<ong>Carleton, Macalester College Professors Receive Joint Grant
George Vrtis, assistant professor of environmental studies and history at Carleton College, along with professor Chris Wells of Macalester College, have received a grant from the Minnesota Historical Society (MHS) for $102,522. The partnership grant, one of the two largest awarded by the MHS in this grant round, will substantially advance the state of scholarship on Minnesota’s under-studied environmental history.
The centerpiece of the project will be a conference on the environmental history of Minnesota to be held at the Minnesota History Center in June 2012. As project directors, Vrtis and Wells will convene 20 or more top environmental-studies scholars at the conference, where they will present and critique new research on the state’s environmental history.
Wells will solicit 15 or more essays from the conference presenters, and from a small number of other experts, for inclusion in a new book on the environmental history of Minnesota. Vrtis and Wells will also edit a collection of essays on the environmental history of Minnesota and contribute a jointly authored introduction to the volume and an essay focused on the Twin Cities, and they will also seek a publisher for the finished work.
Carleton to present choral celebration March 3
Carleton College will present “A Mid-Winter’s Journey,” a choral celebration featuring the Carleton Choir and Minnesota choral artists, The Singers. “A Mid-Winter’s Journey” will feature musical selections reflecting on life’s love, loss, and healing. This concert will be Saturday, March 3 at 7:30 p.m. in the Carleton Concert Hall and is free and open to the public.
Joint Purim-Holi celebration to be held March 3
Carleton College will host an interfaith celebration of two festive holidays celebrating early spring – Jewish Purim and Hindu Holi – on Saturday, March 3 at 6 p.m. in the Severance Great Hall. Representatives of both faiths will speak on the significance of their respective holidays and will lead the appropriate prayers. This will be followed by a dinner with foods representing both religions, and by student-led cultural events. This event is free and open to the public.