Researcher, author, educator and academic administrator Barbara Sellers-Young (right) , dean of 91ŃÇÉ«'s Faculty of Fine Arts, was invited into the spotlight Nov. 18 to accept the Dixie Durr Award for Outstanding Service to Dance Research, given by the international Congress on Research in Dance (CORD) at a special reception during CORD’s 2011 annual conference, Moving Music/Sounding Dance, a joint presentation with the Society for Ethnomusicology, held in Philadelphia, PA.

Named after a long-serving member of the CORD board, the Dixie Durr Award acknowledges the “superlative labour” and “indispensable aid” rendered by the honouree in the field of dance studies. It recognizes the recipient’s exceptional contributions to research infrastructure and support, which may take many forms such as facilitating the operational efficiency of professional organizations or access to archives and collections, or advancing grantsmanship or publication processes.Ěý

Sellers-Young’s nominator, University of Washington Dance Professor Juliet McMains, introduced her at the reception. “One of the only dance scholars to have reached the rank of dean, Barbara [Sellers-Young] serves the field of dance studies by representing us brilliantly in the upper ranks of university administration,” said McMains. “Beyond raising awareness of and respect for dance scholarship through her high-profile leadership positions, she advances the field through her forward-thinking interdisciplinary efforts.

“Barbara is deserving of this award for service to dance scholarship not only because of her work in key organizations, but also because she mentors and inspires others who serve the field. In so doing, she is of highest service as a key force in nurturing the next generation of dance scholars and leaders.”

Sellers-Young herself is a past president of CORD, with a decade of service as a member of the board of directors. "When I attended my fist CORD meeting in 1982, it was the only dance organization of its kind,” she said. “Thanks in part to CORD, the field of dance studies has since grown a great deal, and many other associations have been established to support its advancement. But throughout all this, CORD has maintained its international importance.”

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Above: From left, Faculty of Fine Arts Dean Barbara Sellers-Young, University of California Professor Anthony Shay, 91ŃÇÉ« Professors Patrick Alcedo andĚýDanielle Robinson,Ěýand University of Washington Dance Professor Juliet McMains

During her tenure on CORD’s board, she had the pleasure of serving alongsideĚýDixie Durr (1940-2007), a renowned scholar and pioneer in dance education.Ěý“Dixie was truly a remarkable human being,” said Sellers-Young. “She deeply believed in the importance of dance research and what it offers to society at large. She had openness to new ideas as well as a respect for the past which gave her an uncommon understanding of where dance research has gone and where it is going. Dixie’s openness and expansiveness of mind contributed to CORD and to the field on an international scale, through her own research and the lengths she would go to facilitate the work of others.

“I cannot think of a greater honour than to be given an award in her name,” said Sellers-Young.

While Sellers-Young has completed her service on the board of CORD, her colleagues in 91ŃÇɫ’s Department of Dance have been following in her footsteps. Professor Patrick Alcedo served as co-chair of CORD’s awards committee this year, and Professor Danielle Robinson chaired the 2011 conference.

A number of 91ŃÇÉ« scholars were featured presenters at Moving Music/Sounding Dance, which took place Nov. 17 to 20. Sellers-Young spoke on “Being an Arts Dean in Today's University” as part of the plenary panel. Alcedo delivered a paper on his ongoing research into the Filipino Ati-Atihan Festival (see YFile, Jan. 8, 2010). Dance Professor Mary Fogarty spoke on urban dance practices, faculty members Brigitte Cauthery and Shawn Newman discussed interdisciplinary creator Meredith Monk and sexuality in jazz dance, respectively. Graduate dance students Evadne Kelly, Cheryl la France and Shae Neuman presented their own research.Ěý

Professor Louise Wrazen, chair of 91ŃÇɫ’s Department of Music, discussed music through the Canadian immigrant experience in a talk titled “The Displaced Voice: Assertions of Selfhood and Belonging Amidst Change”. Other contributors from 91ŃÇɫ’s music department were faculty members Judith Cohen, who spoke on gender roles in rural Portuguese play-party dances, and Kim Chow-Morris, who shared her research on Chinese musical practice in the Canadian diaspora. Graduate students Mike Anklewicz, Jesse Feyen, Rachel Muehrer and Vivia Keiswetter also presented papers at the conference.

More about theĚýinternational Congress on Research in Dance

Founded in 1964, CORD fosters an international community of current and future dance leaders through mentorship, advocacy and outreach. It is dedicated to providing opportunities for dance professionals from a broad range of specialties to exchange ideas, resources and methodologies through publications, workshops, and regional and international conferences.

CORD publishes the biannual Dance Research Journal, widely considered the leading publication in its field. The quality of the journal and the organization’s international reach were what drew Sellers-Young to participate.

Republished courtesy of YFile– 91ŃÇɫ’s daily e-bulletin.

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It has taken many years of toiling, but 91ŃÇÉ« Professor Emeritus Paul Herzberg has now completed a biography of his mother Luise Herzberg, the wife of Nobel Prize-winning physicist Gerhard Herzberg (Hon DSc. '69) and an astrophysicist in her own right. Luise Herzberg, Astrophysicist: A Memoir is more than just a tribute to his mother, it is a chance for Luise to step out of the shadow of her world-famous husband and have her own accomplishments recognized.

Paul’s mother was born Luise Hedwig Oettinger in 1906 and educated in Germany where she received her PhD in physics in 1933. Her husband lost his academic post because Luise was a Jew. In 1935,Ěýthey arrived as refugees in Canada. (See YFile, Nov. 15, 2007.)

In (91ŃÇÉ« Bookstore, 2010), Paul describes how Luise met the challenge of combining family and career. When she returned to research in physics and astronomy after the war, she faced nepotism rules and worked largely unnoticed. In the last decade of her life, however, she gained considerable recognition as an astrophysicist. Some of her work is still referred to today, although some is mistakenly attributed to her husband.

On Luise’s death, a friend wrote: “She remained totally female, despite high intelligence, active work in science and constant contact in the learned circles of the world. It was not her nature to want to shine, but nevertheless she was completely aware of everything that was happening.”

Luise died in 1971, just months before Gerhard won the Nobel Prize in Chemistry, a success which he could not have achieved without her devotion and support.

Constructing the details of Luise’s extraordinary life was not an easy task. Paul, who was a professor in the Department of Psychology, Faculty of Health, completed a two-year stint learning German just so he could read the cache of family letters, which would provide further insight into his mother’s life, and interviewed his elderly father several times before his death at the age of 94.

Paul started down the same path as his parents, but after earning a master’s degree in physics switched fields to specialize in quantitative psychology. He taught at 91ŃÇÉ« from 1966 to 2002 where he developed a unique introductory statistics course featuring learning-to-mastery, self-pacing and tutoring by undergraduate student peers.

In 1996, he received the University-Wide Teaching Award. It had always been in the back of his mind, however, to write about his mother. A biography of his father by Boris Stoicheff, ,Ěýwas published in 2002.

Paul'sĚýbook may be purchased online or directly at the . For more information, contact Paul Herzberg at herzberg@yorku.ca.

Republished courtesy of YFile – 91ŃÇɫ’s daily e-bulletin.

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