A new calendar year marks a new semester, and students are on campus ready to learn, explore, and experience as the spring semester starts today.

Yesterday afternoon, Provost Patricia Marshall welcomed those gathered in the President's Hall for Professor Yasser Derwiche Djazaerly's presentation of  the Harrod Lecture "Art and Populism: On American and European Gothic." After an introduction by David Svolba, Chair of the Humanities Department, Professor Djazaerly argued that populism originated in the late Enlightenment and was manifested in the Gothic Revival. After examining Romanticism in light of the current research on populism, the presentation situated Grant Wood’s American Gothic within the modern European discourse on gothic architecture.

Dr. Katharine Covino (English Studies) and Dr. Erin MacNeal Rehrig (Biology and Chemistry) have teamed up to teach this unique STEAM (Science, Technology, English, Art, and Math) FYE which supports students’ academic skills development through learning new and interesting concepts related to plant science, specifically, photosynthesis, pollination, seed dispersal, carnivory, and responses to the environment, while reading and reviewing the YA Lit book, Bloom by Kenneth Oppel. The goal of the course is to draw inspiration and resources from diverse content areas to help students become engaged, curious, and caring members of the university community. In this activity, students are investigating the characteristics of plants that make them successful at seed dispersal while working in teams, solving problems, and applying metacognitive strategies to complete the activity successfully. Here, students perform a seed dispersal experiment wherein seeds are weighed, measured, and reopped from a specific height. The distance of the seed from the drop location data was then recorded.

The Biology, Chemistry, and Earth & Geographic Sciences departments held their annual science symposium this afternoon at the Lisciotti pavilion in the Antonucci Science Building. This is an event where the science faculty present posters on their research to get students interested and involved in the sciences.

The Theater Department's Ellen (Cap) Corduan, and her students, worked on the stage set for the upcoming presentation of A Raisin in the Sun this afternoon in Conlon Fine Arts. The Theater Department will be presenting the play November 15-20, check back for details.

The Center For Faculty Scholarship held a faculty research poster session and lightning talks in Hammond Main Hall yesterday afternoon. Some faculty featured were; Kiernan Riley (Nursing), William Sisk (Economics, History, and Political Science), Patricia Kio (Engineering Technology), Katharine Covino (English), Eric Budd (Economics, History, and Political Science), and J.J. Sylvia IV (Communications Media). Congratulations to all!

This morning, participants in our Adult Learning in the Fitchburg Area (ALFA), a lifelong learning institute that serves adult learners in Fitchburg and the surrounding communities, gathered at Fitchburg's Abolitionist Park for Before & After Emancipation: An Introduction to Fitchburg Abolitionist History, with Dr. Danette Day. The course is designed for participants to learn about Fitchburg’s rich Abolitionist history and the people who made it; among the many people you will meet are Benjamin Snow Jr., Josiah Trask, Martin and Caroline Becker, and Caroline Briggs Mason. Also, learn more about prominent abolitionists such as William Lloyd Garrison, Angelina Grimke and Frederick Douglass. This morning, Fitchburg Ward 6 City Councilor Derrick Cruz stopped by and joined the discussion.

Professor Joshua Spero welcomed The Washington Center Representative Ms. LeeAnn Williams for an Internship Session in Percival. Students, in-person and online, learned about internship opportunities at The Washington Center.

Students in Professor Donald Tarallo's Color Dynamics Course experience color through visual experiments to understand its perceptual, emotive, communicative, and technical aspects in both analog and digital (interaction and motion) forms. Students will develop a critical eye toward form as well as gain relevant digital competencies to work with it effectively. Learn more about our Graphic Design Concentration here.

Students in Kelly Morgan's Stage Movement: Combat course, a workshop-oriented course. utilize the basic techniques of movement that emphasize developing their potential for effective physicalization of a character on stage. Learn more about our Theater Concentration here.