Class Note 1992
Issue
May-June 2021
One of the many things I appreciate about you, dearest classmates, is your lovely writing, which is so clear and requires little, if any, editing when we call for submissions to this column or the newsletter. Thus I was not surprised to learn that so many of you are publishing books, articles, essays, podcasts, etc., sharing your ideas and knowledge widely. The range of subjects is truly delightful.
Samantha Schnee’s translation of The Book of Anna (Coffee House Press), by renowned Mexican author Carmen Boullosa, garnered literary kudos last year. The novel, which Samantha translated from Spanish to English, is a feminist sequel to Anna Karenina. Also check out Samantha’s “Carnal Language: An Interview with Carmen Boullosa” in Southwest Review for some fascinating insights into the translation process.
Ben Vinson III wrote “The Perpetual Newness of Black History: Why Does a Century-Old Field Still Feel New?” for the American Historical Association’s newsmagazine, Perspectives on History. He published Before Mestizaje: The Frontiers of Race and Caste in Colonial Mexico (Cambridge University Press) shortly before he became provost and executive vice president at Case Western Reserve University.
Aimee Loiselle received the Organization of American Historians’ prestigious 2020 Lerner-Scott Prize, which is given annually for the best doctoral dissertation in U.S. women’s history. Her dissertation, completed at the University of Connecticut, is titled “Creating Norma Rae: The Erasure of Puerto Rican Needleworkers and Southern Labor Activists in a Neoliberal Icon.” She is currently a postdoctoral fellow at Smith College. Aimee also recently published “Budget Activism: A Strategy to Address Contingency—and Tenure” on the Labor and Working-Class History Association blog.
Jon Ellis published an opinion piece in The New York Times: “Are School Debate Competitions Bad for Our Political Discourse?” Jon is an associate professor in the department of philosophy and director of the University of California, Santa Cruz, Center for Public Philosophy.
Molly Phinney wrote, “As it happens, I did publish a new book recently. Penguin Random House published the presciently named Bless This Mess: A Modern Guide to Faith and Parenting in a Chaotic World in August 2019 (yes, I am a little bit psychic). My coauthor, a marvelous child psychologist, and I have just launched a related pandemic-era podcast called Your Parenting is Showing, where we interview professionals who are finding that the parenting life and work life are bumping up against each other in hilarious, revealing, instructive, and transformative ways in the pandemic.” If you think you’d be a good interview subject for the podcast, reach out to her at reverendmolly@gmail.com.
Last year Kate Cohen became a columnist for The Washington Post, and you can find her work online. She pointed me toward two columns in particular: “I finished War and Peace, so shouldn’t we be done with the pandemic by now?” (alas, that was May 2020 and still relevant!) and “Amanda Gorman showed us how civic ceremonies can have prayer without invoking God.” Kate lives on a farm in Albany, New York, with her husband, Adam Greenberg ’89, a farmer and town councilman, and three kids, whom she says she felt lucky to spend lots of time with this past year.
Tommy Butler’s novel, Before You Go (HarperCollins), received a great review in the alumni books section of dartmouthalumnimagazine.com: “He uses various literary sleights of hand to draw his readers into a moving, decidedly realistic tale about one man’s search for the meaning of life and his dawning recognition that confusion and sadness are simply parts of the human experience.”
I’ll highlight more of your writing next time!
—Kelly Shriver Kolln, 3900 Cottage Grove Ave. SE, Cedar Rapids, IA 52403; (920) 306-2192; dartmouth92news@gmail.com
Samantha Schnee’s translation of The Book of Anna (Coffee House Press), by renowned Mexican author Carmen Boullosa, garnered literary kudos last year. The novel, which Samantha translated from Spanish to English, is a feminist sequel to Anna Karenina. Also check out Samantha’s “Carnal Language: An Interview with Carmen Boullosa” in Southwest Review for some fascinating insights into the translation process.
Ben Vinson III wrote “The Perpetual Newness of Black History: Why Does a Century-Old Field Still Feel New?” for the American Historical Association’s newsmagazine, Perspectives on History. He published Before Mestizaje: The Frontiers of Race and Caste in Colonial Mexico (Cambridge University Press) shortly before he became provost and executive vice president at Case Western Reserve University.
Aimee Loiselle received the Organization of American Historians’ prestigious 2020 Lerner-Scott Prize, which is given annually for the best doctoral dissertation in U.S. women’s history. Her dissertation, completed at the University of Connecticut, is titled “Creating Norma Rae: The Erasure of Puerto Rican Needleworkers and Southern Labor Activists in a Neoliberal Icon.” She is currently a postdoctoral fellow at Smith College. Aimee also recently published “Budget Activism: A Strategy to Address Contingency—and Tenure” on the Labor and Working-Class History Association blog.
Jon Ellis published an opinion piece in The New York Times: “Are School Debate Competitions Bad for Our Political Discourse?” Jon is an associate professor in the department of philosophy and director of the University of California, Santa Cruz, Center for Public Philosophy.
Molly Phinney wrote, “As it happens, I did publish a new book recently. Penguin Random House published the presciently named Bless This Mess: A Modern Guide to Faith and Parenting in a Chaotic World in August 2019 (yes, I am a little bit psychic). My coauthor, a marvelous child psychologist, and I have just launched a related pandemic-era podcast called Your Parenting is Showing, where we interview professionals who are finding that the parenting life and work life are bumping up against each other in hilarious, revealing, instructive, and transformative ways in the pandemic.” If you think you’d be a good interview subject for the podcast, reach out to her at reverendmolly@gmail.com.
Last year Kate Cohen became a columnist for The Washington Post, and you can find her work online. She pointed me toward two columns in particular: “I finished War and Peace, so shouldn’t we be done with the pandemic by now?” (alas, that was May 2020 and still relevant!) and “Amanda Gorman showed us how civic ceremonies can have prayer without invoking God.” Kate lives on a farm in Albany, New York, with her husband, Adam Greenberg ’89, a farmer and town councilman, and three kids, whom she says she felt lucky to spend lots of time with this past year.
Tommy Butler’s novel, Before You Go (HarperCollins), received a great review in the alumni books section of dartmouthalumnimagazine.com: “He uses various literary sleights of hand to draw his readers into a moving, decidedly realistic tale about one man’s search for the meaning of life and his dawning recognition that confusion and sadness are simply parts of the human experience.”
I’ll highlight more of your writing next time!
—Kelly Shriver Kolln, 3900 Cottage Grove Ave. SE, Cedar Rapids, IA 52403; (920) 306-2192; dartmouth92news@gmail.com