Friday, January 19, 2007

 

TEACHERS COLLEGE, COLUMBIA UNIVERSITY PROFESSOR TO SPEAK ABOUT ‘ETHICAL VISIONS OF EDUCATION’

David Hansen, professor and director of the program in Philosophy and Education at Teachers College, Columbia University, will discuss the new book, "Ethical Visions of Education: Philosophies in Practice," on Monday, Feb. 12 from noon to 2 p.m. at the college’s Gardner campus as part of the 2006-2007 What’s Next Speaker Series.

David Hansen

This multi-author book, edited by Hansen and being released this winter, brings together in a single text the ideas of some of the 20th century’s most dynamic and courageous educational philosophers from a diversity of cultural and historical perspectives. The book’s framework encompasses essential educational concerns and explores those concerns in light of the tension that often exists between socio-political goals and the human potential of each child. The book was commissioned by the Boston Research Foundation for the 21st Century.

Hansen has taught at several levels, including high school, and received his undergraduate and doctoral degrees from the University of Chicago. Before taking up his present position, he served as director for 10 years of a secondary teacher education program at the University of Illinois at Chicago.

Hansen has been particularly interested in the moral dimensions of teaching and teacher education. That interest is part of a larger project to re-imagine the humanistic roots of education in an era that all too often reduces education into a mere means to an end. Hansen has written widely on this theme, including in “The Call to Teach” (1995), “Exploring the Moral Heart of Teaching: Toward a Teacher’s Creed” (2001), and in a review chapter in the “Handbook of Research on Teaching,” published in 2001 by the American Educational Research Association, entitled “Teaching as a Moral Activity.”

Born out of a plan to bring notable leaders in the field of social change under a single theme, the What's Next Speaker Series has blossomed into a forum that introduces students, residents, community leaders and decision-makers in North Central Massachusetts to innovative thinkers and doers from around the country and world. The goal is to show change is possible, to spark creative problem-solving and to inspire action. The 2006-2007 speaker series, now in its third year, focuses on "The Many Faces of Poverty."

Due to limited space, registration for this What’s Next Speaker Series engagement is required no later than Friday, Feb. 2. To register, contact Eveliz Rivera at (978) 630-9324 whatsnext@mwcc.mass.edu. A complimentary lunch will be provided, courtesy of the Center for Democracy and Humanity at MWCC.

INTERNATIONAL CLUB RESPONDS TO INDIA’S HIV/AIDS CRISIS

By Kimberly B. Caisse

Members of the International Club and club advisor, Heidi McCann, hold the money they collected for the AshaKiran Jubilee Hope Centre. ALANA and PRIDE clubs also helped with the fundraiser. (Courtesy photo - International Club)

The International Club collected enough money in a recent fundraiser to provide care to about four patients of the AshaKiran Jubilee Hope Centre in Pune, India, for one month.

The club’s advisor, Reference and Instructional Services Librarian Heidi McCann, delivered a check for $150, the equivalent of about 6,600 rupees, to the center during her recent visit to India. She learned of the center’s work from her mother-in-law, who at one time worked with the director.

International Club members will continue their support this semester. Donations collected at the Mardi Gras Carnival on Thursday, Feb. 8 will benefit AshaKiran Jubilee Hope Centre, McCann said.

The center “is a place for people with HIV illnesses to go for help and counseling,” she explained. “I thought this would be a really good, tangible way for the club to do something” about AIDS/HIV.

In June 2006, UNAIDS declared that India has the highest estimated number of people living with HIV/AIDS, with 5.7 million infected.

International Club advisor Heidi McCann stands with the director of AshaKiran Jubilee Hope Centre, Father Isidore Soares, outside the center in Pune, India.(Courtesy photo - Gaurav Khanna)

Pune, a fast growing city that is known as the Oxford of the East with approximately 100 colleges, is almost double the epidemic status of the nation at 1.8 percent.

According to AshaKiran Jubilee Hope Centre, a donation of 450,000 rupees pays for an ambulance, 400,000 rupees pay for a jeep, 300,000 rupees pay for hospital equipment, 75,000 rupees pay for computer or office equipment and 1,500 rupees pays for a patient’s care for one month.

 

 

 

More MWCC News:

• The Greater Gardner Community Choir will hold signup and first rehearsal for the spring semester on Wednesday, Jan. 24 at 7 p.m. Under the direction of Diane Cushing and Associate Director Mary Chapin Durling, the choir meets Wednesday evenings from 7 to 8:30 p.m. in room 182 at MWCC. GGCC is open to all adults who love to sing. No experience required. A $30 music-purchase fee is the only cost associated with joining. For more information, contact Professor Gail Steele at (978) 630-9162 or gsteele@mwcc.mass.edu.
• MWCC’s Student Life Office, CATS, ALANA Club, PRIDE Club and the International Club are sponsoring a Mardi Gras Carnival on Thursday, Feb. 8 from 6:30 to 11 p.m. in the Gardner campus’ south cafeteria. Students, faculty, staff and guests will enjoy karaoke from 6:30 to 8:30 and dancing from 8:30 to 11. Cash prizes for the top three costumes will be awarded. Cash donations will be collected for the AshaKiran Jubilee Hope Center, an HIV/AIDS care facility in India. For more information, contact Student Life Director Greg Clement at (978) 630-9252 or gclement@mwcc.mass.edu.

• Portrait of Queen Elizabeth I of England

  Theatre at the Mount will hold auditions for the children’s musical “Suessical Jr.” by appointment only on Saturday, Feb. 10 at 10 a.m. and 11 a.m. for ages 8 to 12 and 12:30 p.m. and 2 p.m. for ages 13 to 18. To schedule an appointment, call the Theatre at the Mount box office at (978) 632-2403, Monday through Friday from 9:30 a.m. to 12:30 p.m., or e-mail your appointment request to box-office@mwcc.mass.edu. Auditions will be held in room 182. Auditions will consist of singing and dancing auditions. Vocal selection and dance combination will both be taught at the audition. Teens will also be asked to do a reading from Dr. Seuss – copies of readings are available at the box office in advance of the audition. The tentative rehearsal schedule is Sunday afternoons, Tuesday and Thursday evenings beginning Sunday, Feb. 25. Performances of “Seussical Jr.” are Tuesday, April 24 through Friday, April 27 at 9:30 a.m. and noon; and Saturday, April 28 at 11 a.m. and 2 p.m. For more information, contact Professor Gail Steele at (978) 630-9162 or visit the Theatre at the Mount website at http://theatre.mwcc.edu.
• MWCC’s Leo & Theresa LaChance Library will host the "Elizabeth I: Ruler and Legend" traveling exhibit through March 30. The library is one of only 40 public and academic libraries in the nation to host this exhibit. This new exhibit commemorates the 400th anniversary of the death of Queen Elizabeth I of England and encourages audiences not only to reacquaint themselves with the Queen, but also to become more familiar with the historical and cultural forces that shaped her personality and her time, and to examine the mixture of history and legend that continues to surround her today. The American Library Association Public Programs Office, in partnership with The Newberry Library of Chicago and the National Endowment for the Humanities, is sponsoring the traveling exhibit. All showings of the exhibition and related programs will be free and open to the public. For more information, contact Reference and Instruction Librarian Ellen Pratt at (978) 630-9125.
• David Hansen, professor and director of the program in Philosophy and Education at Columbia University’s Teachers College, will discuss the new book, “Ethical Visions of Education: Philosophies in Practice,” on Monday, Feb. 12 from noon to 2 p.m. at the Gardner campus as part of the college’s 2006-2007 What’s Next Speaker Series. Due to limited space, registration for this What’s Next Speaker Series engagement is required no later than Friday, Feb. 2. To register, contact Eveliz Rivera at (978) 630-9324 whatsnext@mwcc.mass.edu. A complimentary lunch will be provided, courtesy of the Center for Democracy and Humanity at MWCC.
• MWCC’s new Biotechnology manufacturing program will host information sessions Tuesdays Feb. 13, March 6, April 10 and May 15 from 11:30 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. and 6 to 7 p.m. at the main campus, 444 Green St., Gardner. With the decision by the drug manufacturer Bristol-Myers Squibb to locate a large biotechnology company at Devens, the college anticipates a 64-credit degree program will begin in fall 2007 and a 28-credit certificate program in fall 2008 at the Devens campus. The Massachusetts Biotechnology Council predicts more than 100,000 biotechnology jobs will be added statewide by the end of the decade. Registration is required. To register and for more information, contact MWCC’s Dean of Science Charles Weitze at cweitze@mwcc.mass.edu or (978) 630-9207.
• Theatre at the Mount will present “Smokey Joe’s Café” for five performances beginning Friday, Feb. 23 at 8 p.m. “Smokey Joe's Café” is an explosion of immortal hits including “Stand By Me,” “Jailhouse Rock,” “There Goes My Baby” and many more. Other performances will be held on Saturday, Feb. 24, Friday, March 2 and Saturday, March 3 at 8 p.m. and Sunday, March 4 at 2 p.m. Tickets for “Smokey Joe’s Café” are on sale at the Theatre at the Mount box office Monday through Friday, 9:30 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. and 1:30 to 2:30 p.m., or call (978) 632-2403. Tickets can also be purchased online at http://theatre.mwcc.edu. Tickets are $20 for evening performances and $15 for matinees, with discounts available for children, Mount students and groups. Subscriptions for Theatre at the Mount’s 2007 season, at total of five shows, are also available for just $65.
• MWCC will host a Renaissance performance by actor Marilyn Murphy Meardon on Wednesday, Feb. 28th from 11:30 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. at the main campus. The 45-minute, solo performance, “Queen Elizabeth I: In her Own Words,” was researched and composed by Meardon, who used the Queen's own letters, poetry, prayers and speeches to create a performance that brings the monarch's words to life. Meardon’s performance will complement the “Elizabeth I: Ruler and Legend” traveling exhibition on display in the Leo & Theresa LaChance Library through March 30, 2007. For more information, contact the library at (978) 630-9125.
• MWCC will hold a four-session Explorer course Wednesdays March 7, March 21, April 4, and April 18 from 6 to 9 p.m. at its Gardner campus. The Explorer program is intended for those who are considering farming as a business. This course offering is sponsored by the Massachusetts Department of Agricultural Resources Agricultural Business Training Program, in cooperation with the Explorer creator, the New England Small Farm Institute in Belchertown, with additional support from MWCC. For a registration form, please contact Rick Chandler, MDAR, 25 West Experiment Station, UMass, Amherst MA 01003 or rchandler@umext.umass.edu.
• Theatre at the Mount is accepting nominations for the inaugural High School Musical Theatre Awards, the TAMYs. These awards recognize the exceptional accomplishments in the production and performance of musical theatre in area high schools. Area high schools are invited to participate in the competition by entering their annual musical production for consideration in a variety of categories, including: best overall production, best actor, best actress, best choreography, etc. Members of the Theatre at the Mount staff will attend and evaluate each production, making nominations in each category. Winners will be honored at a “red-carpet” awards ceremony and dinner modeled after Broadway’s Tony Awards. Local schools interested in participating in the TAMY Award program should contact Professor Gail Steele at (978) 630-9162 or gsteele@mwcc.mass.edu.