News & Events
Blust Presents at Women's Congress in Spain
From the GMC Journal
Week of September 2, 2008
Prof. Vangie Blust (sociology) attended the Women’s Worlds 08 Congress in Madrid, Spain July 3-9. She presented a paper titled “Touched by Overseas Filipino Employment: Four Women, Four Struggles, Similar Outcomes,” which was derived from the research she and four GMC students conducted in the Philippines in summer 2007 under the ASIANetwork Freeman Foundation grant.
More than 3,000 women and about 100 men from over 100 countries attended the congress with more than 1,000 paper presentations. The Women’s Worlds Congress is held every three years; the next will be in 2011 in Ottawa, Canada.
GMC Professors attend ASIANetwork Conference in Lisle, Illinois
From the GMC Journal
Week of April 23, 2007
Profs. Vangie Blust (sociology), Dick Weis (art) and Mark Dailey (anthropology) just attended the 2007 ASIANetwork Conference in Lisle, Illinois (April 20-22). Weis attended in particular to network in his role as GMC's International Programs Director. Blust attended a mandatory session for all faculty recipients of the 2007 ASIANetwork - Freeman Faculty-Student Research Awards; she is preparing to take 5 students to the Philippines this summer. Dailey and two students who went to China with him in the summer of 2006 on an ASIANetwork grant presented the research results from the trip at a poster session of all 2006 ASIANetwork-Freeman grant recipients. The two students were Felipe Estudillo-Colon ('06), who is pursuing graduate studies in anthropology at the University of New Mexico and Keith Solmo ('06), who is working as an archaeologist in Utah. The poster was titled "Ritually Honoring Ancestors in an Era of Rapid Economic Transformation: 2006 ASIANetwork-Freeman Student-Faculty Research in Jiangsu Province, China."
Bard College Psychologist to Discuss New Research on Bullying
From the GMC Journal
Week of April 23, 2007
Bard College Psychology Professor Matt Newman will give a talk entitled “Of Hamsters and Men: New Perspectives on the Consequences of Bullying” on Friday April 27 at 11 a.m. in Terrace Hall 124. The stress of being bullied has been associated with everything from depression to violent and anti-social behavior, with no clear sense of what moderates the consequences. Newman’s research takes a new perspective, inspired by animal models of stress and aggression, and suggests that the consequences might depend on when the bullying happens during development. In this talk, Newman describes several studies testing this hypothesis, and discuss the implications both for dealing with bullying in the schools and for thinking about the long-term consequences of stress. The talk is open to all..
China Scholar/Translator Bill Porter to Speak Tonight
From the GMC Journal
Week of March 12, 2007
Bill Porter is an internationally renowned translator of Chinese poetry and Buddhist texts, will give a slideshow talk entitled “In Search of the Way: The Chinese Quest for Solitude” on Monday evening, March 12 at 7 p.m. in The Gorge of Withey Hall. Porter has been a practicing Buddhist monk, worked as a radio journalist (putting together over 1100 programs about his extensive travels in China), written a book about searching for hermits in contemporary China, and penned several books of translations, including "The Collected Songs of Cold Mountain," the 300 surviving poems of a Tang Dynasty hermit poet. Porter will also visit two classes – Prof. Mark Dailey’s Anthropology of China and the block course, “Chinese Mountain Poetry,” taught by Dailey and Prof. Laird Christensen. Porter’s appearance is co-sponsored by the anthropology department and the Speakers Bureau.
Jennifer Sellers Research Featured in Indianapolis Star
From the GMC Journal
Week of Feb. 19, 2007
Prof. Jennifer Sellers (psychology) was featured recently in the Indianapolis Star for her research on the relationship between testosterone and personality. With the headline, “Do you want to run your company? Test your testosterone” reporter Dana Knight interviewed Sellers and her research partners. The team discovered that when people with low testosterone levels are put into high-status positions, they are motivated to return to the lower-status position. The research was conducted at the University of Texas last year and the group discovered that the results applied to both men and women. To read the Indy Star article, click here.
Freeman Grant Awarded to Students for Philippines Research Trip
From the GMC Journal
Week of Feb. 19, 2007
Professor Vangie Blust (sociology) and five students have been awarded a research grant of nearly $26,000 by the ASIANetwork Freeman Foundation Student-Faculty Fellows Program. The grant will cover the group’s study on the impact of overseas Filipino employment on families left behind, especially children. Over the past 2-3 decades, overseas labor has become the Philippines' chief export. The country's economy has benefited from this trend through remittances sent to families back home, but there have also been some onerous challenges that those families face, especially in caregiving. The GMC team will investigate the social costs and benefits of overseas employment related to caregiving of family members left behind. They will also look into the role of community support structures in providing a nurturing environment for those families. The research team, which will travel to the Philippines for 3-1/2 weeks in June, includes: Prof. Blust and students: Matthew Bower (philosophy); Paula Maciel (soc/anthro); Svea Miller (soc/anthro); Ashley Potter (soc/anthro); Rafi Wainhaus (psychology).
GMC Student Wins Scholarship for India Study
From the GMC Journal
Week of Dec. 4, 2006
Green Mountain College junior, Tala Wunderler-Selby, has been awarded a highly competitive Benjamin A. Gilman International Scholarship for study at Pondicherry University in India next semester. Granted by the U.S. State Department's Institute of International Education, the $5,000 Gilman scholarship was awarded to 400 students out of 1,189 applicants. The scholarship encourages students to study abroad in non-traditional locations, especially those outside of Western Europe and Australia.
Archaeologist to Discuss Early Champlain Valley Native Americans
From the GMC Journal
Week of Sept. 11, 2006
In honor of Vermont Archaeology Month, UVM anthropologist, Dr. John Crock will present a guest lecture entitled Native Americans in the Champlain Valley between 10,000 B.C. and European Contact.” Tuesday, Sept. 12 at 4:30 p.m. in the Gorge. Crock is Director of the Consulting Archaeology Program at University of Vermont. His illustrated lecture is free and open to all. Vermont Archaeology Month is presented by the Vermont Archaeological Society in partnership with the Division for Historic Preservation and is generously supported by the Vermont Agency of Transportation and the Federal Highway Administration.
China 2005/2006
Culture change in contemporary China
Anthropology
In May 2005, 14 students traveled with Professor Mark Dailey to eastern China’s Jiangsu Province for a three-week course called “Culture Change in Contemporary China.” The group conducted hands-on anthropological field research methods to learn about shifting practices and values in China today. Topics included increasing class inequality, gender roles, informal vs. formal economies, and ideologies relating to modernization and the environment. The class was hosted by Yancheng Teachers’ College, where Dailey taught and lived with his family for a year in 2000.
In the summer of 2006, Dailey and five Green Mountain students made a return trip to China funded by a $33,000 ASIANetwork Freeman Student-Faculty Award. The grant funded the 4-week research trip for Dailey and students Felipe Estudillo-Colon, Ashley Converse, HariNarayan Khalsa, Keith Solmo, and Tala Wunderler-Selby. The students conducted ethnographic research on the changing traditional behaviors and beliefs relating to ancestors in Jiangsu Province, China. “China is changing at light speed and how people are responding to modernization – especially as it relates to the deep cultural meaning of ancestors – can tell us a lot about this society,” Dailey said. The students focused on 3-4 families during the course of their research. They also sought the views of local officials and developers. The group conducted their research in Yancheng, which translates to “Salt City.”
