Over five weeks, the Cornell Chronicle has been examining the place of humanities studies at Cornell. In this week's final edition, we look at the university's support for the humanities as well as programs in the Department of Theatre, Film and Dance.
"In recent decades, the place of the liberal arts at many universities has become smaller and seemingly more peripheral, as the sciences, social sciences and professional schools have grown in scope, funding and prominence ... It is now fashionable to lament this state of affairs but quickly conclude that there is no remedy for it in today's world. At Cornell, we think otherwise. On our campus, the liberal arts stand at the center of the curriculum and reinforce the university's traditional role as independent thinker and critic. Our belief in the importance of the liberal arts is reflected in our faculty, our facilities and the priority we attach to teaching in these fields."
--President Hunter Rawlings,
State of the University address, Oct. 27, 2000
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| Passersby in Cornell's Lincoln Hall can observe practices in the new Neylan Rehearsal Hall from a second-floor hallway window. Rehearsing, in this case, is the university's wind symphony, being conducted by Mark Davis Scatterday, professor and chair of the music department. Charles Harrington/University Photography |
Every Wednesday, historian Mary Beth Norton joins an interdisciplinary cadre of Cornell faculty and administrators for a seminar titled "Race and Ethnicity in America," held in the A.D. White House on campus.
Funded with a grant from the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation, the seminar often includes President Hunter Rawlings and Provost Biddy Martin as participants. But this is no policy-making body. Rawlings and Martin are there for the same reasons faculty members are there -- it's an intellectually exciting place to be. Like Norton, they come to learn from and with their colleagues.
"I have thought a lot about race and ethnicity from a historical perspective, but seeing how these same issues are addressed by literary scholars, a philosopher, a visual studies expert and specialists in contemporary political and social topics has sharpened and clarified my own ideas," said Norton, the Mary Donlon Alger Professor of American History at Cornell, who co-chairs the seminar. "Learning more about the work and thinking of my colleagues in other disciplines has been very provocative. And just getting to know my fellow seminar participants better than I have before has been a real plus."
That's exactly the result that was hoped for by Cornell administrators when they drafted the $1.4 million Mellon Foundation grant proposal. Vice Provost Walter Cohen co-wrote the proposal with input from Rawlings; Martin; Philip Lewis, dean of the College of Arts and Sciences; and Jonathan Culler, senior associate dean of Arts and Sciences. The grant, for use over five years, fuels academic initiatives in the humanities by funding postdoctoral fellowships and seminars in the humanities and related social sciences. The emphasis is on interdisciplinary collaborations that open new frontiers of research and ultimately, teaching.
"Beyond bringing together scholars from various disciplines, we intended to encourage work across at least three areas of contention," Cohen said. These areas include: race and gender studies; the argument over what constitutes culture on the national level; and qualitative and interpretative approaches versus quantitative, computational methods of study.
"Our aim is not simply to encourage mutual tolerance, but to turn these differences of emphasis or outright disagreements into productive instigators of intellectual originality," Cohen said.
The Mellon seminar dovetailed with a proposal submitted by Martin to the Atlantic Philanthropies and which was approved for the fiscal years 2002-2007. The Atlantic Philanthropies grant, for $6 million, is intended to "sustain vitality in the humanities and social sciences," says Martin, and it serves as another example of Cornell's commitment and support for the humanities. The Atlantic Philanthropies funds programs and projects that value voluntary service, philanthropic giving, scholarship and research. Cornell administrators will use funds to support bridged faculty positions, research for new faculty and team-taught seminars in American and comparative studies. The funds also will be used to ease the transition for English, history and government departments, as a significant number of their distinguished faculty prepare to retire.
Driven by student interest in the field, the American Studies Program, which will receive support through the Atlantic Philanthropies grant, is getting a lot of administrative attention these days, and for good reason. With 40 cross-listed faculty and 80 undergraduate majors, American studies is the site of renewed efforts at interdisciplinary cooperation and coordinated study in the history, literature and politics of the United States. Given the nation's diverse population and cultures, program majors examine American experience in broad terms, drawing on the materials and methods of a variety of disciplines.
Nick Salvatore, professor of history in industrial and labor relations and American studies and acting director of the American Studies Program, explains the attraction of the major this way: "Like so many studies in the humanities, American studies encourages critical thinking; we're not training for a specific profession as much as trying to help students develop their own critical minds -- for themselves."
Continuation and expansion of these scholarly aims are at the core of proposals like the Atlantic Philanthropies grant. In her proposal, Martin states: "The future of the humanities and social sciences in higher education depends on serious efforts to highlight the enduring benefits of a liberal arts education, with its potential to promote and, when necessary, reconceptualize citizenship in quickly changing national and international contexts. ... The faculty and students need support for the study of such pressing issues as technology, global economic developments, changing demographics, socioeconomic inequality, environmental sustainability, racial and ethnic division and meaningful political participation. At the same time, Cornell will continue to reinforce the significance of aesthetic intelligence and creativity."
That reinforcement of the arts and humanities at Cornell can be found in a variety of packages -- from the creation of new programs like the concentration in visual studies and renewed support for the program on Ethics and Public Life to large scale renovations and new building projects in support of these programs. Here's a look at a few capital improvements that are putting a new face on the arts and humanities at Cornell.
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| White Hall, left, currently under $12 million in renovations, and Tjaden Hall, right, which had a $8 million renovation project in 1997-98, frame the Herbert F. Johnson Museum of Art. Robert Barker/University Photography |
After a complete renovation of its interior, Olive Tjaden Hall reopened in 1998 as the new home of the Department of Art in the College of Architecture, Art and Planning. The $8 million dollar project, which retained Tjaden Hall's historic exterior, reconfigured and modernized the 42,500-square-foot interior space. Specially equipped multimedia technology classrooms, a studio for performance and installation art, a six-story atrium and two student lounges are among the building's key attractions. The Olive Tjaden Gallery was redesigned and located on the first floor. Photography students benefit from the roomy, well-ventilated photo labs and a 20-student darkroom; print-making workshops are on the ground floor. The building has updated ventilation systems, fire-protected corridors and an oversized elevator to accommodate individuals with disabilities and for students transporting large works of art from floor to floor. The only significant change to the exterior of Tjaden Hall was the replacement of a steeple on the southwest stair tower. The original steeple was damaged during a storm in the 1950s.
The art department will soon get a new and welcome neighbor -- the Department of History of Art -- once renovations on White Hall, a $12 million project, are completed in the fall of 2002. Crews went to work this year gutting the interior of White Hall, preparing a new home for the departments of Government, Near Eastern Studies, History of Art and the Visual Studies Program. The 135-year old hall's interior will be completely redesigned, with an atrium in the center to "rationalize the circulation of the building," says Gary Wilhelm, project manager for Cornell's Planning, Design and Construction. "This is not a restoration but a sympathetic renovation that retains the 19th century character of the building while improving it."
The first floor will be classrooms and offices, and the basement will house more seminar rooms and areas for graduate students. The upper three floors will house the department offices. The Finlay Gallery, now quartered with the Department of History of Art in the south basement of Goldwin Smith Hall, will also move to the fourth floor. Additional office and classroom space will be maximized by placing mechanical units in an underground addition outside the building. Wilhelm says the current schedule calls for occupancy of the upper floors by August of 2002. In the following months, the lower two floors and the basement will be finished.
By then, designs should be completed for a newly renovated Bailey Hall, says Gregg Travis, director of Statutory Capital Facilities. The venerable hall is a multi-purpose venue and the principal concert space for Cornell music ensembles and visiting artists of every description. It also serves as a lecture hall, is occasionally used for screening films and houses the campus offices of the Cornell Fingerlakes Credit Union. The Bailey Hall foundation was laid in 1913 and, with the exception of a new roof, no significant building renovations have occurred since, says Travis. A new heating system will replace its antiquated unit and Bailey's wooden seats will be replaced with cushioned seats. And all those arts patrons and students who've ever sweated out a sultry summer lecture or concert in Bailey will be relieved to know that the building will be air conditioned. Bathrooms, stairs and aisles will be made handicap accessible and the building will be completely rewired.
Rebuilt for comfort, improvements to Cornell's major performance space will, however, come at the sacrifice of some 500 seats, says Travis. Bailey will have about 1,500 seats when the $13 million project is completed. The building is due for exterior improvements as well, and these include restored concrete steps, promenades and cornices. The Bailey Hall improvements will complement the marvelous improvements to Lincoln Hall.
It has been more than a year since the university celebrated the dedication of the $19 million renovation and expansion of Lincoln Hall on the Arts Quad. With the completion of the Lincoln Hall project, Cornell boasts the premier, state-of-the-art music department facility in the Ivy League. Appointed with offices featuring cherry wood floors and accents of royal purple and muted green, the building is an aesthetic complement to other new and renovated facilities on campus and represents a significant development in the history of Cornell's Department of Music, which celebrates its 100th anniversary in 2003.
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| At last year's Lincoln Hall dedication, President Hunter Rawlings, right, cuts the ceremonial ribbon with Philip Lewis, center, dean of the College of Arts and Sciences, and Mark Davis Scatterday, music department chair. Nicola Kountoupes/University Photography |
"A wonderful musical environment has been created, with music-making right next to music research and study," says Mark Scatterday, chair of the department. "Throughout this past year, faculty, staff and students have remarked on how exciting it is to hear and see music making in Lincoln Hall. Not only is it a joy to look down into a rehearsal in the Neylan Rehearsal Hall but also to look up from a rehearsal and see Lincoln 'residents' and visitors share the experience."
On the lower level of Lincoln, 20 new practice rooms have been added and an electronic security system allows student late-night access to the practice rooms while the rest of the building remains safely secured. On the second and third floors of the building, along East Avenue, 13 new faculty teaching studios provide space for individual instruction. The Sidney Cox Music Library is a state-of-the-art facility that occupies approximately 50 percent of the total program area of the Lincoln Hall project. With 70 percent more space than the cramped library in the old Lincoln, it includes 15 streamed digital sound stations and an Internet-accessible computer lab with MIDI keyboards and music software, available to all students on campus. Reading spaces, complete with Internet connection ports, also are available in the library. In addition to the library, studios and practice rooms, the renovations include needed rehearsal and instrument storage space. The new wing includes the 2,850-square-foot Neylan Rehearsal Hall, two stories high; 600 square feet of space for instrument and music storage and another room for chamber rehearsals. Temperature- and humidity-sensitive instruments, such as music Professor Malcolm Bilson's fortepianos and other original instruments, are pampered thanks to the building's multi-million dollar climate-control system. Lincoln is now home to 16 full-time and nine part-time faculty members, including internationally known performers, composers and scholars and a dozen teaching assistants. Each year, 25 to 30 graduate students are in residence, along with 20 or so undergraduates majoring in music. More than 2,000 non-major students take music courses each year at Lincoln.
"From the undergraduate nonmajor who wants to pursue music in a serious way to the grad student in musicology, composition or performance, we now offer first-rate facilities," says Scatterday. "It helps to enhance the whole philosophy that the arts are important and of great benefit to a liberal arts education."
In another show of support for the burgeoning music program, the Office of the Provost has allocated significant resources toward the purchase of two new organs -- one large 18th century-style instrument and another 17th century-style smaller one -- for teaching and performance. The instruments will be built by Munetaka Yokota, the finest organ builder in Europe today, according to Annette Richards, associate professor of music who, with her colleague David Yearsley, assistant professor of music, specializes in 17th and 18th century organ performance. The larger organ will be placed in Anabel Taylor Hall and the smaller will be in Barnes Hall.
The completion of the Lincoln Hall project anticipates the upcoming building project at the corner of East and University avenues. Milstein Hall and the new Lincoln, next door, will provide a showpiece for those who enter central campus from its north end.
Starting in the summer of 2003, crews will demolish Rand Hall and construction on the new home for the College of Architecture, Art and Planning will commence. From the void will rise the $25 million Milstein Hall, designed by Steven Holl Architects of New York. Holl's work was the unanimous winner of a juried design competition held at Cornell in the spring of 2001.
AA&P's project manager, John McKeown, says the university is continuing "to work with Steven Holl to fine-tune the design."
Holl has stated that his design is meant to "open the school of architecture to the rest of the university." The initial plan calls for a seven-story cube-shaped building with a northern façade made of clear glass to enhance lake and gorge views. The design's southern and eastern façades call for translucent glass -- to enhance sustainable climate control -- while the western exposure is faced with aluminum. The building also serves as a "gateway into the academic campus from the north by virtue of a public passageway that connects visually into a lower ground floor containing an exhibition gallery and auditorium," the selection jury of six prestigious architects wrote.
If Milstein Hall will ultimately function as a visual gateway to central campus from the north, then its southernmost counterpart is the Schwartz Center for the Performing Arts on College Avenue.
Opened in 1989 and recently renamed for longtime Cornell benefactors Sheila W. and Richard J. Schwartz, the marbled home of Cornell's Department of Theatre, Film and Dance also houses one of the region's premier performance spaces, the Kiplinger Theatre.
Few universities offer the facilities and support staff available within the Schwartz Center. The theatre, film and dance department is composed of 33 faculty members; 70 students are currently enrolled as theater arts or dance majors; a major in film studies is offered as well, with courses spread across a variety of departments and disciplines (see accompanying story, Page 7). In addition to the 475-seat Kiplinger Theatre, the Schwartz Center houses two small flexible theaters and dance studios and also includes film editing and showing rooms, lighting and sound laboratories, costume design and scene shops, classrooms, reading and meeting rooms and administrative offices. The costume shop engages four full-time staff members as well as a resident costume designer. Students sew and create costumes for work-study or for credit. The ballet studio, visible from College Avenue, is used for classes and rehearsals for both ballet and modern dance.
Cornell's Herbert F. Johnson Museum of Art is first of all a teaching museum, says Franklin Robinson, the Richard J. Schwartz Director of the museum.
"Everything we do is to support the teaching and outreach mission of Cornell."
In 2000-2001, nearly 12,000 Cornell students visited the museum, which makes the Johnson one of the most active campus outreach programs in America. Instructors from art and art history to Romance studies and from religious studies and anthropology to math and engineering work with the museum's education department to organize visits.
"Sometimes this means the class looks at images or objects relevant to the course; sometimes, it means a tour of a special exhibition," says Catherine Davidson, the museum's publicity coordinator. "First-year architecture students draw the building to get a lesson in modernism. Freshman writing classes learn to observe and express themselves about an art object."
Students get involved in the museum in many other ways. Twenty undergraduates work as interns in curatorial research, children's programs and even marketing. Davidson says the education department also brings artists to campus to lecture, to critique art student portfolios and meet for informal discussions with undergraduates. The Johnson Museum also offers outreach programming for 7,000 area schoolchildren each year.
For the past four years, the museum has worked with the Cornell Institute for Digital Collections at Cornell Library creating a searchable database of more than 18,000 images, with the goal of offering online access to most of the 30,000 objects in the museum's collection in the near future.
In a triumph of town-gown relations, Cornell became the first university in the nation to support the international City of Asylum program for writers. The international program supports oppressed writers whose work, culture and even language are threatened with annihilation. This year, Cornell joined forces with the International Parliament of Writers and the Ithaca City of Asylum Project (a nonprofit group associated with Cornell's Center for Religion, Ethics and Social Policy) by providing funds for the arrival of Yi Ping, exiled Chinese poet, essayist and playwright. With Cornell's assistance, Ithaca is now the 27th City of Asylum worldwide and the first in New York state. Yi Ping will live in Ithaca for two years with his family.
Further efforts to cultivate an intellectual ambiance on the university's North Campus involve the creation of a Visiting Writer-in-Residence Program. The program, a cooperative arrangement between the Department of English and the Office of Student and Academic Services, will provide a temporary North Campus home for visiting writers who are teaching in the English department. In addition, writers in Cornell's Creative Writing Program, as well as Cornell faculty, will give frequent readings on North Campus as part of their routine activities.
Index to the Chronicle's series on the Humanities
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