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Arts and Humanities  / Salve Success  / Student Life
Salve Success: Morgan Dubay ’24 learns to combine dance and psychology for healing
salvetoday Posted On February 2, 2023


Morgan Dubay ’24 is a psychology and dance double major with a minor in applied behavioral analysis. This combination of different passions has helped her see how the arts can be therapeutic and transformative, and she has even choreographed a recent piece in honor of mental health advocacy.

Life in the dance program

Dubay discovered her love for dance at a “Mommy and Me” dance class when she was just 18 months old. When she was eight, Dubay took a trip to Newport, Rhode Island, to visit a family friend who was attending Salve Regina, and she ended up seeing the dance company perform.

“We saw the show, and I looked at my mom and said, ‘I really want to go to Salve. This is the place for me,’ ” described Dubay. “And ever since it was the only place ever on my radar.”

Dubay worked hard in order to be accepted at the University. Her love for dance continued to grow, and she knew Salve Regina would be the perfect place for her to attend.

“Once they got the dance major, that’s when I really decided that Salve Regina was a no-brainer,” said Dubay.

Morgan Dubay dances in a past performance at Salve Regina in the Extensions Dance Company.

The dance major at Salve Regina is unique for many reasons, according to Dubay. The curriculum is focused on jazz as the foundation for movement, and the program acknowledges and honors jazz as a historically Black American art form best understood through awareness of one’s own identity and culture.

“I believe that our program addresses the five critical concerns of mercy throughout its curriculum, as we are consistently working through a human rights lens,” Dubay described. “As dancers, we are listening to experiences of Black American artists to think critically about racial inequality in jazz dance.”

The jazz program is also deeply centered around feelings expressed from the inside out, according to Dubay.

“It’s a participation in the purest form of self-expression, so feeling inside and out means we take our emotions that can be good or bad … and let our outward movement express what’s going on inside,” she explained.

Another element Dubay enjoys is performing in the Extensions Dance Company, an audition-based, pre-professional concert dance ensemble that performs in jazz, contemporary and tap styles.

“The program allows space for all dancers and artists to collaborate in a supportive environment,” Dubay said. “I believe that the Salve dance program is unlike any other.”

Combining psychology and dance

Bring a double major in psychology at Salve Regina, Dubay is fascinated by child development and how artistic expression is a means to make important healing connections within the mind and body.

As a first year student, Dubay decided to become a service advocate. In 2022, she became an advocate for the Hasbro Children’s Hospital, the pediatric division of Rhode Island Hospital. She helps in any way she can, whether the task is big or small—and her love for children’s psychology and helping kids process their emotions has grown as she’s continued this work.

Someday, Dubay hopes to combine her love for dance with mental health, and she dreams of working with children.

“For as long as I can remember, I have wanted to be a dance movement therapist,” said Dubay. “In middle school, I began to see an art therapist who showed me that the arts can heal. I have personally felt the benefits of dancing through life’s challenges and roadblocks. Whether it’s basic movement or grooves, movement heals.”

In September 2022, Dubay began choregraphing a contemporary piece that gives an example of how creative expression can help process mental health issues. The piece, entitled “Round and Round,” takes inspiration from watching a family member struggle with schizophrenia and dissociative identity disorder.

Dubay choreographed a piece wrestling with a family member’s battle with mental illness for this semester’s Student Choreography Showcase. 

“I will never understand the battle that is schizophrenia and dissociative identity disorder, so I told this story through the lens of an 8-year-old Morgan who just wanted answers for her family member’s actions,” said Dubay. “I have two dancers telling their own individual stories, and one dancer manipulating and preventing any connection or relationship between the two.”

This piece will be highlighted in the dance program’s upcoming Student Choreography Showcase, and performances will be held on Thursday, Feb. 2, and Saturday, Feb. 4, at the Casino Theater.

Looking to the future

In the future, Dubay hopes to begin the master’s program here at Salve Regina in holistic clinical mental health counseling. She wants to utilize what she has learned in both the psychology and dance departments to work with pediatric patients in crisis.

 “Since I am interested in the holistic counseling route, I believe that complete mental wellness is accomplished when we take a step back and look at the whole person,” she said. “The whole person includes the environment and guardians when discussing children and adolescents.”

The master’s program here at Salve Regina equips counselors in training to see in such a holistic way. Overall, Dubay is excited to see how her varied educational classes, professors and opportunities have continued to pave the way for her work in the future. She will cherish her time at Salve Regina, always grateful for these formative years of intellectual and artistic exploration.

Dubay also stays active on campus as the internal chair for SalveTHON, the co-senior captain of The Dance Club at Salve Regina, and a member of Sigma Phi Sigma.

Article written with supplemental reporting by student writer Amanda Graves ’23

Salve Success is a series of student success stories periodically featured on SALVEtoday. Check out the tag Salve Success for more stories.


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Arts and Humanities  / Business and Economics  / Graduate News  / News  / Science and Technology
SRyou Student Exposition proposals must be submitted before February deadline
salvetoday Posted On February 1, 2023


SRyou Student Exposition is excited to be presented at Salve Regina on Wednesday, March 22. The deadline for undergraduate and graduate student proposals is approaching quickly, and students must submit proposals by Thursday, Feb. 9.

For newer students who may not know much about it, SRyou Student Exposition is an important opportunity for all students to share curricular, co-curricular and extracurricular involvements with their peers, faculty and staff.

“The theme for the 2023 SRyou Student Exposition is SRyou Sparks Change,” described Natalie Cote ’25, the SRyou Student Exposition planning committee chairwoman. “We decided on this theme, because at the heart of the critical concerns of mercy is change. We are a school filled with future leaders and future change makers. Whether their project is going to change things for their field, their class or the community, we are a University that creates change.”

Salve Regina University students enjoy and participate in the SRYou Student Exposition on campus on March 23, 2022.

SRyou will be welcoming guests from the Salve Regina community, including parents, faculty, staff and students. It will be a safe environment for attendees by following the COVID-19 guidelines put forward by the R.I. Department of Health and Salve Regina.

Students may submit proposals for any classwork, research, extracurriculars, internships, service learning, study abroad or artistic, music or theater work they would like to showcase in the exhibition. Students can also develop proposals as individuals, in groups or as representatives of campus organizations.

Through participating in this exposition, students benefit by:

  • Showcasing their academic, artistic and altruistic endeavors.
  • Developing professional presentation skills.
  • Enhancing their resumes.
  • Discovering the scope and diversity of the achievements of their peers.

The deadline for student proposals is Thursday, Feb. 9.

Please visit the SRyou website for more information. To submit a proposal form, please use this is link online. For more information, contact Cote at natalie.cote@salve.edu or email sryou@salve.edu.


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Arts and Humanities  / Event Coverage  / News
Dancers will perform original works during annual Student Choreography Showcase
salvetoday Posted On January 31, 2023


Salve Regina’s dance majors will present new works during the annual Student Choreography Showcase, directed by Lindsay Guarino, associate professor of dance and chair of the Department of Music, Theater and Dance. The performances will be Thursday, Feb. 2, at 7:30 p.m. and Saturday, Feb. 4, at 2 p.m. and 7:30 p.m. at the Casino Theater.

Tickets are $15 for general admission, $10 for military and seniors, $8 for Salve Regina faculty and staff, and free for Salve Regina students. To purchase tickets, go here.

The Student Choreography Showcase features new works created by nine students majoring in dance at Salve Regina. The students are either choreographing concert dance works for the first time or have set choreography in previous years, and every piece in this showcase expresses a choreographers’ lived experiences — whether it is sharing their personal style through their movements or telling a story that may be too complex to put into words.

Choreographers for this year’s Student Choreography Showcase are as follows: Livia Armstrong ’25, Zoe Banks ’23, Morgan Dubay ’24, Maddie Gellatly ’23, Trinity Leite ’25, Sara McCormick ’23, Julia Paulo ’25, Mackenzie Robichaud ’24, and Taylor Steeves ’25.

The show is titled “Rock, Paper, Scissors,” which was inspired by Julia Paulo ’25 using this gesture in her piece, according to Guarino.

A photo from a past showcase.

“When rock, paper, scissors showed up in a student’s piece this semester, it made me think about the power of symbols,” said Guarino. “I was also struck by the irony of a childhood game serving as a choreographed symbol for negotiating complex human experiences and emotions.”

An exciting addition to this year’s showcase is that Pitches with Attitude, Salve Regina’s student a cappella group, will also perform during the show. Student choreographer Maddie Gellatly ’23 invited them to collaborate with her for a piece on Alzheimer’s entitled “Dimenticare.”

“Dimenticare means ‘to forget’ in Italian,” said Gellatly. “This piece is dedicated to my grandmother, who was diagnosed with Alzheimer’s in 2019. I wanted to show not only her journey, but the one my family and I have taken since her diagnosis. She has been one of my biggest fans when it came to dance and inspired me to continue making dance a part of my life.”

Pitches with Attitude will be accompanying the dancers on stage for “Dimenticare,” and they will also be featured as they weave their way throughout the entire performance with songs like “Jolene” by Dolly Parton and “Wings” by Little Mix.

This photo is from a past performance.

“A program goal is for our students to find their unique artistic voices. In no place is this more evident than the annual student choreography showcase,” said Guarino. “This show positions their voices front and center, and the showcase always has a different energy and feel than our other concerts. The students truly amaze me by their dedication to their craft, the stories they share and their care in bringing their works to the stage.”

Performances will be Thursday, Feb. 2, at 7:30 p.m. and Saturday, Feb. 4, at 2 p.m. and 7:30 p.m. at the Casino Theater. To purchase tickets, go here.


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Event Coverage  / Mercy Mission  / Student Life
Upcoming community service opportunities for February 2023
salvetoday Posted On January 30, 2023


The Center for Community Engagement and Service is offering many service opportunities for students — both ongoing ones throughout the semester and ones that happen only in the month of February. Opportunities include being in a choir, fixing bikes, gardening and more.

To register, find out more information or view all service opportunities for upcoming months, visit the Center for Community Engagement and Service’s website.

The list on the website is constantly being updated with additional opportunities, so keep checking back.

Ongoing Opportunities

On Call: Snow Shoveling Volunteers

Volunteers who have shovels and their own cars, are needed to be on call for shoveling local areas on the Island. Once it snows, volunteers will by notified by email or phone call with the locations to shovel.

St. Augustin’s Choir Volunteer

St. Augustin’s Church in Newport, is in need of volunteers to help sing in the weekly Sunday 9:30 a.m. masses. Volunteers would be responsible for learning and listening to the recordings of music before each Sunday. No transportation provided.

Bike Newport Volunteer

Reliable and responsible volunteers who enjoy working with bikes are needed this spring semester at Bike Newport. Volunteers would be helping weekly with general bike cleaning, programs, and more. This site is located on the trolley line. If someone is interested in volunteering at Bike Newport, contact Allyson McCalla at allyson@bikenewportri.org.

Housing Hotline: Crafty Crochet Volunteers

Volunteers who know how to crochet or are willing to learn are needed weekly on Wednesdays in Gerety Hall from 1-2 p.m. to help make small stuffed animals for children in need. If you are interested or would like more details, please email community.services@salve.edu.

Norman Bird Sanctuary: Mabel’s Garden Volunteers

Volunteers who have their own cars and like to garden are needed at Norman Bird Sanctuary on Tuesday and Thursday mornings. If anyone is interested, contact Joseph McLaughlin at (401) 846-2577 or jmclaughlin@normanbirdsanctuary.org.

Fab Golf Volunteers

Reliable and responsible volunteers with their own cars are needed for FabNewport’s FabGOLF program. Volunteers are needed to help weekly Tuesdays and Thursdays from 3:30-5 p.m. teaching middle school kids how to golf. Volunteers should have experience in golf or a strong interest in teaching golf. Volunteers who are interested should reach out to Orlando Peace orlando@fabnewport.org.

John Clarke Senior Living Nursing Home Volunteer

Reliable and responsible volunteers with their own cars are needed to help at John Clarke Nursing Home with daily activities. Volunteers are needed to read to residents, do puzzles with them, play games and even bring their own interests in to share with residents. As the weather gets warmer and residents move outside, there will be some activities out in the courtyard such as gardening, paint parties and cookouts. Volunteers who are interested and want to learn more should reach out to Beth Finnegan at bfinnegan@jcrcri.org or by phone (401) 846-0743.

Gods Community Garden Volunteers

Reliable and responsible volunteers with their own cars are needed at Gods Community Garden for winter harvesting. Preferred volunteers hours are Monday through Friday between 9 a.m. – 1 p.m. If anyone is interested in volunteering at the gardens, contact Linda Wood at  lswwood@gmail.com.

Seamen’s Church Institute General Volunteer

Reliable and responsible volunteers are needed to help at Seamen’s Institute with daily office tasks. Volunteers are needed to help file, sort, shred and work in the archives. Preferred volunteers hours are once a week, any day between Wednesday to Friday. Hours are from Noon to 3 p.m. This site is located on the trolley line. If anyone is interested in volunteering at the Seamen’s Institute Newport, contact Tara Gnolfo at tara@seamensnewport.org.

Revive The Roots greenhouse volunteer
Reliable and responsible volunteers with their own cars are needed to help in the greenhouse at Revive The Roots. All volunteers can signup for their specific shift. If anyone is interested in learning more about volunteering at Revive The Roots, contact Annie Bayer at annie@revivetheroots.org.

February Opportunities

Saturday, Feb. 11: Clean Ocean Access Cleanup at Bailey’s Brook

Volunteers are needed at Bailey’s Brook from 10 a.m. to Noon to help Clean Ocean Access. Due to COVID-19, pre-registration for all of Clean Ocean Access events will be required. Each individual volunteer that will be attending must pre-register for each event they wish to attend. Please view the Clean Ocean Access website, click on the events within the calendar below to begin the sign up process. Volunteers can sign up any time prior to the event and will need to show Clean Ocean Access the confirmation email when they get to the site. Clean Ocean Access cannot have anyone show up without signing up in advance due to COVID-19. Transportation is not provided.

Friday, Feb. 24: Edward King House Rise N’ Shine Breakfast

Volunteers are needed from 8:30 a.m. to 11 a.m. to help Edward King House Senior Center with their Rise N’ Shine Breakfast program. Volunteers will assist with making the meal, serving the meal and interacting with older adults. Students should consult the trolley line.

Saturday, Feb. 25: Gifts to Give

Volunteers are needed to help sort donation items at Gifts to Give from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. All volunteers must show proof of vaccination. Van transportation is provided. Pick up will be at Miley Hall at 9:30 a.m., return at 2 p.m.

To register, find out more information or view all service opportunities for upcoming months, visit the Center for Community Engagement and Service’s website.

Featured photo is from a past service experience. 


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Event Coverage  / Mercy Mission  / News
Mercy Mondays: Attend LGBTQ+ dignity lecture, ‘What Matters to Me and Why’ lunch
salvetoday Posted On January 30, 2023


As the spring 2023 semester gets into full swing, the McAuley Institute for Mercy Education will be offering two events in February that the Salve Regina community is invited to attend. These include a lecture and dialogue on LGBTQ+ dignity, as well as the next “What Matters to Me and Why” luncheon speaker series.

Please read below for more details.

‘Bridging and Belonging: LGBTQ+ Dignity and Life’

The first event is a McAuley Institute critical concern lecture and dialogue entitled “Bridging and Belonging: LGBTQ+ Dignity and Life” with Father Jim Martin, S.J., which will be held on Wednesday, Feb. 1., at 4 p.m. virtually. To register, go here.

Father Jim Martin, S.J

Fr. Martin will join Salve Regina for a virtual lecture and dialogue on gender and sexuality. Attendees will have the option of joining the community viewing offered in Bazarsky Lecture Hall in the O’Hare Academic Center or by tuning in via Livestream. The first fifteen attendees at the community viewing will receive a copy of the speaker’s book.

Fr. Martin will discuss how the Catholic Church can reach out to LGBTQ+ Catholics. Fr. Martin is a Jesuit priest, editor-at-large at America Magazine, and author of “Building a Bridge: How the Catholic Church and the LGBT Community Can Enter into a Relationship of Respect, Compassion, and Sensitivity.” He will discuss insights from this book, as well as his newest book “Come Forth: The Promise of Jesus’ Greatest Miracle,” which looks at the gospel story of the raising of Lazarus.

Dr. Kaitlin Gabriele-Black, assistant professor in psychology and the McAuley Scholar in the Mercy Interdisciplinary Faculty Collaborative on Women and Gender, and Shawn Quinn ’23, vice president for the Alliance, Salve Regina’s student organization supporting the LGBTQ+ students and allies, will serve as Salve Regina respondents.

To register for this lecture and dialogue, go here. Partners of this event include the Office of Student Engagement, the LGBTQ+ Center, the Office of Residence Life, and the Mercy Center for Spiritual Life.

‘What Matters to Me and Why’ luncheon speaker series 

On Wednesday, Feb. 8, at Noon in Ochre Court, the “Voices of Mercy: What Matters to Me and Why” luncheon speaker series continues with Dr. John Quinn, professor in the Department of History.

Dr. John Quinn

This speaker series seeks to provide opportunities for the Salve Regina community to gather and share stories, core values and mission. Each year, the University will host one Sister of Mercy, one faculty member, one staff member, and one administrator to reflect on their lives and vocations. They will respond to the question, “What matters to me, and why?”

Lunch is provided, so please register in advance to secure a spot. Attendees should note any dietary restrictions or food allergies at the time of registration.

To register for the lunch with Dr. Quinn, go here.

If anyone is interested in bringing a class, club, department, or another group to either of these events in February, please contact Mary Beth Pelletier, program manager of mission integration, at mary.luzitano@salve.edu to coordinate.

This post is part of an ongoing series called Mercy Mondays that highlights Salve Regina’s dedication to its Mercy Mission. Search the tag Mercy Mission for more updates on the Mercy branches of Salve Regina.


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Athletics
Announcing the new head coach for women’s lacrosse
salvetoday Posted On January 27, 2023


Jessica Trautman has been named the next women’s lacrosse head coach for Salve Regina.

“I’m very glad to be welcoming Jessica onto our staff,” said Bill Villareal, acting director of athletics. “She is hungry, passionate about coaching and ready to hit the ground running with this program. I’m very excited to see her career grow here in Newport.”

Trautman previously worked as the assistant coach at Rhode Island College from 2019 to 2021 and served as head coach from 2021 to 2022.

“I am grateful and excited to be jumping into this position, and I cannot wait to get to know all the girls,” said Trautman. “I want to thank acting athletic director Bill Villareal for this opportunity and for passing on his team to me. I am excited to build a bond with these girls, especially with the move to NEWMAC.”

Trautman ran cross country, indoor track and played lacrosse at Rhode Island College where she completed her undergraduate degree in community health and wellness with a concentration in wellness and movement studies. She continued her education at Lasell University and finished her master’s degree in athletic administration, sports management in October 2022.

Trautman grew up in Narragansett Rhode Island where she also competed as a three-sport athlete and won the DIII Lacrosse State Championship in 2013.

“I am excited to bring my vision of this program to life,” she said. “I am committed to shaping these student athletes into the best players they can be. The love for the sport has always driven me to go to the next level of playing and now coach.”


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Arts and Humanities  / News  / Salve Success
Salve Success: Annie Avila ’22 wins social worker award from NASW
salvetoday Posted On January 26, 2023


Annie Avila ’22, who got her degree as a double major in administration of justice and social work, fueled her passion for helping families in need during her undergraduate time at Salve Regina. Avila is currently attaining her master’s degree in social work and working in the field, and her hard work has been noticed. She was recently awarded the Promising Practitioners Award from the Rhode Island Chapter of the National Association of Social Workers (NASW).

Balancing a double major and extracurriculars

During her undergraduate studies at Salve Regina, Avila was a double major in administration of justice and social work. Outside of the classroom, she was an intern for the Office of Multicultural Programs and Retention and served on the executive board for the social work club. She also became part of the Phi Alpha Honors Society, an honor society for social work students.

Avila is part of Phi Alpha Honors Society, an honor society for social work students.

Additionally, Avila was the co-founder of the Hispanic and Latinx Student Organization that strives to educate the community about the Hispanic and Latinx culture in the United States and throughout Latin America. Beginning this club is one of Avila’s proudest accomplishments of her time at Salve Regina.

“I was able to work alongside other students who shared the same experience as me and wanted to create a safe space for the Latinx community on campus,” says Avila.

It could sometimes be a challenge for Avila to balance her classes, internship, homework and a social life. However, Avila pushed through and thrived in both study and extracurriculars.

Two professors stand out to Avila as being a great support system and shaping her time at Salve Regina. Vincent Petrarca, senior lecturer in the criminal justice and criminology department, helped Avila determine her intended career path. Petrarca was Avila’s advisor from her freshman to senior year. Dr. Mary Montminy-Danna, professor of social work, is another influential figure for Avila.

“Professor Petrarca saw me grow into the person I am today,” explained Avila. “He cares about his students and truly advocates for them…. Dr. Montminy-Danna believed in me and always supported me in my decision of double majoring.”

The social work department actually nominated Avila for the Promising Practitioners Award from the Rhode Island Chapter of NASW, which was awarded to Avila at the end of 2022.

“I am very thankful for receiving this award and being chosen as someone who exemplifies a future social worker,” said Avila.

This is what Avila wrote upon receiving her award from the Rhode Island Chapter of the National Association of Social Workers.

The connection between administration of justice and social work

 Avila loved seeing how both of her majors fit well together inside the classroom and post graduation.

“I was able to see a lot of overlap on concepts that I had learned in class and was able to look at the topics from the different lenses of social work and administration of justice,” reflected Avila.

After graduation, Avila secured a job as a clinician at the North American Family Institute, a nonprofit human service agency helping children and adults with mental health and behavioral issues in Warwick, Rhode Island.

“Over the past year, I have worked closely with at risk-youth and have been able to provide services and support to families in need,” said Avila. “I am proud to use my Spanish language skills in the field, especially to assist communities that are faced with language barriers.”

Avila explains she is fortunate to have found a job in her field right after graduating in May 2022. Also a week after graduating from Salve Regina, Avila started the advanced standing master of social work program at Rhode Island College and is anticipated to graduate in May 2023.

After graduating in May, Avila hopes to continue working with family and children in need in the states of Rhode Island and Connecticut by attaining her license in social work.

Article written by student writer Morgan Rizzo ’23

Salve Success is a series of student success stories periodically featured on SALVEtoday. Check out the tag Salve Success for more stories.


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Event Coverage  / News
Pell Center lecture to focus on threat to democracy, improving civic engagement
salvetoday Posted On January 25, 2023


The Pell Center for International Relations and Public Policy’s spring 2023 lecture series begins with a lecture entitled “The Citizen and the Challenge of American Civilization,” by Dr. Frederick Zilian, author and history lecturer. It will take place on Tuesday, Jan. 31, at 7 p.m. in the Bazarsky Lecture Hall in O’Hare Academic Building. To register, go here.

Since the 1950s, the American citizen and democracy have been under stress, challenging the U.S. This lecture will examine these stresses, which have led to a civic character deficit and manifested in hyper-individualism and an unhealthy level of domestic discord. The lecture will then present an historical analogy: ancient Athens—the world’s first democracy—during the Peloponnesian War, a tale of warning. The lecture will conclude with proposals for addressing the country’s civic character deficit and improving civic engagement.

Dr. Frederick Zilian

Dr. Frederick Zilian was an educator at Portsmouth Abbey School from 1992 to 2015, where he taught history, ethics and German. He was an adjunct professor of history and politics at Salve Regina from 2016 to 2022. Zilian served for 21 years as an infantry officer in the Army.

Dr. Zilian holds a doctorate in international relations/strategic studies from the Paul H. Nitze School of Advanced International Studies, Johns Hopkins University. He is the author of numerous articles, essays, and book reviews on history, American society, Germany, religion, music, education, climate change and globalization in a wide variety of publications from the Wall Street Journal to the Newport Daily News. He has also published a book entitled “From Confrontation to Cooperation: The Takeover of the National People’s (East German) Army by the Bundeswehr.”

For 20 years he performed as Abraham Lincoln in his one-man play, “Honest Abe.” He gives historical tours of Newport, Rhode Island, including the Battle of Rhode Island. He also contributes to the following online sites, including The Hill, The History News Network, and the Online Review of Rhode Island History. He blogs on a wide variety of subjects at www.zilianblog.com. He is writing a book on the subject of this lecture, which will be entitled “The Citizen and the Challenge of American Civilization.”

The Salve Regina community, as well as the general public, are invited attend the lecture on Tuesday, Jan. 31, at 7 p.m. in the Bazarsky Lecture Hall in O’Hare Academic Building. To register, go here.


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Arts and Humanities  / Event Coverage  / News  / Salve Success
Salve Regina’s theatre program to be recognized in celebrated college festival
salvetoday Posted On January 25, 2023


In the fall 2022 semester, Salve Regina’s theatre program put on two groundbreaking performances, entitled “The Bible Women’s Project” and “The Strindberg Experiment,” that challenged audiences to examine themes around gender and sexuality. The hard work the program did to confront difficult themes has paid off, and both of these productions are now being recognized by the northeast regional division of the Kennedy Center American Theatre College Festival (KCACTF), which runs Jan. 31 – Feb. 5 in Cape Cod, Massachusetts.

“The Bible Women’s Project” has been selected to perform in its entirety at the northeast regional division of KCACTF. Alongside this achievement, Winder Landaverde ’23 and Nathan Nelson ’23, theatre majors, were both nominated for the Irene Ryan Acting Award for their performances in “The Strindberg Experiment.” Anna Anese ’26, who is an actor in “The Bible Women’s Project,” was also chosen for the semi-final round for musical theatre.

“The Bible Women’s Project” will be holding an encore performance here at Salve Regina on Monday, Jan. 30, at 7 p.m. in Our Lady of Mercy Chapel. It is free and open to the public, but attendees can donate at the door.

Celebrating ‘The Bible Women’s Project’

Dr. Tara Brooke Watkins

The Kennedy Center American Theatre College Festival is an annual national theatre program involving 18,000 students from colleges and universities across the country. There are eight regional festivals held in January and February that lead up to the national festival in Washington, D.C.

The goal is to celebrate the finest and most diverse work produced in university and college theatre programs across the country.

“The mission of the festival’s selected shows is to highlight new, creative and  impactful ways that theatre is changing in the country,” explained Dr. Tara Brooke Watkins, the director of the theater program at Salve Regina. “So the fact that ‘The Bible Women’s Project’ was selected means that festival responders believe that Salve theatre is actually working toward changing how theatre is done in America.”

If “The Bible Women’s Project” is received well at the regional festival, the cast has an opportunity to go to the national festival in Washington, D.C., at the end of the semester.

“It could mean that Salve Regina becomes known as a place to attend if you want to do impactful and experimental theatre that makes a difference in people’s lives,” said Dr. Watkins.

Students perform in “The Bible Women’s Project” in the fall of 2022. 

“The Bible Women’s Project” also shows how Salve Regina’s mission can come to life both on and off stage, according to Dr. Watkins.

“‘The Bible Women’s Project’ feels like it belongs in the Sisters of Mercy tradition,” said Dr. Watkins. “It’s about women’s stories and women taking space to speak their experiences. It shows women teaching, using education and theatre to act as a hand of mercy to women who have long been misunderstood, misrepresented and mistreated.”

Performers nominated for the Irene Ryan Acting Award

The Irene Ryan Acting Award is a scholarship award for students who have shown great depth in their acting abilities. In order to compete for this scholarship, the nominated students have to perform to make it into the semi-final round by performing two contrasting monologues.

If they make it to the semi-final round, they have to perform a scene with another partner at the northeast regional division of KCACTF. If they make it past that round to the finals, they will have to perform their monologues and their scenes again.

They can then receive the honor of competing at the national festival.

“Strindberg’s characters are not easy even for professional actors to tackle, so the fact that these two college students played such tortured roles to show the inner turmoil of gender identity struggles in the 19th century was highly demanding and risky,” said Dr. Watkins. “Winder and Nathan did it with such intense commitment that it made the acting seem effortless.”

Winder Landaverde, ’23, played Miss Julie in “The Strindberg Experiment” and is nominated for the Irene Ryan Acting Award. 

Nathan Nelson ’23 played Adolf in “The Strindberg Experiment” and is nominated for the Irene Ryan Acting Award.

Dr. Watkins was also asked to be one of two faculty members to direct a one-act at the festival.

“Overall, I think Salve’s theatre program is already standing out and will only stand out more once our students perform there,” said Dr. Watkins.

Students who were involved in either of the fall 2022 productions were invited to attend the northeast regional division of KCACTF, including stage managers, dramaturgs, tech crew and actors. Right now, the full cast and crew from “The Bible Women’s Project” are attending, along with five actors, the stage manager and a dramaturg from “The Strindberg Experiment.” Altogether, twenty students are attending.

“We believe in the power of theatre to change lives, shift culture and perspective in groups of people, and ultimately, be used as an act of mercy towards people in the audience who might identify with stories on stage,” said Dr. Watkins. “Both plays were about rethinking everything we thought we knew about certain stories and certain people and introducing us to new stories we hadn’t heard.”


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Arts and Humanities  / Event Coverage  / News
Hamilton Gallery exhibit to feature works by digital artist Amy Beecher
salvetoday Posted On January 25, 2023


The Dorrance H. Hamilton Gallery is pleased to announce the opening of artist Amy Beecher’s solo show entitled “Lifestyle Pictures.” An opening reception with short artist talk is scheduled for the artist on Thursday, Jan. 26, at 5 p.m. The art exhibit itself will display from Friday, Jan. 27 through Thursday, Feb. 16.

“Lifestyle Pictures” represents the newest collection of artist Amy Beecher’s digital paintings and photographs. “Lifestyle Pictures” is at its heart both a meditation on digital painting and documentation of a marriage, a domestic life, a space curated and repackaged. Beecher pushes observers of her art to examine the poetics of the banal through the lens of a digital painter alongside her daily home life and routine.

The humor of the work comes in its willingness to thumb its nose at serious painting in favor of a kind of deliberately faulty facture, hiding the sure hand of a painter schooled in the misadventures of modernism behind the digital glitch of a system she designs.

What is formal picture making here and what is emotional? What is produced by Beecher herself, and what emerges from larger systems? Beecher asks questions of the formal space of the gallery as well as the studio, making it all her personal vision board, but with a slant.

Images, taken from Amy Beecher’s website, show examples of her digital art.

Beecher composes from an archive of found and original photographic and painterly assets and feeds them into a script to create an endless array of complex and chance compositions. Included in this archive are staged photographs, produced on a set decorated to evoke a generic and gentrified domestic imaginary: yoga blocks, begonia plants, beige couches, and Beecher and her young child. The archive also includes an array of domestic detritus from her own home — including toddler boogers and the odd household dust bunny.

The resulting compositions evoke equally the aspirational vision boards ubiquitous on social media, early modernist geometric abstraction.

Beecher herself has discussed her work as a kind of “wine mom glitch abstraction.” Leaves and vistas are flattened by Mondrian-inspired grids. Enormous chicks emerge from behind gigantic exercise bands. In photographs, Beecher images herself working on digital collages, sometimes alone, sometimes with her son, eschewing The Studio for a kitchen table or a living room floor.

Amy Beecher’s artwork comprises digital imaging, text and performance. Her solo exhibitions and performances have been hosted by Hesse Flatow, The International Center for Photography in New York City; GRIN and Providence College-Galleries in Providence, Rhode Island; and Storm King Art Center, New Windsor, New York, among other venues. Her work has been reviewed by Art In America, Big Red Shiny, and Title Magazine. She has been awarded residencies and fellowships by New Art Center, The Macdowell Colony, Shandaken Projects and The Vermont Studio Center.

Beecher lives and works between Brattleboro, Vermont, and New York, New York, and is assistant professor of visual art and media studies at Emerson College. Her podcast, a growing archive of dialogues with other artists from 2013 onward, is The Amy Beecher Show.

The Dorrance H. Hamilton Gallery is located in the Antone Academic Center on the campus of Salve Regina. It is handicap accessible with parking along Lawrence Avenue and Leroy Avenue. Its exhibits are open to the public Tuesdays and Thursdays from 11 a.m. to 6 p.m.; Wednesdays and Fridays from 11 a.m. to 5 p.m.; and Saturdays and Sundays from Noon to 4 p.m. The gallery is closed on Mondays.


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