Two publications produced by University College (UC) of Syracuse University won national
awards in the 2009 University Continuing Education Association (UCEA) Marketing and
Publications Awards Competition. This year's competition was especially strong, with a
record number of participants-348 entries from 78 institutions. The awards were presented
earlier this month at UCEA's national conference in Boston.
The third issue of Stone Canoe: A Journal of Arts and Ideas from Upstate New York, won a
silver award in the print publications category. Stone Canoe, published by University
College, showcases a diverse mix of emerging and established writers and artists with ties to
Upstate New York. Stone Canoe Number 3 features the work of 90 contributors from the
region. The publication reinforces the University's commitment to establishing creative
community partnerships and supports Syracuse University's vision of Scholarship in Action.
The booklet Foreseeable Futures created for Imagining America won a bronze award in the
UCEA competition. This two-color brochure features a position paper by James T. Campbell
titled "Navigating the Past: Brown University and the Voyage of the Slave Ship Sally, 1764-
65." It was based on Campbell's keynote speech at Imagining America's 2007 conference at
SU. The narrative centers on the voyage of a slave ship-owned by the four brothers for
which Brown University is named-from Providence, R.I., to West Africa in 1764. The ship
transported 196 men, women and children intended to be sold as slaves in the United States.
"We're so pleased that the University College marketing team is being recognized for the
lovely work they did on 'Navigating the Past,'" says Jan Cohen Cruz, director of Imagining
America. "It's a story that people ought to hear, and the beautiful presentation makes it that
much more accessible."
In related news, Syracuse poet Jules Gibbs, who teaches poetry at the Downtown Writer's
Center and creative writing to children at the Franklin Arts Magnet School, recently won a
$5,000 Dorothy Sargent Rosenberg Prize for her poem "Black Walnut," which debuted in
the latest edition of Stone Canoe. The Rosenberg Prize was established by Marvin Rosenberg
in memory of his late wife to encourage the work of poets younger than 40. The Rosenbergs
met at the University of California-Berkeley during the Depression and Marvin became a
Berkeley professor and renowned Shakespearean scholar. Dorothy wrote poetry under the
name of Dorothy Sargent. After his wife died in 1969, Marvin wanted to honor his wife's
memory by helping young writers pursue their craft, so he created the prize in her name,
which now disburses between $125,000 and $200,000 each year.
Gibbs, who recently moved to Syracuse from Madison, Wis., reflected recently on being a
part of Stone Canoe: "To live in upstate New York is to be, by definition, a kind of outcast, a
second cousin run out of the center of the universe by forces external, internal. In that, there's
a particular brand of upstate tension evoked in these pages-it's elemental and industrial, it's
crows and dandelions, deciduous and rust, stagnation and the fine fissures of disruption.
That we make art out of this psychic space is no great surprise-that it's collected,
stunningly, in this volume, is our good fortune. These are the rough dreams of exiles."
For more information about Stone Canoe, visit
http://www.stonecanoejournal.org or contact
Robert Colley, editor, University College of Syracuse University, at 443-1802 or
rmcolley@uc.syr.edu.
Imagining America is a consortium of some 85 colleges and universities that share a
commitment to the civic mission of higher education. The organization moves to a new host
campus every five years, and is currently housed at SU. To learn more about Imagining
America, visit http://www.imaginingamerica.org.
UCEA was founded in 1915 and is the leading professional organization for college and
university continuing and professional education, with more than 420 member institutions in
16 countries. The association's members include public and private accredited colleges and
universities, and nonprofit organizations with a significant commitment to continuing
higher education. Member institutions provide pre- and/or post-baccalaureate-level
education to students in pursuit of degrees, professional credentials, or simply learning for its
own sake.
