By Jude Nixon
Dean of the School of Arts and Sciences
This is my first opportunity as Dean of the School of Arts and Sciences (SOAS) to address you in ASpect. I wish first to express my deepest gratitude to Chris Fauske, who served tirelessly and diligently as Interim Dean, holding the office together in order [...]

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Kate Kohler Amory (Department of Theatre & Speech Communication) has performed in many off-Broadway theater productions including The Life of Spiders, and Einstein’s Dreams (Culture Project), Twelfth Night and Much Ado About Nothing (Lincoln Center’s Rose Theater). She has performed with many regional theaters including Shakespeare&Company and New England Shakespeare Festival and has written and performed numerous [...]

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By Rebecca Hains
Communications Department
Kristin Esterberg is the Provost and Academic Vice President of Salem State College.

The SOAS Communications Team gave a round table on interdisciplinarity this year on Opening Day.  The faculty in attendance noted that while there are various opportunities to do interdisciplinary work on campus, we also face a range of challenges. [...]

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By Jim Gubbins
Department of Interdisciplinary Studies

“What is a good life?”
Isn’t that a big, wonderful question? Isn’t that the question we should all be asking ourselves?
I strongly suspect that unless we have wandered into a philosophy class, we are not asking that question, nor will we find that question dominating the Blogosphere, Facebook, Twitter, or the [...]

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By Adrienne Dolberry
Biology Department
George Geyser is a hero and to others he is a lucky slob. However unexpected, the cure for Alzheimer’s is a long awaited relief. George’s discovery is an example that microbes can be used therapeutically. Scientists will continue research on his discovery and possibly find a microbe that helps with other degenerative [...]

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By Dan Albert
Department of History
Interdisciplinary scholarship and teaching has a fairly sound footing on many college and university campuses where this or that institute, “studies” department, or entire school is dedicated not to the tools and techniques of a traditional discipline but to answering a particular question of immediate and practical interest. The humanities contribute [...]

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By Stuart G. McMahon, Peter Smolianov, and Steven P. Dion
Sport & Movement Science Department
Being concerned with the domination of hyper-commercial enterprises and the lack of concern for the public within the sport industry, Amis & Silk (2005) indicated the need to more closely connect our classrooms with the challenges faced on the streets and to [...]

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By Daniel Mulcare
Department of Political Science
Last year, I participated in a Faculty Learning Community, a diverse group of Salem State College faculty that was set up to facilitate conversation and community.1 In our sessions, we explored the multifaceted nature of the Scholarship of Teaching and Learning (SOTL), a cross-disciplinary research methodology that seeks to enable [...]

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By Kara Kaufman
History Department

Picture the scenario: I am with my husband at his annual company picnic and he has just introduced me to his manager (aptly called “The Boss”). After many dinner conversations with my husband about The Boss, I know how important this picnic is to him and his career. As The Boss is [...]

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Interdisciplinary Island
By Kara Kaufman, History Department
The Academy seems to be structured like an archipelago—a string of solitary islands that together make up a whole. The distinct islands are the various academic departments, like History, for example. The islands, or departments, each have their own culture, language, and revered body of knowledge. Rarely do the islands [...]

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