Stonehill Faculty Focus 2008
Unleashing Creative Energy
Faculty and student excitement around the expanded Martin Institute is palpable. "We've had great reception to our programming," says Ubertaccio, noting that as the year progressed, attendance increased, with a number of events enjoying standing-room-only crowds.
"I'm also very impressed with the innovation of faculty, students and staff," he continues. "We work and live in a wonderful community of scholars. After many of the events, I've received emails and phone calls with suggestions of speakers, films, performances, and books that relate to the topic. I believe our events help to unleash creative energy on campus."
In fact, Ubertaccio notes that the members of the Martin Institute's Faculty Steering Committee have contributed significantly to the exchange of ideas and programming suggestions. The members of the Committee are: Professor of Religious Studies Christopher Ives; Assistant Professor of Sociology Keri Iyall Smith; Associate Professor of Business Administration Jennifer Swanson; and Assistant Professor of Biology Sharon Ramos Goyette.
The Martin Institute's new mission holds "great promise to enrich the intellectual life on campus, not only for students but for faculty as well," notes Rosenthal. "It completely transforms consideration of a broad topic, like globalization, from being insulated in a particular course to being mainstreamed. It's invigorating."
"I've been involved at a number of different colleges and universities and have found initiatives like the Martin Institute are essential to an institution's intellectual health," concludes Cohen. "This is something you'd expect to find at a much larger university with a humanities center. The fact that Stonehill is doing something like this is exciting. I'm really proud to be a part of it."