Dream Failures: Both Gatz and Gatsby
By Jack Gorman, V Form
The American Dream is an imperfect concept. It is also individual. James Gatz and Jay Gatsby had different American Dreams in the novel The Great Gatsby. While James Gatz wanted to be rich, famous, and among the elite, Jay Gatsby discovered a new journey. His heart was set on Daisy. But, while Jay Gatsby was lusting after his would-be lover, Gatz fell into the shadows. What about his American Dream? Gatsby let his new persona’s dreams overpower his original dreams and in doing so makes a terrible mistake. He took a successful concept and shattered it. He took the prizes of his effort and devalues them. So who really lived their American Dream, Jay Gatz? Or James Gatsby? (more…)
Getting My Hands Dirty Again
By Jeanna Cook, Classics Faculty
This summer, I will fulfill a promise that I made to myself eight years ago. In the summer of 2006, I spent a
season excavating at the site of a first-century Roman farmhouse outside of Lucca, Italy. I loved every moment of that summer, and upon the conclusion of the excavation, I promised myself that once I completed my undergraduate studies, found a job, saved some money, and earned my graduate degree, I would go back to digging. This summer, I am returning to the field, the archaeological field, that is. (more…)
Why I Do Not Grade “Class Participation”
By John Camp, English Department Head
I am a vehement opponent to class participation grades. I am fully cognizant that I am in the minority in my department, perhaps at St. Mark’s at large, and even in the teaching profession. Despite the self-imposed peer pressure to grade for this, I refuse, based on both my life personally as an introvert (and the value I place on my introversion as a healthy and necessary part of my identity) and my pedagogical beliefs about participation overall. (more…)
Non-Dualism: The Essential Unity of All
By Candice Wang, V Form
“Is there such a thing in this world called ‘paper’? ” Reverend Talcott posed this question one day in her Eastern Religious Thought class as she introduced the concept of non-dualism in Hinduism. Paper is from water, wood, sunlight, nourishing rain, and even the factory workers in the paper mill… This list could continue forever, and in fact, nothing mentioned above is a distinct thing, because each would produce a similar list of components. To explain it from a scientific perspective, all things are constructed from atoms. In other words, they are no more than temporary aggregates of protons, neutrons, and electrons, which all (more…)
Le Magazine De La Résistance
From Dr. Stephen Lynch: Students in the Advanced French Literature course read two novels (Silence de la Mer and Hiroshima Mon Amour), which dealt with the French Resistance movement during the German occupation of France during WWII. They created a Resistance Magazine typical of the clandestine magazines of this period. Each student wrote articles recounting real historical events and original articles and poems that represented the themes and characters from the works we read. (more…)
Crystallographic Restriction Theorem and Molecular Symmetry
By Julie Geng, V Form
Author’s Note:
As many of my peers and teachers know, I am a big chemistry “nerd”. While I am engrossed in organic synthesis, I aim to broaden my perspective by making the connections between chemistry and other STEM subjects. Interdisciplinary studies are indispensable nowadays, as many scientific breakthroughs are results of the collective efforts of specialists in various interrelated fields.
Introduction
As exemplified by the copious examples in “Linear Algebra: A Modern Introduction” by David Poole, linear (more…)
AP Bio: Three TED Talk Reviews
TED Talk-Allan Savory:
How to Fight Desertification and Reverse Climate Change
Reviewed By Torie Shakespeare
Why You Should Study or Take Anthropology!
By Dr. Laura Appell-Warren, Director of Global Citizenship
Ever since I graduated from college I have been faced with the challenge of explaining what it is that I do. When I tell people that my field is anthropology, they almost always say something like this: “Wow, that is cool, what do you dig up?” or (and this is even worse) “Oh, just like Margaret Mead.” Now, I am NOT an archeologist so I never dig anything up (well maybe some worms in my new garden in Maine). And, while Margaret Mead may be a well-known female anthropologist, she is very controversial within the field and I would rather not be associated with her. Sometimes when I have energy I say that I am a psychological (more…)
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