Summer 2011

When Bentley undergraduates watch TV shows with a keen eye for how a camera angle may signal characters’ status, it’s a safe bet they are card-carrying members of Sitcom Nation.

Some cultural critics slam the mixing of art and economics, insisting that commerce cheapens creativity. For Ben Aslinger, that intersection is where things start to get interesting.

“Everything is economic in the long run,” says the assistant professor in Bentley’s English and Media Studies Department. “Our system of commodity exchange and payment actually creates the conditions for creativity.”

A skater since age 4, Jenna Longo ’13 is member of the Lexington, Mass.-based Haydenettes. In March, the Accountancy major and her teammates glided to victory at the 2011 U.S. Figure Skating Championships, clinching a record 19th national title in synchronized skating. Then it was onto Finland for the World Championships, where the team earned a bronze medal. Synchro (in the parlance of the rink) is the fastest growing division of competitive skating.

Seasoned faculty members like Mary Marcel are rarely a loss for words in their own classroom. But when a female student confided about being in an abusive relationship with a longtime boyfriend, the senior lecturer was caught off guard.

“Beyond providing emotional support, I wasn’t sure what I should do,” recalls Marcel, who teaches in the Experience Design Department.

The crown jewel of graduate business degrees is getting a dramatic reset at Bentley. A new MBA program represents a radically different approach to management education, which has lately come under fire for not developing the skills most in demand by organizations and society. Bentley is among the first in the nation to answer the critique.

How do you teach English in a war zone? Bentley’s Robert E. McNulty seems to have found a way. Ready: Engage technology to link American students eager to teach with Afghan students eager to learn. Set: Add ingenuity, adaptability and persistence on both sides. Go: Let the curriculum evolve naturally from vocabulary to friendship.

The one-on-one tutoring program that McNulty devised offers language lessons via Skype, the Internet-based live-video service. For young Afghans, the education is critical.

Roy “Chip” Wiggins has never been one to sit still. A penchant for collaboration has propelled the Bentley professor of finance across borders both geographic and intellectual. His latest move follows suit, as he crosses into Academic Affairs as dean of business and the McCallum Graduate School.

It was a dark sky above Illinois that literally opened up a universe for Bentley faculty member George Fishman.

“I was fascinated, and not just in terms of memorizing the names of celestial objects. I really wanted to study astronomy and understand our place in the universe,” he recalls of that night 26 years ago.

Ah, summer: A great time to kick back with a new paperback (or Kindle or Nook or iPad). Here, Bentley readers share their recent literary finds, beach worthy and otherwise.

A Fistful of Rice: My Unexpected Quest to End Poverty Through Profitability by Vikram Akula ● Christine Mann '11, Corporate Finance and Accounting
“Shows the amazing possibilities that come from the power of a service heart and a business mind. An incredible read for graduates entering the business world.”