Campus Currents

The Christa McAuliffe Center is teaming up with Framingham Public Library to host a series of events coinciding with the 37th Anniversary of the Space Shuttle Challenger Tragedy.

An Evening of Art and Science With Dr. Irene Porro, Christa McAuliffe Center Director
Wednesday, January 25 at 7 p.m.
Christa McAuliffe Branch Library - Community Room

Dr. Porro will use paintings to introduce topics in astronomy and space science.

37th Anniversary of the Space Shuttle Challenger Disaster
Saturday, January 28 at 11:39AM
Christa McAuliffe Branch Library - Cafe

Observe a moment of silence in honor of the 37th anniversary of the Space Shuttle Challenger tragedy. Dr. Irene Porro will remark upon Christa McAuliffe's legacy and how the space center will honor it through the McAuliffe Center's Redesign Project.

An Astronaut's Afternoon at McAuliffe
Saturday, January 28 at 2 p.m.
Christa McAuliffe Branch Library - Community Room

The whole family is welcome to 'reach for the stars' with hands-on activities for children, families and general audiences.

Friday, January 27
Stop by any time between 5:30PM - 7:00PM
O'Connor Hall parking lot

Participants of all ages are welcome!

Use telescopes to observe a first quarter Moon, Jupiter, Venus, Mars, the Pleiades star cluster, and Orion Nebula!

McAuliffe Center staff are available to answer your questions about telescopes and our Universe.

January 17 - February 10, 2023

Reception January 24th from 4:30-6pm

Each year Mazmanian Gallery presents a juried exhibition of artwork made by students from across the Framingham State University campus. A guest juror is invited to curate the exhibition. 

The Mary Miles Bibb and The Voice of the Fugitive Research Project

A student research & independent study opportunity

Mary Myles Bibb, the first African American woman to graduate from FSU (in 1843), became one of the first African American women teachers in North America and a co-editor of the first African American newspaper in Canada called the Voice of the Fugitive, after marrying Henry Bibb, himself a fugitive slave. They relocated to Canada to escape the Fugitive Slave Act of 1850 and were both designated as Persons of National Significance by the Canadian government, with Mary Miles Bibb reportedly being the first female African American journalist in Canada. Despite her noteworthy contributions, Mary Miles Bibb’s place in historical records and academic literature is sparse. This research project will create a thematic archive of the Bibb’s newspaper, The Voice of the Fugitive with topics including Mary’s interviews with fugitive slaves, the schools she established, the resettlement of fugitive slaves, women’s rights, the anti-slavery movement, and other issues. 

Students are sought to assist in the reading and archiving of articles from The Voice of the Fugitive newspaper. Students will be encouraged to present their research in a poster or panel presentation at FSU, co-authoring a short history of Mary Miles Bibb to be used in an FSU history course or a scholarly publication, and/or presentation at a regional conference. Other commitments include: a one-hour weekly meeting where students share their ongoing research and hear lectures on Mary Miles Bibb and the anti-slavery movement and (pending funding) a one-day field trip to Boston for the African American Patriots tour of the Freedom Trail and to visit the Museum of African American History. Students may participate in this research project as a graded independent study for one course credit (the time spent per week would be the same as any other course, i.e., 12 hours/week); as an internship (minimum of 5 hours required for volunteers; can list “researcher”/internship on your resume) and/or be a paid researcher ($15/hour for 5 hours per week; very limited funds available so can only hire two students). Students could do both the independent study for course credit and have five of their research hours be paid. The deadline to apply is this Thursday, January 26th.

If you would like to be part of this research project, please contact Dr. Carol Gray at cgray5@framingham.edu to request the one-page internship application.

Our annual Accepted Student Receptions will be held this year on Saturday, March 25th and Saturday, April 1st.

We hope to have faculty and staff on hand to help demonstrate to our accepted students why Framingham State University is their best option for continuing their education!

Dr. Brandi Van Roo will be taking her BIOL 236 Ornithology class on an all day field trip to Plum Island on Wednesday March 22, 2023. Any accommodations you can make for a missed class on this day would be greatly appreciated. Understandably, if there is a class activity that can not be accommodated, I will verify with you and then excuse the student from attending this trip.

Cheers,
Dr. Van Roo
Professor, Biology Department

Tuesday, Jan. 24, 10 a.m.
Alumni House

The next Coffee and Conversations talk of 2023 welcomes Suzanne McDonald – CEO of Angels & Insights and former Boston Globe Journalist.

Please RSVP - call 508-872-9770 or email office@alumnihouse.org

Nonprofits, organizations, and all brands are facing ever-increasing challenges when it comes to engaging people, whether it be to spend, to attend, to donate, or to volunteer, and more. As CEO of Angles & Insights, the former Boston Globe journalist and her team customize digital marketing solutions for brands, from solopreneur to corporate sales-marketing teams. Suzanne will discuss how to quickly implement tips, tools and tactics to gain attention, recruit support, boost attendance and increase sales.

-Reema Zeineldin was a panelist in the closing keynote session - Building diversity in STEM. December 2022 Annual Meeting for New England Commission for Higher Education (NECHE). Boston, MA.

-Dr. Thomas Koshy, Professor Emeritus of Mathematics, has three recent articles published:

o Infinite Sums Involving Extended Gibonacci Polynomials, The Fibonacci Quarterly, 60.4 (2022), 292-301.
o Infinite Sums Involving Extended Gibonacci Polynomials Revisited, The Fibonacci Quarterly, 60.4 (2022), 302-311.
o Sums Involving Gibonacci Polynomials, The Fibonacci Quarterly, 60.4 (2022), 344-351.