{"id":75847,"date":"2013-04-15T09:59:24","date_gmt":"2013-04-15T13:59:24","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/?p=75847"},"modified":"2015-08-11T14:58:33","modified_gmt":"2015-08-11T18:58:33","slug":"liberal-arts-and-sciences-hosts-first-alumni-college-experience","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/2013\/04\/liberal-arts-and-sciences-hosts-first-alumni-college-experience\/","title":{"rendered":"Liberal Arts and Sciences Hosts First Alumni College Experience"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"Hal<\/a>
Hal Posselt ’69 and Edie Posselt examine a fossil at the first Alumni College Experience day.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Alumni from around the Northeast gathered at the Student Union last week for the University\u2019s first Alumni College Experience day, hosted by the College of Liberal Arts and Sciences.<\/p>\n

\u201cWho wouldn\u2019t want to come back to campus and learn something?\u201d said Gail Desmond, wife of Giles \u201cBud\u201d Desmond \u201955 (CLAS), at the event.<\/p>\n

The program, which invites alumni back to Storrs to attend lectures and discussions by prominent faculty, included three presentations by professors in the College, centered around the theme \u201cNew England: Past, Future, and Today.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"Professor<\/a>
Professor Robert Gross, the Draper Chair of Early American History, talks about Henry David Thoreau’s ‘Walden.’ (Christine Buckley\/UConn Photo)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Five professors of history, ecology, geoscience, and molecular biology spoke on a range of topics, including Henry David Thoreau\u2019s Walden;<\/i> the geology of Connecticut; and how the state fits into the international biotech picture.<\/p>\n

This mix of topics, said Peter Roberts \u201969, was what interested him and his wife Nancy. Roberts majored in history and also took courses in engineering, and he has spent his career working in technology.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt sounded like a really fun thing to do \u2013 you get a taste of everything,\u201d Nancy Roberts said. \u201cWe were interested in the mix of different subjects.\u201d<\/p>\n

Robert \u201cThor\u201d Thorson, professor of geosciences and ecology and evolutionary biology, and Robert Gross, the Draper Chair of Early American History, spoke on topics from their jointly-developed interdisciplinary course, \u201cWalden and the American Landscape.\u201d The course combines elements of culture, sociology, economics, environmental studies, and literature.<\/p>\n

Gross, who has been teaching the course since 2006, said that Walden<\/i> is an excellent example of how these themes have shaped the American experience, and particularly the New England experience.<\/p>\n

\"Andrew<\/a>
Andrew Bush, associate professor of ecology and evolutionary biology, points to an image of the supercontinent Pangea. (Christine Buckley\/UConn Photo)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Andrew Bush, associate professor of ecology and evolutionary biology and geosciences, and Eric Schultz, professor of ecology and evolutionary biology, then spoke on “New England: Today.” Bush gave an overview of the geology of Connecticut, a topic of great interest to Bud Desmond. Although he is an actuary by profession, he has always been interested in geology.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019ve studied the geology of the Farmington Valley and the Connecticut Valley,\u201d he said. \u201cI grew up in Simsbury, so it\u2019s always been very interesting to me.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"An<\/a>
An alumna asks a question about disease prevention at the first Alumni College Experience day. (Christine Buckley\/UConn Photo)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Professor Kenneth Noll of the Department of Molecular and Cell Biology spoke about the potential for Connecticut to be a center for biological science and technology. The discussion, interspersed with audience questions, ranged from how a person\u2019s \u201cmicrobiome\u201d of bacteria could help save their lives, to how New England might be able to process corn stalks or algae for biofuels.<\/p>\n

Noll also talked about his conviction that students of the sciences always benefit from also learning the arts. His breadth of knowledge impressed Nancy Roberts.<\/p>\n

\u201cToday\u2019s professors \u2026 they can talk, they can write, they can teach,\u201d she said. \u201cIt\u2019s really integrated and wonderful.\u201d<\/p>\n

Keith Hausman \u201964 was particularly interested in the aspects of Noll\u2019s talk dealing with genetics and genome sequencing, saying that he\u2019s amazed at how science is changing our world.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe talk opened up so many things to think about for our future,\u201d he mused. \u201cIt opens up thoughts like, how will science change our grandchildren\u2019s lives?\u201d<\/p>\n

Interested in learning more and attending a College Experience program? For more information, contact Caitlin Trinh, director of alumni relations for CLAS: Caitlin.Trinh@uconn.edu<\/a>.<\/i><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Alumni from around the Northeast gathered on campus last week for a day of talks by prominent faculty members.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":37,"featured_media":75906,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_crdt_document":"","wds_primary_category":0,"wds_primary_series":0,"wds_primary_attribution":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[147,1],"tags":[],"magazine-issues":[],"coauthors":[63],"class_list":["post-75847","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-alumni","category-uncategorized"],"pp_statuses_selecting_workflow":false,"pp_workflow_action":"current","pp_status_selection":"publish","acf":[],"publishpress_future_action":{"enabled":false,"date":"2026-06-07 07:10:25","action":"change-status","newStatus":"draft","terms":[],"taxonomy":"category","extraData":[]},"publishpress_future_workflow_manual_trigger":{"enabledWorkflows":[]},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/wp-rest\/wp\/v2\/posts\/75847","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/wp-rest\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/wp-rest\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/wp-rest\/wp\/v2\/users\/37"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/wp-rest\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=75847"}],"version-history":[{"count":6,"href":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/wp-rest\/wp\/v2\/posts\/75847\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":103794,"href":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/wp-rest\/wp\/v2\/posts\/75847\/revisions\/103794"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/wp-rest\/wp\/v2\/media\/75906"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/wp-rest\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=75847"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/wp-rest\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=75847"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/wp-rest\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=75847"},{"taxonomy":"magazine-issue","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/wp-rest\/wp\/v2\/magazine-issues?post=75847"},{"taxonomy":"author","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/wp-rest\/wp\/v2\/coauthors?post=75847"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}