Valentine swing dance, lessons at Peabody on Feb. 12

Grab your sweetheart and dance the night away at a Valentine Swing Dance from 8 p.m. to midnight on Saturday, Feb. 12, at the Peabody Conservatory cafeteria, 1 E. Mount Vernon Pl. The dance is free and features music by the JHU Band's Jazz Ensemble and the Peabody OASIS's Sixth Dimension Sax Quartet.

Dance instruction will be provided from 8 to 9 p.m. by Joanne Houlahan, a lecturer in the Computer Science Department in the School of Engineering who has taught swing dance professionally for many years in the Baltimore-Washington area. Following the lesson, the JHU Jazz Ensemble, conducted by Matt Belzer, and the Sixth Dimension Sax Quartet will provide music for dancing until midnight. This is the fifth annual Valentine Dance hosted by the JHU Jazz Ensemble.

The two music groups have played at various venues on the Homewood and Peabody campuses, including E-Level and Coffee Grounds, and have given concerts in the Glass Pavilion. The Swing Dance is sponsored by the JHU Band, directed by James Sherry, and the Peabody OASIS, with assistance from the JHU Office of Alumni Relations, through the Student Services Funding Program.

For more information about the dance, call 410-366-9332.

Hodson endows directorship of Digital Knowledge Center

The Milton S. Eisenhower Library is the recipient of a $2 million commitment from the Hodson Trust to endow the directorship of the Digital Knowledge Center, the library's information technology research and development department. The Hodson Director provides leadership for the Digital Knowledge Center's broad mandate to promote the innovative application of technology to teaching and scholarly communication. The director will develop collaborative initiatives with faculty and other technology units across the university, and also with external academic and corporate partnerships.

G. Sayeed Choudhury, the first person named to this position, has headed the DKC since 1997 and holds both his undergraduate and master's degrees from the Whiting School of Engineering. As Hodson Director, Choudhury is focusing on digital library initiatives, innovative technologies for classroom-based and distance education, applications of technology that transform scholarly communication, and emerging technologies.

Johns Hopkins is one of four Maryland colleges to receive annual grants from the Hodson Trust, which was settled in 1920 by the family of Beneficial Corporation founder Col. Clarence Hodson. In addition to student scholarships and internships, the grants to Hopkins have been used for undergraduate research, library expansion and information and technology initiatives. Since 1996 a portion of the trust's gift has created an endowment that supports a competitively awarded graduate student assistantship in the Digital Knowledge Center. Projects have focused on developing Web-based courses, online exhibits and multimedia digital kits.

Peace Corps names top volunteer-producing small colleges

The Peace Corps last week released its annual list of top volunteer-producing colleges. Hopkins ranked in the seventh group, with 17 graduates now serving in the Peace Corps. American University placed No. 1, with 40 current volunteers.

'American Ruins' author/photographer to lecture

The former American Brewery, considered by some to be one of Baltimore's most fascinating buildings, will be one of the featured subjects when Camilo Jose Vergara, award-winning photographer, sociologist and author of American Ruins (Monacelli Press, 1999) gives a slide-illustrated presentation from 7 to 8:30 p.m. on Wednesday, Feb. 16, in Shaffer Hall, Homewood campus.

Vergara's book is a photographed chronicle of the transformation of America's inner cities, including those of New York, Detroit, Philadelphia, Chicago, Newark and Baltimore. Admission is free to "American Ruins," the Alpha Sigma Lamba Honors Lecture in the School of Professional Studies in Business and Education.

For more information, call 410-516-4842.