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From the Office of the Provost Sept. 2010 |
Denison University Faculty Newsletter
IMPORTANT CHANGES TO THE NEWSLETTER
To new faculty and staff, welcome! To returning faculty and staff, welcome back!
Starting this month, you will no longer receive a paper copy of the Faculty Newsletter. Bookmark this in your browser or archive this email message, but please don’t print it out! All issues will be archived on the Provost Office website: http://www.denison.edu/offices/provost/newsletter.html
In this issue, as is our custom, we honor and recognize faculty achievement of awards and grants, and learn about each other’s activities related to research and scholarship.
As well, now and in the future we will welcome the opportunity to talk about diversity and about teaching—to mark our achievements and update the community about conferences attended, papers delivered, and publications related to diversity and to pedagogy.
We hope that the newsletter will also serve as a means to communicate important campus events coming up in the next month.
And, finally, we will relay information about opportunities for grants, stipends, seminars, meetings, and workshops and their respective deadlines as they come to our attention.
Items can’t be published if we don’t know about them. Please send updates and notices to JANE DOUGAN (dougan@denison.edu).
Please communicate comments and suggestions about the format and content of the newsletter to SUSAN GARCIA (garcia@denison.edu)
CONGRATULATIONS!
AWARDS
JOHN ARTHOS, Associate Professor of Communication, was one of two recipients of the prestigious John L. and Christine Warner Professorships at the Academic Awards Convocation last April. Established in 2004, these professorships are awarded to faculty members who have just completed a major project. The Warner Chair pays special tribute to Arthos’s recent book, The Inner Word in Gadamer’s Hermeneutics (U of Notre Dame Press, 2009, 460pp.).
ANDREW CARLSON, Associate Professor of Music, was the other recipient of the John L. and Christine Warner Professorship. President Dale Knobel said of Carlson, “Andy is a master violinist, a master teacher, an accomplished composer and arranger, and what the New York Times has called a ‘demon fiddler.’ […] Adding to a string of successful musical recordings over the years, he has just completed one of his many CDs, ‘Fiddlehead,’ on which he composed or arranged several of the 12 tracks.” See ”The Leading Edge of Old Traditions” on YouTube.
KAREN GRAVES, Professor in Denison's department
of education, and a member of the faculty since 1993, was honored at last
spring’s Academic Awards Convocation as the new holder of the Charles and
Nancy Brickman Distinguished Service Chair. The Brickman Distinguished
Service Chair, established in 1992 by a gift from Charles A. and Nancy Eshelman
Brickman, seeks to honor a senior member of the Denison faculty who has
excelled in commitment to the university.
SANDRA MATHERN-SMITH, Associate Professor of Dance, has received a 2010 Individual Excellence Award in Choreography from the Ohio Arts Council (OAC). Mathern-Smith’s solo work, “Contained,” is an installation and a performance designed for a gallery-like venue. Known for her improvisational work in contemporary dance, Mathern-Smith often uses elements such as video projections, live music or poetic text in collaborative pieces. See “Contained: Second Prototype” on YouTube.
GRANTS AWARDED
ANNABEL EDWARDS, Assistant Professor of Chemistry and Biochemistry, was awarded a Cottrell College Science Award from the Research Corporation. The funded proposal, “Water Transport in a Hydrophobic Layer: ATR-IR Spectroscopy Studies of Water Movement in Films of Plant Cuticular Wax Components” will help further her research into the molecular pathways water takes through “waterproof” layers such as the outermost coating on plants. The $35,000 award will provide funds for summer student stipends, new equipment, and lab supplies.
JOAN KRONE, Director of the Honors Program/Gilpatrick Center and Professor of Mathematics & Computer Science was awarded a grant of $47,056 from The National Science Foundation to support her project entitled "Collaborative Research: "Hands-On? Collaborative Reasoning across the Curriculum." The project is under Dr. Krone’s direction, in collaboration with Joseph Hollingsworth (Indiana University) and Murali Sitaraman (Clemson University). The award is effective August 15, 2010 and expires July 31, 2013.
JEFF THOMPSON, Associate Professor of Biology, was awarded a $317,852 grant from the National Institutes of Health, with funding provided through the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 (ARRA). The grant will support Jeff's research investigating the role of DNA packaging "histone" proteins in the repair of DNA damage caused by UV radiation. In addition to funds to cover research expenses, the grant also provides support for three summer research student positions for each of the next three years.
For the Brickman Teaching Award and new Named Chairs, click on TEACHING below.
Diversity Advisory Committee Created at Denison: At the request of Toni King, Associate Provost for Diversity, Provost Brad Bateman and President Dale Knobel supported the formation of a faculty Diversity Advisory Committee to inform, advise, and assist the Provost’s Office in fostering the College’s commitment to developing and sustaining a diverse community. This committee was created in conjunction with Toni King’s appointment to the role of Associate Provost, in 2009. Members include: DOSINDA GARCÍA ALVITE, WARREN HAUK, CHING-CHU HU, JOHN JACKSON, CHRISTINE PAE, MARLENE TROMP, and TONI KING, Chair. Feel free to contact any member of this group with your thoughts, concerns, or recommendations for diversity at Denison.
Building the Capacity for Diversity in Librarianship. Librarians LAREESE HALL and MORIANA GARCIA were selected to attend The Minnesota Institute for Early Career Librarians—a week-long biennial professional development program for academic librarians from traditionally underrepresented groups. The 2010 Institute, sponsored by the University of Minnesota since its inception, was the seventh of its kind and included 24 librarians from around the country. The core of the program emphasizes developing an understanding of and vision for oneself within the profession and, specifically, within an academic institution. Concepts such as emotional intelligence, intentional leadership, scenaric thinking, and collaborative and strategic leadership were the focus of a wide range of sessions and professional assessment activities.
Chart drawn by Institute professor, Kathryn Deiss, to summarize the Institute
The 24 participants crafted an action-statement that included a range of collaborative endeavors. One project—the development of a new, peer-reviewed open access journal for early career librarians—will be led by Lareese Hall.
Vaishnavism through Voice and Video. A paper in progress on Diversity within Vaishnavism led Black Studies and Religion professor JOHN JACKSON, and Religion professor LYONE FEIN to the Rathyatra Festival held in New Vrindaban, West Virgina on July 10th 2010. The purpose of their trip was to conduct interviews with Hare Krishna devotees attending an ISKCON (International Society of Krishna Consciousness) Festival for their collaborative research. John Jackson’s filming of the Rathyatra Parade led to a 16-minute video which will be made available on the web.
Denison Students Connect to Columbus Somalian Community. The connections between Denison and the Somali refugee community in Columbus grew stronger this summer. Fritzkeysha Chery ('11) and Anna Hammersmith ('12) taught innovative English as a New Language material to a group of adult immigrants at the Global Mall on Morse Road. As Summer Research Scholars, they also explored questions of language acquisition and family conflicts in an interview study of young Somali residents of Columbus. Their work was part of a study of pathways to educational success among immigrants, that is being conducted by Sociology/Anthropology professor ANITA WATERS with the support of Denison University Research Foundation. As a summer scholar in the Burton Morgan Entrepreneurship Education Program, Erik Singh ('11) studied the subject of immigrant entrepreneurship patterns and conducted original research on the experiences of Somali business owners. Cody Smith ('11) served as an intern for the Somali Women's and Children's Alliance, assisting in case management and information systems. Denison University was one of many sponsors of the first annual Somali graduation ceremony that was held in July in Columbus to celebrate all area high school and college graduates of Somali descent. The organizers of the event awarded Denison special recognition for its involvement in the Somali community over the past years.
Please send items for this section of the faculty development newsletter, Engaging Diversity to Toni King, Associate Provost. Items may reflect the broad spectrum of faculty involvement in diversity through teaching, scholarship, service (to Denison and beyond), as well as through any faculty development activities.
RESEARCH
PUBLICATIONS, PRESENTATIONS, CONFERENCES, COMMUNICATIONS
JOHN ARTHOS, Associate Professor of Communication, presented a paper entitled "Hermeneutics as Esoterica in Liberal Arts Education" at the conference "Truth and Method: Fifty Years After" at Leiden University, August 27.
RON ABRAM, Associate Professor of Studio Art, was Artist in Residence at Flying Horse Editions in Orlando, FL from July 19 - August 13. The residency was sponsored by a Denison University Research Foundation grant.
GARY BAKER, Professor of Modern Languages, presented a paper "On Violence. Gewalt in Uwe Johnson’s Jahrestagen" on May 29th in Rostock, Germany. The conference theme was "Identität des Autors zweifelhaft. Uwe Johnson. Werk und Leben." (trans. Identity of the Author in Doubt. Uwe Johnson. Work and Life)
KENNARD BORK, Alumni Professor of Geology Emeritus, will present the Citation to Professor Gabriel Gohau, of the Lycée Janson de Sailly (Paris), for winning the 2010 “History of Geology Award” of the Geological Society of America (GSA). The citation and Gohau’s response will be published by GSA after the annual meeting in Denver.
ANDREW CARLSON, Associate Professor of Music, published "Soldier's Joy and Whiskey Before Breakfast," traditional folk tunes for string quintet/orchestra. The arrangements were released in May 2010 by String Letter Publishing, Hal Leonard, distributor. Andy published a review of Mark O'Connor's CD "Americana Symphony, Variations on Appalachia Waltz" in the Journal of the Society for American Music (Cambridge University Press) in August, 2010. Carlson performed a solo violin recital at Furman University in Greenville, SC on July 13. He was assisted by Affiliate Instructor of Music Casey Cook and Dr. Thomas Joiner (Furman University). The Andy Carlson Band performed for the Lakeside Concert Series at Furman University in Greenville, SC on July 15 and a CD release concert at the Melting Point in Athens, Georgia on March 19. Andy served as a faculty member for the South Carolina Suzuki Institute July 11-16 at Furman University. He conducted the advanced chamber orchestra, taught the advanced violin group, directed fiddling classes, and taught individual lessons. Finally, Andy served as a guest performer at the "Swannanoa Gathering," a folk music festival held at Warren Wilson College in Asheville, NC on July 19.
KIM COPLIN, Associate Provost, gave a presentation at the Annapolis Group Deans Meeting in June entitled “Advising and the Liberal Arts: Engaging the Mission.”
KATY CROSSLEY-FROLICK, Assistant Professor of Political Science, published an article entitled "Beyond Model UN: Simulating Multi-Level, Multi-Actor Diplomacy Using the Millennium Development Goals" in International Studies Perspectives, May 2010. In June she published an article entitled "The Fate of Former East German Police in Reunified Germany, 1990-1996: The Dialectics of Inclusion and Exclusion" in the Journal of Historical Sociology.
JORDAN FANTINI, Associate Professor of Chemistry, along with three students traveled to the 2010 Spring National Meeting of the American Chemical Society in San Francisco held from March 21 to 25. Jordan gave an oral presentation on his work entitled “Reactive tethers, unsaturation, and leaving groups at the methylene bridge of tetramethoxy-p-tert-butylcalix[4]arene.” Jordan’s student coauthors gave poster presentations in a session with mainly graduate student presenters. Ashley Thomas (’10) presented on “Click reaction of terminal azide- and alkyne-tethered p-tert-butylcalix[4]arenes,” Trevor Carroll (’09) presented on “2-(Hydroxymethyl)- and 2-(methanesulfonyloxymethyl)-tetramethoxy-p-tert-butylcalix[4]arene,” and Louise Carroll (’12) presented on “Progress toward 2-chlorocalix[4]arene: New di- and tricalix[4]arenes.”
BILL FOX, Associate Dean of Students and Director of Residential Life, presented "Legislative Updates: Public Policy Year in Review" and "Grassroots Public Policy Advocacy: You Can Make A Difference" at an annual conference for university housing officers in Austin, TX, June 2010.
SUSAN GARCIA, Associate Provost and Professor of Spanish, presented “"Interdepartmental Collaboration: What We Did and What We Learned" at the annual conference of ATHE (Association for Theatre in Higher Education conference in Los Angeles (August 3-8, 2010) with CHERYL MCFARREN (Theatre) about their experience in collaborative staging of a Spanish classical drama in Spanish and English this past spring at DU. At the same conference, Garcia presented the AHCT Comedia in Translation database she created and maintains in the session entitled “Comedia Revived: Websites, Video Archives, and Multi-Media Resources for Rediscovering Plays from the Spanish Golden Age.”
DAVID GOLDBLATT, Emeritus Professor of Philosophy, presented an invited "Distinguished Scholar" lecture at the University of Montreal to mark the 30th anniversary of their Department of Communications. The 15 April 2010 presentation was entitled, "Conversation: Ventriloquism, Prosthesis, Art." In addition, David published a book review of Barry Allen's, Artifice and Design: Art and Technology in Human Experience, Cornell UP, 2008 in Notre Dame Philosophical Reviews, 10 June 2010. Also, David published a review of Fred Rush's book, On Architecture in the Summer 2010 issue of the Journal of Aesthetics and Art Criticism, Vol. 68, Number 3.
KAREN GRAVES, Professor of Education, has been elected President of the History of Education Society (2011-2012) and will serve as Vice-President/President-Elect in 2010-2011. Graves' book, And They Were Wonderful Teachers: Florida's Purge of Gay and Lesbian Teachers, was reviewed spring 2010 at the annual meeting of the Southern History of Education Society in Atlanta. This summer the American Educational Studies Association recognized the book with a 2010 Critics Choice Book Award.
AMANDA GUNN, Associate Professor of Communication, had three students from her Fall 2009 Culture and Communication class give a panel presentation at the Ohio University Communication and Development Studies Conference, "New Approaches to Research and Practice in Communication for Development and Social Change." Brandon Haas ('10), Chelsea Cooper ('10), and Allyson Churchwell ('10) were selected as undergraduates, even though the call for papers was for faculty and graduate students. The conference was held April 2-3, 2010 in Athens, Ohio.
HARRY HEFT, Professor of Psychology was an invited lecturer at the Enaction School, an annual week long series of workshops on theories of perception and action in psychology. The workshop was held in Tipperary, Ireland, 27th June - 3rd July 2010. He also served as a discussant for the workshop "Rethinking the qualitative and the qualitative, and the subjective and the objective", held at the University of Portsmouth, UK, in June.
FADHEL KABOUB, Assistant Professor of Economics, published CThe IS-LM Model," in Rhona Free (ed.) 21st Century Economics: A Reference Handbook, Sage (2010). He also presented two papers this summer: "A Post Keynesian Institutionalist Analysis of the History of Money: The Possibility of Full Employment without Inflation," at the Charles Gide Colloquium in Paris, May 28, 2010, and "The Urgency of Green Jobs for All," at the 2010 URPE Summer Conference in NY, Aug. 1.
BARRY KEENAN, Professor of History, published "Academies (Shuyuan) [1800-Present]" in The Encyclopedia of Modern China, David Pong, Editor in Chief, Detroit: Charles Scribner’s Sons, 2009. In December 2009, the Editorial Board of the University of Hawaii Press accepted Keenan’s manuscript Neo-Confucian Self-Cultivation for publication in their series, Dimensions of Asian Spirituality, Henry Rosemont, Jr. Series Editor. Barry presented “Re-examination of the Definition of Humaneness (Ren) and the Role of Ritual (Li) in Eighteenth-Century Chinese Confucianism” at the Hawaii International Conference on Arts & Humanities, January 2010. He presented “The Nineteenth-Century Synthesis in Confucian Learning,” at “Humanistic International: Humanism, China, Globalism. An International Conference,” Fairbank Center, Harvard University, March 2010.
BILL KIRKPATRICK, Assistant Professor of Communication, presented a paper, "Out of Sight, Out of Mind? Radio, Visuality, and Indecency," at the Broadcast Education Association conference in Las Vegas in April. Bill has been appointed to the IT Committee of the Society for Cinema and Media Studies. He presented the paper "Play, Power, and Policy: Putting John Fiske Back into Media Policy Studies" at the conference “Fiske Matters: A Conference on John Fiske’s Continuing Legacy for Cultural Studies,” held at the University of Wisconsin--Madison, June 11-12, 2010.
JEFFREY KURTZ, Associate Professor of Communication, can be proud of three students from his senior seminar, Rhetoric & the American Experience, Mark Heckmann ('11), Elizabeth Henry ('10), and Teresa Young ('10), who attended the University of St. Thomas' Undergraduate Communication Research Conference in April to present research completed during the seminar. Their research explored various intersections between religion and American public life.
VEERENDRA LELE, Associate Professor of Sociology/Anthropology, published "Lessons in Racial Identity and Kinship," Anthropology News, vol.51, no.5. May 2010.
BERNARDITA LLANOS, Professor of Modern Languages, presented "Marta Brunet y Clarice Lispector: de la escritura literaria a la periodística como intervención pública" at the International Conference 9th Jornadas Andinas de Literatura Latinoamericana y Brasilera (JALLA 2010)held at the Universidade Federal Fluminense, Niterói, Brazil, August 2-6, 2010.
DIANA MAFE, Assistant Professor of English, presented two papers: “Mixed Race, Tongue Tied: Articulating African Hybridity in Helen Oyeyemi’s The Icarus Girl” at the African Studies Association Annual Conference in New Orleans, LA in November 2009 and “‘A Wilderness for the Mind’: Representations of the Bush in Yoruba Fiction” at the African Literature Association Annual Conference in Tucson, AZ in March 2010. She was a moderator and panelist at the Annual Africa Network Conference held at Denison University in April 2010. Diana recently published a book chapter, “Knowing Your Place,” in African Women Writing Resistance: Contemporary Voices, edited by Jennifer Browdy de Hernandez, et al (Madison: University of Wisconsin Press, 2010, 281-284). Finally, her article, “(Mis)Imagining Africa in the New Millennium: The Constant Gardener and Blood Diamond,” will be published in the December 2010 issue of Camera Obscura: Feminism, Culture, and Media Studies.
ROBERT MALCUIT, Emeritus Professor of Geosciences, presented an oral paper at a Joint Sectional Meeting of the Geological Society of America at Branson (M0) in mid-April. The title of the paper was "A Venus Orbit -- Lunar Orbit Resonance Model as a Possible Explanation for the Early Proterozoic "Great Oxidation Event".
ANDY MCCALL, Assistant Professor of Biology, published “Thirty years of climate change and habitat alteration shift patterns of butterfly diversity,” with Forister, M.L., N. J. Sanders, J. A. Fordyce, J.H. Thorne, J. O'Brien, D.P. Waetjen, and A.M. Shapiro, in Proceedings of the National Academies of Science, 2010, USA 107: 2088-2092. Andy presented "Can optimal defense theory be used to predict the distribution of plant chemical defenses?" at the Plant-Herbivore Interactions Gordon Research Conference in Galveston, TX in February 2010. Jessica Bury ('10) and Andy presented a poster entitled "Does Alliaria petiolata or its extracts affect invertebrate abundance or behavior?" at the 3rd annual Ohio Invasive Plant Council Conference in Columbus, OH in February 2010. Student co-authors were: Julie Rotramel ('10), Lauren Keny ('10), Andrew Boemi ('10), Katie Buttermore ('10), Tian Lan ('11), Heather Robertson ('10), and Caitlin Splawski ('10). Two of Andy’s students also gave presentations of their senior research at the 2010 Midwest Ecology and Evolution Conference in March of 2010, with Andy as a co-author on both talks: H. Robertson ('10) and A.C. McCall, "The effects of leaf damage on petal and pollen defense in wild radish, Raphanus sativus," Midwest Ecology and Evolution Conference, Ames, IA; and C. Splawski ('10) and A.C. McCall, "Abiotic effects on species richness and diversity in a newly-created tallgrass prairie," Midwest Ecology and Evolution Conference, Ames, IA.
CHERYL MCFARREN, Assistant Professor of Theatre, co-presented research on acting pedagogy with her colleague Mark Seamon at this spring's Mid-America Theatre Conference in Cleveland, OH. At the annual Association for Theatre in Higher Education conference in Los Angeles this August, she presented "Interdepartmental Collaboration: What We Did and What We Learned" with SUSAN GARCIA about her experience staging SPITE FOR SPITE this spring at DU. She also presented research on the state of the Denver Center Theatre Company in a paper entitled "Tough Choices: Kent Thompson Leads Change at the DCTC."
GILL WRIGHT MILLER, Associate Professor of Dance, coordinated a conference on "Somatic Pedagogies" at Denison June 3-6, 2010. Assisting Miller in the conference production were Britt Becka ('10) and Melanie Warning ('11). Miller curated the inaugural performance in the new Knapp Performance Lab. She presented four works at the intersection of performance, digital technologies, and somatics, including "My Name is a Blackbird" by Molly Shanahan '90. A second work, the creation of choreographers Mark Taylor and Julie Fox, was danced by Olivia Gray-Be' ('12), Samantha Hyde ('12), and Madeline Skaggs ('12). In other recent work, Gill published "Creativity and Motherhood" in the Encyclopedia of Motherhood, Andrea O'Reilly, Ed. Her entry on "Women in Dance" was included in The Multimedia Encyclopedia of Women in Today’s World.
CARRIE OLSON, Associate Professor of Studio Art, had a review by Courtney Baker of her recent solo exhibition at CUE Gallery in NYC in Art Papers, May/June 2010 issue, pp 57-58.
JESSICA RETTIG, Associate Professor of Biology, and Kim Coplin, Associate Provost, presented two seminars at the PEAQ Workshop on Self-Study hosted by the Higher Learning Commission in April. The seminars, entitled "Using Accreditation to Contribute to Your Institution’s Planning Process" detailed Denison's two-year accreditation process.
RONALD E. SANTONI, Professor Emeritus of Philosophy, presented a "Critical Commentary on Ronald Aronson's Living Without God--including 'Sartre and Atheism,' " at meetings of the North American Sartre Society held in Memphis, Tennessee, November 21-23, 2009. In this commentary he includes, in addition to his response to Aronson and Sartre, a brief reply to New Atheists such as Richard Dawkins, Christopher Hitchens, and Daniel Dennett. At the same meetings, Santoni was reelected to the Executive Committee of this binational Sartre Society.
DON SCHILLING, Professor of History, presented a paper, “What Did We Know and When Did We Know It?: Knowledge of the Holocaust in Central Ohio, 1939-1945,” at the Ohio Academy of History Spring Meeting, March 26, 2010. He presented “Art for War’s Sake: An Example of Inter-Institutional Cooperation” at the Annual Meeting of the Ohio Museum Association, April 26, 2010. His review of Thomas D. Fallace, The Emergence of Holocaust Education in American Schools (New York: Palgrave Macmillan, 2008), appeared in Holocaust and Genocide Studies (2009), 23: 316-31.
GEOFF SMITH, Associate Professor of biology, and a colleague from the Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México recently published a paper entitled "Observations of amplexus and oviposition in Ollotis [Bufo] occidentalis in the Río Salado, Puebla, México" in the March 2010 issue of IRCF Reptiles and Amphibians. Geoff Smith co-authored the book Amphibians and Reptiles of Nebraska with colleagues from the University of Nebraska-Lincoln and the National University of Colombia. The book was published in June 2010 by Rusty Lizard Press.
JEFF THOMPSON, Associate Professor of Biology, presented a poster this summer at the 2010 Yeast Genetics and Molecular Biology Meeting in Vancouver, British Columbia entitled: "Regulation of UV repair via sister chromatid exchange by distinct histone H3 K79 methylation states in Saccharomyces cerevisiae". The poster was co-authored with Denison graduates Alyssa Rossodivita ('10) and Megan Ansbro ('09).
CYNTHIA TURNBULL, Associate Professor of Theatre, unveiled and presented two sessions on the Costume Legacy Project creating and researching the family tree of academic costume educators in the U.S. at the United States Institute of Theatre Technology National Conference in Kansas City, April 2010. Cindi also served as an instructor/mentor with the Stagecraft Institute of Las Vegas in partnership with the U.S. Department of State and the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts in the International Cultural Exchange Visitor Program. This program hosted set, lighting, costume, and sound designers from all over the world for a one-week intensive design and technology seminar in Las Vegas in early April.
TOMMY WHITE, Assistant Professor of Studio Art, has a solo exhibition of his work at the Harris Lieberman Gallery in New York City, August 31-October 2.
CAROLINE WILSON, Visiting Assistant Professor of Biology, published a paper entitled, "Distribution of C-type allatostatin (C-AST)-like immunoreactivity in the central nervous system of the copepod crustacean Calanus finmarchicus" in General and Comparative Endocrinology with her coauthor, Dr. Andrew E. Christie from the Mount Desert Island Biological Laboratory, Salisbury Cove, ME. Caroline spent last summer at MDIBL and was sponsored by the institution's New Investigator Award. Two Denison students joined her there, Kaitlin Costello ('10) and Christopher Wessner ('10). Kaitlin Costello and Grant Adams ('11) also presented their work with Caroline at the Undergraduate Research Conference at Butler University, Indianapolis, IN on April 16, 2010. Kaitlin presented a talk on "Sequencing the sodium voltage gated ion channel from the copepod, Calanus finmarchicus" and Grant presented a poster on "Myelin and node characterization in a Caridean shrimp."
SPECTRUM SERIES THEME: Technology and
Community.
The whirlwind pace of global technological
development in the 21st century forces us to ponder the ways in which
technology is redefining the communities to which we belong, as well as our
relationships within those communities. Specifically, how is technology
altering the texture of our communities and the very nature of how we relate to
each other, personally and professionally? How has technology either enhanced
or challenged the nurturing of community and relationships, from the local to
the global context? What have been the privileges or benefits that have
accrued to communities that are technology-rich, compared to those that are
technology-poor? What lessons can we draw from past choices that give us
good guidance for future choices? Keep this theme in mind all year.
From the Office of Student Affairs
Invitation from Vice President for Student Affairs, LAUREL KENNEDY
Please set aside September 30 for a presentation on trends in our student population and what they mean to us institutionally. Four trends will be analyzed: health and mental health profiles, racial composition of the student body, religious composition, and trends in student 'participation' in the conduct system. (Burton-Morgan Lecture Hall 11:30-12:30)
Early Career Mentoring Committee
A reminder from DAVE BUSSAN, CATHY DOLLARD, SARAH HUTSON-COMEAUX, and MARK MOLLER:
An orientation for all new (both full-time and part-time) teaching faculty was held the week before classes began in August to orient our new colleagues about teaching at Denison, instructional technology, the library, and other services that will make their transition to working at Denison smoother. However, there are certain aspects concerning departmental life that will not be covered. While we will alert new faculty to the college’s informal and optional mentoring program that pairs them with senior colleagues outside the department, it would be helpful if you would discuss with them your department’s mentoring program early on in the first semester.
2010 Charles A. Brickman Teaching Excellence Award
XINDA LIAN, Professor of Chinese, an expert in Chinese language and literature and member of the faculty since 1994, was honored at the Academic Awards Convocation last April as the 2010 winner of the Charles A. Brickman Teaching Excellence Award. The Brickman Teaching Excellence Award was established in 1997 in honor of trustee Charles A. Brickman, a Denison alumnus from the class of 1954. Having joined Denison’s Board of Trustees in 1973, Mr. Brickman is a life trustee of the college, and he served as chair of the Board from 1983 to 1998. The winner of the Brickman Award is chosen annually by a faculty committee of previous awardees, along with the provost and Associate provost. Nominees must be tenured members of Denison’s teaching faculty who are models of commitment to teaching and who also have strong records of dedication to students inside and outside the classroom. The recipient must have demonstrated a vibrant interest in the learning process, as well as an understanding of teaching as a continuously evolving art form: someone who embraces the teaching and mentoring of students, not just as a profession, but as a calling.
Newly Named Chairs
JESSICA RETTIG and GEOFFREY SMITH, Associate Professors of biology at Denison, were honored at last April’s Academic Awards Convocation as the new holders of the college’s Henry Chisholm Chair in the Natural Sciences. The Chisholm Chair in the Natural Sciences is one of Denison’s oldest chairs, having been established in the 1880s. The criteria for holders of this chair include that they be model teachers and scholars who have made substantial contributions to the wider mission of the college.
LINDA KRUMHOLZ, Associate Professor of English, Black Studies, and Women’s Studies, was honored at the Academic Awards Convocation as the holder of the Lorena Woodrow Burke Chair. The Lorena Woodrow Burke Chair was established by Charles F. Burke (class of 1904) to honor the memory of his wife, who was a member of the Denison class of 1906. First awarded in 1937, the chair’s most recent holder was the late Desmond Hamlet. The chair is awarded for a period of five years to a tenured faculty member in the English Department whose career has exemplified excellence in teaching, scholarship and service.
Thoughts from the General Faculty
How Can Academic Programming Enhance Classroom Learning? One Example of a Successful Academic Event
By MARLAINE BROWNING
Questions that I consider at the beginning of each academic year are: What shape will the upcoming year’s campus theme take and how can we better integrate programming with faculty teaching? How intentional are we in organizing campus programming? Do we think of these events as linking together into a larger narrative about teaching that can affect our students’ ability to retain and apply lessons we want to reinforce in the classroom?
As one example of a successfully integrated program, I’m reminded of the impact that Michael Pollan had last year on campus. In preparation for his visit, numerous faculty integrated excerpts from Pollan’s books into lessons about food-related issues. Pollan’s on-site time at Denison began with a fascinating conversation with Creative Writing students about crafting persuasive, research-based arguments in non-fiction, something I know we all want to reinforce in student writing. Afterward, the Homestead students prepared a remarkable and “radical” meal using local ingredients – they even made their own cheese! For many of the students I interviewed, this meal reinforced classroom lessons about food as metaphor for community and the challenges of food equity in the world as well as important life lessons about what it means to prepare and give food to others. Pollan’s sold-out keynote lecture not only brought faculty and students together in informal conversations, but also sparked dialog between students and the many community members who attended. The following day, five student groups participated in a “Food Forum” at which they presented food-related challenges and received feedback from Pollan and others about ways to build sustainable, student-led initiatives at Denison.
The programming surrounding Michael Pollan’s visit was creative, student-centered, and fostered new communities and conversations that will continue, I believe, into the new school year. People frequently stop me to share what they learned from Michael Pollan’s visit. It was definitely one of the largest events I’ve coordinated, and the payoff was entirely worth the effort and the expense. It’s my hope that as we plan upcoming academic events I’ll hear from many of you about ways we can pool our energy and resources to develop creative, cross-disciplinary programs that cultivate new teaching and learning opportunities at Denison.
See Michael Pollan on TheDen.
Teaching Matters
Teaching Matters, a series of
conversations about teaching at Denison, will sponsor two events this fall. The
first is designed to help us learn productive ways to talk to each other about
teaching and learning that should be particularly useful for mentoring purposes
and helping us connect with each other over issues of teaching/learning.
The second is on techniques to enhance students’ critical thinking skills in
the classroom. Our goal with all of our workshops is to offer practical ideas
that enliven classrooms.
Thursday
September 23. (4-6 p.m. Huffman, President's Dining Room)
"Peer Conversations about Teaching" with Leslie Ortquist-Ahrens, Director of the Center for Teaching and Learning.
Rich dialogue with colleagues about teaching can fuel our investment in the
process and our growth as educators. But much too often, and surprisingly
even at small "teaching institutions," we can fall into patterns of
talking about our work in ways that uncover little about our real challenges,
that cloak our successes and our innovations, and that do little to alleviate
what Lee Shulman has called "pedagogical solitude." In this
interactive session, we'll explore some concrete and creative approaches to
fostering meaningful, evidence-based, and productive conversations about our
teaching and our students' learning.
On October 21 ( 4-6 pm in
Huffman PDR): Dean Pape from the Collaboration for Learning:
“Enhancing Student Success Through Group Discussion and Problem Solving” More
in next month’s newsletter.
Contribute your thoughts about teaching to the next issue. Submit to garcia@denison.edu by September 25 to appear in the October newsletter.
Check TheDen regularly for events on campus.
As you read through the list of events we offer our Denison community, keep in mind a question raised in our Self Study: "How does the college define a reasonable notion of "engagement?" How do we take precautions against the burdens of over-programming students on curricular, co-curricular, and social levels?" (Chapter 6, page 119). As part of the process of defining and articulating our institutional identity and mission, please discuss these questions at the departmental level. Chairs will share your feedback at the October Chair’s meeting (October 21, Burton Morgan Lecture Hall from 11:30-1:15).
September 2-25
One Thing Led To Another
(Bryant Arts Center Gallery)
A collection of work created in
the art studios of Denison University, 2005 - 2010, by Hedda W. von Goeben. Opening
reception on Thursday, Sept. 2 from 4:30 pm - 6:30 pm. Refreshments will be
served.
September 7
Spectrum Series Technology and Community Opening Convocation (8:00pm Swasey Chapel)
“The
Networked Idea”
Steven
Berlin Johnson is the best-selling author of six books and the co-founder
of the website outside.in.
His work maps the history and geography of innovative ideas, exploring where
culture-shifting ideas emerge and how they spread. Drawing upon his forthcoming
book, Where Good Ideas Come From, Johnson will discuss the ways
communities collaborate on breakthrough innovations in science, technology, and
culture -- and how the Internet is giving rise to new forms of group
intelligence, particularly in university environments. Co-sponsored
by the Office of the President, First-Year Programs, and the Ronneberg Series.
September 14
Beck Series Lecture: Alia Malek (4:30 p.m. Barney-Davis Hall Board Room)
Alia
Malek is the author of A Country Called Amreeka, a critically acclaimed
set of profiles of Arab- Americans. Born in Baltimore to Syrian immigrant parents,
she began her legal career as a trial attorney at the U.S. Department of
Justice's Civil Rights Division. After working in the legal field in the U.S.,
Lebanon, and the West Bank, Malek, who has degrees from Johns Hopkins and
Georgetown Universities, earned her master's degree in journalism from Columbia
University. Her reportage has appeared in Salon, The Columbia
Journalism Review, and The New York Times. A Country Called
Amreeka is her first book. Free and open to the public, this lecture is
co-sponsored by International Studies and Women's Studies. See all Beck Lecture Series events.
September 15-16
Dr. Joann Moody, Faculty Development and Diversity Specialist will
spend two days on campus providing workshops and meeting with groups and
individuals. The schedule of events is below. To learn more
about JoAnn Moody please go to: http://www.diversityoncampus.com/ Please
RSVP to Jane Dougan (dougan@denison.edu)
Wednesday, Sept. 15th
Workshop I (11:30 a.m.-1:30 p.m. Curtis Veggie)
Structural
Support for Hiring Well: Best Practices in the Hiring Process
Open Session for all faculty (light lunch served)
Co-sponsored
with the Office of Human Resources
Special Session for Untenured Faculty (2:00-3:00 p.m. Curtis Veggie)
Challenges and Opportunities in Navigating a Successful Academic Career
Untenured Faculty
Only
Co-sponsored
with the Early Career Mentoring Committee
Workshop II (4:30-6:30 p.m. Curtis
Veggie)
Cultivating
Cultures that Enhance Retention: Helping New Faculty Thrive
Open Session for all faculty (light
refreshments served)
Thursday, Sept. 16th
Workshop II (Repeated) (11:30-1:30 p.m. Curtis Veggie)
Cultivating
Cultures that Enhance Retention: Helping New Faculty Thrive
Chairs Only (light refreshments served)
September 16
![[picture]](NewsletterSept2010WebFiltered_files/image011.jpg)
Anderson Lecture: Psychology, Memory
& the Law (8
p.m. Swasey Chapel)
The 2010-2011 Anderson Science Lecture features Dr. Elizabeth Loftus, Distinguished Professor of Social Ecology, and Professor of Law, and Cognitive Science at U.C. Irvine. Dr. Loftus studies human memory. Her experiments reveal how memories can be changed by things that we are told. Facts, ideas, suggestions and other post-event information can modify our memories. The legal field, so reliant on memories, has been a significant application of her memory research.
September 20
Beck Series Lecture: Diana Joseph (4:30 p.m. Barney-Davis Board Room)
Diana Joseph has worked as a waitress, a short order cook, a typist and a teacher, but she is also the author of the forthcoming memoir I'm Sorry You Feel That Way: The Astonishing but True Story of a Daughter, Sister, Slut, Wife, Mother, and Friend to Man and Dog.
Spectrum
Series Philosophy Lecture: Herbert Dreyfus (8:00 p.m. Burton Morgan
Lecture Hall)
Dr. Hubert Dreyfus, leading Heideggerian scholar and Professor of Philosophy at U.C. Berkeley, is renowned for his work on the nature of expertise, on artificial intelligence, and on existential philosophy (especially Kierkegaard). He has received numerous awards for his scholarship and for teaching, including a Barwise Prize, a Guggenheim Fellowship, and an honorary doctorate from Erasmus University. He is the author or co-author of several books, including the widely taught Being in the World: A Commentary on Heidegger’s Being and Time and What Computers Still Can’t Do: A Critique of Artificial Reasoning. Dreyfus recently starred in a documentary, also titled Being in the World. The film is due out soon, as is his latest book, All Things Shining, co-authored by Sean Kelly.
September 21
Philosophy Colloquium: Herbert Dreyfus (4:30 p.m. Burton Morgan Lecture Hall)
The Philosophy Department will hold a colloquium, "Merleau-Ponty vs. McDowell: The Pseudo-problem of Relating Mind and World" with Professor Dreyfus .
Faculty Book Discussion (4:30-6:00pm Burton Morgan 220)
Rebecca Skloots, author of The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks, will be giving an all-campus lecture on the evening of October 6th. FOCIF (faculty of color/international faculty) would like to invite you to a faculty book discussion of The Immortal Life . The bookstore has several copies available for purchase. RSVP to Dosy Alvite (alvited@denison.edu )or Mary Tuominen (tuominen@denison.edu).
September 28
Spectrum Series: Cristiana Masters (4:30 Burton Morgan Lecture Hall)
Dr. Cristina Masters is a lecturer in the Centre for International Politics at the University of Manchester. Her most recent book project, Militarism, Gender & (In)Security: Biopolitical Technologies of Security and the War on Terror (due out spring 2011), challenges the argument that technology in military warfare can be libratory because it masks the gender of the soldier behind the machine. Instead, Masters asks: if wars are increasingly controlled by governmental and military institutions from behind the veil of technology, thus distancing the participants from the human ‘realities’ of war, doesn’t this also make less visible the gendered politics of war? Read an article by Masters, “Cyborg soldiers and militarised masculinities.”
Lecture co-sponsored by the Laura C. Harris Symposium and Women’s Studies
September 29
Vail Series: Mark O'Connor and Dailey & Vincent in concert (7 p.m. Swasey Chapel)
On Mark O’Connor’s home page, read about his special brand of American Classical music:
A
product of America's rich aural folk tradition as well as classical music, Mark O'Connor's
creative journey began at the feet of a pair of musical giants. [. . . ] The first
was the folk fiddler and innovator who created the modern era
of American fiddling, Benny Thomasson; the second, French jazz violinist,
considered one of the greatest improvisers in the history of the violin,
Stephane Grappelli. Along the way, between these marvelous musical extremes,
Mark O'Connor absorbed knowledge and influence from the multitude of musical
styles and genres he studied. Now, at age 48, he has melded and shaped these
influences into a new American Classical music, and a vision of an entirely
American school of string playing. As The Los Angeles Times recently noted, he
has "crossed over so many boundaries, that his style is purely
personal."
On the same site, you can listen to a lecture on American
Classical Music from Schoenberg Hall at UCLA or hear O’Connor in recital at the
Cleveland Institute of Music.
On their web site, veterans of bluegrass music Jamie Dailey and Darrin Vincent offer videos of performances and tell their history of twenty years of experience between the two. Check out Dailey & Vincent on MySpace.
September 30
Beck Lecture
Series: Robin Hemley (8 p.m. Barney-Davis Board Room)
Robin Hemley is the winner of a Guggenheim Fellowship for his work on his most recent book, Do-Over!. He has published seven books of nonfiction and fiction, and his stories and essays have appeared in the New York Times, New York Magazine, Chicago Tribune, and many literary magazines and anthologies. Robin received his MFA from the Iowa Writers Workshop; he currently directs the Nonfiction Writing Program at the University of Iowa and lives in Iowa City.
BIG RED WEEKEND October 1-3
October 1, 2
Denison Theatre presents: “Dead Man’s Cell Phone (8 p.m. Ace Morgan Theatre)
DEADLINES &
IMPORTANT DATES
Link to a calendar of Important Dates for 2010-11
Faculty meetings (11:30-1:30 Burton Morgan Lecture Hall)
· September 23, October 7, November 4, December 2
· February 3, March 3, April 7, May 5
Special community meetings:
· September 13 Open Forum on GE proposals (4:30 Burton-Morgan 115)
· September 30 Trends in student population (11:30-12:30 Burton-Morgan 115)
Photo courtesy of Charlie O’Keefe
Message from GARRETT JACOBSEN, Chair of the Faculty
Dear Colleagues:
On Monday, September 13, at 4:30 pm, there will be an Open Forum held in Burton Morgan 115 for all faculty interested in having an informal dialogue concerning the GE proposals (10-55 on the "Interdivisional Requirement" and 10-62 on the "Power and Justice Requirement"). As you may recall, these proposals will be the primary agenda for the Faculty Meeting on September 23rd.
This forum will be an opportunity for all faculty, and especially our new colleagues or those who may have missed last year's final Faculty meeting, to become more fully informed about the proposals before the meeting on September 23rd.
As Chair of the Faculty, I have been asked to moderate the forum, and representatives from the Academic Affairs Council, as well as faculty involved with crafting the proposals, will be on hand to answer questions and address concerns.
In preparation for the forum, I strongly suggest that faculty take advantage of a new tab, "Open Forum", on Blackboard under General Faculty Meeting, containing the following documents: GE Program as amended 2004; AAC Memo; GE Proposal 10-55; GE Proposal 10-62; and the General Faculty Meeting Minutes 5/6/10. Please read these documents closely. The primary purpose of this forum is strictly informational, with a view to the possibility of bringing closure to discussion on September 23rd, followed by voting on each of the proposals.
So please join us on September 13 at the Open Forum, and bring your questions and comments for discussion on these two important revisions to the GE program.
Before then, I look forward to seeing you all this Friday afternoon at the first Faculty Meeting and the traditional introduction of new colleagues in the Teaching and General Faculty. And to those making introductions, remember: brevity is not just the soul of wit, it is also the expressway to heavy hors d'oeuvres!
Garrett Jacobsen
UPCOMING DEVELOPMENT OPPORTUNITIES
INFORMATIONAL MEETINGS at Denison
September 23-24
GLCA/New Directions Initiative Meet with SIMON GRAY, GLCA/NDI program officer to discuss a proposal, explore possible ideas, or seek information about the grants program. Individual appointments will be available on Thursday afternoon and Friday morning. Save a time now!
General informational meeting Friday noon-1:00. Location TBA. Drop in.
Heads up! R. C. Good proposals are due November 1.
See the Faculty Handbook for Terms, Guidelines, and Criteria.
Contact Susan Garcia (garcia@denison.edu)
SEMINARS AND CONFERENCES
Midwest Faculty Seminars
At http://mfs.uchicago.edu/upcoming/index.html you will find descriptions of the University of Chicago’s Midwest Faculty Seminars for this academic year. (UC sends fuller descriptions about four weeks before the individual seminars.) These seminars "offer faculty the opportunity to participate actively and collaboratively with colleagues from across the disciplines in discussions that immediately and directly address not only matters of mutual interest but also issues that profoundly affect teaching and learning. In so doing, the seminars afford faculty occasions for study and reflection and, also, for the sort of cross-disciplinary exchange that characterizes liberal arts education at its best."
The first seminar is Adam Smith's The Wealth of Nations October 21-23, 2010 (The program will begin at 9:00 a.m. on Thursday, October 21 and will conclude at 12:00 p.m. on Saturday, October 23.)
Adam Smith’s An Inquiry into the Nature and Causes of the Wealth of Nations has exerted immeasurable influence on economic and political philosophy since its initial publication in 1776. But how well is the text actually understood?
This seminar will examine the ways in which Smith’s work has been understood – properly or improperly – since its initial appearance, and the relevance Smith holds for the contemporary moment.
Speakers include Moishe Postone (History), Fredrik Albritton Jonsson (History), Paul Cheney (History), Sankar Muthu (Political Science), Samuel Fleischacker (Philosopy) and Gary Herrigel (Political Science).
The maximum number of nominations of Denison faculty for any one seminar is two. We are able to nominate only 7 faculty members for the full 2010-2011 series. The provost’s office will cover the costs associated with attending the seminars. If you are interested in attending any of these seminars, please send a brief email to Susan García outlining the relationship of the topic to your research and/or teaching interests. (Note: since slots for our faculty members are limited, please do not reserve a slot unless you are certain you will attend.)
AAC&U Working Conferences
Facing the Divides: Diversity, Learning, and Pathways to Inclusive Excellence
Houston, Texas October 21-23, 2010
Early Registration--through September 27, 2010 http://www.aacu.org/meetings/diversityandlearning/DL2010/index.cfm
“…focus on the pragmatic ways in which college and university leaders are fostering inclusive learning environments”
Creativity, Inquiry, and Discovery: Undergraduate Research In and Across the Disciplines
Durham, North Carolina November 11-13, 2010
Early registration available now through
October 18, 2010.
http://www.aacu.org/meetings/undergraduate_research/2010/index.cfm
“…fostering
undergraduate research opportunities that develop critical
twenty-first-century outcomes and prepare students for the unscripted challenges of
our global society”
N.B.: Denison is a member institution of the AAC&U, so members of the Denison faculty qualify for reduced registration fees.
FACULTY LEARNING COMMUNITIES
Teaching About Race
LINDA
KRUMHOLZ (English)
is organizing a research/discussion group on teaching about race to
undergraduates. The plan is to have a small group --7 or 8 people-- who
commit to participating. Each person will do independent research on
teaching about race. The group will meet twice a semester for two
years, and participants will take turns directing the group towards a
reading and topic for discussion that comes from our research. The
group could help one another's research with the goal of putting together
a presentation to the campus. Some
participants might also submit their research, either individually
or collaboratively, for publication. If you are interested in participating
in the Race and Pedagogy
research group and can attend the planning meeting on Tues., Sept. 7 at 4:30,
please contact Linda at krumholz@denison.edu.
ONLINE TOOLS:
The Grant Advisor
Denison is in the process of subscribing to The Grant Advisor (http://www.grantadvisor.com), a leading source of information on grant, research, and fellowship opportunities for U.S. institutions of higher education and their faculty, offering on-line access to database searches, deadline listings with extensive hyperlinks, and much more, all in an easy-to-use web interface. Features include:
1. THE GRANT ADVISOR NEWSLETTER : grant opportunities from federal agencies (except NIH) as well as many independent organizations and foundations. Published monthly (except July), each issue contains 20-25 program reviews with descriptions, eligibility requirements, special criteria, funding amounts, and contact information (including phone and fax numbers, e-mail and web addresses). The remainder of the newsletter is comprised of the Deadline Memo with more than 300 listings of grant and fellowship programs for the coming four months, organized into eight academic divisions (fine arts, humanities, sciences, social sciences, education, international, health related, unrestricted/other).
2. DEADLINE MEMO HYPERLINKS : presented in table format , with include links directly to:
(a) web site of the funding agency or organization
(b) abstracts and program reviews from The Grant Advisor newsletter;
(c) complete text from all current Federal Register grant listings
(d) National Science Foundation on-line documents
(e) e-mail addresses.
3. DATABASE AND ARTICLE SEARCHES : enter your own search criteria (such as funding agency, keywords, academic division, and more). Article Search is available for keyword searching through hundreds of program abstracts and Federal Register articles.
4. 200+ USEFUL LINKS TO FUNDING SOURCES : full access to an ever-expanding list of links to funding sources, separated into two categories: Federal and Related Sources, and Foundation and Independent Sources.
Keep an eye out for an email announcing our official login instructions.
Teaching Matters Blackboard Site
Thanks to the efforts of SUE DAVIS (Political Science), LEW LUDWIG (Math and Computer Science) , AND MARGOT SINGER (English), Denison faculty can link to a Blackboard course site replete with teaching tools and tips as well as links to articles on pedagogical problems and issues. Sections of the site include Course Design, Rubrics, Class Discussion, and more.