Lebanon Valley College

Dr. Johannes Dietrich, Newton and Adelaide Burgner Professor in Instrumental Music and conductor of the LVC Symphony and Chamber Orchestra, earned third place in The American Prize in Orchestral Programming contest, the Vytautas Marijosius Memorial Award, 2017–2018. The national competition included finalists Cornell University, Davidson College, Oklahoma State University, and the University of Washington. According to their release, The American Prize is a series of new, non-profit, national competitions unique in scope and structure, designed to recognize and reward the best performing artists, ensembles, and composers in the United States based on submitted recordings.

International publisher Rowan and Littlefield recently released Obama and the Emergence of a Multipolar World: Redefining U.S. Policy, written by Dr. Chris Dolan, chair and professor of history, politics, & global studies. In the 258-page book, Dolan “argues that critical international and domestic crises, such as the U.S. war in Iraq and the Great Recession, forced President Barack Obama to readjust U.S. foreign policy after over 70 years of American hegemony and defending the global status quo,” according to the publisher.

On Oct. 20, at the Conversations & Connections Conference at Chatham University in Pittsburgh, Dr. Holly M. Wendt, assistant professor of English and director of creative writing, facilitated an interactive workshop for conference attendees. In “What Do You Make of It?: History & Short Forms,” participants generated poems, micro-essays, or flash fictions through engaging with historical artifacts ranging from daguerreotypes to advertisements. A tutorial for the workshop is available here.

Dr. Chris Dolan, chair of history, politics, and global studies, highlighted the history of concerns by U.S. presidents regarding Europe’s free-riding on the U.S. military within the NATO alliance. Noting President Trump’s recent concerns in “The long NATO gravy-train may soon be over for Europe,” Dolan noted, “he [President Trump] seemingly joins the ranks of nearly every U.S. administration since the organization was founded.” Dr. Dolan’s book, Obama and the Emergence of a Multipolar World Order: Redefining U.S. Foreign Policy, was published by Rowan and Littlefield in October 2018.

President Lewis E. Thayne, on behalf of Lebanon Valley College, signed a dual-admissions agreement with Reading Area Community College (RACC), which was represented by its president, Dr. Susan D. Looney. The partnership will make it more seamless for RACC students to pursue specific majors at LVC, including actuarial science, music business, and the accelerated accounting/MBA program. This is the second dual-admission agreement LVC has made with a community college, having been partners with Harrisburg Area Community College for many years.

Dr. Laura Eldred, assistant dean and director of Constellation LVC, was interviewed for “The nitty-gritty of college student success.” Referencing an LVC research project regarding how concussions affect student-athletes, Eldred saw potential toward helping all students, noting “Should we teach grit as a way for students to better achieve their goals?”

The VALE Music Group’s 14th Annual VALE Media Industries Conference, which is focused on some of the most successful women in the music and media industries, including many LVC alumnae, was featured on Susquehanna Style website October 22, 2018. Kristen Merlin, a semi-finalist from season six of the NBC show The Voice, is the keynote speaker and headliner.

In an event organized by Pennsylvania Senator Pat Toomey, The Hon. Thomas W. Corbett Jr. ’71 spoke to more than 100 area high school students during the new Youth Civic Engagement Symposium held at LVC. Students also heard from and met U.S. District Court Chief Judge Christopher Conner, state representatives Mike Folmer and Frank Ryan, among others.

Kathryn Hockenbury ’18, one of three LVC Fulbright honorees this past spring, is researching the history of the triple harp at Bangor University in Wales. The Daily Post article highlighted Kathryn as the College’s first Fulbright resident and the music major’s distinctive research while pursuing her master’s degree.

Dr. Jim Scott, professor emeritus of German, translated Broken Carousel: German-Jewish Soldier-Poets of the Great War, edited by Peter C. Appelbaum (Stone Tower Books, Silverton, Ore.). The book includes 17 poems, including 11 poets who died at the front according to reviewer Ritchie Robertson, Taylor Professor of the German Language and Literature at the University of Oxford and Fellow of the Queen’s College.