A Message from the Dean - Summer 2022
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.” In July, Richard Essner, PhD, and Peter Minchin, PhD, professors in the Department of Biological Sciences, taught a pair of courses focusing on the natural history of the Rocky Mountains. Students in these courses visited Yellowstone, Grand Teton, and Glacier National Park in the U.S. and Banff and Jasper National Park in Canada.
Many students, staff and faculty continue their research and creative activities during the summer. Labs in Science East and Science West and studios in Art and Design East buzz with activity. After two summers without a production, live theater returned to Dunham Hall, with Shakespeare’s “Much Ado about Nothing” in June and “Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat” in July. At times it appears that we are returning to pre-pandemic conditions, but COVID-19 continues to disrupt our lives. The second weekend of performances of the Shakespeare comedy had to be cancelled due to positive tests among some of the cast members.
The summer also allows us to offer students in grades K-12 the opportunity to come to campus and learn a wide range of skills. Several CAS departments host camps that bring hundreds of students to campus during the summer. Students in the visual arts camp offered by the Department of Art and Design learn new techniques and express themselves creatively. The Department of English Language and Literature’s Writing Camp helps students develop their basic writing skills. Camps in the Department of Music allow students to develop their instrumental techniques and performance skills. Students in the Cougar Theater Camp learn self-confidence and singing and acting skills.
Other notable news from CAS includes:
- Faculty associated with the Interdisciplinary Research and Informatics Scholarship (IRIS) Center have received a $100,000 grant from the National Endowment for the Humanities (NEH) and the Social Science Research Council (SSRC) to support a new experiential learning program, Realizing Inclusive Student Engagement in the Digital Humanities (RISE-DH).
- Richard Essner, PhD, professor in the Department of Biological Sciences, has attracted international attention for his research on pumpkin toadlets, tiny frogs unable to land gracefully when they jump.
- SIUE alumna Erin Litteken, who earned a bachelor’s in history in 2003, has published a novel, “The Memory Keeper of Kyiv,” about the horrors of the famine instigated by Soviet dictator Joseph Stalin. The book has received many positive reviews.
- Prince Wells, associate professor in the Department of Music, has received the inaugural Clark Terry Jazz Ambassador Award, presented by Jazz St. Louis.
- Upward Bound Math and Science students from Collinsville High School participated in field-based research at an archaeological site on the SIUE’s campus.
Please read more about these people and their accomplishments in This Month in CAS, and tune in to Segue at 9 a.m. on Sundays to learn about people and events on the SIUE campus.
Kevin Leonard, PhD
Dean, College of Arts and Sciences
