CBB Mellon Faculty Stipend Examples

An example of a collaborative application using information technology resourses in science.

This project focuses on developing materials to support a course on Women in Science. Although the work of recovering the histories of women in science has flourished over the last two decades, alternative sources are needed. These could take various forms including papers and diaries, interviews and histories. The former will tend to focus on women whose past contributions need to be documented, analogous to the the work that has been done documenting the contributions of Rosalyn Franklin with Watson and Crick on the double helix structure of DNA. In contrast, interviews and histories will focus on women who are currently working in the field.

Papers and Diaries:

Faculty at Bowdoin, Bates, and Colby interested in developing these materials might first review our library collections to identify any papers or diaries of women in science. These might then be digitized to become readily available for others. For example, Bowdoin has many of Kate Furbish's botanical drawings. While the drawings are of intrinsic interest, other materials may shed light on her interest and activities in science. Papers in other major university holdings could also be researched and digitized. There is, for example, a women's history archive at the Newcomb College Center for Research on Women in New Orleans that may have materials on women scientists.

Interviews and Histories:

Prominent women in science might be identified and invited to campus to talk about their experiences in science. During their campus visit a more formal interview could be conducted and an oral history recorded.

Our own graduates might also be a resource. Our alumni offices could help in identifying CBB alumnae who are currently active in science. Each student in a course on Women in Science would plan to interview one of these women during break. Discussion of interview techniques would form a part of the course to ensure the quality of the interviews. These would form a core of first person accounts that could support future courses.

Two examples of collaborative application using information technology resourses in economics.

1) An Economic Briefing of the President. This application is modeled after the Weekly Economic Briefing of the President ("the WEB") which Laura Tyson, chair of the Council of Economic Advisers, created in 1992 for President Clinton. Introductory macroeconomics classes at two or three of the campuses, through group work or some format of the individual instructors' choosing, put together interesting pieces of economic information and current events to inform the President in a joint newsletter publication. Past issues of the WEB could perhaps be posted as examples and the joint publications could be sent to state congressional representatives from Maine and the home states of the students involved to provide policy relevance to the exercise.

2) Economic Case Studies. With this application, students are provided with a guide for how to write case studies and an overview of methods for data analysis enabling them to work collaboratively with students in economics courses at other institutions to develop case studies on important economic issues. An on-line library of case studies could be created in a very short time to be available as resources for economics and other social science faculty as supplementary course material. Sample topics might include, "The Economic Effects of the Stock Market," "Social Security: Will There Be Any Left for Me?" "The Asian Currency Crises of 1998-99."

The Dominican Project.

A faculty member from the French department at Bates is involved in an acquisition of 660 volumes from the Dominican monastery at the Cathedral of Saints Peter and Paul in Lewiston, Maine at the time of the monastery's dissolution. The vast majority of the books are in French. Many of the volumes date from the early 19th century, including a number of first editions, hand-colored scientific texts and rare, out-of-print works. The oldest of the books, Les Coutumes de Normandie, is from 1731. The collection represents a wealth of primary source material, most of which would be logically housed in Special Collections.

Beyond the obvious abundance of rare francophone works, the collection also represents an extremely interesting study in local French-Canadian history, in the intellectual life of New England monastics and in the practical issues of assessing, cataloguing and preserving rare volumes. All of these aspects of the acquisition present potentially exciting avenues of research for students and faculty interested in the intellectual history of a vital, local institution.

A scenario such as the following is therefore imagined:

At Bates, the faculty member involved in the acquisition, having generated a preliminary inventory of the collection, contacts a member of the information technology services on campus. A student assistant is brought into the picture as soon as possible, preferably someone with good computer skills and an excellent facility with French. Their first task is setting up a web page with multiple scanned images of various illustrations and title pages, an (eventually) annotated bibliography of all the works (indexed by subject matter) and links to various pertinent web sites. The information on this site will accrue as the project grows. In addition, the faculty member intends to include the new acquisition in his pedagogy and scholarship in a least two ways: 1.) An Honor's Thesis with a student whose research will involve either intensive us of the collection itself or an investigation into the history of the collection specifically and of the French Dominican presence in Lewiston and New England more generally and 2.) A seminar course in the French Department inclusive of these same parameters. Later in the year, a Short Term unit on French in Maine is offered during which students from Bates travel to several Maine monasteries and finally to Quebec to trace the intellectual and geographical realities of libraries such as the one in question.

At Bowdoin, a faculty member, having been contacted by the Bates colleague, takes an interest in the make-up of the collection itself and proposes to study the intellectual history of the library and what it says about learning, knowledge and pedagogy in the Dominican Church and its attendant parochial schools over the years of its existence. She plans a seminar with students concomitant with the course at Bates that will involve research of the founding and history of the monastery and its various pedagogical charges and an extensive analysis of the composition of the holdings. How were these volumes catalogues and shelved? What is included? What is missing? What constitutes classical, pedagogical texts for young catholic boys and girls? What is the debt to Canadian and Arcadian influences? French? What constitutes leisure reading for a Dominican brother? How was the collection used? The class may also branch off into a study of the Dominican presence in the myriad of French colonies, the histories of which figure prominently in the newly-acquired holdings. Her class also develops a web page which is joined to the primary site at Bates.

At Colby, a course is developed by yet another faculty member on the broader history of Acadia and the presence of the French and French Canadians in various societal strata throughout Maine, from working class mill workers, to entrepreneurs, to intellectuals and academics, to the religious. The Dominican collection at Bates provides an interesting case study for roughly a third of the course. The professor, in collaboration with his colleagues at Bowdoin and Bates, plans several afternoon gatherings where the students come together to consult the collection and share insights and information. At one of these gatherings, the interim prior who oversaw the transfer of the collection is present to speak with the students and faculty members about his first-hand knowledge of the volumes and their history. At another, students spend time with the Special Collections librarian to learn about preservation, consultation and dissemination of rare works.