Academic News
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
Professor Margaret Boyle Receives $35,000 Fellowship from Howard Foundation
May 01, 2019The award provides more support for Boyle as she plans her next book, a study of women and health in early modern Spain. Earlier this year she won a Fulbright scholarship to work on the project in Spain next year. -
-
-
-
-
-
-
Public Service Initiative Heads to Washington, DC, for the Second Year
April 10, 2019Students headed to Washington, DC, over the spring break on the second Bowdoin Public Service Initiative. The program is designed to provide students with the opportunity to delve into topics around government and public policy work. -
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
2018: A Busy Summer at Bowdoin College
September 12, 2018The summer months are a time for many of us to recharge the batteries, but it doesn’t mean life at Bowdoin grinds to a halt. The campus may be quieter than usual, but there has been no shortage of activity—academic and otherwise—among the Bowdoin community since the school year ended. -
Dorn’s Book on Education Praised in Top History Journal
September 11, 2018Julie Reuben, a preeminent historian of higher education at Harvard University, has recently published a review of Charles Dorn’s book, For the Common Good: A New History of Higher Education in America, in The Journal of American History. -
-
Bowdoin Historian Highlights Maine’s Debt to Slavery
August 28, 2018In two years, Maine will turn two-hundred years old. Amid the birthday celebrations, Bowdoin’s Brian Purnell, an associate professor of history and Africana studies, asks that we consider the state’s indebtedness to slavery for its origins. -
Jake Stenquist '19: A Scholar, Athlete, Marine, and Rock Drummer
August 27, 2018On May 26, 2018, when most of the Bowdoin community was celebrating the College’s 213th Commencement, rising senior Jake Stenquist was on his way to Marine Officer Candidates School (OCS) at Marine Base Quantico, Virginia, for six weeks of “organized chaos.” -
Bowdoin’s Brian Purnell Reminds Us of the North’s Racist Past
August 17, 2018While modern racism is often characterized as a primarily Southern scourge, “embodied in tiki torches, Confederate flags and violent outbursts,” the North cannot ignore its own racist roots, or, for that matter, its ties to today’s white supremacy movements, Brian Purnell argues in a new co-authored article in The Conversation. -
Bowdoin Faculty Receive National Humanities Grant for Holocaust Education Seminar
August 16, 2018The National Endowment for the Humanities has awarded Bowdoin College nearly $90,000 to offer a seminar next summer for sixteen middle and high school teachers, from across the U.S., on using art objects to enrich their lessons about the Holocaust. -
-
Reappraising Ovid: Professor Boyd Examines the Roman Poet’s Relationship with Homeric Tradition
July 27, 2018She aims to shed fresh light on the literary connections between Ovid and Homer, who lived nearly a thousand years before the Roman poet, and who may well have been several different people! -
-
Five Professors Appointed to Named Chairs
June 05, 2018Five members of the Bowdoin faculty have been appointed to named chairs in recognition of their contributions to scholarship and teaching at the College. The appointments were made by President Clayton S. Rose on the recommendation of Dean for Academic Affairs Elizabeth F. McCormack and after consulting with senior members of the Committee on Appointments, Promotion, and Tenure. Holders of named chairs are entitled to additional research funds. The appointments are effective July 1, 2018. -
Keeping Black Kids Safe: Preventing Violence in Chicago Schools
May 22, 2018"I realized after being at Bowdoin that a lot of the experiences I've had are not discussed, or represented, or even recognized on campus," LaShanda Harbin ’18 said. She and her grandmother, who helped raise her, live in Englewood, on the South Side of Chicago. "So I decided to write about it." -
More Recognition for Bowdoin Art Professor Jackie Brown
May 17, 2018Marvin H. Green Jr. Assistant Professor of Art Jackie Brown has another honor to add to her name. She was recently awarded a Maine Artist Fellowship, one of seven Mainers to be recognized in this way for their efforts across the artistic spectrum. -
-
The Story of Bowdoin’s Guest Semester Program is Told around New England and ‘The World’
May 11, 2018In the aftermath of the devastating storms that struck Puerto Rico and the US Virgin Islands, Bowdoin opened its classrooms to students whose education was disrupted by Hurricanes Irma and Maria. Two students accepted the invitation to enroll in the spring semester, with their tuition, room and board, books, winter clothing costs, and transportation to campus all covered by the College. -
-
Mohamed Nur ’19 Wins Truman Scholarship for Graduate Studies in Public Service
April 18, 2018“I have seen people who have worked so tirelessly for other people. I have seen their impact on other people’s lives, and the kind of good that can do. This is what I want to spend the rest of my life doing,” Mohamed Nur ’19 -
Prof. Erin Johnson Honored for Bringing Community Service to the Classroom
April 13, 2018Erin Johnson, a visiting assistant professor at Bowdoin in the two departments of Visual Arts and Digital and Computational Studies, is being recognized for making public service an integral part of her classes. -
Robert Morrison Awarded Guggenheim Fellowship to Study Islamic Influence on the Renaissance
April 10, 2018Religion professor says a network of Jewish scholars played a key part in transporting scientific ideas from the Islamic world to Renaissance Europe. The pioneering astronomer Copernicus, for example, owes a significant debt to mathematical theories developed in the Ottoman Empire, says newly appointed Guggenheim Fellow Morrison. -
Far and Wide: Student Excursions Over the Spring Break
March 22, 2018From Sicily to Silicon Valley, from the Big Apple to the Big Easy, students traveled broadly over spring break on a variety of trips, some of them academic in nature, some cultural, and some service-oriented, but all aimed at enhancing their experience beyond the classroom. -
-
-
-
In New Yorker Article on Bratz Dolls vs. Barbie, Bowdoin Economist Offers Insight
January 24, 2018In a recent New Yorker article, writer Jill Lepore — a 2015 Bowdoin honorary degree recipient — describes Bratz dolls as having eyes and heads so big and noses so small “that if it weren’t for their Penthouse makeup…and their come-hither clothes…they’d look like emaciated babies….” The popular Bratz are the only dolls to successfully compete with Barbie dolls since Barbie was introduced in 1959. -
C-SPAN Airs Professor Dorn’s Talk on Higher Education
January 17, 2018Professor of Education Chuck Dorn recently gave a keynote address on his research into U.S. universities and colleges for the New England Association of Schools and Colleges’s annual conference in Boston. His lecture was broadcast by C-SPAN. -
President Rose Busts Myths Around the Liberal Arts in ‘US News’ Op-Ed
January 17, 2018In an opinion piece for U.S. News & World Report, President Clayton Rose stands up against those who have taken aim at higher education—addressing criticisms and misconceptions that exist around the liberal arts education model, and telling the story of what it does well. -
Bowdoin Appoints New Senior Leaders
January 15, 2018The new year kicked off with announcements of two new members to the College’s senior staff—one in the newly created role of senior vice president for inclusion and diversity, the other filling the position of senior vice president and chief information officer. -
MacEachern Book Studies Origins of Boko Haram
January 12, 2018Scott MacEachern’s latest book—Searching for Boko Haram: A History of Violence in Central Africa (Oxford University Press, 2018)—sheds fresh light on the origins of the Central African Islamic terror group. MacEachern, an anthropology professor with more than three decades of experience researching the archaeology of the Lake Chad Basin, came upon the subject more by circumstance than intention. -
Author Neil Olson ’86 on Being Both a Publisher and a Novelist
January 11, 2018Neil Olson ’86 knows both sides of the publishing business, writes Heather Senison in amNewYork. For more than three decades Olson has worked for a reputable New York literary agency (Donadio & Olson), where he has been a partner since 1996. -
Bowdoin Profile: First-Generation College Student Dylan Bess ’21
January 10, 2018A few days after his high school guidance counselor recommended to Dylan Bess that he consider applying to Bowdoin, an admissions representative from Bowdoin visited his school in St. Louis, Mo. And she spoke his language. -
Bowdoin Profile: First-Generation College Student Kathryn McGinnis ’21
January 10, 2018In her early days at Bowdoin, Kathryn McGinnis ’21 had an experience that is not uncommon for first-year students at a liberal arts college. She arrived at college thinking she would be pre-med. But after taking a microeconomics class, she found a new academic passion. -
-
Marine Science Students Research Ocean Changes, Microplastics, Invasive Species, and More
January 02, 2018At the conclusion of the fall semester, it is a tradition for the Bowdoin Marine Science Semester students to present their independent research projects at the Schiller Coastal Studies Center. To a gathered group of scientists and students, they explain how they designed their experiments and what they discovered. The ten participants in the program this year pursued a range of inquiries, from how climate change might be changing snails’ eating habits to how much microplastic is being eaten by zooplankton. -
Book on Dinosaur Art by Zoë Lescaze ’12 Impresses Reviewers
December 07, 2017In its review of “Paleoart: Visions of the Prehistoric Past,” the New York Times calls the volume “gorgeous,” and points out that while it is focused on ancient species long gone, the artists’ attempts at visualizations of dinosaurs are more relevant than ever as we grapple with the looming threats of climate change. -
Bowdoin STEM Students Present, and Get Inspired, at Diversity Conference
November 07, 2017Three students from Bowdoin — Jorge Gómez ’18, Louis Mendez ’19, and Cindy Rivera ’18 — recently presented their research at The National Diversity in STEM conference in Salt Lake City, Utah, which is hosted by the Society for Advancement of Chicanos/Hispanics and Native Americans in Science (SACNAS). -
Solving an Earth-Sized Puzzle: Bowdoin Goes to Iceland
September 29, 2017Iceland is the ideal location to study the causal relationships and interactions among tectonics, volcanism, glaciation, ecology, and oceanography, says Collin Roesler, who along with three other faculty members from the Earth and Oceanographic Science Department, recently led twenty students on the field seminar of a lifetime. View the story full-size in its own window. -
The Giant Stairs of Bailey Island: An Evolving Outdoor Classroom
September 27, 2017At the narrow end of Bailey’s Island in Harpswell, a series of dark, blocky stones are laid out one on top of another, like a huge staircase leading down to the sea. Known as the Giant Stairs, they’ve long been a favorite destination for Bowdoin scientists and students because they’re a curious anomaly set within the flaky rust-gray metamorphic rock around them. -
-
-
-
To Take or Not to Take? Class of 2021 Attends Academic Fair
August 28, 2017First-years crowded into Morrell Gymasium August 28, 2017 for the annual academic fair. Faced with dozens of booths manned by faculty members, the class of 2021 had to start thinking about what, for some, is a difficult decision: which classes to take. -
Professor Purnell Looks at NYC's Racist Past (Washington Post)
August 24, 2017Racial injustice has left its mark on every region and state across the nation, and this history cannot be confronted and dismantled simply by taking down sculptures, argues Brian Purnell, who is Bowdoin's Geoffrey Canada associate professor of Africana studies and history. -
-
-
Bowdoin’s Danahy Mentors US International Chemistry Olympiad Team
June 29, 2017Bowdoin College chemistry lecturer Michael Danahy described the four high school students chosen to represent the US in this year’s International Chemistry Olympiad as “one of the strongest groups we have seen,” reports Chemical and Engineering News. -
-
Art—Some of it Talking—Fills Edwards Center
May 15, 2017At this year’s Spring 2017 Visual Arts Open House, in Edwards Center for Art and Dance, digital creations — like soundscapes and videos — joined the mix of sculptures, drawings, paintings, photographs, and prints on display throughout the building. -
-
-
Bowdoin to Commemorate Campus Visit by Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.
May 05, 2017A new historical plaque at Bowdoin College will commemorate a May 1964 visit to campus by Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. and, specifically, an informal roundtable discussion with King attended by students, faculty, and staff that is remembered by one participant as “the most vivid conversation of my life.” -
Symposium Shines Spotlight on Gender and Religion in the Russian Revolution
May 04, 2017It’s one hundred years this year since the Russian Revolution, and to help mark the centennial of this seismic event, scholars from across the country are coming to Bowdoin College. The 2017 Kemp Symposium— “Ten Days That Shook The World: Reflections on the Russian Revolution, 100 Years Later”—gets underway Thursday evening, May 4, 2017, and continues all day Friday, May 5. -
Vineet Shende’s New Choral Work Offers a Fresh Take on Being American
May 03, 2017A new choral work by Associate Professor of Music Vineet Shende will premiere at Studzinski Recital Hall at 7:30pm on May 4-5, 2017. “E Pluribus Unum, Non Ex Pluribus Divisum” will be performed by the Bowdoin Chorus and the Mozart Mentors Orchestra, under the direction of Anthony Antolini ’63. Shende said two factors spurred him to write this piece: -
Spring Dance Concert 2017: A Preview
May 02, 2017This year, the much heralded annual Spring Dance Concert will feature several original pieces, including one by guest artist Rakiya Orange, who graduated from Bowdoin in 2011. The performances are May 4-6, at 7:30 p.m., in Memorial Hall, Pickard Theater. -
Professor Horch on Why Crickets Matter (Not Least Because We Might Be Eating Them One Day)
May 01, 2017A new book co-edited by Hadley Horch, an associate professor of biology and neuroscience at Bowdoin, makes the case that more researchers should focus on the cricket to better understand its unique evolutionary features, such as its ability to regenerate damaged body parts. -
'Maine Calling' Broadcasts Bowdoin Environment Expertise to the Masses
April 24, 2017The environment, how it's studied at Bowdoin and how Maine is a living laboratory for that endeavor were aspects of a conversation originating on campus and shared with listeners statewide on Maine Public Radio's interactive call-in program Maine Calling Friday, April 21, 2017. -
-
Alex Reed '10 on Policing the Police
March 14, 2017Alex Reed '10 is in her final year at University of Michigan Law School. She spent last summer as a legal intern with a unit of the US Department of Justice, where she had the opportunity to work with experienced civil rights attorneys on investigations into police misconduct. -
Bowdoin's LaVigne Named Frontiers of Science Fellow
March 07, 2017When Assistant Professor of Earth and Oceanographic Science Michèle LaVigne travels to an academic conference, like most scholars she typically finds herself surrounded by fellow experts in her field: in this case deep sea oceanography. -
To End Black History Month, Prof. Vete-Congolo Discusses African History in the 'New World'
March 06, 2017For the final installment of Black History Month, Howell House hosted Professor of Romance Languages and Literatures Hanetha Vete-Congolo to discuss the representation of African history in the “so-called” New World. -
New Public Health Course Meets Rising Student Demand
February 28, 2017Responding to increasing interest in public health by students—who see it as a potential career, a way to practice the common good, and/or an interesting field of study—Bowdoin is offering a new course this semester called Public Health and the Liberal Arts. -
-
Harriet Beecher Stowe, Her House, Her Novel: The Most Common Questions
September 29, 2016Cathi Belcher, the docent of the Harriet Beecher Stowe House, has begun holding monthly “Tea with Harriet” events, inviting visitors into the newly opened home to see where Stowe wrote her famous anti-slavery novel, Uncle Tom’s Cabin. Belcher has answered some of visitors’ most frequently asked questions. -
Storied Stowe House: Katie Randall ’16 on Finding Passions at Bowdoin and in Its History
August 04, 2016Katie Randall ’16, whose research into the College’s Harriet Beecher Stowe House led to its inclusion in the National Underground Railroad Network to Freedom by the National Park Service, writes of the findings—both historical and personal—she discovered along the way. -
