News and events

The Monocle – Foreign Affairs Radio Podcasts

For over ten years, Monocle magazine has offered a global perspective on everything that matters, including current affairs, business, politics, travel, culture or design, Monocle magazine provides an informed and intelligent outlook on the goings on of the world. Monocle’s online presence includes a bureau of foreign affairs that includes current topics as well as a historical perspective on significant worldwide events.

Hosted by Andrew Mueller, an award-winning journalist, the latest podcast addresses the launch of Sputnik. The show is presented as a radio broadcast that could have occurred in 1957, when the Russian satellite Sputnik was launched.

The October 29th episode is entitled: Historical Series: The Sputnik Crisis

In part one of our historical series, we travel back in time to 1957 to unpack the Sputnik crisis. What did this new satellite foreshadow, and how did the Soviet Union do it? Andrew Mueller speaks to Henry Rees-Sheridan, Tom Nichols, Mark Galeotti and Linda Dawson.

Linda has taken on the role of a scientist commenting on the Sputnik launch.

Listen to this fascinating broadcast:

Historical series: The Sputnik crisis, The Foreign Desk 461 – Radio | Monocle

The Linda Getch Dawson STEM Scholarship for Women

The Linda Getch Dawson STEM Scholarship for Women at Archbishop Williams High School in Braintree, Massachusetts was established by AWHS alumna Linda Getch Dawson ‘67 to support deserving young women in their pursuit of Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics degrees.

The recipient must be able to strongly identify with and excel in STEM related coursework at AWHS. In addition, the student(s) must be able to verbalize their STEM interest and the importance of an increased number of women in science related careers.

Requirements upon the acceptance of the scholarship:

• Student must remain in high standards academically and behaviorally, maintaining a GPA of 3.0 or higher.
• Student must participate in a STEM related activity such as a science fair or presentation.

Current writing project: “Women in Air and Space –…

Linda Dawson is writing for a new book project. The working title is: “Women in Air and Space – a Personal Perspective.”

The book will not only include factual biographies of these women and their contributions to the aerospace discipline but will also include the backstories that provide insight into what inspired these women as well as the challenges these women faced in order to live out their dream. When possible, the book will include personal stories that give a glimpse into these lives that provide a window into experiences that young women can relate to such as feelings of isolation, discrimination, cultural issues or pressures associated with personal relationships, family, and children. The book will provide a window into what made these women pursue such challenging and pioneering jobs, against the odds. It is important to document the stories of these women — their failures as well as their successes. All too often, women are overlooked or diminished in the roles they played in making space exploration successful. Their accomplishments need to be highlighted so that other women can be inspired and see that others, like themselves, have succeeded in their dreams to pursue careers in aerospace.