Showing 2351 - 2400 of 5840 Items
Old Master Drawings at Bowdoin College
Date: 1985-01-01
Creator: David P. Becker
Access: Open access
- Catalogue of an exhibition held at Bowdoin College Museum of Art, Brunswick Me., May 17-July 7 1985; Sterling and Francine Clark Art Institute, Williamstown Mass., Sept. 14-Oct. 27 1985; Helen Foresman Spencer Museum of Art, Uniersity of Kansas, Lawrence Kansas, Jan. 19-Mar. 2, 1986; Art Gallery of Ontario, Toronto Canada, May 17-June 29, 1986.
Non-intrusive load identification for smart outlets
Date: 2015-01-12
Creator: Sean Barker, Mohamed Musthag, David Irwin, Prashant Shenoy
Access: Open access
- An increasing interest in energy-efficiency combined with the decreasing cost of embedded networked sensors is lowering the cost of outlet-level metering. If these trends continue, new buildings in the near future will be able to install 'smart' outlets, which monitor and transmit an outlets power usage in real time, for nearly the same cost as conventional outlets. One problem with the pervasive deployment of smart outlets is that users must currently identify the specific device plugged into each meter, and then manually update the outlets meta-data in software whenever a new device is plugged into the outlet. Correct meta-data is important in both interpreting historical outlet energy data and using the data for building management. To address this problem, we propose Non-Intrusive Load Identification (NILI), which automatically identifies the device attached to a smart outlet without any human intervention. In particular, in our approach to NILI, we identify an intuitive and simple-to-compute set of features from time-series energy data and then employ well-known classifiers. Our results achieve accuracy of over 90% across 15 device types on outlet-level energy traces collected from multiple real homes.
A strategy for the selective imaging of glycans using caged metabolic precursors
Date: 2010-07-21
Creator: Pamela V. Chang, Danielle H. Dube, Ellen M. Sletten, Carolyn R. Bertozzi
Access: Open access
- Glycans can be imaged by metabolic labeling with azidosugars followed by chemical reaction with imaging probes; however, tissue-specific labeling is difficult to achieve. Here we describe a strategy for the use of a caged metabolic precursor that is activated for cellular metabolism by enzymatic cleavage. An N-azidoacetylmannosamine derivative caged with a peptide substrate for the prostate-specific antigen (PSA) protease was converted to cell-surface azido sialic acids in a PSA-dependent manner. The approach has applications in tissue-selective imaging of glycans for clinical and basic research purposes. © 2010 American Chemical Society.
Using landscape metrics to characterize towns along an urban-rural gradient
Date: 2021-10-01
Creator: Abigail Kaminski, Dana Marie Bauer, Kathleen P. Bell, Cynthia S. Loftin, Erik J., Nelson
Access: Open access
- Context: Urban-rural gradients are useful tools when examining the influence of human disturbances on ecological, social and coupled systems, yet the most commonly used gradient definitions are based on single broad measures such as housing density or percent forest cover that fail to capture landscape patterns important for conservation. Objectives: We present an approach to defining urban–rural gradients that integrates multiple landscape pattern metrics related to ecosystem processes important for natural resources and wildlife sustainability. Methods: We develop a set of land cover composition and configuration metrics and then use them as inputs to a cluster analysis process that, in addition to grouping towns with similar attributes, identifies exemplar towns for each group. We compare the outcome of the cluster-based urban-rural gradient typology to outcomes for four commonly-used rule-based typologies and discuss implications for resource management and conservation. Results: The resulting cluster-based typology defines five town types (urban, suburban, exurban, rural, and agricultural) and notably identifies a bifurcation along the gradient distinguishing among rural forested and agricultural towns. Landscape patterns (e.g., core and islet forests) influence where individual towns fall along the gradient. Designations of town type differ substantially among the five different typologies, particularly along the middle of the gradient. Conclusions: Understanding where a town occurs along the urban-rural gradient could aid local decision-makers in prioritizing and balancing between development and conservation scenarios. Variations in outcomes among the different urban-rural gradient typologies raise concerns that broad-measure classifications do not adequately account for important landscape patterns. We suggest future urban-rural gradient studies utilize more robust classification approaches.
Nineteenth Century French Prints: An Exhibition Selected and Organized by Gregory C. Carroll '73
Date: 1973-01-01
Creator: Gregory Charles Carroll
Access: Open access
- An honors paper for the Dept. of Art
Arginine methylation of yeast mRNA-binding protein Npl3 directly affects its function, nuclear export, and intranuclear protein interactions
Date: 2005-09-02
Creator: Anne E. McBride, Jeffrey T. Cook, Elizabeth A. Stemmler, Kate L. Rutledge, Kelly A., McGrath, Jeffrey A. Rubens
Access: Open access
- Arginine methylation can affect both nucleocytoplasmic transport and protein-protein interactions of RNA-binding proteins. These effects are seen in cells that lack the yeast hnRNP methyltransferase (HMT1), raising the question of whether effects on specific proteins are direct or indirect. The presence of multiple arginines in individual methylated proteins also raises the question of whether overall methylation or methylation of a subset of arginines affects protein function. We have used the yeast mRNA-binding protein Npl3 to address these questions in vivo. Matrix-assisted laser desorption/ionization Fourier transform mass spectrometry was used to identify 17 methylated arginines in Npl3 purified from yeast: whereas 10 Arg-Gly-Gly (RGG) tripeptides were exclusively dimethylated, variable levels off methylation were found for 5 RGG and 2 RG motif arginines. We constructed a set of Npl3 proteins in which subsets of the RGG arginines were mutated to lysine. Expression of these mutant proteins as the sole form of Npl3 specifically affected growth of a strain that requires Hmtl. Although decreased growth generally correlated with increased numbers of Arg-to-Lys mutations, lysine substitutions in the N terminus of the RGG domain showed more severe effects. Npl3 with all 15 RGG arginines mutated to lysine exited the nucleus independent of Hmtl, indicating a direct effect of methylation on Npl3 transport. These mutations also resulted in a decreased, methylation-independent interaction of Npl3 with transcription elongation factor Tho2 and inhibited Npl3 self-association. These results support a model in which arginine methylation facilitates Npl3 export directly by weakening contacts with nuclear proteins. © 2005 by The American Society for Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, Inc.
Speech Given on the Occasion of the Exhibition Colonial & Federal Portraits
Date: 1967-01-01
Creator: James Thomas Flexner
Access: Open access
- The exhibition "Colonial and Federal Portraits at Bowdoin College" was held at the gallery of Wildenstein and Company, New York City.
CO2 induced phase transitions in diamine-appended metal-organic frameworks
Date: 2015-06-15
Creator: Bess Vlaisavljevich, Samuel O. Odoh, Sondre K. Schnell, Allison L. Dzubak, Kyuho, Lee, Nora Planas, Jeffrey B. Neaton, Laura Gagliardi, Berend Smit
Access: Open access
- Using a combination of density functional theory and lattice models, we study the effect of CO2 adsorption in an amine functionalized metal-organic framework. These materials exhibit a step in the adsorption isotherm indicative of a phase change. The pressure at which this step occurs is not only temperature dependent but is also metal center dependent. Likewise, the heats of adsorption vary depending on the metal center. Herein we demonstrate via quantum chemical calculations that the amines should not be considered firmly anchored to the framework and we explore the mechanism for CO2 adsorption. An ammonium carbamate species is formed via the insertion of CO2 into the M-Namine bonds. Furthermore, we translate the quantum chemical results into isotherms using a coarse grained Monte Carlo simulation technique and show that this adsorption mechanism can explain the characteristic step observed in the experimental isotherm while a previously proposed mechanism cannot. Furthermore, metal analogues have been explored and the CO2 binding energies show a strong metal dependence corresponding to the M-Namine bond strength. We show that this difference can be exploited to tune the pressure at which the step in the isotherm occurs. Additionally, the mmen-Ni2(dobpdc) framework shows Langmuir like behavior, and our simulations show how this can be explained by competitive adsorption between the new model and a previously proposed model.
On influence, stable behavior, and the most influential individuals in networks: A game-theoretic approach
Date: 2014-01-01
Creator: Mohammad T. Irfan, Luis E. Ortiz
Access: Open access
- We introduce a new approach to the study of influence in strategic settings where the action of an individual depends on that of others in a network-structured way. We propose network influence games as a game-theoretic model of the behavior of a large but finite networked population. In particular, we study an instance we call linear-influence games that allows both positive and negative influence factors, permitting reversals in behavioral choices. We embrace pure-strategy Nash equilibrium, an important solution concept in non-cooperative game theory, to formally define the stable outcomes of a network influence game and to predict potential outcomes without explicitly considering intricate dynamics. We address an important problem in network influence, the identification of the most influential individuals, and approach it algorithmically using pure-strategy Nash-equilibria computation. Computationally, we provide (a) complexity characterizations of various problems on linear-influence games; (b) efficient algorithms for several special cases and heuristics for hard cases; and (c) approximation algorithms, with provable guarantees, for the problem of identifying the most influential individuals. Experimentally, we evaluate our approach using both synthetic network influence games and real-world settings of general interest, each corresponding to a separate branch of the U.S. Government. Mathematically, we connect linear-influence games to important models in game theory: potential and polymatrix games. © 2014 Published by Elsevier B.V.
Interview with Joseph Adu (Class of 2007), Shawn Stewart (Class of 2008), and Michel Bamani (Class of 2008) by Marcus Williams
Date: 2019-11-09
Creator: Joseph Adu, Shawn Stewart, Michel Bamani
Access: Open access
- Shawn Stewart '08, Michel Bamani '08, and Joseph Adu '07 reflect on their different paths that led them to Bowdoin: Stewart, who grew up in Harlem, working at and being a student of the Harlem Children's Zone, Bamani, a child of Congolese immigrants, and Adu, a child of Ghanaian immigrants. They talk about the challenge of transitioning to Bowdoin academically and socially, getting used to the high academic demands and also learning how to utilize resources. Adu tells a funny story of applying to college during his junior year of high school because he did not realize you had to wait until your senior year in America! Additionally, the three ask each other questions about their own experiences, highlighting the importance of understanding how to prioritize what's most important to them and reflecting on how Bowdoin aided them in that endeavor. They also talk about the expereinces of men of color at PWIs and how to better retain students of color.
Interview with Judy (Mike) Reinhold-Tucker (Class of 1975) by Aisha Rickford
Date: 2019-11-09
Creator: Judy (Mike) Reinhold-Tucker
Access: Open access
- Judy Mike Reinhold Tucker reflects on her one year at Bowdoin, during which she was a member of the first class of women at Bowdoin. She also talks about the transition, both in weather and academics, as she moved from Trinidad to the United States when she finished high school in 1969 in Washington D.C. and then came to Bowdoin on a full scholarship in 1970. Despite only attending Bowdoin for one year, Tucker talks about how Bowdoin shaped her path to be pre med, her passion for education, and the AfAm community at Bowdoin that made her feel at home for the short time that she was here.
APPSSAT: Approximate probabilistic planning using stochastic satisfiability
Date: 2005-01-01
Creator: Stephen M. Majercik
Access: Open access
- We describe APPSSAT, an approximate probabilistic contingent planner based on ZANDER, a probabilistic contingent planner that operates by converting the planning problem to a stochastic satisfiability (SSAT) problem and solving that problem instead [1]. The values of some of the variables in an SSAT instance are probabilistically determined; APPSSAT considers the most likely instantiations of these variables (the most probable situations facing the agent) and attempts to construct an approximation of the optimal plan that succeeds under those circumstances, improving that plan as time permits. Given more time, less likely instantiations/situations are considered and the plan is revised as necessary. In some cases, a plan constructed to address a relatively low percentage of possible situations will succeed for situations not explicitly considered as well, and may return an optimal or near-optimal plan. This means that APPSSAT can sometimes find optimal plans faster than ZANDER. And the anytime quality of APPSSAT means that suboptimal plans could be efficiently derived in larger time-critical domains in which ZANDER might not have sufficient time to calculate the optimal plan. We describe some preliminary experimental results and suggest further work needed to bring APPSSAT closer to attacking real-world problems. © Springer-Verlag Berlin Heidelberg 2005.
Managing small natural features: A synthesis of economic issues and emergent opportunities
Date: 2017-07-01
Creator: Dana Marie Bauer, Kathleen P. Bell, Erik J. Nelson, Aram J.K. Calhoun
Access: Open access
- Small natural features (SNFs), landscape elements that influence species persistence and ecological functioning on a much larger scale than one would expect from their size, can also offer a greater rate of return on conservation investment compared to that of larger natural features or more broad-based conservation. However, their size and perceived lack of significance also makes them more vulnerable to threats and destruction. We examine the management of SNFs and conservation of the associated ecosystem services they generate from an economics perspective. Using the economic concept of market failure, we identify three key themes that explain prevailing threats to SNFs and characterize impediments to and opportunities for SNF management: (1) the degree to which benefits derived from the feature spillover, beyond the feature itself (spatially and temporally); (2) the availability and quality of information about the feature and those who most directly influence its management; and (3) the existence and enforcement of property rights and legal standing of the feature. We argue that the efficacy of alternative SNF management approaches is highly case dependent and relies on four key components: (1) the specific ecosystem services of interest; (2) the amount of redundancy of the SNF on the landscape and the level of connectivity required by the SNF in order to provide ecosystem services; (3) the particular market failures that need correcting and their scope and extent; and (4) the magnitude and distribution of management costs.
In and out of the spectacle: The Beijing olympics and Yiyun Li's The Vagrants
Date: 2011-01-01
Creator: Belinda Kong
Access: Open access
Reflections questionnaire response by Annabel Winterberg on March 20, 2021
Date: 2021-01-01
Creator: Annabel Winterberg
Access: Open access
- This is a response to the Documenting Bowdoin & COVID-19 Reflections Questionnaire. The questionnaire was created in March 2021 by staff of Bowdoin's George J. Mitchell Department of Special Collections & Archives. Author is class of 2021.
Position effects influence transvection in drosophila melanogaster
Date: 2019-01-01
Creator: Thomas D. King, Justine E. Johnson, Jack R. Bateman
Access: Open access
- Transvection is an epigenetic phenomenon wherein regulatory elements communicate between different chromosomes in trans, and is thereby dependent upon the three-dimensional organization of the genome. Transvection is best understood in Drosophila, where homologous chromosomes are closely paired in most somatic nuclei, although similar phenomena have been observed in other species. Previous data have supported that the Drosophila genome is generally permissive to enhancer action in trans, a form of transvection where an enhancer on one homolog activates gene expression from a promoter on a paired homolog. However, the capacity of different genomic positions to influence the quantitative output of transvection has yet to be addressed. To investigate this question, we employed a transgenic system that assesses and compares enhancer action in cis and in trans at defined chromosomal locations. Using the strong synthetic eye-specific enhancer GMR, we show that loci supporting strong cis-expression tend to support robust enhancer action in trans, whereas locations with weaker cis-expression show reduced transvection in a fluorescent reporter assay. Our subsequent analysis is consistent with a model wherein the chromatin state of the transgenic insertion site is a primary determinant of the degree to which enhancer action in trans will be supported, whereas other factors such as locus-specific variation in somatic homolog pairing are of less importance in influencing position effects on transvection.
Estimating the impact of Critical Habitat designation on the values of developed and undeveloped parcels (2nd version, current as of 7/29/2022)
Date: 2022-07-29
Creator: Saleh Mamun, Erik Nelson, Christoph Nolte
Access: Open access
- We use differences-in-differences (DD) estimators to measure the impact that Endangered Species Act (ESA)’s Critical Habitat (CH) rule had on developed and undeveloped parcel prices throughout the US between 2000 and 2019. In a national-level analysis we found that, on average, the price of parcels “treated” with CH were not statistically different than the prices of nearby parcels in listed species range space but not “treated” by CH. CH’s null impact on developed parcel prices is surprising given homeowner’s documented willingness to pay for property surrounded by protected open space. CH’s null impact on undeveloped parcel prices is surprising as previous research had indicated that the impact of CH on undeveloped parcel prices was negative due to the additional regulatory costs and development uncertainty the CH regulation imposes on land developers. When we used relevant subsets of CH areas to measure CH’s impact on parcel prices, we did occasionally find results that were consistent with expectations. We reach two conclusions. First, the impact of the economic impact of the CH rule, holding the impact of other ESA sections constant, cannot be reduced to a simple, consistent narrative. Second, CH’s relatively minor impact on parcel prices suggests that the rule does not have much regulatory “bite.”
Fast pyrolysis of lignins
Date: 2010-08-01
Creator: Sedat H. Beis, Saikrishna Mukkamala, Nathan Hill, Jincy Joseph, Cirila, Baker, Bruce Jensen, Elizabeth A. Stemmler, M. Clayton Wheeler, Brian G. Frederick
Access: Open access
- Three lignins: Indulin AT, Lignoboost™, and Acetocell lignin, were characterized and pyrolyzed in a continuous-fed fast pyrolysis process. The physical and chemical properties of the lignins included chemical composition, heat content, ash, and water content. The distributed activation energy model (DAEM) was used to describe the pyrolysis of each lignin. Activation energy distributions of each lignin were quite different and generally covered a broad range of energies, typically found in lignins. Process yields for initial continuous-fed fast pyrolysis experiments are reported. Bio-oil yield was low, ranging from 16 to 22%. Under the fast pyrolysis conditions used, the Indulin AT and Lignoboost™ lignin yielded slightly more liquid product than the Acetocell lignin. Lignin kinetic parameters and chemical composition vary considerably and fast pyrolysis processes must be specified for each type of lignin.
Exploring film language with a digital analysis tool: The case of kinolab
Date: 2021-01-01
Creator: Allison Cooper, Fernando Nascimento, David Francis
Access: Open access
- This article presents a case study of Kinolab, a digital platform for the analysis of narrative film language. It describes the need for a scholarly database of clips focusing on film language for cinema and media studies faculty and students, highlighting recent technological and legal advances that have created a favorable environment for this kind of digital humanities work. Discussion of the project is situated within the broader context of contemporary developments in moving image annotation and a discussion of the unique challenges posed by computationally-driven moving image analysis. The article also argues for a universally accepted data model for film language to facilitate the academic crowdsourcing of film clips and the sharing of research and resources across the Semantic Web.
Survey on Italian Studies & Digital Humanities
Date: 2016-08-18
Creator: Crystal Hall
Access: Open access
- A survey distributed in English and Italian to collect information about the intersection of the fields of Italian Studies and Digital Humanities. The goals are to describe the kinds of work being done by scholars in this space of intersection, identify successful professional pathways that combine methods or content from the two fields, and inform next steps for organizations that support this work. Results will be discussed at the Wellesley "State of the Discipline" event on October 1, 2016 and the MLA Roundtable on the topic, January 5, 2017. The survey is provided here in case other fields are interested in conducting similar work.
From Durer to Picasso: Five Centuries of Master Prints from a Private Collection
Date: 1990-01-01
Access: Open access
- Checklist to accompany an exhibition of the same name at the Bowdoin College Museum of Art from Oct. 5-Dec. 9, 1990.
Reconsidering Operation Condor: Cross-border Military Cooperation and the Defeat of the Transnational Left in Chile and Argentina during the 1970s
Date: 2014-05-01
Creator: Georgia C Whitaker
Access: Open access
- In this study of the roots of Operation Condor, I track the development of this unusual military alliance forged by six Southern Cone governments (Chile, Argentina, Brazil, Bolivia, Uruguay, and Paraguay) during the 1970s, as well as the push-and-pull relationship between the transnational migration of political militants and the military’s impetus for collaboration. While most accounts of Condor focus on the United States as the operation’s primary orchestrator, I contend that initial motivation for the type of cooperation that Condor would later formalize was driven not by the U.S., but by the Southern Cone militaries’ perception that Marxism had to be excised from the entire region. In addition, while Condor scholars have either ignored or minimized the role of the left as political actors and placed the blame for violence exclusively on the militaries and the United States, I draw from unpublished Argentine police records, Argentine Embassy documents, and Chilean-Argentine solidarity group publications to argue that it is essential to broaden our understanding of what both sides in this ideological confrontation were attempting to accomplish. The transnational left, never a homogenous group, evolved to meet a variety of objectives. Many militants continued to be politically active while they were in exile, and many acted in solidarity with like-minded leftists in their midst.
Why we write (nuclear) history
Date: 2017-09-01
Creator: David K. Hecht
Access: Open access
- Nuclear history always compels. Scholars (and readers) can immerse themselves in the existential threat posed by the atomic bomb and its successor weapons, the tantalizing prospect of carbon-free energy, or the study of a natural phenomenon deeply at odds with our everyday experience of the world. There is thus always something profound at stake when we write nuclear historyÂ-Â be it physical, economic or intellectual. And while it may seem that the end of the Cold War should have diminished the academic attention accorded to the subject, it actually just allowed the historiography to evolve. To the wealth of technical and political studies that once dominated nuclear history, we can now add a host of excellent cultural, environmental, literary and transnational studies. Those of us who entered the field shortly after the break-up of the Soviet Union have been able to follow these developments first-hand, from the initial uncertainty of where nuclear history would go without its original raison d'être to seeing the possibilities opened up in a post-Cold War world. The books under review here provide important and timely additions to this historiography. Luis A. Campos's Radium and the Secret Life provides a rigorous and compelling account of the uses of radium in early twentieth-century biology; Timothy J. Jorgensen's Strange Glow: The Story of Radiation offers an accessible and illuminating analysis of the benefits and risks of radiation. The books also make for a fascinating juxtaposition. They complement each other well, but also contain some intriguing differences that allow us to reflect on the nature of nuclear history in the early twenty-first century.
The Role of Social Media for Knowledge Sharing and Collaboration in Distributed Teams
Date: 2013-04-12
Creator: Nicole Ellison, Matthew Weber
Access: Open access
- Social media are providing a medium through which individuals are reshaping how they do many things – finding romantic partners, providing social support, grieving for loved ones, even buying mundane items like toothpaste. They are also reshaping organizations – the way they function, the relationships they contain, and the ways organizations interact with external stakeholders. In this paper, we consider the changes that social media have introduced to organizational knowledge-sharing practices. We believe the social and technical affordances of social media create new challenges for organizations and necessitate research examining the ways in which: (1) technological affordances impact knowledge sharing within and between teams, (2) interpersonal and relationship development processes shape knowledge sharing among distributed team members and their individual social networks, and (3) organizational social networks influence knowledge sharing among distributed team members.
ERPs and neural oscillations during volitional suppression of memory retrieval
Date: 2013-10-01
Creator: Brendan Eliot Depue, Nick Ketz, Matthew V. Mollison, Erika Nyhus, Marie T. Banich, Tim Curran
Access: Open access
- Although investigations of memory and the dynamics of ERP components and neural oscillations as assessed through EEG have been well utilized, little research into the volitional nature of suppression over memory retrieval have used these methods. Oscillation analyses conducted on the Think/No-Think (TNT) task and volitional suppression of retrieval are of interest to broaden our knowledge of neural oscillations associated not only during successful memory retrieval but also when retrieval is unwanted or suppressed. In the current study, we measured EEG during a TNT task and performed ERP and EEG spectral power band analyses. ERP results replicated other researchers' observations of increases in 500-800 msec parietal effects for items where retrieval was instructed to be elaborated compared with being suppressed. Furthermore, EEG analyses indicated increased alpha (8-12 Hz) and theta (3-8 Hz) oscillations across parietal electrodes for items that were instructed to be suppressed versus those to be elaborated. Additionally, during the second half of the experiment (after repeated attempts at control), increases in theta oscillations were found across both frontal and parietal electrodes for items that were instructed to be suppressed and that were ultimately forgotten versus those ultimately remembered. Increased alpha power for items that were instructed to be suppressed versus elaborated may indicate reductions of retrieval attempts or lack of retrieval success. Increased theta power for items that were instructed to be suppressed versus elaborated may indicate increased or prolonged cognitive control to monitor retrieval events. © 2013 Massachusetts Institute of Technology.
The Portrayal of the Negro in American Painting
Date: 1964-01-01
Access: Open access
- The Portrayal of the Negro in American Painting (1964) is an exhibition catalogue documenting an art exhibition at the Bowdoin College Museum of Art, curated by Marvin S. Sadik.
Walker Art Building Murals
Date: 1972-01-01
Creator: Richard V. West
Access: Open access
- Bowdoin College Museum of Art, Occasional papers, 1.
Interview with Terranicia Holmes (Class of 2013) by Aisha Rickford
Date: 2019-11-10
Creator: Terranicia Holmes
Access: Open access
- Terranicia Holmes ‘13 talks about moving to New England from Atlanta, Georgia, and navigating the subtle cultural shock of living among tremendous wealth at Bowdoin, and recognizing the covert way that racism behaves in the Northeast in comparison to the South. She shares stories about encouraging and participating in conversations about race on campus, and how time change her perspective on how difficult and meaningful her experiences were. She details some of her most important relationships, like with Professor Tess Chakkalakal, and the importance of leaning into those who championed her and who thought highly of her. She also talks about Shelley Roseboro, who introduced her to loving kindness and helped her to process and grow emotionally during her time at Bowdoin. Finally, Homes reflects on how Bowdoin shaped her into who she is today, helped her develop direction, and how even now when she arrives in Maine, she feels like she is home.
Interview with Richard Adams (Class of 1973) by Aisha Rickford
Date: 2019-11-10
Creator: Richard Adams
Access: Open access
- Richard Adams ‘73 talks about lobbying during his senior year of high school in Pittsburgh to make Martin Luther King Jr’s birthday a national holiday, shortly after Martin Luther King Jr.’s assassination in 1968. He chose Bowdoin for its liberal proclivities, believing it would be place for him, an avid activist by the time he graduated high school. Adams’s activism followed him to Bowdoin, where he was active in the African-American Society, finding a home in the black community at Bowdoin and in Maine at large, and how his passion for activism defined his time at Bowdoin and beyond.
Interview with Janelle Charles (Class of 2006) and Dudney Sylla (Class of 2008) by Aisha Rickford
Date: 2019-11-10
Creator: Janelle Charles, Dudney Sylla
Access: Open access
- Janelle Charles ‘06 and Dudney Sylla ‘08 talk about their differing paths to Bowdoin. Sylla grew up in Boston, attending a Jesuit high school, and being a recipient of the Posse Scholarship. Charles talks about growing up in San Francisco, California and finding out about Bowdoin through fly-in programs. Both talk about the difficulty of transitioning to Bowdoin’s academic rigor, particularly as first-generation college students, and the freedom and independence that came with having an open college schedule. They also detail what it was like to leave their home communities and craft new communities at Bowdoin. Charles and Sylla both talk about the resources at Bowdoin and the leaders and professors that encouraged them and helped them feel seen at Bowdoin, particularly Shelley Roseboro, and reflect on their favorite memories and their own enduring friendship.
Interview with Osakhare Fasehun (Class of 2018) by Marcus Williams
Date: 2019-11-09
Creator: Osakhare Fasehun
Access: Open access
- Osakhare Fasehun '18 recounts his first introduction to Bowdoin through the ‘Bowdoin Experience’ weekend, and the ways that this both excited him, but ultimately led to disappointment in realizing the lacking diversity on campus. Fasehun goes on to share how his passion for academics landed him at Bowdoin, and how ultimately he was able to fully nurture his intellectual engagement during his four years. Beyond academics, he shares how the Gangster Party influenced his time at Bowdoin, and how this act of virtual blackface pushed him to interact more heavily with AfAm. He described the difficulties he found in navigating campus as one of very few men of color in his class. Finally, Fasehun shares the biggest lessons he learned from Bowdoin, largely being the necessity to advocate for oneself amidst a system that may not always advocate for you.
Interview with Carroy Ferguson (Class of 1968) by Marcus Williams
Date: 2019-11-09
Creator: Carroy Ferguson
Access: Open access
- Carroy Cuf Ferguson ‘68 talks about being offered a free ride to Bowdoin and deciding between Bowdoin and Morehouse College. He shares stories about growing up in the segregated South and having near zero contact with whites, having to be bussed across town to attend high school despite living a block away from an all-white high school. He talks about being the first student of color to be admitted into the fraternity Sigma Nu, which had a discriminatory clause in it forbidding students of color from joining, and what it was like to fight that clause with his fraternity brothers. Ferguson shares stories about how it felt to have the “weight of [his] race on his shoulders), navigating Bowdoin in the mid- to late- sixties, and the pressures that came with that.
Interview with David Dickson (Class of 1976) by Aisha Rickford
Date: 2019-11-09
Creator: David Dickson
Access: Open access
- David Dickson '76 shares some remarks on his father, David W. D. Dickson, who graduated from Bowdoin in 1941, and his uncle who graduated in 1935. He talks about how the Bowdoin of their era had segregated fraternities that did not allow black students or Jewish students, and details his father’s experience with the emotional tax that such a reality posed. Dickson also talks about the importance of having the safe space of the African-American society that behaved as an “island on a lily-white campus.” He also talks about the former student organization, All Races United (ARU) and how students of marginalized backgrounds as well as “independent mainstream” students could come together in activism. Finally, Dickson shares how his experiences at Bowdoin affected the development of his racial identity.