Dear Colleagues,

For students, staff and faculty in higher education, the summer is often a time of reflection and rejuvenation. I hope that all of you have been able to relax and enjoy the warm weather of June and July.

Throughout the summer, many CAS students continue to study and learn, and many faculty continue to teach. CAS faculty offer unique learning opportunities for students in the summer. In May, for example, Kevin Cannon, PhD, associate professor and chair of the Department of Criminal Justice Studies, taught a travel study course, “Criminal Justice in Ireland and Northern Ireland.” 

Read Dean Leonard's full letter.

Promoting diversity, equity and inclusion in the study of humanities and social sciences is crucial now, more than ever, especially when facing challenges brought on by the pandemic. A new experiential learning and training program for 150 African American students at SIUE, Realizing Inclusive Student Engagement in the Digital Humanities (RISE-DH), is working to combat the challenges and provide a more equitable future.

Led by the CAS Interdisciplinary Research and Informatics (IRIS) Center, the innovative programming has received a $100,000 grant supported by the National Endowment for the Humanities (NEH) and the Social Science Research Council (SSRC).

Read the article.

A small frog is making big headlines thanks to the intriguing findings of researchers, led by Richard Essner, PhD, professor in the CAS Department of Biological Sciences. 

Comparable in size to the end of a pencil, or approximately one centimeter in length, Pumpkin Toadlets’ tiny nature, notably their semicircular canals, is making them clumsy when they jump with the inability to land gracefully, according to the researchers. 

Essner collaborated with researchers from Edge Hill University in England, Universidade Federal do Paraná in Brazil, and the Florida Museum of Natural History at the University of Florida in Gainesville.  

Read the article.

SIUE alumna Erin Litteken, who earned a bachelor’s in history in fall 2003, has published a heart-wrenching novel that uncovers the horrors of the Holodomor, a man-made terror famine instigated by Soviet leader Joseph Stalin which led to the death of nearly four million Ukrainians in 1932-1933. As fate would have it, the book’s publication coincides with the ongoing Russian invasion of Ukraine, much to the shock of readers and Litteken alike.

Featured on Fortune Magazine's “10 New Page-Turning Novels You Should Read This Summer” list alongside authors such as John Grisham and Stacey Abrams, “The Memory Keeper of Kyiv” has been translated into 13 languages. The captivating historical fiction is Litteken’s debut novel, inspired by the stories told by her late great-grandmother, a Ukrainian refugee.

Read the article. 

Jazz St. Louis has presented Prince Wells, associate professor in the CAS Department of Music, with the inaugural 2022 Clark Terry Jazz Ambassador Award. The award celebrates the legacy of St. Louis’ own, jazz legend Clark Terry.

The award underscores Wells’ distinction as a mainstay of the St. Louis jazz community through his life’s work as a musician, band leader, activist, community leader and professor. With an SIUE teaching career that dates back to 1989, Wells has taught a wide variety of music and interdisciplinary classes. Some of his former students, to whom he taught music theory over the years, have since become part of Jazz St. Louis. 

Read the article.

Thirty Upward Bound Math and Science (UBMS) Collinsville High School (CHS) program seniors participated in field-based scientific research in June at the Gehring site (a Native American archaeological site located on SIUE’s campus), hosted by the SIUE Department of Anthropology, in collaboration with the Departments of Environmental Sciences and Geography and GIS and the SIUE Center for STEM Research, Education, and Outreach. 

The project, “Creating a Community Partnership to Introduce Local High School Students to Field-Based Majors in Careers in STEM,” was aimed at introducing local youth to technology and practical experiences within field-based sciences in order for students to pursue majors, research opportunities and careers in regional, field-based jobs, according to Carol Colaninno, PhD, RPA, research associate professor in the STEM Center. 

Read the article. 

Segue is a 30 minute radio program airing on WSIE 88.7 The Sound on Sundays at 9 a.m. and is hosted by Kevin Leonard, PhD, CAS dean. This show features interviews showcasing campus and community leaders and discussions about issues and ideas on the SIUE campus and within the College of Arts and Sciences.

Some recent guests include: 

• Howard Rambsy, distinguished research professor in the Department of English Language & Literature
• Meg Smith, research assistant professor in the IRIS Center
• Alan Black, assistant professor in the Department of Geography and Geographic Information Sciences

Listen live at siue.edu/wsie. 
Listen to past episodes at siue.edu/segue.