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Susan Rodgers, of the sociology and anthropology department,
was recently named the 2003-04 recipient of the Mary Louise
Marfuggi Faculty Award. Made possible by a generous gift
from Richard A. Marfuggi, M.D., ’72, in honor of
his mother, the award recognizes faculty with an exemplary
record of scholarship and outstanding achievement in the
creation of an original work in the arts and sciences.
A cultural anthropologist, Rodgers was honored for her
exhibition, Keris/Cloth: Sacred Metal and Textile Arts
of Indonesia, and the accompanying exhibition catalogue
of the same name. Presented at the College’s Iris and
B. Gerald Cantor Art Gallery during the 2003 spring semester, Keris/Cloth provided
a rare contrapuntal presentation of Sumatran textiles and
weaponry as a ritual pair.
Rodgers earned her Ph.D. in anthropology from the University
of Chicago in 1978, after conducting 2 1/2 years of
fieldwork in Sumatra . Focusing then on the politics and
aesthetics of indigenous literatures and the ritual oratory
of the Angkola Batak people, Rodgers returned to Indonesia
numerous times to explore issues of state power and resistance
arts. Joining the Holy Cross faculty in 1989 after 11 years
at Ohio University , Rodgers was instrumental in developing
the College’s anthropology program. A former department
chair, she has also been involved in the women’s studies
program and in Asian studies, which she currently directs.
The recipient of several research grants - including
a 1992 Fulbright for a translation of a Batak-language 1927
novel - Rodgers received a 2002 Arthur J. O’Leary
Faculty Recognition Award in acknowledgment of her teaching,
scholarship and service to the College.
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