Outreach
Arts and Architecture Around the Globe
Students and faculty in the College of Arts
and Architecture benefit from a global classroom.” International research, study tours, performances
and service-learning projects take them around
the world, from the urban centers of Europe to developing
countries in South Africa to the “Kiwi” communities
of New Zealand. While stateside, students and
teachers share and learn from one another’s experiences
abroad, enhancing their general knowledge of
international cultures.
Following is just a sampling of the international
activities involving people in the College of Arts and
Architecture. Future issues of this newsletter will contain
feature stories on these and other international
initiatives in the college.
Department of Architecture
Service Learning in Panama
In summer 2004, students and faculty from Penn State
and Texas Tech University traveled to Panama City,
Panama, to engage in a community interactive design
process to propose redevelopment strategies for the city’s
El Chorillo neighborhood. In collaboration with students
from the University of Panama’s architecture
department, the group worked with community residents
and local government officials to develop a conceptual
plan for the neighborhood, notable as one of the two
major sites of the U.S. invasion of Panama in 1989.
Bret Peters, assistant professor of architecture, has been leading this initiative. In March, he and some of his students returned to Panama to survey the Explanada, the area between the El Chorillo neighborhood and the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) World Heritage Site of Casco Antiguo. They collaborated with Isthmus School of Architecture and Design, which offers a graduate program in architecture. According to Peters, it was important to determine a strategy for the Explanada before making a detailed plan for the adjoining part of El Chorrillo. This trip was sponsored by the Oficina del Casco Antiguo.
As part of the planning study for El Chorrillo, the architecture students developed a new housing typology for the area, featuring housing units of various sizes located over a flexible commercial area on the ground floor. Image produced by Ryan Bemberg, Katherine Heck and Jeremy Wahlberg.
Department of Art History
Art History and Geosciences in Egypt
The Department of Art History and the Department of Geosciences might seem like an unlikely duo, but the two units have been working together since 1997 to remove excess water and salt from the ancient town of Hierakonpolis in southern Egypt, one of the most important places to learn about kingship and town occupation from at least 4000 B.C.E. to Roman times. Elizabeth Walters, associate professor of art history, leads the Temple-Town Hierakonpolis Project, which is a continuation of the effort begun in 1969 by her mentor, archaeologist Walter Fairservis of Vassar College.
An all-woman team conducted fieldwork at the site in January–February 2005. For the first time the researchers worked with a female inspector, Nagwa Abdul Bast, who represented Egyptian Antiquities. The team, including Walters, art history graduate students Leanne Rinne and Robin Gonnam, and recent graduate in anthropology Barbara Pavesi, collaborated with Nagwa to map, plan and open two trenches for shallow excavation.
According to Walters, Nagwa became fascinated with the multidisciplinary fieldwork and a “wonderful advocate for protection of this important ancient town and temple site with geoarchaeological methods.” New finds in the north trench clarified and included an alabaster palette, Hierakonpolis, like many similar groundwater, accumulation of of water from newly irrigated east and south of the ancient city.
The site has a valid claim to be ancient Egypt and home to the represented kings from 3200 B.C.E. provide clear evidence of continuous prehistory into historic Egypt, pottery from 3800 B.C.E. reverses places Hierakonpolis as the oldest The participating geosciences include professor Richard Parizek, environmental engineer; geologist professor emeritus; and geophysicist professor emeritus, who are using model the groundwater flow site. Students and faculty from presented their research findings international meetings. Walters returns approximately every year.
Department of Landscape Architecture
Landscape Studies in the Bohemian Paradise
In summer 2003, Cecilia Rusnak, associate professor of landscape architecture, led a group of students on a five-week service-learning trip to the Czech Republic, where they worked on landscape analyses and related projects in several rural communities recognized for their heritage values. The group also visited Prague and other notable cities and sites in Eastern Europe, including Krakow, Budapest and Auschwitz.
Rusnak and her students spent most of their time in the town of Turnov, located in a northern region of the Czech Republic known as Cesky Raj, or the Bohemian Paradise. The region is known for its sandstone cliffs, castle ruins, picturesque villages and agriculture and forest settings. In Turnov, the group worked with the Administration of Protected Landscape Areas of the Czech Republic to develop ideas for a land use plan for a rural buffer zone adjacent to a protected area. Penn State alumni James Pashek (’74 B.S. L.Arch.) and Henry Hanson (’78 B.S. L.Arch.), who had previously collaborated with colleagues in the Czech Republic through the Central European Linkage Program (CELP), introduced Penn State to people and organizations interested in working with the University. In addition to the Administration of Protected Landscape Areas of the Czech Republic, other project partners included The Graduate School at Penn State, the Heinz Endowments and Jan Hendrych of the Silva Tarouca Research Institute for Landscape and Ornamental Gardening. Rusnak and a group of students will be returning to the Czech Republic to do similar work this summer.
Department of Integrative Arts
A Roman Experience
The Department of Integrative Arts will launch its own study abroad program, open to students in any major, in Rome in summer 2005. Courses will address Italian architecture and the arts and popular culture in Rome, among other topics. They will be taught by Warren Wake, associate professor of integrative arts and architecture, and Romolo Martemucci, associate professor of architecture. Students will attend class at Sede di Roma, Penn State’s instructional facility in Rome, and take field trips to cities such as Florence, Venice and Pompei.
Wake says he developed the integrative arts program in Rome to take advantage of the unique combination of arts, culture and history that the city offers.“In Rome, a great work of art rarely sits by itself in a neutral space. Instead we examine a fresco as part of an architectural masterpiece, which itself is part of an urban and cultural tapestry and 2,000 years of history.”
School of Music
Performing Around the World
During any given summer or school vacation, there’s a good chance a School of Music ensemble is performing in an international location. From spring break tours of France to summer trips to South Africa, students and faculty in this school have played a significant part in furthering Penn State’s worldwide reputation. Among the student ensembles that have recently performed or will perform internationally are the Concert Choir (Germany and Austria, summer 2004), Glee Club (France, spring break 2004) and Essence of Joy (Poland and Czech Republic, summer 2001; South Africa, summer 2005). In addition, the Symphonic Wind Ensemble recently performed by invitation the opening concert of the 2005 Flicorno D’Oro International Band Competition in Italy in March.
Faculty members also frequently perform and teach abroad. In November 2004, the Castalia Trio, which includes professors Kim Cook (cello), Marylène Dosse (piano) and James Lyon (violin), performed in Paris and Versailles. Last summer, Lyon and Bruce Trinkley were guest artist-teachers during the 19th International Seminar of Music at the Federal University of Bahia in
Salvador in northern Brazil. They were invited to participate with the Graduate String Quartet, which is coached by Lyon. Students Lauren McClean, violin; Laura Jordão Silva, violin; Milda Martisius, viola; and Hillary Vaden, violoncello, were the quartet-inresidence during the annual seminar and gave the South American premiere of Trinkley’s Broken Symmetries, Six Baroque Dances.
Music: International Language
Music is a part of every culture. However, how it is taught and learned can vary greatly. Music education faculty members are involved in research projects addressing a wide range of teaching/learning issues. Professor Joanne Rutkowski, with colleagues in Taiwan and Israel, has investigated whether children use their singing voices differently when singing a song from their own cultural tradition compared to songs from other cultural traditions. She and her colleagues concluded that, in general, cultural familiarity with a type of song does not influence first graders’ use of singing voice.
Ann Clements, assistant professor of music education, has been studying the learning process in posture singing and dancing, known as Maori Kapa Haka. She has conducted research at the Maori University of New Zealand, and her work has created a new epistemology for the study of indigenous music.
Left to right: Joe Palmeter (graduate student in band
conducting), Marica Tacconi (associate professor of
musicology) and Nicole Le Blanc (graduate student in
music theory and history) in Florence, Italy, in June 2004.
Under the direction of Dr. Tacconi and with funding
from the College of Arts and Architecture and the
School of Music, Palmeter and Le Blanc spent two
weeks in Florence conducting research on a 12thcentury
antiphonary originally written for the Cathedral
of Florence. The manuscript is the earliest extant music
book from the cathedral.
