New Students Welcome Sir Salman Rushdie

Be brutal with the idea but respectful of the person who holds it was a primary message offered by Sir Salman Rushdie during the late August Opening Convocation at Willamette.

Packed with new students and their parents, the audience in Smith Auditorium responded to the internationally respected author with two standing ovations and enthusiastic applause as he discussed with wit and insight his formative years as a student — first at boarding school and then as an undergraduate.

“There are three mistakes you can make in boarding school,” said Rushdie. “Be clever, be foreign and be bad at games. I hit the trifecta.” While boarding school was not a positive experience for Rushdie, he found a much more inviting and positive experience at Cambridge University where he attended King’s College beginning in 1965.

“University is that moment when you come away from the stricture of high school and have the first adult experience of your life. In University, you work out who you are. You experiment with yourself and try on different skins. Through this process you work out what you will be and won’t be. It is your portal to the adult world. You are a migrant and university is where you begin to make your way.”

He added, “The thing I learned most at Cambridge was that you should be as brutal as possible toward ideas but as courteous as possible to the people who hold them. The undergraduate experience is transforming. You learn to be tolerant and open to new ideas. You learn that scholarship doesn’t seek self — it seeks the work.”

It’s clear that Rushdie credits his experiences at Cambridge more than he credits his degree in history. He managed a good natured tease when he said, “Throughout my life, no one has ever asked me what kind of degree I got or even if I’ve got one at all. I have to say it’s been useless.”

Rushdie is the author of such international best-sellers as Midnight’s Children and The Satanic Verses. The latter was deemed sacrilegious by Iran’s Ayatollah Khomeini, who issued a fatwa against Rushdie in 1989. Despite this proclamation, and the international controversy that followed, Rushdie went on to produce some of his most compelling work, including The Moor’s Last Sigh and The Ground Beneath Her Feet while living under the constant threat of death. His most recent novel, Shalimar the Clown, was an international best-seller and a nominee for both the Man Booker Prize and Commonwealth Writer’s Prize.

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Astronomy 101 Class Starts September 6th

Salem, Ore. - Learn how to identify the major constellations in the late-summer sky in a two-part class offered on September 6, 2007 and September 11, 2007.

Dr. Rick Watkins, Associate Professor in the Department of Physics at Willamette University, will provide a basic introduction to astronomy, focusing on identifying and locating major constellations and other celestial objects. The September 6th class runs from 7 p.m. to 8:30 p.m. at the Straub Environmental Learning Center, 1320 A Street NE, next to Olinger Pool, near North Salem High School. The time and place for the September 11th outing to view planets and stars through a telescope will be announced at the first class.

The program is part of the Amateur Naturalist Series. The class costs $5 and is open to the public. The program and series is sponsored by the Friends of Straub Environmental Learning Center.

Registration is required. To register, call 503-391-4145.

The Friends of the Straub Environmental Learning Center is a Salem-based, non-profit organization dedicated to environmental education.

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Princeton Review Gives Willamette High Marks

“Academically rigorous, intimate and seriously gorgeous.” No, this is not a date profile for eligible undergraduates. It’s how The Princeton Review describes Willamette University in its just released Best 366 Colleges 2008 Edition.

The Princeton Review asked 120,000 students at 366 top colleges to rate their schools in dozens of categories and report on their campus experiences. The 80-question survey is inclusive and covers academics, campus life, the student body, best professors, campus food, athletics and more.

“I am pleased that the Princeton Review recognizes academic rigor and strong faculty-student engagement at Willamette,” said Willamette University President M. Lee Pelton. “Not only do these factors heavily influence students’ satisfaction with their undergraduate experience, when it comes to garnering national fellowships and awards and getting into top graduate programs, these strengths are critical to success.”

Here are some of the things students wrote about Willamette:

• “Outstanding” academic programs include the sciences, a “great focus” on the arts, a popular Japanese Studies Program, and “a highly acclaimed political science program.”
• “Small class sizes allow lots of discussion and personal attention” and undergraduate research opportunities allow students to work with faculty members on the kinds of projects reserved for grad students at most other schools. Willamette is also “very accommodating for double majors.” Professors are, “for the most part, super interesting and exciting.”
• Intercollegiate and intramural sports are hugely popular here, and the “incredibly strong” track and cross country programs are especially noteworthy.
• Willamette is “2 hours from the coast” and “2 hours from the mountains.” Also, “it’s only a 45-minute drive over to Portland” and “a ton of cultural stuff.”
• Students at Willamette rate their “interesting, intelligent, genuine, [and] community oriented” peers as “pretty hard workers” and say “There’s a social group for almost everyone — jocks, preps, partiers, nerds; you name it.” There are also “outdoorsy” types and “a lot of musicians” here. Conflict between groups is very minimal. “Everyone is accepting . . . so it’s not intimidating to meet random people.” Politically, Willamette is “extremely liberal.” There are plenty of “politically left-wing people who love granola and Howard Dean,” though, interestingly, few “real hippies.”

[download the full review pdf]

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Hallie Ford Museum of Art Exhibition Selected for Oregon American Masterpieces Grant

The Oregon Arts Commission has selected “The Art of Ceremony,” planned by the Hallie Ford Museum of Art at Willamette University in Salem, as Oregon’s 2008 American Masterpieces project. The commission has awarded the project a $50,000 grant using funds from the National Endowment for the Arts.

“The Oregon Arts Commission reviewed many strong proposals in this second round of special American Masterpieces grant funding. 'The Art of Ceremony' project was selected because of its potential to show work rarely seen by the public and to examine the concept of a 'masterpiece,'" said Christine D’Arcy, executive director of the commission. “We are very pleased to announce this award.”

Organized by Willamette anthropology associate professor Rebecca Dobkins in collaboration with Native community curators, “The Art of Ceremony” will be a groundbreaking exhibition of and book about historic and contemporary ceremonial regalia from Oregon tribes.

“Ceremonial regalia is perhaps the most highly regarded art form within American Indian groups and thus truly represents an indigenous definition of master work,” Dobkins said. “‘The Art of Ceremony’ promises to contribute profoundly to the national conversation about what constitutes American art and American masterpieces. We are honored to be working in partnership with Oregon tribes on this project.”

Museum staff will work closely with the Siletz, Umatilla, Warm Springs and other Oregon tribes in the development of the exhibit, which will open at the Hallie Ford Museum of Art in fall 2008 and then travel to the Tamastslikt Cultural Institute and the Museum at Warm Springs at no cost to those institutions. “We are extremely honored to have the exhibition selected as Oregon’s 2008 American Masterpieces project, excited to be able to work with Native communities on the exhibition’s development and thrilled to be able to share the exhibition with audiences throughout the state,” Museum Director John Olbrantz said.

The collaborative curatorial process will identify the complex aesthetic criteria by which regalia-makers judge their own and others’ work, apply these criteria to the selection of work for the exhibition, and then articulate them within the exhibition itself. In this way, the public will come to understand the multiple meanings of “masterpiece,” “beauty,” “excellence” and “innovation,” as expressed in Native community standards.

Regalia from Oregon is exceptionally diverse, from the Plateau area’s buckskin and beadwork, to the Columbia River region’s use of condor feathers, to the coastal area’s feather work and abalone shell decoration. “A lot of people attend intertribal events such as powwows and mistake what they see there as our traditional dances and regalia,” said Bud Lane, vice chairman of Siletz Tribal Council. “Each tribe has its own regalia and dances that go way back. We want people to see that each tribe has its individual traditions and cultures that vary from region to region.”

In all areas, regalia reflects environmental and cultural transformations and generates spiritual power and social status. The exhibition will include contemporary regalia from the Siletz, Umatilla and Warm Springs communities and borrow historic regalia from major American collections. “It’s extremely rare for the public to see this traditional regalia,” Lane said. “Outside of our dance houses, we don’t do many public appearances.”

A full array of public programming, including artist demonstrations and workshops, is envisioned. The accompanying book will be completed following the exhibit.

In addition to the NEA American Masterpieces grant, the project is supported by a Millicent McIntosh Fellowship from the Woodrow Wilson Foundation granted to Rebecca Dobkins for 2007–09.

The Oregon Arts Commission provides leadership, funding and arts programs through its grants, special initiatives and services. Nine commissioners, appointed by the governor, determine arts needs and establish policies for public support of the arts. The commission is supported with general funds appropriated by the Oregon legislature and with federal funds from the National Endowment for the Arts as well as funds from the Oregon Cultural Trust. More information about the Oregon Arts Commission is available online at: www.oregonartscommission.org.

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Museum Hires New Exhibition Designer/Chief Preparator

The Hallie Ford Museum of Art at Willamette University has hired David Andersen of the Frye Art Museum in Seattle as its new exhibition designer/chief preparator.

“We are extremely pleased to have someone of David’s background, training and many years of experience join our staff,” Museum Director John Olbrantz said.

Andersen will begin his new position in early October. He will be responsible for the design and installation of permanent and temporary exhibitions, the transportation of artwork and related duties. He replaces Keith Lachowicz who left last spring to accept the position of collection manager/registrar at the Regional Arts and Culture Council in Portland.

A native of California, Andersen holds an associate of arts degree from American River College, a bachelor of arts degree from the University of California, Davis, and a master of fine arts degree from the University of Idaho. From 1992–96, he worked as chief preparator at the Northwest Museum of Arts and Culture in Spokane, and he has been exhibition designer/chief preparator at the Frye Art Museum since 1996. There he coordinated and installed more than 150 permanent and temporary exhibitions and managed 12,000 square feet of gallery space comprising permanent and temporary galleries.

The Hallie Ford Museum of Art was founded in 1998 to serve as an artistic, cultural and intellectual resource for Willamette University, the city of Salem, the mid–Willamette Valley and beyond. Four permanent galleries feature European, Asian and American art, Native American baskets, historic and contemporary regional art, and European and American works on paper. Two temporary exhibition spaces include historic and contemporary art.

The Hallie Ford Museum of Art is located at 700 State St. (corner of State and Cottage streets) in downtown Salem near the campus of Willamette University. Hours are Tuesday through Saturday from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. and Sunday from 1 to 5 p.m. The galleries are closed on Monday. Admission is $3 for adults and $2 for seniors and students. Children younger than 12 are admitted free, and Tuesday is an admission-free day. For more information, call 503-370-6855 or go to www.willamette.edu/museum_of_art.

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