News and Notes

The fall issue of the Moravian College Magazine is out. Read it online or pick up copies in the HUB, AfterWords Café in Reeves Library or the Admissions lobby. Additional copies are available on request by emailing langeb@moravian.edu.

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The Payne Gallery is going strong after 30 years. Its current exhibition, Celebrate! Celebrate! marks 30 years of operation and more than 200 shows, including the current exhibit of Pennsylvania Impressionists, including six new paintings acquired through a gift from Priscilla Payne Hurd.

“Priscilla Payne Hurd's most recent acquisition for the Payne Gallery is a group of six paintings, including four Philadelphia Ten artists, one of her personal favorites, W. E. Schofield, and an artist that had so far eluded us, George Sotter,” says Diane Radycki, associate professor of art and director of the Payne Gallery. “With the recent acquisition of Sotter's Ottsville House, we now round out Moravian College's permanent collection.”

The exhibit runs through Tuesday, December 18. Gallery hours are noon to 4 p.m. every day; closed Mondays. Admission is free.

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Moravian’s music department hosted renowned singer, musician and actor Harry Connick Jr. on November 16. Connick worked with music majors chosen to perform with the Pennsylvania Youth Theater (PYT) during its production of The Happy Elf which will be performed through the end of the year.

Connick, who has won three Grammy and two Emmy awards, has written a Broadway musical based on his hit song “The Happy Elf” about Eubie, one of Santa’s elves at the North Pole. The score is jazz based and PYT approached Moravian College’s music department to supply the musicians.

The jazz faculty at Moravian prepared them for work with Connick and the show. “The students and faculty are very excited about the opportunity to play the show and meet Mr. Connick,” said Neil Wetzel, associate professor of music.  “All of the Moravian College students playing in the pit orchestra are music majors and are pursuing careers in music education, music performance, and music business.”

Shows will be held in the Ice House in Bethlehem, Pa. More information on show times and a synopsis of the show can be found on the PYT website.

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John Gehman cuts his birthday cake as John Rossi, associate professor of economics and business, looks on.

Accounting professor John Gehman, who taught at Moravian College from 1949 to 1992 celebrated his 90th birthday with dinner with alumni and friends. U.S. Representative Charlie Dent wrote a proclamation and alumni who couldn’t attend the event contributed to the John Gehman Accounting Fund in honor of his birthday.

Dana S. Dunn, assistant dean for special projects and professor of psychology, recently served as academic program consultant for the department of psychology at Metropolitan State University of Denver. (MSUD) the university is a public undergraduate institution of about 23,000 students. The psychology department, with 24 full-time faculty and 40 adjunct professors, is one of the largest majors at the university. Dunn reviewed the department's curriculum, evaluated its research space and needs, and met with psychology and human development majors to discuss their educational experiences.

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Abigail Kirst, 8, practices for her performance in the Vespers service, December 1.

Photo by David Dunn '14

Shown here are the "Morning Star" soloists, from left: Joseph Geyer, 10, Erig Frey, 9, Chloe Mondok, 13, Colleen Strohlein, 13, and Abigail Kirst, 8.  (Mariah Nagle, 11, is not shown.)

Photo by David Dunn '14

The annual Moravian College Vespers Service will take place this weekend and next. Students and soloists practiced in Central Moravian Church November 25.

Six local children have been selected to sing the solo portions of the traditional Moravian hymn, “Morning Star” at the Vespers services.

Awards

Doris Schattschneider, professor emerita of mathematics at Moravian College has been named a Fellow of the American Mathematical Society (AMS) for 2013, the program's initial year.  This inaugural class of 1119 Fellows represents more 600 institutions. 

The Fellows of the AMS designation recognizes members who have made outstanding contributions to the creation, exposition, advancement, communication, and utilization of mathematics. Among the goals of the program are to create an enlarged class of mathematicians recognized by their peers as distinguished for their contributions to the profession and to honor excellence.

To see the names of individuals, and their institutions, who are in this year's class visit http://www.ams.org/profession/ams-fellows.

Conferences and Presentations

Kelly Denton-Borhaug, center, poses after her panel with respondents Mark Heim and Grace Ji-Sun Kim.

Kelly Denton-Borhaug, associate professor of religion and department chair, recently presented a panel on Religion and Violence at the American Academy of Religion Session in Chicago.  The panel featured her book, U.S. War-culture, Sacrifice and Salvation. Respondents were Grace Ji-Sun Kim, associate professor of doctrinal theology, and Mark Heim, a professor at Andover Newton Theological Seminary.

Clarke Chapman, emeritus professor of religion and adjunct, attended the national annual meeting of the American Academy of Religion, November 17 to 20 in Chicago.  He attended the four meetings of the International Bonhoeffer Society. 

Melanie Davis, adjunct professor of sociology, will participate in the Summit on Medical Education in Sexual Health December 2 and 3 at the University of Minnesota Medical School. The summit includes key U.S. and Canadian medical school educators in sexual health education, medical school educators, and interested parties at the federal level (CDC, AMA, AAMC) to examine the situation, discuss the challenges and opportunities, share lessons learned, and make recommendations for ensuring that physicians are properly trained to address the sexual health needs of their patients.

Ashley Heiberger, '00, adjunct faculty member in sociology, recently spoke at the New Jersey Public Safety Accreditation Coalition's 8th annual conference held at Stockton College. He addressed policy development as a means of increasing professionalism and reducing liability in law enforcement agencies.

Author Nilsa Lasso-von Lang.

In the News

Nilsa Lasso-von Lang, associate professor of Spanish, will appear on RCN-TV as a guest of Jose Antonio Ortiz. She will discuss her book Flavors of Panama on his show “Nuestro Valle” Sunday, December 9 at 7 p.m. and Monday, December 10 at 7:30 p.m.

She also was part of a book-signing event at the Moravian Book Shop during An Evening on Main Street, held November 15.

Student News and Notes

Photo by David Dunn '14.

The Moravian Improvised Music Ensemble (M.I.M.E.) performed a program titled An Evening of Imaginary Landscapes & Spontaneous Soundtracks in Peter Hall November 14. 

Participating musicians were Phill Wallens ’13, Ian Vogler ’13, Mike Battipaglia ’13, Jacob Krug ’15, Alex DiPasquale ’15, Sevde Guzel ’14 and Addison Rymar ’13, directed by Dan DeChellis. 

The Moravian crew is ready to serve a free Thanksgiving meal. From left: Roceni Rodriguez, Hilary O'Connell, Alexandriah Sabarese, Gabrielle Stone and Briana Sheeler.

A crew of students from the College and Seminary traveled to Staten Island the Saturday before Thanksgiving to prepare a pre-holiday meal for folks hard-hit by Hurricane Sandy. The meal was served in the home of Pastor Ferguson, pastor of the Vanderbilt Avenue Moravian Church in Staten Island.

The crew compiled a short video that highlights their trip. http://MoCoSandy.blogspot.com.

Anyone interested in traveling back to Staten Island to help residents clean up, contact communityservice@moravian.edu.  The trip will take place either December 4 or 6.