News Briefs
Credit: Susan Griffith
Deepak Sarma, associate professor of religious studies, stands beside Angel Playing a Trumpet. The angel is depicted wearing a British crown and an Indian scarf, exemplifying the confluence of Western and Indian themes in works of this kind. The painting was one of 40 watercolors Sarma selected as a guest curator for the Cleveland Museum of Art summer exhibition Indian Kalighat Paintings. Sarma worked closely with museum staff to choose and describe the paintings, which offer a glimpse into life in 19th-century India. He also gave several public lectures, sharing his knowledge of South Asian art, history and religions.
Kalighat paintings were mass-produced as souvenirs for tourists and pilgrims journeying to Hindu temples. “The paintings are multi-layered with political, social and religious dimensions and narratives,” Sarma explains. “This marginalized artistic movement that depicted a fleeting moment in Bengali, Indian and colonial history may have been an important impetus for insurrection and eventually Indian independence.”
Online extra: Join Sarma for a short video tour of the Indian Kalighat Paintings exhibition: http://tinyurl.com/sarma-art.
Credit: Jeff Zarumba Photography
There is no mystery (or mystery meat, for that matter) here: Leutner Commons is a winner. The National Association of College & University Food Services has awarded the campus eatery a gold medal in the category of “residential dining concepts” among medium-sized schools. The university and its food service provider, Bon Appétit Management Co., received the top honor in July.
The judges’ criteria included menu, merchandising and presentation, marketing, nutrition and wellness programs, sustainability goals and an overall “wow” factor. Bon Appétit’s concept at Leutner Commons includes a “Farm to Fork” program serving fresh, locally grown foods.
Alumni remember the north campus dining facility mainly for dubious meal options, including mashed potatoes students sometimes used as mortar or sculpting material. Today, students can feast on authentic Mexican dishes, Asian noodle bowls, mussels cooked to order and regional specialties.
Kimberly Shepherd (CWR ’92) has visited the new dining destination and marvels, “There is sushi at Leutner now. Sushi. I really think there is no more that needs to be said.”
Leutner Commons underwent a $7 million renovation in 2009, resulting in a remodeled, sustainable building with a new study area, front entrance and atrium. The lower level is still home to The Spot, a favorite student hangout.
Maria Lisac Steiner (CWR ’91) was shocked when she toured the facility recently. “It’s almost a little too nice!” she exclaims. “Imagine my surprise when I discovered Corian countertops in the restroom!”
Shepherd and Steiner served as class representatives for their 20-year reunion and helped organize an event at The Spot during Alumni Weekend in October.
For Steiner, The Spot has sentimental significance. “My favorite memory would be on Sept. 9, 1988—the night I met my now husband. He was sitting at the bar with some friends, probably eating gooey mozzarella cheese sticks, and my friend who knew him decided we needed to sing him ‘Happy Birthday.’ The rest, as they say, is history, which includes two kids, two dogs and a whole lot of memories.”
Both alumnae shared vivid recollections of Wednesday nights at The Spot and weekday dinners at Leutner Commons. Steiner adds, “My strongest memories are of spending time with dear friends, worrying about tests, figuring out graduation plans, figuring out boyfriends for that matter, and mostly laughing in ways only folks who spend a whole lot of time together can.”
What would she just as soon forget? The turkey tetrazzini.
Online extra: Share your favorite memories of Leutner and The Spot on the college’s Facebook page: http://www.facebook.com/CWRUartsci
Aretha Franklin, the legendary Queen of Soul, was awarded an honorary Doctor of Humane Letters degree from Case Western Reserve on Nov. 5, as part of the 16th annual American Music Masters series.
The series, a collaboration between the College of Arts and Sciences and the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and Museum, offers workshops, lectures, exhibits and other events that shine a new light on influential artists.
Franklin was honored for her contributions to American culture and for her work during the civil rights movement. A tribute concert at the State Theatre in PlayhouseSquare included performances by Dennis Edwards of the Temptations, Ronald Isley of the Isley Brothers, Chaka Khan, Lauryn Hill and (in a surprise finale) Dr. Aretha Franklin herself.
Peter Shulman, assistant professor of history, has been named the first recipient of the Legislative Archives Fellowship, funded by the Foundation for the National Archives … Mary Davis, professor and chair of the Department of Music, has published Ballets Russes Style: Diaghilev’s Dancers and Paris Fashion … Eva Kahana, the Pierce T. and Elizabeth D. Robson Professor of Humanities in the Department of Sociology, is the 2011 recipient of the Gerontological Society of America’s Distinguished Career Contribution to Gerontology Award … David Rothenberg , associate professor of music, has published The Flower of Paradise: Marian Devotion and Secular Song in Medieval and Renaissance Music … Christopher Flint, associate professor of English, is the author of The Appearance of Print in Eighteenth-Century Fiction … Associate Dean Molly Berger is the author of Hotel Dreams: Luxury, Technology, and Urban Ambition in America, 1829-1929.
