April at Hopkins

April at Hopkins is a magical time. Spring is in the air and students emerge from their winter hibernation to sit on the beach, enjoy Spring Fair, and smell the magnolias (we don't have too many roses on campus). Hopkins announced a new initiative for minority faculty, reunion weekend came round once again, and there was a lot of theater on campus. The chocolate festival fattened us up and the ROTC push-up competition slimmed us down.  The engineering school sponsored a video competition and the professionals created a new commercial for Hopkins. So much happens at Hopkins in April, read on to find out more!

New “Mosaic Initiative” Aims to attract more minority faculty

Provost Kristina Johnson announces $5 million support for the Mosaic Initiative, which seeks to increase diversity among faculty hires. The campaign seeks to attract women and underrepresented minorities to the University’s faculty.  Both Johnson and President Brody believe that recruiting a diverse faculty is necessary for the full exploration of the University’s teaching, research, patient care and service goals. Said Johnson on the initiative, "Our aim is to create a mosaic of the best and the brightest faculty across all our schools and in all our disciplines, a mosaic including rising stars interested in becoming part of the intellectual life of this great institution." For more information, click here .

Reunion Weekend brings Alumni back to Homewood

Homecoming and Reunion Weekend was a huge success! Over 4,000 Hopkins alumni arrived on campus for the weekend of April 11-13th, raising over $46 million from their Reunion classes and representing 70 years of alumni. They were also there to cheer on the Hopkins Blue Jays in their 10-4 victory over Maryland.

For more information and photos, check out http://alumni.jhu.edu/reunion/


Spring Fair 2008

The kick off event Thursday night at the Levering Quad started things off with a bang- with a great fireworks display. There was a double line-up for the main concert, featuring Bone Thugs-n-Harmony and Reel Big Fish. Vendors came out in full force with annual favorites like “chicken on a stick” and “deep fried oreos”, and the Arts booths had over 100 vendors selling everything from fused glass sculptures to silk clothing. To check out the list of everyone who turned up, check out http://www.jhuspringfair.com/

Research is flourishing at Hopkins! (As usual)

Undergraduate research had a wonderful showcase in April, with both the Woodrow Wilson Fellowship Poster session and the Provost’s Undergraduate Research Awards poster session. Both programs provide funding to undergraduate students to pursue their own independent research anywhere in the world.

The poster sessions provided an opportunity for students who have completed their research to present their work to faculty, friends, and mentors who have helped them along the way.

For more information, check out this Woodrow Wilson fellowship article featuring two of the graduating Wilson fellows.

And take a look at this in-depth look at 7 of the PURA projects, chronicled in this article.


Arts Innovation Grant to Sponsor Student and Faculty Art Endeavors

Launched in 2006, the Arts Innovation Grant has awarded about $25,000 to faculty who hope to launch new interdisciplinary arts courses or students wishing to create new arts ventures. Samples of projects funded include courses such as “A History of Musical Instruments” and a class entitled “Intermedia Studio”, which seeks to combine normally unrelated art forms into new media.

Student-proposed ventures which received funding include the new “Concerto and Aria Competition” and a “Senior Showcase” of experimental theater. The Arts Innovation Grant arose out of the “Homewood Arts Task Force”, which aimed to strengthen the arts community at the Homewood campus.

For more information about some of the grant recipients, check out these articles

http://www.jhu.edu/~gazette/2007/03dec07/03innov.html
http://www.jhu.edu/news/home08/apr08/arts_grant.html

Read the blog entry Michelle Brown, grant recipient, wrote about her Senior Showcase 

WSE Video Competition announces finalists

11 student-created videos have been submitted to the Whiting School of Engineering’s Video Competition, and they’re looking to name the “People’s Choice” award! Students in the Whiting school conceived, wrote, filmed, and produced 2-3 minute videos about “Engineering” at Hopkins, and the 11 submissions are up on the web site waiting for votes. Check out the videos, and vote for your favorites, here.

Center For Social Concern sponsored its annual Chocolate Festival

The Center for Social Concern turned the Glass Pavilion into a Chocolaty wonderland on April 3rd when they hosted their annual Chocolate Festival. They had samples of treats from Lindt, Whole Foods, Tharakar Brothers Ice Cream, and Cookies by Design. They also hosted two competitions during the day- the Pudding eating competition, and the Top Chef bake-off. The $5 entrance fee, which included the samples from the vendors and access to the silent auctions and raffles, went to fund a Teach for America class’s school field trip. For more information about the Center for Social Concern, click here.

New Johns Hopkins Television Ad shows off our Passion

Johns Hopkins has a new TV spot to advertise the school during televised lacrosse games. Featuring Hopkins junior Wren Haaland, a 2006 International Jump Rope champion, and Peter Agre, a Hopkins professor and 2003 Nobel Prize winner in Chemistry. Both individuals show incredible passion for what they do, and both represent very different sides of Hopkins. Check out the TV commercial, and get more information about Wren and Peter, here.

Summer Outdoor Film Series searches for its 2008 lineup

The Summer Outdoor Film series began accepting votes for their summer movies. Every summer in June and July, the University sponsors movies to be shown on a huge screen on the Upper Quad in front of Gilman hall. Students and local families bring out blankets, food, and enjoy live music followed by the movie screening. The movies are always chosen by vote, so check out the candidates (and vote for your favorites, if you’ll be here this summer!) here.


Tristan Davies, Writing Seminars professor, publishes a new piece in the Johns Hopkins Magazine

The April issue of Johns Hopkins Magazine features a new short piece of fiction (entitled “Transport Phenomena”) by Hopkins Writing Seminars professor Tristan Davies. Davies teaches fiction workshops, focusing on formative genres in fiction and the evolution of the short shorty.  His honors include a Maryland Artist’s Award, the George and Eliza Gardner Howard Foundation Award in Fiction, a Visiting Artist residency at the American Academy of Rome, and the JHU Alumni Association Award for Excellence in Teaching. Check out his latest piece here.

Up for the Count
Pecs flexed, triceps burned and Homewood deans displayed some physical
prowess at the Johns Hopkins ROTC's first-ever push-up contest, held
on the Freshman Quad. Read more here.