Sunday, May 17, 2009

Honors go to Lewis & Clark students of Islamic Law and Chinese language

Chris Smith '09 won second place in the Pacific Northwest Regional American Academy of Religion undergraduate essay competition with his paper "Qadhf, Takfir, and Forbidding the Wrong: Contradictions in Islamic Legal Theory."

Jared Schy '11 was chosen to participate in the "30-30 program", a joint initiative between the US Department of State and China's Ministry of Education. Jared and 29 other US college Chinese language students will visit China in commemoration of the 30th anniversary of the normalization of US-China diplomatic relations. These students will engage in many activities, including discussions of politics and government at Peking University, the most prestigious university in China. As part of the program, thirty Chinese students will also tour the US.

Congratulations to Chris and Jared.

Monday, May 11, 2009

Remarks delivered at Lewis & Clark's 137th Annual Commencement Ceremony

Excerpts from remarks delivered by Julio de Paula at the 137th Annual Commencement Ceremony of Lewis & Clark's College of Arts & Sciences
Lewis & Clark College
May 10, 2009

... from de Paula's welcome

I am Julio de Paula, Dean of the College of Arts & Sciences. It gives me great pleasure to welcome all of you to the 137th Annual Commencement Ceremony of Lewis & Clark’s College of Arts & Sciences.

Now let me take a few moments to talk to you, members of the Class of 2009.

Through this Commencement season, I have spoken to Trustees, students, parents, members of the faculty and staff at several venues, and many of you have been at most of them. I have seized the opportunity to explore a theme with you over some of the addresses I have delivered. I wish to speak to you again about the value of a liberal arts education.

We need look only at our own alumni to see how a liberal arts education – and especially a Lewis & Clark education – creates informed citizens and civic leaders.

Consider Mary Keir, a member of the Lewis & Clark class of 1995. Mary graduated with honors in Biochemistry. But, being a science student in a liberal arts college, she also studied subjects across our curriculum, along the way developing the ability to think critically about every dimension of a problem before articulating a solution. Mary also learned science by doing science, completing an ambitious research project over two summers and an academic year.

After leaving Lewis & Clark College, Mary received a doctorate in biomedical science at the University of California, San Francisco, one of the nation's premier research institutions. While working on HIV, Mary developed an interest in immunology that sustains her work to this day. Her career trajectory first led her to Harvard Medical School and then Genentech, a company that pioneered biotechnology in the United States. Now Mary is a respected research scientist who designs new therapies for such diseases as lupus and rheumatoid arthritis. She states that “there is nothing better than a liberal arts degree to prepare a student for communicating about complex ideas with people of varied backgrounds.”

Mary's story reinforces what studies have already shown: liberal arts colleges are among the most efficient generators of top-quality scientists in our country. The reason is, in my opinion, obvious: at institutions like Lewis & Clark science is not presented in isolation, but rather in context. Context that only a liberal arts approach to education can provide.

Of course you will write your own story, chart your own course. But know that the education you received at Lewis & Clark will guide you because you are and always will be seekers of knowledge.

... from de Paula's charge to the Class of 2009

I end with another story. Erin McNamara Egan arrived from Hawai’i and graduated from Lewis & Clark in 1998 as an international affairs major. She took advantage of all the opportunities we offer for learning in and out of the classroom, making broad meaning of every course she took. While an undergraduate, she went to a United Nations Women’s Conference in Beijing. She went to Poland on one of our overseas programs, led by Professor Emeritus Klaus Englehardt. After the program ended, she remained to conduct research with an economist. The work eventually led to a senior thesis on Poland’s transitional economy.

After graduation, she spent two years in Germany and two years in France, working and learning new languages. She is convinced that her broad international experience increased her value to her employers back home in the United States. From her work in the aeronautical field, she went to the Fletcher School at Tufts University, from which she received a Masters degree in Law and Diplomacy. Then she went to Harvard University Business School, where she graduated a year ago with an MBA degree. She is now an executive at the Microsoft Corporation. I hope that the stories I have shared with you will give you a sense of what you are prepared to do. You are graduating at a time when the global economy is in crisis and unemployment is high. But graduates like you who are trained in the tradition of the liberal arts understand the socio-economic, political, and technological contexts of the problems we all face. You are more likely to find solutions that affirm human rights, protect the environment, raise — and then stabilize — standards of living across the globe. To capitalize on this opportunity you must waste no time – as Mary Keir and Erin Egan wasted no time – to think of ways in which to make a positive impact on the communities you will join.

In conclusion, my charge to you is: No matter what personal and professional choices you make, do put to good and constant use the intellectual tools you honed at Lewis & Clark. Making and helping others make informed decisions about the future of our country will be a tribute to your professors, your family, and—very importantly—to your hard work at Lewis & Clark over the last few years. In this task I wish you clarity of thought, patience, perseverance, and, above all, peace.

Graduates, you will now join your family and friends in celebration of your significant achievements. CONGRATULATIONS.

Remarks at the Phi Beta Kappa Induction Ceremony - May 9, 2009

Remarks delivered by Julio de Paula at the 2009 Phi Beta Kappa Induction Ceremony
Lewis & Clark College
May 9, 2009

Proud parents, family, and friends, Esteemed Colleagues, and Honored Students, I am Julio de Paula, Dean of the College. Thank you for the opportunity to address this gathering on so festive an occasion.

Through this Commencement season I will speak at several venues, and many of you will be at most of them. I promise not to repeat myself, but at the same time see the opportunity to explore a theme with you over the speeches I will deliver. I wish to speak to you now and tomorrow about the value of a liberal arts education.

The seniors among you are graduating at a time when financial institutions and large companies are down-sizing, contemplating (or entering into) bankruptcy or liquidation, or being “bailed out” by the government. Unemployment is rising, and new jobs are not being created. The recession is not over and its effects will be felt across the board for many years. So the juniors among you will face the same challenges a year from now that your senior colleagues are about to face now. My sense is that even after the recession is over the country, indeed the world, will be different economically, politically, and socially. Going back to business as usual probably will not be an option in this changed world. Every sector of the economy and government, every non-profit organization, including Lewis & Clark, will have to change permanently.

Change will require creativity, agility, courage, patience, and—perhaps above all—compassion. Yet the need for comprehensive change will be a great opportunity for you. Citizens like you who are trained in the tradition of the liberal arts understand the socio-economic, political, and technological contexts of the problems we all face. You are more likely to find solutions that affirm human rights, protect the environment, raise—and then stabilize—standards of living across the globe. But to capitalize on this opportunity you must waste no time to think of ways in which to make a positive impact on the communities you will join.

Some of you will continue your education in graduate, law, business, and medical schools. This is a wise course of action, for adding specialized knowledge to your liberal arts foundation will enhance your ability to effect change. Some of you will join the workforce right away. And some among you are not yet certain about your short-term future.

No matter what your plans might be, the central question for you is: How can you contribute?

If Lewis & Clark succeeded in educating you properly, it taught you the distinction between amassing facts and making connections between them. You learned how to make intellectual connections on the stage, in the field, classroom, laboratory, and studio. But obviously you have not engaged all possible issues and have not made all possible connections. As an informed citizen, community leader, and scholar, you must continue to use your intellect to make connections, promoting and conducting the right conversations about the future of society.

Allow me to use a Lewis & Clark graduate as an example of what I mean by making connections.

Consider Beau Barnes, class of 2006, who majored in International Affairs and Foreign Languages and Literatures, with specialization in German and Spanish. While at Lewis & Clark he participated in Model United Nations and the Forensics Program. He was co-chair of the International Affairs Symposium and a member of the Portland Charter Review Commission. Beau also held internships at Mercy Corps and Swan Islands Networks, a software company.

After graduation, Beau worked on a congressional campaign. Then he received an International Parliamentary Fellowship to work for eight months in the German Bunsdestag.

For the last two years he has worked in Boston as a political advisor to a major Democratic donor, promoting the involvement of women in local, national, and international politics.

This coming fall Beau will enter a J.D./M.A. program in Law and Diplomacy, a joint venture between Boston University School of Law and the Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy. In his own words, he wishes ultimately "to work in the legislative arena on issues of security and development."

Critics of the liberal arts approach to education often charge that it is not practical or relevant in today's world. But students like Beau Barnes prove that a liberal arts education produces broad thinkers with the knowledge and skills necessary to tackle complex problems on a global scale. Students educated in the tradition of the liberal arts are the change agents our world so desperately needs. They are--you are--the innovators who will re-invent the global economy, work to eradicate socio-political inequity, and create smart, sustainable, and broadly accessible technologies.

I have great confidence that you, Lewis & Clark students and members of Phi Beta Kappa, have the intellectual skills and motivation to engage any issue and lead any conversation, no matter how society evolves. I know that the seniors among you will make yourselves, your family, and the College proud as you begin your new lives beyond Palatine Hill. As for the juniors in the audience, Lewis & Clark’s faculty and staff look forward to continuing our work with you next year.

Thank you and Peace to all.

Sunday, May 3, 2009

Young and Hillyer receive lectureships from the Oregon Council for the Humanities

Associate Professor of History Elliott Young and Visiting Assistant Professor Reiko Hillyer received Oregon Council for the Humanities Conversations Project lectureships. Dr. Young's work is titled "Imagining New Communities: Immigrants, Globalization and Translocal Community." Dr. Hillyer, who is also 2009's Teacher of the Year, will speak on "The Power of Place: The Past and Future of Local Landscapes."

Lewis & Clark students continue to receive awards

Lewis & Clark students continue to garner impressive honors. See a feature on the L&C website about:

  • Brad Elkins '10 and his internship at the German Defense Ministry,
  • Ben Brysacz '09 and his internship at the Public Service Academy,
  • Marie Lafortune '10 and her Goldwater Scholarship,
  • Megan Mills-Novoa '09 and her Emerson Fellowship, and
  • Katie Walter '09 and her Fulbright Research Fellowship.

In addition to Katie, Nicholas D. Kaufmann '09 also received a Fulbright Research Fellowship to conduct work in Japan. Emma K. Smith '08 is an alternate fellow who hopes to travel to Colombia.

Adding to yet another year of great Fulbright success, Fulbright English Teaching Assistantship Awards have been given to James B. Cotton '08 (Indonesia), Mary E. Davis '09 (Germany), Peter A. Seilheimer '09 (Austria). Stacy L. Brownhill '09(Indonesia) and Andrew M. Burke '09 (Argentina) are alternates.

Isaac Holeman '09 has been named a Compton Mentor Fellow. Issac will spend next year in Malawi. Prof. Eban Goodstein says that Isaac "will develop, test and apply software systems enabling rural health workers to enter medical records from remote locations via cell phones into a central database." According to the Compton Foundation website:

In selecting Compton Fellows, the Foundation seeks individuals who demonstrate imagination, intelligence, integrity, and leadership. Fellows are self-starters, who show promise of creative achievement, and a commitment to compassionate and effective participation in the world community. A candidate's academic record, while not of primary importance, is also considered, along with extracurricular activities that reflect both initiative and dedication. The Foundation seeks individuals who strive to be thoughtful agents of change, and find the task of charting their own learning paths exciting rather than confounding.

The Compton Fellowships provide $36,000 to fellows for a year's work of their own design. Again according to Prof. Goodstein, "Isaac's project is extremely innovative and will help launch him on what we all know will be an extraordinary career in public health."