A good, broad liberal arts background has long been valued for giving depth and richness to students embarking on any career. Now, Georgetown College has developed an interdisciplinary major and minor – Security Studies – that will point them down a number of career paths especially relevant in today’s challenging, uncertain world.

Provost Rosemary Allen particularly likes the Security Studies curriculum because so many faculty members from 13 departments will have a role in an exciting, new program that’s likely to draw and engage students. “There’s nothing else like it – a cross-over of the natural sciences and the social sciences,” Dr. Allen said of the major and minor that will be offered in 2007-08.

The program, which will be coordinated by Political Science professor Michael Cairo and the Political Science and History departments, won’t require new funding either.

In addition to Political Science and History courses, the interdisciplinary major will include courses from the Biology, Chemistry, Communication and Media Studies, Computer Science, Economics, Math, Modern and Classical Languages and Cultures, Philosophy, Physics, Psychology, and Sociology departments.

The interdisciplinary minor will include courses from Economics, Psychology, and Sociology departments.

Dr. Cairo spent about a year researching college programs around the country that deal with international studies, security, and peace and conflict issues. He was also one of 15 chosen for a Peace & Security From Multiple Perspectives seminar this past summer at the U.S. Institute of Peace in Washington D.C.

“All of these things are reflected in our new major,” said Cairo, who is also advisor to the college’s Model United Nations organization.

“(Students) need to understand the trends and forces that are challenging us – that are causing conflict – if we want to resolve problems in the world; if we want to be peace-makers,” he added.

Mathematics professor Homer White, who would eventually like to see traditional Peace Studies added to the curriculum, has written that Georgetown’s Security Studies is “a good start.”

White, Director of Georgetown’s Academic Honors Program, also said in an e-mail, “Whereas a Homeland Security major usually presupposes a certain set of responses to threats (“double up the guard”) and to attacks (pursuit and enforcement, even war), a Security Studies major need not presuppose the response. In particular, preventative measures such as working for economic development, steps to prevent environmental crises and their resulting social and economic dislocations, cross-cultural education, inter-religious dialog and other non-violent measures are all kept on the table as options by a well-conceived liberal arts approach to Security Studies.”

Students will have to choose a track (at least 12 hours) such as Biology, which would include the study of environmental challenges like nuclear waste and oil supplies. Biology professor Mark Johnson said of one of the required courses, “In Micro-Biology, we talk about a lot of ‘select agents’ such as viruses, toxins…the anthrax scare of 2001…and anything transmitted in an airborne manner.

“The element of fear is certainly a part of the picture,” Johnson continued. “But, we study what you would treat these threats with – whether it be cholera or botulism. Knowledge is power and I’d think a potential employer would appreciate a program where the courses will complement each other.”

Cairo added, “Industries are increasingly interested in individuals who understand economics, technology and science, and the challenges and risks they impose to security.

“We need to understand that security is about more than force,” Cairo said. “We also have to understand politics, history, and culture.”

History professor Cliff Wargelin, who gave input to Cairo’s research, said, “Security Studies is a way for students to apply historical perspectives to contemporary issues.”

Cairo is especially pleased that this rigorous Security Studies “feeds wonderfully” into Georgetown College’s University Scholars program and would prepare them for a seamless transition into the University of Kentucky’s Patterson School for Diplomacy and International Commerce, a graduate program with which the College is partnered.

“Studying the natural and social sciences in this interdisciplinary manner will provide this generation (of student) and those generations afterward a solid base of knowledge and a better understanding of the challenges we face.”

Though this is his last semester at Georgetown College, W.T. Pfefferle’s life journey is far from over. Having recently won the 2006 Stevens Poetry Manuscript competition, the English professor’s “The Meager Life and Modest Times of Pop Thorndale” was one of 171 submissions from throughout the United States.

And though his entry is considered a fictional memoir of an aging man, Pop Thorndale, Pfefferle admits the tale may be a bit autobiographical as well.

“I probably share some things with Pop—I’m married, I’ve lived in plenty of towns like his faceless and generic ‘Somethingville,’ and I, too, get consumed and worry about whether I’m living the right life for me,” he said. “Unlike Pop in the last poem in the book, I’m not dead yet.”

Having taught at nine different colleges throughout his 22 years of teaching, Pfefferle has enjoyed somewhat of a nomadic career, though he claims it’s never seemed that way to him.

“I’m lucky that my wife and I share the same wanderlust, the eagerness to see new towns and places. As a younger man I was searching for a perfect place, but I’ve discovered that most of the questing anyone does happens in one’s heart and mind,” Pfefferle said, describing some of his more recent travels across the country, including a year-long trip in a motor home with his wife. “In the end, I realized that my place in the world was alongside my wife and my friends. It wasn’t on any map.”

The Stevens Poetry award not only means something to Pfefferle, but to his colleagues at Georgetown that work alongside the professor each day.

“It is a great honor—and a great opportunity—for Dr. Pfefferle to win this award. There are a lot of aspiring poets out there, and as a result, it is very difficult to get books of poetry published. In his case, he both wins an award and has the book assured of publication—a double bonus,” Provost Rosemary Allen said.

With the spring semester quickly clipping by already, Pfefferle’s presence will be missed by teachers and students alike.

“W.T. is a multi-talented artist and a gifted teacher. His insights have helped shape our writing program and have been an inspiration across campus. He has been an extraordinarily valuable member of our English faculty, and we are proud of his accomplishment as a poet,” Allen said.

“Dr. Pfefferle is the type of professor every student wants to have in class,” said Nick Taylor, a senior from Versailles. “He doesn’t care about grades but about learning. Most importantly about learning to think creatively. I was already writing poetry when I took his poetry class, but he helped me to learn that poetry – while a personal art – should be shared with the world.”

While he’s unsure of where he’ll end up after the end of the semester, Pfefferle is certain he’ll “teach again somewhere.”

“At this time I’m leaving it wide open.”

Georgetown College Psychology professor Susan Bell, a 1975 alum, received The Curry Award for Faculty Excellence from President Bill Crouch and Provost Rosemary Allen at Tuesday’s Founder’s Day (Jan. 23).

During her years as department chair, Dr. Bell oversaw a full curriculum revision and solicited grant funds to improve the teaching conditions in her department. She served the college as a whole on a dozen different committees, and she continually works to connect with the community as well.

The award is named for former English professors Gwen Curry and her late husband Ralph Curry, who was also a former department chair and was inducted into the Georgetown College Hall of Fame in 2000. Gwen, who retired in 2002, was the Council for the Advancement and Support of Education’s Professor of the Year for Kentucky in ’93.

Speaker Eric Fruge, who graduated the same year as Bell, gave a stirring presentation about the college’s early decades along with wonderful slides of people and places from that era on the big screen behind him. Dr. Fruge, previously our Director of Church Relations, is now Director of the Capital Campaign.

Also, these four luminaries were inducted into the Georgetown College Hall of Fame:

Issachar Pawling (1757-1832), sometimes known as “the original founder of Georgetown College,” was a pious and devoted Baptist who committed his estate toward establishing a college for the education of ministers. Our Pawling Hall, built in 1844, to provide free room and board for ministerial students, is visible testimony to his legacy.

Billy Overton Wireman (1932-2005), class of ’54, was known as a visionary in higher education. In a 34-year span, he served as president at Eckerd College in Florida and Queen’s University in Charlotte, NC. He is credited with saving and transforming both institutions.

Hollis Spurgeon Summers, Jr. (1916-1987), class of ’37, was an author and teacher who had a major influence on future writers throughout the U.S. Among the famous Kentucky writers he influenced are Gurney Norman, James Baker Hall, Ed McClanahan and Wendell Berry. At the end of his career he was a Distinguished Professor of English at Ohio University.

Buell Hilton Kazee (1900-1976), class of ’25, was a recording artist considered by some to be one of America’s best folksingers. Sandwiched in between 22 years as pastor at a Morehead church and being the first pastor a Lexington’s Devondale Baptist, Kazee taught at Lexington Baptist Bible College.

Founder’s Day speaker Eric Fruge marks the oldest vestige of Georgetown College, the Hawkings Family graveyard – between Cooke Memorial hall and Jackson Street. Etching on the oldest stones are no longer legible, but probably date back to 1798 when Rittenhouse Academy was formed on the college grounds. (Photo by Jessica Ehleben)

By Whitney Prather, News Bureau

In preparation for the Founder’s Day convocation, Eric Fruge has spent much of the last year researching Georgetown College’s rich history for a visual presentation. And, he believes Scott Countians – even those without ties to the college – will at least be interested and entertained by what’s being displayed behind him 11 a.m. Tuesday (Jan. 23) in John L. Hill Chapel.

“The presentation focuses on the early decades of the college,” Dr. Fruge said. “I wanted to hit on a few things with images…I want to let (the audience) see the people and students that comprised Georgetown’s beginning.”

Using many images that have never before been seen by the public, Fruge will take viewers back to 1830 when there were only 13 students and tuition was $25 a year. Through the entire research process, which included hours of digging through campus archives, the library and sifting through documents, Fruge said the highlight of it all was Dr. Glen Taul’s discovery of a diploma from 1832 on eBay.

Other historical treasures to be shown include the first image of Georgetown College ever made, a photo of the first football team in 1893 and the recently discovered headstone of Issachar Pawling, donor of the first monetary gift to help create the college.

Aside from showing a bit of Georgetown’s history in photos and slides, Fruge hopes to give a glimpse into the 19th century student’s life using the journal of an actual student and the account of the campus’ reaction to the news of the firing on Fort Sumter in April 1861.

Fruge, director of the capital campaign, also recently published his first book, “The Traitors of Montsecours” and received a positive review by Kentucky Monthly magazine.

On Sunday, Jan. 28, members of the Georgetown College music faculty will be in the spotlight instead of the students they teach. The annual “Faculty Showcase Recital,” a free concert, will take place at 3 p.m. in John L. Hill Chapel on campus.

The program shall include works by Bach, Britten, Burnette, Chopin, Ferro, Hummel and Kander. Taking center stage: Sonny Burnette, tenor saxophone; John Campbell, tenor; Mami Hayashida, piano; Heather Nicole Winter Hunnicutt, soprano; Peter LaRue, trombone and H. M. Lewis, trumpet. Glenna Metcalfe and Mami Hayashida shall serve as accompanist for the event.