Jan/Feb Artscope: Phantom Punch

Culture Shock at Bates

Jan/Feb 2017

SAUDI ARTISTS’ PHANTOM PUNCH

Taryn Plumb

An image of an outdoor mural depicts what would no doubt be a culture shock for many westerners: Eight swords, flanked by elegant Arabic writing, pointing at two women — one completely veiled in black, the other uncovered, long hair falling to her shoulders.

The latter? Marked with an “X.” Her properly-dressed, anonymous counterpart, meanwhile? Given full approval with a check mark.

As if in contrast, a group of young girls, all dressed in frocks of various shades of pink, are hard at work adding their own illustrations to the painting — yet as a looming reminder, they are overseen by a shapeless, faceless figure enshrouded in black.

A still from Saudi artist’s Njoud Alanbari’s “Elementary 240,” it is all at once eerie, haunting, ironic, unexpected — even a little playful.

Such is the nature of “Phantom Punch: Contemporary Art from Saudi Arabia in Lewiston,” on view at Bates College Museum of Art through March 18. The exhibit features the unexpected and though-provoking work of more than a dozen Saudi artists.

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Making a Difference Half the World Away

Global Impact

BY: TARYN PLUMB; ILLUSTRATION BY JONATHAN REINFURT

Wellington, New Zealand

Its history and culture are a rich fusion of influences; its people are proud, innovative, and environmentally fastidious; its picturesque harbor greets looming mountains that are home to an array of exotic and endangered plants and animals. Many factors make Wellington a unique and unrivaled location. That’s what ultimately convinced professor of organizational studies Michael Elmes that it would be a prime spot for one of WPI’s project centers. After visiting the country as a Fulbright Scholar in 2005, he championed the Wellington Project Center, and students have been visiting and working there for four years.

“It’s really quite a dynamic place for being such a small country,” says Elmes, who runs the center with assistant teaching professor Ingrid Shockey. “It’s a great place to visit, and it’s a great place to do interesting, challenging projects.”

In those four years, IQP teams have been involved with more than two dozen such initiatives—among them, researching endangered dolphins, investigating prospects for hydrogen fuel, studying the food rituals of native birthday parties, raising awareness of tsunamis, and examining flood and climate change.

Mechanical engineering major Paige Myatt ’17, who spent the winter of 2016 at the center, said of the experience, “I felt like I’d found another home.” Students are very often struck by what Elmes calls the starkly beautiful natural environment, plus the country’s high happiness index and quality of life. “They do have some kind of secret formula there,” he says.

The center works with diverse sponsors, from the Māori communities, to the Greater Wellington Regional Council, to the Museum of New Zealand Te Papa Tonga-rewa. Elmes says it’s a mutually beneficial relationship, and a way to show off WPI’s excellence.

“We have so many repeat project sponsors because they’re so impressed with the quality of the work that our students do. I can’t tell you how many times people over there say, ‘Your students are just great.’”

Myatt was in a group that created a feasibility report for a hydroponic greenhouse that would tap excess electricity from a micro-hydro power system operated by Māori in the rural town of Horohoro. The experience had such a profound impact on her life and career path (she intends to go on to study renewable energy) that she’ll be going back in winter 2017 for her MQP. Her plan is to work with that Māori community again to help them design the greenhouse for which she and her IQP teammates created the feasibility study.

She recalls a Māori proverb: “What is the most important thing in the world? It is people, it is people, it is people.” Not, she emphasized, that people are more important than the natural world and its creatures, but that they are ultimately responsible for taking care of it.

“The Māori try to be very aware of how they’re impacting their environment. They’re efficient with their resources,” Myatt says of the Māori and of kiwis at large. “It’s a very refreshing viewpoint to experience.”

Original story link. 

Peer Recognition: The Best Kind

Professor Joseph Sarkis Among “Highly Cited Researchers”

Foisie Business School department head frequently referenced in academic scientific publications

January 13, 2017

Being recognized by your peers is probably one of the most satisfying accomplishments one can experience as a professional.

In that respect, Professor Joseph Sarkis has distinguished himself. A department head within the Foisie Business School, Sarkis recently made the esteemed “Highly Cited Researchers” list for 2016. The distinction is based on Thomson Reuters’s vast database of research journals and articles, which is used to identify writers who are frequently referenced in academic scientific publications. The mass media firm ultimately calls the group the “Most Influential Scientific Minds.”

“It’s the first time I’ve received it,” Sarkis says, adding, “I was surprised, actually.”

The list names a total of 3,200 researchers whose work varies widely in discipline. “The database for Thomson Reuters is very exclusive,” says Sarkis, who is one of only 150 researchers to be listed in the engineering category. “It’s typically used as gold standard for journal indexing in which only the top journals in each academic discipline are included.”

His inclusion is based largely on his research in the burgeoning field of green and sustainable supply chains. He has authored and co-authored hundreds of publications, and his 2004 paper, Relationships Between Operational Practices and Performance Among Early Adopters of Green Supply Chain Management Practices in Chinese Manufacturing Enterprises, is his most highly referenced—it’s been cited 1,333 times, according to his Google Scholar page.

Additionally, Sarkis has been identified by a publication in Scientometrics as the most productive researcher in the field of supply chain management from the years 1995 to 2015.

“I was one of the early people involved in researching the area,” says Sarkis. “The field is still young. There are lots of possibilities.”

As he explains it, the work so far has been highly focused on China, as the majority of supply chains have ties to the emerging superpower. Emphasis has been on promoting “good practices,” investigating various pressures to supply chains, and identifying ways to manage those supply chains in efficient ways. His research has also focused on developing models to help businesses and organizations reduce their environmental footprint, as well as manage hazardous waste materials use and resource depletion.

“Essentially, it’s going beyond the financial aspects and the business aspects in the supply chain to think about ethical, social, and environmental issues,” he says.

More recently, the work has broadened to include developing suppliers, helping them to be greener and more proactive about their business practices when it comes to the environment. “The environment needs to be considered by industry because of all the damage that’s occurring,” says Sarkis. As he notes, the question becomes, “How do you help suppliers become greener or more environmentally sound?”

Ultimately, it’s a rewarding field of study he says he plans to keep focusing on for years to come. “One of the things that attracts me to this research is that it’s doing good,” he says. “Social good and impact is an important aspect of this research.”

- By Taryn Plumb

Original story link.