Our two newest hires, Andrea Kowalchuk and Paul Diduch, have just completed their first year—and they did a terrific job. In them, Herbst has found two excellent teachers, generous colleagues and strong supporters of the Great Books tradition. In the spring of 2016, Paul and Andi will be hosting a colloquium on artificial intelligence, and they have been working with the Department of Computer Science to make this a success.
Wayne Ambler retired at the end of May. He is now is Professor Emeritus Ambler, and he is busy with writing about Rome and tending his garden. I know how much he loves teaching, but I must say he looks mighty happy now.
We have a new professor rostered in the Herbst Program: Joel Swanson, a visual artist who runs the Technology, Arts and Media (TAM) Program in ATLAS, the Alliance for Technology, Learning and Society. Joel’s teaching and service will mostly be centered in ATLAS, but one of his courses each year will be cross-listed with Herbst.
Scholarship Opportunities
Here at Herbst, we are thinking of ways in which to commemorate two of our past directors, Thanasi Moulakis and Wayne Ambler, and we could use your help.
Ambler Scholarship for our Maymester course, Culture Wars in Rome. Wayne worked hard to keep prices low for his students, typically by sidestepping travel agencies. It seems perfectly appropriate then, to establish a scholarship in his name. Are there any Culture Warriors out there who would be willing to contribute to this scholarship? And can you recommend ways in which to distribute this money? For example, should we try to give each student a small amount, or a few students a large amount, or one student a free trip? We would appreciate your thoughts on creating the Ambler Culture Warrior Fund.
Moulakis Fund. We hope that many of you would be willing to contribute to a scholarship commemorating Thanasi. The question is what kind of fund should it be? Which of his broad interests should it support? Literature, philosophy, the arts, languages, international relations or others? Should it support students by helping them pay for books? Or subsidize tickets to the opera? Or pay for framing student artwork from HUEN 3100? Please send me your thoughts on how best we can commemorate this amazing person.