Grads

The MALS Alumni Association held its annual champagne commencement reception on Sunday, June 12. The reception was held in the faculty lounge at the Hopkins Center and included a tented area on the adjoining terrace. However, the storm held off and we enjoyed a beautiful day for the event. MALS faculty, alumni, graduates and graduates’ friends and families were invited. The reception honored our new alumni and allowed them to celebrate and share their experiences and future plans. Mary Fratini (MALS’11) is starting a Ph.D. program at the University of South Carolina in English and rhetoric. Meg Houston (MALS’11) will continue working at her job in communications and work toward an M.F.A. or Ph.D. in creative writing. Marisa Miller (MALS’11) published a book of poems, First Milk, inspired by her experiences working at a Cuban women’s maternity clinic. She will continue her job at the Aloha Foundation in Norwich, Vermont, and she will also continue writing. Michael Miner (MALS’11) began a teaching fellowship early this year at Harvard. When he completes this he intends to begin a career in government service. Grace Randolph (MALS’11) will be returning to the D.C. metro area. She worked for the Native American program at Dartmouth and will look for similar work with a foundation. Jane Shulman (MALS’11) will begin studies at Tulane Law School. Gillian Smith (MALS’11) plans to work for a year and then pursue a Ph.D. in American studies.

MALS program chairman Donald Pease gave a champagne toast to the new graduates and also to MALS executive director Lauren Clarke, who just completed her Ph.D. at the University of Massachusetts Amherst. He then presented the annual Alumni Thesis Awards. The prize for best thesis in cultural studies went to Alex Corey (MALS’11), with an honorable mention to Vincenzo Bavaro (MALS’11). The creative writing award was given to Meg Houston with an honorable mention to Eve Endicott (MALS’11). The globalization studies award winner was Michael Miner, and Jane McLaughlin (MALS’11) was given an honorable mention. The general liberal studies award went to Joe Shafer (MALS’11), and there were honorable mentions for Stephen Freeborn (MALS’11) and Anthony Solaqua (MALS’11).

The MALS Alumni Association board, which sponsored the reception, was also well represented. A special thanks goes to Judy Chypre (MALS’99) for all her work in planning and organizing the event. Also enjoying the festivities were Ben Bolger (MALS’04); Eric Esau (MALS’83); Grace Hill (MALS’75); Joan Kersey (MALS’96), who provided the flower arrangements; Lyn Lord ’95 (MALS’98); Phyllis Nemhauser (MALS’03); Wole Ojurongbe (MALS’08); and Margret Richard (MALS’85).

Katharine Britton’s (MALS’05) first novel was published in June. The book, Her Sister’s Shadow, is a haunting story of love, loss, loneliness and the healing light of truth. Two estranged sisters are drawn back to their family home in Massachusetts through a tragedy. Katharine explores the divergent paths we take in life—and the turns in the road that bring us back, ultimately, to each other. Her screenplay, Goodbye Don’t Mean Gone, was a winner at the 2009 Moondance International Film Festival and a finalist in the New England Women in Film and Television contest. Katharine is a member of Vermont Writers and PEN New England. She teaches writing at Colby Sawyer College and is an instructor at the Writer’s Center.

175 Greensboro Road, Hanover, NH 03755; (603) 643-3789; m.jane.welsh.adv98@ alum.dartmouth.org