- social and cultural boundaries of their servatively, which included not wearing time and place, as well as the women revealing clothes, drinking in public, or who worked in traditional support traveling alone with men that were not roles. Country music histories have their husbands. Outside of performing further inscribed this idea by focusing as lead or backup singers (not play- primarily on the exceptional women ing instruments), the only other roles performers who achieved success available to women in country music despite the odds (for example, Kitty were typically secretaries. Felice and Wells and Wanda Jackson in the 1950s). just a small handful of other women, Joanne Meyerowitz and others have including Cindy Walker, Jenny Lou criticized May’s containment narra- Paula Bishop is a Part-time Faculty Member Carson, and Marijohn Wilkins, worked tive and challenged us to look for the in the Department of Music. as songwriters, a profession generally ways these women created “pockets reserved for men.

April 2020 7 Nevertheless, in the latest decades, The Responsibility of Scientists we, the scientists, have become more like instruments of political, military in Public Policy and corporate interests rather than having decision-making power. For Samuel Serna Otálvaro instance, today, we are witnessing and “Then, as the crisis deepens, many of these individuals commit themselves to some actively participating in the era of both the fastest growth in technology and concrete proposal for the reconstruction of society in a new institutional framework.” scientific activity ever registered in – Thomas Kuhn, The Structure of Scientific Revolutions, (93) history. While, at the same time, in the superstructure of society, we are seeing s a scientist working for and with amazing the rise of “counter-scientific” move- researchers, always running to complete the ments supporting ideas like the Earth is next experiment, grant, conference, or visa flat or climate change is not accelerated A by humankind. So, the access to such application, it has been difficult to explore a passion a large amount of information exposes I have had since my high school days: the study of the the vulnerability of people not used to challenging this information with criti- laws not dictated by nature, but the iuris of humanity. cal thinking, fact checking, or, in most In love with science but not happy with the traditional cases, the filter of the scientific method. institutionalized path for these fields, I also pursued As Walter Benjamin wrote in his “The studies in law, in parallel with physics engineering. Work of Art in the Age of Mechanical Reproduction,” referring to the appear- At that time, it sounded more like a naïve desire of ance of video/cinema, “The transfor- coming back to the “Age of Enlightenment.” Two mation of the superstructure, which takes place far more slowly than that of undergrad programs in two different universities gave the substructure, has taken more than me the opportunity to learn from both humanities half a century to manifest in all areas and sciences, and understand in a deeper way that both of culture the change in the conditions of production. Only today can it be are necessarily and inevitably linked. Eventually, the indicated what form this has taken.” two universities’ calendars did not coordinate with This slow adaptation of the super each other and so I completed my degree in the hard structure is more evident today. The appearance of mass media created a sciences without being able to complete my dream of huge shift by transforming consumers finishing my law degree. from passive actors into potential pro- ducers of information. Large amounts Nevertheless, public policy has always all of them came back to help me read of dispersed data, without proper remained a passion. As I gained experi- this situation for what it currently is: a individual filtering or peer verifica- ence, I started realizing that social crisis scenario. tion, leads toward what I would call the theories were lacking more and more in For centuries, scientists have played «desacralization» of (hard) science. The the scientific setting and more scientific important roles in decision making and scientific method is sacred in that for principles and reasoning were missing in the definition of legislation, giving centuries scientists all over the world in the public debates and larger social tools to improve the general quality have agreed to follow the process of discussions. So, I started remember- of social life. It is important to clarify characterizations, hypotheses, predic- ing all the theories, stories, books and at this point that the actual concept tions and experiments. The «desacrali- discussions from my study of law. From of scientist (and the foundation of the zation» of this process then could be the code of Hammurabi, through the scientific method for that matter) is a understood as a disenchantment that Greek definition of democracy, Kant, very recent invention, so what I am is accompanied with either disbelief Rousseau, Montesquieu, and later calling scientists here are the people or with the blind belief in non-scientific Kelsen and Hart, among many others, dedicated to the study of natural events. theories that are presented in an allur- ingly accessible way. This problem

8 Bridgewater Review gets translated in the relativization of everything and science gets replaced by dogma. Paraphrasing Benjamin, for the first time in world history, mass social media emancipates the sharing and communication of positivistic sciences from its parasitical dependence on ritualized legitimacy (for instance, sharing ideas in highly specialized conferences, research results from labs and publications in elite universities). For example, we now can share and critique our questions and results via webinars, blogs, and other forms of social media, independent of the major academic conferences and journals. I do not mean to imply that I believe we should eliminate discus- Breakthrough discovery in astronomy: first ever image of a black hole announcement. sion in person or that scientific confer- (Photo Credit: European Commission – Official social media) https://youtu.be/Dr20f19czeE?t=523 ences are irrelevant. My concern here is that in principle it is meaningful and in terms of scientific information, of scientific legitimacy based on the and, I deeply believe, necessary to have it means people need tools and under- scientific method and this vacuum more broad and free access to discus- standings of scientific methods. has been filled with another kind of sion of scientific questions, approaches, praxis: a political one. Freed from the But, just as Benjamin critiques the rapid research and results because it is more mystification of scientific research evolution of the cinema, the process democratic across the globe. However, (dependence on the cloistered spaces of here in science is happening faster broad and free access must also be certain conferences and institutions to than we can responsibly adapt. We are accompanied with the means to care- which few have access), the media could not adjusting to this “desacralization” fully analyze the information. For this, cultivate more critical individuals able to judge and analyze content and con- text. So, the new mass communication technologies have the clear promise Our (still) respected position to bring scientific research nearer; to in society as researchers could eliminate the authoritarian distance between highly specialized scientific influence policy makers and communities and the public. However, this opportunity also brings the risk strengthen social movements of reactionary movements promoting misleading information or “alternative within topics such as global facts,” moved by only political interests. What we must have, and to avoid any climate change, the fight against censorship, are citizens with access to all of the scientific information, videos, poverty … access to potable data, and conferences so they can water, housing, food security, include proper scientific arguments in their political decisions and policy mak- or access to equal opportunities. ers can include the words of scientists in general legal development. In other Having these discussions, and words, scientists must be part of public policy discussions while policy makers doing so globally, is urgent, not and legal officials should be involved in abstract, and requires action. scientific discussions.

April 2020 9 people give for the anti-vaccine move- there must be a radical transition to ment reveals the extent and the conse- solve it, a different way of thinking and quences of not following the scientific applying scientific principles. In our method. The scientists cannot just turn case, and different from Kuhn’s ideas, their backs saying that the anti-vaccine the crisis is not because science is stuck, arguments are ridiculous. It is, rather, but because science, as a whole, is not our responsibility as scientists to learn contributing and participating enough how to reach the public with tools to in other spheres. be able to filter this information with Our (still) respected position in society scientific methodologies. There are two as researchers could influence policy ways in which the current crisis could makers and strengthen social move- be solved: (1) most of the anomalies ments within topics such as global cli- would be resolved within the para- mate change, the fight against poverty 2015 International Year of Light and Light- digm of the scientific method, then (In 2050, 1/6 of world’s population is based Technologies – Opening ceremony, the confidence of the scientists and the estimated to live in slums), access to UNESCO headquarters, Paris, 19th January public will be restored and (2) a new 2015 - Nobel Prize winner (1999) Ahmed potable water, housing, food security, Zewail. (Photo Credit: UNESCO/Nora Houguenade) http://www.unesco.org/new/en/ media-services/multimedia/photos/photo-gallery- 2015-international-year-of-light … in the superstructure of This point of departure is not intended to romanticize the potential role of the society, we are seeing the rise of masses in scientific research, but rather “counter-scientific” movements the opposite. This is an opportunity to bring the expertise and experience of supporting ideas like the Earth scientists to the table, encourage them to leave the desks, the labs, and start is flat or climate change is not working with communities and political actors in government, industry, accelerated by humankind. So, and academia. By this, I mean we can employ soft power, or the capacity of the the access to such a large amount institutional structure, to influence the behavior of others by policy making at of information exposes the all geographical levels, from the neigh- vulnerability of people not used to borhood to the international organizations. Scientists must be involved in challenging this information with this soft power. I do not necessarily mean activism. I just mean that we as critical thinking, fact checking, scientists should be aware of the social impact of our research. or, in most cases, the filter of the What Thomas Kuhn calls normal sci- scientific method. ence should be evaluated. In a very succinct way, actual science consists of solving outstanding puzzles and prob- lems which require ingenuity, funding, paradigm emerges. If the majority of or access to equal opportunities. and dedication. Nevertheless, we are the scientific community embraces this Having these discussions, and doing in the presence of an “anomaly” that new paradigm and abandons the old so globally, is urgent, not abstract, and cannot be answered by the science of paradigm then we can reach a scientific requires action. revolution. In my opinion, option 1 is today and we are passing now from the It is the role of members of the scientific not sufficient to solve the political and normal science into a “state of crisis.” community to serve as the interface structural crisis we are witnessing and For example, some of the arguments between science and public decisions

10 Bridgewater Review – letting the science talk when the pure restraint and be free from torture and coordinate sending messages to society. political discourse starts failing. For persecution, organizations like The In the words of the Director-General instance, “Today science is giving a Optical Society (OSA) strive to urge of UNESCO Audrey Azoulay, “All its lesson to politicians, it is showing that all governments to allow scientists natural benefits and its scientific and today, to take a picture of something to travel and have even voiced con- technological applications make light that one man dreamt 100 years ago, you cern for the revised 6 March 2017 an essential part of the daily life of our need people from 40 different coun- Presidential Executive Order 13780 societies; these benefits and applications tries, you need people from all over “Protecting the Nation From Foreign make light an important issue for the the world” (Carlos Moedas, European Terrorist Entry Into the United States” Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) Commissioner for Research, Science (www.osa.org/en-us/get_involved/ of the 2030 Agenda.” From playing a and Innovation in the press conference public_policy/science_policy_issues/ fundamental role in increasing budgets for the Black Hole image release). This osa_responds_to_immigration_ban/). for research and education to making image was not only a major milestone fundamental calls for human rights and In the midst of all the elements of this in astrophysics, but also an example of securing equal opportunities, scientists crisis, we actually have a clear example collaboration between multicultural must play a main role in supporting of scientists worldwide being involved scientists backed up by a diversity of the SDGs. in socio-political issues in ways that countries with public funding. This project was also accompanied by several outreach activities in many countries and free online material for the general population. Furthermore, the National Science Foundation (NSF) in the USA and the European Commission for Research are implementing more and more the mandatory open access data and freely available publications result- ing from their funding. So, any citizen around the world has access to the description of the experimental setup, procedures, data, and discussion. There is a third major dimension to this crisis scenario that is not often discussed in the U.S. academy, nor in scientific, social media or public policy circles in general, but which has a severe consequence. This has to Scientists from different states in front of the office of Sen. Warren before a meeting. Congressional do with the challenges many scientists visits 2019 from The Optical Society (OSA) and the International Society for Optics and Photonics face in not only doing their research, (SPIE). (Photo Credit: David Lang, Senior Director of Government Relations at The Optical Society) but also having access to publish their results. Some scientists are unable to study, research and participate in edu- intend to reach the public, politicians, Many scientific communities have cational and research institutions, labs, and other powers with tools to be able started to pay serious attention to these and conferences because their travel is to evaluate scientific evidence. Let’s topics, in particular with the so-called restricted, often due to their national- take, for example, the initiative of the Scientific Diplomacy, which refers ity. In this way, then, scientists and UNESCO International Year of Light to a number of formal or informal science itself, are deeply impacted by 2015. After this initiative’s huge success, technical, research-based, academic public policy. This is why in connec- May 16 was subsequently declared the or engineering exchanges, particu- tion with the Statement of Support International Day of Light (https:// larly between countries. Nations for the Recognition of the Human en.unesco.org/commemorations/day- like Denmark already have a Tech Rights of Scientists and Engineers, oflight). It proved an enormous step Ambassador who has a global man- according to which all scientists and toward building public awareness of date and a physical presence across engineers should be able to live without light science as well as a yearly time to three continents: America (Silicon

April 2020 11 “Studying,” by Handi Laksono, home in Wae Rebo, Flores NTT, “Sustainable Energy,” by Dipayan Bhar, residence without electricity, Indonesia, 1 September 2014. (From SPIE, photonicsforabetterworld. Kolkata, India, 21 January 2013. (From SPIE, photonicsforabetterworld. blogspot.com) blogspot.com)

Valley), Europe (Copenhagen) and Another example that several technical and outreach programs. There are Asia (Beijing). This model transcends societies are starting is annual congres- many other resources such as legislative borders and regions and allows the sional visits of their members. This ini- networks as well as congressional fel- Danish research system to expedite, tiative gives the scientific community a lowships, where scientists work as staff formalize and dynamize the exchange voice in the halls of Congress - calling members of a congressperson. This pro- of ideas, property, researchers, and on elected officials to recognize the gram should be reproduced at the state, equipment with a person in the gov importance of science and technology, county, and city/town levels, hand- ernment specifically dedicated to but furthermore to take positive action by-hand with universities. Concretely, being a bridge between the com in keeping federal R&D (Research and Bridgewater State University (BSU) munity, economic, academic, and Development) funding levels consistent plays a key role in education for political players. and sustainable, and support education Southeastern Massachusetts and has the potential to become a development pole for the communities excluded from the metropolitan Boston area. From the This point of departure is not particular situation of BSU, which is intended to romanticize the similar for many regions relegated by big cities around the world and being potential role of the masses in both inside and excluded from the system, it is a good place to propose new scientific research, but rather the approaches for the reconstruction of society in this time of crisis. The clock opposite. This is an opportunity is ticking and now it is up to us. to bring the expertise and experience of scientists to the table, encourage them to leave the desks, the labs, and start working with communities and political actors in government, Samuel Serna Otálvaro is Assistant Professor in the Department of Physics. industry, and academia.

12 Bridgewater Review outside world, in hopes of maintain- Shuji Isawa and Bridgewater State ing its independence and integrity as a modern nation-state. So, to modernize Normal School, 1875-1878 along Western lines, yes, but in order to preserve what was unique to Japan Charles C. Cox III and its people – its ethical values and its he normal school movement began in late Shinto traditions. How to accomplish this goal was the question. seventeenth-century France; slowly it began In 1851, Shuji Isawa was born to a Tto move across Europe, and by the early lower samurai family in the Takato nineteenth century, had made its way to the United Domain on central Honshu Island. States and Canada. Among the first normal schools Throughout his younger years, he had was one founded in Concord, Vermont, in 1823. In Massachusetts, the Bridgewater State Normal School was founded in 1840, making it one of the first such schools to be founded in the United States. It was inaugurated under the guidance of Horace Mann, an individual who would become preeminent in his reputation for establishing “normal” programs in public education. Hence the name: “normal,” which meant the education of individuals who intended to become public school teachers, people after graduation who would cultivate “norms” of behavior and attitude which would then be passed along to their students who comprised the population at large.

On the other side of the world, this government by military rulers— same midcentury period of history was being replaced by what, in Shuji Isawa (Archives and Special Collections, was a time of turmoil and recreation time, would become known as the Bridgewater State University) of political and cultural institutions Meiji Restoration. studied in his home town at the Takato in Japan. The old shogunate— A new government was slowly evolv- Domain School. He was for a brief ing to be named for the young Japanese time a principal of a teacher training emperor, Meiji, who would rule from school before moving to Tokyo where 1867 until 1912. This was a period of he had private tutoring in the English rapid change in the country, transform- language. During these years, he also ing from a feudal, backward, and isola- exhibited his interest in musical studies tionist country, to becoming one of the which would continue throughout his world’s industrial powers. A remarkable education. Today, the online webpage transformation indeed. Yet the Japanese of the Tokyo University of the Fine never lost sight of what it was they Arts considers Isawa the father of music wanted to become through this rapid education for Japanese school children. transformation. A paraphrase tells us the In 1869, he moved to Tokyo to live Japanese perspective: “Western tech- with his uncle and while there, he nology in order to preserve Japanese studied English with several tutors. Emperor Mutsuhito (1852-1912) named “Meiji” ethics.” In other words, it was recog- At the same time, he began working in (Unknown artist, Emperor Meiji before 1902, nized that Japan might abandon its the Japanese Ministry of Education and Wikimedia commons.org) 250-year-old policy of isolation to the

April 2020 13 He particularly was interested in blending the Western styles of music with the Japanese styles in an effort to broaden the sense students would develop of shared characteristics, as well as appreciate the uniqueness of the sounds of each. Music Sogakudo Concert Hall, built in 1890, origi nally part of the Tokyo Music School which to him was a means of developing was combined into the Tokyo University of the Arts. The hall was closed in 1972 and has a greater sense of shared been replaced by the new Sogakudo Hall, 1998. It has now been preserved as an important cultural expression. historical property. (Tokyo University of the Arts, media file photo, Wikipedia.org) the Ministry of Industry in lower-level Interestingly enough, while at Bridge of English. Of course, when he heard positions. His real opportunity came in water, Isawa would also have English about the telephone he became very 1875 when he was sent by the Ministry lessons from Alexander Graham Bell much interested. He said, “Mr. Bell, of Education to the State Normal in Boston, and, in exchange, Isawa will this thing talk Japanese?” I said, School at Bridgewater, Massachusetts. instructed Bell in Japanese. According “Certainly, any language.” He seemed There as a matriculated student, he was to Bell, “... a young Japanese student very much astonished at that, and said expected to earn both his diploma and named Isawa...came to me for the he would like to try it. Mr. Isawa went study the methods whereby students purpose of studying the pronunciation to one end of the circuit and I stood at were prepared to go out and teach the public as school teachers. Or to phrase it like the school’s founder, Horace Mann: “Not to be Ministered Unto, but to Minister.” While a student at Bridgewater, Isawa met Luther Whiting Mason, an important American music educator who, on Isawa’s recommendation, would be offered a position in the Ministry of Education by the new Meiji government. His responsibility was to develop music programs for elementary and middle school students. Eventually, this would lead to the founding of the Tokyo Conservatory of Music, to become part of the Tokyo University of the Arts. Mason would remain in Japan for nearly three years until 1882. Gates House (1876) one of the few surviving buildings Shuji Isawa would have known as a student By 1887, the Tokyo University of the at Bridgewater Normal School. It was the home of Samuel P. Gates of Bridgewater. So many of the Arts—its current iteration—would be other buildings standing during Isawa’s student years were destroyed in the disastrous fire of 1924. established by Shuji Isawa. (Foote, Jeremy, Gates House, BSU, 1912, photo taken from Wiki Commons)

14 Bridgewater Review in the next decades? Could it be Horace Mann’s determination to foster, as one historian has written, “…the concep- tion that education should be universal, non-sectarian, free, and that its aims should be social efficiency, civic virtue, and character…”? Surely in his quest to build a national normal school system, both in Japan and later in Taiwan, his efforts were to use music, among other tools, to build a sense of unity among people of varied backgrounds and experiences. It was, after all, the single school system he helped orchestrate that unified the youth of an entire nation, to define what the “normal” in education could produce among the nation’s youth, that he pursued right up until Tokyo University of the Arts, a school which Shuji Isawa helped establish in 1887. the time of his death in 1915. Whether in his pubic career, or in his private the other. He talked in Japanese and appreciate the uniqueness of the sounds writings, of textbooks and music, this I reported the result to him…” of each. Music to him was a means of theme was paramount. developing a greater sense of shared According to Isawa’s registration card cultural expression. When back in Sources: of September 7, 1875, he intended to Japan, and for the remaining seventeen Isawa, Sh¯uji. Autobiography of Rakuseki S. study “a little of algebra, geometry, years of his active teaching career, he Isawa, or Records of Expedition around the natural philosophy, and moral philo Pedagogical World (Reprint Edition, 1980). would write texts on music education sophy.” Albert Gardner Boyden, Kokusho Kankokai. which would stress these themes. principal of the school, said the follow- Isawa, Shuji, Nineteenth Century Administrator ing about Isawa’s two years of study The last chapter of his public life was his and Music Educator, the free library by Farlex, at Bridgewater: work in setting up schools in Taiwan, 2014. which had been handed over to Japan Kingsley, Orson. “Guide to the Shuji Isawa Isawa had been well trained in after the Sino-Japanese War of 1895. Collection, 1875 – 2010”. Virtual Commons the schools of Japan, was a close His aim was to blend the musical tradi- – Bridgewater State University. Retrieved 8 observer, a clear thinker, and could August 2015. tions of the West and Japan with those speak English slowly when he of Taiwan. As always, he wanted to use Toso, Saicho, Tokyo University of the Arts, came to the school. By his per- History and Outstanding Features, Japanest music as a stepping stone to engender sistent industry and eagerness to Nippon, 2010. a sense of connectivity among cultures learn, he maintained a high stand- Turner, Thomas, Not to Be Ministered Unto, which would be studied and appreci- ing in his class work, and became But to Minister, Bridgewater State University, ated using the musical medium. the best thinker in the school. 2012. The facility and correctness with By the turn of the twentieth century, which he expressed his thoughts he had given up most of his public in English was surprising. duties and spent his remaining produc- tive days working on musical texts, and After Isawa’s return to Japan in 1878, compositions that would be used in he continued to work for educational the various forms of elementary school reforms that would emphasize what his work he was devoted to achieving. education in America had entailed. He Therein is the mainstay of his extraor- particularly was interested in blending dinary educational legacy. the Western styles of music with the Japanese styles in an effort to broaden What did Shuji Isawa carry away from Charles C. Cox III is a Part-time Faculty the sense students would develop his Bridgewater Normal School days Member in the Department of History. of shared characteristics, as well as of the 1870s, to his career in building a national normal school system in Japan

April 2020 15 As an artist, I am engrossed in the visual aspects of our natural world, particularly mountains, rock formations, and other organic elements that can slowly be altered by time and weather. Weathering leaves specific marks and textures on nature and the objects left there. For me, these marks create a sense of beauty and a reflection of time. Perhaps this attraction is what led me to work with clay, a soft malleable material dug from the earth and molded into forms that harden to a rock-like material when heated (fired) to a high temperature in a kiln. I began this research by investigating how to create these natural textures left by nature. First, I added materials into my clay. In these experimentations I specifically selected organic materials that would burn away in the firing process, leaving absences where the material had once existed. I tested materials like wood chips, sawdust, leaves, rice, beans, and cotton. Prior to manipulating it into my desired forms, I kneaded the material into the clay. Once the clay objects were fired, the organic materials would burn out, leaving irregular Ridged Pot Series # 2, 16˝h x 10˝w x10˝d textured crevices and markings on the interior and exterior surfaces of the forms. While these experiments held Ridged Pots: A Studio Investigation great potential, finding the correct balance of added materials presented R. Preston Saunders a big challenge. Frequently the structural integrity of the objects was greatly (Photography by Clements Photography and Design) compromised by the additions, or with y intention with this work was twofold: to too few additions the created textures didn’t visually balance with the hand- consider the conceptual and symbolic ideas manipulated surfaces. I felt I was able concerned with ceremonial presentations, to replicate and depict visual aspects M of natural erosion and decay with this and to embody a sense of age and history of use to technique, but found the forms were encourage the viewer to reflect on the past. These just too structurally weak to withstand pieces were inspired by antiquities, specifically ancient further manipulations or glaze firings. Japanese weaponry and ceremonial vessels. I branched off from these investigations while attending a five-week Much of my scholarly research has and Gongshi (Chinese scholar rocks). international artistic residency pro- focused on understanding Asian objects The study of such pieces has lead me, gram in Valluris, France supported by and the traditions that surround them. in my studio investigations, to research a CARS Faculty Librarian Research I have always been particularly drawn and examine how aesthetic forms and Grant. While there I attempted to to Chanoyu (Japanese tea ceremony) objects can encourage a viewer to con- create forms that merged attributes of template nature and the passage of time.

16 Bridgewater Review Asian weapons of antiquity (Photo credit: LiveAuctioneers) our natural world with forms associated with ceremonial presentations. For this, I began with a small solid mass of clay and pressed it against found texture as a means of imprinting a natural surface onto it. Following that I would place the clay mass onto a potter’s wheel to form a hollow interior vessel within its center, carefully leaving the imprinted texture on the exterior untouched. This resulted in trompe l’oeil rock surfaces on the exteriors with smooth basin interiors that would allow glazes to pool. To me, it was a juxtaposition of the natural world (exterior) against man-made spaces (interior). I felt these forms were beginning to support my conceptual ideas and I was intrigued by the direction they had taken, but I still felt that the intimate pieces lacked the substantial ceremonial presence I had desired in the work.

Ridged Pot Series # 3, 17˝h x 12˝w x 12˝d

While in France, my research also researching weapons of antiquity, drew me to the work of French wood- specifically in Asian cultures. I found worker, Marc Ricourt. He created these objects mysterious; how were wooden carved, vessel-like pieces with they used and why were they aban- ridge-like forms covering the exterior doned? I was also fascinated by the of his works. The pieces were similar corroded and patina and pitted marks to large-scale seed pods and seeing that cover the ancient metal surfaces. them made me reconsider my surface I studied how these carefully crafted Works by French woodworker Marc Ricourt designs and the depth I could push my and valued objects were enveloped by (Photo credit: R. Preston Saunders) textures to. At the same time, I was also markings of use, time, and history.

April 2020 17 Ridged Pot Series # 8, 5˝h x 17˝w x 17˝d

Seeing these led me to more experi- sawdust and small wood chips only realized they had just become more like mentation with the forms. I began into the clay surface when it was wet reproductions of the weaponry and I producing larger sculptural forms that and malleable (as opposed to knead- had not captured the essence of mystery made distinct visual references to these ing it fully into the clay), they left that I found so intriguing in them. In ancient artifacts. I also utilized some pitted marks resembling some of the response, I began abstracting the visual of what I had learned from my earlier deteriorating ancient bronze work reference to these artifacts, and I con- research by burning away the organic when fired. However, after produc- tinued with this method to produce the material. I found that by pushing ing multiple pieces in this fashion, I final pieces exhibited.

18 Bridgewater Review Ridged Pot Series # 5, 7˝h x 15˝w x 15˝d

This current body of work pays homage to these artifacts. My forms These cracks and tears play an reference historic ceremonial vases, bowls, and plates, but I have applied important conceptual element large ridges to the forms, making visual in the work as I see them reference to the historic weaponry I found so fascinating. At times the representing our natural world forms are carefully balanced on large and the uncontrollable natural forces within it.

April 2020 19 Ridged Pot Series # 4, 12˝h x 22˝w x 12˝d blade-like ridges; other times the ridges houses them, in some instances creat- In addition to creating these forms, are seen in multitude filling a shal- ing fissures in the vessels as the ridges much of my research was dedicated low bowl. In both instances, the works shrink while drying, and pull and crack to the surface treatment of the works. become sculptural. During the work- at the vessel housing. These cracks Fired ceramics are treated with glazes to ing process the ridges grew in scale, and tears play an important concep- imbue color and finish to the surfaces. beginning as small linear elements and tual element in the work as I see them Glazes are a formulated blend of miner- growing to large blades that visually representing our natural world and the als, colored oxides, and frits that are and physically overpower the form that uncontrollable natural forces within it. fired and melted at high temperatures

20 Bridgewater Review Ridged Pot Series # 9, 6˝h x 12˝w x 12˝d to create glass finishes that adhere to the ridges, but upon seeing the results experimentation, I concluded that the the porous surface of the clay body. of these tests I realized that the thicker best method to archive the results and Glazes can be manipulated to produce glaze filled the textures and the shine of colors I desired in the work was to build numerous effects, including: shiny, the glaze camouflaged the depth of the subtle depth by spraying multiple thin matte, crackle, or textured surfaces. ridges. I needed the textural surfaces layers of color oxides and colored matte Initially I began testing gloss glazes to be seen and not covered up. This glazes onto the forms to highlight their that I hoped would pool in the basins led me to more research with colored textural depth. To further enhance of the vessels and in the rough edges of oxides and matte glazes. After extensive the colors, after the initial glaze firing,

April 2020 21 Ridged Pot Series # 6, 4˝h x 12˝w x 14˝d

I reloaded the work into a kiln and brought it up to 800 degrees. I removed each piece while hot and sprayed it with My forms reference historic ferric chloride. The hot glazes reacted with the ferric to create subtle colors ceremonial vases, bowls, and that varied depending on the elements plates, but I have applied large in the glaze and the specific temperature of the piece. Each reaction was ridges to the forms, making unique and would leave different flecks visual reference to the historic weaponry I found so fascinating.

22 Bridgewater Review Ridged Pot Series # 7, 5˝h x 12˝w x 14˝d of color variation. I was able to visu- elicited the desired results. This body ally transform the ceramic surfaces to of work was exhibited at Bridgewater appear as tarnished, pitted, aged metal. State University’s Wallace Anderson Gallery in March of 2018. The exhibi- Over the span of this research I created tion included over 20 works that were over 70 pieces and 100 glaze tests. Some developed over a one-and-a-half-year directions proved unsuccessful, either period. The work is contemporary by formally or conceptually, but without nature, but embodies the enigmatic the extensive experimentation, my presence of the past. studio investigations would not have R. Preston Saunders is Professor in the Department of Art and Art History.

April 2020 23 the people with the same surname Chinese Family Kinship and made a family, hence the incredibly Ancestor Worship huge family size at that time. Historically, the Chinese family shifted Xiaoying Jing and Bin Zhang from a matriarchal society to a patriarchal society, from big to small, based on n Yunnan Province, the southwest of China, there the development of economy and tech- exists a matriarchal society on the beautiful shore nology. During the dwindling process, the matriarchal system declined, and Iof Lake Lugu. They are Mosuo people who belong then a patriarchal system arose to be to Naxi nationality. Mosuo girls are quite passionate the main family law and was dominant for 3,500 years, with ancestor worship and active, as a result of the fact that they oversee established as a national belief. Some everything in their families and society. In addition Chinese characters will help make sense to this, the beautiful natural scenery of Lake Lugu of the development. and the humid local climate help shape Mosuo girls’ I. Big Family Kinship and charming beauty. Mosuo people practice the walking Ancestor Worship marriage custom. The lovers there do not get married The Chinese character, Family, is found in oracle bone inscriptions, or establish a family. Every night, an adult man is which can be dated as far as 3,600 years invited to his woman’s home, and returns to his own ago in the Shang Dynasty (17th-11th home the next morning. Children are raised by the Century BCE). This pictograph is made up of a house and pig in word forma- woman’s brothers. Upon breaking up, the man does tion, meaning a place with a house and not come for a night visit or the woman puts the man’s a pig (see Figure 1). In ancient times, pigs were obtained from domestication shoes at the door of her bedroom. No resentment, no and reproduction of boars. And house jealousy. Nobody else (including parents) has a right indicates that people left cave dwell- to interfere with their night visit or breakup. ing or nesting in trees. They started to build houses and tame wild animals. This is a rare living sample of a matri- his mother but knew nothing about So, the oracle bone inscription, Family, archal society in China. Dated back his father. Hence all children born to indicates that the Shang Dynasty trans- in the history, the matriarchal society a certain woman were given the same formed from a primitive society into a was a period when a child only knew surname to avoid intermarrying. All civilized one.

Lake Lugu, Yunnan Province, China (Photo Credit: Lingyi Wu) Lake Lugu, Yunnan Province, China (Photo Credit: Wei Wang)

24 Bridgewater Review idiom in China passed on for thousands of years: “The spirit in heaven.” Here, “spirit” refers to souls of ancestors. Also, the ancestral hall or temple was where family files were stored. They 甲骨文金文小篆楷体 recorded names of all the descendants after the founding of the ancestors, the Figure 1: Four fonts of the Chinese character, Family, from the left to the right: oracle bone merits and honors worthy of circulation inscription, bronze inscription, small seal style, regular script. (www.guoxuedashi.com/zixing/ and singing. The patriarch and other 3511.html) elders discussed and determined what This Chinese character experienced tablets of dead ancestors would be should be officially recorded about each variations in connotation and deno- placed there following a strict rule after the funeral. As a Chinese idiom tation in history. Before 595 BCE, concerning generation. That is, the goes: “Definitive conclusion on the Chinese family meant villages where tablet or portrait of a primal forefather coffin lid.” people of the same surname lived. Each sat north facing south, and in front of Ancestral hall or temple also performed village might range from hundreds of him were tablets of his descendants, trial and punishment. On contradic- people to tens of thousands of people, among whom the eldest son was on tions and disputes in the family, the which was a family clan in nature, but the right and the second son on the patriarch gathered the elders to conduct went beyond the size of a family clan as left. During worship ceremonies, the referred to in modern times. As is mentioned above, Chinese family started from a matriarchal society. Later A peasant’s goal of happiness was in the Shang Dynasty, the Chinese family turned over to a patriarchal a harmonious extended family society where surnames turned into the symbol of male bloodline. Owing with four generations. It meant to low-level agricultural productivity, villagers had to rely on collective labor many blessings and a long life and distribution to survive. Among span, and that the family was the super family, ancestor worship and respect for elders were developed as wealthy enough to support a the basic ethic to maintain the collective social order of the same surname. large population. Generation and age marked the rank- ings, generation higher than age. So, it might happen that a 30-year-old had patriarch guided all the living descend- a public trial before deciding what to call a 20-year-old man uncle, for the ants to worship ancestors, following the punishment to be imposed. The pun- latter was accidentally one generation above rule. ishment might be making an apology, higher. Nowadays, this rule generally whipping, or material compensation, makes way for the spirit of equality Each religious ritual preaches soul. from dozens of eggs to a head of cattle. and freedom. There are festivals when Chinese people hold the ritual, such as the The most serious punishment was a As a result of ancestor worship, in Ching Ming Festival, the Winter death sentence. Another terrible pun- the ancient society, the middle word Solstice, etc. It’s believed that the souls ishment was to deprive the offender’s of Chinese people’s names was indica- of dead ancestors are still looking after name and expel him from family ori- tive of their generation. This habit younger generations, and the ritual gin, making him a nobody. If one fled continued until the middle of the can bring about blessing from the after a major crime, the tablets of all twentieth century. souls. Confucius (551 - 479 BCE) said, his ancestors were to be removed from Every family with the same surname “Worship as they are.” That is, you the ancestral hall, meaning that this had an ancestral hall, or a temple for must pay homage to the ancestors as if branch had never existed in this family. a noble family. Both were places to they still exist. In addition, there is an Hence an idiom like this: “Humiliation worship ancestors. Wooden memorial drowning ancestors.”

April 2020 25 leader of each big family led family members to work on the territory. Harvest in the middle land of each territory became the tax in the form of material paid to the dynasty as requested. The farming taxation system at that time was called the square-fields system. The area in each square was 100 mu, i.e., 16.5 acres. After the issue of the decree, the tax area of each mu was equivalent to 0.165 acres. Why did the Lu State greatly decrease the tax unit? Thanks to the production of iron agricultural tools since the Spring and Autumn period (770 - 476 BCE ), and Interior scene of Jinci ancestral hall, the earliest extant imperial garden in China (Photo Credit: the use of domesticated cattle with Jiexin Shen) iron ploughs to cultivate land, farm- Ancestral hall or temple also enjoyed The unique identification of the source ing efficiency was greatly improved. the authority of granting new members of life makes Chinese people naturally Therefore, the labor force on the origi- to the family, like granting a bride as a see themselves as a link in the blood nal square fields was excessive. People new member of the family. of ancestors and shoulder the mission turned to cultivate wasteland outside of carrying on the blood link. There square fields, no taxes to be paid. Therefore, ancestral hall or temple was fore, Chinese people have strong the center of the unity of a big family. Consequently, private land cultiva- consciousness of glorifying their ances- The management of social and family tion became increasingly prosperous, tors, which makes their motivation affairs in this way was called the patri- and square fields went deserted. The of achieving success in life and career. archal system. The patriarchal law was dynasty’s tax revenues became poor. For example, they pay special attention the rule laid down by the ancestors. In The Lu State initiated the recognition to education and academic achieve- the patriarchal system, all the manage- of the legitimacy of private land and ments. As you know, Tiger Mother and ment, rewards and punishments were issued new tax policy. Because private Wolf Father have become well-known made by following the patriarchal law. lands were irregular and small, the tax- words in this millennium. ing was calculated based on mu which The patriarchal system lasted 3,500 was a much smaller unit. years in China. It experienced gradual II. From a Big to Small decline until the end of the nineteenth Family: The Square-fields The new policy acknowledged the legitimacy of private land cultivation century, except for a few remote areas, System and Mu basically passing into history. It had a and private land ownership. Private In 594 BCE, a decree was issued saying profound impact on Chinese people’s land led to the collapse of the feudal that from then on, Lu State would levy religious beliefs, ethical norms, and era, according to traditional Chinese taxes based on mu, and abandon the social customs. historiography. It also led to the disinte- previous taxation based on the square- gration of the collective labor system of For example, in terms of the origin fields system. It was an earth-shaking the original big family as well. Produc of life, the Western Christian world event in Chinese history. tion units reduced to households and believes that life comes from God’s Before this, China was in a feudal era. even individuals. creation. Chinese people believe that All the land belonged to the emperor, life comes from ancestors. And the Family size and connotation changed. and the nobles were awarded ter- ancestors’ ancestor—the creator of the The original big family was named a ritories respectively by the emperor. world—came from Heaven. Therefore, clan and the households rose to the new Each territory was divided into lots of through ancestor worship, the Chinese concept of family. The new family was square fields by ditches and roads, that established the belief in the immortal small compared with the original one. is, pieces of Sudoku-shaped land. The soul and Heaven as well.

26 Bridgewater Review Specifically, it was extended family From the seventh century BCE to the developed than inland cities. Since the with several generations. end of the nineteenth century, Chinese 1980s, it has been an emerging trend for agriculture had been maintained in people in inland China, college gradu- Many of the ethical rules of the original small families as a basic production ates and peasants as well, to travel to big family no longer applied. The and survival unit, characterized as a southeast coastal cities and work there. ethical order within a small fam- small-scale peasant economy. The ily experienced reconstruction. Its The 100-year modernization process connotation of filial piety expanded core was affectionate father and filial in China witnessed continuous dis- accordingly, not only to breed future children. New criteria of other ethics integration of traditional small-scale generations, but also to support elderly were in urgent need, for instance, eth- peasant economic families. Nowadays, parents. Furthermore, they must sup- ics between husband and wife, among urban families are basically nuclear port parents with a smile and obey brothers, among friends, between mon- families because of the 40 years’ birth parents’ words. Otherwise, they would arch and ministers. Living in the era control policy. be condemned as unfilial. of crucial change, Confucius had been Looking back at the history of the working hard to establish a new ethical In the era of a small-scale peasant Chinese family, it is obvious that when- norm and social order. economy, male farming and female ever a major leap in production and weaving were the basic division of technology occurs, the size of family shrinks further. It can be predicted that in the era of AI, many people would … the Chinese family shifted rather live with robots, instead of getting married or falling in love. At that from a matriarchal society to a time, the family might be a house plus patriarchal society, from big to a robot, instead of a house plus a pig. small, based on the development of economy and technology.

III. Small Family Kinship labor within the family. Farming and and Filial Piety studying family were the ideal state of the agricultural society. In ancient Xiaoying Jing is Associate Professor in the Let’s take a look at the pictograph, Filial China, studying was a path to change Foreign Languages College at Shanghai Piety (see Figure 2). There is a child their fate and glorify ancestors through Normal University and was a Visiting under an adult. It was engraved on the imperial examination system. bronze ware during the Shang Dynasty. Scholar at BSU, 2018-2019. The original meaning of this word was A peasant’s goal of happiness was a that with your child born, you added a harmonious extended family with link in the transmission of your ances- four generations. It meant many bless- tors’ blood and accomplished the mis- ings and a long life span, and that the sion of filial piety to ancestors. family was wealthy enough to support a large population. The small-scale peasant economy gradually collapsed, with the rise of modern industry, modern com- merce, and modern cities by the end of the nineteenth century. Globally, Bin Zhang is Lecturer in the Foreign modernization has developed along Languages College at Shanghai Normal coasts, because modern trade relies on University and was a Visiting Scholar at Figure 2: Chinese character, Filial Piety, in BSU, 2018-2019. bronze inscription. (www.guoxuedashi.com/ marine transportation. Therefore, in zidian/5B5D.html) China, southeast coastal cities are more

April 2020 27 of researchers (called SIMR, without SIMuRing: Making an the “u”) whose scholarship involves the Shiraki Plateau in the country of Interdisciplinary Project Work Georgia. SIMR researchers come from Georgia, the United States, France, Christine Brandon, Polina Sabinin, Nicole Glen, Germany, Sweden, Estonia, and Italy, Jennie Aizenman and have additional expertise in anthropology and biological sciences. orking on an interdisciplinary team often One of the aspirations that unites us is feels like collaboratively building a jigsaw our desire to develop the next gen- puzzle having never seen the picture on eration of scientists and science com- W municators. This is what attracted us the box and with only a vague idea of its theme. to the National Science Foundation’s Everyone is in it with a common goal—to build a International Research Experiences for picture of an aquatic scene, perhaps. One person Students (IRES) grant, which funds undergraduate research in a foreign thinks it’s an aquarium and begins looking for the country. We were awarded finan- pieces with colorful pebbles. Another thinks it’s cial support for SIMuR, a three-year project that will provide a total of 15 the ocean and tries to find the wave pieces. A third BSU undergraduate students a one-year envisions a lake and hunts for pieces of the shoreline. scientific research and communica- Each person brings their own assumptions about the tion fellowship. This includes learning research methods from a variety of scene, but without a common understanding and an fields; developing a research ques- explicit goal, the work will likely go nowhere. It is tion; spending eight weeks in Georgia during the summer collecting field only by talking through the goal and assumptions samples and data; laboratory analysis/ that the team can begin to build. project development at BSU during the fall; and designing and implement- The SIMuR (Shiraki International the ultimate goals for our work and the ing STEM outreach activities in both Multidisciplinary Undergraduate nonnegotiable assumptions about our Georgia and the U.S. Research) team has spent the past two roles on the project. As our adventure years working as such a group and has continues, we are strengthening the BSU and Georgian faculty have col- learned valuable lessons through the project and our own professional work. laborated for a number of years now, process, the most important being well before the SIMuR Project. Polina The SIMuR group is a collaboration effective communication of our diverse Sabinin, Mathematics department, and of faculty, staff, and students from ideas and backgrounds. For example, Nicole Glen, Elementary and Early Bridgewater State University, the we have learned the importance of Childhood Education department, University of California, San Diego, identifying and communicating basic first visited Georgia with four under- Ilia State University (in T’bilisi, assumptions from each of our fields graduate students in 2016 with funding Georgia), and the National Academy to members of our team, as topics from a BSU Undergraduate Research of Sciences of Georgia. The core group that may seem simple to an expert in Abroad Grant and the Shea Foundation. of people involved come from a range one field are often complex to some- While Polina’s connection to Georgia of disciplines, educational and ethnic one outside the discipline. Our team goes back to her childhood in the for- backgrounds, and personal and profes- members’ openness to even the most mer Soviet Union, this was a first visit sional experiences. Faculty range from elementary questions has allowed us to for her as an adult and as a faculty mem- early career to internationally recog- build our own fundamental knowledge ber mentoring students. The students nized experts in their field. Our fields of other disciplines. Additionally, it were education majors who examined of expertise span geological sciences, has allowed us to blend the investiga- the STEM and inclusion practices of computer science, STEM education tive approaches of several disciplines, Georgian schools. Two study tours and outreach, and archaeology. We are taking the strongest qualities of each. by Polina and Nicole, and a sabbati- a subgroup of a larger collaboration Along the way, we have better defined cal in Georgia for Polina in which she

28 Bridgewater Review provided professional development to teachers for mathematics, followed that first visit. SIMR fully funded two BSU undergraduate students to attend a two-week workshop in Shiraki in 2017. This fostered connections with colleagues which developed into friendships and a desire to do more with our students within Georgia. The team that eventually received funding from the National Science Foundation for SIMuR included Polina, Nicole, and others. Christine Brandon, Geological Sciences department, brought to the team her interest and research expertise in using sediments to reconstruct past environments and climates. Jennie Aizenman, Shiraki Plateau (Photo Credit: Christine Brandon) Director of the Center for the Advance ment of STEM Education at BSU, faculty and students to the power of Caspian Seas. This location is endowed brought an important perspective as international collaborations and inter- with a range of landscapes and eco- an expert at science communication disciplinary research (and to Georgia), systems as well as a rich and venerable and motivating undergraduate students rounded out the team at BSU. culture. T’bilisi, the capital, is home to to conduct scientific outreach with ancient churches, sulfur baths, unique There are many reasons why Georgia local communities. Michael Black, and intricate nineteenth-century build- is a natural place to conduct interdis- Computer Science department, worked ings, Soviet-era apartment blocks, and ciplinary research. The country sits on with our students on developing soft- modern skyscrapers. The countryside an ancient Silk Road route at the nexus ware in support of the SIMR project. is composed of 13 distinct biomes, each of Europe and Asia, nestled between Nicole’s expertise in developing STEM with a mix of European and Asian the Greater and Lesser Caucasus lessons to engage young learners and flora and fauna. Intriguingly, Georgia’s Mountains, and the Black and the Polina’s desire to expose as many Kartvelian language is unique and unlike any of the languages spoken in the world, however many people speak Recognizing underlying English, especially in academia. The Shiraki Plateau in Georgia is an cultural assumptions and area elevated approximately 1300 feet above the surrounding Alazani Valley. beliefs and welcoming new It has an oval shape whose dimen- approaches continues to enrich sions are approximately 20 miles by 10 miles and a raised rim that gently slopes our experience. Such situations toward its center. Today, it has a semi- arid climate, home to wheat fields and have made us pause, accept, and three small Soviet-era villages along the rim. However, archeological evidence respect each other’s differences; suggests that approximately 3,000 years ago the climate may have been more brought us wonder and joy in our temperate, supporting rivers and a large lake near the center, and the area was cultures; and gave us plenty of home to a bustling metropolis with several surrounding settlements. The pla- opportunities to laugh together teau was populated for approximately along the way.

April 2020 29 BSU students doing lab work at Ilia State University in T’Bilisi, Georgia. Left to right: Kevin Hill, Ian Washburn, Kaitlyn Chappell, and Doug Chamberlain. (Photo Credit: Thomas Smith)

150 years, but then was mysteriously abandoned. One of the goals of SIMuR is to discover the underlying factors We were awarded financial that led to the abandonment of the site. Current geologic hypotheses include support for SIMuR, a three-year a change in the climate or rerouting of the river paths (possibly due to a major project that will provide a total of earthquake). 15 BSU undergraduate students The research objectives of the project are twofold. First, to create a virtual a one-year scientific research and museum of the artifacts that have been recovered from the Shiraki Plateau communication fellowship. archaeological sites. This will ensure that these discoveries are shared worldwide and made accessible to anyone this ancient civilization. This involves We have experienced both the rewards with an internet connection. It will determining the prevailing climate and challenges of working on an inter- also lay the foundation for future work (amount of precipitation and mean tem- national and multidisciplinary team. at this location. And second, to under- perature) from geologic and biologic We learned that effective communica- stand the interactions between humans records (such as sediment cores and tion should never be taken for granted. and the environment during the time of types of vegetation present). On the surface, all members of the

30 Bridgewater Review SIMuR team speak a common lan- where I will be.” The Americans on What were the most meaningful guage: English. Digging a little deeper, our team are accustomed to planning, impacts from the SIMuR Project’s however, terms and ideas within each sometimes months in advance, the first year? We are certain that the list of our disciplines often mean some- upcoming research and outreach activi- will depend dramatically on which thing substantially different to listeners ties. Some even take pride in being of the SIMuR faculty you ask. But, outside of them. We have become more able to do so. Georgians, however, are the first one will certainly be the same cognizant of how frequently we fall often puzzled by such behavior. They for each and every one of us. It’s the into our professional jargon, uninten- find it presumptuous to make such a impact it has had on our students – the tionally speaking past our colleagues. premature commitment to an event in SIMuR 2019 Fellows. While central to Through our SIMuR experience, each view of the surrounding unpredictabil- the project, supporting undergraduates of us has become accustomed to stop- ity in everyone’s personal and profes- in such an ambitious experience has its ping midthought to fill in discipline- sional spheres as well as geopolitical and own challenges. Generally, students specific information before continuing climate environments. Moreover, they are most comfortable with controlled with the conversation. worry that it will prevent them from experiences where the instructor plans making the most of opportunities that what is going to happen and guides One example of how our different they cannot even begin to foresee this them through predictable difficulties disciplines have begun to blend involves far ahead. as they come up. However, this project enhancing geologic research using computer engineering. During their time in Georgia, the SIMuR students helped the Georgian team members Our team members’ openness develop and install meteorological sensors in Vardzia and Uplistsikhe, cave to even the most elementary cities that were occupied in ancient times, and David Gareja, a currently questions has allowed us to build occupied cave monastery. The geologic knowledge needed for this project to our own fundamental knowledge succeed included determining which of other disciplines. Additionally, data to collect and correct placement of the sensors within the city to ensure it has allowed us to blend the accurate results. For computer engineering, the sensors needed to be built investigative approaches of several to withstand operating in a natural environment (with constant fluctua- disciplines, taking the strongest tions in humidity and temperature) and have a strong enough signal to qualities of each. maintain an internet connection in a remote location. This generated dialog about the scientific needs of the project and the capabilities of different devices. Reconciling these differences involved requires students to be involved in Neither field could have accomplished much discussion and, on the American scientific research ... informed by many this on their own and a much stronger side, developing flexibility in the face disciplines ... with an extensive field project was created through this col- of shifting circumstances. Recognizing component … in a different coun- laboration. Along with our interdisci- underlying cultural assumptions and try. Even seasoned researchers can be plinary research, there are many times beliefs and welcoming new approaches thrown off by having only a vague idea we have shed light on cultural differ- continues to enrich our experience. of what may result from an experiment ences with our Georgian colleagues. Such situations have made us pause, and the need to embrace the possibil- “I know what I am doing a year from accept, and respect each other’s dif- ity of surprise and disappointment. now,” said our Georgian guide, Nugo, ferences; brought us wonder and joy Things will inevitably go wrong (from last year, visibly shaken by the realiza- in our cultures; and gave us plenty of temperamental equipment to sudden tion. “That is 12 months, 52 weeks, 365 opportunities to laugh together along thunderstorms) and adjustments need days from this moment. And I know the way. to be made on the fly. The SIMuR team at BSU and in Georgia was deeply

April 2020 31 Christine Brandon is Assistant Professor in the Department of Geological Sciences.

Pomegranate juice in T’bilisi (Photo Credit: Polina Sabinin) challenged by the task of identifying puzzle picture will look like, and we and constructing extensive measures look forward to what that will be! Polina Sabinin is Associate Professor in to ensure students’ safety while maxi- the Department of Mathematics. We are grateful to everyone at BSU mizing their learning opportunities, who provided support and exper- often designed to go unnoticed by the tise, including the faculty and staff students. At the same time, we found in the Minnock Institute for Global the need to explicitly prepare them for Engagement; the Office of Grants and the level of uncertainty in research, Sponsored Projects; and members of the field work, and travel. We trusted that SIMuR Advisory Board; our Georgian students would accept, adapt, and thrive collaborators Dr. Mikheil Elashvili, Dr. in this uncertainty and they rose to Nana Dikhaminjia, and Professor Kiazo the occasion. Pitskhelauri; Dr. Ilya Zaslavsky and Dr. As SIMuR faculty, through the first Tom Levy in University of California, year, we have grown a little more San Diego; and the National Science Nicole Glen is Professor in the confident and comfortable in the world Foundation for funding this project. Department of Elementary and Early of international and multidisciplinary We also thank our SIMuR Fellows for Childhood Education. collaborations. We are getting better at stepping out of their comfort zone and examining our puzzle pieces and fitting going on this adventure with us. them together. With a renewed vision References of the goals of the project and assump- Chelidze, T., Odilavadze, D., Pitskhelauri, tions we bring to it, we are looking K., Kiria, J., and Gogua, R. (2011-2012). forward to what we will learn in our Archaeogeophysics in Georgia - New second year together. Entering year Results, New Prospects. Journal of Georgian two of the project feels more comfort- Geophysical Society: Physics of Solid Earth, 15(A), able, but as the team ebbs and flows, as 24-34. students join and finish the project, the Connor, S. and Kvavadze, E. (2008). ever evolving puzzle is still being built. Modelling late Quaternary changes in plant distribution, vegetation, and climate using Jennie Aizenman is Director of the Center Eventually, we’ll see what the final pollen data from Georgia, Caucasus. Journal of for Advancement of STEM Education. Biogeography 36, 529-545.

32 Bridgewater Review ON SABBATICAL

organization, collaboration, and From Data Gathering to Classroom multimodal (video, audio, web-based) elements as most effective to a success- Policies: Reflecting on My First ful online writing course. I created a formal report along with action items Sabbatical related to faculty training, course struc- Lisa M. Litterio ture, and student feedback. Even though sabbatical is meant to be abbatical is a significant pause from the typical a time to embrace being away from the academic cycle of a professor. Mine came in university, it is impossible to extricate the fall of 2019, directly after my tenure and oneself fully from BSU. I might have S been physically away, but my research promotion. It was a welcome reprieve from an caused me to reflect more deeply about overloaded email inbox, recharge from committee and my teaching. I discarded syllabi and crafted new assignments. I attended service work, advising, and teaching responsibilities. and presented at the Professional and After crafting a succinct but firmly worded auto-away Organizational Development (POD) message, I began my sabbatical project: conducting Network in Higher Education’s Con ference in Pittsburgh in November research focused on the subfield of Composition and where I listened to Dr. Michelle Rhetoric, particularly the area of Online Writing Miller’s keynote about learning myths and how to finally relinquish the “no Instruction (OWI). I am exploring the effectiveness laptops in the classroom” to adapt more of online writing, the pedagogy of digital spaces, universal design in my face-to-face and how digital platforms can align with teaching classes. Sabbatical helped me become re-energized to enter my courses with writing concepts more reflective teaching techniques; Even though I elected for a fall sabbati- through listservs and even the admin and it also created the much needed cal, it did not start on September 1st. istrator of an OWI Facebook page, time to make progress toward my I started planning out a course of action who helped me to gather over 100 larger research goal that will not only earlier over the summer, as I drafted responses. Concurrently, sabbati- impact our institution, but also my an IRB proposal for a national survey cal allowed me to read more research field of study. targeted at OWI instructors, some in these areas, including High Impact of whom are teaching at universities Practices in Online Education. similar to Bridgewater, and also those In November, I closed the survey and at community colleges and research began to evaluate the Likert scale and institutions. I corresponded with open-ended questions from partici- Elizabeth Spievak, IRB Chairperson, pants, developing codes based on fre- who helped advise me how best to quency of response. I noted surprising disseminate my online survey and findings, including how respondents consider various recruiting techniques. were primarily instructors who have In mid-September, when I had diffi- been teaching online for more than culty recruiting enough participants, Lisa M. Litterio is Associate Professor 6 years and nearly 50% identified as I connected with several instructors in the Department of English. self-taught rather than formally trained. Among instructor feedback of online courses, they ranked engagement,

April 2020 33 and menstrual taboos as does Sheelasha Scholar-activist Anthropology in Rajbhandari, who co-founded the arts cooperative, Artree Nepal, in Nepal: Radical Women Artists on 2013 with her artist husband, Hit Man Gurung—their self-chosen, out of caste the Liberation Front marriage a radical act. Diana J. Fox Leaving Kathmandu, I traveled with prominent Mithila artist, Ajit Sah, “A Life of political engagement is so much more interesting than a life of private to his hometown of Janakpur where, disengagement and consumption.” as an ally for women’s equality, he –France-Fox Piven, 2013 trains widowed, poor, Dalit women in Mithila art as a source of self-dignity unded by a CARS Faculty Librarian Research and livelihoods. I interviewed the Grant, I traveled to Nepal in January 2019 women, with the help of a translator, about how their art impacts their liveli- Fmeeting women social and political artists raising hoods, their self-concept as women, consciousness about discrimination and their new and their understanding of the value of Mithila art in the community and rights enshrined in the 2015 Constitution. Being a for the nation. On their own initiative, woman and an artist is new in Nepal, historically the they began critiquing social inequali- purview of a specific caste of men. Since the 2006 ties, painting scenes of empowered girls going to school instead of forced, end of the bloody, decade-long Maoist-led civil war, early marriages. I ended by introduc- both formally educated woman artists destroying the aesthetic beauty and ing Ajit to directors of the Association in Kathmandu and women trained by skills of Nepal’s art history. for Dalit Women’s Advancement Nepal Mithila folk artists (an art form from (ADWAN), an NGO I also work with, As a scholar-activist in the social justice Janakpur in southern Nepal along disrupting gender and caste discrimi- tradition established by nineteenth the India border where the art form nation, and pledged to seek funds for and early twentieth-century feminists, emerged) are challenging pervasive, training additional women in both anti-racists, and environmentalists, I de facto inequalities: menstrual taboos, Mithila arts and gender/caste aware- conduct research collaborating with child marriage, sexual violence, huge ness with ADWAN trainers traveling social movement activists to learn about gender literacy gaps, and caste discrimi- to Janakpur to work with the women. and help reduce indignities that spawn nation. Their art critiques social, politi- Thanks to a Martin Richards Social such movements in the first place. cal, religious, and economic hierarchies Justice Institute grant, that project is Harnessing ethnographic methods, I that entrench discrimination and limit now underway with six new women met artists in cafes, galleries, and studios opportunities, not only for women but working in Ajit’s studio. learning about their messages and the out of caste Dalits (formerly “untoucha- art forms that portray them. Ragini Diana J. Fox is Professor in the Department bles”) and Nepal’s indigenous groups. Upadhayay Grela, the first woman of Anthropology. The artists draw on historical, aesthetic Commissioner of the Arts in Nepal, and thematic traditions from Hindu played a significant role in creating art and Buddhist mythology (the two with political and social themes, versus primary religions of Nepal) and indig- the longstanding role of art as beautifier enous design and patterns, blending and purveyor of mythological stories them with modernism, abstraction, and that reinforce social stratification. She realism. By connecting social structures will join the BSU community in April of inequality to individuals through as a visiting artist, her first visit to the the power of art and intertwining U.S. following 68 solo exhibitions these ideas with the rich 2,000-year worldwide. Self-named Artivist (art + history of Nepal, these women strive Diana Fox (fourth from left) with the women activism) Ashmina Ranjit pioneers cou- Mithila artists in Janakpur at the completion to usher in a new era of liberation that rageous, dramatic performance pieces of the interviews and week of observations. discards oppressive structures without foregrounding violence against women (Photo Credit: Ashok Sah)

34 Bridgewater Review are using the curriculum. I am gather- Sabbatical 2.0: A True Break ing data from them to help us understand how to best change and market Maura B. Rosenthal the materials to teachers and learners. y sabbatical application focused on I am also writing a scholarly paper detailing the entire project which was beginning an open and accessible textbook, partly funded by a Faculty Librarian housed online, called Social Justice Lessons Research Grant through BSU’s Center M for the Advancement of Research and in Kinesiology. As often happens, goals that are set 12 Scholarship. months before sabbatical begins are not always realistic. One unexpected project I completed What I did instead during sabbatical was finish a was running an eight-week ten- project I began in the winter of 2017, run a tennis nis program for underserved girls at Girls Inc., Taunton. Through the new program with Girls Inc., Taunton, and spend loads of Professional Tennis Management grad- good time with my family, dog, and friends. uate certificate in the Movement Arts, Health Promotion, and Leisure Studies The most important thing I accom- department, I volunteered to help as a plished during my time away from participant for students teaching tennis campus was spending time with my in June of 2019. I was inspired by this friends and family. Taking a short and after connecting with the regional trip to Asheville with my parents, US Tennis Association representative, going to Utah National Parks with realized that once I registered and com- my partner, daily play with my dog, pleted Safe Sport training, I could use reading for pleasure, home improve- my position on the Board of Trustees ment projects, and instituting Maura of Girls Inc. to secure a free curriculum shapeyourlifeboxing.com & Mom Wednesdays, were just a few and tennis equipment. Nearly 80% of of the highlights of my fall semester I presented this curriculum at the girls aged 11 – 17 are not getting the sabbatical. Our professional lives dif- North American Sociology of Sport recommended minutes of daily physical fer in many ways from those of our Conference in November, 2019, and activity. Boys’ inactivity has decreased peers. One thing that is glaringly since the site was live on October 22, since 2001, but girls’ inactivity has similar, however, is how little we 2019, it has had more than 1,000 users had no change (WHO study, 2019). take advantage of time away from from 5 continents. Shape Your Life, My next project will involve work- work, from emails, from reading a non-contact boxing program in ing to help more Girls Inc. girls get scholarly work, and from thinking Toronto, Canada for female-identified needed physical activity with limited about course preparation. survivors of violence - has served over space and staff, thereby enhancing the Over the last three years, I co-created 1,800 survivors of violence by provid- relationship between Girls Inc. and and piloted a curriculum to teach ing a free trauma-informed program Bridgewater State University. about gendered violence and trauma- giving survivors an opportunity to informed coaching through learn- experience their bodies in power- ing about the Shape Your Life (SYL) ful ways. Preventing violence against non-contact boxing program. I worked women and transgender individuals, closely with my colleague, founder a ubiquitous and preventable public and director of SYL, from Brock health issue in North America, is a University, in St. Catharines, Ontario. complex issue that involves multiple During sabbatical, I completed the approaches. Through the curriculum, open and accessible web-based version we expose students to the prevalence of the curriculum. You may access the of violence in their communities and curriculum here: http://www.shap- to individual Shape Your Life partici- Maura B. Rosenthal is Professor in the eyourlifeboxing.com/teacher-edition/ pants discussing the impact of violence Department of Movement Arts, Health gender-base-violence-for-teachers/ in their lives. Bridgewater students in Promotion and Leisure Studies. two #MeToo seminars in spring 2020

April 2020 35 BOOK REVIEWS

Margaret Atwood, The Testaments (New York: Aunt Lydia, and new characters Agnes Doubleday, 2019). Jemima and Daisy. This text attempts to redeem Aunt Lydia by revealing her Halina Adams back story: her life before Gilead, how she was converted to the Aunts, and ne image in Margaret Atwood’s The her current mission to undermine the regime. Atwood includes an epigraph Testaments (2019) stands out to me—not only from George Eliot’s Daniel Deronda pre- as a commentary on our age of “alternative sumably to explain the humanization O of this previously repulsive character: facts,” but also as a gloss on how we might read “Every woman is supposed to have this follow up to her popular and highly regarded the same set of motives, or else to be a The Handmaid’s Tale (1985). The image appears in a monster.” Yet, Aunt Lydia’s metamor- conversation between two Aunts-in-training, called phosis from arch believer to revolutionary seems a bit like retconning “Supplicants.” Discussing the motto of the Aunt at the expense of her deliciously evil school, one of the Supplicants notes that Latin was characterization in the original novel. Regardless of how one might feel popular for mottoes: “For instance, the motto of about this redemption, Aunt Lydia is everything inside the Wall used to be Veritas, which by far the most interesting of the three was the Latin for ‘truth.’ But they’d chiseled that narrators: Agnes is the daughter of a high-ranking Commander and Daisy is word off and painted it over” (289-90). It is a stirring a realistically snotty teenager living in image: truth being ripped off an academic building, the still-free country of Canada. Both feel underdeveloped when compared to painted over so that even ghosts of the letters can’t Aunt Lydia. be detected. Yet this erasure, bleak and oddly Testaments, while still engaging the premonitory as it might seem at first same sense of paranoia and unreliabil- glance, ironically captures a major ity, ultimately takes a more optimistic, problem with the novel. Truth, after and at times uncomplicated, position. all, is a slippery element in both the Perhaps it is a consequence of the popu- world of Gilead and the meta-tex- larity of Atwood’s first novel (and the tual transcripts of the Symposia on recent Hulu adaptation); the nihilistic Gileadean Studies that end both of ending of the first book simply does Atwood’s novels. The uncertain not play well now, at a time when conclusion and somewhat repulsive the bleak realities of Gilead are becom- academics at the end of Handmaid ing uncomfortably familiar. Rather led many readers to debate Offred’s than offering readers a philosophical fate, the veracity of her story, and the debate, Testaments serves up an uncom- trustworthiness of texts. As a result, plicated sermon. For fans of Atwood’s Atwood’s first novel left readers ques- original novel, this shift may feel like a tioning the nature of narrative, truth, dumbing down of her dystopia, a too- and perception. It was a clear warning tidy demolition of the insidious evil to readers: those concepts could be that made Handmaid so terrifying and manipulated and weaponized to yet so compelling. confuse and ultimately control the The story of The Testaments is told by unwary and wary alike. three narrators: the evil brainwasher and part-time torturer of the first novel,

36 Bridgewater Review The unifying plot revolves around hence the most revealing about the Shining, Doctor Sleep. What all three the Underground Femaleroad run by novel’s larger faults. Mayday feels more have in common is a return to a famil- the Mayday organization introduced like a deus ex machina—if you’ll for- iar world beloved by fans; but once we in Handmaid. This group has been give my Latin—than a real, operating, enter that world we find it littered with receiving information and aid for guerilla freedom-fighting group. They fans’ expectations for happier endings, smuggling women out of Gilead from a are as shadowy and undeveloped to the over-the-top gimmicks, and, sin of all high-ranking, mysterious source (Aunt reader as they would have been to the sins, winks and nods at what was once Lydia). The source is in possession of a Commanders of Gilead. All we know unique and exciting. Atwood’s new cache of documents that could lead to for certain is that they have almost novel may have a happy ending, but her the implosion of the upper echelons of supernatural abilities, it seems, when it original message seems to have been Gileadean government, and is willing to turn them over to Mayday. The only catch: the courier of this information must be Baby Nicole, a child who … the larger issue with this was stolen away by a rogue Handmaid years before. The central tension, then, novel—beautifully written and revolves around whether or not the entertaining as it is—lies in its documents, Baby Nicole (who we learn early on is Daisy), and Agnes will be departure from the veritas that able to get to Canada. Atwood relies heavily on the found made its predecessor so disturbing, manuscript trope, highlighting it this but important. time around by naming each woman’s narrative as an archival document: The Ardua Hall Holograph and Transcripts of Witness Testimony 369A and 369B. comes to extracting girls and women sacrificed to the all-seeing eye of fan Each thread of the narrative also reveals from Gilead. They appear precisely demands. I wish I could believe that the a fuller, and more disturbing image of when they are needed, both for the narrative twists and turns, unlikely plot Gilead and its practices. From Aunt characters and the plot. In this way, the points, and cheerful denouement were Lydia (Ardua Holograph), we get a plot of this novel better suits the Hulu the result of a clever manipulation of deeper dive into the history and prac- series in that it feels more like a sus- expectations that ultimately undermine tices of the Aunts. Not only do we learn penseful, but ultimately upbeat spy film the idea of really knowing the end of a how they were “converted,” we also see than a sensitive examination of how story. But that, dear reader, would not how she has gathered power and infor- quickly our rights can deteriorate. be the truth. mation over the years. Agnes Jemima Indeed, the larger issue with this (369A) details the life of a Wife-in- novel—beautifully written and enter- training and the very real and persistent taining as it is—lies in its departure threat of sexual violence that exists in from the veritas that made its prede- Gilead, despite their public relations cessor so disturbing, but important. campaign. Daisy/Nicole’s testimony Towards the end, a number of unlikely (369B) gives us an outsider’s perspective coincidences reveal connections that are not only on the conversion tactics of simply too difficult to believe. These the missionary Pearl Girls (Aunts-in- connections lean towards a narrative training who evangelize in the non- of destiny or biological determinism Halina Adams is Assistant Professor Gilead world), but also a glimpse at the that bring to mind the much-maligned in the Department of English. organization of the Mayday group. The Rise of Skywalker. As I read this It is this last narrative thread that is text, I was reminded of that film as well perhaps the least developed and conse- as Stephen King’s follow-up to The quently the most disappointing—and

April 2020 37 Gretchen McCulloch, Because Internet: Understanding a desire to imbue our digital writing with personalization, emotion, and the New Rules of Language (New York: Riverhead interaction. She writes, “keyboards Books, 2019). took away some of our previous repertoire for expressive writing, like Jessica Birthisel multiple underlines, colored ink, fancy borders, silly doodles, and even subtle ears ago, I made a random observation. Every changes in someone’s handwriting time my husband “laughed” in a text or that might allow you to infer their chat message to me, he’d write, “heh.” All mood... expressive typography makes Y electronic communication anything lowercase, always without punctuation. The styling but impersonal” (153). felt so suitable for his personality – amused, perhaps At other times, Because Internet takes just a bit humoring, and understated. I am more likely a macro historical perspective, show- casing the breadth of McCulloch’s to write, “Ha!” Always capitalized, almost always with knowledge via quirky anecdotes from an exclamation mark. This suited me, too, being a bit early linguistic studies in Europe, the brighter, and overtly enthusiastic. Our brief discussion sprinkling in of references to non- English language evolution and stories of these differences, and why we were drawn to our of ancient linguistic practices. She particular stylings, led to an unexpectedly engaging traces today’s emoji to earlier examples of “written gesture,” including printed social media thread where I asked my friends and ASCII art, classic emoticons such as colleagues about their own “digital laughs.” We =) and kaomoji like the ever-popular collectively sussed out the differences between a “shruggy”: . She discusses the visual evolution of chat technology “LOL!,” a “hehehe,” and a “lmbo.” to explain how we arrived at today’s Linguist Gretchen McCulloch’s recent styling choice, how it can CONVEY most common chatting interface: the book, Because Internet: Understanding FRUSTRATION, yet also mag- endless vertically scrolling chat screen. the New Rules of Language, serves as a nify positive emotions (as in, YOU McCulloch also outlines a thought- longer, better researched, and far more GOT THIS!). She digs into the whys provoking framework that divides nuanced version of that conversation. and hows of the “expressive exten- users into groups of “internet people” Accessibly written and bubbling with sion” of words, as in “ughhhhhhh,” based on when and how they first used curiosity that comes from a scholar who or “yaaaaaay” (admittedly, a personal the internet and/or digital technology, clearly adores her field, Because Internet favorite of mine). She considers how which had me nodding in agreement takes both a micro and macro look at the exclamation mark has evolved to and attempting to categorize all my how digital technology has affected express not only excitement, but also acquaintances. the natural evolution of language and warmth. She illuminates the emotional Importantly, McCulloch resists modern patterns of communication nuances between the decision to punc- the urge to sugarcoat the past. She and conversation. tuate one’s words with ~sparkly tildes~ acknowledges the political, religious, instead of ***repetitive asterisks*** At the micro level, McCulloch digs and socioeconomic factors that led to and highlights a variety of other down to an at times letter-by-letter the dominance of the Proper English™ _s t y l e c h o i c e s _ made possible by examination of modern writing in we still so often expect of writers today. using oNly ThE KeYBoARd. In an text messaging, social media posts, and (And yes, she discusses the use of ironic illuminating chapter on emoji practices, various other forms of digital com- trademark symbols as a typographical she helped me realize I’m not alone in munication. McCulloch is gifted with strategy.) The book has a refreshing my tendency to leave emoji replies in the ability to draw out the everyday lack of grammatical finger wagging; clusters of three ( ). patterns and practices that a person may she describes “standard” language and have casually observed and occasion- These communication choices aren’t “correct” spelling as “collective agree- ally enacted, but perhaps never named the product of laziness or a user’s lack of ments, not eternal truths,” and comes or critically analyzed. She demon- grammatical rules. Rather, McCulloch across as truly delighted by how and strates the versatility of all caps as a explains that these decisions stem from why those “collective agreements”

38 Bridgewater Review about language change and evolve (46). incapable of conveying the emotional brains to better use “than upholding She also urges her readers to avoid the nuances of the digital communication the prejudices of a bunch of aristocrats tendency to romanticize communica- described throughout her book (and from the eighteenth century” (49). Part tion practices of days past, articulating remain heavily biased toward a particu- of me cheers this rebellious vision, and the clear historical precedent for lar version of the English language). yet my communication studies students moral panics and social disruptions are training for very specific careers as One area I’d argue merits a deeper surrounding new communication writers, journalists, and public rela- analytical dive would be the intersec- technologies and practices (Did you tions professionals. More likely than tion of race and digital linguistics. know that “hello” was controversial not, they will find themselves working McCulloch does briefly acknowledge when it first emerged as a favored in professional environments that still some problematic practices in this telephone greeting?). uphold very particular grammar and arena, including the concept of digital language systems. While Because Internet blackface in gif reactions, as well as how may offer insights into how these the dialects of certain demographics can students text with their friends or get co-opted by others online; how- post in their Finsta accounts on ever, the book would have benefited Instagram, it doesn’t mean that they from a deeper exploration of race in are relieved of the work of learning her discussion of emoji, as well as the and mastering the Proper English™ politics of specific language choices that still reigns supreme in so much in public digital spaces, particular for of our professional world. people of color. But even when formality is still All told, however, the book serves as required in many parts of our commu- more than a tool to better understand nication, that doesn’t mean it has to your own typographical texting quirks. rule over our every interaction, and I also interpret it as a challenge to check in the end, I value the space that the our biases and reframe our attitudes author left open to appreciate digital regarding the national evolution of writing practices for their uniqueness language, which McCulloch describes and creativity. Communication is a as “humanity’s most spectacular open spectrum, and there’s room for many source project” (267). It’s not just that types of expression. As McCulloch McCulloch is tolerant of these often writes, “Many areas of our lives, like youth-led changes to language that clothing styles and eating styles, run regularly ruffle stringent grammarians’ the full gamut from formal to informal Because Internet is a book that will help feathers; she’s actually an enthusiastic with many gradations in between. you catch up, or perhaps keep up, with advocate for them and frowns upon any How marvelous it is that writing what McCulloch describes as “natural interpretation of language that is static, styles can do the same!” (195). I might linguistic evolution” in the digital era. inflexible, and stuck in a particular even go so far as to describe it as With her observations as a guide, you’ll time or culture. She explains, “I get a *~ m a r v e l o u s ~*. have an easier time making sense of joyful thrill every time I zoom out on the memes, type treatments, emojis, the English language and realize that gifs, and acronyms you stumble upon we’re somewhere in the middle of its online. Interspersed with observations story, not at the beginning or end” (47). of classic memes such as Doge and I loved the generosity of the notion that Philosoraptor, McCulloch also intro- young people, like the many we work duces linguistic concepts such as phatic with here at BSU, are at the helm of expression, diglossia, and familects in this linguistic evolution, and that by understandable ways, and keeps a close learning more about how they digi- eye on how geography, gender, genre, tally express themselves, we can better class, and relationships shape our digital understand them. Jessica Birthisel is Associate Professor in the communication practices. She also That being said, we don’t yet live in Department of Communication Studies. acknowledges the limitations of tech- the utopian society that McCulloch nology within these contexts, such as imagines, one where no one cares about how many translation services are still “correct” grammar, and we all put our

April 2020 39 When I Taught My Last Class Joe LaCroix

A student raised her hand and asked,

“Professor, why are square roots important? When I visit my favorite place in the woods and lie down at the foot of a tall pine – its surface roots swell up, strong and round, stretching out like arms that comfort me.”

“Pay attention,” I said. “This is on the test.”

The student raised her hand again.

“Professor, how are the laws of sine and cosine helpful? When I walk through the marshland near the harbor, I see the beach plum flowers reaching for sunshine – the incoming tide busy with its chore, refreshing everything. These signs assure me of the goodness of life – A special happiness for living, as I do, as I must do.”

“Pay attention,” I said. “This is on the test.”

The student raised her hand once more. “I need to leave your class,” she said, and then left.

“Wait!” I said. “Take me with you. Show me the roots that can embrace; Show me the signs that gift you with happiness.

Teach me to pay attention, to the many ways old trees grow new branches.”

Joe LaCroix is a Part-time Faculty Member in the Department of Mathematics.

40 Bridgewater Review Call for Submissions Bridgewater Review invites submissions from full- and part-time faculty members and librarians, and others in the BSU community. Bridgewater Review is published twice yearly by the faculty and librarians of Bridgewater State University. It provides a forum for campus-wide conversations pertaining to research, teaching, and creative expression, as well as a showcase for faculty art. Articles in all disciplines and genres are welcome and encouraged, including scholarship about research interests and trends, scholarship about teaching and learning, creative writing, and short reviews of other publications.

Articles should be 1700-2200 words in length, though shorter articles will also be considered. Creative writing can be submitted at lengths briefer than 2200 words. Those wishing to submit are asked to consult the Bridgewater Review submission guidelines (available from the Editor). In keeping with the founding spirit of our faculty magazine, the editors are equally interested in unfinished pieces of writing that may need assistance with revision and in polished pieces that are publication-ready. All submissions will be reviewed, but there is no guarantee that submitted work will be published.

Bridgewater Review also welcomes Letters to the Editor with the hope that BR may become a locus for community discussion at Bridgewater State University.

Submissions should be sent electronically to: Sarah Wiggins Editor, Bridgewater Review [email protected]

Articles published in Bridgewater Review may be reprinted with permission of the Editor. Bridgewater Review Nonprofit Org. Bridgewater State University U.S. Postage 131 Summer Street PAID Bridgewater, MA 02325 Augusta, ME Permit No. 121

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