The winter term (2015) “Feminist Psychology of Women” class will present an event called “Pro Voice: Stories of Reproductive Justice” on Thursday, March 5, at 7 p.m. in Dewing Hall Room 103. The event is free and open to the public, but seating is limited so tickets must be reserved in advance (contact Brenda Westra at 337.7331). Event co-sponsors include Planned Parenthood Affiliates of Michigan, Kalamazoo College’s Office of Student Involvement, and the Mary Jane Underwood Stryker Center for Civic Engagement. Through theatrical performance students will give voice to stories of reproductive justice and challenges to that justice in the Southwest Michigan community. “Through interviews with community members we explored the meaning of reproductive justice,” said Allison Bloomfield, a junior biology major who is taking the feminist psychology class this term. “The experiences that were shared in the interviews will be dramatized by student actors in monologues about abortion, and these will be followed by a talk-back panel discussion.” Reproductive Justice is the complete physical, mental, spiritual, political, social, and economic well-being of women and girls, based on the full achievement and protection of women’s human rights.
Category: Students
Jane and Grace
Seniors Jane Huffman and Grace Gilmore are collaborating on the Festival Playhouse at Kalamazoo College’s production of Ann-Marie MacDonald’s Good Night Desdemona (Good Morning Juliet).
Jane is the assistant director of Good Night Desdemona…, a different–or, perhaps more accurately–an “expanded” directing experience than the one she enjoyed previously this term when her own play, Where the Bee Sucks, was performed at the New Play House Festival in downtown Kalamazoo. “To go from a one act play with three actors to a two act play with six actors has been illuminating,” says Jane. “I’ve learned a great deal from Karen Berthel [director of Good Night Desdemona… and an associate professor of theatre arts] about how to work in a bigger space, with a bigger company.”
Jane also finds this term’s work good preparation for the spring term, when she will direct the play, Nine Parts of Desire. Jane is earning majors in theatre arts and in English, and she has published quite a few of her poems. “I’ve learned that getting published is about 90 percent submitting and 10 percent writing.” Next year she plans to begin work on an MFA in poetry.
Grace Gilmore plays the lead role of Constance in Good Night Desdemona…. “At times I feel really connected with Constance but other times so far away from her. Her views and opinions come from second-wave feminism, which is difficult for me to relate to.” Fall term Grace performed her Senior Individualized Project, the one-woman show “2.5 Minute Ride” by Kalamazoo College alumna (and Tony Award nominee) Lisa Kron ’83. Grace also won the Irene Ryan Award for Performance for Region 3 of the American College Theatre Festival. Grace competed against 274 other contestants from Region 3, ACTF’s largest, which includes Wisconsin, Illinois, Michigan, and Indiana. She and the seven winners from the other ACTF regions will take part in a national program at the John F. Kennedy Center this summer. Grace will work with national directors, perform at various venues in New York, and participate in a final showcase performance at the Kennedy Center. In the meantime, we can enjoy the work of these two talented seniors at Festival Playhouse this coming weekend. —Text and Photo by Mallory Zink ’15
Kalamazoo College Senior Leaders
This year’s senior leadership award winners are characterized by their service to communities and people and their ability to encourage the development of leadership in others. Thirty-five seniors were selected from more than 60 applicants, and both of those numbers set records in the 11 years of the Senior Leadership Recognition Award. Members of the 2015 class of extraordinary leaders include (l-r): front row–Jane Huffman, Jasmine An, Olivia Bouchard, Alexandra Gothard, Adriana Jarquin, Jenna Sexton; second row–Mary (Rosie) Tobin, Hannah Bogard, Natalie Melnick, Mele Makalo, Asia Morales, Bronte Payne, third row–Caroline Barnett, Haley Cartwright, Hannah Maness, Roxanna Menchaca, Elizabeth Cabrera, Shang Sun, David DeSimone; fourth row–Emily Lindsay, Scott Devine, Vageesha Liyana Gunawardana, Colin Smith, Philip Mulder; back row–Carl Ghafari, Samuel Rood, Adam Peters, Luke Winship, Stephen Oliphant, Mojtaba Akhavantafti, Ben Baker, and Scott Manski. Not pictured are Cheyenne Harvey, Allison Kennedy, and Hannah Olsen.
Dean’s List for Fall Term 2014
Congratulations to the following Kalamazoo College students, who achieved a grade point average of 3.5 or better for a full-time course load of at least three units, without failing or withdrawing from any course, during the Fall 2014 academic term. Kudos to the entire group of some 300 students, and good luck in Winter term, 2015.
Fall 2014
| A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y Z | ||
AMelissa Acosta B Hannah Bacchus CRobert Calco DSusmitha Daggubati EDaniel Eberhart FRachel Fadler GOlivia Gaines |
HMarie Hallinen IPinar Inanli JJordan Jabara KKamalaldin Kamalaldin LAnh Lam MCorinne MacInnes NOlivia Nalugya OAnna Opshinsky |
PJane Packer Q
RJustin Rabidoux SRumsha Sajid TKathe Tallmadge UElizabeth Uribe VKaela Van Til WErika Waalkes XAnja Xheka YBrent Yelton ZMatthew Zhiss |
Directors Debut
Liberal arts in theatre arts means a chance for multiple roles—as in actor, crew member, and director. Kalamazoo College’s Senior Performance Series provides senior students a chance to do the latter. This winter’s SPS features The Gas Heart, directed by Joseph Westerfield ’15, and Wooed and Viewed, directed by Arik Mendelevitz ’15. The performances will occur Thursday through Sunday, February 12-15, in Kalamazoo College’s Dungeon Theatre (Light Fine Arts Building). Tickets are $5. Thursday’s performance begins at 7:30 p.m. Friday and Saturday shows begin at 8 p.m. Sunday’s matinee begins at 2 p.m.
The Gas Heart was written by Tristan Tzara, who, according to director Westerfield, described his piece as “the only and greatest three act hoax of the century; it will satisfy only industrialized imbeciles who believe in the existence of men of genius.” Westerfield explained that his production of the play “questions the conventions of normative theatre and invites the audience to participate in their emancipation as a spectator.”
Wooed and Viewed is a French farce (by playwright Georges Feydau) that, like The Gas Heart, defies societal expectations. The character of Emma (played by sophomore Emma Franzel) defies the traditional role of passivity when she orders a stranger to make love to her in order to provoke her husband’s jealousy. Emma has “made herself an other but not the other she is told to be,” says director Mendelevitz. “Women, especially when it comes to sex, exist in a marginalized place in our society where they are told that their role is to put themselves on display for men to come by and window shop,” he added. Mendelevitz has chosen to present the play using a deconstructionist approach in order “to explore new possibilities that would be impossible…on the firm, familiar ground, Art exists in relation to our world, yet simultaneously steps outside of it.” Mendelevitz has written a philosophy treatise about the play which he will present at the Michigan Academy of Science, Arts and Letters at Andrews University (Berrien Springs, Mich.) in March.
For more information about SPS, which is part of the 51st season of Festival Playhouse visit the website or call 269.337.7333
120 In Six
No way Olivia Gaines ’18 will be bored this break!
She’s created an innovative and fun project to connect with alumni during the next six weeks called #Winter120. She’s reaching out (first come, first served!) for book recommendations—specifically books that have been influential to alumni and perhaps have been on their shelves since their very own K years.
She will be reading passages from the submitted books over the break and plans on reading all 120 during the school year. Gaines will collect 120 ‘thoughts’ from the books, 120 answers to questions she will pose (one to each person who makes a recommendation), and a black-and-white head shot of all (hopefully) 120 participants. She plans on making an e-book of the final product and would love to make a printed version if her project proves successful.
The idea came to her during a visit to the Center for career and Professional Development. Gaines does not have an internship for the winter break, but still wanted to connect with alumni. Gaines said, “One thing I learned during my gap year was that you can connect with people you wouldn’t have thought you could connect with. How could I connect with alumni? Books. Everyone has books!”
For her the project represents a different way to connect with alumni, more personal than business. Gaines hopes to feel “the pulse” of who these 120 alumni really are.
And she’s gearing up for the challenge: a reading pace of 20 books a week over six consecutive weeks. Wow!) Gaines says that her project is “big enough to matter, small enough to win”.
If you are a K grad and you would like to participate in #Winter120, you can register here.
Text by Mallory Zink ’15; photo by Olivia Gaines ’18
Challenge and Imagination: Working Science at K
Parker de Waal ’13 had a wish: he wanted to work on a computational chemistry project.
Laura Furge, the Roger F. and Harriet G. Varney Professor of Chemistry, had a challenge: she needed models of the variants of an important human enzyme. (Some background: The aforementioned enzyme, found in the liver, helps the body process medicines, but it’s not exactly the same–hence, variants–in all individuals. Such variability means some people react differently (including adversely) to important medicines. That’s a serious health problem, and part of Furge’s current grant from the National Institutes of Health calls for the study of these variants. And for such study a model of the variants’ structures would certainly be useful!)
In spring 2013, wish met challenge, and, one year later, the two researchers (along with co-author Kyle Sunden ’16) have published a paper in PLoS ONE, the online journal of the Public Library of Science.
That culminating publication traces back to a laboratory question: Could de Waal (a student in Furge’s “Advanced Biochemistry” class) make computational models of the variants? “I suggested some different ways to approach the problem,” says Furge, “and those approaches took Parker all of about two days!” It was at that point that de Waal suggested to Furge some different, more powerful computational approaches–specifically, molecular dynamics using more sophisticated software. “I said, ’Let’s go for it!’” says Furge. “And we both started on the journey to learn more about Molecular Dynamics approaches.”
The journey included consulting with other scientists around the country and the world (Germany, the Czech Republic) both by email and in person at various scientific conferences. Furge and de Waal used a supercomputer at the University of Texas for the computational work. Analysis of the resulting structures was completed by Furge and Sunden during the winter and spring terms of 2014. “The project is a beautiful example of how research and teaching go together at K,” says Furge. The work has been presented at two major medical meetings.
The paper includes 21 figures and tables. Parker de Waal performed all the experiments that led to the figures; Sunden did the experiments and analyses for two of the figures. Furge did the majority of the analysis. In true liberal arts fashion, the cross-disciplinary work combines computer science and biochemistry. Furge taught Sunden, a chemistry and computer science double major, the relevant biochemistry as they progressed with the project. Sunden hopes to continue the work for his Senior Individualized Project after he returns from study abroad in Australia. The work may one day contribute to personalized solutions for people who have adverse drug reactions to important medicines. The paper has had more than 300 views in the six weeks since it’s been published.
Great academics, cross-disciplinary collaboration, research at the edge, and science that matters! Science education at Kalamazoo College: a double helix of challenge and imagination.
Mara Richman ’14: Have Research, Will Travel
Mara Richman ’14 recently cut classes for an entire week. But the senior psychology major wasn’t goofing off. Rather, she attended the International Borderline Personality and Allied Disorders annual conference in Rome—at their invitation—to deliver her research paper “Reading the Mind in the Eyes Test in Major Depression and Borderline Personality Disorder: A Meta-Analysis”
She was the conference’s youngest oral presenter.
“There were researchers from all over the world on this topic and I presented before a huge audience,” said Mara.
“I have a passion for meta-analysis and this is one of several that I have done on my own. This one looked at differences in mental state decoding between borderline personality disorder and major depressed patients.”
The National Institute of Mental Health defines borderline personality disorder (BPD) as a serious mental illness marked by unstable moods, behavior, and relationships. Most people with BPD suffer from problems with regulating emotions and thoughts, impulsive and reckless behavior, and unstable relationships with other people.
Mara’s paper was based on independent research she conducted while on study abroad at Kalamazoo College’s Budapest Semester in Cognitive Science, under the mentorship of Zsolt Unoka, M.D., Ph.D. She visited with Dr. Unoka during the Rome conference.
One of her K professors, Luce Professor of Complex Systems Studies Peter Erdi, Ph.D., helped her arrange the research project. Help with funding for her Rome trip came from K’s Office of the Provost, Department of Psychology, and Arcus Center for Social Justice Leadership.
“The conference truly shaped me and it was great to network with people in the field to learn more about the BPD,” said Mara.
Mara completed her SIP this past summer at Harvard University where she moved forward her BPD research by studying identity disturbance. She currently has 12 peer-reviewed journal articles in review or awaiting publication. Previously, she received an award from the American Psychological Association for outstanding research.
“My K advisor, Visiting Assistant Professor of Psychology Jennifer Perry, Ph.D., has been a huge help in guiding me and helping me make these decisions.”
Mara, who came to K from Tampa, Fla., completed all of her graduation requirements early and will leave campus at the end of this fall quarter. She hopes to land fulltime work in a clinical facility in order to gain more clinical experience before pursuing a Ph.D. in clinical psychology with a focus on BPD.
Honors Day 2014
Congratulations to the following Kalamazoo College students, who received awards during the Honors Day Convocation, October 31, 2014, in Stetson Chapel. The awards include all academic divisions, prestigious scholarships, and special non-departmental awards. The Honors Day Convocation occurs annually, during the Friday community gathering of Family Weekend.
FINE ARTS DIVISION
THE BRIAN GOUGEON PRIZE IN ART, awarded to a sophomore student who, during his or her first year, exhibited outstanding achievement and potential in art.
Chiara Sarter
Petra Stoppel
Anja Xheka
Jie Xu
THE LILLIAN PRINGLE BALDAUF PRIZE IN MUSIC, awarded to an outstanding music student.
Valentin Frank
THE FAN E. SHERWOOD MEMORIAL PRIZE, awarded for outstanding progress and ability on the violin, viola, cello or bass.
Siwook Hwang
THE MARGARET UPTON PRIZE IN MUSIC, awarded each year to a student designated by the Music Department Faculty as having made significant achievement in music.
Gabrielle Holme-Miller
Ian Williams
THE COOPER AWARD, for a junior or senior showing excellence in a piece of creative work in a theatre arts class: film, acting, design, stagecraft, puppetry, speech.
Kathryn Lee
Victoria Sebastian
THE THEATRE ARTS FIRST-YEAR STUDENT AWARD, given to a sophomore for outstanding departmental efforts during the first year.
Emma Franzel
Sarah Levett
FOREIGN LANGUAGES DIVISION
THE LEGRAND COPLEY PRIZE IN FRENCH, awarded to the sophomore who, as a first-year student, demonstrated the greatest achievement in French.
Maribel Blas-Rangel
Ellie Goldman
Gabrielle Holme-Miller
THE HARDY FUCHS AWARD, given for excellence in first-year German.
Yicong Guo
THE MARGO LIGHT AWARD, given for excellence in second-or third-year German.
Emily Walsh
THE ROMANCE LANGUAGES DEPARTMENT PRIZE IN SPANISH, awarded for excellence in the first year in Spanish.
Shanice Buys
Olivia Weaver
THE CLARA H. BUCKLEY PRIZE FOR EXCELLENCE IN LATIN, awarded to an outstanding student of the language of the ancient Romans.
Danielle Gin
Alec Wright
THE PROVOST’S PRIZE IN CLASSICS, awarded to that student who writes the best essay on a classical subject.
Anup Bhullar
Marquis Griffin
HUMANITIES DIVISION
THE O. M. ALLEN PRIZE IN ENGLISH, given for the best essay written by a member of the first-year class.
Sara McKinney
THE JOHN B. WICKSTROM PRIZE IN HISTORY, awarded for excellence in the first year’s work in history.
Shanice Buys
Frances Heldt
THE VOYNOVICH COMPETITIVE SCHOLARSHIP, awarded to a first-year, sophomore or junior who writes the most creative essay based on a selected topic in the alternating areas of religion and science.
Ayaka Abe
THE DEPARTMENT OF PHILOSOPHY PRIZE, awarded for excellence in any year’s work in philosophy.
Andres ElAmin-Martinez
Jenna Sexton
Sarah Werner
THE L.J. AND EVA (“GIBBIE”) HEMMES MEMORIAL PRIZE IN PHILOSOPHY, awarded to that sophomore who, in the first year, showed the greatest promise for continuing studies in philosophy
Jon Jerow
Caroline Peterson
James Reuter
John Wenger
NATURAL SCIENCES AND MATHEMATICS DIVISION
THE WINIFRED PEAKE JONES PRIZE IN BIOLOGY, awarded for excellence in the first year’s work in biology.
Quinton Colwell
Kathleen George
Grace Smith
Eric Thornburg
THE DEPARTMENT OF CHEMISTRY PRIZE, awarded for excellence in the first year’s work in chemistry.
Collin Steen
THE FIRST-YEAR CHEMISTRY AWARD, awarded to a sophomore student who, during the first year, demonstrated great achievement in chemistry.
Quinton Colwell
Emily Powers
Raoul Wadhwa
THE LEMUEL F. SMITH AWARD, given to a student majoring in chemistry pursuing the American Chemical Society approved curriculum and having at the end of the junior year the highest average standing in courses taken in chemistry, physics,and mathematics.
Daniel Karn
THE COMPUTER SCIENCE PRIZE, awarded for excellence in the first year’s work in computer science.
Liam Lundy
Griffin Smalley
THE FIRST-YEAR MATHEMATICS AWARD, given annually to the sophomore student who, during the first year, demonstrated the greatest achievement in mathematics.
Ngoc Truong
THE THOMAS O. WALTON PRIZE IN MATHEMATICS, awarded to a member of the junior class for excellence in the work of the first two years in mathematics.
Sarah Manski
THE COOPER PRIZE IN PHYSICS, given for excellence in the first year’s work in physics.
Nicholas Caywood
Daniel Moore
Katherine Pielemeier
Siyuan Zhang
SOCIAL SCIENCES DIVISION
THE DEPARTMENTAL PRIZE IN ANTHROPOLOGY AND SOCIOLOGY, awarded for excellence during the first and/or second year’s work.
Sheila Carter
Daniella Glymin
Audrey Negro
Eli Seitz
Yaneli Soriano
THE WILLIAM G. HOWARD MEMORIAL PRIZE, awarded for excellence in any year’s work in economics or business.
Philip Mulder
Emerson Talanda-Fisher
Scott Wharam
THE C. WALLACE LAWRENCE PRIZE IN ECONOMICS, awarded annually to a pre-business student who has done outstanding work in the Department of Economics and Business during the sophomore year.
Drew Hopper
William Cagney
THE IRENE AND S. KYLE MORRIS PRIZE, awarded for excellence in the first year’s courses in the Department of Economics and Business.
Robert Calco
THE WILLIAM G. HOWARD MEMORIAL PRIZE, awarded for excellence in any year’s work in political science.
Melissa Erikson
THE DEPARTMENT OF PSYCHOLOGY FIRST-YEAR STUDENT PRIZE, awarded for excellence in the first year’s work in psychology.
Sarah Bragg
Rachel Lifton
Ashley Schmidt
THE MARSHALL HALLOCK BRENNER PRIZE, given by family and friends in memory of Marshall Hallock Brenner (class of 1955), to be awarded to an outstanding junior for excellence in the study of psychology.
Alexandra Groffsky
PHYSICAL EDUCATION
THE DIVISION OF PHYSICAL EDUCATION PRIZE, awarded to those students who, as first-year students, best combined leadership and scholarship in promoting athletics, physical education, and recreation.
Grace Smith
Andrew Kaylor
THE MAGGIE WARDLE PRIZE, awarded to that sophomore woman whose activities at the College reflect the values that Maggie Wardle demonstrated in her own life. The recipient will show a breadth of involvement in the College through her commitment to athletics and to the social sciences and/or community service.
Rachel Selina
SPECIAL COLLEGE AWARDS
THE GORDON BEAUMONT MEMORIAL AWARD, awarded to the deserving student who displays qualities of selflessness, humanitarian concern, and willingness to help others, as exemplified in the life of Gordon Beaumont.
Kacey Cook
Bronte Payne
THE HENRY AND INEZ BROWN PRIZE, awarded in recognition of outstanding participation in the College community.
David DeSimone
Tibin John
THE VIRGINIA HINKELMAN MEMORIAL AWARD, awarded to a deserving student who displays a deep concern for the well-being of children, as demonstrated through career goals in the field of child welfare.
Mele Makalo
K Professor and Students Publish Important Chemistry Research
Laura Furge, the Roger F. and Harriet G. Varney Professor of Chemistry at Kalamazoo College, is the senior and corresponding author of an important scientific paper that includes three Kalamazoo College student co-authors: Amanda Bolles ’14, Rina Fujiwara ’15, and Erran Briggs ’14. The paper is titled “Mechanism-based Inactivation of Human Cytochrome P450 3A4 by Two Piperazine-containing Compounds” and appears in Drug Metabolism and Disposition, a highly regarded, high impact international journal published by the American Society for Pharmacology and Experimental Therapeutics. The research the paper describes, which was conducted in the Furge Lab on K’s campus, contributes the understanding of how some drugs “apply the brakes to” the activity of an enzyme–in this particular case, an enzyme important to the metabolism (or processing) of about half of all medicines! What are the human implications of the work? “Many individuals take multiple medicines each day,” said Furge. “Multiple-drug regimens can lead to unwanted side effects, including drug-induced inhibition of the very enzymes responsible for the metabolism and clearance of other co-administered drugs.” In fact, side effects from drug interactions of polypharmacy therapy are the number one cause of hospitalization in the U.S. “This paper adds in understanding of how certain classes of drugs may cause this type of unfavorable medical event,” said Furge. “New insights will hopefully lead to better prevention in the future.”
The paper includes 13 figures and tables. Furge noted that Bolles, Fujiwara, and Briggs performed all the experiments that lead to those figures, and “all the work was done on the campus at Kalamazoo College. We had all the equipment here needed to complete these studies, and we have already started full swing on another set of experiments for a future publication.” The students have presented parts of the preliminary data at national meetings in the past year, and the research forms of basis of the Senior Individualized Projects for Bolles and Fujiwara.
Such research, and the extraordinary educational opportunities it provides for K students, requires the cooperation, coordination, and collaboration of many funding sources. “This is so important,” Furge stressed. The Richard Cook Fellowship and the Alan and Elaine Hutchcroft Fund (endowments created and supported by alumni gifts) paid for the summer stipends of Fujiwara and Bolles, respectively. The mass spectrometer essential to the experiments was paid for in part by the Hutchcroft Fund and a grant from the Howard Hughes Medical Institute. The research also was funded by grants Furge secured from the National Institutes of Health.
“Drug Metabolism and Disposition is an international journal with a high impact factor,” added Furge. Impact factors measure how frequently manuscripts in a journal are referenced by other authors.