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CAS Department News
ACADEMIC COUNSELING AND ADVISING
Valerie McClinton was selected this year to receive our Outstanding Professional Academic Adviser award. The award is presented biennially. Valerie's student evaluations are consistently high, and Valerie works tirelessly in advising-related activities. She voluntarily runs the ACT program (Academic Choices and Transitions) for students on probation. Valerie obviously cares very much for the welfare of the ACT students in the class. She's an effective teacher and in addition, Valerie offers the ACT students intensive one-to-one academic advising. Valerie also coordinates a group of five advisers in AC&A who each take a caseload of undeclared students on academic probation. Valerie has assumed the leadership role in the search for more effective ways of helping the probationary students achieve success. Valerie has also taught UNIV 112, is a very active member of the University-wide Culture of Academic Success Committee. Finally, Valerie is an active professional. She's a participating member of the National Academic Advising Association (NACADA) and has been a presenter at the NACADA national conference. Valerie McClinton is a consummate and exemplary academic adviser.
Bill Hendey, Director of Academic Counselling and Advising, delivered the Keynote Address on Wednesday, September 27, followed by a two-hour presentaion on developmental advising and on academic advising assessment at the Annual Retreat of PACADA, the Purdue Academic Advising Association at Purdue University, West Lafayette, Indiana. Bill's presentation was entitled "That Mysterious Meeting in Life," using a Rusty Berkus quotation (There comes that mysterious meeting in life when someone acknowledges who we are and what we can be, igniting the circuits of our highest potential.) to frame his presentation. There were about 125 Purdue academic advisers in attendance.
Department of ANTHROPOLOGY
Professor Julie Holt gave a talk at the Missouri History Museum in November that was part of the Missouri Historical Society's archaeology programs, and was co-sponsored by the Mound City chapter of thr Missouri Archaeological Society. 2006 marked the 140th anniversary of the Missouri Historical Society. The talk was titled "Excavations at the D. Hitchins Site: SIUE Field School in Madison County, Illinois." Dr. Holt highlighted the 2006 SIUE Field School and discussed the school's findings. See more details of the field school in the item below.
Professor Julie Holt guided 12 SIUE students who spent 8 weeks this summer on an archaeological dig. The excavation site was located beteen Worden and Holiday Shores and yielded thousands of arifacts. Some of the finds date back about 1000 years to the Mississipian period, while others date to the Early Late Woodland Period of some 1600 years ago. Other finds were even older, and date from the Early Middle Archaic Period of about 8000 years ago. Students are currently busy cleaning and identifying the artifacts they found. The field school was part of archaeological field methods course taught by Julie Holt from the Department of Anthropology. The public is invited to view the artifacts on September 30th from 10am to 2pm in the SIUE anthrololpogy lab.The Belleville News-Democrat reported details of the dig in their article 'Sifting Through the Past' printed in the August 17th edition (page B1).
Valerie Starr, an undergraduate student in Anthropology, has won the Illinois Archaeological Survey's Jeanette Stephens Student Paper Award. This is the second year in a row, in the two year history of the award, that it has been won by an anthropology student from SIUE. Valerie Starr's paper was entitled "Archaeology in the Age of Technology: A Virtual Rebuilding of a Late Woodland Keyhole Structure." This paper was based on Valerie's senior project from last year, and was a virtual reconstruction of the prehistoric house excavated in the 2002 archaeology field school at the A.E. Harmon site. Valerie is submitting her paper to 'Illinois Archaeology', a peer-reviewed journal. She hopes it will be published in Volume 18 along with the A.E. Harmon site report (which was co-authored by Dr Julie Holt and three Anthropology graduates, Shannon Moore, Toshia Evans, and Cassandra Buskohl) and Mat Terry's paper on his reconstruction of the same prehistoric house.
Department of ART AND DESIGN
Professors Laura Strand, Matt Wilt, and Paulette Myers recently won awards through the Illinois Arts Council. Laura Strand and Matt Wilt were named 2007 Artists Fellowship Award Recipients, and Paulette Myers won a Finalist Award. There are only 7 full fellowships and 4 finalist awards given every other year in crafts. This year 3 of those awards went to SIUE faculty.
Their achievement has been extensively reported in the press. An article in the Belleville News Democrat entitled 'depARTment of innovation' states "Most Illinois Arts Council fellowships go to artists in northern Illinois, particularly Chicago. It's unusual to see three artists from the same program of a university recognized in one year." Read the the complete article depARTment of innovation
Mexica 2006 an exhibition of artwork inspired by a student trip to Oaxaca state, Mexico was the subject the front-page feature story in the Edwardsville Intelligencer's 'Weekend Edition', November 4-5, 2006. SIUE students are pictured with local Mexican craftspeople, and a gimpse of Mexico is seen in a picture of Tlaxiaco town center. Professors Laura Strand and Paul Dresang first began taking students to Oaxaca ten years ago. Sixteen students participated this year and they lived and worked alongside traditional craftspeople in Tlaxiaco, a mountain village in the Sierra Madres. Oaxaca state is smaller than Illinois, yet is home to sixteen distinct cultural groups each with their own language and customs. The Mexica 2006 exhibit opened November 3rd and ran through November 17th.
Department of BIOLOGICAL SCIENCE
Zhi-Qing Lin, has been involved in organizing a special symposium as part of the 9th International Conference on the Biogeochemistry of Trace Elements (ICOBTE). The special symposium is focused on the Development and Uses of Biofortified Agricultural Products, and will be held at the 9th ICOBTE, 15-19 July 2007 in Beijing, China. SIUE, through funding provided by the College of Arts and Sciences and the Graduate School, is a sponsor of the special symposium. For more information on the conference and special symposium, and featured speakers, visit: Special Symposium
Ralph Axtell, was honored recently by the Center for North American Herpetology. In a news release the CNAH describes a new subspecies of the Crevice Spiny Lizard (Sceloporus poinsettii) from New Mexico and Texas. The new taxon, Sceloporus poinsettii axtelli, honors Ralph Axtell as a distinguished herpetologist, in recognition of his substantial contributions to our understanding of lizards of the Family Phrynosomatidae.
Ralph Axtell and Carol Bryant have a new publication out in the Illinois Natural History Survey's Biological Notes series. The article is entitled "The ground skink, Scincella lateralis, in Illinois: range and possible recent history." The authors have established a base line distribution of these small lizards with all known localities in text and on a physiographic map of the state. All future range expansions or contractions of these lizards can be judged from the information presented. In the article Ralph Axtell and Carol Bryant speculate on the timing of the initial movement into the state after the last glaciation period and on its directionality. The interpretation of the current range contraction does not support a near term (within the last hundred years) regional global warming hypothesis.
Department of ENGLISH LANGUAGE AND LITERATURE
Howard Rambsy is the recipient of a 2007 Woodrow Wilson National Fellowship Foundation Career Enhancement Fellowship for Junior Faculty. This prestigious award assists talented junior faculty to pursue scholarly research and writing over a years time. Dr. Rambsy's fellowship begins in June 2007 and includes a Career Enhancement Fall Retreat. Dr. Rambsy's selection as a Craeeer Enhancement Fellow is a testament to his excellent scholarship, teaching skills, and future contributions to the academic community.
Dr. John Pendergast's book entitled "Religion, Allegory, and Literacy in Early Modern England, 1560-1640. The Control of the Word" has been published by Ashgate Publishing, Burlington, VT.
Using as a primary focus the manner in which Protestant and Catholic paradigms of the Word affect the understanding of how meaning manifests itself in material language, this book develops a history of literacy between the middle of the sixteenth century and the middle of the seventeenth century. The author emphasizes how literacy is defined according to changing concepts of philological manifestation and embodiment, and how various social and political factors influence these concepts.
The study looks at literary texts such as The Fairie Queene, early Shakespearean comedies, sermons and poems by John Donne, Latin textbooks and religious primers, and educational and religious treatises which illustrate how language could be used to perform spiritual functions. The cross section of texts serves to illustrate the pervasive applicability of the author's theories to early modern literature and culture, and their relationship to literature. The texts also illuminate two matrices that the author argues are central to the study of sixteenth- and seventeenth-century literature: Protestant reading and exegetical strategies in contrast with Catholic strategies, and secular versus spiritual literacies.
Eugene Redmond was recently featured in newspaper articles in both the East St. Louis Monitor last Thursday and in West Coast papers. The subject of the articles was a new film on the history of poetry in California, entitled ?I Began To Speak?, which features Professor Redmond.
SACRAMENTO (CA)'East St. Louis Poet Laureate Eugene B. Redmond, who spent nearly 15 years as a Professor of English and Poet-in-Residence at California State University-Sacramento (1970 to mid-80's), is featured in a new film that chronicles the history of poetry (and literary performance) in Sacramento and Northern California. Titled "I Began to Speak: From a City of Two Rivers, A Legacy of Poetry," the film was premiered at Sacramento's Crest Theater on Dec. 6 and simultaneously released on DVD. B.L. Kennedy and Linda Thorell wrote, directed and produced the movie which was issued by The Archives Group. Kennedy, a former student of Redmond's at CSUS, oversees numerous literary projects including an Annual Poetry Marathon. 'I Began To Speak' is an extension of, and companion to, "Landing Signals: an Anthology of Sacramento Poets? (1985) which also features Redmond and several of his former students and colleagues. In the film, Redmond is accompanied by percussionist Selwyn Jones as he chants/recites an elegy for Miles Davis, Coretta Scott King, Ossie Davis, Katherine Dunham, Oscar Brown, Jr., Cesar Chavez, and others. He is also interviewed in the film. A second premiere of 'I Began to Speak' is scheduled for Jan. 4, producers said, because more than 80 people were turned away from the first premiere last month.
Redmond went to CSU-Sacramento in 1970 after spending one year as Writer-in- Residence at Oberlin College in Ohio. Prior to the Oberlin appointment, he served two years--1967-69--as Teacher Counselor and Poet-in-Residence at Southern Illinois University's Experiment in Higher Education in East St. Louis. At the same time he had a joint appointment as Senior Consultant to Katherine Dunham at the Performing Arts Training Center where he taught creative writing and managed PATC's traveling company. While in Sacramento, Redmond published several books, including "River of Bones and Flesh and Blood" and "Drumvoices: The Mission of Afro-American Poetry," through his ESL-based Black River Writers Press and large publishing houses like Doubleday and Random House. He also edited several volumes of stories and poems by the late Henry Dumas (1934-68). Redmond's writings, editorial work and teaching have garnered a Pushcart Prize: Best of the Small Presses, a National Endowment for the Arts Creative Writing Fellowship, an American Book Award, and grants from the California, Illinois, Louisiana, Missouri, and West Virginia Arts Councils. Currently, he is Professor of English and Founding Editor of "Drumvoices Revue" at SIUE.
The 2006 Mid-Amwerican Linquistics Conference was held on campus October 27th and 28th. Linguists in all areas of specialization were encouraged to submit abstracts and the tradition of accepting papers on all linguistic topics was continued. This year's meeting featured special interest sessions on Second Language Acquisition and Morpho-Syntax. There was also a forum dedicated to graduate students.
The Plenary Speaker was Silvina Montrul from the University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign. Her area of expertise is second language acquisition and bilingualism from a theoretical linguistics perspective. She is author of "The Acquisition of Spanish: Morphosyntactic development in monolingual and bilingual L1 acquisition and adult L2 acquisition", 2004. The title of Dr. Montrul's Plenary Address was "Morphosyntactic development in adult learners of Spanish".
Papers of Language and Literature, PLL published a special issue in honor of Jane Zatta last year. It was the first double issue of PLL, and it showed how much scholars throughout the world valued the work of a departed colleague, since it resulted from the cooperation of people in several American states, Canada, and Great Britain. Besides a memoir of Jane written by Brian Abel Ragen, Jane's moving personal essay about her first pet squirrel was also published. There was also a translation of a chapter from Jane's first book, which she wrote in Italian. It is about the Gypsy/Romani culture, and the section on food was excerpted, complete with recipes for hedgehog. The central focus of the issue, though, was Anglo-Norman romances about powerful women, particularly St. Osith. PLL reprinted Jane's essay on that romance recounting St. Osith's life and published for the first time her translation of it, together with the original Old French text on facing pages. The whole issue is a project PLL are truly proud of.
The Drumvoices Festival of Arts 2 is planned as a week-long event October 24 thru 27. The Writers Club's 20th birthday celebration will include local and national artists --- poets, musicians, storytellers, dancers, and the Soular Systems Ensemble will participate. The celebration is sponsored the Club and SIUE.
The capstone of the Festival will be an awards- performance banquet at the Casino Queen Hotel Ballroom on Oct. 26 at 7:00 p.m. ?Fruits from Poetrees: Celebrating the 20th Birthday of the EBR Writers Club,? will feature poets Mari Evans (Indianapolis), Quincy Troupe (New York via St. Louis), music, and dinner. Evans and Troupe will also present single-poet performances on Oct. 24th (7pm/SIUE) and 26th (12:30pm/SIUE).
Other events include a literary tribute to Katherine Dunham on Oct. 24th (12:30pm/SIUE), an Oct. 25 "EBR Writers Club 20th Birthday Reception" at the Missouri History Museum in St. Louis (by invitation), a poets-in-the schools program, and an 'open mike' evening.
Except for the Birthday Banquet on Oct. 26-which costs $30.00- all events are free and open to the public. To purchase tickets or for more information contact EBRWC at 618 650-3991 or email: eredmon@siue.edu. Persons may also write the Club at P.O. Box 6165, East St. Louis, Illinois 62202. Tickets are now available for the Oct. 26 Banquet!
Alice Farley (Alice Hall Petry), was interviewed on BBC radio June 28th in regard to Harper Lee and To Kill a Mockingbird. As you may know, Alice's new book titled 'On Harper Lee: Essays and Reflections' is being published by the University of Tennessee Press.
Eugene Redmond, has been invited by the African American Literature and Culture Society of the American Literature Association to receive an award for a lifetime of literary achievement and inspiration. The award will be presented in a special ceremony to be held at the Society's symposium at St. Louis University in October 2007.
Dr. James M. Rosser, President of California State University, Los Angeles, will bestow the award. Professor Redmond has been invited to give a poetry reading following the award ceremony.
Brian Abel Ragen is serving on the committee that develops the AP examination in English Literature and thus influences the curriculum for AP English courses across the country. He will attend a meet of the College Board in New York in October. In addition, Dr. Ragen has recently been appointed to the Awards Committee of the Conference of Editors of Learned Journals.
Stella Revard, Emerita Professor, has been contracted by Medieval and Renaissance Texts and Studies at Arizona State University in Tempe for her book, 'Politics, Poetics, and the Pindaric Ode, 1450-1700.' This is her second book on pindaric ode research. Since she retired Professor Revard has continued be very active writing, researching, and attending conferences. Professor Revard has an international reputation as a scholar. She continues to live in St. Louis, but also maintains a residence close to the British Library in London.
Department of GEOGRAPHY
Dr. Mark Hildebrandt, was recently awarded a Fulbright to lecture and conduct research in Nepal. Dr. Hildebrandt will spend a semester at Kathmandu University lecturing in the Environmental Sciences Department and conducting research on mechanisms behind air pollution.
Department of HISTORICAL STUDIES
Jason Stacy was elected a Director on the Illinois Council for the Social Studies which automatically makes him a member of the Board of Directors; he is at the helm of Region 5, which is composed of the Illinois counties in the southwest.
Dr. Shirley Portwood was recently invited by Governor Rod Blagojevich to be a public member of the Illinois Abraham Lincoln Bicentennial Commission. The Commission will plan and carry out its own bicentennial tributes to Abraham Lincoln as well as coordinating these activities with the federal government's Abraham Lincoln Commission.
Department of MATHEMATICS and STATISTICS
The Fifth International Conference on Function Spaces was hosted by the department May 16 to May 20, 2006. More than 120 mathematicians from Argentina, Australia, Azerbaijan, Bangladesh, Brazil, Canada, China, Denmark, Egypt, England, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Iceland, India, Iran, Ireland, Israel, Italy, Japan, Mexico, Morocco, Netherlands, New Zealand, Norway, Oman, Pakistan, Poland, Romania, Russia, Saudi Arabia, Serbia, Singapore, Slovenia, South Africa, Spain, Switzerland, Taiwan, Tunisia, Turkey, Ukraine, and the US attended the Conference. Please visit the Conference WEB page at Conference Website. Many of the participants are distinguished experts in the field, and many attended the previous Conferences on Function Spaces at SIUE. The Conference is supported by grants from the National Science Foundation, the College of Art and Sciences, and the Graduate School. Proceedings of the Conferences were published by Marcel Dekker and by the American Mathematical Society.
Department of MUSIC
Professor Steve Brown wrote a review piece in the 'Times Literary Supplement, 8 December 2006. In Notes of Welcome Professor Brown reviews three works 'New Music, New Works' by Amy C. Beal, 'Cagetalk' edited by Peter Dickinson, and 'Leta E. Miller and Fredric Lieberman, by Lou Harrison.
Kris Pineda, a senior piano performance major, has been selected by the Artist Presentation Society of St. Louis to present a recital in the Touhill Performing Arts Center on February 27 as part of the Prelude Performances series. Kris will also be performing the Tchaikovsky Piano Concerto No. 1 with the SIUE Orchestra on March 2 as winner of the Concerto/Aria Auditions held in December.
Prince Wells will be one of several local musicians and historians interviewed for the TV documentary "Collective Improvisation: The Story of Jazz in Saint Louis" The documentary will show on HEC-TV during the month of November. The documentary examines the contributions of St. Louis musicians to America's legacy of jazz. This HEC-TV exclusive production profiles the careers of St. Louis-based jazz greats such as Miles Davis, Eddie Randle, and Clark Terry, as well as many other St. Louis musicians who left their unique mark on the jazz scene. Local jazz historians, Dennis Owsley and Don Wolff take an in-depth look at the rich history of the "Gateway City" and the true American art form of jazz. Producer, Christian Cudnik relates his experience making the documentary, "As a fan, I was fond of the music. However, I never understood the importance of jazz to American history, until now. Within the story of jazz in St. Louis, there is clearly a history to celebrate and another we should never allow ourselves to forget. The fact that these early musicians were able to create their own sense of freedom within the music speaks volumes to me. Imagine trying to grow a beautiful flower from a crack in the sidewalk. In a sense, that's what these musicians did by creating jazz. Sadly, segregation and racial hatred were their growing conditions." Watch "Collective Improvisation: The Story of Jazz in Saint Louis," on HEC-TV Thursdays and Saturdays at 8:00 pm during the month of November.
Rick Haydon has a CD release on February 21. It is on Mel Bay Records and will have world wide distribution. The name of the CD is Rick Haydon and John Pizzarelli "Just Friends". It was recorded last year in New York. A release party will be announced soon for St. Louis.
"On his first major release, jazz-guitarist Rick Haydon is joined by his good friend John Pizzarelli. The two offer spirited takes on 11 favorite tunes, including "Old Folks," "It's a Wonderful World" and "Look for the Silver Lining."
OFFICE of SCIENCE and MATH EDUCATION (OSME)
The IJAS Regional Science Fair held in the spring was a great success. Success is not measured only by the number of participants, but also by the impact the event has on students. Deb Clinebell, an 8th grade teacher in Waterloo, encouraged her student Jonathan Naber to participate in Science Fair. Jonathan took his teacher's advise and he is now a senior who has been a part of Science Fair every year since 8th grade. Jonathan's sums up his passion for science this way: "I have always been fascinated by the way things work and designing solutions for problems. I love physical science because it has many practical applications."
Deb Clinebell recently contacted Eric Malina from the Department of Chemistry and OSME. She wrote "just had to take a minute to email you and thank you for everything that SIUE does to support science fair and send students to the Intel International Science and Engineering Fair. Today in all of our eighth grade science classes, Jonathan Naber is presenting a highly motivational presentation of his experience with science fair. I cannot tell you how significant his impact is on these eighth grade students! As a result of what SIUE has done for Jonathan, 205 junior high science students are being challenged to excell in their own science fair projects. Our Waterloo High School senior is teaching, motivating, and challenging these students to 'think out of the box', push the limits of creative investigations and shoot for superior scientific experiments. Jonathan is telling them how much his science fair experience has helped him in his written and oral communications skills, analytical thinking, problem solving, etc....."
Department of PHILOSOPHY
Dr. Rachel Singpurwalla has won a prestigious one-year residential fellowhip at the Center for Hellenic Studies. The center is located in Washington D.C. but is funded by and affiliated with Harvard University. Dr. Singpurwall will be in residence during academic Year 07-08.
Dr. Greg Fields recently had a book chapter published. The chapter is entitled "Gandhi and Dewey: Education for Peace," and appears in Problems for Democracy, ed. John Kultgen and Mary Lenzi (New York and Amsterdam: Rodopi Press, 2006). Topics discussed within the chapter are philosophies of education, education and peace, peace education initiatives derivable from Ghandi and Dewey, education for peace at elementary and secondary levels, education for peace in colleges and universities, and education, peace, and social health.
The First Annual SIUE Undergraduate Philosophy Conference was held on November 10 & 11, 2006. By all accounts the program was a success. The conference received 34 submissions from 18 universities representing a broad range of philosophical topics. A panel of SIUE philosophy students reviewed the submissions and elected to invite 12 students each from distinct universities to present their papers. The 12 papers were divided into five themed panels. In addition to the five undergraduate panels there was a keynote address given on the evening of Friday, November 10. Professor Sarah Lucia Hoagland from Northeastern Illinois University presented ?Epistemic Shifts and Resistant Negotiation. The program was deemed successful by both the presenters, who found the experience valuable in furtherance of their future philosophical pursuits, and the attendees, who were impressed by the level of dialogue that ensued during the conference.
While the organization of the conference and the selection of presenters were done almost exclusively by undergraduate students in the SIUE philosophy program, a panel of three faculty judges was employed to determine the award for best paper which was accompanied by a $100 cash prize. The award for the best paper went to Jon Matthis from the University of Maryland? Baltimore County. The conference was generously supported by the Philosophy Department, the College of Arts and Sciences, the Office of the Vice-Chancellor of Student Affairs, the Office of the Assistant Provost of Cultural Affairs, and the Office of Program Assessment and Review.
Dr. Greg Fields undertook research travel this summer to Seattle and Victoria that was extremely productive. During the trip Greg met on several occasions with Johnny Moses as well as Skagit (Salish) elder Vi Hilbert. He reviewed their exhibition in preparation for the Swinomish Historical Museum and obtained original audio recordings. In addition Greg participated in the 41st Annual Conference on Salish and Neighboring Languages where he presented a paper "Peoples and Languages of Vancouver Island, the Straits, and Puget Sound".
Dr. Margaret Simons has recently published a book with the University of Illinois Press; Simone de Beauvoir Philosophical Writings. This volume is the first complete, scholarly edition of Beauvoir's essays in English translation. One reviewer writes that "this series will change the history of philosophy", while another characterizes the work as a "treasure". Read more about Professor Simon's book at Simone de Beauvoir.
Dr. Margaret Simons' paper "Is The Second Sex Beauvoir's Application of Sartrean Existentialism" was recently selected to receive an Award of Excellence from StudySphere as one of the best educational resources on the Web. StudySphere is one of the Internet's fastest growing sites of educational resources for students, teachers and parents. StudySphere searches the Internet to select only the finest sites to be included within its listing of educational links. Read Dr. Simons' Paper
Dr. Margaret Simons' recented taped a segment of an National Public Radio show at the WSIE studio. The show is What's the Word?, which is produced and hosted by Sally Placksin. The episode, on Women as Public Intellectuals, will feature discussions of Susan Sontag, Hannah Arendt, and Simone de Beauvoir. Dr. Simons responded to a series of questions on Beauvoir as a public intellectual and read some passages from her texts. It show be simulcast on WBGO 88.3 FM, Newark, sometime in March 2007 --see their program guide on line for specific dates and times. It may also be broadcast on other NPR stations.
Department of PHYSICS
Hernando Garcia has been invited to give a talk at the AMO (Atomic Molecular and Optical Physics) section of the 2007 Joint Annual conference of the NSBP (National Society of Black Physicists), and the NSHP (National Society of Hispanic Physicists) to take place in Boston, MA on the 23th of February. The title of Dr. Garcia's presentation is 'Self-Consistent Determination of Plasmonic Resonances in Ternary Nanocomposites'. For more information about the conference visit; Conference Information
Dr. Jack Glassman and The Board of Trustees of Southern Illinois University, were granted a patent "Phase Preserving Amplifier for a Stellar Interferometer," United States Patent #7,154,608, December 26, 2006.
Work continues and Jack is currently developing a technique which will allow the light from a distant object to be amplified using an all optical technique. This amplification method, called "Optical Parametric Amplification" (OPA), has been around for a long time. It uses the light from a laser and a special kind of crystal to increase the intensity of the light from some faint source. What's novel is tthe use of OPA to amplify the light that goes into a device called a "Stellar Interferometer." A Stellar Interferometer uses two telescopes to collect light from the same object. The light from the two telescopes is focused onto one spot and it "interferes"--in some places, the light adds together to make a dark region, as though there's no light there at all, while in other regions it adds to be brighter than it would be from simply summing the brightness from the two telescopes together. Non-optical amplification techniques (i.e., electronic amplifiers) lose the features of the light (phase and spectral characteristics) that allow the light to interfere.
Stellar interferometers allow Astronomers to determine things like the diameters of stars that are too far away for us to see their shape directly. They are also used by the military for determining the sizes and shapes of satellites in orbit around the Earth. By using OPA in a Stellar Interferometer, it should be possible to collect data in a shorter time, using smaller telescopes, or looking at fainter objects than is currently possible. The goal is to get a 100-fold amplification. If successful, this would allow a 4" telescope to do the work of a 1-meter diameter telescope or for the data that now takes one hour to collect to be collected in under a minute. The basic development work is underway. There are many challenges before we can prove that this technique is truly viable. But, if it can be shown to work, it will have a very beneficial impact on Astronomy. It will also be an asset to those monitoring satellites in the interests of national security.
Kimberly Shaw Chair of the Department of Physics has been selected to receive a Distinguished Service Citation from the Illinois Section of the American Association of Physics Teachers. Dr. Shaw received the award at a banquet at the fall meeting of the AAPT.
The award was conferred in recognition of the outstanding contributions Dr. Shaw has made to the field of physics teaching in the state of Illinois. Letters of nomination point to Dr. Shaw as a respected leader and an inspriration to others in the profession. The ISAAPT Execuctive Council characterize her service to ISAAPT as enthusiastic, continuing, and in all ways exemplary. Through the award special recognition is given in the areas of leadership of colleagues and students through physics teaching, professional contributions to section activities through contributed papers, workshop presentation, committee service, or elective office and distinguished service at the home institution.
Hernando Garcia has been invited to deliver the OSA (Optical Society of America) International Lecture for the "X National School of Optics" that will take place in Colombia South America, 13 to 17 November 2007. It is a great honor for the SIUE community to be represented at this meeting, which will take place in conjunction with the meeting of student chapters of optics of the Andean Region and the Caribbean. Dr. Garcia will prersent a short course on "Introduction to Nonlinear Optics with Modern Application", discuss future strategies for the optics community in the Andean Region, and deliver a plenary talk entitled "Optical properties of multi-plasmonic system within the theory of the effective medium approximation?.
Pamela Gay launched a new podcast on September 11th with Fraser Cain of "Universe Today." Our new show is called "Astronomy Cast" and it has been in the top 25 science and medicine podcasts in the iTunes music store for the past 10 days.
This new show takes a weekly facts based journey through the cosmos. Astronomy Cast offers listeners weekly discussions on astronomical topics ranging from planets to cosmology. Designed as 'edu-tainment,' Astronomy Cast brings the questions of an avid astronomy fan direct to an astronomer. The discussion that results places the latest discoveries in a historic and scientific context that is accessible to the introductory astronomy student and the armchair astronomy enthusiast.
Astronomy Cast shows are available for free, either through the iTunes Music Store (in the Science & Medicine section) or direct from the website at http://www.astronomycast.com. A portable audioplayer isn't even necessary, as the shows are all available for listening directly from the website.
One of the main objectives for Astronomy Cast is to cover a single topic in astronomy, space science or cosmology each week in non-technical language. Educators could point students at these shows as an additional resource for specific topics. They can expect the shows to be professionally produced, and to contain language appropriate for all ages.
Spencer Brinker, Russel May, Nathan Louks, and Garth Hand received an Honorable Mention in the 2006 NASA University Student Competition. Receiving an "Honorable Mention" is a notable achievement; other recipients of that award this year were Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, University of Michigan, and Brno University (in the Czech Republic). Our students were in fine company.
If you saw telescopes west of Dunham Hall on November 8th, they were there so interested members of the campus community could observe the transit of Mercury in front of the sun. Sue Vandegrift, wife of Chancellor Vandegrift, attended as well as the university photographer. A student filmed the event that was organized by Tom Foster and Pamela Gay, and lots of fun was had by all.
Pamela Gay participated as a diarist for "This Day on the Job", a collection of day diaries from women across experiential, cultural, geographic, and socioeconomic bouncdaries. This journal will covered the entire day of November 14th.
Department of POLITICAL SCIENCE
Dr. Maruice Mangum has won the 2007 Anna J. Cooper national teaching award sponsored by the National Conference of Black Political Scientists. Dr. Mangum impressed the selection committee with the extensive breadth and depth of his teaching dossier. The awards ceremony will take place at the national conference in San Francisco, where Dr. Mangum will receive a plaque at the Annual Awards Dinner on March 23, 2007.
The Political Science Association College Bowl team representing SIUE this captured 5th place out of 16 teams when they competed at Notre Dame in late February. SIUE defeated the home team, Notre Dame, along with three other teams, losing to Valparaiso and University of Illinois in the end. The team consisted of Chris Stroot, Dan Prengel, Tony Keeley, Sean Aluoto, Zach Knebel, and Emily Siemer.
Dr. Lynn Maurer has had book manuscript accepted for publication by the Centro de Estudios Pol’ticos y Constitucionales (Center of Political and Constitutional Studies) in Madrid, Spain for the Estudios Pol’ticos book series. The book is entitled "Parliament and Democracy in Spain". The Center of Political and Constitutional Studies is part of the Spanish Ministry of the Presidency. This project represents an example of our cooperation with other governments and international academic institutions. This study is unique in that Dr. Maurer spoke directly with the parliamentarians. Even among Spanish political scientists very few speak directly with their founders, often relying on second-hand and statistical data. Dr. Maurer carried out three rounds of interviews in Spanish with elite policy makers in Spain ?both parliamentarians and members of the executive cabinet (Ministers)- to collect extensive data on the influence of the parliament over two decades (1979-2000). Several of those interviewed were active in the crucial transition to democracy, and one later became the country's Vice President.
Dr. Maurer has been invited to speak on her upcoming book at the Universidad Aut—noma de Madrid. She has published articles in both Spain and the U.K. She regularly incorporates her findings into her course POLS 350 Western European Political Systems so that SIUE students may benefit from her research.
The U.S. government has recently emphasized ties with the Hispanic community -a segment of society that is rapidly growing in the St. Louis area. As our own Hispanic student body and faculty members begin growing in numbers, it is important to show our state and federal policymakers that SIUE is committed to ties with U.S. Hispanic culture, as well as with the international academic and cultural community.
Denise DeGarmo's book "The Disposal of Radioactive Wastes in the Metropolitan St. Louis Area: The Environmental and Health Legacy of the Mallinckrodt Chemical Works" (ISBN10: 0-7734-5549-3 ISBN13: 978-0-7734-5549-8) was published in Fall 2006 by Edwin Mellen Press. The book discusses the radioactive waste that was dispersed throughout the St. Louis area during the "Atomic Age" that was a result of atomic weapons work carried out by Mallinckrodt Chemical Works for the U.S. government under secret contract. To date there has been no comprehensive study of the secret contracting effort that made Mallinckrodt Chemical Works one of the most important contributors to the atomic bomb project, nor has there been an adequate discussion of the long-term consequences of this atomic program on the health and environment of the community. The Purpose of this book is to provide an examination of the history and consequences of the atomic legacy of St. Louis and the Metro-East. For more details visit: Denise DeGarmo's Book
Dr. Degarmo and Dr. William Larkin, from the Department of Philosophy, have received a contract from Routledge Press for a textbook entitled: "Thinking About War and Peace". Watch this space for future details!
Dr. Lynn Maurer has received the grant to carry out interviews in Spain in 2006-2007. The grant was awarded by the Program for Cultural Cooperation between Spain's Ministry of Culture and U.S. Universities. Dr. Maurer's project is entitled 'The Power of the Committee System in the Spanish Congress of Deputies'. Dr. Maurer will travel to Spain this Fall.
Dr. Denise DeGarmo was recently awarded a travel fellowship to the University of Michigan Bentley Historical Library. Dr. DeGarmo's research will focus on the Phoenix Memorial project. Denise was also selected for inclusion in 2005/2006 Who's Who Among America's Teachers.
Department of SOCIAL WORK
Phi Alpha Social Work Honor Society The Department of Social Work recently initiated their first group of graduate students and 2 alumns into the Phi Alpha Social Work Honor Society, Xi Iota Chapter. As you can see from the pictures below it was a joyous event celebrated both by the initiates and an appreciative audience.
Department of SOCIOLOGY AND CRIMINAL JUSTICE STUDIES
Tracey Hayes a graduate student was recently presented with a 2006 Graduate Student Paper Award from the American Society of Criminology, Division on Critical Criminology. Ms. Hayes' paper explores state corporate crime and how it relates to environmental contamination in the St. Luois Metro East area. The award was based on the high quality of the paper that evidenced mastery of the literature, careful methodology, and the ability to offer original empirical and theoertetical observations.
Dr. Hugh Barlow has a new book published in October 2007. "Dead for Good: Martyrdom and the Rise of the Suicide Bomber", is published by Paradigm Publishers, Boulder, CO.
Dr. David Kauzlarich was the recent recipient of the Great Teacher Award from the SIUE Alumni Association. The award will be given at summer commencement.
Department of SPEECH COMMUNICATION
Lesa Stern has been appointed as Director of Undergraduate Assessment and Program Review, effective July 16th, 2006. Lesa is an Associate Professor of Speech Communication where she has been involved in the Senior Assignment since 1995. She was selected as an Assessment Scholar in 2000, with a resulting publication and several national and regional presentations. She has been part of the Higher Learning Commission's Assessment Think Tank and has been selected to serve as an AQIP Strategy Forum Facilitator for HLC. In addition, Lesa has served on Illinois Articulation Initiative panels for the IBHE.
Department of THEATER and DANCE
The Department of Theater and Dance will be well represented at the midwest region's American College Theatre Festival in January. Two performance majors, Alex Moore and Phil Leveling, were nominated and will participate in the Irene Ryan Acting competition. Also, costume designs for 'Twelth Night' by faculty member Dr. Laura Hanson were selected to be one of only 15 productions featured in the ACTF Costume Parade.
Chuck Harper producer of 'The Probe: An Inquiry into the Meteoric Rise and Spectacular Fall of Orson Welles in Hollywood' has learned that the production has been officially invited to the Prague International Fringe Theatre Festival. "The Probe" was initially a co-production of SIUE, HotCity Theatre, and the Theatre de la Belle Bte, and was supported through both the Summer Research Fellowship and Funded University Research programs. The company will be one of 35 from around the world who will be performing, and they are scheduled to perform in the largest theatre, for all seven nights, making the production one of the festival headliners. If funding can be secured students who worked on the initial production may also attend the festival.
Dr. Johanna Schmitz will be the featured speaker on the 10th of November at the 'Focus on Faculty Research' program to be held at 1:30pm in the Lovejoy Library 3rd floor conference room. The title of Johanna's presentation is "From Mud Puddle to Monument: The Transformation of the Rose Theatre (1989-2006)". The Focus on Faculty Research is a program sponsored by the LIS Research, Projects, and Development Committee, the Friends of the Lovejoy Library, and the Graduate School.
Dr. Laura Hansen was recently interviewed by London's BBC Radio for a pair of features on "Sondheim's Women." Laura is the author of "Broadway Babies: Images of Women in the Musicals of Stephen Sondheim," which was published in a book on the well-known composer-lyhricist. The two-part radio program explored the female characters Sondheim's musicals and their development through music and lyrics. It was planned to coincide with the West End revival of 'Sunday in the Park with George'. With the expert assistance of Frank Akers and his staff at WSIE Radio, a transatlantic line between London and Edwardsville was set up for the interview, sections of which werethen edited into the feature. The finished programs can be heard on the BBC Radio 4 web site at :
Sondheim's Women-Part I
Sondheim's Women