Jacqueline Jones Royster Named Dean of Ivan Allen College

Atlanta (February 18, 2010) — Following a national search, Georgia Tech Provost Gary B. Schuster has announced that Dr. Jacqueline Jones Royster, a professor of English with interests related to rhetorical studies, women’s studies and literacy, will be the College’s next dean.

Dr. Jacqueline Jones Royster

In addition to holding the dean’s chair, Royster will be a professor in the School of Literature, Communication and Culture. She is expected to start by the fall semester.

“With a proven record of leadership and scholarship, Professor Jacqueline Royster brings a great wealth of academic and administrative experience to the Ivan Allen College,” Schuster said. “As one known for fostering interdisciplinary collaborations, she will not only be a strong advocate for the College, but also work with faculty, students and staff to expand its role within Georgia Tech.”

During her 18-year tenure at Ohio State, Royster held a series of executive positions. Most recently, she was senior vice provost and executive dean of the Colleges of the Arts and Sciences, serving as chief academic officer and providing leadership for its five arts and sciences colleges from 2004-2008.

“I am deeply appreciative of the opportunity to lead an organization as dynamic and respected as the Ivan Allen College,” Royster said. “My thanks go to Provost Schuster and the members of the search committee for their faith and confidence in my abilities. I am very excited about the possibilities that lay ahead for me and my new colleagues at Georgia Tech.”

In her remarks at a public forum in January, Royster spoke of her philosophical belief in the dual role of higher education, serving both as an agent of stability — the pursuit of knowledge anchored to strong social and ethical values — and of change.

“I refer to change in terms of the imperative to provide leadership in bringing all that we know and understand to bear dynamically on our enterprises in order to address the ways forward in supporting, building, and sustaining a world in which peace and prosperity have the possibility of reigning for all,” she said. “I believe this obligation is especially true for those of us in the liberal arts.”

Royster graduated with her bachelor’s degree at Spelman College in Atlanta before earning her master’s and doctoral degrees from the University of Michigan in 1971 and 1975, respectively. She returned to Spelman in 1978, serving as both a professor of English and an administrator.

During her career, Royster has authored and co-authored numerous articles in rhetorical studies, literacy studies and women’s studies. She is the author of several books, including: “Southern Horrors and Other Writings: The Anti-Lynching Campaign of Ida B. Wells-Barnett” (1997), “Traces of a Stream: Literacy and Social Change among African American Women” (2000), and “Profiles of Ohio Women, 1803-2003” (2003). She served as co-editor for two collections: “Double-Stitch: Black Women Write about Mothers and Daughters” (1991) and “Calling Cards: Theory and Practice in the Study of Race, Gender, and Culture” (2005).

Incoming Dean Welcomed at Provost’s Reception

Atlanta (March 18, 2010) — Administrators and faculty from across Ivan Allen College and Georgia Tech turned out for a reception hosted March 10, 2010 by Georgia Tech Provost Gary Schuster in honor of new Dean Jacqueline Jones Royster.

President Peterson, Dean Designate Royster, Interim Dean Ken Knoespel

Formal remarks welcoming Royster were offered by Provost Schuster, Georgia Tech President G. P. “Bud” Peterson, Search Committee Chair Doug Allen who is Professor and Associate Dean of the College of Architecture, and Interim Dean of the College Kenneth J. Knoespel.

Provost Schuster acknowledged the Dean Search Committee for their work in the selection process and offered special recognition to Doug Allen who chaired the committee “with great style and grace.” Schuster also expressed his gratitude to Ken Knoespel for serving as interim dean of the College during the search period “without missing a beat” and “during what has been an especially difficult time at Tech given the budget cuts.”

Welcoming the Dean Designate, Schuster said, “Jackie Royster is uniquely suited to lead this College particularly in light of the role she has played in integrating disciplines across the sciences, humanities, and arts during her tenure at The Ohio State University.”

Schuster highlighted the important role the Ivan Allen College occupies for Georgia Tech. “In the strategic plan, as we think about the next twenty-five years, the significant problems facing generations to come will be solved by the marriage of technology and the social sciences, public policy, and cultural disciplines. Georgia Tech is a leader in this integration and Ivan Allen College has a great share of responsibility for that. We look forward to Jackie Royster’s work taking Georgia Tech and the College to the next level.”

Georgia Tech President G. P. “Bud” Peterson spoke about the challenges that faculty and Georgia Tech leadership will undertake, especially “how we prepare our students for a very uncertain future”. Peterson recalled that “a broader educational experience” was one of the top priorities outlined by students in a white paper presented him when he first came to campus. “A lot of that will come from the Ivan Allen College.” Peterson expressed his confidence that Royster’s vision, leadership, and capabilities are a fit for this role at Georgia Tech.

Dean Designate Jacqueline J. Royster

Interim Dean Ken Knoespel highlighted the extraordinary growth of the Ivan Allen College during the past two decades “not simply in numbers, but in wisdom of itself and through our own capacity to learn.” Knoespel said that the College has served as a model of diversity, both human and programmatic, and that its growth is a consequence of emphasizing the human context of science and technology.” Knoespel cited Royster’s experience and savvy in program building and reinforced a “vision that looks to the future of education and Georgia Tech’s role in the city, nation, and world and the promise to grow stronger and affirm the legacy of Ivan Allen Jr. and Georgia Tech.”

In her remarks, Royster expressed her gratitude for the goodwill and warmth of welcome she received at the reception and her anticipation of the opportunities ahead “for robust collaboration.”

Royster posed the question: “What is an English teacher doing as dean of a College at Georgia Tech? I am a native Georgian, and I have always taken great pride in Georgia Tech. It is an excellent institution. It is great to have the opportunity at this point in my career, not only to come home, but to come to Georgia Tech. It is a special place."

The selection of Royster as the new dean of the College was announced February 18, 2010 following a national search. Royster, a professor of English with interests related to rhetorical studies, women's studies and literacy, has held a series of executive positions. Most recently, she was senior vice provost and executive dean of the Colleges of the Arts and Sciences, serving as chief academic officer and providing leadership for its five arts and sciences colleges from 2004-2008 at The Ohio State University She is expected to start in her new role September 1, 2010.

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Founder's Day Honors William J. Todd, Faculty, and Students; Allen Legacy Expanded

Atlanta (March 22, 2010) — The 2010 Founder’s Day celebrated the legacy of College namesake Ivan Allen Jr. by honoring Atlanta’s William J. Todd. The day’s events highlighted human-centered research at Georgia Tech and recognized individuals in the college and community for their commitment to humanitarian endeavors. A new Ivan Allen Jr. Prize was announced as a prelude to a broader Institute-wide commitment to the legacy of Mayor Allen at Georgia Tech.

Interim Dean Ken Knoespel

"Humanitarian Leadership on a Global Level: Georgia Tech Responds to the Allen Legacy"

Interim Dean Kenneth J. Knoespel introduced Mayor Allen’s “legacy of action” through a morning symposium showcasing interdisciplinary research. “In the past 10 years, Founder’s Day has recognized that the College that bears the name of former Mayor Allen has worked to build programs and projects that have participated in change, including and beyond the disciplines represented by this college,” Knoespel said. “Our work has also engaged Georgia Tech, the city and almost every continent around the world.”

Dean Designate of the College, Jacqueline Jones Royster, and Georgia Tech President G. P. “Bud” Peterson offered welcomes. Moderated by Associate Dean for Research Susan Cozzens, the symposium featured Kirk Bowman (International Affairs), Marilyn Brown (Public Policy), and Carl DiSalvo (Literature, Communication, and Culture) presenting research on climate change. Seymour Goodman (International Affairs) and Adam Stulberg, both professors in the Sam Nunn School of International Affairs, and Adjo Amekudzi from the School of Civil Engineering presented research in the area of security. Presentations from Michael Best (International Affairs) and Fox Harrell (Literature, Communication, and Culture) presented research in Africa. Harley Etienne (Public Policy), Greg Nobles (History, Technology, and Society), and Roberta Berry (Public Policy) focused on research and work engaging in Atlanta.

President G. P.

The 10th Annual Founder’s Day Luncheon

The 10th annual Founder’s Day Awards luncheon honored William J. Todd as the recipient of the Ivan Allen Jr. Prize for Progress and Service. A Georgia Tech alumnus (Mgt ’71), Todd is President and CEO of the Georgia Cancer Coalition. In his introduction of Todd, President Peterson commended Todd’s global humanitarian leadership and his vision to make Georgia the national leader in cancer care and to reduce suffering and death to cancer.

Accepting the award, Todd emphasized the bond between Mayor Allen (Commerce ’33) and Georgia Tech saying that the Institute’s motto of “Progress and Service” personifies the Ivan Allen College of Liberal Arts and the Institute as a whole. “It’s the perfect motto for Georgia Tech,” Todd said. “It is in plain, action-oriented, and values-driven language. The whole Institute was formed in this [New South] principle, and Ivan Allen Jr. epitomized that.”

Peter Brecke, Assistant Dean for Information Technology, Susan Cozzens, Associate Dean for Research, and John Tone, Associate Dean of Undergraduate Studies, presented the Ivan Allen Jr. Legacy Awards recognizing current students, alumni, and faculty for their accomplishments.

Sam Nunn School of International Affairs Associate Professor Adam Stulberg was the recipient of the 2010 Ivan Allen Jr. Legacy Faculty Award. Co-Director of the Center for International Strategy, Technology, and Policy, Stulberg was lauded by Tone as “a challenging teacher, first-rate scholar, and visionary leader whose work has had an enormously positive role in the world.” Stulberg has worked on projects supported by the MacArthur Foundation to strengthen the nuclear nonproliferation. He has worked closely with former Senator Sam Nunn to influence direction through the U.S. Cooperative Threat Reduction Program. He organizes the biennial Sam Nunn Bank of America Policy Forum.

Economics and International Affairs student Trey Birch won the 2010 Ivan Allen Jr. Legacy Undergraduate Student Award. Among his achievements, Birch established the Youth Enrichment Program through which Georgia Tech students tutor and mentor young people in the nearby English Avenue neighborhood. Cate Powell, an International Affairs student, won the 2010 Ivan Allen Jr. Legacy Graduate Student Award. Her work includes the POP Jewelry Collective which helps create a sustainable business that supports the education of children in India. Program coordinator for CARE’s Hope for African Children Initiative alumna Sarah Kenagy (International Affairs, 2007), won the 2010 Ivan Allen Jr. Legacy Alumni Award. Students and faculty members each received a glass sculpture and a check for $1,000.

Inman Allen, son of Mayor Ivan Allen Jr.

A special Legacy Award was given posthumously to Ferdinand A. “Ski” Hilenski, development officer for the Ivan Allen College in recognition of his vision and work with the Allen legacy and to expand the legacy to all of Georgia Tech. Hilenski died of cancer in July, 2009. His wife, Lu, and daughter, Cate, accepted the award on his behalf. Inman Allen, son of Mayor Allen, said that without Hilenski’s efforts, the College could not exist in its current incarnation.

A New Allen Prize, an Expanded Allen Initiative

This was the final awarding of the Ivan Allen Jr. Prize for Progress and Service. Knoespel and Peterson were joined by Inman Allen and prominent Atlanta citizen Tom Glenn in announcing the establishment of a new prize, the Ivan Allen Jr. Prize for Social Courage. The new prize will recognize individuals from the global community who have made a positive impact on society through compassionate and courageous leadership. The award is endowed in perpetuity by the Wilbur and Hilda Glenn Family Foundation. It carried a $100,000 stipend for recipients. It is anticipated that it will be given for the first time in 2011.

President Peterson announced that Georgia Tech is committed to continuing the Allen legacy. “The Allen legacy inspires the Ivan Allen College and all of Georgia Tech to represent in our teaching, research, and public service all the human values he stood for,” Peterson said. “We intend to provide our students with the means by which they can make decisions based on the moral and ethical principles that led Mayor Allen to risk being ostracized by his peers to defend what was right. We are committed to an Ivan Allen Jr. legacy that will weave Mayor Allen’s values of social responsibility and courage into the fabric of our academic endeavors. The initiative is a work in progress. We will be announcing components in the coming months.”

Videos and remarks from the symposium and awards luncheon will be posted as they are available. Those postings will be announced in the newsletter.

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Obama to Appoint Willie Pearson to HBCU Board

Atlanta (March 2, 2010) — President Obama has appointed Willie Pearson, Professor of Sociology in the School of History, Technology, and Society to serve on the newly reestablished Board of Advisors on Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCUs).

Dr. Willie Pearson

The President announced the reestablishment of the HBCU Board of Advisors February 26th, 2010. The Board will provide input to the President and the Secretary of Education on methods, programs, and strategies to strengthen HBCUs. Pearson will be one of the eleven members appointed to serve on the board.

Pearson specializes in sociology of science and sociology of the family, with a focus on broadening participation in science and engineering and the careers of African-American PHD scientists. He has previously served in Washington as Chairman of the American Association for the Advancement of Science Committee for Science, Engineering, and Public Policy and the National Science Foundation Committee on Equal Opportunities in Science and Engineering.

It is expected that Pearson will be sworn in to the appointment this spring.

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INTA Prof Speaks at UN Conference: Synthetic Biology & Nanotechnology

Turin, Italy (March 16, 2010) — Prof Margaret E. Kosal will deliver the keynote address at the United Nations Interregional Crime and Justice Research Institute (UNICRI) in Turin, Italy to the UN experts' workshop on "Synthetic Biology and Nanobiotechnology Risks and Responses" - 24 and 25 March 2010.

The UN is holding two expert workshops in 2010 to assess future biosecurity risks of these technology fields as well as possible response measures, putting particular emphasis on bioterrorism concerns.

Kosal will speak on "The Challenges of Reducing the Global Security Risks of Nanobiotechnology".

Rosser elected to AAAS Board of Directors

Atlanta (March 9, 2010) — Former Ivan Allen College Dean Sue Rosser has been elected to serve on the Board of Directors for the American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS), the world's largest general scientific society.

Dr. Sue Rosser

Rosser is Provost at San Francisco State University. She assumed her new role on the board February 22nd at the close of the AAAS 2010 Annual Meeting in San Diego.

A pioneering advocate for women and underrepresented groups in the sciences, Rosser will help guide an organization with values that are closely aligned with her own. She plans to bring a different perspective to the Board.

"I hope to be a voice for public universities, raising awareness of the role of institutions like SF State in training a diverse workforce for science and technology. These are the places where the majority of Americans go to college," Rosser said. "I will keep issues of race, gender, and class at the forefront."

Established in 1848, AAAS publishes the prestigious academic journal Science and seeks to advance science and serve society through initiatives that include science policy and science outreach and education.

Dean of the College from 1999-2009, Rosser is Professor Emerita of the School of Public Policy at Georgia Tech.


Edited from a release by Elaine Bible

Study Raises Questions About Fertility Industry Self-Regulation

Atlanta (March 18, 2010) — This article by Aaron Levine, Assistant Professor, School of Public Policy article is currently published online in "The Hastings Center Report," a bi-monthly journal exploring bioethics. The article will be published in an upcoming print issue.

Over the last couple of decades, oocyte donation has become common, important, and sometimes lucrative. Women who donate eggs are often offered fees, though ostensibly only to offset their expenses and limited to no more than $10,000, following recommendations adopted by the fertility industry. Is the industry adhering to its recommendations? A study of advertisements published in college newspapers raises questions.

Dr. Aaron Levine

In vitro fertilization, a technique pioneered by Robert Edwards and Patrick Steptoe in the 1970s, first produced a healthy child in 1978. In the three decades since the birth of Louise Brown, the use of IVF has grown rapidly. In 2007, the most recent year for which data on IVF births are available, approximately 1.3 percent of children born in the United States resulted from IVF. In a typical IVF procedure, oocytes are extracted from the intended mother and fertilized by the intended father’s sperm in a petri dish. In some cases, however, infertility results from the intended mother’s inability to produce viable oocytes. In this situation, one option is for the couple to use oocytes donated by another woman. The first IVF birth using this approach occurred in Australia in 1983. Following this success, the practice spread slowly, with couples typically asking friends or relatives to serve as the oocyte donor.

The nature of oocyte donation in the United States changed in 1987 when the Cleveland Clinic started its Oocyte Donation Program, the first in the country to match anonymous donors with infertile couples and to compensate the anonymous donors. The program built on existing practices with sperm donation and allowed parents to select their donor based on national origins, height, and eye color, among other attributes. Oocyte donors were paid $900 to $1,200 for participation in the program. This compensation was offered to offset participants’direct and indirect costs, not as payment for their oocytes.

The combination of anonymity and compensation for oocyte donors paved the way for rapid growth of this reproductive practice. In 1987, only seventeen U.S. medical centers offered oocyte donation. By 1990, this number had nearly tripled””forty-eight fertility clinics around the country offered the service. Most of these clinics still required women to find their own donors, but following the lead of the Cleveland Clinic program, an increasing number were providing donors for their patients and brokering a financial transaction between the intended parents and the oocyte donors, who received an average of $2,000 per donation.

Oocyte donation continued to grow throughout the 1990s and 2000s. According to reports produced annually by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, approximately 4,800 assisted reproductive technology (ART) cycles used donated oocytes by 1995. Ten years later, approximately 16,000 ART cycles used donated oocytes. The percentage of all ART cycles using donated oocytes increased from approximately 8 percent to 12 percent during this ten-year period. The 1992 law that mandates reporting of fertility clinic success rates does not address compensation for oocyte donation, but most of the women who donated eggs were presumably compensated.

For a variety of reasons, the fertility industry in general and the practice of oocyte donation specifically is not heavily regulated in the United States, particularly compared to other developed countries.6 The result is that the fertility industry in the United States relies heavily on self-regulation, which generally takes the form of guidelines issued by two professional organizations””the American Society for Reproductive Medicine and the Society for Assisted Reproductive Technology.

The research I report here aims to gauge the effectiveness of self-regulation in the fertility industry, particularly as it pertains to the recruitment of oocyte donors. In it, I examine a novel data set””a collection of oocyte donor recruitment ads published in college newspapers across the country””to assess the extent to which the ASRM guidelines for compensating oocyte donors are honored in advertisements that recruit donors.

In brief, my analysis identifies several concerns with the self-regulatory approach. Nearly half of the advertisements offered compensation exceeding recommended levels. In addition, analysis indicated that average SAT scores at the college or university where an advertisement was published were a strong predictor of the compensation offered. This effect was strong and significant for advertisements placed by donor agencies and individual couples, but absent for advertisements placed by fertility clinics, which suggests that donor agencies and couples valued specific donor characteristics and based compensation on these preferences””a violation of the guidelines. These findings call into question the notion that the current self-regulatory framework provides appropriate ethical protections for oocyte donors.

To continue reading, download a pdf of the article below. Or click The Hastings Center Report (below) to link to the article online (subscription required).

Please note that citations could not be accommodated in this format. See the pdf of article.em>

Jackson Named Outstanding Undergraduate Advisor

Atlanta (March 18, 2010) — The Office of Undergraduate Studies has named Stephanie Jackson, Academic Advisor in the Sam Nunn School of International Affairs, as the Outstanding Undergraduate Academic Advisor, Primary Role. Jackson is currently serving as President of the Executive Board that steers the Georgia Tech Academic Advising Network (GTAAN).

Stephanie Jackson

The Outstanding Undergraduate Academic Advisor Awards are institute-wide awards recognizing a staff and faculty member who render outstanding performance in undergraduate academic advising. Jackson will be honored at Georgia Tech’s annual Faculty/Staff Honors Luncheon in April.

Acting Chair of the School, Brian Woodall said, “Stephanie assumed a position for which the bar had been set at an extremely high level by her predecessors, yet she has done nothing but impress. Indeed, she has built upon and advanced the work of her able predecessors such that undergraduate advising in the Nunn School is held up as a model for emulation by other units of the Ivan Allen College and the Institute at large. “

Woodall notes that Jackson’s exceptional work is evident not only in her leadership of GTAAN but also by the feedback he hears from “literally, dozens of students.”

Jackson, who joined the School in 2005, provides student services support to majors in International Affairs, International Affairs/Modern Languages, and Economics/International Affairs, as well as career guidance to all undergraduate and graduate students within the Nunn School. She also serves as International Plan Coordinator.

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Intelligence Colloquium Highlights Cyber Security Threats

Atlanta (March 19, 2010) — February 24, 2010, the Director of National Intelligence Centers of Academic Excellence hosted academics, GT alumni and students, and government and private sector intelligence experts for a colloquium at Georgia Tech. The colloquium explored threats to cyber security in the United States.

Intelligence Colloquium

Sponsored by the Sam Nunn School of International Affairs' Center for International Strategy, Technology, and Policy (CISTP), in conjunction with the Georgia Tech Information Security Center (GTISC), the Colloquium was designed to inform students who might pursue a career in intelligence or national security.

Welcoming remarks were made by Kenneth J. Knoespel, Interim Dean of Georgia Tech's Ivan Allen College; Roy George, Chair of Computer and Information Science at Clark Atlanta University; and Lenora Gant, Director of the Office of the Intelligence Community Centers of Academic Excellence, ODNI.

Other conference participants from Georgia Tech included Brian Woodall, Acting Chair, Sam Nunn School of International Affairs (INTA); INTA professors John Garver, Seymour Goodman, Jennie Lincoln, Robert Kennedy, Margaret Kosal, and Justin Hastings. Also participating from Georgia Tech were College of Computing professor Mustaque Ahamad, Georgia Tech researcher Michael Murphree, and Jeff Moulton of the Georgia Tech Research Institute.

Professor Brian Woodall

External speakers included representatives and academics from the UGA, the University of Alaska, the CIA, the FBI, the National Security Agency, American Express, SecureWorks, Endgame Systems.

Please download the pdf below for a complete list of participants and notes from the colloquium.

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Thoreau’s Cabin Reconstructed at Georgia Tech

Atlanta (February 23, 2010) — Georgia Tech Honors Program students’ examination of Henry David Thoreau’s writings took a physical turn as Ivan Allen College School of Literature, Communication and Culture Associate Professor Hugh Crawford led his class in reconstructing Thoreau’s famed cabin.

Reconstructing Thoreau's cabin

Using only the instructions recorded by the author in his work, “Walden,” the class and numerous other students raised the cabin’s walls and rafters this past Saturday on the lawn in front of the College of Architecture Building. What began as a seminar on the writings of Thoreau became a search for meaning beyond the analysis of words on a page.

“We are searching for a greater understanding of Thoreau’s experience at Walden and of knowledge embodied in practices and processes,” said Honors Program student and builder Victor Lesniewski. “There is a case to be made for gaining a perspective on the world—an additional context for meaning—through material practices. It means understanding that there is knowledge and intellect that cannot be represented through a graph, a lecture, or a college classroom. It is a tacit knowledge that can only be achieved through an interaction with the materiality of a tree, a tool, the world.”

Students only used tools that would have been available to Thoreau to recreate the famed cabin. No nail guns, power saws, or pressure-treated two-by-fours—students used felling axes, broadaxes, crosscut saws, adzes, chisels, augers and bores, chalk lines, squares, froes, and mallets. They also relied on Thoreau’s sparse instructions to guide them through the building process.

“For all his prolixity regarding his house, Thoreau provides little detail about the actual construction,” said Crawford. “All we know is that he went to the woods in late March 1845, felled a number of white pines with his borrowed axe, squared them—probably with a borrowed broadaxe—and constructed a 10-foot by 15-foot by 8-foot timber-frame with six-by-six beams joined by mortise-and-tenon joints.”

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Beginning in October, students began felling yellow pine trees from a farm near Monticello and squaring them by hand, no small undertaking considering each log weighed hundreds of pounds. Each mortise-and-tenon joint that connects the beams took anywhere from 30 minutes to three hours to complete, and the house has more than 20 joints. The cabin’s beams require little storage space, stacking neatly together in what could be considered an early version of flat-packing.

“Thoreau didn’t detail how much labor it took to build a cabin like this,” Lesniewski said. “In trying to figure out how he built this, we are gaining an experience similar to Thoreau’s.” Also informing the experience, Lesniewski added, were conversations prior to construction. “We have conducted interviews with Thoreau scholars, timber framers, and latter day Thoreaus to continue adding depth to our understanding,” he said.

The result of the class’s innovative approach to research yielded a new insight about the author. “Many people see Henry David Thoreau as an anti-social crank who chose to spend his time alone, counting ants or measuring the ice at Walden Pond,” Crawford said. “While there is some truth in that perspective, the students have also learned how many of his activities demanded community, particularly the raising of his house.

“Thoreau spent many a long day squaring up large timbers, pausing occasionally to talk with the casual passerby. But he also needed the help of a good number of friends and townspeople to raise the frame, an activity that requires team-work, patience, and good spirits, and is usually accompanied by music, feasting, and all around good times.” Crawford observed this sense of community first-hand.

Many students who were not enrolled in the class joined the self-dubbed Thoreau Housing Collective, their interest piqued by the ever-present crew of flannel shirt-clad Honors Program students working in front of the Architecture Building. Often spending their weekends and afternoons with Crawford working on the cabin, more than 20 students from a wide range of colleges and majors donated thousands of hours to the project. Many of them now find themselves with a new appreciation for the craftsmanship and skills required to build a timber-framed house. “I had never even hammered before this, now I love it,” said Honors Program student Sarah Mudrinich.

Students will hold a March 16 poster presentation of the project during the Undergraduate Research Spring Symposium in the Student Center Ballroom, and a student video about the project is in production. The Thoreau Housing Collective also has documented its experience at www.thoreauhouse.org, which includes movies, pictures, journals, interviews, and research.

The cabin will be displayed on campus for an indefinite amount of time. While the ultimate fate of the structure is uncertain, the legacy of the project is already making an impact across the country. High school students in Cincinnati used a Skype connection to hear a lecture about the project and learn more about Thoreau. Plans for additional Skype lectures around the country may be on the horizon. In addition, Lesniewski plans to present a summary of the experience to the American Literature Association in the coming months.

Written by Sarah Mallory

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