Williams College announces the appointment of new directors of Williams-Exeter Program

12:00AM / Friday, June 23, 2006Print Story | Email Story

Williams College has announced the appointment of Professors Guy Hedreen and Elizabeth McGowan as co-directors of The Williams-Exeter Program and chosen the 26 juniors who will attend the 2006-07 program. The Williams-Exeter Program is a yearlong program of studies affiliated with Exeter College, one of the oldest of the more than 30 colleges at the University of Oxford. (Exeter College alumni include author J.R.R.Tolkien.) Based at the Ephraim Williams House in North Oxford, the program is designed to integrate students into the intellectual and social life of one of the world's greatest universities. Students participate in the Oxford tutorial system and follow Oxford's three-term calendar. Hedreen, professor of art, has taught at the college since 1990. He specializes in Greek art. He is the author of numerous scholarly articles and of "Capturing Troy: The Narrative Functions of Landscape in Archaic and Early Classical Greek Art" and "Silens in Attic Black-Figure Vase-Painting: Myth and Performance." He has been the recipient of the Rome Prize, a post-doctoral fellowship at the American Academy in Rome, and a National Endowment for the Humanities post-doctoral fellowship from the American School of Classical Studies at Athens. He received his B.A. from Pomona College and his Ph.D. in Classical and Near Eastern archaeology from Bryn Mawr College. McGowan, professor of art, also specializes in Greek art, particularly architecture of the archaic and classical periods. She is the author of "Tomb Marker and Turning Post: Funerary Columns in the Archaic Period" and "Content into Form: The Iconography of Ancient Greek Sacred Architecture." She was a member of the American School of Classical Studies in Athens from 1982-86 and received the Olivia James Traveling Fellowship from the Archaeological Institute of America for research in Greece in 1988-89. She received her B.A. from Princeton University and her Ph.D. from New York University's Institute of Fine Arts. She joined the Williams faculty in 1989. McGowan and Hedreen will begin their two-year term on July 1. Professor of Anthropology James Nolan has been director of the program for the last two years. The 26 Williams students who have been accepted into the Williams-Exeter Programme will spend the year studying at Oxford. Admission into the program is highly selective. Candidates must have already completed the college's distribution requirements by the end of their sophomore year. Applicants are recommended by faculty based on their excellent grades, writing aptitude, and capacity for independent work, which is the cornerstone of the Oxford experience. The students are: William Bernsen (Ashland, N.H.), Michael Biblowit (New York, N.Y.), Matthew Britton (Pawlet, Vt.), Henry Burton (Hood River, Ore.), Sara Carian (Bermuda Dunes, Calif.), Sandesh Dhungana (Kathmandu, Nepal), Andrew Douglas (Mandeville, Jamaica), Katherine Edgerton (Virginia Beach, Va.), Scotford Garthwaite (Orinda, Calif.), Josef Gutman (St. James, N.Y.), Stephanie Hsiung (Madison, N.J.), William Jacobson (Honolulu, Hawaii), Deborah Kang (Saratoga, Calif.), Faaiza Lalji (West Vancouver, Canada), Haydee Lindo (St. James, Jamaica), Lindsay Long-Waldor (New York, N.Y.), Carynne McIver (Hillsborough, N.C.), Steven Melis (Cleveland Heights, Ohio), Prassanna Raman (Singapore), Jason Ren (Dunellen, N.J.), Michael Reynolds (Gladstone, Ore.), Anne Royston (Westmont, Ill.), Sara Siegmann (McFarland, Wis.), Benjamin Springwater (San Francisco, Calif.), Terence Tamm (Potomac, Md.), and Elizabeth Todd (North Falmouth, Mass.).

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St. Stan's Students Spread Holiday Cheer at Williamstown Commons

By Jack GuerinoiBerkshires Staff
12:50PM / Sunday, December 21, 2025

WILLIAMSTOWN, Mass. — Students from St. Stanislaus Kostka School in Adams brought the holiday spirit to Williamstown Commons on Thursday, delivering handmade Christmas cards and leading residents in a community caroling session.

"It honestly means the world to us because it means the world to them," said nursing home Administrator Alex Fox on Thursday morning. "This made their days. This could have even made their weeks. It could have made their Christmas, seeing the children and interacting with the community."

Teacher Kate Mendonca said this is the first year her class has visited the facility, noting that the initiative was driven entirely by the students.

"This came from the kids. They said they wanted to create something and give back," Mendonca said. "We want our students involved in the community instead of just reading from a religion book."

Preparation for the event began in early December, with students crafting bells to accompany their singing. The handmade cards were completed last week.

"It's important for them to know that it's not just about them during Christmas," Mendonca said. "It's about everyone, for sure. I hope that they know they really helped a lot of people today and hopefully it brought joy to the residents here."

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