Berlin Family Lectures 2023
Richard G. Stern, 1928-2013
Richard G. Stern, the Helen A. Regenstein Professor Emeritus in English, died January 24 at age 84. Stern joined the University of Chicago faculty in 1955 and wrote over twenty books of fiction and nonfiction in his lifetime. He was friends with many distinguished writers, including Saul Bellow, X'39, and Philip Roth, AM'55, who credits Stern for the idea to write his novella Goodbye, Columbus. During his time at the University, Stern received the Award of Merit from the American Academy and Institute of Arts and Letters. He was also a recipient of a Guggenheim Fellowship and the Heartland Prize. The Paris Review describes him as "...a nurturing teacher and a powerful force in literature at the University of Chicago."
Valerie Snobeck, MFA’08, Creates Piece for Smart Museum Courtyard
Valerie Snobeck, MFA'08, has created a piece titled American Standard Movement as part of the annual Threshold series sponsored by the Smart Museum of Art. The site-specific work, presented in the Vera and A.D. Elden Sculpture Garden, re-uses debris netting that was previously part of a construction project on the University of Chicago campus in order to open up questions about environment, the passage of time, and progress.
Alumna Traces History of Bowl Belonging to Cleopatra Through 20th Century AD
Cultural historian Marina Belozerskaya, AM'92, PhD'97, has published the first book-length account of the Tazza Farnese, a libation bowl dating to Ptolemaic Egypt that once belonged to Cleopatra. The book, titled Medusa's Gaze: The Extraordinary Journey of the Tazza Farnese, charts the renowned artifact's journey through history, from Rome and Constantinople to the Holy Roman Emperor's court at Palermo and the French Revolution. It inspired artists such as Raphael and Botticelli and was owned by Greek, Roman, Byzantine, and Mongol rulers. The Tazza Farnese's adventure continued even after it came to rest at the Naples National Archaeological Museum--it was nearly destroyed there in 1925 by a deranged guard.
For more information on alumni publications, visit the University of Chicago Magazine, or check out the catalog of alumni books on the magazine's Goodreads page.
Philosophy Alumnus Named Distinguished Professor at University of Southern Maine
Robert Louden, AM'76, PhD'81, is the fifth person to be named distinguished professor at the University of Southern Maine, one of the highest honors a tenured professor can receive at the university. Louden, whose interests include the history of ethics, ethical theory, Kant, and the history of philosophy, arrived at USM in 1982 as an assistant professor. He became a professor in 1996 and has served as the department chair four times since then. In 2009 he also received the University of Southern Maine Faculty Senate Award for Excellence in Scholarship in the Humanities. He has published four books with the Oxford University Press and edited one, titled The Greeks and Us: Essays in Honor of Arthur W. H. Adkins, with the University of Chicago Press.
More alumni news can be found in the most recent edition of the University of Chicago Magazine.
