Faculty News

The inaugural Taconic Mountain Student Water Conference: PFOA took place in CAPA on Friday, May 19 and Saturday, May 20. Co-organized by David Bond (Bennington) and Ken Facin (Hoosick Falls Central School Distrct), Friday's events were geared towards educating local high students, while Saturday's were open to the public. The second day of the conference provided an opportunity for residents of both the Bennington area and Hoosick Falls to receive updated information and the results from recent tests. Robert Bilott, who spearheaded efforts to expose PFOA contamination of drinking water supplies, gave the keynote speech. 

Hill Country Observer published a review of Thief in the Interior, the award winning debut poetry collection by Phillip Williams. 

Dr. Giovanna Di Chiro is the Lang Professor for Issues of Social Change at Swarthmore College. She has published widely on the intersections of race, class, gender, and environmental justice with a focus on activism and policy change addressing environmental health disparities in lower-income communities. She teaches interdisciplinary courses in environmental studies and women’s and gender studies, and incorporates a community-based action research emphasis.

The artist, curator, urbanist, and facilitator Theaster Gates was in residence at Bennington College in April, speaking to students, faculty, and staff about making place and making change, the two driving forces of his work. The highlight of his time on campus was the Adams–Tillim Lecture, which he delivered on April 25. By Aruna D'Souza

Dr. Janoff-Bulman is a world-renowned political psychologist and the head of the graduate psychology program at the University of Massachusetts, Amherst. Janoff-Bulman’s research on victimization and trauma led to the groundbreaking book Shattered Assumptions: Towards a New Psychology of Trauma (1992). In recent years, Janoff-Bulman’s study focused on morality, particularly the motivational bases of different moral perspectives and the implications for an individual’s political ideology.