Three UMW graduates received Fulbright grants in 2013, and that caught the attention of The Chronicle of Higher Education. The Fulbright scholars, Aubrey Elliott ’12, M.Ed. ’13; Peter Hawes ’12; and Michaela Sands ’12, M.Ed. ’13, all left the U.S. to teach English. Thanks to them, Mary Washington was among The Chronicle’s 2013-14 list of top producers of U.S. Fulbright scholars. Elliott is in Turkey, Hawes in Nepal, and Sands in Thailand. The Chronicle included Mary Washington among the top producers in schools with master’s programs. UMW was one of only two four-year public Virginia institutions to make the list in any category, with the College of William & Mary included among research institutions. “These awards confirm that UMW continues to excel at preparing students for the new global realities of the 21st century,” UMW Provost Jonathan Levin said of the news. The Fulbright Program is the U.S. government’s flagship international educational exchange program. … [Read more...]
Homes for the Holidays
The University of Mary Washington community raised about $5,500 last fall to help provide permanent housing for Fredericksburg-area homeless families. UMW’s efforts, spearheaded by Associate Professor of Sociology and Anthropology Leslie Martin, were part of a statewide initiative to get 740 Virginia families housed in 100 days. Martin asked UMW faculty, staff, and students to donate to the “Home for the Holidays” campaign of the Central Virginia Housing Coalition (CVHC), which coordinated the Fredericksburg region’s initiative. With the funds it collected from groups like UMW, CVHC placed 58 Fredericksburg-area families in permanent housing in time for the holidays. For each $3,500 raised, CVHC covers a first month’s rent, a security deposit, and utility deposits for one area family. Agencies that work with the homeless, including the Thurman Brisben Center and Hope House, provide services aimed at keeping families in the homes. The money donated by the UMW community helped one … [Read more...]
Teaching What She Learns
As a first-grader, Lauren Puglia lined up stuffed animals in front of a toy easel in a pretend classroom in her basement. Today, the multiple-disabilities teacher is living her childhood fantasy of teaching, while pursuing a master’s degree in education at UMW. A wooden easel with a white dry erase board sits at the front of Puglia’s Mountain View High School classroom in Stafford County, Va. Colorful pictures, ABCs, and crafts adorn the room where she works with four teenagers. She is equipped to teach students with a variety of disabilities - autism, Angelman syndrome, Down syndrome, traumatic brain injury, and more. “My goal is for my students to be as independent as possible when they leave Mountain View,” Puglia said. “I want to give them the social skills that they need to be productive members of society and make them feel like they are part of a community.” When Puglia took the teaching position two years ago, she started the Buddy Club to match students from the … [Read more...]
Great Lives at UMW
The 2014 Chappell Great Lives Series continues with lectures covering a wide range of figures, from Scott and Zelda Fitzgerald to Spartacus. The final program on April 22 features Reeve Lindbergh, daughter of Charles and Anne Morrow Lindbergh, who will discuss her parents, based on her family memoir, Under a Wing. March 27: Titans of the Gilded Age: Rockefeller, Carnegie, and Morgan by historian and biographer H.W. Brands of University of Texas, Austin April 1: Henry VIII by British historian Jeremy Black of University of Exeter April 8: Shakespeare by Lois Potter: The Life of William Shakespeare: A Critical Biography April 10: Spartacus by Barry Strauss of Cornell University: The Spartacus War April 15: Machiavelli by Miles Unger: Machiavelli: A Biography April 17 Simon Bolivar by Marie Arana: Bolivar: American Liberator April 22 Charles and Anne Morrow Lindbergh by Reeve Lindbergh, daughter of Charles and Anne Lindbergh: Under a Wing: A Memoir All lectures are … [Read more...]
UMW Names Nursing Program Director
Longtime nurse Pamela McCullough will lead UMW’s new bachelor of science in nursing completion program. Designed for registered nurses who have completed an accredited associate degree or diploma nursing program, the courses will begin this fall. As director, McCullough hopes the curriculum will help students think creatively and excel in their careers. Course work will include advanced writing techniques, the sociology of health and medicine, and medical ethics. The program should be a good fit for working nurses, with plenty of flexibility. Briefly a theater major, McCullough earned a bachelor’s degree, a master’s degree, and a post-master’s certificate from the Catholic University of America. She earned a Ph.D. in nursing practice from Old Dominion University, completing a doctoral capstone project in 2011 at UMW’s Student Health Center. A Fredericksburg-area resident since 1998, McCullough served more than two years as nursing program director at Stratford … [Read more...]
National Register Rap Goes Viral
Instead of fearing the National Register of Historic Places, Americans should embrace it. That’s the message of a rap song and video created last semester by a group of historic preservation students as a class project for Assistant Professor Andréa Livi Smith, director of the Center for Historic Preservation. The students posted their 5-minute video on You Tube in December, and it’s gone viral in preservation circles, with more than 8,000 views. The video caught the attention of The Huffington Post, which published an interview with the creators. Seniors Sam Crystal, Katie DeCecco, Nate Dawes, and Carol Vinatieri – the Grumpy Group – wrote, performed, and recorded the National Register Rap using Fredericksburg-area historic sites as backdrops. Associate Professor Gary W. Stanton, the department chair, makes a cameo appearance. The funny rap explains why we need the National Register – to protect buildings and other properties of exceptional historic value – but pokes … [Read more...]