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SPRING 2015
Message from Interim Dean Gregory Kalscheur, S.J.
As I met with the parents of incoming A&S students during last summer’s orientation sessions, I frequently heard questions about the value of a liberal arts education in today’s complex and rapidly changing job market. Given the substantial investment of family resources that a college education requires, these questions reflect reasonable and important concerns. As several of the features in this spring edition of Arts and Sciences show, we continue to strengthen our commitment to a rigorous liberal arts education that provides our students with a strong foundation for meaningful and productive lives in the 21st century world of work. Read Fr. Kalscheur’s full message »
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Alumni survey explores value of the liberal arts
A Boston College survey of more than 2,000 recent Arts and Sciences graduates lends light to the heated debate over whether a liberal arts education adequately prepares students for today’s job market. A majority of A&S alumni surveyed last spring said their college educations have served them well in the workplace. The respondents, all of whom graduated between 2003 and 2012, identified specific skills they honed at Boston College. Read more about the survey » |
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University holds its first “Research Day”
More than 200 people attended Boston College’s inaugural Research Day on December 11, which featured three interdisciplinary faculty panels and 26 student poster presentations on the theme “Global Health: Policy, Disparity, Disease.” Thomas Chiles, the DeLuca Professor of Biology and vice provost for research and academic planning, who spearheaded the event, said it was “organized to raise awareness of the signal role research plays on the Boston College campus.” Read a full program of the day’s events » |
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Pilot courses aim to revitalize core
Boston College introduces nine interdisciplinary courses exploring areas such as climate change, censorship, disease, and war this coming fall. Freshmen can fulfill core curriculum requirements through these team-taught pilot offerings, developed to renew and strengthen the undergraduate core. They will “engage first-year students in foundational and integrative ways, connecting them to faculty expertise, life outside the classroom, and the distinctive qualities of Boston College as a Jesuit, Catholic university,” said Greg Kalscheur, S.J., Arts and Sciences interim dean and chair of the Core Foundations Task Force. Read more about the pilot core courses »
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Of Note
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This spring’s Lowell Humanities Series lineup includes cartoonist Alison Bechtel on February 11, novelist Dennis Lehane on March 11, historian Diarmaid Ferriter on March 18, historian Ira Berlin on March 25, and novelist Dinaw Mengestu on April 8. Founded in 1957, the series brings distinguished artists, performers, and scholars to campus. Read more about the featured speakers at the Lowell Humanities website »
Cited for his research on heat conduction in solid materials, Physics Professor David Broido was named a Fellow of the American Physical Society. He is the fourth physics department faculty member elected to the society. Read the department’s announcement of David Broido’s election »
Biology Professor David Burgess will lead research teams from five universities in developing the National Research Mentoring Network, an effort to promote greater diversity in the biomedical field that is funded by a $19 million grant from the National Institutes of Health. The network will be headquartered at Boston College. Read an article about the grant and the program it will fund »
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Boston College’s nationally recognized McMullen Museum of Art will move next year from Devlin Hall, its home since 1993, to renovated and expanded quarters in the former Cardinal’s Residence on the Brighton Campus. Read an article about the new space »
Boston College and the German Consulate celebrated the 100-plus Boston College undergraduates who have been awarded prestigious Fulbright Fellowships at a two-day event in November. German Consul General Rolf Schütte presented German Studies Department Chair and Professor Michael Resler the Order of Merit of the Federal Republic of Germany at the gathering, which included a reception for faculty, students, and alumni, and a daylong seminar in Gasson Hall. Read an article about the celebration »
More than $2 million in grants have been awarded to psychology department faculty to support research in spatial memory, cognition, and social behavior. Read about the grants and the projects they will support »
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