February/March 2007

Welcome to the February–March 2007 issue of the Harvard Extension Alumni Association (HEAA) e-newsletter, the Extension Chord. In this issue, you will find information on upcoming events, links to useful Harvard University and Harvard Alumni Association websites, and news from the Extension School.

As always, we welcome your ideas and suggestions for the Chord and the HEAA. Questions and comments may be sent to Grace Scheibner, HEAA president, at grace_scheibner@harvard.edu.

We look forward to hearing from you!

Grace Scheibner,
HEAA President

Karen Droisen, Coordinator,
Alumni Affairs and Development,
Harvard Extension School

In This Issue

• Profile: Sal Perisano, ALM ’87
• Alumni Benefits: The Harvard Recreation Program
• Call for Volunteers
  
• Upcoming Career Workshops
• News from 51 Brattle Street and Beyond
• Extension Alumni and Faculty in Print
• New and Notable Courses
• Recent HEAA Events
• Upcoming HEAA Events
• Other Harvard Alumni Events
• Travel with the Harvard Alumni Association

Profile: Sal Perisano, ALM ’87

Grace Scheibner and Sal Perisano

This is the first of a series of alumni profiles that will appear regularly in the Extension Chord.

I met with Sal Perisano, ALM ’87 and chairman and CEO of iParty, to hear his fascinating success story. As he spoke about his experiences and interests, Sal’s approach to life became apparent. He takes nothing for granted, nor assumes anything, and even though he joked with me that his wife, Dorice Dionne, does most of the work while he goes out to lunch, somehow I know that’s just not true.
— Grace Scheibner, HEAA president

What were some of your favorite courses at Harvard Extension?
At the Extension School I concentrated in government. One of the most challenging courses I took was in constitutional law; one of the most enjoyable and satisfying was a film course on Alfred Hitchcock.

How did the film courses at Extension tie in to your early career in business?
I have always loved movies. I have also always loved books. My wife, Dorice, and I wanted to have our own business; neither of us wanted to work for someone else for too long. Soon after college we bought a bookstore in Kenmore Square in Boston. Then, in the early 1980s, I co-founded a company called Videosmith. Ours were among the first video rental stores in the country, and in just a few years we began to dominate the Boston market. By 1989, my business partner and I sold Videosmith to a publicly traded company in Ireland. I remained with the European operation and eventually became CEO of the parent company, which later was acquired by Blockbuster.

How did your early ventures in renting movies and opening a chain of stores here and abroad lead to marketing party goods?
My schedule was hectic, traveling to and from Europe for my job. Dorice traveled with me at first, but ultimately she wanted to pursue her own interests and began working with a business in Waltham that sold everything from cleaning supplies to paper napkins. There she developed the concept of a party superstore and soon opened her own store, The Big Party.

After wrapping up my work in Ireland, I joined Dorice, began raising venture capital, and together we opened more stores. In 1998, we made a deal with our venture capital partners to leave the company. But the Internet was booming, and in 1999 several investors approached us with a concept that developed into iParty.

Do you have other areas of interest?
I’m interested in how iParty can serve the community. For example, we feel that every kid deserves a Halloween party, and so we decided to throw a party for the children of Boston and raise money for the Kids Fund at Boston Medical Center along the way. Our not-for-profit event, Halloween Town, is now held annually, and to support it we’ve donated thousands of Halloween costumes and decorations to Boston Medical Center. The Kids Fund provides families with safety resources that insurance doesn’t cover, such as bicycle helmets and window guards, among other things. To me, raising cash for the Kids Fund is a retail challenge, but unlike other larger, more bureaucratic funds where you don’t see the results of your efforts, I know that what we do is making a difference each day in kids’ lives.

Getting back to your time at Harvard Extension, how did your experience there impact what you do today?

At iParty we believe that our role as a corporate citizen includes helping kids and families in the communities we serve—pretty important stuff. It wasn’t until I got a little older that I understood we all have a responsibility to the world around us; Harvard Extension School helped me recognize this.

Alumni Benefits: The Harvard Recreation Program

The Harvard Athletics Recreation program offers students, faculty, staff, and alumni membership to the Malkin Athletic Center, Blodgett Pool, and Hemenway Gymnasium at very low cost. You can use the cardio and weight-training facilities, work with a personal trainer, take fitness classes, swim, play a variety of intramural and club sports, ice skate and play hockey at the Bright Hockey Center, and scull and sail on the Charles River. You can even enter the indoor biathlon (download registration form) at the Malkin Athletic Center. For more information, please visit the Harvard Recreation website or call (617) 495-2211.

Call for Volunteers

Alumni interested in serving on HEAA committees should contact Grace Scheibner.

Upcoming Career Workshops

The Career and Academic Resource Center (CARC) offers free workshops at 51 Brattle Street for Harvard Extension students and alumni. Upcoming workshops include:

Innovative Job Hunt Tools and Strategies
March 6, 5:30 pm

Naming Your Skills, Interests, and Values and Putting Them into Play
March 7, 3:30 pm

Make Every Interview a Success: Tips for International Students
March 13, 5:30 pm

Still Looking for the Right Career?
April 4, 3:30 pm

Conveying Your Amazing Story through Resume and Interviews
April 9, 5:30 pm

Alumni can register via online services or by calling (617) 496-8750.

News from 51 Brattle Street and Beyond

Dean Shinagel remarks on Harvard’s new president

On behalf of the Harvard Extension School community, I am delighted to congratulate Drew Faust on her appointment as president of Harvard University.

In her official statement, Dr. Faust comments on the University’s dedication to a dramatic and continuing expansion of access to Harvard’s academic resources. Here at the Harvard Extension School, we look forward to playing a central role in the fulfillment of this commitment, through our open-enrollment policy and our many distance education courses.

Dr. Faust also expresses the need to find new ways to encourage Harvard’s individual schools to participate in fruitful collaboration with one another. I am happy to affirm that the Harvard Extension School has long been on the leading edge of cross-disciplinary collaboration at the University by serving as a testing ground for collaborative teaching initiatives and offering courses taught by key individuals from schools across Harvard.

We look forward to working with Drew Faust and supporting the University’s agenda under her presidency.

It’s great to see an historian make history.

- Michael Shinagel, Dean

Read the press release regarding Drew Faust’s appointment, and read or view her interview with Jim Lehrer on The NewsHour.

A taste of the Extension School on iTunes U

Harvard Extension School recently partnered with iTunes to provide audio and video of select courses, free to the public, through iTunes U. Visitors can view one 16-week course in its entirety (CSCI E-1 Understanding Computers and the Internet), and 10- to 15-minute previews of 15 of the 50 Harvard Extension School distance education courses. Audio of complete two-hour lectures is also available for the preview courses.

Courses are taught by distinguished faculty from Harvard and other universities as well as working professionals who bring their valuable expertise to the classroom. Course previews include Harvard professor Mikael Adolphson’s HIST E-1851 Japan: Tradition and Transformation; Harvard professor Shaye J. D. Cohen’s RELI E-1029 A Thematic Introduction to the Hebrew Bible; and Suffolk University professor Robert J. Allison’s HIST E-1632 The History of Boston.

Biology professor animates cellular world

Robert Lue, Harvard Extension School biology instructor (BIOL E-172 Biological Perspectives on HIV and AIDS; BIOL E-174 The Biology of Aging) and Harvard biology professor, was featured on the December 12 episode of ABC World News in a segment on teaching biology through animation. “In order to spice up his course and attract more biology majors,” says ABC’s Charles Gibson in his introduction to the segment, “[Dr. Lue had the] idea to hire one of America’s great animators to create a film showing what is going on in everyone’s bodies right now.” Watch the segment, titled “Guide to the Human Body,” at the ABC News website. Lue’s full video and a Harvard Crimson article about the animation project are also available.

Course podcast named #1 by Wired magazine

In its December 2006 issue, Wired magazine named the podcast of David Malan’s course, CSCI E-1 Understanding Computers and the Internet, “the best [college lecture] podcast we found.” The magazine also noted, “If every [student] watched this series, IT help desks would be out of business.” You can read the article online and learn how to view the podcast at the course website.

Graduate student mainstay of Carpenter Poets group

Bill Thibodeau, who is working on a master’s degree at Harvard Extension School, is part of an unlikely group of carpenters who have met at a local restaurant for the past 10 years to write and read poetry. Read about the Carpenter Poets of Jamaica Plain in a Boston Globe article.

ALM in Museum Studies Program continues to grow

The Master of Liberal Arts (ALM) in Museum Studies Program (converted from a certificate program in 2005) attracts more interest each year, both from prospective students and the museum community. In the program’s first year there was one graduate. In 2006, there were seven, and this year, more than a dozen students are expected to receive their degrees and join the ranks of Harvard Extension School alumni. The museum community has taken notice of the program’s expansion as well. In spring 2006, the museum studies staff and program members participated in the American Association of Museums (AAM) annual meeting that was held in Boston. The program also sponsors events at the New England Museum Association (NEMA) conference each November. As a result of the program’s higher profile in the museum community, the ALM in Museum Studies Office receives numerous requests to post internship opportunities on the student web portal each week, opportunities that promise a bright future for current students and the increasing ranks of ALM in Museum Studies alumni.

Extension Alumni and Faculty in Print

Carla Bosco, ALM ’03, published “Harvard University and the Fugitive Slave Act,” an article based on her ALM thesis, in the June 2006 issue of The New England Quarterly. 

JoeAnn Hart, ALB ’97, is looking forward to the May 2007 release of her first novel, Addled. Addled is a social satire set at a country club near Boston, concerning the battle between a flock of invasive Canada geese and the club membership.

Margie Lee, ALM ’89, drew on the research that she did for her master’s thesis to write her new book, Kinfolk: Tracing the Footsteps of my Scandinavian and German Ancestors from Minnesota to Washington.

David Platt, instructor of CSCI E-237 Distributed Programming Using Microsoft .NET, and his new book, Why Software Sucks… and What You Can Do About It, was the subject of a recent Reuters posting. Read about this book that blames programmers for hard-to-use software, or listen to a podcast, in which Platt discusses the book.

New and Notable Courses

GOVT E-1730 International Conflict and Cooperation in the Modern World

This course is an introduction to the theory and history of world politics, beginning with the Peloponnesian War and continuing through the cold war, trade liberalization, and civil strife. Available online only.

STAR E-130 Youth Arts for Social Change

This course is for educators and future educators who wish to work collaboratively with local artists and one another to integrate a range of creative practices into conventional and unconventional public school settings, including after school programs.

BIOL E-118 Deep Sea Biology

This course provides an introduction to deep sea ocean habitats, animals, and microorganisms.

HARC E-178 Designing the American City: Civic Aspirations and Urban Form

This course is an interpretive look at the American city in terms of changing attitudes toward urban life. City and suburb are experienced as the product of design and planning decisions informed by cultural and economic forces, and in relationship to utopian and pragmatic efforts to reinterpret urban traditions in search of American alternatives. Available online only.

Recent HEAA Events

After Hours at the Fogg

On an unusually warm Thursday evening in December, 170 Extension alumni and friends, young and old, gathered at the Fogg Art Museum at Harvard. Over refreshments of wine, cheese, coffee, and dessert—including some of the most delectable brownies—guests mingled in the exquisite Italian Renaissance-style courtyard. Docents gave tours throughout the evening and later described Extension School alumni as “one of the best groups” they have ever guided through the Fogg.

The attendants represented almost all degree and certificate programs at the Extension School, with graduation years ranging from 1967 to 2006. Young alumni from the 2001 through 2006 graduate classes were especially well represented. Special guests included Christopher Queen, dean of students; Ray Comeau, director of the management programs; and Ivan Galantic, longtime history of art instructor and professor of fine arts emeritus at Tufts University.

It was an evening full of camaraderie in a delightful and relaxing setting. The event was such a great success that it will be held again in fall 2007.
– Payal Loungani, ALB ’05

A Valentine’s Revue: Great Love Scenes

Wednesday, February 14, 2007, 7 pm
Theatre Room, Harvard Faculty Club, 20 Quincy Street, Cambridge

Alumni warmed their valentines' hearts with romantic evening of fine food, drink, and a selection of great love scenes performed by cast members of the acclaimed American Repertory Theatre.

Slideshows of this year’s events, including the Fogg and Valentine’s day events, are now available to view online.

Upcoming HEAA Events

Photo by David Silverman/DSPics.com

Go Crimson!: Harvard Men’s Ice Hockey

Friday, February 23, 2007, 7 pm
Bright Hockey Center, Cambridge

Cheer on the Crimson squad as they take on their formidable division rival, Colgate, and fight for a berth in the Eastern College Athletic Conference (ECAC) tournament!

A limited number of discounted tickets are available for HEAA members at $12 each. The first 10 alumni to purchase tickets will receive a special HEAA-Harvard Hockey hat that’s not available anywhere else. And remember, the Hockey Center is just a stone’s throw from Harvard Square, so you and your friends can enjoy an evening out after the game.

Extension Uncorked: Wine Tasting at the Harvard Faculty Club

Thursday, March 15, 2007, 5:30 pm
Theatre Room, Harvard Faculty Club, 20 Quincy Street, Cambridge

The state of California makes enough varieties and styles of wine to equal those of many European wine countries. Please join us to taste, compare, and enjoy an exciting group of California wines and a complementary selection of fine cheeses, chosen expressly for us by the Harvard Faculty Club’s sommelier.

Tickets are $50 per person. Parking at the Broadway Garage is available but must be reserved. To purchase tickets and reserve parking, please send your check made out to “Harvard University” to the Harvard Extension Alumni Affairs Office at 51 Brattle Street, Cambridge, MA 02138. Please include the names of the attendee(s). Due to space constraints, ticket requests must be received by Thursday, March 8, 2007. No tickets will be sold at the door.

Other Harvard Alumni Events

You can browse upcoming Harvard alumni events across the University and at Harvard Clubs worldwide at Post.Harvard’s master alumni events calendar.

Travel with the Harvard Alumni Association

Consider spending your next vacation with fellow Harvard alumni and noted scholars on an exciting and educational adventure. Upcoming tours include:

The Mighty Mississippi Aboard the Delta Queen
March 23–April 2, 2007

Celebrate the vibrant history of the South aboard the paddle wheeler Delta Queen on your cruise along the Mississippi River Valley. Visit the Old South’s antebellum plantations while lilacs and magnolias are at their peak, and discover Civil War battlefields and legendary blues halls. In New Orleans, make a moving pilgrimage to the French Quarter, valiantly recovering from Hurricane Katrina. Study leader Zoe Trodd teaches in the History and Literature Department at Harvard. She has published numerous articles and books on American history and literature, American slave narratives, Civil War photography, and the literature of the South.

The Unhurried Cruise Aboard Callisto
May 28–June 8, 2007

Inspired by the Italian penchant for slowing down to enjoy life’s pleasures, this “unhurried cruise” offers a uniquely enjoyable journey to some of Italy’s most magnificent coastal regions at a pace the locals would endorse. Travel in luxurious style aboard the private 34-guest yacht Callisto to romantic destinations, where you’ll experience each port of call for several relaxing days. Study leader Charles Pazdernik is associate professor of classics at Grand Valley State University in Allendale, Michigan, where he offers courses in ancient Greek and Roman civilization, classical literature, and ancient law. He is also a junior fellow at Harvard’s Center for Hellenic Studies, where he conducts research on the influence of classical culture on the later Roman empire.

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