Phi Alpha Theta Honor Society inducts 25 new members

Photo courtesy of PEL student Craig Cranston

Twenty-five Eckerd College PEL and residential students were inducted last month into Phi Alpha Theta, a national history honor society comprised of undergraduate and graduate students and professors of history.

The College’s chapter of Phi Alpha Theta, Alpha Omicron Psi, is one of several honor society organizations at Eckerd College, membership in which recognizes scholarship in various fields.

Inductees met in the President’s Dining Room on the main campus with Dean of Students James Annarelli, Associate Professor of American Studies and Director of the PEL Honors Program Catherine Griggs, Assistant Professor History Adam Guerin, Associate Professor of History Gregory Padgett, Associate Professor of History Barnet Hartston, and Professor of American Studies Carolyn Johnston.

New members are:

Carla Baker |  Steven Ballinger |  Robert Bates |  Claudia Bentley |  Candace Bury 

Charles Claybaker |  Yvonne Comeau |  Craig Cranston |  Diedra Diederich |  Jessica Dobbin 

Mayra Franco |  Julie Harris |  Molly Henry |  Andrew Latimer |  Nicholas Lazzari

Scott Maxwell |  Scott Mattson |  Catherine McBride |  Yadira Montes Rivera 

Andrew O'Connell |  Jared Rishel |  Jeanne Salvo |  Kelly Schooley

Joseph Slavin |  Zema Williams 

New Phi Alpha Theta members gather with their professors in the President's Dining Room at Eckerd College in February 2017.

PEL Honors Program presents panel in Orlando

Participating students included (l-r) Yadira Montes-Rivera, Lora Vineberg, Michelle Kiekenapp Nelson, Daryl Osburn, Dean Lloyd Chapin, Scott Maxwell, Andrew Latimer, Noel Lake, and Andrew (A. J.) O’Connell.  Professor Lloyd Chapin and Honors Director Catherine Griggs accompanied the students.

Students from the 2015-16 Program for Experienced Learners (PEL) Honors Program presented a panel titled Politics and Prose: Honors Texts and Contemporary Issues at the Magic of Honors 2016 Southern Regional Honors Council Conference held in Orlando from March 31-April 2. 

Student presentations explored the ways that engaging great texts empower honors students to achieve excellence in the world, particularly in the highly charged environment of a political campaign year. Dean Chapin moderated the panel.

After a successful, well-attended panel presentation, the group relaxed in a Cuban restaurant in Orlando.

The PEL Honors Program is designed for students who appreciate challenging coursework, are willing to take on in-depth projects, enjoy discussing complicated material, and engaging in scholarly discussions.

The Southern Regional Honors Council provides students the opportunity to interact with honors program students from eleven Southeastern states and Puerto Rico.

PEL alumnae Renee Hamad '10 and Mary Miller '97 honored

Renee Hamad '10 with Eckerd College President Donald Eastman III.

On March 5, 2016, at the Alumni Award Breakfast, two PEL alumnae received awards from President Donald Eastman and Professor Catherine Griggs on behalf of the Women’s Resources Committee.

Renee Hamad ‘10 received the WRC Gender Justice Award. She is a Phi Beta Kappa graduate of PEL. Renee served her internship at the Women’s Resource Center of Sarasota County and became so engaged in helping the women who used the center that she continued to volunteer and offer material support after the internship ended. She was the President from 2012-14 and continues to serve on its board.

Currently Renee is working to fund and establish more scholarships for the Daughters for Life Foundation, which offers awards and scholarships "to young women of any Middle Eastern nationality or background, whether Arab or Israeli, and regardless of religious affiliation, whether Muslim, Jewish, or Christian. Our goal is to invest in their potential for leadership and foster their success in whatever fields they choose to pursue."

With her daughter, a medical doctor, Renee recently sponsored a fundraiser in Sarasota that raised money for two scholarships, and she plans to continue this work

(l-r) Prof. Catherine Griggs, Mary Miller '97, and EC President Donald Eastman III.

Mary Miller ‘97 received the WRC Professional Achievement Award. Mary Miller is a graduate of PEL and has been a trustee of Eckerd College for many years. She was instrumental in inspiring the foundation of alumni chapters in PEL, of sponsoring events to bring alumni, faculty, and students together, of organizing a tennis tournament to raise funds, of sponsoring a scholarship and loan program, and of instituting the David and Blanche Colgan Memorial Prize for a graduating PEL student.

In nominating her for an alumni award, a PEL student wrote: “Mary Miller for her tremendous dedication to PEL students and Eckerd College.”

In 2004 Mary and Dan Miller pledged a gift to Eckerd College that resulted in the complete renovation of the Dan and Mary Miller auditorium, making it a premier venue for film. Mary has been a longtime supporter of film programs at Eckerd College.

NPR Media Critic Eric Deggans visits PEL class

PEL students  gather around Professor Catherine Griggs and Eric Deggans, NPR TV critic, during a course session in January.

Professor Catherine Griggs welcomed Eric Deggans, NPR's first full-time TV critic and former Media/TV critic for the Tampa Bay Times, to her Spring 1 course "Television and American Life." Griggs and Deggans developed and team-taught a similar course during the Spring Term in 2002 and 2003.

Deggans led the class in a discussion of diversity on TV. He is the author of Race-Baiter: How the Media Wields Dangerous Words to Divide a Nation (St. Martin's Press, 2012).

18th annual Environmental Film Festival Feb 19-27: More than just movies

Scholars and filmmakers from around the world will gather at Eckerd College February 19-27, 2016, for “Visions of Nature/Voices of Nature” — a collection of internationally recognized films presenting a variety of environmental perspectives. Speakers from the Smithsonian Institution, the Florida Wildlife Corridor, and other organizations will join producers and directors of documentary, animated, experimental and feature films in sharing how and why these films shape our understanding of environmental issues.

The screenings, which are FREE and open to the public, take place in Miller Auditorium on the main Eckerd campus. Each of the events begin at 7 p.m. except for the Sunday, February 27, event which begins at 2 p.m. Scheduled speakers and films are:

Urban Gardening: Can You Dig This? / Image courtesy of Eckerd College

Fri., Feb. 19, 7 p.m.  Explorations in the Amazon: Embrace of the Serpent. Introduced by Elizabeth Weatherford, founding director of the Film and Video Center of National Museum of the American Indian, Smithsonian Institution.

Sat., Feb. 20, 7 p.m. Nature's Song:The Messenger. Introduced by its director, Su Rynard. Co-sponsored by the St. Petersburg Audubon Society.

Sun., Feb. 21, 2 p.m. Urban Gardening: Can You Dig This? Introduced by Dr. Kent Curtis, Professor of History at Ohio State University.

Mon., Feb. 22, 7 p.m. Florida Wild: The Forgotten Coast. Introduced by Mallory Lykes Dimmitt, director of The Florida Wildlife Corridor.

Florida Wild: The Forgotten Coast / Image courtesy of Eckerd College

Tues., Feb. 23, 7 p.m. Climate Courage: This Changes Everything. Introduced by Darden Rice ’00, Vice Chair, St. Petersburg City Council.

Wed., Feb. 24, 7 p.m. Saving Species: Racing Extinction. Introduced by Gina Papabeis, Co-Producer, Racing Extinction.

Thurs., Feb. 25, 7 p.m. Down Under: Charlie's Country. Introduced by Dr. Nathan Andersen, Professor of Philosophy and Film Studies at Eckerd College.

Fri., Feb. 26, 7 p.m. Cosmic Waters: The Pearl Button. Introduced by Dr. James Deutsch, program curator at the Smithsonian Institution and adjunct professor of American Studies at George Washington University in Washington, D.C.

Environmental Hopes / Image courtesy of Eckerd College

Sat., Feb. 27, 7 p.m.  Environmental Hopes: How to Let Go of the World (and Love All the Things Climate Change Can't Change). Introduced by members of the production team behind the film.

Organized by Catherine Griggs, program coordinator and associate professor of American studies, and by Nathan Andersen, professor of philosophy, the festival is sponsored by the Phoenix Venture Philanthropy Foundation and is supported by the Program for Experienced Learners at Eckerd College, the Letters Collegium, the PEL Honors Program, and the Eckerd College Organization of Students.

 

Check out the Festival's Facebook page or follow them on Twitter for regular updates.