Dean s Weekly Department of English and Philosophy 6 August 2014 Past Events 1. USMA Superintendent, Faculty, and Cadets meet with Vassar College counterparts On 1-2 May, the United States Military Academy and Vassar College met for a two-day academic and social exchange. Eight Vassar students visited West Point's "Projects Day" on May 1, observing cadet projects and demonstrations and enjoying lunch in the Cadet Mess Hall. That afternoon, 14 cadets traveled to Poughkeepsie for a reciprocal visit with more than 40 Vassar students and faculty members. On May 2 at Vassar, USMA Superintendent LTG Robert Caslen and Vassar President Dr. Catharine Hill co-hosted a breakfast for students and faculty of both institutions, during which they discussed the future of the Mellon Foundation initiative that brought students from the two schools together. USMA and Vassar English, Philosophy, and History department faculty also held discussions focusing on future opportunities for academic cooperation and intellectual growth. The meeting of the two school leaders culminates two years of work by the Mellon Foundation West Point-Vassar Initiative, which is designed to enhance interaction between USMA and one of the nation s most elite civilian colleges. The POC is LTC Thomas Veale, DEP, thomas.veale@usma.edu Vassar President Dr. Catharine Hill and USMA Superintendent LTG Robert Caslen exchange gifts at a USMA-Vassar breakfast in Poughkeepsie, 2 May.
2. Stockbridge-Munsee Community Band of Mohican Indians celebrate West Point s Keepers of the Peace powwow On 4 May, the cadet Native American Heritage Forum hosted the 4 th Annual Keepers of the Peace Powwow at Eisenhower Ballroom, West Point, NY. Sponsored by both the Department of English and Philosophy and the West Point Diversity Office, the powwow was a historical event, as it featured the Stockbridge-Munsee Community Band of Mohican Indians in their first visit to West Point since they were relocated from New York state to Bowler, Wisconsin in the early nineteenth century. The Stockbridge-Munsee Community Band of Mohican Indians have a long history of fighting on the side of the United States, even to include service against the French as part of the original Roger s Rangers in the pre-revolutionary War era. During the Revolutionary War, it is believed a Stockbridge-Munsee Company organized at West Point before joining the Continental Army at White Plains, NY. The Stockbridge-Munsee Community Band supported the powwow by sending its vice chairman, US military veterans who are Band members, its youth leadership, and Band members considering attending West Point. The event highlighted West Point s commitment to honoring its historical association with Native Americans, as well as developing improved contemporary relations with the Native-American community. It also functioned as a recruiting tool by demonstrating to Native Americans and other minority students that West Point is an inclusive environment where all races and ethnicities are welcome and celebrated. The POC is LTC Mark Smith, GENE, mark.smith@usma.edu Left: Cadet Philip Corbins is joined by Mr. Robert Little, one of the Stockbridge-Munsee US military veterans. Right: A Native American woman s fancy dancer and a men s grass dancer perform at the powwow.
3. Department Systems Administrator inducted into Pi Alpha Alpha Global Honor Society On 27 May, Robert Mcloughlin, the Department of English and Philosophy Systems Administrator, was inducted into Pi Alpha Alpha (PAA), the global honor society for public administration. With over 160 chapters around the world, PAA is renowned for upholding standards of excellence in the field of public administration. Selection for PAA is based on outstanding performance in both the classroom and in practice. Membership in PAA an honor in its own right and tangibly benefits members by offering networking and advising opportunities with other accomplished experts in the field. Mr. Mcloughlin was one of ten PAA inductees this year from West Point who have been pursuing graduate study through the City University of New York. The POC is Mr Robert Mcloughlin, DEP, robert.mcloughlin@usma.edu Mr. Robert Mcloughlin, center, with other West Point inductees into Phi Alpha Alpha. 4. World War I Academic Individual Advanced Development trip From 30 May to 12 June, Department of English and Philosophy faculty COL Mike Stoneham and MAJ Deborah Daley accompanied twenty cadets and two Department of Hisotry Faculty members (LTCs Jason Musteen and Dave Siry) on an Academic Individual Advanced Development (AIAD) trip to World War I battlefields in France and Belgium. The AIAD combined visits to European battlefields with intensive examination of literature that emerged from WW1 to better understand how the war was remembered individually and in collective national memory. It also prepared the cadets and faculty members for an Art, Philosophy, and Literature elective titled EP390 The Literature of the Great War and the September academic conference titled Literature, Memory, and the First World War to be held at West Point.
The AIAD began in earnest during Graduation Week when cadets read Robert Graves Goodbye to All That and selection of World War I poetry while conducting research on the strategic, operational, and tactical elements of a number of major Great War battles. Once in Europe, cadets and faculty spent two weeks travelling through Northern France and Belgium to gain understanding of the experiences of soldiers on both sides of the conflict. While visiting numerous battlefields, to include the Marne, Loos, Verdun, the Somme, the Ypres Salient, and Passchendaele, cadets provided each other overviews of their research projects and participated in discussions of memoirs, novels, and poetry by authors such as Horace, Rupert Brooke, Wilfred Owen, Siegfried Sassoon, Robert Graves, Edmund Blunden, Vera Brittain, Ernst Junger, Henri Barbusse, Herbert McBride. The AIAD culminated in Paris when the group met veterans of the French 2 nd Armored Division and participated in a wreath-laying ceremony at the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier at the Arc de Triomphe. The POC is MAJ Deborah Daley, DEP, deborah.daley@usma.edu Stand to at 0430 in the Fricourt trenches in northern France where World War I authors Robert Graves and Siegfried Sassoon fought. Cadets and faculty recreated the vigil experienced by Soldiers nearly 100 years ago. Following stand-to, AIAD participants read and discussed Isaac Rosenberg s Break of Day in the Trenches.
COL Mike Stoneham leads a discussion of Rupert Brooke s poem The Soldier at Fort Vaux, a critical location for the French forces in the Battle of Verdun. The discussion allowed Cadets to consider the importance of the fortifications in the area and the overall significance of the Battle of Verdun for the French. Cadets Sandy Martinez, Peter Kenna, and Dominic Gatti orient the group to a map of the Bayernwald trenches at Ypres, Belgium. MAJ Deborah Daley leads a discussion of Edmund Blunden s Trench Raid Near Hooge at Hill 60 near Ypres, Belgium.
APL Majors Peter Kenna and Zach Matson place a wreath at the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier in Paris at the Arc de Triomphe during a joint ceremony with the French 2 nd Armored Division. The French 2 nd Armored Division and U.S. 4 th Infantry Divisions liberated Paris in World War II. 5. Dr. Marc Napolitano attends the Annual Children s Literature Association Dr. Marc Napolitano attended the 41st annual Children's Literature Association Conference, hosted by the University of South Carolina. The theme of this year's conference was "Diverging Diversities: Plurality in Children's & Young Adult Literature Then and Now." For the panel "(dis)ability and Diversity," Dr. Napolitano presented his paper "Disability and Diversity in the 'New 52.'" The POC is Dr. Marc Napolitano, DEP, marc.napolitano@usma.edu
6. DEP-SOSH New Faculty Barbecue On 16 July, the Department of English and Philosophy and the Department of Social Sciences teamed up to welcome over 40 new faculty members at a joint barbecue in front of Lincoln Hall. Current and incoming personnel enjoyed lunch while getting to know new colleagues and neighbors in Lincoln Hall. USMA Dean of the Academic Board BG Tim Trainor attended the event and greeted many of the new instructors personally. The POC is LTC Thomas Veale, DEP, thomas.veale@usma.edu DEP and Sosh arriving faculty at the New Faculty Barbecue