Spotlight on New Faculty — Barron, Graves, Rabinowitz, Tripodi
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Spotlight on New Faculty — Barron, Graves, Rabinowitz, Tripodi |
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Robert Barron Assistant Professor of Theater What book or film did you recently enjoy? Why would you recommend it? I finally got around to watching “Bowling for Columbine,” and everybody should see all of Michael Moore’s documentaries. You’ll know why after you see them. What do you most value in your friends? Loyalty, humor, honesty and wisdom. Complete the phrase: People would be surprised to know that I ... … am a great cook, and I love to garden! My hobbies are ... Since I work in the theater, I’d have to say that my hobbies are my vocation. Teaching acting, directing shows, writing plays … for me, that’s not what I call work! Who would be your perfect dinner guest? What would you serve? My perfect dinner guest would be the Dalai Lama. As for dinner, I’d probably order out, because I’d rather not spend time in the kitchen when I have such a great guest in my house. What profession other than your own, would you most like to attempt, and what profession would you want nothing to do with? I’d like to be a foreign correspondent for The New York Times, covering Europe in the 1930s. OK, OK, so I don’t have a time machine. So then I’d have to say that I’d enjoy restoring old houses. I love old homes, and the stories and the history they have. [And I wouldn’t want to do] anything where I had to sit around all day crunching numbers. Joseph Graves, Jr. Professor of Biological Sciences and University Core Director What book or film did you recently enjoy? Why would you recommend it? Taylor Branch’s Pillar of Fire: America in the King Years, 1963–65, which offers fascinating insights into the thinking of some of the principal leaders of the period, including the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.; President Lyndon Johnson; FBI Director J. Edgar Hoover; Diane Nash, one of the passionate leaders of the sit-ins and freedom rides; Rabbi Abraham Heschel, the Hasidic theologian who bonded with King in devotion to the Hebrew prophets; Robert Moses, the Mississippi Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee (SNCC) leader who became undone due to the human suffering he witnessed during the Freedom summer; and Fannie Lou Hamer, the sharecropper who became a powerful voice for the poor, disenfranchised and unlettered masses. We should read this book to remember how we got here, how far we have to go and what we stand to lose if our nation continues on the path of unjustified wars against poor and helpless nations. What do you most value in your friends? I have staked my life on an uncompromising commitment to social justice. Therefore I value in my friends compassion, courage and the intellectual rigor to achieve this end. Complete the phrase: People would be surprised to know that I ... … was born and raised in Westfield, N.J. I am the son of laborers who migrated to New Jersey to escape their lives of Jim Crow segregation in Virginia. I am the first generation in my family to receive a college degree, and the first African-American to earn a PhD, hold a tenure-track faculty position, earn tenure and be promoted to the rank of full professor in the field of evolutionary biology in the history of the United States. My hobbies are … Before I ruptured my Achilles tendon last April, I played basketball three days a week. Now, I spend most of my free time studying chess and reading fiction. I periodically play in professional chess tournaments and have games published in professional chess databases, such as Essentia 2.0. Who would be your perfect dinner guest? What would you serve? Stephen King. I am sure he would arrive in a haunted or interdimensional car, and want something undercooked, maybe a “lobstrosity.” I would have a steak, medium well. What profession other than your own, would you most like to attempt, and what profession would you want nothing to do with? I would most like to write fiction, particularly science or horror. My first attempt at a novel was such that after my literary agent read the manuscript she suggested I take basic classes in writing and call her later! I co-authored a registered screenplay, but like the novel, everybody hated it. I would have nothing to do with professional politics. I could never learn to lie with a straight face, so I would make a lousy politician. Bethany Gang Rabinowitz Lecturer of English and Assistant Director of Freshman Intensive Studies What book or film did you recently enjoy? Why would you recommend it? A Widow for a Year by John Irving. I enjoy Irving’s descriptive writing style in addition to the plot twists. What do you most value in your friends? Dependability and honesty. Complete the phrase: People would be surprised to know that I … … am a “do-it-yourself” home decorator. I strip furniture, remove wallpaper, paint and apply wallpaper. My hobbies are … … visiting museums and historic sites, walking and gardening. Who would be your perfect dinner guest? What would you serve? I would have to say that I don’t aspire to meet and greet any famous or infamous person. I would rather have the opportunity to once again share my table with my father. I would certainly prepare what were his favorites. What profession other than your own would you most like to attempt, and what profession would you want nothing to do with? I would love to be in the home-building business. I would never want to go into medicine. The responsibility for life-and-death decisions would be too stressful. Kirsten Tripodi Senior Lecturer of Hospitality Management and Director of Professional Development What book or film did you recently enjoy? Why would you recommend it? I’m currently reading Sirio Maccioni’s autobiography Sirio: The Story of My Life and Le Cirque. I’m fascinated by the lives of famous people of all sorts, but particularly those in the hospitality field. What do you most value in your friends? A great sense of humor. Complete the phrase: People would be surprised to know that I ... … tended bar while in college with Jimmy Gandolfini (Tony Soprano). My hobbies are … I have no hobbies at this time, I have a beautiful 18-month-old son and am in a doctoral program. Oops, I changed careers recently, too. Who would be your perfect dinner guest? What would you serve? In my career in hospitality management, I have had the great fortune to meet many interesting, famous and infamous people. My perfect dinner guest would be John F. Kennedy, and I would have my husband, who is a chef, prepare a gourmet meal so that I would be able to concentrate on learning as much as I could about his fascinating life. What profession other than your own would you most like to attempt, and what profession would you want nothing to do with? I’ve often thought of working in a different sector of the service industry. I would’ve liked very much to be a firefighter or an emergency medical technician (EMT). I can’t imagine having to sit at a desk for 40 hours a week, doing anything. top of this page table of contents for this issue |
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October 2004 In This Issue
View text only for this complete issue. Flor = Information Deadlines The deadline for the next issues of Inside FDU on the Web in the 2004 fall semester are Copy received after deadline will be included in the following issue. Every effort will be made to deal with late-breaking stories. Send information to: Carol Black, Publications, at H-DH3-14, fax to 201-692-7039 or e-mail to black@fdu.edu. Inside FDU on the Web is published by the Office of Communications and Marketing. Newsletter Staff: Carol Black, editor; Mary Ann Bautista, Angelo Carfagna, Howard Gilman, Joan Harvey, Gretchen Johnson, William Kennedy, Lillian Lukac, Rebecca Maxon, Art Petrosemolo, Fred Springer. |
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