We've Got Some
Good News ...

In case you have not heard, Associate Professors Ted Trost and Catherine Roach--both of whom joined the Department in 1998 after completing their Ph.D.s at Harvard--have each been awarded a sabbatical for the entire 2005-6 academic year. Intended as an opportunity for eligible faculty periodically to devote themselves to their research, the sabbatical frees them from their teaching duties for either a semester or an entire year.

Although they'll be virtually present in the Department through email, beginning sometime this summer they'll begin carrying out their research and writing in Canada for the year, during which time they will both be appointed "Visiting Scholars" in the College of Humanities at Carleton University in Ottawa, Canada.

Click here to learn more about Prof. Trost's sabbatical project.

But Wait, There's More

Also, Associate Professor Russell McCutcheon, the current Chair of the Department who has been at UA since 2001, has been awarded a promotion to the rank of Professor (what is sometimes called "Full Professor"). This will take effect at the start of the new academic year this August.

And Then, There's This Other News ...

Finally, a piece of news that makes us a little sad yet extremely proud: Assistant Professor Kurtis Schaeffer (pictured with his wife, Heather Swindler, and their children, Ruby and Max), who joined the Department in 2000, also from Harvard, to teach in the area of Tibetan Buddhism, has been awarded tenure and promoted to the rank of Associate Professor (a year early) by the University of Alabama--but it was just as he also received a job offer, that comes with tenure and the rank of Associate Professor, from the University of Virginia's Department of Religious Studies--a major Ph.D.-granting program in our field that is widely known for training scholars of Tibetan culture, history, and religion.

To say that Kurtis--along with his ever-present shorts, hiking boots, and smile--will be missed by all of our faculty, staff, and students is a terrible understatement.

Congratulations Kurtis! You're goin' to the show.

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