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Free copy of 2010 UB Reads selection
Members of the UB community interested in reading The New York Times best-seller “Three Cups of Tea: One Man’s Mission to Fight Terrorism and Build Nations…One School at a Time,” the 2010 UB Reads selection by Greg Mortenson and David Oliver Relin, can obtain a free copy from the Division of Student Affairs.
Copies of “Three Cups of Tea” are available free in 150 Student Union, North Campus; UB faculty, staff and students are encouraged to exchange a gently used book for their free copy. Collected books will be donated to a local charity.
A special UB Reads display table also will be set up in the Student Union on April 26. Information on UB Reads will be available, as will copies of “Three Cups of Tea.”
UB Reads is UB’s annual book club designed to build community through a shared reading experience. Each year, a new book is chosen that reflects topics and issues of global importance; the author appears on campus as part of the Distinguished Speakers Series. Mortenson will speak on Nov. 10.
In “Three Cups of Tea,” Mortenson and Relin recount the journey that led Mortenson from a failed attempt to climb Pakistan’s K2, the world’s second-highest mountain, to successfully establish schools in some of the most remote regions of Afghanistan and Pakistan.
UB faculty are encouraged to use “Three Cups of Tea” in their course curricula for the fall 2010 semester. First-year undergraduates will receive a free copy at orientation, and study the book in UB 101 courses.
Ancient children topic of conference
“Children as Archaeological Enigma: Are Children Visible or Invisible in the Archaeological Record?” is the topic of the third Visiting Scholar Spring Conference sponsored by UB’s Institute for European and Mediterranean Archaeology (IEMA), being held April 24-25 in the Jacobs Executive Development Center, 672 Delaware Ave., on UB’s Downtown Campus.
More than 20 scholars from universities in the U.S. and abroad will give presentations and lead discussion sessions. Conference organizer is Güner Coskunsu, 2009 IEMA postdoctoral scholar.
The goal of the conference is to facilitate interdisciplinary discussion on the subject of childhood and children. Participants will develop theoretical and methodological approaches to explore children in the archaeological record and analyze the role of children in the formation of past cultures.
More information about the conference, participants and paper abstracts is available on IEMA’s Web site.
The IEMA was created in the College of Arts and Sciences in conjunction with the UB 2020 strategic strength Cultures and Texts. It aims to combine existing UB faculty expertise in the fields of anthropology, classics and visual studies with first-rate research facilities available at UB in such disciplines as geographic information systems, virtual reality and materials science.
MBAs take ‘alternative’ spring break
For the second consecutive year, 16 UB MBA students spent an “alternative” spring break volunteering for community service projects in New Orleans to aid people still affected by Hurricane Katrina.
The students worked in the city’s Lower Ninth Ward with Historic Green New Orleans, an organization concentrated on “green” construction and deconstruction.
One group of students worked on restoration and repair projects with the Lower Ninth Ward Village, a community-driven, community-led, nonprofit organization and neighborhood center. Others worked on a community playground and several home repairs and additions for area residents.
The trip was made possible through financial contributions from the School of Management, the School of Management Alumni Association, Blue Ox Roofing and UB’s Sub-Board campus service organization.
Social Work begins program in Italy
UB plans a new international certificate program that gives graduates in mental health fields an opportunity to learn valuable skills in first-response psychology, earn a master’s certificate from two acclaimed universities and spend their summer in beautiful and historical Rome.
The new six-week program, Master’s in Psychological First Aid, Stress Management Techniques and Trauma Intervention, will be offered by the School of Social Work in conjunction with SCUPSIS—Scuola di Psicoterapia Strategica Integrata Seraphicum—a school of psychotherapy in Rome, where classes will be held.
The program is intended for students with a bachelor’s degree in a human services discipline and one year’s experience with direct client contact. Upon completion, participants will receive a joint certificate issued by UB and SCUPSIS.
“The program builds vital partnerships for the School of Social on an issue—trauma—that is of high importance to people all over the world, especially now in the wake of the recent earthquakes,” says Nancy J. Smyth, dean of the School of Social Work. “We are excited about building on the school’s strengths, our trauma-informed human rights curriculum and our trauma counseling certificate program. We also are pleased to extend our continuing education partnerships to such respected international partners.”
Recent research suggests that psychological trauma significantly contributes to many mental health issues, according to Smyth. If untreated, traumatic experiences can cause a variety of problems, including addiction, psychiatric and personality disorders, violent behavior and suicide. Participants in the program will learn techniques for psychological first aid and stress management, and will be better prepared to effectively treat trauma victims before such disorders arise.
Co-director for the program is Roger Solomon, an affiliate clinical professor with the School of Social Work and a clinical psychologist who specializes in treatment of trauma and grief.
Those interested in the certificate program should Solomon at rogersol@buffalo.edu for further information.
Music lecture cancelled
Award-winning author, critic and performer Richard Taruskin has cancelled his lecture, scheduled for 4 p.m. Thursday in Baird Recital Hall, due to an injury.
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