Volume 3, Issue 1 Superscript Fall 2012 The Graduate School of Arts & Sciences | Columbia University ANNOUNCEMENTS | ALUMNI PROFILE | PUBLICATIONS | LINKS REWRITING THE MYTHS TAKING ON THE ENTRENCHED STEREOTYPES OF ACADEMIA CONTENTS GSAS Alumni Association Board of Directors Louis A. Parks, President, M.A. ’95, Ancient Studies 1 Message from the Dean Lester Wigler, Vice President, Chair of Events Committee, M.A. ’80, Music 2 Rewriting the Myths: Bridget M. Rowan, Secretary, M.A. ’80, English and Comparative Literature Taking on the Entrenched From the Dean Stereotypes of Academia Tyler Anbinder, M.A. ’85, M.Phil. ’87, Ph.D. ’90, History Jillisa Brittan, M.A. ’86, English and Comparative Literature Since becoming dean of the Gradu- ongoing personal impact of the Graduate School’s 10 Columbia-bred Economist to Gerrard Bushell, M.A. ’91, M.Phil. ’94, Ph.D. ’04, Political Science ate School of Arts and Sciences, I have actions and initiatives. Lead Brown Robert J. Carow, M.Phil. ’94, Ph.D. ’94, Economics and Education had the pleasure of and the respon- It might be instructive, therefore, to take this Neena Chakrabarti, Student Representative, M.A. ’11, Chemistry sibility to speak to alumni of GSAS opportunity to list what are, in my view, the principal 16 Union Man: Kenneth W. Ciriacks, Ph.D. ’62, Geological Sciences from a variety of disciplines and duties of the Graduate School of Arts and Sciences Scholar-activist Dorian Warren Isn’t throughout the world. These conver- both with respect to the university and to our stu- Annette Clear, M.A. ’96, M.Phil. ’97, Ph.D. ’02, Political Science Giving Up on Organized Labor sations are excellent opportunities dents: Leonard A. Cole, Chair of Awards Committee, M.A. ’65, Ph.D. ’70, Political to keep alumni abreast of the many • Enhance the research reputation of the Science 22 Sabers and Shteyngart: changes that we have instituted in the university Michael S. Cornfeld, Chair of Nominating Committee, M.A. ’73, Political Science Olympian James Williams, M.A. ’09 school, as well as to engage them in • Supervise all research doctoral and masters Elizabeth Debreu, M.A. ’93, Art History and Archaeology its present and future. These exchang- programs at Columbia es have become also, I have found, 24 Alumni News Deborah Gill Hilzinger, M.A. ’89, M.Phil. ’91, Ph.D. ’02, History • Approve the creation of pioneering new occasions to provide detail on the Robert Greenberg, M.A. ’88, Philosophy graduate programs 28 Alumni Profile scope of GSAS activities and its many David Jackson, Co-chair of Marketing and Research Committee, M.A. ’76, Carlos J. Alonso responsibilities, since the latter seem • Advocate for the interests of graduate education M.Phil. ’78, Ph.D. ’81,English and Comparative Literature Dean, Graduate School of Arts and to be imprecisely understood both by to the university, to the government, and 30 On the Shelf: Faculty Publications Sciences; Morris A. and Alma Sukhan Kim, M.A. ’78, Political Science alumni and by current students. to society Schapiro Professor in the Humanities This state of affairs is perhaps not • Supervise closely all academic and student 32 On the Shelf: Alumni Publications Les B. Levi, M.A. ’76, M.Phil. ’78, Ph.D. ’82, English and Comparative Literature surprising. The typical experience of a services related to graduate students in Komal S. Sri-Kumar, Ph.D. ’77, Economics graduate student tends to revolve around his or her the university 36 Dissertations John Waldes, Co-chair of Marketing and Research Committee, M.S. ’68, department or professional school, leaving “GSAS” Electrical Engineering, Ph.D. ’71, Plasma Physics • Serve as mediator between departments or to be perceived as occupying primarily an adminis- 42 Announcements schools and individual students or student trative role in the life of students. Our students know organizations Letters to the Editor that GSAS manages the application process that al- • Represent the interests of graduate students to 44 Donor Report lowed them entrance to this institution, and their di- the university administration To share your thoughts about anything you ploma is signed by the Dean of the Graduate School; 48 Helpful Links have read in this publication, please email but in between those two momentous events, GSAS • Oversee the professional development of graduate students in an ever-changing market [email protected]. Unless you note has a background presence in the experience of most otherwise in your message, any correspondence students. • Foster a sense of community among current This inconspicuousness should never obscure, students and alumni of the school received by the editor will be considered for though, the innumerable services GSAS provides • Work to enhance the diversity (writ large) of the future publication. Please be sure to include in to its students. The Graduate School is the ever- graduate student population your message your name and affiliation to the present academic and existential safety net for our • Coordinate fundraising for graduate education at Graduate School of Arts and Sciences. charges, one that is unobtrusive yet always ready Columbia SUPERSCRIPT is published three times per to assist them whenever they need a mediator to negotiate some aspect of their academic career with The Graduate School of Arts and Sciences works year by the Graduate School of Arts & Sciences their department. GSAS is also the agent that works assiduously to address the needs and promote the and the GSAS Alumni Association. diligently and with little fanfare to ensure that all interests of our students. This is our responsibility, students enjoy equitable circumstances across all our fundamental raison d’être, and, I am delighted departments and programs. But this discretion, to note, our pleasure. But we must also ensure that Dean: Carlos J. Alonso coupled with the fact that the lives of our students our students (and future alumni) become better Editor: Robert Ast typically revolve around their academic home, makes acquainted with the ceaseless work that we do on Associate Director for Alumni Relations: Ambareen Naqvi it difficult for our students–who become our alumni their behalf, so that they may better guide us in that Design, Editing, and Production: University Publications in due course–to acquire a full sense of the undertaking. Link back to contents page 3 Superscript Superscript 1 REWRITING THE MYTHS: TAKING ON THE ENTRENCHED STEREOTYPES OF ACADEMIA by Sadia Latifi Women are having a bit of a moment. Virginia, garnered national attention and cast a light on the politics of academe. A flurry of events in the first half of the year have made women the subject of a new popular discourse examin- A 2008 longitudinal study of chemistry Ph.D. candidates ing every aspect of their lives: their reproductive rights, in the UK revealed that young women leave academia in their parenting styles, their work lives, and their status far greater numbers than men, while a 2011 U.S. paper around the world. reported similar findings and suggested that women in Legislators have recently tried to limit access to and STEM fields leave academia primarily due to interper- funding for reproductive services, domestic violence pro- sonal and family concerns, while men most often cite tections, and fair pay. Two separate covers of The salary as the reason for their departure. “Departmental Atlantic investigated the lives of single women and climate” was another major factor in women’s decisions women in the workplace struggling to “have it all.” Time to leave. raised eyebrows for its cover featuring a woman breast- This year, a group of graduate students in the Middle feeding her three-year-old son and a headline question- East, South Asian, and African Studies department cre- ing whether readers were “mom enough.” ated an organization to address these academic gaps and Women in academia have also received some extra other issues associated with being a woman studying attention. those regions. The Women’s Allied Forum in Academ- ics (WAFA), according to its mission statement, aims to The controversy surrounding Rush Limbaugh’s remarks provide “a comfortable forum where women can discuss about Georgetown law student Sandra Fluke began the particular challenges that confront them as recent when she was invited to appear before a Congressional members of public intellectual discourse.” committee to discuss the lack of contraceptive cover- age in the university’s student insurance plan, and the “I was talking to women in small groups, and the same bizarre and abrupt removal and reinstatement of Teresa types of concerns kept coming up,” said Lakshmi Go- Sullivan, the first female president of the University of pal, an M.A. student and co-founder of the group. “We Photo by Tanya Habjouqa. CharlesLeilaLink Dickens back toKhaled. contents page 2 Superscript Superscript 3 Link back to contents page shared the same themes, the same frustrations ... so we started to get can affect intellectual discourse, family and lifestyle difficulties, the together and see what would happen.” challenges with developing relationships with advisers, and how the way one talks or dresses can change classroom perceptions. “The Girls’ Locker Room” Some of the group’s organizers reported that wearing a hijab while talking about gender rights confused their fellow students; others The group started last October and met several times throughout the expressed feeling like a token spokesperson for a country because of an year, promoting meetings with provocative fliers featuring prominent ancestral connection. female scholars and the headline “Not Butch, Not Bitch: Making Room for Female Intellectuals.” “One time I mentioned gender in class and suddenly became the They’ve already won allies among male students as well as male and gender girl because I just happened to suggest that we consider women female professors, who hope that the group will push past old expecta- while discussing a certain topic,” said Marianna Reis, another group tions of intellectuals.