“I had no idea that it was happening, and they decided to keep it a surprise,” says Elizabeth van den Berg (right), assistant professor of Theatre Arts.

Van den Berg received the Kennedy Center Gold Medallion, a national honor awarded for service to students and to the Kennedy Center American College Theatre Festival.

“Elizabeth has been an unsung hero for many years,” says Maggie Lally, regional chair for KCACTF. “She brings a great group of students every year who are invested in their work, who are excited to take part in the many activities associated with festival and they, like Elizabeth, bring an amazingly generous spirit with them.”

Van den Berg has a lot to celebrate. She was also accepted to the highly competitive Freeman Institute for Infusing Japan Studies into the Undergraduate Curriculum, to be held at Tokai University in Honolulu, Hawaii, this summer.  Offered by the Japan Studies Association, with a generous grant from the Freeman Foundation, this three-week intensive workshop will cover history, politics, literature, business, and the arts. It is meant for faculty who wish to include Japan Studies in their courses. Van den Berg will focus on Japanese theatre, examining Noh, Kabuki and Bunraku, and is considering developing a course on Asian Acting Styles.

Biology Professor Esther Iglich (left) has been accepted for the summer program “China: Public Health and Traditional Chinese Medicine,” offered by SIT Study Abroad, through the generosity of the Freeman Foundation.  The program will hosted in Kunming, Yunnan Province and will provide an introduction to the Chinese medical system, public health issues in China, and the philosophy and practice of traditional Chinese medicine. Iglich plans to develop a section on Medicinal/Biochemical Botany that she currently teaches in her Botany course and perhaps develop a non-majors course in alternative health treatment.

Stephanie Madsen (right), Assistant Professor of Psychology, is one of 30 faculty accepted nationally for a seminar on “Homer Across the Curriculum: The Iliad," sponsored by the Council of Independent Colleges. Designed primarily for those who have not had formal training in ancient Greek literature, the seminar will provide background on the nature of the poem, the role Homeric poetry played in the evolution of Greco-Roman society, and the ways various cultures have responded to and understood the poem. After examining the Iliad from these perspectives, participants will work collaboratively on materials for their courses.

Assistant Professor of Communication Deborah Vance, along with other colleagues, received a $20,000 travel grant from the Tokyo Foundation. She plans to research the “crisis communication” surrounding recent natural disasters like the hurricane in New Orleans, the 2005 earthquake in Guayana and the tsunami in Thailand.