March 31st 2016
Assistant Professor of Philosophy Tal Correm recently had her essay “Ethics Beyond Struggle: Fanon, Gandhi, and Arendt on Violence, Politics, and Humanism” published.
Way to go Professor Correm!
Citation:
Correm, Tal. “Ethics Beyond Struggle: Fanon, Gandhi, and Arendt on Violence, Politics, and Humanism” in Listening: Journal of Communication Ethics, Religion, and Culture, Volume 50, no. 1, (Winter 2015) pp. 21-37.
December 3rd 2015
Philosophy minor Abby Lombard has been awarded a Pennsylvania House Legislative Fellowship beginning Jan. 12, 2016.
“The highly competitive fellowship program places students in leadership offices, such as offices of committee chairmen, in the Pennsylvania House of Representatives. As one of the only legislative fellows this year to be placed on two committees, Lombard will be working with the Veterans Affairs/Emergency Preparedness and the Transportation committees.”
Read the full article here.
November 10th 2015
Mathematics is more than a scramble of numbers for Yukihide “Yuki” Nakada, a senior who is a double major in mathematics and philosophy/religious studies.
It’s what makes the world go ’round for him.
“This organic feeling that there is a symmetry and simplicity that everything is related is just a wonderful thing about mathematics, which sets it apart as a discipline,” says Yuki.
Mathematics has interested him throughout his education, both at Allegheny and while growing up in Tokyo, Japan. “I liked numbers when I was very small, although I wasn’t good at it,” he says. “When I was in 11th grade, I tried math for the first time in an online high school and discovered I liked it. By the time I graduated, I was pretty sure that I was going to do math,” he says.
During his first year at Allegheny, Yuki became a math tutor and was presented with his first summer research experience. “It was unbelievably satisfying to discover your own proof. It was like your own idea,” he says.
Along with math, Yuki found philosophy to be an interesting subject. “Both philosophy and math have very similar kinds of thinking, abstract reasoning, and critical analysis but in a very different context,” he says.
Looking for a new challenge, Yuki decided to study abroad during his junior year through a math program at the Independent University of Moscow/The Higher School of Economics. One of the great opportunities the program provided was encountering different professors.
“The variety in teaching opened up my perspective on different ways you can be a mathematician,” he explains.
In Moscow, the courses were taught in English with one three-hour lecture per week. Often, many classes involved active participation that made the learning process more stimulating. Studying and working with 14 other students who also were passionate about math made for a vibrant and enriching experience for Yuki. “It made math feel like a social endeavor. It was the first time that I got to experience this in person. It added a new dimension to mathematical activity,” he says.
Moscow’s math program also offered a different kind of curriculum to Yuki. “Study abroad was a great example of what I can expect from graduate school,” he says.
These academic experiences have been made possible by generous donors: Yuki received the Steve Bowser Scholarship for 2015-16. He was a recipient of the Harold M. State Research Fellowship for summer 2015. In 2013-14 and 2014-15 he received the de Lara Scholarship. In the summer of 2013 he was supported through the Dr. Barbara Lotze Student-Faculty Research Fellowship Fund.
After Allegheny, Yuki would like to pursue his passion in math through graduate school, as math has prepared him beyond what he has expected and offered him a new perspective of the world.
— Shu Yi Tang ’17
November 4th 2015
Professor of Religious Studies Carl Olson published the essay “Conflicting Methodological Metaphors Pertaining to Sameness and Difference: Eliade and Deleuze in Dialogue” in From Influence and Confluence to Difference and Indifference: Studies on History of Religions, edited by Mihaela Gligor and published by Presa Universitara Clujeana in Cluj-Napoca, Romania, 2015 (pp. 76-113).
October 1st 2015
Two essays by Professor of Religious Studies Carl Olson, “Archeology of Celibacy” (Vol. 1, pp. 207-208) and “Tantric Sex” (Vol. 3, pp. 1335-1357), have been published in The International Encyclopedia of Human Sexuality, 3 Vols., edited by Patricia Whelehan and Anne Bolin, West Sussex: Wiley Blackwell Publishers, 2015. Professor Olson recently signed a book contract to produce Sacred Books Interpreted, 2 Vols., for ABC CIO Publishers in Santa Barbara, California, with a 2017 publication date.
May 5th 2015
After attending two AAC&U workshops on Faculty Leadership and Integrative Learning, Associate Professor of Philosophy and Religious Studies Eric Boynton, Professor of Biology, Neuroscience, and Global Health Studies Lee Coates, and Associate Professor of French Laura Reeck co-authored an article, “Opening the Doors for Faculty Collaboration: The Case of the Allegheny Gateway,” which appears in the current issue of AAC&U’s journal Peer Review.
April 6th 2015
Annabel Zinn ’15 and Brittany Griffith ’15 each presented a paper at Syracuse University’s Conference on Religion and Culture on March 28.
April 2nd 2015
Routledge Press has republished as a volume a collection of eight essays edited in 2013 by Professor of Philosophy Eric Palmer for Journal of Global Ethics. More information about the volume, Gender Justice and Development: Vulnerability and Empowerment, can be found here. Professor Palmer has recently taken up the role of program chair (alongside Julian Culp of Goethe University) for the upcoming conference of the International Development Ethics Association, scheduled to meet in Istanbul in June 2016.
March 4th 2015
Professor of Religious Studies Carl Olson’s latest book, Indian Asceticism: Power, Violence, and Play, has been published by Oxford University Press. The book attempts to examine the interrelationship in Indian discourse and narrative of asceticism, power, violence, and play. Professor Olson’s essay “Vivekananda and Ramakrsna Face to Face: An Essay on the Alterity of a Saint” has been published in Debating Vivekananda: A Reader, edited by A. Raghuramaraju, Oxford University Press, 2014.
December 22nd 2014
By Kathleen Prosperi-McClard ’11
She’s a photographer, bird enthusiast, musician—and a Gator, too.
Meet the multitalented Lauren Zurchin, a 2002 Allegheny graduate and an award-winning photographer based in Pittsburgh.
A religious studies major with a double minor in music and health studies, Zurchin’s original dream didn’t involve being behind the lens of a camera. In fact, immediately following graduation, she moved to Salt Lake City to study under Matthew Donovan, a renowned evangelical musician she met while attending church in Meadville. Her ultimate goal was to become involved in music ministry.
What she calls “a crisis of faith” occurred, though, and other more enticing opportunities arose: She moved to South Africa, found love and took a few interesting jobs. For instance, she worked with birds at a boarding school in exchange for free room and board and as a high school music teacher. A longing for home, however, sent her back to Pittsburgh at the age of 27, forcing her to start fresh and ask, “What now?”
An unconventional path? Maybe. But she thinks of it as a time of aligned opportunities—brought about by her own tendency to follow her passion that was enhanced by her time at Allegheny—that helped her get to where she is today: “Allegheny gives you the freedom and confidence to explore, play and experiment … to figure out what you are most interested in without being forced to pick one box. I’ve had the life I’ve had so far because of this,” she says.
A transitional job at a bookstore inspired her to experiment with a career in writing. A connection with Jennifer Rees ’95, then an editor at Scholastic Press, through Allegheny’s Office of Development and Alumni Affairs gave her the courage to apply to review books of young adult science fiction and fantasy books on lytherus.com. She is now managing editor of the book department for the site. “I believe it was my friendship with Jennifer that made me feel I could do it,” Zurchin says.
At that point, photography still wasn’t on her mind. That is, not until 2008, when she casually photographed a wedding she attended and received compliments on her images. “I started looking into it,” Zurchin says. “The more I thought about it, the more I liked the idea.” Internships and unpaid gigs quickly led her to start her own business, acting as the principal photographer at Lauren Zurchin Studios. She has been a fulltime photographer since 2010.
“My bread and butter for a few years has been weddings. Because of my relationship with the website for which I write, though, I have also done a photography calendar of fantasy authors for charity, all of which are New York Times best-sellers. Those have been the most interesting shoots I’ve done, having the chance to photograph some of the world’s best fantasy authors in a fantasy setting I created. It’s pretty awesome, working with some of the world’s most creative minds, and the best part, besides playing, is getting to hang out and chat with them.”
Past successes are not enough for Zurchin, however. She’s excited for new changes that the future holds. For example, this year, she has decided to shift to a more online business with classes and workshops, and to add in more ethereal portrait photography. “Since up to this point most of my income has been in weddings or the author calendar, I haven’t needed a studio. But in the new year, I’m going to convert part of my house into a studio, office and prep area for more inside shoots. I want to be able to offer more options to women who like what I do but maybe aren’t comfortable playing in the woods with me around.”
When speaking to the future generation of college students, Zurchin says, “I have had various careers, and I have used multiple elements of my degree. If there is something you know you definitely want to do, go do it. But, if you love everything and if you are pretty good at a lot of things … if you just don’t know what you want to do, Allegheny’s liberal arts education won’t let you down. Just go for it.”