SPRING 2006 THE PITT UNIVERSITY OF PITTSBURGH P RIDall wear different Franklin Toker, and Professor Rami E hats in both our Melhem. We may also look to our own family lives and students who are fulfilling the promise We careers, and more of higher education. Angela Hayes, an often than not, doing it all means English writing major who is pursuing using many different skills and talents. a Certificate in West European Studies, One of my hats is that of Associate turned my press release into a won- Dean, and it has been a pleasure to derful Pitt News story about astrono- serve your daughters and sons. my research. Angela, a junior and a Another hat is that of educator, and to Pitt News staff writer, is already exem- that end the faculty recently approved plifying some of our liberal arts tenets: my new undergraduate course propos- the ability to articulate arguments for a al for a Senior Leadership Seminar, wide range of audiences; to use what offered for the first time this coming she knows to understand what she has fall. Students who are interested in yet to learn; and to master a discipline. discussing leadership across the liber- These skills will be truly helpful to her al arts and who have prior internship throughout her life, as they have been or service experience should consider for me and my colleagues. this course, listed as ARTSC 1999. Other highlights in this Pitt Pride issue The third hat I wear is that of include the latest about Computer researcher. As a professor in the Science Day and the innovation of the Department of Physics and Astronomy, new Schenley Plaza parklet complete I engage in the challenges of acquiring with wireless Internet access from its new knowledge about the universe lawn. It’s true that technology can and transmitting it to the next genera- sometimes have its own difficulties - tion of researchers. My recent work in this fall, when Pitt implemented com- astrophysics has centered on ideas of puter on-line grading for all courses, how galaxies may have come into some grades were not immediately being after the Big Bang. This January, available. I sincerely apologize for any my astrophysics colleagues and I inconvenience that the missing grades connected at the 207th meeting of the may have caused your family. Dean’s American Astronomical Society in In closing, I would like to extend my Washington, DC. A personal highlight enthusiastic congratulations to all of Address was that the Society asked me to turn our families whose students will grad- my research paper into a press uate in April! All my best wishes for a release, thereby bringing my latest successful transition to the world of work, research to the public. In this newslet- Knowledge gains value research, or graduate school. We will see ter, we can see other scholars and you at Commencement 2006! when it is shared. researchers sharing their knowledge through their academic commitments - Associate Dean Professor Kathleen Allen, Professor Regina Schulte-Ladbeck SCHOOL OF ARTS AND SCIENCES • SPRING 2006 · FAMILY NEWSLETTER Update on Undergraduate Research First Experiences in Research, a unique undergraduate mately 100 undergraduates from the School of Arts program, affords undergraduates an opportunity to get a and Sciences. closer look at a particular field within the humanities, nat- Throughout the course of the spring semester, First ural sciences, or social sciences by getting acquainted Experiences in Research students meet every other week with the topics and inquiries pursued through research. with their peer researchers in a cohort to share experi- These students work closely with a faculty member as a ences, listen to presentations, gain insights about why member of their research team, assisting in the faculty scholars conduct research, and learn effective ways to member’s research project, and/or working under communicate findings. The program places emphasis on faculty supervision on a project of their own. Students teaching students how to present their findings in the earn either one or two academic credits and gain valuable form of a poster presentation, where they hone their visu- knowledge of just how scholars actually conduct research al and oral presentation skills. Upon completing a semes- by spending several hours a week on projects such as ter of learning, research, and peer interaction, the student examining lake sediment cores for climate change, the researchers present their findings in a poster presentation dislocation and relocation of Hurricane Katrina victims, or session. This year’s presentation will take place on April the changing conceptions of the human body between 18 from 5:00 pm to 5:50 pm in the Chevron Science the 14th and 17th centuries. In its third year, First Center’s Ashe Balcony and Lobby. Experiences in Research has grown to include approxi- SAVE TIME. SAVE MONEY. SAVE YOUR SEAT. Summer Sessions at the School of Arts and Sciences. Make the most of your summer by giving yourself an edge at the University of Pittsburgh’s prestigious School of Arts and Sciences. Summer Sessions registration has begun! Save time by earning credits in as little as four weeks while you experience our exceptional instruction and diverse urban campus. Hundreds of courses are offered both day and evening to fit your schedule. Save money by applying for a parking scholarship (free parking!), and enter the drawing for a $200 University Book Center gift certificate. Course selection and registration are just a click away at www.summer.pitt.edu. Save your seat and get the value of smaller, accelerated classes from over 30 renowned depart- ments in the humanities, social sciences, natural sciences and the arts. We also welcome new freshmen to get their feet wet by participating in the second half of summer to get a leg up on your first year – for more information, please visit www.summer.pitt.edu. Last year, we created this newsletter, the offer feedback about the Pitt Pride Family Pitt Pride, to help you stay informed about Newsletter. All responses will be kept strictly the latest School-wide news and events confidential. We will use your input to find affecting you and your son or daughter. Now even better ways to keep you informed about that we have several issues behind us, we the Arts and Sciences community. As a would like to invite you to share your way to thank you for your participation, we thoughts about this publication. will enter your son or daughter into a drawing for a $100 University Book Center The readership survey, located at gift certificate. Thank you for being part of www.zoomerang.com/survey.zgi?p=WEB224X our Arts and Sciences family – we look for- N6ZW7UW, will be active until April 1 and ward to hearing from you! provides you with a quick, simple way to SCHOOL OF ARTS AND SCIENCES • SPRING 2006 · FAMILY NEWSLETTER Pitt Sciences PittStart Last fall, we launched a new program, Pitt PittStart sessions, where our incoming Sciences, designed to bring our students into freshmen visit campus for advising, closer contact with the sciences in the classroom placement testing, and registration for and in industry. We invited them to free lectures, classes, will take place over the follow- including a lecture by author Andrew Weil, MD. ing dates this summer. For more infor- mation and to register for a PittStart This spring, we’re providing even more opportunities for students to learn session, please visit about science in action. In February, the School of Arts and Sciences www.pittstart.oafa.pitt.edu. sponsored a talk on “The Science of Optics” by Charles Falco, PhD. Upcoming May 23, 24, 26 Pitt Sciences events include a spring break day trip to tour a working steel mill, a lecture by neuroscientist Robert Sapolsky, PhD, and a nature hike at June 6, 7, 9, 13,14, 16, 27, 28, 30 Pitt’s Pymatuing Laboratory of Ecology with biology professor Anthony July 25, 26, 28 Bledsoe, PhD. August 8, 9, 11, 22 Faculty Profile: Kathleen Allen For a long time, Kathleen Allen Iroquois of upstate New York by on the Iroquois, and Basic thought that her life would take her leading undergraduates on a six-week Laboratory Analysis. from the likes of Buffalo dance studios summer field intensive in the form of “I feel strongly about students gaining a to a New York City professional dance a dig outside of Ithaca, NY. There, real sense of the time depth – things are company. That is, until she actually students learn the actual practice of changing so much, particularly because of visited “the city” as a University of archaeology by finding and character- technology, and it is important to realize Rochester undergraduate. She realized izing pottery shards, graphing patterns our huge past as humanity – you’re talking that a dancer’s life wasn’t for her - the of the findings, and describing them over 200,000 years, many migrations out of city seemed “scary” - she took a year with technical writing. Students learn Africa, and so on. One of the things I want off from college and entered into a firsthand how to grapple with the people to understand is that we’re all relat- period of contemplation. Sound like problems of creating and analyzing ed. We really do have a common origin, and your own son or daughter? Think data, considering different methods of I would hope that by getting a sense of this again – it’s the Department of analysis, and coming to conclusions enormous time depth, that we can come to Anthropology’s Professor Kathleen about their findings. respect one another.” Professor Allen is Allen.