The air was full of camaraderie and reciprocal praise, as faculty members filled the Coolidge Room in Ballou on Tuesday evening. Dec. 7 marked the second annual Dean's Book Celebration, a small reception with a fairly large collection of recent faculty publications displayed for the academics attending the event to view.
"For us, this is one of the most important parties because it recognizes our publications," said Dean Leila Fawaz, one of the event organizers.
The inaugural event took place last fall, when faculty members at both the College of Liberal Arts and the College of Engineering were invited for the first time to see their peers' accomplishments outside the gates of the University.
Roselle Levey, who worked with Fawaz this year on the planning of the event, noted the support it garnered last year. "It was so very popular last year that we decided to do it again," Levey said.
At this second Celebration, there was an aura of decadence and the food was divine. While enjoying stuffed mushrooms, hors d'oeuvres, and an assortment of pastries, faculty members milled around the room chatting, reacquainting, and congratulating each other.
Amid the talented schmoozers stood the embodiment of their accomplishments - a table which displayed over 60 books, most of which had been published between 1997 and the present, along with a collection of books that will be published in 2000. Levey explained that all of the faculty members were asked to identify and contribute books that they had worked on and published since the reception in 1998. Some of the earlier published books that had not been available last year were honored this year.
While some books such as Professor Peter Winn's Americas, The Changing Face of Latin America and the Caribbean were directly related to the courses that the faculty teach, others had a more outside and personal focus. Michael Dowling, a creative writing professor, was one such author. He published a fictional book of his own entitled Breakfast with Scott.
Professor George Norman edited an in-depth, advanced economics book entitled The Economics of Price Discrimination, full of complex graphs and equations. It was placed right next to a large collection of Prentice Hall Science books for children, co-authored by engineering professors Martha Cyr and Ioannis Miaoulis. These books included titles from Animals to Weather and Climate, and contained exciting pictures and activities for younger students to enjoy.
While all of the books at the reception seemed to be very different from one another in content, they all had something in common. Each embodied the dedication of a professor who had completed a work in addition to other commitments at Tufts.
"It is an outgrowth of what I do. Normally, in my subject, writing books is not a main focus, it is secondary as a general rule," psychology Professor Julio Garcia said about his book, which is a recently published teaching instrument.
While most of the attendees will attest that writing a book is a difficult task, it is well worth it when the work is honored in either a forum like this or by an outside honorary organization. Three of the books have recently received various awards.
Professor Jane Bernstein, who just published her book Music Printing in Renaissance Venice, The Scotto Press (1593-1572) was given the Otto Kinkeldy Award of the American Musicology Society (AMS). This award is given annually the most distinguished book published by an American or Canadian member of the AMS. Bernstein worked on her book, which was 18 years in the making, while teaching, holding the department chair, and raising a family.
In October, at the annual meeting of the 16th Century Studies Conference, Professor Cristelle Baskins won an honorable mention for her book Cassone Painting, Humanism and Gender in Early Modern Italy.
Professor Jeffrey Berry, author of The New Liberalism: The Rising Power of Citizen Groups was awarded the 1999 Aaron Wildausky Award earlier this year.
With so many individuals to honor, this celebration is certain to remain a tradition. "It's a nice way to show appreciation for all of their hard work," Levey said.
