Nazareth College Research Articles

Assessment of Factors that Affect Students’ Business Writing Skills

Writing is a language skill that used for effective communication. The research set out to identify the most common reasons why students struggle with business writing and to provide them with strategies to become better writers overall. Nazareth Art and Science College undergraduates have been the focus of this study, which has employed qualitative and quantitative methodologies to probe the difficulties they face. A total of 106 students from Nazareth College of Art and Science took part in the study. Questionnaire was employed for data collection. The researchers analyzed the survey data using descriptive statistics. The results of this research show that learners had a lot of trouble with their business writing. Business writing can be challenging for students for a variety of reasons, including traditional teaching approach, insufficient practice, lack of motivation and lack of sufficient vocabularies. The study suggests that students' writing could be enhanced with enough practice, the right methods of teaching writing, smaller class sizes, frequent feedback on errors, and encouraging students to shift their perspective on the importance of writing.

Operationalizing the Roles of Experiential Learning

This article focuses on the partnership between Discovery Charter School of Rochester, New York, founded in 2011, and Nazareth College Partners for Learning. The Partners for Learning program engages Nazareth College students in partnerships with the children, teachers, and staff of eight urban sites. The authors examine the four critical roles that work to foster program success: (1) Associate Director for the Center for Civic Engagement, (2) Student Site Coordinator, (3) Site Representative, and (4) Classroom Teacher. We describe each of the four roles, how the roles support experiential learning, and, most importantly, how we consistently collaborate to ensure success for all parties. We have gathered multiple forms of reflection, and we share data focusing on the impact of student learning for both personal and professional growth. Finally, Discovery Charter School students describe what having a Partner in their classroom means to them, how the Partners have improvedtheir learning, and how the relationships that have formed over the semester/ year(s) have had an impact on them.

Creating Community Through Affinity Groups for Minority Students in Communication Sciences and Disorders.

This viewpoint article describes an effective model for creating and sustaining an affinity group for undergraduate and graduate students from racial and ethnic backgrounds historically underrepresented in the American Speech-Language-Hearing Association who are enrolled in communication sciences and disorders (CSD) programs at predominantly White institutions (PWIs). The Speech-Language Therapy & Audiology Minority Program (STAMP) at Nazareth College is an affinity group and mentorship program for undergraduate and graduate students, CSD program alumni, and area professionals who identify as minorities. Affinity groups have been shown to increase the sense of belonging of minority students at PWIs. At Nazareth College, we have observed this as students who participate in STAMP have reported that the program contributes to their feeling of belonging in the CSD department and at the institution and provides them with a safe place where they can share and discuss their experiences as minorities at a PWI. Additionally, our students have reported that participating in this affinity group supports their academic and clinical success and helps them manage their stress. By sharing our model for creating an affinity group for underrepresented CSD students at a PWI, we hope to encourage the establishment and support of groups like STAMP in CSD programs across the country. Considerations for departments considering starting their own affinity groups are discussed. STAMP, and other affinity groups, have the potential to grow by facilitating constructive discussion and collective action toward issues that significantly impact students from racial and ethnic minority backgrounds.

Professional Training and Personal Development: Lessons From 10 Years of Intergenerational Learning

This presentation will highlight a ten-year collaboration between the Nazareth College Gerontology Program and St. John’s Senior Services – the St. John’s Collaborative for Intergenerational Learning (SCIL). Specifically, semester-long intergenerational coursework (Adulthood & Late Life, Issues in Aging, Aging & Community Service) and community-based service projects will be showcased with a focus on design, implementation, assessment, and impact. Emphasis will be placed on the reciprocity of these collaborations, the personal and professional benefits of these exchanges for our students, and the subsequent impact on the community partners and the individuals they serve. Various models of intergenerational learning as well as our new intergenerational residency program will also be discussed.

Community NY: Historic Sites Relating to Women's Suffrage in Central New York

Community NYHistoric Sites Relating to Women's Suffrage in Central New York Judith Wellman (bio) The movement for women's right to vote—totally nonviolent—formed one of the largest campaigns for human rights in U.S. history. Central New York was nationally important in this movement. We all know something about famous woman suffragists from this region—from Susan B. Anthony to Elizabeth Cady Stanton, Hester Jeffrey, Matilda Joslyn Gage, and Frederick Douglass. But what do we know about the hundreds of thousands of ordinary and not-so-ordinary people who joined these national leaders? These women and men from farms, villages, and cities reflected a wide variety of ethnic, racial, cultural, and economic backgrounds. Their numbers were astounding. Here are just three examples, from 1894, 1915, and 1917. In 1894, suffragists organized a statewide petition campaign "to strike the word 'male' from Article II, Section 1, of the constitution, and thus secure to the women of the State the right to vote on equal terms with men." The Grange, labor unions, and Women's Christian Temperance Union joined the New York State Woman Suffrage Association to collect almost 600,000 signatures from men and women, upstate and downstate (almost one-quarter of New York State's adult population in 1890), on these petitions. In 1915, about 40,000 marchers walked down Fifth Avenue in the largest suffrage parade ever organized. Suffragists printed 7,230,000 leaflets, 657,200 booklets, 149,533 posters, and a million suffrage buttons, urging New Yorkers to vote yes on women's suffrage in 1915. They lost. Two years later, in 1917, suffragists repeated their campaign with even more energy. More than a million New Yorkers (about 25 percent of the total adult population in 1920) signed a petition for woman suffrage in 1917. Suffragists held 9,000 meetings upstate and more than 11,000 in New York City. This time they were successful. Although upstate New [End Page 372] Click for larger view View full resolution Workshop participants, Wood Library, Canandaigua, October 2018. photo by author. York defeated the measure by 1,510 votes, New York City—buoyed by labor unions and immigrant districts—carried the amendment by 103,863 votes.1 Homes, churches, and meeting spaces that help tell the story of this immense movement still stand in neighborhoods all across New York State. In 2019, to help locate these historic sites, Preserve New York (a program of the New York State Council on the Arts and the Preservation League of New York State) funded a cultural resource survey focused on women's suffrage sites in central New York. The Ontario County Historical Society (with Ed Varno, director, and Wilma Townsend, curator) sponsored this survey and hired Judith Wellman, principal investigator, Historical New York Research Associates, to carry it out. Dana Teets, a student in the public history program at Nazareth College, was database manager. By limiting this first attempt to central New York, we hoped to (a) identify historic suffrage sites that could be nominated to the National Register of Historic Places; (b) create a model project that might be expanded to the rest of New York State; and (c) identify sites that could be added to the National Votes for Women Trail (www.nvwt.org) with markers supplied by the William G. Pomeroy Foundation (https://www.wgpfoundation.org/). We began with a workshop of local historians and other interested stakeholders from central New York. We ended with three main documents: (1). an historic context statement, outlining the development of the suffrage movement in central New York; (2). a database with names of 475 central New York suffragists, adding to Tom Dublin's suffrage biographies for Women and Social Movements (https://documents.alexanderstreet.com/VOTESforWOMEN); and (3). a database listing 209 women's suffrage sites in central New York. [End Page 373] These results are online at https://www.ochs.org/womens-suffrage/. Three major possibilities emerged from this project. First, New York State's Historic Preservation Office determined that many of these suffrage sites are eligible for the National Register of Historic Places. Our work might also form the basis of a Multiple Property Document Form, so that suffrage...

Developing Affective Communication Skills in a Clinical Laboratory Sciences Program at a Small Liberal Arts College

This study evaluated the ability of simulated laboratory activities to develop affective skills, especially oral communication. Surveys were administered to students at the start and end of a clinical chemistry laboratory course at Nazareth College, a primarily liberal arts college that is not attached to a major medical center. These students included both clinical laboratory science majors and non-majors. Survey questions asked students to use a Likert scale to score their preparedness to properly identify patients, verbally communicate critical results, and discuss pre-analytical challenges that affect specimen integrity. During the course, students evaluated mock laboratory results and were required to orally discuss pre-analytical and post-analytical issues with a volunteer role-playing as an emergency department physician. Data indicates statistically significant (p

Glazer music performance center at Nazareth College

The new Glazer Music Performance Center at Nazareth College opened to rave reviews in Fall 2018. This project had several unique challenges including budget, schedule and a goal for simultaneous use of a warm-up room that sits within the footprint of the upper volume of the concert hall. The concert hall, while only seating 700, has a performance platform sized for a full symphony orchestra and choir. In order to acoustically accommodate these large ensembles, the room volume was set to 625 000 cubic feet. Since this would have required an unusually and impractically tall space, additional volume was captured above some of the hall’s circulation areas, backstage, and above a few acoustically sensitive warm-up, teaching and practice spaces located behind the backstage area. Substantial sound isolation construction was developed to allow for simultaneous use. A second and related challenge was the project budget of $14M, translating to an average construction cost of $580/SF and included no low-cost spaces. A third challenge was an extremely aggressive project schedule requiring the facility to open in time for their 50th anniversary celebrations. All challenges were overcome thanks to an integrated design process carried out by talented and dedicated design and construction professionals.

«АМЕРИКАНСЬКІ ЗУСТРІЧІ» – ОСВІТНЬОЇ-НАУКОВИЙ ПРОЕКТ УКРАЇНСЬКОЇ АСОЦІАЦІЇ АМЕРИКАНІСТИКИ ТА ІСТОРИЧНОГО ФАКУЛЬТЕТУ КНУ ІМЕНІ ТАРАСА ШЕВЧЕНКА

The article deals with the educational project «American Talks», implemented during 2018-2019 by the non-governmental organization Ukrainian Association for American Studies and the Department of Modern and Contemporary History of Foreign Countries of the Faculty of History, Taras Shevchenko National University of Kyiv. A series of meetings, lectures, discussions on topical issues of American history and politics, Ukrainian-American relations, the place of personality in the modern world, the formation of leaders and their role in American society are covered. Lecture-discussion «Education at American Universities» by Associate Professor Alexander Komarenko was devoted to discussing opportunities for Ukrainian youth to study at American universities, financing American university education, system of management and coordination of educational projects, correlation of local and federal educational systems. The event in the Framework event within the American Talks project, organized by the Chairman of the Board of NGOs Ukrainian Association for American Studies, Associate Professor Makar Taran, on «The USA and China in the 21st Century: Global Competition of the Superpower of the Present and the Superpower of the Future», was devoted to the most important aspects of the current relations between the two superpowers, prospects for their development and the implications of these processes for international relations. It was emphasized that the US-China relations are the most important bilateral relations of global importance and their significance for the whole world, and for Ukraine in particular, will only grow. An opportunity to become a woman in the American society as an individual, her prospects for education and professional development, and family attitudes toward women who have a successful career was addressed by an event titled «Women’s Careers in the United States: Benefits, Challenges, Opportunities» with American filmmaker, lawyer Sharon Rowven, and producer, director and screenwriter Andrea Blaugrund Nevins. In May 2019, at the Faculty of History of Taras Shevchenko National University of Kyiv, a lecture-discussion was held by a well-known American journalist, a civil servant of Ukrainian descent, ex-director of the Ukrainian Voice of America service, Adrian Karmazin. This meaningful event was attended by students, studying under the American and European Studies program, as well as alumni, teachers of History Faculty, representatives of the Ukrainian Association for American Studies, specialists in international relations and counteraction to Russian hybrid information warfare against Ukraine. Ukrainian-American Educational Dialogue – a discussion about university-based humanitarian education in Ukraine and the USA between students and teachers of the American and European Studies program at the Taras Shevchenko National University and Nazareth College (State of New York, USA), aimed at informing US colleagues about the history and current development of Ukrainian university education, sharing experience in higher education in the humanities and discussing prospects for cooperation.

Meeting New York State Requirements for Clinical Laboratory Science Licensure at a Liberal Arts College

<h3>ABSTRACT</h3> Clinical Laboratory Science (CLS) programs are most students’ sources of guidance for entry-level curricular content areas and their related coverage on the American Society for Clinical Pathology Board of Certification exams. However, in states that offer CLS licensure, such as New York, licensure eligibility requirements may not align with board exam eligibility requirements. The differences can include curricular expectations that may exceed the entry-level curriculum and a minimum number of hours of supervised clinical experience. This article will detail the licensure eligibility requirements for CLS programs in New York, and explore how those requirements affected the design of the CLS program at Nazareth College. Nazareth College’s program opened in the fall of 2014 with goals of meeting students’ educational needs, preparing students for certification exams, and meeting all requirements for licensure eligibility. Using a multifaceted approach to provide comprehensive didactic, laboratory, and clinical learning, the program met these goals within its initial four years.

The teaching of gerontology: Seven years of course design, redesign, and assessment in a multigenerational classroom

ABSTRACT Intergenerational teaching using a multigenerational course design is certainly not a new pedagogical technique. However, the longitudinal assessment and redesign of three gerontology courses described here can offer educators and professionals insights into reflection as a requirement not only within the course but also about the course itself. Since 2009, the Gerontology Program at Nazareth College has collaborated with the St. John’s Senior Living Communities to offer college-level courses comprising both Nazareth students and elder residents. In these courses, the elders not only participate on an equal basis with the students but also, together with the students, engage in regular course assessments. This article offers a review of course designs, assignments linked to student-learning outcomes, service-learning projects, and the numerous opportunities created for both personal and professional growth. Utilizing three different courses, this comprehensive study of intergenerational and multigenerational learning provides examples of different forms of engagement between students and elders and serves as a model for course design.

The Dillingham Case and Charles W. Chesnutt’s “The Passing of Grandison”

Research Article| January 01 2017 The Dillingham Case and Charles W. Chesnutt’s “The Passing of Grandison” Mark J. Madigan Mark J. Madigan Nazareth College Search for other works by this author on: This Site Google American Literary Realism (2017) 49 (2): 169–174. https://doi.org/10.5406/amerlitereal.49.2.0169 Cite Icon Cite Share Icon Share Facebook Twitter LinkedIn MailTo Permissions Search Site Citation Mark J. Madigan; The Dillingham Case and Charles W. Chesnutt’s “The Passing of Grandison”. American Literary Realism 1 January 2017; 49 (2): 169–174. doi: https://doi.org/10.5406/amerlitereal.49.2.0169 Download citation file: Zotero Reference Manager EasyBib Bookends Mendeley Papers EndNote RefWorks BibTex toolbar search Search Dropdown Menu toolbar search search input Search input auto suggest filter your search All Scholarly Publishing CollectiveUniversity of Illinois PressAmerican Literary Realism Search Advanced Search The text of this article is only available as a PDF. Copyright 2016 by the Board of Trustees of the University of Illinois2016 Article PDF first page preview Close Modal Issue Section: Notes and Documents You do not currently have access to this content.

Editorial Board

Dimitris Anastasiou, Ph.D. · Southern Illinois University, CarbondaleRashida Banerjee, Ph.D. · University of Northern ColoradoRichard T. Boon, Ph.D. · University of Texas, San AntonioDavid Sudia, M.Ed. · University of Northern ColoradoMaha Al-Hendawi · Qatar UniversityVassilios Argyropoulos · University of ThessalySelete Avoke · U.S. Department of EducationYash Bhagwanji · Florida Atlantic UniversityPoonam Dev · Nazareth College of RochesterPeggy Gallagher · Georgia State UniversityBella Gavish · Levisnki Teacher's CollegeThomas Gumpel · Hebrew University of JerusalemCeleste Kelman · Federal University of Rio de JaneiroLusa Lo · University of MassachusettsSuzanne Martin · University of Central FloridaSophia Mavropoulou · University of New EnglandHelen McCabe · Hobart and William Smith CollegesAnna McTigue · Education Development CenterSusan O'Rourke · Carlow UniversityShaila Rao · Western Michigan UniversityVicky Spencer · Dar Al-Hekma UniversityLaura Stough · Texas A&amp;M UniversityWilfred Wienke · University of Central Florida

Introduction

Introduction

Introduction

Introduction

The Apprentice Clinical Instructor (ACI): A Mentor/Protégé Model for Capstone Integrated Clinical Education (C-ICE)

Background and Purpose. Educators suggest that experiential learning and apprenticeships promote student learning through participation in authentic or real-world activities. Full-time clinical education placements are common experiential learning opportunities, while academic settings primarily provide didactic learning. The purpose of the Apprentice Clinical Instructor (ACI) model is to provide students with (1) an innovative approach to the advanced clinical education experience within the academic program and (2) the skills necessary to be effective clinical instructors. Method/Model Description and Evaluation. In the Capstone Integrated Clinical Education (C-ICE) course at Nazareth College in Rochester, New York, the ACIs mentor less-experienced students (proteges) in an on-campus, pro bono clinic during an integrated clinical education experience. The mentor/protege model provides opportunity for ACI dialogue and reflection with proteges and clinical instructors (CIs). Evaluation of the model was compiled from assessment of ACI performance by CIs and proteges, self-assessment, reflective journal entries by the ACIs, and curricular review. Outcomes. Over 90 Doctor of Physical Therapy (DPT) students participated as ACIs. Qualitative journal entries indicate that the ACIs found this to be a valuable learning experience for developing clinical instructor skills and confidence. Summative evaluation of their performance from CIs also indicate that the ACIs further developed their own clinical reasoning and client care skills through providing assistance and feedback to proteges. Discussion and Conclusion. The ACI model is a unique and effective approach for final-year DPT students to learn clinical instruction skills, while continuing to develop confidence in practice skills. It also is a useful method to meet CAPTE Criteria 5.11-5.15. Although implemented in a program with an on-campus clinic, the approach could be incorporated into other experiential learning situations. Key Words: Clinical education, Peer mentorship, Clinical apprenticeship, Experiential learning. BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE Faculty members in physical therapist education programs strive for effective teaching methods that link foundational skills to clinical skills, often through methods such as clinical case studies and repeated practice in the classroom. Educational programs for health professions also rely upon the real- world in the clinic as essential in developing the competence necessary for graduates.1 Full-time clinical experiences for students in health care professions are supported by educational approaches such as experiential learning and apprenticeship. According to Dewey's2 experiential learning theory, such placements are likely to elicit reflective thinking, thereby enhancing learning. Kolb3 builds upon this theory, suggesting that concrete experiences are part of a learning cycle that then includes reflecting on the experience and connecting those reflections to previously learned theories as part of problem solving. In his work related to education, Schon4 differentiates between the technical competence usually emphasized in academia and what he describes as professional artistry- the ability to frame problems that arise in the unpredictable and conflicted situations of daily practice. He suggests that alternative models, such as coaching instead of teaching and guided apprenticeships with experts, are important strategies for the development of practitioners. Students also are more likely to gain the insight necessary to understand how and why to use technical skills when the expert incorporates reflection. In full-time clinical education, reflection requires time for the clinical instructor (CI) to guide and facilitate the learning process, as well as time for students to consider various possibilities and multiple perspectives. …

THE EFFECTS OF A COMBINED AEROBIC AND RESISTIVE EXERCISE PROGRAM WITH THE USE OF TELEHEALTH MONITORING IN REDUCING THE VALUE OF CARDIOVASCULAR RISK FACTORS OF INDIVIDUALS VULNERABLE TO DEVELOPING TYPE 2 DIABETES.

1Glaser, Lauren; 1Stankovski, Sabrina. 1Physical Therapy, Nazareth College, Penfield, NY, United States.

Impact of a 10-Week Individualized Exercise Program on Physical Function and Fatigue of People with Multiple Sclerosis

Research has found that people with multiple sclerosis (MS) who engage in exercise programs experience improvements in physical and psychological health, resulting in enhanced quality of life. These studies have involved structured exercise protocols, but few have examined the effects of an individualized exercise program allowing for peer socialization. The purpose of this study was to investigate the effects of a 10-week individualized exercise program offering opportunities to socialize with peers on fatigue and physical functioning in people with MS. Thirteen individuals with a physician diagnosis of MS were enrolled in a 10-week exercise program at Nazareth College in Rochester, New York. Eleven participants (9 female, 2 male; mean ± SD age, 55.0 ± 7.06 years) completed the study. The following qualitative and quantitative measures were used for evaluation before and after the exercise program: Multiple Sclerosis Quality of Life-54 (MSQOL-54), Activities-specific Balance Confidence (ABC) scale, Modified Fatigue Impact Scale (MFIS), Timed Up and Go (TUG) test, Timed 10-Meter Walk (T10MW) test, functional reach test, and single-leg stance (SLS) test. Statistically significant differences were found for the TUG (P = .005), T10MW (P = .014), and MFIS physical functioning subscore (P = .039). The results showed significant increases in gait speed and mobility as well as decreased impact of fatigue on physical functioning after the 10-week exercise program.

EDITORIAL

While we generally associate spring with a time to turn over a new leaf, any time can be the right time to institute positive changes in self-management. This issue of the International Journal of MS Care (IJMSC) contains a number of articles on enhancing self-care as well as the usual broad mixture of articles pertinent to multiple sclerosis (MS) clinicians.Dr. Gulick of Rutgers University College of Nursing and colleagues have contributed an article on “Monitoring My Multiple Sclerosis,” a patient-administered assessment scale that can provide health status information to the patient as well as health-care providers. Ms. Vore and colleagues of Nazareth College in Rochester, New York, provide a rehabilitation perspective on the idea of self-management through their study on the impact of a 10-week individualized exercise program on physical function and fatigue of individuals with MS. Although it is a pilot study, readers will hopefully take away points that will be helpful to their own practices. From a psychosocial perspective, Dr. Yorkston and colleagues from the University of Washington in Seattle provide insights obtained from focus groups into difficulties people with MS face in self-management. This perspective is also valuable for clinicians and caregivers.Taking more definitively the view of the clinician, Ms. Burke from the Westmead Millennium Institute in Sydney, Australia, and colleagues examine the evolution and expansion of the role of the MS nurse around the world. They discuss the implications of the emergence of new treatments for the disease as well as the growing need for education and empowerment of MS patients.Another timely article in our current climate of increasing cost cutting and cost consciousness is the contribution of Ms. Newton of the University of Oklahoma and Ms. Stica of CoxHealth in Springfield, Missouri, which presents a cost-effectiveness analysis of treatments for MS. While the analysis does not include all of the currently available medications, it provides insights into how this type of analysis may be applied to all MS agents in the future and how policy makers may view treatment data. Whether or not we agree with the assumptions inherent in this type of analysis, it is important to be aware of the techniques applied and the derivation of the results, which we may see implemented in the years to come.Last but not least, Dr. Marrie of the University of Manitoba, Winnipeg, and Dr. Goldman of the University of Virginia in Charlottesville report on their assessment of the validity of the Tremor and Coordination Scale used by the NARCOMS Registry, a special project of the Consortium of Multiple Sclerosis Centers (CMSC). Given that tremor and incoordination can have drastic effects on MS patients and that the therapeutic options for symptomatic treatment of these problems are limited, it is extremely helpful to have a proper measurement tool for further studies in this area.Also in this issue, we mark the passing of Dr. Kenneth Johnson, former chairman of the Department of Neurology at the University of Maryland School of Medicine. Dr. Johnson was internationally known for his contributions to MS care and research, and his work led to the development and approval of two diseasemodifying therapies for the disease.In closing, we are pleased to congratulate Dr. Mary Filipi and colleagues on their receipt of the Herndon Award for the best article published in the IJMSC in the previous calendar year, which was announced at the CMSC annual meeting in June. Dr. Filipi's article, entitled “Impact of Resistance Training on Balance and Gait in Multiple Sclerosis,” published in the Spring 2010 issue, reported on a prospective study on the impact of an exercise program emphasizing resistance training on balance and gait in people with MS. The results showed that participation in the program improved MS patients' ability to walk and to generate muscular forces during locomotion. We would also like to announce the next IJMSC theme issue, which is planned for Summer 2012. Dr. Ralph Benedict of the State University of New York at Buffalo and Dr. Kathleen Fuchs of the University of Virginia will be guest editors of this issue, entitled “Novel Approaches for Assessing and Facilitating Cognition in MS.” We are particularly interested in pilot data looking at new approaches, but we also welcome reviews and other research pertinent to this topic. The deadline for submissions is February 1, 2012, and we encourage you to submit your work via our website, which can be accessed at MSCARE.org.

Eleventh General Meeting of the International Thomas Merton Society: Nazareth College, Rochester, New York, USA, 11–14 June 2009

Eleventh General Meeting of the International Thomas Merton Society: Nazareth College, Rochester, New York, USA, 11–14 June 2009

Global Prophet and Ecumenical Contemplative

Global Prophet and Ecumenical Contemplative Glenn Crider and Victor A. Kramer This second gathering of Thomas Merton–related material is by authors we have come to know through our scholarly work publishing The Merton Annual: Studies in Culture, Spirituality and Social Concerns. That annual publication about Merton‐related studies is now sponsored by The International Thomas Merton Society. Cynthia Bourgeault’s essay, as well as the transcription of Thomas Merton’s pointed remarks about prayer and authentic existence, both appeared in our Volume 20. The other essays by Emile Farge, John Wu, and David King are newly conceived articles done expressly for this CrossCurrents project, while these three authors have all contributed to The Merton Annual in the past. The bibliographical note about Merton’s journals suggests the value of that vast project. Our review‐essay by Paul Dekar is built from two pieces in The Merton Annual. Readers of CrossCurrents may wish to look at back volumes of The Merton Annual (Vols. 1–5, AMS Press; Vols. 6–10, Liturgical Press; Vols. 11–16, Sheffield/Continuum; and Vols. 17 and ff, Fons Vitae of Kentucky Press) because it is a refereed publication of scholarship about Merton and Merton‐related inquiries which in many ways parallels the continuing work of Joseph Cunneen; the Association for Religion and the Intellectual Life as well as the work now being done by CrossCurrents which is cross‐cultural and seeded by inter‐faith dialogue. Such is also the case with the work of The International Thomas Merton Society which hosts a “General Meeting” every two years. Its Eleventh General Meeting will be held at Nazareth College this year on June 11th through the 14th. The forthcoming Volume 21 of The Merton Annual (2009) contains revised and expanded materials from the Tenth (2007) Meeting in Memphis. Volume 22, under the editorship of David Belcastro and Gray Matthews will include essays about Merton and Poetry (2010). We are grateful to be editors for both of these issues of CrossCurrents. Called Merton “Global Prophet” for the first issue, and here “Ecumenical Contemplative,” these titles signal our enthusiasm for Merton’s current importance. We think Merton’s contributions to spirituality, to the work of love, to the development of wider understanding between, and among world religions, is being furthered by this work. © 2009 Association for Religion and Intellectual Life