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On Campus - Stories
February
11, 2000 - Vol.52, No. 34
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Artist's
son gives Drake two Stuart Davis works
Drake has received two paintings by the preeminent American modernist Stuart Davis
from his son, Earl Davis. The paintings, a gouache color sketch and an oil scale
study, are preparatory works for the University's Stuart Davis mural "Allée,"
commissioned by the Gardner Cowles Foundation as a gift to Drake in 1955.
"I'm pleased that these paintings are together at Drake," said Earl Davis,
who is now working on a catalogue raisonné of his father's work with the Amon
Carter Museum in Fort Worth, Texas.
Both the mural "Allée"
and related studies will form the basis for an exhibition at Drake's Anderson Gallery
in the early fall.
Ronald Troyer, dean of the College of Arts and Sciences, said Drake is delighted
with the gifts. "How often does it happen that an institution receives a major
donation in support of an already great masterpiece?" he added. "What a
wonderful opportunity this provides for Drake students."
When Davis painted "Allée" he was considered one of America's greatest
living painters.
"Allée" is the fifth of six murals Stuart Davis created (only five
remain), and is the only mural that still belongs to the institution for which it
was commissioned. A three-panel mural measuring 8 feet by 33 feet, "Allée"
originally was installed in the Hubbell Dining Hall. In 1981 the mural was moved
to Olmsted Center.
Davis chose the title "Allée" (meaning a walk or alley in French)
in part because the painting is long and in part because it sounds like another French
word meaning "go" - associated, in Davis' words, with "the vigorous
spirit which is part of college life."
The gouache color study for "Allée" measures 8 1/2 by 34 7/8 inches
and is one of three such studies by the artist. The scale study for the mural is
in three sections, like the mural, and measures 24 by 102 inches. It is a monochromatic
work: a drawing in black oil paint on a grey background. This study, containing overpainted
and repainted lines, shows the artist working to develop the final composition.
Granberg
receives Weaver Medal of Honor
There was standing room only at the recent presentation of the Lawrence
C. and Delores M. Weaver Medal of Honor to C. Boyd Granberg, dean and professor emeritus
of pharmacy at Drake.
Granberg joined the Drake faculty in 1950 as associate professor of pharmacy and
served as dean of Drake's College of Pharmacy from 1977 until his retirement in 1984.
During the award presentation, Rick Morrow, interim dean of the college, detailed
Granberg's devotion to Drake and his many contributions to pharmacy at the state
and national level. He also stated that Granberg was a noted author and editor in
his field.
"As an author, his most noted work was the book titled Remarkable Pharmacists,
a title I always perceived as ironic since Boyd Granberg was unquestionably the most
remarkable pharmacist I've ever known," Morrow said.
Following the presentation, Granberg gave a lecture titled "Pharmacy and Me:
A 50-Year Journey."
Drake
mourns William Bjornstad
William B. Bjornstad, professor emeritus of English, died of a heart ailment on Jan.
26 at Iowa Methodist Medical Center. He was 92. A memorial service was held Saturday,
Feb. 5.
Bjornstad joined the Drake faculty in 1948 as associate professor of English.
He specialized in 17th and 18th century English literature. He was promoted to professor
of English in 1959 and retired in 1977.
"Professor Bjornstad was a kind, gentle person," said Bruce Martin, professor
of English. "He also was enormously well-read."
Ted Stroud, professor emeritus of English, described Bjornstad as "the best
Ping-Pong player in the faculty." Stroud also recalled that "Bill loved
books, all books, but especially anything to do with literature and history. He must
have had about 50,000 books at one point."
Professor Bjornstad met his wife, Edith, on a streetcar in Minneapolis. They were
married for 63 years. "Bill was a very quiet man, but he had many friends among
the faculty," Edith Bjornstad said of her husband. "Our house was full
of books; a bookseller once told him he had the largest private library in the state."
In addition to his wife, Edith, who taught at Roosevelt High School; Bjornstad is
survived by a sister, Mrs. Richard Gillrud of Albert Lea, Minn.; two grandchildren
and a great-grandchild. Edith Bjornstad recently moved to 1671 NW 84th St., Clive,
IA 50325. Her e-mail address is edithbjornstad@aol.com.
Memorial contributions may be made to the First Unitarian Church in Des Moines.
Abel wins
special commendation
Richard Abel, professor of
English at Drake, has received a special commendation for his book titled The Red
Rooster Scare: Making Cinema American, 1900-1910. The commendation, which includes
a cash award of 1,000 pounds, is one of the 1999 Kraszna-Krausz Moving Image Book
Awards, which drew nearly 300 entries from 11 countries.
The award winners were announced at an awards ceremony Feb. 1 at the Royal Society
of Arts in London. The special commendation for Abel's book states that the work
"significantly expands and reinterprets the historical debates on early film
culture and exhibition in the United States."
The judges commended Abel's "expert exploration of the nationalist effort to
overcome French producers' domination of the American film marketplace before World
War I and his deft use of period illustrations and documents to vivify the book's
historical analysis."
Drake presents
-'A Class Divided'
A PBS "Frontline" program about Iowa teacher Jane Elliot and the "Brown
Eyes, Blue Eyes" experiment that made her famous will be shown at Drake on Wednesday,
Feb. 16. "A Class Divided" will start at 9 p.m. in room 206 of Pharmacy
and Science Center.
The presentation is free and open to the public. It will be followed by an informal
discussion led by Min-Zahn Lu, associate professor of English, and Janet Wirth-Cauchon,
assistant professor of sociology, along with two Drake students.
In the "Brown Eyes, Blue Eyes" experiment in 1970, Elliot divided her third-grade
class in Riceville, Iowa, into two groups based on eye color to give students a first-hand
experience of what it felt like to be discriminated against.
Spring
theatre season opens
Drake University Theatre will open the spring semester with two student-directed
plays - "The Mineola Twins" by Pulitzer Prize-winner Paula Vogel and "Agnes
of God" by John Pielmeier.
"The Mineola Twins," directed by Allison Moody, a senior theatre arts major
from Stilwell, Kan., uses political satire to describe life in suburbia throughout
three Republican administrations. "Agnes of God," directed by Michael Happ,
a senior theatre arts major from Peosta, Iowa, delves headfirst into religion, psychology
and the true meaning of faith.
Both plays will be performed in Studio 55 of the Harmon Fine Arts Center. Admission
to both plays is free with a reservation. Call x3841 for reservations. Refer to the
Calendar of Events for the schedule of performances from Feb. 16 through Feb. 20.
Marty to
lead book talk Feb. 20
Anyone interested in the life and works of architect Frank Lloyd Wright won't want
to miss the opportunity to hear Myron and Shirley Marty discuss their newly published
book titled Frank Lloyd Wright's Taliesin Fellowship. The free presentation, illustrated
with slides, will start at 2:30 p.m. Sunday, Feb. 20, at the Franklin Avenue Library.
Myron Marty, the Ann G. and Sigurd E. Anderson university professor, and his wife,
Shirley, collaborated on the book after several residencies and visits to Taliesin
in Spring Green, Wis., and Taliesin West in Scottsdale, Ariz.
Their book tells the story of the Taliesin Fellowship, created by Frank and Olgivanna
Lloyd Wright in 1932, in the words of men and women who joined the fellowship, some
as early as the 1930s, and remained with it into the 1990s. The Martys offer fresh
and provocative insights into the genius and mystique of the fellowship's creators.
A Student-Centered
Learning Environment
CyberCaucus
2000 was the most comprehensive
and best student-centered learning experience at Drake University surrounding the
Iowa caucuses, according to Robert Woodward, the Ellis and Nelle Levitt distinguished
professor of journalism and mass communication.
Students in five journalism classes developed CyberCaucus 2000 over a year-long period beginning in January 1999.
The Web site came to the attention, independently, of three staffers at C-SPAN, during
the last weeks of the Iowa campaign. All three recognized it as something special
and asked students in Woodward's current classes in Journalism 171 and 103 to participate
in C-SPAN programming.
On Saturday, Jan. 22, Tom Cronin, a News/Internet junior from Oak Lawn, Ill., and
Woodward appeared nationally on the kickoff program of the network's all-Iowa weekend
on the "Washington Journal." Cronin got the opportunity to talk extensively
about CyberCaucus 2000 and the student-centered classroom experience.
"I know of no other national television programming that provided such extensive
time to a Drake student to talk about a Drake classroom experience," Woodward
said. "Tom's 15 to 20 minutes of talking was great for the University and the
journalism program."
Woodward's class also heard independently from two other C-SPAN representatives -
the online producer for www.c-span.org and the director of the
"C-SPAN in the Classroom" programming.
After the Saturday morning TV appearance, Woodward and Cronin joined three more Drake
students in fielding questions and comments for two hours on a national online discussion
board operated through the C-SPAN Web site. The other students were Beth Cross, a
news-editorial junior from St. Louis; Brandon Reid, a news-editorial junior from
Rockford, Ill.; and Daniel Shaefer, an advertising junior from Kirkwood, Mo. The
online producer later praised the students' work, saying they were "great."
In addition, there was an hour-long classroom visit by the director of the "C-SPAN
in the Classroom" program. She talked about how students can use the cable network
in their reporting for background purposes. Then, she asked to conduct an interview
with Becki White, another News/Internet junior from Arvada, Colo., about the CyberCaucus
2000 experience and learning in a Drake classroom. Extensive materials about that
interview can be found at two sites:
- www.c-span.org/classroom/lessonplans/campaign/Iowa.asp
www.c-span.org/classroom/lessonplans/campaign/iowabecky.asp
Cronin and White were the initial
major developers of CyberCaucus 2000 last spring, but more than 40 students ultimately
played a part in writing, reporting, designing, and producing for the site.
On caucus night, students in the current 171 and 103 classes were in the field, reporting
and writing in the same way that the working professionals were.
"Overall, this student-centered experience shows the major way in which the
World Wide Web can be used in the classroom so that students can learn about the
new digital world," Woodward said. "Plus, the site will be there in the
future for all to see on the World Wide Web - a digital testament to a student-centered
learning experience at Drake."
More
Caucus information and pictures
are available on the Drake Web site.
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