Year in Review: 2007

January • February • March • April • May • June • July • August • September • October • November • December

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February

February 2 The Center for Civic Engagement (CCE), an academic institute that strives to get students interested and involved in the political process and in issues that are of local, national and global importance, celebrated its launch with an international peace exhibition titled Gandhi, King, Ikeda: A Legacy of Building Peace. For its first two semesters, CCE presented an ambitious schedule of events for students.

February 6 The Hofstra University Museum opened the exhibition Twardowicz & Dodson: Artists in Parallel. Stanley Twardowicz, an important figure in the history of the Beat Movement in America, is an acclaimed painter, photographer and teacher. His wife, Lillian Dodson, a member of Hofstra’s Fine Arts Department, is a potter, sculptor, painter, teacher, and fine arts craftsperson.

February 8 IDEAS presented “The Archaeology of Slavery and Freedom in Early New York,” by Associate Professor of Anthropology Christopher Matthews. This was followed by the spring lectures “The Evolution of Human Sexual Differences and Their Cultural Impacts” by Hofstra University Distinguished Visiting Professor Bobbi S. Low; “The Evolution Controversy and the Importance of Teaching About the Processes and Nature of Science” by Jay Labov of the National Academy of Science; and “Parenting in a Bug’s Life” by Hofstra Associate Professor of Biology Lisa Filippi.

February 13 The School of Communication and the Department of Speech Communication, Rhetoric & Performance Studies welcomed Terry Edmonds, the first African American speechwriter to work in the White House. Mr. Edmonds talked to students and faculty about his career and the importance of engaging in the political process. February 14 Scott Ross ’74, CEO of the Academy Award-winning special effects company Digital Domain, Inc., lectured on “The Demise of Hollywood.” Dr. Ross taught a School of Communication course on digital production in motion pictures and advertising from January 29 to February 16.

February 14 Hofstra Law School presented the 2006-2007 Howard Lichtenstein Distinguished Professorship of Legal Ethics Lecture Series featuring Mary C. Daly, dean and John V. Brennan Professor of Law & Ethics, St. John’s University School of Law, who discussed “The Impact of the Globalization of the Legal Profession on Legal Education.”

February 15 and 16 The Department of Religion hosted Distinguished Visiting Professor Bart Ehrman as part of the University’s Presidential Scholars Program. Dr. Ehrman delivered a lecture titled “The Newly Discovered Gospel of Judas Iscariot” – about the significance of an ancient document discovered in a Long Island bank safe deposit box.

February 21 Terrance Hayes, author of Wind in a Box, Hip Logic and Muscular Music, was the first speaker for the “Great Writers, Great Readings” Series for the spring 2007 semester. He was followed by playwright Richard Greenberg on March 14 and short story master Lorrie Moore on April 18.

February 23 A group of 14 students and two faculty members embarked on the 2007 European Odyssey, a unique study abroad experience that took them through 11 European countries in 10 weeks. The program was divided into three areas of study: the ancient and medieval roots of European civilization; the contemporary political, economic and sociological landscape of Europe; and the examination of human rights and values during World War II and the postwar era.

February 23 President Stuart Rabinowitz announced that Tejinder (T.J.) Pal Singh Bindra, senior vice president of Jeetish Group of Companies, and Martin B. Greenberg ’60, founder and chairman of the board of Sterling Commodities Corporation, were named to the Hofstra University Board of Trustees. James E. Quinn ’74, president of Tiffany & Co., and Gary Cypres ’66, president, CEO and founder of Hispanic Express, Inc., were named to the Board of Trustees in April.

February 23 to 25 Hofstra’s Association for Women in Communications presented Eve Ensler’s The Vagina Monologues as part of the international V-Day movement, a global effort to end violence against women and girls.

February 28 The Department of Religion presented a lecture by Peter Manseau, author of the critically acclaimed memoir Vows: The Story of a Priest, a Nun, and Their Son. Mr. Manseau’s talk was part of the inaugural Monsignor Thomas J. Hartman Lecture Series in Catholic Studies.

February 28 The ongoing Israeli- Palestinian conflict was the topic of a lecture by Zachary Lockman, a professor of Middle Eastern studies at New York University, as part of the International Scene Lecture Series.