Panhia Lee

Replica of ancient cave will transport visitors to China’s Silk Road

For ten days this fall, Bryant University will use virtual reality and painstakingly reconstructed replicas to bring an ancient Chinese cave and its artistic treasures to campus.

Dunhuang: An Oasis for East-West Cultural, Commercial, and Religious Exchanges Along the Ancient Silk Road  opens Sept. 27 in the George E. Bello Center for Information and Technology. Bryant is the first academic institution in the United States to host this interactive exhibition.

The centerpiece is a replica of Cave 285 of the Mogao Caves, a UNESCO World Heritage site in Gansu Province, China. This visually rich 6th-century cave is known for its exceptional collection of Buddhist artworks.

Through Oct. 6, guided tours will take visitors through the exhibition — a panoramic projection of the cave site — and into the reconstructed cave, an experience that will incorporate virtual reality. Events related to the exhibition include a series of seminars focusing on arts, culture, history, and religions represented in these caves.

Details about tour reservations and the complete calendar of events are forthcoming from the U.S.-China Institute at Bryant University.

Dunhuang was a melting pot of cultures and religions between the the 4th and 14th centuries. Travelers to Dunhuang dug caves into the nearby cliff faces, then decorated the caves with art in the hope of ensuring safety and success along the Silk Road. The result: The Mogao Caves house one of the world’s most extensive sites of Buddhist murals, statues, manuscripts, as well as art from Islamic and Greek cultures.

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Brown statement on proposed agreement with the Pokanoket

Brown University issued this statement on Thursday, Aug. 31, regarding a proposed path toward an agreement to resolve concerns of Pokanokets encamped on University-owned land in Bristol, R.I.

PROVIDENCE, R.I. [Brown University] — On Wednesday, Aug. 30, Brown University proposed a path forward toward an agreement with the Pokanoket tribe, which established an encampment on Brown-owned property in Bristol, R.I., on Sunday, Aug. 20. On Thursday, Aug. 31, the Pokanokets refused the proposed path forward.

Brown issued the following statement at approximately 4:45 p.m. on Thursday, Aug. 31. Previous Brown statements related to the encampment can be viewed here.

Brown Statement on Proposed Path Forward with the Pokanoket

Brown University is committed to a respectful process that resolves the Pokanoket encampment and addresses the future stewardship, conservation, preservation and sustainable access to the Haffenreffer / Mt. Hope property in Bristol, Rhode Island. Toward this end, the University has proposed a plan that respects the interests of the Pokanokets, as well as the interests of the multiple Native peoples with historical connections to Brown’s property.

The University is deeply concerned and saddened that this plan — as well as all efforts and entreaties to work toward an inclusive resolution — has been refused by the Pokanoket, based on their contention that other Native tribes do not have a legitimate interest in or a connection with this land.

The Pokanokets established their encampment on Sunday, Aug. 20, 2017. Representatives from Brown met with the Pokanoket leadership on Tuesday, Aug. 22, and were presented with documents that demanded that the University grant them exclusive ownership of the Brown-owned Mt. Hope property. These documents had not been previously sent to Brown, and the Pokanokets have acknowledged publicly that Brown had no previous knowledge of their efforts to work with the State of Rhode Island to secure title to the land. Brown has record title to and ownership of the land, which was donated to the University by the Haffenreffer family beginning in the 1950s. It houses a museum, research center and nature preserve.

The University met again with the Pokanoket leaders on Aug. 28 to better understand their concerns. On Aug. 30, the University presented the Pokanokets with a “Path Forward Principles and Parameters” document. It outlines a proposed process to develop and implement a plan for the Brown property in Bristol that ensures conservation, preservation and sustainable access to Native tribes with ties to the property.

Key aspects of the plan include the following:

  • “a consultative process … that respects the historical interests of the various Native peoples related to this land”;
  • “conservation and preservation of, and sustainable access to, the historically significant and sacred sites on the property in a manner that is beneficial and respectful to the Native peoples that are related to this land, to the University, and to other stakeholders”;
  • “consultation and engagement with all Native peoples with an interest and stake in the past, present and future of the Bristol property,” consistent with principles of open access to Native peoples;
  • “a thorough cultural and environmental resource survey, including oral history, geographical information, and archeological and historical research, of the Bristol property;”
  • development of “consensus recommendations for the future of the property”;
  • Brown’s commitment to provide funding and staff to carry out the process; and
  • an end to the encampment to initiate this process.

Brown is disappointed that the Pokanokets (responding through legal counsel) have asserted that they are not concerned about the claims of other tribes to the land, and that such claims are “totally wrong.” The encamped Pokanokets have proposed another meeting to take place soon, and Brown is committed to further discussions with the hope of reaching agreement about a stewardship approach that is inclusive of the Native peoples that have a historical connection to the Bristol property.

Unfortunately, the modern Pokanoket group refuses to recognize the connection of the other peoples to the land, and that is something Brown does not find ethical or acceptable as owners and stewards of the Bristol property.

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Author/journalist Harriet Rubin offers perspective at crossroads of art, society, business, leadership

Author, editor and journalist Harriet Rubin spent a week this spring partnering with faculty to bring her unique experience to their classes and discuss art, society, business and leadership with students. Bringing a lifetime of experience mixing business and the creative arts to campus, she inspired students to achieve big goals and helped them identify the tools they need to do so.

“There is a maturity here that I’ve noticed in the students, and an unambiguous desire for success,” says Rubin, senior writer and columnist for Fast Company and the author of the international bestseller The Princessa: Machiavelli for Women. “They seem to be thinking about how they can make their lives most useful to the world at large. There’s something about the Bryant culture that encourages the expression of that.

“I think the Bryant students are standouts — in their focus, in their sense of what they can do, and in the sort of work they can do,” she said.

Rubin was at Bryant as a Woodrow Wilson Visiting Fellow, a program offered through the Council of Independent Colleges.

The drive to be the best

Throughout the week, Rubin visited courses ranging from a history class on trends in modern thought to a management class on power and influence. In a Marketing for Competitive Advantage class, she discussed the concept of “competitive edge” and explored how companies like Apple and Google strive to reverse-engineer why their strategies worked and discover the “secret recipe for success.”

“Harriet Rubin’s visit definitely made an impression on the students,” says Associate Professor of Marketing and Global Supply Chain Management Michael J. Gravier, Ph.D. “She helped them understand how so many companies strive to be the best, and why only a few succeed.”

Inspiring others

Rubin also aided The Workshop in Creative and Critical Practices students with developing their artist statements. Using her expertise in editing and writing, she helped them explore their goals and identity as artists.

“Harriet guided the students to think through how to talk about how and why they create,” says English and Cultural Studies Professor Terri Hasseler. “She asked students powerful questions about their lives and the motivations behind their work as artists, musicians, performers. The class learned so much just watching her work through the examples. It was a really fantastic opportunity.”

It was amazing how she was so invested in my work after just meeting us,” says Nicholas Wilkinson ’19, one of Hasseler’s students. “She’s passionate about her work and wanting people to be invested and confident in their work. Her guidance helped give me a clearer vision and direction for who I am as an artist and what that means for my future.”

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NaloxBoxes put lifesaving overdose drugs within ready reach

PROVIDENCE, R.I. [Brown University] — On the night of Saturday, June 3, just six days before Amos House installed six “NaloxBoxes” — wall-mounted kits with doses of the opioid overdose reversing medicine naloxone — a resident nearly died of an overdose.

In that case, the affected woman, who was found on the floor of a bathroom, survived because fellow residents happened to have their own naloxone and were ready to act, said Eileen Hayes, director of the homelessness and recovery services center on Pine Street in Providence. But now there are NaloxBoxes arrayed strategically around the center’s main building and residences so that the medicine will always be within reach to residents and staff alike.

“It’s crucial that we educate people and make it available,” Hayes said. “We’re a recovery program, and we’re working with men and women who are really working hard to be in recovery, and yet that doesn’t mean that relapse doesn’t happen.”

NaloxBoxes are the creation of professors Dr. Geoff Capraro of the Warren Alpert Medical School of Brown University and Claudia Rébola of the Rhode Island School of Design. Capraro, a Lifespan emergency medicine physician, had the idea that naloxone should be made readily available in public places where overdoses may occur. Through a connection he made at Brown Hack Health, he brought the idea to RISD, where Rébola has ultimately led the boxes’ design.

What they’ve developed is an emergency kit with the same goals as a fire extinguisher or an automated external defibrillator — to enable anyone in the wrong place at the right time to save lives. Nationally, drug overdoses are rising sharply, mostly because of opioids like heroin or prescription painkillers. The epidemic is especially severe in Rhode Island, where 336 people died from overdoses in 2016 alone, prompting a series of programs and actions by the governor including an executive order signed just today.

“There’s no publicly available naloxone,” Capraro said. “It’s all by prescription or pharmacy dispensed. So we saw potential for putting this medicine in the hands of bystander good Samaritans so they could give it quickly. The time to deliver the medicine matters.”

With grant support from the Rhode Island Department of Health and the Preventing Overdose and Naloxone Intervention program at the Miriam Hospital, Capraro and Rébola produced 48 boxes this spring. They have begun to install them this summer, conducting trainings in opiate overdose recognition and rescue in conjunction with the installations, beginning at Amos House and continuing at least 12 other community facilities such as shelters within the Rhode Island Coalition for the Homeless.

Simple and smart

The boxes, not much bigger than a ream of office paper, contain four injectable doses of naloxone, printed instructions for how to administer it and a mask for providing rescue breaths (in an overdose, people stop breathing). The boxes are also being outfitted with cellular electronics that send a simple text message to their host when they are opened. That way, whoever is responsible for the box is alerted when someone has used it, so that the possible emergency is documented and any taken naloxone can be refilled.

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