Grads

MALS alumni should put two upcoming events on their calendars. The first is our annual Commencement reception for new MALS alumni on Sunday, June 8. Champagne and party food will be served in the faculty lounge at the Hopkins Center immediately after the Commencement ceremonies. This is an excellent opportunity to meet fellow alumni, MALS faculty members and pur new alumni. The second event is the MALS Alumni Associations annual luncheon and open meeting. It will be held at noon on July 9 in the Hayward Lounge of the Hanover Inn. Please call the MALS office to make a luncheon reservation. For those interested in hearing the work of the graduating MALS students, the MALS office will also provide the spring schedule of theses presentations.

The MALS Alumni Association and the Arts and Sciences Graduate Alumni Association of Dartmouth (ASGAAD) held a celebration of poetry on Saturday, February 9, during Dartmouth's Winter Carnival weekend. Poets and poetry lovers gathered in the Wren Room to read their own work, share favorite selections and listen and enjoy. A tea was served after the reading. Gayle Giovanna (biology '90) and Nancy Silliman '95 (MALS '96) both read their own poems. Gayle closed the reading with a work of musical performance art on her flute. Her composition was based on wind-driven snowflakes, which were actually coming down with gusto during the reading. A special thanks to Judy Chypre (MALS '99), who worked so hard to organize the event and was unable to attend, due to those same wind-driven snowflakes. Another thanks goes to Linda Landrigan (MALS '97) for arranging for the presence of four terrific guest poets.

Allen Sherman (MALS' 05) and his partner Marion Nelson recently returned from Marigot Bay, St. Lucia, West Indies, with more than 70 hours of interviews. They spent two months speaking with a range of St. Lucian writers, artists, poets and musicians in an attempt to evoke responses to such subjects as colonialism, independence movements, post-colonialism, the residual legacy of slavery and the development of Kweyol and Rastafarianism on the island. Among the significant figures included in their interview list are Dame Pearlette Louisy, governor general of St. Lucia; the Hon. Dunstan St. Omer, artist and cultural hero; Charles Cadet, composer; Msgr. Patrick Anthony, liberation theologian and linguist; and Kendel Hippolyte, poet. They are also interviewing the children, who are artists and poets themselves, of some of the islands cultural figures. Their work has been reported in St. Lucia's newspapers, radio and television. Allen and Marion were coached for their adventure by MALS professors Harvey and Myrna Frommer. They have also obtained the support of the Folk Research Centre and the blessing of the Archdiocese of Castries, St. Lucia, for work that they plan to resume on a return trip to the island. One area of their focus will be Dunstan St. Omer's church murals, located all around the island.

Niranjan Bose (biochemistry' 04) was selected as the arts and sciences graduate alumni representative to the Dartmouth College Alumni Council. He attended the winter meeting of the council and reports, 'Although most of the topics centered on issues related to the undergraduate community, there is a strong push to get the graduate alumni community more actively involved. Please stay tuned for additional details on ASGAAD in the months to come." Bose is presently employed in Seattle for the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation. He is working with their infectious diseases group.

175 Greensboro Road, Hanover, NH;(603) 643-37801; m.jane.welsh.adv98@alum.org