The F.I.R.S.T. UMass Dartmouth Book Festival
At Summer Orientation 2006
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Alan Hirshfeld is Professor of Physics at the University of Massachusetts Dartmouth and an Associate of the Harvard College Observatory. He received his undergraduate degree in astrophysics from Princeton University and his Ph.D. in astronomy from Yale. His widely praised book Parallax: The Race to Measure the Cosmos, chronicles the human stories involved in the centuries-long quest to measure the first distance to a star. Recipient of second prize in the Templeton Foundation's international Power of Purpose essay competition and also a Griffith Observatory/Hughes Aircraft Co. national science writing award, he has written for many magazines about scientific history and discovery. His latest book, The Electric Life of Michael Faraday, was published in March 2006. |
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Dr. Santow is an Assistant Professor of American History at the University of Massachusetts Dartmouth, specializing in 20th century urban history, race relations and social policy. He teaches classes on the history of American cities, on the Vietnam War and the 1960's, on race relations, as well as more general courses in US History. Santow also serves as the Academic Director of the Clemente Course in the Humanities in New Bedford, a program in which low-income citizens take free humanities classes for college credit from university professors. A native of southern Connecticut, Dr. Santow received his Ph.D from the University of Pennsylvania in 2000. After teaching for two years at Gonzaga University in Washington, he accepted a position here at UMD. The book on display here today, "Social Security and the Middle Class Squeeze," was co-written with his father, a Wall Street economist and former vice-president of the Federal Reserve Bank of New York. Professor Santow's other book, "Saul Alinsky and the Dilemma of Race in the Post-War City," will be published by University of Chicago Press late next year. Santow lives in Providence, RI, with his wife and two small children. |
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Putting into action his belief that “literature is the greatest tool we have in our culture to humanize society,” Waxler co-founded Changing Lives Through Literature (CLTL) in 1991. CLTL is an innovative sentencing program for criminal offenders that centers around a series of literature seminars facilitated by a professor. The program was recently awarded a $180,000 grant from the National Endowment for the Humanities to make it universally accessible through a website and CD-ROM. Waxler was also co-founder and co-director of the UMass Dartmouth Center for Jewish Culture. He has also served as Dean of the Division of Continuing Education, Associate Dean of the College of Arts and Sciences, and chairperson of the English Department. Waxler’s PhD dissertation was on William Blake. He has published articles on Blake, and on Ken Kesey and Philip Roth, as well as articles on various subjects in Jewish literature. Losing Jonathan centers on the 1995 death of Waxler’s son, Jonathan, after a battle with heroin. The book describes the last year of Jonathan’s life and the years after his death, tracing the curve of his parents’ grief. |
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Dr. Barber received his Ed.D. from the University of Massachusetts Amherst. For his dissertation, Barber conducted a qualitative research study of the social perceptions of African American community college transfer students at UMass Dartmouth. An adjunct assistant professor in the African American Studies program at the University of Rhode Island (URI), Barber is writing a series of articles on the classroom experiences of African American students at predominantly white colleges and universities. In 2004, Barber created and produced Jazz for Success. This innovative facultydriven compact disk (CD) provides important strategies, timely information, and creative ideas that challenge first-year students in using self-awareness and critical thinking to examine the values, dreams, and expectations they bring to college. Jazz for Success also features the music of professor Royal Hartigan from his 1993 CD “Blood Drum Spirit.” The smooth jazz format that characterizes Hartigan’s music helps to create an atmosphere in which students can relax, learn strategies to manage negative emotions, and explore campus resources. Recently, the National Association of Student Personnel Administrators (NASPA) named Jazz for Success “Program of the Year” for both the state of Massachusetts and New England. Barber hopes to complete Jazz for Success II later this year. This CD will feature outstanding student leaders who will share strategies for success – in the classroom, in the residence halls, and in life. |
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Susan Leclair, professor of medical laboratory science, earned her Ph.D from Walden University in Minneapolis, a distance learning site founded by Bernard Turner. Leclair has taught at UMass Dartmouth for 21 years. Her courses include clinical hematology, genetics, bioethics, and a non-science major offering. Her prior education included a bachelor’s degree from Stonehill College, a master’s degree from Southeastern Massachusetts University and experience working at hospitals in the Boston and Providence areas. Before joining the faculty at UMass Dartmouth, Leclair taught hematology at Brown University for several years. She is especially enthusiastic about UMass Dartmouth’s curriculum, which she calls groundbreaking” and the “model” for other institutions to adopt. The campus is also where she met and married James T. Griffith, who now happens to be her department chairman. |
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Professor Richard J. Larschan earned his undergraduate degree in English Literature from Colby College, with a year at Exeter University in England. Subsequently, Dr. Larschan earned his M.A. and Ph.D. in English Literature from the University of California at Berkeley with a doctoral dissertation on Jonathan Swift. His academic honors include a Fulbright research fellowship to Trinity College Dublin, a Fulbright Visiting Lectureship to the University of Wales, and four National Endowment for the Humanities summer grants. In addition to various conference presentations, Dr. Larschan has conducted subject workshops with secondary school English teachers. His publications include a critical introduction to Gulliver's Travels and co-authorship of The Diagnosis is Cancer, a handbook for cancer patients, their families and helping professionals. Dr. Larschan has also edited over a dozen books on major literary figures from Shakespeare and Dickens to Sylvia Plath and Jose Saramago, and has lectured on Public Television as well as produced two educational videos: “Sylvia Plath and the Myth of the Monstrous Mother” and “Sylvia Plath and the Omnipresent/Absent Father.” |
Alan Hirshfeld, Professor, Physics Department
Mark Santow, Professor, History Department
Robert P. Waxler, Professor, English Department
Norman L. Barber, Director, Residential Educational Programs and Assessment
Susan LeClair, Professor, Medical Laboratory Science
Richard J. Larschan, Professor, English DepartmentLast Updated On: 10/30/06
