 |
||||||||||||||
 |
       |
|||||||||||||
|
|
|
|
|||||||||||
|
|
DEPARTMENT FACULTY | |||||||||||||
FACULTY NEWS
"I begin by apologizing to the parents of today’s honorees, because some things I say may distress you. If it helps, I am a parent of three children, so I understand the financial sacrifices you have undergone for the past 4 years. I am also aware that these splendid young adults whose accomplishments we celebrate, you knew just a few years ago as adolescents – and adolescence has been described as extended familial suffering for no discernible reason. Finally, as a teacher I have one overriding commitment: to speak only the truth as I see it to your children -- and I think you deserve the same respect. To you splendid students I say: bravely done! You richly deserve the honor bestowed on you today. You have achieved more than success – you have met the highest standards of intellectual accomplishment of one of the world’s most distinguished universities. You today join in a larger fellowship with women and men of many universities and colleges bound together solely by merit of four years of outstanding intellectual performance that required more than the gift of intelligence --including the courage often to resist the seductive temptation of not doing your very best. You remind us that in any serious work of the mind only excellence is adequate." Click here to read the rest of the speech.
The American Academy of Arts and Letters was established in 1898 to “foster, assist, and sustain an interest in literature, music, and the fine arts.” Election to the Academy is considered the highest formal recognition of artistic merit in this country. Founding members include William Merritt Chase, Kenyon Cox, Daniel Chester French, Childe Hassam, Henry James, Theodore Roosevelt, Elihu Vedder, and Woodrow Wilson. The Academy is currently comprised of 250 of America’s leading voices in the fields of Art, Architecture, Literature, and Music. The Academy presents exhibitions of art, architecture, and manuscripts; and readings and performances of new musicals throughout the year, and is located in three landmark buildings designed by McKim, Mead & White, Cass Gilbert, and Charles Pratt Huntington, on Audubon Terrace at 155 Street and Broadway, New York City. Since 1909 the Academy has awarded Gold Medals for distinguished achievement in several different categories of the arts. Gold Medals are given for the entire work of the recipient. The medal itself was designed in 1916 by Academician and noted sculptor and numismatist James Earle Fraser. Click here to read more about the American Academy of Arts and Letters.
The National Humanities Center is the only major independent American institute for advanced study in all fields of the humanities. Privately incorporated and governed by a distinguished board of trustees from academic, professional, and public life, the Center was planned under the auspices of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences and began operation in 1978. It provides a national focus for the best work in the liberal arts, drawing attention to the enduring value of ancient and modern history, language and literature, ethical and moral reflection, artistic and cultural traditions, and critical thought in every area of humanistic investigation. By encouraging excellence in scholarship, the Center seeks to insure the continuing strength of the liberal arts and to affirm the importance of the humanities in American life. Click here to read more about the National Humanities Center.
Five Columbia professors have been named fellows of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences, a prestigious honorary society and center for independent policy research founded in 1780, bringing “the arts and sciences into constructive interplay with the leaders of both the public and private sectors,” according to its website. The new inductees from Columbia join 207 new fellows and 19 foreign honorary members inducted from a broad range of disciplines and professions—artists and scientists, jurists and scholars, corporate and civic leaders. The academy's new members come from universities, museums, national laboratories, private research institutes, businesses and foundations. Click here to read more about the American Academy of Arts and Sciences.
"We are proud to announce that seven of this year's Guggenheim Fellowships have been awarded to men and women from Columbia," said Provost Alan Brinkley. "These awards reflect the breadth and diversity of our faculty's achievements. On behalf of the University, I want to offer our congratulations to them all." Guggenheim fellows receive a cash award, which they are allowed to spend as they wish. The amounts vary, as they are adjusted to the needs of each recipient; the average grant in 2008 was $43,200. Since 1925, there have been more than 16,000 Guggenheim fellows, including 100 Nobel Prize Winners and 32 Poet Laureates. Columbia's new Guggenheim fellows are among 180 who were selected from a pool of more than 3,000 applicants. The John Simon Memorial Guggenheim Foundation was established in 1925 to "add to the educational, literary, artistic, and scientific power" of the United States, "and also to provide for the cause of better international understanding." Click here to read more about the John Simon Guggenheim Memorial Foundation.
The Dorothy and Lewis B. Cullman Center for Scholars and Writers international fellowship program is open to people whose work will benefit directly from access to the collections at the Stephen A.Schwarzman Building – including academics, independent scholars, and creative writers (novelists, playwrights, poets). The Center appoints 15 Fellows a year for a nine-month term at the Library, from September through May. In addition to working on their own projects, the Fellows engage in an ongoing exchange of ideas within the Center and in public forums throughout the Library. Click here to read more about The Dorothy and Lewis B. Cullman Center for Scholars and Writers. |
||||||||||||||
| |
      |
|||||||||||||
