The intersection of faith, mental illness, and healthcare will be the subject of a talk at Washington College on Feb. 19, when 2007 graduate David Finnegan-Hosey returns to his alma mater to speak about his latest book, Grace Is a Preexisting Condition: Faith, Systems, and Mental Healthcare. Emerging from his experience of living with a diagnosis deemed as a preexisting condition by insurance companies, the book explores the theological and spiritual dimensions of our public discourse around mental healthcare and mental illness.

The free public talk at 7 p.m. in Hynson Lounge is sponsored by the Goldstein Program’s Young Alumni series.

Finnegan-Hosey, who majored in international studies with a minor in philosophy, serves as the college chaplain and director of campus ministries at Barton College in Wilson, N.C., having previously worked with campus ministries at Georgetown University, American University, and the University of Hawaii. He holds a master’s in divinity from Wesley Theological Seminary and a unit of clinical pastoral education from the National Institutes of Health Clinical Center. He is certified by Mental Health First Aid USA to provide initial help to people experiencing depression, anxiety, psychosis, and substance use disorders.

In 2011, Finnegan-Hosey was diagnosed with bipolar disorder after a series of psychiatric hospitalizations. He now speaks and writes about the intersections among mental illness, mental health, and faith. He is the author of Christ on the Psych Ward (Church Publishing, 2018), and he blogs at Foolish Hosey. Profits from the pre-order of Grace is a Preexisting Condition will donated to RIP Medical Debt, which works to abolish unpaid medical debt.

About Washington College
Founded in 1782, Washington College is the tenth oldest college in the nation and the first chartered under the new Republic. It enrolls approximately 1,450 undergraduates from more than 39 states and territories and 25 nations. With an emphasis on hands-on, experiential learning in the arts and sciences, and more than 40 multidisciplinary areas of study, the College is home to nationally recognized academic centers in the environment, history, and writing. Learn more at washcoll.edu.

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Washington College’s Communication and Media Studies (CMS) speaker series welcomes Robert Mejia on Feb. 17 to discuss “Race and Urban Communication Infrastructure.” The event, which is open to the public, begins at 4:30 p.m. in Hynson Lounge of Hodson Hall.

An assistant professor of communication at North Dakota State University, Mejia is a critical cultural scholar invested in understanding how politics, economics, culture, and technology are embedded within each other. His article documenting the racial history and infrastructure of contemporary propaganda, “White Lies: A Racial History of the (Post)Truth,” was awarded the 2019 National Communication Association’s outstanding article award from the Critical and Cultural Studies Division.

In this talk, Mejia will examine the city as a complicated confluence of uneven political, economic, cultural, and environmental interests. “Critical geographers and sociologists have documented how the inequitable power dynamics governing these relationships have led to segregated cities. This public lecture builds upon this research to illustrate how communication infrastructure is a fundamental element of urban planning, and how an emphasis on communication can help us to design better cities capable of combating racism and other forms of systemic discrimination.”

Mejia’s talk is supported by the William James Fund, the Communication and Media Studies Program, the Center for Environment & Society, and the Department of Environmental Science and Studies.

For more information about the CMS speaker series see https://www.washcoll.edu/departments/communication-and-media-studies/cms-speaker-series/

About Washington College
Founded in 1782, Washington College is the tenth oldest college in the nation and the first chartered under the new Republic. It enrolls approximately 1,450 undergraduates from more than 39 states and territories and 25 nations. With an emphasis on hands-on, experiential learning in the arts and sciences, and more than 40 multidisciplinary areas of study, the College is home to nationally recognized academic centers in the environment, history, and writing. Learn more at washcoll.edu.

Don’t miss the latest! You can subscribe to The Chestertown Spy‘s free Daily Intelligence Report here

Washington College has won a $1 million grant from the Department of Commerce’s Maryland E-Nnovation Initiative Fund (MEIF) to establish an endowed directorship of its River and Field Campus, an award matched by $1 million an anonymous donor.

It’s the fourth time in four years that Washington College has won an MEIF grant, and it will mark a turning point for the River and Field Campus (RAFC), which will become a research and experimental hub for a holistic rural land management model that supports the co-existence of sustainable land conservation and profitable agriculture. Already a research center for faculty and students in disciplines ranging from biology to anthropology, RAFC is now poised to launch ground-breaking work focused in innovative agriculture, natural resource management and restoration, and agro-ecotourism and recreation.

“Supporting innovation in Maryland is an essential part of keeping our state competitive, spurring business growth, and paving the way for the jobs of the future,” Maryland Commerce Secretary Kelly M. Schulz said on Friday announcing the awards. “Funding from the Maryland E-Nnovation Initiative will help four of our leading colleges and universities continue the important research that helps move our state forward.”

“Once again, Washington College is leading the way in environmental and sustainability studies, this time in the completely unique and unmatched living laboratory of the River and Field Campus,” says College President Kurt Landgraf. “We could not have accomplished these remarkable goals without the immense and consistent support of Harry Sears, who foresaw decades ago how agriculture and conservation must work hand-in-hand to the benefit of all, and then provided us the unparalleled property to explore answers to the questions that arise from that challenge.”

Michael Hardesty, currently Director of Programs and Staff at the College’s Center for Environment & Society (CES), will be named the new Director of the River and Field Campus. With over 15 years of experience in agriculture development and policy as well as environmental restoration and policy, Hardesty has overseen RAFC programming and development since 2012.

“Our River and Field Campus is a national gem; there is nothing like it in higher education,” says John Seidel, Director of CES, which oversees the programming and research at RAFC. “Its varied habitats provide myriad opportunities for teaching and research, while innovations in habitat restoration and agriculture provide models for others. This grant and generous matching gift will help us maximize the benefits of RAFC for our students and for the region.”

The River and Field Campus, located about a 10-minute drive from the College’s main campus, includes 2.5 miles of Chester River waterfront, 1,700 acres of forest containing ecologically unique Delmarva bays, and a 90-acre waterfowl sanctuary. Nearly all of it is protected from development—a result of Sears’ decision in 2001 to partner with The Conservation Fund to create the largest conservation easement in the state of Maryland. A member of the College’s Board of Visitors and Governors, Sears for decades has invited scientists and researchers from multiple institutions to conduct innovative environmental research and projects there. In 2017, he turned oversight of the property and its research over to the College.

RAFC is home to a working farm as well as programs and research overseen by the CES including Foreman’s Branch Bird Observatory, the Natural Lands Project, the Grasslands Restoration project, and part of the Chester River Watershed Observatory. It is also the location of the Eastern Shore Food Lab’s new wild food outpost.

Dozens of College students already study and work at RAFC with faculty, where they conduct field research on diverse projects including studying the parental care of field sparrows (a species that comes to the property specifically for the restored grassland habitat there); analyzing surface runoff to better inform land managers of the best locations and methods to trap pollutants before they reach the Bay’s tributaries; comparing soil profiles in riparian and upland habitats; and surveying seed dispersal and tree diversity.

Ultimately, RAFC will also provide a venue for expanding WC athletics including the College’s varsity trap and skeet team, equestrian team, and development of cross-country and track and field opportunities. The entire property will also become more accessible for students, faculty, and staff who want to spend time immersed in the natural world. It is the perfect venue for both recreation and the applied, hands-on learning that has become a hallmark of Washington College’s environmental programs.

This is the fourth consecutive year the College has successfully pursued an MEIF grant with matching support from donors—a prerequisite for the award. In 2018, the state awarded WC $1 million, matched by $1 million from The Hodson Trust, to establish an endowed directorship for the College’s GIS Program. In 2017, the state awarded $944,000, matched by $1 million from private donors, to create an endowed chair for the College’s new Eastern Shore Food Lab. And, in 2016, the state granted $1 million to match private funds to create an endowed position in CES aimed at creating entrepreneurial opportunities for students in the sciences.

About Washington College
Founded in 1782, Washington College is the tenth oldest college in the nation and the first chartered under the new Republic. It enrolls approximately 1,450 undergraduates from more than 39 states and territories and 25 nations. With an emphasis on hands-on, experiential learning in the arts and sciences, and more than 40 multidisciplinary areas of study, the College is home to nationally recognized academic centers in the environment, history, and writing. Learn more at washcoll.edu.

Don’t miss the latest! You can subscribe to The Chestertown Spy‘s free Daily Intelligence Report here

Nothing lasts forever, and civilizations rise and fall. Their collapse, whether in ancient Rome, Mesopotamia, or the world of the Maya, evokes both mystery and drama. But often overlooked is the amazing longevity and resilience of human communities, even in places that push the limits of technology and capacity. Join archaeologist John Seidel in exploring examples of both resilience and collapse across time and around the world, asking what lessons we can learn from the past and how they might be applied today, in a time of rapid change and shifting climate.

The free and public presentation on Feb. 10 will begin at 5:30 p.m. in the Litrenta Lecture Hall in Washington College’s Toll Science Center.

Seidel is the Director for the Center for Environment & Society at Washington College and the Lammot du Pont Copeland Associate Professor of Anthropology and Environmental Studies. His areas of interest include environmental archaeology, maritime archaeology, historic preservation, natural and cultural resource management, remote sensing, GIS and computer applications in resource management, benthic habitat and coastal zone assessment, and long-term climate change.

For more information on these events or the Center for Environment & Society at Washington College, visit the website at www.washcoll.edu/centers/ces, or visit our Facebook at https://www.facebook.com/CenterforEnvironmentandSociety/.

About Washington College
Founded in 1782, Washington College is the tenth oldest college in the nation and the first chartered under the new Republic. It enrolls approximately 1,450 undergraduates from more than 39 states and territories and 25 nations. With an emphasis on hands-on, experiential learning in the arts and sciences, and more than 40 multidisciplinary areas of study, the College is home to nationally recognized academic centers in the environment, history, and writing. Learn more at washcoll.edu.

Don’t miss the latest! You can subscribe to The Chestertown Spy‘s free Daily Intelligence Report here