State of the College of Arts and Sciences

Posted on October 12, 2012 by Myla Edmond| Leave a comment

2012 State of the College Address

On Friday, September 28, Dr. Alex Enyedi, Dean of the College of Arts and Sciences presented the inaugural State of the College Address. Dr. Enyedi started by noting the past year’s accomplishments to illustrate the strength and vibrancy of the College. Using the Strategic Plan as an indicator and guide, Dr. Enyedi pointed out critical steps that have already been taken to further the mission of the College. He spent the remainder of his time discussing the core central challenge of strengthening the value, impact, and relevance of the College in the face of resource challenges. Watch Dr. Enyedi’s insightful address or read the transcript.

Posted in Strategic Plan Progress

Strategic Plan Progress

Posted on September 4, 2012 by Myla Edmond| Leave a comment

Dr. Alex Enyedi, Dean

Dr. Alex Enyedi

Welcome back. I am pleased to share the good news that the Strategic Planning Implementation teams have made significant progress toward strengthening the value, impact, and relevance of the College of Arts and Sciences. As we continue to move forward we will keep you informed via the CAS News blog. In addition to announcements of successes, please refer to the blog to review the Strategic Map—a visual representation of the plan, and a roster of the Strategic Plan Implementation Team Coordinators.

As you may recall, the Strategic Plan includes five key priorities:

A: Promote the unique value of the College of Arts and Sciences

B: Provide a globally engaged, diverse liberal arts learning experience

C: Increase the impact of discovery and dissemination

D: Foster an innovative, diverse, and engaged CAS community

E: Strengthen resource acquisition and management

Below you will find some examples of noteworthy achievements to date, just a hint of what I will discuss at the State of the College Address on September 28.  In the meantime, if you should you have questions about implementation or would like to find a way to participate more directly, please do not hesitate to contact the College’s Lead Implementation Coordinator, Dr. Cathryn Bailey. Thank you for your energy, dedication, and all that you do to create and sustain the excellence of the College.

Sincerely,

Alex Enyedi

Some Examples of Strategic Plan Accomplishments (as of 9/05/2012)

 A: Promote the unique value of the College

  • Overhaul of web presence, including the enhancement and delivery of news and information
  • Hiring of a dynamic new Director in the newly defined CAS Marketing and Communications Office

B: Provide a globally engaged, diverse liberal arts learning experience

  • Significant enhancement of cooperation between the College and the Haenicke Institute, especially with the development and monitoring of study abroad programs
  • Reestablishment and invigoration of the Arts and Sciences International Committee
  • Establishment of the College’s International Scholarship Program (20 awarded in 2012-13; at least 20 to be awarded in 2013-14)
  • Continuing successful implementation of DegreeWorks across the College by the Office of Undergraduate Advising
  • Completion of survey to map current general education courses to more clearly reflect particular themes and values

C: Increase the impact of discovery and dissemination

  • Initiated the creation and oversaw the maintenance of a comprehensive, searchable CAS faculty Proposals and Awards database
  • Provided seven $1,000 CAS 2012-13 Research and Development awards
  • Increased financial support to Humanities Center, including a Graduate Assistant position and funding for working groups
    Created CAS Research, Scholarly, and Creative Activities (RSCA) Committee
  • Review and data compilation on the status of ScholarWorks and examined best practices
  • Awarded $40,000 in ASTRA Awards, including an individual award amount limit increase to $1,000

D: Foster an innovative, diverse, and engaged CAS community

  • Strengthening of the Office of Undergraduate Advising’s use of social media efforts by the hiring of a qualified new intern
  • Enhanced outreach to CAS alumni who are providing testimonials about how CAS liberal arts training laid a foundation for law and medical school
  • Development and successful administration of the College’s Space Improvement Initiative, utilizing approximately $16,000 for nine departments

E: Strengthen resource acquisition and management

  • Implementation of a full-service college technology office that offers support for faculty, staff, and department-run computer labs
  • Designation and planning of space for the future location of our expanded, comprehensive Tech Support Center
  • Acquisition and repurposing of significant quantities of surplus WMU computer lab equipment, including more than 60 computers
  • Convening of monthly CAS office coordinator meetings to review and discuss university/college procedures
  • Systematic review of departmental financial structures with individual department office coordinators
  • Established mentoring relationships to enhance the professional development of CAS staff
  • Developed processes to more meaningfully and effectively acknowledge donors to the College

 

Posted in Strategic Plan Progress

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Two faculty from College named Fulbright Scholars

Posted on May 30, 2012 by Deb| Leave a comment

Two WMU College of Arts and Sciences faculty members received prestigious Fulbright Program awards to work overseas during the 2011-12 academic year. WMU’s 2011-12 Fulbright grant recipients were awarded a combination of short- and long-term grants.

Dr. Bill Cobern (left) talking with students during his Fulbright travels to Turkey.

Dr. William W. Cobern, Distinguished University Professor of Science Education and Biological Sciences as well as director of the Mallinson Institute for Science Education, received a Fulbright Lecturing/Research award. Cobern spent five months in Turkey beginning September 2011. His research and teaching were about secular and religious issues with respect to the teaching of science. He also gave lectures on the experimental study of science teaching efficacy. While in Turkey, Cobern gave 14 public lectures on both topics at various Turkish universities.

 

 

 

Dr. Richard Gerson is a professor in the School of Communication.

Dr. Richard A. Gershon, professor and co-director of the telecommunications and information management program, received a Fulbright Specialist award. Gershon spent the 2011 fall semester at the University of Navarra in Pamplona, Spain. While there, he taught two accelerated courses, one for undergraduate students on media management and telecommunications and one for graduate students on digital media and innovation.

The Fulbright Program was established in 1946 and is the flagship international educational exchange program sponsored by the federal government. Grant recipients are selected based on academic or professional achievement, as well as demonstrated leadership potential in their fields.

Links:
School of Biological Sciences
Mallinson Institute for Science Education
School of Telecommunications and Information Management

Posted in Faculty News, Learner Centered

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Spanish professor chronicles 2010 Peruvian Nobel prize winner

Posted on May 24, 2012 by Deb| 1 Comment

Spanish professor Hedy Habra has just released "Flying Carpets."

by Katy TerBerg

The talent among the faculty and staff at WMU is one of the many things in which WMU takes great pride. This is especially the case with Spanish professor Hedy Habra, who recently published two books: “Flying Carpets,”  a collection of short stories (March Street Press), and “Mundos alternos y artísticos en Vargas Llosa” (Alternate and Artistic Worlds in Vargas Llosa) (forthcoming)  an academic book focusing on the novels of the Peruvian writer, Mario Vargas Llosa, a recipient of the 2010 Nobel prize.

“Flying Carpets” consists of 21 short stories that were inspired by her childhood in Egypt and Lebanon. According to the Press Release posted by the online literary journal, The SOP, “Flying Carpets” is the culmination of twenty years of work, and some of the stories “evoke the fascination with divination powers, a woman’s resistance to a controlling husband, and a nanny who relies on her imagination for survival.” Noted writer and critic, Stuart Dybek said about Flying Carpets: “It belongs to that rare tradition of books whose spells grow increasingly seductive with each new story.”

Habra’s second book, “Mundos alternos y artísticos en Vargas Llosa,” “explores the function of characters’ interiority and the way Vargas Llosa uses the linguistic sign to create images or to reproduce visual art (paintings, photographs) by means of the characters’ fantasies or musings, which, in turn, convert them into fictional authors and at times into producers of sort films,” said Habra.

Habra had three poems selected among ten winners of the Fourth Annual Nazim Hikmet Poetry Festival, named after the famed Turkish poet.  This year, the competition received over 700 poems from 250 poets across the globe.The poems were published in a chapbook.

Habra lived in Egypt, Lebanon, Greece and Belgium before moving to Kalamazoo, MI. She holds an M.F.A. and a Ph.D. in Spanish Literature from WMU and currently teaches Spanish. Her poetry, published in English, Spanish and French, has appeared in various journals and anthologies.

Links:

Department of Spanish

Professor Hedy Habra

The SOP press release

Posted in Discovery Driven, Faculty News, Globally Engaged, Learner Centered

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Fort St. Joseph Archaeological Project earns $10,000 in Michigan Humanities Council support

Posted on May 24, 2012 by Deb| 1 Comment

Reenactors depicting British soldiers during the 2011 Fort St. Joseph Open House event.

After reviewing an astounding 51 applications – 31 more than the previous grant cycle – the Michigan Humanities Council (MHC) will award $350,850 in major grant monies to 30 Michigan nonprofits—including $10,000 to the Fort St. Joseph Archaeological Program for its “A Colonial Militia Muster on the Eve of Revolution” series.

“We’re very grateful for the continued support of the Michigan Humanities Council, and honored they consider our project to be worthy of funding,” noted Dr. Michael Nassaney, principal investigator of the Fort St. Joseph Archaeological Project and professor in the Department of Anthropology.

“We received an extraordinary number of very exciting, high-quality grant applications this spring and the Michigan Humanities Council has made the very bold decision to fund double the number of grants we usually fund this time of year as a result. This is more than double the amount of grant dollars we awarded in the fall cycle, but with such a large number of great projects on the table, we decided to get the funds out into the communities now when the need is so great,” said Council board chair Timothy Chester.

The grants  provide organizations with the funds needed to host cultural programming in their communities through exhibits, lectures, writing programs, festivals and more.

 Fort St. Joseph project homepage

Posted in Discovery Driven, Learner Centered

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Graduate students honored for research and teaching

Posted on May 24, 2012 by Deb| Leave a comment

President Dunn congratulates honored graduate students at the Graduate Research and Creative Scholar and Graduate Teaching Effectiveness awards ceremony.

A total of 52 graduate students in the College of Arts and Sciences were honored by the university as winners of the Graduate Research and Creative Scholar and Graduate Teaching Effectiveness awards. Eleven students received further distinction as All-University Graduate Research and Creative Scholars, and were  honored as All-University recipients of the Graduate Teaching Effectiveness Awards.

Graduate Research and Creative Scholar Awards for 2011-12

All-University Scholars from the College of Arts and Sciences:

  • Michelle Barger, geosciences
  • Timothy Edwards, psychology
  • Isurika Fernando, chemistry
  • Dustin Hoffman, English
  • Taylor Paskin, biological sciences
  • Ryan Sibert, geosciences
  • Stephen Spates, communication
  • Anthony Squiers, political science
  • Lydia Walker, comparative religion

Department Scholars

  • Sara Bijani, history
  • Gerardo Bohorquez Gonzalez, Spanish
  • Caitlin Callahan, Mallinson Institute for Science Education
  • Mary Sajini Devadas, chemistry
  • Katherine Ellison, history
  • Leticia Espinoza, Spanish
  • Nicole Fonger, mathematics
  • Tamrat Gashaw, economics
  • David Johnson, English
  • Lucas Kanclerz, geography
  • Ian Kerr, anthropology
  • Maxwell Kirchhoff, political science
  • Scott Marley, physics
  • Christina Sheerin, psychology
  • Benjamin Slager, biological sciences
  • Michelle A. Suarez, interdisciplinary health sciences
  • Cynthia Visscher, sociology

Graduate Teaching Effectiveness Awards

All-University Graduate Teachers

  • Matthew Arsenault, political science
  • Skylar Bre’z, history and gender and women’s studies
  • Colleen Cullinan, psychology
  • Kevin Douglass, chemistry
  • Krystal Howard, English
  • Kathryn Kestner, psychology
  • Kate Rowbotham, Mallinson Institute for Science Education
  • Kristin Sovis, English

Department Graduate Teachers

  • Clara Adams, chemistry
  • David Barry, sociology
  • Emily Beard, communication
  • Erica D’Elia, anthropology
  • Holly DeVrou, Spanish
  • Racha El Kadiri, geosciences
  • Carolina Gonzalo Llera, Spanish
  • Alexandra Haase, biological sciences
  • Justin Hanig, economics
  • Kara Krebs, political science
  • Daniel Kueh, biological sciences
  • Bryan Phinezy, mathematics
  • Buddhi Rai, physics
  • Daniel Serfas, geography
  • Kelly Sparks, Mallinson Institute for Science Education
  • Kathryn Titus, geosciences
  • Scott Watson, comparative religion
  • Adam Wolfe, history

Posted in Learner Centered, Student Spotlight

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Public archaeology exhibits present local history

Posted on May 24, 2012 by Deb| Leave a comment

by Katy TerBerg

Artifacts like these are shown in the display at Waldo Library.

Historical and archeological findings from Fort St. Joseph in Niles, Mich., are the focus of a new display appearing at Waldo Library. The display was designed by Professor of Anthropology Michael S. Nassaney’s public archeology seminar class (ANTH 5000).

The display project showcases artifacts from historical events in and around the Fort, including archaeological findings, from beads to coins, and information on the fur trade and the Fort St. Joseph Archaeological Project. The display is a venue to bring a piece of Fort St. Joseph to the WMU community.

“The purpose of this project was to give visitors to Waldo Library the opportunity to learn about archaeology and its contributions to our understanding of the past,” said Nassaney.

The display includes findings and interpretations of life in the 18th century on the edge of the French Empire. The rich historical context of the displays, said Nassaney, is only one benefit of the presentations. “The project also provides student testimonies of the the benefits of working on such a collaborative project.”

Nassaney stresses the importance of the displays in helping unlock the past. “Students will be able to learn about the history of the region, appreciate the interactions among diverse populations such as the French and native peoples,” said Nassaney. “They too can become part of a team that works to recover evidence of a daily life along the banks of the St. Joseph River at a long lost, but not forgotten, French fort.”

Historical reenactors at the 2011 Fort St. Joseph annual open house.

The Fort St. Joseph project was established by WMU archaeologists, under Nassaney’s direction in 1998, in conjunction with the City of Niles, the Fort St. Joseph Museum, and Support the Fort.

An annual open house in August, brings an average 3,000 visitors to the Fort for tours, reenactments, authentic products, and visits to an archeaological dig site. “The Project is a long-term, multidisciplinary, community service learning initiative that explores the fur trade and colonialism in southwest Michigan,” said Nassaney.

Links:

Department of Anthropology

Fort St. Joseph Archaeology Project

Dr. Michael Nassaney

Posted in Globally Engaged, Learner Centered

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English alum Adam Pasen wins top playwriting prize

Posted on May 24, 2012 by Deb| Leave a comment

Ph.D. student Adam Pasen wins the Kennedy Center Ten-Minute Play Award.

by Katy TerBerg

Department of English Ph.D. candidate Adam Pasen is the latest recipient of  the Kennedy Center American College Theatre Festival’s Ten-Minute Play Award—thus putting another notch in his professional career belt.

“The Ten-Minute Play Award is given at the national level by the Kennedy Center each year to one play deemed the best in that submission period,” said Pasen.

The title of Pasen’s play is “Starf*cker.” The story takes place between two Hollywood hopefuls outside the mansion of an A-List star. “It is the exploration of the shallow and the profound and a deconstruction of the rom-com genre,” he said. “On a semiotics level it is also a rumination on the instability of labels and the imprecision with which they capture the soul of the person they attempt to describe.”

According to Pasen, the 10-minute play is rapidly growing in popularity and significance. “The 10-minutes are easily the most competitive in terms of sheer volume of entries,” he said.

To win, the play must be selected as one of six regional finalists in one of the eight regions (each region received about 100 plays) and then be chosen as one of two winning regional plays to advance. Of those 16 plays, four are chosen to receive readings at the Kennedy Center, and of those four, one is named the winner.

Pasen, who holds an M.A. in English and Rhetoric from Northwestern University,  is a 2012 Ph.D. graduate in English – Creative Writing with a focus in Playwriting. He recently presented his dissertation,  a play titled “Tea with Edie and Fitz,” to Drs. Steve Feffer, Jon Adams, Cynthia Klekar and Terry Williams.

He has published several plays, scenes, adaptations, and musicals across the United States. He  also is a prominent actor around Kalamazoo and in his hometown of Chicago.

Links:

Department of English
Adam Pasen
Kennedy Center

 

Posted in Learner Centered, Student Spotlight

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Psychology alum publishes book on blind rehab

Posted on May 23, 2012 by Deb| 1 Comment

The Sight Unseen by Robert V. Pajak

by Katy TerBerg

Robert V. Pajak, who graduated in 1979 with a B.S. in Social Psychology, is no stranger to the human condition and, in his new book, “The Sight Unseen: Chronicles of Lernia,” Pajak details the struggles of living with a major sight condition.

“Most of the book is about a guy’s eye condition and attending two colleges, accompanied by a female friend—and other little sub-stories leading from that main story.

It is meant to convey to the reader that discipline, morality and principles, as well as humor, can be applied to everyday living, and this can help overcome the ups and downs of life, resulting in a person becoming a meaningful and contributing member of society,” he said.

The story is semi-autobiographical, putting Pajak at the helm of the story. Like his titular character, Pajak suffers from retinitis pigmentosa, a condition in which the retina slowly deteriorates until it causes tunnel vision. However, Pajak reminds us that each case of retinitis pigmentosa is a bit different.

“Mine is different,” he said. “It’s as if someone splashed a can of
paint on the retina. If I walk with one eye open, there would be
ragged walls.”

The book is a commemoration of one of his favorite movies and
historical events, “The Titanic.” He also mentions the Boris Pasternak
novel, “Dr. Zhivago.”  These are both brought in to elevate the touching
double climax of the story.

Links:
Department of Psychology
Bay City MLive article on The Sight Unseen
The Sight Unseen

 

Posted in Alumni Activity, Learner Centered

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Creative writing alum debuts novel

Posted on May 23, 2012 by Deb| Leave a comment

English grad Jason Skipper hits the publishing trail with new book.

by Katy TerBerg

Texas native Jason Skipper, who received his Ph.D. in Creative Writing at WMU in 2005, has released his debut novel, “Hustle,” which chronicles the lives of three Texan men struggling to make up for their past, and somehow set course for the future.

Skipper earned his Master’s of Creative Writing at Miami University before heading north to Michigan to pursue his Ph.D. While at WMU, Skipper served as fiction editor for “Third Coast,” a national literary magazine published at WMU. His stories have earned him numerous literary awards from respected publishing companies, including Zoetrope: All-Story, Glimmer Train, and Crab Orchard Review. He currently teaches creative writing and literature at Pacific Lutheran University and lives in Tacoma, Wash.

His coming-of-age novel features an alcoholic ex-con grandfather; a philandering seafood salesman son; and a struggling musician grandson. Each were hustlers in different areas. Grandfather hustled for money, the son hustled  women, and the grandson has hustled for fame. They all are now hustling for redemption.

This multi-character, multi-layered story caught the attention of several authors, including Charles Baxter, Peter Orner, Stuart Dybek, and Jaimy Gordon, who gave “Hustle” a glowing review. Gordon referred to the book as “A Southern portrait of the artist as a young man, with marvelous characters that keep you savoring every scene.”

More information about the book and upcoming event information may be found on Skipper’s official website, http://www.jasonskipper.com.

Links:
Department of English

Posted in Alumni Activity

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